this is bbc news. i'm lukwesa burak. the headlines at 3pm: a possible £10 billion merger — sainsbury‘s and asda confirm they're in advanced discussions to try and reach a deal. alfie evans, the little boy who was at the centre of a legal battle about his hospital treatment, has died. his father said on social media, my gladiator lay down his shield and gained his wings. cabinet backing for amber rudd, who says she didn't see a memo detailing home office deportation targets. the home secretary has apologised, saying that of course she should have seen it, but she can't be held accountable or responsible for a document that she didn't see and for decisions that she didn't take. also, the race to the premier league goes down to the wire. relegation—threatened stoke hold liverpool to a 0—0 draw, leaving the potters three points from safety. west brom are also on the brink. and click visits

a cryptocurrency mine in iceland and investigates a new and growing crime amongst hackers. that's in half an hour here on bbc news. good afternoon and welcome to bbc news. two of britain's biggest supermarket chains, sainsbury‘s and asda, are in advanced talks about a possible merger. a combined group would comprise 2800 stores and would represent around 30% of the uk grocery market — similar to that of market leader tesco. a formal announcement is expected as the markets open on monday morning. our business correspondentjoe lynam said any deal could raise questions about competition.

it is a whopper of a deal, make no mistake about it. every now and then we talk about less well—known companies talking about tie—ups, this is a whopper of a deal — if it gets the green light. you've already made reference to the fact that if you put asda and sainsbury‘s together, they would in fact over—leap tesco to take on about 31% of the market. we have learnt this afternoon that they would retain both brands, which is quite interesting. so asda brand and the sainsbury‘s brand would be retained but owned potentially by one big corporate giant. but, and there's always a but, this is going to face a major issue from the competition authorities because competition is all about competition, you have to have a choice for the consumer. if you remove that choice by having two brands but owned by the same company, the competition and markets authority may have something to say about that. i would be surprised if they simply just waved this through. i suspect that they will ask for dozens if not hundreds of stores to be sold off to non—big rivals.

let's speak to richard perks, director of retail research at mintel. thank you for coming in today. joel described it as a whopper of a deal, but is it a good deal?” described it as a whopper of a deal, but is it a good deal? i think it is a very bad deal because asda and sainsbury‘s are opposite poles in the must market. market research shows asda is attracting a younger, less afflu e nt shows asda is attracting a younger, less affluent clientele, and sainsbury‘s attracting older and more affluent people. the overlap is smaller than between any other of the big four. it really makes no sense. even if you retain both brands, as soon as you tried to bring them together and get cost savings, you'll end up undermining sides. why do you think they are looking at getting this deal done, then? first of all, walmart must wa nt to then? first of all, walmart must

want to sell asda are massively reduces investment in the business. it must be disillusioned with asda. i think their recent asda performance, and sales performance in the last few quarters has been good, but for the past few years it has been doing really badly. i think it probably is just a solution for the uk food retailing. and we know that several stores in the uk are losing market share. so why put two declining businesses together? it doesn't make any sense to me. so the likes in macro to —— the likes of lidl, what will they be thinking?” think they will be rubbing their hands with glee because it makes no commercial sense at all. asda and sainsbury‘s will still operate from very much the same cost space that they did before. lidl and aldi will have that very focused by an

inferior product and will be able to be cheaper. i don't think it makes any difference to them. joe mentioned that competition will be looked at very closely and also to tesco is going to be seen what can be done on this. that's absolutely true. theoretically, it is a huge merger in the sector. but together they are only the same size as tesco. tesco was allowed to merger with booker, which had majorfood really interests, and the commission doesn't have anything wrong with that. it might at the merger through. it might ask for some store disposals but i think it depends on what sort of assurances the merge group would give on retaining their two separate identities. so, the major challenges, then. how are they going to retain that appeal to their core markets? that's the real problem and that's what they really have to maintain. because asda and

sainsbury‘s stand for different things in the market and as soon as you try to bring them together, you might very well undermined that, and thatis might very well undermined that, and that is where problems would happen. we saw this once before with the morrisons — safeway merger. in that case they tried to combine with one brand, which turned out to be a com plete brand, which turned out to be a complete disaster. i'm not saying it would be as bad as that but i think there's still that risk. they need to be separate, and if they are going to be separate then it makes no commercial sense to bring them together. finally, just to read therese, where the risk risk of changing their products if they don't come together?” changing their products if they don't come together? i think there's some scope for them probably benefiting on both sides. the argos customer, sainsbury‘s owns argos, i think the argos customer probably does fit with the asda customer base, so there may be some scope there. there may be some scope for

