this is bbc news. the headlines: sainsbury‘s and asda are in advanced talks to merge — in a deal understood to be worth around £10 billion. alfie evans, the little boy who was at the centre of a legal battle about his hospital treatment, has died. supporters pay tribute to the toddler, releasing balloons in a park in liverpool. cabinet colleagues rally around the home secretary amber rudd after she says she wasn't aware of targets for deporting illegal immigrants. the government proposes changes to the parole system in england and wales, in the wake of the john worboys case. also in the next hour as part of the bbc‘s crossing divides season... we join a sheep farmer in the yorkshire dales who's receiving help during lambing season from a group of asylum seekers. and we look back at the highlights of the tribeca film festival in talking movies.

good evening and welcome to bbc news. the supermarket giants sainsburys and asda are in advanced talks about merging. 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. 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. 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. 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. at the moment, tesco is the biggest grocer in the uk with 28% of the market. asda and sainsbury‘s have almost 16% each. put them together and their combined 2,800 stores would hop over tesco into the top spot. but not everybody likes it. it makes no sense to me at all. the trouble is you've got businesses which are on opposite poles of the mass—market. 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. 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. so this deal could be in anticipation of that happening.

but it could yet falter. the competition and markets authority could well say that cutting the number of supermarkets that consumers could choose from is not on. they could be ordered to sell off dozens, if not hundreds, of stores in order to get the merger over the line. joe lynam reporting. martin stanley was the former chief executive of the competition commission. will this get over the line? hard to say at the moment, and i was astonished at this potential merger, and a few years ago this would not have stood a chance. the thought of two companies going together in this way would be wrong, with a greater reduction in competition, but now there is more competition, lidl and

aldi and waitrose, marks & spencer ‘s. there's a strong argument that competition has changed a lot in recent yea rs competition has changed a lot in recent years and this may not be a big problem. we have heard analyst saying that sainsbury‘s and sainsbury‘s might have to downsize the number of branches. —— sainsbury‘s and company —— asda. that is quite possible, i live in south london where sainsbury‘s is pretty strong and there is a big asda in carbon junction and the thought of those all in the same ownership might reduce competition —— clapham junction. we are talking big amounts of money, a typical supermarket turns over 20 million a year. even a i% supermarket turns over 20 million a year. even a 1% rise in prices would ta ke year. even a 1% rise in prices would take a lot of money out of our pockets. that is talking about the consumer, but what about the

suppliers? they must be wondering. they must. there is the ombudsman, some more protection for supplies, but i think the main issue, it has to be the customer, and i don't think it will make a big difference to the supplier. although that will be looked at. it will be not making such a big difference because they we re such a big difference because they were the biggest players anyway?m is hard to refuse a merger simply on the grounds of problems for other suppliers and the big issue is a lwa ys suppliers and the big issue is always the customer. are we going to lose out because prices are going to increase, are beginning to lose out because service quality goes down or quality of goods? that is the big issue. we heard a critic saying that they just don't fit together as brands. i'm not really in a position to say, but they are strong in different parts of the country. asda

in the north and company macro in the south, but they also constrain each other —— sainsbury‘s in the south. so, whether they are strong in particular areas is not conclusive and you have got to look at the big picture, and the test is, if they're going to be a substantial reduction in competition, and if so, that this problem, i think it is all to play for. martin, thanks for joining us. 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. alfie, who would have been two next month, had a degenerative neurological condition. alfie's parents have said they're heartbroken. 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 their son could not be helped. 0n the outside, he's shown the biggest fight and that's what's given us the biggest drive to get us through this. it's heartbreaking knowing the doctors just because they can't find a diagnosis think it's ok to come to me and mum and say, we can't find an answer, so we think it's time that we give up on alfie. no. if you're going to give up on him, please reassure us, and refer him. 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. fly high, alfie.

