you're watching bbc news at 9 with me, annita mcveigh. the headlines. one person has been killed and two hurt after a stabbing attack on a busy street in melbourne, australia. police shot the attacker, who's now in hospital. the police quickly responded to the incident. as they got out of the car, they were confronted by a male brandishing a knife and threatening them. at the same time, passers—by were calling out that members the dup accuse the prime minister of breaking her promise over plans to avoid a hard irish border after brexit. the prime minister will lay wreaths at the graves of the first and last uk soldiers killed in the first world war, to mark the armistice centenary. the release rate for prisoners has fallen since serial sex offender john worboys‘ parole was blocked — that's according to the new head of the parole board. did britain's economy pick up or slow down during the summer heatwave? we'll find out when the latest figures are released in the next half hour.

also before 10am, england's cricketers draw closer to a win, as wickets tumble on the fourth day of the first test against sri lanka. good morning and welcome to the bbc news at 9. part of a new morning schedule here on the bbc news channel and bbc two. victoria derbyshire is now at 10 o'clock every weekday morning. we will begin with a developing story this morning. one person has died, and two others have been injured, after a stabbing attack on a busy city street in melbourne, australia. several mobile phone videos posted online show a car in flames and a man with what looks like a knife trying to attack

police officers, before he was shot by one of them. police say the man has "no known link to terrorism". police received reports of a vehicle on fire in bourke street. nearby police quickly responded to the incident. as they got out of the car, they were confronted by a male brandishing a knife and threatening them. at the same time, passers—by were calling out that members of the public had been stabbed. police shot the male in the chest and he is now in a critical condition and under guard at hospital. three people have been stabbed. unfortunately, one is deceased at the scene. two other victims are currently at hospital. let's get the latest from our correspondent hywel griffith, who's in sydney. what more is emerging about how this incident unfolded? it was pretty

chaotic and witnessed by hundreds of people. it happened right in the heart of melbourne city centre, in the busy shopping area, an area that is partly cordoned off for pedestrians, so this vehicle, excuse me, going into the shopping centre and causing a lot of damage, bursting into flames, which was caught by a lot of people on their phones but no one expected what they saw next, a man wielding a knife towing at people, stabbing three of them, one of them fatally. —— going at people. and then stabbing towards the police as they tried to detain him and a sum of the videos show, the police could not stop him, so they shot him in the chest and he's now in critical condition. —— some of the videos show. as we bring the video, police saying the man has no known link to terrorism but do they known link to terrorism but do they know anything else about him? they say they are keeping an open mind over motives, certainly when you assess some of the evidence, as they are now from the mobile phone footage, there are no shouts or

slogans coming from that individual. however, the key person who knows this is the suspect who is in a critical condition so they cannot interview them at the moment. but they will be looking at their identity, tracing their homes, carrying out searches, and the bomb squad has been called to the area that remains cordoned off to check for any devices. the vehicle exploded, the ute exploded into flames, perhaps as a result of a collision with a tram. again, a very dynamic area so lots of things that need to be looked at forensically before they can really come up with a conclusive answer. thank you for joining us. hywel griffith in sydney. if they are any developments in the story, we will bring them to you on bbc news. breaking news from scotla nd you on bbc news. breaking news from scotland yard just now, a 16—year—old girl has been arrested on suspicion of murder, in connection with a stabbing in south

london on sunday. mr aziz, the victim, was 22. scotland yard saying in the last few minutes, a 16—year—old girl has been arrested on suspicion of murder. that was one ofa number of on suspicion of murder. that was one of a number of fatal stabbings in the last few days in the capital. the democratic unionist party has accused the prime minister of breaking a promise that she would never sign up to a brexit deal that treated northern ireland differently from the rest of the uk. the party has been angered by a letter to its leader, arlene foster, from theresa may, seen by the times, in which she says the eu wants northern ireland to remain in the customs union and single market if trade negotiations fail. the party's anger centres on one paragraph in mrs may's letter, which refers to what's being called "a backstop to the backstop". the backstop is an insurance policy designed to keep an open border between northern ireland and the republic of ireland until the uk and eu agree their future relationship, and it remains one of the major obstacles

in the brexit negotiations. the so—called "backstop to the backstop" is the eu's plan that northern ireland would stay within the eu's custom arrangements if a backstop is not agreed in time. so what did mrs may write which has caused the controversy? let's explore this further with our political correspondent iain watson, whojoins us from westminster. in some ways, this is all fiendishly complicated, when people hear the phrase backstop to the backstop but essentially, this is about communication and the dup feeling the prime minister has gone back on a promise to them. that is right,

fiendishly complicated, as you say but it comes down to one very simple thing, a rare commodity in politics perhaps but it comes down to trust. effectively, the dup, the prime minister's allies, propping her up in parliament, are suspicious she might do some kind of deal with the european union which is not to their benefit. this is where it becomes for the casual observer, i think, pretty bizarre. let me take you through it. this letter was sent by theresa may to arlene. —— to the dup leadership and it makes clear that the eu's proposal to keep northern ireland in some kind of customs arrangement, following eu rules after brexit if there is no wider trade deal, that that proposal, as the prime minister would put it, would not come into force. you would think that sounds incredibly reassuring but to the dup, the words they wanted to see was that this will never be agreed, or this will never happen or i will never negotiate it. they wanted to see

