hello, you're watching afternoon live — i'm rachel schofield. today at 2pm. this the brexit secretary outlines the government's advice for what businesses and individuals should do if britain leaves the eu without a deal , but says the guidance isjust a precaution. it is not what we want and it is not what we expect. but we must be ready. we have a duty as a responsible government to plan for every eventuality. a slight rise in the overall pass rate, as pupils across england, wales and northern ireland get their gcse results. president trump tells a us journalist he might consider pardoning his former campaign chairman paul manafort, after he was convicted for tax fraud. coming up on afternoon live all the sport — here's olly foster. no wholesale changes in the latest england squad for the fourth test against india, butjames vince has been given another chance. we will notice a difference today,

it will be cooler. we also have rain and showers. more later in the programme. we will see you later. thanks, mel. also coming up — we talk to the teenage son of michael schumacher — who wants to follow in his father's formula 1 footsteps. hello, everyone — this is afternoon live — i'm rachel schofield. our top story,

advice has been published for businesses and individuals about how to prepare for any impact, if the uk leaves the european union next year without a deal on the future relationship. the government has released the first in a series of documents which cover areas including medical supplies, farming and financial services. that includes guidance that britons living elsewhere in the eu could lose access to uk banking and pension services. the brexit secretary dominic raab says he's confident of avoiding a no—deal scenario — but it is nonetheless prudent to release today's advice. our political correspondent iain watson has the details. deal or no deal? brexit will affect every aspect of british life. today, the government released 25 papers on a wide range of issues examining what could happen if we fall out of the eu without a deal. amongst the questions that the government is trying to answer was what would happen to medical supplies, to nuclear research, to payments for farmers and to our major money earner — the financial services industry. but first and foremost, the brexit secretary wants to accentuate the positives.

good morning, everyone. he said he expected to strike a strong deal with the eu but... naturally, we have got to consider the alternative possibility that the eu doesn't match our ambition and pragmatism, that we do not reach a deal. but let me be clear about this, it is not what we want and it is not what we expect. but we must be ready. we have a duty as a responsible government to plan for every eventuality. the paper set out some of the specific action the government would take in the event of a no deal. in the event of a no deal. to keep the health service supplied, the uk would continue to recognise eu medical devices. the government would guarantee payments to farmers that currently come from brussels. and to limit financial disruption, eu banking and insurance companies could get temporary permission to operate in the uk. and the brexit secretary said this about life outside the eu, listen closely... in some cases, it will mean taking unilateral action to maintain as much continuity as possible, at least in the short—term, in the event of no deal.

and irrespective of whether the eu reciprocates in practice. translated, unilateral action means voluntarily following eu rules and standards for a period after brexit to help trade flow as freely as possible. some leave campaigners might not be too keen on that. and the government's no deal papers also acknowledge that could be some negative consequences. for example, for consumers, the paper said that the cost of card payments will likely increase. import and export declarations for goods will be needed, increasing business bureaucracy. and there is no guarantee that uk citizens living in the eu will get the same access to financial services, possibly including their pensions. and the government's opponents are focusing on those potential negative consequences. they are insisting that there is not a majority in this place for no deal. and if, if, ifa mixture of opposition politicians and conservative rebels were to vote

down any deal that theresa may brings back from brussels, then some senior labour figures are saying that they can't rule out a new referendum. we are not calling for it but, in the event that article 50 is voted down, we think all options should be on the table, all options should be on the table. i have said that consistently, john mcdonnell has said that, that is the labour party position. the immediate purpose of today's documents was to reassure businesses and voters that there is nothing to fear from leaving the eu with or without a deal. ian watson, bbc news. our political correspondent chris mason is in westminsterfor us. i guess this was all about reassurance, chris. has dominic raab done enough to say there is a plan and an alternative? good afternoon. reassurance is the centrepiece as the word to take away from this, the 148 pages published by the

government this morning. hard enough to read without the risk of it blowing away which is a risk on this balcony here. what the government is trying to do in this series of 25 papers is the sober and level—headed. the whole thing is shorn of any hyperbole or any sexy quotable sound bites, the usual fodder you associate with government documents and instead sector by sector specific advice to individual industries, whether that be around nuclear power or the importation of blood products or rural payments or farm subsidies. on and on they go. i think the crucial analysis that we wait, because these documents have only become public in the last couple of hours, is what do those individual sectors make of the detail that is published because there is only so much a journalist like me can glean from them and offer in terms of fruitful analysis. those with specific knowledge of individual sectors in looking at this, to what extent, to come back

to your word, are they reassured? the government is hopeful that they will be. of course, we await their verdict. so, really it's a question of poring over this but we must not forget the central message, we're doing this just in case but we are confident everything is still on track. that's the overall message from dominic raab and also the overall message from the start of every single one of these papers, the government still confident it will get a deal rather than relying on this scenario set out here around no deal. the other thing worth emphasising is that throughout this document is a recognition that if there is no deal they would be a hope, and it remains a hope because we don't know what politics would be like around a no deal scenario other than that it would be fraught, that individual kind of micro deals, mini deals, could be done around particular sectors, that cooperation can continue. so you could have a no deal scenario where there isn't a

moment where there is a signing in a fountain pen on some expensive cartridge paper with flags behind and lots of tv cameras but you could still have individual deals around particular sectors to try and keep, for instance, trade flowing. that is the government's hope but the politics of the kind of scenario would be incredibly fraught and one assumes that patients on both sides would have been tested prior to that moment. absolutely, chris, thanks frame much indeed. our europe reporter gavin lee is in brussels for us now. gavin, these documents, only one half of the story, what kind of response are you getting following the release of them? directly nothing, nada, and i think deliberately, to leave this to the uk to try and work out its own path but the european commission are saying on their own advice which they gave out the 27 countries in they gave out the 27 countries in the eu back injuly, they say they are working to that every other government is ready, particularly when it comes to the borders which

they expect going back to the eu's advice on dealing with a no—deal brexit to be chaotic, there would be big queues at the border. there will be great interest and is not hyperbole to say that in amsterdam, the hague, paris, berlin, capitals across europe have their own brexit teams that will go through it detail by detail, the 100 or so pages of these 25 document so far because it lays out for them missing pieces of the jigsaw for what no—deal brexit would be like. for example, with dominic raab saying today there would be no extra border checks for vehicles and many lorries, to speak that process through to calais or so -- is that process through to calais or so --isa that process through to calais or so —— is a brutish, a senior diplomat said about an hour ago dominic raab talks about this hope and faith both sides should have with each other particularly when it comes to medicines, wanting

to make sure that patients didn't move out written would trust the eu's testing policy as it does as a member of the eu and it would hope in good faith that the eu would trust the british system. going back to the eu's preparedness advice for eu countries was to say britain is a third country and wouldn't accept testing of their products. who talks about all sorts of things from organic products down to mineral water as well. the thing to note as well is that on the financial contribution dominic raab said at the end of his press conference that if there is no deal that could be, subject to legal traditions, a swift end to financial contributions. the department for exiting the eu in the uk has said if the country emerges with no deal the financial offer, the divorce payment, will fall away. that's not how the eu sees it. interesting stuff, gavin lee, thank

you. we can now speak to the labour mp chuka umunna who is in westminster for us now. thank you forjoining us. i was looking of the document in chris mason's hands. this is a weighty tome, as he described it, sensible approach to start looking in detail at the possible pathway should things not go to plan. it was interesting, wasn't it? the brexit secretary appeared to be sweating somewhat while delivering that speech, and i'm not surprised, because he was part of the leave campaign and it wasn't supposed to be like this. had pro—europeans warned in the terms that he has of the consequences of no deal and said that we should start making preparations such as stockpiling medicines as the brexit secretary said they will do in preparation for ano said they will do in preparation for a no deal scenario, stockpiling six weeks worth of medicines, we would have been accused of perpetrating so—called project fear. and the thing is it has become reality because of the chaotic handling of

this negotiation process, but also brexit in the terms of dominic raab, borisjohnson, michael gove brexit in the terms of dominic raab, boris johnson, michael gove and others sold it to the british people is, you know, completely undeliverable. nobody voted for this and that's the big issue here. if there is a deal, if you look at the deal we are going to get if the eu is to agree to what the prime minister is proposing and what she put forward at chequers, that is also not something that people voted for. they didn't vote for a £50 billion divorce bill, they didn't vote to damage our economy, the primers has accepted that even if there is a deal we will have less market access. both these things, but no deal scenario or a terrible deal that nobody particularly wants, the prime minister's deal, that is why none of this can command support and the only way to resolve it you have parliament gridlocked as it is is to have a people's vote on the final arrangements, whatever they may be. we will come back to that the moment because i know that is a campaign you are behind first of all

dealing with what we have heard today, alongside the outlining of all of these different strategies and things that need doing, we did also hear from the and things that need doing, we did also hearfrom the brexit and things that need doing, we did also hear from the brexit secretary also hear from the brexit secretary a conviction that a deal is still his top priority and he is confident they will get one. are you losing faith in that? when you hear him insinuating that if there is no deal we will not meet our financial obligations to the european union, frankly that is not only responsible but it is stupid. the reason i say thatisif but it is stupid. the reason i say that is if we renege on our financial obligations to the european union in the event that we we re european union in the event that we were to leave with no deal, who on earth is going to agree trade deals with us in the future if they can't have confidence that the uk will meet its obligations as historically it has always done? the tone and the content it has always done? the tone and the co nte nt of it has always done? the tone and the content of comments like that don't give you any confidence that you've got a government competently handling these negotiations, such that we would get a deal at the end

of this process. now, i don't know what will happen at the end of the process but they are handling this and it has increased the likelihood of no deal. you make the point and we heard from keir starmer earlier, that all options remain on the table. is the labour party now saying that its official policy is to offer a people's referendum on this? what keir starmer said this morning was a welcome change in tone and a welcome move, certainly in comparison to the comments made by the shadow international trade secretary barry gardiner earlier this week. keir starmer was absolutely clear that having a people's vote on our withdrawal arrangement should be on the table. that is extremely welcome. i know that many members of parliament on the labour side and voters and supporters will be heartened by that. i'd like them to go a bit further and say whatever the circumstances we really do need to refer this back to the british people, not just the refer this back to the british people, notjust the circumstances of no deal, but in the event that we

have a deal, which is clearly not going to match the promises made, the famous £350 million extra per week for the nhs, for example, that was emblazoned across boris's bus, that will not happen. fall of those reasons i think we should have a people's vote on any deal, notjust ano people's vote on any deal, notjust a no deal situation. 0k, chuka umunna, thank you your time this afternoon. thank you. if you have any questions about what you've heard from the brexit secretary and the government's no—deal advice you can put them to anand menon, the director of uk in a changing europe at 3:30pm today on the bbc news channel. please send in your questions using the #bbc askthis. you can text 61124 , or send them via email: askthis@bbc.co.uk. 3:30pm we will put those questions to an expert who can pick some of the complications of all of this. hundreds of thousands of teenagers across england, wales and northern ireland have received their gcse results this morning.

there's been a rise in the overall proportion of pupils attaining the pass mark — up by 0.5%. in england, there have been major changes to the exam, with a new grading system and less coursework. elaine dunkley has the details. oh, my god! the reactions are familiar... wha... what... ! pass! pass! but the way results are measured in england is different. for gcse students, it's out with a* to g and in with a new scale from 9 to 1, with 9 being the highest. i got an 8 in music, i got a 9 in geography, i got a 7 in history, i got a 9 in biology — happy with that as well, very happy. i got three 95... one, two, three, four, five... five 85... no, seven 85 and one 7. and it's notjust the grades that have changed — there's less coursework and more emphasis on final exams to make gcses more challenging. near enough every subject said that they overtaught us

because they didn't know what to expect, and i think personally with the amount of content we had to do, to give us the same period of time to do the test, it was a lot to handle. a lot of people are just used to the grade system, where you get a letter? it's true, i don't actually tell them the numbers, i tell them in letters and there's a conversion chart on the bbc website so i sent that to them as well — if they want to know the numbers. but ijust tell but i just tell them but ijust tell them in letters. but they know that there's a new grading system. the overall pass rate in england, wales and northern ireland has gone up 0.5 percentage points to 66.9%. 90% of the gcse entries in england were the new exams. only 4% got the new top grade of 9. exam regulators say pupils haven't been penalised because of the changes and grade boundaries have been moved so the same proportion of pupils get good grades as in previous years. at this school, the principal is not convinced. it's madness, really. maybe there was a need to make the exams more difficult, and i don't think the profession would argue against that. but it's as if nobody

knows when to stop. so now, we've got the boundary changes and now they're trying to equal it as the same proportion getting an a to c — what was the point of changing it, then? there has been a drop in the a* to c pass rate in wales, and improvement for those in northern ireland. meanwhile in england, the government says the new 9 to 1 grades are a better way to differentiate between the abilities of students. what we've introduced are far more demanding, more rigorous gcses that are a better preparation for a—level a better preparation for apprenticeships and vocational qualifications and a better preparation for a life in modern britain. you did so well! the reforms have been wide—ranging, but there has been criticism that the changes have been far too steep a learning curve for schools in england. elaine dunkley, bbc news. there's more information about gcse results on the bbc website — with links to bitesize

where there's advice for both parents and pupils. we have a piece of breaking news coming to us regarding nazaneen zaghari—ratcliffe, the british—iranian woman who was sentenced to five years in an iranian prison. we're hearing that according to her husband she has been released from prison for three days, it sounds like a temporary arrangement at this stage. that is all we have. nazaneen zaghari—ratcliffe has been released for three days according to her husband. we will try and find out a bit more about that and bring it to you as soon bit more about that and bring it to you as soon as we have bit more about that and bring it to you as soon as we have it. you're watching afternoon live, these are our headlines. the brexit secretary outlines the government's advice for what businesses and individuals should do if britain leaves the eu without a deal. a slight rise in the overall pass rate, as pupils across england, wales and northern ireland get their gcse results. president trump tells a us journalist he might consider pardoning his former campaign chairman paul manafort, after he was convicted for tax fraud.

