good afternoon. there are renewed fears for the future of jobs at the bombardier aerospace factory in belfast — after us government announced a further increase in tariffs on planes made by the company. the united states claims bombardier has received unfair financial support from the uk and canada — where the planes are assembled. our business correspondent, joe lynam reports. bombardier and its predecessor, shorts have been at the heart of the manufacturing economy in belfast for decades. 4,000 skilled workers make hi—tech composite wings in a province that does not have many of those jobs. 0ver province that does not have many of those jobs. over the fortnight, american tariffs have placed a question mark over their future. american tariffs have placed a question mark over theirfuture. in a new blow, the us commerce department slapped a further 80% tariff on bombardier mraerngs meaning its largest aircraft could face import duties of up to 300% in

america. looms large over the workers and it is time for the british government to step up for the british workers. we see that the british government are being bullied. the eu must step in as they are being bullied too. it must stop and stop now. this is the plane that the americans object to, the c series, wings made and sent from belfast. but the americans claim it received $1 billion in subsidies from the canadians that allow it is to undercut bowing in bidding for contracts. this puts theresa may in a bind. he pact with the dup keeps her in power and the bombardier factory is dup heartland. . aerospace and aviation are at the forefront of globalisation. we have no tariffs on product anywhere in the world. we have an international regulatory regime which works well.

these measures threaten competition and innovation and it is bad news for the consumers wherever they are. but she knows that boeing 777 employs nearly 19,000 elsewhere in the uk and is building a factory in sheffield. these 300% tariffs are recommendations by one branch of the us government. if there is no solution, they will come into force in february. in that time, the nails of thousands of workers and trade negotiators on both sides of the atla ntic negotiators on both sides of the atlantic will be bitten down to the quick. rallies are taking place across spain as tensions continue over catalonia's bid for independence. in madrid tens of thousands of people are showing their support for spanish unity. and across the country campaigners calling for dialogue between madrid and barcelona gathered at town halls under the slogan, "spain is better than its leaders". gavin lee reports. madrid, this morning. tens of

thousands of people, responding to the spanish government's call to ta ke to the spanish government's call to take to the streets and show support to try to keep their country together. three days from an expected announcement by the catalan government to separate the region. this is barcelona, protests of a different kind. dressed in white, thousands who call themselves the silent majority, feeling caught in the middle and scared of what comes next. the movement was born by social media, under the hashtag, less talk. iam here, personally, as i less talk. i am here, personally, as i feel we need a dialogue. politicians have not been doing theirjob really well. our sole objective is that people and above all, politicians talk to each other. we are seen for too long this confrontation between both sides and we think that now the people must show that we want dialogue. the same on the streets of alicante too, and elsewhere, the movement

shows a wider sense of the frays but while there is no sign of dialogue between the spanish and the catalan governments there are sides that those on both sides could be willing to soften their position. now what we are seeing right now t is, in madrid, where a lot of people, vocal, people shouting with slogans calling for a prison term for the catalan president, and i think where we are, stepping back from this, we know that there are 24 hours extra delaying the moment that the catalan president will stand up in parliament to say that they could break up. but the language, and how to do that, there are talks of restraint but no sign of talk between the two but a sign there is a pause and maybe people here believe that they could make their feelings clear and slow things down even more. feelings clear and slow things down even more. us states in the gulf of mexico have placed on a state of emergency as hurricane nate heads towards them.

nate killed at least 24 people as it passed through nicaragua, costa rica and honduras as a tropical storm. louisiana, mississippi, alabama and parts of florida are all potentially in its path. the scottish conservative leader ruth davidson is the latest senior conservative politician to voice her support for theresa may following the prime minister's conference speech. ms davidson told the bbc that the pm's critics should "put up" and "shut up". it follows claims by the former party chairman grant shapps that about 30 tory mps backed his call for a leadership contest. money pledged to improving tower block safety following the grenfell disaster isn't being released by the government. that's according to some councils in england and wales, who claim ministers are rejecting requests for refurbishments because they're deemed to be non—essential. angus crawford reports. it was a fire no—one thought possible. flames engulfing the

building, spreading through the cladding, in minutes. raising urgent questions about who ca ns a cross raising urgent questions about who cans across the uk. safety tests showed more than 100 were not safe. some residents had to be evacuated, leaving them fearful, confused and frustrated. just four miles from grenfell tower, towers needing millions of pounds of work, removing cladding, fitting sprinklers. the responsibility has been kicked on to the councils, having to raid money from the tenants' rents in order to provide for the fire safety works. nothing is coming from government. that means that fewer affordable homes will be built and residents are dealing with poorer repairs for the next 20 to 30 years. the local government secretary, sajid javid, was one of the first ministers to visit grenfell tower and promised action.

