today at 5. all charges dropped against sir norman bettison — the former police chief who was accused of trying to blame liverpool fans for the 1989 hillsborough disaster. the former chief constable faced four counts of misconduct in a public office — but there was insufficient evidence to proceed with the case. he's welcomed the ruling. i have been forced to deny strenuously that i have done anything wrong in the aftermath of the disaster. and today's outcome vindicates that position. families of the victims say they're devastated by the decision and will seek an independent review of the case. i am just very disappointed that they've let us families down. they've let the 96 down and they've also let down the families who are no longer alive to see this journey through to the end.

we'll have the latest from preston crown court. the other main stories on bbc news at 5. new talks on leaving the eu — brexit secretary dominic raab meets the eu's chief negotiator, michel barnier, both men say there are still significant issues to resolve in the coming weeks. into the black — official figures show the biggestjuly surplus for the government in 18 years. "preying" for success — we take a look at plans to send scotland's golden eagle population soaring. and one of the greatest athletes of all time — now can he make it as a footballer? eight—time olympic champion usain bolt starts training with a team in australia. it's five o'clock.

our top story. hillsborough families say they'll challenge the decision to drop all charges against the former police chief sir norman bettison, who was accused of trying to blame liverpool fans for the disaster in which 96 suppporters died. prosecutors said insufficient evidence meant there was no real prospect of a conviction. speaking outside court, sir norman, who had always denied wrongdoing, said today's outcome vindicated him. but relatives of some of the victims say they're devastatated by the decision and will seek an independent review. fiona trott is at preston crown court for us. inside court, some relatives were sitting yards away from sir norman bettison who remained composed when he was told he will not stand trial. let me explain how the crown

prosecution service reached the decision. they said over the past year there have been developments, contradictions in evidence from two witnesses and a third witness has passed away and according to the cps it means there is no longer a realistic prospect of conviction. although he wasn't centrally involved on the day of the hillsborough disaster, sir norman bettison‘s name has long been linked with its aftermath. in the wake of the tragedy, sir norman, then a chief inspector, was part of a team that gathered evidence about the police for the taylor public inquiry. 96 liverpool fans died when the terraces at hillsborough became overcrowded in 1989. sir norman was accused of trying to blame the fans. in 1998, he was appointed chief constable of merseyside, home to many of the bereaved families. his appointment was deeply unpopular, and touring tv studios, sir norman asked for support. for goodness‘ sake, give me a chance, i think

that people generally, my experience of life is that people generally and i think people in merseyside in particular, are fair—minded people, they'll judge for themselves, they'll look into the whites of my eyes, they will ask me questions and they will decide for themselves. give me that chance, that's what i'm saying. last year, sir norman was charged with lying about his role in relation to hillsborough when he applied to become merseyside chief constable in 1998. now, those charges have been dropped. sir norman was also facing prosecution for misconduct in public office when he was chief constable of west yorkshire in 2012. he was accused of sending out a press release claiming that he'd never blamed fans for the disaster. those charges have also been dropped. sir norman has always denied any wrongdoing and, now, he will no longer stand trial. five other men are still facing prosecution on separate charges for the disaster and its aftermath. judith moritz, bbc news. as the criminal charges were

dropped, preston crown court was also told there was political interference in this case and sir norman's lawyer criticised the mp maria eagle and said she had asserted under the cover of parliamentary privilege that sir norman had been part of a unit that deflected blame from south yorkshire police. and he said that claim was simply untrue. sir norman gave this statement outside court. the loss of loved ones who will never come home from hillsborough is an enduring tragedy. such a devastating loss is deserving of all our sympathies. and has always included mine. nothing in my experience of the past six years has done anything to diminish that sympathy. my involvement in the events around hillsborough has often been misrepresented,

even in parliament. since then, i've been forced to deny strenuously that i have done anything wrong in the aftermath of the disaster. today's outcome vindicates that position. the cps has been speaking to families to explain their decision. one relative, margaret aspinall, who lost her son james said one relative, margaret aspinall, who lost her sonjames said some of them will seek independent review under the right to review scheme, and that has been backed by some mps in the north—west of england. louise brooks, whose brother andrew was killed, she says she feels let down. i am just very disappointed. they have let us families down, they have let the 96 down and they have also let down the families who are no longer alive

the charges against sir norman have been dropped but that is just one pa rt been dropped but that is just one part of the legal process and as you heard in the report earlier, five more people are due to stand trial including david duckenfield, the match commander, who is charged with manslaughter by gross negligence of 95 football supporters. many thanks. talks on a brexit deal have resumed after a summer break. the new brexit secretary, dominic raab, has been meeting the eu's chief negotiator michel barnier in brussels. in the past few minutes, both men have said there are still significant issues to resolve and they will step up negotiations in the coming weeks. dominic and i focused on what needs to be done in our three work streams.

