this is bbc news. i'm reeta chakrabarti. the headlines at 8pm: another casualty on the high street as house of fraser announces it's to close more than half of its stores, with the loss of 6000 jobs. this is brutal. this is as tough as it gets. and we have not taken this decision lightly. it is very dramatic for people that we care about a great deal. the brexit secretary david davis says he's not resigning after persuading the prime minister to include an end date in her brexit backstop plan. ahead of his historic summit with north korea, president trump says he will consider inviting kim jong un to america if the meeting goes well. geordie greig has been appointed the new editor of the daily mail after paul dacre stood down yesterday. the bank of america is to move 400 jobs from london to paris next year, double the number initially thought. a royal welcome: prince william meets the england team ahead of their final world cup warm—up

match against costa rica this evening. 0n meet the author this week, my guest is the american writer kevin powers, best—selling author of the yellow birds, whose new novel a shout in the ruins moves from 1950s america to the turmoil of the civil war and the time of slavery a century earlier. good evening and welcome to bbc news. today marks another casualty on the high street. the department store chain house of fraser plans to close over half its shops, affecting 6000 jobs, as part of a rescue deal. the boss of house of fraser has told the bbc the decision to close is brutal and as tough as it gets.

and the discount chain poundworld is in trouble, too, with nearly 5500 jobs at risk. our business correspondent emma simpson has more. it's the cornerstone of many a high street. this is birmingham's biggest and oldest department store, but it's going. so, too, is wolverhampton. we're just devastated. it's a lovely, wonderful shop. edinburgh's on the hit list, too. i can see partly why it's going to close, eh? it's old now. so is cirencester. it's like the high street isjust dying. it's very, very sad. it's also grim news for cardiff. the chain is pulling out of wales altogether, and the boss didn't mince his words. this is brutal. this is as tough as it gets. and we have not taken this decision lightly. it's necessary today because without it, we aren't a business with a viable future. house of fraser is trying

to restructure its business. it has 59 stores across the uk. it wants approval from creditors to close 31 of them, putting 6000 jobs at risk. even london's 0xford street's to go because of falling sales and rising costs. in the ‘60s, house of fraser and department stores were a magnet for shoppers, but nowadays, it's much harder to make the sums add up. they want to reduce what is a very considerable debt. for more than 25 years, this retail expert has been following the ups and downs of house of fraser. for many, many years, it hasn't had a sufficiently differentiated product, it hasn't stood out, it hasn't been clear about who it's targeting, there hasn't been enough investment in the business, there've been too many stores and the market has become far less forgiving. they know that here in darlington, where bhs is still standing empty.

and that's the problem facing high streets up and down the country — how to fill the gaps when we're shopping more online, although it looks as if this site is finally being redeveloped. but who will step into this vast space up the street? it's smaller towns like this one which will be hardest hit. the impact is going to be catastrophic in terms ofjob losses and the loss of the shopping experience, but we shouldn't lose sight of the fact that house of fraser is an anchor tenant, it brings people into the town. and they'll miss it. we're losing a lot of the big stores. cos marks' will go, this'll go, and then we've got nothing left in the town really. for house of fraser, it's a drastic attempt to stay in business. this retailer, though, may be just days from collapse. poundworld says it intends to appoint administrators if it can't find a solution to its troubles. it's been a terrible few months for our high streets,

as the weaker players struggle to adapt to the new world of retail. emma simpson, bbc news, darlington. joining me now is the retail adviser richard hyman, who you saw in emma simpson's report. thanks very much for coming in this evening you predicted that 2018 would be very difficult year for retail and so it seemed to be coming to pass. just talk about house of fraser in poundworld, why is it so difficult? i would like to have been wrong, actually. it is so difficult for a number of reasons. 0n the one hand, you have uncertainty around brexit, you have uncertainty around brexit, you have uncertainty around brexit, you have a consumer you have uncertainty around brexit, you have a consumer economy you have uncertainty around brexit, you have a consumer economy which is not nearly in the healthy shape that some people would like us to believe. that does not mean it is on its knees, but it is not easy out there for consumers. 0n the other

