hello, you're watching afternoon live — i'm simon mccoy. today at 2pm. british research student matthew hedges is sentenced to life in prison in the united arab emirates — convicted of spying, charges he denies. deeply disappointed and concerned at today's verdict and i realise how difficult and distressing this is both for matthew hedges and also for his family. as theresa may heads to brussels for more talks — she warns critics that if they block her agreement, the result could be a no—deal brexit. nearly 500 jobs are to go at bombardier in belfast. the shocking rise in teenage gambling — a study says it's a problem for 50,000 children in the uk. coming up on afternoon live, all the sport with hugh. and there's been an interesting survey released in football. hello, good afternoon, simon. we will be talking about a wide ranging report out in football today. the vast majority of football fans, 27,000 surveyed, say they want fifa to consider previous racist abuse

when they award countries international tournaments. we will have more at around 2:30pm. i drove through snow this morning, then. yes, little in places, not an awful lot, not a lot more to come in the forecast over the next few days. we will talk all things snow here but also the other side of the pond, very cold thanksgiving on the way, details around 2:30pm. thank you thank you very much, ben. also coming up, change of tune in whales. we'll have more on the scientific discovery that populations of male humpback whales undergo a "cultural revolution" every few years — and change their song anthem. hello, everyone — this is afternoon live — i'm simon mccoy. 0ur nightmare has just got worse —

the words of daniela tejada — wife of british phd student matthew hedges — on hearing he'd been sentenced to life in prison for spying in the united arab emirates. hedges, who's 31 and studying at durham university, was arrested during a research trip to dubai where he was looking into security policies. his family say he's innocent — and have called on the uk government to take a stand. the foreign secretaryjeremy hunt has warned the verdict may have repercussions for the relationship between the two countries. jon donnison reports. matthew hedges had hoped today's court appearance would see him a free man. instead, the 31—year—old academic, seen here with his wife, faces life in prison. his family and friends say the hearing lasted just five minutes. we are all shocked. because, in fact, what this verdict says is that there is no boundaries, there is no academic, no safety for academic research in the uae. it is just over six months

since matthew hedges was arrested at dubai airport as he tried to leave the uae. he says he had been there carrying out academic research for his phd. the authorities say he was a spy. speaking to the bbc last month, his wife daniela said the british government should have been doing more to help. we are notjust talking about an innocent british academic‘s rights being violated in the most outward and outrageous manners. we are talking about an innocent british academic, who is being accused of being a spy for the british intelligence services. that immediately makes this a state matter and it is not just about an individual because it is britain's integrity that is being brought into question through these accusations as well. it seems to have come as a shock to the government, who had been expecting matthew hedges to be released. deeply disappointed and concerned at today's verdict. and i realise how difficult and distressing this is,

both for matthew hedges, but also for his family. we are raising it with the authorities at the highest level. my right honourable friend the foreign secretary is urgently seeking a call with the foreign minister, abdullah bin zayed. during his visit to the uae on november12th, he raised the issue with both the crown prince and the foreign minister. today, matthew hedges' wife daniela said the last six months had been the worst of their lives and that now the nightmare had only got worse. jon donnison, bbc news. and jon donnison is here now. there seems to be a widespread shock at the sentence. obviously shock from the family, his wife as we heard there, but also from the government, theresa may mentioned the foreign secretaryjeremy hunt had been in abu dhabi less than two weeks ago, had crown done at high—level meetings with the crown prince and foreign minister and the

feeling was from government officials here that he was probably going to be released. he had been out on bail. we hearfrom the family today the hearing lasted just five minutes without a lawyer present according to the family. he is now facing life in prison. any choice of appeal? we understand there is an option to appeal within 30 days, that's what's being reported within the local media there. the family are obviously going to be considering their options and as we heard from theresa may in that piece, they will renew their pressure on the authorities in the uae. concern about his physical and mental health. what sort of conditions do we think he will be in? i actually interviewed his wife daniela a couple of weeks ago and she said in the initial part of his detention he had been held in solitary confinement for a period of time, he had been vomiting everyday from the anxiety and stress and she said he suffers from anxiety very much. that condition has eased but

what she felt at the time was certainly that the government had put quite a bit of pressure on the uae authorities about the conditions and making those conditions easier in detention, but not enough just questioning the actual charges. he of course said he was there doing research looking into the impact of the arab spring on some of the gulf kingdoms and he denies he was spying. the allegation is that he was, is, a british spy. do we know the strength of these accusations? we don't, really. we hearfrom his wife that initially at the beginning of his detention he was asked to signa of his detention he was asked to sign a statement in arabic without his lawyer present actually and this turned out to be a confession. so he admitted to spying in this statement but he didn't know what he was saying. so we don't know the strength of the allegations. what we do know, phd student writing his thesis at durham university. as i say, into the impact of the arab spring on security policy and some

of the gulf states. now, he was picked up at the beginning of may as he tried to leave do having been there for about ten days carrying out research. he denies being a spy. jon donnison, thank you very much. the prime minister is to meet the european commission president in brussels in a few hours' time, to try to finalise the plan for relations between the uk and the eu after brexit. several eu member states have expressed concerns — over the uk's future access to the single market, fishing rights in uk waters for eu boats, and the status of gibraltar. theresa may is under pressure from her own mps not to concede any further ground. from westminster, alex forsyth reports. when they meet this afternoon it will not be the first time. in the past there has been handshakes, hugs, even awkward kisses. this afternoon they will be hoping they can find common ground, i bet the creases in the brexit deal, before eu leaders meet later this week. first, the prime minister had to face mps, knowing many, some in her own party, are not happy with what

is on offer so far. speaker: questions to the prime minister. instead of giving confidence to millions of people who voted both leave and remain, this half—baked dealfails to give any hope that can bring the country together again. but the prime minister is not budging. the right honourable gentleman is playing party politics, he is opposing a deal he has not read, he is promising a deal he cannot negotiate. he is telling leave voters one thing and remain voters another. whatever the right honourable gentleman might do, i will act in the national interest. westminster is officially waiting to see what is signed off by eu leaders, but something parliament will eventually back leaders, but some think parliament will eventually back what is on offer rather than the alternatives. it is my view that when the deal comes before parliament it will get through despite what people say, but i do also feel, having spent the past six or seven months

on the backbenches talking to other backbenchers, that parliament will stop and no deal. backbenchers, that parliament will stop a no deal. we do not know how parliament would react, we do not know what will happen. i think there is a serious danger of not brexiting at all. so, back the deal, or rather the no deal, risk no brexit seems to be has some are trying to rally support for the prime minister. much will depend on what labour does and their position is not completely clear. they suggest they will not back this deal, but do not want no deal, so could try to force out the government, or push for an election or another public vote. yes, we have kept all the options on the table and one of another referendum. but the debate about the referendum question or questions would be would have to be agreed amongst the parties in parliament itself. so, the only certainty seems to be that there is still uncertainty, which begs the question...