number one, a backstop solution for avoiding a hard border in ireland. number two, the other outstanding issues of of the agreement. for instance the protection of existing geographical indications amongst others. three, the political declaration on our future relationship. our teams will sit together again tomorrow to try and make progress. last week, our teams already had a discussion on the island of ireland and northern ireland. as you know we need a legally operational backstop in the agreement. we must find pragmatic

solutions in line with the commitments made by prime minister theresa may in december and march, and we must spell out which controls are needed, where and how they should be done. next time, when we meet, we will take stock on this work. we have had a positive set of discussions which have been useful oi'i discussions which have been useful on all of the three main categories of issues, the withdrawal agreement, outstanding separation issues, northern ireland, we have reaffirmed out northern ireland, we have reaffirmed our commitment to the undertakings in the joint report, but we must come up with solutions for the communities affected. on the future relationship we talked about the economic partnership and that is where we made good progress on the security operation. there are

significant issues to overcome still. on northern ireland and also oi'i still. on northern ireland and also on the future relationship and it is important to view the deal as a package. we need to step up the intensity of negotiations as we come into the final phase and we have agreed to meet regularly and resolve ata agreed to meet regularly and resolve at a political level those outstanding issues that remain under technical consideration and i am pleased that we have agreed to meet next week on all of those issues and i think it is vital. there are still gaps. we have had an honest conversation about those. equally on out conversation about those. equally on our side we feel we have shown the ambition, energy and pragmatism and i know how committed michel barnier is to i know how committed michel barnier istoa i know how committed michel barnier is to a deal and if we have that pragmatism and energy on both sides lam pragmatism and energy on both sides i am confident we can reach the agreement. live to brussels and our reporter adam fleming. dominic raab saying they have agreed

to step up the intensity of negotiations. i suppose they need to because time is running out? that was the main thing i took away from the brief appearance by them. gone is the whole structure of having a round of negotiations every month and a week beforehand to circulate papers and a week afterwards to go home and tell the eu capital is what has been discussed. now they will meet continuously. i do not think it will mean there will be british officials in there at 3am but i think contacts will be stepped up. dominic raab said he will be back in brussels next week for another round of talks with michel barnier and thatis of talks with michel barnier and that is just both sides realising there is not a lot of time to get this sorted out. they have to finalise the withdrawal agreement that wraps up the uk membership. it

seems there has been no progress on theissues seems there has been no progress on the issues that have been holding them up. they have to get the political declaration sketching out the future relationship between the sides in the years and decades to come. they have been talking about that and it does not seem there are any words written down about that document and dominic raab wants the documents to be finished at the same time so they can be presented to parliament. there is a lot of work to do on the document, the declaration about the future and be existing document, the withdrawal treaty, which still has stumbling blocks and the biggest is the back—up plan for how you avoid the reintroduction of border checks between northern ireland and the republic of ireland and it seems there has been no progress. both sides realising the clock is ticking. the two with dominic raab saying the time to talking a technical level is over and it has

to be sorted at a political level. he means he and michel barnier sitting in a room making compromises that are political in nature rather than finding technical fixes, making some compromises and choices to find common ground that both sides say exist but has not been found yet. many thanks. jeremy hunt is urging the eu to follow america's lead in standing up to russia following the salisbury nerve agent attack. he's been giving his first speech in the united states as foreign secretary. mr hunt said that unity among allies was important. today the united kingdom asks its allies to go further by calling on the european union to ensure its sanctions against russia are comprehensive and that we truly stand shoulder to shoulder with the us. that means calling out and responding to transgressions with one voice, wherever and whenever they occur, from the streets of salisbury to the heart of crimea.

we need to remember the importance of unity. notjust on this issue, but on other issues, too, whether it's halting the malign influence of iran, ending ending the conflicts in syria and yemen, denuclearising the korean peninsula orfair burden sharing within nato, where president trump is surely right to urge higher defence spending by european allies, as britain is doing. let's discuss this with dr michael carpenter, from the penn biden center for diplomacy and global engagement. he previously served as deputy assistant secretary of defence with responsibility for russia — and served on the national security council as director for russia the foreign secretary calling for more international action against

russia following the british and us lead. do you think he will get it? that is an open question and a message that plays well in washington but within the eu it is not clear there is an appetite for sanctions in russia, certainly italy, slovakia, austria, countries like that. the foreign secretary tried to embed this in a larger narrative, also what has happened in ukraine with the ongoing war there but i think he will have to make a stronger case to convince allies and eu partners to impose more sanctions. in the united states, are their mixed feelings about russia? donald trump met vladimir putin and many people said he should not have done after the salisbury attack. the mixed feelings in the us are between donald trump and the rest of congress and american society. i

