you're watching bbc newsroom live — it's11am and these are the main stories this morning. police in melbourne are treating a knife attack in the city centre as a terrorist incident after one person was killed and two injured. the attacker was shot at the scene and later died in hospital. a short time, probably about half—an—hour after the alleged offender arrived at the hospital, he succumbed to his injuries and died at hospital from that gunshot wound. the dup accuse the prime minister of breaking her promise over plans to avoid a hard irish border, after brexit. the prime minister has laid wreaths at the graves of the first and last british soldiers killed in the first world war, to mark the armistice centenary. this summer's heatwave helped the economy to grow — but cracks are beginning to show as consumers cut back on spending. also coming up before midday — we speak to the 27—year—old world chess champion magnus carlsen,

who faces a young challenger in his latest world title contest, which starts today. good morning. welcome to bbc newsroom live. police in the australian city of melbourne say they're treating as a terror incident a stabbing attack in the city centre. one person was stabbed to death and two others injured in the rush hour. police opened fire on one man who was armed with a knife — it's believed he had set a car on fire before attacking passers by. with the story — which contains some distirbing images from the start — here's our australia correspondent hywel griffith: face—to—face with unarmed attacker officers confront a man brandishing a knife. he continued to swing at

them until moments later, they shot him in the chest. the police were called after reports of a vehicle on fire. it had been driven into the heart of the city's shopping district before bursting into flames. gas canisters were later found at the scene. when the police arrived they found members of the public had been attacked with a knife. one of them fatally. three people have been stabbed, u nfortu nately people have been stabbed, unfortunately one is deceased at the scene. two others are currently at hospital. the bomb response unit have cordoned off the area. the msp have cordoned off the area. the msp have extinguished a vehicle fire, the bomb response unit is making the scene say. the city centre was cordoned off. people were warned by a new siren alert system to keep clear. many were left in disbelief. there have been a lot of officers who have looked concerned. i have

run into friends who are concerned. videos have emerged of the shooting, attempted stabbings. it is quite violent and at the moment the best way to describe it is just shock. counterterrorism are now investigating and save the man was known to them but was not on a terror watch list. detectives say there is no ongoing threat. but melbourne has become the latest city to face the question of whether more can be done to protect the public from sudden, chaotic acts of terror. police have given a further update — here's what they had to say. what we know so far about the individual who we shot, police shot, and who has died in hospital, from what we know, we are treating this asa what we know, we are treating this as a terrorism incidents. we now know about the identity of the person. initially the person did not

have identification on them but we now have confirmation of the identity of that person and for operational reasons we have counterterrorism command dealing with this matter and an ongoing investigation continues. i am not at liberty at this point to disclose the identity of that person. we are... we do have counterterrorism investigations under way. in relation to that person, he is known to police. he is known to police mainly in respect to relatives he has that are certainly persons of interest to us. he is someone who accordingly is known to both victoria police and federal intelligence authorities. the democratic unionist party has accused the prime minister of breaking a promise that she would never sign up to a brexit deal that treats 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, which has been seen by the times newspaper. it focuses on one of the main sticking points in the negotiations — how to avoid a hard irish border after brexit and what's called the backstop arrangement. reality check correspondent chris morris, explains what that is. the brexit debate has an awful lot to do with lines on the map. and what negotiators call the backstop is a guarantee that after brexit there will be no hard border, no new border checks between the republic of ireland in the eu and northern ireland in the uk, under all circumstances. keeping the border open is a crucial part of the northern ireland peace process and both sides hope a new trade agreement can keep everything running as smoothly as it does now. but if they can't do that deal, or it is not ready in time, the backstop would kick in automatically. so as chris was explaining,

the backstop is an insurance policy designed to maintain an open border on the island of ireland in the event the uk leaves the eu without an all—encompassing deal. there is also what's called the "backstop to the backstop". that is what the eu has proposed if a backstop agreement cannot be made in time, and it would mean that northern ireland would stay within the eu's custom arrangements, therefore creating a customs border in the irish sea. hat has frustrated the dup is the prime minister's mention of this in her letter to arlene foster. in it she says... let's explore this further with our political correspondent

leila nathoo who joins us from westminster. these discussions have been littered with examples of how statements have been interpreted in different ways. in this instance, why is the dup saying a promise has been broken?” saying a promise has been broken?|j think saying a promise has been broken?” think this is a reminder of how many fronts there are where negotiations are taking place, not only taking place between the uk and brussels but also in negotiations between the conservative government and dup and within the government. this point of contention relates to the insurance policy, the idea of keeping the irish border open, free from checks under any circumstances. the sticking point between the uk and brussels is theresa may wants a time limit on that insurance policy, so

it could expire at any point in brussels says if it is an insurance policy that comes to an end in you can decide when it comes to an end it is not an insurance policy. they wa nt it is not an insurance policy. they want this backstop to a backstop that ensures under all circumstances there is a fallback option for the irish border. theresa may says in this letter, she explains the eu proposals to the dup. but it is the turn of phrase saying it is not something that would ever come into force that has raised eyebrows because it means this idea of the eu's preferred option, which would separate off northern ireland from the rest of the uk in customs terms, thatis the rest of the uk in customs terms, that is the concern on the dup said, that is the concern on the dup said, that it will be written into the divorce deal hammered out and is nearly at its final stages. that

concerns the dup and they say to theresa may it is a broken promise. this is something downing street denies saying they are clear they would not countenance a customs border down the irish sea and the former attorney general, he said there had been no change in position. what we have said throughout this process and what we are still saying is that we will not accept an arrangement where there is a border down the irish sea. that's the concern that 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 isn't an acceptable proposal to the united kingdom. that remains the case. as the negotiations enter the final stage, you will see this lobbying from the dup raising their concerns but remember there are no agreements are many of these points within the cabinet and we expect a cabinet meeting next week to try to thrash

out some of these final points. thank you. we can also speak to john campbell, bbc northern ireland's economics and business editor, who joins us from belfast. bring us date with what the dup have been saying. i do not want to contradict what my colleagues have been saying but it is not the customs thing that is annoying the dup today. in the letter from the prime minister she repeats she does not want to do anything that would break up the customs union and gives an assurance to the dup and the dup accept that. what she does do in the letter is leave open the possibility that northern ireland and the backstop would have to follow many of the rules of the eu single market. it is not to do with customs, it is to do with single market regulations, which is annoying the dup today. the prime minister says northern ireland is

already different from the rest of the uk in some regulations such as if you want to bring animals into northern ireland from great britain they have to have paperwork. she suggested a backstop that could be expanded upon. the dup are not wearing that say a current regulatory divergence between the uk and northern ireland has been democratically agreed and if you implement a backstop, new regulations would be imposed by brussels and would not be democratic and would break up the uk. that concerns them today, not customs. and would break up the uk. that concerns them today, not customsm illustrates how tricky it is to get to the nitty—gritty of detail in all of this. looking at what the dup brexit spokesman was saying, he feels that as things stand, the dup could not back theresa may on any deal on this basis. exactly, the dup mps would not back a withdrawal

agreement that would leave open the possibility northern ireland would continue to follow the single market rules and they rest of the uk would not. dominic grieve, former attorney general, a supporter of remain, he is in northern ireland. he said he could not support that backstop. he thinks many conservative mps could not support it. while the dup i think have accepted theresa may is going for a deal that would involve an element of a northern ireland backstop, they believe she would struggle to get it through parliament. thank you very much. the prime minister is in belgium where she has laid a wreath 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 the four—year conflict. those pictures from mons earlier.

