hello, you're watching afternoon live, i'm simon mccoy. today at 2: we weren't in salisbury to kill the skripals, we wanted to visit the cathedral. the two suspects in the novichok poisoning tell russian tv they were innocent tourists. the famous salisbury cathedral, famous in the whole world. it's famous in the whole world. it's famous for its 123 metre spire. if we can't strike a deal we won't be paying the divorce bill in full the brexit secretary's defiant message to brussels. the brexit papers the cabinet holds a "no deal" planning session looking at 300 issues like mobile roaming charges, driving licences, and passports. coming up on afternoon live — all the sport. marin dunne he suffered from depression and attended to take his own life. the best of the sunshine,

active weather in the rest of the world. hurricane florence is beginning to enter the carolinas, we will have the latest in about half an hour. also coming up: we'll be looking at the imminent arrival of that hurricane florence. those staying on batten down the hatches. getting ready for what some us wether forecasters say will be the worst hurricane of a lifetime. hello eeveryone, this is afternoon live. it was us we were there but we were tourists not assassins. just 2a hours after vladimir putin urged the two men identified by the uk as being behind the novichok attack in salisbury to come forward, they appeared on russian television. they certainly look like

alexander petrov and ruslan boshirov captured on cctv near the home of sergei skripal, but they say they had gone to salsibury to see the sights. they said their friends have been telling us for ages to go to this wonderful town. a laughable plot? well putin's critics say that may be moscow's plan to make a mockery of the whole incident. this is what they said on russian television. translation: you really look like the pictures shown to us by the uk. who are you? translation: we are those that were shown to you in the pictures, ruslan boshirov and alexander petrov. translation: are those your real names? translation: yes, they are our real names. translation: even now, when you are talking about it, to tell the truth, you look very nervous. translation: what would you look like ?

when your life is turned upside down in a moment, injust one day which changed our lives. translation: and the cctv footage from london, you walk in those now famous coats and sneakers in salisbury. are those people you? translation: yeah, that's us. translation: what were you doing there? translation: our friends have been suggesting for a long time that we visit this wonderful town. translation: salisbury? a wonderful town? translation: yes, there is the famous salisbury cathedral, famous not only in europe but the whole world. it's famous for its 123 metre spire. it's famous for its clock, one of the first ever created in the world that's still working. what are they making of this there?

the two men look very nervous, their explanation stands that their lives had been upturned by this full disclosure, which they say is a com plete disclosure, which they say is a complete mistake. they say it is an operation against them. they say they are just a pair of businessmen, ina they are just a pair of businessmen, in a sporting nutrition. we would be impressed if they travel a lot to europe, because they look very nervous, too. as you mention, these two men working to get to salisbury, they flew to the uk on 2nd of march and left on 11th of march tore this meant most of their time trying to get to salisbury. of course, the initial visit went wrong. you're smiling a bit? if you treat this

with the scepticism as many people do, it looks stage—managed. this is the cause of which would be followed for weeks and weeks on an hour. if we come. compare this with a previous event, people denied that they went to london. the parallels are in this case, too. i'm nowjoined by sir andrew wood who was british ambassador to moscow from 1995 to 2000. what did you make of this interview? it's disgraceful. the president of a major country could. should be sponsoring such a fast. it is obvious these people went to they salisbury, said they admitted it, they went twice. an oddity is that they went twice. an oddity is that they should know that the spire is

123 metres high. this is obvious or something taken from a guidebook. i don't think they went there to look at the cathedral. bruce apprised that the attack would appear to make a mockery of this whole incident? is that perhaps how they will try to turn this? yes, obviously there seem dunne. —— there seem is not anti—russian. all we are doing was to wa nt anti—russian. all we are doing was to want to bring them to trial, in this country, the prussian dunne prosecution service does not find them guilty. i can see that they wouldn't want to be here to face trial, because the service in russia

is less harsh. there is no justification for the threat... the conclusion that we have come to is that the russians were responsible for killing one person and trying to assassinate two more. looking at the body language, they look very uncomfortable. they look like they don't want to be there. would that suggest that they're under pressure and their lives might be in some sort of danger? i'm sure that the would know their duty. 0ne sort of danger? i'm sure that the would know their duty. one of the interesting things about looking at the pictures of them walking is that they're adopting a typical, gangster style walk. they don't look like ordinary tourists. they had no interest in the cathedral. ride do you have any doubt that the two in this interview are the two that we are as seen on the cctv pictures? i

couldn't tell that. what reaction do you think that the russians are hoping to get from the uk and the west in general, from this particular appearance on television as mac there are people in the west who are very happy to believe things that are put on tv and elsewhere? there will be people who accept this is true thursday are not prepared to believe anything damaging to russia. anybody with any real background knowledge, any capacity for noting the number of lies that were told on russia's behalf, also concludes the morals of a country where you send your soldiers to die and are not prepared to admit that they are there or allow their families to grieve. it all builds up to a

distressing picture. we simply cannot trust a country that behaves like this. we saw blood in britain saying that the two would appear on television. putin gets what he wa nts ? television. putin gets what he wants? of course. it is an instruction. they are serving as one of his major security organs. in the last hour, the government has published 22 guidance papers in the event of the eu and the uk not reaching an agreement on the final brexit deal on issues including mobile phone roaming charges, driving licences and passports, in the event of the eu and the uk not reaching an agreement. they would have to apply for an international permit. these people we'll be considered

third—party nationals. british manufacturers may have to have their goods tested a second time to meet eu safety standards. lets get more on this developing story. these papers havejust come out in the last few minutes. what is in them? this is the nuts and bolts of what will happen if there is no deal with the european union. it shines a light on a close corporation there at the moment. it is looking like it'll make things a little bit more tricky. things like going to drive in the eu, not that you will have to apply for one international driving licence, you might need more than one as it is different depending on the country. also, if you want to live in the european union. at the moment, you

can exchange your uk driving licence, but this might not be the case in the future. the european social fund, this is case in the future. the european socialfund, this is the money that goes to the deprived part of the united kingdom, the government is counting that that will continue up to 2020. this is the detail of what would happen, what life would be like if there is a no deal scenario. this cabinet meeting this morning finished recently. what do we make of the cabinet meeting? the government's main message is that it is confident of getting a deal. it has been under a lot more pressure to show that it is prepared and ready for a no deal scenario. this is partly to strengthen the negotiations by making it clear that they are ready and able to walk away from those talks if the deal is not one that they like. my colleague has more detail on that meeting this morning. do you think we can get a deal?

absolutely, said a bullish brexit secretary heading into cabinet this morning. 0n the agenda, britain's readiness for leaving the eu without any deal in just six months' time. are the planes going to fly? we don't know yet ,but a picture is emerging of how no deal would impact british businesses and tourists. i think any responsible government would need to be prepared for the unlikely and regrettable scenario where the negotiations don't reach a positive conclusion, and so we need those plans in place. they are a common—sense, balanced approach to managing the risk of a no—deal brexit and making sure we can give businesses, individuals, ngos, public bodies the reassurance they need. the government has already told businesses to prepare for disruption and drug companies to stockpile medicines. today's mammoth cabinet meeting shows the government is taking its no deal planning very seriously indeed. but, by setting out starkly the disruption and costs it would involve, ministers are also warning theresa may's critics

in westminster not to derail a brexit deal that number ten thinks is close. mps will vote on whether to accept or reject the final agreement. and theresa may is under pressure from tory brexiteers to show that she's serious about walking away from the talks. it is essential that the government really puts massive effort into making sure that we are ready on exit day for all eventualities, including the situation where the eu hasn't been reasonable and an agreement with them has not been reached. today the government said the uk might not pay the billions of pounds it owes if there is no deal, but labour says leaving without an agreement would be a disaster. i think it is about trying to apply pressure to the european union in the negotiations, but that would be the consequence of failure. because in the end, the economic damage that would be done to the united kingdom by living

with no deal would outweigh any money you would save and that's what the government's assessment shows. more no deal plans will be published by the government in the next few weeks, while ministers desperately hope they will never be needed. the government trying to give the impression that they are prepared for all eventualities. i am joined bya for all eventualities. i am joined by a labour for all eventualities. i am joined bya labourmp, for all eventualities. i am joined by a labour mp, one of the leading campaigners for a people's vote. do you think the government is getting ready for all eventualities? the vote was two and a half years ago, and we're only seeing what a nodal brexit would look like. the public are watching this today and trying to work out what it means for them. many of them will be used to coming back from european holidays with huge mobile phone bills. that's all

been scrapped by the eu, so you can ta ke been scrapped by the eu, so you can take your package abroad with you. that may not now be the case and will not continue with a note of exit. we're looking at passport, driving licences, this is the human cost of this type of brexit. we still have a prime minister you believe that this is better than a backstop. the important question for you and your colleagues, u. platt —— you and your colleagues, u. platt —— you don't back her chequers plan. with this be better to have a no deal scenario? i'm in favour of a people's boat. i think we should ta ke people's boat. i think we should take the deal that comes back, that the prime minister delivers, but a nodal brexits might be the most likely option. let the dead back to the people and say, with roaming charges, passports, the businesses

losing jobs, it is this the kind of brexit that you envisaged when you we nt brexit that you envisaged when you went to vote in 2016? let's be a democratic country and that the deal back to the country, as good as what they think if this is what they expected. people often say that the people's about is a way to stay in the european union? people should be entitled to express their view. at the moment, the government don't wa nt the moment, the government don't want beadle to express their view in terms of moving from an eu state to being an arab owned. all of the economic signals, including the human issues about passports and data and mobile phones and drivers licenses, are now all coming home to roost. it is democratic to say to people, we understood that you wanted to leave. we have negotiated with the eu and we now have a package, is this package what you wa nt package, is this package what you want to do in terms of leaving the

eu? it is a perfectly legitimate thing to ask the public if this is the route they wished to go. if is the route they wished to go. if is the route they want to go, we will have to get on that. but the economic disaster for this country is therefore to see. thank you very much. those documents are being scoured and i will tell you more later. and is looking at them now, what is striking is the vast number of documents. there are so many categories, those with today's's date outnumber the rest of documents. the government might say it has been a productive day, because they are dealing with things that people have concerns about sonic the point being made by many

people is that it is too late in the day, it's the information people would have liked before they had the vote, before the referendum. it does show that a0 years after being closely entwined with the eu, it is a part of our everyday lives. there will have to be big changes and this is why theresa may once the house of commons to get behind the deal she has on the table and the one she hopes to secure with the european union in the next few months. . al let you go and get into the details. you're watching afternoon live, these are our headlines: two men appear on russian television saying they were only tourists insoles brew. the cabinet held a meeting to discuss a nodal brexit for issues such as roaming charges and passports. the us east coast

braces itself for hurricane florence. in the sport, a former premier league football has urged clubs to employ counsellors to aid with mental health. this man suffered with depression and try to take his life. the formula 1 world champion says it wasn't his decision to leave ferrari. he is returning to the team where it all started and it appears the situation is beyond his control. the former england one—day captain is retiring from cricket 22 years after making his first class debut. he played in 68 test matches and led england to victory in the 2010. i'll be back shortly with more sport. profits at the john lewis partnership have fallen dramatically. the group, which includes

john lewis department stores and waitrose supermarkets, made a profit in the 6 months to latejuly ofjust £1.2 million a fall of 99 percent. its chairman said the retail sector had seen the most promotional market in a decade. more details from our business correspondent theo leggett. john lewis likes to make a big noise about being different to other high street stores, but today's figures make it clear it is under the same pressures as its main rivals on the high street. in the first six months of the year, john lewis, which includes waitrose, racked up sales worth nearly £5.5 billion. but it only made a profit of 1.2 million. that is down 99%, compared to the same period last year. the chairman says competition is making life tough. there is too much retail space, there is more retail space than there is than demand for us as consumers, and

that creates a really tough competitive environment, so retailers are not passing on price increases, they have to absorb their own margins. john lewis says the problems start further down the high street, where other retailers have been discounting aggressively. it has a price match promise, so if they cut prices it has to as well, john lewis says that has been cutting its profits heavily. the company says it has no plans to end that policy. it is not cutting back on investment either. it has been rebranding stores, focussing on customer service, with a team of personal stylists, and launched its own product label. john lewis and partners. but will it work? i thinkjohn lewis's strategy is pragmatic for what is happening in retail. they have to have unique products so they don't have to price match. they are developing very good fashion ranges and across the whole piece as well so this will set them up well in future. there is no question department stores have been struggling.

house of fraser was bought by sports direct last month after falling into administration. and debenhams just this week rushed out trading figures to fight claims it was also in financial trouble. john lewis insists it can prosper by being different and avoid becoming another casualty of the british high street. the inquest for those killed in last year's terrorist attack on westminster bridge has heard a man describe his frantic search for his girlfriend. andrei burnaz, a tourist from romania, was standing next to andreea cristea when she was knocked into the river thames by khalid masood's car. she died from her injuries two weeks later. this woman's boyfriend came to court this morning to tell the hearing how he frantically searched for his car friend after they were hit by the car. the couple had been on holiday in london, doing what tourists do.

