hello, you're watching afternoon live — i'm simon mccoy. today at 2pm: do you have the confidence of your party? plot? what plot? tory euro—sceptics meet to discuss alternatives to the prime minister's brexit plans, but say they're not out to get her out. she is a fantastically dutiful prime minister, and she has my support. ijust want her to change one item of policy. the tory group also claim a hard border with ireland can be avoided by using technology — so britain would be able to leave the single market and customs union. we know who you are — come and tell your story. vladimir putin's message to the two russians identified as the salisbury attckers. they're civilians, he says — not military, or criminal. translation: we know who they are, we found them. i hope that they will turn themselves and will tell eve ryo ne turn themselves and will tell everyone about themselves. there is nothing special, nothing nothing criminal there. coming up on afternoon live, all the sport. we will be talking test cricket.

it's already been described as a fairy tale and now former captain michael vaughan has hailed it as a special week for test match cricket. just what the sport needed. thanks, and ben has all the weather. we are going to see some sunshine for the rest of the afternoon in most places, a cool and fresh appeal but our weather is quiet compared with the storms raging in other parts of the world. a full update before half—past. thanks, ben. also coming up: closing at a record rate — more than 250 free—to—use cash machines are disappearing a month. we'll find out why. hello everyone. this is afternoon live. "chuck chequers" — that's the message from the group of tory euro—sceptics whose opposition to theresa may's brexit

plans has been increasingly vocal. but whether or not their call is loud enough to spark a leadership contest is still not clear. members of the european research group met last night. it's reported they did discuss ousting theresa may — but how much support they have, and who they would support to take her on... well they're not there yet, it seems. today, the erg has unveiled what it says is a solution to the irish border question. downing street has reiterated that chequers is "the only serious, credible and negotiable plan which is on the table' leila nathoo reports from westminster. brexiteers walking tall in westminster this morning with one purpose, to try to prove they have an alternative vision for how britain's departure from the eu would work. but what of talk that some of their colleagues on the tory backbenches are now openly discussing a challenge to the person in charge? does brexit mean new leadership? the prime minister is worthy of support, she is extremely dutiful

in attending to the business of brexit, i want a change in policy and i have made that clear, as have many of my friends in parliament. they say they have their own plan for how to resolve the irish border question, the crucial issue at the heart of the brexit talks. the paper is a fabulously practical, sensible process and the only way we are going to resolve this issue and thereby unlock the negotiations, that is what this is about, this is about unlocking the negotiations, and the way to do that is by engaging at a practical level, which this hey, does in a way which has not yet been done. their solution to keep goods flowing freely between the republic and northern ireland relies on technology and checks away from the border. too late in the day for wrangling, say some. we are running out of road, the final decision is going to be

taken, the time for political gains and leadership kids and all of that is over. we will be facing the decision within weeks, not months, which will define the prosperity of the nation for a generation or more. do you have the confidence of your party? would you fight a leadership challenge...? though her critics are circling, she is not in imminent danger yet. there are not yet the numbers to force her out or and obvious rival candidates. but in the commons, taunts from the labour leader. the government's brexit negotiations are an abject failure, i can see that by the sullen faces behind her. and that's notjust the erg group, it's the whole lot of them chewable theresa may was standing firm behind her strategy. what we have put forward is a plan which delivers on the result of the referendum, ensures that we take control of our money and our borders and laws but does so in a way that protects jobs and livelihoods across the united kingdom. negotiations with brussels

are coming to a head but westminster will see its fair share of brexit battles in the weeks and months to come. leila nathoo, bbc news. let's cross over to parliament now and our chief political correspondent, vicki young. as far as as farasa as far as a plot goes, it's clear as mud to me. what am i missing? we keep saying this but it feels like it's coming to a head in one way or another. of course because we are leaving the eu in six months‘ time. something is going to have to happen. i think those who are supporting the chequers plan feel that the mood music from brussels is becoming a little bit more positive. those on the other side don‘t agree with that. let‘s speak to one of them now, nigel evans the conservative mp. chequers is the only plan on the table, that‘s a downing street says, the only negotiable thing and the only thing they say works when it comes to

northern ireland. why are it? michel barnier said only this week that the opposition is dead. today president juncker was addressing the european parliament, he said after brexit, britain is out of the single market in all its aspects and there was huge applause from meps. that means basically we can't. .. huge applause from meps. that means basically we can't... ending free movement of people, we can't be in the customs union, this sort of chequers thing, i think is over. they have said it, we believe it. it's not down down well in constituencies across the country. i suspect what's going to happen, you mention northern ireland, the european reform group today published a paper on northern ireland where a look at new technology and equivalence. also both authorities working together, which happens now. there's a lot of

smuggling of petrol, cigarettes and alcohol and drugs between northern ireland and ireland and both authorities get together and work together to try and stamp that out. that will continue in the future as well. i'm quite hopeful that we can i'iow well. i'm quite hopeful that we can now move onto the next stage which is to look what happens after chequers, whether it's some form of free trade agreement which is something we all want, it means they can still sell us their hundreds of thousands of cars, millions of bottles of champagne and all that sort of stuff, we will carry on buying it and there will not be the sort of friction that some people who voted remain are predicting. i think some of them are even hoping that happens. if this main policy of theresa may‘s has to be junked that happens. if this main policy of theresa may‘s has to bejunked or it‘s motor down, she must go as well? what do you say to your collea g u es well? what do you say to your colleagues who seem to be against?” wish they wouldn't. in the last election, even on an awful manifesto, theresa scored many more

votes than david cameron even, her predecessor. she has promised to deliver brexit and that's what we want. none of them can come up with the name of somebody who would be better than theresa may. theresa has got resilience. we have seen her operate. what i hope is that they get back in their boxes because i don't believe there's any appetite. you get the odd mp. i've been a memberof you get the odd mp. i've been a member of parliament the 26 years, the team would not be the tea room without some mp coming up to you saying the leader has to go. but as faras saying the leader has to go. but as far as the overwhelming opinion of conservative backbenchers and ministers, it is that they want to back theresa may and people like myself want her to now nuanced the chequers deal to something that is going to be acceptable to the country. the last thing we want, and this is for the people up in the north of england, the north—west, where i represent and the

north—east, we are sick and tired of being told we are racists, we are thick and we didn't know what we we re thick and we didn't know what we were voting for. yes, we didn't know what we were voting for and it wasn't brexit in name only. too many people might perceive the check deal —— the chequers deal as being brexit in name only, as it stands. we need that policy evolving backwards, back to what theresa may spoke about in the lancaster house agreement. to what theresa may spoke about in the lancaster house agreementm to what theresa may spoke about in the lancaster house agreement. it a bit late in the day to be changing it again when we only have six months to go. what intrigues me is that there are some in the cabinet, brexiteers, you are backpacking checkers because they believe it‘s best to get out, actually, why risk not having brexit at all and writing down her plan? —— are hacking chequers. there is a bit of a hop skip and ajump chequers. there is a bit of a hop skip and a jump brexit, you do a bit i'iow skip and a jump brexit, you do a bit now what's wrong with that? at a general election, people will look at it and say that's not what we voted for this. the country was split over it. it was split but we

did vote to leave the eu. as a lever, i'm always interested when remainers tell me why leave voted the way they did. the fact is, they wa nt the way they did. the fact is, they want to leave in its entirety and that's what theresa may said at the beginning. this is a negotiation and i don't expect michel barnier presidentjuncker to i don't expect michel barnier president juncker to be excited. they are quite living, they will lose all that money, which will now go to the national health service. we will do our own free trade deals throughout the world, rolling over those ones that are done with the eu, we will control our borders, deciding what level of immigration is right for us where it's going to come from. that the me is the brexit that the people voted for. that's the brexit i hope theresa may will be able to deliver. i'm defending theresa's read minds even if at times it seems she. thank you. -- theresa's red lines. that is the message from the majority of backbenchers who feel now is not the right time to get a new leader.

russia‘s president vladimir putin says the two men that britain accuses of carrying out the nerve agent attack on sergei and yulia skripal in salisbury are not criminals. britain says alexander petrov and ruslan boshirov are members of russia‘s military intelligence — but president putin says the men are civilians, and he hopes they will give their side of events. russian state tv is reporting that one of the suspects will give his version of events next week. jenny kumah reports. on their way to allegedly carry out a deadly nerve agent attack in salisbury. the british government says these two men are russian military intelligence officers responsible for the plot to murder the former russian spy sergei skripal and his daughter. they have been named as alexander petrov and ruslan boshirov. russia has always denied any involvement, but now president putin is saying his government has found the two suspects and appears to be saying they are not intelligent agents. translation: we obviously looked at who these people are.

we found them. they will appear soon, i hope, and tell you everything themselves. there‘s nothing particularly special or criminal here. translation: are they civilians? translation: sorry? translation: are they civilians? translation: i can't hear you. translation: civilians? of course they are. just last week scotland yard and the crown prosecution service announced there was enough evidence to charge the men. the police released images showing their arrival at gatwick airport on march 2nd, two days before the poisoning. from gatwick they travelled to east london, staying in a hotel where investigators found traces of novichok. on sunday, march 4th, they travelled to salisbury by train, and were seen near the skripals‘ house around the time it‘s thought the nerve agent was sprayed onto the door handle. just last week a russian spokeswoman

dismissed the allegations, saying the whole story was created to punish russia and to introduce sanctions. there is no prospect of the suspects being brought to trial in the uk as russia doesn‘t extradite nationals accused of crime. president putin‘s latest words though at least indicate that the men are in russia and known to the authorities. that the men are in russia and known to the authorities. jenny kumah, bbc news. our correspondent oleg boldyrev is in moscow. the president was answering a planted question. what do we think his strategy is with this announcement? all along, moscow has tried to find out how much the british investigators now. now it needs to provide an explanation which would still keep in line with their overall strategy that russia isa their overall strategy that russia is a victim here. to a certain

extent, the russian stance, we needed to be part of investigation in order to trust the results, still works there. it can present them and still deny there is anything special about them. of course, the murder of alexander litvinenko serves as a good illustration here. the two men accused of lacing his tea with polonium never denied they went to london, they said they went to see a football game and to talk to their old pal from the football game and to talk to their old palfrom the kgb. they were saying the polonium came in later and it was a crude smear campaign. something along these lines can still be used today. these two men, named by the british, one supposedly coming forward next week we‘re told by russian state tv, how safe are they? will they be getting medals or looking quickly at life insurance?” think time to be afraid has certainly passed. if russian authorities wanted them to be

eliminated, they would probably do it sooner. of course, we are in the field of wild speculation. there‘s very little stats on what the fate of the agents with these botched jobs are. these are normally people with head and to start with. when president putin says to you, come forward and make yourself known, do you have a choice? probably not. probably there is a very clever campaign already in the works, which is designed to show that the british police dogs are barking up the wrong tree, so to say. perhaps the russian tv have found a safe ground for these two to come up and present a nice story which will be played time and again on russian tv and used in the speeches by the russian representatives. is there a sense the russians are now, they give the english phrase, but getting their ducks in a row? they were caught a

bit by surprise by how much the uk authorities had worked out? they certainly hope there will be further details. knowing those, russia would be able to establish perhaps the source of british intelligence in this case. always useful to know your enemy here. in this field. i think russia will continue with the same strategy, denying that there is anything provable, saying it‘s a plot, saying it‘s a smear campaign, just as in so many cases over four oi’ just as in so many cases over four or five years. we‘ve seen this in ukraine, with the events of the downed plane, we have seen these accusations of the us election meddling, so the general approach will probably still be used. thank you. you‘re watching afternoon live, these are our headlines tory euro—sceptics meet to discuss alternatives to the prime minister‘s brexit plans — but say they‘re not out — to get her out. it comes as brexiteer tory mps say technology is key to avoiding a hard irish border and there will no need

for physical checks. russian president vladimir putin says the two men suspected of poisoning the skripals are civilians, not criminals, and hopes they will appear soon and tell their story. in sport, it‘s been described as a fairy tale ending. england‘s victory over india at the oval. former england captain michael vaughan says it is just what test cricket needed. world and olympic champion christine vogel has spoken for the first time since she was paralysed following a training crash injune, and says she‘s ready to tackle her her new life. tour de france champion geraint thomas won‘t feature in this year‘s road world championship. he and chris froome have withdrawn but they best i simon yates and his twin brother and will lead britain at the event later this month. i‘ll be back with their stories at 2:30pm. hurricane florence is being described by the us weather service as a monster and the storm

of a lifetime , and it‘s expected to strengthen further as it heads towards the southeast of the country. more than a million people have been ordered to leave coastal areas, and emergencies have been declared in several states. forecasters say it could make landfall as early as tomorrow night. peter bowes reports. slow—moving but potentially deadly. the category four hurricane bearing down on the us east coast is 500 miles wide and is likely to make landfall late on thursday. the three states in its path, north and south carolina and virginia, haven‘t experienced a hurricane of this magnitude in a generation. this storm is a monster. it‘s big and it‘s vicious. it is an extremely dangerous, life—threatening, historic hurricane. taking heed of the warnings, hundreds of thousands of people have taken to the roads to try to escape

the danger areas. others have decided to stay put, buying up essential supplies and boarding up businesses. we‘ve been here for six years, i haven‘t been through one this strong, so safety first, family, and just trying to prepare the house as best as we can right now. president trump has pledged to spare no expense in the government‘s response. any amount of money, whatever it takes, we're going to do it. but we're already set up, we have food for days, we have emergency equipment and generators for many days, we should be in great shape. this is the calm before the storm, but officials say they‘re preparing for a disaster that causes widespread damage and loss of life. peter bowes, bbc news. and we‘ll have the very latest and more images of the hurricane, when ben richjoins me shortly with the weather. on the third day of the inquest

into the deaths that resulted from last year‘s westminster bridge attack, the court has heard evidence about aysha frade. the teacher, who was on her way to pick up her children from school, died when she fell under a bus after being hit by the car driven by khalid masood. the inquest heard she was "completely unaware" of the car speeding towards her. tottenham hotspur‘s world cup—winning goalkeeper hugo lloris has been fined £50,000, and banned from driving for 20 months, after admitting a charge of drink—driving at westminster magistrates‘ court. the 31—year—old — who captains the north london side and the french national team was found to be more than twice the drink—drive limit when he was stopped by police in central london in august. two men have been convicted of involvement in a half a million pound jewellery armed robbery at one of scotland‘s most exclusive hotels. 42—year—old richard fleming was convicted following at a trial at the high court in edinburgh. another man liam richardson pleaded guilty to his involvement in the robbery at an earlier stage. the pair made off with high—value rolex watches —

which have not yet been recovered — from the gleneagles resort. free—to—use cash machines are being closed at a record rate, according to link the banking alliance which co—ordinates them. the total is falling by more than 250 a month, partly because we‘re taking out less cash, partly because they‘ve become less economic to run. here‘s our personal finance correspondent, simon gompertz. they‘re essential to get hold of cash, but often we aren‘t bothering, just paying by card instead. plus, the fee our banks have to pay cash machine operators each time we do use one is being cut. the uk‘s diminishing ranks of free—to—use cash machines still number more than 53,000. but in the five months tojuly, 1300 closed — 76 of them disappearing even though they were supposedly protected. link, which coordinates the network, has tried to protect free machines in remote areas by persuading banks to pay a higherfee per withdrawal to the operator, but some have been removed anyway.