our correspondent gavin lee is at mons in belgium. that's a wreath to honour the first and last british soldiers to die in the conflict, a very poignant moment. it is, welcome to the cemetery where 500 soldiers are buried, and german soldiers, it was a german cemetery in the war, they we re a german cemetery in the war, they were able to use this and belgian civilians said other soldiers have to be buried here and it became a shared cemetery. the prime minister decided to visit mons first, because of its position in the first world war, where british soldiers first came into conflict with german

soldiers, retreating after heavy casualties, the place where the last shots were fired. just over these fences, today 100 years ago, this cemetery was established, the canadian and british came this way and took mons by the 11th. we have here theresa may laying a wreath to a 70—year—old, john part, a cyclist on reconnaissance and he was shot. theresa may has written there is in that rich earth a richer dust concealed. a poem by rupert brooke. ——john concealed. a poem by rupert brooke. —— john parr. if you concealed. a poem by rupert brooke. ——john parr. if you yard is opposite, the last soldier killed by a sniper 90 minutes before armistice, george ellison, 40, a private who was talking to a group of belgian civilians, clearing from house—to—house and was shocked by a sniper and a message handwritten from theresa may. against the odds,

uncounted. from another poem for the fall. it strikes me that are still many people who come here to see the many people who come here to see the many graves. we have been told theresa may left a short while ago. she has gone to france to meet president 0bama as a place that was the centre of fierce battles in the somme and then she will go to thiepval, remembering hundreds who did wild this weekend of commemorations take place 100 years on. thank you. the headlines on bbc news. police in melbourne are treating a knife attack in the city centre as a terrorist incident after one person was killed and two injured. the attacker was shot at the scene and later died 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 has laid wreaths

at the graves of the first and last british soldiers killed in the first world war, to mark the armistice centenary. england have beaten sri lanka in the opening test in galle — their first ever test victory there. moeen ali took four wickets as they bowled sri lanka out to win by 211 runs inside four days. arsenal striker danny welback suffered what looked to be a serious injury last night, as his side made it through to the knockout stages of the europa league, thanks to a goalless draw, with sporting lisbon. england's women stretched their unbeaten run to eight matches, beating austria 3—nil in their friendly in vienna — two of the goals came from debutants. i will be back at 11:30am. 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 offenderjohn worboys. in herfirst interview, caroline corby told the bbc the board was learning lessons from what went wrong and that panels were now demanding more information before making decisions. she also said mistakes had been made and that her organisation had lost the confidence of the public. in the judgment there were issues about whether the panel had sufficiently tested the credibility of that particular prisoner. there were very unusual characteristics to that case, as i said earlier, and i'm not sure it was well served throughout the criminal justice system, actually. and, in fairness to the panel, i don't think they got the dossier they should have got and that... the judges seemed to take a similar view, actually. so there was some learning there for us. but i do want to reiterate that i think this is a very unusual case and it's not typical of the work,

and, actually, ithink that the parole board does a really good job in terms of risk assessing and keeping the public safe, but still making sure there are the right checks and balances in the system so that people are released if it is appropriate to do so. i spoke earlier to thomas guiney — a lecturer in criminology at oxford brookes university. he said it's too early to tell if the parole board has been able to regain the confidence of the public following the warboys case. clearly it has been a very difficult time for the parole board and she has stepped into one of the most difficultjobs in the criminaljustice 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, the complexity of cases, and public expectations in the board, have clearly changed. now is the time for open debate about what we expect from a modern, 21st—century parole system. one side of that loss of confidence is that the number of releases has gone down. do you think that is

a knee—jerk, or an appropriate rebalancing, perhaps? well, unfortunately, i think that may have been an inevitable response and it would have been very difficult for parole board members making those decisions in the aftermath of the fallout from the worboys decision. i think there is a really big and difficult discussion to be had about the independence of the parole board. the removal of nick hardwick as chairman has clearly had an impact and a precedent. my concern would be that the chair is only one very controversial or difficult decision away from another controversy or another crisis. that may have contributed to the release. caroline corby talks about in her contract having new checks and balances to try to address that but i just want to ask you about one of the big concerns that she raises, which is a lack of diversity in parole board members. how do you think it's going to have to address that? i think we are at an important crossroads. in general terms, they do a very good job at releasing prisoners.

0nly under 1% 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 and, clearly, it is not acceptable there are no black members of the parole board. we need to look carefully at the independence of the parole board, the kind of accountability that the system as a whole has and the support it provides to the parole board, so that not only are they getting those decisions right, but they are seen to be making those decisions in a fair, transparent and accountable way. a 16—year—old girl has been arrested suspicion of murder over the stabbing of a man in south london. ayodeji habeeb azeez, who was 22, was stabbed and pronounced dead in anerley on sunday. the teenager is the third person to be arrested over the attack. two men, aged 19 and 21, were arrested on suspicion of murder on sunday and both have been released under investigation. the trump administration has

outlined plans to end the right of people who've entered the country illegally over the border with mexico to apply for asylum. an official statement from the department of homeland security suggests president trump has the authority to restrict illegal immigration if it's in the national interest. he's understood to be preparing to sign the measure into law. the american civil liberties union has described the move as illegal and it's almost certain to be challenged in court. 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. and this is the scene live in ventura county,

at oak park. firefighters battling flames in a residential area, so tough circumstances not helped by the weather conditions, including strong winds fanning the flames in some areas. these are the latest pictures coming to us right now. the uk economy grew by 0.6% in the last quarter, according to the latest figures. the office for national statistics says the economy saw a strong summer, although longer—term economic growth remained subdued. there were some signs of weakness in september, with slowing retail sales and a drop in domestic car purchases. earlier i spoke to our business correspondent simon gompertz who said the weather has had a big impact on the uk's economy and growth figures this year.

it was terrible with the beast from the east, between february and march. that stopped construction and retail and we had sluggish growth then and then it picked up and in then and then it picked up and in the third quarter we have a reflection of that so the figure for growth in the third quarter is 0.6%. very much in line with expectations. that is faster than the 0.4% a quarter we were getting before that. a three—month figure. 0.6% is quite good but underlying that we have a july that was fast as we picked up from the beast from the east with fantastic summer weather and a lot of building going on and more shopping of manufacturing. august flat, september flat, and shopping of manufacturing. august flat, septemberflat, and that shopping of manufacturing. august flat, september flat, and that is the other figure today, month on month growth in september was flat.

zero. this is the picture of the year so far. how unusual is that? it means there is no growth happening in september because we have seen a decline in car manufacturing for instance, factories have been moving more slowly, some on short time. and in the shops people have been buying slightly less food in september. the year, slow down with the beast from the east and then a recovery and now it has slackened off. meanwhile changes in how we are shopping is continuing to have an impact. 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. andrew teacher is an independent retail expert and joins me now.

iam sure i am sure people, we notice shops that have close recently but when you put a figure on it, as many as 14a you put a figure on it, as many as 14 a week, that is striking. it is a shocking number from pwc. 14 a week, that is striking. it is a shocking numberfrom pwc. an ongoing trend we have been seeing the last ten years. the rise of online shopping has collided initially with the financial crisis, but also to a shifting trend in how we live our lives with focus on eating out, spiked a number of dining chains that have come up and now they are declining as we look at in—house dining through apps. i think what we are seeing through the challenges of big retailers is the good ones have evolved, they have created models that look at multichannel shopping where you can buy online and collect in store and mash up the different

channels and shopping but outdated businesses have struggled. looking at some of the stuff on marks & spencer that came out, these guys are struggling because they have not evolved and not evolved supply chains and the way they market their business, or indeed the kind of products they sell. there was an interesting interview this morning with the managing director of iceland who talked about overly taxed bricks and mortar retailers, these are the online retailers and he talked about an outdated tax mechanism that impacts the bricks and mortar retailers. would you agree with him, is there not a level playing field? he is correct and he means the business rates one pays on a shop, iceland have retail presence, they pay more business rates, the government's commercial property tax. they pay more on the high street shop than on a warehouse

in the middle of the midlands because the value of the property is more and appoint the iceland chief makes is they cannot compete because the tax per equivalent space of property for an iceland versus an online retailer is more and the tax, the disconnect between the tax take of the government from retailers versus warehouse distributors has not been something they have faced up not been something they have faced up to despite constant and repeated declarations that the government would look at overhauling business rates. we saw it in the budget and when i spoke to the bbc last week i said the government, they have been leaking this stuff about overhauling business rates and giving a lifeline to small businesses and all they did was cut rates for a few small properties, and until we see some rebalancing, we are not going to see

much progress. with as many as... i said 14 shops a week, it is a day. 2500 year. an incredible figure. if we are not to see a drastic change to the high streets and communities, the impact ofjobs, is the government going to do more? presumably, there is only so far retailers can go in terms of offering the experiences in store you cannot get online. the reality is online shopping has changed the psychology of shopping. nowadays you go online if you want an umbrella or pairof go online if you want an umbrella or pair of shoes. you go and find the best price and people are adapting back to the high street which means they cannot compete because of the cost issue but equally, the public have to take their own responsibility. it is easy to blame the government and it has failed to

update business rates but from the government perspective, you have an electorate who wants more money in the nhs so the government raises 28 billion from business rates annually, and easy tax to raise and the decision policymakers have to make is what the public want? hospitals or high streets? if what the public wants is to have high streets, then it needs to support them and that means may be shopping locally and being prepared to pay a bit more to support local businesses, but equally, companies need to evolve and look at the successful businesses and ultimately it is also about companies being run better. it is easy to blame landlords. people say landlords hike up landlords. people say landlords hike up the rent and blame everybody but themselves. what we have seen through some of the department store failures in recent times, the reason why companies like house of fraser have these odorous lease contracts