asda learning from sainsbury‘s premium brands. buti asda learning from sainsbury‘s premium brands. but i think the potential is not that great. so, and is heard on monday? who knows? we'll be watching! thank you very much. alfie evans, the toddler at the centre of a long legal battle, has died, nearly a week after his life—support was withdrawn. alfie, who would have been two next month, had a degenerative neurological condition. he'd been in a semi—vegetative state for more than a year. on facebook, alfie's parents said they're absolutely heartbroken. our correspondent judith moritz reports. for the first weeks of alfie evans' life, he seemed healthy, happy and well. but he soon started to develop problems and he was admitted to hospital, where scans showed that his brain was being destroyed. the little boy spent a year in intensive care before doctors

said they felt his life support should be stopped. alfie's parents kate and tom strongly disagreed with the medical view that their son could not be helped. he's shown the biggest fight, and that's given us the biggest drive to get him through this. it's heartbreaking now that the doctors, just because they can't find a diagnosis, think it's ok to come to us and say, we can't find an answer, so we think it's time we give up on alfie. if you're going to give up on him, please reassure us and refer him. the couple began a long legal battle. they took their case through all the available courts several times in the uk and twice to europe. release alfie evans! they've had huge support, initially from a group of mums and children, but increasingly from a growing social media campaign. the self—styled alfie's army has hundreds of thousands of followers and in recent weeks crowds have turned up to campaign outside alder hey. it hasn't always been peaceful. on one evening, protesters

tried to force their way inside and the hospital said staff had been intimidated. alfie's plight has made international headlines, especially in italy. alfie's parents wanted to airlift him to a hospital in rome with connections to the vatican. tom evans was granted an audience with the pope, who backed his case, and alfie was granted italian citizenship. there was also support from poland — a tweet from the president and a hospital visit from these polish women. i saw the post yesterday from alfie's father, like, thank you so much, thank you for all the different international communities for being with me. outside the hospital, campaigners kept vigil whilst inside, after his ventilation was switched off, alfie hung on forfour days. but this morning, in a facebook post, alfie's father tom said his son had laid down his shield and gained his wings. outside alder hey this morning, supporters came to leave flowers. alfie's parents say

they are heartbroken. they battled for months. now their fight has given way to grief. judith moritz, bbc news, liverpool. in the past few hours, pope francis has given his reaction on twitter. he met thom evans earlier this month in support of the campaign. labour has intensified its calls for the home secretary to resign. amber rudd apologised last night for being unaware that the home office had targets for removing illegal immigrants from the uk. this morning cabinet ministers offered her their support. our political correspondent, jonathan blake, reports. day after day of questions for the home secretary. was her department to blame for the mistreatment of legal migrants?

were there targets for removing those here illegally? and inevitably, would she quit? but it was a question about the broader approach to immigration and her answer that led to even more pressure on amber rudd. targets for removals, when were they set? we don't have targets for removals. an apology in parliament — the targets did exist, but she hadn't been aware. it was announced that they'd be scrapped. and then the guardian reported that a memo was sent to the home secretary lastjune, specifying a target for the number of deportations in the coming year. silence at first from the home office, then a series of tweets from amber rudd. she didn't see the memo, but it had been sent to her office. again, she wasn't aware of targets, she should have been, and she was sorry. she promised a statement in parliament on monday. the home secretary has apologised, saying that of course she should have seen it. but she can't be held accountable or responsible for a document she didn't see and for decisions she didn't take. cabinet colleagues have backed

amber rudd and the prime minister has said she has full confidence in the home secretary, but there is no letup in the pressure for her to go. i think she's in a very difficult position. i think she's hanging by a thread. on the one hand, there may be more to come out, but what we do know is that no—one will take this government seriously on the windrush scandal until amber rudd offers her resignation. amber rudd has faced serious accusations which in different political times might have prompted a resignation. but for her to go would leave theresa may further exposed to criticism of her record as home secretary. and with challenges in parliament ahead for the government's brexit strategy, it could upset the delicate balance of opinion in cabinet. in the united states, a former police officer has appeared in court, charged with 13 murders and 51 rapes. prosecutors allege joseph james deangelo was the so—called golden state killer,

whose crimes terrorised california in the 1970s and 1980s. james cook reports. this frail old man is accused of terrorising california in the 1970s and ‘80s. is joseph james deangelo your true and correct legal name? i'm yes. handcuffed to a wheelchair, joseph james deangelo appeared confused at times as thejudge explained he was initially facing two counts of murder. the accused made no plea and was refused bail. in total, he's suspected of at least 13 killings, 51 rapes and scores of burglaries, many dating to the time when he was a police officer. his lawyer says he's entitled to a fair trial. we have the law that suggests that he is innocent until they prove him guilty and that's what i was going to ask everybody to remember, because i feel like he's been tried

