this is bbc news. the headlines at 5pm: iran says it has successfully tested a new ballistic missile with a range of up to 1,200 miles. labour leaderjeremy corbyn arrives in brighton ahead of the start of his party's conference. the french president, emmanuel macron, calls on the uk to provide more clarity about its negotiating position on brexit. uber only has itself to blame for losing its licence in london, according to the capital's mayor. over half a million people sign a petition calling for the decision to be reversed. also in half an hour, we'll bring you the best of all the day's sport. including ten—man tottenham's 3—2 win against west ham in their london derby. and celtic extend their unbeaten

domestic run 257 matches over archrival rangers. good afternoon and welcome to bbc news. iran has successfully tested a new ballistic missile with a range of up to 1,200 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. joining me now is michael clarke, senior associate fellow at the royal united services institute. we know this missile can carry several warheads. what else can you

tell us? it has a range of about 1,200 miles, so it means it is regionally relevance. it could reach israel, most of india, all of the middle east. not getting very near to europe or the us will stop the iranians say it is multiple warheads, so it can carry three or five warheads. it probably isn't capable of carrying nuclear warheads at the moment. we don't believe the iranians have been able to miniaturised and warheads warhead design is small enough, but in time they may be able to. this is a misfire which is not technically in violation of the iranians nuclear agreement of 2015, but it is close. sometime in the next five or ten yea rs, sometime in the next five or ten years, i suspect this missile might be able to carry nuclear warheads. iran says it is not carrying —— not breaking any rules, in accordance with the 2015 nuclear deal. how

often do around carry out these missile tests? in fairies, and it's not even clear this test has taken place today. it may have taken place and little while ago. there is some dispute. they have tested fairly consistently, because the world is getting worried about the iranians are listing nuclear missile programme. it is on hold in terms of making the nuclear warheads, on hold 110w making the nuclear warheads, on hold now for ten years, which is a good then. but the fact is that the missile development keeps on continuing, so it's not clear quite how close the iranians may be to putting a warhead on top of a missile. rex tillerson, us secretary of state, unseeded that were —— conceded that iran were abiding to the letter of the 2015 deal, but not fulfilling expectations. what did he mean? unions that the iranians are not honouring this areas of the deal, not demilitarise in their system. but on the other side, the iranians feel the deal isn't working

in their favour. they expect the release of sanctions to have bigger effects. the oil price is still very low, historically, so they're not getting as much as they expected out of being able to ship oil as they could not before. the deal isn't doing them as much good as they hoped. the hardliners in iran and in america are both saying, we are not sure this deal with delivering what we once. the europeans and other countries are saying, hold on, it is better to have this deal than not. i have to say that both in tehran and washington, there is a lot of scepticism from the hardline in both countries. that this deal is actually going somewhere. who were you referring to exactly and what are they not happy with? they're not happy with the fact that they feel the rainy and military development is being curtailed. the spirit of the deal is that the iranians have to give up more than they feel they

should have given up during the deal. rohani was re—elected this year with a decent source of power base, but the hardliners at the clerics and the iranians revolutionary guards, they take a much more militant view. rohani may struggle to hold on to his power base in the face of what those hardliners would really like to see, which is that they want to tweak american‘s pale as much as possible. thank you very much. theresa may must be clearer about what she wants from brexit his comments come after french president emanuel macron‘s statement that mr may must be clearer about what she wants from brexit before trade talks can begin. 0ur political correspondent, leila nathoo, has more. 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. a short while ago, i spoke to our political correspondent, susana mendonca, who said the prime minister's speech had left some of her backbenchers unhappy. we have got 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 a debate within cabinet about whether there should be a transitional deal, and this is theresa may saying we want two years, and that is something that has caused concern among backbenchers. some of them are not happy with the idea that we will not leave completely in march 2019, that we 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, 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 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 disunity. as david davis heads off for the next round of negotiating on monday, are we expecting to hear more of this detail being fleshed out? that is certainly what the eu wants, we heard from emmanuel macron today, saying that he wants to have more clarity, certainly on those three areas that the eu want 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 until 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 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 wants. 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". they're basically think tanks which could their professional assessment on the creditworthiness of a country, ie should money be meant to it and at what rate? it believes now

