hello, you're watching afternoon live. i'm simon mccoy. today at 2.00pm. thousands of people have been attending funerals for palestinians killed in yesterday's protests in gaza. this the scene live at the border — there's still tension as palestinians mark the 70th anniversary of what they call the catastrophe — the creation of israel. will he or won't he? meghan markle‘s father is reported to have decided he won't walk her down the aisle on saturday. her half—sister says she hopes he will. i think my father has really suffered at the hands of the media. they have presented him in the most horrible ways. highly inaccurate, and the goal of those photographs was basically because he was feeling the feckless. —— feeling defenceless. the year—long pay squeeze is over. for the first time wages grew faster than inflation but it may be some time before you feel the benefit. coming up on afternoon live all the sport with hugh. good afternoon. we will be talking

about speculation over managerial positions. sam alla rdyce about speculation over managerial positions. sam allardyce could do depart and that could make way for marco silva. we will have more for next hour. and louise has all the weather for us. beautiful out there, but lots of sunshine around. but we have got ploughed cloud abitibi northwest. that would do something fresher. still drive the most of us. —— dry the most of us. thanks louise. also coming up: frightened rabbits. they may breed like rabbits but their numbers are in steep decline. there are calls for the public to track rabbit movements to try to do something about it. there's no time to lose so hop to it. hello everyone, this is afternoon live.

i'm simon mccoy. this time yesterday the israel border with gaza erupted into violence as israeli troops opened fire with live rounds on palestinians they say were threatening their border with deadly intent. 58 people were killed, reportedly including six children. no israelis were hurt. the un has condemned the israeli action. today the first funerals have taken place and the situation remains tense. let's go live now to the israel/gaza border — and join our correspondent yolande knell. it is tense particular because of the day—to—day? it is tense particular because of the day-to-day? that is right. here on the israeli side, we are looking across into one of five palestinian protest ca m ps across into one of five palestinian protest camps along the border with israel. we can see a palestinian flag up there in the distance. what we have not seeing is the kind of numbers, the kind of scale of protest that we have seen on

previous days, of course, including of course one day ago which turned out to be the bloodiest day in gaza. the bloodiest single day for many yea rs. at the bloodiest single day for many years. at the moment, we have seen a slight increase in just the past hour, and some tension is rising, here, with the israeli military, which maintains a big presence in this border, firing stun gun aids —— grenades, but the big crowds inside gaza have really been at the funerals for the several dozen people who were killed yesterday.“ we just look at the casualty figures, 58 dead including six children on the palestinian side, with more than 2000 injured, what one injury on the israeli side, not one injury on the israeli side, not one injury on the israeli side, not one injury on the israeli side, that disparities looked at by the international community. we're not getting any reports of any israeli soldiers who were injured or israeli

citizens who were living nearby. israel says that it was acting in self—defence, soldiers here, many of them of course opening fire across them of course opening fire across the border. they said they were trying to stop mass infiltration of palestinians crossing the border fence into israeli territory, where they can attack israeli citizens who live in some of the community is nearby. you can see some of the damage that was done with some of the fires that were started, and the kites flew easily across the perimeter fence kites flew easily across the perimeterfence and kites flew easily across the perimeter fence and started fires, here. despite that, the international community has called for constraint. it has condemned what it has called israel's use of excessive force. there was one human rights official who said that this was an iphone eyelash in his words. the white house —— this was and i for and eyelash in his words. the white house has said that hamas is

responsible. it blames hamas for stirring up discontent on this border. we are looking at an area which yesterday was full of protesters. normally, what is happening here? how organised are these protests? the israelis are claiming that hamas was organised as many people to throw things at the israeli troops and that is where the difficulty comes? yes. there are five protest camps. like the one opposite me, one that i have actually been to me past one along the border. hamas has invested a lot of money into setting up these protest ca m p of money into setting up these protest camp six weeks ago. this was supposed to be the culmination today of six weeks of protests. what the palestinians call the day of catastrophe, when they remember how

