this is bbc news, our latest headlines. sainsbury‘s and asda, the uk's second and third largest supermarket chains, have confirmed they're in merger talks. combined, they would overtake the market leader, tesco. alfie evans, the toddler at the centre of a legal battle over his treatment, has died. earlier, hundreds of people released balloons next to alder hey hospital in memory of the 23—month—old. government ministers have offered their backing to the home secretary, amber rudd. it comes after she apologised for not knowing her department had targets for removing illegal immigrants. a former policeman accused of being the so—called

golden state killer has appeared in court in california. josephjames deangelo is charged with 13 murders and 51 rapes. state media in north korea has hailed yesterday's summit with the south as an historic meeting that paves the way for the start of a new era. the two leaders agreed to work to rid the peninsula of nuclear weapons. time to cross to the bbc sport centre now for sportsday. hello and welcome to sportsday. the headline. fighting on in the premier league, wins for west brom and southampton keep their hopes of

avoiding relegation alive. fighting at the crucible as ronnie o'sullivan and ali carter come to blows, but ali carter gets the knockout. and ali carter come to blows, but ali carter gets the knockoutli and ali carter come to blows, but ali carter gets the knockout. i feel like a different person since i last played him. i have been through so much. i am delighted to win. formula 1 much. i am delighted to win. formula iisin much. i am delighted to win. formula i is in azerbaijan but hamilton is not at his best pipped to the pole position by sebastien vettel. welcome to the programme, another packed programme coming up and it is football world we have to start with the number of promotion and relegation issues finalised. in the premier league, no teams are

relegated yet, stoke are in the first of the teams to play, they held liverpool to a goalless trawl. the match was watched by drew savage. it's a game of fine margins... stoke this close to snatching three precious points, in the 89th minute. but maybe this was always destined to end goalless. mo salah has scored 31 premier league goals this season. 32 would be a record. he could usually finish this... well maybe not quite with his eyes closed. stoke, four points from safety this morning, went for it. mame biram diouf frustrated... and at the other end, trent alexander arnold stopped in his tracks, by jack butland. the score remained at nil nil but nobody really knew how... including peter crouch. salah came close again before half time... not so much action after it but the game's biggest talking point came with three minutes to go. liverpool convinced they should have had a penalty... the officials less certain that erik pieters had moved his arm towards the ball. after that, the home fans relieved

to see shawcross just fail to make the right contact. so... call it a draw then. whether it's enough to help stoke avoid the drop remains to be seen... whilejurgen klopp seemed pleased enough to get everyone off the pitch in one piece... there's the small matter of a champions league semi final coming up shortly. i thought we deserved it. it was a really good game. there went the way we wanted to play. throwing bodies into the challenge and we might have sneaked it but the performance of the team was outstanding. if the lad had played like that from the start of the season, we would not be here. you are aware of the season, we would not be here. you are aware you are, of the season, we would not be here. you are aware you are, but i cannot ask any more, the way the aeroplane for me. to talk us through the rest of the news,... we need to start at

the bottom of the table book is west brom did their bit to try and avoid relegation today by beating newcastle. darren moore, what a job he is doing, eight points from four games. he has made himself a candidate for next reason, it is too little too late, west brom could go down tonight if swansea get a point against chelsea. matt phillips scored the winning goal, darren moore has beaten two champions league winning manager since he took over, brilliantjob league winning manager since he took over, brilliant job but league winning manager since he took over, brilliantjob but he knows that west brom will go down. here he is. we have gone out with a really difficult task and the only way to come against this task was everyone coming together, united together and showing togetherness and add value for one another. that is the big thing and through it, the recent form results over recent weeks have been very good and performances have been very good and performances have been up there. we are delighted with

the performance again and the result against a really good team. we often say this but if some of these teams have played like this all season, things would be different. southampton beat bournemouth. this was asked win. they went 1—0 through dusan tadic should. the celebrations from mark hughes, he knows how big that was. dusan tadic chips scored the opener. josh king scored for bournemouth. dusan tadic scored again. mccarthy made a great save near the end. a big three points for southampton and marquees, they are backinit southampton and marquees, they are back in it now, one from safety. -- mark use. it was quite an experience for everyone with southampton allegiances, but we stuck at it, in terms of the whole game, i felt we we re terms of the whole game, i felt we

