this is bbc news. the headlines at 11am: the foreign secretary, jeremy hunt, urges european leaders to "step back from the abyss," after theresa may demanded more respect from brussels in the brexit talks. on the eve of his party conference — the shadow chancellor says labour would completely renationalise the railways. supermarket chain co—op is to scrap plastic carrier bags — replacing them with an environmentally—friendly version. the battle for sky. rupert murdoch's 21st century fox and rival media giant comcast‘s bidding war for the broadcaster draws to a close tonight. also coming up this hour: a shake—up for army training. press ups and eight mile marches are out — and exercises replicating the battlefield are in — new physical tests for the british army. she's entered this exam and she's done well and she claims her rightful prize. she single—handedly has sent the rhs

into a bit of a tailspin. the search for miss harrison — the royal horticultral society appeals for help in solving the one—hundred—and— twenty—year old mystery of a woman refused a scholarship because of her gender. and coming up at 11.30 it‘s dateline london— where we'll get reaction to the fallout from the eu meeting in salzburg this week and discuss what theresa may does next. the president of the european council, donald tusk, has defended the eu's approach to the salzburg summit, insisting britain had known for many weeks about the eu's objections to the chequers proposals. mr tusk said the prime minister's plan had been treated with "all seriousness," and that it was theresa may who had appeared

surprisingly uncompromising. however, he added that he believed a deal was still within reach. this morning the foreign secretary, jeremy hunt has urged european leaders to "step back from the abyss." our political correspondent leila nathoo reports. eu leaders had turned on theresa may at a summit this week, giving her brexit proposals the cold shoulder, bluntly saying they wouldn't work. and so, on her return to london, the prime minister sought to get back on the front foot, striking a defiant tone in a televised statement, saying talks were now at an impasse. at this late stage in the negotiations, it is not acceptable to simply reject the other side's proposals without a detailed explanation and counterproposals. so we now need to hear from the eu what the real issues are, and what their alternative is, so that we can discuss them. until we do, we cannot make progress. it's the plans agreed by the cabinet

at the prime minister's country residence of chequers injuly that theresa may is determined to stick with, but she's yet to convince her own party of their merits, let alone brussels. chequers is neither acceptable to the european union, nor actually to parliament, therefore we need to get on as fast as possible with negotiating a full free trade agreement with the closest possible relationship, because time to achieve a deal is running out. the president of the eu council, donald tusk, responded to theresa may, saying her stance this week had been surprisingly tough and in fact uncompromising, but he remained convinced a compromise was still possible. the prime minister is under pressure from all sides. it's just weeks before the next summit when a deal is supposed to be reached, and she has what is sure to be a tense gathering of her party to get through too. leila nathoo, bbc news, westminster. our political correspondent matt cole gave us more on the pm's downing street speech after the summit in salzburg.

donald tusk, the president of the eu council, after that salzburg summit where theresa may was pretty much told, no thanks, we don't want your proposals, come up with something else, he tweeted a picture of some cakes with no cherries on, a picture of theresa may looking at some cake, no cherries here, the idea being they are accusing the british plan of cherry picking the best bits of the single market and trying to junk the rest, something they said from the start is not acceptable. that tweet has gone down very badly, and i think that is fed into this idea that the eu is being perceived as being discourteous. some in europe might perhaps think that wheat was ill think that tweet was ill judged and miss timed, but the problem remains that we have two sides, theresa may, who doesn't want to see any deal done that could affect in her words the integrity of the united kingdom,

that carves northern ireland off. on the other side, the european union don't want a deal that sees their single market unravel, and at the moment they would say theresa may's plan will do that and say, "we will say no." where the compromise can come, donald tusk says one can still happen, but where and how, that's not very clear. there is a sort of inevitability about this, one might suggest, because of domestic politics, theresa may has her party conference coming up, and this will play well among pro leave conservatives. she's entered this exam and she's done her rightful prize. the one thing you learn when you are negotiating with the eu, it goes down to seconds before midnight, and then something gets done. that said, no one has ever left the eu before,

