this is bbc news, i'm lukwesa burak, the headlines at two. the french president, emmanuel macron, says the uk must provide more clarity about its negotiating position on brexit. over half a million people have signed a petition calling for transport for london to reverse its decision to stop the taxi app uber from operating in the capital. iran says it has successfully tested a new ballistic missile, in defiance of us president donald trump. jeremy corbyn arrives in brighton at the start of the labour party conference. also in the next hour, thousands of costumes from the royal shakespeare company go on sale. this whole section of rail is nothing but tuxedos. sir patrick stewart goes through the wardrobe to share some of his memories from the stage that are up for grabs. and coming up in half an hour, a special china edition of witness. good afternoon

and welcome to bbc news. theresa may must be clearer about what she wants from brexit before the eu can start trade talks, according to the french president, emmanuel macron. monsieur macron said three key issues must be agreed. the rights of three million eu citizens living in the uk, how much the uk will pay on leaving, and the future of the uk—irish border. it's the first response by a european leader to the prime minister's speech yesterday in florence, in which she suggested a two—year transition period after brexit, meaning the uk would finally break away in 2021. brexit secretary david davis

is heading to brussels for the next round of talks with the eu negotiating team on monday. our political correspondent leila nathoo reports. theresa may came here to florence to try to unblock the brexit negotiations. with warm words about an exciting partnership ahead, a pledge to honour britain's commitments to the current eu budget, and promises to guarantee the rights of eu citizens in the uk, she hopes she's done enough to kick—start the talks. she appears to have struck the right balance, appeasing tory leavers and remainers alike by pushing for a transition period where security, trade and immigration rules stay the same, but insisting it would only last a couple of years. there should be a clear double lock, a guarantee that there will be a period of implementation, giving businesses and people alike the certainty that they will be able to prepare for the change and a guarantee that this implementation period will be time limited,

giving everyone the certainty that this will not go on forever. brussels and eu leaders gave the speech a cautious welcome, praising what they saw as the constructive spirit and a show of realism. but there was a demand for more detail. while the prime minister's speech has generated some goodwill, the test will come when brexit talks resume on monday. leila nathoo, bbc news. our political correspondent susana mendonca is here. talk there from mr macron about a clearer position on britain's position, do we have clarity after mrs may spoke yesterday?” position, do we have clarity after mrs may spoke yesterday? i think we have a bit more of a sense of the direction, in terms of the transitional deal that she spoke about. back in the summer, there was

about. back in the summer, there was a debate within cabinet about weather there should be a transitional deal, and this is theresa may saying we won't two yea rs, theresa may saying we won't two years, and that is something that has caused concern among backbenchers. —— we want two years. some of them are not happy with the idea that we will not leave com pletely idea that we will not leave completely on march 2019, that we will still be subject to eu law in some sense, so will still be subject to eu law in some sense, so they want clarity on whether that will be the case. theresa may talked about freedom of movement potentially continuing, thatis movement potentially continuing, that is something that for many is a red line. within the cabinet itself, what she achieved through the speech yesterday was a sense of unity at a time when we have seen a lot of division. you know, for example, borisjohnson, just division. you know, for example, boris johnson, just a division. you know, for example, borisjohnson, just a few days before the speech, he had written an article taking a different view, perhaps, certainly on the see what money, saying we shouldn't have to pay the eu any money to remain in the single market. it is attempting

to create some unity within the cabinet at a time when we have had this unity. as david davis at off for the next round of negotiating on monday, we are expecting to hear more of this detail being fleshed out? that is certainly what the eu once, we heard from emmanuel macron today, saying that he wants to have more clarity, certainly on those three areas that the eu won't progress on — so for example, as you stated earlier, the issue of eu citizens living in the uk, the financial terms of exit, and the irish border. the eu will not progress on trade talks and all those three issues are dealt with. david davis, it has been difficult, the negotiations with michel barnier, so we will see what happens with that. certainly, they want more detail. in october, the european

