a shock move that could shake up britain's grocery market — sainsbury‘s and asda are in advanced talks to merge. the deal between the two supermarket giants would challenge tesco — and could be worth more than £10 billion — but will customers and the competition commission approve? alfie evans, the terminally ill toddler at the centre of a long legal battle about his hospital treatment has died. tens of thousands take to the streets in spain after a court acquits five men of raping a teenager, convicting them of sexual abuse instead. senior tories rally round the home secretary amber rudd, as she faces renewed pressure to resign after the windrush scandal. it's taken an awful long time. he pats him on the tummy to say well done, and look at that! and ali carter knocks out five—time world champion ronnie o'sullivan in a heated match at the world snooker championship. good evening.

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 that 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 2800 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. the competition and markets authority will look at this line by line, store by store, location by location, and that's what their concern will be. will competition lessen as a result of this? so the deal may get approval, but with some very long strings attached. joe lynam, bbc news. 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 said they are heartbroken. our correspondent judith moritz reports. 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 their son could not be helped. on the outside, he's shown the biggest fight and that's what's given us the biggest thrive 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 my 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. 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 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. senior government ministers have rallied around the home secretary amber rudd — amid criticism for being unaware her department had targets for removing illegal immigrants from the uk. amber rudd has apologised and insisted she didn't see a memo detailing the targets. labour says she should take responsibility for what had gone wrong. our 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 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 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.

more than 30,000 people took to the streets of the northern spanish city of pamplona to protest after a court acquited five men of raping a teenager at the annual bull—running festival — convicting them of sexual abuse instead. it's the third straight day of demonstrations. sophie long reports. tens of thousands of people, one message. it's not sexual abuse, it's rape. this is the third day people have filled the streets of pamplona and other cities across spain after a court acquitted five men gang rape. their 18—year—old victim had been at pamplona's bull running festival when they surrounded her and made her have sex with them. they used smartphones to film it and brag about it. calling themselves la manada, or "the pack". but this court acquitted them

of rape and found them guilty of the lesser offence of sexual abuse. jailing them for nine years. that, say these women, is not justice. translation: we believe this sentence is intolerable, justice blames us and justice doesn't protect us. translation: all we want is that when we go out at night not to feel fear. we feel it constantly, and this is so horrible and so unfair. the ruling has led to an outpouring of support for the victim, and mass protests about what's being seen as patriarchaljustice. the government says it will review the legal code on rape. translation: the government wants to emphasise it has always been with the victims. it was for that reason that our first agreement of this legislature was the agreement against gender violence. we're still fighting to defeat the scourge of society. an online petition calling for the disqualification

of the judges who acquitted the men has gathered more than 1.2 million signatures. state prosecutors say they'll appeal the ruling. sophie long, bbc news. 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. in future, a judge will become involved when victims object. with all the sport, here's karthi gna nasegaram at the bbc sport centre. good evening. there are just a few games remaining in the premier league season so every point is important for teams at the top and bottom of the table. it is time to pop out of the room if you don't want to know how they did because match of the day

follows soon on bbc one. west brom could have been relegated today but they defeated newcastle i—0. that combined with swansea's failure to beat chelsea means darren moore's side could still avoid the drop. moore has taken eight points from his four games in charge. mark hughes celebrated an important three points in southampton‘s battle to avoid dropping out of the premier league. they beat bournemouth 2—1. struggling stoke city held liverpool to a goalless draw. burnley are close to securing european football next season after their goalless draw with brighton. roy hodgson‘s crystal palace side have all but guaranteed their place in the premier league for another season with an impressive 5—0 win over leicester city. everton beat huddersfield 2—0. and swansea's defeat by chelsea means they are just one point above the relegation zone. celtic could win the scottish premiership title tomorrow when they face rangers while hibernian are hoping to finish in second place after their 5—3 win over kilmarnock. hibs are just three points behind second placed, aberdeen. there were also wins for hamilton and motherwell, while saintjohnstone and partick thistle drew i—i. spare a thought for brechin city.