think there is broad understanding that sanctions need to be imposed on russia for transgressions of international law, which includes the use of the nerve agent in the uk but do not forget current sanctions imposed tomorrow, potentially much more tough set of sanctions in 90 days, are mandated by law and the tramp administration was reluctant to impose those until it was prodded bya to impose those until it was prodded by a republican chairman of the house for foreign affairs committee to do so and now they have taken action. this was mandated by law, not discretionary. as an expert on relations with russia, do you think sanctions work, or does president putin resent them to his people as us putin resent them to his people as us against the rest of the world, we are being bullied? the sanctions right now are not effective because they have been impose for a wide variety of reasons for russia's

actions in ukraine, syria, election meddling in the us, violation of cyber norms. what needs to happen is a comprehensive robust and impactful set of sanctions need to be imposed which should be tough, the sort of sanctions the international community imposed on iran that brought iran to the table to discuss its nuclear programme. sanctions should be tied to specific objectives such as the withdrawal of russian troops from ukraine or cessation of meddling in western democracies. if sanctions were imposed with those objectives, and pa rt imposed with those objectives, and part of a larger toolkit of measures in putting diplomacy and other moves they might have in effect but right 110w they might have in effect but right now it is too weak to have any effect on president putin's decision—making. effect on president putin's decision-making. thank you. my pleasure. the headlines on bbc news...

former police chief sir norman bettison will not be prosecuted over alleged lies he made about the hillsborough disaster — as all charges against him are dropped. the brexit secretary dominic raab says he's confident a deal between the uk and the eu can be reached by october — as he meets michel barnier in brussels. official figures shows the government recorded its highest july surplus in 18 years — the treasury took in £2 billion more than they spent last month. in sport, joss buttler makes a maiden test century as he and ben stokes combine to frustrate india in the third test at trent bridge. england must bat through today and tomorrow to avoid defeat. steph houghton has been recalled to the england squad ahead of qualifiers against wales and kazakhstan. danny cipriani's hearing will be held in

bristol tomorrow despite calls from the rugby players‘ association to drop the charge against him after he was disciplined by his club side gloucester. i will be back around half past with more. pressure is mounting on the chancellor to loosen the purse strings ahead of this autumn‘s budget — after official figures showed the public finances were in better shape than expected. figures released this morning by the office for national statistics showed that the government took in two billion pounds more than it spent last month, the healthiestjuly surplus for 18 years. andy verity is here. on the face of it good news. it a lwa ys on the face of it good news. it always looks quite good injuly because that is when the self—employed send in their second of two self—assessed payments they make on tax on account of a lot of money comes into the treasury and a

record £9 billion in this case that was enough with other taxes to give a£2 was enough with other taxes to give a £2 billion surplus so taxes exceeded spending by £2 billion which is how much they had to borrow. that is better than it has been for a while and it puts an interesting light on policy of posterity. all of the deficits over the years, 1.7 8 trillion, a million million pounds, and in the context of the economy, 2.1 trillion, it amounts to 8a.3% and in the way that is the key figure. it is down from the last time, last year when the figures were reported in 2017 and thatis figures were reported in 2017 and that is the key thing because it means the public finances and national debt are getting more manageable and not less. let's talk about the politics of this. you mentioned austerity, what does it

mean for austerity and may be loosening purse strings on public spending? we have been using that word since 2009. labour introduced austerity and debts and deficits we re austerity and debts and deficits were out of control and had to be cut. the justification for all the cuts in the public sector and for stringent measures like freezing benefits, which according to the joseph rowntree foundation is set to throw half a million people into poverty. it encourages those who say, maybe austerity should come to an end now. however you have to put qualifications on that. this is the latest numbers and they can go in the other direction and the public finances depend very much on economic growth and if the economy grows faster they can get more taxing but at the moment it is just growing 1.3%. taxing but at the moment it is just growing 1.396. thank you. the troubled charity

oxfam has been given a massive financial boost. it‘s been left more than a0 million pounds by a british businessman richard cousins — who was killed along with members of his family in a plane crash in australia last new year‘s eve. it‘s thought to be the biggest single donation to the charity. for months, oxfam has been struggling to recover from a sex abuse scandal, which led to a significant reduction in the donations it receives — and this summer it had to make cuts of £16 million. richard galpin has the story. a tragedy last new year‘s eve near sydney. a seaplane taking british tourists on a sightseeing tour of the area had crashed into a river killing everyone on board. the businessman richard cousins was head of one of the world‘s largest catering companies. with him in the plane were his two sons, edward and william, and his fiancee, emma bowden, and her daughter, heather. the uk actually is doing extremely well. mr cousins was known for his humanity. what wasn‘t known was that he‘d reportedly changed his will using

a special clause so most of his money would go to oxfam if he and his children died together. a common tragedy clause is just a clause stipulating who the beneficiaries will be if your immediate family were to all pass away at the same time. so it's also called a wipeout clause and it also could be known as a disaster scenario clause as well. at the oxfam offices today, there‘s been astonishment at the money they‘ll now receive. it could be the biggest amount ever given to oxfam by an individual donor. in a statement, the aid agency said... and it could not have come at a more important time.