that britain is a tiny, tiny smidgen less cred itworthy that britain is a tiny, tiny smidgen less creditworthy than it was perhaps last year. it says the reason for that is due to a potential deterioration in the public finances as a result of brexit. it thinks that the money coming into the state conference will be slightly less than the government expects it will be, and the government going out to be that little bit more. basically it means that the public finances and the term of the deficit, which is the national overdraft, and the national debt, the big balloon of money we owe, could actually grow rather than shrink as it had hoped would be the case. the government flatly rejects this analysis by moody ‘s. it says it doesn't bear in mind the analysis given by the prime minister on friday's speech in florence. nor does it take into account the fact that the public finances have improved noticeably even in the last two days. the official number from

borrowing for august was the best in ten years. but it could be the case that markets can listen to moody ‘s, and asa that markets can listen to moody ‘s, and as a direct result britain might have to pay a tiny smidgen more to borrow money than it used to. police have fully reopened a stretch of the m3 in both directions after it was closed for a long period of today. drivers said the closure had brought "absolute chaos" between junctions 9 and 11 near winchester. our correspondent, briony leyland, sent us this update from the m3 a short while ago. the northbound carriageway has been open for some time. that misery from motorists is coming to an end, but the reason some progress. this all started just before 4am this morning when police said they were alerted toa when police said they were alerted to a potentially hazardous material on the roads, and the road was closed between the three junctions you have mentioned around winchester. they revealed very few details about what they found beyond

saying they have been working with the emergency services as well as on disposal experts. do we know when services on the motorway, the roads, will be fully opened again? the road is fully reopens, but it will take time for these tailbacks as delays to be freed. motorists have been complaining, some of them about the way the police have handled this, saying they should have been given one warning about the closures, highways and have appealed to people for patients. the police have been handing out water by the side of the roads, as some people had to get out and stretch their legs. it has been and stretch their legs. it has been an ordealfor and stretch their legs. it has been an ordeal for many with the road closed for nearly 12 hours. but in the next few hours things should be returning to normal. in a few minutes, we will have a round—up of the day's national and international news. first, the heavy rain that is continuing the authorities there have mobilised the national guard to help evacuate continuing 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. do you have enough food and water? 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 reach 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. good afternoon. iran says it's successfully tested a new ballistic missile, with a range of up to 1,200 miles. it comes just days after president trump attacked the country's weapons programme, in a speech at the united nations. here, the foreign secretary boris johnson, called on iran to end what he called "provocative acts". johnson, called on iran to end here's our diplomatic correspondent, caroline hawley. a correspondent, caroline hawley. show of powerfrt a correspondent, caroline hawley. show of power frt missile a show of power from tehran. missile launched as a message to the americans. this was statement television in iran broadcasting what it says was the successful test of the newly developed missile with a range of 2000 kilometres. the launch

camejust range of 2000 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 an historic nuclear deal painstakingly negotiated over many years. 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 does not contravene the nuclear agreement. the ukrainian president says his people are now waiting for an apology from mr trump. in defiance of mrtrump came apology from mr trump. in defiance of mr trump came this display on friday at which the new missile was proudly unveiled. translation: like

it or not, we will increase our deterrents and defence power in any form we deem necessary. in addition to upgrading the missile systems we will also strengthen our naval ground and air forces. iran's missile programme is in the hands of ha rd missile programme is in the hands of hard liners and pay it seems only being strengthened by the rhetoric from washington. this seems to be a much broader consensus on the need to develop the missile tests as a deterrent because they feel there might be an attack coming especially from the united states with regard to the possibility of regime change. no response from the americans so far to the latest iranian missile launch but there is 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 will not be pushed around. caroline hawley, bbc news. britain's biggest warship,

hms ocean, has arrived in the british virgin islands, to provide support for those affected by hurricanes irma and maria. there are now more than 2,000 uk military personnel working on the relief effort, making it the largest british deployment anywhere in the world. making it the largest british jeremy cooke reports. making it the largest british in making it the largest british to the disaster zone, i of in to the disaster zone, hms ocean of the british virgin islands, straight to work delivering aid where it is desperately needed. for the flight crews, a first look at this hurricane shattered landscape, almost every building damaged, widespread devastation. already ocea ns widespread devastation. already oceans landing craft a heading to the main island. the navy's working parties on the ground getting stuck in. hotand parties on the ground getting stuck in. hot and humid conditions, stinking stagnant water. welcome to the caribbean. on board ship there are 60 tonnes of essential cargo and

