tonight at 10: there could be a brexit deal within weeks, according to the eu, but they say it depends on realistic negotiation. with just 200 days to brexit day, the eu's chief negotiator has raised the prospect of agreement within two months. if we are realistic, i want to reach an agreement on the first stage of this negotiation, which is the brexit treaty, within six or eight weeks. but theresa may has been warned again, by senior colleagues, that her chequers plan could turn part of the conservative party against her. there are almost 80 colleagues already who are willing to vote in the house of commons to protest the chequers deal. it would leave us half in and half out — it's not leaving the eu properly. we'll have the latest on the brexit process at westminster and in brussels. also tonight... lives torn apart in seconds — the coroner speaks at the inquest into the deaths of those caught up in the westminster bridge

attack last year. boosted by the hot weather and the world cup — the uk economy grew more strongly than expected over the summer. we report on the paralmilitary—style punishment attacks still being meted out in northern ireland. the baby girl born with her heart outside her body is to be allowed home at last. doctors say it's a miraculous case. what a way to bring up three figures, alastair cook. and, batting out in style in his final test innings for england before his international retirement. and coming up in sportsday on bbc news: scotland take the advantage in their opening nations league match, but can they hold on against albania at hampden park? good evening.

a brexit deal on the first stage of the uk's withdrawal can be reached within a couple of months, according to the eu's chief negotiator michel barnier, but he said it was dependent on realistic negotiations. and he warned again that several issues remained unresolved. a special brexit summit of eu leaders is now expected in november. mr barnier‘s comments came as some senior conservatives warned again that they will opppose theresa may's plan, agreed at chequers this summer. that plan is meant to "maintain a common rule book for all goods" and avoid a hard border with northern ireland. our political editor laura kuenssberg has the latest. arriving at the office back door. work in the red box, tory woes splashed over the paper the prime

minister's clutching, too. in 200 days, she's to be the leader that takes us out of the eu. but the actual deal must be done long before. today, europe's negotiator sounded more friend than foe. i think that if we are realistic, we are able to reach an agreement on the first stage of this negotiation, which is the brexit treaty, within six or eight weeks. the rivalries at home are bitter, though. boris johnson, holed up at his country house, no word on his private life, but objections aplenty to the government's plan for brexit. many tories at westminster hate the so—called chequers plan, where parts of the economy would stay closely tied to the eu, but with no hard border in ireland.

and one former brexit minister says dozens of his colleagues would vote against it, and it could even break the party. the chequers answer is threatening to split the tory party in two, with even proponents of remaining in the eu opposing chequers. your plan is where? where's your alternative? we will bring forward our ideas, but what we're not going to do is pre—empt them today. the fundamental issue here is that we've ended up in a trap, in a sense, of our own design which we need help the government out of. but there's no sign of the government budging. ministers hope enough mps will choose a deal rather than none at all. will the chequers deal survive? of course it will. could the conservative party split over chequers, do you think? no, i don't think we will. i think we'll reach a good agreement and all have the right brexit that will work for the country. hello. yes, i'm sorry, i've got a bit of a sore throat. do you think the chequers deal can survive, mrgove?

this is more than tory squabbling about europe, way past the point of who backed leave or remain, who hates or really supports brexit. but this is whether theresa may can find a compromise with the rest of the eu that ultimately she can get through parliament. the belief in government is most mps would support her rather than choose unknown chaos and no deal. but the truth — with no majority of her own, there can be no guarantee. laura kuenssberg, bbc news, westminster. we'll speak to laura kuenssberg in a moment, but first, let's talk to our europe editor katya adler in brussels. can we asked directly whether what michel barnier has said today does represent some kind of progress? well, if you ask me if theresa may has reason to be chair of out a yes, absolutely. in the past months of negotiations, she liked the rest of

us, has got used to michel barnier wagging his finger, tapping his feet impatiently, looking at his watch and saying time is running out when it comes to brexit. today he said it is possible that within 6—8 weeks a brexit deal will be done. he also had a positive words the theresa may's much maligned chequers proposal. he said it was an important and useful document and even had warm words for the prime minister herself. but if you listen very carefully to michel barnier‘s words today, the change was able to them rather than content. he went back once again to the big hurdles that remain before a brexit deal can be reached this autumn, such as resolving the irish border question and pointed out again that the eu has firm objections to key elements of that chequers plan. so you could ask, why did he bother changing his total in the first place? that is because chrome really is running out now and eu leaders want a brexit deal this autumn. they can see the

