this is bbc news. the headlines at 10. a man is charged over a series of letter bombs sent to prominent critics of president trump, the president condemns what he calls "terrorising acts". reviving the high street — the government is to cut business rates for small retailers as part of a 1.5 billion pound cash boost for towns and cities. sir philip green hits back at peter hain for naming him in the house of lords — the retail billionnaire says it was "outrageous" for the peer to breach an injunction banning reporting of harrassment allegations. also coming up this hour... lewis hamilton looks to secure his fifth formula one world title with a victory in mexico with a victory in mexico. hamilton only needs to secure seventh place in tomorrow's in tomorrow's mexican grand prix to take the championship. and, in 30 minutes the travel show heads to the frozen landscapes of norway and visits a musical festival where ice takes centre stage. that's at 10:30.

a man has been charged in the us state of florida in connection with a series of letter bombs sent to prominent critics of president trump. cesar sayoc is accused of transporting and mailing explosives, and threatening former presidents. mr trump condemned what he described as "terrorising acts" and called for americans to unite following the attacks. here's our north america correspondent peter bowes. armed with forensic evidence against cesar sayoc, the police moved in. their target, this white van emblazoned with stickers praising president trump and denouncing the democrats. a registered republican whose political allegiances were on display for all to see. he was active on social media,

supporting the president and in person, at a trump rally. donald] trump, next president of the united states. cesar sayoc is now facing charges that could result in a prison terms of up to 48 years. let this be a lesson to anyone, regardless of their political beliefs, that we will bring the full force of law against anyone who attempts to use threats, intimidation and outright violence to further an agenda. the authorities say there could still be devices in circulation that have not been detected. the latest packages were discovered in new york city — one sent to the former of national intelligence, james clapper, a forthright critic of the president. at a campaign rally in north carolina, president trump said political violence must never be allowed in america. in recent days, we have had a broader conversation about the tone and civility of our national dialogue.

everyone will benefit if we can end the politics of personal destruction. with less than two weeks to go until america's midterm elections, the events of the past week highlight once again the polarised and divisive political atmosphere in the country. peter bowes, bbc news. plans for a temporary cut to business rates for small companies will be announced by the government, to try to re—invigorate the high street. the details will be laid out by the chancellor, phillip hammond, when he delivers his budget on monday. joe miller reports. the shuttered casualty of a bruising year for britain's retailers, and a familiar sight on high streets across the country. on this north london road, one print shop is still going strong, designing posters from local schools and theatres. but its founder, who started in his parents' living room 23 years ago, says an increase in the taxes

he pays on the property is forcing him to downsize. our rates have risen from £7,000 to £12,000, which has a real effect on us. we are making less money and employing less people because we can't afford to keep open, because the government have taken money from us. 200 shops in the local area have closed since the tax known as business rates was rejigged last year, and they have not been replaced. critics of the government say it's notjust the little man who is losing out. they say the troubles at house of fraser and debenhams are made worse because they pay higher business rates than online competitors like amazon. while these measures are welcome, particularly for small businesses, on their own, they are just not enough. with closures and job losses of businesses of all sizes being affected up and down the country. we have a business rate system that is unsustainable

and what we need to see is less tinkering and more wholesale reform of the system. other business groups have been more positive about the announcement, but all agree that more support is needed to bring the high street back to life. joe miller, bbc news. the billionaire, sir philip green — who's facing claims of sexual and racial harassment — has accused the labour peer, peter hain, of breaching the house of lords code of conduct by revealing his identity. lord hain has defended his decision to use parliamentary privilege to name the tycoon, which defied a court of appeal injunction. in a statement, lord hain said he "resolutely" stood by his decision to name the businessman and would "neither retract nor apologise for standing up for human rights". sir philip denies all the allegations against him. simon jack has more. lord hain used special privileges enjoyed by members of parliament to speak freely without fear of being sued, to identify sir philip despite the fact the court of appeal had issued a gagging order preventing the daily telegraph revealing his identity because the claimants had

signed nondisclosure agreements. it was an interim order pending further legal proceedings. in a statement issued exclusively to the bbc, sir philip green said: lord hain has denied he knew that gordon dadds were representing the newspaper. lord hain‘s actions have divided opinion. some, like sir vince cable, leader of the liberal democrats, have supported his decision to name sir philip as being in the public interest, while other like former attorney—general dominic grieve have criticised his decision to take the law into his own hands. if mps do this, it undermines the rule of law because the courts are there to decide whether injunctions should be granted or lifted and determine the difficult issues that can often arise between private rights, contractual rights, and the public interest. that is what we put courts there to do.