hand, we have got growing overca pacity hand, we have got growing overcapacity as online has expanded relentlessly, it has not really added to the spending hub. so what has been happening is the money that people have in spending online, they would normally have spent in a shop. the costs of running shots has continued to go up with inflation, and the revenues that retail generally gets in the shops has been going down or certainly not moving. so you get a squeezed industry in thatis so you get a squeezed industry in that is what we're seeing. so in a sense, we have got too much retail? we indeed have too much. there is chronic oversupply. 0nline is far from reaching maturity. so online is continuing to grow, and online adds capacity. people tend to think of a retail capacity as being just stores, it is not. it is online as well. so we have got growing

overcapacity. let's look at house of fraser, a big shot news today. where has he gone wrong?|j fraser, a big shot news today. where has he gone wrong? i think it started going wrong many, many years ago. house of fraser suffers from having too much debt. in other words, it has borrowed money that it 110w words, it has borrowed money that it now struggles to pay back because its sales have been hit. its sales a been hit because of underinvestment over many, many years. it is hard to really understand precisely who house of fraser's target customer really is. they are not differentiated enough. most of what you get in a house of fraser uk way in all sorts of other places. and the ownership of house of fraser over many years as ab and floating within a bit uncertain, and i think all of but together makes for a rather weak retailer. the boss of

house of fraser has said today that drastic action has been necessary. is this going to be enough to save them, do you think? well, i am still concerned. i think this certainly will lower the cost base. it will give them a better cost base, but in my opinion, i think the winners in this retail turmoil that we are seeing just the beginning of will be companies that are really good at retailing, not just good companies that are really good at retailing, notjust good at managing their costs. this addresses the cost issue. i have yet to see precisely what they are going to do to make themselves a better retailers. 0k, going to have to leave it there. richard, thank you very much indeed. after a day of some drama at westminster, the prime minister has seen off the possible resignation of her brexit secretary david davis. he had demanded a time limit on temporary arrangements to avoid a hard irish border if no customs deal is reached with the eu. theresa may has now committed the government to an "expectation"

that the so—called backstop arrangement would end by close of 2021. here's our political editor laura kuenssberg. are you about to lose your brexit secretary, prime minister? she has a lot on, but theresa may's firstjob today was to prevent disaster, to stop the man who's meant to be in charge of brexit from flouncing out. david davis was summoned to an early meeting behind the commons gates, behind closed doors. 0ther ministers were trying to embrace the day. and one of the nice things about this beautiful summer's day is that it's an opportunity, of course, for me to have a chat with my colleagues about the important issues that we're dealing with. an hour of discussion, but back into the jag with no agreement. david davis was threatening to quit... stop brexit! ..if the prime minister didn't put a specific date for a time limit into a government document. the plan for customs after brexit, if new ways of managing can't be found. who would budge? are you going to resign, mr davis?

downing street was sweating. at stake, not just this proposal, but the fortunes of the government itself. a nervous wait during nearly another hour of talks, but then david davis's team claimed victory — the document would, after all, include a date. with this crucial line, the uk expects the future arrangement to be in place by the end of december 2021. in other words, the brexit secretary had made the prime minister move. foreign secretary, isn't it rather a problem that the cabinet have been bullying the prime minister in public? no mistake, it's anotherfudge, not a concrete commitment to anything. the smile on borisjohnson's face as he left a long meeting suggests one thing — some senior brexiteers in government believe they have won. after today's very public power struggle, look who's sure he's won. david davis taking his time, savouring the moment, even though by tomorrow, his advantage may seem hollow.