and in sportjames vince has been given an england recall for the 4th test against india next week at southampton. he was dropped after a poor winter with england but the hampshire he was dropped after a poor winter with england but the hampshire captain has been in good form for his county. the gloucester fly—half, danny cipriani has been givenjust a reprimand by the rfu after he was fined for common assault and resisiting arrest following a nightcub incident injersey. tiger woods and phil mickelson will go head to head in a winner takes all $9 million duel on the golf course in las vegas in november. i'll be back in 15 minutes with more details. president trump has warned that any attempt to impeach him would result

in the crash of the us economy. in an interview with fox news channel's fox & friends, mr trump also reacted to the conviction of two of his former aides earlier this week, his former personal lawyer, michael cohen and paul manafort, his former campaign chief. i didn't know manafort well, he wasn't with the campaign long. they got him with things totally unrelated to the campaign. and by the way, the got cohen on things totally unrelated to the campaign. i'm not involved, i wasn't charged with anything. people like to say that, but i wasn't charged. michael cohen, tell me about your relationship with him? well, he was a lawyer for me, one of many. they always say "the lawyer" and then they add "the fixer". i don't know if he was a fixer, i don't know where that term came from. but he was a lawyer for me, didn't do big deals, did small deals. not somebody that was with me that much. they make it sound like i didn't live without him. i understood michael cohen very well. it turned out he wasn't a very good lawyer, frankly. but he was somebody that was

probably with me for about ten years and i would see him sometimes. but when i had deals, big deals, i had outside lawyers and a lot of inside lawyers too in addition to michael. i always found him to be a nice guy. well, our correspondent chris buckler gave us some detail around trump's first tv interview since the court appearances of his former aides. he turned to his favourite cable news programme which is fox & friends which he regularly tweets about and follows along with the stories, sometimes even commenting on them. what you saw was a president who is normally quite dismissive, quite defiant, who seemed to be on the defensive. trying to distance himself from michael cohen, a man who was his personal lawyer, despite what he says, he was his fixer and someone he talked about very warmly in previous days. now trying to distance himself from him. at the same time, he is going to find it very difficult to distance himself from those payments that were made to try to stop two women talking about their alleged affairs with donald trump

ahead of the election. of course, in court, michael cohen physically said that those payments were arranged at the orders of the present himself in order to influence the election. now he is trying to say, to avoid this suggestion that they came from campaign finance funds and therefore broke campaign finance laws, he is trying to say that they came from his own pocket. but you get a sense of a man who has been damaged by these revelations and, of course, he also mentioned in this fox & friends interview unanswered questions about the possibility of impeachment. the fact that he is even entertaining those questions says something in itself. chris buckler a little earlier. joining me now is dr brian klaas, a political scientist at london school of economics and an expert in us politics. it made for fascinating viewing.

what did you make of the president's tone in that interview? as the correspondent said the fact there is a discussion of impeachment is bad for him, this is the worst week of his presidency and two days ago was the worst day of his presidency. that being said his rhetoric was alarming. there were parallels in what donald trump is saying with what donald trump is saying with what mob bosses have said facing criminal prosecution and this isn't a partisan statement, chronicle people cooperate with law enforcement and the department of justice that he oversees rats and denigrating people who are flipping, in other words people who are cooperating with prosecutors to get out the truth of whether crimes were committed and this is supposed to be the person in charge of the legal system. he also praised paul manafort, his former campaign chairman, for not breaking under the pressure of prosecution. some of this rhetoric and the tone is very, very alarming and unprecedented for somebody who is supposed to be the chief law enforcer in the united

states. his approach was robust, though, he kept saying, i didn't do this, and making that distance and trying to step back from it all. and yet on the other hand there is talk he might pardon paul manafort. what do you think he will be weighing up and what might be his next move?m terms of trying to distance himself thatis terms of trying to distance himself that is getting increasingly difficult for him, his own lawyer implicated him in a potential criminal conspiracy, that is a very significant development. the pardons are risky. they are totally constitutional, he can sink the up tomorrow and say "i hereby pardon paul manafort and michael cohen" and he has the legal and constitutional right to do that but if he does that there will be caused to do that coming from more people even on the right of american politics over obstruction of justice right of american politics over obstruction ofjustice and abuse of power partly because he will be impeding an investigation of two potentially very important witnesses in criminal prosecution and sending a signal to future witnesses that if you simply hold tight and wait this out maybe there will be a pardon at

the end of this process. and remember that donald trump may end up remember that donald trump may end up being a situation where after 2020 if he were to get re—elected he would still have pardon power but would still have pardon power but would never face voters again and that would mean he could pardon everybody. paul manafort might be thinking as long as i sit tight and sit injailfor two years thinking as long as i sit tight and sit in jail for two years this might all go away and that's potentially calculation he is making. you mentioned that support might start haemorrhaging from the right, from within his own supporters, and of course we have midterm elections coming up and the president will be weighing this up, won't he? he can't afford to see the house of representatives possibly go back to the democrats and change the balance of power by his moves. yes. trump's hard—core base of power by his moves. yes. trump's ha rd—core base is of power by his moves. yes. trump's hard—core base is not going to care about this at all fools of those people are still going to rallies and chanting "lock her up" about hillary clinton even as trump's associates are getting locked up. the question is, how much of a political dent will this make both

persuadable independence, swing voters, and the republicans understand in november but if the results show the sort of culture of corruption culture of criminals around the president, actually hurts them politically they will start to turn on trump because they do not wa nt turn on trump because they do not want their party to be associated with all of these things for decades. and at some point that's what happened with the nixon resignation in the 1970s, was his party turned on him because they realised that he was a political anchor that was weighing down their ship and causing them to sink. we will see of november's midterms have the same effect on trump and his party. we will see indeed but for now thank you for your analysis, dr brian klaas. the labour leaderjeremy corbyn has called for radical reform of the media, saying the news industry is failing the public. speaking at the edinburgh tv festival, mr corbyn threatened big digital companies with a windfall tax, unless they agree to help fund public interestjournalism. the conservatives say the idea would lead to higher bills for consumers. the labour leader also called for licence—fee payers to elect the bbc‘s governing board we need to accept some home

truths about our media. while we do produce some fantastic drama, entertainment, documentaries and films, when it comes to news and current affairs — which are so absolutely vital and essential for a democratic society — i believe our media, in many cases, is failing. one solution to funding public—interest media could be by tapping up the digital monopolies that profit from every search, every share and every like that we make on our computers or smartphones. a strong, self—confident government could negotiate with these tech giants to create a fund run entirely independently to support public—interest media. google and news publishers in france and belgium were able to agree a settlement. if we can't do something similar here but on a more ambitious scale, we'll need to look at the option of a windfall tax on the digital monopolies to create a public—interest media fund. jeremy corbyn with his thoughts on

the future landscape of the media. time for a look at the weather. good afternoon it is going to turn cooler for all of us over the next day or so, noticeably more so tomorrow, there is rain in the forecast but in between the rain and showers we are getting to seasoned glimpses of something a bit brighter. here are the culprits for the fresh air, the first band of rain clearing south and east, the second one hot on its heels pushing into parts of scotland and down into north—west england as we head into this afternoon. in between there brightness but for northern ireland and up into western scotland we are seeing blustery showers and hear the wind is particularly brisk. not quite as brisk the further south you go but it still noticeable and it's

not helping those temperatures. yesterday we saw 27 celsius in lincolnshire, today we are looking at temperatures widely in the teens and possibly low 20s, so a very different feel to our weather and that continues heading into the overnight period as the colder air makes further inroads, pushing the humidity out of the way. so, overnight for many places it will be dry and under clear skies particularly cool. further showers, though, for northern ireland up into north—west scotland too and some will spill into cumbria and lancashire as the night progresses, still quite breezy and much fresher, into single figures but even 12 celsius down towards the south—east will feel much fresher than it has done recently. a fresh start on friday morning and still though showers keep coming through northern ireland up into north—west scotland. they will slip further southwards into north—west england, wales and down into the south—west of england too. one or two creeping eastwards heading into the afternoon and the midlands and east anglia.

temperatures disappointing, widely in the mid to high teens. as we look ahead to the weekend saturday begins with a fairly keen wind down the east coast gradually easing as the day progresses but plenty of dry, bright weather on the cards, just a chance of one or two showers and in the sunshine it should feel fairly pleasant, temperatures need to high teens, possibly 20 celsius. then there is some uncertainty about the timing on this area of rain which will start to push in from the west as we head into sunday. it will push into south—west england, the isles of scilly, devon and cornwall up into wales, northern ireland, north—west england and scotland too and graduallyjourney eastwards as we head through the day. the cloud increasing ahead of it and still feeling fairly fresh on sunday. that rain clearing as we head through monday which is an improving story. this is bbc news, our latest headlines. the government has issued its advice for people and businesses if the uk leaves the eu without a deal.

the brexit secretary, dominic raab, outlined the plans in a speech earlier today. while we are striving for the best outcome and a good dealfrom while we are striving for the best outcome and a good deal from these videos hastens, we stand ready to deliver breakfast to the british people if there is no deal. the newly released documents suggest that in the event of a no deal, pensioners living in europe could lose access to uk pension and banking services without action from the eu. nazanin zaghari—ratcliffe — the british womanjailed in iran — has been freed temporarily from prison, according to her husband. we are hoping to get more on that in a moment. there's been a slight rise in the overall pass rate, as pupils across england, wales and northern ireland pick up their gcse results. president trump tells a us journalist he might consider pardoning his former campaign chairman paul manafort, after he was convicted for tax fraud. sport now on afternoon

live with olly. england have named their squad for the fourth cricket test with india. after the third test, i imagine there may be a few changes. not as many as we may have expected. they we re very many as we may have expected. they were very poor, especially the batting department at trent bridge, sibley blown away in their first innings. 106 21 runs all out. they have good partnership at the second but batting, that is where we expected the changes. 161 keaton jennings perhaps lucky to keep his place. rory burns, phil saltjames vince, was involved in the one—day squad, but was dropped from the test side after a poor winter in australia and new zealand, but he's back as cover forjonny bairstow who has

a broken finger. he isjust going to be a he is just going to be a specialist batsmen if he is fit. but southampton, the ageas bowl is his home ground, and he's playing really well for hampshire at the moment here's our cricket correspondent jonathan agnew it isn't just the it isn'tjust the number of runs that he has scored, but it is the manner in which they have been scored. important contributions that we re scored. important contributions that were asked of him after he was dropped. whether he plays depends on ba i rstow‘s dropped. whether he plays depends on bairstow‘s fitness. he has a fractured finger which suggests that batting and fielding could be considered too much of a risk. there is also the chance that moeen ali could return if they need spin. growing concerns about his form and that of his partner cook who is averaging only 24 with 150 this summer. the top four do really need

to up theirgame summer. the top four do really need to up their game for england. that is the 14 man squad in full. keatonjennings retaining his place despite some calls for him to be dropped after his performance in the series so far. moeen ali has scored a lot of runs for worcestershire and taken wickets so he is also pushing for a recall. that test down in southampton next week. england 2-1 up. that's to look forward to next week. meanwhile in rugby, a significant day—to—day for gloucester and england fly—half danny cipriani because he was waiting to hear from the rfu after that incident in a nightclub in jersey. the gloucester fly—half, danny cipriani has been givenjust a reprimand by the rfu after his arrest injersey last week but he is free to play. he pleaded guilty to common assault and resisting arrest following an incident at a nightclub and was fined £2,000

in court, and also the same amount by his club. an rfu disciplinary panel upheld the misconduct charge against him but decided against further sanction. he hasjust got he has just got back into the england squad but the rfu say there is no need. they took him to a five hour disciplinary panel last night in bristol. they upheld that misconduct charge against him, the rfu but they did decide against further sanctions feeling that he had already been punished enough. his club coach doesn't think the incident should affect cipriani's england career. you can only select your strongest side and if the is going to be one of the 23, we will have a discussion with him and he is not stupid, he will know he has learned a lesson

and move on. the ultimatejudgment must be what he does on the rugby field. it has been shown in cricket with ben stokes as well. the players in spain's top division could go on strike, that's in response to la liga's plans to stage one match per season in the us for the next 15 years. representatives from all 20 sides met with their union yesterday incuding real madrid captain sergio ramos and barcelona vice—captain sergio busquets. a 15—year deal with a us media company was agreed last week to take la liga matches to the states. the union says its members were not consulted and are "surprised "and indignant that their views were not taken into account "in an agreement which affects them directly." going on strike is one of the options that they have threatened. three british clubs are hoping to take a big step towards the europa league group stages tonight. celtic and rangers are in action and burnley are in greece to face olympiakos in the first leg of their play—off round.

sean dyche says it'll be the toughest test his side have faced in europe so far. the prestige of any tournament is when you play against the big names. as you rightly say, they have got history and a knowledge of different european nights and that is in their favour slightly. tiger woods and phil mickelson will go head to head in a winner takes all $9 million dollar duel on the golf course in las vegas in november. the pair — who have 19 major titles between them — will meet at the shadow creek course in a match play event to be screened on pay per view tv. that is properly where all the prize money is coming from. woods and mickelson have had an occasionally frosty relationship during their prime at the top of the men's game. and they'll wear microphones so the audience can hear what they're saying to each

other out on the course. i think they may have to bleep some of that out. yes, you will need to be careful with what is said. let's return to the breaking news that we brought you. we had it confirmed from her husband richard radcliffe that she had been released from prison in iran for three days. more information coming in because the the campaign has put out a statement alongside her husband giving a little bit more detail about what has happened. it seems that she has been released for three days on a leave of absence. she is due back in prison on sunday the 26th of august butjust due back in prison on sunday the 26th of august but just to due back in prison on sunday the 26th of august butjust to give you a sense of it, it seems like it was a sense of it, it seems like it was

a sudden decision. a chaotic morning for nazanin zaghari—ratcliffe really. she was called while a p pa re ntly really. she was called while apparently still in her nightclothes. she was told she had ten minutes to get ready because she was being released. she quickly dressed and pet the backpack. a cell—mate were happy for her. she wasn't about to call her family from prison. she was told she could call them from the gate. it turned out that members of her family have been called by the authorities and some we re called by the authorities and some were away on holiday. in the end, her brother and her father were able to get to the prison to collect her and she has now, apparently, been able tojoin and she has now, apparently, been able to join that family holiday. most critically for her i'm short to see her daughter. she has not seen herfor a very long time. nazanin zaghari—ratcliffe, a charity worker in prison and some 873 days ago and a massive campaign to challenge that conviction apparently for spying. due was alleged to be spying on behalf of the british government.

that news coming to us that she has been released for three days on so—called furlough. she has a number of cell—mate apparently who were initially also released for three days but who are still out over one month later. she may be fortunate enough to stay out of prison. we don't know how this will end. thanks are being put forward in the statement tojeremy are being put forward in the statement to jeremy hunt the are being put forward in the statement tojeremy hunt the foreign secretary and worth saying that we have had a statement from the foreign and commonwealth office which reads as follows... "we remain very concerned about all our dual nationals detained in iran and continue to make this vision is in line with what we believe will make the best outcomes in their cases. we do not think that it is in the best interests of any of our dj needs to provide a running commentary on individual cases. " the family, very encouraging news that nazanin zaghari—ratcliffe has been given a temporary release from prison in

iran. a bbc investigation has found that ambulances from four different services took more than 24 hours to reach patients. trusts in east, south—east and north—east england all had long delays, with the worst recorded in wales. ambulance trusts blamed the busy winter period and said they had to prioritise resources. the patients' association called the figures ‘extremely concerning'. category one, the highest priority 999 call. the ambulance response in seven minutes or less can mean the difference between life and death. but it means that other patients may have to wait. it's my wife, she's fallen off a step and broke her wrist or leg or something, she can't move. this call was not classed as category one. sylvia had broken a hip but had to wait on the floor while other ambulances were diverted to more urgent calls. her daughter called again. unfortunately we don't have

any vehicles currently assigned at the moment. oh, god, oh... unfortunately we have been exceptionally busy in the area. i know, but two hours? south central ambulance service has apologised, saying there were nine patients in the local area with more serious or similar injuries awaiting a response too. it took three and half hours for sylvia's ambulance to arrive, but our figures show that some patients have had to wait much longer. betweenjune 2017 and june 2018, ambulances from four different services took more than 24 hours to reach patients. these included people with breathing difficulties and mental health problems. the longest delays in the uk were recorded by the welsh ambulance service, which kept four patients waiting for more than 50 hours each. the service said the numbers were not typical. the trusts involved have said the longest waits were for less serious calls and said they had to prioritise resources to life—threatening emergencies. the government have said recently announced £36 million of funding

to boost ambulance crews and improve ambulance fleets. matt graveling, bbc news. with simon away we thought we would get all of the rachels in. first look at our on bbc live. nazanin zaghari—ratcliffe, the british woman jailed in nazanin zaghari—ratcliffe, the british womanjailed in iran has been freed temporarily from prison according to her husband. president trump tells eight us journalist that he might consider pardoning his former campaign chairman paul manner fought after he was convicted for tax fraud. the mega supermarket merger between sainsbury‘s—asda is under investigation by the uk's competition watchdog. the deal will be investigated to see if it reduces consumer choice and lead to higher prices.

