this is bbc news. the headlines at 7pm. transport ministerjo johnson resigns from the government over brexit, saying the deal being finalised "will be a terrible mista ke". he's also calling for a fresh referendum. at present the deal is incoherent on its own terms, and that's why it's so important for the public to have a say so i can confirm that this is really the brexit that it wants. meanwhile — the dup leader arlene foster has said her party couldn't support the government's current proposals on brexit — she accuses theresa may of breaking promises the prime minister and the french president, emmanuel macron, have jointly laid a wreath at the thiepval memorial in the somme as part of ceremonies marking 100 years since the end of the first world war. thousands of torches light up the tower of london this evening as the nation prepares to pause and remember the fallen. three major wildfires burning out of control in california have prompted the evacuation of tens of thousands of people

from their homes. and brexit campaigner ever in banks is under investigation by the national crime agency so should he have been a guest on last sunday's show? join us tonight at 7:45pm here on bbc news. good evening and welcome to bbc news. there's been another resignation from the government over brexit. jojohnson — who was the transport minister, ministerfor london and the brother of former foreign secretary boris johnson, has stepped down. he's described theresa may's brexit plan as ‘a terrible mistake‘, and wants the public to have a fresh say on leaving the european union. the prime minister's alliance with the democratic unionist party

is also under strain — after it accused her of ‘betrayal‘ in the negotiations, when a leaked letter indicated that northern ireland could follow different customs rules to the rest of the uk. the government has insisted it won't do anything to put the united kingdom at risk. more details from our political correspondent alex forsyth: sorry about that, watch your back. watch your back. fateful words perhaps uttered earlier this year by a man who has now delivered a blow to theresa may. jo johnson was until today the transport minister, but tonight he quit his job with a scathing assessment of the prime minister's brexit plan. crucially he called for another vote saying the current proposal was deeply flawed. it's not going to deliver trade deals — our ability to strike meaningful trade deals is going to be greatly reduced. it's not going to lead to us becoming a singaporean turbo—charged economy on the edge of europe. far from it.

we're going to be signing up for all of the rules and regulations over which we will no longer have a say. at present the deal is incoherent on its own terms, and that's why it's so important for the public to have a say so it can confirm that this is really the brexit that it wants. the brother of boris johnson, he had unlike his sibling, backed remain in the referendum but said he would respect the result. now, though, he says the government's brexit plan is taking britain to the brink of the greatest crisis since the second world war. his decision to quit drew praise from his brother who said... for the prime minister, with her european counterparts at armistice events, it's another brexit headache on a day she is already facing criticism from supposed allies. the dup, who support her in government, fear she could sign up to an exit deal which might mean northern ireland trades on different terms to the rest

of the uk in future. it's not a question of trusting the prime minister, it's a question of what her proposals are for exiting the european union. she has sent us where she believes she is currently at. and remember this is before she goes to brussels to negotiate with them on what they believe is possible, but currently as it stands we could not support her proposals. so it is still the irish border and how to keep trade flowing no matter what that is proving the hardest part of this negotiation. every possible compromise it seems drawing some criticism. at a summit meant to cement british—irish relations today, ministers were quick to try to reassure. the prime minister has been absolutely clear that she is not prepared to see the break—up of the constitutional, economic integrity of the united kingdom in any deal. now we are working intensely now to getting that deal and securing the deal. i think what we need to do now is have calm heads, cool heads, let's get down and get the deal and then people can comment on it when they see it.

the path to brexit has never been smooth. both sides are still working to agree the terms on which we leave but as negotiations near their end whatever that may be it seems the prime minister's opponents are digging in. i will call a brace of chris. in a moment will take to talk to chris page in belfast. but first to our political correspondent, chris mason at westminster. chris, this is described in the report as another brexit headache. is that's an understatement? definitely. you get considerably worse that he is the only want to pack it in in the next few days as no indications yet that anyone is likely to follow him, but it would not necessarily be a surprise. definitely a headache simply because of the basic maps. there the stinging language from joe johnson in his interviews and a twitter and