in 21 cases there wasn‘t even a post office nearby to get cash over the counter. if consumers keep using cash less and less, then yes, atm numbers will keep going down. and what link needs to do is make sure that it doesn‘t come out of quiet, rural, remote areas. and if we find we can‘t do that, then we will need to go and ask for help from regulators and other policymakers. behind this threat to some people being able to take out the cash they need, lies a big business battle between the banks and the independent operators of a lot of the cash machines like this one. now regulators are saying that link will have to intervene to make sure that more of the much needed cash machines are kept open. we are concerned to hear that some communities have lost their free—to—use atm. that's why we're taking strong regulatory action now to put rules in place on link to make sure it's doing everything it can to put those back in place. and it's also why i've written

to the banks today, to make sure we understand their commitment to providing their customers with good access to cash. some say banks should be forced to pay for link to run some machines itself, taking them over if other operators decide they‘re not making enough money from giving us cash when and where we want it. simon gompertz, bbc news. time for a look at the weather... here‘s ben. we will talk about florence but there‘s actually a bigger event in there‘s actually a bigger event in the pacific. a huge event, where ever we look in the tropics there are some systems but we have this violent typhoon in the pacific. you can see it here on the satellite picture, a clear eye in the centre of the storm. whenever you see that, it means we have a storm that really means business. the track of this has been subject to some uncertainty over the last few days but it is

looking increasingly likely that this storm will head towards the north of the philippines where it could bring flooding rain, a big storm surge... but it will not hit the philippines? there is still concern it will hitjust the philippines? there is still concern it will hit just the northern end of the philippines. probably in the next couple of days. it goes on to go towards the south of china, potentially hong kong. any interaction with the land will begin the storm but it still contains huge of moisture, so the potential for flooding rain and significant disruption even as the journeys in towards the south of china. now to the other ocean, the atlantic. florence, we‘ve been talking about that already but the danger of this is it‘s just that already but the danger of this is it‘sjust going that already but the danger of this is it‘s just going to sit there. that is the worry. you can see again another clear eye, and monster storm. this one was a category four hurricane a short time ago, around 130 mile an wins in the centre of the storm. those men‘s extends 60

miles out from the centre so it‘s not just the area miles out from the centre so it‘s notjust the area where the eye makes landfall that will be affected, it will be areas away from there as well. we played those graphics through a few days. you can see even on saturday some forecast models keep the centre of the storm off shore, so still picking up warm, tropical moisture and piling it in. could see close to a metre of rain places. we could see some damage winds and this could be the sort of weather that goes on for a few days, which would obviously exacerbate the impact. and there's always a worry about a surge. yes, a storm surge, the ocean level rises by potentially up the ocean level rises by potentially up to two or three metres, may more in places which could inundate big areas along the coast. let's talk closer to home. the met office has issued its list of names for our storms. this is what we watch for every time you get to this point in the year. the the storm names and the year. the the storm names and the met office has issued the name

list for this year. in collaboration with met air list for this year. in collaboration with metairand list for this year. in collaboration with met air and the irish service. the first storm we have named this season will be called storm ali. you can see all those names. deirdre doesn‘t look that threatening. can see all those names. deirdre doesn't look that threatening. some of them don‘t look particularly threatening. what about peggy or tristan? the reason the storms are named in the first place is because it‘s to help us raise awareness of the storms, to help people get the message across. keep track of all those storms coming our way as we had through into winter. but for all that, our forecast for the had through into winter. but for all that, ourforecast for the next had through into winter. but for all that, our forecast for the next few days. the forecast for the next few days here is quite significantly quieter. some cooler, fresh air working in from the north—west and that all following on behind a weather front, a stripe of cloud sitting in place across southern areas. this is the satellite picture from earlier on,

cloud edging its way south east. behind that, cooler air but also spells of sunshine and then showers fishing across the northwest. some heavy showers across north western scotla nd heavy showers across north western scotland and northern ireland, further south cloud clearing to give spells of sunshine. there temperature is around 13 or 18 at best. through this evening, and tonight, where we can keep clear starry skies it is going to get really quite chilly. the green shading here on our temperature chart, even towns and cities will get well down into single digits. in the countryside, three or 5 degrees. different across the far north—west, strengthening winds and outbreaks of rain. into tomorrow, scotland and northern ireland will see further outbreaks of patchy rain sinking south—east with some bats into northern england. the further south, spells of sunshine and tomorrow, no

great shakes. perhaps up to 20 in the south—east but only perhaps. more like 12 in stornoway where we will still be quite breezy. friday, is similar day. the driest, brightest weather down to the south—east, rain moving across northern ireland and parts of scotla nd northern ireland and parts of scotland into northern england. something brighter with blustery showers across the far north. 12 for the western isles of scotland, 19 in the western isles of scotland, 19 in the south—east. then into the weekend, and we will see frontal systems pushing up towards the north—west of the uk bringing outbreaks of rain. behind me here, though, well, we have what will buy this stage be the remnants of another atlantic hurricane. hurricane helen. that is going to throw some warm, tropical air in our direction. whenever we bring one of these tropical storms and hurricanes into our weather forecast, it does provide a bit of uncertainty with the computer models. it looks less likely as we go through the weekend, northern and western parts of the uk will see outbreaks of rain, breezy

in fact windy conditions at times but further south and east will see spells of sunshine and with that tropical air, warm and spells of sunshine and with that tropicalair, warm and humid spells of sunshine and with that tropical air, warm and humid feel developing. that‘s all for now but we will keep you up—to—date on the weather here and around the world. this is bbc news. our latest headlines: conservative mps opposed to theresa may‘s brexit plans have denied they are trying to force her out, despite openly discussing a leadership challenge last night. the eurosceptic tory mps have also outlined porposals to solve the irish border question after brexit, saying a hard border could be avoided using established technology and modifying existing arrangements. critics say it‘s nothing new. russian president vladimir putin says his government has found the two russians suspected of the sailsbury poisoning and that the men are civilians, not criminals. more than a million people have been told to leave coastal areas, as hurricane florence heads towards the south—eastern united states. it‘s being described by the us weather service as a monster and the storm of a lifetime. and coming up on afternoon live,

we take an early look inside the v&a dundee, which opens on saturday. sport now on afternoon live with holly. it is 24 it is 2a hours ago but we are still relishing england‘s victory. we are basking in it. we saw alistair cook riding off into the sunset with that victory over india at the oval yesterday. it did feel like a at the oval yesterday. it did feel likeafairy at the oval yesterday. it did feel like a fairy tale. his best friend by his side, who was claiming that record to become the leading fast bowler in history. and then last night, they apparently finished things off with a celebratory dinner and they can enjoy a bit of a break 110w and they can enjoy a bit of a break now before they play their next test match against sri lanka. but many of those players will be taking a break from domestic cricket as well this season. but for now, much of the

talk is really around just how exciting the series was, how much of an impact it has had on viewership and how much impact that will have on the sport in general, which has of course suffered a little bit of a drop in popularity recently. former england captain michael vaughan said this is just what it needed. it has been an amazing week for test match cricket. an amazing series and a fitting end to a career that has been remarkable by alistair cook. his century yesterday and then his final wicket taken by his good pal, james anderson. a wonderful delivery. surpassing gran mcgrath ‘s record. i think we say thank you to oui’ record. i think we say thank you to our list for everything he has done for english cricket butjimmy anderson still going. the way he is bowling now, the body, the mind still seems strong. i think we have many years left in chile anderson.

maybe another 100 or so wicked. —— jimmy anderson. the world and olympic cycling gold medalist kristina vogel has spoken publically for the first time since she was paralysed in a training crash earlier this year. an 11—time world champion, the german suffered serious spinal and chest injuries in the accident, but now says she wants to give something back to her sport. translation: i try to adapt myself. i compare myself to a little baby or has had

to learn step—by—step how to get seated, to walk and move around. it took quite some time, about three months, i think. it took quite some time, about three months, ithink. now it took quite some time, about three months, i think. now i am ready to face my situation and share my experiences. i want to pass on my positive energy. simon yates is pursuing the vuelta a espana title this week, and he‘s been named in the great britain team alongside his twin adam for the road world championships later this month. they will compete in the road race, but both chris froome and geraint thomas won‘t be competing in innsbruck. the omssion of tour de france champion thomas was a mutual decision, says british cycling performance director stephen park, as is the decision on froome. 17 cyclists will represent great britain in the elite races at the championships. there‘ve been a couple more developments following serena williams‘ row with umpire carlos ramos in the final of the us open.

we‘ve heard from ramos himself for the first time, and tennis legend billiejean king has softened her stance, as our tennis correspondent russell fuller explains. carlos ra m os carlos ramos says he is fine. he admitted as a delegate situation and he has given some brief comments to a newspaper in his native portugal. he has also pointed out you cannot buy a tennis match is a la carte, in other words you cannot pick and choose the rules. billiejean king was very outspoken after the us open final. not at all critical of serena williams, backed up her suggestion she had been the victim of gender bias. but she has for the first time criticised williams, at least her behaviour on court, she said there is no question she was out of line but she is still very critical of carlos ramos. she feels that he should have said to serena williams that no one is questioning your

character here and if he had done that rather than aggregate —— aggravate the situation, in her words, the situation would have been sorted out quicker. now you may remember this man, one of the best footballers of all time, george weah, the only african man to win the ballon d‘or. well, he‘s now president of liberia, and had one last run out for his national team. at the age of 51, the former ac milan and chelsea striker led out liberia against nigeria last night. the game against nigeria was organised to retire his number 1a shirt. and here‘s something for you —his son, 18 year old timothy, played for the usa last night at the same time, as they beat mexico 1—0. let‘s return now to one of the major stumbling blocks

in the brexit negotiations — the issue of what will happen to trade across the northern irish border with the republic. both the uk and the eu want to avoid a return to physical checks there, but have yet to agree on how this can be achieved. this morning the conservative pro—brexit european reform group set out its proposals, claiming they would enable the uk to leave the single market and the customs union, without the need for a hard border. there is an existing border there today. and all of those are managed ina way today. and all of those are managed in a way without any infrastructure on the current border itself. and oui’ on the current border itself. and ouraim in this on the current border itself. and our aim in this paper is while they will need to be new checks brought in to ensure the integrity of the single market and customs union, there is no need for any new additional checks on that border at all. we‘re not talking about the movement of people, that will

continue post—brexit, we are talking simply about the movement of goods. joining me now is dr katy hayward from the centre for internation borders research at queens university, belfast. thank you forjoining us. it was a pretty impressive panel. a couple of former northern ireland secretaries. have they come up with something new? you can see and hear an attempt, but in terms of detail and how you actually avoid the hard border, there is not much new in it that we have not heard before. notably the emphasis in this report is very much on avoiding physical infrastructure. which is a very narrow interpretation of what a hard border is. concerns in the irish border is. concerns in the irish border region and in northern ireland about a hard border are not just about in relation to physical infrastructure, it is also about the burden of a customs border and is according to the biagi, if you follow that through, this burden we re very follow that through, this burden were very much fall on traders

across the irish border. this argument, we keep hearing that there is technology out there that can sort this. was very convincing argument that will persuade you that is there? they say that the technology exists but they do not give any detail. you can even point back to the report from the northern ireland defence committee recently that underlined the fact that actually the technology that people are suggesting exists does not exist. you do not see it being used in any way to the extent that would be necessary to manage a customs border between the uk and the european union. instead what they are emphasising here is more like bureaucracy and administrative procedures. a lot more paperwork, albeit electronic, involved for those who wish to trade across the border and something as they emphasises checks and inspections and these will be on site. and this

kind of intrusion, if you like, of state and customs controls into on site premises would be something that would be viewed with concern, i think, particularly in northern ireland. the proposals from theresa may at the moment would suggest that there is not a uk requirement to put a big hard border, post, if you like, it would be down to the eu to introduce those. what that implies is that customs controls are only there for european union citizens and actually they do have a function, they do protect us from dangerous and restricted goods, for example. and no citizen in the uk would want to see a flooding in of those after brexit. we have to be aware that customs operations are there for a reason, consumer safety and protection. and i think uk citizens would be concerned if there is an emphasis upon the european

union protecting its consumers and citizens and not the uk. owen paterson was making the point that there is smuggling already going on and it is going onto quite a high level when you talk about fuel and other things. these borders are pretty porous as they are. they are, but so if you have more goods that are subject to customs controls, then the incentive for smuggling goes up and the challenge of managing fraud and managing prohibited goods across the border indeed, those that are subject to duties, is that much greater. and thatis duties, is that much greater. and that is a problem notjust for northern ireland but for the uk as a whole, of course. you are not convinced by these ideas that were proposed this morning? to be honest, i think as it is going forward, it will involve a lot more of that, there are elements there that are

true across customs procedures or around the world. it is certainly developing. but i think it is underestimating the challenge of the problem in northern ireland after brexit and more particularly i think the level of intrusion and the level of inspections administration that would be required for this would actually be in effect a hard border. we know the consequences of that in northern ireland, as related to politics and cultural sensitivities. is there any proposal you have seen that would appear to maybe come close to appeasing both sides? at this late stage of the negotiations? it isa this late stage of the negotiations? it is a difficult one because i think the way it is going to work is by being clear about the overall relationship between the uk and the european union. i think there are going to be... there has to be the

regulatory convergence necessary to manage an open border between northern ireland and the rest of the eu, in relation to agriculture and that requires wider conversations for britain as a whole as to what sort of relationship it wants with the eu. the backstop i think is a misunderstanding of what it is and thatis misunderstanding of what it is and that is definitely an insurance policy. it seems to have become an issue that has preoccupied the uk in all of this, as sort of determining what the future relationship of the uk will be with the eu, whereas in actualfact, uk will be with the eu, whereas in actual fact, the uk will be with the eu, whereas in actualfact, the questions uk will be with the eu, whereas in actual fact, the questions that need to be addressed should actually as the erg was saying today, should involve businesses and trade is actually in northern ireland. to a nswer actually in northern ireland. to answer your question correctly, i have not seen a solution that would be convincing at this time.”