ryanair‘s share price has soarded more than 7% after they struck a deal with its pilot's trade union. the airline's pilots had threatened more strikes unless they received better working conditions. members will now vote on the proposal. and saudi arabia has denied reports that its planning to cancel the listing of 5% of state oil giant aramco. saudi arabia's energy minister said the government will go ahead with the flotation "when the appropriate "circumstances are present". it's expected to value the company at around £1.5 trillion. a development in the tension between the usa and china. we have seen further tariffs going from china to the us, 25% tariffs. these were

introduced on the 6th ofjuly. 25% of over £6 billion worth of chinese imports going into the usa. china retaliated by stamping the same level of tariff on the same value of goods, another £6 billion of goods being imported into china. today we have seen a new being imported into china. today we have seen a new wave being imported into china. today we have seen a new wave of tariffs, again, 25% but on some additional products valued up to £12.4 billion including items like motorcycles and aerials. china has once again, as exacted, retaliated by putting ta riffs exacted, retaliated by putting tariffs on 330 us items coming into china to the same value. it is tit—for—tat but the real figure two and a bit here is that we have $100 billion worth of goods with a 25% tariff. that is since the beginning ofjuly. this move by the us, and increased wave of tariffs and the move from china, it was widely expected. how have the markets reacted. they are

steady at the moment. there is a wait and see approach. they have factored in a lot of the uncertainty about this tariff resume and whether more tariffs are going to come into effect and this $16 billion that are coming in today have been expected. it was announced at the beginning of june. it was going to be $50 billion but they have broken it into two parts. there was a $34 billion part which came into effect this is the second half of that. this is completing that second wave of tariffs coming in. i think the markets see it as something that is expected. that being said, the federal reserve has warned that if this goes on and if there is more uncertainty and if there are more tariffs and if the trade war escalates, there could be a pull— back escalates, there could be a pull—back in escalates, there could be a pull— back in investment escalates, there could be a pull—back in investment and there could be an increase in inflation, both of which would be bad for the us economy. these trade wars could have been predicted that when donald trump began his campaign for president because his issues with what was an unfair trade situation,

according to him, countries sending cheap goods to america were putting american businesses out of business. what does he hope to achieve by applying these tariffs? that is a really good question. i think you need to look at this at the context of the mid—term elections and the president sticks a lot of his political success on the health of the us economy and protecting, in his mind, the american worker and american business. backing the campaign and even into his presidency he has pushed this by american, high error the exact —— high american agenda. he is hoping to win some concessions from how us businesses open abroad and the us businesses, edition from foreign competitors. one of the big things he takes in an exact problem is with is how tech companies are forced to hand over a lot of the intellectual property. the

schematic for those products to chinese companies when they want to do business in china. that is a key sticking point and something he always talks about. in some ways, these tariffs are thumbing of a stick to try to get china to change some of its own practices for the way that us companies operate abroad. very briefly, 25% tariffs on $100 billion worth of products, who is paying for that? very briefly, it is paying for that? very briefly, it is largely us industry and us agriculture. the next round of tariffs, they could have a bigger effect on the average us consumer and that is what people are watching quite closely right now. thank you very much for your time. we will do markets another time. let's get more on our top story — the government has published the first set of documents, advising people how to cope with the consequences of a no—deal brexit. 25 papers, on subjects including nuclear regulation, workplace rights, medicines and banking,

have been released. let's get the thoughts of tom brake — he's the lib dem's brexit spokeperson and joins us from westminster. what did you make of what dominic raab have to say in his outlines his afternoon? first of all, i'm not surprised that he was very hot and flustered because what he set out was that no deal would be a disaster for the united kingdom and frankly there is not time to do all the corporation that business would be required to do four things to be in place for march 2000 and 19. what makes you said there is not time? what particularly caught your eye as an area of concern? one paper. the 84 businesses —— vat for businesses. having to establish relationships with 27 new countries because they

all operate slightly differently with companies and exact countries outside the european union. that is one example. minister said that in relation to pharmaceuticals, that the uk would allow pharmaceuticals from the eu to come into the united kingdom and he hopes that the eu would be able to reciprocate. well, i'm not even sure that that would be legal for the i'm not even sure that that would be legalfor the eu to do i'm not even sure that that would be legal for the eu to do that but what they would have to do, brazil be, would be to go through a process of securing an agreement within the eu for that to go through. i think it is wishful thinking on the part of the minister that all of the things that he thinks could be in place by march 2019 will be if we reach eight disaster is no deal scenario. i must say that it even if we don't reach a no deal scenario, the chequers agreement isn't going to be great for british families or british jobs either. ok, thank you very much indeed. we want to move to the

breaking news this afternoon that nazanin zaghari—ratcliffe has been given temporary release from jail for three days. the family welcoming the latest developments saying that they hope that can be extended. let's get more on this. our correspondent richard galpin is here. what do we know about what has happened here? it seems to be very southern according to her husband richard ratcliffe who has been with. this total risk prison in tehran in iran, the guards came and said you have ten minutes to pack up and go. lobbying released. she was taken to the main entrance, didn't have a phone, have to borrow phone from somebody who was nearby, called her brother and he arrived very quickly and the brother and herfather drove to list town with family are celebrating the festival and she was

reunited with her and young daughter. she has been in prison, she was convicted in 2016 and a five—year prison sentence. she has been serving that ever since. as you are saying, the question is whether this temporary release can be extended. the lawyer for her is a p pa re ntly extended. the lawyer for her is apparently going to apply for that but of course they don't know whether that will apply or not.|j saw in the statement for that, thank you for the relatively newjeremy huntand you for the relatively newjeremy hunt and his efforts... do we know what might have brought this about? no, not really. jeremy hunt has been trying about how exactly they are going to get her out including giving herded pneumatic status but that decision, as far as i understand, hadn't been made. it has simply been made because of ede. it is possible it is to do with the muslim festival but the key, obviously, is to be whether this is

going to be extended and could be the beginning of the process that will enable her and her daughter to be reunited in britain with richard ratcliffe. one might think that the temptation for her would be to do something drastic and get out of the country. there are conditions imposed on this. the conditions will be spelt out saying that she cannot do any media interviews, she must not leave the country and she must also not go to any embassy, least of all the british embassy. very, very strict rules in place which will be catastrophic if she were to break them. thank you very much. it is worth as bringing you the foreign office statement. they released the following statement... as you can see, very little

information from the foreign & commonwealth office, not prepared to give any more details on exactly what has brought about this change or indeed how they see it playing out. we will keep you up—to—date with that. time for a look at the weather. cooler conditions are creeping their way southwards and by tomorrow we will notice a big difference in the field of the weather. in scotland we are already in the fresher conditions but we are seeing one or two showers, some of which are heavy at times. as the rain moves in, the skies are clouding over. it is a bit misty and murky in places too. the culprits for this rain and this cooler air are these two weather fronts that are these two weather fronts that are working their way down the country. they will continue to push

down towards the south and east as we had through this afternoon. some showers following on behind and temperatures down on yesterday. saw 27 celsius in lincolnshire but today's best value was 21. as we head into the evening, the cooler air continues to dive down the uk making it feel much fresher. a much cooler night in store for all of us. it'll be quite a brisk wind as well through northern ireland and into north—west scotland. here we will see further showers pushing in which i pushed down into part of cumbria and lancashire. elsewhere it is largely dry and under clear skies it will feel much fresher. widely into single figures, even down into the south—east, 12 celsius will much cooler. tomorrow will still have this brisk north—westerly bring in the showers, some of which could be thundery. down into northern england scotla nd thundery. down into northern england scotland and northern ireland. further east remaining dry that one or two of these showers may start to edge their way over. the

temperatures certainly down on yesterday, are now looking at highs in the mid to high teens. a much fresher picture. a colder start on saturday as well, largely clear skies for many areas. but wind down the east coast will gradually ease as the day progresses. one or two showers cropping up and in the sunshine it should feel pleasant with temperatures in the mid teens and the low 20s. on sunday, there is and the low 20s. on sunday, there is a bit of uncertainty about the timing of this rain. it will edge its way in from the west. the further east you are, the more likely it is that you will remain dry. the cloud will steadily increase as we had through the day. here i think we should remain dry for match of the day. out to the west, the rain will push its way into the isles of scilly and are into the isles of scilly and are into north—west england. temperatures still feeling fresh. hello, you're watching afternoon live — i'm rachel schofield. today at 3pm. the british—iranian woman

nazanin zaghari—ratcliffe gets three days temporary release from prison in iran after 873 days in captivity. the brexit secretary outlines the government's advice for what businesses and individuals should do if britain leaves the eu without a deal — but says the guidance isjust a precaution. it is not what we want and it is not what we expect. but we must be ready. we have a duty as a responsible government to plan for every eventuality. president trump tells a us journalist he might consider pardoning his former campaign chairman paul manafort, after he was convicted for tax fraud. coming up on afternoon live, all the sport. england have named their squad for the fourth test against india next week, not as many changes as you might expect after their third test

defeat but james vince is back in the reckoning. thanks very much, we willjoin you for a full update just after 3:30pm. also mel has all of the weather. it's turning cooler full of us and we will notice the difference tomorrow. today while we have some sunshine around also some rain and a few heavy showers. more details later in the programme. thanks. also coming up — boys begin to close the gap on girls, and the overall pass rate rises, as pupils across england, wales and northern ireland get their gcse results. hello, everyone — this is afternoon live — i'm rachel schofield. let's get to the big story this

afternoon, the charity worker nazaneen zaghari—ratcliffe has been temporarily released from prison the three days. the british—iranian citizen was jailed in iran in 2016 after being accused of spying with a prison sentence of five years. her husband richard ratcliffe says she has been reunited with their four—year—old daughter gabrielle in an iranian city. the prime secretary hailed the temporary release of nazaneen zaghari—ratcliffe as really good news that she has been released on furlough, credit to tireless campaigning by husband and her friends. he goes on, being in prison at all is a gross injustice and she must be permanent released for which every effort will continue. i'm joined by our correspondent richard galpin who is following developments. it sounds like a model when all of this unfolded. it was very sudden but some reports say she

has had some hint of it a couple of weeks ago but kept quiet in case it didn't happen but it was certainly seven this morning, she was woken up in the early hours and told you have ten minutes to pack all your stuff and get out of the prison. she was taken to the main gate and then she didn't have any phone and had to borrow a phone from someone nearby ona borrow a phone from someone nearby on a bridge which enabled her to phone her brother who came to pick herup and she phone her brother who came to pick her up and she then met her father and they drove down to be re—enacted with the extended family celebrating eid and she met her daughter gabriele angella have three days with her now which is obviously a huge moment for her, reacted with her father and mother and grandparents. so it is an amazing moment for them. but at the moment the authorities say it is only for three days. however, their lawyer is trying to the more we understand,

will make an application for this temporary release to be extended and see if they can get it obviously for as long as possible. we will talk more about the invocations of this ina more about the invocations of this in a moment. but remind us for people sketchy on the details how it was that mrs zaghari—ratcliffe ended up was that mrs zaghari—ratcliffe ended up in prison in the first place. she had come to tehran with her daughter, basically she said so that she could introduce her young daughter at the time to have family who live in iran. it was as they we re who live in iran. it was as they were leaving on their way trying to get back to britain at the airport in tehran that she was then arrested. she was accused, as you we re arrested. she was accused, as you were saying, of spying, which she very strongly denies, and in 2016 she was convicted to a five—year prison sentence. the prison where she has been its a prison, lots of brutality happening and she has been there since 2016, and this is the first time she has been able to walk out of the prison doors. walk out,

it sounds quite freely initially, but of course they will watch her closely and she's been told clearly there are conditions placed on this three day leave. as you would expect, a key condition is she should not leave the country, she should not leave the country, she should also not, according to the iranian authorities, try get any embassy, not least of course the british embassies and she has also been told she must not do any media interviews. very, very clear terms and conditions applied but obviously her whole family, richard ratcliffe, her whole family, richard ratcliffe, her husband who is here in britain who has campaigned long and hard is delighted. they are all saying this is only temporary and we want this release to be made permanent. richard galpin, thanks frame much indeed. we are hoping to speak to richard ratcliffe later this afternoon so do stay with us. let's turn to other news now. the government has published the first set of documents giving people and businesses advice on how to manage if the uk leaves

the european union without a deal. the brexit secretary, dominic raab, stressed it was unlikely — but said ministers had a responsibility to plan for all outcomes. that includes guidance that britons living elsewhere in the eu could lose access to uk banking and pension services. the brexit secretary dominic raab says he's confident of avoiding a no—deal scenario — but it is nonetheless prudent to release today's advice. within those 25 documents, the government warns the cost of card payments between the uk and eu will likely increase pharmacists have been and won't be covered by a ban on surcharges. pharmacists have been told to stockpile an extra six weeks' worth of medicine to ensure a "seamless" supply and businesses trading with the eu should start planning for new customs checks. our political correspondent iain watson has the details. deal or no deal? brexit will affect every aspect of british life. today, the government released 25 papers on a wide range of issues

examining what could happen if we fall out of the eu without a deal. amongst the questions that the government is trying to answer was what would happen to medical supplies, to nuclear research, to payments for farmers and to our major money earner — the financial services industry. but first and foremost, the brexit secretary wants to accentuate the positives. good morning, everyone. he said he expected to strike a strong deal with the eu but... naturally, we have got to consider the alternative possibility that the eu doesn't match our ambition and pragmatism, that we do not reach a deal. but let me be clear about this, it is not what we want and it is not what we expect. but we must be ready. we have a duty as a responsible government to plan for every eventuality. the papers set out some of the specific action the government would take in the event of a no deal. to keep the health service supplied, the uk would continue to recognise eu medical devices.