were the team that deserved to win but you know, it only takes a second to score a goal and they threw everything at us in the last ten minutes and we got bodies on the line, blocks in, stopped crosses coming in. he looked and sounded emotional. crystal palace, 5—0 win against leicester. what a turnaround, 38 points, not mathematically safe, but we know they will be playing in the premier league next season. he has a great relationship with the players. the big turning point was the sending off of marc albrighton. three goals in the last ten minutes and crystal palace were superb. the leicester bossis palace were superb. the leicester boss is under pressure now. they are in bad form. we know crystal palace will be in the premier league next season will be in the premier league next season and roy hodgson is delighted. it was a really important game today. it is all very well thinking

you just need one win from the last three opportunities to secure your status but you have to get it and leicester have good players. we were nervous before the game but i am pleased for the players. they had to suffer a lot of hardships this year and fortune has not always been with us and fortune has not always been with us but they kept going and this was perhaps their reward. you can hear more from roy hodgson on match of the day later. the west brom result is affected by the chelsea game which is happening now. it is currently 1—0, the goal coming from cesc fabregas. swansea did well to hang in. if swansea get a point, then west brom mathematically will go down tonight. chelsea are winning right now and that is crucial for them, they are within

two points towel of the top four. totte n ha m two points towel of the top four. tottenham play against watford on monday and chelsea need to win the game. that affects the top of the table, they are fighting for the top four places, liverpool could have gone into second place today, chelsea are still in with a shout. they play liverpool next week in and those games in hand could be crucial. jurgen klopp —— jurgen klopp called it a good point. burnley in seventh place almost into europa league football. incredible, they got a draw today, they had more of the chances and they could have secured it with a win, but in the end it was a draw. at the bottom of the table, none of the teams are relegated yet and that is the big talking point for today. still, hanging them, southampton are in it, swa nsea hanging them, southampton are in it, swansea will be nervous. we have not talked about huddersfield against everton, huddersfield are in trouble. it is two wins in a row now. sam alla rdyce trouble. it is two wins in a row now. sam allardyce is still under pressure because some of the fans in

the away end were calling for him to go. despite the win, he is still under pressure. fantastic season for david wagner. thank you for now. there is so much more going on in football. tied at the bottom of the premier league and even tighter in the championship. a nerve—racking entered the season at both ends of the table next week again. let us look at the scores, cardiff are in second place after a vital win against harle. preston have given their play—off hopes a boost with victory against sheffield united. cardiff ahead of full, they know a win will take them back to the premier league. derby will be looking over their shoulders as they try to hold onto a play—off spot and look at the bottom of the table. a terrible afternoon for bolton, beaten by burton. they are in relegation places, barnsley out of those places, reading and birmingham

are farfrom those places, reading and birmingham are far from safe either. some ups and downs in leagues one and two. these are the celebrations for wycombe. they will play the likes of sunderland next season after beating chesterfield this season. barnet have given their hopes of staying in the football league a massive boost because they beat morecambe who are now in danger of going down instead of barnet. northampton town have been relegated from league1 of barnet. northampton town have been relegated from league 1 and mk dons are also down after they lost to scunthorpe. celtic will claim the scottish premiership title if they beat city rivals rangers tomorrow afternoon. at the other end of the table hamilton academical... ...took a huge step towards survival with a 2 nil win against bottom side ross county. after a nervy first half of few chances hamilton took the lead from the penalty spot and then the impressive david templeton doubled the lead to seal a vital three points. hamilton are now six points clear of county who are in real danger of automatic relegation. there were three other

matches this afternoon. quite a game at easter road as hibs beat kilmarnock 5 3. motherwell beat dundee 2 1, while it finished 1 all between saintjohnstone and partick thistle. coming up also in the programme... sebastien vettel continues to dominate hamilton in the azerbaijan grand prix. great britain look to reach the elite division of the ice hockey world championship. the big names keep falling at the snooker world championship. ronnie o'sullivan was knocked out in the second round by ali carter. amat that contain plenty of needle. he was beaten by carter 13—9 at the crucible meaning his wait for a world title goes on after his last success was in 2013. huge news from the crucible, the world number two and the five—time