in the press here already. mr deangelo, a father of grown—up children, was said to be extremely surprised when he was arrested at home in a quiet suburb of sacramento last week. the crime spree had begun more than a0 years ago, just half an hour's drive away, before spreading to the san francisco area and then on to central and southern and southern california. detectives have revealed that they used a genealogy website to narrow down their search for the suspect, who was arrested after officers obtained dna from an item he'd discarded. relatives of some of josephjames deangelo's alleged victims were in court for the hearing. if convicted, he could be sentenced to death. the headlines on bbc news: two of britain's biggest supermarkets, sainsbury‘s and asda, confirm they're in advanced merger talks in a deal that could be worth ten billion pounds. alfie evans, the toddler at the centre of a long legal battle, has died,

nearly a week after his life support was withdrawn. cabinet colleagues rally round home secretary amber rudd. she says she didn't see a memo copied to her office which detailed home office targets for deporting illegal immigrants. and in sport... liverpool were held to a goalless draw with stoke city, who remained in the relegation zone with just two games remaining. hamilton academical beat ross county as the interstate in the top flight. and sebastian vettel will be on pole for ferrari for the azerbaijani government pre—. lewis hamilton will start in second place. i will be back with the details on those stories at around 5:30pm. president trump has said he'll continue to apply pressure on north korea to try and rid

the peninsula of nuclear weapons. following the summit between north and south korea, mr trump said he would forge a deal with the north if it were possible when he hold talks with kimjong—un, in the coming weeks. media outlets in north korea have called yesterday's meeting historic. our correspondent rupert wingfield—hayes, who's in seoul, said the event has been also welcomed by the south korean media. given those extraordinary scenes at the summit yesterday, it is no surprise there are some excitable headlines today. here is one from the herald, the end of the korean war. this is one paper with a big picture of kim jong—un and moonjae—in. they are embracing. it is interesting also to note that we now know that people in north korea are getting to see these pictures for the first time.

the biggest official paper showing every scene from yesterday's summit and publishing in full the declaration that the two leaders signed at the end of the summit yesterday, in which it includes the words, commitment to seek complete denuclearisation of the peninsula. that is in there without any comment. as far as interpretation of this is going, here in the south i think one would describe it as optimism but cautious optimism. and in some of the papers, scepticism as well. in a popular paper here, there is commentary saying it was never made public what kim's idea of denuclearisation is and how and when denuclearisation will be accomplished. that sums up a lot of the mood here. a real sense that an opportunity has opened up for dialogue to go forward and for peace to be achieved,

but scepticism about what the north korean leader's intentions are in particular regarding his nuclear weapons. donald trump has just tweeted about the summit. also spoke to prime minister abe ofjapan to inform him of the ongoing negotiations. parole board decisions in england and wales could be challenged more easily, under new proposals. a review was set up after after the parole board approved the release of the serial sex offender, john worboys — a decision that was later overturned. here's our home affairs correspondent, danny shaw. still behind bars, john worboys, the man known as the black cab rapist. his victims had to go to court to appeal against the parole board decision to let him out ofjail.

they didn't even know why the 60—year—old prisoner had been approved for release until the legal action began. the case exposed flaws in the parole system and ministers are now trying to address them. they're planning a series of reforms to the parole board to make it more transparent. a summary of the reasons for parole decisions will be sent to victims and in some cases to other people who request it. a scheme to keep victims informed about their cases and offenders' licence conditions will be extended. and a parole board judge will review decisions that are contested and could even hold hearings in public. nick hardwick lost his job at the parole board because of thejohn worboys case. he told the bbc extra resources would be needed for the government's reforms to work. but ministers want to go further. they are reviewing the composition of parole panels and the evidence that's needed to make decisions about the release of prisoners likejohn worboys. thousands of people have been

escaping an upsurge in violence in northern myanmar. the military is reported to be attacking ethnic kachin rebels with air strikes and artillery. the un says four thousand people have been driven from their homes in the north since early april. meanwhile, refugees at a rohingya camp in bangladesh, say they are eagerly awaiting the visit of a united nations security council delegation. nearly 700,000 rohingya muslims have fled myanmar‘s rakhine state since last august during a military crackdown. a woman police officer has been sexually assaulted whilst detaining a man in sheffield in the early hours of yesterday morning. officers were responding to a report of an attempted rape on scotland street, when it's alleged a man struck the officers with a wooden signboard and sexually assaulted one of them. the man was arrested on suspicion of attempted rape, assault, sexual assault and criminal damage. he remains in police custody.

