this is bbc news. i'm annita mcveigh. these are the top stories developing at 11.003m. theresa may meets eu leaders to try to convince them her brexit plan is the way forward. but there are still fundamental differences over the future of the irish border. we had a very good meeting this morning with the prime minister and herteam. time is running morning with the prime minister and her team. time is running short. going into this summit both sides we re going into this summit both sides were digging in but has mrs maiden enough to get the european leaders to move their negotiating position? the rail regulator says ‘nobody took charge‘ when new timetables were introduced in may, leading to weeks of chaos. council bosses in england warn that libraries, transport and public health will bear the brunt of upcoming local authority cuts also coming up, one of the most pretigious prizes in music will be awarded tonight. this year's nominees

for the mercury music prize are a mix of the old and the new. good morning. it's september 20th. welcome to bbc newsroom live. theresa may is in the austrian city of salzburg for a second day of informal talks with eu leaders. let's go to salzburg now, my colleague christian fraser is there. good morning from salzburg in austria, where eu leaders are meeting to discuss theresa may's plan for brexit. they are lining up for the group

photograph. last night, the british prime minister was givenjust 10 minutes to pitch her vision. this speech was met by stony silence and later today they will discuss their brexit position as 27 with may theresa locked outside the room. she is staying in austria for press conferences later this afternoon. what she hoped to do last night was to impress on the european leaders they can be no delay or extension to they can be no delay or extension to the negotiating process. despite calls from the maltese prime minister and the czech republic prime ministerfor a minister and the czech republic prime minister for a second

referendum in the uk. that is not going to happen said theresa may. she also tried to make it crystal clear that no uk government could ever stomach a separate customs arrangements are part of the uk. she said that's not politically a cce pta ble said that's not politically acceptable and would undermine the uk's constitutional integrity. both sides are urging the other to move but no signs either side is going to do that. and we're back to this problem of northern ireland. a little earlier theresa may spoke to the irish prime minister and this is what he had to say. we had a very good meeting with the prime minister and herteam. time is running good meeting with the prime minister and her team. time is running short. there are proposals for another summit in octoberand there are proposals for another summit in october and november. there are proposals for another summit in octoberand november. we wa nt summit in octoberand november. we want to avoid a no deal scenario and a no—deal brexit but we are preparing for that. we are hiring

officials. but we need to redouble oui’ officials. but we need to redouble our efforts over the next weeks to make sure we have a deal and that deal would involve three elements with the transition period and making sure that under all circumstances they would be hard border. what to reason is trying to do is go above the head of the european commission and appeal to the more pragmatic sense of the european leaders. sometimes it is the european leaders who will force a breakthrough and find a change in

the negotiating position. there are reports that the likes of the netherlands, belgium and even donald tusk had seen a positive evolution in the negotiation but you have to look at michel barnier who can be quite rigorous with the rules. he ta kes quite rigorous with the rules. he takes his instructions from germany and france and so far he has ruled out theresa may's checkers plan. they can be no separating goods from services. theresa may were —— was talking to a manual macron and here he is on the way into the summit this morning. we have to find collectively and we need a uk proposal preserving this. i never comment on speculation. i have sufficient work with the reality.

the problem for the european leaders as they recognise the political difficulties theresa may has and they are not convinced she can get this checkers plan through parliament. yesterday we saw her former education secretary writing in the times that it couldn'tjust be 30 or no deal. mike penning worked under mrs may at the home 0ffice worked under mrs may at the home office and he has been a minister in various positions and he has written in the telegraph that as far as he is concerned checkers is dead as a dodo. then you have got well mrs maher saying here in salzburg they can be no delay or extension you've got the first minister nicola sturgeon saying there needs to be a reality check and if they cant find a deal with the european leaders she said ina a deal with the european leaders she said in a letter to the opposition leaders in the commons then they need to delay. i am increasingly

worried about the prospect of what some call a line and brexit. that seems to me tantamount to jumping off a cliff with a blindfold on and having no idea of where to land. that is unacceptable. if that is the choice the house of commons faces i think it's far more in the interests of the whole uk for article 50 to be extended so that all of the alternative options can be considered rather than having the choice between the frying pan and the fire. but what leveraged you have together the prime minister to change her mind? i will continue to argue for to his right. jumping off argue for to his right. jumping off a cliff without knowing where to land would be the most irresponsible thing the prime minister has done in a long time. you have to know what will it -- a long time. you have to know what will it —— will places that

relationship. nicola sturgeon there talking to our scotland political editor. let's talk to alex barker the bristles correspondence for the financial times. conclusions from what happened last night? it's the usual routine. ten minutes. they don't answer. this is possibly the longest discussion they've ever had and brexit. what they are doing is limbering up forthe and brexit. what they are doing is limbering up for the final stage of negotiations. a lot of these leaders will be kicking into gear for the first time in thinking there are some fundamental choice coming up and we're going to steer this negotiation a bit more. they are all looking to november as the time with the negotiation comes to a

conclusion. one official said last week you don't take it by g john without tying the cord on rob lee and nicola sturgeon says we need to know what's on the other side of the withdrawal agreement. today these 27 leaders are going to talk about that later the declaration. the problem they have is if they put too much flesh on the bones it's going to be rejected. exactly. the question of how detail and how much clarity they wa nt how detail and how much clarity they want to put in that is going to be crucial. they have different views across the table and some wanted to be absolutely clear what it means to leave. others think this is all for negotiation afterwards. we need to use this document as an instrument to help theresa may pass the withdrawal treaty in the house of commons. it might be soul destroying the sum of your viewers but regardless of how clear this is we

are going to be dealing with and arguing about the fundamental choices about where the uk and which direction it goes after brexit for years to come after this document comes out. this is a political direction of travel that all additions change their mind and governments change so this is the kind of placeholder for way this negotiation will go. if there was a withdrawal agreement you probably will see the pound so and they would be years of transition on the other side. the difficulty is that this is the moment for theresa may to hold some leveraged and if she gives that away at this point and doesn't get what she wants not likely to get it the other side. and their know that. their power to dictate the terms will increase over time. but also their willingness to make

compromises may also increase over time. then they will be thinking about the economic relationship more and less about the raw politics and what a separation looks like and what a separation looks like and what you end up with on the other side. it's going to twist and turn over many years before we reach the point where we are settled in a binding treaty. if it's going to be many years can be asked to come back to salzburg is to brussels! no breakthroughs yet. both sides digging in. that probably since theresa may this side of the conservatory —— conservative party conference. we are likely to hear later that they will be a special brexit summit in november. it is in the traditions of the european union critical right to the wire so we could be in brussels in december

still negotiating. this afternoon on bbc news, at 5:35pm we're giving you the opportunity to ask our europe editor, katya adler, any burning questions you may have about the uk's future outside the eu. to take part you can text your questions to 61124, email to askthis@bbc.co.uk, or tweet using the hashtag bbcaskthis. the rail regulator says ‘nobody took charge' when new timetables were introduced in may, leading to weeks of chaos and hundreds of commuter services being cancelled daily. the office of rail and road has concluded that network rail, the two train companies involved and the department of transport all made mistakes. our correspondent, tom burridge, has more. for people commuting in and out of manchester, like marcus,

it has been so bad recently he‘s sometimes been forced off the train. sometimes i‘ve not actually been able to actually get on the train because it has been that packed. so i have had to either work from home or try to get my wife to drive me into work. new timetables in may brought chaos here. 300 scheduled trains didn‘t run each day. 0n govia thameslink, nearly 500 services out of london disappeared into thin air. today, a report by the rail regulator. it finds network rail mainly to blame for causing chaos on northern. infrastructure upgrades overran, and northern wasn‘t left with enough time to draw up and implement complicated, new timetables. problems on govia thameslink were partly caused by a late decision by the department for transport on how to phase the changes in. then the train company failed to train enough

drivers on new routes. today the government, which was forced to take control of the east coast main line, is launching a review of the railways. industry sources admit the system isn‘t fit for purpose. the review will look at fundamental questions, like whether the contracts between the government and the companies that run these trains need to be more flexible, how to integrate the public track and the private trains, and whether the railways across the country need to be managed more at a regional level. and that has been the case on scotrail, where some say the track and trains are more closely co—ordinated. but the governments review will not consider labour‘s policy, that the whole system should be nationalised again. tom burridge, bbc news. speaking to the bbc this morning, the transport secretary chris grayling told the bbc he was sorry and took responsibility for "not asking the difficult questions".

