this is bbc news. i'm rebecca jones. the headlines at 11pm: surprise as the former first minister of scotland, alex salmond, resigns from the scottish national party amid allegations of sexual harrassment, which he strongly denies. the uk ambassador to france raises concerns — after clashes between british and french fishermen in a row over scollops. more than a fifth of 14—year—old girls say they've self—harmed — a report says worries about physical appearance are contributing to their unhappiness. a lot of self loathing and self hate and not knowing how to deal with my emotions led me to self harming and at the time i thought it was a coping mechanism. all or nothing — back the chequers plan or risk there being no deal on brexit — that's the warning to the eu from a senior cabinet minister. gruff by name but not by nature — a study shows goats respond better

to happy human faces rather than angry ones. and at 11:30pm, we'll be taking an in—depth look at the papers with our reviewers, the broadcaster and writer steve richards and camilla tominey from the daily telegraph. stay with us for that. good evening. the former first minister of scotland, alex salmond, has resigned from the scottish national party following allegations of sexual harrassment, which he strongly denies. in a video statement posted online, mr salmond said he was resigning in order to prevent opposition politicians attacking the party. our political correpsondent nick eardley is in glasgow.

how much of a surprise is this? how much of a surprise is this7m isa how much of a surprise is this7m is a huge moment in both the snp's history and alex salmond's personal career, but his successor as snp leader nicola sturgeon had been under severe pressure from opposition parties over the last few days to suspend mr salmond after those sexual misconduct allegations of merged last week. he of course denies any wrongdoing. mr salmond has taken matters into his own hands tonight, saying in his words he wa nts to tonight, saying in his words he wants to remove this line of opposition attack. he says that he is conscious that if the party at eventually felt forced into suspending him, his words again, it would cause substantial internal division. mr salmond also says in

that statement that he plans to clear his name and that if he does so clear his name and that if he does so he wants to rejoin the party at some later date. we have heard from nicola sturgeon within the last hour oi’ nicola sturgeon within the last hour or two on this issue. she says she acknowledges the upset this will cause to mr salmond, herself, and members of the snp. but she adds that the hard fact remains in her words that two complaints were received by the scottish government that couldn't be ignored or swept under the carpet. nicola sturgeon has been adamant that the complaint must be investigated by the appropriate authorities no matter the seniority of the person. she now says that there are many questions to be answered in the fullness of time and must allow the legal process to run its course. this evening mr salmond, the leading member of the snp, the man at the helm of the party for two decades,

is no longer a member of. thank you. and this story was breaking just as many of tomorrow's front pages were being released. this is just a sample of some of the headlines, and of course the story is being featured in the scottish editions — we'll have more on this, along with the rest of tomorrow's front pages, in just over 25 minutes' time in the papers. there've been dramatic clashes between french and british fishermen in the channel over scallops. the french are said to have thrown rocks and smoke bombs at the rival boats as they accused them of pillaging shellfish stocks. they clashed off the normandy coast on monday night in the bay of seine. under eu rules, fishermen from any member state are free to fish in waters more than 12 miles from the coast, the area beyond this red line here, and that is where the british vessels were. but what's annoyed the french is that their own national laws mean their fishermen can't dredge for scallops in the whole area between may and october to protect stocks. our environment correspondent

claire marshall reports. watch the blue boat, a 200 ton british scallop trawler. this footage from a french boat shows it colliding with smaller french vessels. british fishermen say french boats like this surrounded them and started attacking them. just a glimpse of the violent clashes off the coast of normandy in the early hours of tuesday morning. rocks and flares coming across here. right through here? yeah. there was probably about 50—60 boats around us in the end. do you think our navy should go with you? the only way to deal with it now is to get our navy involved and try and protect us. but the french fishermen who got involved are furious. french law bans them from fishing