more than 7000 people were flat in the fighting that followed the creation of the state of israel —— fled in the fighting. there are palestinian factions involved in the organisation of these protests. a lot of the people that i spoke to said that they were not there because hamas told them to turn out. they also calling for what they describe as their right to return to their ancestral homeland. of course, most of the palestinians living in gaza are indeed defendants of those —— of those original effigies who lost their homes and their lands backin lost their homes and their lands back in 1948. they feel also that the palestinian issue is something thatis the palestinian issue is something that is being ignored. that is something that worries them very much. there has been a big squeeze on the un agency that looks after palestinian refugees, particularly after the us, the biggest donor, decided it was not going to go forward with some of the plans for

funding. that it had intended to give it the beginning this year. the issue of cause ofjerusalem, this controversial move of the us embassy from tel aviv to jerusalem, is controversial move of the us embassy from tel aviv tojerusalem, is the recognition of the us thatjerusalem is under israeli sovereignty. this is under israeli sovereignty. this is something that has really inflamed palestinians, because they of course would eastjerusalem to be the capital of their future state. their ride lot of issues that have been playing out here in these border protests in the last few weeks, particularly yesterday. thank you very much. joining me here in studio is nadia hijab, a palestinian political analyst and the head of al—shabaka think tank. thank you for coming in. ijust want to pick up on that point about the us embassy and its move to jerusalem. most people seem to suggest that that wasn't linked to the level advice that —— violence that we saw, but do think it was?“

definitely inflames people's passions. jerusalem is the heart and soul of their land, and for many yea rs, soul of their land, and for many years, decades, it was the cultural and political centre and religious centre. it was all was good to be the central part of any negotiation between palestinians and the israelis. what happened yesterday? what has it done to the peace process ? what has it done to the peace process? is there still a peace process ? process? is there still a peace process? is there still a peace process? i think it ground to a halt shortly after the oars locals were signed. —— oslo ports were signed. he said that israel would always keep control over the border to the jordan valley, so overall the palestinian territories, but what we are seeing here, simon, is israel

really trying to sweep the whole thing under the rug and to legalise its occupation. it is something that you should be very worried about, because once countries start occupying bits of other countries and claiming them as their own, only don't know when that will end. the un has criticised the israeli action yesterday. britain, today, yesterday said that they did not think it was the right action to move the embassy, but what you make of the response in the last 2a hours? embassy, but what you make of the response in the last 24 hours?|j think response in the last 24 hours?” think it has been very weak. in many places, including in the foreign office, here, they seem to blame both sides, but in fact are talking about in gaza, it people that have been caged, effectively living in an open—air prison for the last 11 yea rs. open—air prison for the last 11 years. can ijust make one point that the israelis have been making. that these are hamas organised

protests. that's their many people who are to part in these protest to prepared to die and that is why israel has taken that action. but there are many people have spoken out repeatedly expending why they are there, and why they have taken their kids there. it is a cry for help. it is a cry of last resort. people want to live. there was a terrific piece in the guardian yesterday that anybody can read, where a political scientist and author expect exactly where he was going, and tries to convey the the conditions under which the palestinians of gaza have been living. —— for the past 11 years. evenif living. —— for the past 11 years. even if you do very well at school oi’ even if you do very well at school or at university, there is no hope you, because the unemployment rate is almost exuberant son. if i had used the phrase a —— almost 60%. if

i had used the phrase a just solution, if years ago, might be ok, but if i use that now, you might laugh? think people would laugh. as it went on, israel continued building settlements in occupied territories. that is why palestinians agreed, look, fine, we accept that only 22% of what was mandate palestine under the british, but give us the sovereign state and that 22%. however, if the israelis do not want to accept the southern state, then they have no option but to have a state of palestine, israel, when everybody has equal rights. they cannot have it this ways ever. the impossible question - can we go anywhere with the incumbent in the white house, with the israeli president where he is and with hamas having a position it

