this is bbc news — i'm martine croxall. the headlines at eight. british airways says it is urgently investigating the theft of customer data — after information from 380,000 payment cards was stolen. britain confronts russia at the un over salisbury — moscow's ambassador says london has invented the attack. translation: london needs this story to unleash a disgusting anti—russian hysteria and to involve other countries. an inquest finds gross failures by royal manchester children's hospital contributed to the death of a toddler. an anonymous white house official throws the trump administration into turmoil. president trump demands the new york times names the senior official who says he's part of a resistance against the white house. and campaigners welcome the ruling from india's supreme court that gay sex is no longer a criminal offence. good evening.

british airways says it's investigating the theft of customer data from the company's website and mobile app, as a "matter of urgency". it's believed the details from as many 380,000 payment cards were stolen. let's get more from our correspondent sarah campbell. when did this happen? details coming in. british airways discovered the data compromise at six o'clock last night and they say they acted immediately to stop it. the details they have released say that from 20 to 58 on august the 21st until 916

on september the 5th, last night, inclusive, the personal and financial details of customers making bookings on the british airways website and the british airways website and the british airways app were compromised. they estimate that means potentially something like 380,000 individual ca rd something like 380,000 individual card payments could have been compromised and so that is bucking for flights and holidays compromised and so that is bucking forflights and holidays in compromised and so that is bucking for flights and holidays in any sort of travel related british airways related payments could have been compromised ash that is booking. could there be fraud at play? this is what british airways are investigating and they say this is a criminal act and camacho of urgency and they are trying to discover what happened ash and a matter of urgency. they are communicating with every customer they believe may have been affected by this and they have contacted the police and they are saying to customers if you think you

might have been affected by this incident contact your bank or credit ca rd incident contact your bank or credit card provider and follow their recommended advice. this will take them along time, 380,000 customers. yes. this is the latest in data breaches that we have had, so many in the last couple of years and it highlights how difficult it is for the companies to keep up with what is going on on >> studio: -- yelena greg 0wen on in the i was told they were informed by a third party yesterday that this had happened. so this was not from their systems. and it shows how long it can take for it be picked up. and we'll find out how this story — and many others — are covered in tomorrow's front pages at 10:40 and 11:30 this evening in the papers — our guests joining me tonight are are the former director

of communications for the conservative party, giles kenningham and polly mackenzie, director of the centre—left think tank, demos. russia has told the united nations that it categorically rejects allegations that it was involved in the nerve agent attack in salisbury. yesterday theresa may said two russians from the military intelligence service were thought to have carried out the attack. they are accused of the attempted murder of the former russian spy sergei skripal and his daughter yulia — who were poisoned with the nerve agent novichok — in march this year. the uk, the us, france, germany and canada released a joint statement saying they believe with "almost certainty" the attack was approved at senior russian state level. 0ur diplomatic correspondent james landale reports. these are the pictures the government believes show russia's responsibility for the first use of chemical weapons on european soil in decades. two russian military intelligence officers, alias alexander petrov and ruslan borishov, flying to britain in march,

taking the train to salisbury, laying a trail of deadly nerve agent on orders, ministers say, from the very top. all of which british diplomats in new york said was reckless and malign behaviour by one of the five permanent members of the united nations security council. 0ne p5 member has undertaken a pattern of behaviour which showed they tried to murder the skripals, they played dice with the lives of the people of salisbury. they work in a parallel universe where the normal rules of international affairs are inverted. russia said neither its military intelligence organisation known as the gru or president putin here on a past visit to its headquarters had anything to do with the attack. its ambassador insisted britain's accusations were unacceptable. translation: the russian federation categorically rejects all unfounded accusations

regarding its involvement in the poisoning with toxic chemicals. london needs this story forjust one purpose, to unleash a disgusting anti—russian hysteria. back in marsh officials here at the foreign office were successful in building international lines against russia, convincing 28 countries to expel around 150 russian diplomats. the challenge now for britain is to step up that international pressure. that will not be easy because some countries in europe are reluctant to antagonise russia further, particularly with new sanctions. for now, the leaders of france and germanyjoined their british american and canadian counterparts in issuing a joint statement expressing their full confidence that this operation was almost certainly approved at a senior government level in russia.

