this is bbc news, i'm julian worricker. the headlines at eight. theresa may addresses european union leaders in brussels, insisting that a brexit deal is "achievable". but intensive work is needed. i believe we can achieve a deal. as i say, a deal is in the interests notjust of the uk but also of the european union. and the first reaction from the president of the european council, saying the prime minister presented nothing new in her presentation to be 27 metres. —— the 27 leaders. in other news — tens of thousands of people on sickness benefits are to receive backdated payments of thousands of pounds, after a government error. severe disruption to railjourneys to and from paddington today and warnings there will be more in the morning, after damage to overhead power lines. turkish investigators enter the residence of the saudi consul in istanbul to gather more evidence about the suspected killing of saudi journalist jamal khashoggi. and the owner of

fulham football club withdraws his £600 million bid to buy wembley stadium. if you were the optimist, you would say that we are quite a long way down the home straight in this negotiation. 90% of the withdrawal agreement has already been signed off, and put in green. today on before, we're hearing a lot of detail about the conversations that surround the future customs relationships. there was a positive tone today from the 27 leaders

coming into the building. but on the flip side, we are no further forward on the one thorny issue then we were in december last year, and that of course is the intractable issue of the irish border. today, leaders arrived here hoping for some compromise, hoping to hear something created from the british prime minister, but the first hint we've got from the dinner tonight from the president of the european council is that there was nothing new in the presentation and that'll frustrate many of the leaders gathered here. our political editor has been watching. she alone can't set the pace. the prime minister has to get brexit moving again, but does she have anything tucked away that can take the talks off pause? not that she is ready to tell us. there is still the question of the northern irish backstop. but i believe everybody wants a deal and by working intensively and closely we can achieve that deal. i believe it is achievable and now is the time to make it happen. the eu leaders are happy to press the flesh. what more can the prime

minister tell you? but what they really want are new answers from theresa may. another way round brexit‘s biggest obstacle, how to manage the irish border after departure. brussels is far from convinced the uk's way of avoiding going back to the borders of the past can work. with ireland out front, it is unresolved. could a way around the problem be more time? a longer transition period after brexit? we are willing to hear any proposals that might help to bring about a solution and i think a lot of us feel that negotiating a new economic and security relationship between the eu and uk within two years would be a real challenge. the urgent task for the prime minister is to persuade them to start talking again. there was a hint from a powerful voice that the conversation is not over. angela merkel said

there is no breakthrough but we have to keep talking. the chance of a deal is still there. order. questions to the prime minister. at home there were plenty of helpful suggestions of what the prime minister could say. 18 tricky brexit questions from all sides. prime minister, go to brussels and act in the interests of all citizens across the uk. could i ask my right honourable friend to impress upon our european friends first that the eu may not break apart the union of the united kingdom and second that after we have left the eu, they may not direct how we regulate our economy and govern ourselves. next time shroud waving eu negotiators claim a hard border is necessary on the island of ireland, will she kindly ask them who would actually construct it? she can continue to put the tory party's interests first

or she can listen to unions, businesses, and put the interests of the people of britain first. which is it to be? labour can play politics, the conservatives delivered the conservatives deliver for the people of this country. it is in this slightly psychedelic room that theresa may has the chance to get this vital process back on track. tonight she can look her fellow leaders in the eye and appeal to them not to crash this crucial process before it has had a chance to come to an end. and with the talks stalled, getting the negotiations back up and running is the goal, but if the prime minister cannot get get this room onside, what chance of a final deal? her counterparts are not quite with her, not quite against her, but theresa may might well wonder if, right now, anybody is truly on her side. as is the norm, theresa may has now

left that dinner and left the other 27th to their food and to discussions, no doubt, and brexit and a good deal of other issues that concern the european union. but we have had a press conference of the president of the parliament, who told us he had heard nothing new from the prime minister in the last hour. translation: it was mentioned, both sides mentioned the idea of an extension of the transition period as one possibility which is on the table, and would have to be looked into. we assert that there is nothing substantially new in the content. however, icertainly perceived political will to make headway. i didn't get the impression that mrs may was suggesting that there was any rupture in our

discussions, i think content is important but tone is important as well. as far as we are concerned, the content is not yet acceptable but the tone is somebody who wishes to continue negotiations and not let them break down. you might remember some months ago, we were saying how important it was to get a deal here in october because of course it has to be ratified. because things take time through the european process. but one of the interesting things for brussels watchers is just how closely they are kept the european parliament through the whole process and that might mean they have sometime in the new year. you saw there, the president, very much involved in what is going on to light, and it is the intention i think from michel barnier and the european council. let's talk about the irish issue. rtve, the irish broadcaster, is with me. that's pick—up that point, the idea that you could extend the transition