has within gaza? there must always be hope. i don't think that human beings can live without hope. a big source of hope in me is how many british dues and european dues are standing up and saying we don't want this done in our name, and we object to what israel is doing in our name and working against us alongside palestinian human rights activists. thank you very much, nadia hijab. and you can read more analysis of what's been happening on the border, and more about the background to the violence, on the bbc news website. doubts about whether meghan markle's father will walk her down the aisle continue, with only days to go until her wedding to prince harry. this morning meghan‘s half—sister, samantha markle, said theirfather had faced an "unbelievable amount of stress", following accusations that he posed for photographs for the paparazzi. our royal correspondent nicholas witchell reports. she is said to have a close

relationship with her father, and has been looking forward to having him at her side for the wedding ceremony. that, though, is now very much in doubt. it was this security camera footage obtained by the mail on sunday which showed a freelance photographer allegedly colluding with mr markle to take a set of pictures of him which were sold to newspapers around the world. and all of this at a time when kensington palace was appealing to the media to respect his privacy. ms markle and prince harry were said to have been taken aback last night when reports emerged that mr markle had decided not to attend the wedding. he was quoted as saying he wanted to avoid causing the couple any embarrassment. kensington palace issued a statement saying this was a deeply personal moment for ms markle, and asking for understanding and respect to be extended to mr markle in what they called "this difficult situation". this morning, mr markle's daughter by his first marriage defended what he had done. i think my father has really

suffered at the hands of the media. they have presented him in the most horrible ways, highly inaccurate, and the goal of those photographs was basically because he was feeling defenceless. they had the advantage of both portraying them however they wanted, which was entirely inaccurate. and i think a person has a right to say, wait a minute, enough is enough. whether kensington palace could have done more to guide mr markle is open to debate. he is a private american citizen living thousands of miles away, but it is clear there have been concerned at the palace about his vulnerability for some weeks. in windsor, preparations for the wedding are gathering pace, with a question mark over whether the father of the bride will be there. meghan markle, by all accounts, is still hoping very much that he will. nicholas witchel, bbc news. the royal mail is producing a set of stamps to celebrate the wedding of prince harry and meghan markle. they will feature the couple's engagement photos, taken by photographer

alexi lubomirski at frogmore house in windsor. the stamps will be released on the morning of the wedding, this saturday. you're watching afternoon live, these are our headlines: thousands of people have been attending funerals for palestinians killed in yesterday's protests in gaza. meghan markle's half sister says she hopes their father will be at her wedding to prince harry on saturday. salaries are rising faster than inflation for the first time in more than a year. in a moment: when the us president upset the rolling stones — the band says they're preparing to reclaim their song. and in sport: former watford boss marco silva has emerged as the main candidate to replace sam allardyce, who could leave everton afterjust six months. speculation is increasing withjust a day to go before gareth southgate names his 23—man england squad

for this summer's world cup. ireland are battling for an unlikely draw in their first test match. against pakistan. on the final day pakistan need 70 runs to win with seven wickets remaining in dublin. i'll be back with more on those stores after half—past. the year—long pay squeeze is over — wages have grown faster than inflation, although there's a long way to go before people feel significantly better off. new figures from the office for national statistics suggest wages increased by 2.9% compared with an inflation rate of 2.7. andy verity reports. it used to be normal for people to get pay rises to beat inflation, but not for the last year — or, for that matter, the last seven years. now the average pay rise is finally beating inflation, are we feeling it? no, everything is far too expensive.

not really. it is not. definitely not, no. no, not at all. yes. the number ofjobs in the uk has hit a new record, as it has each month for years. some are well—paid, enough to support a family, but many are low—paid service jobs filled by workers from countries such as poland or romania which joined the eu after 2004. productivity, the amount produced per worker, hasn't grown much and neither, in real terms, has pay. this is the sort of economic growth we once used to expect, investment in new technology that saved labour so more could be done per worker and that meant employers could afford to pay inflation—beating pay rises. but this is the sort of economic growth we have been used to recently — new services businesses that don't require much investment, just a supply of people willing to work hard for modest rewards. on official estimates,