event winner this year, ronnie o'sullivan is out, he has been downed by the captain and how would you sum up that performance from ali carter today? tenacious, feisty and one of the best he has had in his career. there was lots went on, there was a bit of needle between there was a bit of needle between the players but he stood up to him and he made one of the best clea ra nces and he made one of the best clearances of his life to go one frame short. and it was a 13-0 losing record until this point from ali carter, over the last 17 years, can you sum up how meaningful this win is to him? do not underestimate how big performance this was from ali carter, debate someone who has been his nemesis, it is a superb performance. it is just been his nemesis, it is a superb performance. it isjust a second round match for ali carter and he more or less said that. it is a big win, there is biggerfish more or less said that. it is a big win, there is bigger fish to fry. i

liked his attitude, he was not getting carried away by the he had beaten one of the best players in the game. he was more interested in his own performance. a lot of people will be asking everyone the o'sullivan can hit the heights of the crucible again because he was after a record equalling with you in his pursuit of stephen hendry‘s seven eventually and he has been derailed once again, what is your view? he has had a great season, there is every reason he can win world championship, he came up against a stubborn opponent. there is no reason why he cannot win another world championship. he has a lot of time to think about it. who is the favourite now, with the fact that he and mark selby are gone? you have to sayjohn higgins. he has proved he can do it here, but could it be dingjunhui, the proved he can do it here, but could it be ding junhui, the chance of a new name on the trophy is massive.

we shall see. it all begins again at seven o'clock on bbc two and we hope you join us there. seven o'clock on bbc two and we hope youjoin us there. he seven o'clock on bbc two and we hope you join us there. he was a better player, i was hanging onto him and trying to make a game of it and he got in first every frame more or less, idid got in first every frame more or less, i did a few clearances, but i was second to the punch every time. he did a mayweather on me. in the past i have been guilty of ronnie intimidating me, like probably has done to other players, he has turned me over here four times, twice in the final and it is nice to get one up the final and it is nice to get one up finale. i feel like a different person now since i last played him in 2012, i have been through so much in my life. i am delighted to win and get through. great result for carter. sebastian vettel will be on pole position for tomorrow's azeribjan grand prix. the ferrari driver beat lewia hamilton to make this his third consecutive pole start. the baku circuit is a narrow street track which led to a dramatic near crash between the two torro rosso drviers.

joe lynskey has the details. in formula 1 every nation brings its own challenge. azerbaijan is about conquering the streets but when it is narrow and congested, danger comes into play. this is how close pierre gastley came to a devastating collision. the team—mate he dodged pulled up with a tyre puncher, he was one near miss away from something much worse. lewis hamilton knows the road to a third career title is even trickier this year. he has ground to make up on the championship leader and once again he missed out on pole position. taking it to his final lap. kimi raikkonen led the way before getting blown off course in his final lap. that paved the way for sebastien vettel to take pole position. three races in a row where he will start in front. he knows beating hamilton means

meeting every challenge head on. in the backed coup, staying street smart could be the key. after great britain's men's ice hockey team beat italy yesterday for the first time in 66 years, they now stand on the brink of winning world championship gold and promotion to the sport's top level. they need one point against hungary tonight to guarantee a first place finish. seth bennett reports. this is a huge moment in british ice hockey history, the chance of getting promotion to the elite level of the sport. it has not happened since 1994 when they got the opportunity to play amongst the likes of canada and russia and sweden in italy. since then there have been lean times for dubey, but a first win in 66 years over italy last night has given them an opportunity. great britain had to fight all the way, ben o'connor

scored by a long—range goal and late on in the game, brett weaved his magic to give great —— great britain that important victory. what does that important victory. what does that mean? it means that great britain need just one point from their final match against the hosts, hungary, in order to get promotion and get up to that elite level. it is still a big ask for pete russell's side, but they have given themselves a wonderful opportunity and now they just themselves a wonderful opportunity and now theyjust have to go on and ta ke and now theyjust have to go on and take it. and you can follow that matt on radio five live sports extra and the bbc sport website and app. richard johnson has been named champion jockey for the third time in a row at sandown park. johnson was runner up to ap mccoy on sixteen occasions but has now won the title every year since 2016. he could only manage second place on the final day of the season but did win the cheltenham gold cup on native river in march. it was one of the highlights of this

