this is bbc news. i'm carrie gracie. the headlines at four: tributes to sir roger bannister, the first athlete to run a mile in less than four minutes, who has died at the age of 88. he was one of the cleverest people i think i've ever met, and he was in equal measure of modest as well. theresa may urges the eu to get on with discussing whart she called an "ambitious but practical" vision for relations after brexit. also this hour, could eurosceptic parties take control in italy? anti—immigration and populist parties are set to make the biggest gains as millions of italians vote in their general election. work continues to clear snow — with warnings of further severe weather in scotland, northern ireland, and in the north and south—west of england. would you stop interrupting me while iam would you stop interrupting me while i am interrupting you! oscar hopes for gary oldman for his portrayal of winston churchill

in the darkest hour. he could be one of the winners at tonight's 90th academy awards. stay with us here on bbc news. in half an hour we head to newcastle, where our inside out programme discovers the history of one of the first newsreel theatres. good afternoon and welcome to bbc news. sir roger bannister, the first man to run a mile in underfour minutes, has died at the age of 88. the world of sport has been paying tribute. lord seb coe saying "there is not a single athlete of my generation who was not inspired by roger and his achievements both on and off the track". after his athletics career was over, sir roger dedicated his life to medicine, and went on to become a distinguished neurologist. he was diagnosed with

parkinson's disease in 2011. joe wilson looks back at his life. 25—year—old roger bannister, third from the left... there are some moments of sporting history which become part of the world's history. he's decided this is the right moment. what roger bannister achieved in 1954 was like a lunar landing for 20th—century sport. bannister‘s old friend and rival chris chataway is in third place, waiting his time to take over as pacer. to run a mile and stop the clock before it reached four minutes. in 1954 this was a magical number, a barrier of human achievement, a feat that would redefine what was humanly possible. and it would fall to a young medical student to achieve it. after two and a half laps, brasher gives way to chataway. bannister, a superb tactician, has suffered criticism in the past for adopting his own rather unorthodox training methods, but they are paying dividends now. at this point it becomes quite painful. i overtake chris chataway and begin the finish. and here he comes.

bannister goes streaking forward with about 250 yards to the tapes. every stride counted. the tape broke at 3 minutes 59.1; seconds. and bannister has done it! though he's out on his feet, his coach and team manager tell him he has achieved his ambition. there was certainly a feeling of it being a national event, something of a landmark for the country. it might have felt like the world stopped when that clock stopped. "four—minute mile" was a sporting catchphrase everyone recognised. all i can say is i am absolutely overwhelmed and delighted. it was a great surprise to me to be able to do it today and i think i was very lucky. sir roger bannister was knighted in 1975. athletics was only a small part of his life. he regarded his work as a neurologist as more significant. when he was diagnosed

with parkinson's disease, he described the "gentle irony" that a neurologist should find himself with a neurological condition. training for roger bannister in athletics had been half an hour a day on a cinder track. the world's first four—minute miler was also perhaps sport's last great amateur. tributes have been pouring in to sir roger bannister. the president of the international association of athletics federations, lord seb coe, gave his reaction. he was one of the cleverest people i think i have ever met, and he was in equal measure modest as well. he never really got what he did. and it wasn't a front, hejust said, i am quite lucky. i don't think the enormity of what he did came to life for me until i actually had the great privilege, and we both knew him well, of sitting

in his sitting room, and we were comparing training diaries. and i think it's fair to say, you know, we were probably doing in a day and a half, two days, what these guys were doing in a week and a half, maybe two weeks. and when you look at the times he achieved off the back of what was really quite thin training. he had got friends, they were beginning to use the science of the sport and exploring, and of course he had a medical background, but when you look at the time, and people sort of dismiss the four—minute barrier. more people have individually climbed everest that have run a four—minute mile. and it is an extraordinary achievement. lord seb coe. ireland's foreign minister has suggested that the eu is likely to reject theresa may's plans for the border between northern ireland and the republic after brexit. mrs may says the uk will leave the single market and customs union,