they also agreed to disrupt together the hostile activities of foreign intelligence networks on their territories. translation: madam president, in light of these very serious elements i would like to express a profound concern in my country and reiterate our condemnation of such actions which are unacceptable. while this incident was in salisbury, who is to say it could not have happened in paris or amsterdam or addis? we must now help our british friends find the two russian suspects they have identified. the question now is whether this diplomatic support at the un will turn intojoint action on the ground targeting russia with new sanctions. let's speak to andrew weiss from the russia and eurasia program at the washington based think—tank, the carnegie endowment for international peace — and he worked at the white house under president clinton. thanks forjoining us. who wasn't in

support of the uk at the united nations today? the russian representative lady had his work cut out and he tried hard to put his scorn on the british allegations and i think it is a sad day —— the russian representative clearly. we 110w russian representative clearly. we now need a unified international effort to show that this action is unacceptable from russia and we need to be prepared for a continuation of this because this will be a long ha rd this because this will be a long hard and challenging adversarial relationship with moscow for the foreseeable future. what are the options other than expressing their displeasure? sanctions are the main tool that people resort to or changes in legal procedures that may

make it harder for russian changes in legal procedures that may make it harderfor russian nationals to come into certain areas or conduct business there, but the problem is we don't have the unity that we had right after the beginning of the war in the ukraine. britain is more eyes alighted in europe in the united states has come apart from its key european partners and so the unity which has been so important in terms of presenting a front to the challenges in moscow is under pressure. a new play but is being developed by the british authorities, the remarkable police work and skill that was shown at yesterday's presentation by the prime minister, and also robert mueller has created the name and shame over these russian activities and to show there is now sanctuary and to show there is now sanctuary and we will undermine russian effo rts and we will undermine russian efforts —— there is no. and we will undermine russian efforts -- there is no. as strong as

the evidence is that the uk has presented and which is accepted by many of its allies, what impact has any bit ready—made on the kremlin? —— any of it really made. any bit ready—made on the kremlin? -- any of it really made. none of this has changed the russians and they continue to see risk as their friend and they think they can set the pace for this conflict and put eve ryo ne the pace for this conflict and put everyone on the back foot, but showing that the west is watching very carefully and that he hardly seems we are trying to constrain russia, these are important steps —— and that we are trying. we don't expect the russians to confess and say they will never do it again. denial is a key aspect of their strategy along with a lack of embarrassment. thanks forjoining us. at the age of 82.

reynolds starred in movies for more than thirty years, including deliverance, smokey and the bandit and boogie nights. in his memoir, reynolds said he had not tried to challenge himself, he just wanted to have a good time. nick higham takes a look back at his life. i thought they would kill us. they would have. they would have for sure. burt reynolds in deliverance, applying a tough city boy up against the american wilderness and its murderous inhabitants —— playing. it was the film he was most proud of. 0h was the film he was most proud of. oh my god. as in most of his films he did his own stance and nearly drowned filming this. —— redid his own stu nt drowned filming this. —— redid his own stunt work. he had cut his teeth in scores of films and tv westerns,

nava hojo was one. which exploited his own part native american ancestry. what visual name? joe. he became a sex symbol. and a regular action star. now we are going to trying get away with as much as possible. in the longest yard he played the coach of a prison football team. he wanted to play football team. he wanted to play football himself until a injury ended his chances. come with me, the rest of you stay here. that is new. date in 1976 was one of a string of films set in middle america in which he drove a car very fast. what you do besides drive fast? have fun. is this fun? driving? driving, talking

to me. smokey and the bandit was essentially one long car chase and by now he was america's top box office star and his co—star sally field was one of his many conquests. you want to be pulled over and blessed by a black priest in a red ferrari? couldn't the but he had acquired a reputation as a hard drinking womanisers who earned a fortune and spent a fortune by the time of the cannonball run. those priests were fathers. he was offered fewer good parts like this and eventually went bankrupt, are owing $11 million. hell of a guy. came in second to you in the slot or pageant. there was an acrimonious divorce and he became the star of a long—running television set, , divorce and he became the star of a long—running television set,, by now

sporting a wig and happy to share the fruits of decades in front of the fruits of decades in front of the camera. you know? there's no handle on this tour. it doesn't take a rocket scientist to be an actor, you just had to make it real. you come into my house, my party, to tell me about the future. the future is videotaped, not film? tell me about the future. the future is video taped, not film? in boogie nights he played a pawn film director which gained him an oscar—nominated. director which gained him an oscar-nominated. you are the director? i am. i thought oscar-nominated. you are the director? i am. ithought you oscar-nominated. you are the director? i am. i thought you were the driver. by the time he made a bunch of amateurs playing an ageing american actor tempted to play king lear in an amateur production he was happy to parody himself. at the end ofa happy to parody himself. at the end of a roller—coaster career which proved he was if nothing else one hollywood's more resilient. is. —— more resilient film stars. studio: burt reynolds who has died at the

age of 82. he said he seems to have had a good time. —— he certainly seems. the headlines on bbc news. british airways says it's investigating the theft of customer data from its website and mobile app after personal and financial details were compromised. the leaders of the us, france, germany and canada have backed britain's assessment that two russian military intelligence officers were behind the salisbury nerve agent attack. burt reynolds, star of smokey and the bandit, deliverance and boogie nights, has passed away at the age of 82 an inquest into the death of a toddler — who'd waited days for emergency surgery — has found "gross failure" in his care at the royal manchester children's hospital. the coroner ruled that 20—month—old kayden urmston—bancroft died in april 2016 of natural causes "contributed to by neglect". the hospital has apologised unreservedly to kayden‘s family. 0ur health editor hugh pym reports from manchester. the thing that i miss the most is going home and not hearing him.