there are 32.3 million people in work in the uk and for the first time in eight years, the number of jobs for eu nationals is down. those from countries such as poland or the czech republic who joined the eu in 2004 are down by 91,000. that's offset by an increase in workers from romania and bulgaria. so what sort ofjobs market do we now have? we have seen another record when it comes to employment rates, 75.6%. unemployment at a 42—year low. the number of women in implement at a record, and in fact the number of unemployed young people has gone down. bigger pay rises are sustainable if more can be produced per worker. on the latest figures, productivity is falling. productivity is a real puzzle to policy makers. it has been very weak for a very long time, and

unfortunately it does mean it will be difficult for wages to accelerate rapidly. as long as we see weak productivity growth, wage growth will remain relatively subdued. the squeeze on living standards may be over for now, but unless the amount that can be produced per worker improves, the risk that it might return can't be brushed aside. andy verity, bbc news. police forces are being urged to stop using facial recognition technology. a report by the civil liberties group big brother watch claims the technology is inaccurate in more than 90 per cent of cases — though police forces say it is improving. rory cellan—jones reports. the champions league final in cardiff last year, and south wales police are trying out a new way of monitoring the crowd. but facial recognition technology isn't a great success — it ends up wrongly identifying people as being on the police database 93% of the time. at the notting hill carnival, the same technology has performed even worse for the metropolitan police,

with a 98% failure rate in identifying people on the watch list. now a civil liberties group says the whole experiment should end. what we're building is essentially a mass surveillance system that can biometrically track, locate, and identify, or misidentify people everywhere they go. and i think we need to stop and ask ourselves the question, is this something that we want? technology to identify faces in a crowd is pretty hit and miss at the moment. but it's making rapid progress and the police say they need to work out whether it can help them protect the public at major events. metropolitan police say they always make additional checks to confirm whether someone has been incorrectly identified by the technology. south wales police released this video showing how their system works and defended it against its critics. those very lurid headlines we have seen, and very negative reports really don't tell the full story of how much it does help us. china is way ahead in the use

of facial recognition, with a vast database of its citizens. but big brother watch is asking whether the uk really wants to go down the same path. the foreign secretary, borisjohnson, will hold talks with iran's foreign minister and european counterparts later in an effort to rescue the iran nuclear deal after president trump's decision to withdraw from it. our europe correspondent damian grammaticas sent this from brussels. i think there is a lot of pessimism, here. we didn't see that today so far. we saw the foreign minister of iran meeting the eu foreign policy high representative. in that meeting, they were all smiles. they all looked very relaxed and very happy. javad zarif emerged to say that it was good and constructive, we are on the right path to move forward, he said. over dinner this evening, borisjohnson, and his french and german counterparts will be

talking to mr zarif, urging him to stick with the deal, essentially keeping those curbs on iran's nuclear programmes, mrjohnson saying that this is important for european security. what the iranians were to see here is can the europeans keep their business, and investment flows going? that is the crunch point, because what diplomats are saying is that the americans have been making it clear that there will be no exceptions, european firms will still be subject to sanctions if they try and do business with iran, and so, the key question for europeans is can they find a way around that? but there is quite a lot of pessimism here. that is going to be very difficult and the future bodes some very difficult times between europe and the united states if they cannot bridge the divide.

the scottish parliament is expected to reject a key part of the uk government's brexit legislation when it votes shortly. under the eu withdrawal bill, some devolved powers would be temporarily retained by westminster after brexit. after months of wrangling with westminster, the scottish government has submitted a motion making clear it does "not consent to the european union (withdrawal) bill". the greens, scottish labour and the liberal democrats say they'll back the snp. our scotland correspondent james shaw is in edinburgh for us now. what is at the heart of this row ‘cause kamara well, essentially, this is a dispute between the —— well, essentially, this is a dispute about how those powers which are held at the european level, are brought back to the united kingdom? should they be under control at the scottish parliament in edinburgh, westminster down in london. they are important powers, such as controls over things such as fishing, farming, food labelling, foods bandits. peter all of about six different areas where they could either go back to scotland or