brexit is going to happen, right? there is an element of nostradamus in this. we demand a people's vote. despite some demand, the government has ruled out another boat, has ruled out another vote, the prime minister insisting today we are leaving next march. exactly how is still not clear. in a moment we'll find out what's happening in brussels with adam fleming — but first to our chief political correspondent, vicki young in westminster. i'm not the sharpest tool in the box at any i'm not the sharpest tool in the box atany time i'm not the sharpest tool in the box at any time but after prime minister's questions i'm a bit confused as to what the brexit message is from the government. there is a good reason for that, simon and on this occasion i can forgive you because they have been confusing messages coming from the cabinet today and from theresa may herself, saying that it's her deal or it is no deal at one point, the now seemingly saying it is her deal

or it's possibly no brexit, and then confirming at prime minister's questions we are definitely leaving at the end of march. i think there are many bewildered people in the house of commons today and it feels they have a strategy of saying different things to different audiences. but of course if you are doing that in public it does slightly undermine the strategy. but let's focus on labor was my position now, i'm joined byjenny let's focus on labor was my position now, i'mjoined byjenny chapman from labour's brexit team. your position isn't that clear either. you are saying all options are on the table, that's not showing leadership. —— labour. the table, that's not showing leadership. -- labour. our position is we want a customs union and that's been clear for over a year i'iow that's been clear for over a year now and consistent and that is quite well understood, that's the basis for everything else we are saying. as we proceed we do not know whether or not the deal will get through parliament. the reason we are saying that options need to be on the table is so that we don't end up leaving without a deal because our view very clearly is that that would be a disaster for the uk and we don't

wa nt disaster for the uk and we don't want that to happen and we will use any tools that are available to us to stop that happening. that's why we are saying it in the way that we are. what about this idea of another referendum? are. what about this idea of another referendum ? there are. what about this idea of another referendum? there are many in the house of commons, including on your own side, who back that idea. today we had a frontbencher from the labour team steve reed saying he backs a referendum as well. it is confusing for people who do not know where you stand on this. there is growing enthusiasm for another referendum, i think that's true. and i think that reflects what lots of people are saying to us across the country as well. the reason that is happening is because there is such concern about this vote that is about to happen and about making sure that we don't leave without a deal, so the labour party's position, and i know that steve reed, who wrote that piece, he agrees with this is welcome and if you read it it is quite clear that it says this too, that having another referendum is something that we would keep their as an option.

but the first thing is to, let's look at the deal, look at this supplement to the deal that's going to come at the weekend, and have this vote. that's the first thing that needs to happen. are there any circumstances in which you might be able to vote for what the prime minister has put in front of you given we have this political declaration to come? we have not seen that in full. is it possible that could win you around? what we wa nt that could win you around? what we want isa that could win you around? what we want is a firm commitment to a permanent customs union and we have said that all along at the prime minister knows why we want it, it's about protecting jobs and manufacturing, and also it deals with the issues, most the issues, in northern ireland, and so this whole row about the backstop that the prime minister is really caught on the hook of, it would resolve that too to a large extent. so if she was too to a large extent. so if she was to come back and say that actually we are going to have a customs union, and it is going to be on a permanent basis, then i think you do have the basis for a good conversation across the house. what

is really sad, i think, is the prime minister is never at any point through this process reached out and said, what is it that we could all agree? because, obviously, well, it seems obvious as we stand today, isn't going to get the support of her own party. jenny chapman, thank you very much indeed. there are still people talking about the prime minister getting some changes to the withdrawal agreement, but she has made clear that that has been pretty much signed off, so it is this political declaration about the future relationship, the long—term permanent relationship with the eu that all eyes are on now to see if she can win over the dissenting voices. thank you very much. let's go to adam in brussels. some pressure on theresa may to try and alter this deal as she meets jean—claude juncker. how likely is that? there is very little likelihood there could be any alterations made to the withdrawal agreement, which is the divorce treaty, but was sealed as far as the

eu is concerned last week. in fact, the only thing that remains outstanding there is for both sides to agree an ultimate end date for any potentially extended transition, or implementation phase. basically, there are two digits that can be added to the withdrawal agreement and that is about it. all the disagreements are on the other document, as vicki young was saying, the political declaration. we think it will be 22 or 23 pages setting out the future relationship in a whole load of sectors. they are the issues where theresa may doesn't have a lot of room for manoeuvre because the eu wants her to give things as oppose to offering her other stuff. the outstanding issues are about trade and the trade in goods and to what extent this document reflects the prime minister's cheggers plan, which included a free trade area with a common rule book shed between the two. —— chequers plan. and then the issue of fishing rights and how much

access issue of fishing rights and how much a ccess e u issue of fishing rights and how much access eu boats will get to uk waters, and incredibly emotive topic in some parts of the uk. and another emotive topic, gibraltar, a motive for the spanish government who have kicked up a fuss in the last few days because they do not want the future relationship after brexit to apply automatically and directly to gibraltar, because they think that would amount to a permanent status for gibraltar that they don't agree with. so those are three tricky issues where the eu is either saying to theresa may you can't have what you want, can you give us a little bit more, or can you change your policy regarding a british territory? where there are also strong feelings. but is quite a tricky number of options that you will have to discuss with jean—claude juncker. what is interesting in the air at the moment in brussels is the idea of whether the summit will even go ahead. we saw the vice president of the european commission who looks after the euro doing a press conference about the euro area this morning and he gave a quick update about brexit having spoken to michel barnier the

chief negotiator this morning at his head for the summit to go ahead you need a final text of the political declaration and privately diplomats have been talking about the fact that angela merkel, the german chancellor, has said if there isn't a finalised text on the table, whole dealfor her to a finalised text on the table, whole deal for her to sign off on sunday, she is not coming to the special summit. so just a she is not coming to the special summit. sojusta bit she is not coming to the special summit. sojust a bit of she is not coming to the special summit. so just a bit of pressure on this afternoon tea between theresa may and jean—claude juncker. this afternoon tea between theresa may and jean-claude juncker. what time does she arrive? what time will she get out of the car and talk to the media perhaps? for 30 pm uk time, 5:30pm brussels time, although the car usually drives in through the car usually drives in through the european commission gates and we film it and they go into something called the vip corner, which is where you see jean—claude juncker doing the handshake, we all shout questions at them, theresa may will ignore them, jean—claude juncker probably makes some kind of comment, because he can't help engaging with the media, and they disappear through a door and then we have to wait and see and get reports back from them later about what they discussed. that's usually how things unfold. i only asked you what time.

sorry! liz30pm! unfold. i only asked you what time. sorry! 4:30pm! thanks. you're watching afternoon live. almost 500 jobs are to go at aircraft manufacturer bombardier in northern ireland. the canadian company said it needs to cut costs and improve efficiency. bombardier is one of the biggest employers in northern ireland, with a large base in east belfast. 0ur northern ireland business and economics editorjohn campbell is outside the bombardier factory in belfast. this is a huge blow. it is, this is one in ten of all bombardierjobs in northern ireland to be going. we knew jobs were northern ireland to be going. we knewjobs were going to go because earlier this month the company said it was cutting 5000 jobs across its global operations but i don't think anybody anticipated the scale of the job losses here and the union, the unite union, described these job losses as completely disproportionate. thank you, john. we will talk to you later on. thank you very much. the government's borrowed

far more in october than analysts predicted — the first figures to be published since the chancellor's budget last month. the deficit rose to £8.8 billion, making it the biggest 0ctober figure for three years and well above what the £6.1 billion forecast. however, borrowing is still at its lowest level for 13 years. gambling is usually thought of as an adult issue — but now there's real concern about the impact it is having on the lives of teenagers. more than 50,000 children in the uk have developed a gambling problem, according to a report by the gambling commission. that's double the figure a year ago. chi chi izundu reports. i got addicted to fixed odds betting terminals, which are the machines in betting shops. matt started gambling when he was 16. by the time he had stopped, he had racked up debts of more than £16,000. it was very exhilarating, when you win it is like a massive adrenaline rush. what you become addicted to eventually is the

anticipation between bets. so if you have a bet, on these machines, you can gamble again 20 seconds later. so you're getting that hit three times a minute. now a new report has found that the number of children classed as having a gambling problem has quadrupled to more than 50,000 in just two years. the gambling commission says 11— to 16—year—olds are using bets with friends, slot machines, and scratch cards. the regulator also highlighted concern of nearly a million young people being exposed to gambling through loot boxes in video games and apps. those can involve a player paying money for an item that is only revealed after purchasing. we are clearly concerned as an industry that in—game enticements such as loot boxes will encourage young people into gambling. so that is something we would be looking at, legislation and regulation. campaigners agree to a clamp down on gaming but they also want regulation on gambling ads in and around live tv sports games and treatment centres for those who need help. they say that cost should be