he would shout nanna or grandad the minute you walk in the door because we had been at work all day. julie expected her grandson becky lynch would have a straightforward julie expected her grandson would have a straightforward operation for a chest hernia at one of the country's most prestigious children's hospitals. but he never came home after a series of delays. the pain that he was in was horrendous. you would pick him up and nurse him, he would literally be crying over your shoulder because he was in that much pain and you could not calm him down. when the pain hit it was horrendous for him. kayden should've had his operation within 2a hours but it had not happened after four days, he went into cardiac arrest and never recovered. his family were left with no choice, life support had to be turned off. the coroner said that the hospital

had deficiencies in handovers between consultants and in the way patients needing urgent operations are managed. she said there were difficulties with the culture which allowed routine surgery to be prioritised over urgent operations. she said surgeons failed to take the initiative to ensure kayden‘s operation was carried out at the right time. she said neglect had contributed to his death. that was highly significant, according to lawyers, for his mother and grandmother. surprisingly trust of that size with those resources and that reputation could have had feelings which are considered to be so gross. so as to constitute neglect. the trust has apologised to the family and said it made changes. how could a series of these tragic errors have happened at a leading children's hospital like yours? when any incident like this happens it's critical to look at all the different processes that might have contributed to that. and it's important for us to learn

from those circumstances and put in place the actions that prevent those things happening again. he passed away on shannon when they turned the machines off. then i took him off shannon and they took all his tubes out and i washed him and put him into his pyjamas. because i did not want them doing it. it must‘ve been a horrendous decision to make at that point on that sunday? it was, it was the worst thing ever. for the family, today's ruling at least recognises the full extent of the failings of the hospital which let him down. the reynolds, one hollywood's most popular leading men in the 70s and 80s has died at the age of 82 in florida —— burt reynolds. he starred in films like smokey and the bandit

and deliverance. he had an oscar nomination for best supporting actor in the film boogie nights. burt reynolds who has died at the age of 82. president trump has launched a scathing attack on the new york times — after it published an anonymous article apparently written by one of his senior officials, describing how staff are secretly ignoring donald trump's orders. the official says members of the administration are trying to counter the president's ‘recklessness' and protect the country from his ‘worst inclinations'. the president said he doubted whether the person really existed and called the paper phoney and failing. 0ur north america correspondent nick bryant reports. this american stately home is now the scene of a dramatic washington whodunnit. the search for the identity of a senior trump administration official who says they are part of the resistance to his presidency. the anonymous editorial says that, although they want his administration to succeed,

many within are working diligently to frustrate parts of his agenda. it suggests his presidency is defined by trump's amorality, that he's impetuous, adversarial, petty, ineffective, and anti—democratic. god bless you and thank you, mr president. the article struck washington like a lightning bolt and shortly afterwards, at a meeting with american sheriffs, the president delivered his unsmiling response. if the failing new york times has an anonymous editorial — can you believe it — anonymous, meaning gutless, a gutless editorial. we're doing a greatjob. the poll numbers are through the roof, our poll numbers are great, and guess what — nobody is going to come close to beating me in 2020. so thank you very much, i appreciate it. the white house issued a statement calling for the "coward" who wrote the article to resign. the president demanded that the new york times turn him or her over to the government for national security purposes. there was also this one—word

tweet written in capital letters, asking, treason. the author claimed to be putting america first, raising concerns about donald trump's preference for dictators and autocrats like kimjong—un and vladimir putin, and alleging he was reluctant to punish russia after the salisbury poisonings. america's top diplomat is incensed. it shouldn't surprise anyone that the new york times, a liberal newspaper that has attacked this administration relentlessly, chose to print such a piece. the article reinforces the central narrative in this explosive new book from bob woodward, that administration officials are trying to protect the american people from the american president. so the mood in washington is feverish, with cabinet officials such as the vice president and defence secretary rushing to issue denials that they wrote the piece. for critics of the president, this article offers proof of a white house in chaos.

