this is bbc news. the headlines at eight: brexit talks get the green light in brussels — they will now move on to the next stage. this is an important step on the route to delivering the smooth and orderly brexit that people voted for injune of orderly brexit that people voted for in june of last year. orderly brexit that people voted for in june of last year. the second phase of our negotiations would not be possible without the unity of the eu 27. the hard work of michel barnier and the constructive effort of prime minister may. a student is cleared of rape after police fail to disclose evidence which could have proved his innocence. ryanair agrees to recognise pilots' unions for the first time — in an attempt to avert strike action in the run—up to christmas. the date is set — prince harry and meghan markle will be married on may the 19th next year. also in the next hour: the third ashes test in perth lies in the balance.

australia will resume 200 runs behind england's first innings total when play gets under way with their skipper steve smith unbeaten on 92. and the four—year—old boy — left alone on his school minibus — before trying to walk home. good evening and welcome to bbc news. eu leaders have agreed to move brexit talks on to the next phase, which will deal with the future relationship between britain and the eu once britain leaves. theresa may has called it an important step on the road to a ‘smooth and orderly‘ brexit. but the president of the european council, donald tusk, has warned it will be "dramatically difficult" to reach a final deal by march 2019.

here's our political editor laura kuenssberg. the men with the message. part one is done. the european union is ready to grant the prime minister's wish and move on. she was a tough, smart, polite and friendly negotiator. and so we were able to conclude that sufficient progress has been made. to get this far on brexit, there has been some conflict and a lot of compromise. what is needed to get to the end of the next phase, and is theresa may's goal of a full agreement by march 2019 realistic? still realistic and, of course, dramatically difficult. the real negotiations on the second phase will start in march next year. i cannot say when these negotiations will be concluded. but i don't hope that i will have to have as early morning meeting with the british prime minister

than the one i had last week. hopefully, with fewer last—minute trips to brussels in the middle of the night, the negotiations step up. it has been a slog to get this far, but their words this morning are part of our history now, the official end of the beginning of our departure from the european union. it's taken time, but at last the government's negotiating team can crack on with initial talks about how we do business in future, and vitally the transition a couple of years after brexit itself. the uk and the eu have shown what can be achieved by commitment and perseverance on both sides. i'm pleased that it's been agreed we should make rapid progress on an implementation period, which will give certainty to businesses and individuals. the eu's brokers believe the cabinet at home must bury their differences, though, to give a clearer picture of how they want the future to look, before getting a decent hearing. the divide within the conservative

party is going to make it very difficult for us to negotiate a way through as a country. and theresa may, ultimately, has to be able to deliver for business here. business need that certainty now. the 27 we are leaving behind don't agree with much of what the uk has already put on the table, especially during the transition period. they want the european court to be in charge during that whole time, for the uk to accept any changes without a say, and for immigration to stay the same. this is a big junction. phase two will be even tougher, she warned. we would like it to look as much like the current relationship as possible, but that wouldn't necessarily be the view of everyone. it's a marathon race. we have just finished the first mile. given how far apart the two sides were, and the distance between the different wings of the tory party,

the prime minister might feel entitled tonight to take a pause for breath, a moment to savour having reached this junction. but with clashes in the commons to come, in the cabinet, and contradictions between the european union and the uk, still, she has little time or energy to waste on celebration. and to reach this point, not even halfway, she's already had to yield so much. indeed, at times it felt like the prime minister simply might not make it even this far. it is a very long way still until the end of this whole journey. laura kuenssberg, bbc news, brussels. our political correspondent ben wright is at westminster. with the comedy words from laura, it feels that it will not be merry christmas for theresa may. —— those words. she will be relief she has

got to this junction in brexit, words. she will be relief she has got to thisjunction in brexit, it did not feel i did over the last few weeks, but that could've been the easy bit that we have witnessed. the haggling around money, the drama around the northern ireland border, rates of eu citizens living in the uk. that drama will prove to be comparatively straightforward compared to what is to come. but had theresa may not got the green light from the eu today to begin the next phase of talks, then her christmas with have been pretty miserable and the pressure on how would've been intense. the two—year window to com plete intense. the two—year window to complete the brexit negotiations before we leave is so tight. whitehall has known that it had to hit this december deadline if there was good to be any chance really are making real progress by this time next year, time to get a deal, agreed by the eu parliament, and the uk by the dott march 2019. agreed by the eu parliament, and the