the company article but to explain his writing patient and as i say is also the numbers which is the prime minister she hopes is going to come backin minister she hopes is going to come back in the next few weeks to parliament with a brexit deal that she has to get through the house of commons and every member of the government who quits and says they won't be able to vote for it runs the risk from the prime minister perspective of adding to the pile of mps in the opposing side who could oppose the league rejected in the comments. ht thing now is that we know there are people on the conservative side of the comments who were both remain voters likejoe johnson and brexit voters like his brother boris will both reject the dealfor brother boris will both reject the deal for similar brother boris will both reject the dealfor similar reasons brother boris will both reject the deal for similar reasons despite their instincts about brexit being polar opposite. and you combine those sentiments if you like and love the fact that the vast majority of mps are likely to reject whatever

the government comes back with and suddenly the math gets very tricky indeed. at a time when i visited math is always tricky for the prime minister given that she has not got a majority of herjust rely on the democratic unionist party well and as alex was reporting there they are not happy either. and while she deals with this in the home front of course that the clock takes more chances to talk to discuss with the european negotiators but i would like me to see any major changes or any movement? we have got to try to find some sort of language of this prescient of the backstop. the insurance policy to ensure that the border between northern ireland and the republic remains pretty much as it is in any eventuality. they have got to find some language that can accommodate everyone. we know from the past week and a month in six months and two years that that is not easy. and when language starts being finessed some people end up being finessed some people end up being even more angry that they may

in their view be duped into something that is not at first appear. we know that's not be easy. good to have to try and find a solution and sell it and that's very difficult. let's pick up that point to with chris page in belfast. language being finessed in the sense that you put a different meanings for different things. this seems to be very much what has happened with the details of this letter that has been leaked. different interpretations of the people saying a breakdown there of trust in a relationship. yes that's right. in terms of the relationship of the democratic unionist and the minority conservative government at westminster fostered careful to stay in her interviews this afternoon that she did not feel that confidence and supply agreement was on shaky ground she was not talking about pulling the plug or trying to pull the plug of the government or anything like that but she did say this was all about the specifics of

brexit and said the dup had gone into that agreement because they wanted a particular sort of brexit. they were passionate brexiteers and campaign for the they were passionate brexiteers and campaign forthe uk they were passionate brexiteers and campaign for the uk to leave the european union and leave the single market and customs union. whatever the are looking at the brexit situation be looking at that and looking of course at the bottom line which is there can be anything that separates the maryland for the rest of the uk. they were concerned about after receiving a letter from theresa may with issues around the single market and regulation of goods that northern ireland would have to continue following the rules. that would mean as one dup but to me the rules be set in brussels and i wanted and northern ireland have no control over the rules and other fluids into this person that means that ineffective amounts to a break of the uk so very

important principle for the dup and very important high—stakes matter for unionists. it very clear statement as know from foster saying they cannot support her plans. so what happens next is the massive question? to what extent are they prepared to go to oppose the plan? of course they could vote against the house of commons and at the memo it is nine mps because one is suspended in the comments. the good vote against the deal and they say the math will be very tight. they'd be talking about backbenchers about what plans they could come up with whatever the deal comes before the house of commons because they may be in the position where they can't be short they will get what they want from theresa may. she could go and but these proposals to brussels and that the soviet satisfies us. next

option might be whatever happens in the house of commons to make a real impact there and we can be sure of one thing and that is the dup as the experienced negotiators will try to make their influence in the coming days. thank you very much both of you indeed. let's speak now to the conservative mp and vice—chair of the pro—brexit european research group, mark francois. hejoins me via webcam from his rayleigh constituency. thank you for being with us. what do you make of developments today in particular the resignation ofjo johnson? good evening. jo johnson's resignation is clearly not good news for the government. we have now had twojunior ministers for the government. we have now had two junior ministers resign for the government. we have now had twojunior ministers resign in two weeks. we've lost tracy was a very good mr over a gambling taxation and we have lost johnson