this issue is about sorting out problems for passengers. myjob is to make sure we have really fit for purpose going forward. passengers have been let down over the summer bya have been let down over the summer by a system which the report says there have been problems and ourjob in government is to make sure we have a better way going forward. your critics call you feeling grayling and given your record there is some truth in that. we want to make a real difference. it did make the difference it was supposed to one the summer. we have to make sure that doesn't happen again. we can cross over to our correpsondent, lauren moss, who is at king‘s cross in central london for us. presumably you have talked to passengers this morning. what is their reaction? passengers have for a long time been very unhappy about

the situation on the rails whether its delays or cancellations of strikes. this report by the office of railand strikes. this report by the office of rail and road is very detailed. it's 183 of rail and road is very detailed. it‘s 183 pages long and it‘s reviewing the situation of the timetable chaos in may earlier this year will stop it uses some strong words to describe what happened saying there were systemic failures. the new timetables were introduced on the 20th of may and they were meant to make things easier for passengers but instead they lead to the cancellation of 800 services today mainly northern rail in the north—west of england and go the thames link in the south—east of england. the disruption lasted several weeks and this report today found nobody took charge, not the rail companies, not the department for transport and not network rail. to give you some context, in the last year the really system has undergone the biggest upgrade it has seen undergone the biggest upgrade it has seen since the victoria times. but

when the launch day came for the new timetables on the 20th of may rail companies simply went ready. the report has gone into some of the reasons about why that was an says network rail was overrunning within the cha—cha grades which meant northern rail didn‘t have enough time to draw up new timetables. go via thames link says the department for transport left it late on deciding how to face —— phase the changes in and the company didn‘t hire train up another try was in time. the report also criticised itself and the department for transport were being to all —— optimistic and underestimating the disruption the timetable could cause. it says decisions made before the start of this year make it was unavoidable these disruptions would happen and that the point of no return was in autumn of last year. and we‘ll be hearing

from the rail delivery group which represents rail companies and rail networkjust after 11.30am this morning here on bbc news. the headlines on bbc news: theresa may meets eu leaders to try to convince them her brexit plan is the way forward. but there are still fundamental differences over the future of the irish border the rail regulator says ‘nobody took charge‘ when new timetables were introduced in may, leading to weeks of chaos (00v) council bosses in england warn that libraries, transport and public health will bear the brunt of upcoming local authority cuts cristiano ronaldo was given his

first red card in 154 champions league appearances. he was sent off after half an hour to poll an opponenfs after half an hour to poll an opponent‘s here. danny cipriani has been left out of the latest england training squad. the gloucester fly— half training squad. the gloucester fly—half has been a standard layer this season but was fined byjersey magistrates following a common assault charge outside a nightclub last month. eddie jones assault charge outside a nightclub last month. eddiejones says his omission is for rugby reasons alone. a huge clean—up operation is under way after storm ali battered parts of the uk with winds of up to 100mph. two people died and thousands of homes were without power and lorries overturned during the severe winds. weather warnings are in place today. danjohnson has this report. a for ali, the first storm of the season. a stinging whirlwind that whipped across ireland and the uk.

it tore apart the hospitality tent at st andrews. falling trees crushed buildings during northern ireland‘s strongest—ever september gales. there were near misses on the roads. this pilot trying to land in dublin thought better of it. 100 mile an hour winds brought down power lines. there are still homes without electricity. in some cases, our engineers out on site can hardly stand up, let alone climb the wood poles to affect repairs. so that stopped us and delayed us from affecting repairs and getting our customers back on. a woman died when this caravan was blown over a cliff on the irish coast. a man working for northern ireland water was killed by a falling tree. storm ali certainly made its mark and its winds are still blowing strong.

dan johnson, bbc news. let‘s look at some of today‘s other developing stories. police investigating the suspected poisoning at a restaurant in salisbury on sunday, which led to a major medical response are likely to examine if it was a hoax. alex king and his wife, anna shapiro were admitted to hospital and later discharged. our home affairs correspondent, tom symonds has more. well, this street was cordoned off when a couple, anna shapiro and alex king, appeared to be taken seriously unwell. she is russian and that caused some concerns for people sitting in the restaurant nearby, and he spent a few days in hospital. but we understand that tests have found no evidence of any poisoning. despite that, anna shapiro gave an interview to the sun newspaper in which she said she had been poisoned on the orders of russia‘s president putin.

the police are now investigating. sources have told us that one potential line of enquiry is likely to be that this was a hoax. we also found out that alex king was involved in a well—publicised incident in 2016. he gave interviews about it. he said that he talked his way onto a reception line at a film premiere and ended up shaking the hand of the prince of wales. he said he did it for a bet. now, salisbury is attempting to put the novichok poisonings behind it and this didn‘t help. it caused a major police incident, a major medical response, the road had to be cordoned off, and all of that makes getting over what happened earlier in the year here, a little bit harder. our home affairs correspondent, tom symonds, reporting from salisbury. labour is proposing a major overhaul of the way the gambling industry is regulated. it says that a future labour government would ban tv advertising

during live sporting events, introduce a levy on all gambling operators and end credit card betting. the advertising association has expressed concern that a ban will make live sports more expensive and less accessible. ian paisley has retained his north antrim seat after a petition to recall the mp failed to reach the necessary threshold to force a by—election. the dup mp was suspended for failing to declare two holidays paid for by the sri lankan government and then lobbying on its behalf. it was the first time westminster enacted the recall legislaton since it was introduced in the wake of the expenses scandal. millions of unpaid carers are being warned that they are putting their health at risk looking after their loved ones. the local government association and the charity care uk says around five million people helping ill relatives or friends are unable to take a break from their roles. the department of health says it‘s looking at how to improve access to breaks and respite care.

the credit reference agency, equifax, has been fined half a million pounds forfailing to protect the personal information of up to 15 million people in the uk during a cyber attack last year. the information commissioner‘s office said names, addresses, dates of birth and financial information were lost or compromised. the company described the cyber attack as a pivotal moment, which had prompted it to strengthen procedures. for a full summary of the news you can go to our website and find more details. council officials are warning that libraries, transport and public health will bear the brunt of upcoming local authority cuts. the county councils network says if ministers don‘t step in, england‘s largest authorities will need to slash next year‘s

budgets by nearly a billion pounds. we can cross now to our studio in stoke and speak to councillor philip atkins who is vice—chairman of the county councils network and leader of staffordshire county council. it's it‘s a conservative run council which outlined plans of 35mm and worth of cuts to its budget. is even something like that going to balance the books for you? it will do, not quite next year but over the next five years. we end up with a balanced budget. but it's extremely difficult and decisions will have to be taken in the federico and some meeting. yesterday was a heads up to everybody about how difficult it was and what we were looking at to make those savings for next year. this year we are all right but looking

forward to counter can as a whole have to save £1 billion next year and {3.8 billion over the coming years. when councils are talking about only being able to give local people a core offering, what would remain and more importantly what would go? local government finance is extremely complex. everybody thinks council taxes on part of it but there are business rates and fees and charges but the weight allocated across the is very complex. council tax has a big element in some counties than it doesin element in some counties than it does in london for example. we also have the pressures that council have who are responsible for social care

for both a growing adult population and frail elderly and an increasing numberof and frail elderly and an increasing number of children who are in looked after care. they have all the pressures and a diminishing income so we pressures and a diminishing income so we have two balance our books and it's a legal requirement. so when we do that we end up looking at a very small range of services that we can make reductions in. we're looking at things like highway maintenance, the public health sector, things like street scene whether we can cut the grass is many times, school crossing patrol is something we're looking at. and how we can get things down toa at. and how we can get things down to a low —— lower level of local government. so maybe other councils communities can step up to the plate and to those services that we all value. we have managed to keep our 43 libraries open in staffordshire

but we will end up with 27 run by the communities themselves. but we will end up with 27 run by the communities themselveslj but we will end up with 27 run by the communities themselves. i was saying this is perhaps going back to david cameron‘s ‘s idea of big society stepping up to keep things running. there is an element of that. how communities can help themselves. we have been keen on personal responsibility so we can concentrate on those who really know help. if we can support communities that will be a great help for the future. in staffordshire the figures are we have 1000 winners and 17 looked after children. we have 6446 people with long—term conditions who need daily help. we have about 1500

people with learning disabilities. they cost a lot of money to take ca re they cost a lot of money to take care of. that's where over 50% of our funds care of. that's where over 50% of ourfunds are care of. that's where over 50% of our funds are now targeted. thank you very much for your time today. well, we have a response from the government on this. a spokesman for the ministry of housing, communities and local government has said "local authorities are responsible "for their own funding decisions, but over the next two years. the mother and the partner of khalid masood will give evidence

today about what they knew about his intentions and movements in the days before the westminster terror attack in march last year in which he killed five people. we can speak to our correspondent, jenny kumah, who is at the inquests for us. well, this morning we heard from one of the officers, one of the investigators who is looking into the incident where he drove his car and he ended up killing four people during the attack at westminster bridge and then went on to fatally stabbed a police officer in front of the gates of parliament. today dci brown continued with his evidence, we have more details about his conversion to islam. he explained that this happened during his first speuin that this happened during his first spell in prison. he met a visiting

imam there. dci brown explained that he did not have identified this enough. he did not know why the suit took on his name. we also heard from state m e nts took on his name. we also heard from statements from his brothers who said that he converted to islam during his second spell in prison and that he would constantly talk about the religion and he would try to push it onto others. and there we re to push it onto others. and there were details given on the statement of fellow prisoner. he said that he was asked to share another set with another muslim prisoner because he wa nted another muslim prisoner because he wanted to better understand the religion. at that time there were a number of prisoners converting to islam. dci brown said there were no evidence that prisoners were being forced into this. and there is no evidence that he was being radicalised during this time. the

