some progress in brussels, as eu leaders agree to begin preparations for post—brexit trade talks with the uk. but despite the smiles, the prime minister is told not enough progress has been made on other matters to allow formal talks to begin. i am ambitious and positive for britain's future and for these negotiations, but i know we still have some way to go. while progress is not sufficient, it doesn't mean there is no progress at all. one of the major sticking points remains money, how many billions the uk is prepared to pay for the so—called divorce bill. also tonight: oxford and cambridge are accused of promoting "social apartheid" by a labour mp who says most students are from a "privileged minority". a warning that millions of mobile phone users are being overcharged for their handsets by some of the uk's biggest companies. it isn'tjust about gambling, it's about how it's infected your whole life. more than 400,000 problem gamblers in the uk, butjust one residential rehab centre.

we have a special report on the work it's doing. and the last letter — written the day before the titanic sank. it's expected to fetch up to £80,000 at auction. 0n sportsday: more concerns for ronald koeman as everton are charged by uefa following a confrontation between their supporters and opposition players. good evening and welcome to the bbc news at six. eu leaders meeting in brussels have agreed to start preparing for trade talks with the uk. but, as expected, they said they could not begin formal discussions on post—brexit trade relations because not enough progress had been made on other issues.

theresa may said she remained "ambitious and positive" about securing a partnership with the eu. the so—called divorce bill remains a major sticking point between the uk and the eu. the prime minister did not name any figures but indicated that in order to reach a deal with eu leaders, the uk will have to pay more than the £20 billion already promised. from brussels, here's our political editor laura kuenssberg. her report contains flashing images. tick tock, tick tock. european leaders took 90 seconds today to decide that brexit talks haven't gone far enough to move on. time is pressing. they will start talks about talks. yet until the uk says it is prepared to pay, no big deal. i'm ambitious and positive for britain's future for these negotiations but i know we still have some way to go. both sides have approached these

talks with professionalism and a constructive spirit, and we should recognise what has been achieved to date. do you deny that you've made clear to your eu counterparts that you are willing to pay many more billions than you've already indicated to settle our accounts as we leave? what i made clear to my eu counterparts in relation to our financial contribution is what i set out in my florence speech, which is that i have said that nobody need be concerned for the current budget plan that they would have to either pay more, or receive less, as a result of the uk leaving, and that we will honour the commitments that we have made during our membership. now, there has to be detailed work on those commitments, as david davis has said. we are going through them line by line and we will continue to go through them line by line, and the british taxpayer wouldn't expect its government to do anything else. among the schmoozing, there are whispers she has said privately she is prepared to stump up billions more. number ten says there hasn't yet

been the final word on the cash. and whilst things seem friendlier, eu leaders are clear theresa may has to spell out how much she is prepared to pay before moving onto the main talks on trade and transition. and that means there's no deal yet on citizens‘ rights or northern ireland. there is an expectation they could shake on phase one by christmas, but until she budges, it's 27 against one. lonely arguments to make. the reports of the deadlock between the eu and the uk have been exaggerated. and while progress is not sufficient, it doesn't mean there is no progress at all. "there's nothing to say about brexit", says mrjuncker. cue a sigh of relief from the uk. but here's the man who has to try to make it work here. i don't want to answer a question.

from the look on michel barnier‘s face, he knows it's not going to be easy. angela merkel said, "we hope we can move on in december, but it depends "on the uk paying more". the french verdict, even more gloomy. "today, we are not even halfway there". did he mean we'd have to pay at least double the 20 billion? that's not yet clear. this was far from a brussels bust up, though. number ten's encouraged that negotiations are at least moving. theresa may does not go home empty—handed. she can claim progress of a sort, but this fraught process has gone a couple of inches, and it's a journey of many, many miles. those 27 will decide their next moves without britain even in the room, while at home the prime minister must calculate how much she can compromise to conclude the whole deal against the clock before we are out for good. laura kuenssberg,