but she insists there will be no return to barriers and checks on the border. here's our political correspondent suzana mendonca. it's 310 miles long, 30,000 people cross it every day, and more than £1 billion a week is done in trade across the border between the uk and the republic of ireland. when britain leaves the european union, this currently invisible border will become its frontier with the eu and all sides want to keep it invisible. the question is how, considering britain doesn't want to stay in the single market or customs union. we are committed, the irish government, all the parties in northern ireland, to making sure there is no hard border. the prime minister says a soft border could be kept intact through the use of technology and no new trade restrictions on smaller businesses, but in its first in—depth response to her plan, the republic of ireland has cast doubt on whether the eu would go for it. i'm not sure that the european union will be able to support a situation whereby 80% of companies that trade north—south and south—north

will actually protect the integrity of the eu single market. the irish leader and the prime minister have met to discuss solutions to the irish border question which has been a sticking point in the brexit negotiations. the eu wants northern ireland in a customs union, while the dup and the uk government do not. mrs may says her speech moves the issue forward. it sets out some ways, particularly on the issue of customs across the border, in which we can resolve that and i am pleased to say that the taoiseach has agreed the uk and irish governments and the commission can look in more detail at the proposals we have put forward. the future of financial services is another crucial area for the uk economy, and the prime minister has made clear the city could lose some access to european markets. she knows the deal britain is after in this area and other sectors is a vast departure from the kinds of trade deals the eu has done before.

it's very broad, so it is covering issues like industrial goods, cars, but also financial services, energy, transport, law, science, agriculture, fisheries. tomorrow we will get a clearer idea of what the eu thinks when it responds to mrs may's plans. susana mendonca, bbc news. and susana has been explaining how theresa may's comments have gone down within her own party. she has managed to placate both sides, so you have the brexiteers saying that she has come up with practical solutions, she has offered a balanced and clear view of what she wants, and they think that she's kind of made the right move in that respect. and then on the other side you have the remainers, so people like nicky morgan, being positive about this and saying that she welcomes it, although with a caveat saying that she'll watch out for any drifting backwards. and also suggesting, hinting that she might withdraw her support for an amendment to the trade bill

which was all about basically trying to include the customs union in any future trade bill. so you have got that kind of movement, but then on labour's side, they are critical, we have heard from peter mandelson today, he spoke to the andrew marr show, saying that this was all based on leaps of faith, so one leap of faith being that the european union would agree to theresa may cherry—picking. the european union has said it won't do that. and the other leap of faith being that the european union would agree to this idea of mutual recognition rather than alignment on the issue for example talking about the financial sector. the prime minister has said she wants mutual recognition on that because she is not going to be in a situation where british companies here in the city would be able to have passporting rights, so she wants to create a new relationship within the eu. so certainly she has placated some, but there is still a lot of criticism. and important moves in brussels from tomorrow, really? we need to hear what brussels makes of her plans, but also

we have the dup and sinn fein meeting with michel barnier, the chief negotiator for the eu, and obviously the irish border which we were talking about before, that will be a big issue for them. theresa may is supposed to be giving a statement to parliament tomorrow on brexit, and negotiations continuing later this month, because of course we have the eu summit later on, and what britain needs is to get to a point where it can agree a transition deal so that it can get on to the trade deals, and that is what theresa may really wants. susana mendonca. work is continuing to clear snow from roads and railways lines after days of disruption. 16 flood warnings are still in place in the south west and north east of england. 0ur news correspondent andy gill is at scotch corner on the a1 in north yorkshire. this is the a66, a vital transport links for businesses, freight and passengers, too, and it has been close for five days.

it links scotch corner and penrith. this morning it finally opened, the highways agency saying its crews worked hard to clear the snow. driving conditions still very poor, and notjust because of the snow, but because of fog as well. the weather is continuing to affect trans—pennine rail routes, the newcastle to carlisle rail service is off, there is a replacement bus service and the leeds to lancaster and carlisle route also affected. so as far as the main east coast line goes, they did get some trains running last night, no trains on the main west coast rail line between england and scotland, there is a replacement bus service there. in fact, rail companies across the uk are saying that the weather has been so severe, there are still cancellations and delays, and that will continue to be the case tomorrow. you should check about your rail journey before you set out. there are a number of flood alert and warnings in place,