where they have decades of contracts on shops is because previous owners of the businesses have extracted heaps of cash and they have got off scot—free under until we address fundamental issues, nothing will change. andrew, thank you. hello, it stays very unsettled as we go into the weekend. while for much of today it's going to be dry, across central and eastern parts of england, the east of scotland as well, just the odd shower. it is towards the west where things are turning quite unsettled. heavy rain moving through northern ireland, spreading further eastward accompanied by strengthening winds right across the uk, but especially across the irish sea coast. the rain is going to be heavy in the south—west of wales. there is a warning from the met office, the

risk of further flooding in pembrokeshire into this evening. that band clearing the way over to the east tonight. 0ne that band clearing the way over to the east tonight. one or two showers developing into the early part of saturday morning. those are the overnight temperatures. this weekend, it stays quite unsettled. lengthy spells of sunshine but also heavy, blustery showers, especially in southern and western coasts. stay tuned to the forecasts. thereby. bye— bye. hello. this is bbc newsroom live. i'm annita mcveigh full the headlines: police in melbourne are treating a knife attack in the city centre as a terrorist incident, after one person was killed and two injured. the attacker was shot at the scene, and later died 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 has laid wreaths at the graves of the first and last british soldiers killed in the first world war to mark

the armistice centenary. this summer's heatwave helped the economy to grow, but cracks are beginning to show as consumers cut back on spending. new figures show the economy grew by 0.6% in the three months to the end of september. sport now. here's holly hamilton. hello, good morning. england's cricketers have won an overseas test match for the first time in two years — and with some style, beating sri lanka inside four days in galle. they'd set the home side an unlikely 462 to win, and they steadily removed the top order in the first two sessions before taking the final five wickets after tea. moeen ali was the best of the bowlers, with 4—71. england had never won in galle before, but they completed a thumping 211—run victory to go 1—0 up in the three—match series. test match special producer adam mountford tweeted a picture

of england's lap of honour in the galle sunshine. "not a ball lost to the weather", he says. england win on a ground traditionally a sri lanka fortress. there's been a big blow for england's women ahead of the world t20, which starts today. all—rounder katherine brunt has been ruled out of the tournament with a back injury. she has a recurring problem that flared up again during a warm—up game against india on wednesday. she'll be replaced by fran wilson, who was in last year's world cup—winning squad. england's first match is against sri lanka tomorrow in st lucia. arsenal striker danny welbeck suffered what looked to be a serious injury in their europa league game last night. hejumped 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, but at some cost. chelsea are also through, 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 spartak moscow three times before eventually losing 4—3. ahead of the manchester derby on sunday, united manager jose mourinho says his side need to "grow up". they've come from behind to win both of their last two games, against bournemouth in the premier league and away atjuventus this week. but mourinho says they can't keep conceding first. it's easy to feel that we are not

taking that gives up, we are team that always finds a way to fight back, sometimes changing results, other times not. but we are team that has that collective spirit. to fight back. but it's not always possible. so, if we keep conceding goals before the opponents, we will arrive at the date where we cannot come back. england women's manager phil neville picked an inexperienced side for their friendly in austria, and it paid off. they won 3—0, with two of those goals coming from debutants — chioma ubogagu and georgia stanway. that takes their unbeaten run to eight matches. they play sweden in another friendly in rotherham on sunday. max whitlock says the silver medal he won at last week's world championships has given him lots of confidence as preparations begin for tokyo 2020. the double olympic champion just missed out on a third consecutive pommel title in doha. despite matching the chinese

winner's score, he was given a lower execution mark. but whitlock says there are a lot of positives to take. it's built a lot of confidence in me, doing three out of three routines. and actually, my finals routines. and actually, my finals routine wasn't the clearest i've ever done. i actually hit the pommel. it has given me a lot of confidence moving forward, because there's still a lot of room for improvement on the score that i've done. so much i feel really pleased and feel that i can take the positives out of that and go forward with a lot of motivation now. that's all the sport for now. i'll have more for you in the next hour. thanks, holly. there's been a sharp decline in the number of children being born globally. a report published in the lancet says that in 1950 women were having an average of around five children

in their lifetime, but that figure has now halved. cyprus has the lowest birth rate in the world, with women there having one child on average. with me is our reporter katie silver, who's been covering the story. so, this was a huge study going from 1950 up until last year. take us through the detail, first of all? they looked at data from across the world, and what they were trying to see, as you say, basically 4.7 children in 1950 was what the average woman was having, now it is down to 2.4. the problem is that the replacement rate is 2.1 children. every woman needs to be having 2.1 children for the population to be going as it is, otherwise they face what is known as a baby bust. the real problem is that we are not going to have enough of a labour forced to sustain the ageing population. what our government is doing or going to do with this data? they have tried lots of different things. around the world, shared a rental leave, that's about getting

them back in the workforce and making having babies easier. i investigated this in singapore, they are doing a host of things there. they subsidised dating for young people, they subsidise ivf, they give preferential housing to young couples depending on the amount of children they have, they are doing a host of things. scandinavia and france, the provision of early childhood care. things to make an incentive and take away the disincentive of having children. lot of governments are aware of the fa ct lot of governments are aware of the fact that there is the shifting demographics that is going to be happening. but it's not necessarily working in all of these places? we are not seeing a great deal of success. in singapore and japan, the policies are not being that effective. the policy in france had some impact, but it is a crisis across europe. note country in western europe has this 2.1 figures or no country. —— no country. they are going to have a look more and more and also have a cultural shift

so that women feel inspired to both have children and that they can continue their time in the workforce as well. thank you. as we approach the centenary of the end of the first world war this sunday, our correspondent robert hall has been travelling along part of the western front. today his report is from nieuwpoort, in belgium, where the trench lines ended. yes, good morning from nieuwpoort. this is a very significant spot for belgium. it is a spot where quick thinking actually changed the course of the raw very early on. that is why on this high ground where we are standing there is a very impressive memorial, at the centre of which is the wartime belgian king albert. the yellow bricks are actually clay brought from battlefield is all over belgium, some of it deal with shrapnel embedded in it. the reason it is up of the hill is because the

low as is a water weight —— below us. it runs rampant front of nieuwpoort. it is cold the douce's foot. it is a confluence of sea water coming in and water coming off the line. there is a series of sluices here. in will run the outskirts of nieuwpoort, they virtually took the town, and the decision was taken to open the sluices and let the sleep —— the sea water onto the farmland. this prevented the germans coming into belgian and then going on to france, which is hugely important for this country. remembrance, though, is probably going to change in the coming years. we are a centenary, a milestone. how will we go on remembering as the first world war fates ? remembering as the first world war fates? i have been talking to different groups within the uk to see how that might happen —— as the first world warfades.

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 score... historian andy robertshaw believes practical experience can help us understand why we should remember. he's 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. all around as the battlefields of

the first world war... one way of sustaining interest is through stories. sir michael morpurgo is a master of his art. the story 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. robert hall, bbc news. and that is picking up on something

so michael moore pogo said. those personal stories. we become aware of that, we have travelled about 150 miles since we left amiens at the start of the week. people have been texting to remind us of their relatives and where they are buried. we met a lot of people along the way who are following thatjourney, going to graves and memorials and looking for names. there is a real sense of that. the four—week left ypres we came across a personal story, concerning two brothers who are buried side by side at reservoir cemetery on the outskirts of ypres. it was basil and jim not. cemetery on the outskirts of ypres. it was basil andjim not. they cemetery on the outskirts of ypres. it was basil and jim not. they were killed on two separate battlefields many miles apart. the distraught father sold his business to build memorials and a stained—glass window in the local church to build a spire

in ypres that was being rebuilt. he succeeded in bringing his two sons together so that they could be buried side by side and reunited. so, it isjust buried side by side and reunited. so, it is just one story amongst so many that are going to be told. we will all be reminded of it this coming weekend. robert, thank you. robert hall in nieuwpoort. in a moment, we'll have all the business news. but first, the headlines on bbc news: police in melbourne are treating a knife attack in the city centre as a terrorist incident, after one person was killed and two injured. the attacker was shot at the scene, and later died 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 has laid wreaths at the graves of the first and last british soldiers killed in the first world war to mark the armistice centenary. hello, i'm the charl ship out below.