harder words from the prime minister because what they suspect is that saying something won't come into force m ea ns saying something won't come into force means that she might initially agreed to put this in a withdrawal agreement with brussels, effectively to try to get a deal on brexit before the end of the year and they don't want any mention of this in that withdrawal agreement. i spoke earlier tojeremy that withdrawal agreement. i spoke earlier to jeremy wright the former attorney general, now the culture secretary. he effectively suggested the dup had simply overinterpreted oi’ the dup had simply overinterpreted or misinterpreted what was in the latter. what we have said throughout this process and what we are still saying is that we will not accept an arrangement where there's a border down the irish sea. that is the concerned the dup have. we have had that proposal from the european union but i don't think the prime minister could have been any clearer and remains clear that that is not and remains clear that that is not an acceptable proposal to the united kingdom and that remains the case. looking at some further reaction this morning from samuelson, the

dup's this morning from samuelson, the dup‘s brexit spokesperson, he says the dup is disappointed more than angry and think downing street lea ked angry and think downing street leaked the letter to prepare the ground for whatever deal is coming. he's not reading the rights on confidence and supply just he's not reading the rights on confidence and supplyjust yet, asking the pm to reconsider and if an agreement of this nature was to come to the house of commons, the dup would not support it. interesting comments from the dup brexit spokesman. what does this mean for any sign of a cabinet meeting to put a stamp on a deal? lots of speculation about when this might actually happen. lots of speculation about when this might actually happenlj lots of speculation about when this might actually happen. i don't think it is good news for the cabinet meetings. many ministers believed there was going to be one yesterday, actually, had enough progress being made. whatjeremy wright said about that was that there will be a cabinet meeting when there is a proposal to be put and the prime minister and the brexit secretary have to be given the space to negotiate. it does not sound like they are ready to get a proposal across the line even within the

cabinet, never mind taking it to brussels and getting the agreement of brussels at this stage. but still very much the prime minister's hope is that she will be able to do so before the end of the month. but you can see the difficulty with sammy wilson, it may sound too many google like dancing on the head of a pin, something does not come into force, something does not come into force, something is ruled out, but virtually every syllable, every utterance of the prime minister's has been pored over by her potential allies as well of her critics —— as well as her predict at this crucial stage as the prospect of a deal becomes closer and the difficulty for her is that if you get something to the cabinet, she also has to think how to get it through parliament and if she will potentially lose ten dup allies, that would make that process far more difficult and may even, may even persuade her that perhaps it isn't worth pushing the kind of deal that she had in mind with brussels if there is no prospect of it going through. there may be some, if you like a reinterpretation and rethinking going on inside downing street before we have that cabinet meeting. 0k, thank you very much.

iain watson. the new head of the parole board says the release rate for prisoners has fallen since the high court's decision in march to block the parole granted to the serial sex offender, john worboys. in herfirst interview, caroline corby told the bbc that her organisation had lost the confidence of the public. our home affairs correspondent, danny shaw, reports. thejohn worboys case has had a profound impact on the parole board. the man known as the black cab rapist was set to be freed from prison earlier this year after a parole panel decided it was safe to let him out. but the high court blocked his release and the case is being looked at again. the head of the board, nick hardwick, stepped down under government pressure. his successor told me it was a very difficult period. we saw the departure of our previous chair in difficult circumstances. the board was subject to unprecedented amount of publicity, the like of which we had not experienced before, and i think there was a loss of confidence amongst

ourselves a little bit, perhaps a loss of confidence in the wider public, and that was something that i am very keen to repair. since then, the parole board has made changes. it has sent summaries of its decisions to 500 victims of crime and appointed an in—house lawyer, while the prisoner release rate has dropped to 46%, a sign it has become more cautious about letting offenders out. but none of the 240 parole board members making decisions about the release of prisoners is black. 13 are from other ethnic minority groups. the new chair says that is a significant concern which must be addressed when new members are recruited next year. danny shaw, bbc news. i'm joined now by thomas guiney — he's a lecturer in criminology at oxford brookes university. good morning. that was clearly back in marcha good morning. that was clearly back in march a very uncomfortable period for the parole board. what do you

think caroline corby is going to do and need to do to address that loss of confidence that the parole board members feel themselves and a lot of confidence that people with a stake in the parole boards decisions might have? good morning and clearly it has been a very difficult time for the parole board and she has stepped into one of the most difficultjobs in the criminal justice system. time will tell whether she is given the support and resources she needs to really make a success of that. the parole board is now 50 years old and the volume of cases and the complexity of cases, and public expectations in the board have clearly changed. now is the time, really, for open debate about what we expect from a modern, 2ist—ce ntu ry what we expect from a modern, 2ist—century parole system. what we expect from a modern, 21st-century parole system. one sign of the loss of confidence is the number of releases has gone down. do you think that is a knee jerk or appropriate rebalancing, perhaps? u nfortu nately, appropriate rebalancing, perhaps? unfortunately, that may have been an inevitable response and it would have been difficult for parole board members making those decisions in