the government would guarantee payments to farmers that currently come from brussels. and to limit financial disruption, eu banking and insurance companies could get temporary permission to operate in the uk. and the brexit secretary said this about life outside the eu, listen closely... in some cases, it will mean taking unilateral action to maintain as much continuity as possible, at least in the short—term, in the event of no deal. and irrespective of whether the eu reciprocates in practice. translated, unilateral action means voluntarily following eu rules and standards for a period after brexit to help trade flow as freely as possible. some leave campaigners might not be too keen on that. and the government's no deal papers also acknowledge that could be some negative consequences. for example, for consumers, the paper said that the cost of card payments will likely increase. import and export declarations for goods will be needed, increasing business bureaucracy. and there is no guarantee that uk citizens living in the eu will get

the same access to financial services, possibly including their pensions. opposition politicians have been seizing on some of the detail in the no deal documents, suggesting businesses face a bureaucratic nightmare that consumers could incur higher costs. the dominic raab has been insisting there are some benefits to leaving the european union without an agreement, not least that our payments to brussels would end more swiftly. labour claimed the government is in a panic over their brexit negotiations and under certain circumstances senior figures would not rule out any referendum. we're not calling for it but in the event article 50 is voted down weeping all options should be on the table, all options should be on the table, all options should be on the table and i've said that consistently and john mcdonnell has said that an bust the labour party position. the media purpose of today's documents was to assure

businesses and voters there is nothing to fear from leaving the eu with or without a deal. ian watson, bbc news. our political correspondent susana mendonca is at westminster for us. one assumes this was an exercise in reassurance as much as setting out a clear pathway. do you think it has done itsjob? clear pathway. do you think it has done its job? that's what the government wanted to get across in this. i've got the documents here, the 148 pages, 25 documents there going through sector by sector and the whole focus of this, as dominic raab said in his speech, that they believe they will get a deal with the eu but this is very much a contingency plan, it's about setting out what might happen should that not be the case in the end, so he talks about how this is a sensible, measured and proportionate approach. very much so, the government wants to get across the image that they are prepared because they have faced criticism in the past for not being prepared so that's what this is

about. looking at the details in this document it goes through sector by sector setting out what would happen to medical supplies, for example, and in banking services and it addresses some of those key concerns, i suppose, in terms of it outlines card payments in the eu might be higher, that people who are living in the eu, brit living in the eu might end up in a situation where they don't get their pensions paid so they don't get their pensions paid so raising some of those key concerns. the point of view of the government is very much about this is very muchjust government is very much about this is very much just a worst—case scenario and the main aim is to get a deal with the european union. scenario and the main aim is to get a dealwith the european union. as you say, detailed documents and individual industries will be looking at them with an expert eye. are we getting any sense of whether it has calmed fears, whether industries are thinking, ok, yes, i'm pleased i've read that unhappy to see that, or are they raising other questions alongside this? the industries we have heard from so far and no doubt we will hear from more throughout the day and into

tomorrow, we have heard from the farming industry, for example, which is concerned about what happens with organic food because as things stand if there were new domino deal we understand organic exports to the eu might face a ban, they would have to go through nine months of getting certified so that's an area of concern. “— certified so that's an area of concern. —— if there were no deal. that's the same for pensions and banking services for people living and working in the eu. and medical provisions, we heard from the medical profession is what would happen with medical supplies which are being stockpiled but they could be shortages. there is lots of detail in here and areas where the government talks about how it will mitigate the problems but essentially there are areas where they could be problems in industries and the different industries are going to be responding to that and there will be areas where they will ask for more reassurance from government. susana mendonca, in

westminster, thank you. let's get the other side of the story. our europe reporter gavin lee is in brussels for us now. gavin, europe tends to stay quite tight—lipped. have we had any response to this? no, only broadbrush detail on the direct sense of these 140 odd pages, 25 documents on various aspects of british and what ultimately would be european life being affected, is to save let's read them, let's digest them and then we will go on because every single capital of each of the 27 governments have their own brexit teams so they will be combing through all of these documents and working out what it means to the french, the belgians, the dutch will ta ke french, the belgians, the dutch will take example of the fact dominic raab said there will be no extra checks on cars and lorries but will they reciprocate? michel barnier, dominic ryan's counterpart, the eu's negotiator talked about the fact the need to make sure there is in this

smuggling going on on a huge scale, particularly chinese products going through. i watch the eu's published advice in the case of a no deal in july to the 27 countries and the press co nfe re nce july to the 27 countries and the press conference that followed, the mantra is the same, dominic raab said today they would aim and stiffen the sinews for a deal and we re stiffen the sinews for a deal and were prepared for the worst and hope for the best. that is pretty much the diktats of the eu on this. the other thing, bearing in the diktats of the eu on this. the otherthing, bearing in mind the diktats of the eu on this. the other thing, bearing in mind this is british advice to avoid the sudden turbulence of everyday normal civil society functioning of 67 million people in the uk, plus the1 million brits in the eu and the 3 million eu citizens in the uk and it goes from very broad areas, i mentioned borders and goes on to talk about medicine as we heard from susana mendonca talking about the sense that britain will take in the testing of products from the eu as it does at the moment to speed the flow because that is a priority of the health system. but dominic raab said in good faith he would hope the

eu allowed for british testing. well, there's a rub already because going back to july well, there's a rub already because going back tojuly the eu's documents said they wouldn't look at british testing of medical products because britain is a third country. we think that also applies for blood testing as well. so it goes from the broadbrush to the minutiae of the advice for producers of electric cigarettes, and even one for the producers of torture products that might be sent around the eu for museums and advice on what they should look at. everything from the frankly bizarre to the more serious. gavin, thank you. a full rundown from gavin lee, europe reporter. we wa nt to from gavin lee, europe reporter. we want to unpick this a bit more. if you have any questions about what you've heard from the brexit secretary and the government's no—deal advice, you can put them to anand menon, the director of uk in a changing europe in just under half an hour on the bbc news channel. please send in your questions using the #bbc askthis. you can text 61124 — or send them via email: askthis@bbc.co.uk.

you're watching afternoon live — these are our headlines. nazaneen zaghari—ratcliffe, the british woman jailed in nazaneen zaghari—ratcliffe, the british womanjailed in iran, has been freed temporarily from prison according to her husband. the brexit secretary outlines the government's advice for what businesses and individuals should do if britain leaves the eu without a deal. president trump tells a us journalist he might consider pardoning his former campaign chairman paul manafort after he was convicted for tax fraud. in sport james vince has been given an england recall for the fourth test against india next week in southampton for supper he was dropped after a poor winter but the hampshire captain has been in good form for his county. in the last couple of minutes trainer mark johnston has broken the record for british winners, poet society

written by frankie dettori was first—past—the—post at york. johnson's 4100 maki—ford winner. the gloucester fly— half johnson's 4100 maki—ford winner. the gloucester fly—half danny cipriani has been given just a gloucester fly—half danny cipriani has been givenjust a reprimand gloucester fly—half danny cipriani has been given just a reprimand from the rfu after he was fined by a jersey magistrates for common assault and resisting arrest after a nightclub incident. i will be back with a full update in the next 15 minutes. hundreds of thousands of teenagers across england, wales and northern ireland have received their gcse results this morning. there's been a rise in the overall proportion of pupils attaining the pass mark — up by 0.5%. in england, there have been major changes to the exam, with a new grading system and less coursework. elaine dunkley has the details. oh, my god! the reactions are familiar... wha... pass! but the way results are measured in england is different. for gcse students, it's out with a* to g and in with a new scale from 9 to 1, with 9 being the highest.

i got an 8 in music, i got a 9 in geography, i got a 7 in history, i got a 9 in biology — happy with that as well, very happy. i got three 9s... one, two, three, four, five... five 8s... no, seven 8s and one 7. and it's notjust the grades that have changed — there's less coursework and more emphasis on final exams to make gcses more challenging. near enough every subject said that they overtaught us because they didn't know what to expect, and i think personally with the amount of content we had to do, to give us the same period of time to do the test, it was a lot to handle. a lot of people are just used to the grade system, where you get a letter? it's true, i don't actually tell them the numbers, i tell them in letters and there's a conversion chart on the bbc website so i sent that to them as well — if they want to know the numbers. but ijust tell them in letters. but they know that there's a new grading system. the overall pass rate in england, wales and northern ireland has gone

up 0.5 percentage points to 66.9%. 90% of the gcse entries in england were the new exams. only 4% got the new top grade of 9. exam regulators say pupils haven't been penalised because of the changes and grade boundaries have been moved so the same proportion of pupils get good grades as in previous years. at this school, the principal is not convinced. it's madness, really. maybe there was a need to make the exams more difficult, and i don't think the profession would argue against that. but it's as if nobody knows when to stop. so now, we've got the boundary changes and now they're trying to equal it as the same proportion getting an a to c — what was the point of changing it, then? there has been a drop in the a* to c pass rate in wales, and improvement for those in northern ireland. meanwhile in england, the government says the new 9 to 1 grades are a better way to differentiate between the abilities of students. what we've introduced are far more demanding, more rigorous gcses that are a better preparation for a—level a better preparation

for apprenticeships and vocational qualifications and a better preparation for a life in modern britain. you did so well! the reforms have been wide—ranging, but there has been criticism that the changes have been far too steep a learning curve for schools in england. elaine dunkley, bbc news. congratulations to everybody receiving results today. there's more information about gcse results on the bbc website — with links to bitesize where there's advice for both parents and pupils. there we are, the address is on your screen. president trump has warned that any attempt to impeach him would result in the crash of the us economy. in an interview with fox news channel's fox & friends, mr trump also reacted to the conviction of two of his former aides earlier this week, his former personal lawyer, michael cohen and paul manafort, his former campaign chief. i didn't know manafort well, he wasn't with the campaign long. they got him with things totally

unrelated to the campaign. and by the way, they got cohen on things totally unrelated to the campaign. i'm not involved, i wasn't charged with anything. people don't like to say that, but i wasn't charged. michael cohen, tell me about your relationship with him? well, he was a lawyer for me, one of many. they always say "the lawyer" and then they add "the fixer". well, i don't know if he was a fixer, i don't know where that term came from. but he was a lawyer for me, didn't do big deals, did small deals. not somebody that was with me that much. they make it sound like i didn't live without him. i understood michael cohen very well. it turned out he wasn't a very good lawyer, frankly. but he was somebody that was probably with me for about ten years and i would see him sometimes. but when i had deals, big deals, i had outside lawyers and a lot of inside lawyers too in addition to michael. i always found him to be a nice guy. a flavour of president trump's

interview. let's cross now to chris buckler who is in washington for us. chris kamara much being made of the fa ct chris kamara much being made of the fact that president rather defensive in this interview. frankly a man who is normally pretty dismissive and defiant actually looking extremely offensive, you heard he was trying to distance himself from michael collins, this personal lawyer of old, a man he knew very well indeed, and of course michael cohen knew him and of course michael cohen knew him and donald trump's business very, very well indeed. and also he tried to distance himself from those payments that michael cohen made which he later admitted will stop in court this week he admitted he broke campaign regulations and as a result you get a sense that donald trump is a man trend to get away from the idea that he himself had been involved in wrongdoing. the white house strategy at the moment simply seems to be that mr trump has done

nothing wrong and he faces no charges but fundamentally the fact he's having to go out there and a nswer he's having to go out there and answer those questions on television gives you the sense he is under pressure. what is the impact on trump politically and how crucial is it to how he chooses his next move is? some of the key questions being asked in that fox and friends interview which is his favourite tv news programme was about impeachment, and the fact the president is having to entertain those arguments and come up with arguments against impeachment gives you a sense of where donald trump is this week. he said as far as he was concerned he believed if he were to be impeached the stock market would colla pse be impeached the stock market would collapse and america would be much poorer economically. he's making economic arguments. it gives you a sense that in washington at the moment there is a conversation about what happens next. that goes into the mid—term elections, the congressional elections coming up

that's because whoever controls congress ultimately would decide whether or not the president was impeached. at the moment the house of representatives is controlled by republicans. that means donald trump is protected, and you can imagine democrats are going to use this issue going into those elections to argue that perhaps they need a majority inside the house in order to keep a check on the president and the president himself, you can imagine he's going to be out there trying to rally his voters to say that ultimately should be fighting back. ok, chris, thanks very much indeed, chris buckler live in washington. more now that the charity worker nazanin zaghari—ratcliffe has been temporarily released from prison for three days. the british—iranian citizen was jailed in iran in 2016 after being accused of spying, with a prison sentence of five years. her husband richard ratcliffe says she has been reunited with their four—year—old daughter gabriella in the iranian city of damavand. and we can speak to nazanin's husband now from our central london studio.

richard ratcliffe. thank you for making the time to speak to us on what must be a very odd day, a mix of emotions. a very good day, i think, at this point, she is out of prison and that's a great thing. what do you know about exactly how all of this unfolded?m has been sort of ebbing and flowing for a while and we had had promises before so in some ways i wasn't believing it would happen. what has happened is she was morning she was free to go and taken out and got out of prison and called her brother to come and pick her up. we had had a build—up before then and she was promised two weeks ago furloughs would happen, furlough is temporary release, and her family would happen, furlough is temporary release, and herfamily presented bale and they were told it would happen a couple of days later and thenit happen a couple of days later and then it didn't happen that didn't happen again and she went through this anxious point when she was

asking any time from the head of the prison or the prosecutor's office, and her father went to see the judiciary to ask about progress. and then suddenly this week, in fact, then suddenly this week, in fact, the british embassy heard she was about to be released so her family went down on tuesday in the hopes that she was going to be let out and she wasn't so we came back quite despondent. one of her other cell—mates had been released that day, oh, yes, she has heard, the latter has arrived and she will be allowed out on thursday. we were not quite sure but goodness me when she called me outside the prison on thursday morning i was pleased. how was she sounding? different, com pletely was she sounding? different, completely different compared to yesterday. i spoke to her yesterday, quite cautious, quite down, stuck in prison, and again, feeling her time had stretched on. this morning, full of life and giggles and laughter and exuberant. i spoke to her when she was sitting in the car and i spoke to her againjust after she had seen

gabriella at a family party. i think she was a little overwhelmed in that there was and people there and people she had been looking forward to for so long but lovely. you mentioned gabriella, all—important, your four—year—old daughter. one mentioned gabriella, all—important, yourfour—year—old daughter. one can only begin to imagine as an outsider looking in but of course you know all about it, but just looking in but of course you know all about it, butjust how difficult this period has been for her, sentenced to five years in prison in 2016, and so many false dawns and attem pts 2016, and so many false dawns and atte m pts to 2016, and so many false dawns and attempts to help the have perhaps mystified, one might say with the previous from secretary and so on. how significant do you think this development is and how confident are you that it might turn into something longer term?|j you that it might turn into something longer term? i think we will know for sure over the next few days if i'm honest. it is significant that it happened, and i think it's right that we have had lots of hopes, and for whatever reason that didn't work out and this one finally has. thanks to everyone involved from the foreign secretary down to everyone in tehran and london and so on. what it means? it

means she has been let out for three days and her lawyer is comfortable and confident she will be allowed to stay out longer but it's furlough, she has not been released and she has to stay in iran and cannot visit british embassy in tehran, there are quite a few restrictions. we will see how it goes and i have said publicly and privately i will carry on until she comes home. and no doubt for gabriella, an absolute delight to see her mother. she gave her a bunch of flowers, she was so pleased she could show money how she could play and nazaninjust pleased she could show money how she could play and nazanin just wants to be there feeding her and helping her bath and all of the things you do with a small child she has missed over the last few years. very kind of you to make time to speak to us and very good news for the family.