bbc news, brussels. 0ur europe editor, katya adler, is in brussels. so, theresa may is saying she feels ambitious and positive about future negotiations. is that feeling shared by other eu leaders? those leaders have now all gone away from brussels, but during the summit, in terms of content absolutely nothing changed in terms of brexit. eu leaders are still insisting more progress has to be made on the divorce issues, notably money, before they will entertain the idea of talking about trade and transition deals, which was what the prime minister wanted. so much for content. in terms of tone and style, things did change and she actually had a pretty good summit. she was surrounded by the other leaders of the yukon and on the whole they chose to focus not on what britain

has not yet brought to the negotiating table, and there is frustration about that, but to talk about what has been achieved. they we re about what has been achieved. they were also queueing up to praise theresa may for her florence speech and to say, don't panic, we could be ready to talk about trade and transition by the time of the next eu summit in december. so it was not all doom and gloom. why would they wa nt to all doom and gloom. why would they want to give her this, to send her away not empty—handed ? want to give her this, to send her away not empty—handed? it is not out of the feelings of friendship for theresa may, but rather because of selfish reasons. in the big picture, the eu want a brexit deal and they also want the money. they need the uk to cough up more cash, and not to leave a big hole in the eu budget that the uk threatens to leave behind. thank you. oxford and cambridge universities are still struggling to offer places to students from less privileged backgrounds. new figures show that the parents of most students given 0xbridge places have professional or managerialjobs. the data was obtained

by the labour mp david lammy, who has accused oxford and cambridge of perpetuating a "social apartheid". the figures also show a huge geographical divide. almost half of the 0xbridge offer went to students in london and the south—east. while in wales just 3% of students received an offer from oxford or cambridge. the universities both say they are trying to improve access. here's our education editor bra nwen jeffreys. centuries of scholarship, one of the top universities in the world, but how easy is it to get into 0xford from a comprehensive in inner—city manchester? even from a good school, it can feel like an impossible leap. i see quite a few people in my year who could have applied. i think it isa who could have applied. i think it is a confidence thing. most people don't feel it is for them.

is a confidence thing. most people don't feel it is for themlj is a confidence thing. most people don't feel it is for them. i can understand why someone might think it is posh, but as long as you are unable student who wants to work hard, i unable student who wants to work hard, lam unable student who wants to work hard, i am sure you will fit right in. almost one in five kids here gets free school meals, that is two oi’ gets free school meals, that is two or three times higher than the wealthy south—east. or three times higher than the wealthy south-east. i think it is a deep—rooted issue. a lot of it comes down to confidence and perception of what these universities are like. we try to ensure that students visit them, access the various summer programmes. the universities say they are trying hard, spending millions on their efforts, and some schools just aren't delivering top grades. but still, better off kids get most places here. these two universities exerted a remarkable influence over national life. they have produced most of our prime ministers, as well as many cabinet members, seniorjudges

ministers, as well as many cabinet members, senior judges and influential voices in the media. so if you are asking why you should care, it's because the people who study here end up running the country. when i got the offer, i was so happy. oxford demands at least three a star grades, but an experiment is under way. this girl got three b grades at her doubly sixth form. the universities spent a year getting her up to scratch. the standing of teaching was completely different to what i had experienced in my previous education. here, you are constantly academically challenged. your ideas are looked at, people are interested, they want to know what you think. she is now starting her degree, amazed to be at 0xford. starting her degree, amazed to be at oxford. before i came here, i honestly thought i would not fit in, idid not honestly thought i would not fit in, i did not think 0xford was for someone i did not think 0xford was for someone like me, as a young black woman from zimbabwe, living in dudley. i did not think i would fit

into a space like this. i thought it would be people who are rich. now that i am here i realise, yes, we come from different backgrounds but thatis come from different backgrounds but that is not necessarily a bad thing. but so far, it is just ten students at one college. so does this mean dropping standards for some state pupils? it's definitely not about dumbing down 0xford. it's about getting students who have the academic potential but have not reached it at school, and with a year of teaching on the foundation year, they will have reached the level where they can perform well at undergraduate level. cambridge and 0xford are part of an academic elite, but many argue that is still reserved for the privileged few. britain's budget deficit, the difference between the amount the government takes in and the amount it spends, was the smallest last month that it's been for any september in the last ten years. figures from the office for national statistics show that the government borrowed £5.9 billion, down 11% on a year ago. stronger receipts from vat, income tax and stamp duty boosted the treasury's income.