political turmoil surrounding the prime minister at home and have decided to throw her as much of a lifeline as they can, even possibly changing michel barnier‘s mandate but without compromising their phone brexit principles. expect those high need michel barnier words to spread over to salzburg next week but this is about atmosphere, not a sea change in the eu's negotiating position. thank you. now to westminster and we can talk about atoms there. what happens to the conservative party of theresa may persists with the chequers plan?m this atmosphere any stray comment any warning, any noises can provoke huge agony, huge panic, largely because the time is now running extremely short. less than a school term to go before the brexit deal was meant to be done. that essentially means westminster feels like it is on a state of high alert.

the view in government is it wouldn't be the right thing to change their position. they have absolutely no intention of barging. for the last two years the view has been pretty rough, what they need to do is crack on, keep their heads down, do the work, persist and never give up. right now, though, even though the critics of chequers are not the majority in the tory party, they are deadly serious about what they are deadly serious about what they are deadly serious about what they are trying to do, which is force the prime minister to change her position. remember, whilst the loudest voices back to leave in the brexit camp, there were also those oi'i brexit camp, there were also those on the remain side, look at the chequers proposals and say they don't add up to something that is coherent or something that is viable or realistic for this country in the long term. as things stand right now, there is no sign whatsoever that the prime minister will be barged off the course she has chosen to pursue. she will be cheered by

warmer words coming out from the european union, but my goodness, she faces a lonely and difficult autumn here in westminster. laura, many thanks. and katya adler in brussels, as well. the coroner at the inquests into the deaths of the five people killed in the westminster bridge attack in march last year has described how the lives of many were "to the attacker, khalid masood, raced his car along the pavement, driving into pedestrians before jumping out and stabbing to death pc keith palmer outside parliament. at the start of the inquest proceedings, a minute's silence was observed for the victims, who were british, american and romanian. our home affairs correspondent daniel sandford reports from the old bailey. the westminster bridge attack last march was the first in a year of terror, and left four members of the public, one police officer and the attacker, dead. opening their inquest this morning, the chief coroner, judge lucraft qc, said the lives of many were torn apart by 82 seconds of high and terrible drama.

among the lives, those of kurt and melissa cochran from utah in the united states — tourists in london, calmly walking across westminster bridge when tragedy struck. kurt cochran was the first to be hit by the attacker khalid masood's car. he pushed his wife melissa out of the way, before being knocked over the bridge's balustrade — falling five metres to the thames footpath below. in court, melissa's sister, angela stoll, called him "the man who saved my sister". she read a tribute from melissa, describing him as "my inspiration, my rock star and — most of all — my hero". next, the car hit a retired window cleanerfrom clapham, leslie rhodes, dragging him 33 metres along the bridge. his family said he was greatly missed. his niece amanda said she always remembers him as smiling and happy. then, aysha frade was knocked i7 metres into the path of a number 53 bus, falling under its wheels.

in court, her husband john spoke of their two young daughters and said, "she was cruelly and brutally ripped away from us". the last victim on the bridge was andreea cristea from romania. she was knocked over the railing, falling 12 metres into the river thames, before being recovered 100 metres downstream. her family said, "after two excruciating weeks of hoping for a recovery, andreea died. it was heartbreakingly painful". the cctv the court watched was often harrowing and graphic, showing victims being thrown into the air and under vehicles. before it was shown, some of the victims' relatives took the opportunity to leave the courtroom. 0nce off the bridge, masood crashed his vehicle and ran round to the gates of parliament, where pc keith palmer challenged him, but he knocked the unarmed officer to the ground and stabbed him to death. his sister, angela, told the court, "keith died protecting strangers whilst doing hisjob".