and we are breaking so much new ground here that perhaps the old rules that we just look to and think, "it will be fine," will be broken finally, and that will be the exception that proves the rule. i think at the moment theresa may has a difficult few days coming up, because she has been welcomed by pro leave mps in her own party, but many of those are saying well done for standing up to the eu, now drop your chequers plan because we don't like it either. and she has said there is no other alternative. there is no other credible deal on the table, so she says now it is for the eu to explain why come up with something else. from the start, the eu have so, we are not the ones leaving, why should we come up with the plan? so, there could be tension. but remember we have a number of different bits of agreement to be done. the divorce deal needs to be done, then a future trading relationship. if you could get a deal done on how northern ireland will work or at least a backstop as to what we would fall back on if it can't be done,

you could get through the divorce, then the future trading relationship, which is still difficult, could be dealt with later in a transition period. earlier we spoke to mrs may's former speech writer, chris wilkins, about yesterday's speech and its implications. it was a statement that she had to make, she had to say something after thursday, and she achieved what she wanted to. firstly she clearly had a message for the party, for the conservative party, and particularly for those who are concerned about the future of brexit and whether it will happen. she was very uncompromising, it was a strong message for them, and they responded well. but more than that, i think it was also talking to the country at large, and really reflected what a lot of people now think, because i think however people voted two years ago in the referendum, a lot of people are nowjust thinking, let's get a deal done and get it over the line, because we want to move on and we are a bit bored,

she was talking to them and i think probably reflecting a lot of what they think, and it will have gone down very well with a lot of people across the country as a result. the shadow chancellor, john mcdonnell, has said a future labour government would be ready to start nationalising key industries from the day it takes office. speaking on the eve of the party's annual conference in liverpool, mr mcdonnell said a new unit would be established in the treasury to oversee the process, and in some cases investors might not be compensated. he predicted that nationalisation of rail services could be completed within five years. meanwhile the shadow equalities minister, dawn butler, will use labour's national women's conference this lunchtime to outline plans for supporting victims of domestic abuse. she will say the government is not taking equality seriously — and labour would create a stand—alone department for women and equalities. the supermarket chain co—op is scrapping plastic carrier bags from 1,400 of its uk shops today,

and replacing them with a compostable version. it's the latest retailer to cut down after the government laid out plans to eradicate all avoidable plastic waste in britain within 25 years, as emma simpson reports. plastic waste — we're drowning in it. around a million tonnes of plastic is generated by uk supermarkets every year, and they've been coming up with a host of measures to try to stem the tide. take iceland, where plastic packaging is on the way out. from fruit and veg to plastic dishes for ready meals. all its own branded products will have paper or biodegradable packaging within five years. at morrisons, you can take your own container when you buy meat and fish, and there are now paper bags, not plastic, for loose fruit and veg. black plastic is difficult to recycle, but asda has replaced it for all its fruit and veg. now the co—op has an environmentally friendly alternative

for carrying shopping home. these bags will be rolled out in 1,400 stores. all of the major retailers have signed up to a really ambitious commitment under the uk plastics pact, and that's to make 100% of plastics packaging recyclable, reusable or compostable by 2025. and so, all of them are working incredibly hard and fast to meet those objectives. it's notjust retailers — all businesses are now under pressure to act since the world has woken up to the scourge of plastic pollution. emma simpson, bbc news. the british broadcaster sky will be auctioned off today — in a dramatic end to a two—year £26 billion takeover battle. the broadcaster has been subject to rival bids from rupert muroch‘s fox and the us company comcast. the auction begun on friday at 5pm and the takeover panel said all parties had agreed to the process, which will have a maximum of three rounds.

welljoining us now is the independent media analyst alex degroote. he joins us now from manchester. thanks for being with us. this sounds an unusual process, how unusual is it? extremely unusual. they have only been four or five occasions in the past when we've had a similar procedure, very unusual for business to be conducted on saturday. i think it's a suitably dramatic end to what's been a fascinating and dramatic saga all along. why are these two bid is different and what are the invitations for sky? as it stands, the sky share cast is voting 75 on the sky share cast is voting 75 on the fox bid is the lowest on the table. the significance for the ownership of sky is that these guy be as we know it, sky plc, will going forward be in the hands of a us domiciled media giant. we will