inquest continues and later we are expecting to hear evidence from the mother and his partner. thank you very much for the update. it is now 1130. it is time for the weather forecast. still a couple of weather warnings around. yesterday we had storm alley, today it is all about a new storm which is developing to the southwest of the uk. you can see here. look at that area of russia. it is going to make its way towards the ease bringing heavy rain and strong winds. for the rest of this afternoon in the southeast of england, it is going to be bright. some sunshine with some showers moving in. a temperature contrast, 14 in the north, 22 in the south. quite pleasant. it is the central here where were going to see

the rain coming in. look at the dark blues and the dream. that will be for this evening‘s rush—hour. torrential rain for a time. really atrocious conditions on some of the roads this evening. heavy rain will transferred towards the east tonight. 0n transferred towards the east tonight. on top of that, we will have strong and gusty tomorrow morning there might be some impacts by the the view for the rush stay tuned. hello, good morning. this is bbc news. our latest headlines... eu leaders — meeting in salzburg — have said britain needs to provide guarantees on the irish border, before they agree to the brexit deal proposed by theresa may. the rail regulator the office of rail and road says "nobody took charge" when new timetables were introduced in may, leading to weeks of chaos and cancellations. council officials are warning that the worst cuts to services are yet to come unless central

government intervenes. the winner of this year‘s mercury prize for the best album from the uk and ireland is announced later. noel gallagher, lily allen and arctic monkeys are among those nominated. public health england is launching its anti—smoking campaign stoptober weeks early. we‘ll be joined by their spokesperson to tell us why. it is time for sport. let‘s catch up with the latest. some big rugby news coming up. but we will start with the football. the manchester city assiistant coach mikel arteta sasy there is no way of knowing nwhther or not pep guardiola would have made any difference if he had been in the dugout last night. the mangeer was serving a touchline ban as they lost their champions league opener 2—1 at home to lyon.

manchester united were also playing last night and beat young boys, away in switzerland patrick geraey reports. for pet or to your love this must have been torture. he was banished to the comfy seats, that punishment came. this came from french side. somehow maxwell was allowed to put them ahead. foggy and out west as helpless as his boss. the front side pushed on. he came close to... a tough half—time team talk. manchester city did manage to come back. the favourite start with defeat, it is hard workjust watching. 0ver defeat, it is hard workjust watching. over at the home of young side —— young boys. joe‘s mourinho was much closer. he had a great view

of effortless brilliance. if that was from nowhere, his next goal was less certain. this is how he likes to ta ke less certain. this is how he likes to take his penalties which is fine if they end up like that. he set up anthony who has not done that since january. so young boys against men in the end, and a superman in particular. one year to go before the rugby world cup and england head coach eddiejones says that danny cipriani has every chance of going to the tournament even though he‘s been left out of the latest england training camp. chris jones is our rugtby union reporter. he has been one of the standout players. what is the thinking behind this leaving him out? it increasingly apparent that the more hype around the player,, he is not bothered whether danny cipriano has been winning awards and ripping up

things for their club, ultimately he makes the call himself. and he feels that george ford is his best player. it is so tough on danny cipriani who started england‘s test match a win over south africa in cape town, but the coach makes the calls. this is on rugby ground only. at the moment, ford is still his men. we are when you‘re away from this world cup. this training squad, any other surprising inclusions? yes, some surprising inclusions? yes, some surprising once. manual will be there. he has had so many injuries, but he is in the mix. he has not started since the summer of 2014, he is not played for england since the six nations in 2016. he has looked

reasonably sharp and he is straight into that squad. as are a few other people. chris aston —— chris ashton who has not played, he won‘t play for his clubs until the ultimate squad is named. he wants to get him into camp. eyebrows are being raised all over the place. sometimes it is going on form, sometimes he is not. ultimately he is going on his gut instinct and his judgement. ultimately he is going on his gut instinct and hisjudgement. he ultimately he is going on his gut instinct and his judgement. he said to mejust now, selection is all aboutjudgement. ok, chris to mejust now, selection is all about judgement. ok, chris jones, to mejust now, selection is all aboutjudgement. ok, chrisjones, r by aboutjudgement. ok, chrisjones, r rugby reporter. many thanks. that is all the sport for now. let‘s get more now on the news that the rail regulator has blamed weeks of chaos and cancellations in may on the fact that nobody took charge when new timetables were introduced.

the office of rail and road blamed a lack of ‘responsibility and accountability‘ and said passengers were badly treated. sorry, we‘re going to talk to... we can speak to robert nisbet who is from the rail delivery group which represents rail companies and the rail network. the report is saying nobody took charge, then do we need the sort of review that the government is talking about to look into this? well, the very fact that this review does spread the blame around to all parts of the industry. it says to us within the industry that there clearly is a systemic issue. there isa clearly is a systemic issue. there is a structural problem with the way that the railways are running at the moment. so we that the railways are running at the moment. so we welcome that the railways are running at the moment. so we welcome the review that the government is enacting. but we wa nt that the government is enacting. but we want it to be big, we wanted to be balls, we wanted to be meaningful

and independent. and really lead on the work that the industry is doing. the passenger has to be at the heart of anything that changes. i think up until now, we saw after the may timetable that there were structural issues. with respect, it does not ta ke issues. with respect, it does not take a genius that is new timetables are being introduced then someone needs to take charge of that and have oversight of that. if no one did that,... it is not about structure, it is about people not doing theirjobs properly. well, no, our argument would be that it is systemic. it is about how all these parts of the industry go together. this report, and these are just the summary this report, and these are just the summaryfindings, we this report, and these are just the summary findings, we will go through with a fine toothed comb when the full report comes out. this is decisions made by politicians. it is network rail, which is the publicly owned part of the railway industry, it is the private rail companies

themselves and it is how they speak to each other and communicate to passengers. we have been saying for some time that we need to look at that structure to make it work better for customers and by extension, for the economy, for the country. and we welcome this review, but we want it to be thorough and we wa nted but we want it to be thorough and we wanted to be independent and not have a narrow focus. i will put it to you again, do you think this is a way for some people avoiding responsibility for decisions that should have been made? whether it be over seeded timetable, trained drivers etc in a more timely fashion? if you are asking me to name individuals if there were individuals responsible, well the report would have named them. what they have said is there were good intentions, they were big ambitions here, but structurally something went wrong and the passenger suffered. we have to take this

seriously and look at the findings and not just seriously and look at the findings and notjust deal in the political to and fro and actually look underneath the bonnet to see why the industry is not delivering as it should for passengers when there are billions of pounds of new investment going into the industry. with 6400 new service is expected by 2020 and 7000 new carriages. all of these things are happening, boat... we‘re not saying that nothing went wrong, we are admitting that things go wrong that the blame was spread out throughout the industry that needs to learn from those mistakes. we‘re saying we are willing to engage, we stand willing to work with the government to improve industry for the benefit of the passengers in all of our customers. ok, thank you very much for your time today. the head of the prison and probation system in england and wales has been asked to stand down, amid an ongoing crisis injails. the ministry ofjustice announced that michael spurr will leave his role as chief executive of the hm prison

and probation service at the end of march next year. his departure comes a week after thousands of prison officers walked out for six hours in a protest at "unprecedented violence" in britishjails. the best album of the last 12 months will be named at the 27th mercury prize tonight. whoever wins will receive £25,000 and almost certainly a boost in sales. previous winners include the likes of arctic monkeys, elbow and pj harvey. but in the age of streaming individual tracks, does the album still matter? 0ur entertainment correspondent, colin paterson has been to find out. # now i‘m stuck in a rut, kicking stones... lily allen, 12 years and four albums into a career, thrilled to have finally made a mercury prize shortlist with no shame, and she‘s out to win. it would mean everything to me. i mean, i‘d absolutely love for that to happen. it‘s not going to, but...!