delighted for you, richard ratcliffe, thank you. now it's time for a look at the weather with mel coles. good afternoon. cooler conditions are creeping their way southwards. we will all notice the difference by tomorrow. still a few showers here and there, particularly through north—west scotland and into northern ireland. but really it is all about the temperatures, down on where they were this time yesterday. as we head on into this evening, we have got a north—westerly feed bringing in further showers to parts of northern ireland and north—west scotland. working their way into parts of lancashire and cumbria too. elsewhere though, it is dry with clear skies and much fresher than it has been recently with widely single—figure temperatures. so here is that cooler air taking a dive down towards the south east of the uk. that as we head into the overnight period. a much fresher starts to friday morning. still those showers feed in on that brisk north—westerly wind. some of these showers have the potential to be heavy and thundery. while many will hang further north and west, there will be a further fewjust edging their way east as we head into the afternoon.

much fresher than it has been. this is bbc news. our latest headlines... nazanin zaghari—ratcliffe, the british womanjailed in iran, has been freed temporarily from prison, according to her husband. the government has issued its advice for people and businesses if the uk leaves the eu without a deal. the brexit secretary, dominic raab, outlined the plans in a speech earlier today. while we are striving for the best outcome and a good deal from these negotiations, we stand ready to deliver brexit for the british people if there is no deal. there's been a slight rise in the overall pass rate, as pupils across england, wales and northern ireland pick up their gcse results. president trump tells a us journalist he might consider pardoning his former campaign chairman paul manafort, after he was convicted for tax fraud. sport now on afternoon live with olly foster.

and some big news in horse racing in the last half hour... we have been waiting for this for the last couple of weeks but 31 yea rs the last couple of weeks but 31 years after his first winner, mark johnston has now saddled more british winners than any other trainer. he is up to a record 4194. he has done it at york's festival. a pretty high—profile meeting. he came with an outside as well. poets society ridden by frankie dettori gets him the record. a 20—1 outsider. johnston said it has been very frustrating because it is not as if they have had many winners. relief is the main thing he is feeling, he said. onto next winner. all of those wins have earned the

winners £53 million in prize money down the years. he now has the record by himself. congratulations to him. talk to me about cricket now. expecting the team sheet for the fourth test against india but not as much of a shake—up as we thought. just one big change. james vince being drafted back into the test reckoning. they were debarred in the third test at trent bridge against india. blown away forjust 161. jennings has kept his place. vince was involved in the one—day squad, dropped from the test side after a report winter in australia and new zealand. but he's back as cover forjonny bairstow who has a broken finger. but southampton, the ageas bowl is his home ground, and he's playing

really well for hampshire at the moment here's our cricket correspondent jonathan agnew. it isn't just a it isn'tjust a number of runs that he has caught but it is the fact that they were matchwinners. whether he plays depends on a best oh‘s fiddlers. he would be able to did wicket because of his fractured finger which suggests that batting and fielding could also be too much ofa and fielding could also be too much of a risk. also, moeen ali could return. jennings retains his place despite growing concerns about his place and that of his partner cook who is averaging only 24 with 150 this summer. —— cook has only one 50 this summer. —— cook has only one 50 this summer. here's the squad in full. moeen ali has scored a lot of runs for worcestershire and taken wickets so he is also pushing for a recall. some rugby union news and danny

cipriani has been givenjust a reprimand by the rfu after his arrest in jersey last week outside reprimand by the rfu after his arrest injersey last week outside a nightclub. and rfu disciplinary panel sat for five hours last night. they upheld their misconduct charge against him but decided against any further sanction after he pleaded guilty to assault and resisting arrest. he was fined byjersey magistrates' court and his club. you can only select your strongest side and if he is going to be one of the 23, we will have a discussion with him and he is not stupid, he will know he has learned a lesson and move on. the ultimate judgment must be what he does on the rugby field. it has been shown in cricket with ben stokes as well. three british clubs are hoping to take a big step towards the europa league group stages tonight. celtic and rangers are in action

and burnley are in greece to face olympiakos in the first leg of their play—off tie, they've already come through two rounds and the manager says this will be the toughest yet. the prestige of any tournament is when you play against the big names. as you rightly say, they have got history and a knowledge of different european nights and that is in their favour slightly. tiger woods and phil mickelson will go head to head in a winner takes all £7 million duel on the golf course in las vegas in november. the pair, who have 19 major titles between them, will meet at the shadow creek course in a match play event to be screened on pay—per—view tv. woods and mickelson have had an occasionally frosty relationship during their prime at the top of the men's game and they'll wear microphones so the audience can hear what they're saying to each other out on the course. we will see who comes out on top.

that's all the sport for now. you've been sending in your brexit questions all day and hopefully we've got someone here who can now provide some answers. i'm pleased to bejoined by anand menon, the director of uk in a changing europe — an impartial think tank providing analysis of the relationship between the uk and the eu. thank you for coming in. we have had some fascinating questions here. details, broadbrush people from all works of life who are concerned or have an interest in this because of the way they live or work. let's dive straight in. hussain says... are we going to need a visa for

example? the concern is that this will slow business down. the crucial thing for any question about no deal is there are short—term problems due to the fact that if there is no deal we crash out with a legal situation of limbo. in the short—term, the short answer is chronic uncertainty thatis short answer is chronic uncertainty that is what will happen is uk citizens in the rest of the european union will be in a legal limbo. they will have laws in place for eu citizens, they will have laws for citizens, they will have laws for citizens of other nationalities there will be no formal status for uk nationals in those countries because they haven't got the legislation in place yet because they are assuming a withdrawal agreement goes through. there will be uncertainty to start with and not should for the status of those people. we have heard already about airlines and one of the things if the certificate of airline safety is an eu matter at the moment. if we

crash out, there will be a? in the short term but whether flights will be able to keep going. a business traveller might find for a variety of reasons that he or she is held up or has two building a bit more time into their journey. or has two building a bit more time into theirjourney. or may need to ta ke into theirjourney. or may need to take out health insurance or travel insurance because the card that we currently have all need to be renegotiated. this is an e-mail from douglas who says that... if someone sells the house, will they be able to move it around freely? i guess he may have some property he wants to sell! we won't be part of the freedom of movement of capital because we will be outside of the eu and the single market. that being said, i don't see any immediate prospect of countries putting in capital controls. that bit is easy enough. two caveats are that the government technical paper says that it will be harder to transfer money from bank accounts in the eu is a

bank account here for a variety of reasons. we will be outside the bank tra nsfer system reasons. we will be outside the bank transfer system for one thing. the second thing is that almost certainly, if we crash at an expensively without a deal that will have an affect on the amount of money that we can transfer as well. a text from richard here. richard, thank you for being in touch. this one alludes to the power balance in this whole relationship. he asks, what is to stop the uk to tell the eu what arrangements we intend to operate on the irish border, leaving them to put in place whatever they wa nt them to put in place whatever they want on their side? two things, i suppose. one is politics and one is law. by law, we will become a nonmember trading with a organisation. we will be compelled to put customs arrangements into place. the eu will also put customs arrangements into place because that border in the island of ireland will be there. it is not as simple as

just going our own way. we are bound by aspects of international law. in politics, it would seem on the surface to seem strange to take a decision to you then exactly the eu on the basis of taking control and the first thing we do what we have left is say, well, we are going to have an open border. that would seem strange. an e—mail from have an open border. that would seem strange. an e—mailfrom peter... in any divorce, there is a division of assets. the eu have assets in the excess of 150 billion's pounds. there have been so many arguments at who is paying what and how the bill shakes down. this is very stressful actually. on that, what i would say is we have got the negotiations going on at the moment and both sides have already reached an agreement on the finances. that agreement on the finances. that agreement lordly speaking, is that we will pay the eu around £30 billion over the next few decades to

meet the liabilities that we owe them. but it's all taken care of. we are not getting anything. we seem to owe money, surely we have got a claim on some of the money that sits in the big pot? that is done, that negotiation is more or less wrapped up. if we fall out with no deal had no withdrawal agreement, i suspect that the eu will turn around and say that, look, you have no deal with 40 billion euros short. don't come looking to us to sign short—term deals about blood transfusions and people crossing borders until you are willing to talk about this. the money will be an enormous issue the day after we fall out with no deal, if we were to do that. an interesting balance of what is legal and what is political and diplomatic. james has e—mailed in... a lot has been said about the issues of freight traffic at the port but what were the arrangements be for

drivers taking cars across to france and holland and driving inroads in europe? barack lordly two things. -- there are broadly two things. there isa there are broadly two things. there is a lot organisation which countries like russia are part of. i think the negotiations have concluded on that. on the basis of being insured and legally able to drive, i think it will be fine. the big issue is what happens at our ports because if we leave with no deal at all, the first thing that we will see is a build—up of traffic at the borders book because nobody will be sure about the customs arrangements. the first thing that was an massive tailbacks from a major ports so that part of the equation would be difficult. you may have the right to do things as you did but, logistically, it would be more difficult. a lot of people asking this. what about pets and beloved animals? what about the pet

passport scheme? will it remain in force ? passport scheme? will it remain in force? yes, it will but we won't be in it. in the short—term, the pet passport, which i think if your pet is chipped, you can enter without quarantine. we will know longer be under that umbrella. unless and until we negotiate another deal with the european union to allow us to be pa rt the european union to allow us to be part of it, that won't exist any more. we have ranged over cats and dogs to business meetings and driving, we have put you through your posters. very good reviews take those questions from our viewers, thank you very much. british airways says it is suspending its flights between london and iran because they are no longer commercially viable. the airline has apologised for the disruption to passengers who had scheduled to travel to iran and is offering refunds to those affected or the option to bring journeys forwards. in the last few minutes, air france

has also announced that it will end flights to tehran next month. maybe we will need to unpick web business meets politics. a bbc investigation has found that ambulances from four different services took more than 24 hours to reach patients. trusts in east, south—east and north—east england all had long delays, with the worst recorded in wales. ambulance trusts blamed the busy winter period and said they had to prioritise resources. the patients association called the figures "extremely concerning". category one, the highest priority 999 call. the ambulance response in seven minutes or less can mean the difference between life and death. but it means that other patients may have to wait. it's my wife, she's fallen off a step and broke her wrist or leg or something, she can't move. this call was not classed as category one. sylvia had broken a hip but had

to wait on the floor while other ambulances were diverted to more urgent calls. her daughter called again. unfortunately we don't have any vehicles currently assigned at the moment. oh, god, oh... unfortunately we have been exceptionally busy in the area. i know, but two hours? south central ambulance service has apologised, saying there were nine patients in the local area with more serious or similar injuries awaiting a response too. it took three and half hours for sylvia's ambulance to arrive, but our figures show that some patients have had to wait much longer. betweenjune 2017 and june 2018, ambulances from four different services took more than 24 hours to reach patients. these included people with breathing difficulties and mental health problems. the longest delays in the uk were recorded by the welsh ambulance service, which kept four patients waiting for more than 50 hours each. the service said the numbers were not typical. the trusts involved have said the longest waits were for less serious calls and said they had

to prioritise resources to life—threatening emergencies. the government have said they recently announced £36 million of funding to boost ambulance crews and improve ambulance fleets. matt graveling, bbc news. ina in a moment, which will be telling us what is hot and what is not in business. nazanin zaghari—ratcliffe, the british womanjailed in iran, has been freed temporarily from prison, according to her husband. the brexit secretary outlines the government's advice for what businesses and individuals should do if britain leaves the eu without a deal. president trump tells a us journalist he might consider pardoning his former campaign chairman paul manafort, after he was convicted for tax fraud. the mega supermarket merger between sainsbury‘s and asda

is under investigation by the uk's competition watchdog. the deal will be investigated to see if there is there's any danger it could reduce consumer choice or squeeze suppliers. the trade war between the united states and china ramps up as more us tariffs come into effect against chinese imports. the 25% tariffs will affect a further £12.4 billion worth of goods, on top of the £26 billion pounds worth hit by tariffs injuly. beijing immediately retaliated with tariffs on the same value of us imports. ryanair‘s share price has soared more than 7% after they struck a deal with its pilots' trade union. the airline's pilots had threatened more strikes unless they recieved better working conditions. members will now vote on the proposal. and saudi arabia has denied reports that its planning to cancel the listing of 5% of state oil giant aramco. saudi arabia's energy minister said the government will go

ahead with the flotation "when the appropriate "circumstances are present. " it's expected to value the company at around £1.5 trillion. lots of interesting stories. the big story in town is the outlining plans for businesses with brexit. dealing with a potential no to brexit. what has business been saying in reaction to these detailed plans? broadly, the tone from businesses seems to be that it the tone from businesses seems to be thatitis the tone from businesses seems to be that it is about time. businesses have been calling or even screaming for details on what is going to happen after march and what will happen after march and what will happen if there is a no—deal brexit. that is what the government published today. many welcome those publications but they still want more. the iod say that now the government has said this, now it can negotiate better. the association

for british industry say that these notices can only be the starting point. they need a one—stop shop where they can get the information that they need. tech uk say these publications show that "no deal would mean significant new bureaucracy for businesses, "and higher costs and reduced choice for consumers" joining us now is mike spicer, who is the director of economics at the british chambers of commerce. the bcc represents thousands of businesses of all sizes and within all sectors. what is your reaction to todays publications? first of all i would agree with what other business groups have said in that this is very overdue. it is perhaps more deal the old and what we expected. you can take the race for the irish border, very little detail on that. there is a lot in the technical notices which is on the technical notices which is on the nature of, there is more detailed to come, watch this space and that kind of language. there is

still a lot more detail to come in all of these critical areas. what useful information do you and your members have today which you didn't have yesterday? one piece of useful information we got today was on the future of vat. the big scare was that, in the event of a no deal, businesses could be faced with paying vat on imports from eu at the point of a cross—border transaction. that could have potentially been a really big blow to cash flow for thousands of businesses across the country. the announcement that there will be a system of postponed accounting, being able to account for that vat in arrears... it sounds technical but it is quite a big issue for businesses that are affected by the situation. that is a good piece of clarity. in terms of what was missing in the documents today, you mention a matter of clarity on the irish border. what other areas were you hoping to see more detail on? i think there are still some? on around the future of

cross—border trade. we have a lot of detail on what the government would do unilaterally but it is a two way st. if you are shipping a good overseas, we have more detail on the uk side that we still don't know how things would happen on the eu side of the equation. we may have some more detail around what customs declarations or safety inspections and so on you may need on our side of the border but what would you face at a in france or belgium on holland so on? we still don't have that detail but hopefully we will get more in the weeks to come. this is really about how things are implemented. customs checks are, for countries outside of the eu, are incremented on this basis. checking not every single container that comes in but a certain percentage of them. we still don't know how that would translate across into checks for goods coming in from the eu. there is still some vague language

around that. mike spicer, thank you for your time. we truly cut you off in your prime last time and we whisked away before you could do the markets so that knocked yourself out this time. yesterday the s&p 500, which tracks the 500 biggest public companies in america, has hit its logest running growth market — today president trump has responded to speculation that he might be impeached by warning the market would crash and "everybody would be very poor". this merger would create a huge supermarket group with over 3000 stores. this investigation is not is a prize. many speculating that the cma will recommend a percentage of

the stores, possibly six said, should be sold. this weekend, the belgian grand prix is held at spa, a track synonymous with the success of seven—time world champion michael schumacher. he dominated formula one during the 1990s but suffered a serious brain injury in a skiing accident nearly 5 years ago. now, his 19—year—old son mick has aspirations to follow his father into motor racing. our formula one correspondent, jennie gow, went to meet him at home in switzerland. his father is a sporting icon and the most successful formula one driver of all time. having started out with a go—kart in the garden when he was just three years old, mick schumacher is carving out his own career in motorsport. recently taking his first win in european formula 3. i always did different sports but there was never this feeling that i wanted to do that in the future. there was always a feeling that i wanted to do that, racing, kind of thing.