sir philip doesn't deny that nondisclosure agreements were signed and money paid to complainants, but he insists they received independent legal advice and he strenuously denies any allegations of racial or sexual harassment. he said he'd be lodging formal complaints against lord hain with the relevant authorities in the house of lords. simon jack, bbc news. the saudi foreign minister has insisted those behind the killing of the dissidentjournalist, jamal khashoggi, will face justice in saudi arabia. yesterday, turkey said it wanted to extradite 18 saudis who were arrested in riyadh in connection with the death. saudi arabia initially denied all knowledge of the journalist's fate but the kingdom's public prosecutor now describes it as premeditated murder. speaking at a security summit in bahrain, the saudi foreign minister said saudi arabia's relations with the us remained ‘ironclad', despite the international outrage over mr khashoggi's disappearance. he went on to criticise

what he called the "hysteria" surrounding the case. this issue has become fairly hysterical. i think people have signed blame on saudi arabia with such certainty before the investigation is complete. we have made it very clear that we are going to have a full and transparent investigation, the results of which will be released. we have made it very clear that those responsible will be held responsible and will be held to account, and we have made it very clear that we will put in place mechanisms to make sure that this does not happen again. investigations take time, and the fa cts investigations take time, and the facts a re investigations take time, and the facts are determined as the investigation goes on, and we have tried to share the information that we have obtained with the public, but unfortunately there has been this hysteria in the media about

saudi arabia's guilt before the investigation is completed. the saudi foreign minister speaking in bahrain this morning. at the same event, the us defense secretary, james mattis, told regional leaders that the murder of mr khashoggi undermined the stability of the middle east. the murder of jamal khashoggi the murder ofjamal khashoggi in a diplomatic facility must concern us all greatly. as us secretary of state pompeo stated, the united states does not tolerated this kind of ruthless action to silence mr khashoggi, a journalist, through violence. failure of any one nation to adhere to international norms and the rule of law undermines riyadh's stability at a time when it is needed most. as president trump noted, we are going to get to the bottom of it. for more on this, our security correspondent frank gardner has been analyzing how the killing could further impact us—saudi relations, from that conference in bahrain.

i think it is probably the biggest strain on us saudi relations since the 9/11 attacks in 2001 and it has overshadowed the security conference here in bahrain. you saw the words there, the saudi foreign minister was very defensive. slightly glossing over the fact that saudi arabia denied for weeks thatjamal khashoggi had even been murdered. they were sticking to this nonsense claim that he had walked out of the consulate when, in fact, a body double walked out. i think what people are struggling to cope with is the idea that 15 agents should go on to chartered planes and fly from riyadh to istanbul without the crown prince's knowledge but saudis are telling me here that no, this was a rogue operation and all the fault of one man who has been relieved of his post and he will be investigated. the worry in this region is that this will weaken the strategic ties with the us, and ordinary saudis,

many are concerned that any weakening of the crown prince's powers will empower the hardline clergy, whose powers he has pushed back. fracking is due to resume in lancashire later today after it was suspended because of a small earthquake. yesterday, the energy firm cuadrilla halted operations at the uk's only active shale gas excavation site for 18 hours after a tremor of 0.8 magnitude was recorded. fracking was stopped in 2011 and didn't resume for seven years after being linked with earthquakes. campaigners say plans for a million new homes in central england would damage the countryside forever. they'll be built around a new expressway linking 0xford, milton keynes, northampton and cambridge in a scheme that has the backing of the transport secretary, chris grayling. our environment analyst, roger harrabin reports. in oxford and cambridge, pedestrians and cyclists reign supreme.