for his supporters, it backs up his fervent claim that the political establishment and liberal media is out to get him. that what he calls the "deep state" is trying to subvert his presidency. nick bryant, bbc news, washington. we can cross to washington and speak to our correspondent gary 0'donoghue. how serious an attempt will be made in the white house to find this official? they will try pretty hard. it is probably unlikely they will find them, there's not much to go on in that sense on the article, the new york times described the person asa new york times described the person as a senior administration official and that could apply to an awful lot of people in and outside of the white house across the federal government, so there will no doubt be an attempt but we don't know what methods they are planning on imploring but we will see what happens —— imploring. today you have

seen a happens —— imploring. today you have seen a braid of cabinet ministers coming out and saying it wasn't me —— parade. there will be pressure on eve ryo ne —— parade. there will be pressure on everyone at the highest level in the government to do the same because i've never seen the white house racked quite so angrily to something like this —— react. racked quite so angrily to something like this -- react. what evidence is there about the article? that is a good question, and there is discussion about the book coming out written by bob woodward where there is talk of people taking stuff from the president's desk and you could see that as a disruption, taking things away from him which they don't want him to decide upon at that moment in time. that could be the kind of disruption, but also you get a sense in the article especially the foreign policy aspect where it talks about a second track of behaviour inside the white house,

looking at national security issues, where they plan a furrow which is much more considered to america's allies, and that might be an area where the diplomats and people, when it comes to national security issues, when they are in contact with other governments, they are saying slightly different things to the president, but that is just speculation. that is the line that the article is taking, though. gary, thanks forjoining us. it was a colonial—era law — for 157 years gay sex was categorised as an "unnatural offence" in india, until today. now in a hugely historic decision the country's supreme court has ruled that being gay is no longer a criminal offence. although many in india's largest cities have long been in favour of scrapping the law, there remains strong opposition to it amongst religious groups and in rural communities. 0ur correspondent

divya ayra reports. it's a wave of relief. the end of two decades of legal struggle to take out a victorian law that made same—sex love criminal. the court struck off the law and said it was a weapon for the harassment of india's lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans community. two consenting adults have sex of any kind, in private, that there is consent and it is in private, it will not be an offence under 377. i haven't come out to my parents so i'm going to do that. this was a huge turn of events. i didn't really expect, you know, the whole... ijust came here to listen to whatever the verdict was and now i'm out. the colonial era law known as section 377 categorised gay sex as an unnatural offence and was decriminalised in 2009.

only to be made criminal again in 2013 after an appeal. in its finaljudgment, the supreme court has now said the discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation is a violation of fundamental rights. the rains clearly haven't dampened the spirits here. they all want to soak in the moment and celebrate their freedom. the 157—year—old colonial law meant there was a sense of fear and it pushed many into the closet, but today they are out and proud. activists say there is a tough battle of social stigma and homophobia still to be fought. now it's a battle for the social acceptance, which will take a lot of time. we have to fight the stigma in our home, in the neighbourhood. in offices. it's a long battle.

this victory came after a long legal fight with religious groups and the government, and it's only beginning. now they dare to dream of a right to marry, adopt, and inherit property, just like heterosexuals. divya ayra, bbc news, delhi. well, joining us now from milan is celebrity chef, ritu dalmia, a prominent indian lg bt rights activist. thanks forjoining us. i know you are very busy. what was your reaction when you heard this decision? a sense of relief, that was the first feeling in my head. also very overwhelming, the whole thing has been overwhelming. i have to admit, there wasn't much hope at the point in the last two and a half yea rs, the point in the last two and a half years, it has been a sea salt, positive one minute, and then not ——

a seesaw. when i heard the government was positive about it, i wa nted government was positive about it, i wanted to get back to new delhi as soon wanted to get back to new delhi as soon as wanted to get back to new delhi as soon as i could, and more than anything else is government has really made me restore my faith in our right of constitution and freedom and dignity all over again. what do you think has given this change? -- what do you think has driven this change? it was high time for this change and today there are not many countries... we are not talking about gay rights or marriage, but to be a criminal offence punishable up to death sentence, it was high time that it happened in india. in 2013 this tour was overturned by the supreme court. no one was expecting a —— this law.

but now they have changed it for ever with no going back. it does not mean automatic equality? this is the first step, now that the law is on our side but there are many battles to be fought and the biggest one is the social stigma and the social perception and the education and let's not forget in a country of 1.3 billion people the majority are still in the rural areas and for them when the law is also not on your side and you are fighting with yourself to accept your sexuality it is traumatic, so at least the first step is taken and the law is on your side but the next step will be education and awareness. how likely are you to see gay marriage in your lifetime? laughter young i was very pessimistic ——