good mr over a gambling taxation and we have lostjohnson on the brexit issue himself. i saw the clip little while ago and he was scathing about brexit. in very clear that he was opposed to the process. so the government is not convincing the cabinets were junior ministers and they are not convincing the backbenchers. the question, what next. it is difficult to say exactly will happen next because we don't yet have the final deal. although we are all given to believe that we might not be far away from that. but ican might not be far away from that. but i can tell you is that if the final outcome is based on chequers that it will not pass the house of commons. they have been absolutely consistent as point and they said it time and

time again. why not say one more time. there's about 80 of us and particularly now with the dup it's 12 particularly now with the dup it's i2 potentially and that's more than enough. that of course is assuming that the prime minister could get it through cabinets and even that i think is questioned. to pick up that point it's something that our correspondent in belfast was talking about. the room for maneuver with plans to be tweaked and battered about and any deal coming back. how much to think a at that stage? the comments will debate in the proposals in great detail. that's oui’ proposals in great detail. that's ourjob. but if those proposals are based essentially on chequers that means that we would remain half in and half out of the european union. it betrays the spirit of the

referendum and that is not what 17.4 million people voted for and therefore i and my colleagues would feel honour bound that would be our clear duty to defeat those proposals and that's exactly what we would do. ifinal brief and that's exactly what we would do. i final brief thought if we would. would you also feel honour bound to push for theresa may to be for position? we know meeting in september why they reported as saying how did we get rid of her, when do we get rid of her? we have consistently set our intention is to change the policy has not the person. that is still our view. but the prime minister has it difficulty 110w the prime minister has it difficulty now and that she is having junior ministers resigning one a week and she could perhaps even lose cabinet ministers, and in fact i'm she could perhaps even lose cabinet ministers, and infact i'm making a speech about precisely that at the conference in london tomorrow

afternoon. i will have more to say about that at that time. thank you very much indeed. and we'll find out how this story, and many others, are covered in tomorrow's front pages at 10:40 and 11:30 this evening in the papers. 0ur guestsjoining me tonight are jason beattie, who's head of politics at the daily mirror, and the economics correspondent for the daily telegraph, anna isaac. thousands of flames have been lit tonight filling the vast moat of the tower of london to mark 100 years since the end of the first world war. the flames represent the lives of those who fell in battle. at five o'clock this afternoon emerging from the fortress, one of the yeoman warders, passed on the first flame to a navy cadet. and then a team of volunteers helped light the rest — there are 10,000 torches in all — creating a circle of light, radiating from the tower as an act of remembrance. today the prime minister travelled to france and belgium to mark the centenary. at a military cemetry near mons in belgium — she laid wreaths at the graves

of the first and last british soldier to be killed in the war — 16—year—old john parr and 40—year—old george ellison who died an hour and half before the armisitce was signed. lucy williamson reports. buried in the soil of europe is part of britain's past, its sacrifices and its souls. in belgium today, the prime minister laid wreaths at the graves of two british soldiers, the first and last of their countrymen to die in the first world war. waiting for mrs may at the town of albert in the somme, the french president told schoolchildren, "never forget your history". before commemorating the past, the two leaders met for talks on present—day challenges. as the prime minister was greeted with a reserved and formal handshake, someone in the crowd shouted, "stay with us!" this visit is a reminder

of the shared military history that unites france and britain. today, they are divided by a political conflict over brexit, but their joint commitment to europe's defence won't change, they say, no matter how tough the negotiations or the terms of their future relationship. at the thiepval memorial in the somme, the two leaders walked through a cemetery honouring their dead. beneath the arches of the monument, they laid a wreath of poppies and cornflowers — the national blooms of remembrance in britain and france. the building here, carved with the names of 72,000 british and commonwealth soldiers lost, is a symbol of anglo—french cooperation, a place to remember shared sacrifice and shared values. a moment for their leaders, amid the tensions over their future relations, to recognise and honour their past. lucy williamson, bbc news, the somme.

we'll have coverage of all the ceremonies and events on sunday — starting from 9:30 in the morning with a special programme from london and paris. women around the world are having fewer children — with researchers describing the decline as ‘remarkable'. almost half the world's countries are not producing enough children to maintain their current population sizes. the study, published in the lancet, shows that back in 1950, women were having an average of 4.7 children in their lifetime. but by last year, the birth rate halved to 2—point—4 children there is a huge variation between countries. in niger in west africa women tend to have seven children, but in cyprus, they're only having one child. let's talk to professor melinda mills of oxford university who's conducted her own research into this thanks very much for being with us.