have not seen a solution that would be convincing at this time. i was afraid that was the answer! more now on news that russia‘s president vladimir putin says the two men that britain accuses of carrying out the nerve agent attack on sergei and yulia skripal in salisbury are not criminals. britain says alexander petrov and ruslan boshirov are members of russia‘s military intelligence, but president putin says the men are civilians, and he hopes they will give their side of events. joining me now is dr andrew foxall, director of the russia and eurasia studies centre at the henry jackson society, a foreign policy think tank that advocates the robust spreading of liberal democracy and free—market economics. good afternoon to you. so, what is his game? vladimir putin 's comments do represent a marked diverging from what russia has been saying today its argument to date has been first of all that russia nothing to do with the poisoning but at the same time, the evidence that the uk had produced and which had been

supported by western allies and independently verified was in a sense fabricated. vladimir putin ‘s argument, this distinction of them being civilians and not criminals, appears at least to boil down to something quite simple, his argument is that there has been a misunderstanding, that these two individuals who just don‘t happen to have sequentially numbered passports and travel to the uk for three days, during which they stayed in a budget hotel in east london. on those days, they took trips to salisbury and they took trips to salisbury and they stayed for two hours, they did not visit the cathedral, to the best of our knowledge, they did not see any other tourist hotspots. but instead, they loitered around the road near to where said a script i'll road near to where said a script i‘ll lived. and if that is... if people find that somewhat believable, innocent explanation, then what that does not explain is why novichok, traces of novichok

we re why novichok, traces of novichok were indeed found in the hotel in east london in which they stayed. now, russia‘s tactic over recent yea rs has now, russia‘s tactic over recent years has been to employ this card of plausible deniability but it seems increasingly likely that, all increasingly apparent that the denials are no longer plausible. do you think we will see these to appear in front of the cameras and it will be the two we have seen the cctv of or will there be a mysterious car crash where they will not be able to appear? a number of things seem possible. one would be that the two individuals who we have the cctv images of our portrait before the cameras but they are not the actual men, another possibility is the real men, another possibility is the real men are presented and they save their identities were stolen by

these two individuals. another may bea these two individuals. another may be a composite of those two things ta ke be a composite of those two things take place. it seems to me at least one of the most interesting questions is why now? vladimir putin is hosting the economic eastern forum in vladivostok at the moment. he is wining and dining the chinese premier and a number of other east asian leaders. he clearly did not wa nt asian leaders. he clearly did not want the said a script bala affair to overshadow that. that ends tomorrow. that may explain why these individuals may speak this —— next week. in 2006, one of the two suspects, chief suspects in the murder, not only appeared before the cameras but was then appointed to

russia‘s parliament and then given diplomatic immunity of prosecution. thank you so much forjoining us. maryam moshiri is at newark this afternoon, reporting on the lasting impact of the financial crash of 2008. first a look at the headlines on afternoon live. tory euro—sceptics meet to discuss alternatives to the prime minister‘s brexit plans, but say they‘re not out to get her out. it comes as brexiteer tory mps say technology is key to avoiding a hard irish border and there will no need for physical checks. russian president vladimir putin says the two men suspected of poisoning the skripals are civilians, not criminals, and hopes they will appear soon and tell their story. it‘s ten years since the financial crisis was sparked with the collapse of the american bank lehman brothers. the economic impact on the uk was the deepest to hit the uk since world war two,

with those in their thirties affected the most. we can cross over to our business presenter maryam moshiri now, who‘s in newark, looking at how it‘s had to change since the financial crash. i have done a spot of shopping in the market. the historic royal market has been around since the 12th century but it is the last ten yea rs 12th century but it is the last ten years that has really seen times becoming very tough indeed. i have been told the number of market stalls in this market since the financial crisis began have more than halved. the number of traders has cut down by a third. i am joined bya has cut down by a third. i am joined by a business managerfor economic growth at the council. and also roger, who runs a business.

i wanted to ask you about what you do at the department. your in the business of helping new businesses grow in the area. how did you come about? at the council, we work on many areas to achieve if you like prosperity in the district. inward investment, attracting new businesses, business support for existing businesses, working with the schools on skills working with businesses, as well as tourism, one of our key sectors. have you found life has become more difficult for businesses? what we have started to see is businesses struggling to access financial support through loans, gra nts financial support through loans, grants and we looked at this in some depth and then we introduced a loan fund for businesses, so this was called the think big loan fund. it was not about competing with banks.

this was about providing access to finance for businesses looking to grow and create jobs but through... where they could not access that from traditional sources. roger, you are one of the businesses that has been helped. what happened to you win 2008? as a direct result of the recession, i lost my previous business. a year later, we decided to set up a new business. unfortunately, i was personally bankrupt and we could not receive any funding. but they stepped in and we have had loans to enable us to build the business of the last seven years. and now we have 44 staff. the council took on the role of the bank, basically? yes, it was as a result of the bank i lost my previous business. we managed to go from strength to strength and

predominantly because of the council funding. thank you. so many different kinds of businesses i have been talking to over the past few hours telling me that things have become harder, not only because of the financial crisis but because of people‘s spending habits. you are a butcher, as i can see. you have been here for decades. how have things changed over the past ten years?” have been on the market for seven years myself. a local resident for 19 years. i found the change dramatic. people are looking for bargains now. they only have a certain amount of money to spend. they are holding onto their money now more than ever before. they are worried about the mortgage rates, gaskell electric, price of fuel going up. but we find that people come for the bargains now. people do not carry as much cash as they used to. there are more card payments now. have you felt that the market

has changed in the way it is approaching people and trying to get people over the last ten years —— business? i have seen dramatic change in the la st i have seen dramatic change in the last ten years, especially since the banks did collapse. people are holding onto money more than ever. but market wise, this town council are trained to do more to get people onto the market to make it better for us. do you think the council has done enough to help? they can do more, like everything but they haven't done a lot, yes. it is great, getting more people out and about shopping in the fresh air again, instead of clicking and being again, instead of clicking and being a keyboard warrior. what is your big deal of the day? sirloin and rib eye steaks. it works out as £2 each. do you think we can get one for simon?

how do you take your steak, extra rare, blue? thank you. we will have more later. the v&a, the world‘s leading museum for art and design, is about to branch out beyond its london base. the v&a dundee opens on saturday, and it‘s a central part of a huge project to transform the city. our scotland correspondent, lorna gordon, has been in taking an early look at the collection for us. yes, hello. this is a first look at this new museum and it is spectacular. this building has pushed the boundaries of engineering and design. the architect behind it has described it as a living room for the city, a place for people to visit, to hang out in, to learn from and to inspire. it is the show stopping centrepiece of £1 billion riverside restoration, the v&a dundee, described as a sculpture as much as a building. with curves, sharp edges, stone

panels, a cliff facejutting out. the total form of the building panels, a cliff facejutting out. the totalform of the building is very different from a normal concrete box. as an organic movement that follows wind flow, this is the basis of this design. with the scottish design galleries, ridiculously restored charles rennie mackintosh oak room, and scottish engineering a feature of the ocean liners exhibition, scotland‘s design heritage features large. ocean liners is a major international show and as part of that story, scottish engineering and the work that was done on clydebank isa the work that was done on clydebank is a central part of the exhibition. it is that aspect of how we approach design that is really important. we need to be appropriate to site and to allow scottish design to really design but we wanted to shine within an international context. the museum tells a global story and there is plenty of interest from around the

world in its opening. dundee is a city though with creativity at its co re city though with creativity at its core and this addition to the cities cultural landscape has ambitions which lie closer to home. my hope is that we will create a new generation of designers and artists and coders and architects coming out of dundee. i hope that thousands and tens of thousands of people are going to come to dundee to see this great building and is great collection. and we are going to help dundee find some of our confidence which might have been lost in recent decades. this museum brings jobs, have been lost in recent decades. this museum bringsjobs, yes, but it is also a bold statement about dundee ‘s design heritage and scotland‘s cultural clout. a destination not just for tourists but for the people living here. this really is a big dealfor this small city on the banks of the tay. half a million people are expected to visit the v&a dundee in its first year. the first of those expected through the doors on saturday.

time for a look at the weather. here‘s ben rich. we will take a detailed look at the uk weather in a moment but i wanted to start off with a check on hurricane florence. you can see it on the satellite picture. a clear idea in the centre of the storm. a short while ago, this was a category four. most forecast models take this over the next couple of days towards the carolinas, where it is expected to bring huge amounts of rain, damaging winds, some really dangerous weather to come for part of the east coast of the usa or the next two days. back home, it is quieter. we have is when a friend which has been bringing outbreaks of rain and behind that we are getting into some cooler, fresh air. most of us in the afternoon with some sunshine. and we pushed the last re m na nts of sunshine. and we pushed the last remnants of that front away to the south—east. this evening, another front pushing into scotland. but

elsewhere, it is going to turn into a chilly night. particularly across central and southern areas. these are the temperatures for the town and city centres. but in the countryside, it could get down to three, four or 5 degrees. a chilly start tomorrow. but a bright spot across england and wales. —— start. some outbreaks of patchy rain. the far north of scotland seeing amy charles sunshine and blustery showers. hot friday, another largely dry and fine day. parts of scotland, down into northern ireland, showers, as the day wears on. even towards the south, we are looking at 18 or 19 degrees. we will have frontal

systems pushing towards the north—west of the uk on the weekend. in the south—west, this will be the re m na nts of in the south—west, this will be the remnants of another atlantic hurricane. this is going to draw some very warm and hurricane. this is going to draw some very warm and humid tropical airing our direction. outbreaks of rain at times. hello, you‘re watching afternoon live — i‘m simon mccoy.

today at 3pm: do you have the confidence of your party? plot? what plot? tory euro—sceptics meet to discuss alternatives to the prime minister‘s brexit plans — but say they‘re not out — to get her out. she is a fantastically dutiful prime minister, and she has my support. ijust want her to change one item of policy. the tory group also claim a hard border with ireland can be avoided by using technology — so britain would be able to leave the single market and customs union. "we know who you are — come and tell your story." vladimir putin‘s message to the two russians identified as the salisbury attckers. they‘re civilians, he says — not military, or criminal. translation: we know who they are, we found them. i hope that they will turn themselves in and will tell everyone about themselves. there is nothing special,

nothing criminal there. coming up on afternoon live all the sport — holly? coming up, chelsea women and glasgow city ladies are in champions league action. we will be hearing from world and olympic champion christine vogel who has spoken for the first time since the crash that left her paralysed. thanks holly, and we‘ll bejoining you for a full update just after half—past. ben has all the weather. a cool, fresh feel across many parts of the uk today, a bit of sunshine out there as we head towards the weekend, some of us could feel the effects of something a little bit warmer. all the details later. thanks ben. also coming up — the magical world of mushrooms. we‘ll take a look at the role fungi plays in every day life — from food and medicine, to helping generate new biofuels. hello, everyone.

this is afternoon live. "chuck chequers" — that‘s the message from the group of tory euro—sceptics whose opposition to theresa may‘s brexit plans has been increasingly vocal. but whether or not their call is loud enough to spark a leadership contest is still not clear. members of the european research group met last night. it‘s reported they did discuss ousting theresa may — but how much support they have, and who they would support to take her on... well they‘re not there yet, it seems. today, the erg has unveiled what it says is a solution to the irish border question. downing street has reiterated that chequers is "the only serious, credible and negotiable plan which is on the table‘ leila nathoo reports from westminster. brexiteers walking tall in westminster this morning with one purpose, to try to prove they have an alternative vision for how britain‘s departure from the eu would work. but what of talk that some of their colleagues on the tory

backbenches are now openly discussing a challenge to the person in charge? does brexit need new leadership? the prime minister is worthy of support, she is extremely dutiful in attending to the business of brexit, i want a change in policy and i have made that clear, as have many of my friends in parliament. they say they have their own plan for how to resolve the irish border question, the crucial issue at the heart of the brexit talks. the paper is a fabulously practical, sensible process and the only way we are going to resolve this issue and thereby unlock the negotiations, that is what this is about, this is about unlocking the negotiations, and the way to do that is by engaging at a practical level, which this paper does in a way which has not yet been done. their solution to keep goods flowing freely between the republic

and northern ireland relies on technology and checks away from the border. too late in the day for wrangling, say some. we are running out of road, the final decision is going to be taken, the time for political gains and leadership bids and all of that is over. we will be facing a decision within weeks, not months, which will define the prosperity of the nation for a generation or more. do you have the confidence of your party? would you fight a leadership challenge...? though her critics are circling, she is not in imminent danger yet. there are not yet the numbers to force her out or an obvious rival candidates. but in the commons, taunts from the labour leader. the government‘s brexit negotiations are an abject failure, i can see that by the sullen faces behind her. and that‘s notjust the erg group, it‘s the whole lot of them. theresa may was standing firm behind her strategy. what we have put forward with chequers is a plan which delivers on the result of the referendum,

ensures that we take control of our money and our borders and laws but does so in a way that protects jobs and livelihoods across the united kingdom. negotiations with brussels are coming to a head but westminster will see its fair share of brexit battles in the weeks and months to come. leila nathoo, bbc news. some confusion as to whether there isa some confusion as to whether there is a plan to oust the prime minister. let me show you what fraser nelson has just tweeted, the front cover of the next edition of the spectator. there it is. it says ban, the starting gun is fired in the tory battle. if you look really hard, down in the bottom might you will see one gun pointing out, a p pa re ntly will see one gun pointing out, apparently held by andrea leadsom. the message is quite clear. let‘s cross over to parliament now where our chief political correspondent, vicki young

is in central lobby for us. you pay your money and you take your choice as to whether someone is actually going to stand up and say yes, we will take her on. there is a battle going on of course, a battle for the type of brexit that the country is heading for. i think it‘s a mock—up operative question about the battle for the leadership. there has been a lot of speculation about that for a very long time. i was talking over lunch, this idea that theresa may has survived that catastrophic general election where eve ryo ne catastrophic general election where everyone predicted her demise, she carried on, still there, with resignations from the cabinet including two over her key policy. she is still there. herfriends would say she is going to carry on and see this through at least until the time we do leave the eu. let‘s discuss this more. i‘m joined by conservative ross thomson. you were at the meeting last night where all the spot was going on. tell us what