they were on westminster bridge enjoying the sights. andrea was taking photographs but it turned out to be the last picture she took. in court, her boyfriend was asked about the seconds before they were hit. he told the hearing he frantically searched for his car friend but couldn't find her. he only found her phone and glasses in a pool of blood. andrea had been flung into the thames river and died from injuries weeks after the attack. two people have died and at least two others have been seriously hurt in a crash involving several vehicles on the m5 near taunton. at least seven cars and a lorry were involved. the motorway has been closed in both directions. a ten—year—old boy in missouri is

covering after he was attacked by wasps, and fell out of the tree house onto a meat skewer. you may find these images disturbing. this bike that went through the boy's had missed his eyes, brain and spinal—cord and major blood vessel. staff at the hospital said that the local boy is expected to fully recover. his voice may be affected. and now, time for the weather. all eyes on the hurricane in america. where is hurricane florence and how much longer have they got? the first bands of cloud and rain associated with this storm are

beginning to move towards the carolinas and it will be a process over the next few days of moving that storm closer to the coast and bringing those outbreaks of rain, the flooding rain, which could cause catastrophic issues. torrential downpours across that eastern side of the usa. very strong winds, damaging winds, the winds in the centre of the storm around 110 mph. also, the potential for a centre of the storm around 110 mph. also, the potentialfor a storm surge, inundating some coastal areas. that situation is likely to get worse as we go through the coming hours. if anybody wants to know why we are looking at each other, let's see what's going on in the graphics. we have some trouble with the technology. the difficulty with the technology. the difficulty with this is the size of it and the fa ct with this is the size of it and the fact that it will stop there. what you can see is how the storm

progressed across the atlantic, moved towards the eastern side of the usa. what you see is an eye opening up in the centre of the storm. we talked about this yesterday, the eye in the centre of the storm. this means a storm that means business. watch what happens over the last 2a hours. the eye closes up. the storm is breaking apart. that is why we are talking about a category two hurricane rather than a category four hurricane. it will still include up to one metre of rain in places and castile winds. the storm has been downgraded to a category two hurricane. but, it will stuff that there for a long time and bring a destructive and dangerous weather. and the storm surge, kenny explained that? the storm is an area of low pressure, if you think about what

pressure, if you think about what pressure is, pushing down on the surface of the 0s, if there is less of that, the surface of the sea is able to rise up and ahead of that, you get the sea pushing down again. that inundate the coastline and the storm surge could reach four meters in the worst affected spots. that could cause catastrophic flooding along the coast. that is properly one of the most significant impacts, especially combined with the rainfall. there is another typhoon on the other side of the world, threatening the philippines? this is a bigger storm across the other side of the world. a huge storm, let's have a look on the satellite. it is moving towards the north of the philippines, a huge amount of rain within that. very strong and gusty winds. the track takes its across

the north of the philippines, bringing torrential downpours of rain. it will then eventually slide towards parts of southern china. again, disruptive weather is expected across that part of the world. plenty of storms working their way around our oceans. right here, we will keep you up—to—date on the hurricane ‘s. here, we will keep you up—to—date on the hurricane 's. so, what is in store for us? we are looking at some quite weather at home, some rain at times, but dry the further east to look. but there is cloud and patchy rain moving across northern ireland, scotland, down into northern england. further south, some sunshine after is. after

italy starts. temperature is recovering, up to 21 celsius. further north and west, more cloud and outbreaks of patchy rain. that will continue across the northern half of the country into the ceiling. the rain could turn heavier in northern ireland as western scotland. further south, largely in northern ireland as western scotland. furthersouth, largely dry with clear skies, but more of a breeze than last night. into tomorrow, the best of the sunshine will be a south—eastern areas. in the final of the country, there will be sunny spells and heavy showers. temperature is around 12 degrees in stornoway, maybe up to 19 celsius in london. into the weekend, high—pressure will be with us for the start of the weekend, so dry weather. frontal systems will bring

some outbreaks of rain over the weekend. 0n some outbreaks of rain over the weekend. on saturday, things were cloud over in northern ireland and western scotland. there will be some fabrics of rain here later in the day. further south and east, largely dry and sunshine. the temperatures will increase a little, which will continue into sunday. sunshine in the south—east, bands of rain from the south—east, bands of rain from the north—west, uncertainty about their progress. the rain should sizzle away. into next week, it looks like we will see some wet and windy weather at times, but it will also turn one. this is bbc news, our latest headlines. two men have appeared on russian state tv to deny they had any involvement in the salisbury nerve agent attack. the pair who appear to be the suspects identified by the uk, insist they were visiting the city as tourists. and don't work for the russian

military intelligence service. everyone has questions. what you do? to cut a long story short, we are in fitness industry. the cabinet have spent the morning discussing preparations for leaving the european union without a deal. contingency plans have now been published for areas including passports, driving licences and mobile phones. as brexit secretary dominic raab has warned that in the unlikely event of negotiations with brussels falling apart, the uk would not pay its brexit divorce settlement. forecasters in the united states are warning of life threatening waves and rainfall, even though the powerful storm approaching the east coast has weakened from hurricane force. the boyfriend of andrea christie who was killed in a westminster brick attached last year has told an inquest have you searched for his girlfriend have you searched —— how he searched for his girlfriend.

after she was knocked into the river thames. commuters treated to an impromptu piano recital. sport now on afternoon live. here is steve wyeth. a formula one world champion who is on the move may be not through choice. interesting one, hello, that 2007 champion is the man we are talking about, kimi raikkonen, leaving ferrari, one of the most prestigious names in the sport, not heard to say he's not entirely happy. he will turn 39 next month, and is being replaced at the italian team by charles leclerc, add driver nearly half his age. at times during what was in third press conference ahead of the singapore grand prix raikkonen said why not why he had agreed to rejoin his former team sauber. while you try to make it so complicated, i don't know anything

more than you guys, truly, but obviously, i don't what will happen, nobody knows what will happen next year. what comes to the speeds of the cars and the teams, that is the worst scarce, we will see what we can do and yes, i have my reasons and that's enough for me. kimi raikkonen. let's talk about food all, some years ago be issue of mental health was hardly discussed, now it is very much on the agenda. little by little people are willing to discuss matters of mental health and among those is a former premier league footballer who thinks he may have a solution. marden sordell once clu bs to have a solution. marden sordell once clubs to employ counsellors. he represented bolton and team gb at the london 2012 olympics, having suffered depression for years at his

lowest point he attempted suicide. from the age of six years old when you play football you are told what to do and if you are playing for an academy side as a young player you are going to get told what to drink, when to drink it, ao, went to re cove r, when to drink it, ao, went to recover, what to do with your gym programmes, conditioning stuff, even when you are away from the club you get told these things so then it comes to a serious issue like depression and mental health layers are then expected to go and speak to someone for us like i said, in the moment you feel like you are a burden on people so you don't want to speak to people about it anyway, it's difficult when you are already not used to doing things from your own back, to have to do something like that. the professional footballers association seen more and more food all others are using its welfare services but they add

they still have to make members aware of what supporters already bare and if you've been affected by depression you can find details of organisations which offer support and advice. go to the bbc action line website. luke shaw could well play for manchester united this weekend despite suffering concussion of whilst on england duty. he was stretchered off during the nations league match with spain and fa guidelines say a player who suffers concussion should not play a report tea m concussion should not play a report team days. that's unless certain criteria are met. he could play against watford actor being traded infor against watford actor being traded in for united call her in hamster ca re in for united call her in hamster care setting. the former england one—day cap and paul collingwood is to retire at the end of the season after a season spanning more than two decades. he played in 68 tests,

pa rt two decades. he played in 68 tests, part three ashes winning sides, leading england to victory at the world t 28 years ago. his final game for his county are will be at the age of a2, at home to middlesex. ex—players always tell you the time comes to retire and announcing it to the boys yesterday that i was retiring from cricket was pretty emotional, to be honest, iwas retiring from cricket was pretty emotional, to be honest, i was a retiring from cricket was pretty emotional, to be honest, iwas a bit of the blubbering wreck but yes, i think everybody realises it's time, the club realise that, i realise that, i put all the effort in, over the last however many years i even playing the game, and you know, that's going to be yet after two more games. i'm not sure anyone would deny paul collingwood actor a bit of a rest after a long and illustrious career. simon, i will be back later. that's all for now. steve, thank you. just 2a hours

after vladimir putin told the two men supposed to be involved in anotherjug men supposed to be involved in another jug attack to men supposed to be involved in anotherjug attack to come forward and have appeared on tv. they said they went to salisbury as tourists, he insisted they don't work for the russian military intelligence service saying they are actually in the fitness industry. this is a little of what they had disabled stop do you work for the gre you? do you? no one accuses me of working for the gre you but you are being accused of that. your colleagues, your journalist, you accused of that. your colleagues, yourjournalist, you are being accused by uk authorities. that's the scariest thing. where do you work, you are adults can you need to make a living. if we tell you about our business people we work with be affected. everyone has questions what do you do. to cut a long story short, we are in the fitness industry. what do you think about

the scrip at case. we are living in it, you can't imagine what it's like and if one day the real perpetrators are found and we are given an apology. —— skripal. are found and we are given an apology. -- skripal. you hope, the perpetrators? the uk authorities, i'm lost, i don't not what day it is, we can't go outside, we can't go to the petrol station, you can't imagine what our lives turned into. are you being recognised on the streets ? are you being recognised on the streets? of course, are faces are on tv every day. they talk about us on the radio, every time we turn on the tv we see are faces, here are names. that's scary. will we be able to live like that? i tried not to watch the news, it's over and over and

over again, every day. what are you going to do next? we just want for this to be over. that was alexander petrov and his colleague who are keen on stables. hurricane florence, one of the most powerful storms in decades, is approaching the southeast coast of the us. richard lister has the latest. the hurricane hunters from the us air force tracking the storm that could be the biggest in a generation. the winds have eased slightly, but they are still topping out at 110mph, and florence is getting bigger. satellite images show it now covers a vast area, almost 180,000 square miles. with potentially devastating impact.

north carolina, my message is clear. disaster‘s at the doorstep and it's coming in. more than a million people have been ordered to leave home for their own safety. ten million are affected by weather warnings. some coastal communities on the eastern sea board are becoming ghost towns. supermarkets still open but running low on stock. petrol stations drained of fuel as people gas up and get out. they are running out of everything, there is no milk, no bread, nothing at the stores. what about gas? everybody is filling up right now. i have two kids, i want them nowhere near the danger of the hurricane. they are bracing for a savage assault. some communities are facing a possible 2a hours of hurricane force winds, and more than a0 inches of rain. in the mandatory evacuation zones, the exodus continues. some inbound lanes have been closed or reversed to help people leave, but not everyone is ready to go.

we are not trying to be heroic but we feel we have just as good a chance here as we would in town. most though are gathering their most precious possessions and making their escape. the authorities insist those who stay are risking their lives. residents in the path of these devastating storms should comply with all evacuation orders and other emergency instructions. but time is running out. and hurricane florence is moving in. in a moment a look at the business news, but first the headlines. two men suspected of carrying out the salisbury nerve agent attack have appeared on russian television claiming they visited the town as

tourists. no change at the the bank of england. the monetary policy committee votes unanimously to keep the interest rate on hold at 0.75%. here are your business headlines. half—year profits atjohn lewis falling by 99%, retailers blame its never knowingly under price much promise. no change at the the bank of england. the monetary policy committee votes unanimously to keep the interest rate on hold at 0.75%. drinks giant coca cola has agreed its biggest uk sponsorship deal by becoming premier league football's seventh and final commercial partner. the three and a half year agreement starts in january 2019. the financial details have not been revealed. petrol prices up again. yes, they

are we've seen the price going up and up and up, brent crude, the european benchmark has gone up just to about $80 a barrel, two things going on, tension in the market, at the moment there is a constriction of supply, the sanctions in iran, problems in venezuela. a hurricane coming which will be closing supply in the us, all of those things threatening supply. when you look a little bit further out, it's a trade war, that's what's worrying people, people thinking that's going to lead toa people thinking that's going to lead to a slowdown in the economy and that they bring prices down because one needs less oil in a slowing economy. conflicting views about what the market is that in the medium—term, short—term higher prices. a story doing the rounds that the us and china are talking again. the wall street journal broke

this yesterday, china confirmed there's been an invitation from the us saying they want to talk about trade war. about the imposition of the various carrots and the promise is going to be more food on. the word we are getting at the moment is there one big much movement until there one big much movement until the election, the mid—term elections in the us. that puts pressure on america, the chinese putting pressure on america because it doesn't play burry well to the domestic audience of some of those companies. in the us, suffering because of sanctions put on chinese goods coming into the us. and us goods coming into the us. and us goods going to china. joining us now is our north america business correspondent, samira hussain. we get the impression some companies starting to feel the squeeze. absolutely, companies feeling the

squeeze, there was opinion poll re ce ntly squeeze, there was opinion poll recently which shows companies are being directed by the trade war between washington and beijing. the impact of the tariffs that have already been in place. the invitation by washington to beijing officials to restart some of the trade talks is certainly welcome news to people on wall street, we've even seen the direct impact on markets, the anxiety is being eased a little as the result. because of the far ranging impact of this kind ofa the far ranging impact of this kind of a trade war between china and the united states and the ripple effect it's having on different parts of the economy. just a quick word on the economy. just a quick word on the oil prices, at the moment going up, longer term, the trade tension, worries about the effect on the economy, but could have a longer term downward effect on oil?