paid childcare is becoming unaffordable for many families. that's according to the tuc. it says costs are increasing four times faster than wages in england and that the government must now extend financial support for parents of very young children. the government says it has doubled the availability of free childcare for three— and four—year—olds. uefa has opened disciplinary proceedings against everton after one of the club's fans tried to punch a playerfrom lyon during last night's europa league game. the incident at goodison park occurred in the second half. everton have banned the supporter and merseyside police are investigating. millions of people are being overcharged for using their mobile phones, according to citizens advice. it says large numbers of customers with vodafone, ee or three could still be getting billed for their handset even after they've paid for it in full. but the mobile operators say their billing arrangements are fair. our business correspondent emma simpson reports.

the latest iphone. a slick launch, but it ain't cheap. you can order it starting on october the 27th... that's why most customers pay for phones, whatever the brand, through a contract. but when it finishes, many are still being charged for the handset, even though it's been fully paid off. clifford whitehouse says his bill should have been £14 but instead... was charged £64, charging me for a phone i have ready bought and i own. it is not acceptable. it's a rip—off. with phones becoming ever—more expensive, we are hanging onto them longer. in its survey, citizens advice found that more than one in three people on a contract which included a handset, failed to change it

after their deal expired. in fact, one in five didn't change after six months. but, three suppliers, vodafone, ee and three, continue to charge customers the same price, meaning they were paying up to £38 a month more than they needed to. we think this is outrageous. this is a rip—off from mobile phone companies. what they should be doing is, when you get to the end of a contract, fixed term contract, the bill should be automatically reduced to reflect the fact you've paid off your handset already. the companies all insist their billing systems are fair. vodafone says, where possible, customers are contacted with a range of options. three says contract end dates are made clear and ee says separating the costs of the phone and the tariff sometimes makes customers worse off. but that's what the boss decided to do at rival firm o2. once the device is paid,

we stop charging them for the device and all they are billed for is the connectivity. we think that's fair, it equitable and it's transparent. campaigners want all companies to make it clear what the customers are paying for. emma simpson, bbc news. our top story this evening. eu leaders agree to begin preparations for post brexit trade talks but say not enough progress has been made for formal negotiations. and still to come... controversy after another president trump tweet as he links the rising crime in the uk with the spread of radical islamic terror. coming up in the sport on bbc news correct it could be an historic weekend for lewis hamilton as he attempts to win the united states grand prix and a

fourth formula 1 world title. it's thought there are now more than 400,000 people in the uk who have a serious problem with gambling. for many, it's a hidden problem — one they keep secret from family and friends and it can destroy lives. there's only one residential rehabilitation centre in the whole of the uk that's dedicated to helping severe addicts. the gordon moody association is a charity based outside birmingham, which offers residents a 12—week programme. our midlands correspondent, sima kotecha, is the firstjournalist to be allowed into the centre to speak to staff and those receiving treatment. i've had people say to me like, "why don't you just stop it?" you try and be in a gambler‘s mind just for a day and then you'll know what it's like. it's ain't as easy as that. from the outside, it looks like an ordinary row of houses. inside are some of the country's most severe gamblers, desperate for help and a cure. it is not just

it is notjust about gambling, it is about how it has infected your whole life. based in the west midlands, it provides more than just advice and therapy fer men. it's britain's only residential centre for gambling addicts and we've been given exclusive access. i believe that gambling is almost a symptom of what's going on underneath. sort of a maladaptive coping response, if you like. so, what we do is we find out where that came from and we help people to find new coping strategies that enable them to deal with their day—to—day life differently without the need to gamble. the programme costs around £10,000 per person. most of it's paid for by the responsible gambling trust, a charity which is tasked with funding treatment services. paul has lost hundreds of thousands of pounds because of his addiction. at his lowest point, he wanted to take his own life. ijust wanted to be run over, or... i didn't know it was going to happen. you just feel like useless.