their defeat today means they have not won a league game for the entire scottish championship season. ronnie o'sullivan has become the latest big name to be knocked out of snooker‘s world chamionship, beaten this evening by ali carter. o'sullivan had only lost once to carter in their 17 previous meetings but carter, who has had lung and testicular cancer, as well as crohn‘s disease, finally prevailed 13—9 in a tense second round match at the crucible. adam wild reports. five times champion of the world, the rocket, ronnie o'sullivan! he is one of the finest the game has ever seen. whilst ronnie o'sullivan‘s castis seen. whilst ronnie o'sullivan‘s cast is peerless, his future here was precarious. ali carter came into the session with a two frame lead, but he, too, bears the burden of

history. twice a finalist in sheffield, twice beaten by a southern. carter had earlier accused the tournament of being the ronnie o'sullivan show. for a moment it wasn't hard to see why. in the past, carter has overcome life—threatening health problems. he is, above all else, resilient. the pressure inside the crucible at times threatening to boil over. here the referee forced to step in. all right fellas. cool asa to step in. all right fellas. cool as a cucumber, claimed ronnie. as if to prove it, in the next frame, back he came. that was as close as he would get. outplayed by carter, o'sullivan now on the brink. one last chance. we've seen everything now. finally the victory carter craved. good luck against ronnie camille needed, all that. all right, i've got no hope of winning, no chance, let's go about my business

and see what happens. i got there in the end. if the tournament had been the end. if the tournament had been the ronnie o'sullivan show, today ali carter was its star. adam wild, bbc news. to formula one and sebastian vettel will be on pole position for the azerbaijan grand prix. great britain's lewis hamilton will start in second place. this is vettel‘s third consecutive pole position as he aims to win his third race of the season on the streets of baku. hamilton is looking for his first win since october. the rest of the day's sport is on the bbc website including london irish being relegated from rugby union's premiership, dan evans's win on his return to tennis after a drugs ban, and previews of manchester city and chelsea women's champions league semi finals. you can see more on all of today's stories on the bbc news channel. that's all from me. goodnight. hello. this is bbc news. the review of the parole

system, prompted by the controversial approval for the release of serial sex—offenderjohn worboys, has today been released. it calls for greater transparency in the parole process and for victims to be able to challenge decisions more easily. well, head of the parole board at that time was nick hardwick, who was sacked in march byjustice secretary david gauke after the high court's decision to block the release of the rapist john worboys. i asked him earlier about his reaction to the proposals. i think there's a big gap between the political reality and what is actually being proposed. what's being proposed is quite sensible, something i was advocating long before thejohn something i was advocating long before the john worboys something i was advocating long before thejohn worboys case. it is what is left out that is really disappointing. and some of the changes that are not going to happen. what are the key things that

are in? the parole board, the rule that stops them explaining its decision will be abolished and the pa role decision will be abolished and the parole board will be able to publish a limited explanation of why it has decided what it has decided. and the justice secretary is minded to create a review system for parole decisions but there will be further consultation before a final decision is made. that will involve who exactly as part of the review?m is made. that will involve who exactly as part of the review? it is not clear who will be able to review those decisions and it might be victims and it might be prisoners and it might be general murmurs of the public. we don't know. —— members. who should it be? it should be open to the prisoner and the victim and there should be a merits test so that you will see if there is any substance to the claim and if there was that should then... they should be a new hearing and the initial review should be done by

some of thejudges initial review should be done by some of the judges who are members of the parole board. you said what was important was what was left? whether there is any money to pay for it and whether we will get back toa for it and whether we will get back to a situation where the parole board has a huge backlog of cases. what is left out is a sense that the ministry ofjustice will correct the m ista kes ministry ofjustice will correct the mistakes it made in the case, the dossier provided did not have crucial information, for example, and nothing at all about dealing with the threat to the parole board's independence. the parole board's independence. the parole board is a court and it is clearly now not properly independent and it needs to move into the court service so needs to move into the court service so it can make decisions based on the law and the evidence before it, not on what will keep a politician happy. why has that been left out? because the politicians want to continue to maintain some sort of control over it and you can't have it both ways. if it is a court in