i think it's particularly true of theresa may's government that it does operate by collective responsibility, we do come to collective decisions. arguing in public? well, sometimes, that takes a little bit longer. leaving the european union is one of the most important things we've done in this country for a very long time, it's important we get the decisions right. as everybody knows from the referendum, opinions and feelings run high on this issue, but we've shown we can reach an agreement civilly and collectively. but on the other side of the channel, that can look like chaos. we just received this proposal two hours ago, and we are working with them. the eu doesn't much like the look of the proposal, anyway — there'll be a formal response tomorrow. try as the chief whip does to be positive... a really positive day. ..the government looks split. the brexit secretary has had his way, although what's been done is not a clear plan of his liking, but a fudge, which will mean that

the government can stay intact, for now. as the prime minister's bags were packed for a trip abroad, she kept the government together, just, yet she leaves behind the risk of bad compromise — contradictions still all around. laura kuenssberg, bbc news, downing street. 0ur political correspondent eleanor garnier is in westminster. such a fight over this. one has to bearin such a fight over this. one has to bear in mind this is all about reaching an agreement that is something that is just a backstop, meaning it will only be used in the last resort. that is exactly right. this is an insurance policy if the uk government cannot come to some sort of arrangement, negotiation with brussels when it comes to our new trade deal with brussels. so, yes, this is a backstop, yet at has taken an awful lot of pain, sweat to get to this point to some and in the end, we have ended up with some

pretty loose language. i think david davis is going to pretty pleased with his day of work. he, we are told, were threatening to resign over all this. he wanted that mixed day in there. he, in the end, got what he wanted, albeit with some pretty loose language but he made his point. he has kept hisjob and is still up his point. he has kept hisjob and is stillup in his point. he has kept hisjob and is still up in cabinet. 0n the other hand, ithink is still up in cabinet. 0n the other hand, i think theresa may has had a pretty tough day. she had that significantly three face—to—face meetings with her three most prominent brexiteers, if you live. cordially, got it all sorted, then had the whole david davis back in for another chat before it was finally all signed off. straight after getting this done, she was them off on an aeroplane to canada for a big meeting of the g7. you can imagine she must been pretty relieved again on the plane and get out of westminster having finally this all sorted. yes, indeed. where

does this now leaves the balance of power in turns of leavers and remainers in the cabinet? at the end of the day, that it has gone into the document. we talk about loose language, but it should be the government expects, a lot of wiggle room in there. i do not think we can consider this to be a cast—iron cutoff date. but in that way, david davis wanted. he managed to get his way. the prime minister, if you like, conceded. but it is an advocate that she has managed to get it all done. she has kept her brexiteers onside. and recall, throughout this brexit process, we have talked over and over again about the divisions in the conservative party. notjust a vision, but deep divisions over what kind of relationship the uk should end up having with the eu. and theresa may has managed to keep her cabinet on side so far. it felt like

she was running out of road. she kicked the can down the road so many times that time was running out. and thatis times that time was running out. and that is why we had such an extraordinary morning here in westminster today. but she lets on that plane having got the deal done. the significant thing, though, is will brussels accept this? across a machine not had negotiated it over here in westminster with her own cabinet but now she needs to get a deal done with brussels, and that is a whole other battle that is coming down the road. i like the image of theresa may today can down the road. many thanks, eleanor. and we'll find out how this story, and many others, are covered in tomorrow's front pages at 10:a0pm this evening in the papers. 0ur guestsjoining me tonight are michael heaver, the co—owner of the political website westmonster, and journalist and broadcaster rachel shabi. the bank of america has announced plans to move 400 jobs from london to paris early next year, double the number initially thought. the jobs will focus on markets, trading and sales. the wall street bank is refurbishing