westminster. essentially, nicola sturgeon and the snp say that it is a power grab by westminster to take away powers which showed belong to scotla nd away powers which showed belong to scotland as part of the devolution settlement. on the other hand, the uk government says there has to be a level playing field, there have got to be standards across the uk which everybody shares in order for the to be standards across the uk which everybody shares in orderfor the uk single market to work, and theyjust have not managed to reach a compromise. so we have this debate which isjust compromise. so we have this debate which is just starting compromise. so we have this debate which isjust starting in compromise. so we have this debate which is just starting in the scottish parliament now. we can see mike russell who is the backs administer, —— the brexit minister. at the end of this, they will vote to reject the proposals that the uk government have put forward. so we could get used to seeing devolution going into some uncharted territory? that is right. it is certainly the first time that the scottish parliament will vote against

something the uk government wants to do, which affects the scottish parliament‘s powers. that is the way that it parliament‘s powers. that is the way thatitis parliament‘s powers. that is the way that it is being described here in edinburgh. an unprecedented move and nobody knows what the invitations will be. it is certainly true that the uk government does legally have the uk government does legally have the power to do this. there is nothing in the devolution legislation which stops them from pushing this legislation through, although it would be unprecedented, and it is not supposed to normally happen. i suppose the question is, whether there is any political blowback for the uk government, for the conservatives under ruth davidson in scotland, they have been doing quite well recently, but they might be wondering if there might be some political damage from this row, that could reach its conclusion, or will certainly be voted on at the end of the afternoon. thank you very much, in holyrood. just taking you to the gaza border.

depressing scenes, there, today. lighting tyres to create a smoke screen. “— lighting tyres to create a smoke screen. —— - 55; far as 24 hours protesters, as yesterday. 24 hours ago, more than 50 people were killed by israeli gunfire when that dispute became far greater than this one and we are looking at today. the ministries for hamas saying that the reasons for the smaller protests is because similar people are attending funerals for those who were killed yesterday. we will keep an eye on those pictures, and bring you an update later. time for a look at the weather. it back the countdown is on to the fa cup final, and louise can tell us what it is good to be like. they

will want to know about the weekend, don‘t they. we have had a little look back at the 19th of april. this is the coldest one. almost 60 years ago. no expense spared at the bbc whether graphics. got to have a bit of bunting. the warmest 19th of may was 25.7 degrees. it was in 2014. i suspect we are going to break the average, just be a degree or so above average. it is a bit like the generation game. 21 degrees if we are lucky. there is a little bit of are lucky. there is a little bit of a question mark aboutjust how much sunshine we will get. not too hot, not too cold, too perfect. most people will be having street parties and the afternoon, a dry story is what you want. just the tiniest chance of a shower, maybe. will you be watching it outside? i will be

listening to it on the radio. i will be on the road. and i‘ll be at a by be on the road. and i‘ll be at a rugby tournament in basingstoke. never mind! could be a broken ankle, soi never mind! could be a broken ankle, so i might actually be able to watch the wedding, but there you go. so, what have the next few days in the lead up at install? good, actually. it looks as ”mgr“ , , lead up at install? good, actually. it looks as “a?“ it is going z . 2“... 5p: at ’ ii , temperatures probably peaking at around 23 or 24 degrees, dig at size of sunshine across the country. this weather front is producing some cloud at shari outbreak of rain, not beta for fall of us. a bit disappointed that scotland and northern ireland. you might see some brightness developing by the end of the as the front moves through. highest values, 24 celsius. a beautiful end to the eight—day, but that system is heading south. it

will push its way steadily south, and it is going to introduce more in the way of cloud overnight. maybe some heavy bursts from time to time as it moves across the border. temperatures around 8—11d. could seize terrorist ties and a chilly old start perhaps tomorrow morning. on that front clears through, we will see some slightly fresher air. that will make for a disappointing field out there. in terms of things on wednesday, almost reversed sunshine. where we have seen the sunshine. where we have seen the sunshine today, we will keep the clouds tomorrow. where we have got the cloud today, lots of glorious sunshine. scotland, northern ireland and north—west england beautiful. not as warm, 12—17d, the overall height. and actually, with his clearer skies through the night, scotland, northern ireland could have a touch of light frost last thing in the morning. a chilly start, but a dry stories staying