over the summer in the bay of seine to preserve stocks. normally there is a deal where larger british boats stay away, but this year, negotiations broke down and the british trawlers moved in. french fishermen have been having to watch them without being able to join them. translation: they have no hours, no quotas, they just fill their boats, they come, scrape and leave. they start working a month before us and they leave us the crumbs. this was some of the handful of british scholar dres=:: —— this was some of the handful of british scholar dres=== —— dredgers arriving. dredging is a highly controversial method of fishing. they are fishing legally. we are talking to the french authorities to make sure that there are no repeat of the scenes that we saw. dredging

isa of the scenes that we saw. dredging is a highly controversial method of fishing. conservationists say it destroys the whole of the seabed. scallops reproduce in the summer and this is why french fishermen say they should not be harvested until the first of october, it is a question of sustainability. but this side of the channel the view is that there is more than enough to go around. we believe that the scallops are in good condition from the middle of august through the rest of the year. british fishermen will continue to fishing in the bay of seine if we don't do a deal with france. brian and some of the other skippers caught up in the clashes have lost thousands of pounds. what are you going to do? the only thing to do is to let the dust settle. and then go together as a big fleet, just stick together. you are going back out? yes, i am going back out. translation: we will fight

back, we won't let them do it. not to risk my life, of course, but i am ready to return. the french police say they are sending more boats to patrol the area. it is now down to international negotiators to do with this. our diplomatic correspondent james landale explained the significance of these clashes. these are fishing disputes happen from time to time. i remember covering the tuna wars in the 1990s when spanish fishermen attacked cornish fishermen in the bay of biscay. this is serious not because of the scale but it was only by luck no one was hurt. the british government is taking it seriously, the ambassador raised concerns in paris, the fisheries minister will have talks with his counterparts tomorrow, representatives of the fishing fleet are talking and hoping to arrange a meeting. the impression i get is both sides want to de— escalate this and calm things down.

there is a hope that maybe the old deal that lasted five years can be revived in some way, taking the british trawlers out of the area in return for giving them access to french fishing elsewhere. the cabinet office minister, david lidington, has told french business leaders that the european union has to choose between the british government's chequers plan orface the risk of a no—deal brexit. it comes as the eu's chief brexit negotiator, michel barnier, said that the eu was prepared to offer britain a unique partnership, different from that agreed with any outside country. here's our deputy political editorjohn pienaar. britain's marriage with europe was never quite a union of hearts and minds, unlike this happy couple, but anyway, it is nearly over, just the divorce to sort out. the government is warning today that agreement on britain's terms or no deal at all. in paris, the prime minister's right—hand man in cabinet told

the the eu, take it or leave it. with exactly seven months until the end of article 50 and less than two months ahead of the october council, we face the choice between the pragmatic proposals we are discussing now with the european commission, or the risk of there being no deal. westminster has been left to the tourists, mps still on a break. but brexit never stops, nor do government attempts to sound our bit, insisting british plans for a single market in goods and farm produce but not services could be the basis for agreement. i'm confident that a deal is within our sights. we are bringing ambition, pragmatism, energy and if it is matched, and i expect it will be, we get a deal. there were, though, complicatinos, big one style of avoiding a hard border in ireland or between ireland and britain. the target set between leaders might just slip. we are aiming for the october council but there is some measure of leeway.

so, under the brexit timetable, what happens next? in september, negotiations intensify and eu leaders, including theresa may, meet in salzburg. in october, it's the eu summit to agree a deal, unless that slips. then a crucial vote in parliament on the divorce deal and future relationship. the following march, the uk leaves the eu. but will brussels agree to british terms? the eu's chief negotiator is meeting dominic rather, but that doesn't mean letting the uk pick and choose terms of trade. there would be no a la carte menu for britain although the uk could still have a closer relationship than any other non—eu state, he said. but the truth is, the government has no wiggle room. anymore concessions to brussels and the number of eurosceptic tory