an 11,000—square metre office in the french capital to create a european trading hub that will serve clients once britain leaves the eu. let's turn to the problems at tsb, where yesterday it was revealed that life savings have been stolen from accounts by fraudsters exploiting the bank's it problems. conservative mp nicky morgan, who is the chair of the treasury select committee, has written to the bank's chairman richard meddings and asked him to think about replacing chief executive officer paul pester. giving evidence to mps yesterday, mr pester said people were waiting on the phone for up to nine hours to report cases. he said the bank would compensate customers in full for any fraud they suffered. in the letter, nicky morgan said... the headlines on bbc news:

house of fraser announces it's to close more than half of its stores, with a loss of 6000 jobs. the government says its proposed temporary customs arrangement for the irish border after brexit should not continue beyond december 2021. ahead of his historic summit with north korea, president trump says he will consider inviting kim jong un to america if the meeting goes well. sport now, and for a full round u, from the bbc sport centre, here's mike bushell.

good evening. england's footballers are playing their last match before the world cup, and there's a yorkshire feel to the team taking on costa rica tonight at elland road, leeds. there are five yorkshiremen who have started the match, and manager gareth southgate himself lives in yorkshire. but it was a certain marcus rashford who has given england the lead after 13 minutes. a particular goalfrom outside the penalty box, a really brilliant strike from the young manchester united player. it is england up by a gold on costa rica. they helped send england home early from brazil four years ago. scotland's women are taking on belarus in a world cup qualifier at the falkirk stadium. this one kicked off just after half 7pm, and belarus have taken the lead.

scotla nd and belarus have taken the lead. scotland tried to close in on switzerland but will not do that think that the goal against them u nless think that the goal against them unless things change. and wales are playing bosnia & herzegovina at the liberty stadium in swansea hoping to give their chances of reaching next year's world cup in france a boost. wells had missed a penalty but look ata wells had missed a penalty but look at a celebration that right now. they are trying to overtake england at top of the group, that will be enough if it stays. that goal going in at liberty stadium to make amends for that earlier penalty that was saved. well the do now have the advantage. great timing. —— whales do have the minutes. football fans will have to subscribe to another tv provider the season after next if they want to watch all their premier league team's games. it's because amazon have entered the tv game and will show 20 live matches, including all the ones on boxing day in the 2019—20 season. 0ur sports news correspondent richard conway explains more on this. amazon will show 20 games per season

for three seasons. they will have an entire round of midweek matches in december and an entire round of games on a boxing day. that means that viewers at home all, on the ta blet that viewers at home all, on the tablet are on their phone will be able to pick their choice of game from across the whole range of premier league fixtures on those given days. so a real change in how the premier league is being broadcast there. perhaps a hint of what is to come with the other online giants perhaps entering premier league writes in the years to come. staying with football, and the premier league executive chairman richard scudamore is to stand down by the end of 2018 after nearly 20 years in the role. scudamore was appointed in november 1999 and has overseen a period of real sustained growth, culminating in the league's last uk tv deal, bringing in some £5.14 billion. how times change. world number one simona halep has another chance to finally win her first grand slam title after beating garbine muguruza in the french open

semi—finals this afternoon. halep won 6—1, 6—4 against the third seed to reach saturday's final. it will be up against sloane stephens who has also won. she is also through. halep has lost three previous grand slam finals, including two at roland garros. so confirmation sheet will play sloane stephens, who beat madison keysin sloane stephens, who beat madison keys in straight sets. in the men's draw, rafael nadal completed his comeback against diego schwartzman to reach the semi—finals of the french open. one set down overnight after their match was delayed by rain, nadal was a different player in the parisian sunshine and only dropped four more games to take the next three sets. he's nowjust two wins away from a record 11th title at roland garros. and he'll have to play juan martin del potro next. the argentinian beat third seed marin cilic in four sets in a match that lasted nearly four hours. it meant so much to del potro, it left him in tears shortly after this. dina asher—smith has