did this strike you as tying it very much with what you have been looking at as well? definitely. we were not surprised we saw the results because we have known this for quite some time. we know that there's a few reasons about why we have had this drop in fertility. 0ne reasons about why we have had this drop in fertility. one of societal and structural reasons and the other is division of household labor. savic about societal reasons this factors such as women entering into education in the labor market and increased contraception. also value changes are limited to children such as women moving increasingly for being childless to child free. we've had also other factors that are very important childcare availability and something we have forgotten that was not highlighted that much in this study was availability of housing. can you buy a house and start

family? the other last societal factor that is quite important is economic uncertainty. in periods of economic uncertainty. in periods of economic recessions are the uncertainty that we are experiencing at this moment and people tend to postpone having children and me and we fewer children. so lots of factors at work here but factors that differ depending on where in the world you live in. the picture you have outlined as a western european model and yet we see in other countries particularly in africa birth rates in fertility rates remain high. it's interesting, i think these factors are important across many different countries and so to population estimates some estimates that have been made by the united nations and others have estimated that when women and particularly young girls in africa start to get more education which experience actually a significant drop in fertility and children. so

gender equity and that is a global phenomenon. just experiences, things like that in different ways in different areas of the world. it's a rather ironic story that in many ways the figures show a success story of empowerment or choice and more contraception. the application of these dwindling fertility rates can be quite serious and will challenge us as a society to think about how we plan for our future. the double edge sword because with gender equity and drops a fertility we have a few things. one is that we have an unequal division of labor in the household solar limited these gains the labor market they don't usually get these gains at home. what we have seen is that when women increase their hours they actually remain doing the same number of household hours. we have experience all so what is termed a baby strike. women doing large worker was at home and also in the labor market are having less children added other

thing we experience is that if we have this problem of work life reconciliation women are also postponing having children to later ages so we are increased leasing the importance of biological and genetic factors. plenty of food for thought. they do very much indeed. police in australia say they're treating a knife attack in the centre of melbourne as an act of terrorism. one person was killed and two injured, during the evening rush hour. the suspect, a man of somali origin who was known to the police, was shot by officers and died later in hospital. 0ur correspondent hywel griffith sent this report. face—to—face with an armed attacker. 0fficers confront a man brandishing a knife who kept lunging at them until, moments later, they shot him in the chest. the police were called after reports of a vehicle on fire. gas canisters were later found at the scene. the attacker had driven into the heart of the city centre, to bourke street, in one

of the busiest parts of melbourne, packed with shoppers and commuters heading home. when the police arrived, they found three members of the public had been stabbed. one of them was fatally injured. the attacker also later died in hospital. officers say he wasn't on a terror watch list, but he and his family, originally from somalia, were on their radar. he is known to police. and he is known to police mainly in respect of relatives that he has that are certainly persons of interest to us. counterterrorism officers will now need to establish whether the man was working alone or taking instructions from elsewhere, and this city, like so many others, faces the question of whether more can be done to protect the public from such sudden, chaotic acts of terror. hywel griffith, bbc news. firefighters in california

are battling two major wildfires that have forced thousands of people to flee their homes. the first blaze broke out on thursday in northern butte county, and has already engulfed more than 20,000 acres of land and has now killed a number of people. further south, another fire is burning in ventura county near los angeles — a few miles from the scene of a mass shooting in thousand oaks that claimed 12 lives earlier this week. lauren moss reports. it is a landscape of destruction. wildfire ravaging parts of california, tearing through homes, hospitals, shops, and schools. roads are gridlocked as thousands try to flee the flames, taking only what they can carry. one of the fires in the northern town of paradise burned through 20,000 acres of dry forest in a matter of hours.