we will take the expert advice, whatever it takes to make the buildings safe and the people safe. whatever it takes. we must be led by experts but no short cuts to this. but today, the government said that building owners were responsible and urged councils to come forward with funding concerns. it was a national tragedy but who 110w it was a national tragedy but who now will pay to make sure it never happens again? angus crawford, bbc news. angus crawford, bbc news. with all the sport. here's mike bushell at the bbc sport centre. good afternoon. lewis hamilton said the suzuka track was "mind—blowing" in his mercedes, after dominating qualifying for tomorrow's japanese grand prix. the championship leader broke the track record three times to take his 71st pole position, but his first at suzuka. his team—mate valtteri bottas was second quickest, but he was penalised for a gearbox change, so it's title—rival sebastian vettel who'll line up

alongside the briton for tomorrow's race, with hamilton brimming with confidence now. i never ever really got a great balance in the past. so i never did great in qualifying. so to finally get the balance behind me with the great work from the engineers and the timing from the mechanics, was great to get on time. the car is crazy. i wish you could feel it. i wish you could feel it. it's approaching half—time in the women's super league match between chelsea and liverpool in kingston. and chelsea, the league leaders, have continued their great goal—scoring form at home. they have the lead, through this cracking finish from the norway captain. liverpool were looking to go level on points at the top of the table with a win, but it's going chelsea's way so far. it's the biggest night in the rugby league calendar, as leeds take on castleford in the super league grand final. leeds have won it seven times and they've returned to form this season.

but the final is all new for castleford — although they have man of steel luke gayle in their team and they've enjoyed a brilliant season, finishing top of the league for the first time, in 91 years. she's won two 0lympic silver medals in the pool but now, jazz carlin is taking up open—water swimming as well, and could compete in both at tokyo 2020. she missed this summer's world championships, due to post—0lympic fatigue. but she'll make her 10 kilometre debut next week. carlin has been speaking exclusively to bbc 0lympic sports reporter nick hope. afamiliar a familiarface afamiliarface in a familiarface in an unfamiliar place. so this is the hardest bit, jazz, yeah? yeah. jazz carolyn ove rca m e jazz, yeah? yeah. jazz carolyn overcame glandular fever and missing london 2012 to return with two 0lympic medals in 2016. this could

be her biggest challenge to date. people give me a strange look when i tell them i'm doing open water races. they are like, really, sure? but it's exciting, new, i want to test myself and see what i can do. how much did you need the new challenge, did you think, going forward after what you achieved in rio? i could not expect how hard it would be after rio. people talk about the olympic blue but until you are there, you don't understand it. ididn't are there, you don't understand it. i didn't feel i had purpose. i had been to the olympics, what was next? my been to the olympics, what was next? my body was saying "no", i needed rest for the championships, it was tough sitting out but definitely the right decision. i feel like tough sitting out but definitely the right decision. ifeel like i have my spark back. whilst we are seeing more ofjazz carolyn, over the years, she is not finished as a pool swimmer. come 2020, she will try to target both

disciplines and try to make history. no female has every won medals in the swimming pool and the open water. in the same 0lympics! you have the two 0lympic silver, do you dream about the gold, still? yeah! 0bviously i'm happy with two silver but it's tokyo, why not go for gold, eh? carolyn has consistencely conquered challenges that have come her way and is determined to succeed in all forms of swimming. good luck to her good luck that's all the sport for now. i'll have more for you in the next hour. this is bbc news with sean ley. as we've been hearing, thousands of people are gathering in madrid for a rally in favour

of remaining a unified spain. opponents of catalonia's push for independence have called for demonstrations to be held in several spanish cities, including barcelona. so how likely will a declaration of independence be? earlier i spoke to professor jose rodriguez mora, who's in favour of catalans remaining part of spain. and also meritxell puerto—marquez, who's voted for independence. she began by telling me why she and so many others are so desperate for a change. we needed the change since 2006, when the previous government presented this, where we were asking for more autonomy. the last we could ta ke for more autonomy. the last we could take was this. to be honest, as i

see this scenario, i would prefer dialogue and prefer the catalan government as spanish would talk to each other but with catalan people taking something from this. this question of money is important. catalonia is probably the wealthiest region of spain. it is not. catalonia and the basque country, yes. in terms of the perception, we could have that debate, but in terms of perception, the feeling in catalonia that they put in more money than they are getting out. the basque country has a deal with central government on finances, could something similar be offered to catalonia? constitutionally, they would have to change. independence is possible but you have to change the constitution. it is possible to

change the constitution. are they doing these things because of money? of course not. of course not. this is only about identity. during the la st is only about identity. during the last ten, 15 years, the catalan government has driven for identity politics partly because some people feel that way. it is a drive of identity politics. a set of people in society, around one third of the population, they feel they are catalan and not spanish. they have a demeaning attitude to the spanish. the rest of the population do not ca re the rest of the population do not care too much. how do you feel