absolutely, that's what is really interesting, we talk about the direct impact of these trade discussions and what it has on different companies involved in doing business with china and the united states. we talk about the impact that these trade discussions happen us markets and on stock. but what's really interesting, you pointed out the kind of impact it's had even on things like oil and the kind of pressure we are seeing. between what we are seeing in emerging markets and these kinds of trade negotiations, it's really interesting to look at how this kind of trade rhetoric is impacting all different layers of the us economy. thank you very much. hang on, what is going on behind you? laughter protesters dressed as ketchup and mustard, french fries and pickles,

protesting the portfolio of heinz saying the stock market has gone a0% but the prof folio of bonds is not up but the prof folio of bonds is not up as promised. takes all sorts. anyway, thank you. 53 brad is, whatever it is. i was going to talk to you, i was going to talk about john lewis but we don't have to. disappointing figures but the reason, if you have a saying never knowingly undersold, you are asking for trouble. yes, especially when you see all the costs going up, rent going up, inflationary pressures on your supply chain coming from the lower pound, the effect that is having on what you are buying in. as you say, competition is hurting as well, it's about having it very hard time and they say the problems with the full year are going to be a lot down on what they were forecasting. do you want a quick look at the markets? there we go. john lewis,

and we should have got some figures of their, they are coming? it's worth waiting for. the dowel moving up, there is the oil price, popping down below $79 a barrel. the pound looking quite strong against the dollar, well over 130. the ftse suffering just a touch. ok, talk more in an hour, jamie, thank you. let's get more on the main story, 2a hours after vladimir putin urged the two men identified as being behind the novichok attack on salisbury come forward they appeared on television saying they had gone to salisbury as tourists to see the sights. let's go to westminster, john glenister, mp for salisbury and south wiltshire. what did you make of what they had to say?|j south wiltshire. what did you make of what they had to say? i think it's absolutely ridiculous, a very crude and inadequate attempt at propaganda. they were entirely

implausible. you don't buy they were tourists? well i'm certainly familiar with the widespread aspiration to visit salisbury, it's aspiration to visit salisbury, it's a wonderful place at the notion they we re a wonderful place at the notion they were there for tourism is ridiculous, on the same date they blew out in the evening to individuals were taken gravely ill ona individuals were taken gravely ill on a bench in salisbury and we know very well they were connected with novichok, the place that they stayed in london and we have an absolute understanding of their movement during the a8 hours in the country. they ridiculous interview and i felt they were under duress and i think most people will be able to call out russia even more clearly following the story per attempt to set a different record. they said their friends had been urging for a long time to go to salisbury to see the wonderful cathedral, i'm looking at wikipedia. when you look at salisbury cathedral it says since 15a9 the cathedral has the tallest church spire in the uk at 123 metres

and it contains a clock which is amongst the oldest working clock in the world. that's pretty much what they said word for word. what a surprise! it's very clear to me this was a crude attempt to try and put another narrative out there, we've seen it from russians over the last six months, it doesn't surprise me. asi six months, it doesn't surprise me. as i said the only thing i'm in agreement with the salisbury is a wonderful place and the cathedral is well worth visiting. the difficulty herejohn isnerfine well worth visiting. the difficulty here john isner fine line well worth visiting. the difficulty herejohn isnerfine line between mockery and a very serious incident that had a massive effect on the city that you represent. and is there a danger that this becomes a bit of a laugh as the russians react like this? well, you know, i think it reflects very badly on russia, on president putin. what we know is one of my constituents was killed and three others, for others were in hospitalfor a three others, for others were in hospital for a significant amount of time. what they did was wary

serious, the media outing today is laughable. except it isn't. well, i don't think anyone is taking their narrative buhriz seriously, anyone i have spoken to, everyone is reacting with derision to the notion that they would somehow be visiting salisbury as tourists have and what actually happened coincidently on the day they visited, to actually put that out there is beyond a joke. if they'd been sitting in front of you ina if they'd been sitting in front of you in a tv studio or forever as was done, what would be the first question you would ask them? come back to salisbury and face justice, if their account is what it is, it. dublin a court of law and we know in our country, the rule of law is something that we respect and they would have access to defer trial, something that is not available in other parts of the world. john glenn, i'm most gratefulfor your time, thank you. you are watching

afternoon live. chopin in shopping centres and haydn on the high street that 5 what 5 being heard in leeds this week during the build up to what 5 regarded as the uk s most prestigious piano competition. 0ur entertainment correspondent colin paterson has been in the city to speak to members of the public who've been tempted to tinkle the ivories. pianos have been popping up in precincts and places all round leeds. the reason? to celebrate the leeds international piano competition. the steps of the town hall have been turned into a giant keyboard. ifeel like tom hanks in big. the leeds international piano competition has been taking place every three years since the start of the '60s. it's a truly global event to find the best young pianist in the world, with finalists this year from as far as china, russia and the usa. and the judges — who are concert pianists themselves —

have been giving impromptu performances in the centre of the city, in what's been dubbed the world's smallest concert hall. this is great. yeah, it's noisy but i don't care. it doesn't matter, music wins out. yeah. oh, what a lovely, magical thing. it was such a tedious day. i had nothing but boring things to do and i'm absolutely uplifted by it. it's just magnificent. the build—up to the final has included the impressionist alistair mcgowan returning to his alma mater, the university of leeds, to talk about taking up the piano at the age of a9. it's sort of taken over my life, i must admit, i can't wait, i itch, i salivate, if i see a piano in a room i want to play it and i keep wanting to learn new pieces and my big frustration at starting late in life is thinking of the pieces i will never play. the event is trying to make sure that rather younger people are encouraged to take

up the instrument. press any notes you want, one at a time if you want. brilliant. the competitors, including yuanfan yang, have been going into leeds schools to give demonstrations. i'll try to turn that into a piece of music. did you know you were that good at composing music? no. we have to get out of the concert hall, take it into schools, and the idea is that years later they will come into the concert hall, they will have had this experience — you just plant a seed. and it has appeared to be working. we were not short of volunteers at blenheim primary school willing to make their debut on the instrument and let us film the outcome. is it first time you've ever played the piano? yes.

wow! although this lot could probably do with a bit more practice. colin paterson, bbc news, leeds. time for a look at the weather. here's ben rich. good afternoon, split fortunes in the weather today, mixed fortunes in the weather today, mixed fortunes in the brightness, in the north more in the brightness, in the north more in the way of cloud, outbreaks of rain. this evening and tonight quite a lot of cloud feeding in across northern ireland, scotland, northern england, at bricks of patchy rain, breezy as well. further south clear, at bricks of patchy rain, breezy as well. furthersouth clear, quite easy, stopping temperatures getting quite as low as they did last night. not such a chilly start to friday across the central and southern areas, that's the best of the sunshine, northern ireland and scotland, parts of northern england

and wales seeing parts of rain, turning increasingly light and patchy as it sinks south. the far north of scotland sunshine and showers, cool feel, the south—east of england getting close to 20 degrees. the weekend and next week, warmer in the south, wind and rain further north and west. hello, you're watching afternoon live, i'm simon mccoy. today at 3. we weren't in salisbury to kill the skripals, we wanted to visit the cathedral. the two suspects in the novichok poisoning tell russian tv they were innocent tourists. if we tell you about our business, people we work with will be affected. what do you do? we are in the fitness industry the brexit papers the cabinet holds a "no deal" planning session looking at 300 issues like mobile roaming charges, driving licences, and passports. if we can't strike a deal

we won't be paying the divorce bill in full the brexit secretary's defiant message to brussels. john lewis profits slump 99% in what the group says is challenging times for the retail sector. coming up on afternoon live, all the sport with steve. surrey have one the county championship. they have beaten worcestershire by three wickets, to claim theirfirst worcestershire by three wickets, to claim their first title in several yea rs. thanks steve, and we'll be joining you for a full update just after half past. ben rich has all the weather. mixed weather over the next few days. best of the sunshine in the south and east. more rain in the north and west of the country. we will also have details of the storms around the world. we'll be looking at the imminent arrival of that hurricane florence. those staying on batten down the hatches. getting ready for what some us wether forecasters say will be the worst hurricane of a lifetime.

hello everyone, this is afternoon live, i'm simon mccoy. it was us we were there but we were tourists not assassins. just 2a hours after vladimir putin urged the two men identified by the uk as being behind the novichok attack in salisbury to come forward, they appeared on russian television. they certainly look like alexander petrov and ruslan boshirov — captured on cctv near the home of sergei skripal but they say they had gone to salsibury to see the sights. they said their friends have been telling us for ages to go to this wonderful town. a laughable plot? well putin's critics say that may be moscow's plan to make a mockery of the whole incident. this is what they said on russian television. you look like the pictures shown to

us you look like the pictures shown to us by the uk. who are you? translation: we are those that were shown to you in the pictures, ruslan boshirov and alexander petrov. translation: are those your real names? translation: yes, they are our real names. translation: even now, when you are talking about it, to tell the truth, you look very nervous. translation: what would you look like ? when your life is turned upside down in a moment, injust one day which changed our lives. translation: and the cctv footage from london, you walk in those now famous coats and sneakers in salisbury. are those people you? translation: yeah, that's us. translation: what were you doing there? translation: our friends have been suggesting for a long time that we visit this wonderful town.

translation: salisbury? a wonderful town? translation: yes, there is the famous salisbury cathedral, famous not only in europe but the whole world. it's famous for its 123 metre spire. it's famous for its clock, one of the first ever created in the world that's still working. drink interview, they were questioned whether they work for russia's intelligence service. do you work for the gru? note. you're being accused of that. your colleagues accuse us of that. you're being accused by uk authorities? yes, that's the scariest things.

ready work? if we tell you, people we work with will be affected. everyone has questions, what do you do? we are in the fitness industry. what do you think about the whole case? we are living in it, you can't imagine what it's like. weeds like if one day, the real perpetrators are found and we are given an apology. by who? the perpetrators? by apology. by who? the perpetrators? by uk authorities. i don't know what date is, we can't go outside, go to the petrol station. you can't imagine what our lives turned into. are you being recognised on the streets ? are you being recognised on the streets? of course, our faces are on

tv every day. they talk about us on the radio. every time we turn on the tv, we see our faces and hear our names. it's scary. would you be able to live like that? i try not to watch the news. it over again, every day. what are you going to do next? we want for this to be over.l day. what are you going to do next? we want for this to be over. a short while ago, i spoke to our present mac in moscow. the two men look very nervous, their explanation stands that their lives have been upturned by this whole disclosure, which they say is a mistake. they say it is an operation against them. they say they are businessmen, in sporting

nutrition. although, when they were asked what their company does and whether the travel a lot to europe, they looked very nervous, too. as you mentioned, these two men were very keen to get to salisbury, because, if no one disputes the timeframe, they flew there on the 2nd of march and left on ath of march, they spent most of the time time to get to salisbury. 0f march, they spent most of the time time to get to salisbury. of course, the initial visit went wrong because of the weather, they say. you're smiling a bit? it is because if you treat this with the scepticism as many people in the west are, it does look a bit stage—managed. if it is an additive presented by the russians, this will be the course that will be followed for weeks and weeks now. if we compare this to another murder, the two people accused of the murder, they never

denied that they went to london. they just said they went there to kill. so we can see parallels. in the past hour, the government has published 22 guidance papers in the event of the eu and the uk not reaching an agreement on the final brexit deal. in the documents, it is advised: british drivers will not be guranteed the right to drive in the eu after brexit and may need to apply for a international permit which cost five pounds 50 annually. anyone planning on travelling to the continent would need at least six months left on their passport, and will be considered third party nationals. free mobile phone data roaming cannot be guaranteed. and british manufacturers selling their products may have to have their goods tested a second time to meet eu safety standards. on this developing story let's cross staight to our chief political correspondent, vicki young at westminster. explained what has caught your eye?