the aftermath and fallout from the john worboys decision. there's a really big and difficult discussion to be had about the independence of the parole board. the removal of nick hardwick as the chair has clearly had an impact and the president. my concern would be that the chair is only one very controversial and difficult decision away from another controversy or crisis and that may have contributed to the release rate falling. caroline corby, of course, talks about in her contract having new checks and balances to try to address that. but i want to ask you about one of the big concerns she raises which is a lack of diversity in parole board members. how do you think it is going to have to address that? i think we are at a really important crossroads in the parole system. on the whole, in general terms, they do a very good job at releasing prisoners. 0nly under i% go on to offend afterwards. that is pretty good when you look internationally at other parole boards. the big discussion and debate now is about how the parole board makes decisions. clearly it is

unacceptable there are no black members of the parole board. we need to look really carefully at the independence of the parole board, the kind of accountability the system as a whole has, and the support it provides to the parole board so not only are they getting those decisions right but they are seen those decisions right but they are seen to be making those decisions in afairand seen to be making those decisions in a fair and transparent and accountable way. thank you for joining us. it is exactly 9:15am. the headlines on bbc news. one person has been killed and two hurt after a stabbing attack on a busy street in melbourne, australia. police shot the attacker, who's now in hospital. the dup accuse the prime minister of breaking her promise over plans to avoid a hard irish border after brexit. the prime minister will lay wreaths at the graves of the first and last uk soldiers killed in the first world war, to mark the armistice centenary. jack leach takes three wickets as england close

in the opening test against sri lanka. they need five more wickets and they are now at tea. arsenal striker danny welback suffered what looked to be a serious injury last night, as his side made it through to the knock out stages of the europa league, thanks to a goalless draw with sporting lisbon. arsenal striker danny welback suffered what looked to be england's women stretched their unbeaten run to eight matches, beating austria 3—0 in their friendly in vienna — two of the goals came from debutants. i'll be back with more on those stories after half past. the prime minister will lay wreaths in belgium and france today —— the prime minister has in the last few moments laid a wreath in belgium and later she will lay one in france to honour the fallen soldiers of the first world war. ceremonies are taking place in the belgian city of mons, and at thiepval cemetery in france. they will start three days of remembrance events, including a concert at the royal albert hall and wreath—laying at the cenotaph, to mark the centenary of the armistice deal which ended 0ur correspondent gavin lee

is at mons in belgium. the prime minister, as i mentioned, laid a wreath in the last few minutes, to remember the first and last british soldiers to die in the conflict. tell us more about them. welcome to mons, in southern belgium, where the first and final shots were fired of the wall, where british troops first entered the war in 1914, august, taking on the germans and being pushed back, heavy casualties and retreating, and four yea rs casualties and retreating, and four years later, around now 100 years ago, canadian and british troops came back to mums to liberate the city from the germans. theresa may has just laid wreaths to the first soldier to die in the first world war, a british soldier, 17—year—old john parr from crouch end, who was a

reconnaissance cyclist, who was shot bya reconnaissance cyclist, who was shot by a sniper as he approached the german lines and again, four years later, the two graves are just opposite, five yards away from each other, the grave of 40—year—old george ellison who was a private from hull, and a second wreath was late for him, and the belgian prime minister is here as well. theresa may is about to leave, her entourage is waiting. she will go to france, to albert and the val, the huge memorial there, where there were huge losses of british and allied lives, hundreds of thousands around the river somme. this is the first of many commemorations over the weekend, 100 years since the end of the first world war. and the prime minister of course, hugely busy with brexit negotiations but very keen that the focus remains on this weekend of remembrance, isn't she? yes, we are standing by, at the moment, we are in a cordoned off area of the cemetery and theresa may is inside with her security, she has

laid the wreath and then she will leave, she will meet president macron for a working lunch, but whether brexit comes up, we are not being given any light on that. but clearly, this weekend the bright it —— priority will be the armistice but when you have an event on sunday, in which emmanuel macron is meeting with donald trump, and vladimir putin and angela merkel is coming to some of the commemorations as well, these are big meetings between leaders and i think theresa may will be back in the uk for most of these events but of course brexit and gienger, the belgian prime minister, spoke about it a second ago, the importance of the russian ship even 100 years with theresa may. we may yet hear more over the weekend. gavin lee in mons in belgium, thank you. the us president donald trump has stepped up his efforts to clamp down on immigration with a new proposal to restrict asylum claims. migrants entering illegally across america's southern border with mexico will no longer be eligible for asylum. the american civil liberties union has described the move as illegal and it's almost certain to be

challenged in court. chris buckler reports from washington. securing america's long border with mexico has become one of president trump's greatest concerns. he believes that the asylum laws are being abused by those who cross illegally and as a result, he says he intends to change them. currently, anyone can claim refuge within a year of entering the country by whatever means. but in future, the president intends to restrict that right only to those who queue up and cross at one of the official ports of entry. in a statement, the department of homeland security said:. hi, papi! and they insisted the president had the right to change the rules because it was in the national interest. but civil liberties groups say the policy will be challenged in court.