with nine helicopters, the means of delivery. we've arrived with a stack of building material, we've got timber, plumbing materials, hacksaws, chainsaws but importantly a lot of professional personnel who are highly skilled in humanitarian assistance and disaster relief. and urgent mission. the flight deck has been open for business since the moment hms ocean arrived, she has been steaming at full speed for two weeks, everyone on board now ready to go to work. the priority is to improve shelter. everyone knows the hurricane season is not over yet. of course it is notjust about the british aid effort here. the scale of destruction across these islands is so immense, to get things better will take a superhuman effort by the islanders themselves. they are getting on with the task but they know it will take months or years to get thisjob done. know it will take months or years to

get this job done. most here are delighted that hms ocean has arrived but they also note there must be self—help. but they also note there must be self-help. we don't sit back and relax. when things happen, we act. we get straight to it. as you can see, after a hurricane we go straight to work. we don't wait for help, we start things ourselves. those leading the uk mission save the arrival of hms ocean is a game changing. the relief effort will gain pace but for these islands to recover will be a greater task still and they will look to the uk for long—term strategic support. jeremy cooke, bbc news, on the british virgin islands. there's been another earthquake in mexico, four days after a massive quake killed nearly three hundred people. the us geological survey said it had struck around 12 miles south of the town of matios romero in the state of oaxaca. no casualties have been reported so far as a result of the latest tremors. reported so far as a result

germany's reported so far as a result foreign minister has described germany's foreign minister has described the speech by theresa may on brexiteers appointing. she laid out plans to keep paying into the eu budget for two years but the minister has accused of offering no concrete details on how britain wa nts to concrete details on how britain wants to stretch its exit from the european union. the labour leaderjeremy corbyn says grassroots supporters will dominate this year's party conference, as delegates gather in brighton. conference, as delegates it means some shadow cabinet members and labour mayors won't get the chance to speak from the main stage. our deputy political editor, john pienaar reports. you john pienaar reports. would almost think he had wi the you would almost think he had won the election. jeremy corbyn has got used to be hero treatment, his devoted followers now dominate labour from the top down and the grassroots up. all convinced power is within reach. for the many, not the few. at labour's women's

conference, wherever he went no one doubted he might have reached downing street injune, only time ran out. thousands of women took to the streets over six long weeks of ourcampaign in the the streets over six long weeks of our campaign in the general election. between you and me i wish it had been a bit longer! i would have thought another week or two would have served us very well or two. the leader's plan is to give the grassroots, many of them members of the pro—corbyn group momentum more power and more of a say. they will get more time to speak at the conference, in feature more say in policy making and maybe more power to choose the next leader. doubters have been won over, the faithful have been won over, the faithful have never been happier. it is really about grassroots policies and really about grassroots policies and real change, not just trying really about grassroots policies and real change, notjust trying to be tory — light. real change, notjust trying to be tory - light. politically have you got the socialist party you always wa nted got the socialist party you always wanted absolutely so. for every leader you can't automatically be convinced of everything he says but

there is sufficient there to help me back. you finally convinced about jeremy corbyn. i am. the man that they calljezza is calling the shots, what a surprise, he swatted away a challenge and is now unassailable and at conference he has cut speaking time allowed to 1's critical labour mayors. am sorry to tell you it is a conference for everyone, the largest labour conference there's ever been, we've tried to rebalance the speaking arrangements so there are fewer and shorter speakers, and many more speeches from the floor. the ones once attacked as troublemakers are in charge. some still worry if labour will sink or swim under mr corbyn but his loyal followers can sit back and enjoy their power in the party, more than the other expected. there expected. will be arguments in brighton this there will be arguments in brighton this week, the tories are not the

only party divided over europe but i have been to more labour conferences than i can remember and i never expected to see one like this. jeremy corbyn's many enemies inside his party and outside used to laugh at the idea of a pure driven socialist like him becoming a serious contenderfor socialist like him becoming a serious contender for aleem. they are not laughing now. john, thank you. that's it. you. there's more throughout the evening on the bbc news channel, and i'll be back with the late news at five past ten.now on bbc1, its time for the news where you are. at five past ten.now on bbc1, bye for now. at five past ten.now on bbc1, welcome to bbc london news. i'm alice bhandhukravi. there have been calls for a change in the law following a string of illegal flytipping dumps by travellers on empty sites across london. by travellers on empty a team of met police