there is a lot of documents under the government is expectation of a new deal scenario. of course, aretha has said that no deal is better than a bad deal. they have to show that they are prepared for that scenario. i know you like the details, so, another one here... we are talking about shipping companies, before they go into an eu port, they had to give security information. at the moment, the eu countries can give exemptions. the document is saying that in a no deal scenario, eu would be unable to give such exemptions. towns echo paperwork. but, it says that the uk government will continue toissue that the uk government will continue to issue exceptions for services from the eu, regardless of what happens in negotiations. in the nuts

and bolts, the everyday issues which people deal with if you are having close contact with eu countries. having been in this union for so many decades, there is quite a bit to disentangle. that's what these documents are all about. and that's what the cabinet meeting was about this morning? yes, quite a lengthy meeting to prepare for all eventualities. dominic raab has been talking about the money, the £39 billion that the uk has agreed to pay to the eu after brexits. they are saying that it is contingent on there being a good deal and a good trade deal at the end of august. he has been speaking in the last hour to our political editor. eve had a marathon cabinet meeting this morning, what to conclude? we are

focused and prioritise on the gun negotiation. we're confident we can get a good deal. we need to be prepared that what we are showing is matched on the eu sites. we looked on in no deal scenario, to avoid the risks. we've agreed the track forward and the plan of action. to think we are really ready? in the event of a no deal scenario, we would face short—term risks and disruption. what we need to have in place and what people expect us to have in place is a set of plans and proposals and the readiness amongst our institutional capacity to manage those risks and avoid them, where possible, or mitigate them. we're confident we have that now. that was dominic raab speaking to our

political editor. we now have a labourmp political editor. we now have a labour mp here. the question asked to dominic raab was be ready for the short—term disruption that is quite likely? i think the fact that the government has published many papers to give the information to the public about the destruction that there could be. i don't think anyone was ever in any doubt that if we leave the eu after several decades of membership, there is bound to be a certain amount of disruption. these papers are a proven way to prepare for them. people may say that this is more than inconvenient, it isa that this is more than inconvenient, it is a lot of bureaucracy and administration, particularly for companies, paperwork that they would have to deal with in this scenario. that is bound to have an impact on supply chains, productivity, all that kind of thing? well, companies are already used to dealing with

international companies. it may add to this quote a lot, but given that we are already experienced with dealing with other countries, it is a question of applying to trade with the eu. i don't think anyone would deny that there will be destruction, but that'll be easily overcome and i don't think that companies should be too worried. is actually a small percentage of discoveries that trade with the eu, and most of the big companies will be able to absorb the inconvenience. mac such a mac mini in the house of commons don't agree with you, saying that it wasn't talked about by brexiteers during the referendum campaign. if people had known this detail, the butler to be different? the government paid for a pamphlet of over £9 million to say how destructive it would be. the

treasury said that every family would be £a300 worse off. nevertheless, people voted to leave the european union, despite the warnings. people knew there would be some disruption and by and large, they are happy to deal with it, to get out of the eu and for britain to become a sovereign country. we know that you are unhappy with the checker‘s plan, would you still vote against that and vote for a new deal? i think the government's original stance, which the prime minister set out, should be the right one. we should be aiming for a free—trade. we know that the eu is going to give us a free—trade agreement along the same lines as canada. i think that is what the government ought to be aiming for. at the moment, we seem to be going down the road of aligning ourselves to accept european laws and the

jurisdiction of the european court ofjustice. that would mean that we would not be a sovereign country. downing street still reiterating that no deal is not the option that they expect to happen, of course we will find out at the all—important european summit. we now have the former director of the borderforce. and we are we now have the former director of the border force. and we are also joined by the president of the aa. firstly, common travel area. what are the obligations of a no deal for that? broadly, the common travel area will remain the same. irish citizens can come and live in the uk and vice versa, regardless of brexits. that was established before the eu. it also means that people

coming into the uk from ireland will not have passport control. that is something that will not be affected by brexit and that is welcome news. 0ne by brexit and that is welcome news. one thing that will change, we have third country status, what does this mean for those who want to travel to europe? so there are two lanes in the border, european passports and other. that is the third country national, and that person has two a nswe rs a re national, and that person has two answers are questions or pass some more tests. we know we will get the new passport in 2019, it will be blue. from march, it won't have the eu? of course, they will take the eu get off when the blue one comes out. but the thing for border control is that it takes longer to clear a third country national. you need to ask them how long their coming forth... this is what we do with

americans and australians. so, will this create greater queues at uk airports. british citizens are treated as third country nationals, we won't be in the european names. . if you see someone holding a uk passport, will you be a little less feisty than you would be with someone from another region? would you let them make them wait longer? it is up to us how we can copy that entering. what we are not sure about is how british citizens will be treated entering eu countries like they have slightly different rules. entering that area has a third country national has applications. the eu are bringing in an electronic authorisation system. this'll be introduced by 2021, meaning you have to go online and get permission to enter these countries. what's not clear, we're waiting for the

immigration white paper, there is a lot more to come out. i am currently concerned about what we're saying to british people who are going on their holidays to the eu next year. also for the europeans coming here next. a lot of people died in the eu, it will now be quite difficult because your driving licence may not do? that's right. what the government is saying is that they have to make provisions for up to 7 million people per year to get an international driving permit. some are old—fashioned permits, that we have been issuing for decades. if you travel to france, you will need one type of permit. but, if you go from the south of france and want to drive into spain, you will need another type of international

driving permit. there are four countries, spain, southern island, cyprus and malta, that haven't signed up to the 1968 convention that the other countries have. so, you actually need a different permit. there will be red tape, it will cost motorists extra money if they need to do that. they're keeping the price at £5 50 p. it will become placated and we are disappointed at the company, because they have stopped the right to issue permits and you will only be able to get them from post offices. at a cost of £5.50? that's right, so if you're going to one of those four countries, you would have to get to map of them. again, the 1968 permit is valid for three years, the one for the four countries is only valid

for the four countries is only valid for one year. so, drivers will have to be prepared and ready. obviously, we will give advice on that from early january. does this angry you that we are only now being able to getan that we are only now being able to get an understanding of a nodal brexit? we do know that the government has been looking at this for some time. i've been in dialogue with the transport secretary for eight or nine months, particularly over the issuing of international driver permits. the announcement today hasn't surprised us, because we thought that those would be the preparations that they would be doing. we are still awaiting the announcement on motor insurance for drivers going abroad and that should beissued drivers going abroad and that should be issued before the end of september. it is extra red tape, its extra cost and complexity, not only

for private motorists, but for hall drivers. it becomes much more bureaucratic and technical. as tony will indicate, they could be in for much longer delays. is that your understanding, tony? this has been well publicised over recent weeks and months, in terms of how many declarations we will have to take. how many could it be? each haulier will have whatever they have in the back of their lorry. they will have to expend every item? in the event of no deal, possibly. at the moment, we do 65 million electronic checks on our borders. we have a system thatis on our borders. we have a system that is capable of doing five times that is capable of doing five times that amount. but it's a lot more work. the technology is good, but it's a lot more work for the border

force to check all of those things. i think what they're trying to agree isa i think what they're trying to agree is a common standard. what about goods that go into eu and the uk. either woman from exons to certain products that we could be happy with? if they are coming from the eu or the with? if they are coming from the eu orthe uk, with? if they are coming from the eu or the uk, both sides say that we don't need to check it again. with the customs checks, we only want to do it once. the technology allows to parse the data. but, we do need some standard framework. some of these are practical, international arrangements for the movement of goods. we are quite good at that in the uk, but we will have to do a lot more work and investment in our borders. one other thing, people leave the uk to go and live in a european country. will they have to reta ke european country. will they have to retake the driving lessons? as i understand it, if there is no

recognition of the uk driving licence and if there is no deal, if you go to live in one of the eu countries, your license would be valid beyond a certain period. you will have to take a test in that country, as you currently would do in some countries lack the united states, if you stay there beyond a certain period. that could be tricky for some people, because they could be language barriers as well as driving on the other side of the road. thank you forjoining us. the boyfriend of andreea cristea, who was killed in last year's westminster bridge terror attack, has described how he frantically searched for his girlfriend after she was knocked into the river thames by khalid masood's car. she died from her injuries two weeks later. andrei burnaz was speaking at the inquest in to the attack which is taking place at the old bailey. helena lee is at court for us.

today in court, the inquest has been hearing more evidence from those who saw what happened to andreea cristea and also the aftermath, the rescue effo rts and also the aftermath, the rescue efforts to get her out of the river thames. we heard from one witness today, who was driving his van on westminster bridge at the time of the attack. he sought andreea cristea being hit by khalid masood's car. he described how she was thrown ten feet into the air, before falling into the river thames. we also heard from the boyfriend of andreea cristea, who gave evidence to quitand andreea cristea, who gave evidence to quit and spoke about the moments before the attack. andreea cristea's boyfriend came to court this morning to tell the hearing how he frantically searched for his girlfriend after they were hit by masood's car. the couple had been on holiday in london, doing what tourists do. they were on westminster bridge enjoying the sights.

andreea was taking photographs but it turned out to be the last picture she took. in court, andrei burnaz was asked about the seconds before they were hit. he told the hearing he frantically searched for his girlfriend but couldn't find her. he only found her phone and glasses in a pool of blood. andreea had been flung into the thames river and died from injuries weeks after the attack. at the moment in court, witnesses we re at the moment in court, witnesses were expecting to hear our medical teams, doctors and nurses who looked after andreea cristea after she

recovered from the tens and was taken to hospital. but, she died two weeks later. we were expecting to have the inquest into the police officer who was unarmed, uniformed, wearing body armour, standing outside of the houses of parliament. he was stabbed and killed by khalid masood. his inquest was expected to open this afternoon, it all depends if they get through these witnesses first. the hearing continues. profits at the john lewis partnership have fallen dramatically. the group, which includes john lewis department stores and waitrose supermarkets, made a profit in the 6 months to latejuly ofjust £1.2 million a fall of 99%. its chairman said the retail sector had seen the most promotional market in a decade. more details from our business correspondent theo leggett. john lewis likes to make a big noise about being different to other high street stores, but today's figures make it clear

it is under the same pressures as its main rivals on the high street. in the first six months of the year, john lewis, which includes waitrose, racked up sales worth nearly £5.5 billion. but it only made a profit of £1.2 million. that is down 99%, compared to the same period last year. the chairman says competition is making life tough. there is too much retail space, there is more retail space than there is than demand for us as consumers, and that creates a really tough competitive environment, so retailers are not passing on price increases, they have to absorb their own margins. john lewis says the problems start further down the high street, where other retailers have been discounting aggressively. it has a price match promise, so if they cut prices it has to as well, john lewis says that has been cutting its profits heavily. the company says it has no

plans to end that policy. it is not cutting back on investment either. it has been rebranding stores, focussing on customer service, with a team of personal stylists, and launched its own product label. john lewis and partners. but will it work? i thinkjohn lewis's strategy is pragmatic for what is happening in retail. they have to have unique products so they don't have to price match. they are developing very good fashion ranges and across the whole piece as well, so this will set them up very well in future. there is no question department stores have been struggling. house of fraser was bought by sports direct last month after falling into administration. and debenhams just this week rushed out trading figures to fight claims it was also in financial trouble. john lewis insists it can prosper by being different and avoid becoming another casualty of the british high street. theo leggett, bbc news. two people have died and at least

two others have been seriously hurt in a crash involving several vehicles on the m5 near taunton. at least seven cars and a lorry were involved. the motorway has been closed in both directions. a 10—year—old boy in missouri is recovering, after he was attacked by wasps while in a tree house, only to fall out of the tree onto a meat skewer. i should warn you, you may find these x ray images disturbing. the thin spike that went through xavier cunningham's head miraculously missed his eyes, brain, spinal cord and major blood vessels. staff at the hospital told local media that the little boy is too expected to recover fully, although his voice may be affected. and now, time for the weather. spit fortunes in our weather today. southern areas enjoying the

brightness and sunshine, further north, more cloud and outbreaks of rain. into this evening and tonight, we will see a lot of cloud across northern ireland, scotland and northern england. further south, clear spells, but it may be quite breezy here, to. that. tebbutt is getting quite as low as last night. 0nce getting quite as low as last night. once again, we will see the best of the sunshine in the southern areas. northern areas will see cloud and outbreaks of rain, the odd heavy burst, but the rain will turn light and patchy. sunshine and showers in the north of scotland, the south—east of england may get close to 20 celsius. for the weekend and next week, one in the south, some outbreaks of rain in the north and west. this is bbc news — our latest headlines. appearing on russian state tv — two men deny they have any

involvement in the salisbury nerve agent attack. the pair who appear to be the suspects identified by the uk, insist they don't work for russia's military intelligence service. tell anything so that we believe you. what do you do? to cover long story short we are in the fitness industry. contingency plans have now been published by the government for areas including mobile phones, driving licences and passports should the uk leave the european union without a deal. as brexit secretary dominic raab has warned that in the unlikely event of negotiations with brussels falling apart, the uk would not pay its brexit divorce settlement. forecasters in the united states are warning of life—threatening waves and rainfall, even though the powerful storm approaching the east coast has weakened from hurricane force. the boyfriend of andreea cristea —

who was killed in last year's westminster bridge terror attack — has told an inquest how he searched for his girlfriend after she was knocked in the river thams by khalid masood's car. sport now on afternoon live with sport now on afternoon live with steven wyeth. and surrey are the new county champions. that's right, a three wicket win at worcestershire gave them an unassailable lead at the top of the county championship table of 61 points. there had been a growing momentum behind surrey in the race in recent weeks, the celebrations could finally begin when they went past their victory target of 271 on the final afternoon, fittingly one of their outstanding players of the season, warning more goal who struck the winning runs. -- morne morkel. the competition for dover 56 days,

everything has to come right to make it worthwhile, grateful for the efforts of our players, 20 players representing us, rory byrne is the tenth surrey captain to win the championship for the club, we are delighted, so pleased. let top formula one, kimi raikkonen, not the happiest people a formula one champion. he's not the most exuberant, he never has been, is called a lot of the time, the 2007 champion, it appears he is leaving ferrari at the end of the season, one of the most famous names in the sport, not entirely happy about it. he will turn 39 next month, been replaced at ferrari by charles leclerc, a driver at nearly half his age. in what was at times an put press conference ahead of the singapore grand prix raikkonen said why not when asked why he had agreed to rejoin former team sauber. why are you trying to make it so complicated, i don't know anything more than your guys purely, but