period by another year. what sort of cover does that give to theresa may? at the moment, she is saying we think we can solve the irish border problem through a future trade agreement. at the end of march next year, there will be a two year transition, so the trade agreement has to be negotiated during that transition. she is saying, look, if the transition and then we still do not have a future trade agreement negotiated and concluded them there isa cap, negotiated and concluded them there is a cap, so one way to fill that gap would be to have what she calls a temporary customs arrangements. a buffer. all the time, she is trying to reassure her own party and the unionist population and party in northern ireland that the backstop would not be needed and this temporary customs agreement which ta ke temporary customs agreement which take care of that. the trouble is, if you run out of transition, that is only for two years, if you run out of time then the backstop would have to kick in. the virtue of this

idea of extending the transition by aus idea of extending the transition by a us that it would give all sides a bit of leg room to get this temporary thing agreed. —— extended bya temporary thing agreed. —— extended by a year. i see how it would work, but putting myself in issues of the brexiteers for a second, they would say, hang on, you would give the european union more time and they ta ke european union more time and they take it, nothing will change for a three—year is instead of two. temm thatis three—year is instead of two. temm that is the problem. the other problem is that if you extend the transition canna by a year, that is three years whereby britain will have to obey the rules of the eu, have to obey the rules of the eu, have to obey the rules of the eu, have to pay their budgetary... money to the eu, and they will not be at the table and will have to accept free movement of people. so that is politically treacherous for theresa may to have to deliver. but she's desperate to try and have some kind of armour plating around this idea that the backstop will not be needed because that is her weak point when it comes to the dup, who are

supporting her government, and her own backbenchers. interesting to note on her way in to the summit, she was asked a question about this, whether it is something she would be prepared to adopt, and she ducked it. yes, and that is characteristic of this whole process. so much of what is going on is subterranean. we talk about the two teams being in a tunnel for ten days. from what i understand, a lot of good work was done. they were able to understand the parameters of each of the's mandates and did seem to get some traction on this issue. quickly, to finish. does she think that the meat and potatoes of the deal is there and potatoes of the deal is there and she can get it through the uk parliament so long as she can get past this thorny issue of the backstop? in other words, she's got everything there to get the deal across, its just that one thing that's holding everything up? yes, the one thing, and this huge thing as well. it deals are very sensitive issues such as british sovereignty, the constitutional order and also makes into this whole issue of

britain's future trade relationship, so all these things are connected, so all these things are connected, so it is a hard sell for her indeed. thank you very much indeed. no word yet on whether she will be here, the prime minister, tomorrow. we are told that of course the other leaders will be here because there isa leaders will be here because there is a film eu programme tomorrow and then in the afternoon we will get then in the afternoon we will get the thought of everyone, but it will be interesting to see if there are any negotiations and discussions tomorrow between theresa may and the big powers, angler markle and emmanuel macron, particularly mr macron who has been forceful in the eu and talking but the need for concrete measures. use the one who said that unless there is an advance in the negotiation by october then there is no point in november summit. ithink there is no point in november summit. i think we have moved past that a bit, i think there is an appetite to keep talking and keep that november summit on the diary. but it will be interesting to hear what those other leaders have to say. thank you very much, christian. plenty more brexit talk later this

evening and we will find out how the story and many others are covered and moral‘s front pages at 1040 pm and moral‘s front pages at 1040 pm and 11 30 pm this evening. our guests joining me tonight are kate andrews, news editor at the institute of economic affairs and the political editor of the new statesman, george eaton. tens of thousands of rail passengers across large parts of england and wales have had their journies cancelled or severely delayed today after a section of power cables was badly damaged last night as tests were carried out on a new type of train. services into and out of london paddington, one of the country's busiest stations, were brought to a complete halt causing chaos and major disruption. 0ur correspondent ben ando is at paddington station. imean, i mean, it's hardly been the finest day in the long history of eisenberg

kingdom brunel‘s celebrated railway station here in paddington. it's just over 24 hours since that train brought the cables down in west london, causing chaos and destruction. this evening, here, people symptomatic. passengers are arriving. some trains are running. there is an air of calm. —— people seem pragmatic. but that was not the case earlier in the day when there was anger and frustration, as our transport correspondent reports. a wall of passengers inching towards the few trains that ran. then an early—morning squeeze from reading into london. it still felt like a rush—hour here mid—morning. a bit of a nightmare. i think i started at half seven this morning from molesey. got to london, then found out they were cancelled. had to change at waterloo and now i've come on but the train i came in on was delayed a lot as well, i think because of the lines. it'sjust been hell and i'm just thinking, why on earth don't we renationalise the trains? that's what i'm thinking.

passengers perplexed... frustrated... seeking answers. rejigging journeys took time. this man is currently five minutes late for a job interview in cardiff. i've been standing here for just under an hour, with three different times and then... oh, it's now come up as cancelled, after being delayed for the last half an hour. would it make you think about getting the train again? it will, yes. this is why i often don't travel by train and drive. when a section of the line goes down, there's obviously major disruption between two cities like bristol and london, but the knock—on effect on the rest of the network is vast. 0ther trains have to be rescheduled, cancelled and, of course, delayed. disruption began last night. getting home to cardiff became an ordeal. i tried to get out of reading last