compulsory to the industry. i want i% and that would produce £140 million a year. so we could treat people, we could educate people, we could make sure that parents — terribly important — parents understand how to help their children once their children begin gambling online. that is an essential part of the whole programme. in a statement, the department of digital culture, media and sport said it expects the gambling commission to take the strongest action against companies that do the rules, but it is also important that parents and businesses remain vigilant to the risks posed by gambling. today's study suggests 450,000 children bet regularly. but the warning is unless more is done, some of those will definitely become addicts. we have a bit more on our lead

story, the british phd student matthew hedges has been sentenced to life in prison in the uae and as you can see we are looking at a statement from the vice chancellor of durham university stuart corbridge, who said we are devastated to hear that matt has been sentenced to life in prison, he goes on to say there is no information given on what basis matt was handed the sentence and no reason to believe matt was conducting anything other than legitimate academic research. we are committed to doing what we can to get matt home safely and swiftly and we will offer his wife daniela and his family are full support during the appeal period and thereafter. at what is an unimaginably difficult time for them. and of course, lots of reaction to that sentence keeping an eye on twitter and a number of people have taken to twitter, including ben bradshaw. shocked and appalled by the life sentence passed

on my innocent constituent, he says, and horrified by reports the sentence passed at a five minute hearing with no lawyer present. ben bradshaw, his local mp. more reaction to come throughout the afternoon. the number of children in england receiving treatment for knife attacks has soared. bbc analysis of nhs figures shows an almost 90% rise in under—18s going to hospital over the last four years, far outstripping the increase among adults. the government says it has plans to deal with the problem, and that police will be given more powers. tim muffett reports. in september, bereaved mum tracey hanson appeared on breakfast with a message for the london mayor. what would you want to say to him? to sit down and share with him our frustrations. will you do that? of course, i'll carry on meeting with bereaved families and experts, including tracey. two months on, tracey‘s about to meet sadiq khan. how are you feeling before your meeting with the mayor? hopeful. is he doing enough at the moment to tackle knife crime?

he's saying it's a generation, it's going take up to ten years, i'd actually really have to say why, why does it have to take ten years? tracey‘s son, josh, was stabbed and killed in 2015. josh was murdered in an unprovoked knife attack. for no reason, no fight, no altercation, totally unprovoked. the person who killed josh has never been caught. as well as more support for bereaved families, tracey and josh‘s sister, brooke, want to talk to children in primary schools about the reality of knife crime. they've set up a charity injosh's memory, but are finding it hard to get access. schools could potentially not want somebody to come in and talk about knife crime. they might worry it might make children think more about knife crime. all organisations talking about knife crime need to be speaking in schools as young as primary. the average age of those being attacked with a sharp object, such as a knife, seems to be getting lower. we've analysed nhs data from across england.

last year, 11% of those admitted to hospital because of such an attack were children, and the rise in the number of child victims far exceeds the rise in the number of adult victims. five steps to stay safe... all saints primary school in bootle in merseyside, and a pilot scheme aimed at nine and ten—year—olds. a tough topic, perhaps, for children this age, but these parents support it. i think it's a really, really good idea, especially with boys, because they see what other boys are doing and they go, "i might do that!" why do you think some kids are attracted to knives or gangs? people have got nothing better to do now, these children, they all tend to get into groups. i'm saying, "i'm 0k, but you're not." it's that feeling of belonging with a group of older children. is that going to be in a positive way or a negative way? so you just met the mayor, how did it go? really, really well.

yeah, very positive. through sharing our story and the devastation it had on us, you can change somebody‘s mindset quite quickly. we met the mayor later at the spotlight youth centre in east london, which offers creative classes for teenagers. some schools are worried about their school being labelled by allowing in groups like the group tracey founded. my message to all schools is, nobody is immune to this challenge. there might be a weapon... such a tough subject at such a young age, but for many, lessons like this are the best way forward. tim muffet, bbc news. the international police organisation, interpol, has elected kim jong yang, from south korea, as its new president. mr kim was chosen by interpol‘s 194 member states — alexander prokopchuk, who's been accused of abusing the international police body's arrest warrant system to help moscow

target political opponents. mr kim will succeed meng hongwei, who vanished on a trip to china in september. president trump has been asked to order an investigation into whether saudi arabia's crown prince mohammed bin salman played a role in the murder of journalist jamal khashoggi. mr khashoggi was killed on 2nd 0ctober inside the saudi consulate in istanbul. democrat and republican senators are demanding a fresh probe into his death. yesterday, president trump defended us ties with saudi arabia, despite international condemnation of the incident. time for a look at the weather. here's ben rich. what a change. yesterday we talked about how cold it feels and today we have some snow to show you. this video came from a drone flying over sussex. this was devil's dyke. you can see, not a lot of snow but enough to give a covering, may be a centimetre or so, that was the scene

across many parts of southern and south—eastern england, particularly during last night and the first part of this morning, we had snow even at low levels. it was notjust there, we had snow in other parts of the country as well. look at this picture from north yorkshire. that's more than one centimetre of snow, i reckon, of her covering up over some of the high ground, and elsewhere there was a gusting, that was kent earlier this morning, a gusting of snow on the grass. may be an early taste of winter, simon. right, but it's going to get a bit warmer? it is going to get a bit warmer here over the next few days, only a little, nine or 10 degrees, but not much more of this. now you have said that, that's it! we are in for a weekend of chaos! i sincerely hope not because it has been really nice working with you. 0n the other side of the pond, however, look at this. we have had some cold air but look at this deep bitter cold spreading down across the north—east of the usa and eastern canada.

it is thanksgiving coming up? thanksgiving tomorrow and lots of people travelling today, a little bit of snow to come in places across new england so that might make for some travel problems. it is this cold air making its presence felt. it might be in some parts of the us a record—breaking cold thanksgiving. the temperatures i have put up on thursday are the top temperatures we expect, —6 in boston. it may well be the coldest thanksgiving on record in boston, and in new york, minus three celsius, 26 fahrenheit. there have only been three thanksgivings on record where the temperature hasn't made it to 30 fahrenheit before so it's going to be one of the coldest. listening to yesterday, is there a wind—chill factor yesterday? there is a big wind—chill. in boston tomorrow afternoon it will feel more like -15 tomorrow afternoon it will feel more like —15 with the strong north—westerly wind. so the glow i showed you yesterday will blow away and people will get a lot colder. 0k, bring us a bit of a glow closer to home.