further south in ventura county near los angeles strong winds are hampering efforts to tackle another fast moving blaze in what has become a race against time. right now we are trying to protect exposures by stopping the fire spreading from one house to the next. it is very hard with the high winds, and very hard to see some of these homes, so we are putting the water between some homes to stop the fire leapfrogging to other homes. firefighters have been battling through the day and night — helicopters are releasing water to keep on top of the raging fire. there are unconfirmed reports of casualties and it is understood this last year has been the worst the state has ever seen for wildfires. as scenes of devastation were left behind, there is a red warning on the horizon that the fight against them is by no means over. as we've been reporting, with the armistice centenary approaching, across the uk cities,

towns and villages have been making special preparations. from knitted poppies on village greens, to marking the contribution of commonwealth soldiers. 0ur correspondentjon kay looks at how the country will commemorate 100 years since the guns fell silent on the western front. each one is a life that was lost in the great war. charfield in gloucestershire. somebody made these poppies with love. 4,000 residents, 12,000 poppies. all knitted by villagers over the last year. people are just in tears, literally stood there with tears down their cheeks, really heartbreaking, breathtaking, and i'm just proud of everybody. this is going to be an amazing day. many here are remembering relatives who fought 100 years ago. what do you think your grandpa would think of this? oh, i think he'd be thrilled.

i think he'd think it was wonderful. there are children coming out of houses, going, can we help you put them up? and their mums and dads came out to help. this is a close—knit community here. i've been here a long time. close—knit? close—knit. laughter. from cornwall... to norfolk. from anglesey to the isle of arran. from our smallest villages. .. to our biggest cities. we will remember this weekend. here in the west midlands, this road has been transformed.

why did you want to do this as a community? we feel that station road represents communities up and down the country that lost so many people to a terrible war. in this road, we lost 16 young men. making the armistice relevant, bringing history right up to date. people from the war who lived here. charlie and his family say it's helped them understand. makes me proud of the people who fought for us and for our country. and the people who lived in your house? yeah. makes me proud to live here. just one road, like so many others, finding its own way to remember. jon kay, bbc news. now it's time for a look at the weather with helen willets.

. the next two hours also get very wet and windy weather across the uk. amber warning from the southwest of wales but many parts of the uk will see about heavy rain and gaels. already raining and the rankest of the moving eastwards but there's lots of showers waiting in the wings to follow. this gradually triumphed in the west as we go through the night snack would be particularly cold and we have that strong wind blowing and get more showers and you that ran dragging its heels and indeed the southeast of england. it will take a few hours before we finally see that clearing away and improving picture in that it's brighter then but there will be a lot of showers around in western and southern areas. the wins notched down today by very blustery with hailand down today by very blustery with hail and thunder they are becoming more widespread the day and i will temper the feel of things temperatures should be a little bit above par and it's a very similar day on sunday with further heavy showers and sunshine between. hello, this is bbc news.

the headlines. transport ministerjo johnson resigns from the government over brexit, saying the deal being finalised "will be a terrible mista ke". he's also calling for a fresh referendum. meanwhile, the dup leader arlene foster has said her party couldn't support the government's current proposals on brexit — she accuses theresa may of breaking promises. the prime minister and the french president, emmanuel macron, have jointly laid a wreath at the thiepval memorial in the somme as part of ceremonies marking 100 years since the end of the first world war. three major wildfires burning out of control in california have prompted the evacuation of tens of thousands of people from their homes and killed a number of people. and there's been a terror attack in melbourne — a somali man stabbed three people, one fatally. the hot summer and the football world cup helped to boost

the economy in the three months to september. gross domestic product, the total value of all goods and services produced in the economy, rose by 0.6% — the fastest rate for nearly two years. but most of that growth was injuly, confirming predictions that people may now be beginning to cut back their spending. coletta smith reports. sprucing up, slapping on a lick of paint or planning a bigger project. what's happening in a builder's merchant can tell you exactly how the economy's doing. the diyers are spending a lot more money in here, spending a lot more on the gardens, wanting sort of the nicer things in life. a lot more money was spent on days out with the kids and also when you finish work on a summer's night you tend to drink a bit more, don't you? makes you want to go out more when it's nice weather and stuff. i want to go out and eat, drinking and stuff like that. there is a lot of work going on at the moment