night at half past eight. ended up having to stay in reading in a hotel, four miles outside. 134 quid later... so yeah... i'm going home! the problem started when a train similar to these hitachi models was being tested. an investigation must now work out how the high—speed train collided with and wrecked half a kilometre of overhead electric cabling. that line is a massively important piece of railway for everybody on great western but also heathrow express and tfl as well as freight trains so a huge operation to get it resolved. paddington at times almost a ghost station today. where are you heading to? bristol, i'm a bit late. back in reading, more services moving as the day went on. but the rail network across west england and south wales is by no means back on track. so where are we now? normally, there

are four lines from paddington to west london out to wales and the west country. at the moment, since those lines were pulled down overnight, there are only two in operation. engineers are working ha rd operation. engineers are working hard through the night to clear the debris and make repairs needed to get all four reopened. network rail has said it doesn't think there will be time during the night, to get all the work finished, there is likely to be more disruption tomorrow. thank you, then. the headlines on bbc news. theresa may has appealed to eu leaders to give her more flexibility over a brexit deal but the european parliament president said he'd heard nothing new. tens of thousands of people on sickness benefits are to receive backdated payments of thousands of pounds, after a government error. network rail says disruption

to trains running in and out of paddington station in west london could continue until tomorrow morning. sport now, and time for a full round up, from the bbc sport centre. the fulham owner shahid khan has withdrawn his offer to buy wembley. the plan to sell off the national stadium has been divisive from the moment it was announced, but mr khan has said he didn't expect such a mixed reaction, and that he would only buy wembley the fulham owner shahid khan has withdrawn his if the sale had more support within the fa and the wider game. earlierformer england goalkeeper peter shilton gave us his reaction to the news. i was against the sale, wembley has so much history and it is a

fantastic stadium. and country like england should have a stadium like that. that's a lot of money would make a difference but that money can easily get evaporated and down at the lower levels, and i think we are producing a good line up of players. glasgow city's women's champions league ambitions look to over for another season after barcelona thrashed them 5—0 in the first leg of their last 16 tie. it didn't take long for last year's quarterfinalists to get off the mark — keira hamraoui with their opener. the hosts were three nil up by the break. glasgow's goalkeeper lee alexander let this shot slip through her for the fourth goal. 0ne she's not going to want to remember. the second leg is in two weeks tomorrow in glasgow, with what looks a mountain to climb. chelsea are in action right now in the first leg of their tie against fiorentina — and they're already a goal up. captain karen carney scoring a penatly in scoring a penalty in

the opening ten minutes. a minute half—time, chelsea 1—0. —— coming up to half—time. liverpool have confirmed that sadio mane has undergone surgery on his hand after sustaining an injury while on international duty with senegal. mane returned to liverpool for the procedure and will be monitored by the club before their trip to huddersfield in the premier league on saturday. it's been a troubled transfer window for liverpool — mohamed salah, naby keita and defender virgil van dijk also suffered injuries this week. england beat sri lanka in a rain—affected third one—day international in kandy by seven wickets. they now have a 2—0 series lead with two games left. the match was reduced to 21 overs per side after the six—hour rain delay. sri lanka slipped from 57 without loss to make 150—9, with adil rashid taking four for 36. captain eoin morgan hit 58 not out and jason roy 41 as england

comfortably chased down the target with 15 balls remaining. the injuries are mounting for eddiejones and his england squad ahead of the autumn internationals — maku vunipola has been ruled out for about six weeks. the prop strained his calf in saracens' champions cup win over glasgow at the weekend. his brother billy is also sidelined after breaking his arm in the same match. england are also without chris robshaw, joe launchbury and sam simmonds, while nathan hughes faces the possibility of missing games through suspension. he may not be such a fan of the venue, but ronnie 0'sullivan put the "smell of urine" behind him to rack up his 15th career maximum break at the english 0pen. he's described the k2 in crawley where the tournament's taking place as a "hellhole" and complained about the atmosphere and odour. but despite that, he whitewashed allan taylor 4—0 today,

his 147 coming in the final frame. tennis, and another good win forjohanna konta in moscow. she battled to beat australia's daria gavrilova in three sets to go through to the quarter finals of the kremlin cup. its been a rocky season for konta, but she has looked in betterform since splitting with her coach michaeljoyce after less than a year together. that's all the sport for now. i'll have more for you in sportsday at 10:30. thank you. almost 200 thousand people on sickness benefits will receive backpayments of around £5,000 after the government admitted miscalculating how much they were due. the error — involving people who receive employment and support allowance —

will cost more than £1.5 billion pounds. 0ur social affairs correspondent michael buchanan explained what happened. it's a massive shambles for the department for work and pensions. essentially what happened is, when people were being moved off to old benefits, called incapacity benefits, onto esa, officials of the department miscalculated what they were due. most of these errors occurred between 2011 and 2014 and is perhaps worth pointing out that at the time, the government was advised not do this at this speed. as you say, the scale of the evidence is now apparent. ——of the errors is now apparent. the department for work and pensions pensions have confirmed that 180,000 people were underpaid and they will receive an average of £5,000 in backdated payment. that will cost approximately the £1 billion. on top of that, because these people are now given the right level of benefit award, the department calculates there will be more than £600 million of ongoing additional benefit costs. so the total cost for this error in the compensation and ongoing