uk by the dott march 20 19w agreed by the eu parliament, and the uk by the dott march 2019. it had to happen. phase two is going to be even tougher. what does it hold?m only i knew the answer. the cabinet have not even sat down and discussed this yet. there is all sorts of speculation about what sort of future trading relationship the uk might be hoping for with the eu, whether it wants a sort of a deep free trade deal, the sort that the eu signed up to with canada and not so eu signed up to with canada and not so long ago or whether you want something that effectively retains almost associate membership of the single market, a bit like norway has. there are a variety of options in between. we do not know. we do know that theresa may has said that remaining in the single market like norway is off the agenda and we are leaving the customs union. beyond that, all we hear our rhetoric and platitudes about wanting a very close relationship, so relationship, trading relationship with the european union. very quickly, the government has to sit down and

hammer this out and give the eu assents by the spring of what sort of future relationship it wants and nobody expects those talks to be easy. thank you very much. and for all brexit devotees, news of a special programme on monday. we arejust we are just packing up we arejust packing up in brussels. we arejust packing up in brussels. we arejust packing up in brussels. we are finally —— where finally the premise that got the green light to move premise that got the green light to m ove o nto premise that got the green light to move onto the next phase of brexit talks. what happens next? brexit cast. monday, ten past 11 on the bbc news channel. see you then. and we'll find out how this story — and many others — are covered in tomorrow's front pages at 10:40 this evening in the papers — my guests joining me tonight are kevin schofield, editor of politicshome and rachel shabi, journalist and broadcaster. ajudge has called for an inquiry after a university student was cleared of rape because police failed to disclose evidence which could have cleared him.

22—year—old liam allan spent two years on bail, before his trial at croydon crown court was halted, when it was revealed his accuser had sent him thousands of text messages. clive coleman has the story. the day after the case against him was dropped, liam allan is coming to terms with the end of a two—year nightmare. i was relieved, notjust for myself, but for everyone who's been with me for every step of the way. and everyone it has impacted. it wasjust a huge, huge relief. you sort of get your life back. you don't realise that you've lost parts of your life until you have it completely done. the trial may be over, but the strain it caused remains vivid. i'll be honest, i did start to suffer from panic attacks, a couple of weeks before court, which is why i said it was probably my worst time. because you just, you have to have your own reaction, panic attacks are an internal reaction that you can't help yourself. but it is to be expected, you can't not go through this and not panic and not fear and remain strong through the whole thing.

it could bring the strongest person in the world to their knees. liam went on trial charged with six rapes and six sexual assaults. his lawyers were repeatedly refused access to his alleged victim's phone records. they were finally handed over at the start of the trial. 40,000 phone messages, included details which clearly suggested he was innocent. his trial at croydon crown court collapsed yesterday. she said she didn't like sex with him. text messages to say she loves sex with him. there were rape fantasies, there was sex in the open air. this was a 12 count indictment. if the defence hadn't got that, that man would have been convicted, that man would have got 12 years, that man would have had his life trashed and on the sexual offences register for ever. it is a fundamental principle of our system that the prosecution must hand over any evidence that it holds that could help the person on trial. lawyers tell me that liam allan's experience is farfrom a one

off and that there's a widespread problem. the metropolitan police are carrying out an urgent assessment the case. but for liam, sorry just won't do it. an apologyjust doesn't feel like enough. the length of time i faced, the fact that the person remains anonymous and i am everywhere and got dragged through hell for the last two years, apology doesn't even slightly cut it at all. liam's case adds to mounting concerns that the system for ensuring that those on trial receive all of the evidence that could help their defence, is failing far too often. clive coleman, bbc news. joining me from salford is dr hannah quirk, criminologist at the university of manchester. thank you for being with us. to discuss what is essentially an extraordinary case. it is horrifying

and it could so easily have been a miscarriage of justice and it could so easily have been a miscarriage ofjustice that never came to light. it speaks to a number of problems that we have within the system around disclosure and underfunding within the police and prosecution services, cuts to legal aid, the lack of compensation for appeals. it is a very troubling case. so, how easy is it, do you think, to unpick what may have happened? social media can be awful in cases like this. you see some fairly horrific comments. there has also been some insightful commentary today from a number of barristers and police officers talking about the pressures that they are working under. the legislation is complex, the police are clearly underfunded, they are having to deal with more and more sex cases. the cps is underfunded, different solicitors face huge cuts to their incomes as well. it is a system that is creaking at the seams. we have also had policy from the cps and the police around taking more sex cases