he absolutely doesn't have the authority from congress. in fact, congress made it very clear that what the law provides in this country is that you can apply for asylum whether you're at a port of entry or not at a port of entry. what he's doing is trying to erase the law with the stroke of a presidential pen. the president has raised many fears about a caravan of migrants slowly making their way from central america to the us border. many in the group say they are trying to escape poverty and persecution. but ahead of america's midterm elections, donald trump portrayed them as invaders and a threat. a vote for democrats is a vote to liquidate america's borders and it is a vote to let meth, fentanyl, heroin and other deadly drugs pour across our borders. his angry rhetoric at political rallies led many opponents to claim

he was scaremongering, but he has followed the words with actions, first deploying thousands more troops to the border and now changing the asylum rules in an attempt to close down some of the routes that migrants have used to enter america. chris buckler, bbc news, washington. there are unconfirmed reports of deaths as two major wildfires continue to burn across the us state of california. authorities in butte county, north of the state capital sacramento, say thousands of people have fled their homes and a number of buildings, including a hospital, have caught fire. further south, strong winds are hampering efforts to control another blaze in ventura county, near los angeles. a vigil has taken place in california to remember the 12 people who were killed in yesterday's shooting at a bar just outside los angeles. police named the suspect as 28—year—old ian david long, who was a former marine with suspected mental health issues. he killed himself during the attack.

it comes less than two weeks after another gunman opened fire on a synagogue in pittsburgh, killing 11. the way hospitals run outpatient clinics is stuck "in the 18th century", according to leading doctors. every year millions of people travel to hospitals, where doctors check up on their health and discuss their care. the royal college of physicians says many of these appointments are unnecessary, and they're calling for the health service to make more use of telephone and video consulations. 0ur health correspondent nick triggle reports. 0utpatient clinics are the busiest departments in hospitals. they see 127 million people across the uk each year. that's five times as more than come to a&e. but the services don't always run smoothly according to a review by the royal college of physicians. in england, one in five appointments are cancelled or missed. over half of appointments finish late. some of the problems

are unavoidable, the college said, because of sickness or emergencies requiring staff to be deployed elsewhere, but many are unnecessary. doctors gave evidence about how test results and notes were frequently missing or scans had not been done. there were also examples of patients trying to alert hospitals to the fact they could not attend, but finding it impossible to get through. we're using what is really an 18th—century solution to delivering care outside of hospitals for 21st—century problems, and we're demanding patients attend hospital in person to receive what could be communicated to them in other ways, and that engenders huge amounts of cost to the person and society in general in the way that we're delivering our care. some doctors believe as many as a fifth of appointments are unnecessary. they say more use of remote monitoring and telephone and video consultations could save the nhs and patients time and money. the report says senior nurses and other health staff could also be deployed to see patients closer to home. nhs england said it was looking to act on the findings. nick triggle, bbc news.

fly—tipping is on the rise, increasing by nearly 45% in england, scotland and wales in the last five years. it costs millions to clean up, and anyone caught doing it will be fined, but it's now hoped new penalties for people who pay rogue companies to get rid of their waste will also tackle the problem. samantha fenwick reports from birmingham. it looks like a dump. it feels like a ghetto. it's really frightening to be walking down here. imagine what it's like to have to walk through this every morning on your way to school or to work. it makes us feel unsafe. i believe that where there is rubbish, there's less respect for the area and there's more antisocial behaviour and crime. we've got a sign there that's broken, that shows the respect they've got for the area. fly—tipping is a problem right across birmingham. this is a particularly bad area.

there's household waste, fridges, mattresses and there's rotting food. there are flies everywhere, and the smell is quite horrendous. the situation has become so bad in parts of birmingham that over the past few years, local people have started going out several times a week, cleaning up the streets where they live. it's on every single road you're driving on, inner cities are a tip. the minute you report it, it gets clean, a couple of hours later, by the time the evening comes, the rubbish appears again. it's getting diabolical. who is tipping all of this stuff? definitely local residents. the tip is only a mile down the road, so why people would dump it here, i have no idea. the problem isn't isolated to birmingham. all areas of the uk are seeing an increase in fly—tipping. analysis of government data suggests it has increased by 44% in the past five years, and in 2017 it cost taxpayers £69 million to clear it up.

residents here in birmingham say the problem is made worse because there aren't enough bin collections. but the council say that's nonsense. this is down to laziness. i find it frustrating that people think it's ok to do this, you know, because it isn't. no matter who we are or what issues or frustrations we face, it is not acceptable to go and take your rubbish and throw it on somebody else's back door. birmingham council has a specialist team investigating these types of crimes. we've found some evidence that shows a residential address, so we'll be going along this afternoon to knock on the door to find out why the resident's address is in this rubbish. later this year, local councils in england will get powers to fine households up to £400 if they pay someone to take their rubbish and dump it in places like this.

samantha fenwick, bbc news. as many as 14 shops a day are closing on uk high streets as retailers face their toughest trading climate in five years. a report by the accountancy firm pwc found fashion and electrical stores had suffered the most, as customers choose to shop more online. nearly 2,700 shops closed in the first half of the year. a £10,000 reward is being offered for help in catching the people who attacked a 98—year—old man in his home in north london. peter gouldstone was found badly injured on tuesday. his son says he's "lost for words at man's inhumanity to man". mr gouldstone remains critically ill in hospital. a phd thesis and a wheelchair are among a selection of items belonging to the late professor stephen hawking, that have sold for nearly £1.4 million at auction.