khalid masood, who was carrying two knives, was shot three times by a close protection officer and died soon afterwards. his inquest will follow the inquest of his victims next month. daniel sanford, bbc news, at the old bailey. a court martial has begun of two sas soldiers accused of "negligently performing their duties", after 3 army reservists died on a i6—mile march in the brecon beacons. the men — known only as ia and ib — were in charge on the day injuly 2013 when the march took place, in temperatures of up to 28 degrees celsius. the court heard several others taking part also showed signs of heat exhaustion — one as early as 11 o'clock in the morning. both men deny the charges and the hearing continues. the hot summer and england's performance at the world cup both gave a boost to the economy, according to experts analysing the latest economic figures. growth increased by 0.6% between may and july —

the fastest pace for almost a year. 0ur economics editor kamal ahmed is here. take a smooth and what do you think is interesting? if we remember to the earlier part of the year, the economy was a rather sickly patient. if we look at the figure for growth from february to april, that came in at the princely of 0%, in other words, no growth. terrible weather in the winter, more than 30 days of freezing temperatures, the usual post—christmas lull in the economy led to that very poor figure. today, as you say, a much betterfigure, zero points 6% growth for the uk economy, building on a trend from last month of 0.4%, so there is some growth in the trend. why is it happening? two big sectors are doing better. they are construction and retail. if there is no snow on the

ground, you can build houses, house building has been strong in the last 3-4 building has been strong in the last 3—4 months and retail. the world cup and hot weather, but those together, out more, shopping more, enjoying restau ra nts a nd out more, shopping more, enjoying restaurants and entertainment. so that has been why it has been stronger but is not quite time to hang out the economic bunting in all senses. that brexit uncertainty still weighing on the economy, but if there was better news, as you heard earlier in the programme, that might boost that. the final point is growth today is in exactly the same place as it was this time last year. so, no substance, no change of stub zones on the economy so far. kamal ahmed, thank you. two men have been sentenced to life imprisonment for the murder of a jeweller who was kidnapped and killed in a robbery that went wrong. 74—year—old ramniklal jogiya was bundled into a van and tortured, in a plot to steal £200,000 worth of gold jewellery. a third man was convicted of manslaughter and jailed for 16

years, as our correspondent ben ando reports. disguised in a burqa and pushing a wheeled shopping trolley, robert thomas jervis enters a jeweller‘s in january. he heads to the back of the store, where he believes up to £200,000 worth of gold jewellery is waiting in the safe. the owner of the shop was 74—year—old ramnikal jogiya. the gang had been watching him and his store in leicesterfor a while. as mrjogiya locked up and left as usual, they were waiting nearby with a van, and as he passed, they grabbed him. inside the van, he was beaten so violently beaten so violently one of his biceps was torn from its bone, and he suffered serious brain injuries. the gang left him to die on a quiet country lane. but the robbery was a failure. althouthervis had the code, the jeweller‘s safe is also had a time lock and would not open. he left empty—handed. we showed the court the level of planning,

sophistication and violence used, and proved that the defendants would stop at nothing to obtain the security codes they wanted. jervis, who is 2a, was jailed for at least 33 years. his accomplice, charles mccauley, aged 20, will spend at least 30 years behind bars. a third man, calum reeve, was handed a 16 year sentence for manslaughter. in statements read to the court describing the impact of what had happened, mrjogiya's relatives said he had been just days away from celebrating his 49th wedding anniversary. they said he was a loving, peaceful man who was the foundation of their family. his death, they added, through its pure aggression and hate, had changed for ever how they live. ben ando, bbc news, birmingham. the police match commander on the day of the hillsborough football disaster in 1989 has appeared in court to deny multiple charges of manslaughter. david duckenfield faces 95 counts, one for each liverpool fan who died in a crush at the ground during an fa cup semifinal. a provisional trial date has

been set forjanuary. french police have launched an investigation into a stabbing in paris that left at least four people, including two british men, in a critical condition. in total, seven people were injured in a series of knife attacks. the incidents took place late last night along a canal in the north—east of the city. the attacker, reportedly an afghan national, has been arrested. the us state department has confirmed it's ordered the closure of the washington mission of the palestine liberation 0rganisation. a statement said plo leaders had failed to engage with us efforts to bring about peace with israel, and had attempted to prompt an investigation of israel by the international criminal court. a senior palestinian official called the decision a ‘dangerous escalation'. sweden is facing a period of political uncertainty, following the rise of a right—wing anti—immigration party in the general election.