towards spain, is it about your identity, and do you worry perhaps you are being used? since a year ago, idid you are being used? since a year ago, i did not support it. i always felt catalan. and ifelt ago, i did not support it. i always felt catalan. and i felt also spanish. catalan people, they do not feel better or worse than the rest of spanish people. we share a language. i think the reason why this has happened is notjust identity, which is important, but also economic reasons. the first thing we were asking for, and we we re thing we were asking for, and we were not as smart as the basque people when the constitution was signed, is that we do not have the same way to manage oui’ signed, is that we do not have the same way to manage our money as the basque country. i'm sorry to

interrupt, do you think if something similar was possible for catalan, it might dissipate the demand for independence? i hope so, yes, probably it will help. independence? i hope so, yes, probably it will helplj independence? i hope so, yes, probably it will help. i am absolutely sure. in the basque country, it has not stopped nationalism. 0f country, it has not stopped nationalism. of course not. catalonia is richer than the average is spain. it is not ridiculously rich. it is true, it is richer than the average. it is true there is a net transfer to the rest of spain. in the context of international countries, how others do it, we think of spain, catalonia is not the one who pays more. madrid pays

substantially more. i'm sorry, time is against us. do you think that catalonia will remain part of spain? i think. i think it is the most likely thing. the situation will be extremely ugly over the course...|j can see you are distressed by this. do you think catalonia will remain pa rt do you think catalonia will remain part of spain? i do not know. i do not know what will happen. we need someone not know what will happen. we need someone to mediate between the spanish government and catalan. someone to mediate between the spanish government and catalanlj could not tell you now. a flavour of the debate going to be continuing throughout this week if not longer as preparations are under way for the meeting on tuesday. as we've been hearing, the business department says it's disappointed the us intends

to impose further tariffs on imports of new planes made by bombardier — one of northern ireland's biggest employers. the us claims bombardier received unfair financial support from britain and canada. with me is paul everitt, chief executive of the ads group — the trade organisation that represents aerospace, defence, security and space sectors in the uk. good to have you here. we saw you earlier in the report talking about the concerns this raises. what is going on when you have a government imposing punitive tariffs, on a company that is a key employer for one of its key allies? it is a difficult situation and one we would rather not face. as i said in a report. traditionally, aerospace and aviation have been global players and we have not had tariffs all we have negotiated them early in the post—war period. 0ur regulation is

international. that has been good for industry and for the global economy. this kind of protectionist measures are not good. this is an american system. in truth, it was never designed for this type of transaction. they were predominantly focused around what they would call anti—dumping measures. more household goods, farm goods. it is worrying. the reality unfortunately, the only way it will be resolved is by the us, uk and canadian governments coming together and working intensively with the companies to find a sensible resolution. it is complicated not least because while boeing is an american company and whilst bombardier may be a canadian company with employees in northern ireland,

it uses american parts and supplies in the manufacture of the plane. until you remember donald trump came to the white house saying he would put america first. he is doing what he said he would do. the dispute was lodged by boeing and it is the us government that is making the determination. as an extra layer of complexity. to your point, the aerospace industry has always been global and strategic and always the national governments come together to sort out issues and that is what has to happen. theresa may said she tried lobbying and justin trudeau the canadian prime minister said he had tried the message from washington is this is not for us to get involved in and as far as we are concerned boeing is right in its criticism. presumably your argument is boeing receives as much financial support as a company as bombardier

from its government. the risks associated with design and development and certification of a new aircraft are substantial which is why there are not many new aircraft and the large aircrafts, it is effectively a duopoly with boeing and airbus. a new player and product, the introduction, which is what bombardier are doing, from a competition point of view would be good. but not if you are boeing. that is the challenge. there is an issue for the us about the us consumer and us airlines, because they are being denied the opportunity to have a product that would be more fuel efficient, more practical and modern. than some of the other products on the market. there is a competition and innovation point that is probably bigger and has global implications. the final point from a domestic

point of view, we are heading into brexit, and there are people in the uk who say it will be the two strike free trade deals. the reality is that the global marketplace is hard and competition is fierce. we have been fortunate over the last 40 yea rs been fortunate over the last 40 years that we have been sheltered to a degree within the european union and its single market. this should bea and its single market. this should be a wake—up call for people who think it will be the over the course of the next five, ten years, outside the eu. thank you very much. ryanair‘s chief operations officer is to resign at the end of the month, following mistakes over pilot rotas that led to the cancellation of more then 20,000 flights. michael hickey worked at the airline for 30 years and was responsible