especially around the coasts, because of high winds and spring tides. there is a gradual thaw on the way, it could get up to 9 degrees in the south of england today, but in rural areas tonight, the temperature could be back down to minus four. thousands of homes across the country still without power, and some of the power companies have been trying to get to more remote and cut—off homes and have not been able to do that. yesterday one firm tried to use a helicopter to reach those houses, but was unable to travel because of freezing fog. so a change on the way for some, we are told, but tomorrow's rush—hour unlikely to be anything like a normal one. andy gill. polls have opened in italy's general election, following a divisive campaign dominated by immigration. the centre—left government is facing a stiff challenge from both a right—wing coalition and the populist five star movement,

which could emerge as the largest party. gavin lee reports from rome. this election is seen as a test of the populist movement against the establishment, a choice between the promise of change or the stability of the old guard. and a familiarface is back — silvio berlusconi. this is what happened when he voted in milan this morning. a feminist activist strips and shouts, it is over for you. the 81—year—old ex—prime minister leads a centre—right coalition, although a tax fraud conviction prevents him from personally holding office. he is sharing a platform with the far right anti—immigrant party, the league. matteo renzi leads a centre—left coalition, trying to keep his government in power. but the dynamics here means it is unlikely any single party will maintain a ruling majority. key issues here are the economy, how to cope in a country struggling with a huge debt problem. unemployment is an issue, a third of young italians are jobless, but what comes up again and again is the migration crisis,

how to deal with 600,000 migrants who arrived here in the past few years. we have to consider immigration that now was a normal part of our world, travel is easy, and if people are in difficulty, they want to go to other countries, they know that other countries, they know that other countries are better, so why shouldn't they come here? translation: europe has abandoned us as far as immigration is returned. they state you should welcome them but they are all in italy because the rest don't want to take anyone, and this isn't fair. another figure of note is luigi di maio, the 31—year—old former football steward is leading the five star movement. they expect record votes. as polls closed tonight, watching closely will be other european leaders, already hit by brexit and hoping for no major surprises here. gavin lee, bbc news, rome. still in italy, the football world

has been stunned by the sudden death of one of the country's top players. the fiorentina captain and italian international davide astori, who was 31, died following what his club described as a "sudden illness". all top—flight matches in italy have been called off. the italian national team captain gianluigi buffon paid tribute to the player, describing him as "one of the best sports figures i came across". the headlines on bbc news: sir roger bannister, the first athlete to run a mile in less that four minutes, has died at the age of 88. theresa may urges the eu to get on with what she calls her "ambitious but practical" vision for relations after brexit. and work is continuing to clear snow from roads and rail lines after severe disruption. meanwhile warnings of flooding, with strong winds battering coasts. sport now. good afternoon, lizzie.

good afternoon. there are two games in the premier league today, and so far one providing plenty of entertainment. in the early kick—off, brighton beat arsenal for the first time in 36 years to increasee the pressure on arsene wenger. the game started badly as lewis dunk put brighton ahead on seven minutes and after a few near misses, glenn murray made it 2—0 heading in past petr cech after some poor arsenal defending. arsenal got one back just before half time, pierre emerick—aubameyang, cleverly flicking the ball in. and they dominated possession in the second half, but it stayed 2—1 moving brighton up to tenth and leaving arsenal with their fourth successive defeat in all competitions. they were sharper than us, first on the ball, and then we made defensive

mistakes. the second half was all us, but unfortunately we couldn't find a goal, and we are going through a tough time. it is of course difficult at the moment. as tough as you can remember, this week? three defeats back—to—back like that? never happened to me in my life, but we are hit deeply maybe on the confidence side. confirmation of that result. and the late game between runaway leaders manchester city and chelsea is goalless at the moment at the etihad, 16 minutes on the clock at the moment. a win for city today would mean they only need four more to clinch the title early. shelayna 0skan—clarke has claimed a bronze medal in the 800 metres final of the world indoor athletics champinships in birmingham. 0skan—clarke was in fifth place