really happened. what really happened was colleagues actually discussed matters which drg does. it's a research group, it's not involved in leadership of the conservative party. we talked about our concerns with chequers, what's been happening at number ten, understandably there are conservative colleagues who are frustrated and opus frustrations get vented. the drg is the group open to all colleagues. mps have that saves space —— the erg is a group open to all colleagues. it isa all colleagues. it is a bit disappointing to see lots of the good stuff today being overshadowed by that talk of leadership, that narrative. the impression you get is there are 40 or 50 conservative mps all talking about getting rid of theresa may and not a dissenting voice. that's not the close. never maybe 40 or 50 colleagues on the run, i was one of them, there were maybe a handful who wanted to talk about leadership,

generally very small in proportion. there were colleagues who argued otherwise. you can have frank discussion and these meetings, and many of us actually sat and did not say anything at all because one, for me, i'm completely behind the prime minister, she is the right person to be leading us through these negotiations, the last thing anyone needs is any kind. we want predictability, stability and certainty. this is about policy and not personnel. for the majority of colleagues, that's what it's about. if you does not change my mind chequers, what then? you don‘t like the idea of the chequers deal she has put on on the table?” the idea of the chequers deal she has put on on the table? i simply wa nt has put on on the table? i simply want the prime minister to go back to what she promised us all in parliament and at lancaster house, a vision people could really get behind, a bold and ambitious vision about free trade, the freest possible trade, and that special relationship with europe that united jacob rees—mogg and nicky morgan, something quite incredible. chequers is not that vision, it has departed significantly from that and that's

why i want to work constructively with colleagues in the e r git address problems that have been identified. we all recognise in the negotiations as they are the real sticking point has been trade between northern ireland and the republic of ireland. we think today's proposals are a constructive way of unlocking the deadlock that has been there. one criticism of those proposals about solving this northern irish problem is that it would work if there‘s regulatory alignment but are someone who wants to see the opposite of that, you wa nt to to see the opposite of that, you want to see us moving away from eu rules so how could it work in those circumstances? contextually, when we talk about the paper, we talk about regulatory equivalents and that mutual recognition of regulation. for example, we want to enter a free trade agreement just like for example, we want to enter a free trade agreementjust like canada has signed with the eu. canada has not aligned eu regulations and standards, canada is not subject to the european court ofjustice. japan

hasjust signed the european court ofjustice. japan has just signed the the european court ofjustice. japan hasjust signed the deal. there may be mutual recognition on areas such as calm and fracturing or textiles but there not that alignment. we have practical suggestions about how they can facilitate trade across the border with minimum of infrastructure. in fact, no infrastructure, because so much nowadays is done through new technology online whether that's in vat declarations, declarations of origin, so much now is done digitally. you don't need an infrastructure on the border. some will say and you know they do, these proposals, what you suggest, these new technologies don‘t exist anywhere in the world.” new technologies don‘t exist anywhere in the world. i have heard this criticism levelled against the paper, there is nothing new. of course there is nothing new in this sense because all these technologies do exist. they are used right across whether that's in declarations of vat, used in the rack system around those rules of origin, and also whether it trusted trader scheme is

authorised european operator schemes. there are so many things in place to ensure checks can happen. other places, other land borders, whether its missionary inspections or agriculture products can happen away from the border, 12 kilometres away from the border, 12 kilometres away from the border, 12 kilometres away from rotterdam as monsters. we get caught up in this dialogue that refers to there being some kind of checkpoint charlie infrastructure in the border, that's never going to be happening because there's already a border between northern ireland and the republic on of vat. on security even, but we were collectively together to ensure that infrastructure doesn't have to be there and that does not have to change. thank you for putting us straight on the meeting. there are different rules on all of this. does not foil like there‘s about to be some push to get rid of theresa may. most tory mps do feel the timing would look appalling, if you look at what voters might think just as she heads towards a crucial

pa rt just as she heads towards a crucial part of those negotiations with brussels. still surprised you said you were talking to people over lunch earlier, i don‘t know how that fits in... avery lunch earlier, i don‘t know how that fits in... a very quick sandwich! that‘s more like it. joining me now from belfast is sdlp mla claire hanna. what do you make of these proposals we heard this morning. is there a technological answer which has this possibility of moving this whole issue on? no, there isn't and it is difficult to know where to start with how inadequate these proposals are and i‘m glad we have moved on from drones and airships, which was the previous iteration of their drg's the previous iteration of their drg‘s solutions. as your correspondent pointed out, these solutions aren‘t an operation on any border on the planet. nor have we been able to identify any technology company advancing them. they make a number of assumptions that simply would not be true, that the uk would

have full access to be used data on issues like bt and vice versa, that issues like bt and vice versa, that issues deliver her indicates a closer relationship than for example norway has. —— issues like the. we believe these issues have more to do with internal conservative politics on ascribing blame than actually solving the problem. when they talk about mobile remote customs inspections units, preclearance, combined import and export declarations, mutual recognition, these are things that could be negotiated. i know we are running out of time. now, what the drg are attempting to do is give the full suppression that the border issue is simplya suppression that the border issue is simply a matter of policing. the crossing of a line between a and b. they are ignoring huge issues around politics and the post—conflict situation but it‘s so primarily around regulation and regulation of goods and these are the very people who are telling us

they wanted to diverge massively. the report also says the eu are failing to listen to voices in northern ireland which is deeply wrong. the vast majority of people here voted for remaining and i think that number in any credible poll is only growing. both business and other groups across the voluntary sector have been very clear about their alarm at the possibility of any border. it‘s important to note that concern and those voices come from across the community, whether people are british or irish catholic or protestant, people are united and concerned. the only people who share the erg‘s analysis of this other one party they are in coalition with, the dup who command somewhere around 30% of the vote. the vast majority of the rest of the population and of responsible voices, as they say, would not share the erg‘s analysis in any way. when lord trimble, given

what you have just said, when in any way. when lord trimble, given what you havejust said, when lord trimble says there is no implication to the peace process with what they said this morning, is hejust plain wrong? lord trimble made some very big leagues 20 years ago but his analysis of the good friday agreement is completely out of step of many of the other people who negotiated that. the point of the good friday agreement was to remove all dial down on issues of sovereignty and identity and the constitution and the border. what this debate and particularly this intervention has done is to smash thoseissues intervention has done is to smash those issues right back into politics. no, i‘m afraid i fundamentally disagree with him. it has major implications in how people would live their life on a cross—border basis and that includes 30,000 people who every day across the borderfor their work 30,000 people who every day across the border for their work and probably the majority of businesses here who trade across the border in one way or the other. without getting too into the details, these

technical solutions are not in operation, they are completely u ntested operation, they are completely untested and they just operation, they are completely untested and theyjust would not work. either way, they constitute infrastructure around the border which the uk government have pledged to avoid and this is saying it would be less intrusive infrastructure. people must realise this is several hundred kilometres of... it goes through homes. you cannot do this in a noninvasive way. very quickly, you stress the strength of the remain vote in northern ireland. i am wondering if there is a hope that all this row over the border could actually derail brexit at the last minute. i won't lie, i firmly believe in the european project and particularly in northern ireland where it‘s been so vital to our development. my interest, and the people i represent in northern ireland, we think a border would devastate the economy ‘s north and south. it‘s not about derailing the

project, it‘s about pointing out that the fundamental inconsistencies. you can‘t run a campaign saying, control our borders but not this one. you can‘t run a campaign that says burn all the regulations, but somehow in this paper in flight you keep them north and south. we are pointing out the contradictions and the fact the uk government as a co—guarantor of the good friday agreement has entered into commitments and this paper would drive cart and horses through that. it‘s an workable and is wholly unwarranted by people here from all political backgrounds. thank you very much for your time. you‘re watching afternoon live, these are our headlines. tory euro—sceptics meet to discuss alternatives to the prime minister‘s brexit plans — but say they‘re not out — to get her out. it comes as brexiteer tory mps say technology is key to avoiding a hard irish border and there will no need for physical checks. russian president vladimir putin says the two men suspected of poisoning the skripals are civilians, not criminals, and hopes they will appear soon and tell their story. and closing at a record rate —

more than 250 free—to—use cash machines are disappearing a month. we‘ll find out why. in sports, we hearfrom us open champion naomi osaka who‘s admitted she thought the building on court after serena williams outburst at flushing meadows was aimed at her. she‘s been speaking to the island ‘s generous programme in the states about the incident, describing it all as a little stressful. world and olympic champion christine vogel has spoken for the first time since she was paralysed following a training crash in june, was paralysed following a training crash injune, and says she‘s ready to tackle her her new life. and tour de france champion geraint thomas won‘t feature in this year‘s road world championships. he and chris froome have withdrawn, but simon yates and his ten brother adam will lead britain at the event later this month. —— twin brother. russia‘s president vladimir putin

says the two men that britain accuses of carrying out the nerve agent attack on sergei and yulia skripal in salisbury are not criminals. britain says alexander petrov and ruslan boshirov are members of russia‘s military intelligence — but president putin says the men are civilians, and he hopes they will give their side of events. russian state tv is reporting that one of the suspects will give his version of events next week. jenny kumah reports. on their way to allegedly carry out a deadly nerve agent attack in salisbury. the british government says these two men are russian military intelligence officers responsible for the plot to murder the former russian spy sergei skripal and his daughter. they have been named as alexander petrov and ruslan boshirov. russia has always denied any involvement, but now president putin is saying his government has found the two suspects and appears to be saying they are not intelligent agents. translation: we obviously looked

at who these people are. we found them. they will appear soon, i hope, and tell you everything themselves. there‘s nothing particularly special or criminal here. translation: are they civilians? translation: sorry? translation: are they civilians? translation: i can't hear you. translation: civilians? of course they are. just last week scotland yard and the crown prosecution service announced there was enough evidence to charge the men. the police released images showing their arrival at gatwick airport on march 2nd, two days before the poisoning. from gatwick they travelled to east london, staying in a hotel where investigators found traces of novichok. on sunday, march 4th, they travelled to salisbury by train, and were seen near the skripals‘ house around the time it‘s thought the nerve agent was sprayed

onto the door handle. just last week a russian spokeswoman dismissed the allegations, saying the whole story was created to punish russia and to introduce sanctions. there is no prospect of the suspects being brought to trial in the uk as russia doesn‘t extradite nationals accused of crime. president putin‘s latest words though at least indicate that the men are in russia and known to the authorities. jenny kumah, bbc news. well, earlier i asked our correspondent oleg boldyrev what he thought president putin‘s strategy was following today s announcement. all along, moscow has tried to find out how much the british investigators know. now it needs to provide an explanation which would still keep in line with their overall strategy that russia is a victim here. to a certain extent, the russian stance, "we needed to be

part of investigation in order to trust the results," still works there. it can present the men and still deny there is anything special about them. of course, the murder of alexander litvinenko serves as a good illustration here. the two men accused of lacing his tea with polonium never denied they went to london, they said they went to see a football game and to talk to their old palfrom the kgb. they were saying the polonium came in later and it was a crude smear campaign. something along these lines can still be used today. these two men, named by the british, one supposedly coming forward next week we‘re told by russian state tv, how safe are they? will they be getting medals or looking quickly at life insurance? i think the time to be afraid has certainly passed. if russian authorities wanted them to be eliminated, they would probably do it sooner. of course, we are in the field of wild speculation.

there‘s very little stats on what the fate of the agents with botched jobs are. these are normally people with fake identities to start with. hurricane florence is being described by the us weather service as a monster and the storm of a lifetime , and it‘s expected to strengthen further as it heads towards the southeast of the country. more than a million people have been ordered to leave coastal areas, and emergencies have been declared in several states. forecasters say it could make landfall as early as tomorrow night. peter bowes reports. slow—moving but potentially deadly. the category four hurricane bearing down on the us east coast is 500 miles wide and is likely to make landfall late on thursday. the three states in its path, north and south carolina and virginia, haven‘t experienced a hurricane of this magnitude in a generation. this storm is a monster. it‘s big and it‘s vicious.

it is an extremely dangerous, life—threatening, historic hurricane. taking heed of the warnings, hundreds of thousands of people have taken to the roads to try to escape the danger areas. others have decided to stay put, buying up essential supplies and boarding up businesses. we‘ve been here for six years, i haven‘t been through one this strong, so safety first, family, and just trying to prepare the house as best as we can right now. president trump has pledged to spare no expense in the government‘s response. any amount of money, whatever it takes, we're going to do. but we're already set up, we have food for days, we have emergency equipment and generators for many days, we should be in great shape. this is the calm before the storm, but officials say they‘re preparing for a disaster that causes widespread damage and loss of life.

peter bowes, bbc news. on the third day of the inquest into the deaths that resulted from last year‘s westminster bridge attack, the court has heard evidence about aysha frade. the teacher, who was on her way to pick up her children from school, died when she fell under a bus after being hit by the car driven by khalid masood. the inquest heard she was "completely unaware" of the car speeding towards her. doctors are warning that reductions in contraceptive services in england are leading to a rise in unplanned pregnancies and abortions. the bbc has seen figures which show that half the councils in england have cut or have plans to reduce the number of sites in the area that offer contraception. our health correspondent catherine burns reports. friends and new mums melissa and lisa adore their children. but both got pregnant unexpectedly, even though they thought they were protected.

melissa says says it has been too difficult to get the right contraception. i said, "i‘m asking for contraception. i need it." i said, "you can‘t tell me i don‘t need it when i‘m 22 and i have two kids sitting in front of you." i suffer with mental health and i have two kids. and i can‘t do this any more. i need to have some sort of protection. lisa says she‘s struggled too, with a long delay to get the contraceptive implant. you shouldn't spend be having to wait two months to get your contraception. it's absolutely ridiculous. having a baby is a lot more strain on the nhs, and is going to cause a lot more repercussions, than just having a contraceptive appointment. public health england agrees, estimating that every pound spent on contraception saves £9 of public money over a decade. it recommends that women should be able to choose from a full range. there are 15 types of contraception available. the most widely accessible is still condoms. the most commonly prescribed is the pill.