nothing like that, thankfully. as we hinted we have something a little less chilly on the way but it's all relative, the temperature only su btly relative, the temperature only subtly and slowly shifting its way upwards. but that should mean we see a lot less of the white stuff. the radar picture from the last 24 hours shows where we had rain but where you see the white shading it is not all snow, there has been some sleet and a bit of hail mixed in and there has been some snow in places as well. it's all because we have been squeezed between low pressure and high pressure, that has brought this brisk easterly wind. the winds are still quite strong across the north—east of scotland through the rest of today, winds gusting from 40-50 rest of today, winds gusting from 40—50 mph in the most exposed spots and across northern scotland and northern ireland, further rain and hill snow, a few showers elsewhere across england and where is but the further south you look, generally things this afternoon are a little quieter, some sunshine, the wind is lighter, so it doesn't feel quite so cold. however, at night—time, light winds and clear skies allow temperatures to dip away at this

time of yearand temperatures to dip away at this time of year and that's what we will see across the central swathe of the british isles, the blue shading, temperatures well below freezing, _4’ temperatures well below freezing, —4, may be minus six degrees if you are in the countryside in the most prone spots. something less cold in eastern areas by the first part of tomorrow because there will be extra cloud by the end of the night, 8am, aberdeen, 7 degrees, cloud and patchy rain, glasgow, freezing but with sunny skies overhead. and for northern ireland, wales, the south—west, chilly but for fairly bright and further east cloud and the odd spot of rain but it will be that bit milder. we take the area of cloudy weather and through the day it shifts further west, the cloud over north west england and after a chilly start it will feel disappointing. western scotland clouding over as well, but for northern ireland, the south—west of wales and england it will stay sunny and the temperatures, it is only su btle and the temperatures, it is only subtle but they nudge upwards and we could add another degree to the temperatures on friday and out in some hefty showers in the

south—west. elsewhere, a lot of cloud, the odd spot of rain here and there but the temperatures, 7—12d in plymouth, feeling tropical compared to what we have had recently. further ahead into the weekend, no heatwave on the cards because we will still be squeezed between low and high pressure bringing an easterly wind across the uk. temperature is not that impressive. higher than they have been, may be double digits in places, a lot of cloud, some rain up towards the north—east and south—west, but i'm hopeful of no snow in the forecast through the weekend. this is bbc news — our latest headlines.

british research student matthew hedges is sentenced to life in prison in the united arab emirates — convicted of spying, charges he denies. as theresa may heads to brussels for more talks — she warns critics that if they block her agreement, the result could mean "no brexit at all." nearly 500 jobs are to go at bombardier in belfast. the shocking rise in teenage gambling — a study says it's a problem for 50,000 children in the uk. survivors of terror attacks say victims are being let down by a crisis in mental health services. sport now on afternoon live with hugh. the vast majority of fans survey

said they want they to consider previous racist abuse when it comes to deciding on awarding world cup. 38 different countries fans were surveyed, there were interesting results. in the uk half of football supporters say they have witnessed racism while watching matches but only 40% say they would know how to report such incidents. globally, fa ns report such incidents. globally, fans said they would support points deductions for national or club teams. the governing bodies have been there wea k the governing bodies have been there weak in enforcing the sanctions that they should be applying against offenders, clubs or national associations, and the teams, when

they are playing in that is because i feel that they are as a timidity and how they approach this. we have seen on many occasions, uefa, will back off when a club appeals, fever are very back off when a club appeals, fever are very inconsistent. now the professional football association is to hold an independent review, after an open letter calling for chairman gordon taylor to stand down. we are dealing with the man who has beenin we are dealing with the man who has been in charge of the association for a long time, 40 years. this open letter has been signed by more than 200 players past and present. it man who is earning £2.29 million per year, it's beaten the most highly

paid union boss in the world apparently. this open letter. finally he has spoken amidst the criticism and said, we have listened and taken time to think about what is in the best interest of the organisation and their members. they are pride of the work they do. he said he is happy to defend their work on mental health, diversity, but he says there are areas on which they can improve. adamant that the criticism must not be swept under the carpet and he goes on to confirm that an independent qc led review will be held into the structure and operation of the pfa. but it would appear that gordon taylor will remain in position despite this row he appears to be having with the chairman of the pfa. but gordon taylor remains in position and he has said there will be a review. the fa! has announced

that martin 0'neill, roy keane and the rest of the republic of ireland management team have left their positions after a disappointing nations league campaign. during his five year tenure, 0'neill ran the best euros campaign in ireland's history and followed that by making it out of a tough group to reach the play—offs for the 2018 fifa world cup. but they haven't won a competitive match this year and their disappointing nations league run ended with a draw against denmark. gregor townsend has made 8 changes to the scotland team that was narrowly beaten by south africa last weekend as he looks to end their autumn international series ona high when they take on argentina at murrayfield. the biggest change, may be positional as finn russell moves into inside centre with adam hastings — son of scotland great gavin — starting at fly half. josh strauss is given his first start since last year's summer tour at number eight. james anderson will be rested for england's third and final test against sri lanka, which starts on friday in colombo.

he's played a relatively minor role in their two wins so far, taking only one wicket, and he steps aside for stuart broad, who's yet to feature in the series, which england have already won. jonny bairstow also returns after injury. i understand the reasoning behind it. the series has been wrapped up. it is an opportunity to rotate. with the winter we have got ahead it makes sense for stewart to get some cricket. it is going to be a tough two of the west indies. it could be a long period without him bawling so to have him get a game under his belt is good for him and the team. that's all the sport for now. more now on the news that

a british academic, matthew hedges, has been sentenced to life in prison in the united arab emirates for spying. the 31—year—old — who's always maintained his innocence — had been researching the country's foreign and internal security policies when he was detained by the authorities in may. let's speak now to the conservative mp bob seely — who sits on the house of commons foreign select committee. he's in our westminster studio. the foreign office seems to have been caught wrong—footed on this. this has come as a surprise. the sentence comes as a surprise. we hope it will be rescinded or that he will be allowed to leave the country or that there will be some kind of settle m e nt or that there will be some kind of settlement in the next 30 days. it has come as a surprise. certainly the severity of the sentence. what do you want the authorities to do? to remember who their friends and allies are, if they have a defence agreements, they should not be arresting british citizens without good reason, it is not appear to be good reason, it is not appear to be good reason, it is not appear to be good reason here. clearly uae has

sensitivities, and there is the dynamic, and the arab spring and yemeni civil war. clearly he has upset the uae authorities. but there's no reason for what they have done. would you suggest for others doing similar work perhaps to think ain? doing similar work perhaps to think again? it is a shame and they should not have too but i think they probably will. i think it is wise. the uae is sending a clear message that they do not like people looking into areas that they consider to be sensitive. it is a shame they are doing that and a shame they are trying to make an example of a british citizen. jeremy hunt is under pressure over this. what should he do? as forcibly as possible he should be reminding uae

who their friends and allies are in the wider world and the strong links between uae and britain and this should not be happening. should he go out there? if need be, yes. if it will help. it is early days and i am sure he is working hard. jeremy hunt isa sure he is working hard. jeremy hunt is a highly competent individual and a good foreign secretary and i am sure she is doing his best to get a resolution to this very quickly. theresa may is on her way to brussels this afternoon to meet with the european commisison president, jean claude—juncker. she's hoping to finalise an agreement on what relations between the uk and eu after brexit will look like. with me to explain what might be in that future framework is our reality check correspondent, chris morris. so the political declaration — we presume that'll be the focus of the pm's talks with jean claude juncker this afternoon. remind us what it is. it will sit alongside the draft

withdrawal agreement. this document is much shorter. it is maybe 20 pages. an outline published last week was seven pages. most importantly it is non—binding, unlike the withdrawal agreement it is not a legal treaty, on either side could be considerable changes to what it sets out. the negotiations which it hopes will spring from the document, which will decide who pull spring from the document, can only happen if we do leave on 29th of march. most people are talking about trade. the biggest thing trying to do, it sets out in the outlines, create an ambitious featuring agreements between the two sides. we have heard a lot about customs arrangements over the last couple of weeks, they are a sensitive part of it. what will it say about customs? at the moment the outline of the document suggests a future ambitious customs arrangement could be based on the single customs

territory which is involved in the irish backstop. some brexiteers are not happy about that, but few as they could be trapped into a customs arrangement. what it says about future trade is obviously key but this issue about customs, it is a bigger issue is what you are saying? it is not just what you are saying? it is notjust about customs, it is about the entire economic relationship. that means, for example, regulations, the things they currently do with the single market, are going to be important. cast your mind to the chequers agreements, much derided, but still on the table as far as the government is concerned, it sets out the idea of a common rule book with the idea of a common rule book with the eu for most regulations includes. that will be key. why are we stitching of this together? one of the reasons there has been so much talk about it is because both sides are still committed and will be considered in future negotiations to insure that the irish border