each be free of political control. we have always had politicians interfering or being involved in these extremely sensitive cases which the public is very agitated about. in the past it was a decision bya about. in the past it was a decision by a politician and the parole board simply made recommendations to the politician, but what has happened since, after a succession of court judgments it has determined that the pa role judgments it has determined that the parole board itself is a court needs to be able to make decisions independently. it can't be making decisions independently if the politicians are trying to tell it what to do in those terms or threatening it if it does something the politicians don't like. that has got to be resolved. what we have seen today is good, but it is a question of whether it goes far enough. the principles are there but

the money is not clearly there? we have seen two mini things in the justice system recently, probation and prisons, where they the ends but have not provided the and this will need your resources and it is not clear if that is forthcoming. —— will need new resources. on 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. 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. spencer stokes reports. it's been one of the toughest winters sheep farmer rodney beresford can remember. looking after his flock spread across steep sided hills in the dales is tiring and time—consuming. but help is at hand. singing iranian folk songs, a group of 12 asylum seekers have 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. oh, 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 genuinely makes a difference. it's one of the best things i've done, really, i think, over the years. there is more singing on the slopes below ingleborough over lunch. it all looks very jovial but this man is a burmese asylum seeker, his family victims of ethnic cleansing. their lives are at risk. and they flee. nobody would leave their home unless they were forced to do so. so many of these people have fled from their homes, they have suffered from severe trauma. the journey here, many people won't talk about the journey because it has been too traumatic and too difficult. ingleborough. three peaks. after a quick geography lesson, the day on rodney‘s farm ends. some will come back, others face the prospect of a return to less

friendly surroundings. spencer stokes, bbc look north, ribblehead. and now we have the weather forecast. hello. we've had a real mixture of weather across the uk today. some sunshine across the north—west of the country, although there was a bit of cloud bubbling up through the afternoon. it brought a few passing showers to the cumbrian fells, and across scotland and northern ireland as well. you can see that shower cloud building. further south, it was a different story across the bulk of england. we had extensive cloud from a weather front that continued to bring outbreaks of rain throughout the afternoon across eastern counties of england. big puddles on the ground as well. the ground is saturated and, with more heavy rain in the forecast over the coming couple of days, we could see some localised flooding as we head into monday. before we get there, for the night, we'll keep cloudy skies across eastern areas of england. not too low here, but a cold night further north and west, with skies clearing,

and there will be some pockets of frost by the end of the night in rural parts of scotland. for sunday, this cloud is probably thick enough across the hills of south—east england, maybe the chilterns and the downs, to bring some morning spots of rain, so it could be quite a damp day for some across the south—east. later in the afternoon, we'll see a band of rain working in. it could be quite heavy and strengthening winds will make it feel a bit cooler. for the north—west, some sunshine and slow—moving showers, particularly focused in northern ireland. through sunday night, this area of low pressure spins up from the south. it's not going to be bringing us warm air — instead, heavy outbreaks of rain. it's notjust rain causing concern on monday. it's also going to be windy, with gales developing around eastern areas, and it's going to feel cold, like a winter's morning, rather than a morning we expect from the middle of spring. there is that wet weather pushing its way in across eastern areas of england during the morning. a cold morning, as you can see from these temperatures. that band of rain is going to be working in, but there is uncertainty about how far west it reaches.

on this western edge of rain, we could well see over high ground a little bit of sleet or even snow mixed in with it, would you believe. it wouldn't settle, but it shows you how cold it is going to be. as i say, there is uncertainty how far west this band of rain gets. it might stay a bit further east, mainly focused across eastern counties of england as we head through the afternoon, but temperatures really struggling. with some sunshine further north and west, it won't be too bad. for tuesday, the cloud and rain still there, gradually easing away. something a bit brighter further west, but another cold day down the eastern coast. that's your weather. hello. this is bbc news. we'll be taking a look at tomorrow mornings paper's in a moment. first, the headlines. the supermarket chains sainsbury‘s and asda are at an advanced stage of merger talks. sources say sainsbury‘s would buy its rival from its american owner, walmart. hundreds of balloons have been released in liverpool as a tribute to alfie evans, the toddler who was at the centre of a legal battle over his treatment.

the 23—month—old, who had a degenerative brain condition, died nearly a week after his life support was withdrawn. 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.