in the business news: the uk economy grew by 0.6% in the three months to september, with warm weather boosting consumer spending, the office for national statistics said. the figure for the third quarter is in line with predictions from the bank of england and other forecasters. however, buoyant growth injuly was offset by a slowdown in august and september. it is the highest quarterly growth figure since the fourth quarter of 2016, when the economy grew 0.7%. on a visit to fuller's brewery today in london, about 14 shops are closing every day, as uk high streets face their toughest trading climate in five years. over 1,100 stores disappeared from britain's top 500 high streets in the first six months of the year, according to the accountancy firm pwc. it said fashion and electrical stores had suffered most, as customers did more shopping online. restaurants and pubs also floundered, as fewer people go out to eat or drink. the bank of england is testing the uk's ability to withstand a major cyber—attack on financial institutions. some 40 companies, including leading banks, are taking part in a one—day "war—gaming" exercise,

designed to assess their resilience. it wants to ensure that firms are able to meet certain minimum recovery standards after a cyber—attack. hello, good morning. welcome to the business news. we've had the latest check on the uk economy figures were out earlier this morning. those figures tell us whether the country's economy is growing, and by how much. the figures out today are for betweenjuly and september — and it showed that the economy grew by 0.6% for that period. the quarter before that, between april and june, the figure was 0.4%. on a visit to fuller's brewery today in london, chancellor phillip hammond responded to the latest gdp stats from the 0ns. well, the figures that we've just had our very good news. 0.6% quarter growth shows the fundamental strength of the economy based on our employment performance. 3.3 million newjobs, employment performance. 3.3 million new jobs, unemployment lower in every region of the nation in the

united kingdom since 2010. what we've now got to do is pivot to a focus on ensuring real wage growth and higher standards of living. that's why in the budget i cut taxes for 32 million people. i put large amount of money into the public services, including a record investment in the national health service. and continued to pour money into our infrastructure — roads, digital infrastructure, railways. to give britain the future that it needs. chancellor philliip hammond there. well, let's break down those numbers. ruth gregory, senior economist at capital economics, joins me now. thank you forjoining us, ruth. firstly, this is interesting. we saw very good growth injuly when we had nice weather and people were out shopping. construction recovered from the beast to the east, the bad weather —— the beast from the east. the bad weather early on in there. how concerning is it that construction is now flat? the latest act of 0ti data paint and up the

picture, —— the activity data. the economy has grown since late 2016, but that is as good as it gets and all the brexit for will clear. it was boosted by temporary factors, including a rebound in construction activity after the beast from the east. and a one of beast to consumer spending thanks to the scorching summerand spending thanks to the scorching summer and the world cup, and we have seen the latest evidence suggesting the economy has lost some pace since then. we are still expecting growth to come in at 1.3% for 2018 as a whole. that would actually be the weakest growth rate in almost a decade. are we seeing that picked perhaps kind of weekend a little as we go into the fourth quarter, given that august and set temba were flat and all of these temporary measures were boosting the economy “— temporary measures were boosting the economy —— august and september. temporary measures were boosting the economy -- august and september. the latest evidence suggests that the economy has lost some steam since

the beginning of the fourth quarter and consumers have reined in their spending a bit having splashed out over the summer, we are seeing a slowdown in growth over the fourth quarter so far. what happens next depends on brexit. if they brexit deal is secured, a lifting in uncertainty should allow the economy to rebound again next year. we heard from the chancellor that, he was fairly optimistic but quite prudent in terms of investment being the quiet to boost the economy as we go further. what can he do to help the economy further along? we have seen business investment contracting in figures for the third quarter in a row, that is the weakest form and since the financial crisis. a big factor has been brexit uncertainty, soa factor has been brexit uncertainty, so a lot hinges on the brexit negotiations and how they pan out. with the possibility of a no—deal brexit hanging over the economy, that poses quite a downside risk to

gdp growth next year. thank you, ruth. 0ther other business stories making the headlines today... next, the retailer, has been caught in a disagreement with a smaller fashion brand called scamp & dude over claimes that next copied its designs. they've come to a settlement. next said it would pay the profits from any sales of a contested design to the label, which will donate the proceeds to charity. now, this is over an animal print top for children. scamp & dude say that next copied this design, which included a signature logo they use. so, not too long to go until brexit. how many of us are stockpiling? well, a storage company in cardiff that stores cold food for retailers says it has run out of room because the food industry is doing just that — using its facilities to stockpile, forcing the company to open new sites because of the extra demand. the company is called wild water. it said its customers were ultra—concerned about food being held up at ports, despite the government's reassurance that the country's high level of food security would continue

regardless of whether the uk leaves the eu with or without a deal. and, if you're a renter, this is might be of interest — our data team here has mapped rents by postcode district in britain to help you explore the best value parts of your area. rent can swallow more than half of young people's salaries. yet the difference in cost between neighbouring postcodes can be as high as 50%. so, get on it, and see if you can save some money — bbc.co.uk/business. that's all the business news. i'll be back in the next hour. some developments to bring you on the attack in melbourne on a busy street. it happened around for the local time. one person killed —— for the local time. two people injured

asa the local time. two people injured as a result. a man lashed out with a knife. police are treating it as a terrorist incident. we have had a statement from the rope so called islamic state claiming responsibility for this attack on a news website, saying one of its fighters carried out the attack in melbourne. it provided no evidence for the claim. the man with the knife was shot by police and subsequently died in hospital. magnus carlsen became world chess champion in 2013, and has dominated the game since then. he's still only 27, but he's about to face a challenger one year younger than him in his latest world title contest, which starts in london today — the american grand master, fabiano caruana. as part of his preparations, magnus carlsen sat down with some of his younger chess fans. lucy hockings was with them. 0k, come on, let's go. he's in here. come on, let's go and see. here he is. hi, i'm magnus.

hi. what do you need to improve on in chess? i think i can improve on almost everything, but most of all, i need to improve on my ability to handle chaos on the board. do you prefer playing computers or people? people, most definitely. i enjoy the struggle against the human brain much more. in the 2013 world championship final, did you change your tactics before you started winning? that's a very good question. i don't think i changed my tactics, but my mindset changed a bit. i was very nervous at the start, i was a bit apprehensive. but i think i realised midway during the match that i was the better player. how will you prepare for your match against fabiano caruana, and how do you plan to win? i plan to win by proving that i am a better player. the way i'm going to

that is i have a pretty universal chess style, so i'm not really afraid of him in any particular part of the game, and i'm just going to try to impose my will. do you have something that you would like to say, you guys? good luck. thank you very much, and good luck to you guys for your chess. the most important thing is to enjoy it, so i hope you do. some pretty awestruck young fans talking to the world chess champion, that. —— magnus carlsen. a rare shark nursery has been discovered by scientists just off the west coast of ireland. (00v) this unusually large school of blackmouth catsharks and thousands of their egg cases were filmed on the seafloor by a remote controlled camera. they can grow to lengths of 80

centimetres, or 31 inches, and typically eat crustaceans and small fish. now, it's time for a look at the weather. let's see how the weekend is shaping up, with simon king. the weekend is looking pretty unsettled, we have got some showers in the forecast. but before we get that far, it is very unsettled through the rest of today. pcs this morning down towards the south of england at the moment. —— choppy seas. we have got a big area of low pressure developing at the moment around the west of ireland, moving its way gradually north and eastward. you can see from the isobars, the white lines on the pressure chart, they are getting close together, that is bringing us strong winds and heavy rain. in the meantime, across many central and eastern areas of england up in towards the east of scotland, there is the odd shower here and there but bright and sunny is false. a strengthening wind is in the west

where the rain is slowly moving in. maximum temperature of 11—14dc. a look at later on this afternoon into the evening rush hour. really nasty conditions on the roads in south—west england. and amber warning from the met office in the south of wales, a risk of further flooding through the afternoon into the evening. as the rain stretches into the west of scotland, the black wind dust is up to about 50—60 mph. wales to go with the heavy rain, and lots of coastal overtoppi ng potentially as well —— tales to go. clear skies taking us into the start of the weekend, and overnight temperatures down to 7—11d. how about the weekend ? temperatures down to 7—11d. how about the weekend? this is saturday. the rain will clear from the south—east. for many of us, it should be dry on saturday with an ace piles of sunshine, showers around southern coastal counties, wales into north—west england and southern scotland. read when showers

here. elsewhere, dry with some sunshine. blustery conditions taking us sunshine. blustery conditions taking us through saturday. into sunday, this area of low pressure is a big one out towards the west, continuing to bring us quite a few showers throughout remembrance sunday as well. those showers focused again across the english channel. showers across the english channel. showers across wales and the west of scotla nd across wales and the west of scotland during sunday. in between any of those showers there will be lengthy, sunny spells. still getting a bit blustery. maximum temperatures for remembrance sunday 10—14d. fairly unsettled going into the weekend, but later today into this evening's rush hour there could be some problems, some travel issues across western areas. stay tuned to the forecast. bye—bye. you're watching bbc newsroom live — these are today's main stories: police in melbourne are treating a knife attack in the city centre as a terrorist incident after one person

was killed and two injured. the attacker was shot at the scene and later died in hospital. a short time, probably about half—an—hour after the alleged offender arrived at the hospital, he succumbed to his injuries and died at hospital from that gunshot wound. the dup accuse the prime minister of breaking her promise over plans to avoid a hard irish border after brexit. the prime minister has laid wreaths at the graves of the first and last british soldiers killed in the first world war to mark the armistice centenary. this summer's heatwave helped the economy to grow — but cracks are beginning to show as consumers cut back on spending. also coming up — we speak to the 27—year—old world chess champion facing his latest world title contest. good afternoon.