costs, £1.67 billion. to add to that, by the end of november, there will be 800 staff working on this area. ——working on this error. those costs are not in that overall calculation. at least 19 people have been killed and dozens more wounded in a shooting at a college in russian—annexed crimea. according to russian investigators, an 18—year—old student ran through the technical college in kerch firing at fellow pupils before killing himself. officials and witnesses have also spoken of at least one blast caused by an unidentified explosive device. the rate of inflation fell further last month than economists had predicted. the office for national statistics said the drop in the consumer prices index from 2.7 per cent to 2.4 was caused mainly by a fall in food prices. the fall is expected to reduce the likelihood of a rise in interest rates in the coming months. donald trump has been speaking again about the disappearance

of the journalist jamal khashoggi. the us president says he expects the truth about the case, by the end of the week — he's asked for video and audio intelligence from turkey, if it exists. turkish investigators are searching the saudi arabian consul‘s house in istanbul to try to find out what happened to mr khashoggi. he hasn't been seen, since entering the saudi consulate in istanbul over two weeks ago. turkey says he was murdered. saudi arabia denies any knowledge of mr khashoggi's fate. mr trump is waiting to hearfrom his secretary of state mike pompeo, who's been holding talks with saudi and turkish leaders. look at saudi arabia, they are an ally and they are a tremendous purchaser of not only military equipment but other things. when i went there, they committed to purchase $450 billion worth of things and $110 billion of military.

those are the biggest orders in the history of this country, probably the history of the world. i don't think there's ever been any orderfor $450 billion. you remember that day in saudi arabia when that commitment was made. so they are an important ally, but i want to find out what happened, where is the fault, and we will probably know that by the end of the week. but mike pompeo is coming back and we will have a long talk. why not send the fbi to figure all this out? he was not a citizen of this out? he was not a citizen of this country, for one thing. we will determine that. and you don't know whether not we have, do you? do you know whether or not we have said the fbi? i will not tell you. laughter have you asked for this audiovideo intelligence...? have you asked for this audiovideo intelligence. . . ? if it exists, have you asked for this audiovideo intelligence...? if it exists, we

have asked for it. let's speak to our state department correspondent, barbara plett usher, in washington. donald trump seems very sure that by the end of the week we will know more. yes, he said that the investigation, the saudis have promised to complete is going to be finished by then. and mr pompeo also talked about a handful of days. so it sounds like what they're asking for should be finished by the end of the week and if you think about the fa ct the week and if you think about the fact that this incident took place, as said to have taken place, in the saudi consulate, it should be, aged not really take that long to find out what exactly happened. —— it should not really. interestingly, though, mr pompeo's trip to the region, you were sent there by mr trump disorder fell out, it was remarkably fat—free in a way. —— to sort it all out. it was remarkably fat—free. he did not want to talk about the facts, so what we have at this moment, the saudis say they are serious about it and they are

waiting for the information before they decide how to respond. the other point about what we saw from the president is, once again, his reiteration of the close business ties between the us and saudi arabia. yes, and that is something that both he and the secretary of state have emphasised. they talk about the need for saudi arabia to fight terrorism, they talk about the commercial ties and mr trump talks about the arms sales and they also talk about the need for saudi arabia and support in countering iran. mr pompeo actually went on at some length about it and he said that these are things the american ‘s national interest for national security and they will be taken into consideration when deciding how to proceed. so they did say they were waiting to get more information about what happened but i think from the way they have approached this is looks very much like it is more about containing the damage to the

relationship that is about confronting the saudis or for some egregious act. on capitol hill, there have been more strident voices. have they been heard? they have been heard through this week, criticism has been getting sharper, it started last week with the news of mr chris dobey‘s disappearance, and senators on both sides of the aisle are saying that they doubt what the saudis are saying. —— the news of mr khashoggi's appearance. they were already calling for action last week. and into this week, you have quite harsh treatment including from the republican senator lindsey graham who, in effect, said mohammed bin salman, the crown prince, must have been behind this. he's a broken crown prince, he's got to go, we should not deal with saudi arabia as long as he's there. —— broken crown prince. they have been more outspoken than the illustration and i think they will continue holding the ministries andto the fire on this. when the investigation comes

out, what kind of evidence there is, whether it looks like a cover—up. her majesty the queen has unveiled a new portrait of herself — which unusally includes the handbag she is rarely seen without. in the painting, commissioned by the raf club to mark its centenary, she is shown sat in an ornate chair in windsor castle's white drawing room, with the bag by her side on the floor. award—winning artist ben sullivan included the accessory to help show the person behind the head of state. now it's time for a look at the weather with darren bett. good evening. this fairly quiet weather looks like continuing into the weekend. overnight will be quite chilly, because skies are clearing in most areas, the winds are quite light. some cloud lingering across southern parts of england into east anglia and coming into the far north—west of scotland. but otherwise, the rest of scotland and northern ireland and northern england seeing temperatures overnight close to freezing, particularly in rural areas. not quite so chilly across the south