lose one of our iconic uk media names. it's a name most associated with rupert murdoch. fox is the lowest bid but what sort of different experience if comcast one would it bring to sky, do you think? comcast is not very well known outside of the us, it's a very good player in the us. i think they would wa nt to player in the us. i think they would want to own sky in europe because it would give them access to homes in the uk, in italy and germany. importantly, the uk, in italy and germany. importa ntly, to stress the uk, in italy and germany. importantly, to stress for the viewers, this guy is a big player in broadband and mobile telephone as well as tv. for comcast, that's really important. it gives them a foothold for fox, a continuation of the relationship with rupert murdoch 01’ the relationship with rupert murdoch or not, but i would rank comcast is the slight favourite. notjust because it is slightly more? not just that but i think they have slightly more headroom, possibly the

asset purchasing needs more to them. —— notjust asset purchasing needs more to them. —— not just because asset purchasing needs more to them. —— notjust because they have offered slightly more? the bigger picture standing back from the specifics from this auction and this company is the challenge that new ways of providing content to viewers, and listeners and people going online, is challenging traditional models are broadcast. bskyb is only 30 plus years, the bbc is nearly 100 years old, itv has been around for 60, 70 years. the way they do their stuff is really on challenge. it really is. more consumers expect different things from broadcast in the mobile age. ten yea rs from broadcast in the mobile age. ten years ago, who had heard of netflix? it would have considered amazon to be leading the way with amazon to be leading the way with amazon prime? who would have thought we would have other platforms acquiring sports rights? globalisation is of course a factor.

incumbents like sky and itv and even the bbc must adjust to this new environment, a streaming environment, a streaming environment, let's remember sky really got off the ground to a satellite. that was their core platform. going forward, subscribers will be consuming their media more and satellite. fascinating stuff for, thank you. -- more through streaming than satellite. for the first time in 20 years the british army is introducing new physical tests for soldiers. press ups, sit ups and eight mile marches are out, and exercises replicating the battlefield are in. the changes also coincide with a lifting of the ban on women serving in close combat roles. so are the new tests any easier? 0ur defence correspondent jonathan beale went to find out. the old test was carrying a big weight like this, 25kg over eight miles in under two hours. the new test, we are told, to simulate conditions in battle, and they are meant to be harder, not easier. so, i'm about to have a go. 0h! the telegraph's beating me! the idea of this is to simulate extracting a casualty after a firefight.

piece of cake. what i've got here is a repeated lift—and—carry. it's similar to a replenish task, moving a 20kg obstacle from one site to another site over a distance of 30 metres. to another site over a distance of 30 metres. what you're going to do, pick the 20 kilos up, run round the cone and back, placing it onto the platform safely. from there, all you're going to do is place it on the floor, turn round and run back, simulating running back to the start position grab another obstacle. combat is gritty, it's dirty, it's hard work, and running one and a half miles in trainersjust doesn't represent what i do on the battlefield. whereas lifting, carrying ammunition, sandbags, dragging casualties, moving underfire, that's all things we expect our ground close—combat troops to deal with. i do think it's probably difficult for a lot of females. those choosing to go that route, then i am sure they would be fit enough to pass the tests. this is not a test, you don't think, that's designed to make it easier for women to join the infantry?

definitely not, no. these new army tests make no allowance for gender or age, which is a shame for me. i managed to complete just a quarter of the test. yes! jonathan beale, bbc news. a new career beckons! the headlines on bbc news... foreign secretary, jeremy hunt, urges european leaders to "step back from the abyss" of a no—deal brexit. a future labour government could renationalise the rail industry within five years according to the shadow chancellor. and supermarket chain co—op vows to scrap plastic carrier bags and replace them with an environmentally friendly version. the president of tanzania has ordered the arrest of managers of a ferry which capsized on lake victoria, killing over 130 people. it is thought the overloaded vessel tipped over when crowds on board moved to one side as it docked. lebo diseko reports.

it is the worst kind of wait. hundreds of families desperate for news of their loved ones who'd been on board the mv nyerere. and as much as they hope for the best, some are already preparing for the worst. a community watches as the rescue effort continues, but hope is fading fast. translation: we can't reach my brother. yesterday morning, he spoke to our mum. we've not heard from him since. translation: i was told that i lost my aunt, my father and my younger sibling. it's a huge loss to us. this is what is left of the mv nyerere, its overturned hull floating on the water. lake victoria is africa's largest, and the ferry was travelling between the islands of ukerewe and ukara, capsizing around 50 metres from ukara's shore. it operated a busy schedule, taking people to and from the market. and while it's not clear exactly how many people were on board,