coming into the final lap but by the last bend she had moved into third, finishing behind defending champion francine niyonsaba and ajee wilson. andrew pozzi has booked his place in the men's 60 metre hurdles final. pozzi stormed through his semifinal with a time of 7.116 seconds, which was the fastest of the qualifiers. team mate david king failed to make it through after finishing sixth in his heat. deontay wilder says he's ready to take on anthonyjoshua in a heavyweight unification fight. the unbeaten american wilder retained his wbc belt overnight with victory over luis 0rtiz, who was also unbeaten and looked to have wilder in trouble in the seventh but the cuban was knocked down three times, and the fight was stopped in the tenth. that was wilder's 39th knockout in a0 fights. britain's anthonyjoshua will defend his ibf and wba belts against the wbo champ joseph parker in cardiff. if he comes through that then that superfight could be made, but wilder isn't convinced that thejoshua camp are keen. his promoter doesn't want the fight,

and after tonight they definitely don't want it, but it is going to be up don't want it, but it is going to be up to the fans. i have done enough. i don't even want to talk about it no more, because i have said all i have to say. after tonight, i don't need to say no more. i want to prove to the world that i am the best. the final of the welsh 0pen snooker is looking a tight affair. john higgins and barry hawkins are locked together 4—1; after two sessions. higgins is trying to win a record fifth title, plus the 30th ranking event of his career, which would take him to just two behind ronnie 0'sullivan, i'll have more for you in the next hour. thank you, lizzie. more now on our top story, the death of sir roger bannister. the first man to run a mile in underfour minutes. he kombich that historic feat with help from two other traditional honours. sir roger accomplished the historic

feat with help from two other british runners — chris chataway and chris brasher. chris's son hugh brasher, race director of the london marathon has been paying his tribute. it is difficult for us 64 years later to understand at the time how important it was. this was britain coming out of a war, with rationing. he lifted a nation. he did what was seen to be physiologically impossible. people had tried for yea rs impossible. people had tried for years to break this magical barrier. could someone run underfour years to break this magical barrier. could someone run under four minutes for a could someone run under four minutes fora mile? could someone run under four minutes for a mile? and could someone run under four minutes fora mile? and he did it. but could someone run under four minutes for a mile? and he did it. but what he also did in his life outside running, in medicine, who he was, his humility. he was head of the sports council which then became sport england. this is the end of an era. he with my father and chris chat away, the three of them, what

they achieved in sport was amazing. what they then went and achieved outside sport i don't think we'll ever be seen again, because sport 110w ever be seen again, because sport now is a full—time profession. ever be seen again, because sport now is a full-time profession. and just tell us who your father was, and what his connection to roger bannister was. my father was a pacemaker, he did the first two lapse, and chris chataway did the next two, and helped him through. they were best men at each other‘s weddings, and had the unique relationship. but sir roger was the man who was capable, but believed, the three of them believed that he could break that four minutes for a mile, and to do it on that way when the weather was potentially against them, it was blowing a gale, people had told them to call it off, sir roger made the decision, had the

flag flying on the poll, it suddenly stopped flying perpendicular, and he made the decision to run. and the rest has become sports history. and i believe it will always be part of that history and will be remembered timelessly. large numbers of people are reported to be fleeing the syrian enclave of eastern ghouta. government forces continue a ground assault against the last remaining rebels there. there are suggestions rebels in some areas may be negotiating a surrender. the un has cancelled plans to deliver aid to civilians in the area today— around 40 trucks had been due to go in. news coming in at the last half an hour of a phone call between theresa may and the us president donald trump. theresa may's office are reporting that during that conversation, theresa may and donald trump agreed that russia must use its influence to make the syrian

government sees its campaign in eastern ghouta. it is said theresa may raced her deep concern with the us president over plant proposed trade tariffs. the president said that these should be done multilaterally. the effort to resolve steel and aluminium oversupply should be dealt with multilaterally, and she raised concern about the president's forthcoming announcement on steel and aluminium tariffs during the phone call. more on that later. an independent report that was given to the board of the construction giant, carillion, four months before it collapsed has now been published. it said the firm had been "aggressively managed" to make its balance sheet look better than it was. the document has been published by two commons committees, which are examining why carillion went out of business in january with debts of almost a billion pounds. a little earlier i spoke to our business correspondent

