them three course dinner. amongst them the six writers shortlisted for the price this year. and for one of them it will be a career defining moment. let's remind ourselves who is on the shortlist this year. this year the six nominees are... everything under by daisyjohnson. it's her first novel. set on the waterways of oxford, it tells the story of a mother and daughter haunted by memories of the past. the judges have described milkman by anna burns as an experimental book. it explores the troubles in northern ireland through the eyes of 18—year—old girl. richard powers‘ ecological epic the over story is a love letter to trees. and follows nine strangers trying to save american forests from destruction. the mars room by rachel kushner takes place in a prison in california. and focuses on a woman serving two consecutive life sentences for killing her stalker. esi edugyan‘s washington black is based on a true story. set in the 19th century, it's about a young slave who escapes from a caribbean sugar temptation and travels the world.

—— plantation. robin robertson's book the long take is a novel told in verse and photographs. it follows a d—day veteran in america during the golden age of hollywood. a little bit earlier i spoke to two of those authors, both americans. roger roger kushnerfor of those authors, both americans. roger roger kushner for her third novel mars room. i asked her why she wa nted novel mars room. i asked her why she wanted to write a story set in a women's prison. i wanted to write a book about contemporary times and in california in particular but all across the united states the story of the people who entered the criminal justice system of the people who entered the criminaljustice system is the

story, essential story about the contemporary in america. richard powers, your book is an ecological epic about trees. you have written about environmental issues before but why is the focus on trees this time? the focus impact is on the relationship between trees and people and it tells the story of people and it tells the story of people whose lives are turned inside out by a rediscovery of trees. we had this feeling that we are the only game in town and really the only game in town and really the only interesting species on the planet and we have come to live almost entirely inside a human dimensions. that has proved to be unstable. this is about coming home and learning how deeply we are tied to everything nonhuman. rachel, you spent time in prison and indeed you still visit women's prisons. not some work most of us normally go, can you give us a some work most of us normally go, can you give us a sense some work most of us normally go, can you give us a sense of what it

is like? i guess i go to women's prisons as a volunteer with a human rights organisation and the people that i visit i now have been talking to for the past six years. so it is seeing friends, sometimes it is jovial and casual and bright and sometimes it is quite heavy because of what they go through. i think it is day by day how people process and deal with the reality of something like a life sentence. it is always a learning experience and it is one for me to go there. richard, what kind of impact has writing this novel had on you because it made me wa nt to novel had on you because it made me want to go out and hug a tree if nothing else! lovely to hear that. it's impact on me, it is life changing. i'm living in another place now because of this book, the book brought me by way of research to the smoky mountains, some of the la st to the smoky mountains, some of the

last remaining prime growth in the east and i ended up living there. the course of my day is different, what i see and what i think and do has been profoundly changed by the six years i put into writing this book. a quick thought from you both, what has it been like to be sure listed? it has been exciting and cool listed? it has been exciting and cool. i have not seen the guildhall yet so i'm looking forward to that. a combination of great stress and great excitement. it will be good to get back to work. that was richard powers and rachel kushner talking to me earlier. two of the six authors shortlisted for the man booker prize and we will bring you the announcement of the winner live here on the bbc news channel in a special programme at 9:30pm this evening. so do not go away. prince harry and meghan have

received their first baby gift — after announcing that they are expecting their first baby next spring. the royal couple arrived in sydney on the first leg of their tour. australia's governor—general sir peter cosgrove and his wife lynne presented them with a toy kangaroo, complete with joey, as well as a little pair of ugg boots. the sister of the duchess of cambridge, pippa middleton has given birth to a baby boyjust a few days after attending princess eugenie's wedding. the child — with her husband james matthews was born yesterday — weighing 8—pounds 9—ounces. a spokesperson for the couple, said the family is delighted and both mother and baby are doing well. now it's time for a look at the weather with darren bett. good evening. a lovely day today in

the south—east of the uk when the sun was shining with temperatures of around 2! celsius. a very different sure here in argyll and bute where it is much cooler as a result of that crowd. —— cloud. that is now beginning to break up a little bit. we will continue to see this light rain and drizzle moving down into england and wales. some showers following to the north west, maybe some fog around tonight. maybe not so some fog around tonight. maybe not so extensive as last night. this band of cloud is moving very slowly towards the wash, east anglia and the south—east of england, lingering towards the west country. sunnier skies following to the north.

temperatures again around 11! degrees. 17 or so around the london area. cooler air is coming down from the north west. temperatures dropping away and colder across the northern part of the uk. in some rural parts temperatures could be close to freezing the milder across southern counties of england and into east anglia with a bit more cloud overnight. eventually we see more cloud coming into the north west of scotland but in between a lovely day. plenty of sunshine and light wind. temperature is a little bit lower. but that is near normal for the time of year. in high pressure building in as we head into thursday, toppling into that on friday to end the week another week weather front which brings friday to end the week another week weatherfront which brings most friday to end the week another week weather front which brings most of the rain into north—west of scotland

and northern isles. that weather front just weakening as and northern isles. that weather frontjust weakening as it moves south. ahead of that a few early morning fog patches and some good spells of sunshine once again. temperatures up to 17 and maybe even 18 celsius. you're watching beyond one hundred days. the saudis agree the investigation into the disappearace ofjamal khashoggi must be "thorough, transparent and timely." but so far it isn't any of those things. there is still pressure on the kingdom to explain what really happened to the missing journalist. mike pompeo meets the saudi leadership — amid speculation the royal family may now say jamal khashoggi was killed in an interrogation that went wrong. and watergate journalist bob woodward joins us to talk about that and his new book fear — trump in the white house. also on the programme... the news on brexit is there is no news.

at least no progress. the cabinet met today and offered full support