obviously, i don't know what will happen, nobody doors. when it comes to the speeds of the cars, we can always guess. but we'll what we can do. and yes, i have my reasons and that seen off for me. the women's british open winner george hall made a strong start to another major, the final of the summer. the ethiad championship in southern france is three under after 12 holes, setting the pace carl is a gander who leads the pace carl is a gander who leads the way with a first round score of six under. luke shaw could play for manchester united this weekend, despite suffering a concussion whilst on england duty. you may remember he was stretchered off during the nations league match with spain, f8 guidelines state the player who suffers concussion should

player who suffers concussion should play for 1a days but that's unless certain criteria are met and he could play against watford are to be included in what united have described as they are enhanced care setting. back to cricket, the former england one—day captain paul collingwood retires at the end of the season, more than two decades after making his first—class debut. he played in 68 test matches, part of three ashes winning sides, led england to victory in the world t 20 eight years ago. a2 years old, the final game for his county borough and is against middlesex. former players tell you the time has come to retire, and you know, yesterday, announcing it to the boys, announcing it to the boys, announcing i was retiring from cricket was pretty emotional at times to be honest. a bit of a blubbering wreck but yes, i think everybody realises it's time now, the club realise that, i realise

that, i put all me efforts in over the last however many years i have been playing the game and that's going to be it after two more games. that's all for now. we are not, i shall be back with more in an hour. i was shall be back with more in an hour. iwas in shall be back with more in an hour. i was in that afraid but steve, you! you are watching afternoon live. let's return now to hurricane florence, one of the most powerful storms in decades, which is approaching the southeast coast of the us. it has been downgraded slightly as it nears land, but experts say with massive storm surges and intense rainfall expected, there's a real danger of catastrophic flooding. richard lister has the latest. the hurricane hunters from the us air force tracking the storm that could be the biggest in a generation. the winds have eased slightly, but they are still topping out at 110mph, and florence is getting bigger. satellite images show it now covers a vast area, almost 180,000 square miles. with potentially devastating impact. north carolina, my message is clear.

disaster‘s at the doorstep and it's coming in. more than a million people have been ordered to leave home for their own safety. ten million are affected by weather warnings. some coastal communities on the eastern sea board are becoming ghost towns. supermarkets still open but running low on stock. petrol stations drained of fuel as people gas up and get out. they are running out of everything, there is no milk, no bread, nothing at the stores. what about gas? everybody is filling up right now. i have two kids, i want them nowhere near the danger of the hurricane. they are bracing for a savage assault. some communities are facing a possible 2a hours of hurricane force winds, and more than a0 inches of rain. in the mandatory evacuation zones, the exodus continues. some inbound lanes have been closed or reversed to help people leave, but not everyone is ready to go.

we are not trying to be heroic but we feel we have just as good a chance here as we would in town. most though are gathering their most precious possessions and making their escape. the authorities insist those who stay are risking their lives. residents in the path of these devastating storms should comply with all evacuation orders and other emergency instructions. but time is running out. and hurricane florence is moving in. while hurricane florence is churning its way through the atlantic, out in the pacific, typhoon mangkhut could be the strongest storm ever to hit the phlippines. it is more than 550 miles wide and packed with driving winds of up

to 155 miles per hour. thousands of people have begun evacuating from coastal areas as the super typhoon heads towards the country. 0ur correspondent howard johnson has just sent this report from the philippines. it's quite windy here at the moment, it is expected to hit landfall in a couple of days, it's it is expected to hit landfall in a couple of days, its expected to bring storm surge is about to this isa bring storm surge is about to this is a low lying area, residence say they have been through this before, they've seen other storms, they said they've seen other storms, they said they told by local councillors and police to move on and there is an evacuation centre just 500 metres down the road. we've been speaking to people who have been putting rocks and tying the roofs down onto heavy boulders to try to prevent the ribs from flying off when the storm comes. some people have even said

they want to stay inside the property to make sure it leaves don't enter their homes to take their goods and belongings. we've seen other people moving away from the area, on the way in be solved ca rs the area, on the way in be solved cars leaving with bedding on the roof, we saw farmers on the outskirts of this small town who we re outskirts of this small town who were harvesting around the clock to try to get as much of the rice from the paddy fields as they can before the paddy fields as they can before the storm comes in and potentially devastate their fields. given everything we've seen there is some pa rt everything we've seen there is some part of alarming areas and a bigger presence by the local authority is telling people to move on. it seems people here are very relaxed with the idea that a super typhoon is coming their way. howard johnson with that report. 18 year olds today are healthier, study harder and play more sport than they did at the time of the millennium. data from the office of national statistics compares the lives of 18 year olds now with those in the year 2000.

it's found that despite those positives, though, it's an uncertain time for young people. elaine dunkley reports. optimistic at 18. the ending of adolescence, the beginning of adulthood. i'm definitely buying a house, man. yeah, i'm buying a house. i'll have the money, don't worry about that. so, what will the future bring when it comes to dreams, hopes and life plans? as soon as i finished uni, find a job at 21. i want to settle down at 25, 26. obviously get married as well around that age. have children at, like, 27. today's report by the office of national statistics looks at lifestyle, health and aspirations. it shows around a3% of 18—year—olds are working. this compares with 60% at the start of the millennium. one in three 18—year—olds are at university. they are also less likely to drink and smoke. what are the big challenges facing young people? the impact that brexit will have on them, the fact thatjobs are changing, the economy is changing. automation is coming. how will they know what careers they will have in the future? and we know things like young people, half of young people are likely to not own their own house. so there's that disconnect between that aspiration and what they're told

theyre going to get or they're going to inherit. in the year 2000, i was 18 years old. now 36, this generation also had their challenges. hi, i'm a youth worker from birmingham and i have two children. i'm hazel woodward, from manchester. i'm a marketing coordinator and i have two children. i'm not as far as i wanted to be. in 2008, i had business ideas. obviously the financial crush happened and then it was, kind of like... in 2008, we bought our first property on the friday, and on monday the housing market crashed. it wiped 30 grand off the value of our house. so it had a massive impact on me and my family. it took us nearly ten years to recover from that. whilst 18—year—olds are overall living a healthier life compared to those in the millennium, they also share concerns about the health of their financial future. elaine dunkley, bbc news. nearly 50 health experts have warned

public health england and its decision to work with drink or puts its reputation at risk. public health england says that standing by its decision. michael buchanan looks at this. on monday public health england launched its campaign to get able to drink less, stay dry for two days a week at least and that message has been broadly welcomed. the problem is that they've decided to promote that message with this charity drink aware of which gets most of its funding from the drinks industry, that tie—up led to the alcohol advice of the government resigning and night on 50 other public health experts have written to public health england say you shouldn't be doing this at all, the argument is this, it damages the credibility of public health england and many funders of this charity are working to undermine the message public health england is trying to get across, that people should drink

less. i think it's burt is a public health england have been taken aback by the ferocity of the opposition, and they said they're trying to work ina new and they said they're trying to work in a new way, hoping to reach some of the 9 million people who go to the drinkable website on an annual basis to see if they can engage with those people to get them to reduce the alcohol intake, any charity they said they are willing to push the messages. other public health england are right or the critics, will ultimately be decided is whether this campaign is successful in getting people to drink less and we will know that for a good while yet. michael buchanan. jamie is here with all the business news. first, the headlines. two men suspected of carrying out the salisbury nerve agent attack appear on russian tv claiming they only visited the town as tourists. the cabinet holds a meeting

to discuss no—deal brexit contingency plans for issues like roaming charges and passports. and the us east coast braces itself for life—threatening waves and rainfall as hurricane florence approaches here's your business headlines on afternoon live from retail hero to zero: half year profits at thejohn lewis partnership have fallen by 99%. the retailer has blamed its "never knowingly undersold" price match promise. no change at the the bank of england. the monetary policy committee votes unanimously to keep the interest rate on hold at 0.75%. bank of england governor mark carney is set to become a british citizen, according to the evening standard. the treasury recently announced that mr carney will stay on as governor untiljanuary 2020, an extension from his earlier departure date in 2019. let's talk about john let's talk aboutjohn lewis. let's talk about john lewism let's talk about john lewis. if you go around saying we are never

knowingly undersold, there is a price war across the high street, you're going to suffer because are all suffering, in fact some might sayjohn lewis all suffering, in fact some might say john lewis is all suffering, in fact some might sayjohn lewis is doing better than most sayjohn lewis is doing better than m ost eve n sayjohn lewis is doing better than most even no problems going down to zero. it says full year profits will be worse than it expected, so it's infora be worse than it expected, so it's in for a very hard time, however it says it sticking by its promise, it will never knowingly be undersold and its attitude is not so much it's going to cut back, it feels like it's going to be aggressively expansionist and change the way it does business, its rebranding itself, calling itself a partnership which means the people who work there are actually own the business. 0k, morrisons we are getting ideas what is going on there. i've actually done particularly well, the best set of figures they've had for about nine years. and sure is going up about nine years. and sure is going up quite sharply, it seems to be winning something of a war in the high street, seems to be doing

reasonably well, there are winners and losers but up against the discounters, all the, little, and what they are frightened of as amazon and the online grocery shopping. you talk about losers, debenhams is there. debenhams, ford is going to happen? we thought sports direct would jump in and take it over but they've made it plain even though they have house of fraser, they are not going to go after debenhams and create themselves into a massive retail operation. ok, disturbing research into the way young women are being treated. this is awful, in many ways this is what's happening at a grassroots level, we get the celebrities, the people put the top seen me too, the need to campaign, eve ryo ne seen me too, the need to campaign, everyone thinks it's a tremendous revolution and the turnaround however, you get down to the grassroots level and things are not the same. let's go tojoel levenson,

head of campaigns at the young women trust, what's gone wrong, why hasn't this sort of campaign, this feeling of change which you see amongst celebrities and so on, why hasn't it herniated down to grassroots level? i think what we've seen with the need to movement quite rightly is the spotlight shown on the high levels of sexual harassment that women are having to face, outside of the workplace and inside the workplace. what we are not seeing is the follow—up action from employers, government to tackle bus and prioritise it. at the young woman's trust we were disturbed to find high numbers of young women who experienced sexual harassment in the workplace and didn't know who to turn to if they were harassed at work. are you saying its leading onto mental health problems, is that a feeling you get or how do you know? what we found is that lots of young people are having and finding

life difficult, young women are worst hit. has been linked in research that shows young woman's experience of the workplace is feeding their anxiety, leading to mental health worries, worries about the future and that's why it's so important we get to grips with this. it's notjust important we get to grips with this. it's not just about important we get to grips with this. it's notjust about helping people now, it's making sure that the get the support they need to advance in theircareers, the support they need to advance in their careers, set themselves up for years to come. how do you do this, change things? this is the point eve ryo ne change things? this is the point everyone says there has to be a cultural change, yes, there has two but how? there has to and it goes beyond sexual harassment, at the trust we've asked young woman about pay, we found really high levels of young women reported paying less than their male colleagues were doing essentially the same work, we think there needs to be greater transparency, we think employers when they advertise jobs should say how much the job pays, the need to be transparency and needs to be a culture of zero tolerance to sexual harassment, taking it seriously, this link to women, be proactive in

letting women and men know how they can escalate it if they have issues in the workplace. one of the issues is here often women don't report sexual harassment, sometimes it occurs on a grey area of what is perceived to be a grey area and women think i willjust look idiotic by reporters, how do you get over that problem? i think there is massive underreporting, not when young woman think it's a great area, we've heard from young women who know it's a grey area, they know they've been sexually harassed or abused and they have no confidence in theiremployerto deal abused and they have no confidence in their employer to deal with that. how you change that? we have surveyed employers, the people within workplaces are actually responsible for making decisions, we found women are far more likely to recognise it as an issue of sexual harassment than men, there are all sorts of reasons, but something we have to deal with, we need to make sure managers received the support to take sexual harassment seriously and start know there is someone to turn to in the workplace and they

will be listened to, taken seriously and it will be swept under the carpet and this is something the time and again, young women starting out in theircareer, time and again, young women starting out in their career, often in low— paid insecure employment, out in their career, often in low—paid insecure employment, who are just really worried they will lose theirjob, they won't get overtime, be allowed to make ends meet if they take the reports and go to managers. joel levenson from the young woman's trust, thank you. thank you. right, let's look at the markets. what have we got? are you all right? i wasjust. .. markets. what have we got? are you all right? i wasjust... building markets. what have we got? are you all right? iwasjust... building up and building up, that was three physical! it was like a drum role in a manner of speaking. good idea. let's get this, the town looking very strong, the footsie down, european markets not doing brain much, not terribly exciting. the oil price quite interesting, almost up

to $80 a barrel. the markets not terribly exciting. they might be more exciting when you get back in an hour. jamie, thank you! you are watching afternoon live. chopin in shopping centres and hide in on the high streets. that's what commuters have been hearing ahead of the leeds piano festival. colin patterson finds out more. pm is open shopping up in shopping centres all around leeds, celebrating the international piano competition. the steps of the town hall have turned into a steps of the town hall have turned intoa giant steps of the town hall have turned into a giant keyboard, i feel like tom hanks in big. the leeds international piano competition has

been taking place every three years since the start of the 605. it's a truly global events to find the best young pianist in the world, the finalists this year from as far as china, russia and the usa. and the judges who are concert pianists themselves have been giving in from two performances in the centre of the city in what is being dubbed the worlds smallest concert. it was great. it's noi5y, worlds smallest concert. it was great. it's noisy, but! worlds smallest concert. it was great. it's noisy, but i don't care. music wins out. what a lovely thing, what a lovely, magical thing, it was such a tedious day, i had nothing but warring things to do and i'm absolutely uplifted i had, it'sjust magnificent. the build-up to the final has included the impre55ioni5t alistair mcgowan returning to his alma mater, the university of leeds to talk about taking of the piano at the age of a9. to talk about taking of the piano at the age of 49. it's sort of taken over my whole life, i must admit at

the moment, i can't wait, i itch, i5 a love it when i see a piano in a room, i want to go and play at. i wa nt to room, i want to go and play at. i want to learn new pieces and my big frustration at starting 5ub late in life is thinking of all the pieces i will never play. but the event is trying to make sure rather younger people are encouraged to take up the instrument. press any notes you want, we could do one at a time if you want. brilliant. the completed orders have been going into leeds school5 orders have been going into leeds schools to give demonstrations. i'll try and turn that into a piece of music. did you know you were that good at composing music? no! we have to get out of the concert hall and take it into schools and the ideas year5 later they will come into the concert all, they will have had this experience, you just plant a seed.