remains completely open with no new checks and infrastructure. what else is going to be a net because this will be the blueprint for our entire future relationship? it is not just for our entire future relationship? it is notjust goods, it is trade in services. services is a vast part of the british economy, perhaps 80% of the british economy, perhaps 80% of the irish economy is about services. it isa the irish economy is about services. it is a regime called equivalence. mutual recognition, which is what the uk really wanted. i recognise your regulations, you recognise mine, we are all happy. equivalence is not quite as good, we agree they are roughly equivalent but one side or the other good pull out of that arrangement with relatively short notice. there is some concern in the city if the eu stitch is up on that. most people know the rest of the city of london, needs its financial clout, its capital. while there is a

lot of talk and lobbying about financial services i suspect that agreement on equivalence will come out fairly well for the city of london. we are all right, so far? so far. thank you. the united nation's envoy to yemen has arrived for talks with houthi rebels in the capital sanaa, to try to lay the groundwork for urgent peace talks. the fighting in yemen has caused a huge humanitarian crisis — and half of the country's 28 million people are thought to be on the brink of famine. before he arrived in yemen, martin griffiths, who's a former uk foreign office diplomat, called on all sides to exercise restraint. caroline rigby‘s report contains images you might find distressing. ten—year—old nazir is fighting for her life. four of her siblings never even made it to hospital. like so many others, they were collateral damage in this devastating war. the conflict in yemen has been raging for three and a half years, between a saudi—led military

coalition and iranian—backed houthi rebels. as the main entry point for food aid, the rebel—held port of hudaydah has been a focus of international efforts to broker a truce, but hopes of a deal suffered further setback this week when fighting escalated. the un describes yemen as the world's worst man—made humanitarian disaster, with 14 million people on the brink of famine, more than half of them children. and the charity save the children estimates 85,000 under the age of five may have already died of malnutrition since april 2015. saudi arabia and the united arab emirates have pledged almost £400 million to help tackle the crisis. but as well as being the country's largest aid donors, they are also the biggest military powers in a coalition repeatedly blamed for civilian deaths. there should be an end

to this conflict. let's put enough pressure on the houthis to come this time to attend this dialogue, and let's be serious to reach a political solution that brings peace to yemen. 0n the ground, for now, the war goes on, but the un remains hopeful it can resume peace talks between the two sides within the coming weeks. caroline rigby, bbc news. survivors of terror attacks are travelling to downing street this afternoon, to hand over a report that says victims are being let down by a crisis in mental health services. the survivors against terror says 270 people responded to its survey, with three—quarters claiming the mental health support they recieved was inadequate. lauren moss reports. terror attacks have killed, wounded and left many with permanent injuries. there's always a rush to save those caught up in the horror. afterwards, some of the scars that remain aren't physical.

15—year—old natalie and her mother, valerie, were at manchester arena last year. both have struggled to receive counselling on the nhs. people like me have been put on, like, waiting lists for a counsellor for ages, and they've still not received the support that they need 18 months on. and, like, thatjust shows how, like, people can't get the support they need when they need it. please don't hesitate to call us again if you need us... a survey by the campaign group survivors against terror has praised the charity sector for providing help, but identified what it's called a profound crisis in nhs mental health support. staff say services are stretched. we've got to balance the needs of victims of terror attacks against victims of sexual assault and car traffic collisions, etc, etc. so there is a limited resource, so it's about how we try and use it most effectively.

the government admits more needs to be done to provide support. later, campaigners will hand a copy of the report and an open letter in to downing street. those who've been left with invisible, lasting injuries say they want to prevent others from experiencing the same struggles. lauren moss, bbc news. a look at the headlines on afternoon live. british research student matthew hedges is sentenced to life in prison in the united arab emirates — convicted of spying. he denies the charge. as theresa may heads to brussels for more talks — she warns critics that they could end up with a no—deal brexit if they block her plan aircraft manufacturer bombardier slashes nearly 500 jobs in belfast — in an effort to improve efficiency at the firm.

here's your business headlines on afternoon live. the amount the government has had to borrow has spiked sharply upwards over last month. for most of the year it's managed to keep a lid on borrowing and in fact for the financial year so far it's still £11.5 billion less than it was this time last year. but the october figure on its own was the highest in three years. the number of children classed as having a gambling problem has quadrupled to more than 50,000 injust two years. a study by the gambling commission suggests that 450,000 children aged 11 to 16 bet regularly, more than those who have taken drugs, smoked or drunk alcohol. bets with friends, slot machines, and scratchcards, were most popular. accountancy firm grant thornton is under investigation for its role as the auditor of patisserie valerie, the bakery chain that almost collapsed last month after it discovered a £40 million black hole in its accounts. the financial reporting council said it was investigating the audits of the financial statements

of patisserie holdings — the chain's parent company — from 2015 to 2017. markets in the united states, what is happening? recovering a little bit. the reason for the problems was because of the seals on the iphone, which were not as good as people hoped. 0ther tech stocks, facebook, amazon, networks, google, all falling back. if you look at the last week, take the value they have lost, the big tech companies, they have lost $1 trillion worth of value. they are coming back from a sharp fall and there are bigger global worries about global growth generally. there

has been a big rant up in the last five or six months since the tax reforms in the states. people wonder will it be sustained? also, the falling of the oil price, that again isa falling of the oil price, that again is a reflection of slower economic growth, or worries about slower economic growth. how are we doing at the moment about the falling markets of the last few days, has recovered this morning? it is certainly a different scene today than yesterday. it isa today than yesterday. it is a different scene today. look over the big board, yesterday was a sea of red, two day it is more mixed, a little bit of recovery this morning. that is the day before the

thanksgiving holiday in the us saw volumes are going to be quite liked that there is a question about why we have perceived this brought sell—off on the market. there is a few things at play. there is a sense that people want to fly to safety, moving away from tech stocks to some of the more industrials is a safer bet in this user when we are probably going to see a rise in interest rates. there are worries about the trade disputes between the united states and china and that is impacting consumer focused companies like amazon and apple. how are those to schooling because they are still talking to the chinese? right, there was a big setback at the weekend when they both met at a summit and there has been yet another sort of setback, there has been an update by the us trade administration, to a report that was released in march.

basically be asked saying there have been no significant changes in some of the trade practices that are being employed by china, so if you wa nt to being employed by china, so if you want to be able to negotiate using words like that probably is not going to board very well for getting some sort of agreement. both sides will be meeting at the end of this month, beginning of next month, at the 620 month, beginning of next month, at the g20 summit in argentina. a lot of people were hoping that they could be some breakthrough between the two sides but it is looking unlikely. you can still hear bells in the background. he has made has the departure. the pound against the dollar, a little bit weaker there. whale song has intrigued scientists

and mariners for centuries. now it seems the distinctive chorus of squeaks and groans can change over time — and not all whales sound the same. scientists working in australia say humpback whales undergo major changes which mean their song is constantly evolving. here's our science correspondent helen briggs. humpback whales are known for their haunting songs. much like human tunes they can quickly spread until all whales in the group are singing from the same song sheet. their signature song evolves gradually over time as individual males embellish it and others copy. whale song. this off the east coast of australia, is what the whales were singing two years later. whale song. but every now and then a song completely disappears from the oceans and is replaced by something new in what scientists call a revolution event. normally when the song is evolving through

gradual changes you can hear the songs from one year to the next and you hear the similarities. but with a revolution the song is completely different. they essentially start from scratch with a revolution. researchers studied whales over 13 years. they found that when they changed their tune the new ballads were always more simple. what this tells us is that there might be some kind of limitation to that learning, so there might be some kind of cap, either in terms of how complex a thing they can learn, or how much new material they can learn at one time. and that could explain how the crooners of the sea adapt and change their songs ensuring their musical repertoire stands the test of time. the speaker of the house of commons has reprimanded a group of mps for playing football in the house of commons. john bercow said the "historic"