the absence of cars helps both places attract some of the top brains in the world, but the government's infrastructure advisers say that to stay competitive, these cities need many more new homes and better connections with each other. the government is now planning a great arc of high—tech development encompassing milton keynes and northampton as well as the two great university cities. a major road will be built from east to west. environmentalists say that will just generate more traffic but the government is in favour. it is government policy to have this scheme. we see the development of that corridor for economic and housing reasons as essential. we think that you can't have proper development in that area without improved transport and that's why the expressway and the new railway line are an essential part of what we are trying to do. the new plan would mean 3—4 times more house—building than at the moment. green groups say the project would eat fields and woods the size

of birmingham, and transform central england. a decision on this scheme is expected in next week's budget. roger harrabin, bbc news. joining me now in the studio is paul miner, head of strategic plans and devolution at the campaign to protect rural england. i would assume your organisation is sceptical about the case that has been made for this? the government's national infrastructure organisation says that it is based on an assessment of what is likely to be the demand in the future in an area of the country that is growing and the economy that is growing? we do recognise that there do need to be significant investment in affordable housing in the area between 0xford, cambridge and milton keynes. there's a need for 10,000 affordable homes per year, we need to build a lot of affordable housing in the area because it is not an affordable

place to live. we do not think on the scale of 1 place to live. we do not think on the scale of1 million new houses, which is what they were talking about, we do not think it is appropriate orfeasible about, we do not think it is appropriate or feasible given a large area of precious countryside in the yorkshire cambridge arc area. the commission says that these million would not come at once, but the timing would be spread over a number of years and so it ought be possible to manage the areas where it has the greatest impact on the environment. we are concerned the government have not given a sufficient commitment yet, in protecting and improving the important landscapes of the arc. those commitments whether government has indicated it would accept the recommendation to build 1 million homes but we have not seen a similar commitment to manage the countryside in the long—term, or create a link terry of nature reserves which would make the area more attractive for residents to live in. and also,

there is concern about the imbalance of transport investment as well. the government say they will build this new ex p ressway government say they will build this new expressway which will cost 5.5 billion, but there is no similar commitment to speed up the building of the oxford cambridge railway. they are already looking to build between 0xford they are already looking to build between oxford and milton keynes but there is significant investment needed to open it between milton keynes and cambridge. we are concerned that the growth that will ta ke concerned that the growth that will take place in the arc will be left by the roads and people will be driving into 0xfordshire and cambridge. the communities secretary said that this is an opportunity to further strengthen rural economies and enhance the environment and benefit local communities? we need to see a stronger commitment from the government. to improve the countryside in the arc and see stronger commitments for affordable housing. in recent years, local authorities in the our carrier, we

have seen one fifth of the affordable housing needed built year—on—year. and what local people will be rightly upset about is if all we see is, for the new housing, large three orfour all we see is, for the new housing, large three or four bedroom executive homes being tattooed across the countryside. we need to doa across the countryside. we need to do a lot better. finally, for those who say, look, we know the demand for housing is enormous and housing has to be where people can work. and all those other pressures need to be managed within that. these decisions will be taken by local councillors, and they will decide whether homes go and they are accountable, even if you think that the national planning commission that it even if you do not think the national planning commission is? we believe decisions need to be made by local planners, and we will see what comes up over the next year or so but at the same time, there is national debate needed as to whether it is

justifiable to spend over £5 billion growing an area that is attractive to housing developers, there is already a buoyant economy. there are large areas of england crying out for generation and investment, and the government have said it will bring ina the government have said it will bring in a shared prosperity fund next year. we need that one national debate about regeneration across the country before we rush headlong into an area that is already attractive to the housing market and there is a lot of british countryside we are in danger of losing. paul, thank you very much. the headlines on bbc news... a man is charged over a series of letter bombs sent to prominent critics of president trump. the government aims to boost the high street with business rate cuts for small retailers in monday's budget. sir philip green hits back at peter hain for naming him in the house of lords,

the retail billionnaire says it was "outrageous" for the peer to breach an injunction banning reporting of harrassment allegations. sport — and for a full round up, from the bbc sport centre, here's mike bushell. good morning. it's another huge weekend in the career of lewis hamilton. qualifying for the mexican grand prix is this evening. hamilton's within touching distance of his fifth formula one world title, an achievement that would take him second in the all—time rankings. patrick gearey reports. smooth acceleration with some well taken corners. do that with a bit more horsepower behind him and lewis hamilton will be world champion. of course, a formula 1 car is more complicated beast, especially on a scorching track in mexico city. hamilton wasn't happy with his pace in second practice. 0nly managing to go seventh fastest