lowered her own british 100m record this evening. she was racing in the bislett games diamond league meeting in oslo. she finished second behind ivory coast's murielle ahoure, but her time of 10.92 seconds is seven hundredths of a second quicker than her previous best, set at the anniversary games three years ago. soa so a great night for her. that's all the sport for now. you can find more on all those stories on the bbc sport website. that's bbc.co.uk/sport. i will have more for you after 10pm. many thanks, mike. president trump has said everything is "ready to go" for a planned summit with the north korean leader kim jong—un next week. mr trump was speaking at the white house alongside the visiting japanese prime minister shinzo abe, where he warned that he would walk if the summit does not go well. iam i am totally prepared to all. it

could happen. maybe it will not. i hope it will not be necessary to walk because i really believe that kimjong—un wants to do walk because i really believe that kim jong—un wants to do something thatis kim jong—un wants to do something that is going to be great for his people and also great for his family and great for himself. thank you very much. leaders of the world's wealthiest nations are descending on quebec in canada for the g7 meeting. joining them, also, are donald tusk and european commission president jean—claude juncker. i'm joined from quebec city by our correspondent gary 0'donoghue. gary, this simon has the potential to be pretty sour, does it not, given the terrorists that president donald trump has slapped on some of his allies. the tone in the run-up to the summit has been pretty sour, as you say. the canadians, the europeans curious about the aluminium and steel tariffs be

president has imposed on them. and thatis president has imposed on them. and that is certainly something they will raise here. the canadian prime minister has already called them insulting, unacceptable. today, he added laughable to that list of adjectives. people are saying this is going to be the g6+1 because that level of isolation the us will face in terms of allies. there is a real? here whether or not this gathering, which normally produces a bunch of pretty anodyne it, universally a cce pta ble pretty anodyne it, universally acceptable statements at the end of it, whether there will be able to agree on a final statement at all because that question of the tarus has riled the us allies significantly. there are other things they will discuss, including climate change which is not one of the president's most favourite subjects, let's put it that way. and they'll be discussing issues around

gender equality. ironically, you may not think that is on his agenda but there is some sign that that may be one issue here where there is —— countries will have initiatives to announce just because of the language that has been coming at a various capitals in the last few days. and it's right after the g-7 summit is this usually anticipated meeting between president trump and the north korean leader. and we heard president trump just a moment ago talking about being prepared to walk, but also expecting this to be a great meeting. so the two approaches in one sound bite if you like, both soft and hard at the same time. the whole spectrum of outcomes are time. the whole spectrum of outcomes a re clearly possible time. the whole spectrum of outcomes are clearly possible from singapore. right from a total failure where the thing breaks up before it has almost started, right or something they could want into one, two or three days according to the president as they discuss more and more included

up they discuss more and more included up with normalisation potentially of the relations between the us and north korea. some steps towards denuclearization perhaps. although sort of things are possibility. we do not know is what the preparatory talks have started to produce. very little has come out of those in terms of what both sides are putting on the table, whether they are anywhere near any kind of common position on that, and whether or not the president is walking but digitally into a trap where he ends up digitally into a trap where he ends up absolutely with nothing to show up up absolutely with nothing to show upfor up absolutely with nothing to show up for it. or whether or not this could be historic moment that polls north korea back from the brink of becoming a fully fledged nuclear power. it is still all to play for, and that is why you are hearing the president had his best so definitely there. yes, indeed, gary, many thanks. northern rail has announced it's closing the lakes line for four weeks instead of two.

the line, which runs between winderemere and 0xenholme, was closed at the start of this week due to problems with the new timetable. the plan was to axe all passenger services and replace trains with buses for a fortnight, but that's now been extended. geordie greig has been appointed the new editor of the daily mail. he will replace paul dacre, who announced he was stepping down from the role he has held for 26 years. greig has been the editor of the mail on sunday since 2012, after previously being in charge of the evening standard for three years. earlier, i spoke to our media editor amol rajan and asked him whether the appointment was a surprise. i don't think it's a huge surprise, reeta, because geordie greig was the editor of the mail on sunday, the sister paper to the daily mail, and he'd been long though of as a potential successor to paul dacre, what makes this intriguing is that one of the things that's defined the daily mail has been his opposition to european integration. basically, its stance on brexit.