i was taking more of my prescription, antidepressants and sleeping tablets. just felt like lowdown scum, you know what i mean? didn't think i was worth being around. the growth of mobile and online gambling, along with an increase in fixed odds betting terminals, such as slot machines and roulette tables, has made staking money easier than ever before. i got made redundant and i spent the redundancy money, in literally about three days. if you don't mind me asking, how much money did you get? that was about £40,000. and you spent in three days online. yeah. residents tell us being an addict is a lonely existence. there's no outward signs. you're not drunk. you've not got needle marks up yourarm oranything. you're just gambling and externally people think you're perfectly normal. how do we know this place works?

the centre argues the coping strategies they learn here facilitate long—term change. not everyone leaves cured though. ian, a former resident, says advertising is one of the problems. you can put on the television and most adverts these days, after a certain amount of time, are based around gambling. it seems to be two mates together walking down the road. it seemed like a really cool thing to do. when you are actually addicted to it, when you are hooked on it, it is actually far from that. it's not like that at all. staff say support is always available. they've made the biggest step by picking up the phone or completing an application form online. they've done that and not us. so we will then take the next step and help them because they're asking us for that help. those who come here say they're simply grateful to have a space where they can be true to themselves and to their addiction. i don't completely blame anybody.

i never said you've got to come in here. i went in there willingly. it's just a mug's game. more than 10,000 rohingya refugees, who have been stranded in myanmar near the border with bangladesh, have been allowed to cross through to refugee camps that have sprung up in bangladesh. the refugees, who had been waiting with limited food and water, have now reached major camps in the area of cox's bazar. the un children's organisation, unicef says 12,000 rohingya children are crossing into bangladesh every week to escape the fighting in myanmar. the american illusionist, david blaine, is being investigated by police in london following an allegation of rape by a former model in 2004. police have asked mr blaine to travel to the uk under caution to answer questions after natasha prince claimed she was attacked at a house in chelsea when she was 21. mr blaine's lawyer says he "vehemently denies" the allegation and will "fully co—operate" with any inquiry. the leader of plaid cymru,

leanne wood, has said her party could back a second referendum if no brexit deal is reached with the european union by march 2019. speaking to her party's conference in caernarfon, she said that the welsh national interest must be protected in the negotiations. it's the eu withdrawal is being carried out. there's a clear threat, not just to our economy but to our constitution. the conservative uk government risks driving the economy off the cliff through botched brexit negotiations. their internal fights and election gamble have led them to pursue the most reckless negotiating strategy imaginable. president trump has controversially linked an increase in recorded crime with the "spread of radical islamic terror" in the uk. this is what he said on twitter this morning — "just out report! united kingdom crime rises 13% annually amid spread of radical islamic terror.

not good, we must keep america safe!" but the data, which was actually released yesterday, is just for england and wales and showed an overall rise in crime driven by an increase in violent crime including murder and assault. it also said the rise was down to better crime recording. our north america editorjon sopel is at the white house. his tweets certainly caused controversy and some anger here as well. sophie, it wasjust before dawn. america was still sleeping when donald trump tweets about the british crime rate but he called it the uk crime rate. it was about england and wales it was using quotation marks, united kingdom crime rises 13% radically among spread of islamic terror". it makes no reference to islamic terror. that is something the president has

inserted himself and i am sure has left cabinet ministers in the uk bewildered as to how our closest ally is using and abusing crime figures for the president's own political ends. the president has been frustrated yet again over his attempt to ban a number of travellers from mainly muslim countries from entering the us. the courts have blocked this move yet again. all that comes within the last 24 hours when derry unusually two former presidents have taken aim at donald trump was george w bush saying the bigger dream seems emboldened with ba rack saying the bigger dream seems emboldened with barack obama warning against the politics of division. a letter, written by a passenger the day before the titanic struck an iceberg and sank, is expected to fetch up to £80,000 when it goes under the hammer this weekend. it was written on embossed titanic stationary by an american passenger as he headed home with his wife. the rare letter was found on his body when he was