but if he finishes seventh in the race, that will be enough to win the title. that's because he leads sebastien vettel by 70 points in the driver standings. even if hamilton finishes outside the top seven, vettel will need to win in mexico to have any chance of catching him. still, hamilton wants to win the race and the championship, and at session with victory that was there even as a blue peter boy racer. who won the race? me! well done. the phrase has been repeated on team radios in 71 grand prix. hamilton has overtaken legends like the sunday drivers, passing graham hill andjim clarke's two titles each and accelerating beyond the great jackie stewart as the most successful britain in formula 1.

breaking the lap record time and again. tomorrow he could be alongside juan manuel fangio, an iconic figure in the sport. while michael schumacher is still out in front on seven titles, he won his last aged 35. hamilton is still only 33 and slowing down is not in his nature. in football, liverpool could go top of the premier league table, if they beat struggling cardiff city at anfield, today. it's a game that will see two of the premier league's most expressive managers, neil warnock and jurgen klopp, meet for the first time. i just like the way that he is, really. he cares, he is passionate, he pulls some faces. he's got everything, really. it must be lovely to be in charge of a team like that but he is great at it. he saw what weaknesses there were in the last two years and he showed that up this year. i'm really looking forward to meeting him. i've heard a lot about him and he's obviously... vocal—wise, he is very talented. it will be a big pleasure to meet him.

not sure during the 90 minutes but after, i'm sure, so it would be so cool if that's the truth, but it's not. queens park rangers continued their good run in the championship by beating aston villa 1—0. pawel wszolek with the goal for steve mcclaren's side. they're now unbeaten in their last five, having won four of those matches. back to back defeats now for villa. it's not been a good morning for england's netballers. they're playing in the fast 5s, basically 5 a side netball, in shorter games. england are the defending champions but have lost all three of their games this morning to new zealand, malawi and most recently, south africa. they got the score back to 26—25, but that was as close as it got and south africa scored again with 20 seconds to go. they'll be hoping to do better tomorrow when they play australia and jamaica. after thrashing toulon, last week in rugby union's champions cup,

edinburgh suffered a disapointing loss away at zebre last night. the scottish side, who were without several players because of international call—ups, blew a 13 point half time lead, to lose 311—16 in parma. scarlets, ulster and 0spreys all won though. england's cricketers are in t20 action out in sri lanka this afternoon. they won the one—day series comfortably, albeit with plenty of help from the weather and this is a one—off t20 before a three match test series. henry moeran reports from colombo. this has been a white balls tour dominated as much by the weather as it has been by the cricket. every single one of england's matches, the warm—ups oi’ single one of england's matches, the warm—ups or the 51—day internationals so far, has been affected in some way, shape or form by the rain. this takes extra

importance, giving england the opportunity to get more miles in their legs and more overs bowled as they get towards next summer's world cup. every opportunity of white ball international cricket is so important. as you can see, early in the day here in sri lanka, the weather is pretty good but later on weather is pretty good but later on we get problems. this game starts at 7pm local time, just around the time where the weather comes in. we've just got to keep our fingers crossed that we get away with it this evening and get the luck we need to get cricket in. you can hear the wildlife in the background there. much warmer than it is in the uk this weekend! that's all the sport for now. exit polls in ireland are putting michael higgins on course to win a second term as the country's president. mr higgins is projected to win more than half the first preference votes, twice as many as the second—placed candidate.