chamber should not be used for a kickabout. the snp's hannah bardell was filmed playing keepy—uppy in the chamber and posing for photos with other mps. they had been due to play for the newly formed uk women's parliamentary football club but had to cancel their first game as it was expected to clash with votes. the speaker added he'd received "fulsome" letters of apology from three of the mps involved. time for a look at the weather. some of us have seen some of the white stuff over the next —— over the last 24 hours. things will turn u nless the last 24 hours. things will turn unless cold over the next day. northern ireland will have more cloud. further south aside from a

few showers though weather is coming down and that process continues do tonight. winds across the country will fall. clear skies overhead. tonight. winds across the country will fall. clearskies overhead. it will fall. clearskies overhead. it will be cold in the countryside, up to minus six degrees but by the end of the night less chilly across eastern areas. there is extra cloud steaming in here. tomorrow, western scotland, the midlands, but for northern ireland and side wheels we should hold onto some sunshine. it should hold onto some sunshine. it should feel less calls. hello, you're watching afternoon live — i'm simon mccoy. today at 3pm. british research student matthew hedges is sentenced to life in prison in the united arab emirates — convicted of spying, charges he denies. deeply disappointed and concerned at today's verdict and i realise how difficult and distressing this is both for matthew hedges and also for his family. as theresa may heads to brussels for more talks —

she warns critics that if they block her agreement, the result could be a no—deal brexit nearly 500 jobs are to go at bombardier in belfast. the shocking rise in teenage gambling — a study says it's a problem for 50,000 children in the uk. coming up on afternoon live, all the sport with hugh. we will be talking about the pfa chairman gordon taylor who has defended its record in supporting professional footballers, but says it will recommend an independent qc led review into its practices after criticism of its leadership. we will have more later in the hour. i shall talk to you then. the weather is changing, ben rich has the details. some of us have seen a bit of snow over the last day or so, not an awful lot, and not much in the forecast because temperatures will

slowly start to rise. the weather details on the way. talk to you later, thanks for that. also coming up — we'll be talking to the granddaughter of clement attlee, about the child refugee secretly taken in by the former prime minister to save him from the nazis. hello everyone — this is afternoon live — i'm simon mccoy. "0ur nightmare has just got worse" — the words of daniela tejada — wife of phd student matthew hedges — on hearing he'd been sentenced to life in prison for spying in the united arab emirates. hedges, who's 31 and studying at durham university, was arrested after a research trip to dubai where he was looking into security policies. his family say he's innocent — and have called on the uk government to take a stand. the foreign secretaryjeremy hunt has warned the verdict may have repercussions for the relationship between the two countries. jon donnison reports.

matthew hedges had hoped today's court appearance would see him a free man. instead, the 31—year—old academic, seen here with his wife, faces life in prison. his family and friends say the hearing lasted just five minutes. we are all shocked. because, in fact, what this verdict says is that there is no boundaries, there is no academic, no safety for academic research in the uae. it is just over six months since matthew hedges was arrested at dubai airport as he tried to leave the uae. he says he had been there carrying out academic research for his phd. the authorities say he was a spy. speaking to the bbc last month, his wife daniela said the british government should have been doing more to help. we are notjust talking about an innocent british academic‘s rights being violated in the most outward and outrageous manners. we are talking about an innocent british academic,

who is being accused of being a spy for the british intelligence services. that immediately makes this a state matter and it is not just about an individual because it is britain's integrity that is being brought into question through these accusations as well. it seems to have come as a shock to the government, who had been expecting matthew hedges to be released. deeply disappointed and concerned at today's verdict. and i realise how difficult and distressing this is, both for matthew hedges, but also for his family. we are raising it with the authorities at the highest level. my right honourable friend the foreign secretary is urgently seeking a call with the foreign minister, abdullah bin zayed. during his visit to the uae on november12th, he raised the issue with both the crown prince

mohammed bin zayed. and the foreign minister. today, matthew hedges' wife daniela said the last six months had been the worst of their lives and that now the nightmare had only got worse. jon donnison, bbc news. we can speak to matthew hedges' mp, ben bradshaw. he is in westminsterfor us now. thank you forjoining us. this seems to have caught everybody on the hop. yes, i think after matthew was released after five months in solitary confinement about two weeks ago we all hoped that was a good sign, and certainly from the discussions i had with the iraqi ambassador here and from the discussions the foreign secretary had with his counterparts he became hopeful —— the ma rathi. his wife had flown out to be with him and she had flown out to be with him and she had become hopeful and this has come asa had become hopeful and this has come as a devastating blow, it is an appalling and shocking verdict. how to get him out? the statement by the foreign secretary jeremy to get him out? the statement by the foreign secretaryjeremy hunt was interesting because it was quite a strong statement and it was the first time really the british

government has accepted that repercussions will have to follow if matthew is not released. they have been trying to do their best behind—the—scenes using the usual softly softly approach that british governments adopt with these gulf countries when things like this happen but they have reached the end of the road, and we have have enormous influence, economic, cultural ties with the uae and the government needs to use those and explain what actions are going to follow the foreign secretary potomac strong words. have you had any contact with his wife, his family in the previous weeks? i've been in touch with daniela all the way through since matthew was first arrested, the whole issue was kept under wraps for several weeks and months on the advice of the foreign 0ffice. months on the advice of the foreign office. i think daniela reached the stage, matthew was very ill and not being properly treated and he had no access to medical treatment, or reading, he was in solitary confinement and she basically lost her patience and the issue became

public. it was only after that incidentally but he was released from solitary confinement but this is clearly a serious step backwards. daniela is on her way back to the uk now, she has been with matthew over the last two weeks looking after him but clearly i have not had a chance to speak to her because she is in the air but i will endeavour to do so and! the air but i will endeavour to do so and i will speak to the foreign 0ffice minister alistair burt later this afternoon. whenever we talk about a britain drilled abroad the assumption is always that they are innocent. is there any doubt in anybody‘s plasmid mind that he wasn't doing anything but what he said, which was a research? certainly not in mine, nor in durham university pot zero in daniela's, he was in the uae for ten days quite openly going around doing his research and was only arrested as he was leaving for the airport. the british government themselves have made clear to the emirati authorities that he wasn't a british spy authorities that he wasn't a british spy andi authorities that he wasn't a british spy and i don't think they can say any more than that. these are

trumped up charges. he may have been being naive in terms of the subject matter he was looking into, but, look, we have a great tradition in this country of academic freedom and just because he was researching how the authorities responded to the arab spring is notjustification for incarcerating an innocent british man for life for doing academic research. ben bradshaw, thank you for your time this afternoon. thank you forjoining us. let's speak to drjohn nagle. he's a sociological researcher from the university of aberdeen who's written about his own experience of academia and the restrictions placed upon it in the united arab emirates. thank you forjoining us. reading what you wrote in the independent, you said you were not surprised he was arrested, i've seen the country's frightening lack of academic freedom with my own eyes. in what way? there are different ways in which the uae system impinges upon academics. as soon as i arrived in the uae it was clear to

me about the boundaries placed upon academics. there is very few things you can do research on. there is very few things on which you are allowed to teach. there is quite a few exa m ples allowed to teach. there is quite a few examples of academics working in the uae universities who have been arrested for human rights activism. there is even examples of academics working on the american new york university abu dhabi campus who have been penalised for doing research to do with migrant workers in the uae, and also talking very generally about the uae‘s position politically in the middle east at the moment. it isa in the middle east at the moment. it is a very problematic issue for anybody doing research in the uae. which raises the question, why do you go there to do research if that's the sort of constraints that are going to be on you?” that's the sort of constraints that are going to be on you? i think academics do research in a number of different places in which there are