commission will get together, they work out if there has been enough progress in this negotiation. if they deem that they haven't, what then happens? essentially, the progress that they want on those three areas is really the benchmark for whether or not britain then gets to have tandem trade talks, because what britain wanted at the beginning of this was to have trade talks at the same time as the talks about the settle m e nt the same time as the talks about the settlement with the eu. if the eu commission and national leaders decide that we haven't made that progress, then potentially we don't move on to that progress really in terms of the trade talks, which is not what britain once. thank you very much. the ratings agency moody's has downgraded britain's long—term credit rating. it says it made the decision because of the economic uncertainty caused by the brexit negotiations and the likelihood that the public finances would become weaker. downing street says the firm's assessments were outdated. our business correspondentjoe lynam

says the decision could mean the uk government has to pay more for its borrowing. this could result in higher borrowing costs for government. the higher the rating, the lower the interest rates that governments had to pay because markets take a view that they are a healthier risk. the credibility of the credit rating agencies took a bit of a hammering after the financial crisis, and the government will be playing on that. they downgraded britain because they think that public finances will disimprove as a direct result of brexit because the government might have to borrow more or cut its defecit at a slower rate than they hoped for. the government said that it had a robust record and had made substantial progress on combating the deficit. "we are not complacent about the challenges ahead but we are optimistic about a bright future." more than half a million people have signed a petition calling for transport for london to reverse its decision to stop the minicab booking service uber from operating in the capital.

tfl decided not to renew uber‘s license on grounds of public safety and security, but the company says it will appeal against the decision. jessica parker reports. the app which revolutionised taking a taxi has been fighting back. just a few hours after transport for london's decision not to renew its licence, uber launched this petition to save uber in london. already it has over 500,000 signatures. it talks about the 3.5 million londoners and 40,000 uber drivers that will lose out, and also stresses its drivers go through the same safety checks as black—cab drivers. tfl argues it hasn't met their standards on safety and security. but uber disagrees. transport for london have regularly audited us, you know, they've carried out the largest audit in their history, and, you know, we've passed with flying colours. the last time the audited us to check

that we were playing by the rules, they found that there were zero errors in our processes. nevertheless, tfl have deemed them "not fit and proper" to renew the licence. safety has got to be paramount. the regulator's doing itsjob. if uber customers, or indeed uber drivers, are upset or angry about the situation, don't blame the regulator for enforcing the rules. let's blame the company that flouts them. uber have said they will appeal the decision. their london licence runs out at the end of this month. jessica parker, bbc news. in the last hour, the mayor of london has responded to the petition, saying, "i have every sympathy with uber drivers and customers affected by this decision but their anger really should be directed at uber. " "they have let down their drivers and customers by failing, in the view of tfl, to act as a fit and proper operator." there've been reports of small tremors in north korea,

which chinese officials say could be evidence of an explosion, although elsewhere it's been deemed to be of natural origin. 0ur correspondent danny savage gave us this update from south korea. 0pinion is split over what happened to north korea in the last few hours. the china earthquake administration says it was a suspected explosion, but south korea's meteorological survey said they have analysed it and it does not have the footprint of something man—made, it looks like a natural event. it is unusual seismic activity, and not farfrom where north korea has carried out nuclear tests in the last few months. interestingly, in the last few minutes, the nuclear proliferation watchdog in switzerland suggested the possibility that it could be a collapse event. after the big explosion and test recently, the underground h—bomb in north korea, there was a collapse event afterwards where rocks fell, which was picked up by earthquake monitors. it could be similar to that again. i don't think it should cause major concern at the moment,

it is being monitored and it will be some time before we know exactly what happened, but it is leaning towards a natural event at present. iran has successfully tested a new ballistic missile with a range of up to 1200 miles. the testing of the weapon, which can carry several warheads, is likely to raise concerns in washington, just days after president trump attacked the country's missile programme in a speech at the united nations. here's our diplomatic correspondent caroline hawley. a show of power from tehran, a missile launched as a message to the americans. this was state—run television in iran, broadcasting what it says was the successful test of the newly developed missile with a range of 2,000 kilometres. the launch came just days after president trump attacked iran at the united nations for destabilising the middle east and condemned its missile programme.