and south—east, more cloud overnight and that will come and go throughout thursday. also some cloud maybe producing one or two light showers in the far north—west of scotland, but on the whole it will be dry. and elsewhere, lots of sunshine to come, light winds as well. temperatures may be a little lower on thursday, but light winds, and if you have sunshine, it should feel quite pleasant for the time of year. turning a bit milder through friday into saturday, some rain in the northwest of scotland at times, but on the whole, it will be dry. some misty mornings, perhaps, but some sunshine to enjoy. hello, this is bbc news with julian worricker. the headlines: theresa may, has appealed to eu leaders to give her more flexibility over a brexit deal but the european parliament president said he'd heard nothing new. tens of thousands of people on sickness benefits are to receive backdated payments of thousands of pounds, after a government error. network rail says disruption to trains running in and out of paddington station in west london could continue until tomorrow morning. turkish investigators enter

the residence of the saudi consul in istanbul, to gather more evidence about the suspected killing of saudi journalist jamal khashoggi. and coming up — three men who became the first anti—fracking protesters to be jailed in the uk, are freed afterjudges ruled their sentences were "excessive". let's get more now on our top story. theresa may has been addressing eu leaders in brussels about brexit. it's thought she's urged them to show flexibility to resolve the deadlock in negotiations over the irish border. reports suggest her address did not contain anything substantially new. report suggests her address didn't contain anything substantially new. let's speak now to professor brigid laffan, director of the robert schuman centre at the european university institute. she joins us from florence. good evening. good evening. what is

your assessment of how these discussions stand at the moment? well, the discussions are stalled. obviously of theresa may didn't offer anything new this evening that asked for flexibility, then the eu 27 it's very clear on its red line, is that there must be a legally binding backstop on the irish border as part of that they were withdrawal agreement. they are willing to deep dramatised that, willing to work very closely with the uk on what that might mean in practice, to minimise disruption, but they are very insistent on a legally binding backstop, because that is what the british also signed up to, both in december and march. in effect, the eu 27 is saying to the uk, live up to the commitment that you've made. write, read between the lines for

us. 0ften write, read between the lines for us. often in these situations there are public declarations where people are public declarations where people are so categorically clear there is no wiggle room but on other occasions they allow some wiggle room. where do you see that area of possible movement on either side? so, ican possible movement on either side? so, i can see the eu might offer the uk an extension of the transition period, to create an assurance that the backstop would never be needed. in other words, to give time to negotiate the future agreement. but if the wiggle room theresa may is looking for is not a legal backstop, then that is not available. i'm just looking at what theresa may has indicated on that subject. there are lines coming out from the european parliament president. he said both sides mentioned the idea ofan said both sides mentioned the idea of an extension of the transition period of one possibility on the table. that would have to be looked into. suggested initially mrs may showed willingness to look into that

possibility and then apparently clarifying earlier remarks saying the uk prime minister said nothing in favour or against the idea of extending that brexit transition to three years. help us through that selection of comments. three years. help us through that selection of commentslj three years. help us through that selection of comments. i think what that says is its potential, a possibility, but the prime minister is unwilling to look for this at this precise moment. so now the question is what is going to happen between now and december? if there is no special european council in november, which was anticipated, then everything comes down to the december european council. if there is an agreement at the december european council, unfortunately, i think, all governments will begin to prepare for a no—deal brexit and thatis prepare for a no—deal brexit and that is very bad news, because it becomes almost, the system is propelled into a no—deal brexit. time is very short but i think both sides want an agreement and would work for an agreement but i think it

would be wrong of me to say to a british audience this evening that somehow or another either ireland or the rest of the eu will say to the british, well, forget about the backstop. that is absolutely necessary. go back to that november meeting point for a moment. if at the end of this week they suddenly said november is no longer going to happen, that would send a very alarming signal to all sides, wouldn't it? it would indeed. i think what will probably happen if they will pencil in the ponds —— possibility of november meeting but asked the two teams to work hard over the coming weeks and depending on the progress in november happens or it doesn't. but if november doesn't happen, then i think that is very bad news indeed. and the no deal preparation, much is made about how no deal would affect the uk, and people often talk about the uk, and people often talk about the fact that clearly the eu doesn't

wa nt the fact that clearly the eu doesn't want that either. how would the ee used suffer if there were no deal? well, i can begin with ireland. given the amount of irish trade that goes through the united kingdom to the continent, it would be extremely disruptive, extremely dangerous on the irish border, and for the rest of the european continent, of course, there would be the loss of the ease of exchange with the united kingdom, which is part of the way that we live in this part of the world, dover to calais. the french already this morning published their potential laws on how they would handle calais in the event of a no deal. i think that the united kingdom, this is not project fear, this is project reality. it would be a disaster. it would have 60 mile tailbacks and i'm not sure any government could survive the consequences of a no deal. but also, the united kingdom has to think about its reputation. how would it look in the world of the 21st