constraints and it's important for us to engage with the dynamics and kind of processes and political events which occur in these societies. that's what academics do. however, at the same time, we need to be mindful of issues over our own personal safety and the safety of others. if matthew was guilty of anything was it naivete? it's very ha rd to anything was it naivete? it's very hard to tell with matthew hedges. he was doing research which had been very clearly given the green light by the university of durham, it passed all of their ethical requirements. he was seemingly doing research on a safe subject. however, the middle east is actually a very politically volatile region at the moment. the situation can change very quickly. it seems as if matthew hedges was unfortunately got himself into a situation where he just found

himself on the wrong line of what is permissible in terms of doing research in the uae. so, western institutions perhaps need to rethink how they treat the uae in future. i suspect that will already be happening given what has happened to him. yes. i think researchers and universities need to be clear in terms of the guidelines given to phd stu d e nts terms of the guidelines given to phd students and researchers more generally about going to the uae. there is also a really important issue which is about uk universities building campuses and institutional links in places like the uae and qatar because it's not only to do with the kind of research we do on this campuses but the issue of personal safety, human rights being guaranteed of many of the people who are going to work at these places. so for example, members of the lgbtq population have voiced some degree of worry about the status and safety

of worry about the status and safety of members of that particular population doing research and working on these campuses. very good of you to talk to us, john nagle thank you for your time. the prime minister is to meet the european commission president in brussels in a few hours' time, to try to finalise the plan for relations between the uk and the eu after brexit. several eu member states have expressed concerns — over the uk's future access to the single market, fishing rights in uk waters for eu boats, and the status of gibraltar. theresa may is under pressure from her own mps not to concede any further ground. from westminster, alex forsyth reports. when they meet this afternoon it will not be the first time. in the past there has been handshakes, hugs, even awkward kisses. this afternoon they will be hoping they can find common ground, i bet the creases in the brexit deal, before eu leaders meet later this week. first, the prime minister had to face mps, knowing many, some in her own party, are not happy with what

is on offer so far. speaker: questions to the prime minister. instead of giving confidence to millions of people who voted both leave and remain, this half—baked dealfails to give any hope that can bring the country together again. but the prime minister is not budging. the right honourable gentleman is playing party politics, he is opposing a deal he has not read, he is promising a deal he cannot negotiate. he is telling leave voters one thing and remain voters another. whatever the right honourable gentleman might do, i will act in the national interest. westminster is officially waiting to see what is signed off by eu leaders, but some think parliament will eventually back what is on offer rather than the alternatives. it is my view that when the deal comes before parliament it will get through despite what people say, but i do also feel, having spent the past six or seven months on the backbenches talking to other backbenchers, that parliament will stop a no deal. we do not know how parliament

would react, we do not know what will happen. i think there is a serious danger of not brexiting at all. so, back the deal, or rather the no deal, risk no brexit seems to be has so, back the deal, or rather than no deal, risk no brexit seems to be has deal, risk no brexit seems to be how some are trying to rally support for the prime minister. much will depend on what labour does and their position is not completely clear. they suggest they will not back this deal, but do not want no deal, so could try to force out the government, or push for an election or another public vote. yes, we have kept the option on the table of another referendum. but the debate about what the referendum question or questions would be would have to be agreed amongst the parties in parliament itself. so, the only certainty seems to be that there is still uncertainty,

which begs the question... brexit is going to happen, right? there is an element of nostradamus in this. we demand a people's vote. despite some demand, the government has ruled out another vote, the prime minister insisting today we are leaving next march. exactly how is still not clear. 0ur chief political correspondent vicki young is in westminster for us now. in fact, it is clear as mud at the moment. yeah, i think maybe if you are going to be charitable to the government, their argument might be if theresa may's deal is voted down it is very unclear what would happen next, no one could be entirely sure how things pan out but it's a slightly confusing message saying to people if you don't vote for my deal you might end up with no brexit at all and then you've got amber rudd saying, actually no deal cannot

happen because parliament would block it. confusion all around, i think. let's try and clear this up, i'm joined by conservative mp ross thompson. you are not in favour of the deal as it stands. what would theresa may have to do to get you to support it? there is three areas for me which i think are really important, one is ourfisheries. we need to have something in writing that gives absolute certainty that we will return sovereignty over our fishing waters, so on our terms we will decide who fishes in our waters, what they fish and when they fish and we need that in black and white. it's nice to have words at the dispatch box but we need it in black and white. as a proud unionist who fought to keep the uk together in 2014, i cannot accept a situation where northern ireland is hived off from the rest of the uk, treated differently and under a different regulatory regime to the rest of the uk, creating borders within our own internal market and the third thing would be, we cannot hand over to the

eu any definite timeframe. we cannot say we will be in the customs union up say we will be in the customs union up until you decide we should no longer be in it. under article 50 we can leave in two years and we would put ourselves in a position where we can only leave the customs union when the eu allows it and that's u na cce pta ble when the eu allows it and that's unacceptable for anybody who voted to leave the european union. aren't you concerned that by voting against her deal that it would be a chaotic situation and you cannot be entirely sure what would come out of it three orfour months later? sure what would come out of it three or four months later? well, sure what would come out of it three orfour months later? well, i'm not convinced by the argument that it would be chaotic. i think that the ideal outcome is to achieve a deal with the european union. but if that is not achievable and we end up having no deal, as it is cold, which is to be fair falling back onto wto rules, i do not see that as the end of the world because we will immediately take back control of our fishing waters, we will not disrupt the integrity of the uk, we will not have to hand over 40 billion of our own taxpayers' money to the european union and trade with the eu in the

same way we trade with other countries across the world and we will be sitting at the wto table alongside the eu's partners. it is not the preferable option because i wa nt not the preferable option because i want to have a agreement which is comprehensive and deals with issues such as security as well but i do not think it is armageddon if we don't end up with a deal. the thing is that within the house of commons there are not many people who agree with you. so even though you think thatis with you. so even though you think that is going to happen, amber rudd is saying parliament would stop that scenario, because in the end no prime minister could put through something that only about 30 or 40 people would agree with. there has been an awful lot of confusion today. you are right that amber rudd said nobody would vote for no deal and we heard downing street say it is either my deal or no brexit. but then in answerto is either my deal or no brexit. but then in answer to the question by esther mcvey at prime minister's questions today, which was, can you give us the assurance that we will leave on the 29th of march 2019 come what may? the prime minister said,

yes, ican what may? the prime minister said, yes, i can assure you we will leave so we yes, i can assure you we will leave so we will have brexit. there is quite a bit of confusion but not to deliver on brexit would be to tear up deliver on brexit would be to tear up the conservative manifesto and throw away the biggest democratic mandate there has been in british history so i can't see that happening. some people would turn around to you and other brexiteers and say she has managed to negotiate this deal, it's been incredibly difficult, the eu has been tough, as many people want, but this is the negotiated deal she has got and you, by voting against it, are actually the ones risking brexit. by voting against it, are actually the ones risking brexitlj by voting against it, are actually the ones risking brexit. i would argue that in a negotiation two sides do not get everything they wa nt sides do not get everything they want andl sides do not get everything they want and i accept that. i do not think the prime minister can articulate right now what the eu has conceded to the uk. there is a lot i feel we have conceded to the eu in the current deal, under the jurisdiction of the european court ofjustice, keeping jurisdiction of the european court of justice, keeping northern jurisdiction of the european court ofjustice, keeping northern ireland in the single market in the event of a backstop. at the moment, tying in access to our fishing waters in relation to a trade deal. and also