and it appeared to be working, we we re and it appeared to be working, we were not short of volunteers at blenheim rhyme reskill willing to make their debut on the instrument and let us film the outcome. is that the first time you played the piano? yes. wow! although this lot could probably do with a bit more practice. colin patterson, bbc news, leeds. time for a look at the weather... hurricane camille aren't sparing down on the east coast of the usa, a category two 5torm, wind5 down on the east coast of the usa, a category two 5torm, winds in the centre, and very heavy rain, persistent rain, like to cause

flooding. —— hurricane florence. back—up it is quieter, some rain at time5 back—up it is quieter, some rain at times over the next few days, southeastern areas like to stay pretty much dry, that's the way of things today, you can see from the earlier satellite victor, sunshine, patchy rain, and this evening and tonight areas of cloud and patchy rain moving through northern ireland, especially the western side of scotland, some of the greatjim into northern england. further 5outh, into northern england. further south, the sky is remaining clear but more of a breeze than we had last night, not quite as chilly. once again, the best of the sunshine here. cloud moving across northern ireland, 5outhern scotland, outbreaks of rain, fairly heavy at first, sizzling out as a vicious south—east word5. first, sizzling out as a vicious south—east words. but far north of scotla nd south—east words. but far north of scotland a mixture of sunshine and shower5, 12 degrees for stornoway,

19 possibly 20 across part5 shower5, 12 degrees for stornoway, 19 possibly 20 across parts of the south and south these. easter at the weekend with high pressure dry to bend its way in, most places starting saturday on a final note, frontal system weightings in the wing5, things clouding over in northern ireland, the west of scotland, outbreaks of rain here, more of a breeze. the south and east, keeping hold of the best of the dry weather, some spell5 of sunshine, temperatures for the likes of london and norwich beginning to creep up a little. that proce55 continuing on sunday, uncertainty about the progress of these weather fro nts about the progress of these weather fronts in the south—east but like to see fronts in the south—east but like to 5ee outbreaks of rain, the best chance of holding onto 5un5hine in east anglia and the south—east. temperatures up to 22 degrees, a lwa y5 temperatures up to 22 degrees, always cooler and fresh at the further north and west you are. heading into next week some spell5 of wet and windy weather, for many, also turning a bit warmer. hello, you're watching afternoon live. i'm simon mccoy. today at apm: we weren't in salisbury to kill the skripal5, we wanted to visit the cathedral.

the two suspects in the novichok poisoning tell russian tv they were innocent touri5ts. translation: if we tell you about our business, people we work with will be affected. tell us anything so we believe you. people have questions. what do you do? translation: to cut a long story short, we're in the fitness industry. minsters' brexit advice if the uk leaves without a deal. motori5ts warned their licenses may no longer be valid in the eu, and no guarantee of avoiding roaming charges when using your mobile in europe. that comes as the brexit secretary sends a defiant message to brussels: if we can't strike a deal, we won't be paying the divorce bill in full. coming up on afternoon live: all the sport. news of how sorry our county champions for the first time since 2002. look how beautiful it looks on

the view from space. i will be telling you what the satellite picture can tell you about hurricane florence. i will also have the forecast. also coming up: we'll be looking at the imminent arrival of that hurricane florence. tho5e staying on batten down the hatches. get ready for what some us weather forecasters say will be the worst hurricane of a lifetime. hello, everyone, this i5 afternoon live, i'm simon mccoy. it was us, we were there, but we were touri5ts, not assassins. just 2a hours after vladimir putin urged the two men identified by the uk as being behind the novichok attack in salisbury to come forward, they appeared on russian television. they certainly look like alexander petrov and ruslan bo5hirov, captured on cctv near the home of sergei skripal,

but they say they had gone to salsibury to see the sights. they said their friends have been telling us for ages "to go to this wonderful town". a laughable plot? well, putin's critics say that may be moscow's plan, to make a mockery of the whole incident. this is what they said on russian television. you really look like the pictures shown to us by the uk. who are you? translation: we are those who were shown to you in the pictures. alexander petrov and ruslan bo5hirov. are those your real names? translation: yes, they are our real names. even now when you are talking about it, to tell the truth you look really nervous. translation: what would you look like? when your life is turned upside down in a moment. just one day changed our lives.

on the cctv footage from london you were in those now famous coats and sneakers in salisbury. are those people you? translation: yeah, that's us. what were you doing there? translation: our friends have been suggesting for some time that we visit this wonderful town. salisbury a wonderful town? translation: yes. there is the famous salisbury cathedral, famou5 not only in europe but in the whole world. it's famous for its 123 metre spiral, its clock, one of the first ever created in the world that are still working. during the interview given to russia today, the pair were also questioned about whether they worked for russia's military intelligence service, the gru. they both denied this, saying they are actually in another industry.

do you work for the gru? translation: me, no. and you? translation: i don't either. no one accu5e5 me of working of working for the gru but you are being accused of that. colleagues accused you of that. by your colleagues you mean journalists? you are being accused by uk authorities. translation: yes, that's the scariest thing. where do you work? you are adults, you have to make a living. translation: if we tell you about our business, people we work with will be affected. tell anything so that we will believe you. everyone has questions. what do you do? translation: to cut a long story short we are in the fitness industry. what do you think about the skripal ca5e? translation: we are living it. you cannot imagine what it's like. we would like if one day the real perpetrators are found. and we are given an apology. by who? the perpetrators? translation: the uk authorities.

i'm lost. i don't know what day it is. we cannot go outside, we cannot go to the petrol station. you cannot imagine what our lives have turned into. are you being recognised on the streets? translation: of course. our faces are on tv every day. translation: they talk about us on the radio. every time we turn on the tv we see ourfaces, we hear our names. that is scary. would you be able to live like that? translation: i try not to watch the news. it's over and over again, every day. what are you going to do next? translation: we just want for this to be over. a short while ago i spoke to our correspondent oleg boldyrev in moscow and asked him what the people in russia make of this.

the two men indeed look very nervous. their explanation is that their lives have been upturned by this whole disclosure which they of course say is a complete mistake or else an operation against them. they say they are just a pair of businessmen, in the business of sporting nutrition, although on being pre55ed on exactly what the company does and whether they travel a lot to europe because of that they looked very nervous. these two men were very keen to get to salisbury because, if no one disputes the timeframe, and they flew to the uk on march the 2nd and they left on march ath. they spent most of the time trying to get to salisbury. of course the initial visit went wrong because of the weather, they say. you are smiling a bit. well, it is because if you treat this with scepticism, as most viewers in the west would be, it does look

a bit stage—managed. although if it is a narrative presented for the russians then of course this is the course which will probably be followed for weeks and weeks. if we compare this to the alexander litvinenko murder then the two people accused of lacing his tea with polonium never denied they went to london and talked to him. it's only they say they went there for pleasure of course not for killing. so the parallels are in this case too. the government has published 22 guidance papers in the event of the eu and the uk not reaching an agreement on the final brexit deal. the detail contained in the documents shows that british drivers will not be guaranteed the right to drive in the eu after brexit and may need to apply for an international permit, which costs £5.50 annually. anyone planning on travelling to the continent after 29th march next year would need at least six months left on their passport, and will be considered third party nationals.

free mobile phone data roaming cannot be guaranteed. and british manufacturers selling their products to the eu may have to have their goods tested a second time to meet eu safety standards. back to our chief political correspondent vicki young at westminster. it is things like passports, driving licences. it is the nuts and bolts of the changes that are going to happen. after closely cooperating with the rest of the european union if we leave without a deal things are thrown up in the air and there are thrown up in the air and there are other things to do with trade, chaos at the ports. one of the things talking about exemptions for

security notifications for shipping. that sounds like something that does not affect those every day but at the mormon if you are a shipping company you have to give security information but there are exemptions at the moment and if they are not they are then there is more paperwork. it is that kind of thing that this document is about even though the government insists that no deal is what they expect to —— is not what they expect to happen. they expect to get a good deal based on the chequers paper that the prime minister wants parliament to back. the short while ago we had a an interview. we're confident we can get a good deal. we need to be prepared that what we are showing is matched on the eu side. we looked on a no deal scenario,

to avoid the risks. we've agreed the track forward and the plan of action. do you think we are really ready? in the event of a no deal scenario, we would face short—term risks and disruption. what we need to have in place and what people expect us to have in place is a set of plans and proposals and the readiness amongst our institutional capacity to manage those risks and avoid them, where possible, or mitigate them. we're confident we have that now. there is a campaign up and running backed by some parliamentarians about a people's vote, the idea that people should have another referendum once they know they'll be mike watt is on the table. that

people should have their say. many of those backing that second referendum feel that people went to vote in the first place without the kingdom information they are hearing about today. the public will be watching these papers and the news channels and trying to work out what it means for them. many will have been used to yea rs them. many will have been used to years ago coming back from european holidays with huge mobile phone bills and that has been scrapped by the eu so you can take a package abroad but it looks as if that will not continue with no deal. we are looking at passports and driving licences and death of the human costs. the prime minister believes that no deal is better than a bad deal. there will not be divorced

payment either. the government is pushing that message more heavily. yesterday during prime minister's questions that was something theresa may talked about. turning the tables on the eu, saying the whole thing has to be completed and we are not going to hand over £39 billion u nless going to hand over £39 billion unless there is something positive at the end of it, a good trade deal of some kind. the fear amongst some, a blind brexit saying we might get the transition but we are going to need detail about what the future relationship is going to look like rather than just not really saying how it is going to work. all of that still to be pinned down in the coming weeks. profits at the john lewis partnership have

fallen dramatically. the group, which includes john lewis department stores and waitrose supermarkets, made a profit in the six months to latejuly ofjust £1.2 million, a fall of 99%. its chairman said the retail sector had seen the most promotional market in a decade. more details from our business correspondent theo leggett. john lewis likes to make a big noise about being different to other high street stores, but today's figures make it clear it is under the same pressures as its main rivals on the high street. in the first six months of the year, john lewis, which includes waitrose, racked up sales worth nearly £5.5 billion. but it only made a profit of £1.2 million. that is down 99%, compared to the same period last year. the chairman says competition is making life tough. there is too much retail space, there is more retail space than there is demand for us as consumers, and that creates a really tough competitive environment, so retailers are not passing

on price increases, they have to absorb their own margins. john lewis says the problems start further down the high street, where other retailers have been discounting aggressively. it has a price match promise, so if they cut prices it has to as well, john lewis says that has been cutting its profits heavily. the company says it has no plans to end that policy. it is not cutting back on investment either. it has been rebranding stores, focussing on customer service, with a team of personal stylists, and launched its own product label. john lewis and partners. but will it work? i thinkjohn lewis' strategy is pragmatic for what is happening in retail. they have to have unique products so they don't have to price match. they are developing very good fashion ranges and across the whole piece as well, so this will set them up very well in future. there is no question department stores have been struggling. house of fraser was bought by sports direct last month after falling into administration. and debenhams just this week rushed

out trading figures to fight claims it was also in financial trouble. john lewis insists it can prosper by being different and avoid becoming another casualty of the british high street. theo leggett, bbc news. you're watching afternoon live, these are our headlines. two men suspected of carrying out the salisbury nerve agent attack appear on russian tv claiming they only visited the town as tourists. the cabinet holds a meeting to discuss no—deal brexit contingency plans for issues like roaming charges and passports. and the us east coast braces itself for life—threatening waves and rainfall as hurricane florence approaches. surrey have won the county championship. the first title in 16 yea rs. championship. the first title in 16 years. raikkonen says it was not his