century to simply not be able to engage with the outside world? i think no deal, nobody should talk with no deal. everything should be done to make this process, and it is a difficult process, as ordinary as possible in the circumstances. so there is an awful lot to play for. indeed there is, thank you very much for coming on. three men who were sent to jail after an anti—fracking protest in lancashire last summer have been freed by the court of appeal. the judge said their 15 and 16 month sentences were excessive. simon blevins, richard roberts and rich loi—zou became the first environmental protesters to be sent to prison for decades after they climbed on lorries at the fracking site in lancashire. the controversial process was started there on monday. 0ur correspondent claire marshall was in court. 0ut after 21 days in preston prison, rich loizou, simon blevins and richard roberts. according to the lord chiefjustice, they should never have been jailed. today's decision affirms that when people peacefully break the law

out of a moral obligation to prevent the expansion of fossil fuel industries, they should not be sent to prison. in london to hear the appeal verdict, more family and friends. what are you going to tell them to do in the future? to carry on doing what he believes in. he's right. this is where it started. watch the police officer — when she is not looking, simon blevins seizes the opportunity. richard roberts was already on top of another truck. all in all, seven heavy goods vehicles heading for the cuadrilla site were stopped by the men and they stayed up there for three days. they were found guilty of causing a public nuisance and sentenced to 15 and 16 months in prison. today the court of appeal said this was wrong. in ourjudgment, the appropriate sentence which should have been imposed on the 26th of september was a community order

with a significant requirement of unpaid work. this was not a case about fracking and that was said in court but in effect a case about the right to protest. if you disagree with the government or a law or a company, how far can you go? political protest takes many forms. without the suffragettes, women would not have the vote. twyford down delayed the extension of the m3. in court the judge referred to the need to take into account the motives of those protesting. this is the judge that originally sent the men to prison. questions have since been raised aboutjudge 0lton's close family links to the offshore oil and gas industry and his sister's vocal support forfracking. there is a real concern with this that those connections should have been disclosed in this case and that there might be a possible appeal, so we are considering looking at the conviction. the court said it couldn't look at it further because it was too late. meanwhile, fracking started

in lancashire this week, and the protests go on. claire marshall, bbc news, at the high court in london. there's been a sharp rise in the number of british victims of modern slavery, according to figures seen by the bbc. the salvation army, which runs safe houses on behalf of the government, says the number of british people it looked after almost doubled in the last year. charlotte wright has this report. the footage could be straight from a television drama. but raids like this are happening in villages, towns and cities across the country, as hundreds of people forced into working for little or no money in appalling conditions are rescued. they would throw you out of cars. sometimes they would take your clothes from you and then just leave you in a place, so you didn't have any clothes. on one occasion, they put petrol and threatened to set me alight.

jenny, whose name we've changed, was groomed at the age of 11 and passed around the country as a sex slave for ten years. it's like you're not really alive, and then it's only after you're out of it, then the emotion hits you. these are really dangerous, well—organised, quite violent criminal syndicates, who are buying and selling human beings for profit. thousands of people are identified as victims of modern slavery each year. and that number has been growing. 0ften, they've come from abroad, places like albania and romania. butjenny is a british survivor, born and bred here, and she isn't alone. last year, 86 british victims were supported by the salvation army, which has the government contract to provide a safe house once they're rescued. that's nearly double the year before, and significantly more than the number of those referred to the charity seven years ago. and it's widely believed that this is just the tip of the iceberg.

the organised crime groups that operate within this area are very clever in how they move around. so, although we are aware of the potential victims when they come into our service, there will be many who will still be hidden away and won't have a voice. for many police forces across the country, tackling the issue is already a priority. we are setting up our own modern slavery human trafficking team next year, which looks to focus on the complex cases. we are still promoting out there to the forces, to the staff, from pcsos and wardens, right through to senior management, on how to tackle it. but in order for the authorities to get a true grip on the problem, the public need to take action. the salvation army operates a 24—hour confidential referral helpline, and is asking people to report anything that seems suspicious. charlotte wright, bbc news.

we can speak now to 28—year—old, samantha browne, who was a victim of trafficking. she's now works in schools, highlighting the dangers to young people. good evening, thank you for coming and that. hello, thank you for having me. take us back to your late teens and give us a sense of what happened to you. so what happened to me with a little different to the lady you just heard butting in regards to being groomed, i was groomed by a lady who was considerably older than me at the age of 16. she was studied up i say she was meant to be my best friend, but at the same time she got me into prostitution at the age of 17. she also got me into the adult industry at that age, as well. would i have got into that industry if i hadn't met her at that age? i can honestly

say no. at the same time, what she did when i was 21, she introduced me toa man did when i was 21, she introduced me to a man and for three years that man human traffic to me all across england, ireland and wales. was there at any point in that period of time, this is often a question people are wondering when they hear a story like this, was there ever a chance to get out and escape that situation? in regards to getting out, the fear kind of overrides you in any situation. the fact of the matter is, there's a lot of tactics and psychology. i always use the metaphor in regards to domestic violence, because what happens first is they baby friendly. they then isolate you and then they break you down mentally, physically and then everything else. would i have wanted to go? yes. could i have gone? iwas too scared to, because i was threatened with family, threatened with my own life. i will be honest,

