the headlines. theresa may purges eu leaders to create a new dynamic in brexit negotiations. crime rises in england and wales. norfolk police say they are getting rid of community officers. and thousands flee myanmar. i am surrounded by children under the age of two months. they are all fighting for their lives. they are severely malnourished. on newsnight, positive smoke signals from inside theresa may's eu showdown. and we talk about racism and sexism in football. welcome to bbc news. theresa may has

urged eu leaders to create a new dynamic in brexit talks in brussels tonight. she has been telling leaders firm progress is being made in negotiations, including on eu citizens group was rights and northern ireland. angela merkel said progress so northern ireland. angela merkel said progress so far was not sufficient to open trade talks. we are in westminster. what are you hearing over the dinner table? first of all, we know they had gnocchi and pheasant and pineapple pudding. that was what was on the menu. what theresa may has been trying to do at the working dinner is to try to get momentum going after the speech in florence, in which she put out an

olive branch. tonight she got to speak to the 27 leaders of the other eu state. she started talking about the strong bonds the uk will have with the eu when it leaves in areas like security and defence. she did push the idea of needing to get these talks going. barring a miracle, it was pretty much clear trade talks were going to be starting at this summit. we know that the 27 eu leaders and theresa may will get together soon in which they are looking forward to. the eu does not want theresa may to go home empty—handed. that is why they are going to be promising to start talking amongst themselves about trade and transition deals. but they will not yet go on to talk to the uk directly about that because they say they need more compromise on theresa may and they need more detail on the

cash. it is the money, the brexit bill, that is the sticking point in the talks. we can look at what happens today and look forward to tomorrow, a more friendly tone. we saw theresa may with german chancellor angela merkel and her french counterpart chatting in a friendly way. i think there is a change in tone. whether that will produce significant steps forward tomorrow, i think that is unlikely. thank you. there has been a sharp rise in the number of crimes reported by police in england and wales. figures for the office for national statistics showed an increase in 13%. on the same day, norfolk police became the first forced to cut all of its community service support offices, citing funding gaps and unparalleled growth in complex crimes. the total number of offences recorded by

police passed the 5 million mark for the first time in a decade. the number of violent offences rose by 90% in the 12 months until the end ofjune. norfolk police, facing a funding shortfall of £10 million, are axing all 150 of their police community support officer is. that is because of the unparalleled growth in complex crimes, sexual offences, and cybercrime. this is the man who has to make the numbers add up. and at the moment, chief constable simon bailey says they don't. 150 pcso jobs are going, which will contribute overall savings of £2 million. with serious crime in norfolk, rape, abuse, drugs, rising by 370% in the last three years, 81 regular officers will be recruited. i know i'm doing the right thing

based on all the evidence at my disposal. and i genuinely think, when you look at the release of the crime statistics today, it kind of makes that point. sexual and violent crime is up. i need a workforce that is able to tackle the threat. one that is able to deal with a high harm, high risk crimes. simon bailey broke the news to pcsos at lunchtime today, inevitably many were devastated. so, you havejust come out of the meeting. what's the mood? i left partway through to talk to you, but anger, disbelief. you know, people are absolutely broken, because their whole lives have been altered, really. the police federation which represents regular officers is worried about extra workload. unfortunately, that workload will not disappear with the pcsos, so that workload will be put on already stretched officers trying to do theirjob day in and day out, working regularly long hours are lots of overtime.

they are burnt out, they are busy. in a wide—ranging review, the commitment to putting officer in each of the county's secondary schools to combat the dangers of the internet has had to be cutback significantly. and with fewer people using police stations, seven enquiry desks will be axed and 25jobs will go. that's ok by me. if it's saving cost, you know. i suppose money has to be saved in some way, doesn't it? i must admit i can't remember the last time i walked into a police station, the last time i contacted them, was on twitter. we have not closed our public engagement, we have closed the way we are engaging with the public, managers will be available at each of the other stations will be available to respond to the public. the police have always had to adapt to change, it's part of their history. but these changes in norfolk are among the most dramatic the decades. they are being watched closely by forces across the country.

outcast and desperate. appalling dangers. that is the verdict of the un children's agency describing the living conditions suffered by hundreds of thousands of rohingya muslims, including children. more than half a million refugees have left their homes in myanmar, where they faced a military offensive. clive myrie reports from a refugee campjust clive myrie reports from a refugee camp just over the myanmar border in bangladesh. you may find some of the images distressing. every breath is a struggle for mohammad ibrahim. six months old and fighting pneumonia, he is terribly weak and malnourished. he has just a 50—50 chance of seeing out another day. a sense of sorrow hangs heavy in the air at this