the thesis fetched nearly £600,000 while the wheelchair sold forjust under £300,000. the online sale, by the auction house christie's, was in aid of the stephen hawking foundation and the motor neurone disease association. in a moment the weather, but first let's join chloe tilley to find out what coming up on the victoria derbyshire programme at 10. good morning. we have got an exclusive interview with the only female afghan barrister currently practising in britain, who says she has been sacked by her clients several times because of her race. 0ne defendant told her, "i want someone white because thejudge will told her, "i want someone white because the judge will believe them". we will be speaking to her from live outside the court where she is working today, just after 10am. now it is time for the weather.

the weather is going to turn quite nasty later this afternoon across western parts of the uk. we will see some heavy rain and strong winds moving in. strong winds developing for all of us really but it is around the irish sea coast where we could see some gales developing later. a few showers across scotland, down through central and eastern areas, but some sunny spells for much of the day. it is across northern ireland, the west of wales and the south—west that will see the heaviest rain moving in as we go through daylight hours. this evening, the rain continues to spread eastwards. travelling this evening, some rather nasty conditions on the road i suspect. through the night, the rain will clear away into the north sea. they hide it, clear spells and a few showers into the west. minimum overnight temperatures, 8—10. into the weekend, fairly unsettled, plenty of dry and sunny weather but quite a few showers, particularly around southern and western coasts. hello.

this is bbc news. the headlines: one person has been killed and two hurt after a stabbing attack on a busy street in melbourne, australia. police shot the attacker, who's now in hospital. his motive is still unclear. the dup accuse the prime minister of breaking her promise over plans to avoid a hard irish border, after brexit. the prime minister arrives in belgium, where she lays a wreath to honour the fallen soliders of the first world war. a 16—year—old girl has been arrested on suspicion of murder over the stabbing of a man in south london on sunday. the release rate for prisoners has fallen since serial sex offender john worboys‘ parole was blocked. that's according to the new head of the parole board. time now for the morning briefing, where we bring you up to speed

on the conversation surrounding today's stories, along with the best content from the bbc and beyond. let's start by taking a look at the front page of the times which has a report about a leaked letter, which some are saying suggests that the government might agree to an eu plan to leave northern ireland in the single market and customs union if there's no solution to the irish border issue is found during the post—brexit transition period. the paper says the letter, setting out the eu's proposal for the so—called "backstop to the backstop", was sent by theresa may to dup leader arlene foster on tuesday, although the pm insisted she would never allow it to come into force. arlene foster has replied saying that the letter rings alarm bells and that she interprets it to mean the prime minister is wedded to the idea of a border in the irish sea. meanwhile, the rte europe editor —

tony connelly — has tweeted that this leaked letter could cause problems saying dublin sees the withdrawal agreement as guaranteeing no hard border, while london sees it as guaranteeing no long term, northern ireland—specific backstop. the culture secretary, jeremy wright, has been questioned about the leaked letter today. he told bbc breakfast he understands the dup's concerns but insists that the prime minister has not gone back on her promise. the prime minister could not have been clearer through this process that we will not accept a deal which involves a border down the irish sea. that has not changed. what i think we can see in the papers this morning is a report of a letter where the prime minister reports what the eu wants but we have been clear that we will not accept a border down the irish sea and that is the reassurance i can offer to the dup and anyone else concerned about the issue. can you tell us your understanding as to why there has been a cabinet meeting delay

with the full brexit deal? it's important to get these things right. i have no doubt when there is a proposal to put two cabinet they will have the chance to consider it, and that is as it should be. but we need to give the prime minister and dominic raab the space to negotiate and doa dominic raab the space to negotiate and do a good deal on behalf of the uk andi and do a good deal on behalf of the uk and i absolutely believe we can do that but we need to give them the space to negotiate and make sure we get the details right. that is what we are doing. let's take a look at some of the most read stories on the website, and there is the remarkable decline in fertility rates. these are researchers at the university of washington who have been following trends between 1950 and last year, 2017 and they say there has been a remarkable global decline in the

number of children and women are having. if you go down through it you will see in 1950 that women had an average of 4.7 children in their lifetime. the fertility rate had all but halved by last year to 2.4 children per woman and just looking at the second paragraph, the report finds that fertility rate falls meant half of countries were facing a so—called baby bust meaning there are insufficient children to maintain the population size. further down, at number four, maintain the population size. further down, at numberfour, lets look at this, the gamer who spent seven look at this, the gamer who spent seve n yea rs look at this, the gamer who spent seven years in his dressing gown. this is billy brown from ashton in cornwall and he left his home fewer than ten times in seven years and now explains how years helping other young people break away from a life of isolation. he said he spent years and years sitting at his computer and years sitting at his computer and he would only go outside for