oxfam is still reeling from a scandal which has lead to cuts in its funding after some of its staff who were working here in haiti, following the massive earthquake eight years ago, were accused of sexual misconduct. well, clearly, any charity that receives a donation of that size, it‘s going to make an incredible difference to the causes that they‘re working on. so, a donation of this size for oxfam is going to be incredibly important and i suspect will be something that sustains them for a number of years. oxfam has been planning to make swingeing cuts to save millions of pounds as a result of the scandal. but now, with the money left by richard cousins, it could help the aid agency turn a corner after one of the worst years in its history. richard galpin, bbc news. the head of the london fire brigade has criticised the reality tv show love island for reinforcing stereotypes of firefighters as muscle—bound men. commissioner dany cotton said such portrayals discouraged young women from joining the service — and she criticised the itv2 show‘s

fireman challenge for "rolling out every offensive cliche possible." chi chi izundu reports. oh, look, it's fireman sam! "rolling out every offensive cliche possible". that‘s how the most senior member of the london fire brigade has criticised this challenge shown during an episode of itv‘s love island. commissioner dany cotton — seen here in the middle — has urged advertisers, journalists and marketers to stop using lazy images of firefighters, saying they reinforce the misconception that all firefighters are muscle—bound men, and adding, "no wonder so many young women are put off by that". just 300 of london fire brigade‘s 5,000 operationalfirefighters are women, and the comments come as the brigade launches a campaign to improve equality and gender within its organisation. i get off the truck and they go — oh, it‘s a fireman, and they point at me. and then they‘ll be like, er, no, not a fireman. i don‘t know what to call you.

and so i‘ve had fireman lady, i‘ve had fire lady, fire person. but some people would argue that this is just entertainment. yes, they would, but as with any sort of entertainment, you have to be careful about the stereotype that you are portraying. and that is not the stereotype. that is not what happens in real life. hi. we're checking all the smoke alarms on the street. but it‘s notjust tv programmes causing concern. adverts which have appeared on our screens over the years like these have been criticised as reinforcing gender stereotypes. the reason it's harmful is because it limits the opportunities and potential of people — sometimes very young people — it stops them wanting to grow up to do certain roles and that brings costs to them themselves, to society, and to the economy as well. and for dany cotton — the first female to hold the london fire brigade‘s most senior post — she‘s hoping a different portrayal of firefighters will help dispel the idea that the service is a very masculine environment and a sexist field. chi chi izundu, bbc news. the bbc proms has gained

a reputation for showcasing new and unique talent and in another first, next week, it‘ll host one of the only disability—led orchestras in the uk. the bournemouth symphony orchestra resound ensemble was formed less than a year ago by musicians who have conditions like blindness, autism and partial deafness. our disability correspondent nikki fox has been to meet them ahead of their debut. rehearsing mozart, an orchestra like no other. everyone in this ensemble has a disability and they are about to make their debut at the proms. the group of six musicians was selected from auditions

only nine months ago. they all have different disabilities, ranging from hearing loss to autism. james has cerebral palsy and is breaking new ground in the world of classical music by conducting with his head. this is one of ensemble‘s final rehearsals before the proms, where they will be performing this composition, alongside 52 members of the bournemouth symphony orchestra. where they will be performing this bespoke composition,

alongside 52 members of the bournemouth symphony orchestra. so everything has to be spot on. one man keeping an eye on rehearsals is alexander campkin. he has used his own experience of living with multiple sclerosis to compose hoping, an intricate six—minute movement. when i was sitting on the audition panel for the group, all of my preconceptions were just smashed to the ground, when i realised that we have an absolute wealth of talent and that i could write music as virtuosic and as difficult as i wanted. but one consideration he had to make was to incorporate an electronic instrument. you can do a whole octave with very little movement. this is the linnstrument. it has helped charlotte reconnect with music, after she lost the ability to play piano when she was 12. can i have a go? of course. i‘ve been dying. let's hope that within the next 5—10

years that people with disabilities are just the normal part of any orchestra, and people who run them are just happy to adapt. this will be the group‘s first major performance and will be held in a less formal setting, with a relaxed attitude to movement and noise. it is hoped it will notjust encourage concert—goers with a whole range of disabilities but that seeing these role models on stage at the proms, playing world—class music, may untap hidden talent. nikki fox, bbc news. time for a look at the weather, with stav. the far north—west of scotland, rain arrives early in the night and most

places of scotland and northern ireland as the night wears on. but it should be largely dry & end the night. western wales in western england will get the odd spot of light rain. a wet end to the night for much of scotland and northern ireland. the rain band will be lying across southern scotland and northern ireland to start tomorrow but it will spread south eastwards. weakening a but it will spread south eastwards. wea kening a little but it will spread south eastwards. weakening a little bit. the odd shower, but later showers around. weakening a little bit. the odd shower, but latershowers around. it will be lying to central areas in the afternoon, cooler and bright in the afternoon, cooler and bright in the north—west and another warm one across the south—east. by thursday cooler air spreads and by friday it is chilly across—the—board with sunshine and showers. this is bbc news. the headlines: the former police chief