it‘s a heartfelt record, which... previous albums have been honest, but maybe a bit, like, finger—waggy, telling other people what i think about them, whereas this is me thinking about what i am. # four stars out of five... she‘s up against albums by some very established acts, including previous winners arctic monkeys... # we all have a hunger... florence and the machine, on the list for the first time since 2009... # get out of the doldrums, baby, now... and noel gallagher, last up for a mercury 22 years ago, as part of oasis. but others on the list are far from household names. # how you gonna sleep tonight? nadine shah is 32, from whitburn in south tyneside, and her third album, holiday destination, only made it to 71 in the charts. she believes a winter night could change her life. i need the 25 grand a lot more than these guys! let's be crude about it, right? noel gallagher'lljust buy a pair

of trousers with it! over the years, the mercury has thrown up some huge surprises. blur‘s britpop classic park life beaten by... m people's elegant slumming. cheering and applause what has never won is a jazz act. sons of kemet hope to change that. we‘re not doing the music for us, we‘re in some ways acting as conduits for the vibes and energies that the society around us is giving us. and while the mercury is all about celebrating the album, it‘s been a tough year for the format. year—on—year, artists‘ sales have fallen by 26%, and that includes streaming. richard russell knows all about selling albums. he runs xl recordings, meaning he‘s adele‘s boss. he‘s up for the mercury for his own everything is recorded project and believes the format will survive. i don't expect there to be, you know, dozens of great albums

every year, you just look for there to be a few. and that's obviously what this award is to highlight, which is what makes it important. whoever triumphs tonight, they should learn from the calamity which befell the first winners, primal scream. at the after—show party, they celebrated a little too hard, promptly losing their cheque for £20,000. colin paterson, bbc news. smokers looking to quit the habit as part of the annual stoptober campaign are being warned not to go "cold turkey". government health officials have said smokers stand a much greater chance of successfully giving up, if they turn to e—cigarettes, or if they get help from nhs stop—smoking clinics. let‘s get more on this now from drjenny harries, who‘s deputy medical director at public health england. we can also speak to tim mason, who smoked for 50 years and gave up last year as part of the stoptober campaign. well done to you. i will ask you

about that in a minute. but doctor harris, you are launching this now, is the idea to give people a little bit of time to prepare themselves for next month so they have a better chance of success? absolutely. we have helped people quit. we also know that if they have a personal quit plan, something to help them, support services, they stand a much higher chance of quitting. the message this time is get support to do the quitting and this stoptober we are offering a personal plan. tim, 50 years of smoking, then you give up, why did you do that?|j give up, why did you do that?” realised it was doing me no good. i could feel my chest was playing me of all the time. i had could feel my chest was playing me of allthe time. i had no could feel my chest was playing me of all the time. i had no stamina to

do even brisk walking would big leap restless —— do even brisk walking would big leap restless — — would do even brisk walking would big leap restless —— would make me breathless. ijust reached a point where i wanted to stop and improve my health. he tried before, so what made the difference laster? the most important thing is you have got to really wa nt important thing is you have got to really want to do and be determined. looking back, it was more of a oh, i think i will try and stop smoking on january the 1st. this time i was determined to stop. did you go cold turkey or did you wean yourself off? i knew stoptober was coming up i had heard about it so i went to their website and discovered that for the first time last year public health england was endorsing e—cigarettes asa england was endorsing e—cigarettes as a useful tool to stop smoking. i bought an e—cigarette and i did not like it. i experimented with a couple of different sorts. i think thatis couple of different sorts. i think that is important because they are

not all the same. lasher was the first to encourage smokers to use e—cigarettes as a means to stop smoking from actual cigarettes. in terms of your analysis as to how that went, did it work well? do you mean in terms of encouraging people? yes, what we want to do it is encourage people to use the right support services for them. people can go onto our website very easily and work out what their level of dependence is on nicotine and it will look at what they have used before for example patches, and a prescription from the gp. and work out what is right for them. as tim said, they are supported. we know that... you are four times more likely to quit if he use local stop services and if the aid is an

e—cigarette, 63% of people will have a successful outcome. have you given those up to? i am still using them, but i'm using the lowest nicotine strength. i started on a medium strength. i started on a medium strength because that was the strength because that was the strength that suited what i was smoking. and in terms of physical health, how are you feeling? much better. i've done a fitness course andl better. i've done a fitness course and i do exercise every day, 30 minutes of cardio every day. jim based exercises every week. ijust feel... not a new man, because i have damaged my lungs, but it is never too late to stop smoking. and at 67, i feel much better than i have felt for years, to be honest. that is a very positive and fantastic messages sent out to anyone who is thinking of taking pa rt anyone who is thinking of taking part in stoptober. thank you both very much. good to meet you. in a moment we‘ll have all the business news, but first the headlines on bbc news... theresa may meets eu leaders to try to convince them her brexit

plan is the way forward. but there are still fundamental differences over the future of the irish border. the rail regulator says "nobody took charge" when new timetables were introduced in may, leading to weeks of chaos. council bosses in england warn that libraries, transport and public health will bear the brunt of upcoming local authority cuts. i‘m victoria fritz in the business news. new warnings on the impact of brexit — this time, from the former head of the european central bank. jean—claude trichet tells bbc radio five live that leaving the european union will have a bigger impact on the uk than on the rest of the eu. the break—up, he says, is "totally contrary to the new world". who will start the bidding? the uk‘s takeover panel says

the future of sky will be settled by auction on saturday. the broadcaster has been subject to rival bids from fox and the us conglomerate comcast. it‘s not all doom and gloom on the high street — the hot summer and a recovery in incomes have boosted uk hello. news of major retailers going under seems commonplace these days. take french connection, for example. the fashion retailer said this morning that it had more than doubled its losses and sales continue to decline. but could the worst be over for our beleagured retailers? it is only one month‘s data. but today‘s release from the office for national statistics makes for interesting reading. rather than another squeeze on retail, the sector actually grew in august. yes, we still spent relatively less on food, fuel and clothing, but we did spend more on household goods. and those stronger than expected retail sales numbers have helped boost the value of the pound. the question is, will it last? to answer that question is sophie willmott, senior retail

analyst, at globaldata. is this a one off or is this a turning point? i don't think we can ta ke turning point? i don't think we can take the august result as a turning point. i think it is still going to be really tough for the rest of the year. it is good to see that volumes we re year. it is good to see that volumes were marginally up and that we did have a good summer, i think the warm weather has really helped that. i do not think we can assume that it will be good for the rest of the year. i think it is still going to be really tricky for retailers. do you think we are spending more because prices are rising? we heard about inflation yesterday. yes, that is a boost in food in general. we are seeing a lot of discounting, so i do not think we are paying more for products. it is

really difficult —— it is a really difficult time for retailers. profits are being hit by discounting. i was looking at the figures with regard to online figures, we are at a record proportion with sales happening online. and the department stores are able to get more through their online channels. is that the future? will we have bricks and mortar shops in the future? we will continue in the future and allah does not count for the majority of spending but it is rising at a faster rate. it is prediction —— it is a prediction that we will see a decline in food. but the online will drive. it will outperform where consumers are looking for convenience. we often

talk about online as being a real big threat to the industry. is it the single biggest threat? 0r big threat to the industry. is it the single biggest threat? or are there other things? who is really vulnerable as a result of this shift? i think if the retailers don‘t move forward and adapt they are the ones that are at risk. if they are not moving their product range were they are not offering the channels to purchase that consumers want, then they will struggle. it is not necessarily the online that is a threat. we have seen primark which does not have a transactional website. they do really well due to the value aspect of the product brain. thank you, sophie. half a million pounds. that‘s what the information commissioners office has fined the credit rating agency equifax. the reason is that it failed to protect the personal details of 15 million people in this country as a result of a cyber attack in 2017. should gambling ads be banned during live sporting events? the labour party believes so.

deputy leader tom watson labelled problem gambling "a public health emergency". according to a report commissioned by labour, there are close to half a million gambling addicts in britain, 25,000 of which are under the age of 16. the conservatives criticised labour for "liberalising the gambling market when it was in power". diageo, the maker of everything from guiness and smirnoff vodka, and operating in virtually every country in the world, has said that despite having a presence everywhere, its still unable to hedge the impact of volatile currency markets. the strong dollar has put emerging market currencies under big strain this year — and diageo now thinks sales will be £175 million short of their first estimate as a result. and beware of the punishing punnet. there‘s a country—wide investigation taking place in australia after several people found sewing needles hidden inside strawberries. as a result, the supermarket

giant woolworths has stopped selling needles. but not the strawberries. plenty more coming up throughout the rest of the day. the owners of the james bond franchise have announced a new director for the next film. cary fukunaga is known for directing the 2011 film "jane eyre" and the first season of the tv series "true detective". he has taken up the job after danny boyle quit last month, blaming creative differences. the next film, the 25th in the series, is due to be released in february 2020. much more coming up for you soon. the talks on brexit continue. christian fraser will be there for us. christian fraser will be there for us. right now we are going to say goodbye to viewers and bbc scotland. hello. good morning. we have the

second named storm of the season. hot off the heels from teeth —— tee. a lot of rainfall as we go through tonight and tomorrow morning. there‘ll be some strong winds as well. there could be some impacts. for the rest of this afternoon, it is going to be largely dry in the southeast. quite warm. some dry and bright weather toward scotland. a very big temperature difference north to south. in the middle here, there is heavy rain developing through this afternoon. look at the dark blues and the greens. it will be heavy torrential rain. mainly across north wells. into cumbria and yorkshire as well. through this evening‘s rush hour. atrocious