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 with their son. i would do the same. but they've done everything they can for him from day one. obviously, we don't know him personally. i think there's a lot of people, a whole nation that don't know him personally, but when you read somebody's story, it captures you massively. this has been a difficult time at alder hey — police are investigating complaints that staff and patients were intimidated by some protesters. today, the hospital said 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. 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. 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. 0ur political correspondent, iain watson, reports. 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? good morning.

and 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 tweets, 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 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. usually ignorance isn't enough to save a ministerial career, so why on earth is amber rudd still in a job?

i'm told downing street has made it clear to her that 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 her, voted to remain in the european union, if she were to resign. critics say she is still there because 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 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's under scrutiny. iain watson, bbc news.

parole board decisions in england and wales could be challenged more easily, under new proposals. a review was set—up 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. with me in the studio now is andrew sperling, a lawyer specialising in parole and judicial review — and also a former adviser to the parole board. where do you stand on this? where do you stand on thi57m where do you stand on this? it has been quite rushed. sold as something very radical but i'm not sure they can deliver. the intention is to be more transparent and more responsive, in what ways does it make that agenda? transparency is

important, transparency has to come with responsibility and evidence and information. the move to give more information. the move to give more information about the basis on which decisions are being made, you would welcome that? absolutely. it is important the public knows more about the parole board and how decisions are made and then there's a better opportunity for them to make informed decisions about it. what about the area about who gets to trigger reviews? it is inevitability that if anybody does it will be the prisoner as well as the victims. it is quite controversial, the idea of victims challenging parole board decisions, and one of the things which would concern me is that there are resource implications for this announcement and i'm not sure they have been thought through fourth of the parole board is under pressure already and has to deliver 700

hearings a month and that is a lot of hearings. the idea of giving them extra work to do without any extra money is quite bold. if the money comes through are you happy?” money is quite bold. if the money comes through are you happy? i would really wa nt comes through are you happy? i would really want the public to be much more informed about what a parole hearing is. they take place in a closed environment imprisons and i think the parole board needs to be a properly constituted core and if they are going to be open to the public in some way they need to take place in a mutual arena in the court. the parole board needs proper powers and much of the power needs to be taken away from the secretary of state and it needs to become a properjudicial process. halfway between a political process and a judicial process? absolutely. politicians want to have influence for understandable reasons and they wa nt to for understandable reasons and they want to be involved in the decision—making but this is a classic case, an exceptional case,

that this review has come out of, and we have a justice sector review has been in thejob and we have a justice sector review has been in the job about 100 and we have a justice sector review has been in thejob about 100 days. ——justice has been in thejob about 100 days. —— justice secretary. having to make very difficult decisions very quickly, and under a lot of political pressure, and it would make it easier if some of the politics was taken out of the decision—making. politics was taken out of the decision-making. regarding the victims, is that something that you welcome? i do. i'm not sure that the pa role system welcome? i do. i'm not sure that the parole system really serves victims very well. victims of serious crime have been through terribly traumatic situations and they will be very angry, some of them, and at the moment the parole system doesn't really allow very much involvement because you come in at the end and you make a statement. it may actually not really serve what victims of crime might need, there might be different parts of the

system which might actually give them a better opportunity to cope with that and get over the things that have happened to them. restorative justice is a relatively new idea in criminaljustice arena and that might be something which is much more worth exploring in the future in terms of giving something meaningful to victims. that might be more meaningful than a rolling pa role more meaningful than a rolling parole board decision? possibly. thanks forjoining us. the headlines on bbc news: asda and sainsbury‘s are in advanced talks to merge — but the two separate brands are expected to be retained if the move goes ahead. alfie evans — the toddler at the centre of a legal battle over his treatment — has died. flowers, cards and toys have been left outside alder hey hospital in liverpool. cabinet colleagues rally round home secretary amber rudd after she says she wasn't aware of targets for deporting illegal immigrants. sport now and a full round up

from the bbc sport centre. we're going to start with the premier league where the clubs at the bottom end of the table live to fight another day. the bottom three sides all picked up points. and it's getting tighter because fourth from bottom swansea lost 1—0 to chelsea in the evening kick—off — a defeat that has given increased hope to the teams below them. alex gulrujani reports. time is running out for swansea and chelsea with jobs to do at either end of the table, and swansea's battles with relegation and chelsea with the top four and it was those in blue who make their case for the points early on. fabregas putting chelsea in front. it could have been more, alfie mawson almost gifting a second for chelsea. the gap between them and tottenham in the battle for champions league football is tight. even tighterfor champions league football is tight. even tighter for swansea and a season even tighter for swansea and a

