this is bbc news. the headlines at 11:003m. 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 £1.5billion 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. hamilton only needs to secure seventh place in tomorrow's mexican grand prix to take the championship. and at 11:30am, the dateline london panel tackles the ongoing fallout from the murder of saudi arabian journalist jamal khashoggi as well as the impact of violent language in politics, ahead of the us mid—term elections. that's at 11:30am. 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 term 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 for 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 others 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. a six—year—old boy has died after a house fire in derbyshire. firefighters were called to the property in ilkeston last night. they performed cpr on the boy, who was taken to hospital but later pronounced dead. the saudi foreign minister has insisted those behind the killing of the dissident journalist, jamal khashoggi, will facejustice 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 assigned 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 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. 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 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. 0ur security correspondent

frank gardner has been analysing how the killing could further impact us—saudi relations. 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 that jamal 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. back now to business rates. the tax is expected to be cut for small companies in monday's budget. let's talk to andrew teacher — a property expert from blackstock consulting which has researched the impact of business rates on the high street. thanks very much for coming in to talk to us. let me ask you, what do you make a fall the chancellor has announced in terms of the tax? leaving aside the open measures. what they've announced today has had some good press coverage, so they have good pr. when you scratch below the detail, what you are going to

see if this is more of the same. it's interesting because we looked at the impact of this a couple of yea rs at the impact of this a couple of years ago and a very similar policy was announced by ed miliband when he was announced by ed miliband when he was leader of the opposition. what he proposed was a similar cut to business rates that would help small businesses and at the time what was quite funny was that labour was having a bit of a bust up with boots of attacks. they were set to be one of attacks. they were set to be one of the major beneficiaries of this business rate cut because of chains like hsbc occupy small buildings and it was charged to the building, not the occupier. when you make a cut to small businesses, it is often a cut for big businesses to. what you're going to see is a lot of fiddling around the edges and nothing that looks like a radical reform of

business rates, which is what george 0sborne promise not so long ago. there were consultations on it but nothing came of it in the end. do you think the chancellor will come under pressure on monday from other politicians to say, thank you very much for giving this temporary relief, as it were, but you need to change the system. am i right in thinking corporation tax is based on profits whereas here it is based on this definition of the value of the property, which is notional... it is absolute nonsense and in many cases, business rates can be a tax on failure because you pay rates even when businesses are empty. it is nonsense and totally against the concept of how you raise tax. you raise more tax on an empty store and factory, you are losing money shelling out for the costs of running it and you have to pay tax. to a nswer running it and you have to pay tax. to answer your question, he should come under pressure but he won't

because i think firstly, lots of politicians don't really understand this. secondly, business rates coins in £28 billion a year, it is not something people want to risk, although they might end up not raising much of it over the next few yea rs raising much of it over the next few years anyway. thirdly, businesses don't have much of a vote. this hasn't been as much of a public issue as it could be. i recall talking with the bbc a few years ago ona talking with the bbc a few years ago on a big campaign we ran with the british property federation around empty business rates, which is when gordon brown introduced or took away the relief for empty buildings, and that caused a stink because people started knocking buildings down. it was only other time when we had bomb site bridgend littered around us, to quote the headline from the mail on sunday, that people paid attention. we have government briefings talking about the toothless high street and i would call this a toothless

solution. what is the solution? we have got to take a wholesale look at the system and the planning system and really think about the sorts of communities that we want in terms of the financial structures and physical structures, and the challenges that obviously lots of buildings that we have in the high street or owned by different people so there is no singular interest in punching them together and creating some sort of vehicle, financial vehicle, that can raise investment. that is a challenge because you end up that is a challenge because you end up having court cases for years because councils want to cpa lots of buildings. we want replanning to make it easier, quicker and fundamentally cheaper to convert buildings. then we need to look at basics such as parking and access via local transit, because where you are finding people to come and do a bit of shopping locally, it makes no sense. councils need to raise money but it comes down to how we budget, it comes down to the local budget

cuts that local authorities have been receiving over the last five or six years and ultimately it needs to be thought of strategically on a national level and not a piecemeal system we have had for the last few yea rs. 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. 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. fracking is due to resume in lancashire 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 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. 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 caravan reaches, the migrants set up their camp in the main square. next to the municipal offices and by the church. here, in response, the local authorities and the local

community turn out to offer what support they can. that is normally in the form of water, food, medical attention, donated clothing, and legal support for those thinking of turning back or wanting clarification about their human right, or their immigration status. but, in a sense, things will only get harderfrom here on in. this is the point from where the freight train called "la bestia", the beast, makes its way north and many of these migrants may choose to try and get on that to try to cut their time to make the journey north. others will stick with the caravan but they must cross through drug cartel controlled parts of the country. and all the while, washington's response remains very robust. president trump has repeatedly told these migrants that they won't be welcomed in the united states 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 united states. time for a full round—up from the bbc sport centre. 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 battle by 70 points in the driver standings. even if hamilton finishes outside the top seven, sebastien battle will need to win in mexico to have any chance of catching him. still, hamilton wants to win the and the championship, and at session with victory that was their even as a blue that was their even as a blue peter boy racer. we won the race! 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.