rebels will surely grow. parliament may well vote down any deal anyway. there is still no sign of an agreed plan to avoid a hard irish border and, without one, a no—deal brexit becomes more likely. plans for the future after brexit are still a work in progress, just months before britain peels off and goes its own way. john pienaar, bbc news, westminster. meanwhile, on the second day of her trade mission to africa to boost ties with the continent after brexit, theresa may has signed an agreement on economic and defence cooperation with the president of nigeria. the two leaders discussed security, trade and people trafficking. our political correspondent ben wright has been travelling with the prime minister and sent this report. they still honour britain here, but the days of obeying are long gone. this former british colony is africa's largest economy and a hot destination for visiting trade delegations and their national leaders. theresa may is the first british prime minister to visit nigeria since 2011. we have long—standing links

with nigeria and long—standing close commercial ties. there are british companies that have been here for many years, we want to enhance those trading links and there are opportunities to do so as we leave the european union. looking for a new trading direction as brexit beckons, but today resisting the temptation tojoin in the dancing. it is a very traditional welcome for theresa may, but make no mistake, this is a dynamic fast—growing theresa may met president muhammadu buhari, promising him more british military help against the fight against the islamist group boko haram. the first security and defence agreement has been signed by the countries but it is business deals mrs may wants also. nigeria is the largest african economy, its gdp was £292 billion in 2017, higher than the other two countries she is visiting, south africa and kenya. nigeria also has the largest

population in africa, almost 194 million, and many of them are young. so there is huge economic growth potential but currently trade from the uk to nigeria is low and the latest numbers show we just imported over £1 billion worth of goods and exported just over £2 billion. by 2050 a quarter of the world's consumers will be in africa and a scramble for that market is under way. regardless of brexit, uk businesses need to show they have the products and services africa wants. moreover, for britain to be open for african business. such as this recruitment company who welcomed the prime minister's visit. it is an opportunity for the united kingdom and nigeria to engage on an even footing when it comes to investment on people in africa. nigerians are a people of enormous potential,

there is so much potential in this country, a lot of it unfortunately is untapped. working together to stop the trafficking of nigerians into europe. many end up in the uk. the prime minister meant victims of slavery in lagos, promising help in france to tackling the problem. there is still significant poverty here and that is clear as you drive into lagos from the airport but this is an economy that is growing fast and after theresa may's dash of our nigeria today tomorrow she heads to kenya where she again hopes that historic links will help the uk ca ptu re a historic links will help the uk capture a slice of the future. the headlines on bbc news: the former first minister of scotland, alex salmond, resigns from the scottish national party amid allegations of sexual harrassment, which he strongly denies. the uk ambassador to france raises concerns, after clashes between british and french fishermen

in a row over scollops. more than a fifth of 14—year—old girls say they've self—harmed, a report says worries about physical appearance are contributing to their unhappiness. lets a story. —— let's stay with that story. a study looking at the rate of self harming among children in the uk has found just over one—in—five 1a year old girls has hurt themselves on purpose. the figures, highlighted in a children's society report, examined the state of children's wellbeing in the uk during a 12—month period in 2015. young people who self—harm use a variety of methods to intentionally and repeatedly cause pain. 22% of girls admitted that they had self—harmed. 9% of the boys who were surveyed also said they had hurt themselves deliberately. our health correspondent dominic hughes reports. it seemed like taking out on yourself those emotions that

you didn't know how to explain or you did not know how to deal with in a healthy way, there was a lot of anger but it wasn't towards anyone else, it was towards myself. i waited until i was like really, you know, at the bottom to seek help. kay ska is one of thousands of young people who struggled with the turmoil of teenage emotions. self—harming became a way of managing anxiety, panic attacks, bullying at school, a collapse in self—esteem. a lot of like self—loathing and self—hate and not knowing how to deal with my emotions led me to self—harming. and at the time i thought it was a coping mechanism, i had friends at the time who were self—harming and there were also people who said how much it helped them and help them feel a bit easier.