for the scheduling of pilots' shifts. he's the first executive to leave in the wake of the flight cancellations which have affected more than 700,000 passengers. travel firms often aren't giving consumers accurate information about whether their holidays are protected, new research suggests. the atol scheme means people won't lose money or become stranded abroad if their provider collapses. the consumer group which? made dozens of calls to eight travel firms including british airways and thomas cook. they found in eight out of ten cases, staff couldn't confirm whether customers were atol—protected, while others exaggerated the extent of the cover. concerns are growing for the world's donkey population because of a demand for their skins in china, where they're used in traditional medicine. british charity the donkey sanctuary is leading an international campaign to halt the trade in donkey skins and meat until it can be properly regulated. africa is being particularly badly hit as the animals are vitally important for poorer communities. alastair leithead reports from kenya. across africa, donkeys are working animals. this is a common sight

in the continent, but their future is in jeopardy. carlos makes a living delivering water, earning just £3 to e4 on a good day. but now he has to rent a donkey, after his was stolen and killed for its skin. that is more than half his income. he's upset talking about the animal he looked after and worked with for four years and now it is affecting his family. translation: it is a big difference to me now. i don't have enough money. i have not paid my rent. and i have people who depend on me. donkeys are an important part of the economy, in poorer neighbourhoods particularly. here are filling up as water trucks when there is no mains supply. dropping off concrete for building works and sometimes acting as removal vans. the price of the donkey has doubled in two years, because they are in demand.

this is one of kenya's three donkey abattoirs. brought in from across the country, they are sold by weight. chinese buyers monitor the process. that is where the skins are heading, once they are salted and dried. donkey meat is popular in china and that is exported, too. so many people benefit from the donkey today. we are happy with the chinese country. because before, there was nothing coming out of the donkey. this is the finished product. health foods and medicine containing gelatin made from boiled donkey skins. china is running out of donkeys so suppliers are looking elsewhere. the donkey sanctuary in devon has led the international campaign to have the trade stopped. this is the biggest crisis donkeys have ever faced. we are talking about millions

of animals and about suffering on a scale we have not witnessed before. over a dozen governments have taken action to stop this trade. because they know it is impoverishing their people. as well as being massively cruel to animals. with donkey prices so high, carlos cannot afford another. people across the kenya and the continent are losing their animals and livelihoods. people across the uk could be treated to the sight of dozens of shooting stars, when the draconid meteor shower peaks. it is most likely to be clearest in the direction of the constellation of draco — the dragon — in the northern sky, in the early evening. it's one of two meteor shows that can be seen during october. elizabeth pearson is an astronomer and news editor of "sky at night" magazine . she told me that if the weather holds up, it could be a spectacular sight. if it is clear, and you look to the northern sky above the top

of the plough, you should hopefully see meteors. so shooting stars, bright streaks of light passing across the sky. all you need to do is get out as soon as it turns true dark, preferably before the moon gets up, and if you look to the northern sky, adjust to the dark, get away from street and house lights, let your eyes adjust and you should hopefully begin to see one or two every couple of minutes. what causes this, why do we see this? we see meteor showers at the same time every year because we passed through the tail end of a comet and comets come through the solar system every few thousand years and leave a trail of debris and ice and dust and as we pass through that every year, the debris and dust hits the atmosphere, superheats it and causes a streak of light.

it is these particles burning up in the atmosphere. the names are fascinating, where does this name comes from? most meteor showers are named after the constellation where the radiant is. the radiant, if you took a picture of the meteors as they go across the sky, which people do, they seem to come from one place and in this case it is in the head of the constellation of draconis. they are coming from the dragon and tonight and tomorrow we should get a good view? clear skies. turn off the artificial light. fingers crossed for clear skies but hopefully you should see the dragon spitting out some fire. let's look at the weather prospects.

are you going to disappoint or do you have disappointment i think, unless you are in south—east england. this is an area that to end the day will have a few sunny spells, likely to have a few sunny spells, likely to have some clear spells going into the evening. elsewhere across the uk, a lot of cloud around. that is certainly the case this afternoon. notjust certainly the case this afternoon. not just cloud but certainly the case this afternoon. notjust cloud but going to bring some rain as well. in northern england at the moment, pushing further south, north wales, the midlands and east anglia. these showers in northern parts of scotla nd showers in northern parts of scotland and outbreaks of raining cornwall, part of devon keeping a lot of cloud and in northern ireland. some breaks in the cloud, jodie brett into the night some of these will fill in. i don't think any these will fill in. i don't think a ny clear these will fill in. i don't think any clear spells will necessarily last too long. 0vernight temperatures around 10—12, so even with any clear spells, not going to

be particular cult. part two of the week and now, a few showers in northern scotland, patchy rain in northern ireland for a time, showers feeding into wales, north—west england and the midlands and maybe some light rain in the far south—west. elsewhere looking a bit drier and brighter, lighter winds and feeling a bit warmer.