the big centre—left and centre—right blocks are virtually tied, with not enough seats to govern alone. both have insisted they are not prepared to form a coalition with the right—wing sweden democrats, who took 18% of the vote. 0ur correspondentjenny hill is in stockholm. just underline for us the significance of the outcome of the election there. yeah the nationalists have spent the day relishing what they say is the real election. they are still sweden's largest party but they have taken 18% of the vote. in a country like sweden, with a long liberal tradition, that is a remarkable result. they are also causing upheaval in what is a relatively complicated political landscape here. it could be weeks before we

know what sweden's next government will look like. that is because you can broadly divide the parliament here into two political blocs — the centre left and centre right. neither of those groupings has won enough seats to form a government. they could try to form a minority government, but to do that, they will have to seek support either from political rivals or from the sweden democrats. the main parties here say they won't get into bed with the far right for now. in the meantime, swedes are digesting the news that the far right have made such significant gains. some people say they are horrified by the anti—immigrant rhetoric of the sweden democrats and that they are embarrassed, like so many other eu states, in the wake of the migrant crisis, seems to be shifting to the right. every year in northern ireland, paramilitary—style groups carry out dozens of so—called

punishment attacks which leave many of their victims with severe and often life—changing injuries. last year, such attacks injured more than 100 people — 28 of whom were shot. the bbc has spoken to a group which admits involvement in punishment attacks, crimes they attempt to justify as a form of streetjustice. this report by our correspondent stacey dooley starts with one of many calls to the emergency services. you're about to hear a 999 call from the aftermath of a paramilitary—style attack in belfast. what part of his body's injured? his two ankles and his two knees and his head. please, look. sorry, his two ankles, his two knees and where? the back of his head. masked men assaulted rab with a hammer and then shot him in the legs. i needed two staples on this side. 37 on this side, stitched here, stitched here, stitched behind my knee.

i've a bullet still lodged in the back of my knees which it's too dangerous to take out. so, it's still in there? it has to stay there. he says he thinks it was revenge for a fight he'd had with a man a few weeks beforehand. a masked man stood guard over his partner and two of her young kids. just even the kids, the way they were screaming, too. i was just trying to keep them calm, but every time they heard a bullet, or every time they heard a shot, they were getting more and more distraught. unlike rab, most of those attacks are accused by paramilitaries of crime, anti—social behaviour or selling drugs. i'm on the divis estate in belfast, where stephen hughes runs a youth centre. in the last two years, four teenagers who attended here have been shot. are they all live? all alive, thank god. but all damaged, and damaged for a long, long time. my argument is, how does it stop crime?

how does it prevent drugs? it doesn't. we have to say that this is not acceptable. armed groups on both sides issue threats as a warning. this 19—year—old from divis has dozens of convictions, but paramilitaries have also threatened him three times. we're just... see to be honest, see the way we are all walking about now? we are alljust whacking tablets into us, because we know we're getting shot. so we can't feel it, know what i mean? opinions on the divis estate seem split. plenty want to see the back of the attacks. 0thers appear to offer support. some have lacked trust in the police since the troubles and think the attacks are a quick form of justice. we are totally committed to trying to tackle it, but it's proved really, really difficult, largely because of the lack of engagement that we get from victims and their families. and you can understand that. they have wanted to maintain their position and status within communities. they are organised crime groups now, they are exploiting people within their community. i want to question a paramilitary group about how it can

justify attacks like these. 0ne republican group agrees to an interview. you are essentially crippling and abusing members within your own society. that's thuggish behaviour. how can you justify that? we know we're hurting people seriously, but we're hurting a parasite, you know. we do feel pressured into it a lot, and there's a big appetite for it. if we go to shoot someone, it's a calculated decision that this person deserves it. we believe that if you have to cause a bit of pain, it'll help in the long run. do you accept that perhaps other people might be drawn to these paramilitary groups because they want to justify their criminal behaviour? you would come across that, but they are easy to see through. we are just normal men. there's none of us out around acting gangsters with gold chains or cars. we could be living next door to your grandmother.