he again threatened to abandon a historic nuclear deal, painstakingly negotiated over many yea rs. we cannot let a murderous regime continue these destabilising activities while building dangerous missiles, and we cannot abide by an agreement if it provides cover for the eventual construction of a nuclear programme. iran insists its missile programme doesn't contravene the nuclear agreement, and the iranian president says his people are now waiting for an apology from donald trump. in defiance of mr trump came this military display on friday, at which the new missile was proudly inveiled. translation: like it or not, we will increase our deterrence and defence power in any form we deem to be necessary. in addition to upgrading

the missile systems, we will also strengthen our naval, ground and air forces. there's been no response from the americans so far to the latest iranian missile launch, but there's little doubt that the belligerent tone coming from both countries will ratchet up tensions. just as in north korea, iran is trying to show that it won't be pushed around. caroline hawley, bbc news. we arejoined by an we are joined by an expert via webcam. thank you forjoining us and bbc news. what did you make of this test, were you surprised? well, surprised is not quite the right word. they have chosen their time quite carefully. they waited until the un general assembly meetings,

and then waited to hear president donald trump's speech. they have heard his aggressive rhetoric, and soi heard his aggressive rhetoric, and so i think that it was almost to be expected that iran would come out with something like this. to respond to the aggressive rhetoric out of the us, this is the perfect way for them to do this. who was behind this programme? the missile programme is generally concerned, controlled by the revolutionary guard, the hardline components the revolutionary guard, the ha rdline components of the revolutionary guard, the hardline components of the iranian government. these are people that are not necessarily in favour of iran having reached this nuclear agreement a few years ago with the rest of the international community, so this is also a product of internal intentions within iran. it is not just iran internal intentions within iran. it is notjust iran proving to the outside world that it can continue this activity but also internal

fighting. does this now mean, then, for the deal, there is nowjeopardy for the deal, there is nowjeopardy for that deal? we have to remember that iran's missile programme is not pa rt that iran's missile programme is not part of the nuclear deal. the nuclear deal does what it says in the title — it focuses on the iranian nuclear programme, and they deliberately left the missile programme out of it. however, the un security council that was agreed upon right after the deal, that endorses the deal, talks about the missile programme and calls upon iran to stop testing. with iran not stopping, while it is technically legitimate for a run to continue this kind of activity, because it is. the —— because it is for self defence purposes, it makes things difficult, and it is more food for the rhetoric coming out of the us, saying we have to stand up to iran's aggression. would you expect anything to come from donald trump's words? can he do anything? there are

multiple things he can do. donald trump has been threatening to step out of the iran nuclear deal for a while now, he did it during the campaign, and he's still doing it today. while we must remember that the agreement is notjust between iran and the us, there are other countries that are part of it, but it would still be very, very difficult, and it would not look good if the us comes out of it. now, what he sanctions on iran, or continue to ratchet up sanctions on iran like they did after the last missile test in january, iran like they did after the last missile test injanuary, or he could also not certify iranian compliance inafew also not certify iranian compliance in a few weeks, when the certification data comes up. from then on, once the us steps out, it is anybody‘s guess what might happen. should we be concerned this isa happen. should we be concerned this is a long—range missile? who is most upset by this latest action? well,

obviously, iran's neighbours, particularly on the other side of the persian gulf, feel threatened by the persian gulf, feel threatened by the missile programme, which also explains their activities in terms of buying weapons from the west. so the programme poses a real threat to them. it also poses a threat to companies like israel, who feel targeted by iran's our efforts to expand its missile arsenal. and all of this is legitimate, but of course the only way to address it is through dialogue, rather than by ratcheting up aggressive rhetoric. thank you very much. the headlines on bbc news: the french president, emmanuel macron, says the uk must provide more clarity over its negotiating position on brexit. over half a million people have signed a petition calling for transport for london to reverse its decision to stop the ride—hailing app uber from operating in the capital. iran says it has successfully tested a new ballistic missile with a range of up to 1200 miles.