clinic in bangladesh. 80% of the patients are rohingya muslim refugees, and many are malnourished children, the weakest of the weak. the mother of an 18—month—old summed up the nightmare of so many rohingya women. translation: we had to run from our village. but we had so little to eat. then, when we managed to get food, i couldn't feed my child. she is so sick. but if god wishes it, she will survive. working with the local staff here is ian cross, a former gp from leicester. tears come to my eyes sometimes. it's dreadful. you just do what you

can, you know? in a way i'm lucky that i'm a doctor. i've got my hands and my tools, i can help to make people better. if i wasn't able to do that i'd feel more frustrated and i'd feel even worse. but when you are hard at work, you can cope with it. it is a depressing truth in this crisis that close to 60% of the more than half a million rohingya muslims who've escaped myanmar are children and teenagers. and they've seen some terrible things, like this girl. she's called this refugee camp in bangladesh home for almost two weeks. her story of the night she had to flee myanmar is depressingly familiar. villages torched, and her mother dying in the flames. "they're killing all the muslims," she told me. "slaughtering innocent rohingyas. "we have always been treated as lesser people in our own land. "now, they want to finish us off." but dangers lurk in exile, too. young women are vulnerable.

and the chance of children falling into the hands of sexual predators or exploited for their labour is ever present. the families here have nothing. they are trying to survive on a daily basis. and some of them at some point might be tempted to give away one of their children for domestic work. you know, not going to school, sometimes sexual abuse. so, the risks are high. but there is light amidst all the gloom. children in the camps are getting vaccinated against cholera and other diseases. there's even a chance to watch cartoons. and youngsters are never allowed to feel ashamed of who they are. in this class, they're reciting nursery rhymes from their homeland. outside one refugee camp, we found, by the side of the road, this girl, who's nine, cradling her younger brother. too young to understand the bundle in her arms was severely malnourished, we alerted unicef, and doctors are now

treating them both. but some will never have the chance to return to myanmar. the day after we filmed mohammad, we were told he died. he was buried in a tiny grave before sundown. clive myrie, bangladesh, bbc news. the spanish government says it will start the process of stripping catalonia of autonomous powers on saturday after the regional leader refused to back down in his push for independence. earlierthis refused to back down in his push for independence. earlier this month, they voted for independence in a referendum which the spanish government declared illegal. we have more from the capital, barcelona. government declared illegal. we have more from the capital, barcelonam is uncharted territory in spain. spanish government officials tell me they are going where no spanish government has come before. the idea of madrid exerting greater control

over a disobedient regional government is so controversial and sensitive i think at least in private tonight spanish government officials at the eu summit are working hard to consolidate support. iam also working hard to consolidate support. i am also told that two main opposition parties in spain, the socialists and liberals are well and truly on board. and so was the public outside of catalonia. but the thing is the real test for this move announced this weekend and to be implemented in months following the announcement on saturday will be here in catalonia with the public. the prime minister of spain is conservative by party and conservative in nature. i think he will move methodically, possibly slowly, and any move by his government will be backed up by clear legal arguments, because the government knows how sensitive they moved this is. and any move, for example, possibly taking control using regional police force,

dismissing more officials, replacing them with people loyal to madrid, any of those moves have the potential to backfire, and also to make what is already a tense and complicated picture in catalonia even worse. scotla nd scotland is set to become the first pa rt scotland is set to become the first part of the uk to ban smacking. the scottish government is backing legislation that outlaws the physical punishment of children. it will remove the defence of justifiable assault which allows pa rents to justifiable assault which allows parents to smack their children. now on bbc news, it is time for newsnight. what happens after groundhog day? theresa may meets merkel and macron again, is this the beginning of the thaw? tonight, can the pm break the deadlock? we're live outside theresa may's showdown supper. i'm here in brussels, where theresa may is telling eu leaders she is listening to their concerns over brexit.

i'll tell you how her message is going down. we'll discuss where we are with negotiations, and where we're going. and remember this? mortgage from the union? did you pay it off? yeah. did you pay off your mortgage? my workers had a financial agreement which was... go on. the mortgage was settled in 2007... it was settled, but did you pay it off? it turns out he didn't. now we learn the chair of the labour party got a lot more cash from the miners' union he used to run. and calls for fa bosses to take responsibility for latest scandal or quit theirjobs. we speak to stan collymore and others about racism and sexism in english football. good evening. they told us it would all be about tone tonight, and as theresa may finished her post—supper speech, some of those

in europe started to sense there was something in the air. the pm will tell leaders this evening that firm progress was being made in the discussions on citizens' rights and on northern ireland's border. and she insisted the uk's future relationship with the eu would be a close economic partnership — one that could be optimistic and ambitious. this time last week, michel barnier was talking of deadlock. mrs may will hope that time spent in brussels at the beginning and end of the week will spell a new commitment to working through it. so are we at last seeing the tiniest, gentlest of smoke signals emerging on brexit relations? nick watt is in brussels for us tonight. what is she about to say? the dinner is still under way, they take a long time,