hello this is bbc news. the headlines. six men are found guilty of trying to smuggle albanian migrants in speed boats across the english channel — they were caught after one overcrowded boat carrying at least 18 people ran out of fuel. the conservative party chairman calls for boris johnson to apologise for his comments about women who wear burkhas — but mrjohnson refuses to back down. police say they're treating the death of a seven—year—old boy who died in a fire at his home in south london as murder. a court hears that england cricketer ben stokes — on trial for affray — was not acting in self—defence — but with revenge, retaliation, or punishment in mind. washington has come in for international criticism after renewed american sanctions on iran entered into force. in a moment it will be time for sportsday but first a look

at what else is coming up this evening on bbc news... we follow an italian journalist who was captured by the so—called islamic state, as he heads back to the cells where he was held — and confronts his captors. increases in life expectancy in the uk have stalled — and the slowdown is one of the biggest among the world's leading economies we'll ask why. and — from the negotiating table — to the dinner table. the sinn fein leader gerry adams has annouced he will be releasing a cook book in time for christmas — inspired by the northern irish peace process. but what will he be serving up? we'll find out. that's all ahead on bbc news. now on bbc news it's time for sportsday. hello, i'm olly foster, here's what's coming up on sportsday this evening. stan is going to be the man at arsenal. kroenke says sole ownership will be good for the club but some fans aren't happy. over the last eight years he is

absent, he does not engage much and this does not give us confidence that arsenal will be stronger tomorrow than yesterday. we'll have the latest from the european championships. . . including gold medals for british divers. and serena williams opens up about her emotional wellbeing and balancing the demands of professional sport and motherhood. hello and welcome to sportsday. evening, stan kroenke is going to take sole ownership of arsenal. he was already the majority shareholder and now alisher usmanov has agreed to sell his holding to the american billionaire. kroenke says this will mark the opening of a new chapter in the history of the club with

a single owner better able to move quickly in furtherance of the club's strategy and ambitions. the arsenal supporters trust though have described this as a ‘dreadful day for the club‘ we'll hear from them in a moment. first let's have a look at some of the financial details behind this takeover. stan kronke, through his company kroenke sports and entertainment currently owns 67% of shares at arsenal, built up over the past 11 years when he boughtjust short of 10% from itv. the other big player in this is the russian billionaire alisher usmanov. he owns 30% having first invested in the same year as kroenke, though he never took a position on the board. the final 3% is owned by small shareholders —

mainly fans, and they will have to sell to kroenke through a compulsory acquisition giving him ioo%. kronke and usmanov have both tried to buy the other‘s stake in the past, but it's the russian billionaire who has now agreed to sell his shares for close to £600—million. the deal, when it's completed, will take arsenal into private ownership, and would value the club at £1.8 billion. dan plumley is a lecturer in football finance at sheffield hallam university. it would give stan kroenke ultimate

control over arsenal and that is the biggest single factor. the buyout would be leveraged but not against the club which is a positive but it has to be leveraged against something and there is no transparency yet on that issue. that is often where the fans are not happy about things like that and they want assurances that that debt will not be shifted on the club. from a business point of view not too bad a model but there needs to be transparency by the fans. that 396 of shares that lies outside their holding in arsenal, exactly what swayed with those 3% of shareholders have had with the day—to—day running of the club anyway? to be honest very little i would imagine, it is a minority shareholding in that sense and once you get to around 90% in

terms of an ultimate shareholder you are looking at overall control sea would imagine in terms of day—to—day operations they may not have been able to affect very much. obviously they still have shares in the club and will want assurances or transparency around what is going to happen now. but a powerful statement certainly coming out from stan kroenke today that he wants ultimate control over this club moving forward. plenty of reaction on social media today... the former arsenal striker ian wright's posted this — incredibly sad day for so many of our fan shareholders that that no longer own a part of this club. imagine if this wasn't only about money, but about the club, the community & the fans. darren is an arsenal shareholder, he's not happy with the purchase but says stan kronke now needs to be open an honest about his plans