but nowadays, more women are asking for longer lasting options like the coil and implants. but even though more women want these, the numbers being prescribed are going down. there‘s been an 8% fall in women getting them. this comes as 49% of councils in england say they have cut, or are planning to, sites offering contraceptive services. meanwhile, after several years of staying roughly level, abortion rates have gone up by 2.3% ina year. it‘s such a basic human right. don‘t you think women need to be able to access contraception when they want it? my concern is that the unmet need might get translated into unplanned pregnancies and possibly increased abortion rates. thank you, baby. the department of health and social care says it‘s giving £16 billion to local authorities for public health, including contraception, and that it‘s up to councils to decide how

to spend the money. catherine burns, bbc news. more than 100 researchers in 18 countries have contributed to the first study looking into the world‘s fungi population. a team from the royal botanic gardens at kew have been looking at the role fungi plays in every day life — from use in food and medicine, to helping generate new biofuels. helen briggs reports. if you go down to the woods today, you are sure of a big surprise. they are not plants, not animals, but in a class of their own. scientists say it is a forgotten kingdom that deserves more attention. so you see this rosette thing, this is its own rosette. we have a responsibility to look after it for everybody else because if we lose all of our old trees, and we lose all of these species because we are polluting them with air pollution, we have let a species disappear out of neglect. here we have another example of the same species... kew has the world‘s biggest collection of dried fungi, with more than

a million specimens. this vast library may hold the answers to harnessing the superpowers of these curious organisms. fungi are major degraders and decomposers in the world, all the leaf litter, branches, everything that falls in the forest and all the waste is degraded by fungi. without fungi, ecosystems would collapse. fungi have been serving humankind for centuries, providing medicines and food, but there is still much to learn. scientists believe fungi have promise in cleaning up waste and even breaking down plastic. helen briggs, bbc news. they say funky, i say fun guy. here‘s another fun guy, and they say funky, i say fun guy. here‘s anotherfun guy, and rich with the weather. a bit ofa

a bit of a change in the feel of the weather, fresh air working in from the north—west, with some sunshine and a few few showers around. that‘s how we end the afternoon. do this evening and overnight, still a bit of cloud hanging around in the far south—east, some bursts of rain and another band of cloud remains rain sweeping into parts of northern ireland and north—west scotland through the night. where we keep clear, starry skies it will turn into a chilly night. some spots in the countryside may be down to three, four orfive. across england and wales tomorrow, a chilly and bright start with sunshine but clouding over in northern england later with patchy rain. that rain moving out of northern ireland and scotland, the far north seeing a mix of sunshine and blustery showers and a distinctly cool feel. to the weekend, things in the south turning warmer and quite humid. further north and west, some wind and rain at times. this is bbc news.

our latest headlines: conservative mps opposed to theresa may‘s brexit plans have denied they are trying to force her out, despite openly discussing a leadership challenge last night the eurosceptic tory mps also say a hard border between the uk and ireland could be avoided after brexit using established technology. critics say it‘s nothing new. russian president vladimir putin says his government has found the two russians suspected of the sailsbury poisoning and that there‘s nothing special about them, they‘re civilians, not criminals. it‘s already been called a monster and the storm of a lifetime, as hurricane florence heads towards the south—eastern united states, more than a million people have been told

to leave their homes. and still to come, relatives of a briton killed in pakistan calls for new prime minister imran khan to take action over the death of samia shahid. we‘ve heard from serena williams and the umpire, but there‘s one person we‘re yet to hear from since that incident the us open final until now. the woman of the moment herself, naomi osaka, has been speaking to the ellen degeneres show in the united states. it‘s the first time we‘ve really hear from her since she claimed the title at flushing meadows. all anyone has been talking about is serena‘s outburst on court and the row over sexism that followed, but right at the centre of it was 20—year—old osaka. her first grand slam title overshadowed by all this

and rather heartbreakingly, she told ellen she thought the booing on court was aimed at her. this is what she had to say. you are told to just lock, turn around and tried to focus, so i tried to do that but i heard a lot of people in the crowd making noises. at the time, i did kind of thinking they were booing me. i could not tell what was going on because it was so loud in there. it was a little bit stressful. receiving the trophy, there was a lot of booing in the crowd and then serena williams leaned over and said to. what did she say to you? that she was proud of me and i should know the crowd was not booing at me.

and to play the way she did even when she thought the crowd was booing her, is remarkable. 20 years old and winning herfirst grand slam title against serena williams. and we‘ve heard from another world champion today, this time cyclist kristina vogel after her career ending crash earlier this year. you might remember world and olympic cycling gold medalist kristina vogel she was severely injured in a training crash earlier this year, back in june, which left her paralysed. she‘s now spoken for the first time in a news conference in the berlin hospital where she‘s being treated. she‘s described the moments following the crash in which she suffered serious spinal and chest injuries after colliding with a dutch rider, who she did not name during the press conference. she says at the time she would constantly ask why me? but now she‘s looking to the future and says she wants to give something back to her sport. translation: i try to adapt myself.

i compare myself to a little baby who has had to learn step—by—step how to get seated, to walk and move around. it took quite some time, about three months, i think. now i am ready to face my situation and share my experiences. i want to pass on my positive energy. simon yates is pursuing the vuelta a espana title this week, and he‘s been named in the great britain team alongside his twin adam for the road world championships later this month. they will compete in the road race, but both chris froome and geraint thomas won‘t be competing in innsbruck. the omssion of tour de france champion thomas was a mutual decision, says british cycling performance director stephen park, as is the decision on froome. 17 cyclists will represent great britain in the elite races at the championships. and in tennis, dan evans will play

for great britain for the first time since serving a 12—month ban for cocaine use in friday‘s davis cup tie against uzbekistan. evans has mainly played on the second—tier challenger tour since making his comeback in april. cameron norrie and jay clarke are also in the team, with doubles specialists jamie murray and dominic inglot. two british sides in action in the woman‘s champions league, including english title winners chelsea who‘ve started their campaign with a first leg trip to sarajevo. that‘s all the sport for now. let‘s return now to one of the major stumbling blocks

in the brexit negotiations, the issue of what will happen to trade across the northern irish border with the republic. both the uk and the eu want to avoid a return to physical checks there, but have yet to agree on how this can be achieved. this morning the conservative pro—brexit european reform group set out its proposals, claiming they would enable the uk to leave the single market and the customs union, without the need for a hard border. there is an existing border there today, there is an existing border for vat, and existing borderfor exercise, a security border and a currency board and all of those are managed in a way without any infrastructure on the current border itself. and our aim in this paper is while there will need to be new checks brought in to ensure the integrity of the single market and customs unit will agree union, there isa customs unit will agree union, there is a need for any new additional checks on border at all. we‘re not

talking about the movement of people, that is dealt with under the common travel area, it has been since 1923 and will continue post—brexit. we are talking simply about the movement of goods. dr katy hayward is from the centre for internation borders research at queens university, belfast. a little earlier i asked her these proposals from the conservative pro—brexit european reform group were anything new. you can see and attempt, but in terms of detail and how you actually avoid the hard border, there is not much new in it that we have not seen before. notably, the emphasis in this report is very much on avoiding physical infrastructure, which is a very narrow interpretation of what a ha rd very narrow interpretation of what a hard border is, concerns in the irish border region and in northern ireland about a hard border are not just in relation to physical infrastructure, it is but also about the burden of a customs border. and

according to the erg, this burden we re very according to the erg, this burden were very much fall on traders across the irish border. this argument we keep hearing that there is technology out there that can sort this, was very convincing argument that would persuade you thatis argument that would persuade you that is there? -- was there a convincing argument. they do not give any detail and you can even point back to the report from the northern ireland defence committee recently that was underlying the fa ct recently that was underlying the fact that actually the technology that people are suggesting exists does not exist. you do not see it being used in any way to the extent that would be necessary to manage a customs border between the uk and the european union. what instead they are emphasising is actually more like bureaucracy and administrative procedures, a lot more paperwork, albeit a electronic. something as they emphasises is

checks and inspections and these will be on site and this kind of intrusion, if you like, of state and customs controls into on—site premises is something that would be viewed with concern, i think, particularly in northern ireland. the proposals from theresa may at the moment would suggest that there is not a uk requirement to put up a ha rd is not a uk requirement to put up a hard border, it would be down to the european union to introduce those. what that implies is that customs controls are only there for european union citizens and actually they do have a function, they do protect us from dangerous and restricted goods for example. and no citizen in the uk would wish to see a flooding in of those after brexit. we have to be aware that customs operations are there for a reason, they are for consumer safety and protection and i think uk citizens would be concerned

if there was an emphasis upon the eu protecting its citizens and not the uk. former northern ireland secretary northern ash owen paterson was making the point that there is smuggling already going on to quite a high level when you‘re talking about fuel and other things. these borders are pretty porous as they are. they are, but so if you have more goods that are subject to customs controls then the incentive for smuggling goes up and the challenge of managing fraud and managing prohibited goods across the border, those that are subject to duties, is that much greater. and thatis duties, is that much greater. and that is a problem notjust for northern ireland but for the uk as a whole of course. the bradford west mp naz shah is seeking assurances from the new prime minister of pakistan, imran khan, thatjustice will be done following the murder of one of her constituents. samia shahid is believed to have been the victim of a so—called honour killing while visiting family two years ago. her former husband was accused of her murder but has now been

released on bail sparking fears about the future of the case. secunder kermani reports. it has been more than two years since samia shahid died whilst visiting relatives in pakistan. police believe she was murdered by her ex—husband in a so—called honour killing. but because there has been such little progress in court, he has now been released on bail. mp naz shah is calling on the pakistani authorities to ensure the case is not forgotten. the fact he has been released on bail is not a good indicator for the case. what we need to be really clear about is that we have a woman who was raped and murdered in pakistan, who is yet to receive justice and i am calling murdered in pakistan, who is yet to receivejustice and i am calling on the prime minister in pakistan and the prime minister in pakistan and the chief of prosecutions in pakistan to intervene on this case.

samia shahid had fallen out with her family after her relationship broke down and she married another man. herfather down and she married another man. her father was accused of being an a ccesso ry her father was accused of being an accessory to murder but died in hospital at the start of the year after being granted bail. he is buried alongside his daughter in their ancestral village outside the city. the pakistani legal system cannot bully —— often be painfully slow and the fear is the longer this case drags on the less chance there is of justice ever being done. lawyers say the delay is partly caused by the fa ct the delay is partly caused by the fact her second husband who filed a case is not in pakistan to testify but it is not clear why the case, proceed on the basis of forensic evidence that has been gathered. those pressing forjustice for samia shahid hope they will get answers soon. free—to—use cash machines are being closed at a record rate,

according to link the banking alliance which co—ordinates them. the total is falling by more than 250 a month, partly because we‘re taking out less cash, partly because they‘ve become less economic to run. here‘s our personal finance correspondent, simon gompertz. they‘re essential to get hold of cash, but often we‘re not bothering, just paying by card instead. plus the fee our banks have to pay cash machine operators each time we do use one is being cut. the uk‘s diminishing ranks of free—to—use cash machines still number more than 53,000, but, in the five months tojuly, 1,300 closed, 76 of them disappeared even though they were supposedly protected. link, which co—ordinates the network, has tried to protect free machines in remote areas by persuading banks to pay a higher fee per withdrawal to the operator, but some have been removed anyway. in 21 cases there was not even a post office nearby to get cash over—the—counter. if consumers keep using cash less and less, then, yes, atm numbers will keep going down. what link needs to do is make sure

that it doesn‘t come out of the quiet rural and remote areas. and if we find we can‘t do that, then we will need to go and ask for help from our regulators and other policy makers. the regulatorfor cash machines, the psr, says it‘s concerned, and will force link to do more. one possible solution might be to allow link to run its own cash machines, paid for by the banks. we are taking strong action now to make sure it is doing everything it can to put those in place. i have written to the banks today to make sure they understand their commitment to giving customers good

access to cash. some say banks should be forced to pay to take over the machines if other operators decide they are not making enough money from giving us cash when and where we want it. our headlines this afternoon, tory mps... tory euro—sceptics meet to discuss alternatives to the prime minister‘s brexit plans, but say they‘re not out to get her out. it comes as brexiteer tory mps say technology is key to avoiding a hard irish border and there will no need for physical checks. russian president vladimir putin says the two men suspected of poisoning the skripals are civilians, not criminals, and hopes they will appear soon and tell their story. this weekend will mark ten years since the defining moment of the financial crisis, the collapse of the american bank lehman brothers. the economic impact on the uk is still being felt now with analysis by the institute for fiscal studies suggesting that on average people‘s real annual wages are £800 lower, with those now in their thirties affected the most. we can cross over to

our business presenter maryam moshiri now, who‘s in newark, looking at how it‘s had to change since the financial crash. yes, simon. the market is shutting up yes, simon. the market is shutting up shop after what has been a busy day. market stall holders will be hoping when they count their money at the end of the day they will have made enough to get by. things have been difficult over the past ten yea rs. been difficult over the past ten years. in particular since the financial crisis began, we have seen the number of traders in this market dropping by a third. and earnings in the east midlands falling by 6.3% average. and that is an impact on peoples shopping habits. the council had been trying to do more to help but also there is a for charity as well. john, explain what your

charity, freedom, does? it was set up charity, freedom, does? it was set up on the basis that we should do something in our own communities. we provide debt advice and homelessness issues, we have a food bank, we promote credit unions, we have three drop in cafes for people to have somewhere to go and meet other people. have you seen things become worse in this area of the east midlands? a lot worse, yeah. we are seeing cases now, the volume of cases, it is just massive compared to what it was. just a very quick example on debt, what used to be ten, 20 years ago, people would come in and they would have five or six creditors and now it is often into double figures. they east midlands canjust behind double figures. they east midlands can just behind london double figures. they east midlands canjust behind london in terms of the worst region in terms of performance for average median wages. does that surprise you?m does not surprise me. i don‘t think anyone in london knows we exist in the east midlands. i think they have

forgotten all about us. it is just that bit you pass through on the m1. it does not surprise me. we had a lot of major industries, all those have gone now. and the jobs that are coming in ten to be distribution and they are very often agency workers on zero—hour contracts. we should not really be surprised that wages are falling. what do you think needs to be done to help the area regenerate? we have two end austerity. posterity seems to be an excuse for cutting things. it is an excuse for cutting things. it is an excuse for cutting things. it is an excuse for abandoning communities. —— austerity. the police station has close, the job centre has closed, we have been abandoned. come and listen to us because actually we have lost the people in our communities that have some really good ideas about regeneration but nobody comes and listens. thank you very much. i am

joined now by louise clark. she runs this stall in the market. you have been involved in the market for the past ten years. what changes have you seen since the financial crisis in 2017 began? people want more for their money. people want more for their money. people are looking for bargains. the market is coming back on its feet because people can get more for their money on the market and eve ryo ne their money on the market and everyone loves their money on the market and eve ryo ne loves a their money on the market and everyone loves a bargain. people have less to spend but the market is having to adjust to accommodate that? definitely, we have an initiative to get more stores because we understand people want a bit more for their money. i think the market is doing really well. it is great for us and great for the person trying to get something more for their money. i spoke to the council earlier and they were talking about the council getting really involved in trying to invest more money to regenerate the market and attract more people. have they done enough? i think they have. i don‘t think

they can do any more. they are putting on the markets, craft markets, ploughing money into it. we are getting the market back on its feet and a market town should have a great market. i love vintage and i love floral. put it all together and this is my stall. do you have anything that simon mccoy like want to get his hands on? a lovely floral bag? i think simon might like this. he is a very fine vintage. thank you, both. the v&a, the world‘s leading museum for art and design, is about to branch out beyond its london base. the v&a dundee opens on saturday, and it‘s a central part of a huge project to transform the city. our scotland correspondent lorna gordon has been in taking an early look at the collection for us. yes, hello. this is a first look at this new museum and it is spectacular.