and geordie greig and the mail on sunday have been very pro—remain while the daily mail have been very pro—leave. so i think although geordie's an obvious choice and a natural choice for the daily mail, he faces some big challenges in navigating this path for the daily mail's leave position to his remain position, and then there's all the other issues that are going on in newspapers at the moment. he's got to take costs out, there's how on earth do you make money online, and also how do you make sure that a print newspaper feels relevant in the 21st century. can you sense any changes that he will make? can you make any predictions? i know that one of the first things that he will do is he'll have to take some cost out of the daily mail editorial operation. not necessarily because the mail is losing money, but because there has been a feeling for a long time that you could make some savings editorially without necessarily impacting on the editorial product. i think he'll probably have to come to a view as to how similar he wants the daily mail in print to be to the main online website. the mail online is a very, very different product,

and he may be looking to bring them together. and the other thing, of course, is just making sure that the mail feels completely relevant to a 21st—century audience. the mail circulation has fallen. it's down to about 1.4 million, having been over 2 million a decade and a bit ago. it's very, very hard — as i know from personal experience — to raise newspaper circulation, but his key task will be making sure that it stays at the very least stable, and through that stability, hoping to raise revenues online. because that's the future for all newspapers. time for a look at the weather with helen willetts. good evening. it's been a warm day for all even with the cloud across southern areas. of course, it's that warmth has triggered a few sharp showers. because of the cluster of clouds down from scotland and northern ireland, as well as a weak weather front across the south, which is going to continue to bring the risk of a few showers edging north through the night.

whilst those thundery showers heading for the north, and allowing scotland will tend to be drab, with no cloud overnight tonight, to scotland, wherer it will as cold. although a little chilly, six or 7 degrees, and might you feel a contrast to further south. and once again, tomorrow, almost a repeat performance. some cloud, but this time, the threat of showers is pushing a little further north into northern england and parts of the midlands, wales and the southwest. probably fewer in the south and east in the south and easily but still a risk with that sunshine for the north of charge similar story as a move into the weekend, would very be showers around, some sunshine as well, temperatures into the low 20s for many of us. this is bbc news. our latest headlines: house of fraser announces it's to close more than half of its stores — with the loss of 6,000 jobs. the government has said that any

temporary customs arrangement with the eu is expected to end by december 2021 — following resistance from the brexit secretary, david davis. ahead of his historic summit with north korea, president trump says he will consider inviting kim jong—un to america if the meeting goes well. geordie greig has been appointed the new editor of the daily mail after paul dacre stood down yesterday. more now on the news that the prime minister has seen off the possible resignation of her brexit secretary, david davis. the government has said that any temporary customs arrangement with the eu is expected to end by december 2021. i'm joined by hugh bennett, who worked on the official leave campaign and is now the deputy editor at brexit central. thanks very much indeed for coming in to speak to us. how do you view this final date? it sounds nice on the surface but with the actual

legal text i don't think it provides anything like that, the sort of certainty brexiteers were looking for over the date. it talks about what uk expects to be done. it talks about that this should be the timetable that this is all contingent on alternative arrangement being put in place. for the government, when they are negotiating with the eu... is a very good chance if the government signed up good chance if the government signed up to this backstop it will end up becoming a permanent solution. but presumably it will then be up to britain to push whichever solution it comes up with to replace the backstop, push it hard with the eu. i think that a lot of people have been wanting the government to do with the rockies negotiations. it has not had that much luck. for example, one of the proposals a lot of campaigners are on, the