doctor or dentist appointments. further down the story you can see how he finally decided to seek help and where he went for the help. this weekend marks 100 years since the end of the first world war. historian and broadcaster tessa dunlop, has been looking into the role played by women during the conflict. she spoke to charlie stayt and naga munchetty on bbc breakfast this morning — and began by talking about one of queen victoria's granddaughters. and english born princess who became queen of romania, queen marie, and in 1918 the new york times wrote she is the vivid and unforgettable personality of the war. you had better explain. this is moving footage of her. she was queen victoria's granddaughter, born in kent and there is a statue of her going up in kent and she married aged 17 to this plain kinky and remaining and romania in the end

after we browbeat and bully them, we know they will not cope and sure enough they collapse and theyjoin as in 1916 enough they collapse and theyjoin as in1916 and enough they collapse and theyjoin as in 1916 and germany in three months is in bucharest and queen marie adopts this becomes a symbol of her nation and she does this by never getting out of her nurse's whites. in eastern france, they go through, collars and cuffs down to the ground, almost like a madonna with the red cloth and the universal symbol of hope —— red cross. 0ne with the red cloth and the universal symbol of hope —— red cross. one of the reasons this was so significant powerful was that edith cavell, the british nurse had been murdered and it was a tragedy, murdered by the germans in 1915 and she was a nurse who helped both sides and was at the court, taking allied troops into neutral holland and the germans caught her and murdered her. and we

made a massive pr thing of this. we we re made a massive pr thing of this. we were desperate to get america to come to our side. it's interesting to hear how we did that. in this day and age you can understand pr and how it works and we have social media, tv footage, so how did we manage to take the story across questioner edith cavell was a middle—aged woman who was not betrayed that way when we decided to appeal to the americans to help us out. you are quite right. interestingly she was 49 and a career woman. a classic hardy spinster going out to help and she was remodelled as this helpless victim, a woman who had been killed but was the not entirely helpless because she was a nurse but it was the era of the emerging mass media and more people read newspapers than now and more about foreign relations. you have newsreel and

photography and it was very effective. and the result was, even before her death, that the a cce pta ble before her death, that the acceptable imagery of a woman during the wall was to be a nurse, it was feminine, it was a role seen as a cce pta ble feminine, it was a role seen as acceptable and it was a very controversial time with the suffragettes and the vote being given in 1918. tessa dunlop. having looked at some of our most read stories on the website lets go down to the most watched. it's been around for awhile but you still love it, it's which of these is not real. a chinese news agency says it has developed an artificial intelligence news presenter ready to read, 24/7 every single day of the year. and it's the war on the right if you haven't worked it out. i think it's fairly obvious. —— the one on the right. it is all real here though, i

promise you. that is it for today's morning briefing. we havejust got the latest gdp figures for the third quarter of the year. simon is here to tell us what they are. if you wa nted to tell us what they are. if you wanted to know what gdp was doing you have to follow the weather. it was terrible, with the beast from the east early in the year between february and march which stopped construction and retail so sluggish growth and then it picked up and in the third quarter we have a reflection of that. the figure for growth in the word quarter —— third quarter is 0.6%. very much in line with expectations and that is faster than the 0.4 we were getting before that. fantastic summer weather, building

going on, shopping and august was pretty flat. that is the other figure we have today. month on month growth in september was flat, zero. this is the picture of the year so far. how unusual is that? it's not happen for a while but it means there's no growth in september because we saw a decline in car manufacturing and factories were moving slowly and some had been on short time and people in the shops we re short time and people in the shops were buying slightly less food, so the year as a whole slowed down and then a big recovery and now it has slackened off. it was a feel-good factor with the royal wedding and the world cup and then that disappeared, so what is the meaning of this? what does it mean for us as consumers? people might ask how much we should care about roads because

if things stay the same, does it matter so much if you are happy as things are, but gross is where we get increases in pay, more investment in businesses and it affects the value of the pound so in world terms, whether we can buy things overseas and that is why we need more growth and it also affects our interest rates so the bank of england looks at how fast the economy is going to set the rates and those of us to borrow lots of money will save interest rates are low, that is fine but savers are looking for higher interest rates and in fast—growing economies you get higher rates. with the uncertainties over growth and brexit we are not looking at further interest rate rises until well into next year and that's perhaps the message from these figures. simon, thank you. time for sport and a full round—up from the bbc sports centre. here is mike. i am sure you will tell us what is happening over the weekend, but what's first? starting with the cricket and it's

looking so good for them. who're chasing their first, overseas test match, win for two years they need threee more wickets, to beat sri lanka in the opening test in galle. 0n the stroke of lunch, de silva edged ben stokes straight to joe root. and just when sri lanka were digging in whenjack leach took two more wickets — moeen ali struck with the first ball after tma kept going with ali and he's just taken after tma kept going with ali and he's just ta ken another one, after tma kept going with ali and he's just taken another one, so sri la nka he's just taken another one, so sri lanka crumbling, 197—7, way off the target of 450. arsenal striker danny welbeck, suffered what looked to be a serious injury, in their europa league game, last night. he jumped for a header and landed badly on his right ankle — he was taken to hospital and manager unai emery described the injury as "very big". arsenal drew 0—0 with sporting lisbon at the emirates to make it through to the knock—out stages. welbeck‘s team—mates on the pitch were clearly shaken — and the well wishes came quickly on social media.