this building has pushed the boundaries of engineering and design. the architect behind it has described it as a living room for the city, a place for people to visit, to hang out in, to learn from and to inspire. it is the showstopping centrepiece of a £1 billion riverside restoration, the v&a dundee, described as a sculpture as much as a building, with curves, sharp edges, stone panels, a cliff face jutting out. the total form of the building is very different from a normal concrete box. as an organic movement that follows wind flow, this is the basis of this design. with the scottish design galleries, ridiculously restored charles rennie mackintosh‘s oak room, and scottish engineering a feature of the ocean liners exhibition, scotland‘s design heritage features large. ocean liners is a major

international show and as part of that story, scottish engineering and the work that was done on clydebank is a central part of the exhibition. it is that aspect of how we approach design that is really important. we need to be appropriate to site and to allow scottish design to really design but we wanted to shine within an international context. the museum tells a global story and there is plenty of interest from around the world in its opening. dundee is a city though with creativity at its core and this addition to the city‘s cultural landscape has ambitions which lie closer to home. my hope is that we will create a new generation of designers and artists and coders and architects coming out of dundee. i hope that thousands and tens of thousands of people are going to come to dundee to see this great building and its great collection. and we are going to help dundee find some of our confidence which might have been lost in recent decades. this museum bringsjobs, yes,

but it is also a bold statement about dundee‘s design heritage and scotland‘s cultural clout. a destination notjust for tourists but for the people living here. this really is a big dealfor this small city on the banks of the tay. half a million people are expected to visit the v&a dundee in its first year. the first of those expected through the doors on saturday. some news we are getting from egypt. public prosecutors say e. coli was a factor in the deaths of two british tourists. this wasjohn and suzanne cooper, who died on the 21st of august. egyptian investigators have said no traces of toxic gas had been

detected but this is the first confirmation that e. coli was involved. thomas cook had previously said tests identified a high level of e. coli but its expert do not believe the results shed any light on the unexplained cause of death of the couple. mr cooper died in his room. mrs cooper died after being taken to hospital. but that changes things with the public prosecutor in egypt saying e. coli was a factor in the deaths of the two british tourists last month. but is breaking. we willjust see... there may be a bit more coming in. i am looking at some copy of adds nothing. we will bring you more on that as we get it. e. coli causing the death of that british couple, according to the postmortem

examination. if you are wealthy enough to be able to take a holiday in space, chances are you‘ll want to celebrate with a glass of inflight champagne. now a specially designed aircraft is taking off from the french champagne region today to test a way of dispensing bubbly to future space tourists. the mumm champagne house has commissioned a high—tech twin—chambered bottle to cope with zero gravity. and to bring in some extra pr! time for a look at the weather. here‘s ben. i want to start off with a check on hurricane florence. you can see it on the satellite picture. a short time ago, this was a category for hurricane. most forecast models take this over the next couple of days towards the carolinas, where it is

expected to bring huge amounts of rain, damaging winds and really dangerous weather. back home, things are quieter. we have this stripe of cloud which has been bringing some outbreaks of rain and behind that, we‘re getting into some cooler and fresh air. most of sending the afternoon with some weather. pushing the last remnants of that front away to the south—east. another front pushing into scotland. rain, it will turn windy. elsewhere, it is going to turn into a chilly night, particularly across central and southern areas. these other temperatures for the towns and the city centres. out in the countryside, it could be getting down to three or 4 degrees. a chilly start tomorrow. bright draft —— but a bright start across england and wales. some outbreaks of patchy rain

working their way down. 12 degrees in stornoway. you might get to 20 in london if you are lucky. and then we look ahead to friday. largely dry and fine in the south—east. cloud and fine in the south—east. cloud and rain across northern ireland. a mix of sunshine and showers to the north. a decidedly cool feel. even towards the south, looking at 18 or 19 degrees. and then we get into the weekend. frontal systems pushing towards the north—west of the uk. in the south—west, this by this stage will be the remnants of another atla ntic will be the remnants of another atlantic hurricane. this is going to draw some very atlantic hurricane. this is going to draw some very warm atlantic hurricane. this is going to draw some very warm and humid tropical air in our direction we suspect. across the south of the country, things likely to warm up. in the west and north, some outbreaks of rain at times. hello, you‘re watching

afternoon live — i‘m simon mccoy. today at 4pm: do you have the confidence of your party? plot? what plot? tory euro—sceptics meet to discuss alternatives to the prime minister‘s brexit plans — but say they‘re not out — to get her out. she is a fantastically dutiful prime minister, and she has my support. ijust want her to change one item of policy. the tory group also claim a hard border with ireland can be avoided by using technology — so britain would be able to leave the single market and customs union. "we know who you are — come and tell your story.." vladimir putin‘s message to the two russians identified as the salisbury attckers. they‘re civilians, he says — not military, or criminal. translation: we know who they are, we found them. i hope that they will turn themselves in and will tell everyone about themselves. there is nothing special, nothing criminal there. coming up on afternoon live, all the sport — here‘s holly hamilton. we hearfrom us open champion naomi osaka who‘s admitted

she thought the booing on court after serena williams outburst at flushing meadows was aimed at her. she‘s been speaking to the ellen degeneres programme in the states about the incident — describing it all as a little stressful. thanks holly, and ben rich has all the weather — ben? looking at a couple of major storms in about half an hour. thanks ben and coming up... remembering fenella fielding, who has died at the age of 90. we‘ll speak to her fellow carry on star anita harris about her memories of the star. hello, everyone — this is afternoon live.

i‘m simon mccoy. ‘chuck chequers‘ — that‘s the message from the group of tory euro—sceptics whose opposition to theresa may‘s brexit plans has been increasingly vocal. but whether or not their call is loud enough to spark a leadership contest is still not clear. members of the european research group met last night. it‘s reported they did discuss ousting theresa may — but how much support they have, and who they would support to take her on... well they‘re not there yet, it seems. today, the erg has unveiled what it says is a solution to the irish border question. downing street has reiterated that chequers is "the only serious, a credible and negotiable plan which is on the table‘ leila nathoo reports from westminster brexiteers walking tall in westminster this morning with one purpose, to try to prove they have an alternative vision for how britain‘s departure

from the eu would work. but what of talk that some of their colleagues on the tory backbenches are now openly discussing a challenge to the person in charge? does brexit need new leadership? the prime minister is worthy of support, she is extremely dutiful in attending to the business of brexit, i want a change in policy and i have made that clear, as have many of my friends in parliament. they say they have their own plan for how to resolve the irish border question, the crucial issue at the heart of the brexit talks. the paper is a fabulously practical, sensible process and the only way we are going to resolve this issue and thereby unlock the negotiations, that is what this is about, this is about unlocking the negotiations, and the way to do that is by engaging at a practical level, which this paper does in a way which has not yet been done.

their solution to keep goods flowing freely between the republic and northern ireland relies on technology and checks away from the border. too late in the day for wrangling, say some. we are running out of road, the final decision is going to be taken, the time for political gains and leadership bids and all of that is over. we will be facing a decision within weeks, not months, which will define the prosperity of the nation for a generation or more. do you have the confidence of your party? would you fight a leadership challenge...? though her critics are circling, she is not in imminent danger yet. there are not yet the numbers to force her out or an obvious rival candidates. but in the commons, taunts from the labour leader. the government‘s brexit negotiations are an abject failure, i can see that by the sullen faces behind her. and that‘s notjust the erg group, it‘s the whole lot of them. theresa may was standing firm behind her strategy. what we have put forward with chequers is a plan which delivers on the result of the referendum, ensures that we take control

of our money and our borders and laws but does so in a way that protects jobs and livelihoods across the united kingdom. negotiations with brussels are coming to a head but westminster will see its fair share of brexit battles in the weeks and months to come. leila nathoo, bbc news. we have been monitoring twitter and the irish deputy prime minister has been monitoring this, he says in the heat of ideas already shown to be unworkable. the eu and the uk negotiating team are rightly focused on the commitments of last december and the focus of no hard border.

time is short, we don‘t need distractions like this. let‘s cross over to parliament now where our chief political correspondent, vicki young is in central lobby for us. there‘s no doubt some people are talking about it may have been said that disastrous general election theresa may called but there‘s there‘s a difference between several tory mps discussing it and actually launching some kind of leadership that. even this idea the letters they put through to the chairman of they put through to the chairman of the so—called 1922 they put through to the chairman of the so—called1922 committee had to reach a certain number, they may be getting quite close to it but even then, it could trigger something, she could stand again and there would be over 100 tory mps voting against. what people are saying publicly is that they are not out to

get theresa may the persons, but many of them do not like a policy. downing street very much sticking to the line that the is the only option on the table. as for today‘s remarks, these ideas put forward again by the group of brexiteers trying to solve this huge sticking point there is about trying to avoid this hard border on the island of ireland. they are not used anywhere at the moment. there are many still keen to dismiss them as an workable, including the former conservative cabinet minister dominic grieve. one thing that shines through this is it presupposes regulatory alignment. if we leave the eu, my understanding from the erg's agenda is they want progressively to move away from regulatory alignment. what they have got down here is incompatible with

the situation where you did not have complete regulatory alignment. obviously if you had it never is mutual trust, even if you were outside, it might be possible to work such a system. instead there is regulatory divergences, one of the reasons for arguing we should leave the eu,i reasons for arguing we should leave the eu, i don't think it's workable. reading the paper, i saw nothing i saw as new, in a sense of the things they are saying repeat things the government themselves have been trying to argue but the eu has been rejecting. i can't see where the breakthrough element is in this paper. there has also been a statement that the paper fails to recognise northern ireland‘s trade with gb relies on the supply chain is crisscrossing the border. they don‘t feel it‘s realistic and they think the extra bureaucracy and the burden on businesses, they would

have to allow for paperwork. as for the chequers deal, those negotiations, there‘s going to be an eu summit next week when downing street will be hoping for warm words. we heard from theresa may today, really two sides to what she had to say, saying the eu would never just be had to say, saying the eu would neverjust be another third country to us. calling again for that special relationship but also making it clear that money that the uk has said it will pay what it overs but thatis said it will pay what it overs but that is contingent on a good deal being forthcoming. mine is becoming focus on what is clearly getting to the end of this process. thank you. russia‘s president vladimir putin says the two men that britain accuses of carrying out the nerve agent attack on sergei and yulia skripal in salisbury are not criminals. britain says alexander petrov and ruslan boshirov are members of russia‘s military intelligence — but president putin says the men are civilians, and he hopes

they will give their side of events. russian state tv is reporting that one of the suspects will give his version of events next week. jenny kumah reports. on their way to allegedly carry out a deadly nerve agent attack in salisbury. the british government says these two men are russian military intelligence officers responsible for the plot to murder the former russian spy sergei skripal and his daughter. they have been named as alexander petrov and ruslan boshirov. russia has always denied any involvement, but now president putin is saying his government has found the two suspects and appears to be saying they are not intelligent agents. translation: we obviously looked at who these people are. we found them. they will appear soon, i hope, and tell you everything themselves. there‘s nothing particularly special or criminal here. translation: are they civilians? translation: sorry? translation: are they civilians?

translation: i can't hear you. translation: civilians? of course they are. just last week scotland yard and the crown prosecution service announced there was enough evidence to charge the men. the police released images showing their arrival at gatwick airport on march 2nd, two days before the poisoning. from gatwick they travelled to east london, staying in a hotel where investigators found traces of novichok. on sunday, march 4th, they travelled to salisbury by train, and were seen near the skripals‘ house around the time it‘s thought the nerve agent was sprayed onto the door handle. just last week a russian spokeswoman dismissed the allegations, saying the whole story was created to punish russia and to introduce sanctions. there is no prospect of the suspects being brought to trial in the uk as russia doesn‘t extradite nationals accused of crime. president putin‘s latest words though at least indicate that the men are in russia

and known to the authorities. jenny kumah, bbc news. let‘s talk to drjames summers who‘s law lecturer at lancaster university. what is vladimir putin to you? well, ina sense, what is vladimir putin to you? well, in a sense, what he is doing is giving his side of the story. if they are considered to be tru agents then what they well be telling are there other stories. perhaps they we re there other stories. perhaps they were here for business or tourism, and we will see a sort of fleshing out of that cover story that those agents had developed around them.- you think the two men that suddenly available look anything like the cctv images were looking at? available look anything like the cctv images were looking aflm available look anything like the cctv images were looking at? it may well be, we may well see those agents. they will tell them the

identities they have assumed and those identities of petrol and bishoo wrath will be and you will hear more in essence this is not necessarily bad publicity, of course vladimir putin has been chosen to be associated with previous individuals linked with association. we have the man who was accused of the assassination of alexander litvinenko. —— individuals linked with assassination. this is not something he has shied away from and in this is something he is perhaps quite keen to be seen to promote. this is a story which he can use if we see this as an act of state terror, this is something he can use to strike fear into russian dissidents. that he can use to...” was just dissidents. that he can use to...”

wasjust going to dissidents. that he can use to...” was just going to say, alexander litvinenko died is result of that attack. these greenpowers are still alive. this was a botched mission, would you be selling life insurance to these two. —— the skripals are still alive. the fact is that it is sending messages to russian dissidents, we will come and get you in ways you can‘t imagine. poison on your handle. the choice of weapons this use of nerve gas in a conflict isa warcrime, this use of nerve gas in a conflict is a war crime, it‘s a prohibited weapon and sends a challenge to the west. this is a use of force, a prohibited weapon, but not at a level that create a situation of war. men theresa may talked about this attack in parliament, she called it an unlawful use of force. that was a very conscious choice of words on her part because she said this was against international law, but it was not the sort of attack

that created an armed conflict between russia and the uk. what we are seeing here is something similar to what we see in crimea, ukraine, a testing of the frontiers of the international system, provocations, which can be denied and which don‘t necessarily lead to a formal response from the united nations, of course russia has a veto in the security council over this. nonetheless they can be used to challenge britain and western countries and test how they would respond to this sort of action. this story, in a sense, and the fact vladimir putin is talking it up, offering titbits, with the latest development coming along, keeping it interesting, keeping it going, keeping a story fed for the international media, in a sense it

feeds into two agendas. if you look at it as scaring or intimidating russian dissidents, and setting a challenge to western powers. thank you. on the third day of the inquest into the deaths that resulted from last year‘s westminster bridge attack, the court has heard evidence about aysha frade. the teacher, who was on her way to pick up her children from school, died when she fell under a bus after being hit by the car driven by khalid masood. the inquest heard she was "completely unaware" of the car speeding towards her. prosecutors in egypt say it‘s been found that an ecoli infection was the cause of death of a british couple who died on a thomas cook holiday. john and susan cooper died within hours of each other last month at the steigenberger aqua magic hotel in hurghada. at the time their deaths were a mystery, but thomas cook moved tourists to other hotels as a precaution. you‘re watching afternoon live, these are our headlines:

tory euro—sceptics meet to discuss alternatives to the prime minister‘s brexit plans but say they‘re not out to get her out. it comes as brexiteer tory mps say technology is key to avoiding a hard irish border and there will no need for physical checks. russian president vladimir putin says the two men suspected of poisoning the skripals are civilians, not criminals, and hopes they will appear soon and tell their story. and in sport... we hearfrom us open champion naomi osaka who‘s admitted she thought the booing on court after serena williams outburst at flushing meadows was aimed at her. she‘s been speaking to the ellen degeneres programme in the states about the incident describing it all as a little stressful. world and olympic champion kristina vogel has spoken for the first time since she was paralysed following a training crash injune and says she‘s ready to tackle her new life. and tour de france champion geraint thomas won‘t feature in this year‘s

road world championships. dan da n eva ns dan evans will return to great britain for the first time since a 12 month ban for cocaine use. he has mostly played on the challenge of since making his comeback in april. —— the challenger tour. there have been many tributes today, to the actress fenella fielding, who‘s died at the age of 90. her career spanned seven decades in theatre, film and tv — but she‘ll be best remembered as ‘england‘s first lady of the double entendre‘ in the film carry on screaming... i‘m sorry to disturb you, miss, but some gentlemen are here. yes, i was looking at them, sockett. what do they want? they wish to see the master, miss. my brother is dead, sockett, don't you understand? he's dead. oh yes, miss. i did tell them that. then why are they still here? well, i‘m afraid i forgot myself and told them he might see them. did i do wrong, miss?