pulled from the atlantic. it's just one of a number of items from the titanic being auctioned off this weekend as duncan kennedy reports. "wow! this boat is a giant in size. and fitted up like a palatial hotel. the words of oscar holverson, from a letter he never sent. dated april 13th, 1912, it was written the day before the titanic hit the iceberg. mr holverson was travelling with his wife, mary. they were first class passengers on board the luxury liner. "so far, we've had good weather. if all goes well, we'll arrive in new york wednesday am." but mr holverson never did. he died with 1500 others. quite simply, what we are talking about is the ultimate letter from the titanic. andrew aldridge, a titanic expert says the letter is unique because... it's the only letter written on titanic stationery to actually have gone into the water.

so it's bearing the scars from that immersion in the cold north atlantic. but the story didn't end there. oscar holverson's body was recovered and his letter actually delivered to his mother. she wrote this note to her remaining son. "have you seen the papers, what has happened to my dear son oscar? it was a dreadful shock to us all to think that he's gone and we'll never see him any more in this world." but it's notjust the letter being sold at this titanic auction. this suitcase belonged to millvina dean, the youngest survivor of the titanic tragedy. and these keys belonged to sydney daniels, a first—class steward. these alone have a reserved price of between 50 and £60,000. in recent years, titanic artefacts have achieved huge auction prices, from this deckchair at £100,000 to this violin, which made £1 million.

tomorrow's auction of oscar holverson's letter is one more page from titanic‘s enduring reach from history. duncan kennedy, bbc news. time for a look at the weather. it is all about brian. no icebergs heading our way but we do have a storm call brian for that this is a typical autumn storm. nothing unusual about it. it has already undergone its rapid deepening phase. the strongest winds are in the atlantic. as it moves across the uk or slowly weaken the cloud has running quickly already. the rangers out towards the west northern ireland, wales and the south—west. —— the rain is out. clear skies for a while and then the child coming. as the low centre gets closer, the

wind will start to strengthen in time for saturday. because it is a south—westerly wind, the strongest wind will run through the irish seeker hitting wales, southern england and across the english channel. inland 40 mile an hour, 50 mile an hour gusts. it is coming at a time and there are high tides. there will be big and potentially dangerous waves. there may well be coastal flooding as well. a windy day on saturday. that is only part of the story. if scotland is having sunshine as well. out towards the west we have shower after shower after shower, merging to give longer spells of rainbow very wet and the irish sea areas and the south—west of england coupled with the strong winds to give a miserable day. the centre of the low, the centre of storm brian is continuing to weaken and it is slipping out into the north sea by the time you get to sunday. what does that mean? while it will be windy for a time it will

not be as windy on sunday. not as wet. a mixture of sunshine and showers. still a few showers in western scotland and the north west bingen. not as wet windy and the temperatures may be a little bit lower. as we head into the only part of next week, it will not be as windy. there will be atlantic winds and it was still be mild. perhaps the best of the sunshine this time in the north. that's all from the bbc news at six. so it's goodbye from me and, on bbc one, we nowjoin the bbc‘s news teams where you are. hello, you're watching bbc news, our latest headlines: knew leaders agreed to start preparing for trade talks with the uk, theresa may says she is optimistic about a good deal. oxford and cambridge university is are accused by one mp of social apartheid for not accepting another underprivileged students. a warning that millions of mobile phone users

are being overcharged by their contract providers, even after paying off their handsets in full. the loosely is linked to the deaths of more than 50,000 people in the uk ina of more than 50,000 people in the uk in a major new medical study. —— pollution is linked. the south west of england is gearing up for storm brian, expected to bring winds of up to 70 mph with a risk of coastal flooding. ina to 70 mph with a risk of coastal flooding. in a moment, sportsday, but first a quick look at what else is coming up this evening. we will be looking at possible solutions after persistent claims of inequality of opportunity at both oxford and cambridge university is. as we mentioned, and other storm is on its way, storm brian is expected to batter the country this weekend, we will be taking a look at how people are preparing. and we will be live in new zealand to profile jacinda ardern, who has only become party leader two months before voters went to the polls and now

finds herself leading her country. now, as promised, sportsday.