queen's 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. paul lambert is the new boss at ipswich town. they‘ re currently bottom of the championship having won only once this season. lambert once managed rivals norwich city, and takes over from paul hurst who was sacked on thursday. there are six matches in the premier league today. liverpool could go top of the table if they beat cardiff city. newcastle and huddersfield both looking for their first wins of the season, and travel to southampton and watford respectively. it's not been a good morning for england's netballers. they're playing in the fast 5's, 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. hoping to do better tomorrow when they play australia and jamaica. 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. every one of the matches has been affected in some way, shape or form by the rain. this evening's t20 ta kes by the rain. this evening's t20 takes an extra importance and gives insta nt takes an extra importance and gives instant the opportunity to get some miles in the legs, some more overs bowled as they go towards the world

cup. every opportunity is so important in white ball cricket. here is the weather tends to be pretty good in the morning, it is later on we have the problems. this evening's game starts at 7pm, the same kind of time that the weather sta rts same kind of time that the weather starts to commend. fingers crossed we get what we need so that we can have a game of cricket. that's all the sport for now. now for the weather with darren bett. we have seen some we have seen some snow we have seen some snow in the showers. through this afternoon they will mostly be offering. the northerly wind bringing a chilled today, despite the sunshine many of us are today, despite the sunshine many of us are still enjoying. marshall is coming into northern and eastern scotland, sliding southwards away from north—east england, through the midlands and east anglia and the south—east. showers in these cases

are being pushed offshore. gusty winds near those showers, particularly around coastal areas, making it feel cold with maximum temperatures of 6—8d, maybe a touch higher in the south—west of england and south a reminder that the clocks back at 2am, back to 1am. an extra hourin back at 2am, back to 1am. an extra hour in bed, hopefully. as we had through the night, they will be more showers coming in to eastern scotla nd showers coming in to eastern scotland and england. a rush of showers coming into lincolnshire, east anglia and the south—east. temperatures not so low here. further west and north, some blue areas with frost. it is colder here because we have high pressure building into the north—west, so clearing skies and the wind becoming lighter as well. the wind direction is changing for sunday. not really a northerly, rather a north—easterly,

dragging in the showers to eastern scotla nd dragging in the showers to eastern scotland and england. a scattering of showers and probably not quite as many on sunday but quite frequent showers into kent, essex and the channel islands. wales, the midlands, northern ireland, western scotla nd midlands, northern ireland, western scotland will be dry and sunny but cold. as we head into the early part of next week, monday starts with called and quite frosty as well. temperatures down to minus three celsius. 0n the whole it looks like monday should be a dry day. we have a weather front trying to come in from the west, some showers coming into the coastal areas but most places will be dry with some sunshine and. those temperatures getting up to nine or ten celsius. turning watt unsettled. —— turning more unsettled. hello and welcome to dateline london, the programme where some of the uk's leading journalists sit down with international correspondents who file their stories for folks back home with the dateline, ‘london'.

this week: king salman promises to "punish" those responsible for killing jamal khashoggi. should the world punish saudi arabia? the plight of china's muslim minority. and as the us midterm elections aspproach, do bad words beget bad actions? with me is christina lamb, chief foreign correspondent with the the sunday times. janet daley, columnist with the sunday telegraph. mustapha karkouti from gulf news. and the us journalist michael golfdarb, host of the podcast the first rough draft of history. perhaps the most chilling image of the week shows the prince clutching the week shows the prince clutching the hand of a bereaved subject. the hand of a bereaved subject, offering condolences on the killing of his father. it's mohammed bin salman, crown prince of saudi arabia meeting the son ofjamal khashoggi, a dissidentjournalist whom the saudis now admit was murdered by their own intelligence officers. the expression on salah khashoggi's face is hard to interpret. if the allegations are correct, he is shaking hands with the man who ordered his father's death.

this week, prince salman condemned the killing,