0h, sockett. i‘m terribly sorry, miss. we‘re joined by the actress anita harris. who worked alongside her in the cabbie on films. my word, she is the first lady of double entendre. she called her memoirs do you mind if i smoke, after that wonderful scene with harry corbett. what was it about her? firstly, hurt in spirit. she had a very gentle in the spirit. —— her inner spirit. she had a very gentle in the spirit. —— her innerspirit. she she had a very gentle in the spirit. —— her inner spirit. she was very believable with everything she did, character wise, as a human being. to pay tribute, god bless her. everything about her was very real, even though it was... her persona, on film was larger—than—life. but as

a girlandi on film was larger—than—life. but as a girland ifirst on film was larger—than—life. but as a girl and i first met on film was larger—than—life. but as a girl and ifirst met fenella on film was larger—than—life. but as a girl and i first met fenella when i was 17, they had a radio show on called something to shout about, bbc with warren mitchell and fenella. every time we met after that, she a lwa ys every time we met after that, she always remembered. this is what i loved about her, she was very, very gentle in manner and very warm. then we‘ll obviously did... on june gentle in manner and very warm. then we‘ll obviously did... onjune three this year, it was the 60th anniversary of the carry on. fenella gave the most beautiful reading, and bought the place down. that voice, too. i know, she was very gifted. and gifted as a straight actress, you know, it‘s, shakespeare, in between the roles with peter rogers

producing and betty box, the early films before the carry on. her life span weaved in and out of comedy and drama and just being a lovely girl. for most people, it is the carry on films. he worked on those. what was it about them that just appeals to so many? it was a wonderful time in british film. it was, came out of the ealing studios, the ealing comedies. generalthomas, he was the ealing studios, the ealing comedies. general thomas, he was the director of the carry ons, they found a magic formula. they got straight actors, very clever, brilliant actors on their own merit but something happened that created magic when it all got together. scripts were wonderful, the speed in

which the carry ons had to be filmed, six weeks. the energy was there, ijoined them with frankie howard in 1960. 1968! laughter i was so proud to be part of that. it isa so proud to be part of that. it is a phenomenon, the way each generation, they kind of celebrates what the carry ons were. when you we re what the carry ons were. when you were all asked together injune, is there a family feel to those? fewer and few of you. lots of heaven, -- knots in heaven, probably up there working hard. a family feel, yes. i had to prove myself as an actor, certainly with kenneth williams, but once i was accepted it was like that with lovely barbara and liz fraser, god bless. everybody knew that when they came in, we all had to know our

lines, there was a structure that had to be dealt with, but when we we re had to be dealt with, but when we were sitting and i was sitting with bill silvers under an arc lamp, on—campus sands pretending it was the sahara, you got this wonderful spirit. you know, fenella had that right the way through. she was seductive, she was wicked, and incredibly glamorous. and she got away with all of those at the same time. well, that's what being a good actress is. it‘s also being loved, she was loved by her audience. right till the very, very last time i saw her. they just. and till the very, very last time i saw her. theyjust. and still do and will always. her spirit her. theyjust. and still do and willalways. herspirit will her. theyjust. and still do and will always. her spirit will live on. because she had learnt lovely sense of being able to touch those through the camera, but also at a signing, she was never in a hurry,

she gave time to her fans, she would talk to them, you know. and people appreciate that. they really do. it's appreciate that. they really do. it‘s part of what good old show business is. indeed. well, a loss to us all. a loss and bless her heart, great, greatjoy, fenella. well done. thank you so much for coming hurricane florence is being described by the us weather service as a monster and the storm of a lifetime , and it‘s expected to strengthen further as it heads towards the southeast of the country. more than a million people have been ordered to leave coastal areas, and emergencies have been declared in several states. forecasters say it could make landfall as early as tomorrow night. peter bowes reports. cbs correspondent david begnaud gave us this update from wrightsville beach in north carolina. in wrightsville beach, north carolina, where we are, a mandatory evacuation went into effect at 8am. and in north carolina if you don‘t follow a mandatory evacuation order, you could be cited with a misdemeanour crime. now listen, it happens

all the time in hurricanes. people decide that they can ride it out. and if you do, just know that forecasters are saying that this could be the storm of a lifetime. in south carolina much of the entire coast of the state is under mandatory evacuation. here in north carolina, officials are evacuating certain areas. local leaders are responsible for deciding what to evacuate and when. in virginia the governor of that state has evacuated certain low—lying areas. where we are in wrightsville beach, this might end up being ground zero for hurricane florence. remember, the storm is massive. in some proportions it‘s as big as the state of north carolina. where we are, we are being told the storm surge could be up to 13 feet, higher than some of the buildings along the beach. and the rainfall totals could be as high as 40 inches. again, forecasters are using the phrase storm of a lifetime in a very sombre tone as they tell people, "if you are being told to get out, and you haven‘t already, now is the time to go." i‘m david begnaud for cbs news,

reporting for the bbc, in wrightsville beach, north carolina. can‘t beat a cbs correspondent out there, can you? we will see more of those across the days. time for a look at the weather. we will talk about florence in a moment with ben rich but there is an even bigger storm you are watching? the oceans are very busy, the atla ntic the oceans are very busy, the atlantic and the pacific. in the pacific we are watching this typhoon, a violence typhoon. you can see it here on our satellite picture. you don't often see vi like that. now, that i is the key. -- you don‘t often see vi like that. that. now, that i is the key. -- you don't often see vi like that. it gives you up an indication that the storm really means business. currently around 100 mile an hour

winds. the question is the track. still some uncertainty but looks like it will pass across the north of the philippines over the next couple of days. could cause catastrophic flooding there. damaging winds as well, and then the re m na nts of damaging winds as well, and then the remnants of the storm moving towards hong kong and parts of southern china. that‘s going to make the news. keeping an eye on that one then. let‘s talk about the one that is in the south—eastern seaboard anyway. they are describing this as anyway. they are describing this as a monster. a monster, a huge damaging storm, could be the worst storm they‘ve had in the carolinas for a generation, something like 22 yea rs. we for a generation, something like 22 years. we talk about eyes on satellite imagery, there is another one, a clear eye in the middle of hurricane florence. the wind is similarto hurricane florence. the wind is similar to the typhoon in the pacific, around 138 miles an hour. what‘s the difference? pacific, around 138 miles an hour. what's the difference? they are basically the same but we call typhoons in the pacific when they

moved towards the eastern front, and hurricanes when they moved towards the atlantic. but this one, really worrying, the more we look at the computer models coming into us, it may well stall close to the coach line so we talk about these hurricanes making landfall, it might be that as we go through thursday, friday, saturday, getting close to the carolinas, it will stall, picking up more of that tropical moisture from the warm waters of the ocean. the winds get stronger? at the same time, the land, the effects of the storm interacting with the land can weaken it from that regard but the storms will still be damaging for sure. what it will do, picking up all that moisture from the sea could drive huge amounts of rain. the national hurricane service are talking about catastrophic flooding, 1000 millimetres of rain perhaps, a metre of rain places. when we talk about a storm surge, that‘s also a concern? when we talk about a storm surge, that's also a concern? you get a very deep area of low pressure,

literally if you imagine less pressure pushing down, the waters of the sea actually up a little bit. so the sea actually up a little bit. so the water is lifted up and then dropped. that can inundate coastal areas, causing huge amounts of flooding. with this storm potentially sitting in place for a few days, all these impacts are likely to be prolonged. they talk about life—threatening weather, dangerous weather and i don‘t think that‘s an understatement. dangerous weather and i don‘t think that's an understatement. when they use the word monster, we are really talking about something quite serious. paying with storm is not on this scale but closer to home, we now name them, don‘t we? today they have announced what the next lot will be called. the met office and the irish service together for the last few years have named the storms. it‘s because it helps us to get the message across. rename a storm, hopefully people out there will be able to get a better idea of what the impacts are going to be. let‘s look at the names because it‘s

quite a nest. you can pick your favourites. we have ali, the rona... deirdre. a pretty nice one. lily. they don‘t all sound particularly threatening but they are given names, when these storms are expected to cause significant impact him in the uk. i imagine we will be revisiting that list a few times over the coming weeks. is it me or have we only had a storms since we gave their names? that's what i was saying about raising awareness. of course we have not only had serious storm since we started giving them names but you remember them now and you can tie them to what they did, so maybe that‘s part of the thinking behind the names. it's for simple brains like mine. let‘s have a forecast. we have talked about all the storms around the world. quieter now, none of these on their way just yet but we do quieter now, none of these on their wayjust yet but we do have cool air working in from the map. that cool air pushing in behind a weather

front which you can see an hour earlier satellite picture, this strike of cloud. if you spend your days across southern and south—eastern areas that‘s why it‘s been a bit disappointed me cloudy and damp. in the west, sunny skies. into the first part of this evening, we will continue to see showers across the north—west. the remnants of our weather front slowly but surely clearing away. one thing you will notice into the evening, temperatures. to dip away and that will become more pronounced as things get dark knight, especially england and wales. under clear, starry skies it will get chilly. the temperatures i will show you for towns and city centres but as you can see from these green colours, the chilly weather will be be quite widespread. towns and cities, seven, eight, nine. some in the midlands and east anglia might get down to 4 degrees. up in the midwest, more of a breeze across the north west of scotland. not as cold. that patchy

rain will sink scotland. not as cold. that patchy rain willsinka scotland. not as cold. that patchy rain will sink a bit further southwards into northern england, to the south of that some sunshine. those temperatures no great shakes, 18,19, those temperatures no great shakes, 18, 19, maybe 20 those temperatures no great shakes, 18,19, maybe 20 in london. more like 12 in stornoway and quite breezy here as well. friday, similar if you are down towards the south and east, and largely fine day with dry spells, another area of rain coming east but sunshine and showers in the far north and cool across the board, 12 or 19. then we get to the weekend, it looks like frontal systems will push mostly towards the north—west of the uk, some wind and rain. further self maybe at times, but behind me this big low area, this will be the remnants of what is currently hurricane helene. another atla ntic currently hurricane helene. another atlantic storm, i said it was busy in the oceans at the moment, ma will be that draws some tropical air into the mix the latter part of the weekend into next week which could

mean southern areas start to warm up but as far as the weekend goes, largely fine and dry in the south, spells of sunshine and turning warmer, further north and west of a breeze and saw outbreaks of rain rain at times. in the west and north, some outbreaks of rain at times. this is bbc news. our latest headlines: conservative mps opposed to theresa may‘s brexit plans have denied they are trying to force her out, despite openly discussing a leadership challenge last night. the tory eurosceptics also say a hard border between the uk and ireland could be avoided after brexit using established technology. critics say it‘s nothing new. russian president vladimir putin says his government has found the two russians suspected of the sailsbury poisoning and that there‘s nothing special about them, they‘re civilians, not criminals. prosecutors in egypt say it‘s been found that an ecoli infection was the cause of death of a british couple who died on a thomas cook holiday last month. it‘s already been called a monster and the storm of a lifetime. as hurricane florence heads towards the south—eastern united states, more than a million

people have been told to leave their homes. and coming up on nationwide, do you know what monkeypox is? two people in england have now been diagnosed with it. bbc north west tonight will tell us more. sport now on afternoon live with holly hamilton. we‘ve heard from serena williams and the umpire, but there‘s one person we‘re yet to hear from since that incident the us open final until now. naomi osaka has been speaking to the ellen degeneres show in the united states. it‘s the first time we‘ve really hear from her since she claimed the title at flushing meadows. all anyone has been talking about is serena‘s outburst on court and the row over sexism that followed, but right at the centre of it was 20—year—old osaka. her first grand slam title overshadowed by all this and rather heartbreakingly, she told ellen she thought the booing on court was aimed at her. this is what she had to say. you are told to just look,

turn around and tried to focus, so i tried to do that but i heard a lot of people in the crowd making noises. at the time, i did kind of thinking they were booing me. i could not tell what was going on because it was so loud in there. it was a little bit stressful. receiving the trophy, there was a lot of booing in the crowd and then serena williams leaned over and said to something to you. what did she say to you? that she was proud of me and i should know the crowd was not booing at me. and to play the way she did even when she thought the crowd was booing her, is remarkable.