there were girls... this man turned round and said he owned me, notjust body wise but owned my soul as well and started to manipulate me in a way that was pure mind control. how eventually did you get out?|j way that was pure mind control. how eventually did you get out? i ended up eventually did you get out? i ended up getting out because i was lucky enough to meet my partner. what happened with my partner is he knew there was someone who would have ended up going to the police and when that happens, they know that there is no other way than having to actually let you go. that's exactly what he stated, anyway. here you are several years later, going into schools, presumably telling the story you just told me. what sort of impact does that have an presumably a teenage audience, who are fearful that something like this could possibly happen to them? when i go into schools and i explain also

about their rights in regards to their human rights, and being violated, a lot of the used today genuinely don't know this is happening in the uk. when i actually speak to people on a regular basis, because i am very vocal about the story, because i feel i am a voice for the voiceless. there are so many other people out there who can't speak. these young people have no clue about how vulnerable they can be, about the dangers out there, of the perpetrators. most of all, sometimes i have people who come to me and disclose things. i'm there for safeguarding reasons. i can't do anything, ijust for safeguarding reasons. i can't do anything, i just pass for safeguarding reasons. i can't do anything, ijust pass it onto the teacher. but these kids in school, they have no idea. there's film called taken they have no idea. there's film called ta ken and they have no idea. there's film called taken and they ironically think that's where it's from. they are kind of a bit in the dark about

the situation. which probably chimes, when you look at the figures quoted today and the salvation army talking about the increase as people caught up in this, especially british people, a lot of people will be genuinely surprised because they can't imagine that happening in the year 2018. i can't agree with you more. at the end of the day, and don't get me wrong, this is happening abroad and probably more so, to be honest. the refugee crisis in itself, you see kids going missing. i think it's 2 million children who go missing every year to that industry and its multi—million pound industry. where is the awareness, where is the awareness in the uk? i am only of so many. for people to even think it is happening in the first world, people aren't willing to accept that, i think. that is where i come in, raising awareness, and organisations like the salvation army. i'm so happy i'm actually here today talking about this. we are very grateful that you are, thank you for

coming on. samantha brown in birmingham. the headlines on bbc news... theresa may, has appealed to eu leaders to give her more flexibility over a brexit deal but the european parliament president said he'd heard nothing new. tens of thousands of people on sickness benefits are to receive backdated payments of thousands of pounds, after a government error. network rail says disruption to trains running in and out of paddington station in west london could continue until tomorrow morning. an update on the market numbers for you — here's how london's and frankfurt ended the day. and falls in the states, as well. the family of a woman who died after getting trapped in the airing cupboard at a holiday home is suing the resort company. elizabeth isherwood, known as mary, died while staying at plas talgarth country club near machynlleth in wales last year. her son says the family is seeking compensation from the holiday resort owners for negligence.

craig duggan reports. it's just over a year since mary isherwood, died in nightmarish circumstances. her son craig is still haunted by the manner of her death. a massive shock. disbelief. i suffered last year with stress, anxiety. mary was a fit and healthy 60—year—old, a former police officer and keen golfer. in september last year, she arrived alone at plas talgarth for a holiday at a time—share apartment she knew well. she'd had it for over 30 years, but somehow, on herfirst night, it's believed she got up to use the ensuite toilet and went on to the airing cupboard by mistake. she was trapped and she couldn't open the cupboard from the inside. the door handle disintegrated, according to evidence given at the inquest, and mrs isherwood couldn't force the door open, so she tried to break up through the walls. she tore off a piece of piping to use as a tool but the water that was released soaked her and she died of hypothermia.

her body was found a week later by cleaning staff. she used the copper pipe against the door to try and get the door to open and then she picked the stud wall, got through a stud wall to discover that 6—12 inches behind was a brick wall. and then the second wall she went for, she did make a hole on it, but there was a large picture that was screwed that was screwed to the wall, that came out in the inquest, and i presume she thought when she started hitting something else that it was another wall. and then she gave up, she'd got no energy and died, i don't know how many hours or days after, of hypothermia. there must have been so much noise while she tried to escape, did anyone hear her? it did become apparent that there was a couple that heard banging, thought it was strange, that there was maintenance, effectively, being carried out on a sunday. they had a conversation between themselves and said if it was still going on at five o'clock, they'd ring reception. the bad coincidence is my mother stopped banging at about four

minutes past five. so you've decided now to take legal action against the owners of the resort. why have you decided on that? from my perspective, there's a proportion of blame and i wantjustice. what do you say that the owners of the resort should have done or could have done? they should have checked the door handle, to see that it was functioning. the family's solicitor says this isn't just about compensation. compensation is all thatcraig and the family can seek, but that isn't the motivating factor here. it is to get some questions answered, i think that is really what we're looking for, and to show that for other people in this situation, you go to places like this, there should be better maintenance. there should be better care, there should be risk assessments, there should be surveys of the property to make sure it's safe for everybody to go to. the owners of plas talgarth, macdonald resorts, said it couldn't

comment at this stage. while craig proceeds with his legal action, he's left with the tragic loss of his mother in horrific and highly unusual circumstances. craig duggan, bbc news. nearly 200 years ago, tens of thousands of men, women and children gathered in manchester to demand political reform. they came peacefully but they were attacked by the army. 15 people were killed and hundreds more were injured. now the director mike leigh has made a film?about what came to be known as the peterloo massacre. he's been speaking to our arts editor will gompertz. it's the 16th of august, 1819, people are coming from miles around to congregate in st peter's field for a rally on the right to vote. it was meant to be a peaceful gathering. we must read the riot act and we must do so immediately! but the authorities had other ideas. here we are in the middle of manchester, where you grew up, the peterloo massacre happened around us. as a young boy studying in that library, you knew nothing of it?