conditions. it will move away towards the east tonight. it will bring some blustery winds. there could be some impact tomorrow. lots of water on the surface and maybe some trees and branches down. goodbye. this is bbc news. i‘m annita mcveigh. these are the top stories developing at midday. theresa may meets eu leaders to try to convince them her brexit plan is the way forward. but there are still fundamental differences over the future of the irish border. we had a very good meeting this morning with the prime minister and herteam. time is running morning with the prime minister and her team. time is running short. i'm in salzburg with the 27 eu leaders are meeting to discuss brexit without theresa may in the room. has she done enough to get them to shift their negotiating position? the rail regulator says ‘nobody took charge‘

when new timetables were introduced in may, leading to weeks of chaos. council bosses in england warn that libraries, transport and public health will bear the brunt of upcoming local authority cuts. the world anti doping agency‘s executive committee will vote today on whether to reinstate russia‘s anti—doping body. and british author daisyjohnson has become the youngest author to be shortlisted for the prestigious man booker prize. we‘ll be speaking to the chair ofjudges a little later. good afternoon. it‘s thursday, september 20th. welcome to bbc newsroom live. let‘s head straight to salzburg for more on the talks on brexit. welcome

back to salzburg. we are in the grounds of the university where the 28 leaders have been meeting. 27 are currently sitting down to discuss the brexit plan without theresa may in the room. she is hanging around in salzburg and we will hear from her later in a press conference. last night she had just ten minutes to talk to the brexit leaders directly about way she sees the negotiation going and she impressed upon them that they could be no delaying of the negotiation. the uk she stressed is leaving. but how does the uk exist outside the european union and not share a customs border with it? when goods are crisscrossing that order every hour subject to different tax and customs and safety checks. what the european union wants to see in the worst case scenario

european union wants to see in the worst case scenario is a so—called backstop. customs checks between great britain and northern ireland where those goods come to a stop at the ports on either side. not a cce pta ble the ports on either side. not acceptable said theresa may last night. it would undermine the constitution of the united kingdom. so what she has put forward is this so—called maligned checkers plan. she once a common rule book on goods and not on services. continued harmonisation on goods. not a cce pta ble harmonisation on goods. not acceptable to us save the european leaders. they ask what is an aspirin? is it a good or service? if you‘re going to stop hard border between northern ireland and the republic you need to talk to the man who has the power to deal and that is the taoiseach. this morning he said this. i had a very good meeting with the prime minister and her team. time is running short. there

are proposals for another summit in october and november. ireland wants to avoid a no deal scenario but we are preparing for that. we are hiring extra staff and officials and putting in it systems. but i think we need to redouble our efforts over the next few weeks to make sure we have a deal and that deal would involve three elements. a transition period, a protocol for northern ireland and ireland making sure that all circumstances there would be a ha rd all circumstances there would be a hard border and also a joint political declaration outlining what that new relationship is going to look like. although theresa may is committed to no hard border between north and south. what the british government is trying to do is appeal to the pragmatism of the 27 leaders to the pragmatism of the 27 leaders to go above the heads of the rules —based commission and their

negotiator michel barnier. it is reported there are warmer tones from the likes of belgium and donald tusk himself who said they had been a positive evolution in the negotiation. the dutch prime minister mark rutte has also been speaking this morning. it is in my interest and in all of us it is in my interest and in all of us to have a good relationship with the uk and the strong internal market. as long as there is no deal i think we all want to work towards a deal and i think we all want to work towards a dealandl i think we all want to work towards a deal and i still think it is achievable. michel barnier has ruled out the checkers plan because he says you can‘t split goods from services. he says there will be no cherry picking within the single market and he takes his instructions

from france and germany. the problem they also have is they recognise the political difficulties theresa may has back at home. they are not even sure she can get the checkers plan through the house of commons. so mike penning who worked with theresa may and the home office said that plan is dead as a dodo. well theresa may is urging no delay, the scottish first minister is saying is —— if there is no deal we need to think again. with me now is ulrich ladurner,

the brussels brussels correspondent at de zeit. do you think the german position has shifted? no. ifeelthe do you think the german position has shifted? no. ifeel the government is still awaiting to see what happens. there is a lot of talk about a good atmosphere but on the continent there is no promise. they hope back at home is that german car manufacturers have such a state with brexit that they will urge angela merkel to compromise. this argument has been made in the past but it's an overestimate and of the weight of the german car companies. i don't think they will influence angela merkel ina think they will influence angela merkel in a way she would compromise on brexit. they will be discussing what to do with the political declaration, the framework of the future deal that goes hand—in—hand

with the withdrawal agreement. some months ago the uk government wanted a lot of flesh on the bones and wa nted a lot of flesh on the bones and wanted a point of maximum leveraged to spell out what that it would be. now, there is a feeling they would like it a little shorter and more vague. what is the position of angela merkel? she wants to be strong and if six months runs out and britain is without any deal it would be difficult for britain but a catastrophe for the european union. i don't think it's going to be possible. driving this negotiation behind michel barnier is the french and german camp. the dc! to ie on with this negotiation is going? they wa nt with this negotiation is going? they want to keep the single market is a

single market so if britain leaves the single market there is the way it has to be. britain could be apart of it the way malta is but that has not been accepted by the uk government. there needs to be a border between northern ireland and the republic. angela merkel and emanuel macron agreed and they say if you are out europe. theresa may spelt out you would never accept pa rt spelt out you would never accept part of the uk being cleared away from the rest of great britain. is there any sympathy with that in germany? there is no desire in germany? there is no desire in germany to punish the british people. it is a difficult problem we have to solve. nobody in germany feel satisfied but we have to find a

solution and that solution has to come from london and not from brussels. thank you for your thoughts. that is the view from the german side. we were going to tell you this was the longest leaders had talked about brexit but they have moved their press conferences/ may be not as long as they were going to discuss. things are probably going to go to october and past that. we will probably get details today about the special brexit summit in november. it might even going into december. it is very likely this negotiation is going to go to the wire. this afternoon on bbc news, at 5.35pm we‘re giving you the opportunity to ask our

europe editor katya adler any burning questions you may have about the uk‘s future outside the eu. to take part you can text your questions to 61124, email to askthis@bbc.co.uk, or tweet using the hashtag bbcaskthis. some breaking news from kent police. 215—year—old boys have been arrested on suspicion of preparing for a terrorist act. it‘s in ramsgate. 215—year—old boys have been arrested on suspicion of preparing for terrorist acts. we have no other details on that at the moment. the head of the prison and probation system in england and wales has been asked to stand down, amid an ongoing crisis injails.

the ministry ofjustice announced that michael spurr will leave his role as chief executive of the hm prison and probation service at the end of march next year. his departure comes a week after thousands of prison officers walked out for six hours in a protest at "unprecedented violence" in britishjails. a huge clean—up operation is under way after storm ali battered parts of the uk with winds of up to 100mph. two people died and thousands of homes were without power and lorries overturned during the severe winds. weather warnings are in place today. danjohnson has this report. a for ali, the first storm of the season. a stinging whirlwind that whipped across ireland and the uk. it tore apart the hospitality tent at st andrews. falling trees crushed buildings during northern ireland‘s strongest—ever september gales. there were near misses on the roads. this pilot trying to land in dublin thought better of it.

100 mile an hour winds brought down power lines. there are still homes without electricity. in some cases, our engineers out on site can hardly stand up, let alone climb the wood poles to affect repairs. so that stopped us and delayed us from affecting repairs and getting our customers back on. a woman died when this caravan was blown over a cliff on the irish coast. a man working for northern ireland water was killed by a falling tree. storm ali certainly made its mark and its winds are still blowing strong. dan johnson, bbc news. police investigating the suspected poisoning at a restaurant in salisbury on sunday, which led to a major medical response are likely to examine if it was a hoax. alex king and his wife, anna shapiro were admitted to hospital and later discharged just six months after a nerve agent attack in the city.

more on today s main stories coming up on newsroom live here on the bbc news channel, but now we say goodbye to viewers on bbc two. the headlines on bbc news: theresa may meets eu leaders to try to convince them her brexit plan is the way forward. but there are still fundamental differences over the future of the irish border. the rail regulator says ‘nobody took charge‘ when new timetables were introduced in may, leading to weeks of chaos council bosses in england warn that libraries, transport and public health will bear the brunt of upcoming local authority cuts. let‘s cross over to the bbc sports centre now. (pres) danny cipriani has been left out of the latest

england training camp... but according to the head coach the gloucester fly—half is still in with a chance of going to next year‘s world cup.... cipriani was fined by a jersey magistrate last month, after a charge of common assault but eddiejones says he‘s made the decision to omit cipriani on rugby reasons alone. leicester centre manu tuilagi‘s back in, it‘s been 2 years since he played for england. and sale winger chris ashton is also inclduded in the 36 man squad, even though he‘s suspended until mid—october. (pres) the world anti doping agency executive committee are expected to reinstate the russian anti—doping agency later today after a three year ban for state sponsored doping the move has met with plenty of resistance from many other anti—doping organistions, including those from the us and the uk who feel that the russians are nowhere near meeting the original criteria for readmission that had been laid down by wada, that included complete acknowledgement that the state was complicit in scores of doping cover—ups and that the moscow testing laboratory was fully