a pilot scheme designed to make people prove their identity at polling stations before they vote is deeply flawed — that's according to the the electoral reform society. the campaign group expressed concern that some legitimate voters could be put off. the measures, which are intended to reduce voterfraud, are being tested in five council areas in next week's local elections. a senior world food programme official has warned that the number of venezuelans fleeing the country may reach the levels seen in syria if nothing is done. according to the organisation's latin america director, around 35,000 people are crossing the border into colombia each day and even more are leaving for brazil and elsewhere. he called for a regional summit to discuss how to deal with the crisis. bill hayton reports. the stream of people leaving venezuela has become a flood. a tiny village in the far north

of colombia is overwhelmed. and this is just one of many ways out. colombia's government says around i million people have crossed the border since the start of venezuelan‘s economic crisis. all these mouths need feeding and the world food programme is asking for $46 million to do it. back in venezuela's capital, caracas, others are making plans to leave. he is a qualified dentist but he is about to get on a plane to spain. translation: it makes me sad because i leave part of myself here. all the plans i had that won't come true, the family and friends i'll leave behind. but i'm also hopeful because maybe things will go well for me over there. some are trying to learn new skills in preparation for their departure, even taking classes in bartending. translation: most of my friends have

left, my boyfriend has left, and i think how lucky they are to be overseas. but then i think about how happy i would be in those situations and despite all the benefits, it can't be easy. as venezuelans flee, this is what's left behind. in the city, some schools are only half full. the other children have gone with theirfamilies. wherever they end up, those schoolchildren will need educating, straining the resources of their hosts. and the un has warned the exodus may be helping to spread a new malaria epidemic to neighbouring countries. venezuela's problems are becoming the region's problems. pregnant women in wales are to become the first in the uk to receive a new noninvasive test for down‘s syndrome. the blood test, available from monday on the nhs is said

to be more accurate, safer and less stressful than existing screenings. but there are concerns it could lead to more terminations. the evanses from maesteg another child to go along with ffion, who is nine, and eight—year—old morgan. morgan has down‘s syndrome, an unexpected result of pregnancy, so this time around, rachel and gavin paid to have a noninvasive prenatal test to find out whether their third child would also have the condition. regardless of whatever the test comes back, we would be having the baby anyway. it was just more for peace of mind, so we could just prepare and give us time to get prepared. from monday, nipt will be offered on the nhs in wales to women who have a higher chance of down‘s, edwards or patau syndrome in their first trimester. but there are concerns this could lead to more terminations. james lives in barry

with his family. he is 12 years old and also has down‘s syndrome. his father has reservations about offering the new test. i think it's a very dangerous direction of travel, because obviously, that is one of a number of similar types of illness that you could start applying the same sort of idea to. i mean, they have, certainly from my experience with james, he has something to offer society. the welsh government say the test is about giving parents a safer test and plays an important role in providing parents with information and support needed for their pregnancy. planning is also under way for nipt to be available in england later this year, with scotland also looking at the possibility of introducing the test in the future. the weather now.

for some there is some sunshine and for those who have it, a good deal of it. elsewhere, some cloud, celeb pics of rain which will be slow to clear from the midlands and east anglia through the rest of the afternoon. overnight battery and will start to fade. we will keep a lot of cloudier. further north and also a chilly night for northern ireland, scotland, the far north of imminent, temperatures getting close to freezing or below in rural sports. under cloud the temperatures will be 5-8 under cloud the temperatures will be 5—8 celsius. for the rest it will be dry and chilly. fewer showers around, the large swathe of the country having a dry day. class struggling to clear from south—east england as later we will see heavy outbreaks of rain arriving here. it's slightly cooler feel tomorrow,

the window starting to strengthen particularly along the east coast, where temperatures will struggle to get into double figures. in the sunshine, at 10—12. an area of low pressure pushing its way over france. that is going to bring u nsettled france. that is going to bring unsettled conditions for the monday morning rush—hour. keep an eye on the forecast over the next 24—36 hours if you can because here is what monday morning looks. wet and windy for southern, a stone, central parts of imminent. perhaps some snow over the south and north downs. that and offering extending north but is not to scotland, northern ireland or the far north of imminent. other persistent readers to therefore the south to stop perhaps not getting as far west as the west of wales in south—west amon. a different story for northern ireland, scotland, the far north of imminent. largely dry with sunshine and temperatures responding very nicely in the sunshine, 12—40 potential here on

monday afternoon. but it will feel cool indeed under that failed, wind and rain, temperatures struggling to get much above 5—6. we could see sleet or snow will offer high ground but it is unlikely to settle. temperatures start to perk up through the week. there will be some rain. by the end of the b, temperatures on the rise. this is bbc news. our latest headlines: two of britain's biggest supermarkets, sainsbury‘s and asda, confirm they're in advanced merger talks in a deal that could be worth £10 billion. alfie evans, the toddler at the centre of a legal battle over his treatment, has died. his father said on social media, my gladiator lay down his shield and gained his wings.