see you soon". a heart—felt message from manager unai emery — "one more big reason to fight, and win next sunday. all the @arsenal with you. hope to see your smile, and energy soon, danny! and from arsenal legend and world cup winner gilberto silva, "keep strong". chelsea are also through to the knockout stage of the europa league. and it was a former arsenal man that took them there — 0livier giroud giving them a 1—0 win over bate borisov. they've won every game in this season's competition. celtic‘s 2—1 victory at home to rb leipzig means they can still go through. 0dsonne edouard scored the winnerjust a minute after the germans had equalised. but steven gerrard lost his first european game as rangers manager. they led sparktak moscow three times before eventually losing 4—3. there's strength in depth it seems in the england women's team.

an inexperienced team won 3—0 in austria, with two of the goals coming from debutants — chioma ubo—gagu and georgia stanway. that takes their unbeaten run to eight matches. they play sweden in another friendly in rotherham on sunday. that awful injury to danny welbeck dominates the back pages today. the guardian showing the moment, that his team—mate realised just how bad it was the star has england manager gareth southgate defending the decision, to give wayne rooney a farewell game. but the mirror have a different take on that, calling the whole thing a "farce". they're also reporting that lewis hamilton, is threatening to quit f1, if the season is extended to 25 races. a great story in the telegraph sport section as the met police football clu b section as the met police football club have made it there because they are being dubbed the fraud squad because not a single player is a policeman. they face newport county tomorrow. it's as busy

a friday as you'd expect, the draw for the quarter—finals, of the women's champions league at noon. chelsea are the only british side left in the competition — and at one o'clock, practice begins for the brazilian grand prix — there's coverage on 5live sports extra and the bbc sport website. there'll be news on all that, plus the first the fa cup on sportsday — that's at 6.30 on bbc news. we have saved the best to last. with 18 medals, two olympic and two world championship titles, max whitlock is the most successful british male gymnast of all time. and he's here now. so close to making it three titles because you got the same score as the gold medal so it came down to the gold medal so it came down to the execution mark? you'd worked on that routine and you got the same score as the gold medallist. it's

tough when you get the same score but we know that is the rule in gymnastics. it is done on execution. the one thing i can take is that it has build confidence in me, doing three out of three routines and it was in the cleanest i've ever done andi was in the cleanest i've ever done and i made a slight error on the first pass so that gave me confidence moving forward because there's room for improvement and the score that i did is still an upgrade in the bank that i can hopefully use in the bank that i can hopefully use in the future, so i feel pleased and ican take in the future, so i feel pleased and i can take the positives from that and go forward with motivation. amazing to the naked eye. you have to put new moves in the routine so you have to keep reinventing the routine. yes. for the first two yea rs of routine. yes. for the first two years of the cycle it has been riskier and i've been open and honest about it with making upgrades and wanting to increase my level and starting school. the risk is increased as well and that is just

the way it is in gymnastics. you have to go to competition and try new staff to gain experience and gain confidence on those skills. it's a long process but it's about looking at the bigger picture and i've learnt a lot from every championships this year and i know i can have a well earned rest and come back stronger and go back with motivation and focus on the finer things next year. you seem fresher than ever. normally you are broken and in bits and pieces and in pain, but this yet, none of that. i'm really pleased, actually. with how i have been training i think it has highlighted how important this is, and three majors is very tough. and it's another positive the next year. you are still 25 and lewis smith has

decided to retire. what has he given to the sport over the years? an awful lot. we competed at many championships and he made people believe what is possible in the sport that is key. at my club in south essex, that is so important. when i was a youngster i did not dream of being an 0lympian because it was not in my sights, but now there are five—year—olds and six are wanting to be an olympic champion because they see what they can do. whatever clu b because they see what they can do. whatever club you are from, it is about training hard and having the dedication and a good team around you and everything coming together at the right time. you have shown what is possible but it takes so

much hard work and pain, as i found that when i came to your gym, in the bucket. it can take a lot of going in the bucket and falling out of the bucket. people should not be put off from this. because you can go on to realise your dreams. gymnastics or any sport takes many years. i started when i was seven and i am 25. it takes a long time but we have a lot of people come into the gym and trying the first time and they don't believe how much they can do and they can do gymnastics, but it's and they can do gymnastics, but it's a top sport. but very rewarding sport and you get so many benefits and that's why i try and put it in the right direction, which is very exciting because it can open so many doors like it did for me and benefit so many people. max, thanks for coming in and good luck in february when you are expecting your first baby. 0bi goes well. i bet you will be fantastic father. enjoy the rest you will have as well. that's all sport now.