transparent, and forthcoming with it‘s doping data. wada have been accused of making compromises with russia , that would pave the way for all the nations sportsmen and women to be free to take part in international tournaments two chelsea fans have been attacked in the city of thessaloniki according to reports in greece. chelsea are there for this evening‘s europa league tie with paok salonika. an ambulance was sent to the scene, but its unknown if the fans are injured as they refused to go to hospital. arsenal are also in europa league action tonight, they play ukrainian side vorskla poltava. boss unai emery has won this competition three times with former club sevilla, but former captain tony adams says there will need to be a big improvement if he‘s to win another full he needs time. i was disappointed at the start because

arsene wenger was very open and it was idealfor the arsene wenger was very open and it was ideal for the next arsene wenger was very open and it was idealfor the next culture come in and lay solid foundations which he signed but they did not put him in. they played to open for me. i saw an arsene wenger performance again and! saw an arsene wenger performance again and i wanted to see a tough resilient george graham performance. britain‘s johanna konta is out of the pan pacific open in japan. she was beaten in straight sets in the second round by the croatian donna vekic. konta was 4—1 up in the second, before the 22—year—old fought back. back.that‘s all the sport for now. i‘ll have more for you in the next hour. the rail regulator says ‘nobody took charge‘ when new timetables were introduced in may, leading to weeks of chaos and hundreds of commuter services being cancelled daily. the office of rail and road has concluded that network rail, the two train companies involved and the department of

transport all made mistakes. we can speak to our assistant political editor norman smith who is in our westminster newsroom. chris grayling saying a review is the ansett all of this. yes, he will disappoint those passengers who bruised by the month of chaos in our ra i lwa ys bruised by the month of chaos in our railways were looking for heads to roll. certainly his head does not seem roll. certainly his head does not seem in any imminent danger of rolling. there were no signs of the resignations from network rail or the rail companies involved. instead he has announced a root and branch review of the railways. it‘s going to look at the franchising issue and some of the ideas mr grayling seems to be looking at is whether you could bring together in a more integrated way the owners of the track and the owners of trains. 0r

possibly to replicate the example of transport for london who run the underground in the capital. what is not it seems on the cards for consideration as nationalisation, mr grayling is there is that privatisation has been a success and he points to the fact that the number of people travelling on the trains has doubled in the past 20 yea rs. as trains has doubled in the past 20 years. as for his own culpability and whether she should have taken more direct role, he denied the charge of failing grayling. this issue is about sorting out robbins for passengers and myjob is to make sure we have a railway fits the purpose. passengers have been let down this summer by a system the report says clearly there have been problems all the way across. ourjob in government is to make sure we have a better way going forward. your critics call you failing

grayling and given your record that is some truth in that. what we have doneis is some truth in that. what we have done is to proceed with an investment programme and it's making a difference. it did not make a difference this summer and we have to make sure that doesn't happen again. a part of this review to try and address the problems and difficulties that have plagued the ra i lwa ys difficulties that have plagued the railways over recent months. part of it is to counter the apparent popularity of labour‘s call for renationalising the railways and certainly on the tory benches there isa certainly on the tory benches there is a desire now for chris grayling to ta ke is a desire now for chris grayling to take radical action and for a radical shake—up of the railways. this was the former cabinet minister sir michael fallon. it's not properly joined sir michael fallon. it's not properlyjoined up sir michael fallon. it's not properly joined up between sir michael fallon. it's not properlyjoined up between track operators, the train operators, the regulator and the government. first of all we need to know who is in charge. secondly, we need to have

more realistic franchises. thirdly, we need to be sure that the secretary of state can step in and has the power to step in when things go so badly wrong as they did in the summer. go so badly wrong as they did in the summer. fourthly, we must have better regulator. where was the regulator during the timetable crisis? that review is expected to ta ke crisis? that review is expected to take a year. at the end of it if not much changes and there are further problems, it seems to me it will be very ha rd problems, it seems to me it will be very hard then for chris grayling to avoid direct responsibility. let me bring you up to date with the discussions in salzburg on brexit and our political editor is saying this. council officials in england are warning that libraries, transport and public health will bear the brunt of upcoming

local authority cuts. the county councils network says if ministers don‘t step in, england‘s largest authorities will be under pressure to slash next year‘s budgets by nearly a billion pounds. earlier i spoke to councillor philip atkins, the leader of staffordshire cou nty atkins, the leader of staffordshire county council. extremely difficult decisions will have to be taken in the february council meeting and yesterday was a heads up to everybody about how difficult it was and what we were looking at to make those savings for next year. this year we are all right but looking forward , year we are all right but looking forward, county councils as a whole have to save next year £1 billion and over the coming years about £3.8 billion from adult and children‘s social care. when councils are talking about only being able to

give local people a core offering, what would remain and more importantly what would go? local government finance is extremely complex. everybody thinks council taxes on part of it but there are business rates and fees and charges. the way it is allocated across the country is very complex so council tax has a big element in some counties than a dozen london for example. we also have the pressures that councils have and other tier authorities who are responsible for social care for both a growing adult population of frail elderly and an increasing number of children who are in looked after care, they have all the pressures and they have a diminishing income. so we have two balance our books. it‘s a legal requirement. when we do that we end

up requirement. when we do that we end up looking at a very small range of services that we can make reductions. we are looking at things like highway maintenance, the public health sector, things like whether we can cut the wrasse so many times, school crossing patrols in staffordshire. and how we can actually get things down into a lower level of local government so maybe other councils could step up to the plate or communities and to those services. well, we have a response from the government on this. the mother and the partner of khalid masood will give evidence

today about what they knew about his intentions and movements in the days before the westminster terror attack in march last year in which he killed five people. 0ur correspondentjenny kumah is at the inquests this morning and has been listening to the latest evidence. this morning we heard from one of the officers who is looking into the incident where khalid masood drove his carand incident where khalid masood drove his car and ended up killing four people during the attack on westminster bridge and then went on to fatally stabbed pc palmer near the front gates of parliament. dci brown continued his evidence today and we heard more details about khalid masood‘s in to islam and dc! brown explained that this happened during his first spell in prison. he

met a visiting iman and dc! brown explained they had not identified this iman and they didn‘t know why khalid masood had chosen to take on his name. we also heard from his brothers and they said he converted to islam during his second spell in prison and that he would constantly talking about the religion and push it onto others. there were details given the statement from a fellow prisoner and he said that khalid masood had asked to share a cell with another muslim prisoner because he wanted to better understand the religion. at the time there were a number of prisoners who were converting to islam but dci brown said that there was no evidence that prisoners were being forced into this and that there was no evidence that khalid masood was being

radicalised during this time. the inquest continues later and we‘re expecting to hear evidence from khalid masood‘s mother and partner. the owners of the james bond franchise have announced a new director for the next film. cary fukunaga is known for directing the 2011 film "jane eyre" and the first season of the tv series "true detective". he has taken up the job after danny boyle quit last month, blaming creative differences. the next film, the 25th in the series, is due to be released in february 2020. now it‘s time for a look at the weather. i cant believe it, hot on the heels of storm ali, we have another storm. the storm yesterday was about the wind but this one is all about the volume of rain. some torrential rain

today. as the rain eases we will see some gusts of wind through the night. you can see where the heaviest rain is. through much of rain and into the midlands. at least a couple of inches and maybe more. for the early evening rush hour it will be pretty tedious on the roads across wales stretching through into the midlands and up to the north of england. that rain will be relentless. that is their leaving. overnight, we will see that rain pushing its way eastwards and that is when the strongest winds will come. we will have some squally damaging guests to content with during the early hours. hello, good afternoon. this is bbc news. our latest headlines... eu leaders — meeting in salzburg — have said britain needs to provide guarantees on the irish border, before they agree to the brexit deal proposed by theresa may. the rail regulator the office of rail and road says nobody took charge when new timetables were introduced in may —

leading to weeks of chaos and cancellations. council officials in england are warning that the worst cuts government intervenes. the world anti—doping—agency votes today on whether to lift its suspension on russian athletes during a meeting in the seychelles. and british author daisyjohnson has become the youngest author to be shortlisted for the prestigious man booker prize, we‘ll be speaking to the chair ofjudges a little later. let‘s return to you here is already an agreement with brussels that uk citizens who live and work in the eu will have their rights protected after brexit. the same goes for eu nationals living here in the uk. but that agreement would only come into force if there is a brexit deal. so crashing out of europe with no deal is a worrying prospects for many british expats. 0ur correspondent sarah corker reports from southern spain.