welcome to bbc newsroom live. i'm annita mcveigh. police in australia say they're treating a rush—hour stabbing incident in the centre of melbourne as an act of terrorism. in the last hour, so—called islamic state have claimed responsibility. one person has died and two others being treated in hospital for their injuries after being attacked by a somali man armed with a knife. the attacker was shot by officers at the scene and died later in hospital. officials have confirmed that the suspect was known to authorities — but have not named him yet. with the story — which contains some distirbing images from the start — here's our australia correspondent hywel griffith. face to face with an armed attacker. 0fficers confront a man brandishing a knife. he continued to swing at them until, moments later, they shot him in the chest.

the police were called after reports of a vehicle on fire. it had been driven into the heart of the city's busy shopping district, before bursting into flames. gas canisters were later found at the scene. when the police arrived, they found members of the public had been attacked with a knife, one of them fatally. three people have been stabbed. unfortunately, one is deceased at the scene. two other victims are currently at hospital. the bomb response unit have cordoned off the area. the mfb have extinguished a vehicle fire. the bomb response unit is making the scene safe. the city centre was cordoned off. people were warned by a new siren alert system to keep clear. many were left in disbelief by what they witnessed. there have been a lot of police officers who have looked concerned. i have run into friends who are concerned. videos have emerged of the shooting,

attempted stabbings. it is quite graphic, quite violent and at the moment the best way to describe it is just shock. counterterrorism officers are now investigating and say the man was known to them but was not on a terror watch list. detectives say there is no ongoing threat. but melbourne has become the latest city to face the question of whether more can be done to protect the public from sudden, chaotic acts of terror. police have given a further update on the alleged attacker — here's what they had to say. what we know so far about the individual who we shot, who police shot, and who has died in hospital, from what we know, we are treating this as a terrorism incident. we now know more about the identity of the person. initially the person did not have

identification on them but we now have confirmation of the identity of that person. for operational reasons we have counterterrorism command and homicide squad dealing with this matter and an ongoing investigation continues. i am not at liberty at this point to disclose the identity of that person. we do have counterterrorism investigations under way. in relation to that person, he is known to police. he is known to police mainly in respect to relatives he has that are certainly persons of interest to us. he is someone that accordingly is known to both victoria police and federal intelligence authorities. let's talk to goloria kalache, who's a reporter witth the australian broadcaster sbs. she's been at the scene in melbourne. we have seen some graphic images of

this man lashing out at by dasher at bysta nde rs this man lashing out at by dasher at bystanders and officers. as we heard from police, they said he is known to them. he is described as being 31 yea rs of to them. he is described as being 31 years of age. he is someone they have had dealings with in the past. also, some of the scenes that people ca ptu red also, some of the scenes that people captured on their cameras, shows graphically what unfolded in the heart of melbourne's central business district. filled with people, but it was basically dead in that area, there was nothing going

on, it is cordoned off and is expected to be cordoned off at least until tomorrow morning as police continued their request to get. such a violent attack in front of so many people. are any more details emerging about the victims? we do not know too much about the victims at this stage. we know they were three men. 0ne at this stage. we know they were three men. one a 59—year—old and another is 26. they are in hospital recovering from injuries. that is as much as we know at this stage. watch reaction, obviously so much of it coming in, what reaction to this incident, very difficult for the security forces to actually anticipate something like this. that is right, this is the second major attack melbourne has had to deal with, particularly in this area. in

january of last year six people were killed and about 30 people injured when a man deliberately drove his car into pedestrians in that area and following that, authorities in victoria took steps to try to ensure something like that did not happen again with concrete boulders placed at one end of the mall and u nfortu nately at one end of the mall and unfortunately in this section where the man drove in, it is a section where you can drive to the top of the mall where the other boulders are. from that perspective, there was not much that could have been done but certainly the attack in january last year heightened security in the entire area. the other thing that we heard for the first time was the warning sirens, which came up and we heard

announcements while we stood at the scene, informing people there had been an incident, the incident was now over, but advising people they should still stay clear of the cbd. thank you. the democratic unionist party has accused the prime minister of breaking a promise that she would never sign up to a brexit deal that treats 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, which has been seen by the times newspaper. it focuses on one of the main sticking points in the negotiations — how to avoid a hard irish border after brexit — and what's called the backstop arrangement. 0ur reality check correspondent, chris morris, explains what that is. the brexit debate has an awful lot to do with lines on the map. and what negotiators call the backstop is a guarantee that

after brexit there will be no hard border, no new border checks between the republic of ireland in the eu and northern ireland in the uk, under all circumstances. keeping the border open is a crucial part of the northern ireland peace process and both sides hope a new trade agreement can keep everything running as smoothly as it does now. but if they can't do that deal, or it is not ready in time, the backstop would kick in automatically. so as chris was explaining there, the backstop is an insurance policy designed to maintain an open border on the island of ireland in the event the uk leaves the eu without an all—encompassing deal. there is also what's called the "backstop to the backstop". that is what the eu has proposed if a backstop agreement cannot be made in time and it would mean that northern ireland would stay within the eu's custom arrangements, therefore creating a customs border in the irish sea. what has particularly frustrated

the dup is the prime minister's mention of this in her letter to arlene foster. in it she says... before we discuss this further, there has been a comment from the chancellor philip hammond. saying the government will not do anything that would threaten the union, but he did not directly answer the question about whether a northern ireland only backstop would feature in the brexit withdrawal agreement. asked if he was prepared to rule out a northern ireland only backstop, the chancellor said we have always

said we cannot accept the commission proposalfor a northern said we cannot accept the commission proposal for a northern ireland's specific solution because we are unionists and will not agree anything that puts our union at risk. let's explore this further with our political correspondent leila nathoo who joins us from westminster. breakdown the dup concerns with this letter from theresa may. this is about what will be included in the crucial text, the divorce deal that is almost there. the prime minister said it is 95% of the way there and what is holding it up is the insurance policy to keep the irish border free from tax. there are two proposals for that insurance policy. the eu proposal is for northern ireland to be treated differently, to stay in the eu customs union. theresa may's proposal is to say northern ireland could not be

treated differently, and our insurance policy will be a uk wide customs union and she wants that proposal to ensure the eu version would not come into force but the dup are suspicious because they have read the text of her letter as an —— and interpreted it as suggesting the eu proposal could be written into the legally binding text being hammered out between the uk and brussels. the dup's sammy wilson said it would be a breach of trust to hive off northern ireland from the rest of the uk. we want to trust the prime minister, because she has said so many times that that is the case. but you have to judge any promise by what is actually delivered in an agreement. from what we can see in the letter, which has been sent to arlene and nigel, it is quite clear that some of the promises that are made do not conform to some of the content of the letter that has been written. you can see there is suspicion still

on the part of the dup who prop up theresa may's government, she relies on them for votes. remember the withdrawal agreement, any agreement reached with brussels will have to go through parliament and be approved. their votes will be crucial. they are clear they cannot countenance anything that would separate northern ireland, put a customs border effectively in the irish sea, but the government maintains it is not something they consider, their proposalfor this uk wide insurance policies should ensure that is not countenanced, but there is still a lot of debate between the uk and brussels which is the main sticking point in negotiations and the culture secretary today insisted there would be no change of position. what we have said throughout this process and what we are still saying is that we will not accept an arrangement where there is a border down the irish sea.