speeding and being quick and racing and fighting against each other. at the end, i try to be the best. mick's first f3 win came at spa, the very same circuit that his father michael got his maiden grand prix victory back in 1992. the first win ever for michael schumacher... in a career that spanned two decades, schumacher remains the only race driver to have ever won five consecutive titles. he had retired from motorsport when he sustained a life—threatening injury whilst skiing in france. but in mick, the family's talent and passion for motor racing continues. i want to ask about the role that your dad has had on your career. he had a huge influence. as everybody knows, i think he's my idol. he is the person i looked up to and i am really following everything he did and trying to look at something that i could use myself. and so he had a huge role

in how i am driving now. really happy about that. in his early career, mick raced under his mother's maiden name to avoid the spotlight. but now the steely determination associated with the schumacher family shines through. your name is now synonymous with motorsport, isn't it? yes, it is. but i don't know if... for sure, a lot of doors open easier and i want to prove that i am a racing driver and not only someone who has the name. i don't have any rush so for me if i am ready as a racing driver, a complete racing driver, i think that is the right moment for me to go into f1 and then that is when i am able to show what i have got. at the belgian grand prix last season, mick drove his father's car around the track, a tribute to past successes and a glimpse at the potential that lies ahead. time for a look at the weather

prospects now. that afternoon, cooler conditions are creeping their way southwards and by tomorrow we will all notice a big difference in the field of the weather. through scotland, we are already in the fresh conditions but we are seeing already in the fresh conditions but we are seeing one or already in the fresh conditions but we are seeing one or two showers, some of which are quite heavy at times. at that rate moves in, the skies are clouding over and it will be misty and murky in places too. the culprits for this rain and this cooler air of these two weather front of a working their way in the through the country. the book continue to push down to the south and the east as we push through this afternoon. some showers following in behind and temperatures down on yesterday. we saw 27 celsius in lincolnshire yesterday but our best temperature today 21. that cooler air continue to dive down in the uk making it feel much cooler tonight.

it will be quite a brisk wind as well through northern ireland and into north—west scotland. here we will see further showers pushing in which they push into parts of cumbria and lancashire but elsewhere it is largely dried and under clear skies it will feel much fresher. widely into single figures, even into the south—east where 12 celsius will feel much fresher. that risk north—westerly winds bringing in those showers which could be heavy and thundery in northern ireland, northern scotland and into northern england. many areas further east remaining drive that one or two of these showers will start to edge their way over. temperatures are certainly done on yesterday, we are now looking at highs in the mid to high teens. a much fresher picture. they call the start on saturday as well, largely clear skies will many areas. but wind down the east coast would gradually ease of the day progresses. one or two showers bowing up progresses. one or two showers popping up but in the sunshine it should feel present with temperatures in the mid—teens and

the low 20s. on sunday, there is a bit of uncertainty about the timing of this rain that will eventually start to edge its way in from the west. the further east you are, the more likely it is that you will remain dry. the cloud will study increase as we head through the day. here we should remain dry for much of the day. as to the west, that rain will push up into the isles of scilly into the west of england, wales and into scotland and northern ireland. temperatures, still feeling fresh. hello, you're watching afternoon live. i'm rachel schofield. today at 4pm.

the british—iranian woman nazanin zaghari—ratcliffe is reunited with her daughter gabriella as she gets three days temporary release from prison in iran after 873 days injail. her husband says mother and daughter are enjoying their time together. nazanin just wants to be with her when eating, feeding with her, to help her bath and all of the things you do with small children that she has been dreaming of doing over these past two years. the brexit secretary outlines the government's advice for what businesses and individuals should do if britain leaves the eu without a deal — but says the guidance isjust a precaution. it is not what we want and it is not what we expect. but we must be ready. we have a duty as a responsible government to plan for every eventuality. president trump tells a us journalist he might consider pardoning his former campaign chairman paul manafort, after he was convicted for tax fraud. coming up on afternoon live — all the sport.

olly foster has the details. in the last hour markjohnston olly foster has the details. in the last hour mark johnston has olly foster has the details. in the last hour markjohnston has broken the record for british winners, now up the record for british winners, now up to 4194, 31 years after his first, all the details coming up. thanks, we will see you later. and mel has the weather. good afternoon, it is turning considerably coolerfor good afternoon, it is turning considerably cooler for all of us and while we have some sunny spells around we have also got some rain and some blustery showers. i will have all of the details later in the programme. thanks, mel. also coming up — boys begin to close the gap on girls, and the overall pass rate rises, as pupils across england, wales and northern ireland get their gcse results. hello, everyone — this is afternoon live.

i'm rachel schofield. the charity worker nazanin zaghari—ratcliffe has been temporarily released from prison for three days. the british—iranian citizen was jailed in iran in 2016 after being accused of spying, with a prison sentence of five years. her husband richard ratcliffe says she has been reunited with their four—year—old daughter gabriella in the iranian city of damavand. the foreign secretary has welcomed the temporary release of mrs zaghari—ratcliffe. jeremy hunt said, "really good news that nazanin has been released on furlough. credit to tireless campaigning by husband richard and herfriends. but being in prison at all is gross injustice and she must be permanently released for which every effort will continue." earlier i spoke to richard ratcliffe, nazanin's husband. he told me how her temporary release came about. it has been sort

of ebbing and flowing for a while and we had had promises before so in some ways i wasn't believing it would happen. what has happened is nazanin was told this morning that she was free to go and she was taken out and got out of prison and called her brother to come and pick her up. we had had a build—up before then and she was promised two weeks ago furlough would happen, furlough is this temporary release, and her family presented bail and she was told it would happen a couple of days later and then it didn't happen and it didn't happen again and it ebbed and flowed. she went through this anxious point when she was asking any official at any time from the head of the prison or the prosecutor's office, and her father went to see the judiciary to ask on progress. and then suddenly this week, in fact, the british embassy heard she was about to be released so her family went down on tuesday in the hopes that she was going to be let out and she wasn't so we came back quite despondent.

in fact, one of her other cell—mates had been released that day, and said, "oh, yes, she has heard, the letter has arrived and she will be allowed out on thursday." we were not quite sure but goodness me when she called me outside the prison on thursday morning i was pleased. how was she sounding? different, completely different compared to yesterday. i spoke to her yesterday, quite cautious, quite down, stuck in prison, and again, feeling how time had stretched on. this morning, full of life and giggles and laughter and just exuberant. i spoke to her when she was sitting in the car and i spoke to her againjust after she had seen gabriella at a family party. i think she was a little overwhelmed in that there was so many people there and people she had been looking forward to seeing for so long but a lovely problem to have. you mentioned gabriella, all—important, your four—year—old daughter. one can only begin to imagine as an outsider looking in, but of course you know all about it, just how difficult this period has

been for her, sentenced to five years in prison back in 2016, and so many false dawns and attempts to help the have perhaps misfired, one might say, with the previous foreign secretary and so on. how significant do you think this development is and how confident are you that it might turn into something longer term? i think we will know for sure over the next few days if i'm honest. i think it is significant that it happened, and i think it's right that we have had lots of hopes, and for whatever reason didn't work out, and this one finally has. thanks to everyone involved from the foreign secretary down to everyone in tehran and london and so on. what it means — it means she has been let out for three days and her lawyer is comfortable and confident she will be allowed to stay out longer but it's furlough, she has not been released and she is still stuck in iran and cannot visit the british embassy in tehran, there are quite a few restrictions. we will see how it

goes and i have said publicly and privately i will carry on campaigning until she comes home. it is a huge step forward. and no doubt for gabriella, an absolute delight to see her mother. it was so important for her to give her a bunch of flowers. she had seen when the other people we re she had seen when the other people were released from prison their family would give them a bunch of flowers. she was so pleased she could show her how she could play and nazanin just wants to be with her when eating, feeding with her, to help her bath and all of the things you do with small children she has been dreaming of doing over these past two years. richard ratcliffe speaking to me a short while ago. our correspondent richard galpin is here and has been following developments this afternoon. we got a sense from richard ratcliffe about the number of false dawns and the fact this has been such a long campaign. one might ask why has this happened now? nothing has been said officially so it is difficult to be certain about that but i think there is some

strain of thought that maybe it is because it's the time of eid and sometimes in middle eastern countries and further around the world in muslim countries prisoners can be released or pardoned. so i think there is some precedent of that but we don't know. that's just one possibility. certainly, there has not been any specific reason given by any of the authorities so far. we could sense, understandably, the delight from richard ratcliffe and for little gabriella also but he stressed this is initially only three days and there are some quite definite conditions on this release. absolutely but as he was saying his lawyers are now going to work, well, nazanin's dwyer are going to work very ha rd to nazanin's dwyer are going to work very hard to see if they can get that time extended and my understanding is that has happened in the past with other prisoners who have been let out on this kind of temporary release, but it gets extended if you put in the right application and get the right person answering. but, absolutely, as you

say there are tough conditions on her. she is to do any media interviews whatsoever, she is not to go to any embassy is, especially, of course, the british embassy, and of course, the british embassy, and of course she must not leave the country. so she is very much tied down there. but at least she is now with her very young daughter and with her very young daughter and with a large number of members of herfamily. with a large number of members of her family. ok, richard, there we must leave it but richard galpin, thank you very much indeed. the government has published the first set of documents giving advice on what to do if the uk leaves the european union without agreeing a deal. the brexit secretary, dominic raab, stressed that outcome was unlikely — but said ministers had a responsibility to plan for all possibilities. the guidance includes a warning that britons living in the eu could lose access to uk banking and pension services. within the 25 documents, the government also said the cost of card payments between the uk and eu will likely increase and won't be covered

by a ban on surcharges. pharmacists have been told to stockpile an extra six weeks' worth of medicine to ensure a seamless supply. and businesses trading with the eu should start planning for new customs checks. our political correspondent iain watson has the details. deal or no deal? brexit will affect every aspect of british life. today, the government released 25 papers on a wide range of issues examining what could happen if we fall out of the eu without a deal. amongst the questions that the government is trying to answer was what would happen to medical supplies, to nuclear research, to payments for farmers and to our major money earner — the financial services industry. but first and foremost, the brexit secretary wants to accentuate the positives. good morning, everyone. he said he expected to strike a strong deal with the eu but... naturally, we have got to consider the alternative possibility that the eu doesn't match our ambition and pragmatism, that we do not reach a deal.

but let me be clear about this, it is not what we want and it is not what we expect. but we must be ready. we have a duty as a responsible government to plan for every eventuality. the papers set out some of the specific action the government would take in the event of a no deal. to keep the health service supplied, the uk would continue to recognise eu medical devices. the government would guarantee payments to farmers that currently come from brussels. and to limit financial disruption, eu banking and insurance companies could get temporary permission to operate in the uk. and the brexit secretary said this about life outside the eu, listen closely... in some cases, it will mean taking unilateral action to maintain as much continuity as possible, at least in the short—term, in the event of no deal. and irrespective of whether the eu reciprocates in practice. translated, unilateral action means voluntarily following eu rules and standards for a period after brexit to help trade flow

as freely as possible. some leave campaigners might not be too keen on that. and the government's no deal papers also acknowledge there could be some negative consequences. for example, for consumers, the paper said that the cost of card payments will likely increase. import and export declarations for goods will be needed, increasing business bureaucracy. and there is no guarantee that uk citizens living in the eu will get the same access to financial services, possibly including their pensions. this isn't project fear by critics of brexit, this is the government itself and independent bodies pointing to the damage it will cause. opposition politicians have been seizing of the 148 pages of detail in the no deal documents, suggesting businesses face a bureaucratic nightmare that consumers could incur higher costs. but dominic raab has been insisting there are some benefits to leaving the european union

without an agreement, not least that our payments to brussels would end more swiftly. labour claimed the government is in a panic over their brexit negotiations and under certain circumstances senior figures would not rule out a new referendum. we're not calling for it but in the event article 50 is voted down we think all options should be on the table, all options should be on the table and i've said that consistently and john mcdonnell has said that it's the labour party position. the immediate purpose of today's documents was to assure businesses and voters there is nothing to fear from leaving the eu with or without a deal. ian watson, bbc news. our political correspondent susana mendonca is at westminster for us. picking up on that point in the report, one wonders whether businesses were left feeling better or worse after today. yeah, and i think there are lots of people out

there who will be concerned by some of what they heard in these documents today, for example, if you are somebody who lives in the european union and is a british person you are in the position of potentially not being paid your pension and that is going to be an issue for concern for you and businesses concerned about what happens at the borders. we know how there will be extra paperwork, customs duties coming in, how will businesses deal with that? will they have to spend more money on software, logistical help, in order to be altogether three that? terms of this document i have it here in front of me, 148 pages, 25 areas talked about in this document —— in order to be able to get through that. the message from the government is there is no need to be alarmed. this is worst—case scenario, we have the in place, you know, a contingency plan and it's all about having a proportionate, sensible and measured response, that's what dominic raab said

earlier. but interesting in terms of what he was talking about potentially that the uk could follow volu nta ry wars potentially that the uk could follow voluntary wars regardless of whether or not that is reciprocated by the european union. that's something brexiteers wouldn't be happy about. it was very much about reassuring people. whether or not he has reassured people, lots of people are concerned about what is in here, for example, the farming industry is concerned about what happens with organic produce because it is understood that potentially they would not be able to export of eu, they would be banned from doing that and would have to go through a nine—month process to get certification so lots of areas of concern. susana mendonca, thank you very much indeed. let's get the other side of the equation. our europe reporter gavin lee is in brussels for us now. gavin, what might they be making today's outlines? i think first of all there is no official response from the eu, including dominic raab's

counterpart, the eu's brexit negotiator michel barnier who is usually quite itchy fingered when it comes to tweeting, one a day at least, nothing we are told today and we should not expect anything. this is britain's business for today. but this document, we saw with susana mendonca, it has reached its way to brussels, the preparedness document for no deal, is being viewed in brussels as well as all of the capitals of the 27 eu countries all of the governments' special brexit teams at other eu countries because there is detail in that about how britain will set out a potential no deal, potentially on borders, dominic raab talked about not having extra checks on cars and lorries but we don't know what that means for calais, zeebrugge in belgium, rotterdam on the other end, will there be customs checks? bear in mind all of these issues from the big large things, health worries about medicines as well, you have dominic raab saying they trust the

eu standard testing procedures so that there doesn't have to be a second check to speed the flow of medicines for the need of health and he is asking in good faith for the eu to also accept british testing. well, i've spoken to officials within the eu in the past hour or so and they have made clear they say they are not negotiating on a no deal scenario. the talk now is of a divorce deal, a withdrawal agreement to which they say they are 80% there, they have 20% still to do, northern ireland being the biggest hurdle in and they want something in writing by november so that it can be signed off by march. so that's what they are talking about. there are other language is they wouldn't use the british testing system because it would be seen as a third country. so already by opening of the no deal plans that already creates problems with the eu saying, we don't negotiate around this, we are negotiating on ourjoint hope to get a deal. gavin, thank you very much. gavin lee. you're watching

afternoon live. visa are headlines. —— these are our headlines. nazanin zaghari—ratcliffe — the british womanjailed in iran — has been freed temporarily from prison, according to her husband. the brexit secretary outlines the government's advice for what businesses and individuals should do if britain leaves the eu without a deal. president trump tells a us journalist he might consider pardoning his former campaign chairman paul manafort, after he was convicted for tax fraud. and in sport markjohnston trainer markjohnston has broken the record for british winners. poets society, ridden by frankie dettori, was first past the post at york today, johnston's 4,194th winner. batsmanjames vince has been recalled for the 4th test against india next week at southampton. he was dropped after a poor winter with england but the hampshire captain has been in good form for his county. and gloucester fly—half, danny cipriani has been givenjust a reprimand by the rfu after he was fined by a jersey magistrates last week for common assault and resisting arrest

following a nightclub incident. i will have a full update in the next 15 minutes for you. olly foster, thank you very much. president trump has warned that any attempt to impeach him would result in the crash of the us economy. in an interview with fox news channel's fox & friends, mr trump also reacted to the conviction of two of his former aides earlier this week, his former personal lawyer, michael cohen and paul manafort, his former campaign chief. i didn't know manafort well, he wasn't with the campaign long. they got him with things totally unrelated to the campaign. and by the way, they got cohen on things totally unrelated to the campaign. i'm not involved, i wasn't charged with anything. people don't like to say that, but i wasn't charged. michael cohen, tell me about your relationship with him? well, he was a lawyer for me, one of many. they always say "the lawyer" and then they add "the fixer". well, i don't know if he was a fixer, i don't know where that term came from.