witnesses say it could have been up to 400 — that's four times its capacity. it's thought many of the passengers couldn't swim. the president has declared four days of national mourning, and a number of arrests have been made, including the captain, who apparently wasn't on board at the time. lebo diseko, bbc news. a lot of companies and organisations have had to take a long, hard look in recent years at the way they recruit and treat female employees. but the royal horticultural society is looking into an incident of sexual discrimination with a difference. it took place 120 years ago. helen briggs has more. the turn—of—the—century — queen victoria's on the throne, but women still can't vote, serve on a jury, or, as it turns out, win a prize to train as a gardener. this box revealed the prize that had been won but never given for one simple reason —

the winner was a woman. clearly a very determined young woman. she's entered this exam, she's done well and she claims her rightful prize. she single—handedly has sent the rhs into a bit of a tailspin. her name was miss harrison, and after getting top marks, she should have been given the equivalent of £5,000 and a training scholarship, but that never happened. scrawled over a document, the words of reverend william wilkes, then—leader of the rhs, "it was never contemplated that a female might claim the scholarship." although she may not personally have succeeded, she's chip—chip—chipping away at that sense that women can't do these things. if she'd been awarded that prize today, she would have trained here at rhs wisley, and who knows where her career might have taken her. a picture's starting to emerge of the mysterious miss harrison. we know from the syllabus

of the exam she took, that she was well versed in all the main principles of gardening, from the names and orders of plants to growing fruit. and student gardeners say it's hard to imagine women being excluded. it makes me feel very frustrated and angry. i would hate to have been restricted in that way, and i'm grateful to the people who've gone before that made it possible. but we still need to go further to make sure everyone's included. miss harrison paved the way for a new generation of gardeners. the rhs wants to make sure her name's not forgotten. they think her family may have letters that can tell them more about her. i'd really love to know what happened next. did she carry on fighting, did you carry on into a career in horticulture and make a living that way? i'm really curious to know what happened to miss harrison, because she's clearly a character and did she prevail? and with your help, maybe they'll finally solve the mystery.

helen briggs, bbc news. sport and for a full round up from the bbc sport centre, here's katherine downes. good morning. they could be getting wet but the fans are expected to fill up wembley stadium for anthonyjoshua's latest world title defence. he looks in pretty decent shape too ahead of his fight with russian alexander povetkin. joshua weighed in more than a stone heavy their his opponent. but will that give him the edge tonight. we have a growing problem here. guys that are failing tests for good old—fashioned steroids, that are failing tests for good old —fashioned steroids, not that are failing tests for good old—fashioned steroids, not fancy steroids orfancied old—fashioned steroids, not fancy steroids or fancied ped old—fashioned steroids, not fancy steroids orfancied ped is, we are talking about steroids straight out of the east german laboratories in the 60s and 70s and these guys are

failing tests, serving six or 12 month band and then coming back. it's something we have to look out. right now, that kim is clean, he's been tested seven or eight times in town 12 days since he arrived in this country and that is the moment is the best we can do. there has been a lot of focus on what might be next forjoshua. tyson fury and wbc world heavyweight champion deontay wilder will be on a list of possible opponents. they have confimed their fight will take place on the 1st december in the united states. contracts have been signed with the venue for the bout expected to be announced next week. only two premier league sides still have a 100 per—cent record for the season — chelsea, who play west ham tomorrow — and liverpool, who take on southampton at anfield this afternoon. managerjurgen klopp says the club don't expect mo salah to replicate his form of last season, when he scored 44 times. he only has two to his name in six matches so far — klopp isn't worried... it's really no problem. we constantly have to deal with the new situations. people are very positive about this

player, about this player, about this player, and i have to decide, "do i talk to him about that or not?" "do i leave him alone in that situation. do i talk to him?" all that stuff, it's always like this. but with mo, everything is fine. so liverpool—southampton kicks off at 3pm. both manchester clubs are also in action at 3. champions city travel to cardiff. united host wovles. fulham and watford is the lunch time game, while brighton and tottenham kick—off at tea time. as we head towards the ryder cup, we already have a europe versus usa contest on our hands, at the tour championship in atlanta. justin rose and tiger woods are tied for the lead on 7—under—par — woods is looking for his first victory since 2013. rose is playing in his first tournament as world number one and will take the fedex cup title with a win in atlanta this week. woods and rose will be paired with each other to play today.... people are excited about watching