that's the concern that 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 isn't an acceptable proposal to the united kingdom. that remains the case. this issue of the insurance policy to keep the irish borderfree from checks is now the issue holding up negotiations both with brussels and within the cabinet, because not all ministers are signed up to that. we expect a special cabinet meeting next week when ministers are hopefully expected to sign of any proposal. and in the last few minutes we've also heard from the conservative mp and former attorney general, dominic grieve on the issue of an irish border post—brexit. 0nce once you start saying that you are going to have a different regulatory

regime that could include tariffs and could also include all sorts of regulatory elements, then you would have to have essentially a hard border in the irish sea and i do not see that compatible with northern ireland's status within the uk and to that extent i understand the dup position and the interesting thing, at westminster, it is likely you will find a large number of conservative members of parliament andindeed conservative members of parliament and indeed members of other political parties who refuse as a matter of principle to sign up to such an arrangement. the prime minister is in belgium, where she has laid a wreath 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 the four—year conflict. to mark the centenary of the armistice deal which ended the four—year conflict. 0ur correspondent gavin lee has been in mons in belgium. this is where 500

soldiers are buried, and german soldiers, it was a german cemetery in the war, they were able to use this and belgian civilians said other soldiers have to be buried here and it became a shared cemetery. the prime minister decided to visit mons first, because of its position in the first world war, where british soldiers first came into conflict with german soldiers, retreating after heavy casualties, the place where the last shots were fired. where british and canadian troops... just over these fences, today 100 years ago, this cemetery was established, the canadian and british came this way and took mons by the 11th. we have here theresa may laying a wreath, to a 17—year—old, john parr, a cyclist

on reconnaissance and he was shot. theresa may has written there is in that rich earth a richer dust concealed. a poem by rupert brooke. a few yards opposite, the last soldier killed by a sniper 90 minutes before armistice, george ellison, 40, a private who was talking to a group of belgian civilians, clearing from house—to—house and was shot by a sniper and a message handwritten from theresa may. and a handwritten note from theresa may, they were staunch to the end. against the odds, uncounted. from another poem. that was gavin lee. and stay with us for coverage of all commutations throughout the afternoon here on bbc news.

and a reminder on sunday there will be full coverage of events at the cenotaph in central london, as the nation remembers, 100 years on from the end of world war one. 0ur coverage starts at 9.30. dojoin us for that. the headlines on bbc news. police in melbourne are treating a knife attack in the city centre as a terrorist incident after one person was killed and two injured. the attacker was shot at the scene and later died 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 has laid wreaths at the graves of the first and last british soldiers killed in the first world war, to mark the armistice centenary. time now to catch up with the sport.

holly. hello. england's cricketers have won an overseas test match for the first time in two years — and with some style, beating sri lanka inside four days in galle. they'd set the home side an unlikely 462 to win, and they steadily removed the top order in the first two sessions before taking the final five wickets after tea. moeen ali was the best of the bowlers, with 4—71. england had never won in galle before, but they completed a thumping 211—run victory to go 1—0 up in the three—match series. test match special producer adam mountford tweeted a picture of england's lap of honour in the galle sunshine. "not a ball lost to the weather", he says. "england win on a ground traditionally a sri lanka fortress". there's been a big blow for england's women ahead of the world t20, which starts today — all—rounder katherine brunt has been ruled out of the tournament with a back injury. she has a recurring problem that flared up again during a warm—up against india on wednesday.

she'll be replaced by fran wilson, who was in last year's world cup—winning squad. england's first match is against sri lanka tomorrow in st lucia. ahead of the manchester derby on sunday, united manager jose mourinho says his side need to "grow up". they've come from behind to win both of their last two games, against bournemouth in the premier league and away atjuventus this week. but mourinho says they can't keep conceding first. it's easy to feel that we are not a team that gives up, we are team that always finds a way to fight back — sometimes changing results, other times not. but we are a team that has that collective spirit to fight back. but it's not always possible. so, if we keep conceding goals before the opponents, we will arrive at the day where we cannot come back. there was a very special hole—in—one

from mexico's gaby lopez at the lpga event on hainan island in china. it helped her to a six—under—par round of 66, and a one—shot lead going into the final round. and, what's more, it came on her birthday. lopez is looking for her first tournament win on the tour. that's all the sport for now. i'll have more for you in the next hour. 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 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. the uk economy grew by 0.6% in the last quarter, according to the latest figures. the office for national statistics says the economy saw a strong summer, although longer—term economic growth remained subdued. there were some signs of weakness in september, with slowing retail sales and a drop in domestic car purchases. earlier, i spoke to our business correspondent, simon gompertz, who said the weather has had a big impact on the uk's economy and growth figures this year. it was terrible with the beast from the east between february and march. that stopped construction and retail, and we had sluggish

growth, but then it picked up. and in the third quarter we have a reflection of that, so the figure for growth in the third quarter is 0.6%. very much in line with expectations. that is faster than the 0.4% a quarter we were getting before that. a three—month figure. 0.6% is quite good, but underlying that we have a july that was fast as we picked up from the beast from the east with fantastic summer weather, a lot of building going on, and more shopping and manufacturing. august flat, september flat, and that is the other figure today, — month on month growth in september was flat. it was cero. this is the picture of the year so far. how unusual is that? it means there is no growth happening in september because we have seen a decline in car manufacturing for instance, factories have been moving

more slowly, some have been on short time. and in the shops people have been buying slightly less food, which happened in september. the year, slow down with the beast from the east and then a recovery and now it has slackened off. changes in how we shop continue to have an impact with as many as 14 shops per day closing a uk high streets as retailers face their toughest trading climate in five yea rs. toughest trading climate in five years. a report by pwc found fashion and electrical stores had suffered the most as customers choose to shop more online. almost 2700 shops closed in the first half of the year. i spoke to a retail analyst who told me the figures underlined a trend. the rise of online shopping has collided initially with the financial crisis,

but also to a shifting trend in how we live our lives with focus on eating out, spiked a number of dining chains that have come up and now they are declining as we look at in—house dining through apps. such as uber eats. i think what we are seeing through the challenges of big retailers is the good ones have evolved, they have created models that look at multichannel shopping where you can buy online and collect in store and mash up the different channels of shopping, but outdated businesses have struggled. looking at some of the stuff on marks & spencer that came out, these guys are struggling because they have not evolved and not evolved supply chains and the way they market their business, or indeed the kind of products they sell. there was an interesting interview this morning with the managing director of iceland who talked about overly taxed bricks and mortar retailers. viz a viz online retailers

and he talked about an outdated tax mechanism that impacts the bricks and mortar retailers. would you agree with him, is there not a level playing field? he is correct and he means the business rates one pays on a retail shop, iceland have retail presence, they pay more business rates, the government's commercial property tax. they pay more rates on a high street shop than on a warehouse in the middle of the midlands because the value of the property is more and the point the iceland chief makes is they cannot compete because the tax per equivalent space of property for an iceland versus an online retailer is more and the reality is that tax, the disconnect between the tax take of the government from retailers versus warehouse distributors has not been something they have faced up to, despite constant and repeated declarations that the

government would look at overhauling business rates. we saw it in the budget and when i spoke to the bbc last week i said the government, they have been leaking this stuff about overhauling business rates and giving a lifeline to small businesses and all they did was cut rates for a few small properties, so bailing out public toilets and atms and until we see some rebalancing, we are not going to see much progress. with as many as... i said 14 shops a week, it is a day. more than 2500 a year. an incredible figure. if we are not to see a drastic change to the high streets and communities, the impact on jobs, is the government going to do more? we are going to the british irish

council in the isle of man. david —— david lidington. it means all the various commitments that were made in thatjoint report. the prime minister has always been clear that we will not accept something that involves carving out northern ireland from the rest of the united kingdom. it is a pleasure to be here in the isle of man manx is similarto manx is similar to irish! the british irish council, it is a good friday agreement institution and this aspect of it is operating. the

good friday agreement 20 years ago could not have foreseen what would ta ke could not have foreseen what would take place in the 20 years that followed but they were farseeing and more and more i realise the extent to which they recognise the totality of relationships between northern ireland and ireland in ireland and the uk. and also alljurisdictions and five islands and this is very valuable expression of that totality of relationships. i had a chance to speak about northern ireland and the desire and progress being made in negotiations and also the issue of digital inclusion. ministers were discussing that last night. in terms of the backstop, what is envisaged is it would be a protocol to the agreement but when we talk about the backstop we should recall the objective. the most important thing for me is

the objective, and that is to give everyone in northern ireland and ireland the insurance that a hard border will not develop between north and south, no matter what else may happen in years ahead. and that is why we are seeking one that is legally operative and one that gives us legally operative and one that gives us that guarantee that is necessary. we are at a sense to the point of the negotiations, a successful outcome is not guaranteed. but i think it is possible in the next couple of weeks, and probably with that in mind, the less said the better about the detail of that. any questions? could you state you you are representing? bbc wales. the brexit secretary was not aware of the importance of calais. iu as taoiseach aware of the importance of