officers and council workers secured the latest eviction officers and council workers late last night in north london. officers and council workers but the perpetrators have not been prosecuted. pretty much from the word go. for the second half of the weekend, west and east divide. these give scotland's, internet was starting off dry and sunny and probably staying like that most. and weather france slowly pushes its way eased rates and brings some rain, some of its heavy in south—west. ahead of it we can see 21, 22 degrees. some of the rain turning happier to the south—west. it will be fairly light and patchy to north—west england and much of western scotland and northern ireland. a different deal with the cloud and rain around at around 1a to 16 degrees. by the end

of sunday, and will weather france will gradually start to push its way inland. it is not really going to make its way across to easterly winds. here it will stay dry tree sunday night and into monday. behind it with quite a lot of moisture and light winds, we will see some fog forming potentially some dense fog. we will need to keep an eye on that first thing monday morning. monday sta rts first thing monday morning. monday starts with our weather fronts— country into. it weakens, and an easterly breeze drives that weather front back to the west are little. the team is 20 degrees in the sunshine. huxley and improving picture in northern ireland. as we move out of monday into the early half of the week in general, we see this high really just half of the week in general, we see this high reallyjust driving the weather story and preventing frontal systems from making too much of an impression from the west. for the next few days, patchy rain slowly easing away and then largely dry and warm. we could have an issue with summarily morning fog. this is bbc news.

the headlines... iran says it has successfully tested a new ballistic missile with a range of up to 1200 miles. the labour leaderjeremy corbyn arrives for this year's party conference, saying it will be the largest ever staged. the french president — emmanuel macron — says the uk must provide more clarity about its negotiating position on brexit. sadiq khan defends transport for london's decision not to renew the licence for the taxi app uber as over half a million people sign a petition calling for it to be reversed. the two main party leaders in germany are squaring up. we will have more on the general election

later on bbc news. meantime, let us catch up with the sport. hello. we have plenty to get through but we have to start with manchester city. here in england — manchester city put five past struggling crystal palace at the etihad to stay top of the premier league table. leroy sane scored their first just before the break — and city were rampant inthe second half. raheem sterling scored two. sergio aguero claimed their fourth, to move within one of levelling the club's goalscoring record. and finally substitute fabian delph with a screamer for their 5th. palace — remain the only side in europe's top five leagues yet to score this season. it was difficult because they stayed really deep and we had some chances but the last pass was often missing. after that we scored 1—0 before half—time and that was good for us. they won 1—0 at southampton thanks to a goal from their belgian

striker romelu lu ka ku. they are level on points with city at the top of the table. we are in second place and unbeaten. the way that we attack is something that i know already. it is something we have been doing since the beginning of the season. we defended against a team that had a go at us against a team that had a go at us against another team that tried everything to win the game. i am really ha p py everything to win the game. i am really happy with the spirit. chelsea were comfortable winners beating stoke city 4—0 with an excellent hat—trick from morata. they have extended their winning away record and stay in touch with the two manchester clubs at the top of the table. everton came from behind to beat bournemouth 2—1, two goals coming from the substitute.

george king gave bournemouth the lead shortly before the break and bournemouth remain in the bottom three. this is a totally different world after winning and you always have some key moments during the season and today was really a big victory and i think it will give eve ryo ne victory and i think it will give everyone a boost and what we needed at this time. harry kane scored twice as tottenham beat west ham 3—2, despite being down to ten men. christian eriksen scored the third goal and is the highest scoring game in premier league history. the london stadium, once the olympic stadium, it's a place of happy memories for many but not tottenham. they had lost the only match the and for 30 minutes were subdued. then they sprang to life. christian eriksen the dele alli and inevitably harry kane, 1—0. he is ingrained in the minds of the offenders everywhere and still managed to be a heady menace. he is dangerous even

when the great is obvious. his free kick left west ham powerless and they were observers when eriksson who took a lot out of the occasion. they had indeed was too straightforward for these games, and eastenders like plot twist happened after all. javier hernandez gave west ham hope before christian eriksen made it 3—1. but the cotton full—back was sent off late in the game. -- tottenham full-back. we have to try to win every game. our home form has not been great this year. we have got to try and pick up the points away from home and another away game next week. we have to continue on this front. here are all of the results this