tiger play again. he's right on form, feeling comfortable, driving it well, i ends great all year and looks comfortable with the blade. it's exciting for people to see him back at his best, and it's fun to play with him. i played with him and bay hill and enjoyed that. there is more on my mind thanjust bay hill and enjoyed that. there is more on my mind than just playing with tiger tomorrow sure. sam simmonds scored two tries for exeter to help them maintain their perfect start to the premiership rugby season the england forward is the league's joint top—scorer, as exeter remain top of the table after they beat newcastle 24—17. willis hala—holo was man of the match for cardiff, creating two tries and scoring one of his own as they beat munster 37—13 in the pro14. ulster are still unbeaten — but only just. a very late henry speight try earned them a point away to cheetahs in bloemfontein. it was a 10—try thriller, ending 39—all. that's all the sport for now.

now for the weather. the best of any sunshine this weekend will be for northern and eastern parts of the uk. further south and west we have rain, today and tomorrow. today's rain comes courtesy of this swathe of cloud pushing in from the south—west. outbreaks of rain across south—west england, wales, central and southern parts which will continue to work eastwards through the afternoon. the northern extent of this rain, north wales and east anglia. ahead of the cloud, showers. the most frequent across northern parts of scotland, still quite blustery for a time here and later the winds will start to strengthen across south—west england. a cool across the uk, germany 12 or 16 degrees, perhaps 18 01’ germany 12 or 16 degrees, perhaps 18 or19 germany 12 or 16 degrees, perhaps 18 or 19 for channel islands. more rain

to come, eventually it starts to ease away but more rain returning in the west. keeping shoppers going across northern and western parts of scotland, elsewhere clear skies and a chilly night that it clearly for rural parts of northern ireland, scotla nd rural parts of northern ireland, scotland and northern england with temperatures getting close to freezing, somewhat milder further south. into sunday, a frontal system works east, bringing more rain through the morning, pressure building to the west as things turned right through the afternoon. further heavy rain for a time tomorrow morning in a similar area tomorrow morning in a similar area to where we will see today, southern and central parts of england and wales. it will clear eastwards, showers coming across that brisk north—westerly wind particularly for northern and western scotland, some further north and temperatures not much higher than 11 or 16. a cold feeling they and again quite windy. particularly for east anglia and south—east england as the rain sta rts south—east england as the rain starts to clear away, gusty winds for a time through the afternoon but slowly the wind starts to lose its strength through tomorrow evening.

the rain clears away and aside from a few showers overnight, things look dry as we go into the new working week. this area of high pressure sta rts week. this area of high pressure starts to build, settling things down. that moist feed coming in from the north—westerly wind. further showers on monday for northern and western scotland but elsewhere it should be in mainly dry day, lighter winds and some spells of sunshine after a chilly start, temperatures getting up to between 12 and 16. still holding onto that kornfeil. —— that cool feel. hello and welcome to dateline, the programme that pitches some of the uk's most prominent journalists against international writers who file their stories with the dateline london. this week, how domestic politics is dictating foreign policy for both the united kindom and the united states. theresa may's fellow eu leaders rebuff the brexit compromise she hoped would hold together her party. donald trump ratchets up his trade war with china that could strengthen his hand in november's mid—term elections.

to discuss that, with me are — isabel hilton, from chinadialogue, which fosters debate about china's environment. isabel is a former newspaper columnist and broadcaster in the uk. agnes poirier, writes for the french magazine marianne. janet daley‘s column appears every week in the sunday telegraph here in the uk. michael goldfarb, the us—born journalist, hosts the podcast called frdh — the first rough draft of history. in salzburg on wednesday night, theresa may was expecting — if not the sound of music — at least that her european partners would take her in their arms and try the new brexit steps she was suggesting. instead, eu president donald tusk, who had previously praised the "positive evolution" of the uk prime minister's fancy footwork — known as the chequers proposal — now labelled it "unworkable". she would have to dance to the eu tune. mrs may left salzburg and on friday made clear that, if this was the only option, she would prefer not

to dance at all. this war is intended to a challenging week, to say the least, for the prime minister. this was an challenging week. why did they allow this to happen? allow what's to happen? i will try to be respectful. nothing new happened in salzburg.