but he was a lawyer for me, didn't do big deals, did small deals. not somebody that was with me that much. they make it sound like i didn't live without him. i understood michael cohen very well. it turned out he wasn't a very good lawyer, frankly. but he was somebody that was probably with me for about ten years and i would see him sometimes. but when i had deals, big deals, i had outside lawyers and a lot of inside lawyers too in addition to michael. i always found him to be a nice guy. a flavour of the president's interview. our washington correspondent chris buckler says the convictions appear to have left the president rattled. frankly, a man who is normally pretty dismissive and defiant actually looking extremely defensive, you heard he was trying to distance himself from michael cohen, this personal lawyer of old, a man he knew very well indeed, and of course michael cohen knew him

and donald trump's business very, very well indeed. and also he tried to distance himself from those payments that michael cohen made which he later admitted to in court this week he admitted he broke campaign regulations and as a result you get a sense that donald trump is a man trend to get away from the idea that he himself had been involved in wrongdoing. the white house strategy at the moment simply seems to be to say that mr trump has done nothing wrong and he faces no charges, but fundamentally the fact he's having to go out there and answer those questions on television gives you the sense he is under pressure. what is the impact on trump politically and how crucial is it to how he chooses his next moves? some of the key questions being asked in that fox & friends interview which is his favourite cable tv news programme was about impeachment, and the fact the president is having to entertain those questions and come up with

arguments against impeachment gives you a sense of where donald trump is this week. he said as far as he was concerned he believed if he were to be impeached the stock market would collapse and america would be much poorer economically. he's making economic arguments. it gives you a sense that here in washington at the moment there is a conversation about what happens next. that goes into the mid—term elections, the congressional elections coming up in november and that's because whoever controls congress ultimately would decide whether or not the president was impeached. at the moment the house of representatives is controlled by republicans. that means donald trump is protected, and you can imagine democrats are going to use this issue going into those elections to argue that perhaps they need a majority inside that house in order to keep a check on the president and the president himself, you can imagine he's going to be out there trying to rally his voters to say that ultimately they should be fighting back. chris buckler in washington.

more now on brexit; joining me from dundee is the snp mp, stephen gethins. thank you forjoining us. the brexit secretary set out what he called practical and proportionate advice in case the uk left the eu without a deal. sometimes you have to pinch yourself about the situation in which we have been left, a situation whereby the government is talking about the stockpiling of medicines, we have had warnings about foodstuffs, warnings about even managing to keep the lights on, it's not a case of whoever is left to switch off the lights, they might go off by themselves. these are really disastrous state of affairs to be left in more than two years after leaving the european union and that points to a tremendous political failure by the government in westminster who have failed to do anything during what was a crisis.

use a disastrous. some people saying, dominic raab amongst them, this is just saying, dominic raab amongst them, this isjust a saying, dominic raab amongst them, this is just a sensible way to make provision in case there is a difficulty in any initial period of uncertainty. of course it is sensible now to try and make preparations but what a disastrous situation to have been left in, we are more than two years on from the eu referendum. those who campaigned for a political lifetime like dominic raab to leave the european union took the uk government into a closely responsible position of having to deliver on a blank piece of paper. that has now had to face up of paper. that has now had to face up to the reality that has hit from businesses, everyday life, the impact on each and every one of us to be left in this situation. it is a failure of government of the worst kind. and yet the brexit secretary is saying this is alljust and in case scenario, he said, i'm confident we will have a deal and none of this will become pertinent.

are you confident of that? it is not what his colleagues in government are telling us. i hope sincerely he is right and there is lots of common—sense and the eu is trying to help them out here but we have already heard from people like liam fox and others in government that they no deal is a very real possibility and is a no deal is a real possibility that is a political failure. part of the problem is is that the government cannot even agree amongst themselves what leaving the eu looks like, they can't even agree on the check is planned that took two years to be set in front of us and if they can't agree it becomes very difficult for the eu to be able to deal with it. it becomes very difficult for the rest of us in parliament to be able to engage with the government in a positive way. today you have the effect of deputy prime minister in scotla nd effect of deputy prime minister in scotland and instead of engaging with the scottish government on this he is away trying to talk about in no deal and how we shouldn't be very worried. that's enough —— that's not the message coming out of government and not the message nhs managers

we re and not the message nhs managers were having to give out this week either. given the snp's real concerns about the future going forward , concerns about the future going forward, what would you like to see going forward? the snp has said since the day after the reto —— referendum, not quite the day after but we have offered a compromise, you stay in the single market and customs union. that's not the best option but it's the least worst option. this is where we are faced with this political catastrophe, this political failing with this political catastrophe, this politicalfailing by the with this political catastrophe, this political failing by the tories which is where labour need to step up which is where labour need to step up to the plate. if parties can work together it is a parliament of minorities, we can pursue that least worst option. the first of all we need the labour front bench to step up need the labour front bench to step up to the plate and work with other parties in parliament. i think the time for political divide has gone now and we are facing into the abyss and it is time for parties to work in this parliament of minorities together to deliver on the least worst option. stephen gethins, snp mp, thank you. thank you.

hundreds of thousands of teenagers across england, wales and northern ireland have received their gcse results this morning. there's been a rise in the overall proportion of pupils attaining the pass mark — up by 0.5%. in england, there have been major changes to the exam, with a new grading system and less coursework. elaine dunkley has the details. oh, my god! the reactions are familiar... what... ! pass! but the way results are measured in england is different. for gcse students, it's out with a* to g and in with a new scale from 9 to 1, with 9 being the highest. i got an 8 in music, i got a 9 in geography, i got a 7 in history, i got a 9 in biology — happy with that as well, very happy. i got three 9s... one, two, three, four, five... five 8s... no, seven 8s and one 7. and it's notjust the grades that have changed — there's less coursework and more emphasis on final exams to make gcses more challenging.

near enough every subject said that they overtaught us because they didn't know what to expect, and i think personally with the amount of content we had to do, to give us the same period of time to do the test, it was a lot to handle. a lot of people are just used to the grade system, where you get a letter? it's true, i don't actually tell them the numbers, i tell them in letters and there's a conversion chart on the bbc website so i sent that to them as well — if they want to know the numbers. but ijust tell them in letters. but they know that there's a new grading system. the overall pass rate in england, wales and northern ireland has gone up 0.5 percentage points to 66.9%. 90% of the gcse entries in england were the new exams. only 4% got the new top grade of 9. exam regulators say pupils haven't been penalised because of the changes and grade boundaries have been moved so the same proportion of pupils get good grades as in previous years. at this school, the principal is not convinced. it's madness, really. maybe there was a need to make the exams more difficult, and i don't think the profession would argue against that. but it's as if nobody knows when to stop. so now, we've got the boundary changes and now they're trying to equal it as the same proportion getting an a to c — what was the point

of changing it, then? there has been a drop in the a* to c pass rate in wales, and improvement for those in northern ireland. meanwhile in england, the government says the new 9 to 1 grades are a better way to differentiate between the abilities of students. what we've introduced are far more demanding, more rigorous gcses that are a better preparation for a—level a better preparation for apprenticeships and vocational qualifications and a better preparation for a life in modern britain. you did so well! the reforms have been wide—ranging, but there has been criticism that the changes have been far too steep a learning curve for schools in england. elaine dunkley, bbc news. lots of happy faces. hopefully good

news in your house as well. time for a look at the weather. good afternoon. it is turning much fresher, noticeably so for all of us, particularly heading into tomorrow. we have some brightness around, plenty of dry intervals and we have seen around, plenty of dry intervals and we have seen some around, plenty of dry intervals and we have seen some rain and blustery showers. that is certainly the case in parts of northern ireland and scotla nd in parts of northern ireland and scotland as we have gone through this afternoon. the culprits for this afternoon. the culprits for this cooler, fresher air are two weather fronts working their way south—eastwards tambe country, the first one has cleared but it's behind the second one where we will start to notice the difference. further showers for northern ireland and western scotland to finish the day and noticed the temperatures, much cooler. mid—teens to low 20s. much lower than they were this time yesterday. and that cooler air continues to make inroads as we head towards the overnight period gradually squeezing out at humidity altogether. there will be a lot of

fine, dry weather and clears the —— skies. the rain will filter down into cumbria and lancashire as the night progresses. single figures, but 12 in the south—east will feel much cooler. we continue that cooler theme into friday and though showers will continue to pack in from northern ireland and up into north—west scotland. quite a rash of them feeding on a very blustery wind. they will rattle through fairly quickly but some of them could be heavy and thundery and i don't think many of us will escape them because they gradually transfer eastwards as the day goes on. look at the temperatures, much lower, high teens at best on friday. saturday we start the day on a cool mode once again. there will be quite a keen wind working its way down the east coast initially but it will gradually ease as the day goes on. lots of fine dry weather to be had

on saturday, just the occasional shower dotted here and there. in the sunshine it should feel ok around 20 celsius. there is some uncertainty about the timing of this rain that will start edging in from the west on sunday. it looks as though it will edge into the isles of scilly up will edge into the isles of scilly up into devon and cornwall, wales, northern ireland, north—west england and north—west scotland, gradually working eastwards here. the further east you are the more likely it is you will hang on to the dry conditions but it will turn cloudy as the day progresses as the rain sta rts as the day progresses as the rain starts making inroads. it will feel cool starts making inroads. it will feel cool, temperatures once again reaching just the mid to high teens and the cooler theme continues into monday. this is bbc news — our latest headlines.

nazanin zaghari—ratcliffe — the british womanjailed in iran — has been freed temporarily from prison, according to her husband. the government has issued its advice for people and businesses if the uk leaves the eu without a deal. the brexit secretary, dominic raab, outlined the plans in a speech earlier today. while we are striving for the best outcome and a good dealfrom these negotiations, we stand ready to deliver breakfast to the british people if there is no deal. — brexit. there's been a slight rise in the overall pass rate as pupils across england, wales and northern ireland pick up their gcse results. president trump tells a usjournalist he might consider pardoning his former campaign chairman, paul manafort, after he was convicted for tax fraud. sport now on afternoon live.

olly hasjoined me, long—awaited news from the world of horse racing. 31 years after his first winner, mark johnston has now saddled more british winners than any other trainer, he's up to a record 4,194, and he's done it at york's ebor festival with an outsider. poet's society, ridden by frankie dettori, won a handicap chase to give the 58—year—old scot the record by himself. he had been tied with richard hannon senior, who retired five year ago. he had nine runners yesterday without a win. he says, it feels a relief to get it out of the way. sometimes you wonder

how important it is. i have got to pinch myself to think we got to 4,194. from where we started, it is unthinkable. there have been some very happy owners down the years. all those wins have earned £53 million in prize money. it has been in the background at least all this year, the billingham beer, i knew it was on the cards, andi beer, i knew it was on the cards, and i think it is very important, it gives recognition to the consistency that we have displayed over the last 25 years plus. —— the beginning of the year. every chance he will get more at the york festival and around the country, rachel. so we are talking now about next week, having dealt with a big events today, looking ahead to england's fourth test macro against india, the

tea m fourth test macro against india, the team out today, not so much tinkering as we thought? we were expecting more, because they we re we were expecting more, because they were absolutely stumped that trent bridge, losing by 203 runs, skittled forjust161 runs, bridge, losing by 203 runs, skittled for just 161 runs, we bridge, losing by 203 runs, skittled forjust161 runs, we thought that more batsmen would be drifted in. james vince was involved in the one—day squad but was dropped from the test side after a poor winter in australia and new zealand, but he's back as cover forjonny bairstow, who has a broken finger. but southampton, the ageas bowl is his home ground, and he's playing really well for hampshire at the moment. here's our cricket correspondent jonathan agnew. it isn'tjust the number of runs that vince has scored, but it is the manner in which they have been. important match—winning contributions that were asked of him after he was dropped. whether he plays depends entirely on bairstow‘s fitness.

we know he won't be keeping wicket, but batting and fielding can also be too much of a risk. there is also a chance that moeen could return. jennings retains his place despite growing concerns over his form and also that of his partner cook. he is averaging only 24 with one 50 this summer. here's the squad in full. keatonjennings retaining his place despite some calls for him to be dropped after his performance in the series so far. moeen ali has scored a lot of runs for worcestershire and taken big wickets, so he is also pushing for a recall. danny cipriani is set to make his gloucester debut tonight, free to play after being given just a reprimand by the rfu following his arrest injersey last week outside a nightclub. an rfu disciplinary panel upheld the misconduct charge against him but decided against further sanction. he'd already been fined a total of £4000 by a jersey magistrate and his club after pleading guilty to common assault and resisting arrest.