to trial, which partners encourage a culture of believing the victim, which is a slightly separate issue which is a slightly separate issue which may have fed into this. we say people are under pressure, police may be struggling with numbers, and yet the barrister for mr allan said when she got these text messages disclosed her finally, when she got these text messages disclosed herfinally, she took when she got these text messages disclosed her finally, she took a few hours. it was hard work, she start and went through it became apparent how very quickly that there was a problem. it is too easy for the police to say we are to show the people, this is not a huge task they needed to undertake? it wasn't. not one he task among many they have to do. i wonder if there is a culture perhaps the cbs in the police feel slightly under siege and there is a resista nce slightly under siege and there is a resistance to responding to what they may see as unnecessary request. -- cps. the they may see as unnecessary request. —— cps. the police icon to the trouble of taking with them, it should be looked at. the fact the m essa 9 es we should be looked at. the fact the messages we presume were not

examined. if they were, that is a more troubling scenario. the fact they were not recorded accurately unleashed schedules that were given to the defence, they were then refuse access to them so many times is so concerning. the cps have said they would launch an enquiry, the met police have said they are urgently reviewing that investigation to try and understand what has happened. looking ahead, what has happened. looking ahead, what do you think will change potentially as a result of this? how will people feel confident in the system ? will people feel confident in the system? we have heard numerous reviews into the disclosure system that has suggested the system is almost an fit for purpose. so the legislation was change in the mid—19 90s, clearly the use of social media has increased exponentially which is mean much more information to be sifted through will stop without significant cuts in staffing. so there are huge problems, much of it does require funding. there is also cultural issues around who's with possibilities this. it is not the

job for the police and cps to decide what evidence should be received, thatis what evidence should be received, that is what the legislation states. the police are still referring to the women in this case is the victim i think is perhaps slightly concerning. thank you very much indeed. thank you. the headlines on bbc news: it is exactly quarter past eight. eu leaders meeting in brussels have agreed to move on to the second stage of brexit talks with the uk. ajudge has called for an inquiry into the collapse of a rape trial, after it emerged police did not reveal crucial evidence to the defence. ryanair has agreed to recognise pilots' unions for the first time — in an attempt to avert strike action in the run—up to christmas. time for sport now. a full round—up from the bbc sports centre. hello. good evening. we're starting with the night's live football where wolves could go seven points clear at the

top of the championship. they are awake of sheffield wednesday, nearly half an hour gone. it is still goalless. walls has scored 41 goals already this system but they are yet to threaten in this game. —— wolves. there's one match tonight in rugby union's european champions cup. ulster v harlequins from pool 1. coming up to the half hour mark there. also had taken the lead with two penalties. quins had replied with an unconverted try but stuart persistence has extended also's lead. they are ahead by 13 points— five. ability early session for england. steve smith the australian captain is a machine he's 92 not out and looking determined as ever to pile on plenty more runs when day three starts in perth in the early hours of tomorrow morning. they need wickets and fast because this is a crucial test defeat at the waca

is not an option. here's a round up of day three from our correspondent andy swiss. dz d2 has belonged to australia. not that it necessarily seem that way at first as david and jonny bairstow continued their marathon partnership. burstow reaching his century, he celebrated by head—butting his helmet. a reference to that infamous incident in the bar in power. when david went finally 440, the rest of england's batting colla pse 440, the rest of england's batting collapse pretty horribly. they lost their last six wickets for just 35 runs. 403 all out. they will feel as if they should've got a lot more than that. england's bowlers set out repairing the damage, two wickets for craig davidson a half—century and 92 not out from captain steve smith turned things around in australia's favour. in the end, it was australia's daybed no doubting

england's man of the day, jonny ba i rstow england's man of the day, jonny bairstow with that century. these we re bairstow with that century. these were his thoughts. the 100 in many ways was my favourite one because obviously i have played in a few ashes series so far now and a score in ashes are something you dream about as a kid. yeah, it has eluded me until now and, yeah, it was a whole heap of emotions that came running through. australia, they will feel they are right back on this. one of their key men battling half—ce ntu ry this. one of their key men battling half—century helping to turn things around. afterwards, he said he was surprised by the speed of england's batting collapse. it wasn't that england have a history of collapsing, we knew that the new batsman was going to find it tough coming in. it is a tough wicket to start—up fund. just with the pace and the bounce and sort of leading into the tail, we knew one more wicket and then another wicket and