season. congratulations. staying with horse racing and seven time cheltenham festival winning jockey nina carberry has announced her retirement, a day after fellow jockey and sister in law katie walsh revealed she too was retiring. carberry made the announcement after recording a victory at punchestown. she won thejuvenile she won the juvenile handicap hurdle in 2005 and six other festival winners and 2011 irish grand national. that is it from us, all of the rugby union and premiership news on the website. that is all for this programme, we will see you again at half past seven. good evening. the supermarket giants sainsburys and asda are in advanced talks about merging. and asda are in advanced sources say sainsbury‘s would buy its rival from its american owner, walmart. the two firms are the second and third largest supermarkets in the uk and , if combined, would overtake tesco in terms of market share. would overtake tesco our business correspondent, joe lynam, reports. they are two of the best—known brands in the uk, but now

they want to merge into one company. brands in the uk, but now the surprise announcement that asda and sainsbury‘s are tojoin up has shaken up the grocery market, and it may affect where and how we shop. and it may affect in a statement, sainsbury‘s said that it confirms it and walmart, that owns asda, are in advanced discussions regarding a combination of the sainsbury‘s and asda businesses. a further announcement will be made at 7am on monday. this whopper of a deal could certainly shake up britain's supermarket sector. could certainly shake up at the moment, tesco is the biggest grocer in the uk with 28% of the market. is the biggest grocer in the uk asda and sainsbury‘s have almost 16% each. put them together and their combined 2800 stores would hop over tesco into the top spot. but not everybody likes it. it makes no sense to me at all. but not everybody likes it. the trouble is you've got businesses which are on opposite poles of the mass—market. which are on opposite asda are attracting a younger,

less affluent customer. sainsbury‘s an older, more affluent one. as much as you try to bring those businesses together, you will end up undermining both. businesses together, britain's retail market has already been shook up by the emergence of the german discounters aldi and lidl. and amazon is beefing up its presence in the fresh food sector with one hour deliveries. up its presence in the fresh food so this deal could be in anticipation of that happening. but it could yet falter. in anticipation of that happening. the competition and markets authority could well say that cutting the number of supermarkets that consumers could choose from is not on. that consumers could choose they could be ordered to sell off dozens, if not hundreds, of stores in order to get the merger over the line. joe, picking up on that last point in your report — competition could be a major hurdle? point in your report — if point in your report — you'd asked #metoo years a whether if you'd asked #metoo years ago whether the competition regulator would allow a megamerger like this to go through i would say no way. but since then, tesco, number one in the market, has allowed to be go with booker, the largest wholesaler

that owns londis and buttons. maybe the market is changing. aldi and lidl the german discounters were insignificant players a few years ago. now they are major staunch rivals to the big players. consumers do have choice in that. add in amazon, they're tiptoeing into the british market. they may accelerate plans. it's good for consumers, good for choice. the deal may be approved but it'll come with major strings attached. thank you for now. alfie evans, the terminally ill toddler at the centre of a long legal battle, has died, nearly a week after his life support was withdrawn. has died, nearly a week after his alfie, who would have been two next month, had a degenerative neurological condition. month, had a degenerative alfie's parents said they are heartbroken. 0ur correspondent judith moritz reports. they judith moritz reports. call themselves alfie's army but they call themselves alfie's army, but today their fight turned to grief. they gathered to remember the little boy outside the hospital where he died. for the first weeks

of alfie evans's life he seemed healthy, happy and well. but he soon started to develop problems. scans showed that his brain was being destroyed. he 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 person could not be helped. is shown the biggest fight and that's what has given us the biggest drive to get to this. it's heartbreaking knowing the doctors just because they can't find a diagnosis think it's ok to come to me and my man say, we can't find an answer, so we think it's time to give up on alfie. if you're going to give up on alfie. if you're going to give up on him, please reassure us. the couple took their legal case u nsuccessfully the couple took their legal case unsuccessfully through all the available courts several times in the uk and twice to europe. but on monday alfie's life support was switched off. and this morning, in a facebook post, alfie's father said his son had laid down his shield and gained his wings. little soldier. as