lifetime? laughter young i was very pessimistic "ii was very pessimistic and did not expect thisjudgment was very pessimistic and did not expect this judgment by 2018, so if i see it in my lifetime i will be a happy bunny. we don't often interview someone who has a big grin on theirface, but interview someone who has a big grin on their face, but you have. interview someone who has a big grin on theirface, but you have. thanks for joining on theirface, but you have. thanks forjoining us. now, we are going to have a look at the weather forecast. hello. heavy showers that we have been seeing, especially across scotland, they will gradually fade as we go through the night. some patches of rain through the evening, and parts of east anglia and south—east england, that clears away. fresh rain developing in north—east england later in the night. some showers in north—west england and wales. many places, deep into the night, dry, clear and

wales. many places, deep into the night, dry, clearand chilly. temperatures down in single figures for some. still with outbreaks of rain in eastern scotland and north east england. slowly easing and pulling away to the north sea. showers here and there. rain going to 0rkney in the far north of mainland scotland. many places with a dry friday afternoon. the breeze is stronger from the west or north west. that contributes to a cooler feel to the weather for many. particularly in southern areas. few places getting to 20 degrees tomorrow. hello, this is bbc news with martine croxall. the headlines... british airways says it is urgently investigating the theft of customer data, after information from 380,000 payment cards was stolen... more on that in a moment. the us, france, germany and canada have agreed with the uk that the russian government "almost certainly" approved the novichok poisoning in salisbury. an inquest finds gross failures by royal manchester children's hospital contributed to the

death of a toddler. president trump demands the new york times names the white house official behind an article harshly criticising his leadership — from within. campaigners welcome the ruling from india's supreme court that gay sex is no longer a criminal offence. burt reynolds, star of smokey and the bandit, deliverance and boogie nights, has died at the age of 82. members of the northern ireland assembly are to have their pay reduced as the political deadlock at stormont continues — we'll bring we'll bring you the reaction from belfast. breaking news to bring you from brazil. we are hearing that the brazilian presidential candidate, who is currently leading the race in

the presidential election campaign has been stabbed. it happened as he was campaigning, and local media say he is getting help and his sun has posted on twitter that his father was stabbed in the abdomen. this is from our south america correspondent who is in sao paulo. the brazilian presidential candidate currently leading in that campaign, jair bolsonaro has been stabbed as he has been campaigning. more details as they come in. let's get more now on our main story — and british airways says its investigating a major data breach involving customers data from its website and mobile app. the theft involves as many as 380,000 payment cards. we can speak now to doctor daniel dresner, lecturer in cyber security at the university of manchester. hejoins me now via webcam. he thank you forjoining us this

evening. it sounds like a huge number of payment cards that have been accessed over quite a long period of time, why does it take so long to track down? it depends on what they are monitoring. an organisation like british airways, they will need to monitor their security in terms of what they are connected to because they have all kinds of suppliers, there will be airports and carriers, and maintenance. a lot of things that may not necessarily directly affect customers but i wonder how they handled the risk, they cannot monitor everything all the time. the usual adage of taking security seriously, i would usual adage of taking security seriously, iwould be usual adage of taking security seriously, i would be interested in knowing at what point and how frequently they are looking at the kind of transactions that might be going on. of course, all of the other things that may be going on around this. we have seen the stealing of financial information,

but 380,000 details, that is not a huge number given what normally goes on. it could be a smoke screen for something else, are they still on the system doing something more malevolent? british airways made the point that travel and passport details have not been accessed. it's not a case of identity theft but does it feel like they are playing down the importance of payment cards being taken? this is what normally happens, when people have a breach, people are now being told not to worry, it is only this or they only have this part of the picture but they need to remember there is a lot of data breaches in a number of different places. there is a very good website that collates this data. they may only have got the credit card information or debit ca rd credit card information or debit

card information on this occasion, but then will fade collate that data to go for full—scale identity theft, or even the fact that now, people are hearing on the news, scammers will be sending out the so—called fisher e—mails in the hope that they will catch someone. scare them into thinking they had been part of this and that will hit some genuine ba customers. who probably had nothing to do with the particular incident. the other thing that we have been told, that ba learned about this from a third—party, who may that have been? many organisations want to specialise on what they in business. there are all kinds of organisations who monitor their systems for them. they are generally referred to as security as a service. someone will operate a security operation centre and run it

for several customers, looking for anomalies and bad things going on. 0r, anomalies and bad things going on. or, it could just be perhaps one of the organisations in the financial chain, with the process of credit cards, perhaps they picked up something along the way. but they are talking about the website and the app. goodness knows how it has connected to their back—office systems, to those who supply services and of the banks that realise and honour transactions being made. it is extremely complex. doctor daniel dresner, thank you for speaking to us this evening. members of the northern ireland assembly will have their pay cut by about a third because they're not carrying out their full duties. there's been no devolved government since power—sharing collapsed in january last year. 0ur ireland correspondent emma vardy reports. sightseeing! free stormont tour until 3pm! stormont still draws the crowds, even if the political parties stay away. there's been no sitting assembly here for more