in ribble valley, so, it's all good. splashing the cash over those long, hot summer months has really given the economy a boost. the peak was injuly when the world cup was on and we were all spending more. by the time we got to september, things have slowed down considerably. the economy basically flat—lining at that stage, which raises big questions about the coming months and what is going to happen as things turned colder. down the road on this small construction site in the ribble valley, they're delighted that, at long last, this summer, construction was the fastest growing part of the economy. 0.6% is across all industries. of course, we're in the buoyant sector, 2.1% in construction. so, for me, it feels very exciting. the concerns on the horizon are brexit related, dare i say. and that's more about, can we get people to do the jobs? after a slow start to the year, the chancellor's pleased things seem to be improving. 3.3 million newjobs, unemployment lower in every region

and nation of 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. without that wage growth, the high street will continue to see stores disappearing. after the summer glow, or industries are preparing for what could be a very different winter. a 16 year old girl has been arrested on suspicion of murder after the fatal stabbing of a man in south—east london. ayodeji habeeb azeez died after the attack in bromley. two men who were arrested on suspicion of murder on sunday were released under investigation. fly—tipping costs millions to clean up and it's on the rise. it's increased by nearly 45% in england, scotland and wales in the last five years. if you're caught doing it,

you'll be fined, but it's now hoped that new penalties for people who pay rogue companies to get rid of their waste will also tackle the problem. samantha fenwick reports from birmingham. imagine what it's like to have to walk through this every morning on your way to school or to work. it makes us feel unsafe. i believe that where there is rubbish, there's less respect for the area and there's more antisocial behaviour and crime. we've got a sign there that's broken, that shows the respect that they've got for the area. fly—tipping is a problem right across birmingham. this is a particularly bad area. there's household waste, fridges, mattresses and there's rotting food. there are flies everywhere, and the smell is quite horrendous. the situation has become so bad in parts of birmingham that over the past few years, local people have started going out several times a week, cleaning up the streets where they live. it's on every single road you drive in, inner cities are a tip.

the minute you report it, it gets clean, an hour later, two hours later, by the time the evening comes, the rubbish appears again. it's getting diabolical. who's tipping all of this stuff? definitely local residents. the tip is only a mile down the road, why people would dump here, i honestly don't understand it. residents here in birmingham say the problem is made worse because there aren't enough bin collections. but the council say that's nonsense. i find it frustrating that people think it's ok to do this, you know, because it isn't. no matter who we are or what issues or frustrations we face, it is not acceptable to go and take your rubbish and throw it on somebody else's back door. some of it's got nappies in... birmingham council has a specialist team investigating these types of crimes.

we've found some evidence that shows a residential address, so we'll be going along this afternoon to knock on the door to find out why the resident's address is in this rubbish. later this year, local councils in england will get powers to fine households up to £400 if they pay someone to take their rubbish and dump it in places like this. samantha fenwick, bbc news. as the nation prepares to mark 100 years since the end of the first world, not as much attention is focused on those who survived the conflict. king edwards school in birmingham is proud of the 245 old boys who gave their lives in world war one. but they're mindful too of those who came home to fight another battle, a battle to cope with the horrors they'd seen. what some call "the forgotten casualties". giles latcham reports. sions. that the chapple they honour the 245 old

boys killed between 1914 and 1918. but sacrifice is not confined to these rolls of honour, many more besides paid a terrible price. these rolls of honour, many more besides paid a terrible pricelj these rolls of honour, many more besides paid a terrible price. i was asked a few days ago while did we choose that. why him? his tory was so powerful. his name isn't on any memorials. his isa memorials. his is a different story. school made a film about an old boy captain john 0sbourne walford who survived only to shoot himself dead four yea rs later only to shoot himself dead four years later tormented by what he had seep on the western front. he could have had a comfortable deskjob but he chose to lead them into action. he was a successful soldier but he suffered a demonstrate are trauma, so everybody though he survived he was killed by it. from shellshock to lost limb, ten yea rs from shellshock to lost limb, ten