technology for a lot of the can be done using it, these things will ta ke done using it, these things will take a while for the technology for developing. by 2021 committee might be in developing. by 2021 committee might beina developing. by 2021 committee might be in a better position. on the one hand, a lot of this, this is not some magical solution. this is stuff that exists already. i think when you look at the way that the eu has received the uk positive proposals so far in the irish border, i don't think they've shown any indication they are even listening —— uk's proposals. yet the hmrc head saying they can do this... the eu has turned around and said this is rubbish, cannot be done to matt and i suspect —— it cannot be done, and soi i suspect —— it cannot be done, and so i think that... it's not going to happen. it's very interesting he

sounds so quite disappointed because the levers in the cabinet, david davis and liam fox, have sounded quite chipper today. it depends how you look at it. it is not even with the eu comes back... as we seen throughout this, the uk will spend a lifetime arguing about this and it was a eu and the eu will will demand even more concessions. the republicans the uk is basically —— the real problem is the uk is arguing for. if uk signed up for this backstop commit basically has committed the uk to it. the uk has done all by itself. i think they've made a mistake. just briefly, would you have preferred to seeing something? the irish border, trying

to do it first. by actually putting the irish borderfirst, it enslaved the irish borderfirst, it enslaved the tensions. we should've looked at the tensions. we should've looked at the trade deal as a whole and say, 0k, what more things we need to add just to be and to make sure the irish border is as virtuous as possible? —— as frictionless as possible. it should be all done at once and the irish border will be much easier to solve afterwards. going to have to leave it there. he batted, many thanks. —— hugh bennett. the london fire brigade have been been defending their handling of the grenfell fire. they told the inquiry into the tragedy, that there was "no obvious and safe alternative strategy" to firefighters advising people to stay put. the metropolitan police is investigating the policy as a possible health and safety offence. this report from our correspondent lucy manning contains some scenes of the fire that viewers may find distressing.

they are haunted by their memories that night. deeply affected, the inquiry heard, that despite their courage, the firefighters were unable to do more to save the lives of those who died. but the bereaved blame the fire brigade's ‘stay—put‘ policy for some of those deaths. in a building like grenfell, it was expected the fire in flat 16 would stay in that flat and not spread, but experts say it was clear at this stage — half an hour after it started — that the ‘stay—put‘ policy wasn't working. get out! it lasted for nearly two hours. today, london fire brigade defended its actions. it is a fundamental misunderstanding of the events of the fire and of fire service capabilities to assume that the building's ‘stay—put‘ policy can be changed to simultaneous evacuation, at the stroke of a fire incident commander, at whatever time. the fire brigade said

because of the single stairwell which firefighters with equipment were going up, the lack of a whole building fire alarm and the toxic conditions, there was no obvious, or safe, alternative. the conditions on the stairs and in the lobbies were hugely challenging from a very early stage in the fire, by reason of their compromise through smoke, reduced visibility, intense heat and toxicity. but the fire brigade and its officers are now being investigated over the ‘stay—put‘ policy. the metropolitan police announced today the decision to tell residents to remain in their flats for so long will be part of the separate criminal investigation to see if health & safety laws were breached. the choucair family — three children, their parents and grandma — all died in the fire. they were, their relatives say, victims of the ‘stay—put‘ policy. it has cost lives from our family. i believe a lot of residents could

have got out a lot quicker, erm... it is due to their lack of leadership. but the inquiry was asked, because firefighters weren't aware ofjust how dangerous the building was, were they placed in an impossible situation — always chasing a sinister fire they had no realistic chance of extinguishing. lucy manning, bbc news. the supreme court has said that abortion law in northern ireland is incompatible with human rights. although the judges ruled against a legal challenge to the current law, a majority of them concluded it violates a woman's human rights in cases of fatal foetal abnormality and sexual crime. currently, an abortion is permitted in northern ireland only if a woman's life is at risk. 0ur ireland correspondent emma vardy was at the high court, and explained what the verdict means. those comments