season in the championship, and finally they started to muster some chances. but chelsea should have put the game at a site victor moses somehow managing to miss —— out of sight. swansea kept themselves in the mix, andre ayew going close and kyle naughton a little closer, but could they find a way through? a final chance fell to tom carroll. but still no success. chelsea's west ta kes a but still no success. chelsea's west takes a step forward and swansea stay put. —— quest. earlier today west brom had to win and hope for other results to go their way to avoid being relegated, and that's exactly what happened. they won 1—0 at newcastle thanks to a goalfrom matt philips. it's been quite the turnaround from west brom since darren moore took charge — he's unbeaten in four matches. we've gone out with a difficult task and the only way to do this was to

get together, united together, and show togetherness, and a value for one another, that is the big thing. and through the recent form and results, it has been very good and performances have been up there, so we are delighted with today's performance and result against a really good team. here's the day's other results. it finished goalless between burnley and brighton — that point for burnley though means sean dyche's side will almost certainly be playing europa league football next season. crystal palace thrashed ten—man leicester 5—0 and are almost certainly nearly safe. everton beat huddersfield 2—0 to cement their position in eighth. stoke held liverpool to a goalless draw while southampton gave their survival hopes a big boost with a 2—1win over bournemouth. the big names keep falling at snooker‘s world championship and the biggest name of all went out today. ronnie 0'sullivan was knocked out in the second round by ali carter. the five—time champion was beaten by ali carter 13—9

at the crucible, meaning his wait for another world title now goes on after his last success in 2013. there was some needle between the two players during the course of the match, but carter said he wasn't going to let that affect him. in the past i've been guilty of ronnie intimidating me like he has done to many other players. he has turned me over here four times and twice in the final. it is nice to finally get one up. as i said, i feel like a different person since i last played him in 2012. i've been through so much in my life. i'm just alighted to win and delighted to get through. —— delighted. over to formula one, where sebastian vettel has secured his third—straight pole position, after beating lewis hamilton in qualifying at the azerbaijan grand prix. the german, who is nine points clear of hamilton, finished 0.179 seconds clear of his rival at the baku street circuit. vettel‘s ferrari teammate kimi raikkonen was set to land pole position before making a mistake

at the final corner of his lap. vettel has already won two of the first three races this season. that's all the sport for now. you can find more on the bbc sport website plus news of a big day in rugby union. state media in north korea has hailed yesterday's summit with the south as historic — saying it paves the way for the start of a new era. the two leaders agreed to work to rid the peninsula of nuclear weapons at the landmark summit. us president donald trump said via twitter that he'd had a long and very good talk with south korea's president moon. he also made clear that america would continue to push for north korea to give up all of its nuclear weapons. for more on this, i'm joined by our washington correspondent, chris buckler. president trump sounding very upbeat about what happened yesterday? after

the apparent success of that meeting at the korean border yesterday there has been a flurry of diplomatic activity and it is clear that the americans are in the middle of it. it gives you the sense that this summit between donald trump and kim jong—un is going to happen and that it is really the thing that has been laid the way for by this first meeting between the north and south korean leaders yesterday. as a result you have this pretty remarkable scenario emerging where donald trump and kim jong—un could sit down together and have a discussion, something which would have been unimaginable just a few months ago. you get the impression from the conversations, that by including the japanese prime minister and also not just including the japanese prime minister and also notjust president moon but his defence minister, in the conversation, you're leading the way to that summit, and again the push will be for denuclearisation. we don't have a date, but questions

about the location are starting to be answered and according to the white house there are indications it could potentially be singapore smack mongolia. president trump indicated there would be a couple of locations considered —— or mongolia. there would be a couple of locations considered -- or mongolia. how much debate is there in the us about what is going on in the mind of kim jong—un? the sceptics who have been watching the korean peninsula for many decades have said they have been here before and this is kim jong—un playing a game and he will play president trump. there is no doubt that this is in some respects a gamble and there are some in the trump administration who will be warning, what exactly does north korea want. they are seeing a leader who despite having a country where there are huge human rights violations taking place, a country where he has led a regime that has seen where he has led a regime that has seen him allegedly being involved in the murder of his half brother and