afternoon. there was a 90th minute goal that gave watford a 2—1victory over swa nsea goal that gave watford a 2—1victory over swansea city. begin in leicester city and liverpool has just kicked off at the king power stadium, five minutes gone there and it remains goalless. at the top of the table, manchester city on goal difference at the top ahead of manchester united. chelsea and totte n ha m manchester united. chelsea and tottenham making sure that they remain in touch with the victories but the top of the table looking very interesting half of the first five or six matches of the season. celtic increased their lead at the top of the scottish premiership and extended their unbeaten run of domestic games to 57 with victory or rangers. the old firm derby victory means that celtic goal five clear at the top. chris mclaughlin reports. into a cauldron of noise and colour,

celtic swaggered, all the confidence ofa celtic swaggered, all the confidence of a side unbeaten domestically and 56 matches. they almost scored 1056 seconds. any mach one tackles are known to fly, the managers not see. no foul given or penalty for this clash either. no goals in the first half but minutes after the interval, it was no more than what celtic deserved for their dominance. the rangers boss pedro caixinha was less than impressed with his poor defence. the once it had the odd glimpse on goal but having concede only three this season, celtic remainfirm. only three this season, celtic remain firm. just after 30 minutes it was 2—0. leigh griffiths doing what he does best. it played out as many rejected but those in green and white simply loved it. they were a different level than rangers. rangers probably got into the game

in small bursts, ten minutes in the first half and in the second half after celtic had scored but a few goals victory at ibrox, any day you will take that. the invincible is once again looking unstoppable. there were also victories for hibernian, stjohnstone, while come on itand hibernian, stjohnstone, while come on it and dundee ended in a draw. partick thistle currently have a 1—0 lead against heart of midlothian. in cycling, there was an upset. hannah barnes was the highest placed british rider. many were settling

for second place, for me to be up there with the best, yes, i stood up andi there with the best, yes, i stood up and i started to sprout but i had nothing left. i cannot really be too disappointed with that. i couldn't praise them enough, evelyn stepped up the game and that is so valuable moving forwards, going into a world championships next time. we have numbers, the dutch had the numbers today and the won the bike race. but we are catching them up. in the premiership, rugby union, leicester tigers have their second win of the season thanks to a chaotic 31—28 victory at harlequins. having lost both of their opening matches, they are building momentum. harlequins lost just twice are building momentum. harlequins lostjust twice in the entirety of last season, but one of those defeats was against leicester. inside the first ten minutes in the away side were inside enemy

territory. after going to the t" for scored. as the dust settled, the defence were caught napping, danny ca re defence were caught napping, danny care week week to the opportunity given the tigris because nights. and with that, the screw was turned, mat luamanu with time and space. harlequins firmly in control. but this game was far from over, jonny may rarely loses e—fit race and on this occasion it was only going to be one winner. the crowd fired up and so too did harlequin there's when great abatement, the shuker, went over. another twist, more defensive frailty, the pendulum shifted for the home side. george ford had the chance to win it with this kick. it could still be the season's first act but this drama will take some beating. in the other games, newcastle pulled offa in the other games, newcastle pulled off a victory by one point at bat at the wrecked. saracens ran a 111—13 winners against sale sharks. into

14, winners against sale sharks. into 1a, cardiff blues beat connacht 17-15. the 1a, cardiff blues beat connacht 17—15. the other matches are later this evening. rugby league and wouldn't it with hopes of reaching the super league semifinal were ended by wakefield. the warriors lost 32 — 0 ended by wakefield. the warriors lost 32—0 in what will be the final game of the season. five tries for wakefield were shared amongst the site. keegan hirst with the final one. catalan dragons play witness at the moment, it is 2—0 to the french side midway through the first half. the winner of that secures a place in next year's super league. britain could have another boxing world champion tonight. the cousin of tyson fury, hughie fury is aiming to get the heavyweight belt. his opponent as the undefeated new zealanderjoseph parker. fury, also unbeaten is only 23 years old but has had numerous injuries and illnesses. this is the moment he has to drop since the age of ten.