than a year and a half. mlas have continued to receive their salaries. today the secretary of state at westminster decided the time had come for that to change. people should only be remunerated for the work they are doing. they quite clearly cannot be doing any work while we have the situation we do in stormont although they are working for their constituents. so how much has been paid out while stormont has been suspended? for the last financial year, more than £4.5 million was paid in salaries to members of the northern ireland assembly. their basic salary isjust under £50,000. today's announcement would bring that figure down tojust under 36,000. northern ireland's two largest parties, the dup and sinn fein, have failed to restore power—sharing despite many rounds of talks. every mla has been punished as a result of the failure of one party, sinn fein, to actually enter the assembly without preconditions, i think it's a tragedy. hitting politicians in the pockets, says sinn fein, is long overdue.

we had said many months ago that the pay should be reduced, that it's not sustainable. 0ur right to maintain full pay in the circumstance we had. we were not because of any delay in relation to that. today, karen bradley also ruled out calling another snap assembly election. so for many voters, it is that cut in pay they hope will focus the politicians‘ minds. because the longer this impasse continues, the more public services and people are suffering. i think it might give them an idea, just a doublethink on what's going on. will it encourage them to get back into government? probably not. ijust think there's too much bad blood between them. it's likely to take more than today's intervention if stormont is to be anything other than a tourist attraction. i'm joined from our belfast studio by the writer and broadcaster malachi 0'doherty.

thank you forjoining us this evening. you are clearly not in our belfast studio, that looks far too domestic for that kind of scene, u nless we domestic for that kind of scene, unless we have bought new furniture! anyway, welcome. what was the public view of the assembly members, maintaining theirfull view of the assembly members, maintaining their full pay whilst not actually doing anything? the public were appalled by it. the most popular idea in northern ireland, across the divide, is that they should not be paid for work they do not do. so, the secretary of state karen bradley, seen as having requested considerably on this, i do not think she wanted to do it. there are good practical reasons as to why she should not have done it, although it seems immoral. what it will do is wrote

the potential of smaller parties in what we may call the middle ground. these are not the problem parties, like the green party, alliance party, sdlp, ulster unionist party. if anything, they have their hope for the future. let's face it. from the sectarian stand—off in the big parties, middle ground will grow and in time replace them. those parties will suffer but if they do not have money to ride out this kind of pressure, the dup and sinn fein, i do not think they will suffer particularly through these cuts but it is nonetheless a popular move. people here have been demanding it and now they have got it and they think it is a good thing. they would like to see their salaries scrapped altogether. why are some parties less tha n altogether. why are some parties less than keen to get into power and run stormont again? the main

deadlock is over the question as to whether we should have an irish language act, a statutory standing for the gaelic language in northern ireland, in the same way that it is in the south, in a similar way to how gaelic has in itsjurisdictions. it is an obstacle, you may be appalled as i am, and as many people are appalled, that we lose out on health service reform. we lose out on rearrangement of budgets for schools, practically every prime minister in northern ireland has crashed its budget, and we lose out on so crashed its budget, and we lose out on so much else simply because the most important demand is for an irish language act. some would say it isa irish language act. some would say it is a test unionism from sinn fein, they see it emblematic of a

failure in the democratic unionist party, to regard nationalists in northern ireland as equals to themselves. in a sense, it is bigger than the irish language act but on paper, the deadlock, the obstacle, is quite simply one thing and that is quite simply one thing and that is an irish language act. thank you very much forjoining us from your gracious home in belfast this evening! the government has abandoned plans to cut national insurance contributions for nearly three—million self—employed workers. in a statement this afternoon, the treasury announced it would not be going ahead with plans that would have benefited lower earners. 0ur political correspondent, alex forsyth is at westminster. alex, what has happened? this tax cut was announced by george osborne a couple of years ago. it would have affected 3 million self—employed workers and it would have saved them about £150 a year towards things like the state pension. the

government has scrapped it, because, it says, of the complexity of the tax system for self—employed workers. there was a group of the very lowest earners, those earning less tha n very lowest earners, those earning less than £6,000 a year, because of one class of payments being abolished, they would have been pushed up to a higher one, meaning they would have paid more. they say they have looked at this and cannot find a way of ironing out the problem so they have scrapped this cut altogether. but you may remember this is the second time the chancellor philip hammond has had to row back on plans to change the tax system for self—employed workers, he had to do something similar last year. labour have picked up on this and say the government is betraying self—employed workers, who some would describe as the engine if the economy. alex forsyth in westminster, thank you. us prosecutors have charged a north korean man alleged to have been involved in creating the malicious software used to cripple the national health service.