assassinating his own uncle, what exactly assassinating his own uncle, what exa ctly d oes assassinating his own uncle, what exactly does he want out of this? at the same time there is the recognition that the instability and concerns about the korean peninsula mean that the administration has got to look at this years three and has two a d dress to look at this years three and has two address the issue and take something of a gamble —— has got to ta ke something of a gamble —— has got to take this seriously and has two address. donald trump is buying into the idea that he can convince kim jong—un and he has been buoyed by the popularity of the statements in the popularity of the statements in the press that indicate that his hard—line rhetoric the press that indicate that his ha rd—line rhetoric has the press that indicate that his hard—line rhetoric has maybe brought kim jong—un to the table. and therefore president trump does see a big advantage in this, but people will be cautious. it comes down dead —— to the key issue, the word denuclearisation, and for the americans that means giving up nuclear weapons, and so far kim jong—un has given no suggestion that

he would do that. chris, thank you. protests have continued for a third day in the streets of pamplona in northern spain. more than 30,000 people — most of them women — are angry at the verdict given to five men accused of gang raping an 18—year—old woman two years ago. the court found the men guilty of "sexual abuse", but cleared them of the more serious charge of rape, saying they had not used violence or intimidation. the men have been jailed for nine years. the victim says she will appeal. 0n the eve of the two—month anniversary of the poisoning on sergei and yulia skripal, work is beginning to decontaminate council and police buildings in salisbury this weekend. today the local community gathered for what they described as a "city saunter", to show that, in spite of the continued work, salisbury is very much still open for business. sean killick reports. it looked like a small political rally, but the only thing fomenting here today was a determination to help local publicans.

salisbury‘s branch of camra, the campaign for real ale, says it's concerned that, since the incident on march the 4th, trade in the pubs has gone flat. they are feeling the pinch, quite frankly, and we want to do as much as we can to support them, because with a vibrant pub and hospitality industry, salisbury will prosper. we have a lot of visitors coming to the city. i've noticed in the last week they are beginning to come back. we want to see more of them back. dozens of people joined today's organised tours of salisbury‘s pubs, dubbed the city saunter, and businesses say they welcome such support. it has been quite difficult, so the footfall has fallen quite significantly, and we've noticed that in beer sales, food sales. we need to let everyone know that salisbury is open. we are hoping that it's going to be over, that everything's going to be forgotten and we'll get back to normal. tomorrow marks eight weeks since the attack on yulia and sergei skripal, and the department for environment,

food and rural affairs has confirmed preparation work is taking place this weekend at wiltshire council and police officers at bourne hill for more decontamination work in the city. an outbreak of toxic caterpillars that can cause asthma attacks, vomiting and skin rashes has descended on the south east of england, according to officials. 0ak processionary moths, which are in their larval stage, have been spotted in london and across the whole of the region. the forestry commission says hairs on the caterpillars can cause fevers and eye and throat irritations and it's issued a caution not to touch the species. throughout this week as part of the bbc‘s crossing divides season, we've been looking at ways people are creating connections in a polarised world. in the yorkshire dales, during lambing, a sheep farmer is getting help from an unusual workforce. rodney beresford — who has 500 sheep on the hills at ribblehead — is welcoming groups of asylum seekers who help him look after ewes and newly born lambs.

arrived at ribblehead. some have been in the uk a few weeks, others several years. all waiting to hear if they are allowed to stay. within minutes, they are passing newborn lambs to rodney and learning about sheep farming in yorkshire. why are you putting that on the tail? it shortens the tail to keep the lamb cleaner. so they don't get... keep the flies off them. 0h, right. hopefully! you're a boy. the visitors come from all over the world, many from rural villages, so they are familiar with livestock.

i feel very well because when i see lambs like this, i remember my home, i remember in somalia, i remember every single home. i remember my family, i remember everything. well, it's beautiful today, but it has been a brutal winter, particularly difficult for rodney, and having the asylum seekers here really does help him out. for every group that arrives, rodney receives a small payment, a boost to his income after he spent an extra £14,000 feeding his sheep through the cold weather. this is one way of diversifying. i don't make a lot of money out of it at all but it's a big help. it's 100 people a year at least that come out for lambing. it generally makes a difference.