sir norman bettison — accused of trying to blame liverpool fans for the 1989 hillsborough disaster — has all charges against him dropped. relatives of some of the victims say they‘re devastatated by the decision and will seek an independent review. the brexit secretary, dominic raab is in brussels for meetings with the eu‘s chief negotiator, michel barnier — they say talks will intensify in the coming weeks — but significant issues remain. the government records its biggest july surplus in 18 years as the treasury takes in £2 billion more than they spent last monh in his first major speech as foreign secretary, jeremy hunt has called on the eu to stand "shoulder to shoulder" with the us in taking a tougher stance against russia. let‘s cross to the bbc sport centre and join john watson. good evening. ben stokes and jos butle combined to frustrate india in their pursuit of victory in the third test

at trent bridge. they have a huge lead and need to bowl england out. wickets did fall, alistair cook second to go today, as his poor scoring run in this series continues, out for 17. ollie pope in his first test soon followed for 16 also off the bowling of ishant sharma. england need to show character to take it to a final day, they found some in ben stokes who dug in to move past his half century on his recall to the england team, but it‘sjoss butler, who‘s produced a really impressive maiden test century that‘s given england something to cling to. india need five wickets to win they have just taken the wicket of joss butler. so 521 the target, jos butler though has just gone. joe root will hope stokes can stick around for as long a spossible. jonny bairstow is expected to bat despite fracturing his finger yesterday. india remain well placed to reduce england‘s lead in the series to 2—1. danny cipriani‘s rfu hearing

will be held in bristol tomorrow, despite calls from the rugby players association for them to drop the case after he was disciplined by his club side gloucester. he pleaded guilty to common assault and resisting arrest following an incident on a pre season tour to jersey. our rugby union reporter chris jones has more. earlier today, the players union, released a short but strong statement saying the rfu at twickenham should drop their action against danny cipriani. danny cipriani last week was fined £2000 after pleading guilty to assault and resisting arrest. he was fined the same amount by his club gloucester and ordered to do ten hours of community service. but gloucester say it was a minor offence and they

feel the rfu should not crack on with their action against danny cipriani for bringing the game into disrepute. some feel danny cipriani is being tried and disciplined three times for the one incident at the jersey nightclub. england women‘s manager phil neville has recalled captain steph houghton and alex greenwood for the final world cup qualifiers against wales and kazakhstan. centre—back houghton is fit after a knee injury, while left—back greenwood returns from suspension. the winners of wales—england on the 31st august will qualify for the world cup. and olympic sprint legend, usain bolt, says he‘s ready to prove the doubters wrong by signing a professional contract. he turned 32 today, and this is how he celebrated, his first training session with the central coast mariners, an australian a league side. the eight—times olympic gold medallist has been given an open—ended trial with the club who finished bottom of the league last season. cynics says it nothing more than a publicity stunt —

a warning there is some flash photography coming up. iam not i am not setting myself any targets to say this is what i am going to do. iam to say this is what i am going to do. i am just going to put in the work, you know what i mean? this is the first chance i have been given to train and get to a level to play asa to train and get to a level to play as a professional footballer. to train and get to a level to play as a professionalfootballer. i don‘t know what to expect, i come here to push myself, learn as much as possible. i told the coach from the start, i am here with a blank slate only what i have learned and seen on the tv. i am here to learn and to get better. jonny bairstow has now gone so ijust need for remaining wickets to wrap up victory in the third test. we‘ll have more for you in sportsday at 6.30. the technology giant, microsoft,

says it‘s managed to stop russian hackers from launching cyber—attacks against us political organisations. the software company claims the hackers were planning to steal data, but security staff prevented the phishing attack. let‘s discuss this with professor prasha nt pillai, professor of cyber security and director of the wolverhampton cyber research institute. hejoins us from birmingham. thank you for being here, how can we be sure it was the russians? to be honest, attribution of cyber attacks isa honest, attribution of cyber attacks is a difficult and complicated task. the officers would have to look at a lot of intelligence aspects, they would be looking at meta data, looking out where ip addresses are being originated from. also intends and motivation, is somebody going to make money out of this or are there

hidden motives? that would be combined with other cyber intelligence and physical intelligence and physical intelligence to look at which nation state, if it is a nation state, which nation state would be involved. there is so much talk of cyber warfare by the russians, is this amazing that microsoft have stopped this attack? microsoft found six fishing domains and websites that looked real but they were fake. if you go on it, it might look like a bbc website, but it is not a bbc website and then people log in and this can be used for stealing names and credentials and then that can be used to log into the real website to get a ccess used to log into the real website to get access to it. we have the cyber