they are not legally binding, the case brought by the human rights commission, taking runs but he made clear that had this case been brought by an individual, by epic to him, thejets would have made a formal ruling in their favour. him, thejets would have made a formal ruling in theirfavour. —— thejudges would formal ruling in theirfavour. —— the judges would have formal ruling in theirfavour. —— thejudges would have made. today, she launched a new legal challenge. she previously ended her pregnancy because she had a pre—fetal condition. in the absence of the stormont assembly, which collapsed 17 months ago, the government should intervene. the comments from the

seniorjudges would have given a new impetus from those mps to find a way to make a change. respondent emma vardy there. amazon has won the rights to show premier league football matches for the first time. its prime subscribers will have access to 20 matches per season for three years from next 2019. this is in addition to rights granted to bt and sky. well, joining me now from our sheffield studio is dr rob wilson. he's a football finance expert at sheffield hallam university. thanks very much forjoining us. how significant is this move by amazon? i think it shows a sea change in how the premier league have been looking disturbingly city to distribute their television rights. —— how to distribute their television rights. i think amazon were probably the best place online provider to pick on these matches and i think every much not going to test the concepts to people will tune in and watch the

skins. if they do tune into what is the quality of what they're going to be able to see liquidity? is the technology up to it? the quality of the matches will certainly be there andi the matches will certainly be there and i think the infrastructure... the live streaming. infrastructure in the uk is starting to improve. they're going to test the infrastructure as well as the ability to test the tv subscriptions. and then of course the global part as well. i think this is really a market test both in terms of people tuning in to watch the games and of course whether or not the quality is hd ready, to be very honest. what is your instinct? do you think the market is there?|j do you think the market is there?” certainly think with younger people, the market is there. you see it on smartphones and ipads, streaming on

la pto ps. smartphones and ipads, streaming on laptops. the thing is with this, we normally consumed online and digital content as movies or is boxed sets. when we got here is live television, so are people going to tune in to watch live football? it certainly going to throw a curveball to people who are illegally streaming. the market is certainly there. whether or not they prepare to pay for, whether or not they are prepared to change the viewing habits, if they're used to paying for sky or bt sport. the market is there an not a lot of damage through financial hardships time. the premier league matches are scared between sky sports and bt. if you were a

hard—core football watchers sports and bt. if you were a ha rd—core football watchers wanted to watch everything, how much would it cost you in a year? window at least people would buy at least as my package. you got about £100 a month there or 1200 a year. something in the order of £11100, which is not a consuming football very cheap, but it certainly the only way that these pay—tv platform can only way that these pay—tv platform ca n recover only way that these pay—tv platform can recover some of the investment cost they put forward. this three—year deal, notwithstanding the amazon for stage, is somewhere in the region of £5 billion over that three—year period. those tv subscription services need to get money back. that is serious money. rob wilson, many thanks. thank you for your time. russian president vladimir putin has

been answering questions in his annual televised phone—in. mr putin touched on a number of issues including the upcoming football world cup, the poisoning of a former russian spy, sergei skripal, here in the uk, and relations with western countries. 0ur moscow correspondent steve rosenberg was there. this is always an extraordinary tv spectacle, a marathon live phone in design to betray president putin as a cross between a father of the nation and father christmas —— designed to portray. the image of a modern—day magical czar who will solve your problems, colour. so what problems did russian asked him to solve? alex asked the president do something about rising fuel prices. immediately, the kremlin leader got the energy minister on the line to discuss the issue. then residents of the little town complained that their local hospital was facing

closure. put in ordered the local governorjudy on the case. and then afamily governorjudy on the case. and then a family asked president putin to rewrite government roles and relations about mortgages. the president agreed, just like that. the kremlin would say that this is democracy in action. the critics maintain that shows the product of an inefficient political system in the bud and builds, system with weak institutions where so often nothing gets done. steve rosenberg, bbc news, moscow. the businessman and nightclub owner peter stringfellow has died at the age of 77. the yorkshireman, who is best known for establishing the world famous gentlemen's club in london, was suffering from cancer.