decision to leave italy ferrari. the british open champion has made a good start at three under after 1a, three shots off the lead. hurricane florence, one of the most powerful storms in decades, is approaching the southeast coast of the us. it has been downgraded slightly as it nears land, but experts say with massive storm surges and intense rainfall expected, there's a real danger of catastrophic flooding. joining me now is our bbc america correspondent laura trevevlyan. how many people have stayed? very few. the governor of north carolina has said this is the power. and that

can kill. this island behind me is under a mandatory evacuation order and most people have gone. this is the closest we can get to the coast. the bridge behind me is closed. people have heeded the warning. although it has been downgraded to category two it has wind speeds of 105 mph and it is already beginning to lash with its rainfall. it is expected to get to us probably making landfall tomorrow morning. it is only 1a5 miles away from where i am standing. it poses a triple threats. this is what the governor of north carolina has emphasised, there is the potential for catastrophic flooding from the hurricane because it is expect to hang around on the cost of north and south carolina for about 36 hours

dumping huge amounts of rain which could then lead to very serious life—threatening flooding. that is on top of the storm surge and there hurricane force rain. they have beaten hurricanes before. nothing quite like this. you have to go back to 195a and hurricane hazel to find something that is the direct hit on north carolina when the storm surge was 17 feet. this time it is forecast to be in the region of 12-1a forecast to be in the region of 12—1a feet. this is an unusual event. when it gets here it will be able to feed off all of the warm water just offshore able to feed off all of the warm waterjust offshore and climatologists than meteorologists are asking whether climate change is beginning to play a role in the path of these hurricanes, not on the fact of these hurricanes, not on the fact of them but normally hurricanes will ta ke of them but normally hurricanes will take a northward turn and disappearance of the atlantic but

what is happening because the jet strea m what is happening because the jet stream has a different path, the strong winds that used to move them on our not there. there is also more moisture in the atmosphere and that is what hurricanes feed off and there is plenty of that around. saturday marks a decade since the failure of the us banking giant lehman brothers. the collapse became one of the most infamous and significant moments of the financial crisis, leading to worldwide market chaos and leaving thousands of bankers suddenly out of work. at its european headquarters in canary wharf in london, a,500 people left theirjobs, many carrying cardboard boxes full of their belongings. emma simpson reports. it was the largest bankruptcy in us history. the moment when the credit crunch spiralled into a full—blown financial crisis. workers cleared their desks, too, watched by the world's media — including me. emma, what have you been able to glean for us? well, the mood tonight here is grim, huw, as you would expect.

thousands of workers leaving the office tonight, wondering if they're going to have jobs to return to. ten years on, so, what did happen to all those workers? some were just new recruits, starting their careers in the city. like anil stocker, joining lehman brothers straight out of university. so, this bag was given to all the new recruits when we joined. as a veryjunior employee, we didn't really see what was coming. there was also quite a lot of propaganda inside the building. i remember posters in elevators saying, you know, "lehman brothers will not be affected by the global financial crisis." so, owen, what are our q3 priorities? anil went on to start his own financial technology company, lending to small businesses. i guess the experience of lehman did scar me, in many ways. and i wanted to set about creating my own company, help small businesses in the real economy, be a force for good.

actually the antithesis of what i'd seen. for emilie bellet, starting at lehmans was a dream job. an experience which also changed her career path. she's now created a business to help women squeeze the most out of their money. i'm trying to use what i've learned and bring it to normal people. so, basically trying to democratise finance, and personal finance. how do you feel about being part of that industry at that time, which wreaked havoc? it felt awful, being part of lehman at the time. and it was extremely hard and stressful. so now i'm trying to give back, i'm trying to build a better business. but it was difficult. it was hard. for some people today, it's not a good sign to be an ex—lehman employee. here's another one. moscow graduate nikolay storonksky.

nikolay‘s created a new disruptive digital bank. he understands why his fast—growing business has more rules to follow today. there was a lot of risk—taking and not wise risk—taking. because i experienced everything myself in 2008, when i read the regulations now, because of obviously applying for a banking licence, to become a bank, i really understand where it's all coming from. few saw the crash coming, but there is now a new generation of financial entrepreneurs, determined to do things differently. emma simpson, bbc news. let's talk now to two of those former lehman employees, anil stocker and nikolay storonsky. it is worth seeing you both turn things round for yourself because you are both rather successful now. what are your memories of ten years ago and that moment when you must

have thought this is coming round my yea rs ? have thought this is coming round my years? i was very young when i started in the bank, aged 22, it was my first experience of work and there were lots of smart people but there were lots of smart people but the environment was very stressful. a lot of things are happening and we did not know how bad the situation was. i did not see it coming. i did not see that the bank would go into administration. there was not a lot of sympathy for you at the time. the bankers themselves were seen as those behind their own downfall. yes, but at the end of the day we we re very yes, but at the end of the day we were veryjunior yes, but at the end of the day we were very junior employees, just doing a job. we were not taking any of the big decisions at the top of the bank. it is probably a bit unfairto blame the bank. it is probably a bit unfair to blame junior staff. in terms of what was going on ten years ago how did it feel when you realise this was all toppling around you?” was young and stupid. i started in 2006 2007 so i was only one year on

thejob and 2006 2007 so i was only one year on the job and i 2006 2007 so i was only one year on thejob and i did not understand it all. i was lucky because the whole tea m all. i was lucky because the whole team was bought out. it was ok for you. you had come from russia to join lehman brothers in the uk and you were able to stay. yes. what lessons... that the financial industry has learned from that period? you need to have risk controls. i remember early days a lot of traders were able to mark their books not in line with the market but based on models and their feelings which is the wrong approach. what about you personally? what did you learn from this?” approach. what about you personally? what did you learn from this? i felt that the big banks lost touch of who their customers were, who they were serving. they got involved in trades

and asset classes that ultimately no one really understood how risky they were. i took away that you have to stay close to your customer and build a good culture of transparency and try to remember that the mission is to help whoever you are serving, whether that is small businesses or individuals. that is a lesson you learned at the time and it has served you well since. yes. we started at to help small businesses raise finance, we help them with invoice finance if they are waiting to be paid they can borrow against it. i ask anyone in the company to go and spend time with our customers than see the real—life impact of what they are doing because we want to help the real economy of these businesses around the country that account for 60% of employment. businesses around the country that account for 6096 of employment. a lot of people watching saying good for you to come out of a difficult period for the business, a lot are going to say could it happen again? is there still that the leaf that

people think bankers have that they are untouchable? my personal opinion is that cannot happen again because there is a lot of new regulation in place that protects people from this happening so banks are not allowed to make big bets on capital anymore, so that is a good thing. financial institutions are much more stable. is he right? i guess the exact same crisis, low chance of it happening again, but there could be other triggers, whether that be political or in the next year or so people are worried and when i speak to small business owners they are worried about the coming 18 months. anything of that scale? never say never but probably of that scale? never say never but pro ba bly less of that scale? never say never but probably less likely than before. the boyfriend of andreea cristea, who was killed

in last year's westminster bridge terror attack, has described how he frantically searched for his girlfriend after she was knocked into the river thames by khalid masood's car. she died from her injuries two weeks later. andrei burnaz was speaking at the inquest in to the attack which is taking place at the old bailey. this report from helena lee. he frantically searched for his girlfriend. the couple had been on holiday doing what tourists do, enjoying the sights. busy taking photographs like this one of westminster. it turned out to be one of the last pictures she took. in court he was asked about the seconds before they were hit. he said i heard something hit something and after that at the same time people we re after that at the same time people were screaming. i saw the car come

towards us and it was very quick. everything was very quick. he told the hearing he frantically searched for his girlfriend but could not find her. he only found her phone and glasses in a pool of blood. andrea had been flung into the thames. she died from her injuries two weeks after the attack. all eyes are on the eastern seaboard. some of the satellite imagery is impressive. this is higher rate resolution than we have shown so far. on the southern flank we have

something going on which is where the wind at different levels in the atmosphere at blowing at different speeds. you can see how it has been moving. around 105 mph. they are still in for a rough ride. 20 mph off of it does not make any difference. the storm, the bands of rain beginning to affect the coastline. things are going to go

downhill quite quickly. it is forecast to move very slowly once it arrives. the rain is going to keep coming. some places may see a metre of rain. there could be is storm surge, about four meters. when you say storm surge, the water does actually live? that's right. it allows the water to lift. it is as simple as that. pressure means there is less pressing down on it and it bulges up, which runs onto the shoreline, giving four metres of storm surge in the worst areas. adding three orfour storm surge in the worst areas. adding three or four metres, you don't need me to tell you what will happen. there will be extensive coastal flooding. on top of that, the rain. the river systems sometimes back up, so you have that rain going into the rivers, the

storm surge stopping it getting out to sea, causing flooding problems. and it willjust to sea, causing flooding problems. and it will just sit there? yes. some forecasts have itjust off the shoreline, some have it in man. either way, it doesn't make a huge amount of difference. they will bring hugely wet weather. if it still has contact with the warm waters of the atlantic ocean, it is almost like it is still drawing its fuel source. we talk about these storms weakening when they hit the land, but if it is still taking fuel from the atlantic, it willjust keep raining. and the message is to get out of the area. asimilarone and the message is to get out of the area. a similar one in the philippines? yes. it is a bigger storm in terms of its area. this one does still have a clear eye in the centre. the

forecast for this storm as we go through the next couple of days is a little bit uncertain. it certainly looks like it will move in towards parts of the north of the philippines. if it headed further south, it would impact the capital, manila. it looks like it will largely stay away to the north. and as we go through the weekend, it will head to the south west of china. two parts of the world where we are keeping a very close eye on developments, and people need to be making preparations. it isa making preparations. it is a lot, where we are, but there is still a lot happening. yes, quite varied and mixed in the next couple of days. we will see some rain at times, but not all the time. the driest weather will always be down towards the south and east. that is what we have seen today. up to the north—west, you can see this

extra clout and a smattering of showers. a hint of rain in the north—west becoming more persistent. in the evening, outbreaks of rain continuing to spreading across the northern half of the uk. further south, a sunni end to the day. temperatures dipping away, —— a sunniend temperatures dipping away, —— a sunni end not as cold in the north—west because there will be extra clout than outbreaks of rain. —— extra clout and outbreaks of rain. blustery showers and decidedly cool rain. blustery showers and decidedly cool. 12 celsius for stornoway, 19 or 20 celsius across the south—east.

high pressure is with us at the weekend. saturday starts on a fine note. we will see thickening cloud across northern ireland, western scotla nd across northern ireland, western scotland as we go through the day on saturday. many areas will stay dry with spells of sunshine. we start to see those temperatures creeping upwards a little bit across the south—east corner, something that will continue into sunday. the best of the sunshine and warmth across east anglia and the south—east, where temperatures may reach 22 celsius. bands of rain will push in from the north—west, weakening they go. a fresherfeel from the north—west, weakening they go. a fresher feel across north—western parts of the uk. heading into next week, we will see some wet and windy weather at times, but wherever you are, despite the wind and rain, it will turn a little warmer. this is bbc news. our latest headlines: two men have appeared on the state—owned russian broadcaster rt to deny they carried out the salisbury

nerve agent attack. a spokesperson for prime minister theresa may has condemned the interview as 'lies and blatant fabrications.‘ contingency plans have now been published by the government for areas including mobile phones, driving licences and passports should the uk leave the european union without a deal. as brexit secretary dominic raab has warned that in the unlikely event of negotiations with brussels falling apart, the uk would not pay its brexit divorce settlement. forecasters in the united states are warning of life—threatening waves and rainfall, even though the powerful storm approaching the east coast has weakened from hurricane force. the boyfriend of andreea cristea — who was killed in last year's westminster bridge terror attack — has told an inquest how he searched for his girlfriend after she was knocked in the river thames sport now on afternoon live. we have new county champions? they

have had to wait a little longer than they might have ideally like, but surrey, after a 16 year hiatus our county champions again. three wickets was the margin of their victory at worcestershire earlier today, giving them an unassailable lead of 61 points in the table. they had to make games to play as well. the celebrations began as surrey went past the victory target of 261. surrey were last champions in 2002. this competition is fought over 56 days, and everything has to come ride across those days in order to make it worthwhile. i am so grateful for the efforts of the players. the rory burns becomes the tenth surrey captain to win the championship. we are delighted, really please. kimi

raikkonen moving but not necessarily happy with it? he is leaving one of the most illustrious names in the game, ferrari, at the end of this season. it's fair to say he doesn't seem to be entirely on board with the idea. he will turn 39 next month and will be replaced by charles leclerc, a driver nearly half his age. at what was at times and awkward press conference, he said, why not, when asked if he would rejoin former team sauber. hall is three under after 16 holes at the evian championship in france. the leaders are on six under par

after three rounds. luke shaw could play for manchester united this week and, despite suffering that concussion whilst on england duty. he was stretchered off during england's nations league match with spain. fa guidelines state that a player who suffers a concussion should not play again for 14 concussion should not play again for 1a days, but that is only unless certain criteria are met. he could play against watford after treatment in fort is described as —— in what is described as the enhanced care setting. translation: it was really tough. it was so difficult, him being in hospital for so long. he was in