police have reopened parts of the m3 northbound after they shut the road in both directions earlier today. the southbound section of the motorway between junctions nine and 11 near winchester remains shut. 0fficers 11 near winchester remains shut. officers were called just before 4am to reporters of potentially hazardous material on the road. drivers say the closure has caused absolute chaos. members of the labour party are gathering in brighton for whatjeremy corbyn's predicting will be its largest ever conference. 0ur political correspondent eleanor garnier is in brighton for us. he had something of a rock star welcome, didn't he? lots of cheers,

chance of oh, jeremy corbyn, as he arrived this morning for a special event at the women's conference, which is happening today i two of labour's conference getting going tomorrow, and this is the first chance for the whole of the labour party to get together since the general election earlier this year. jeremy corbyn did a much better than anybody expected, gaining an extra 30 mp5, party membership is nearly 600,000, and that makes labour the biggest political party across europe, so expect lots of celebrations over the next few days, despite the fact that he did not do well enough to get into government. there are going to be lots of celebrations and padding on the back. in spite of that, there are some tensions lurking behind the scenes, and one of the things that has come up is the balance of power between the grassroots party, the members and delegates, and the

parliamentary party of elected politicians, and there have been questions as to whether some key labourfigures questions as to whether some key labour figures would have a chance to get up onto the main speech and have a platform, get up onto the main stage, surrey, and make a speech. the likes of london mayor sadiq khan, the mayorfor greater manchester andy burnham. but this afternoon jeremy corbyn was manchester andy burnham. but this afternoonjeremy corbyn was out manchester andy burnham. but this afternoon jeremy corbyn was out at a local table tennis club, seeing refugees, and he defended the changes that have been made to the speakers and the amounts of time that certain speakers will be getting. it's a conference for everybody, is the largest labour party conference has ever been. we have tried to rebalance the speaking arrangements so that there are fewer and shorter platform speakers, many more speeches from the floor and from delegates, and i am very keen to make sure that the voices of our elected mayors are heard, and sadiq khan will be speaking, other mayors will be speaking in future years. they can, however, contribute the debate just like anybody is, and there are many other speaking opportunities around brighton. compared to last year, the tone of

this party conference will be very different. if we think back to 12 months ago, there were lots of questions aboutjeremy months ago, there were lots of questions about jeremy corbyn's leadership position, how long could he stay in the job? should he leadership position, how long could he stay in thejob? should he go? every mp you spoke to was being ask whether he should go, and who was going to succeed him. this year, i think there is an acceptance that jeremy corbyn, after that general election results, is safe in hisjob — not just safe, election results, is safe in hisjob — notjust safe, solid in hisjob. i don't think we are going to be a lot of questions about his leadership, there is now an acceptance that he is the party leader and he is growing the party under his leadership. eleanor garnier, thank you very much. just to bring you an update on the mexico earthquake, we have got some reports from reuters, the usgs has

reported a magnitude of 6.2 which as hit about 12 miles east of oaxaca in mexico. you will remember the 7.1 magnitude earthquake which struck mexico city at lunchtime on tuesday, 273 people dead. many people still trapped beneath the rubble. a magnitude 6.2 quake as hit 12 miles south—east of oaxaca in mexico. we are not sure about the depth, and thatis are not sure about the depth, and that is really what decides how destructive these earthquakes are. but that is what we have at the moment, more when we get it. hurricane maria, and the heavy rain that followed it, is continuing to wreak havoc in puerto rico. the authorities there have mobilised the national guard to help evacuate people in areas downstream of a dam that has failed after days of heavy rain. sunita jaswal reports. after days of heavy rainfall,

severe damage to this dam has sent torrents of water surging downstream, causing flash flooding for miles. 70,000 people in several populated areas have been told to leave their homes, but information from puerto rico has been unreliable, and it is unclear how many people are still in danger here. it's already been called the worst storm for a hundred years. many roads are underwater with cars submerged, and those who stayed in their homes were forced to take shelter on upperfloors. translation: there is a lot of damage, a lot of flooded areas. we need to work together but yes, there is a lot of devastation. the number of people killed in the caribbean has already gone into double figures and is expected to rise. with homes destroyed and power supplies down, puerto rico is suffering the effects of hurricane maria.