across right across the country. it every north easterly breeze, always just driving in a little bit more cloud and certainly some fresher feel on that north sea coast. further west, the best of the weather. higher value is around 16-17dc. the weather. higher value is around 16—17dc. the high pressure will stay with us, not just 16—17dc. the high pressure will stay with us, notjust through the middle of the week on a ——, but into the weekend. this is the forecast by the royal wedding. eyes of 19 or 20, maybe, and some sunny spells. fingers crossed. this is bbc news — our latest headlines: thousands of people turn out for the funerals of palestinians killed in brutal clashes with israeli troops on the border with gaza yesterday. it‘s still unclear whether meghan markle‘s father, thomas markle, will walk her down the aisle on saturday. her sister hopes he will. umemployment has fallen

falling to its lowest level since the 19705, while wages are rising faster than inflation for the first time in more than a year. in a moment... the new figures suggesting rabbits are defying their reputation as breeders, with sitings falling 60% in 20 years. looking forward to that one. sport now on afternoon live with hugh. sam allardyce could be leaving everton with rumours of a replacement lined up. he has only been in thisjob he has only been in this job since november. i know the fans might be happy to see him leave, but a bit unfair, isn‘t it? i think those who believe that would have a strong case — especially as they were down in 13th after a terrible run. alla rdyce has another year on his contract but he has admitted that he doesn‘t feel confident in keeping hisjob with fans generally unimpressed with the style of play, even though he did lead them to a top—half finish. in this season‘s premier league. we

are now talking about his replacement before he has even gone now. marco silva is the leading candidate to take over if allardyce goes. everton actually approached the former watford manager after sacking ronald koeman in october, but were rebuffed by watford, who turned down a massive compensation offer, but watfordthen sacked in january with the club blaming everton for unsettling their manager and affecting results. david moyes at west ham, antonio co nte david moyes at west ham, antonio conte at chelsea, rafa benitez at newcastle, lots of managers to talk about it, and before we know it there could be wholesale changes in there could be wholesale changes in the premier league. simon: and tomorrow we will find out who is going to the world cup

with gareth southgate‘s england. are we expecting shocks? hugh: i don‘t think so. in one month the world cup in russia begins. england boss gareth southgate is just 24 hours away from naming the 23 players he will be taking to russia. joe hart, the news is he will not be included in the squad, and he has been the number one goalkeeper for them in the tournament. but their last appearance, at iceland in the european championships, a big shock when they were knocked out, joe hart took a lot of flak over that and has not been in great form since. so so that could be one of the names. one big surprise name when it comes to inclusion... manchester city‘s fabian delph hasn‘t played for england since november of 2015 but says he‘s quietly confident of inclusion.

i think ithinki i think i have had a good season, probably shocked a few people, which has been nice. the only problem i have had, pulled out of every squad this season, i have not been fully fit when i have met up with the squad, but gareth southgate is a really good guy, good manager. i think he‘s good atjudging people and likes to see mentality people have, and i‘ve met him on numerous occasions now and he is well aware of my mindset. i‘m probably quietly confident i can probably... that i probably will get the collar up. talking about a squad and team that probably could win the world cup... —— quietly confident that i probably will get the call—up. germany‘s captain and goalkeeper manuel neuer has been named in their initial world cup squad, despite being injured. he hasn‘t played since september after breaking his foot. but there‘s no place for mario gotze, the man who scored the winning goal in the last world cup final. you might remember that magic moment. he‘s been struggling with illness and has had a disappointing season. but his coachjoachim loew has