news of the little boy's death spread, crowds came to the hospital to pay tribute to him. they've just been so brave, they've been, they've done everything haven't they, all they can, and this has happened. they've been so brave. for a mum and dad to stand that strong whiff their son. i would do the same. they've done everything they can for him. we don't know him personally. a whole nation don't know him personally but when you read the story it captures you massively. this has been a difficult time at alder hey, police investigating complaints staff and patients were intimidated by some protesters. today, the hospital said its thoughts were with alfie and his pa rents after its thoughts were with alfie and his parents after their devastating journey. last week, alfie's father went to meet the pope, having fought to move his son to a hospital in rome. today the pontiff tweeted to say he was praying for the family and the catholic church in liverpool also praised the hospital. they couldn't have done better or done

more. i think we have a really wonderful hospital staff. 0ne more. i think we have a really wonderful hospital staff. one to be proud of. i think they've kept their integrity, and they've kept quiet about what's gone on. i think they've done it in a most wonderful way. alfie's parents say they're heartbroken. after many weeks in which their plight was played out in public, they were with their son in private at the end. judith moritz, bbc news, liverpool. as part of a major overhaul of the parole board process, victims of crime could in future find it easier to challenge decisions to release convicted criminals from jail. the government said it would make changes after the board, which deals with cases in england and wales, approved the release of serial rapistjohn worboys. and wales, approved the release in future, a judge will become involved when victims object. labour's 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. for removing illegal this morning cabinet ministers offered her their support. 0ur political correspondent, iain watson, reports.

morning iain watson, reports. home secretary. we've been seeing morning home secretary. we've been seeing a lot of amber rudd lately. probably more than she would like. home secretary, will you resign over windrush? was it theresa may? and inconvenient questions keep coming. 0n inconvenient questions keep coming. on wednesday the home secretary denied knowledge of targets to remove migrants. targets for removals, when where they set? we don't have targets for removals. but on thursday she was summoned to parliament to clarify. the immigration arm of the home office has been using local targets for internal performance management. on friday, the guardian newspaper reported a leaked civil service memo copied to amber rudd from june last year which talked explicitly about targets. in a series of clicks she

said she hadn't seen it, and she'll be back before parliament to explain herself again on monday. the home secretary's apologised, saying 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 see, and for decisions she didn't take. usually ignorant isn't enough to save a ministerial career, so why on earth is amber rudd still inajob? i'm so why on earth is amber rudd still in a job? i'm told downing street has made it clear to her she still had vital work to do and that the prime minister retained confidence in her. certainly it would upset the delicate balance in the cabinet between those ministers who backed brexit and those who, like 0bama voted to remain in the european union if she were to resign. —— those who, like her. she is in effect being used as a human shield to protect her predecessor in the home office. the prime minister herself. amber rudd cannot be the right person to clear up this mess. she didn't realise there was a mess

until there was so much publicity in the newspapers. and the fact she doesn't seem to know whether she has targets or not just doesn't seem to know whether she has targets or notjust reinforces the understanding that she's just not the right person. amber rudd has said targets were only used to assess internal performance but now it's her own performance that under scrutiny. iain watson, bbc news. 0nto sport: and the former world number one ronnie 0'sullivan has been knocked out of the world snooker championships in the second round. of the world snooker championships he was beaten by ali carter in a tense match that became heated when the five—time champion appeared to barge into carter's shoulder in the 19th frame. to barge into carter's shoulder the two exchanged words but it was carter who had the final say winning13—9. but it was carter who had and ferrari's sebastian vettel has beaten rival lewis hamilton in qualifying in azerbaijan to take his third consecutive pole position. to take his third vettel finished a little under two tenths of a second clear of his mercedes rival. tenths of a second clear the german is currently nine points ahead of hamilton in the championship. points ahead of hamilton

there's more throughout the evening on the bbc news channel. we're back with the late news at ten. now on bbc one, it's time for the news where you are. goodbye. for the news where you are.