the 2017 incident left nhs staff reverting to pen and paper after being locked out of computer systems. parkjin hyok is said to be linked to the lazarus group, a hacking collective is also blamed for the hack on sony pictures in 2014. we can cross to washington and speak to our correspondent dave lee. tell us more about this man and remind us what he did? parkjin hyok is accused by the department of justice of being heavily involved in this lazarus group, they have been known to cyber security firms for some time. it is alleged to have been backed and paid for by the north korean government. we understand they often operate outside the country in china. they have been blamed for a large number of attacks, notably, as you say, the cry of virus which spread worldwide, costing an awful lot of money,

locking out computers, notably the nhs. and the hack on sony pictures, which was hugely embarrassing for the company. they lost some projects from it and the head had to step down. an incredibly embarrassing affair for them. down. an incredibly embarrassing affairfor them. the department of justice say they believe that mr park was instrumental in coordinating and designing some of these attacks. that is why they have charged him today. but how do they bring him to justice? charged him today. but how do they bring him tojustice? with charged him today. but how do they bring him to justice? with great difficulty, and probably never at all! they understand, they told the bbc they understand, that mr park is in north korea, north korea is not going to be in any kind of hurry to give him up. that is typical in these cases, not just give him up. that is typical in these cases, notjust with hackers from north korea but other countries, particularly russia and china. ido countries, particularly russia and china. i do not think it is likely

we will see him facing court or anything in the usa. but what is important, and one of the reasons why the us does this process, it is one of the things they have found out and it can often be used to impose sanctions down the line, and push for more resources to protect against this kind of thing. although the man himself, mr park, he will not see any kind ofjustice, if he is the man behind these attacks, the exercise is useful for other reasons. david lee in washington, thank you. the headlines on bbc news... british airways says it's investigating the theft of customer data from its website and mobile app after personal and financial details were compromised. the us, france, germany and canada back britain's assessment that two russian military intelligence officers were behind the salisbury nerve agent attack. burt reynolds, star of smokey and the bandit, deliverance and boogie nights,

has died at the age of 82. an update on the market numbers for you — here's how london's and frankfurt ended the day. and in the the united states this is how the dow and the nasdaq are getting on. urgent action is being taken against shrewsbury and telford hospital trust by the regulator, the care quality commission. it follows an unannounced inspection a week ago which revealed widespread concerns about the quality of patient care and safety. the trust was already under investigation for a cluster of baby deaths in its maternity services. 0ur social affairs correspondent michael buchanan sent us this update from telford. this shows the level of concern the regulators have about this the problem here is that they simply have not been able to hire the staff to cope with the demand. and failure to cope with the demand. and failure to have enough consultants and junior doctors became apparent during that inspection by the care quality commission last month, when inspectors themselves were pulled

aside by patients because they could not find anyone else and staff they did speak to who were here, they say they felt that some people were being treated in an undignified and uncaring fashion. the trust say that working with the ctc and patients, they are ensuring that protocols are in place but they are already trying to deal with problems in maternity services and the ctc have also taken action today against another of the west midlands hospital trusts, who have allegedly also failed patients. they are working hard to improve their care. 11 million people could save around 75 pounds a year after the regulator announced plans to cap some energy bills. 0fgem's proposals will affect customers on a standard variable tariff as our personal finance correspondent simon gompertz reports. pick any crowd of people... this is st albans market in hertfordshire and it's likely that nearly half of them are on the most expensive gas

and electricity rates their suppliers have on offer. les, who cares for three special needs children, is on the costly standard variable paris now been capped and she's just had a £30 a month increase. things like energy are just going up and up and up. what do you think about capping energy prices? i think it is a brilliant idea if they set it up a reasonable level, any bill that comes in is sickening but we are a typical st albans middle—class family yet we don't turn the heating on in winter. the cap will save money but the problem is it can vary, upwards. the price cap that already exists for people on prepayment meters, that went up by £57 for the average gas and electricity bill in april. and it's going up again in october, it will be £1136 which is what happens

if you have a variable price cap. the new wider price cap starts at that same level but beware, it can be pushed up as well. we cannot control what it costs to produce energy. what we can assure is we will charge a fair price, if costs rise or fall the price cap will rise transparently and automatically to reflect those underlying costs. the biggest saving from the new cap of more than £120 a year on average will be for scottishpower standard rate customers. next is £91; with npower, and a typical £69 saving with british gas. suppliers warn the impact could be that other deals start costing more. companies have to put prices up to cover this is the risk. the flip side argument is actually that is why we need to maintain competition so you force those prices down from competition,