that route —— are you aware. the big question now about the detail of avoiding a hard border in ireland, u nless avoiding a hard border in ireland, unless something gives here, we are potentially looking at a no—deal brexit and we are potentially going to need a hard border in ireland. do both sides need to give something here? to the cabinet office minister, i want to ask about a statement made by the first minister today. he has blamed the decision of a german automobile manufacturer to close a plant saying that it is your shambolic handling of the brexit negotiations that is to blame on that. could you elaborate on that point? i will take the first one, as he asked me first. yes, i'm very much aware of the dublin— holyhead link. i have had the pleasure to be

minister for transport for 3.5 years in ireland, dublin port fell under my remit and i had the pleasure to visit and see those operations on many occasions. it is notjust the appointment —— importance of dublin— holyhead link, a huge amount of trade goes through and then on from dover and calais. there are ways around, by boat to rotterdam and antwerp and france, but much slower. lam also antwerp and france, but much slower. i am also very aware that it you go amount of trade between northern ireland and great britain happens through dublin port, the coast the way to get to the south of england is through dublin. that is a very important link as well. my objective when it comes to trade is to do everything we can to avoid the emergence of any new borders among any of us. and that is what the european union gave us, which was a border free trade between britain and island and all of the european

union. the fact that brexit is happening makes that difficult, but our objective is the irish government is to do that, if we can, to the extent that we can, in order to the extent that we can, in order to allow people to travel freely, as they have been for so long now. but also allow trade to function as it does now. ifi may also allow trade to function as it does now. if i may echo what the tees dock said about the importance of those trade routes. —— what the taoiseach said. the north— south trade on the island of ireland is clearly important, it is important to the way in which a lot of small businesses in particular operate, a lot of aggro food businesses on the island operate. and it has massive political and symbolic significance. anybody who has sat down with people in derry or dundalk will testify. but in pure economic terms, the east— west trade between both northern ireland and gb and ireland

and gb is far more important than the value of the trade that moves north— south across the jurisdictional border. so, that, to my mind, reinforces the fact that it is in the interest of everybody in these islands that we get both an agreement on the withdrawal deal, which gives the certainty of the implementation period, and, at the same time, a political declaration about the future partnership and a future partnership where the eu 27 as well as the united kingdom accept and work towards the objectives of frictionless trade between our respective jurisdictions. that is the thing that will work best for businesses, for living standards and prosperity in every part of the

island of ireland, every part of the united kingdom, for that matter, and the crown dependencies as well. on the crown dependencies as well. on the particular question that you asked about llanelli. it is difficult for me, i don't know the details of that company's operation to comment on that, and different companies at different times find that market conditions are affecting them, a numberof that market conditions are affecting them, a number of automotive companies at the moment are finding that sales and more generally the demand in the market is not what they had expected it to be. but, at they had expected it to be. but, at the same time, you look at the pattern of inward investment into the united kingdom, and in the last year we we re the united kingdom, and in the last year we were still attracting more third country inward investment to the uk than any other member state of the european union. so, i think

the track record shows that our attractiveness as a destination for third country inward investment remains very powerful indeed. now, i am absolutely convinced that one of the benefits of a successful outcome to the current negotiations would be a reinforcement of that position, and that is a reason again why i think it is in the interest of everybody in the united kingdom that we get an early and comprehensive resolution of those negotiations so that we can move on and construct the sort of deep and special future partnership that i think is in the interest of all countries involved. well, in terms of schaeffler, they are not my words, they have said that brexit is one of the major issues that caused them to close the

plant in llanelli. they have the need to get certainty as quickly as possible. we have discussed this this morning, and we all understand that business needs certainty more than anything else. and i hope the next few weeks we will get that certainty. business feels they are operating in a situation where they can see the future. they become concerned that there might be no deal, and as a result of that they have started taking decisions that are not good decisions as far as we are not good decisions as far as we are concerned. schaeffler is of course an example of that. on the issue of the hard border, i understand of course the issues surrounding the border on the island of ireland, but it is important to avoid a hard border between ireland and the uk. the last thing i would wa nt to and the uk. the last thing i would want to see is a hard border between ireland and wales. 70% of trade between gp and ireland goes through the welsh ports —— between gb and

ireland. if there is extra bureaucracy, extra checks at the welsh ports, that will have an effect on the ports themselves and the road straight into the ports, both of which are devolved. we run the ports and the roads going into the ports and the roads going into the ports, and if there is a danger that that if there is a hard brexit with no deal we would have to pay a huge amount of money on the ports and the roads in order to accommodate a huge amount of traffic that we have delayed their as a result of extra controls. it is hugely important for us in wales to avoid that as well. of course we wa nt to avoid that as well. of course we want to see a hard border avoided in ireland, but of course we want to see it avoided in the sea as well. the hard border in the irish sea applies as much to wales as anywhere else. the last thing we would want to see is a situation created where freedom to move through the ports of northern ireland, we have no direct link with northern ireland, of

course, because the welsh ports were seen as more problematic. that would of course have an effect on trade and jobs. taoiseach, just wondering, you had a letter for theresa may, leaving it open for regulation checks... is theresa may simply reinforcing that a backstop has to be time—limited? and given the response of the dup so far, how much damage do you think there is potentially towards being able... inaudible mackrell” potentially towards being able... inaudible mackrell i suppose you are asking me about correspondence between prime minister may and the dup. i'm a third party in that particular conversation, so it's probably best for me not to speak on behalf of the prime minister or the dup, they are very much able to

speakfor dup, they are very much able to speak for themselves. but i do think that when it comes to northern ireland, it's very important to listen to and have regards to what the dup has to say. there are other political parties as well who represent the majority of people in northern ireland, and there is also northern ireland, and there is also northern ireland, and there is also northern ireland business and northern ireland business and northern ireland business and northern ireland farmers and people who live in northern ireland. i think we really have to have regard to that as well in coming to any conclusions, and certainly the position of the irish government has a lwa ys position of the irish government has always been that we don't want to see any new borders between us, and that applies as much between belfast and london as it does between newry and london as it does between newry and dundalk, or derry, we are not seeking any borders or any new checks of any sorts. but brexit has given risen to a difficult situation and we need to resolve that. adrian. what are your thoughts on how brexit

will impact on malaysians between ireland and scotland —— impact on the nations between ireland and scotland? the nations between ireland and scotland ? and the nations between ireland and scotland? and how confident are you that we will get a deal?” scotland? and how confident are you that we will get a deal? i will kick that we will get a deal? i will kick that one. first, obviously the benefits and the beauty of the irish council is that the isle of man can have good working relationships with ireland, scotland, wales and the rest of our colleagues, that's really important and gives us an opportunity to raise the concerns that we have. the isle of man is in the middle of the irish sea, our closest neighbours are geographically ireland, scotland and wales. so, we are obviously concerned. but i think the sooner the better that an agreement can be reached. i suppose the definition of

what a good agreement can be, we will all have various viewpoints on. but this organisation is key, certainly from an isle of man point of view, to ensuring that we are well represented. well, firstly, on the last part of your question, how likely is it that there will be a deal, i'm not party to these negotiations. clearly the next few days are going to be critical and we are required to wait and see what transpires. i think one of the issues that still dogs these talks that the government appears to be still talking amongst itself... inaudible we are having some problems just as we began to listen to nicola sturgeon. we are going to see if the line comes good and we can continue to listen to what the

participants in the british— irish council meeting being held in the isle of man are saying. but, just to bring you through a few of the key lines. david lidington effectively theresa may's mac deputy talking about that leaked letter from theresa may leaked to the times newspaper, saying we won't accept anything that could carve northern ireland out from the rest of the uk. leo varadkar, the irish prime minister, and the taoiseach, saying that when we talk about a backstop we should always think about the objective, that being the hard border between northern ireland and the republic of ireland. he said, we are seeking one that is legally operative at the talks are at such a sensitive stage, he said, perhaps the less said the better at this point. well, the prime minister says that the eu wants northern ireland to remain in the customs union and single market if trade negotiations

fail, and the dup has accused mrs major of breaking the promise that she would never sign up to a brexit deal that trees northern ireland defra peter g reste of deal that trees northern ireland defra peter greste of the uk —— mrs may. the former attorney general dominic grieve has been speaking to our northern ireland political correspondent gareth gordon on this issue of avoiding an irish border post—brexit. issue of avoiding an irish border post-brexit. i don't think the prime minister is wedded to a bordered on the irish sea, but i think the prime minister is unable to give reassurance to the dup that such a thing could not happen. if we leave the eu, initially, the prime minister's plan is we are going to stay in a customs union structure of some form, which means that actually the entirety of the united kingdom will be in conformity with most eu rules. now, should wherever, time when a government in the uk wants to diverged from which is of course the very thing that most of the hard brexiteers want to do, then the position of the eu is that northern