joe lynam about this report and what it revealed. when you are looking for large financing or loans from the bank and you were a big company, you often get an independent assessment on the health of the business which then can be given to the bank, so the bank can say, an independent group of people, in this case fti consulting has looked at these issues, and so the report was commissioned in september of last year, and as you have been referring to, it makes for unpalatable reading. in hindsight, now that the company has collapsed. it basically said it was bringing forward receivables, or income that it was due to receive, and postponing making payments, so its obligations. and it was also quadruple in the payment terms for its suppliers from 30 days to four months. we subsequently know that a lot of those suppliers and smaller

contractors have gone out of business because there was so much money outstanding from the company. it basically shows that the company was in a really bad way in the final six months of life. the board deemed to this independent report to harsh. guess who's looking clever now? there is nothing illegal about what they did, though? about this aggressive management of this reporting? it's all in the perception. there is nothing written down in law saying you must do this, you must obey an independent business report, remember it was never published, it is being published now for the first. you can bring forward income if the auditor will sign off on it, but it must be within reason. so you can't bring in income from two or three years' time to this year. nor can you delay making payments and say that we don't really a money even though you absolutely do, within reason. it is all based on judgment.

and auditor will have a look at that. we also know from the analysis given published today by the work and pensions committee that criticism of the orders has been pretty intense. the auditor got paid, but a lot of the suppliers did not. preparations are under way for the 90th academy awards tonight after a tumultuous year for the film industry which saw the downfall of the producer harvey weinstein. gary oldman, who played winston churchill in darkest hour, is among the nominees to win the oscar for best actor. the fantasy the shape of water leads the field with 13 nominations. from the red carpet, here's rebecca jones. it's the most famous carpet since aladdin's, and now it is being rolled out before the stars roll up. not long to go now, but operations continue to hollywood's big night. this star wars actor will be making an appearance for the first time since 1977. all these years of watching it in my pyjamas, saying, look at her hair! now this year i have to put on a tuxedo and be part of it,

because i'm presenting. as big an honour as it is to be part of it, it's more fun to watch it at home. you cannot reason with a tiger when your head is in its mouth! playing a starring role this year will be gary oldman, who is favourite to win best actor for his portrayal of winston churchill in darkest hour. do they know i'm black? british hopes also rests with daniel kaluuya for get out. i've got a few text messages from people saying, good luck. i'm just trying to relax and enjoy it. you may think that thing looks human. stands on two legs, right? the shape of water has 13 nominations. its british star, sally hawkins, is up for best actress. what's with the new attitude? your

momma been coaching you? francis mcdormand is tipped to win for three billboards 0utside ebbing, missouri. while it may look much the same as usual, this is not a typical 0scars year. the issues of sexual harassment and gender equality are being talked about as much as the likely winners, which is threatening to overshadow the ceremony. is it going to be about the prizes or the protests this year? i think you decide, that person decides. for us, it's about the fun. your life should be a protest. your voice, every day, should be the protest. notjust one night. i know that if i get up on the stage i will be so nervous... this woman is competing against herself, with nominations for best costume design for beauty and the beast and darkest hour. how did this happen, i don't know! you have been in this position before, you won an oscar in 2013 for anna karenina. what is that moment like, when your name is read out? totally and utterly overwhelming.

it's everything mixed up together. it's a kind of... absolute shock. and then a kind of dread, of standing up and going up onto the stage. but also the most wonderful feeling that you can't believe that you've actually won. the stars have been out and about in hollywood this weekend. but it is just a taster before the main event. plenty more of that coming. now for the weather with susan. good afternoon. the thaw has now begun and will continue in the days ahead, temperatures returning to average values. 0ur weather will be driven by low pressure that will keep things unsettled, rain in the forecast on also some further snow for scotland,

although overnight tonight, much of the snow becoming increasingly confined to higher levels as milder weather does start to work its way north around our area of low pressure. still clear skies across the northern half of the uk, ice could be an issue just about anywhere. perhaps some mist and fog for first thing monday, too. then this weather front will continue to feed some quite wintry weather, and this area of low pressure in the south—west will bring some heavy rain into devon and cornwall through the morning and pushed out into wales for the afternoon. scotland keeps quite a chilly easterly wind, further south, 11 degrees in london, a good deal milder than anything we have seen in the past week. this is bbc news. our latest headlines... tributes have been paid to sir roger bannister, the first athlete to run a mile in underfour minutes, who has died at the age of 88. he had been suffering from parkinson's disease.