and that's why people fear us so much. this year, the number of attacks has started to reduce, but at the moment, they are a long way from stopping altogether. stacey dooley, bbc news, belfast. and stacey dooley‘s full report for bbc three is available to watch now on iplayer. a baby girl who survived being born with her heart outside her body, and without a breastbone, is to be brought home after nine months in hospital. vanellope wilkins from nottingham made medical history when she was born with one of the world s rarest conditions. specialists say her recovery has been remarkable, as our medical corrspondent fergus walsh reports. this is the moment vanellope's parents dreamed of, taking her home from hospital. it is just for one night for a trial home visit, but it shows the remarkable progress this baby girl has made. she has fought all

the way to be here. nine months down the line. it doesn't seem real. she is finally sat in ourfront room. during pregnancy, ultrasound scans clearly showed vanellope's heart was outside her chest. so, at birth at glenfield hospital in leicester, she was immediately sent for surgery. it took three operations to put her heart back inside and close the wound. her parents were told she had less than a 10% chance of survival, but vanellope has defied the odds. she has no breastbone and so nothing protecting her heart, which is why she wears this purple brace, which will be crucial once she starts to crawl. in a few years' time, she will need more surgery to build a breastbone. the bigger she is, the easier it will be for us to do some reconstructive surgery and using her own cartilages and bones or using some artificial materials.

vanellope was transferred to queen's medical centre in nottingham in may to be nearer home. she's continued to make excellent progress, but needs help to breathe, and sometimes a mask, to ensure a constant supply of oxygen. her parents are being taught how to manage her care. if they are taking over charge of a child who needs breathing support to sustain their life, they need to be adequately trained and competent to manage all the equipment, to know when to escalate care, to check for help and to manage emergency situations at home. despite the challenges ahead, vanellope's parents say that they are looking forward to having her home for good. fergus walsh, bbc news. serena williams' angry protest in the us open final has been defended by the women's tennis association. she had been docked a game for calling the umpire a thief and a liar in

a confrontation that also saw her penalised for smashing her racquet. she claims she's been a victim of sexism, and that male players would have been shown more tolerance. 0ur sports correspondent richard conway has more details. you owe me an apology. i haven't cheated in my life. it's a debate that has split tennis. was serena williams fighting back against unequal standards in the sport, or did she cross a line and was rightly punished? initially warned for receiving instructions from her coach, she then lost a point for smashing her racket. still incensed at being accused of cheating, she directed her anger at umpire carlos ramos. you will never, ever, ever be on another court of mine as long as you live. you are the liar. you stole a point from me. you're a thief, too. those words prompted him to increase the penalty by awarding an entire game to the eventual winner, naomi 0saka. after the match, serena williams claimed she was fighting for a greater cause than simply her own. i've seen other men call

other umpires several things, and i'm here fighting for women's rights and for women's equality, and for all kinds of stuff. and for me to say thief and for him to take a game, it made me feel like it was a sexist remark. those claims have been backed by the head of the women's tennis association. the wta believes there should be no difference in the standards of tolerance provided to the emotions expressed by men versus women and is committed to working with the sport to ensure that all players are treated the same. that has prompted further debate, with the international tennis federation siding with the umpire, saying he acted with professionalism and integrity. but on the streets of new york today, it was the 23—times grand slam winner who was attracting support. it feels like a lot of times they think the worst of us, if that makes sense, rather than saying, i'm a woman, i'm strong, you

made a mistake and you need to apologise to me publicly. i think there's sexism and some racism involved. at the same time, she's got to stay in control of her actions as well, and she can only really blame herself for losing it like that. this is you at the us open. serena williams remains a tennis legend after spending her early years overcoming racism and financial obstacles. a seventh us open victory would have served as a crowning moment. instead, the final will be remembered for very different reasons. richard conway, bbc news. alastair cook began his international career with a cenutry against india back in 2006, and today england's most prolific batsman ended his test career in exactly the same way. he was given a long standing ovation after scoring a century in the fifth test against india at the oval, as our sports correspondent joe wilson reports. it works like this — they stand, he delivers. alastair cook turning the fairy tale ending others imagined into his reality,

batting the way he's always batted. through 80, past 90, cook's aim seemed as straight and true as ever before. nervous? well, composure was lost... ..by the indian fielders. 0ne run became five when the wayward throw reached the boundary and cook was there, past 100. in his final innings, his defining image. after this, some may wonder why on earth he is now retiring. it's just time, it's time for me, it's time for my family. and now it makes it even better, it's always nice, people wanting a little bit more than trying to kick you out. to go out on your own terms makes it even better. among those watching today, some who know him as dad, a team—mate who's known cook his entire career and those