you can only select your strongest side. if he is going to be one of that 33 representing england, then surely england can have a discussion with him. danny is not stupid, he knows he has learnt a lesson and he will move on. the ultimate judgment has to be what he does on the rugby field. i think that is the way to go forward. england cricket has showed it with ben stokes as well, you know. that's all the sport for now. i'll have more for you in the next hour. now on afternoon live, let's go nationwide and see what's happening around the country in our daily visit to the bbc newsrooms around the uk. we will talk to tony husband in southampton, where south today

have been carrying out an extensive investigation into the scale and consequences of heroin use in reading. and sarah teale is nottingham for us where east midlands today have been speaking to health campaigners who are today protesting against £30 million in planned cuts at leicester general hospital. welcome to you both, we will start with tony in southampton, this feeling, really: drug addicts are marginalised and criminalised, living at the edges of society. some beg, borrow or steal to get their daily fix, but not everyone, it seems. that is right, you could call these the train spotting generation, people who became addicted to heroin in 1980s and 1990s and still take the drug today, in their 40s in many cases, they are the age group most likely to die from an overdose, and

here in the south there have been more than 360 deaths linked to heroin and morphine misuse over two yea rs, heroin and morphine misuse over two years, but the drug is increasingly used in places like reading. reading itself as the fourth highest death rate in england and wales. we have been examining the reality of drug use and i've spent time filming in reading to hearfrom drug use and i've spent time filming in reading to hear from those directly involved, here are those we spoke to, kevin first and then lawrence. if i don't spoke to, kevin first and then lawrence. ifi don't use spoke to, kevin first and then lawrence. if i don't use for a week, they are like, we are on, we have got some good stuff. that was my dealer, i have to go and meet him now, get some drugs, go back to mine, do my usual thing. probably get two bags of heroin and three bags of crack. how much does that cost you ? bags of crack. how much does that cost you? £40 for six lots. and that is for the day? yeah. sometimes they

go to sleep and don't wake up. this is not a life, i am existing, aren't i? the first speaker, kevin, we saw him buying drugs, the 42—year—old has been using heroin for 25 years, he has shoplifted and stolen in the past, but he says not anymore, instead he funds his habit through window cleaning. i am used to being followed by store detectives, and in the long run i feel more of an accomplishment if i'm doing something constructive with my time. really interesting development there, one assumes that being a drug addict is a very expensive habit, can window cleaning really fun in that? kevin gets weekly support from a drugs service in the town but says his methadone allowance doesn't a lwa ys his methadone allowance doesn't always cover his habits. other addicts resort to begging, they can make up to £200 a day from that,

police say that like many areas across the country they are facing the increasing threat of county line drug dealing, gangs coming out of london and setting up a drugs line in the town, many of them using young teenagers to sell the drugs. some in reading as young asjust 15. some in reading as young asjust15. it isa some in reading as young asjust15. it is a target market, reading is getting the problems of a city, and it is attracting people who would go toa it is attracting people who would go to a city and commit crime to fund their habits. at any one time there can be 20 separate businesses running a drugs line, because the market here is saturated. tony, thank you very much. in the east midlands, there's been anger at plans to downgrade one of the hospitals serving leicestershire saving millions of pounds. sarah teale joins us from the east midlands today studio. tell us more about it. well, it is all part of wider plans to save the local nhs hundreds of millions of pounds over the next few yea rs. leicester millions of pounds over the next few years. leicester currently millions of pounds over the next few yea rs. leicester currently has millions of pounds over the next few years. leicester currently has three hospitals in the city, the royal infirmary, the glenfield and the general, serving around 1 million

people across the county. nhs managers are planning to downgrade the general hospital, a local strategy known as better care together would see many services moved from the general to the leicester royal infirmary, including the intensive care unit and kidney dialysis. that is a move that would save £30 million, but it has angered local people who feel it is a move towards having only two hospitals instead of three in the long run, and they are criticising hospital bosses for going ahead with the plans without proper public consultation. they also fear that patients are being put at risk, cancer patients for instance would have to be treated by different stab at different sites. steve score was from the save nhs leicestershire campaign, he sums up the concerns. well, we are worried that the removal of intensive care beds from the general hospital will pre—empt the general hospital will pre—empt the potential closure of this

hospital as an acute hospital, and there has been no public consultation on that, and we feel it would be presented as a fait accompli because those services will not be sustainable if there is no intensive care. really interesting one, because it is a picture that is being repeated in lots of places around the country, many viewers will have concerns about their hospitals, what is the concern locally from the nhs? no cuts are welcome, and the department or health say they support the proposals. the medical director of leicester hospitals has acknowledged there could be greater consultation of the moving of services away from the general hospital, but such is the general hospital, but such is the concern that there is a public rally at leicester city hall this evening, and that coincides with the council's health and well—being scrutiny meeting, where they will be discussing all of these plans in greater detail. ok, great to have a flavour from around the uk,

greater detail. ok, great to have a flavourfrom around the uk, sarah, tony, thank you very much. if you would like to see more on any of those stories, you can access them via the bbc iplayer, and a reminder that we go nationwide every weekday afternoon at 430 here an afternoon live. a bbc investigation has found that ambulances from four different services took more than 24 hours to reach patients. trusts in east, south east and north east england all had long delays, with the worst recorded in wales. ambulance trusts blamed the busy winter period and said they had to prioritise resources. the patients association called the figures extremely concerning. matt graveling reports. category one — the highest—priority 999 call. the ambulance response in seven minutes or less can be the difference between life and death. but it means that other

patients may have to wait. it's my wife, she's fallen off a step and broke her wrist or leg or something, she can't move. this call was not classed as category one. sylvia had broken a hip but had to wait on the floor while other ambulances were diverted to more urgent calls. her daughter called again. unfortunatley, we don't have any vehicles currently assigned at the moment. oh, god, oh... unfortunately, we have been exceptionally busy in the area. i know, but two hours? south central ambulance service has apologised, saying there were nine patients in the local area with more serious or similar injuries awaiting a response too. it took three and half hours for sylvia's ambulance to arrive, but ourfigures show that some patients have had to wait much longer. betweenjune 2017 and june 2018, ambulances from four different services took more than 24 hours to reach patients. these included people with breathing difficulties and mental health problems. the longest delays in the uk

were recorded by the welsh ambulance service, which kept four patients waiting for more than 50 hours each. the service said the numbers were not typical. the trusts involved have said the longest waits were for less—serious calls and said they had to prioritise resources to life—threatening emergencies. the government have said recently announced an additional £36 million of funding to boost paramedic crews and improve ambulance fleets. matt graveling, bbc news. as you can see, rachel is here, deep in thought, making notes, she will be telling us who is up and down in the business news, but first a look at the headlines. nazanin zaghari—ratcliffe — the british womanjailed in iran — has been freed temporarily from prison, according to her husband. the brexit secretary outlines the government's advice for what businesses and individuals should do if britain leaves the eu without a deal. president trump tells a usjournalist he might consider pardoning his former campaign chairman

paul manafort, after he was convicted for tax fraud. here's your business headlines on afternoon live. as more us tariffs come into effect against chinese imports. the 25% tariffs will effect a further £12.4 billion worth of goods, on top of the £26 billion worth hit by tarriffs injuly. beijing immediately retaliated with tariffs on the same value of us imports. ryanair‘s share price has soared more than 7% after they struck a deal with the pilots' trade union. the airline's pilots had threatened more strikes unless they received better working conditions. members will now vote on the proposal. and staying with airlines, british airways has announced it's ending its flights to iran. the carrier says the route is no longer profitable. the news comes after the united states urged western companies to end business dealings with tehran.

you've finished making notes, very good, talk us through what is moving the markets, a busy day, what has been going up and down? not a huge amount of movement on the ftse, unsurprisingly those brexit no—deal documents did have something to do with that, we store —— we saw sterling slipping a bit, because investors feel that it could make a no—deal brexit slightly more likely, because of the negative impact on sterling, so we did see that slip a little, and there was also a dip in the sainsbury‘s share price today. you will know that sainsbury‘s and asda have this proposed merger under way, and the cma have announced an investigation into that, no big

surprise, the combination of these two retailers would create the uk's biggest retailer with almost 3000 stores, so investors will have expected this to take place, but still a slight dip in sainsbury‘s share price today. and what about this proposed listing of aramco, will they, won't they? a bit of confusion, the saudi arabian state oil giant aramco, huge company, there has been talk now for a long time that they are going to list pa rt time that they are going to list part of the company, as much as 5% of the company, which many believe could value the whole company at around £1.5 trillion. now, we were expecting this to happen, and there we re expecting this to happen, and there were reports yesterday that it was not going to happen. today we heard from saudi arabia, a minister saying that it will go ahead at some point, but it is not confirmed when. now, when this was initially floated as an idea, huge competition since then on the stock exchanges around the world, including london, because they all want a bit of that

business. jasper lawler is head of research at london capital group, what would it mean for a stock exchange to host this listing? well, a couple of things, really, rachel. most obviously, it is going to be the largest listing ever, so that will be a big chunk of change received by whichever exchanges able to list those shares, and it will be a source to list those shares, and it will be a source of to list those shares, and it will be a source of revenue to list those shares, and it will be a source of revenue for the company, just by being listed on that exchange. probably more importantly almost, it is for reputation. just being able to beat off the competition and have those shares which the world will be looking at, particularly for the uk at the moment, for obvious reasons, struggling to kind of prove its point that london is still at the forefront of finance, just to have the boost of having these shares listed would be very good. let's talk about those obvious reasons, the brexit issues that the uk is

facing at the minute, we saw documents published today giving advice on what to do in the case of advice on what to do in the case of ano advice on what to do in the case of a no deal exit. we have mentioned that sterling slipped a little bit, did we see reaction elsewhere in the markets? —— a no—deal brexit. did we see reaction elsewhere in the markets? -- a no-deal brexit. as you mentioned, it has been some trading, but we did see a dip in bank and insurance company shares, there were other mitigating factors that partly explains that, but it does make sense, some of what we learnt in the technical papers today was that, actually, in the case of no—deal, some customers, particularly those overseas in the eu, may lose access to deposit functions at their banks, lose access to insurance products, and banks in the uk will no longer have access to the eu payments systems, so there will be more disruption than we previously imagined from losing access to passporting rights, which allowed employees to move back and forth between banks in the uk and the eu.

so an extra level of disruption, some reaction in those banking shares. let's talk about the cma investigation into the sainsbury‘s and asda merger, no surprise there is an investigation, it would be a huge merger, what do expect the to be. as you say, with a merger so predominantly in the public eye, there would have to be some kind of investigation, and my suspicion is that there is some grounds for looking at this beyond the fact that we tend to look at the big four supermarkets dropping down to a big three. big promises made that we will see a 10% drop in prices at sainsbury's, get there won't be any store closures, and there won't be any store closures, and there won't be a ny staff store closures, and there won't be any staff let go per se. so a little bit hard to understand, without a massive squeeze on suppliers, which are also important uk businesses, how this merger will make financial sense. so more details on that are needed, but i still think, at the end of the day, probably with the

help of aldi and lidl being prominent players, we are talking more of a big six, so there is room for consolidation, i think it will be waved through. jorge, jasper, thank you for your time. take us to the board. all eyes in the united states and the jackson hole meetings, the big get—together of central bankers, business people, professors who get together and look at world economics and how it is impacting on america, what the big issues are at the moment, and the head of the federal reserve is beating tomorrow, people will be watching to see what he has to say. rachel, thank you very much indeed. let's return to the gcse results out today. there's been controversy about the grading system, and about the move away from coursework. well, one headteacher took two of the exams himself. step forward james allen, headmaster at beech hall school in macclesfield. james, you are not allowed to give

your results away, we have got to build up some tension, so before we get to how you did, let's ask, what we re get to how you did, let's ask, what were you thinking of?! good afternoon, rachel, hi. to be honest, iam not afternoon, rachel, hi. to be honest, i am not sure, i wasn't sure this morning. i sat in the deleting pupils' mock maths exam injanuary, andi pupils' mock maths exam injanuary, and i looked at the paper and i thought, i might be able to do this, and that idea escalated into maybe it would be a good idea to put myself in their shoes, said a couple of exams, and so that is what happened, i registered to take them, ijoined the happened, i registered to take them, i joined the pupils happened, i registered to take them, ijoined the pupils for some lessons, joined them for after—school maths club and i ended up after—school maths club and i ended up sitting in the exams with them. and again, before we unveiled the results, there was a lot of talk about the idea that there might be getting harder, there was not the coursework to rely on — do you feel there was a big leap forward at this year? i think it feels, from having taken both year? i think it feels, from having ta ken both of year? i think it feels, from having taken both of those exams, from

seeing the results coming in, that there has been a leap. on a personal level, and not completely happy with the move to linear exams, i think it tends to favour either children who are traditionally academically bright, or those who are really effective at cramming at the last minute. and i have a personal preference, like many of the pupils, for more of a modular system with some coursework. so, yes, ithink everything we have been hearing is true. we will talk more about your future thoughts in a moment, but first let's play the big moment, i think one of your pupils caught the moment on a mobile phone when you got your results, let's have a watch. education... exam... mathematics — tier foundation... ooooo... you got a five. yay! thank you, mrs griffin. in english language... oooo. . .. you had two papers... laughter i don't like my pupils anymore.

four hours of taking an english language exam. you got a big fat nine! cheering very brave of you to let your pupils open those results, a 5 in maths foundation, 9 in english, so congratulations, how did you feel when they opened those envelopes? you say brave, but first of all we went to the whole process of them getting their results, that was important, then that was otis doing a very impressive presentation, and he said quite quietly, can i announce the result? i thought, why not, i've been to the whole experience with them for six months, why not give it to them and let them do the business. he did a really good job, built it up beautifully. absolutely, a great drum roll from his supporting colleagues. just a final thought, how important was it for your pupils to see you put your

money where your mouth was and have a go. it was essential, and i learned a lot, i really did, the old point was to put myself in their position, try to experience as close asi position, try to experience as close as i could what they were experiencing, and, my word, i really did, even down to walking into that first maths exam feeling reasonably confident, then hearing one of the pupils talk about something that i had no idea what they were talking about, hit with the massive anxieties that i had 30 years ago. deeply unpleasant experience, but a great one to go through. you hopeful, given the concerns you raised, that the new system will bed in well, or could spell trouble for the future? i am always hopeful it will bed in well, i think we have to find a good balance between teaching the skills that we really want to teach our children, particularly numeracy and literacy skills, and balance that against an inevitable need to teach our children how to pass the exam and tick the extra

mark boxers. it is an important balance. we are grateful to you for letting us see your big moment almost live on television, congratulations. thank you very much, rachel! that's it from your afternoon live team for today, next it's the bbc news at five. time for a look at the weather. good afternoon. cooler conditions are creeping their way southwards and by tomorrow we will all notice a big difference in the feel of the weather. a few showers through north—west scotla nd a few showers through north—west scotland and ireland, but temperatures down on where they were yesterday, into the evening, northwesterly feed bringing in further showers to parts of northern ireland, north—west scotland, working down into cumbria and lancashire too, dry with clear skies, a much fresherfeel than it has been recently, widely single figures. so here is that cooler air taking a dive down towards the south

and east of the uk, as we head into the overnight period, a much fresher start to friday morning, still those showers feeding on a brisk north—westerly wind, some of the showers have the potential to be heavy and thundery, and while many will hang further north and west, a further few just edging will hang further north and west, a further fewjust edging their way eastwards as we head into the afternoon, and much fresher than it has been. today at five — the government sets out its advice for people and businesses about how to manage, if the uk leaves the eu without a deal. government papers warn of the impact on businesses, nhs patients, farmers and uk expats — but the brexit secretary insists a no—deal scenarios remains unlikely. it is not what we want and it is not what we expect. but we must be ready. we have a duty as a responsible government to plan for every eventuality. the guidance includes instructions for businesses who could face extra paperwork at borders — and contingency plans to avoid medicine shortages.

we'll be looking at the detail — and speaking to business about a possible no—deal. the other main stories on bbc news at 5: the british—iranian woman nazanin zaghari—ratcliffe is reunited with her daughter — after being granted three