ireland will almost certainly be carved out of the economic area of the united kingdom and they are insisting on a backstop which keeps northern ireland in with the eu's structures. and the prime minister at the moment is not able to provide an assurance to the dup that this wouldn't happen. so, i interpret this exchange of letters as the dup indicating that they would not support the prime minister's deal. some regulatory checks and goods are coming from gb to northern ireland. is that such a bad thing? does that mean that northern ireland is constitutionally part of the rest of the uk with very sensibly, they operate a different system because you can keep out illnesses and diseases which may be transmitted in cattle, for example, so it is a very sensible arrangement. but once you are starting saying that you are

going to have a different regular to resume which could include tariffs, it should also include other regulatory elements, then you would have to have, essentially, a hard border in the irish sea, and i don't see that compatible with northern ireland's status within the united kingdom. to that extent, i understand the dup's position entirely. i think at westminster it is very likely that you will find a very large number of conservative members of parliament and indeed members of other political parties who refuse as a matter of principle to sign up to such an arrangement. so, the phrase that we use about the dup being thrown under a bus, there isa dup being thrown under a bus, there is a history of the conservative party doing that to your nearest, you don't think there is a danger of that at the moment —— doing that to unionists. no, i doubt been the dup is about to find itself without support a presence that about this issue. the whole issue highlights the mess we have got ourselves into

over brexit. i am an remainer, and this to my mind was very predictable. we fail to think through the implications of reddit and the details of how it would be carried out, and we failed in 2016 —— the implications of brexit. we failed in 2016 to have a proper debate about the implications of a degree in light of the good friday agreement, providing obligations for the united kingdom and the government of ireland to ensure that there is no hard border between northern ireland and ireland. there has been a crash in the convoy of vehicles carrying theresa may and the belgian prime minister. this is in the mons area of belgium. two outriders in the first part of the convoy for the belgian prime minister were hurt or at least one of the outriders was injured. the

belgian prime minister got out of his vehicle to check that the young rider was ok. we are told that theresa may stayed in her protective vehicle and was driven away shortly afterwards. that news just coming in from gavin lee. there's been a sharp decline in the number of children being born globally. a report published in the lancet says that in 1950, women were having an average of around five children in their lifetime, but that figure has now halved. cyprus has the lowest birth rate in the world, with women there having one child on average. earlier, katie silver, who's been covering the story, told me more about the research. what they were trying to see, as you say, basically 4.7 children in 1950 was what the average woman was having, now it is down to about 2.4. the problem is that the replacement rate is 2.1 children. so every woman needs to be having 2.1 children for the population to be going as it is,

otherwise they face what's known as a baby bust. the real problem is that we're not going to have enough of a labour force to sustain the ageing population. what are governments doing or going to do with this data? they are trying lots of different things. around the world, shared parental leave, that's about getting them back in the workforce and making having babies easier. i investigated this in singapore, they are doing a host of things there. they subsidised dating for young people, they subsidise ivf, they give preferential housing to couples depending on the amount of children they have, they are doing a host of things. scandinavia and france, the provision of early childhood care. things to make it an incentive and to take away the disincentive of having children. a lot of governments are aware of the fact that there is the shifting demographics that is going to be happening. but it's not necessarily working in all of these places? we're not seeing a great deal of success. in singapore and japan,

the policies are not being that effective. the policy in france had some impact, but it is a crisis across europe. no country in western europe has this 2.1 figures or no country. no country in western europe has this 2.1 figure. here in the uk it is 1.8 children for every woman. they are going to have a look more and more and also have a cultural shift so that women feel inspired to both have children and that they can continue their time in the workforce as well. thank you. we can she use some of the latest victories from france, where theresa may is meeting the french president, emmanuel macron. this is the prime minister arriving at the town hall in albert, the town at the heart of the somme, which suffered heavy bombardment during world war i. the leaders are going to have a private meeting, a working lunch before they lay wreaths at the nearby memorial.

the site bears the names of more than 72,000 names of the armed forces who died during world war i. magnus carlsen became world chess champion in 2013, and has dominated the game since then. he's still only 27 — but he's about to face a challenger one year younger than him in his latest world title contest, which starts in london today — the american grand master, fabiano caruana. as part of his preparations, magnus carlsen sat down with some of his younger chess fans. lucy hockings was with them. 0k, come on, let's go! he's in here, look, come on and see! 0h, 0k, come on, let's go! he's in here, look, come on and see! oh, look, here he is. hi, i'm magnus, hi. hi. what do you need to improve on in

chess? i think i can what do you need to improve on in chess? i thinki can improve on almost everything. most of all, i need to improve on my inability to handle chaos on the board. do you prefer playing computers or people? people, most definitely. i enjoyed the struggle against the human brain much more. if you had to play one player from the past, who would it be? what do you think about artificial intelligence in chess?” think it's very interesting what artificial intelligence can do to chess development, but it's very early still, and we don't know how it's going to affect professional chess yet. in the 2013 world championship final, but you change your tax xp for you started winning?

that's a very good question. i don't think i changed my tactics. but my mindset changed a bit. i was very nervous at the start, i was a bit apprehensive. but i think i've realised midway during the match that i was the better player. i was confident that i was going to win, and once i was confident, i stopped being nervous. howell you prepare for your match and how do you plan to win? i plan to win by proving that i'm a better player. the way i'm going to do that is, i have a pretty universal chess style, so i'm not really afraid of him in any particular part of the game. and i'm just going to try to impose my will on him. how exciting is it when you see how cold chess is, how many more players there are and how excited young kids are now playing chess?” a lwa ys

young kids are now playing chess?” always found chess school. as i've said, and it's been a greatjoy for me for many years to see kids enjoy the game. this also is a very exciting game, so i can understand that. how much pressure you feeling? i don't feel any pressure right now, but i'm sure it's going to be different tonight. is there room for anything else on your mind? i know you like football, but is there room for anything else in these periods or is itjust chess? no, frankly last weekend i was a lot more worried about how my premier league fa ntasy tea m was worried about how my premier league fantasy team was doing than my chest! i think it's very important to be able to relax and do other things when you are not playing. do you have something that you'd like to say, you guys? good luck! thank you very much, and i hope to see you again one day, to see you at some other games. good luck to you guys for your chess. the most important

thing is to enjoy it, so i hope you do that. the world chess champion, magnus carlsen. in a moment, we'll say goodbye to bbc two viewers. for viewers on the bbc news channel, ben brown is coming up with the bbc news at one. good afternoon. if you have plans to travel later on today it is worth listening to this weather forecast, because the skies have been looking pretty threatening across western areas. 0n the satellite picked you can see a curl of cloud, a deepening area of low pressure heading in our direction. this is going to bring wet weather and windy weather, articulate in western parts of the uk. so, with the potentialfor heavy rain and indeed gales, there could well be some travel disruption. tune into your local bbc radio station for the latest where you are. the rain piling in through what is left of this afternoon. with that, a

strengthening southerly wind. we could see us of 60—70 mph in the most exposed spots. rain is giving most exposed spots. rain is giving most cause for concern, there is a met office amber warning in force for southwest wales. a yellow warning for the south—west of england for the heavy rain. rain extending across the irish sea into north—west england, northern ireland and south—west scotland, and the black winged arrows showing dust is in excess of 40 or 50 mph. the rain with the strong winds continues sweeping eastwards. behind it, skies clearing, temperatures not dropping very far, 7—11d. still some rain to clear from shetland on the far south—east of england geraint saturday morning. the frontal system pushing the way. low pressure firmly in charge as we head onto the weekend. through the day on saturday

weekend. through the day on saturday we see spells of sunshine but also a scattering of showers, particularly down towards the south—west, becoming widespread late in the day. showers heavy with the odd rumble of thunder, living a lot of rain in a short space of time. with the wind coming up from the south, it is going to be another mile day. 11-15d. going to be another mile day. 11—15d. armistice day, the same mix of weather. heavy showers, as is the nature of showers, difficult to predict where they will turn up. some of them will be heavy, possibly even thundery. good spells of sunshine in between. it will be breezy, but it was ill be mild, with highs of 10—14d. so it will still be mild. the prime minister lays wreaths to remember the first and last british soldiers to die in the first world war. last post plays she's visiting cemeteries in belgium and france to mark the 100th

anniversary of the end of the conflict. explosion she quotes a poem, they were staunch to the end against odds uncounted. we will remember them. we'll be live with our correspondents in belgium as europe prepares for a weekend of armistice centenary commemorations. also this lunchtime... a car bursts into flames in melbourne after a terror attack in which a somali man stabs three people.