no, the primary school i went to, a good school, they could have got us down here on the bus and back in time for lunch and walked us around here and said, this happened here. why didn't they? now is the time to say, well, it did happen here, right here, and on that august day in 1819, there came a point when this was a bloodbath, and that's what we've made a film about. hundreds of protesters were injured, at least 15 died as government forces charged the peaceful gathering in what became known as the peterloo massacre. the crowds coming in from all over the place, right here, in view of the magistrates, were the hustings, the speakers. order will come crashing down! this you can see was the edge of st peter's fields,

people were crammed up against this wall, some of them were crushed into the ground, some of them were raised up, but this is actually the same original wall. what good is a parliament if it does not represent its people? there was no vote, only 2% of the population had the vote. what you see in the film and indeed what happened was a motivated working—class, hungry for education. for me, what's tragic is that here we are, where in fact everybody has the vote, and they don't vote. and it's tragic. mike leigh there talking to our arts editor will gompertz and finally, an inquisitive bear in the american mountain resort of west boulder, colorado has been caught on camera breaking into an unlocked

and unoccupied van... you can see in having a go there and the passenger side. the nosy bear got inside and eventually went round to the other side of the van and opened both of those doors as well. i was going to say you have do bear with us! that side is obviously a bit disappointing for some reason or another. it's a nice evening for it, as you can see. and any minute now. . . as you can see. and any minute now... you will see the door of the driver's side open. so both doors of the van open, and then something else further forward is open, that is the front door and back door on

that side. and then basically do bear wanders off and leaves the door is wide open. so when the owner gets back after that snowstorm, goodness knows what he or she thought about all that! now it's time for a look at the weather. darren has the forecast. hello, that was a poorjoke. no snow in the forecast over the week ahead but we do have some very bearable temperatures. 0ur weather will be dominated by high pressure. we have had this weather front which has brought some rain and drizzle today. another one coming in from the atla ntic another one coming in from the atlantic which will arrive on friday. this high pressure building up friday. this high pressure building up in the south—west and that means all the clouded melting away for the uk. this is the scene we have this evening in newcastle. beautiful picture. it will turn pretty chilly and quite quickly, mind you. more clouded in southern counties of england and east anglia. it should be turning dry. more cloud coming into the north—west corner of

scotland. the rest of scotland, northern ireland and northern england, it will be coldest of all here. in rural areas, temperatures close to freezing in north—east england and scotland. tomorrow, a chilly start. plenty of sunshine for most places. more cloud at times across southern parts of england and the south—westerly breeze will blow ploughed into south—west scotland. the winds will be quite light. temperatures are little lower than today but in the sunshine at this time of year, it should feel pretty pleasant. high pressure as we head towards the end of the week. coming into it, another of these weather fronts, very weak, weakening as it ru ns fronts, very weak, weakening as it runs into the high pressure and throwing down. most of the rain on friday will be in the morning across the north and west of scotland. some rainfor the north and west of scotland. some rain for eastern scotland but it should become dry. some sun—dried pushing down across scotland as that

band of proud and little or no rain thinks to northern england. the rest of england, dry, some sunshine, early mist and fog patches. temperatures 13—17, a little above average. the weather front weakens and then moves away. it doesn't reach wales or the southern half of england. another weather system coming in from the atlantic, a warm front, bringing some low cloud and some outbreaks of rain in the highlands. we should see some sunshine developing in eastern scotla nd sunshine developing in eastern scotland in the afternoon. properly dried in northern ireland, england and wales, sunnier further south after morning mist and fog. a pretty mild looking day on saturday. temperatures in eastern scotland higher than we have seen throughout the rest of the week. it stays quite mild right the way through the weekend as well. westerly breezes if anything, most places dry. there will be some sunshine around, is the morning mist and fog patches. hello, i'm ros atkins, this is 0utside source.

theresa may has addressed eu leaders in brussels, marking the start of a crucial summit on brexit. we'll be live in brussels. president trump is pressed again on the disappearance ofjamal khashoggi and again he stresses the importance of saudi money. they are an important ally, but i want to find out what happened, where is the fault, and we will probably know that by the end of the week. but mike pompeo is coming back and we will have a long talk. a bomb and gun attack in a college in crimea kills at least 19 people, mostly teenagers. bbc russia will help us update that story for you. and clashes in kerala as hindu protesters try to stop women