extended his contract to take in the next world cup in 2022. away from football, ireland are fighting for an unlikely victory over pakistan in their inaugural test match. their chances are fading. they were bowled out for 339 in their second innings. kevin o‘brien was eventually out for 118, after becoming the first irishman to score a test century. pakistan need 45 more for victory, but they made a calamitous start, losing their first three wickets for just 14 runs. you can see that imam—ul—haq has gone past his half century. a difficult time for ireland in malahide. the wales and lions full—back lee halfpenny will miss the scarlets‘ pro14 semi—final against glasgow on friday. he‘s failed to recover from a hamstring tear but it‘s not thought to be too serious

so he could be fit in time for the final in 11 days‘ time, if scarlets get there. that‘s all the sport for now. more in the next hour. hugh, thank you very much for that. back to those pictures from the israel and gaza border. as you can see, tyres have been set alight. this is to prevent israeli snipers picking out targets, which is what happened yesterday, with 58 dead including children. our anchor, we are hearing, the israeli to turkey —— israeli invited turkey, has been recalled. there was a resolution passed this morning calling on

israel for restraint. to do the funerals of many of those killed yesterday have been taking place. this also coincides with the 70th anniversary of what the palestinians call the nakba, the mass displacement of palestinians that took place with the creation of israel. israel‘s military say it is preparing forfurther israel. israel‘s military say it is preparing for further confrontations but palestinian groups saying they intend to pull back on a number of protests taking part. those are the live pictures coming in. we have heard no reports at this stage of any further casualties today, but thatis any further casualties today, but that is the scene at that very tense border today. you are watching afternoon live. the cabinet‘s brexit sub—committee is meeting this afternoon as discussions continue about customs arrangements after the uk has left the eu. much of the debate is about how open these borders will be.

technology could help limit disruption at borders, but many fear there may well still be delays. here‘s chris morris from our reality check team. as we have often reported, one of the most difficult issues in the entire brexit process is how to ensure there is no return to a hard border between northern ireland and the irish republic, once this becomes the external border of the european union, the single market and the customs union. that is what has been promised — no physical infrastructure or checks of any kind at the border, so that it continues to look much like this. so, what can we learn from other eu external borders around europe? first of all, let‘s head north to the border between norway and sweden. sweden is in the eu, here in blue, norway isn‘t. it is part of the single market, but not the customs union. now, this is one of the simplest customs borders to cross in the world and lorries only ever have to stop once. at the main border crossing, svinesund, norwegian customs say they deal with about 1300 lorries

every day, which is less than a tenth of the number that pass through dover. the average time from when a lorry arrives to when it leaves here is about 20 minutes. impressive, but certainly not entirely frictionless. next, we go south to the border between turkey and bulgaria. again, bulgaria is in the eu and turkey isn‘t, but turkey does have a customs union with the eu for most manufactured goods. here, though, the delays are much longer, huge queues of lorries are normal. it takes hours for goods to cross the border and sometimes drivers have to wait for more than 24 hours. so being in a customs union does not automatically make your border with the eu disappear, if you are outside the single market and its common set of rules and regulations. then our third border, right in the middle, between france and switzerland. france, of course, is a founder eu member, while the swiss are not in the eu but are part of the single market, thanks to a series of bilateral agreements.

again, though, they are not in the customs union. this is often held up as an example of what could be achieved in ireland, but here too there is physical infrastructure at all the main crossings. it is still a hard border and the average waiting time for lorries carrying goods, according to the international road transport union, from 20 minutes to more than two hours, if full inspections have to be carried out. in other words, technology is improving things and streamlining customs procedures at borders, and it will do more of that in the years to come, but if the uk leaves all the eu‘s economic structures, there is currently no example anywhere around europe, orfurther afield, that can keep

the irish border after brexit as open as it is now. chris morris there. some of the other stories making bbc news this afternoon: discussions around the end of life wishes of cancer patients are not being had until it is too late, according to a new study. research by macmillan cancer support found maintaining a "fighting attitude" can have a negative effect on the care preferences of terminally ill patients and creates a barrier to vital conversations about dying. inspectors have expressed concern about what they‘ve described as excessive use of restraints on asylum—seekers who were being removed from the uk on a charter flight injanuary. all but one of those on board had arm restraints, but inspectors said most did not present a risk. the home office described the report as "troubling". a man‘s been charged with stalking the singer rihanna after allegedly breaking into her home los angeles.