attack on the national health service systems, is this comparable to that, do you think? that was a different attack. what we saw with the nhs was a somewhere attack which exploited some of the vulnerabilities in older operating systems and it was a malware which stayed in there and encrypt the data and if you wanted it back you would have to pay money to get it decrypted. this is looking at spear fishing, you will get e—mails with links that look exactly the same and you link on them and go to the websites which would be exactly the same and they would use that to steal your login information and let you download applications. once you do that, you get infected. so it is a slightly different type of cyber attack. if this is to become a pattern by the russians, how do we defend against it, what more should we be doing? it is notjust we are

being attacked by one place, we are being attacked by one place, we are being attacked by many different places at the same time. what we need is technology, we need new technology to try and better facilitate solutions which can prevent some of these attacks or predict some of these attacks. we need skilled people. the uk has a shortage of cyber skilled specialists and we need more younger people and older people to rhys gill and get into cyber security. we have cooperation between different departments are different organisations. this is notjust a government problem or a private—sector problem, we have to coordinate and work together. we need cyber awareness for the general public because everybody needs to understand this is a growing problem and we will face more cyber attacks are people need to be aware in terms of how baby hague on the internet, what they should do and what they

shouldn‘t. —— behave. what they should do and what they shouldn't. -- behave. good to talk to you, professor. nhs providers which represents hospitals and ambulance services in england has warned of a risk to services if britain leaves the eu without a deal. in a letter, seen by the bbc, the group criticises health bosses and ministers for a lack of planning and says drug supplies could run out if there‘s no agreement. our political correspondent iain watson reports. could we be facing a health emergency? a group representing nhs hospitals and ambulance services in england have written to senior health service officials expressing concern about what will happen if britain leaves the eu without a deal. in the letter, nhs providers say that while active national leadership is essential, instead hospitals are having to develop contingency plans individually in a vacuum and without national planning and coordination, there could be both stockpiles and shortages of medicine.

a former health minister who backs a so—called people‘s vote on a brexit deal says he shares the concerns. drug shortages, drug shortages, food shortages, medical equipment shortages, staff shortages, the only way out, given this will happen in march next year, is to put this issue back to the people in another referendum. the labour leadership are not calling for a new referendum but they are claiming the nhs could become a casualty of brexit. there has to be a ready supply of medicines across europe and i am quite frightened of the idea that we have to stockpile medicines in the event of there being a no—deal brexit. the government is emphasising it fully expects to get a deal with the eu, the brexit secretary dominic raab is in brussels for further talks today. on thursday ministers will be issuing advice on how to prepare for no deal and i am told there will be detailed plans for the nhs.

it is natural the government makes contingency plans. it is very clear that we can avoid any of the scenarios by goodwill on both sides and coming to an agreement over britain‘s future relationship with europe. whether the fears of some in the nhs are ever realised will depend not just on what plans are put in place in britain, but also what is agreed here in brussels. iain watson, bbc news. a 27—year—old man has appeared in court charged with two counts of attempted murder, after two women were attacked with a hammer in south—east london. joe xuereb was remanded in custody and will appear at the old bailey next month. the women — 30—year—old city worker ania gos and her 64—year—old mother — remain critically ill in hospital. the pope will meet victims of sexual abuse when he visits ireland this weekend.

pope francis is due to arrive in dublin on saturday for a two—day visit. earlier this week the pontiff condemned the "atrocities" of child sexual abuse and clerical cover—ups in a strongly worded letter to the world‘s 1.2 billion catholics. protestors have arranged a series of rallies in ireland coinciding with the pope‘s visit. police in lancashire have defended a video that shows a male officer hitting a teenage girl. the footage, which has circulated online, was shot as a 14—year—old girl and 52—year—old woman were arrested on suspicion of assaulting a police officer. in a statement, the police said the officer had used an "open hand strike" that it considered "reasonable force" in the situation. an area of sea in the arctic that is normally frozen all year round has broken up, opening up waters north of greenland. it‘s happened twice this year already because of a change in climate conditions. it affects the oldest and thickest

ice in the region and has worried climate scientists, who have described the loss of ice as "scary". let‘s talk to bianca perren, she‘s a paleo climatologist with the british antarctic survey who has just returned from the greenland ice sheet. she‘s in our cambridge studio. thank you for being with us. describe a bit more about what is happening? in the last week or so we have seen and opening up of the ice north of greenlands. usually has about four metres of ice year—round and we called it the last ice area, the last place in the arctic we expect to find ice. so when the sea ice has gone in the arctic, this is the last place we expect to find it and now it is going. polar scientists around the world are concerned. quite concerned, what is the reason for it, why is it happening and how can we stop it? this year we had unusual warmth in

february. there it is normally —25 in february but this it was plus six and above zero the ten days. a large crack opened up on the north coast and the wind drove the ice off the coastal margin. it is one of these areas we don‘t expect to lose ice and we lost ice in february, which is very strange. and this year because it was broken up and the sea ice was then at the winds were able to drive it off the coast again. we have got some pictures you talk when you were in the region. are you any doubt this is because of climate change? i am not in any doubt. we usually see these lots of small changes that occur, these anomalies and they happen quite frequently to history, but what seeing in greenland is unprecedented in the context of the last several thousand yea rs. context of the last several thousand years. this is maybe another symptom of that. another symptom and do you