more from the bbc sport centre at 1115. good for you that having a go. good to hear from max, good for you that having a go. good to hearfrom max, ringing back the excitement —— bringing back the excitement —— bringing back the excitement of the olympics. let's get more on the story from melbourne, that one person has died, and two others have been injured, after a stabbing attack on a busy city street in the city. according to the afp news agency, police are treating this as a terror incident. we can now talk to melissa davey, the guardian's bureau chief in melbourne. melissa, looking at some of the videos online of the attack, him lashing out with the knife, really horrific. what more do we know about what went on? i am trying to catch up what went on? i am trying to catch up on that myself because there is a press co nfe re nce up on that myself because there is a press conference now with the police commissioner. i have been running between the scenes today trying to

piece this together and it seems that a gentleman through some gas cylinders into a vehicle which then rolled out of control and caught on fire. police turned up at the scene and the gentleman responsible for the attack attempted to stab one of the attack attempted to stab one of the police officers. 0ther the attack attempted to stab one of the police officers. other people, bystanders, they tried to intervene and three people were stabbed. u nfortu nately and three people were stabbed. unfortunately one of the men snap —— stabbed, one of the bystanders died and police at the scene shocked the attacker and he has just and police at the scene shocked the attacker and he hasjust died in hospital, we have been told that the press co nfe re nce . hospital, we have been told that the press conference. i am a little bit all over the place but it is still unfolding. melissa, thank you for the update. saying that police have

confirmed that the attacker has died in hospital. as we approach the centenary in hospital. as we approach the ce nte nary of in hospital. as we approach the centenary of the end of the first world war this sunday, robert hall has been travelling along parts of the western front. today his report is from newport, in belgium, where the trench lines ended. robert is there in the north of belgium for us now. this is one of the most significant spots of the first world war and we are just inland from the english channel at the end of the river which stretches out behind me and we are on top of a memorial which is a focal point for belgian remembrance. and it's a huge circle of yellow clay bricks with the figure of the wartime belgian king albert in the centre of it and it marks a moment at the end of 1914

when quick thinking stopped the german forces. what had happened was that the allies had been leapfrogging while that the allies had been lea pfrogging while another to that the allies had been leapfrogging while another to get to the scene first and at this point as the scene first and at this point as the town of newport was being threatened, the sluices and the locked gates complex became a crucial factor. this is locked gates complex became a crucialfactor. this is called locked gates complex became a crucial factor. this is called the goose's port and it's a series of sluices that controls the incoming tide and stopped it flooding the farmland and brings it that low tide. the germans were about our away in the belgian army took a decision to flood the land they opened the sluices to create a huge inland lake and from that point on from the rest of the war, german forces were held in their tracks and the trench lines were established. a really important spot. during the

journey of about 150 miles, that is a factor to remember, we've also been hearing remembrance stories and as the milestone of the centenary passes, the question arises, how will we remember in the future? i've been talking to some groups to find out. the machines have been working around the clock. the royal british legion's factories make over 4 million poppies every year, part of a remembrance tradition which has always focused on the armistice. remembrance gives us an opportunity for stillness, in a very, very busy world. and i think that that need to come together, and the national unity that we can collectively have from that, is very powerful. that sense of national grief was first expressed at the newly constructed cenotaph two years after the armistice. ex—servicemen, widows, friends, unified by losses, in every town, city and village.

flowers and tears for millions who had died. the last of the survivors have now left us, so as world war i recedes further into distant history, how should we keep remembrance alive? so what you've got there then is your engineer's store. historian andy robertshaw believes practical experience can help us understand why we should remember. he has reconstructed a section of the trenches here in kent to illustrate life at the front. his young visitors were united in their enthusiasm for the project, but divided on how remembrance should look in the future. you need to express it more. you can't just, like, let it lay in the history books at the library. you need to bring it to the school, and maybe have assemblies on it. i don't feel we should change it at all.

we're still remembering them, and we're still remembering what they did. some tradition is important, but you could change it up a bit, because i think the youth will get bored of it. one way of sustaining interest is through stories. sir michael morpurgo is a master of his art. the stories are what stick, the stories are what stay. so i think it's up to storymakers like me, dramatists, film—makers. however we tell our stories, there won't be, in 50 years' time, tears for these people, because no—one will know them. we will know it's desperately sad, but if you have known those people in your mind's eye, through a story, and you have felt it deeply, that these people did do what they did, and it was important to you that they did, then it means something. at the point—du—jour cemetery in northern france, the sun was setting as cadets paid

tribute to the scottish regiment which served here. change may lie ahead, but the baton of remembrance is still being passed on. 0ne one little remembrance story, as we left after broadcasting in ypres yesterday, we found the grave of two brothers, two officers killed in two parts of the battlefield. their father was so distraught that he sold his business to pay for memorials for them and arrange for them to be buried together side by side. more from us, later on. robert, thank you very much. there will be extensive coverage for armistice over the weekend. right now, chloe is it with the victoria derbyshire programme. hello, it's friday, it's 10

o'clock, i'm chloe tilley. our top story — we've got an exclusive interview with the only female afghan barrister currently practising in britain, who says she's been sacked by her clients several times because of her race. 0ne defendent told her, "i want someone white because the judge will believe them". we'll speak to rahana popal, live from outside the court where she's working today. the women who risk their lives to have a baby. this programme has been inside a unique clinic offering new hope to women who've had a heart attack and want to have a child. and i spoke about it at length with my cardiologist and hejust said, you know, "i think it's best you put that out of your mind". since the high court's decision to block the parole granted to the serial sex offender, john worboys, the new head