you start to get their tale, it is never an easy place to bat. a good day for australia. these as their captain steve smith is the key man. 92 not out going into day three. if he gets a big century, australia will still be hopeful of securing a first—innings lead and potentially match—winning and in ashes winning position. andy swiss reporting from perth for us. the former head of cycling's international governing body pat mcquaid has told the bbc that chris froome's adverse drugs test is "a disaster" for the sport that could lose team sky all its credibility. froome, who's won the tour de france four times, was found to have had double the permitted level of a legal asthma drug in his system during his win at the vuelta a espana this year. the briton says he was following doctor's advice. but mcquaid, who was president of the uci for eight years said it'll be very hard for the briton to avoid a ban. that is all beasts bought for an hour. we will have another round—up

at quarter past nine. —— that is all beasts bought for now. we are hearing that the austrian president has invited the conservative and far right leaders toa conservative and far right leaders to a meeting tomorrow following the conclusion of coalition talks, essentially it appears that austria is poised to become the only western european country with a far right party in government. this is a deal that seems to have been reached between sebastien's conservative party and the anti—immigration freedom party led. concluding talks, likely to be a meeting tomorrow. the suggestion that in the coalition and the far right party may well secured the far right party may well secured the ministerial posts, interior, ministries being talked about. but development in the austrian

political scene. relatives of the four children who died in a housefire in salford have said they don't know how they will be able to tell the children's mother — who is in a medically induced coma and likely to remain that way for several weeks. 15—year—old demi pearson, brandon aged eight, lacey aged seven and three—year—old lia died following the fire on monday which police are calling a targeted attack. the child ren's grandfather says the family had been harrassed before and the police had been called on sunday night but left. the house was set alight a few hours later. three people have been charged with murder. judith moritz reports. brandon and lacey were running up and down the street, so happy that it was snowing. brother and sister playing in the snow last week, brandon and lacey pearson were inseparable. lia was the baby of the family. everyone doted on her. she melted your heart. you could not have a serious

face on with that child. she brought you so much happiness. their teenage sister demi looked out for them all. she mothered them like they were her own. they weren't siblings, they were best friends. four young lives, taken. their mother, michelle, is badly burned and in a coma. she does not know her children have died. how can i turn round and say they have gone? all her young ones, all her babies have gone. she will say, why have you brought me back? why didn't you just let me go? this is the first time the family have spoken of their pain, their loss and the night they saw fire engulfing the house where the children and their mother were asleep. there are not words to describe what you see. you can't describe what you see. i remember going down the street and being surrounded by police officers,

and screaming at them, screaming at them, calling them all sorts of names. you just wanted to go in and help, and you couldn't. little lia's life hung in the balance for two days. her auntie comforted her. they allowed me to cuddle her as she passed. did you speak to her? i spoke to her, i sang to her. that must have been so difficult. it broke me, it did. i did not want that little girl gone. the police say the house was targeted. the family say michelle complained of being unsafe there. she said she had actually been to the housing that week and begged them to move her to a safe house, or get her out of the area. michelle has been unsafe in that property for

months, and the police were aware of this, the council were aware of this. i'm sorry to say this, but they have let her down and my sister and her kids would have a chance of survival if they did theirjobs properly. the family is broken, their pain is raw, and the loss is immeasurable. judith moritz, bbc news, manchester. you are watching bbc news. the time isa20 you are watching bbc news. the time is a 20 4pm. —— 8:24pm. in an attempt to avert strike action in the run up to christmas, ryanair has agreed to recognise pilots unions for the very first time. the airline is urging its staff to call off industrial action which is planned for next wednesday. the head of ryanair, michael 0'leary, once said he'd rather cut off his own hand than recognise unions, so it's a bit of a turnaround, as our transport correspondent richard westcott explains. i think it's a staggering turnaround actually, for someone who was always known