years after the war ended, 65,000 british veterans were still receiving some fort form of medalle treatment. the schoolser sio visits uncovered the story of another 17 who died later from their wound uncovered the story of another 17 who died laterfrom their wound or by their own hand or whose deaths during the war weren't recorded. by their own hand or whose deaths during the war weren't recordedlj think during the war weren't recorded.” think war memorials don't tell the full story, there are thousands of names miss off and because of that we will never know the true fig your of casualties and i think so many of those survived the war that couldn't survive the peace. i love the way... descendants hope his story will lead toa descendants hope his story will lead to a greater understanding of the mental health problems of modern day war, in the championle a new plaque is planned with the extra 17 name, a reminder lest we forget that the end of war is not the end of the suffering. five british veterans

of the second world war have been given france's highest award, the legion d'honneur at a special ceremony in london. the french government said in 2014 it would award the legion d'honneur to all british veterans involved in the liberation of france — most of whom have now received their medal. richard lister was at today's ceremony at the french ambassadors this is one of those ceremonies that was just a this is one of those ceremonies that wasjust a joy to this is one of those ceremonies that was just a joy to watch. five british veterans all in their 90s sitting straight backed as they received the medal from the french ambassador here a husband residence in west london. among these was ruth born, she was the first to get the award today, she is 92 now but as an 18—year—old she was working as a cod breaker at bletchley park, she told me what it was like to receive france's highest honour. it is an

amazing experience, something i had totally unexpected. very privileged totally unexpected. very privileged to be here today. representing in a way all the other girls, women, who did what i did. more than 5,000 british veterans have been through ceremonies like this as various places round the country, that is the vast majority of those veterans who are eligible to receive it, because they served in the operation to liberate france. alfred hicks was among them today, he was a cameraman and sergeant in the raf, he was on the normandy beaches on d—day, and he said today's ceremony had revived memories of that experience.” remember going up on the beach, and i was coming over at the end, and...

in the evening, in the evening. the sky was black with the glareders. amazing. it was a great... well it was the french ambassador who was awarding them on behalf of the french government. he said this has been the most emotional expense of his professional life.” been the most emotional expense of his professional life. i am always surprised to see humility of these people, to say thank you. than you. it is the ambassador who has to say thank you, and thank you the united kingdom of great britain and northern ireland. it was a very emotional ceremony and i think the experience of seeing these five 90 plus—year—old british vetera ns these five 90 plus—year—old british

veterans standing to salute the anthems of britain and france was a moving experience that not many of us moving experience that not many of us who witnessed it will forget. jojohnson — the transport minister and brother of borisjohnson — resigns from the government over brexit. the dup leader arlene foster says her party can't support the government's current proposals to brussels — accusing theresa may of breaking promises . and the prime minister has laid wreaths at the graves of the first and last british soldiers killed in the first world war. now it's time for newswatch with samira ahmed. this week, was the andrew marr show right to interview hello and welcome to newswatch with me, samira ahmed. brexit campaigner aaron banks under investigation by the national crime agency,

so should he have been a guest on last week's andrew marr show? and did a united states obsessed bbc get carried away by this week's midterm elections? first, president trump's relationship with the media has always been fractious, but occasionally it breaks out into outright confrontation. a news conference in washington on wednesday was one such occasion. i think you should let me run the country, you run cnn and if you did it well your ratings would be much better. let me ask, if i may... that's enough. if i may ask one other question are you worried... that's enough. pardon me, ma'am... excuse me, that's enough. mr president, one other question if i may ask on the russian investigation, are you concerned that you may have... i'm not concerned about anything

with the russian investigation, because it's a hoax. that's enough. put down the mic. mr president, are you worried indictments coming down in this investigation? mr president... i tell you what, cnn should be ashamed of itself, having you working for them. you are a rude, terrible person, you shouldn't be working for cnn. jim acosta, the victim there of a presidential tongue lashing, and we heard a lot about donald trump this week and about tuesday night's midterm elections in the united states, not all of it was welcome to everyone. including steven blakemore. whilst i do understand the importance of this week's midterm us elections they have rather eclipsed other news, particularly from europe. for example, by comparison how much coverage of the devastating tomorrow