illnesses. this is the moment he has to drop since the age of tenlj illnesses. this is the moment he has to drop since the age of ten. i have been preparing for this moment my whole life. this is what i have a lwa ys whole life. this is what i have always wanted since i was a young child. watching world champions as a young kid, it has been a long—time coming for. i am more than ready for it. you can listen to that on five live this evening. i will have more at 6:30pm on sportsday. thank you. the two main party leaders in germany will make their final appeals to voters today before sunday's elections. the 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. earlier i spoke to our correspondent damian mcguinness in berlin, who said both mrs merkel and mr schulz were hoping to encourage a high turnout. 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 new anti—migrant, anti—islam afd party will have of getting a strong number of seats tomorrow in the parliament. 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 her government will look like, 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 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 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—merkel 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, some voters feel the only way they can go is to the afd. 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 get a lot of seats, they will have a big impact on politics in germany. 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. 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. my cloak, unfortunately, caught in the great 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. it was a horrendous moment for me in my first role in my first play with the rsc, but when i came in the next day, there was someone from the wardrobe waiting for me, and they said, "we heard about what happened last

night, and we're very sorry, but we understand why you did it, and we have taken your cloak and made it much shorter so it won't happen again." that's the kind of people you work with in the wardrobe department of the royal shakespeare company. if, around the world, fans of the rsc knew this was happening, they would flock here just to take a little piece of history away with them. and my wife has yet found more garments to wear. what am i going to do? put my hand in my pocket, i suppose. prices start atjust £1 — so pretty affordable to make all the world your stage. hannah bayman, bbc news. now it's time for meet the author. the english civil war, and a country governed by rivalry

and suspicion, by turmoil. in frances hardinge's novel a skinful of shadows we are led into that dark maze by a young girl who carries a special burden. spirits, ghosts, who have taken refuge inside her. this is historical fantasy on a grand scale. a child flees persecution. she gathers a crew of protectors, encounters a strangely interesting dead bear and deals with a fear that we can all too well imagine. welcome. well, let's start with that time in england in the 17th century, the civil war. because it's at the heart of the book, the turmoil. you're obviously drawn to it. it obviously excites you. very much so. i'm always fascinated by historical

time periods that are times of aftermath or transition or revolution, whether it's a little revolution like this particular time period or a revolution of the mind, a cultural shaking up of everything. and, basically, in the case of the civil war, it was all those things. a lot of people at the time felt that their entire world was falling apart. there's lots of people talking about the world turned upside down. and quite a few people who thought the world was actually ending. there's a lot of people who were preparing for the literal biblical end times. and into that world you insert this wonderful psychological drama, really, of ghosts that live in the heads of various people. particularly in this family. just set the scene for us, with a young girl who wants to get rid of a spirit which has lodged, escaping in her head. well, my pooryoung protagonist, i'm

not very nice to my protagonists... she's the illegitimate daughter of a certain, rather sinister aristocratic family. yes, not very nice. no. she's inherited a gift or possibly curse depending on your point of view, in that she has a space inside her in which ghosts can take refuge. and first get an inkling of this when ghosts start giving her terrible nightmares by trying to claw their way into her head. and because of this gift, the family has plans for her, but at the point where she is finally adopted by this family she has another ally of her own, another ghost who's not exactly human. it's a classic tale of a child in a sense trying to escape but also trying to find herself. you must have felt yourself very close to her when you were writing this story. all my characters are partly me and in some respects not me.

which is just as well, since a lot of my characters are murderers. it would be unpleasant if they were. absolutely. basically, if i was all my characters i probably shouldn't be allowed out. i do feel close to a lot of my protagonists, particularly those who are quiet and not exactly what they seem. i was a very shy little girl. you must have been a little girl with a very vivid imagination, though. this stuff doesn't just make itself up. i mean, you clearly were somebody who, i would guess, dreamed a lot of exotic adventures and places you hadn't seen, of strange characters. dead bears pop—up in this! a cast of characters that accompany her on her sort of quest for herself, that tells us something about your mind, i think, as a young person, doesn't it? yes. i was already weird when i was young. and, yes, i was very

much a daydreamer. it helped that i grew up surrounded by books. my parents actually met each other working in the same bookshop. so i was always surrounded by stories and very much encouraged. both of my parents read to us. i also had a rather wonderful younger sister. i still do have. but we played elaborate, imaginary games together. we built interconnected worlds and played out whole storylines. well, interconnected worlds is really what this book is about, isn't it? worlds living side by side. yes. obviously, the time of the civil war is a very divided time and people's perception of reality is wildly divided, in a way that is actually slightly more familiar these days than i necessarily thought it was going to be when i started writing the book. because you could say that we live in a world turned upside down right now. i think a lot of people are feeling it that way. and certainly when i was reading about the civil war, a lot of it was eerily familiar. i mean, even now you're getting the sense of people perceiving the very same events very