with the fans. saying it would be nice if he would sit down with fan groups. that seems to bea sit down with fan groups. that seems to be a likely as his nickname is silent stan. as for stan kronke, his company kse has issued a statement outlining its investments to date in ”major transfers, player contracts, analytics, senior non—playing football management employees”. . .adding that it expects the club to build on those investments. alisher usmanov has confirmed the sale of his shares saying he wishes "all the best and great success to this wonderful football club and to all those whose lives and careers are entwined in it." one of the most influential fans groups is the arsenal supporters trust, their objectives are to facilitate wider supporter involvement at the club and also promote the interests of those fans who hold shares. tim payton is a board

member and spokeperson for the trust. what is happening now is stan kroenke will forcibly buyout of small shareholders at arsenal, those of the people but only shares in the clu b of the people but only shares in the club not to make a profit but for custodianship. and they are going to be forcibly squeezed out and that is a very sad day. they will no longer be able to play the role of having a check and balance system on the club's finances and decision over things like management fees and dividends. it may feel like a backward step for arsenal in financial and corporate governance terms. 14 years after last winning the premier league title stan

kroenke feel single ownership will give the club a better chance to return towards the top of the table, you do not leave that is the case? he does not explain why it would make any difference, what is the difference of having 67 or ioo%, if you think of who the manager is, the amount you put in in investment and tra nsfers, amount you put in in investment and transfers, commercial decisions, nothing changes. the only difference within to 100% has is it allows you to reduce transparency and accountability and makes it easier to pay money out for loans and so on. maybe he can put his money where his mouth is and tell us what he thinks he can do differently with this ioo%. ijust do not buy it and neither do the arsenal fans. what do you think of the worst—case scenario of 100% ownership? you think of the worst—case scenario of 10096 ownership? that money will

be taken from the club in form of dividends or management fees to pay the debts taken out by arsenal. we know that he is an investor though less money will be going into the clu b less money will be going into the club and more going out. the premier league starts on friday night with manchester united against leicester at old trafford. the launch for 2018/2019 was held in manchester today, our sports correspondent david ornstein has just got back from the event. just over three days to go, everyone predicting another manchester city waltz to the title are they? the transfer window shuts on thursday and then united play leicester on friday night, six more games on saturday, three more on sunday, it does not get much more exciting than this. we were able to speak to the premier league executive chairman richard scudamore who is on his way out at the end of

the year but still once this to be a very successful season and see teams get closer to manchester city. they have been breaking records left, right and centre. no disrespect to manchester city, but i would like someone manchester city, but i would like someone to get a bit closer to them than last season for the but that does not take anything away from the excellence but we start the season wanting to see multiple trophies required because we do not know where it is heading. that is what we wa nt where it is heading. that is what we want to see. and we always look to stride and see about player behaviour or manage web behaviour just to prove that notch to make it as good as it can be. well in a world cup year you always worry if players have been travelling to

russia that there could be a bit jaded. but today he spoke with one of them. yes, kyle walker. england of them. yes, kyle walker. england of course making it to the third place play—off so he could have had a longer break but he came back early to training. winning the community shield magister city on sunday and it seems that he's raring to go and likes the fact that magister city are favourites for the title. they will bid to retain it for the first time since 2009 for any club. he thinks that they can get better and go on to greater things under pep rally over. —— pep guardiola. it is great to be in this position and we have to take confidence from that. but we cannot be arrogant and rest on what we did last season. we cannot settle for that but we need to go and do it again and if we can do better then fair enough. we need to retain the title. a lot of teams have not done

it and hopefully we can break that. many thanks indeed. it's the 6th day at the european championships in scotland and berlin. a day dominated by athletics, cycling, swimming and diving. in a moment we'll speak to ade adedoyin on a big night in the athletics. but let's get the latest from scotland, natalie pirks is in glasgow. evening, natalie. more british golds, including a couple in the diving and that's in edinburgh. gold medals everywhere but it started with the ten metres synchro platform with the women. the british teenagers going for gold, quite a remarkable story. toelsen has partnered up with cheng