as one of the real tough guys of the business world. so for years michael 0'leary had said that he will not basically recognise unions, he won't let pilots negotiate through unions and he was saying it only on tuesday when a press release came out from the company saying, we will not recognise unions. and then this morning, out of the blue, they basically did an about turn, said, 0k, we have changed our minds. we will recognise unions under some circumstances. why have they done that? well, they are facing industrial action from pilots, a strike in ireland and in portugal next week. now, you may remember they have had problems with pilots before, ryanair, it wasn't that long ago when i was standing here right here telling you about the 20,000 flights that they had to cancel all across the winter because they messed up their pilot roster. well, that affected 700,000 passengers, people who had to rebook flights or make other plans. and so what about that strike next week on wednesday? well, there is a bit of a twist tonight with that. so, the union has said that they are happy to call off the strike but they want to meet rya nair first. they are not going to call off the strike until they can

actually meet rya nair face—to—face. ryanair says it can only meet them on wednesday. strike day. too late. as of the moment, neither side is budging. we will have to see how that one plays out. but as it stands at the moment, that strike in ireland next wednesday is still going ahead. dutch military police opened fire this afternoon on a man armed with a knife at amsterdam's schipol airport. a suspect was overpowered and arrested. the airport's entrance plaza was briefly evacuated but then mostly reopened to the public. there was minimal impact on air traffic. schiphol airport is one of europe's top five busiest air hubs. the mother of missing airman corrie mckeague has announced that the reward for information about his disappearance has doubled to a £100,000. and she believes the inquiry could become a criminal investigation. corrie disappeared during a night

out in bury st edmunds, in suffolk, more than a year ago. in california 8000 firefighters are still battling a huge wildfire — which has been burning for 11 days. the blaze has now destroyed an area larger than new york city and paris combined, and is on track to become the largest wildfire in the state's history. 0ne firefighter has died, a 32—year—old man who leaves behind his pregnant wife and two—year—old daughter. the date of prince harry and meghan markle's wedding has been announced. it will be on saturday the 19th of may next year. the couple confirmed their engagement last month and said the ceremony will take place at windsor castle. earlier our royal correspondent nicholas witchell spoke to us from buckingham palace. so it's a saturday, which is unusual but not unprecedented. the wessexes got married on a saturday back in 1999. i'm quite sure part of the calculation has been that

because there's no bank holiday for this wedding, having it on saturday will give those who are so minded, an opportunity to go to windsor and be part the celebrations, as the couple have indicated they want to be the case. the other interesting thing about saturday the 19th of may is that it is the date of the fa cup final. william, of course, is president of the fa. he would normally be at wembley. if he so chooses he could still make it. best man or supporter to his brother at windsor in the morning. for a late kick—off at wembley in the afternoon, but somehow you know, i think they will all be too busy celebrating. a bus driver has been sacked for forgetting that a four—year—old boy was still onboard his school minibus. the child was left alone after the bus was returned to a depot in inverness. the little boy then attempted to walk the six miles back to his home before being spotted by passers—by and taken to a police station. craig anderson has more. primary one pupil, john robertson,

had only been taking the bus to and from munlochy school on the black isle for a week, when his homeward journey last friday turned into a nightmare, for him and his parents. when the minibus failed to drop the four—year—old at his door, his parents became increasingly anxious and launched searches around the school and near his home in north kessock. 0bviously, he'd had to get off the bus at first. i don't know how long he'd been sat on the bus, all he's told us is he was sat there crying, waiting for the bus driver to come back. after he's got off, he has said that he's crossed two roads and then obviously been approached by two nice members of the public who found him. while dad, john, was on the phone to the police to report the lad missing, a report came in two passers—by in a car had spotted him, wandering clearly distressed in the inverness industrial estate where the bus company has its depot. they picked him up and took him to the local police station. he was obviously scared, but relieved two people approached him.

they said it took him a while to trust them to get into the car. which obviously is good, but i'm just glad it was those two strangers that found him and nobody else. the bus company has offered their apologies and say the driver has been dismissed for gross misconduct. they‘ re introducing enhanced driver awareness training. highland council, which issues the contracts for school transport, has launched an enquiry. the coach company is being asked to account for what happened. i hope that some vital lessons will be learned so that something like this can never happen again. a lot of people are saying there should be chaperones on the bus and i agree with that. that's why we're doing what we're doing. it's all about the kids' safety at the end of the day. we were lucky that we were able to tuckjohn in at night. someone else might not be so fortunate.