the number of young teenagers who are deliberately hurting themselves in a number of ways, including cutting or hitting, appears to be growing. and that reflects the changing world we live in, particularly the prevalence of social media and the pressures that come with it. we need to think about what is underlying self harm, what is being communicated to a. our children depressed? are they anxious? it's it something through bullying? to understand why children are reaching a point where they happy self harm, we can help them with how to think and strategies. children's mental health services have struggled to cope with growing demand. more money has been promised to recap extra £300 million for help in english schools, for example. but knowing what to do for a young person in crisis can be hard. some of these things are really scary and if you are worried that your child can be self—harming it is difficult to know what to do. there is a lot of help out there and we would recommend that parents call the young minds

helpline, which is specifically for parents and they can give you some strategies. now 23, kay is in a much better place. the sharing of her experiences with others online, a key part of her recovery. so, if you could go back in time and meet your 14—year—old self who is really struggling, what would you say to her now? i would say, seek help. you are not ok. and that is ok, don't feel ashamed for feeling whatever you're feeling kay ska ending that report by dominic hughes. ca rys carys holland ca rys holland and carys holland and every day from the ages of 13 to 18, chee explained on the difficult process of open cut to people, including telling her mother. at first i lied when she saw the self harm on my wrist and i said i

had fallen over in the snow and graze on my arm. than i had relatives who had told the eye had self harmed and they told her and she was devastated. in the long run it was better because i opened up on the bullying and how i was feeling andi the bullying and how i was feeling and i managed to get help from the. how did she respond? there must have been a party that was frightened at what her reaction might be? she was very upset. access i don't think she knew what to do and she did some research and she finally knew we had to help her right now. so what help have you got? my mother took me to the local gp and i got referred to children mental health services. i had therapy and also had therapy at a counselling that was paid for by my schools. were you seeing the same therapist all the time? howjoined up therapist all the time? howjoined up was the therapy you were getting? at first it wasn't like that, it was

on the road to things, i had a different psychiatrist every six weeks, which didn't work for me because i would build a rapport with these people and they would leave andi these people and they would leave and i would have to build a report with someone else. after two years there i said this isn't working for me, i need someone who can be full—time so i have that and i can be comfortable enough to open up thatis be comfortable enough to open up that is when i got full—time psychiatrist. what helped you the most? what helped me is that people do listen and understand and unique talk about your emotions, not bottled them up in cider. at you and me counselling a studied art therapy. what is that? i am not even good at art, but ijust wrote things down and coloured things in and i found out that doing childlike stuff made it more comfortable for me to talk about things that happen in my childhood, like bullying. it

released so much of that trauma from my childhood that it made me feel a lot to. —— a lot to. —— a lot better. and if you have been affected by any of the issues raised in that report, you can find details of organisations which offer advice and support on the bbc actionline. a £5,000 reward is being offered for information that leads to the arrest of a 21 year old man wanted over the murders of his ex—partner and her mother. they were stabbed to death in the early hours of monday morning in solihull. our correspondent sima kotecha is at the west midlands police headquarters and gave the us update on the investigation. today, west midlands police support us today, west midlands police support us that the prime suspect is still believed to be in the country and is still believed to be in the west midlands. officers went as far to say that they think is very likely he's being higher —— harboured by someone he's being higher —— harboured by someone else and is being hidden

away from the authorities. they say he has been involved with the release of easily over minor offences and the nature of his relationship with one of the big guns who was killed on monday had also been reported to the police prior to the murders of. west midlands police are offering £5,000 to anybody who has an idea of his whereabouts. the families of victims have us they are trying to come to terms with what happened earlier in the week. president trump has called on evangelical christian leaders to help the republicans retain control of congress in november's mid term elections. speaking at a prayer meeting in the white house this week, he warned religious leaders that if the democrats took control they would institute change ‘quickly and violently‘. but opinions on the president remain split within the church, as our religion editor martin bashir reports. at over seven feet tall, this former

basketball pro is now a prominent player in washington. he leads a bible study in the white house. so i like to influence the leaders of the institutions of state. ralph drollet is one of 82% of white evangelicals who voted for donald trump. in return, he has granted them a weekly gathering at the heart of american power. who attends? the vice president? yes. the vice president, the secretary of state, the attorney general, the head of nasa, which is just across the shriek, just started coming. for many christians, voting for donald trump provoked a crisis of conscience. family values voters invited to support a thrice married businessman who was caught on tape ranking about sexual assault. —— bragging. i have two administered to