expect it to get worse year—on—year? this isn‘t a freak what happened this year? it might be, there is natural variability, so each year is different from the previous year and there is a natural variability in there is a natural variability in the system. what we see over time is a long—term trend and what we are seeing now is a deviation in the normal from this long timescale into something quite different. so this isa something quite different. so this is a kind of wake—up call? it is important for people like you who are observing these things to talk about it? we're working on a proposal to work on the north coast of greenland to understand what the natural variability is. but they are very ha rd to natural variability is. but they are very hard to get to, these places are very remote and it is hard to do work there, we don‘t have long—term measurements or understand the variability is. we have assumptions,

but we are surprised how quickly changes occur. it is good to talk to you. thank you very much. back to developments on brexit today, the eu‘s chief negotiator, michel barnier, said the talks on brexit were now entering their final stage and the task of the coming weeks was to define a partnership between the eu and the uk which had no precedent. he was speaking after talks in brussels with the brexit secretary, dominic raab. in the last few minutes mr raab has done an interview with our correspondent ben wright. he pushed him on what would happen to eu citizens living in the eu in the event of a no deal. we made clear we hugely value the contribution of the eu citizens in the uk and i am confident that in the uk and i am confident that in the unlikely eventuality we don‘t have a deal, we moved swiftly to secure their position. what would

that mean in practice? we will provide the details in due course, but the focus is getting a good deal. but there are many people worrying about livelihoods, working the companies who are worried about the companies who are worried about the workers who want to know now with all this discussion about and no deal, what will happen to them in seven months if we leave without a deal? we will be setting out our proposals to make sure in the unlikely eventuality we don‘t get an agreement with the eu that on citizens, consumers and businesses, we mitigate the risks and in relation to eu citizens, we will move swiftly to secure their position. can they assume they will be able to stay? they will want to wait... they want to know now. we will set out our proposals in good time. we will do everything to make sure where they are in a legal position to stay and we will set out

the details in due course. it is working out the structure, but legally they should be able to stay, they shouldn‘t worry that if there is no deal, they won‘t be turfed out of the uk? we have made it clear in the past nobody will be turfed out andi the past nobody will be turfed out and i am happy to give that reassurance again today. following ten years of planning, a small group of golden eagles have been released at a secret location in southern scotland. they were moved from nests in the highlands where the majority of the birds are to be found. there are fewer than five breeding pairs in the south of scotland and none in england or wales. our correspondent lorna gordon has been given exclusive access, ahead of the eagles taking flight, for the first time. they are a sight more familiar to the moors and the mountains of the highlands and islands. but this young golden eagle is about to be released into the wild much further south. the raptor is hooded to keep him calm.

he‘s one of three birds moved to a new home in a part of scotland where less than a handful of pairs remain. this is a male, he‘s really healthy. got a nice bit of meat on his sternum. and he‘s ready, ready to go, do you think? he‘s definitely ready to go. before that, they are measured. 124. examined to ensure they are healthy. then fitted with one of these, a satellite transmitter to track them once they take to the skies. the birds have been handled just twice — once when they were taken under licence from their nests in the highlands and then just now when they have been checked over and tagged before being released. scotland‘s golden eagle population has faced challenges, from changing land—use to persecution, but those behind this project are confident they will get a warm welcome here. young golden eagles are heavily persecuted. a third of them have been killed, either

through shooting or poisoning. down here, in the south of scotland, we‘ve been able to reassure ourselves that persecution is not an issue, it‘sjust a small, fragmented population which needs this helping hand from us. filmed on remote cameras, when the time comes to spread their wings, the birds hesitate. that‘s not though, unexpected. then those first, short flights harried by buzzards above the heather. so this will be their first time out of the aviaries. they may fly a few metres, they may fly a few hundred metres up the valley. we've chosen a spot where there's lots of different sites they can rest and perch, rocks for them to sit on and things like that. so hopefully they'll fly out into the valley, find somewhere to settle and then just in their own time, get up into the skies and start to explore. their range could reach from the rolling hills of southern scotland to the lake district or wales. the hope is, they may eventually return to sites last populated by golden eagles more than 100 years ago. lorna gordon, bbc news, in the moffat hills.

now, monday‘s test match special, covering the test match between england and india featured a surprisingly moving piece of radio. jonathan agnew, the bbc‘s cricket correspondent and host of the show, read out an email sent in by a listener about his late father. let‘s take a listen. i will read out a remarkable e—mail that we‘ve had actually. from patrick taylor, thank you for writing to us, patrick. he‘s written an e—mail saying: "my dad, john taylor, had, unlike the current england batting line—up, dug in and battled doggedly to reach 83. he built gradually through to his 50s as a true gentleman, a pharmacist, sportsman, father of two boys until unexpected cloud cover descended just as he was looking to break free from the shackles and play with the freedom that retirement would bring. on an ever increasingly sticky wicket, he faced up and defended against a beamer in the form of leukaemia.