spain and it meant i had to travel a lot and could hardly train. i didn't sleep well, wasn't eating well, but luckily the team was playing well, and that really helped me a lot. i've said it before, the only time i could get it out of my mind was when i was playing. and i would start thinking about everything once the match was over. yes, it really was a good escape. football is what we like and enjoy the most. back to cricket, finally, and paul collingwood is to retire at the end of this season after more than two decades in first—class cricket. he played 68 times in tests and was pa rt played 68 times in tests and was part of three ashes winning sides. he led england to victory at the world twenty20 he led england to victory at the world twe nty20 three he led england to victory at the world twenty20 three years ago. his final game for durham will be at home to middlesex. ex-players always tell you that the time has come to

retire. yesterday, announcing it to the boys was pretty emotional, to be honest. i was a blubbering wreck. everybody realises that it is time now. the club realise that, i realise that. that's going to be fit after two more games. the time to tell you that britain's simon yates has maintained his overall lead in the spanish race. that is all the sport 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. let's go to reevel alderson in glasgow, where councils across scotland have been doubling the council tax on homes left empty

for more than a year. and in southampton is sally taylor, where a locomotive built in eastleigh by women during world war two is being restored more than 70 years on. so, reevel, what has this bbc investigation found ? well, it was a freedom of information investigation, and we looked at the number of empty houses that there are in scotland where, like the rest of the uk, there is a shortage of accommodation. charities here say there are 37,000 empty homes, empty after six months. our research was looking at those unoccupied for more than a year, because under new regulations introduced four years ago, councils can charge double council tax on these. the figures we discovered a quite interesting. more than 15,000 homes have been charged this 100% levy in the past four years, with

local authorities in scotland raising a total of £36 million, cash they wouldn't otherwise have got, because before the change in the law, owners of empty houses could claim a discount from the council tax bill. why is it that so many homes are empty? it is difficult to say, but there area it is difficult to say, but there are a variety of reasons which have been put forward. as you look across our spreadsheet of information, you notice that dumfries & galloway, for instance, in the south—west, had the highest number of empty properties, and other raw or councils weren't far behind —— rural councils. perhaps it is holiday homes which have outlived their usefulness or houses which perhaps had been bequeathed to people who don't want to live in remote areas any more. housing charities say that the punitive element of double council tax is undoubtedly welcome, but they say that a real benefit of this is

the threat to force owners to consider bringing these houses back into use. they offer a range of measures to help owners. local authorities do. the national manager from the scottish empty homes partnership spoke to me.” from the scottish empty homes partnership spoke to me. i would encourage all local authorities to look at that policy is to see what is the council of it. use it with discretion, encourage owners to come and contact the local authority where they are being charged this extra charge on their council tax and say, look, this is what we can do to help and support you. we asked all 32 scottish councils to explain how they are in permitting this policy, which after all can raise them much—needed cash. many have operated four years, but some, including glasgow, have onlyjust begun to do so. others aren't using the new powers at all. having said that, orkney islands council, one of

four councils not to impose the extra charges said this afternoon that it extra charges said this afternoon thatitis extra charges said this afternoon that it is time to reconsider the policy after the work carried out by the bbc to highlight what is happening across scotland. your first time on nationwide?” happening across scotland. your first time on nationwide? i was on the original nationwide in the 805. the first time in this carnation. welcome back! thank you very much. and sally, tell us about the engine that's being restored. we've been filming at the giant eastleigh rail works just outside southampton in hampshire. they are restoring the canadian pacific, which was built in eastleigh in 19a1. ina which was built in eastleigh in 19a1. in a way, it isjust which was built in eastleigh in 19a1. in a way, it is just returning home for a complete restoration. i wa nt to home for a complete restoration. i want to show you these pictures. book carefully at some of these old pictures from 70 years ago, and what do you see? the whole workforce is

women. in fact, the site at that time employed 1500 women, partly due to men going off to war, but it seems fitting that the person in charge of the work on this merchant navy class locomotive today is a woman, doctor becky peacock.” navy class locomotive today is a woman, doctor becky peacock. i think it's nice that the project is being run bya it's nice that the project is being run by a female, so it does have that kind of poetic symmetry. women in the second world war would have beenin in the second world war would have been ina in the second world war would have been in a whole host of different environments in eastleigh works. they would have been in the machine shop making parts. there were calculated to be around 1500 women in here during the second world war. mrs simmons drives one of the two frames trains. the other crane driver, mrs blackwell, is a grandmother. nicola dixon is a blonde and a furnace work. herjob is to prepare the hot steel bars for

sorting intersections. a blonde and a furnace work. i saw you shaking your head. i love it when he says that. things have changed, but some still haven't — there are still so few women working on the railways. nationally, a7% are women. if we look at the rail industry, the rate is just look at the rail industry, the rate isjust16%. and then if you look at women in the rail supply chain, those feeding the railways, it is even lower, at 5%. in that same shed where the restoration was going on, siemens is refurbishing its modern fleet for south western railway. we asked them if we could film women working on these modern trains, and they said, well, there is a bit of a problem with that. they have no women working there at all. the question is, what's to be done? there was a recent study into

diversity in the railways, and the aim is for20% diversity in the railways, and the aim is for 20% of engineers to be women by 2020. we might be talking about this again in a couple of yea rs. about this again in a couple of years. you might like to know that the canadian pacific locomotive is going to be the star attraction in hampshire. they hope it will get going by 2020. we will have a lot more on that tonight. thank you. who was presenting cadillac nationwide in those days? sally magnusson -- presenting nationwide in those days. michael barrett was certainly there. he isa michael barrett was certainly there. he is a neighbour of mine, still very much watching every day. he'll be pleased to see you back. lets hope we got it right, then! thank you both very much. if you would like to see more on any

of those stories, you can access them via the bbc is iplayer. we go live each weekday at a:30pm. breaking news: we're hearing that the senior coronerfor breaking news: we're hearing that the senior coroner for lancashire and blackburn will confirm that there will a new postmortem examination on jonathan and there will a new postmortem examination onjonathan and susan cooper, who died on holiday. the postmortems will be undertaken on the 13th is tempered by a home office pathologist in view of the concerns raised by this case. analysis and evaluation may take some weeks or possibly several

months to analyse, and they say the results will need to be compared with the findings from the egyptian investigation, which yesterday said that they believed that e. coli was the cause of death. a new postmortem being done by the home office. we just got that news from the coroner's office in lancashire. jamie is here. in a moment he will be telling us what's hot and what's not in the business news. first, a look at the headlines on afternoon live: two men suspected of carrying out the salisbury nerve agent attack appear on russian tv claiming they only visited the town as tourists. the cabinet holds a meeting to discuss no—deal brexit contingency plans for issues like roaming charges and passports. and the us east coast braces itself for life—threatening waves and rainfall as hurricane florence approaches here's your business headlines on afternoon live: from retail hero to zero: half year profits

at thejohn lewis partnership have fallen by 99%. the retailer has blamed its "never knowingly undersold" price match promise. no change at the the bank of england. the monetary policy committee votes unanimously to keep the interest rate on hold at 0.75%. the lira has risen against the dollar after turkey's central bank hiked interest rates to 2a% on thursday — the biggest increase in president tayyip erdogan's 15—year rule. and john lewis — bit of a disaster? that's right. still raking in the sales, but they do have to keep cutting their prices in order to keep with the competition. and when you have competition. and when you have competition like aldi, liddell and

so on, and coming up in the background amazon, though that doesn't affect this year's profits, they will be worried that it will affect it in the future. you have quite a problem on your hands. they are rebranding themselves, which i thought was a good move, calling themselves john lewis thought was a good move, calling themselvesjohn lewis partnership, because the company is owned by the people work there. the company is changing the name of its stores tojohn lewis & partners and waitrose & partners to highlight the chain's 85,000 members of staff, known as "partners" who own the company, and are given an annual bonus based on the chain's profits. what about morrisons? supermarket group morrisons posted its best quarterly sales performance in nine years on thursday and said it would grow whether or not britain secures a european union exit deal. many business chiefs fear the world's fifth largest economy could end up with a "no—deal" brexit that they say would clog up trade, but britain's fourth largest

supermarket group believes it is better placed than most to cope. in its second quarter, group underlying sales at morrisons rose by 6.3 percent, an eleventh straight quarter of growth, boosted by britain's record—breaking summer heatwave, the soccer world cup and the royal wedding. so no change on interest rates? not that exciting, but it is quite interesting. the economy is doing well in some respects, strong figures coming up. we saw the purchasing managers index, wages going up. some figures show the economy is going pretty strongly. the reason they are holding back, and it was unanimous, is because of uncertainty, an old favourite. we can go and talk to james bevan, chief investment officer at sea cla investment management. it is brexit and stopping —— that is stopping

them putting up interest rates. otherwise, the economy is going pretty well. mr carney said in august that we should expect about a quarter of 1% every year, and he has had that this year. therefore, most people were saying that we're not to see another increase until may next year. what about john see another increase until may next year. what aboutjohn lewis, briefly? it is owned by the people who worked there. but it is an indicator of how tough it is out there. on two grounds. first, you identified huge competition in the high street. john lewis has this never knowingly undersold label and has had to cut prices to remain competitive. the other issue is that it imports a lot of goods, and with the relative weakness of the pound, buying from overseas has become more expensive and a big squeeze on margins. morrison's says that brexit will not be a problem. it really has rather pooh—poohed the idea that we will have a blockage on the ports if

there is no deal, and it says it will do fine. it has done two things really rather well. first, will do fine. it has done two things really ratherwell. first, it will do fine. it has done two things really rather well. first, it has positioned itself to have a relatively straightforward negotiations with customs authorities. it is a friend of europe. second, it produces a lot of the goods itself domestic league, so it's fresh produce, which has been a big success, is largely home—grown. —— domestically. it has its own supply line and is therefore more in control of its margins. you would not have said that about morrison's a couple of years ago. no, they have turned around very successfully and have decided that the way to grow is not just by controlling have decided that the way to grow is notjust by controlling their own destiny through their supply chain, but also they are supplying to others, so it is a provider to other chains. thank you very much.

let's have a look at the markets. won't the results as good as they we re won't the results as good as they were expecting for morrison? that's right. the oil price heading back towards $80 a barrel. that is because of shortage of supply. we have inventory figures in the states, in other words, how many barrels of oil they are holding, and it is lower than people thought. wheels have a hurricane coming. also, iran will be hit by sanctions. venezuela is not producing as much as possible, so

tighter supply, basically. the pound is looking strong. that is because eve ryo ne is looking strong. that is because everyone is reasonably optimistic about brexit. food? people who buy the pound, i think —— who is? there is a feeling of optimism against two weeks ago, when there we re against two weeks ago, when there were feelings of pessimism, with the pound down at 1 were feelings of pessimism, with the pound down at1 euro. thank you, jamie. next, the bbc news at five will stop let's get a weather forecast with ben rich. there will be rain for somebody

nothing on the scale of what we are seeing on the other side of the atlantic. hurricane florence paring down on the us with winds around the centre at around 110 mph. those will push close to the shoreline over the next couple of days, very heavy rain, persistent rain that, likely to cause flooding, rough seas, so a dangerous spell of weather. some rain through the next few days, but south—eastern areas... cloud in the north—west with patchy rain. as we go through this evening and tonight, we will continue to see areas of cloud and patchy rain between northern ireland and the western side of scotland, some of it fringing into northern england at times. further south, skies will remain clear, but with more of a breeze than we had last night, it won't be quite as chile. ballmer in southern areas tomorrow morning, and

thatis southern areas tomorrow morning, and that is where we will see the best of the sunshine. —— not quite as cold. fairly heavy rain at first, tending to fizzle as it pushes to the south—east. in the far north of scotland, sunshine and showers, and a very cool feel. 12 celsius in stornoway, 19 or maybe 20 celsius in the south and south—east. high—pressure tries to bend its way in at the weekend, so most places will start saturday on a fine now, but there are frontal systems waiting in the wings. things will cloud over in northern ireland and the western side of scotland, with outbreaks of rain. further south and east, we will keep hold of the best of the dry weather. some spells of sunshine and temperatures in london and norwichjust sunshine and temperatures in london and norwich just beginning sunshine and temperatures in london and norwichjust beginning to sunshine and temperatures in london and norwich just beginning to creep up and norwich just beginning to creep upa and norwich just beginning to creep up a little bit. that process will continue on sunday. uncertainty about the progress of these weather fronts to the south—east, but we will see some outbreaks of rain. the best chance of holding onto sunshine is southbank —— east anglia and the

south—east. as we head into next week, there will be spells of wet and windy weather. for many, it will also turn a bit warmer. today at 5 — two russian men deny being involved in the salisbury chemical attack — they claim they were just tourists. the men — interviewed on russian state tv — admit being in salisbury in march — but say they were sightseeing. our 0urfriends had been suggesting our friends had been suggesting for a long time that we visit this wonderful town. salisbury? a wonderful town? yes. but the british government says it's just another case of russian lies and obfuscation. we'll have the latest reaction. the other main stories on bbc news at 5... preparing for a no—deal brexit — the cabinet meets to discuss contingencies in the event of no agreement between britain and the eu. a romanian tourist describes how he almostjumped in the thames

after last year's westminster bridge attack in his frantic search for his girlfriend.