music: la bamba. parts of the costa del sol look and sound more british than they do spanish. more than 300,000 expats live in resorts like torremolinos and benidorm. steve and jill run the mariners bar — a little slice of grimsby on the costas. and then we brought pictures because my grandad was a trawlerman, steve‘s dad was trawlerman. and mention the b—word here, this is the response. you see, the spanish aren't going to stop brits coming to spain, they're not going to get shut of us — we pay too much money into the system. they moved here four years ago. now brexit, they say, has forced them to choose between spain or the uk. we thought we'd best move, lock, stock and barrel, to spain before brexit hits, so because we had business in england and a business here,

we thought we'd get shut of the one in england first. so brexit almost made you make the decision to move to spain. brexit definitely made us commit to spain. but since the referendum in 2016, it‘s become more expensive for brits to buy here — the value of the pound has fallen against the euro. since the '60s, the british have been buying here in quite considerable numbers. estate agent ian irvin says, in use recent years, though, the british market has slowed right down and some older expats, now in their 70s and 80s, are now selling up. british, as one nationality, are still the biggest market. they probably represent at this point in time roughly about 40% of the market here. so 40% of people buying here are british? that's correct, yeah. whereas before, say in the early 2000s, it was probably closer to 80%. there's been quite a large drop in the market. for brits living and working here on the costa del sol, brexit has thrown up two major

concerns — access to health care, and pensions. at the moment, brits get free medical treatment here in spain, but will that continue post—brexit? and the weak pound has, for some pensioners, wiped off almost a third of the value of their pensions. further along the coast, in the small town of torrox near malaga, i met two sisters originally from lincoln. they opened a restaurant and hotel here 16 years ago. the brexit vote came as a big shock. the day after the news of brexit came out, i did look at having dual nationality so we could get a european passport and obviously have our british passport. but spain doesn‘t allow that — you have to renounce your british citizenship if you want to have a spanish passport — so that‘s obviously a no—go for us. and neither of you wanted to do that. no, we don't want to do that, no. as with so many unknowns, three of

their friends have already left. they are probably feeling uncertain. so they probably feel more secure work going back to their home country. one third of britons living in spain are over 65. sarah and karen‘s data moved here to retire. he is now 80. my pension has been enoughin he is now 80. my pension has been enough in inflation. that is the major impact for me. the fact that prices have risen over here, but my pension has been eaten away through the exchange rate is so poor. i‘m a bit annoyed about that. would you ever m ove bit annoyed about that. would you ever move back to the uk? no. music: these boots are made for walkin‘. 0n the costa del sol, there is a sense of brexit fatigue, frustration it‘s all taking so long, but a feeling, too, that it

will eventually get sorted out. the brits — and the expat bars — are here to stay. sarah corker, bbc news, torremolinos. let mejust let me just tell you that we are expecting to hear from salzburg let me just tell you that we are expecting to hearfrom salzburg in austria very soon. a news conference there. this is coming after the news that there seems to be news emerging from our sources that theresa may has indicated during a bilateral meeting she had with the irish minister that she does not believe that a deal on the irish backstop can be reached in time for the 0ctober european council. there is perhaps a little bit of wiggle room

because yesterday a november summit was announced and we have just heard that the date for that are on the 17th and 18th of november and that will be in brussels. that isjust one agency reporting that. but that is what we are hearing. clearly, the issue of the irish backstop is perhaps the thorniest issues confronting all of those leaders as they try to hammer out an agreement a cce pta ble they try to hammer out an agreement acceptable to both sides on brexit. the world anti—doping—agency is expected to lift its suspension on russia at a meeting in the seychelles later. russia‘s anti—doping agency was banned in 2015 amid a scandal over state—sponsored doping allegations russia has repeatedly denied. caroline rigby has more. they broke records and dominated medal tables. it seemed too good to be true, and it was. for years, international sports competitions have unknowingly been

hijacked by the russians. coaches and athletes have been playing on an uneven field. sports fans and spectators have been deceived. state—sponsored cheating on a massive scale. russia‘s anti—doping agency was suspended by it‘s global counterpart, following the revelations in 2015. but three years on, could wada be about to lift that ban? it‘s a prospect that has angered athletes and anti—doping leaders from the us to the uk, and new zealand to norway. those who believe such a decision would make a mockery of both the ban and the governing body itself. clean athletes rights and the health and safety of athletic competition, matters. the flame of the olympics, unfortunately, is going to burn a lot less bright the day after a bad decision. russia has refused independent access into this moscow lab at the centre of the conspiracy.

it has also failed to acknowledge the findings of the wada—commissioned report on the country‘s doping programme. yet, just last week, wada‘s own review committee recommended russia be reinstated, accepting that the kremlin had successfully acknowledged its failure. but some inside the organisation remained unconvinced. its vice president stating: wada‘s meeting in the seychelles seems a long way from the sochi olympics, after which whistleblower grigory rodchenkov exposed one of the biggest ever scandals in sport. wada‘s meeting in the seychelles seems a long way from the sochi olympics, after which whistleblower grigory rodchenkov exposed one of the biggest ever scandals in sport. for those tasked with keeping sport clean, the question remains: has russia come far enough since then? caroline rigby, bbc news. the woman who‘s accused the us

supreme court nominee, brett kavanaugh of historical sexual assault, has been given until friday to decide whether she‘ll give evidence. christine blasey ford says she wants the fbi to investigate the incident, which she claims took place in the 1980s before testifying before the senatejudiciary committee. brett kava naugh has denied the allegation. peter bowes reports. relu cta ntly reluctantly thrust into the public spotlight. according to her lawyer, christine lizzie ford needs time to do with the threat she has received since the allegations were made public on sunday. the senate has given her until friday to say whether she will testify set at a hearing on monday. is looking unlikely. the committee stated plan to move forward with the hearing that only has two hearings is not a

fairor that only has two hearings is not a fair or good faith investigation says doctor ford‘s attorney. she goes on to say... earlier doctor ford‘s lawyers wrote to the judiciary committee saying she did not want to appear before the judge without —— and wants a fbi investigation. some senators are losing patients think there should bea losing patients think there should be a hearing even if doctor ford does not appear. as you know, justice cava nagh has does not appear. as you know, justice cavanagh has been seeded very tough and his family, i think it isa very tough and his family, i think it is a very unfair thing what is going on. for the most part, republicans are treading carefully. many remembered the hearings in 1991 when anita hill was widely thought to have been treated badly when she testified against another supreme

court nominee. she is now stood just in the current process be put on hold. my advice is to push the pause button on this hearing, get the information together, bring in the experts and put together a hearing thatis experts and put together a hearing that is fair, that is impartial, that is fair, that is impartial, thatis that is fair, that is impartial, that is not biased by politics or by men. this fractious confirmation hearing highlights the deep divides in washington. the stakes are high for both the democrats and republicans. with the clock ticking towards monday scheduled hearing and november ‘s midterm election. british author daisyjohnson has become the youngest person to be shortlisted for the prestigious man booker prize. the 27—year—old, one of the six on the shortlist for the literary fiction prize, has been recognised for her book everything under. let‘s hear more about the others making the short list. joining us now is kwame anthony appiah, chair ofjudges

for the man booker prize. very good to have you with us. take us to the other five. ok, esi edugyan, we already did daisy johnson. , rachel kushner, richard powers and robin robinson. and three british authors on that list. let‘s begin with daisyjohnson. even if she does not want to win, what does a nomination or getting on the for prestigious prize like this do for a young author? well, i hope it does with the prize is supposed to do, which is draw attention to wonderful writers. whichever of these who win, anyone who is serious about what is going on fiction in english should read them all. and i am assuming that many people take this list as a guide for things to read in the

weeks and months ahead. yes, as a must read. do these six books have anything in common? i remember reading about the long list and it was mentioned that many of the work said mac were dystopian novels. these are all that reflect the darkness of the times. they are about... none of them are a laugh riot. all of them do with pain and suffering. and insecurity. the richard powers novel deals with the dangers to the environment and our failure to do anything. it focuses on trees as the victims of the environmental crisis that we face. rachel kushner is about a woman who is serving two life sentences in prison, it is not a very cheerful circumstance. i think they are all novels that despite the fact they deal with various kinds of suffering

and danger and deal with various kinds of suffering and dangerand pain, have deal with various kinds of suffering and danger and pain, have elements of hope in them and i think they show how the novel can both pay attention to the difficult circumstances of people‘s lives and allow us a lift up and respond to them hopefully. tell me a bit about them hopefully. tell me a bit about the judging them hopefully. tell me a bit about thejudging process. at this them hopefully. tell me a bit about the judging process. at this stage, now you have the short list. you reread these novels again. yes. we reread these novels again. yes. we reread these novels again. yes. we reread the 13 of the long list to get to the sex. and we will reread the sex in order to get to one. we‘ll pick it together on the very day it is announced. so there is no way that the winner can leak out because it is not known until the very day. in general terms, because it is not known until the very day. in generalterms, what because it is not known until the very day. in general terms, what do you look for out of the six? it is really ha rd you look for out of the six? it is really hard because... they are very

different from each other. one is a historical novel. there‘s one in verse. a lot happens when you meet a novel. and you feel this is tremendous. it is a very big challenge to be read three times within six months by five people who are serious readers of fiction. any book that gets through that has got powerful things to be said for it. i think that i will be looking to both of reread them and also to listen to my fellow judges as of reread them and also to listen to my fellowjudges as i have done all along. this list was a result of conversation most of —— conversations amongst all of us. it has evolved. my views have evolved. the ones that i have read twice, obviously a second reading changes her mind. also listening to my collea g u es her mind. also listening to my colleagues who are wonderful interesting people. it is like being in the best book club in the world.