the yorker of muscular dystrophy, the googly of parkinson‘s, the reverse swing of diabetes and latterly, was struck down by the vicious bouncer of dementia. but like fellow yorkshireman, brian close, he never winced, complained or succumbed to the temptation of amateur dramatics, he just accepted the cards he‘d been dealt and squeezed every last drop out of life that he could on a single, by single basis with his amazing care team acting as runners. on 83, dad finally faced the inevitable, unplayable delivery and left the field of play." "i use this cricket analogy" says patrick, "because tms has been and will continue to be, an institution of great importance to generations of our family. most importantly, you managed to allow me to say goodbye to him properly, just before his passing. dad was rushed to hospital on thursday the 9th of august with another bad chest infection. on friday, we were told that he had 2a to 48 hours to live and in fact

he may never regain consciousness. on the saturday, i visited dad in hospital with my wife and after an hour she had the inspirational idea of getting test match special on my mobile. afterfive minutes, he opened his eyes and was completely in the room and aware of us. he was able to convey that he was comfortable, he was at peace and i was able to tell him what a wonderful father he is and just how much i love him. not one comfortable with massive shows of emotion, after 15 minutes he requested that we listen to the cricket. for three hours we listened to woakes crashing it about at lord‘s and making his maiden test century. we got a digital radio into dad‘s hospital room and he listened to test match special the next day and i don‘t think it‘s any coincidence that he passed peacefully just after england had sealed victory." well, earlier today, the test match special team called

up patrick to speak to him and find out why he wrote in to the programme. patrick is currently training for a nine day cycle ride, from john o‘grots to lands end to raise money to help treat meningitis and whilst training for this, he decided to write the email. well i was out training for this sort of crazy bike ride and i had tms on and it masked the pain. itjust reminded me of what had happened on the saturday with dad. he was a very unassuming man and never really got the limelight as such and ijust felt i would give it a go, what‘s the worst that could happen? extraordinary and were you expecting that reaction from him when you put the radio on, just hoping? not at all, i guess it was just he would probably stay there with his eyes closed and you know, we‘d sort of shared a moment together

but they were wide open, wide open, it was quite a thing. time for a look at the weather, with stav. it has been a lovely day across england and wales. widespread sunshine around. rain pushing into scotla nd sunshine around. rain pushing into scotland and northern ireland as we head through the course of tonight but the most it will be largely dry and muggy. this is the weatherfront responsible for bringing the rain into scotland and northern ireland initially across the western isles and western scotland and then into northern ireland. there will be heavy bursts and it will be quite breezy. a largely dry night, drizzle across western hills. into wednesday, this is the pressure

chart and the weather front that will bring the rain to the north—west corner of the country. it will edge southwards and eastward slowly on wednesday, tending to wea ken slowly on wednesday, tending to weaken as it does so. by the time we reach lunch time it will be across northern england into north wales by the afternoon. ahead of it, still some warm airto the afternoon. ahead of it, still some warm air to be had, the last of the warm air here. cooler and pressure a cross the warm air here. cooler and pressure across the north west. sunshine in the south—east could see 27 degrees once again. it is change as we head into thursday. the cooler are across the north west slowly pushes southwards behind this weather front, which will be quite wea k a cross weather front, which will be quite weak across southern areas as we had to wednesday night into thursday morning. by thursday morning it will be lying across east anglia and the south—east. still some warm here but it will be fresher with the next weather fronts bringing a cluster of heavy showers into northern ireland

and western scotland. on thursday itself, we lose the weather from from the south—east. sky brightened with cooler air and it bounced into the south—east and it will be a fresh take across—the—boa rd. the south—east and it will be a fresh take across—the—board. 1a to maybe 2a degrees but it turns cooler on friday. this cool air coming from greenland and iceland spreading south across the country. on friday a bright day with lots of sunshine around. staying dry across many eastern areas. most of the shoppers will be across the north and the west with some of them heavy and thundery. signs of something more persistent from northern ireland and western wales. 13 to 19 or 20 degrees and even chillier on saturday with sunshine and showers. babs temperature slowly recovering as we head into sunday. a former police chief accused of blaming liverpool fans

for the hillsborough disaster has had all charges against him dropped. sir norman bettison had faced four counts, of misconduct in public office. i‘ve been forced to deny strenuously that i have done anything wrong in the aftermath of the disaster. and today‘s outcome vindicates that position. relatives of some of the 96 who died, say they‘re distressed by the decision, and are calling for an independent review. five other men still face separate charges, in connection with the disaster and it‘s aftermath. also on the programme... the brexit sectretary says the rights of eu