and they had a couple of pretty good dives for the gold medal. there were almost confused, i do not know they knew what was happening until they we re knew what was happening until they were told that they had got the gold. thenjack were told that they had got the gold. then jack lord were told that they had got the gold. thenjack lord also took gold, winning the one metre springboard. just adding the european title, his first individual, because he is one thatis first individual, because he is one that is a partnership for comic he added that title to an already bulging trophy cabinet. also quite a busy day in the velodrome which can be confusing at times, a lot of chaos. but in the men's elimination

race, 19 races and every lap they go down after two laps to 18, i7, 16 and finally one winner and that was matt walls. he dictated the tempo from start to finish. he claimed his first major goals of his career. and in the swimming pool, also busy tonight, duncan scott did very well at the commonwealth games and he added the 200 meter freestyle title tonight to his medals. and in the last 30 minutes we've been able to see on the big screen the women's 200 meter freestyle relay also won by quick written. —— great britain. and of course we can hear more because all the attention now turns to athletics in berlin. let's cross live to berlin now.

ade, we are gearing up for the men's and womens 100 metres finals this evening. dina asher smith is the reigning 200 metres champion. but she's the quickest european this season over 100. dina asher—smith is the fastest woman in europe over 100 metres and came into this championship is the favourite and the one to beat. she was every bit the favourite in her semifinals, winning it comfortably. 10.93 seconds. just outside the british record she set in oslo earlier this season. attempting to become the first british woman to win the 100 meter gold in the european championships in over half a century. also through to the final isa a century. also through to the final is a young lady making a senior

debut, running 11.4 seconds. she is named after brian lara and she's through to the final. daphne skippers also qualified. she worked really ha rd to skippers also qualified. she worked really hard to do so. not as impressive as dina asher—smith and she remains the one to beat. and what about the british double, high hopes in the men's finals well? they could make history tonight because they've never won the women's100 metres gold in both the men and women's competition that they could do so tonight. zharnel hughes the joint fastest man in europe this season joint fastest man in europe this season and looked impressive in his semifinal. and looked relaxed crossing the line, no tension in his face. reece prescod is also through.

but the frenchman could be the danger man in the final. he won his semifinal with a record time and no sign of injury. but final should be red—hot. it's the second day of the ben stokes court case in bristol. the england cricketer has been accused of affray along with two other men, following an incident outside a nightclub in the city last september. our sports editor dan roan was in court. today the jury in bristol lent more about the events leading up to the fight in the early hours of september last year involving ben stokes and two local men. they heard from andrew cunningham the head doorman of the nightclub where the

fight took place. he told the jury that ben stokes who was accompanied by alex hales had been abusive, spiteful and a bully towards him abusing him for his prominent tattoos and his gold teeth and then knocking two gay men outside the nightclub and throwing a cigarette but at the head of one of them. but the defence barrister then suggested that cunningham who said he did not like cricket had been aggressive towards ben stokes. he said that the two men have been laughing about his gold shoes and it had just been playful banter. later on the jury also heard from max wilson, a local resident who filmed the fracas which followed on his mobile phone. he said the men involved clearly were drunk and acted he said like

animals. tomorrow we may well hear from ben stokes, of course he was meant to be preparing to play in his second test match for england against india which starts on thursday at lord's but instead he will be back here. he denies the charge of affray as to his fellow co—defendants ryan hill and ryan ali. stokes was a matchwinner in the first test against india but will miss the second test at lords that starts this thursday. surrey batsman ollie pope looks set to make his england debut coming in for dawid malan who was dropped. two years ago, pope was still playing for his school side but now hopes to emulate the likes of alastair cook in the senior side. from the people have spoken to they have given me the confidence and i have given me the confidence and i have the confidence in my own game