differently, depending on which news channel they watch. fake news. absolutely. and back in those times it would be which tracts you read, which church you went to, which minister you were listening to. well, indeed. and whether you're attending an illegal mass where the priest went back into the priest's hole into the mansion house where he could hide. and the suspicion, like all societies that are gripped by some political passion, whether it is a totalitarian society or one with religious persecution, it's a very dangerous place to be because you don't know whom you can trust. absolutely. the world does split in surprisingly deep chasms and weird zigzags when something like that happens. sometimes you'll get entire families that are sliced neatly in half. the protagonist in this book is in a position where she is going to be able to shape her own world. there's so much chaos, so much confusion, and we've got the whole business of ghosts

and everything, not quite sure how to cope with that. she's going to be making her own place. it's a very powerful idea, isn't it? in fiction. yes. it's partly a quality of the heroine herself. as you say. also partly a quality of the times. on the one hand you have this chaos which is impacting a lot of people and damaging their lives and triggering off thousands of individual tragedies, many of which are never going to be recorded. but at the same time, there are also openings, the overturning of the usual rules means that there is scope for people who would usually be trapped within a particular station, within a particular set of expectations, to branch out. so, if you are, as you described yourself, slightly weird as a youngster, with powerful urges and so on, it's quite a good time to be around, isn't it? it's a difficult time, the dangerous time, but a time full of possibilities. and you actually notice that

if you look at the civil war in terms of opportunities that were grabbed by women. and that's what fiction does, it opens up possibilities of different things happening, and the reason we're interested in a good story, especially with a young, innocent girl, relatively speaking, is that we don't know which road in the end she's going to take or which road she will be doomed to take. yes. and i try not to flag up the direction my plot‘s going. séf‘séxfifeseafiizngi ~ — a , , , . through the book i fall

catastrophically out of love with it. how do you get back into love with it? i usually don't until it's published. and then? if i can see some signs that some people unrelated to me or my publishing company, not personal friends, anything like that, show some signs of actually liking it, particularly if it's a child. that's enough. then, it'sjustified its existence. frances hardinge, author of a skinful of shadows, thank you very much. thank you. hello. some of us have had some of

this today, blue skies, sunshine and warmth, but there has been a lot of cloud around, particularly across the south and west of scotland and england as you can see from this weather watcher picture in stirling. a beautiful afternoon in kent. you are likely to have seen the warmest place with around 20 degrees, but we are potentially going to see 20 degrees in the south—east as well. so, not too bad for some. the cloud is thickening towards the west, a weather front arriving tonight. that will continue to bring in outbreaks of light and patchy rain. there is a lot of low cloud and mist and murk across the west. further east, north is cold a start on sunday morning but some decent belts of sun here from the word go. the second half of the weekend, the west and east divide. the east of scotland and england starting off dry and sunny and it will remain for most. a weather front pushes slowly eastwards and bring some rain, some

heavyin eastwards and bring some rain, some heavy in the south—west. the head of that, we could see 21, 2 degrees. some of the ringtone is heavy for the south—west and wales by the end of the day, could be light and patchy for north—west england and much of west of scotland and northern ireland. a different feel with the cloud and the rain around, 14 with the cloud and the rain around, 1a up to 16 degrees, the overall high. by the end of sunday, a weather front starts to push inland but it is not going to make its way across the east of england. it will remain dry hair, notjust through sunday night but into monday. behind that moisture and light winds and we will see fog forming potentially, some could be dense. we will keep an eye on that first thing monday morning. monday begins with our weather front slicing the country in two. it weakens and an easterly breeze dries it back to the west. 15, up to 20 degrees in the sunshine winds the fog lifts. hopefully an improvement picture for northern ireland. out of money into the early

half of the week, this area of high pressure drives the weather and prevents frontal systems making too much of an impression. the next few days, ladies of rain will start. we could have some early morning fog. this is bbc news. the headlines at 6pm: iran says it has successfully tested a new ballistic missile with a range

of up to 1200 miles. labour leaderjeremy corbyn arrives in brighton ahead of the start of his party's conference. the london mayor says uber only has itself to blame to losing its licence in the capital. more than half a million people have signed a petition against the decision. the french president, emanuel macron, calls on the uk to provide more clarity about its negotiating position on brexit. in the next hour, help arrives in the caribbean.