that is a fantastic description. i like that. it is interesting the points you make about a novel being able to withstand many readings and able to withstand many readings and a sure. of time. —— and assure period of time. that sort of scrutiny is quite intense. they obviously have to hold your attention and perhaps give you something slightly different each time you read them. i think they have to give you something, and they do give you something, different every time. one thing they have in common even though the language is very different, the language in each of them is very powerful and distinctive. you could not mistake any of these writers for anybody else. read one passage, i could tell you well, that is definitely... where that is definitely.... it is not too hard to recognise robin robinson because it will be inverse. that is one the reasons why is very difficult to pick the best. if we

we re difficult to pick the best. if we were asked to pick which was the best palm on this list, i could tell you immediately because there is only one. remind me when is the winner announced? next month. i think it is the 16th. i will get into terrible trouble if it was wrong. i thought it was the 16th, but i wanted you to say it. i'll get ona but i wanted you to say it. i'll get on a plane on the 15th and arrive early on the 16th, we will meet and decide and then in the evening we wa nt decide and then in the evening we want out, have a dinner and at the same time celebrate the wonderful other books that we had to read through in order to get to our winner this year. it is definitely the 16th, iam being winner this year. it is definitely the 16th, i am being told winner this year. it is definitely the 16th, iam being told in winner this year. it is definitely the 16th, i am being told in my ear just in case anyone is wondering. a pleasure to talk to you. we look forward to finding out who this year‘s winner is. forward to finding out who this year's winner is. me too! thank you very much for coming along. the headlines on bbc news... theresa may meets eu leaders to try to convince them her brexit

plan is the way forward. but there are still fundamental differences over the future of the irish border. the rail regulator says nobody took charge when new timetables were introduced in may, leading to weeks of chaos. council bosses in england warn that libraries, transport and public health will bear the brunt of upcoming local authority cuts. described as "the greatest enemy of all", it is 100 years since the outbreak of the pandemic, spanish flu. ten million people died in world war i, but the virus killed between 50 and 100 million people in every corner of the globe. 0ur correspondent smitha mundasad looks back at what caused the disease and asks if it could happen again. in the final year of world war i, a flu virus like never before swept around the globe. it spread to almost every country. and, injust 18 months,

it had infected a third of the world‘s population. in the uk a claimed more than 220,000 lives. in the uk a claimed more than 220,000 lives. doctors, nurses and hospitals were overwhelmed. this is the diary of basil hood, dr basil hood, who was medical superintendent at the marylebone infirmary. it‘s one of the few written accounts to reveal what it was like to live through the pandemic. "each day, the difficulties became more pronounced as the patients like ninepins themselves." increased and the nurses decreased, going down like ninepins themselves." people were warned to stay away from public gatherings and anyone who was unwell, but many suffered, starving of oxygen and going blue as they tried to take their last breath. you‘ve got this virus that killed somewhere between 50 and 100 million people in a little over a year, but no one really knows that much about it. for me having read the personal accounts it really drives home how traumatic and experience this was for normal people.

the modern world is a very different place. people are no longer weakened by years of world war. now transportation is much better, linking every major city, and while that means people can travel around much faster, the worry is any diseases they carried could spread much faster too. ifa if a new pandemic arrived, it could spread around the world within 60 days of emergence. that does not leave a lot of time. experts also say these global 13 to have more attention. 100 years on, spanish flu is being remembered. this modern dance company is commemorating the virus that even affected political figures like david lloyd george, woodrow wilson and mahatma gandhi. shoba na jeyasingh‘s choreography illustrates warfare taking place inside and outside the body.

while people were fighting each other, once they thought they had won, actually the virus at the same time was actually fighting a much bigger battle where everybody lost. spanish flu was one of the greatest infectious disease disasters in history. the hope is the world is now better prepared to respond if it happens again. the best album of the last 12 months will be named at the 27th mercury prize tonight. whoever wins will receive 25—thousand pounds and almost certainly a boost in sales. previous winners include the likes of arctic monkeys, elbow and pj harvey. but in the age of streaming individual tracks, does the album still matter? 0ur entertainment correspondent, colin paterson has been to find out. # now i‘m stuck in a rut, kicking stones...

lily allen, 12 years and four albums into a career, thrilled to have finally made a mercury prize shortlist with no shame, and she‘s out to win. it would mean everything to me. i mean, i‘d absolutely love for that to happen. it‘s not going to, but...! it‘s a heartfelt record, which... previous albums have been honest, but maybe a bit, like, finger—waggy, telling other people what i think about them, whereas this is me thinking about what i am. # four stars out of five... she‘s up against albums by some very established acts, including previous winners arctic monkeys... # we all have a hunger... florence and the machine, on the list for the first time since 2009... # get out of the doldrums, baby, now... and noel gallagher, last up for a mercury 22 years ago, as part of oasis. but others on the list are far from household names. # how you gonna sleep tonight? nadine shah is 32, from whitburn in south tyneside,

and her third album, holiday destination, only made it to 71 in the charts. she believes a winter night could change her life. i need the 25 grand a lot more than these guys! let's be crude about it, right? noel gallagher'lljust buy a pair of trousers with it! over the years, the mercury has thrown up some huge surprises. blur‘s britpop classic park life beaten by... m people's elegant slumming. cheering and applause what has never won is a jazz act. sons of kemet hope to change that. we‘re not doing the music for us, we‘re in some ways acting as conduits for the vibes and energies that the society around us is giving us. and while the mercury is all about celebrating the album, it‘s been a tough year for the format. year—on—year, artists‘ sales have fallen by 26%, and that includes streaming. richard russell knows

all about selling albums. he runs xl recordings, meaning he‘s adele‘s boss. he‘s up for the mercury for his own everything is recorded project and believes the format will survive. i don't expect there to be, you know, dozens of great albums every year, you just look for there to be a few. and that's obviously what this award is to highlight, which is what makes it important. whoever triumphs tonight, they should learn from the calamity which befell the first winners, primal scream. at the after—show party, they celebrated a little too hard, promptly losing their cheque for £20,000. colin paterson, bbc news. just a reminder that we‘re expecting a news conference from donald tusk, jean—claude juncker, and the austrian prime minister sebastian kurz in salzburg where talks on britain‘s plan for brexit are taking place. that‘s now scheduled for two

o‘clock — not one o‘clock as we‘d been told earlier — and we‘ll bring you that on the bbc news channel. in a moment it‘s time for the one o‘clock news with clive myrie but first it‘s time for a look at the weather. good afternoon. while the destructive winds of storm ali easily, we‘ve got a new storm bringing some rain and squally winds. tonight and into the early hours of tomorrow. you can see the conveyor belt of rain pushing in from the southwest. primarily affecting weld and the midlands, at least a couple of inches. the north and west of that, it is sunny spells and west of that, it is sunny spells and scattered showers, in the selfies, we still have some dry and warm weather. the last of the warmth weather. highest values of 22

degrees. let‘s take a look at where the rain will be in the early evening rush hour. parts of the southwest. but the most heavy through wales, stretching up into the north midlands and up into northern england as well. the bright colours denoting the intensity of the rain. it will be tedious travelling conditions through the early evening. the rain will steadily go towards the east. it will take its time. a blanket of cloud for many will stay relatively mild. but that is when the winds will pick up. we will have some squally gusts which could cause some issues into the early hours tomorrow. at least 40 miles an hour. maybe 50 or 60. that is certainly worth keeping in mind if you are off early on in the morning. the rain will ease away during the early parts of friday morning. things will quiet down. the winds will ease as

well. they will change direction coming in from the northwest. it is going to make it feel noticeably fresher for all. 11 to 18 degrees as a daytime maximum. at the weekend, things look like it will start off quite. as you can see this little ridge of high pressure starts to build. not for long, another area of low pressure is likely to come in and bring a level of uncertainty to the second part of the weekend. saturday will start off quite, eventually we will have some cloud and rain pushing into the southwest. you will need to keep watching the forecast for developments later on in the weekend. take care. the irish prime minister warns that time is running out for a deal on the future of the border with northern ireland, after brexit. theresa may has been meeting other eu leaders at a summit in austria, but her talks with the irish taoiseach reached no agreement. ireland is a country that obviously wants to avoid a no deal scenario. we want to avoid a no—deal brexit and we are preparing for that.

we‘ll have the latest from those brexit talks in austria, and we‘ll be speaking to british expats in spain about their thoughts on the uk‘s departure from the eu. also on the programme... a damning verdict on a summer of rail chaos. a report finds "nobody took charge" as new timetables disrupted hundreds of services. there are calls for a total ban on gambling ads during live sporting events. labour says gambling addiction is "a public health emergency". # now i‘m stuck in a rut, kicking stones...#