voters have also been casting their ballots in a referendum on repealing the ban on blasphemy. exit polls in the irish republic suggest that at least two thirds of the electorate have voted in favour of removing the offence from the irish constitution. mexico has offered temporary work permits to migrants who register for asylum, as a big caravan of central american migrants makes its way through the country toward the us. however, to qualify for the permits migrants must remain in mexico's southern chiapas and 0axaca states. this is to prevent them going to the us—mexico border where president trump has warned that about 800 troops could be deployed to stop them. the leader of the caravan has insisted mexico's offer will not stop their progress to america. will grant is with the migrants in the southern mexican state of chiapas and filed this report. in each of the little towns that the ca rava n in each of the little towns that the caravan breaches, here we are in chiapas, the migrant set up their camp in the main square, next to the

municipal offices and the church. in response, the local authorities and the local community come out to offer the support that they can. that is normally in the form of water, food, medical attention, donated clothing, and legal support for those thinking of turning back 01’ for those thinking of turning back or wanting clarification. 0n for those thinking of turning back or wanting clarification. on their immigration status but things will only get harderfrom immigration status but things will only get harder from here on immigration status but things will only get harderfrom here on in. this is the point from which the freight train, known as the beast, makes its way north and many migrants may choose to try and get on that, to cut their time to make the journey northwards. on that, to cut their time to make thejourney northwards. 0thers on that, to cut their time to make the journey northwards. others will stick with the caravan, but they must cross through drug cartel controlled parts of the country. all the while, washington's response remains robust. president trump has repeatedly told these migrants they will not be welcomed in the us, with open arms. he is expected to deploy

the military to the border and is even reported to be considering an executive order banning these people from making it into the us. the leaders of turkey, france, germany and russia will meet in istanbul today, to discuss the humanitarian crisis in syria and how to handle the millions of refugees displaced in the crisis. turkey is home to three and a half million syrian refugees, more than any other country. the number of newborn babies in england taken into care at birth has more than doubled in the last decade, according to research by the nuffield family justice 0bservatory. the government says the decision to remove a child at birth is made to protect them, but the study‘s author says both mothers and their children are being failed. fiona lamdin has been to meet a woman who was separated from herfive children. the children are the first thing i think about when i wake up, the last thing i think about before i go to bed. abby, not her real name,

has had all five children removed from her. her story, like many in her position, is a complicated one. but it wasn't always this way. three years ago, she was a busy mum. the school run, back, sports, back, scouts, back, horse riding, back, piano, back. i loved having to run around after them. but in a short space of time, abby suffered with post—natal depression, a marriage breakdown and business collapse. struggling with poor mental health, she started to drink. i went from living a fairly luxurious life in a nice a—bedroom house to sleeping in a car park stairwell with nothing. i literally had the clothes i had my back. while living on the streets, she became pregnant — and just as social services had removed her older four children,

they also put her newborn baby into care. it was the worst pain ever, not seeing my children. to have someone take your child and you not to be able to see them. new research shows that in the last 10 years, there is double the number of newborns coming before family courts. abby wanted to keep her baby, but she wasn't given any help when she was pregnant. we are certainly getting it wrong if we leave women who want help right until the last minute and then we remove a baby. there is no clear planning, mum doesn't know what's happening, the family aren't involved. that situation has to be unacceptable. but pause is one organisation wanting to help by stopping thousands of more children being taken into care each year. women sign up to 18 months of contraception while being mentored. what sort of message do you want to write to them? after years of silence,

today they are helping abby reach out to her family once again. i just want to be part of a family once again. tell them i love them and i miss them. the day i met her, she was very intoxicated — in fact, she couldn't string a sentence together, but we knew we needed to keep going to try and engage her because she was so high priority for having another baby removed if she got pregnant again and we knew that was likely. abby has come so far in the last nine months and while there's no promise she will ever get her children back, she is doing everything she can in the hope that one day, she will. i've missed out on so much already. i don't want to miss anymore. fiona lamdin, bbc news. more couples could be allowed to marry outdoors or at home, as part of a shake—up of the law in england and wales. the government will announce a

review of wedding venues, including lifting restrictions on open air locations and bringing the law in line with scotland. ministers say the changes could cut the cost of weddings and boost the hospitality sector. the invictus games in australia has come to a close, with a ceremony involving live music and a procession. the event in sydney was attended by the duke and duchess of sussex, who are travelling to new zealand next as part of their 16—day commonwealth tour. the games were founded by prince harry, and this year more than 500 wounded servicemen and women took part. emperor penguin chicks at auster rookery, near australia's mawson research station in the antarctic, have been taking their first school trip. the downy emperor penguin chicks were supervised by one adult penguin. they are already developing fast, and will be almost as big as their parents by december.