eduardo leon is accused of spending 12 hours in the property last week, whilst the star was out. he‘s also charged with residential burglary, vandalism and resisting arrest. keith richards has told the bbc that he once pulled out a knife to make sure donald trump left a rolling stones concert. but that didn‘t seem to put the us president off the band, because he used their track you can‘t always get what you want at the end of his acceptance speech when he won the election. colin paterson reports. choir sings # you can‘t always get what you want. ..#. when donald trump was elected us president, his acceptance speech ended with a blast of you can‘t always get what you want by the rolling stones. the band had not given their permission, and mickjagger says he thought it was a very strange choice. when he finished the speech, he parades out on this sort of dooomy ballad about drugs in chelsea. it's kind of weird, if you think about it! but he couldn't be persuaded to use something else. it was an odd thing, really odd. keith richards confirmed that he had his own run—in with donald trump back in 1989,

when they were playing a show at one of his casinos. and then we got to atlantic city, donald trump presents the rolling stones in miniature... that was the last time i got angry. i pulled out my trusty blade, stuck it in the table, and said, "you‘ve gotta get rid of this, man." now, america has to get rid of him. don‘t say i didn‘t warn you! laughs the rolling stones say that the song donald trump appropriated, you can‘t always get what you want, will be on their setlist when their tour starts in ireland this thursday. colin paterson, bbc news. a modigliani nude once considered obscene has become the most expensive painting ever sold at sotheby‘s auction. the final price of the celebrated

painting, nu couche, reached $157 million. russell trott reports i shall start the bidding here at $125 million... with bidding starting so high, they knew it was going to be a record breaker. a few minutes later, auctioneer helena newman brought the hammer down at $139 million. sold, thank you. the final price, just over $157 million, includes the auctioneer‘s commission. modigliani‘s masterpiece is visually stunning, the biggest painting produced by the italian artist. his work, once considered so shocking that police closed his 1917 exhibition in paris, is today worth big money. he's artist who ploughed his own furrow, he didn't follow trends. when he painted this work in 1917, that was very different to what the cubists and picasso and other artists who were working

alongside him were doing. but now we recognise the things that he introduced within his art were perhaps quite nuanced but are tremendously important, so he's been reappraised. another painting in his series of nudes attracted the third highest known price at auction. it was sold three years ago by christie‘s for $170 million. and now this painting, created a century ago, has become the most expensive ever sold by sotheby‘s. it reflected the changing status of women during world war i, a self—possessed, confident woman who‘s looking straight back into the eyes of the viewer, an unflinching stare, and an eye—watering sum. russell trott, bbc news. in a moment the business news. first, a look at the headlines on afternoon live: thousands of people have been attending funerals for palestinians killed in yesterday‘s protests in gaza. will he or won‘t he? meghan markle‘s father is reported to have decided he won‘t walk her down the aisle on saturday. her half—sister says she hopes he will. and facial recognition systems used by police have been

found to have a failure rate of more than 90%. here‘s your business headlines on afternoon live. fashion chain new look says it will review its prices after customers expressed dismay that for some garments prices seemed to rise with size. the chain said it was hoping to "ensure pricing differences like these" did not happen in future. the row began after one shopper noticed a pair of trousers in its curves range was being sold for 15% more than an identical pair in the main collection. wages are rising faster than inflation for the first time in more than a year — that‘s according to the office for national statistics. in the three months to march wages grew at 2.9%, while inflation was 2.7%, but while the squeeze on living standards is officially over, there may be a long way to go before people feel better off. vodafone‘s chief executive vittorio colao is to step down in october after a decade at the helm. he will be replaced by chief financial officer nick read.

vodafone released a positive set of full—year results this morning but, in what could be seen as an endorsement of the departing ceo, the share price has fallen. in the last couple of hours news that one of the biggest foreign exchange dealerships is leaving london for dublin? yes, could be a bit of a blow.