people lot of greece, what of rope and hope they will grow from things that are definitely biblical scene. iti that are definitely biblical scene. it i have those hopes for the president. but as president, donald trump is accused of pathological lying, paying off a porn star and encouraging a draconian immigration policy, with hundreds of parents separated from their children. hallelujah! greenleaf christian centre, a black evangelical church in north carolina. the reverend doctor william barber says many christians have dumped their principles in return for access to power. the leadership of evangelicalism, people like franklin gray and others thomas said that are put donald trump in the white house. do you agree with that? they can say anything. the slave master said god made slavery. it wasn't true.

segregation, it wasn't true. the greatest critique of donald trump is not his personal vices. what is his worst is his political vices, his political agenda. members of his congregation agrees. political agenda. members of his congregation agreeslj political agenda. members of his congregation agrees. i think he is disgraceful, the way he is treating people of colour. is ideas don't match up with any of what the bible is saying. —— is. match up with any of what the bible is saying. -- is. ralph says donald trumpjust is saying. -- is. ralph says donald trump just needs time to grow. is saying. -- is. ralph says donald trumpjust needs time to grow. any person that is young in christ is going to issues with their demeanour outwardly, measurably, especially if your whole life is on camera. but peter weiner, who worked for three republican presidents says donald trump is less a christian and more a hypocrite. i think that damaged donald trump is doing to christianity and damaging christians

who are drunk supporters, is catastrophic. i have a very harsh indictment of the people who stood by him, who wore his sword and shield. the christians. with some now questioning their support, donald trump planted seeds of fear during a dinner with evangelical leaders at the white house on monday, warning that if they don't vote republican at the mid—term elections in november, then there will be civil unrest, even violence. martin bashir, bbc news, washington. staying in america now, i want to ta ke staying in america now, i want to take you to phoenix, arizona, these are live pictures of the flag draped casket ofjohn mccain, the former us president. —— the former us president. —— the former us president presidential candidate. arizona was a state that he

represented in the us senate. a hearse bearing the us scotland arrived with a police escort earlier today for a private wreathlaying ceremony, honouring the senator, who died of brain cancer on saturday. the tribute was followed by this public viewing that we are seeing now of the coffin, which marks the start of five days of memorials in phoenix ahead of his funeral later this week in washington. and insurance has swum from kent to cornwall. he wanted to raise awareness about cleaning up ocean. he started the challenge of swimming 6- 12 he started the challenge of swimming 6— 12 miles every day in on the july. 6— 12 miles every day in on the july- -- 6— 12 miles every day in on the july. —— in only. the duke and

duchess have a appeared to a performance in london. it will raise money for a hiv charity co—founded by harry. the hip—hop biography of us founding father alexander hamilton pokes fun at the british monarchy and also features the character of king george iii. now here is a question, have you ever stood in front of a goat and wondered why it was standing at you? —— staring. well maybe the goat was looking at your face, trying to work out your mood. because new research suggests that, in fact, goats are quite perceptive, able to read the emotions on a human face and invariably they will be drawn to smiley happy faces, rather than gruff, grumpy sullen faces. aren't we all! amanda akass has this report. they may be gruff by name, but it turns out they don't really like those who are gruff by nature. goats at the buttercup sanctuary have been involved in an experiment, showing they much prefer happy human faces. angry people can butt out. founder bob birch is not surprised.

goats love people who are happy. i think it rubs off on them if they have got people coming and visiting them and also staff and volunteers that are happy all the time. i think it creates a happy atmosphere for them and that is good. previous research has shown dogs and horses are very good at differentiating human expressions from photographs. the researchers from queen mary university of london wanted to see if goats could manage it too. so they tested the reaction of 20 goats to photos showing people looking happy and angry. theyjust had to walk across the enclosure and investigate the photographs on the opposite side. we found that the goats were far more likely to walk towards the photographs with the happy face. the overall aim of our research is to raise awareness of how perceptive dog species are.