not through market intervention. but competition, people switching suppliers, is not heating up enough which is why we are getting a price cap. a coroner has ruled that the lead singer of the cranberries, dolores 0‘reardon, died because of a ‘tragic accident‘. the 46—year—old drowned in the bath at a london hotel injanuary after drinking heavily. an inquest heard that her blood/alcohol level was four times over the legal drink—driving limit and could have caused her to pass out in the bath. one of the uk‘s leading female scientists is to donate her two—million—pound science prize to help women, ethnic minority and refugee students to study physics. professor damejocelyn bell—burnell was part of a team who discovered radio pulsars more than 50 years ago. but her contribution went

unrecognised at the time. 0ur science correspondent pallab ghosh reports. 50 years ago, professor bell burnell discovered a new type of star, that emits pulses of radiation. the work received the nobel prize for physics in 1974, but it was her male colleagues, not her, that were named as the winners. the award of the breakthrough prize for her work in part writes what many see of a great injustice and now she wants to use the prize money to fund a scholarship to get more female and black physics students into research jobs. i hope it will increase the flexibility of thinking, the openness to new ideas, new results, new ways of doing things. i hope that that will enable other breakthroughs in physics, because we have a more diverse body. black and female students are underrepresented in physics research. in 2016, more than three times

as many boys studied a—level physics than girls. in the same year, the number of black first—year undergraduates was just 85, 1.7% of the total intake, half of what it should be. today, we're talking about velocity... female and black applicants for research jobs face an unconscious bias against them according to the professor. scholarship could counterbalance that unintended discrimination. we want physics to matter to everybody, we want physics to be important in everybody‘s lives and we want everybody to feel there‘s an opportunity for them in physics no matter what their background and where they come from. professor bell—burnell became one of the greatest scientists of their generation, against the odds. and now she wants her scholarship to help others in a similar position to follow in her footsteps. pallab ghosh, bbc news. tributes are coming in for burt

reynolds, the hollywood actor who has died in florida at the age of 82. mark warburton, who co—starred with him in the film boogie nights in 1997 said "rest in peace to a legend and a friend". wesley snipes referenced a line from the burt reynolds film smokey and the bandit, tweeting he will never forget our dinners, laughs and gems you dropped, meet new was one of the greatest joys of my dropped, meet new was one of the greatestjoys of my adult life and artistic career. you were the man then and now for ever in my book. you have nothing but the open road now. kevin smith, the american film—maker, said "the bandits stole our hearts for decades, i love how he worked with his friends as often as we could and showcased the fun of movie—making in the end credits of his hits. he was a true american

icon, hate to see him go". time for a look at the weather. some heavy showers today. in scotland, rumbles of thunder. showers which have been affecting northern ireland and northern england. in england and wales, this cloud and rain has been living through. damp across east anglia and south—east england. some of us, though, with sunshine. this is the view of the london area before the rain got in to end the day. 0vernight, its drive. losing rain from the far south. bringing in further outbreaks of rain in eastern scotla nd further outbreaks of rain in eastern scotland and north east england. most scotland and north east england. m ost pla ces scotland and north east england. most places will be dry, single figures, a chilly feel in the morning. sunshine in the morning. the further you are from this area of low pressure in the north sea, in

parts of eastern scotland, and north—east england in the day, some outbreaks of rain. elsewhere, with the exception of the odd shower around, it looks mainly dry. after a sunny start, most places remain dry. the breeze from the north—west is going to be stronger than in recent days. that adds an extra cooling factor to the weather. i think the corner change, most noticeable further south you are, we have had some days of temperatures in the low 20s in warmer areas, not many getting as high as 20 degrees as we go through friday. temperatures in the mid to upper teens. going into the mid to upper teens. going into the weekend, we look into the atla ntic the weekend, we look into the atlantic this time, as weather comes in. a fresh frontal system comes in. uncertainty as to where it will park itself. heavy rain in western england. it could avoid the southern counties of england, but that is open to question, and much of

scotla nd open to question, and much of scotland and northern ireland. here, it will be mainly dry on saturday. temperatures in the mid to upper teens. something to work for in the detail on saturday but on sunday, this weather system affects england and wales. sinking further south with the cloud, hardly any rain. showers in northern ireland and north—west scotland. sunny spells to be had. in the sunshine on sunday, is likely temperatures will edge higher. and in southern parts of the uk, higher still as we go through next week. more weather online and the world weather coming up in 30 minutes. hello, i‘m ros atkins, this is 0utside source. russian and british officials clash at the un over the salisbury nerve agent attack. the us, canada, france and germany back uk claims that russian intelligence agents are responsible. celebrations in india as the supreme court scraps a law from colonial times that banned gay sex.

i‘m finally glad that i can say that i‘m not a criminal in this country any more. some of donald trump‘s closest advisers deny writing an anonymous article attacking the president and speaking of "a quiet resistance" at the white house. we will talk to anthony. and we would hear the trip it‘s been made to actor burt reynolds.