20 years old and winning her first grand slam title against serena williams. and we‘ve heard from another world champion today, this time cyclist kristina vogel after her career ending crash earlier this year. you might remember world and olympic cycling gold medalist kristina vogel, she was severely injured in a training crash earlier this year, back in june, which left her paralysed. she‘s now spoken for the first time in a news conference in the berlin hospital where she‘s being treated. she‘s described the moments following the crash in which she suffered serious spinal and chest injuries after colliding with a dutch rider, who she did not name during the press conference. she says at the time she would constantly ask why me? but now she‘s looking to the future and says she wants to give something back to her sport. translation: i try to adapt myself. i compare myself to a little baby who has had to learn step—by—step how to get seated, to walk and move around. it took quite some time, about three months, i think.

now i am ready to face my situation and share my experiences. i want to pass on my positive energy. if you want to hear more, the full interview was on the bbc website. simon yates is pursuing the vuelta a espana title this week, and he‘s been named in the great britain team alongside his twin adam for the road world championships later this month. they will compete in the road race, but both chris froome and geraint thomas won‘t be competing in innsbruck. the omssion of tour de france champion thomas was a mutual decision, says british cycling performance director stephen park, as is the decision on froome. 17 cyclists will represent great britain in the elite races at the championships. and in tennis, dan evans will play for great britain for the first time

since serving a 12—month ban for cocaine use in friday‘s davis cup tie against uzbekistan. evans has mainly played on the second—tier challenger tour since making his comeback in april. cameron norrie and jay clarke are also in the team, with doubles specialists jamie murray and dominic inglot. two british sides in action in the woman‘s champions league, including english title winners chelsea who‘ve started their campaign with a first leg trip to sarajevo. that is all the sport from now. plenty more on the bbc news channel throughout the evening. goodbye for now. now on afternoon live, let‘s go nationwide, and see what‘s happening around the country, in our daily visit to the bbc newsrooms around the uk.

in salford is annabel tiffin, where experts at the royal liverpool hospital are dealing with the uk‘s second confirmed case of monkeypox. and janine machin in cambridge, where there‘s been a big announcement today about a new road to link the city with oxford. first of all, moneypox, what is it? how serious is this? i had never heard of it before today either. as we said, it is very rare. the patient who has it, we don‘t really know anything about him. he is believed to have become infected in nigeria afterfeeling unwell is believed to have become infected in nigeria after feeling unwell back in the uk. he was admitted to blackpool hospital. he has now been transferred to the tropical and infectious diseases unit at the royal liverpool hospital. it is only the second case ever in the country.

the first was diagnosed in cornwall a few days ago also in a patient who had spent time in nigeria. it is not thought there is a link between the patients. moneypox first appeared in humans in1970. it patients. moneypox first appeared in humans in 1970. it is a relative actuary of smallpox but is not as dangerous. despite its name, it does not come from monkeys, though, it can spread to monkeys. initial symptoms include exhaustion, well, that sounds like a lot of other things. particularly viruses. before eve ryo ne things. particularly viruses. before everyone starts checking themselves over and worrying, as we said at the beginning, it is very rare. there have only been two confirmed cases in the uk. there is not any real danger of a

general social transmission, contact in the street or by general social contact. but is not something which is likely to happen, so we don't need to worry about monkeypox spreading generally in the uk. when you started describing the symptoms, i think everyone started itching. should we be concerned? last year, apparently there was a sustained outbreak of monkeypox in nigeria and there have been isolated cases reported since but experts admit it is very unusual to see two cases in such a relatively short amount of time. but it is really if you have been travelling to those particular areas of africa. the man suffering from this case in liverpool is being treated by

specialist staff and public health england say they are working hard to contact individuals who might have come into contact with him just to try and find a little bit more about where or how he contracted this. again, i should say, it is rare and it does not spread easily between humans. generally infected people recover within several weeks and they have no long—term effects on their health but in a few cases, it can be fatal but people should not begin worrying just yet. fantastic bedside manner! thank you for that. a big announcement today on this road to link the city with oxford. yes, this is the east—west expressway. crucially, it will take in milton keynes. it can be difficult to get really excited about a road so why is this one so important? for a long time now, this whole area has been developing as a technology hotspot and that means it

is seen as a jewel in the economy really. at the moment, there really is no simple way of travelling directly between these places but a lot of collaboration goes on between companies along this route. these companies along this route. these companies are trying to expand and need extra staff and that means they need extra staff and that means they need extra staff and that means they need extra housing. but all of it seems to hang on getting these transport links settled first. today, a step forward with that. the government said it has chosen a preferred route for one of the sections of this route. it basically means the road will pass to the south of milton keynes and then in the next phase, it will go either or old —— over or under the m6. they say it is the route that best mirrors that of the rail link also under construction at the moment. the hope is that will keep

disruption to a minimum. it will also be more attractive to housing developers. and it will give people better access to jobs, health, leisure services, those kind of things. some people were hoping it would run closer to aylesbury, others backing him. it is not surprising people want a slice of this investment. it is a huge project. as is often the case, it does seem to be progressing very slowly. these routes we are talking about one be finished for a good ten yea rs or about one be finished for a good ten years or so. today there was a call to action launched at silverstone. this is a voluntary group of councils and businesses in the region. they want the government to know, these are their words, it is time to turn rhetoric into reality, ina sense, time to turn rhetoric into reality, in a sense, they say, stop telling us we are great and deserve more

help and start delivering it to us. it is not just help and start delivering it to us. it is notjust transport, it is things like installing five g and fibre. they say a lot of progress has been made in the last 18 months but they want to make sure they are at the front of the queue for funding when it comes to the autumn budget. thank you very much. thank you both very much. if you would like to see more on any of those stories, you can access them via the bbc iplayer. the shadow brexit secretary, keir starmer says conservative infighting is at the ‘heart of the problem‘, when it comes to theresa may‘s brexit strategy. his comments come as a group of pro—brexit tories, published its own plan for tackling the irish border issue. mr starmer, who has been speaking to our northern ireland political editor mark devenport,

said he doesn‘t agree with brexiteers, who say that theresa may was wrong to agree a northern ireland backstop. the commitment to no hard border in northern ireland is really important and nobody should be casual about that. it is a real important part of the peace process, an international obligation that we have got. it is absolutely right that there should bea absolutely right that there should be a backstop. the question now is what are the words that can assure everybody that it is the right backstop? but being casual about know hardboard backstop? but being casual about know ha rdboa rd is backstop? but being casual about know hardboard is irresponsible, in my view. the brexiteers say there are around 80 mps who may well vote down the plan. if it comes to it in the coming months, that the alternative to some sort of compromise built around that plan is com plete compromise built around that plan is complete economic chaos and no deal,

will labour ride to theresa may ‘s rescue? the labour party has said we willjudge the deal theresa may brings back according to six tests that we set out at the beginning of the process and we will faithfully do that. the problem theresa may has is her own side are so deeply divided, she cannot even guarantee she can get it through her own side. and that is at the heart of the problem. we would not be at this stage talking about the backstop in the way we are if it wasn‘t for that division and chaos. and my message to theresa may is it is all very well your party arguing in this way but you have no right to inflict this on the rest of the uk and other eu partners. do you think your approach can be sold to the dup? well, our approach is a uk wide approach because we think that if you look at the uk economy, if you look at manufacturing and services, it is obvious that being in a

customs union and having a strong relationship is the way to preserve those sectors and nobody wants those sectors to suffer. so we think the a nswer actually sectors to suffer. so we think the answer actually years in a uk wide solution. we will look very carefully at the backstop. we will look at the words that come out over the coming weeks. what will matter is whether it is acceptable to all communities. but we think if you we re communities. but we think if you were to take away theresa may ‘s red lines and actually start in a more sensible place, you can deal with the long stop and the backstop, if you like. the train unions have now said the option of a people‘s fault should be kept open —— trade unions. we will apply the tests we have got to the deal, if it does not satisfy our tests, we will vote it down. we don‘t accept that no deal is the consequence. all options should then be on the table. obviously as an opposition, we want to call for a general election, so we can deal with brexit but also the other changes that need to take place. all

options on the table, included in the options is the option of a vote in some sort on the deal. maryam moshiri is at newark this afternoon, reporting on the lasting impact of the financial crash of 2008. first a look at the headlines on afternoon live. tory euro—sceptics meet to discuss alternatives to the prime minister‘s brexit plans — but say they‘re not out to get her out. it comes as brexiteer tory mps say technology is key to avoiding a hard irish border and there will no need for physical checks. russian president vladimir putin says the two men suspected of poisoning the skripals are civilians, not criminals, and hopes they will appear soon and tell their story. this week marks ten years since the defining moment of the financial crisis, the collapse of the american bank lehman brothers. it was the largest and most devastating bankruptcy in history and set off a chain of events that led to the worst crisis since the great depression. the economic impact on the uk is still being felt now with analysis by the institute for fiscal studies suggesting that

on average people‘s real annual wages are £800 lower. we can cross over to our business presenter maryam moshiri now, who‘s in newark, looking at how it‘s had to change since the financial crash. simon, thank you. the market stall holders are closing shop, as you can see, behind me. it has been a busy wednesday. the market has been here since the 12th century and it has been successful. it has lasted that long. however, the last ten years or so and the financial crisis and the subsequent recession have had an impact. i had been told in a bar of traders here has dropped by a third over ten years, the number of stores has halved. life has been difficult. those iss figures show the east midlands comes in a little bit behind london in terms of the drop

in average earnings —— s. what has the council been doing to help people and what more needs to be done? iam people and what more needs to be done? i am joined people and what more needs to be done? iamjoined by people and what more needs to be done? i am joined by the leader of the town council and also wendy, who ru ns the town council and also wendy, who runs a cafe. david, i have been speaking to stallholders and people generally and they have been telling me about the fact that life has been tough over the past ten years. how have you seen things change? it has not changed here as badly as it has in other places. the main thing we have had to do is engage with communities and businesses as to what they require. we have invested in the market differently and we have made it more about leisure than just, sound economy. we have incentive schemes for local people and we have done propulsion is —— promotions. there has been a series of communications, investments, supporting businesses with money and supporting businesses with money and supporting the market and stepping

in because it has been necessary. and emphasising that we need to work with this and sustain one another‘s work. i know that the number of stallholders has dramatically dropped. what are you doing to bring more people in and stallholders in? we have been working with the montford university to bring people through from universities to take up stalls. we have realised that some market traders are retiring. they are ata market traders are retiring. they are at a certain stage of life and it needs to be a different offer to what it has traditionally been. fewer people are shopping during the week. we are looking at making it a leisure experience. we are offering something different that you would not get off the internet, like the craft market, specialist days. so it is more of a visit and a journey for people to go on. and the council also has been offering funding to businesses since the financial

crisis, covering an area the banks would have covered. wendy, you have benefited from council money. how have things changed for you over the past ten years? i have only been here for the past year. i have noticed as a business owner, trying to get many other banks is virtually impossible. and when you go to the bank, you need the money and they never seem to give it to the owners of businesses that need the money. it seems to be almost if you have got money, they will lend you more, but if you don't have any... and of course through the last collapse, my credit rating disintegrated with most other peoples. trying to money for the new business was very difficult. how did you get that money? did you approach the council? i had approached the council about staffing and then i found out about the loan. being an opportunist, i asked for details.

unfortunately, they gave me the loan. research has shown people in the east midlands have seen their median average pay drop by almost as much as london and the worst performing area in the uk, does that surprise you? not particularly. i mean, the catering industry is a minimum wage pay. of course my staff would disagree slightly with that because the minimum wage has gone up. you could certainly see it through the till, the average spend we nt through the till, the average spend went down. when i was in nottingham, it was getting harder and harder. how important is it, david, for a council to dedicate that money to help small businesses? it is vital. we have got very few empty units because most of them are local, independent traders. if you don‘t sustain the sort of experience for people to come to, the book into the town, it is a downward spiral and it

is about and supporting local businesses. david and wendy, thank you very much indeed. i have spent the whole day here. it is a wonderful town. very typical of a market town. they have been so welcoming of me. but quite a few of the market stallholders have asked me to tell you if you ever wa nted asked me to tell you if you ever wanted to come and visit, the red—carpet will be laid out for you. iam red—carpet will be laid out for you. i am absolutely speechless, for the first time ever. you are popular, what can i say? thank you very much. police in india have arrested two people of stealing a lunchbox that once belonged to a royal family. (00v) the tiffin made of gold and studded with diamonds had been the tiffin made of gold and studded with diamonds had been removed from their display vaults in the nizam museum in hyderabad. as well as the lunchbox, a jewel—encrusted teacup, saucer, and a spoon were taken. the items are estimated to be worth

up to £10 million, and once belonged to mir osman ali khan, the last king of hyderabad. that‘s it from your afternoon live team for today, next the bbc news at five with rebecca jones. time for a look at the weather. here‘s ben rich. we will take a detailed look at the uk weather in a moment but first a check on hurricane florence. you can see it on the satellite picture. a short time ago, this was a category for hurricane. most forecast models ta ke for hurricane. most forecast models take this over the next couple of days towards the carolinas, where it is expected to bring huge amounts of rain, damaging winds and similarly dangerous weather to come for the east coast of the usa over the next couple of days. back home, we have this stripe of cloud, which has been bringing outbreaks of rain and behind that,

we are getting fresh air. most of sending the afternoon with some bright weather sunshine. then we get into the evening, and the front pushes into the north—west of scotland. elsewhere, clear skies overhead and it will turn into a chilly night. these are the temperatures for the towns and city centres. but out in the countryside, it could get down to three or 4 degrees. a chilly start tomorrow. a bright start across england and wales. some rain working its way down into northern england. the far north of scotland seeing a mixture of sunshine and blustery showers. 12 degrees in stornoway, you might get to 20 in london if you are lucky. friday, largely dry and finding the south—east. cloud and rain across

northern ireland and parts of scotland. a mixture of sunshine and showers to the north. even towards the south, we are looking at 18 or 19 degrees. and then we get into the weekend. frontal system is pushing towards the north—west of the uk. some wind and rain. down in the south—west, by this stage, this will be the remnants of another atlantic hurricane. and this is going to draw some very warm and hurricane. and this is going to draw some very warm and humid tropical airing ourdirection, we some very warm and humid tropical airing our direction, we suspect. across the south of the country, things are likely to warm up as we go through the weekend. further north and west, outbreaks of rain at times. today at 5... leading pro—brexit conservative mps insist they are not planning to oust theresa may. the group — led byjacob rees—mogg — meets to discuss alternatives to the prime minister‘s chequers proposals but says now is not

the time for a change in leadership. she is a fantastically dutiful prime minister and she has my support. ijust want her to change one item of policy. the same group of tory mps also insists a hard border on the island of ireland can be avoided after the uk leaves the single market and the customs union. we‘ll have the latest from westminster and belfast. the other main stories on bbc news at 5... egypt‘s public prosecutor says e.coli was a factor in the death of a british couple at a hotel in the resort of hurghada.