there is now a daily struggle to meet basic needs. these people queued for hours, as only a handful of petrol stations remained open on the island. this situation led to tension between those in line. it was a little agitated earlier. we almost had a fight at one of the pumps, but the police are here, they have got it together, so let's hope and pray we get the flow moving faster and people can get home before curfew. translation: some of us have been here since 9am, and we might still leave without any gasoline. it's a completely chaotic situation. i've never seen anything like it in puerto rico. and then there are people recycling empty milk cartons and bottles, desperately trying to stock up with water from a source by the side of the road. it's not known if this is even safe to drink. puerto rico's governor, ricardo rosselli, has said damage to the island's electricity grid was so severe that it could take

engineers many months to fully restore power to the island. sunita jaswal, bbc news. the two main party leaders in germany will make their final appeals to voters today before sunday's elections. chancellor angela merkel‘s centrist party have a clear lead in the polls. in what is now a familiar picture across europe, both mrs merkel and the social democratic leader, martin schulz, are urging voters to shun the anti—islam, anti—immigrant rhetoric of right—wing candidates that have gained support in the run—up to the election. 0ur correspondent damien mcguiness is in berlin. both candidates have been campaigning within their constituencies, anything in particular to report? well, their main point is that they are telling

voters to go to the polls tomorrow. that is because they feel the lower the turnout, the more chance that the turnout, the more chance that the new anti—migrant, and the islam afd party will have of getting a strong in bus seats tomorrow in the parliament. —— anti—islam afd party will have of getting. it is especially controversial in germany, because there are millions of german muslims, and some members of this party are also accused of having links to right—wing extremists, neo—nazi groups. what angela merkel, though, looks set to do, though, tomorrow is get a strong win. the party, as you say, is leading in the polls, as things stand, it looks like she will win a fourth term as chancellor. what we don't know is what our government will look like, what our government will look like, what sort of government she will end up what sort of government she will end up leading, because she has to

cobble together a coalition, and within that you have a number of different parties who have very different parties who have very different views on things like the eurozone or migration or the economy, and these are things that really affect the rest of europe. so the colour of the government that we end up with over the next few weeks during the coalition building will have a direct impact on europe and britain as well. how is it that the afd have been able to gain traction? what is it about the german mindset this time around? what has changed was, of course, the enormous number of refugees and migrants who came over the last few years. in the past two and years, 1.5 million asylum seekers have come to germany. in the main, they have been integrated well into german society, mainstream society accepts the need for germany to ta ke society accepts the need for germany to take in legitimate refugees. there is a debate about what to do with rejected asylum seekers, but there is a consensus in mainstream society. however, a good 10—20% is

not happy with that, and those people, many of them, are voting afd. they are seen as the anti—medical party, and that is because the mainstream bit of german society tends to support angela merkel‘s centrist policies, which reflect mainstream german society today, so some huddersfield the only way they can go is to the afd. —— some voters feel. if they get into double figures, it will be seen as a big coup for them. they won't get into government because angela merkel has ruled out forming a coalition with them, because frankly they are too controversial. but if they are too controversial. but if they get a lot of seats, they will have a big impact on politics in germany. all right, thank you very much. the royal shakespeare company is selling off more than 10,000 items of costume worn by its actors over the last 60 years. hollywood star and rsc veteran sir patrick stewart has been sharing some of his memories of wearing the costumes, as they go on sale

in stratford—upon—avon. hannah bayman reports. "clothes maketh the man," said william shakespeare, and these are the costumes that have made 60 years of his plays come to life. it makes me feel much more than sentimental, it's really quite emotional. there is so much history here. it's the biggest sale the company has ever had, and the money raised will go towards creating new costume workshops. there are more than 10,000 items to choose from, including armour, uniforms, shoes, jewellery, and more unusual period pieces. this whole section of rail is nothing but tuxedos. the funniest, most embarrassing costume incident i ever had was in my very, very first production. i was playing an entirely forgettable character

called sir walter blount, so i decided i would get the audience's attention sooner, it's called pulling focus, so one night i prepared myself, i threw open this steel door, ran on, and as i ran on, i slammed the door behind me, so everyone in the audience would know that patrick stewart as sir walter blount had entered. the great my cloak, unfortunately, caught in the door, caught in th the great e door, so as i moved towards the king, i was brought to a sudden halt. well, apart from distressing me, what it mostly did was amuse tony and ian, who both began laughing. you can imagine what that did to the audience, because they could see what had happened.