the 40 billion. there is an awful lot we are given to the eu and not an awful lot comeback. ideally what we should do is reset the negotiations and look for what was first offered, that free trade agreement, which is referred to often as the canada plus plus plus style model agreement, that would be in the best interests of all if we could just reset and focus those negotiations. thank you very much indeed. we will see if that's on the agenda when theresa may goes to brussels later today. vicki young in westminster, thank you. you're watching afternoon live, these are the headlines this afternoon. british research student matthew hedges is sentenced to life in prison in the united arab emirates — convicted of spying. a charge he denies. as theresa may heads to brussels for more talks — she warns critics that they could end up with a no—deal brexit if they block her plan. aircraft manufacturer bombardier slashes nearly 500 jobs in belfast — in an effort to improve efficiency at the firm. the number of children treated for stab wounds in england more than doubles over

the past four years. and in sport, pfa chief executive gordon taylor defends its record in supporting professional footballers, but says it will recommend an independent qc led review into its practices after criticism of its leadership. a new survey of over 27,000 supporters from the anti—discrimination campaign group kick it out and forza football, suggests three quarters of fans want fifa to take racist abuse into account when awarding international tournaments. fast bowler james anderson has been rested for england's third and final test against sri lanka and replaced by stuart broad. jonny bairstow also returns in place of the injured all—rounder sam curran. i'll be back with more on those stories just after 3:30pm. let's get more on the headline

story, almost 500 jobs are to go at aircraft manufacturer bombardier in northern ireland. the canadian company said it needs to cut costs and improve efficiency. bombardier is one of the biggest employers in northern ireland, with a large base in east belfast. 0ur northern ireland business and economics editorjohn cambell is outside the bombardier factory in belfast. this is about one in ten of all bombardierjobs in northern ireland to be going. we knew thatjobs were going to go because earlier this month the company said it was cutting 5,000 jobs across its global operations but i don't think anybody quite anticipated the scale of the job losses here and the union, the unite union, described thesejob losses as completely disproportionate. john campbell reporting in belfast. the government's borrowed far more in october than analysts predicted — the first figures to be published since the chancellor's budget last month. the deficit rose to £8.8 billion, making it the biggest 0ctober figure for three years and well above what the £6.1 billion forecast. however borrowing is still at its lowest levels for 13 years.

gambling is usually thought of as an adult issue — but now there's real concern about the impact it is having on the lives of teenagers. more than 50,000 children in the uk have developed a gambling problem, according to a report by the gambling commission. that's double the figure a year ago. chi chi izundu reports. i got addicted to fixed odds betting terminals, which are the machines in betting shops. matt started gambling when he was 16. by the time he had stopped, he had racked up debts of more than £16,000. it was very exhilarating, when you win it is like a massive adrenaline rush. what you become addicted to eventually is the anticipation between bets. so if you have a bet, on these machines, you can gamble again 20 seconds later. so you're getting that hit three times a minute. now a new report has found that the number of children classed as having a gambling problem has quadrupled to more than 50,000 in just two years. the gambling commission

says 11— to 16—year—olds are using bets with friends, slot machines, and scratch cards. the regulator also highlighted concern of nearly a million young people being exposed to gambling through loot boxes in video games and apps. those can involve a player paying money for an item that is only revealed after purchasing. we are clearly concerned as an industry that in—game enticements such as loot boxes will encourage young people into gambling. so that is something we would be looking at, legislation and regulation. campaigners agree to a clamp down on gaming but they also want regulation on gambling ads in and around live tv sports games and treatment centres for those who need help. they say that cost should be compulsory to the industry. i want 1% and that would produce £140 million a year. so we could treat people, we could educate people, we could make sure that parents — terribly important — parents understand how to help their children

once their children begin gambling online. that is an essential part of the whole programme. in a statement, the department of digital, culture, media and sport said it expects the gambling commission to take the strongest action against companies that do the rules, but it is also important that parents and businesses remain vigilant to the risks posed by gambling. today's study suggests 450,000 children bet regularly. but the warning is unless more is done, some of those will definitely become addicts. chi chi izundu, bbc news. the number of children in england receiving treatment for knife attacks has soared. bbc analysis of nhs figures shows an almost 90% rise in under—18s going to hospital over the last four years, far outstripping the increase among adults. the government says it has plans to deal with the problem, and that police will be given more powers. tim muffett reports. in september, bereaved mum tracey hanson appeared on breakfast with a message for the london mayor.

what would you want to say to him? to sit down and share with him our frustrations. will you do that? of course, i'll carry on meeting with bereaved families and experts, including tracey. two months on, tracey‘s about to meet sadiq khan. how are you feeling before your meeting with the mayor? how are you feeling before your meeting with the mayor? hopeful. is he doing enough at the moment to tackle knife crime? he's saying it's a generation, it's going take up to ten years, i'd actually really have to say why, why does it have to take ten years? tracey‘s son, josh, was stabbed and killed in 2015. josh was murdered in an unprovoked knife attack. for no reason, no fight, no altercation, totally unprovoked. the person who killed josh has never been caught. as well as more support for bereaved families, tracey and josh‘s sister, brooke, want to talk to children in primary schools about the realities of knife crime. they've set up a charity injosh's memory, but are finding it hard to get access. schools could potentially not want somebody to come

in and talk about knife crime. they might worry it might make children think more about knife crime. all organisations talking about knife crime need to be speaking in schools as young as primary. the average age of those being attacked with a sharp object, such as a knife, seems to be getting lower. we've analysed nhs data from across england. last year, 11% of those admitted to hospital because of such an attack were children, and the rise in the number of child victims far exceeds the rise in the number of adult victims. five steps to stay safe... all saints primary school in bootle in merseyside, and a pilot scheme aimed at nine and ten—year—olds. a tough topic, perhaps, for children this age, but these parents support it. i think it's a really, really good idea, especially with boys, because they see what other boys are doing and they go, "i might do that!" why do you think some kids are attracted to knives or gangs? people have got nothing better to do now, these children, they all tend to get into groups.

i'm saying, "i'm 0k, but you're not." it's that feeling of belonging with a group of older children. is that going to be in a positive way or a negative way? so you just met the mayor, how did it go? really, really well. yeah, very positive. through sharing our story and the devastation it had on us, you can change somebody‘s mindset quite quickly. we met the mayor later at the spotlight youth centre in east london, which offers creative classes for teenagers. some schools are worried about their school being labelled by allowing in groups like the group tracey founded. my message to all schools is, nobody is immune to this challenge. there might be a weapon... such a tough subject at such a young age, but for many, lessons like this are the best way forward. tim muffet, bbc news. climate activists have

blocked traffic at four points around london, bringing parts of the city to a stand—still this morning. the protesters, who are part of a campaign organised by the group extinction rebellion, want to force governments to treat the threats of climate breakdown and extinction as a crisis. some frustrated motorists shouted abuse, including the comedian jim davidson who was caught up in the traffic. a bunch of horrid people. there's more pollution going on because of them now. none of them are wearing masks. you've got no sympathy for them, mr davidson? no, no sympathy whatsoever. what good does it do to working—class people trying to get about their life? i've got to go miles, everyone's got to go miles. they think they're gaining support? have a look! jim davidson. the international police organisation, interpol, has elected kim jong yang, from south korea, as its new president. mr kim was chosen by interpol‘s 194 member states — beating the frontrunner,

the russian police general alexander prokopchuk, who's been accused of abusing the international police body's arrest warrant system to help moscow target political opponents. mr kim will succeed meng hongwei, who vanished on a trip to china in september. president trump has been asked to order an investigation into whether saudi arabia's crown prince mohammed bin salman played a role in the murder ofjournalist jamal khashoggi. mr khashoggi was killed on 2nd october inside the saudi consulate in istanbul. democrat and republican senators are demanding a fresh probe into his death. yesterday, president trump defended us ties with saudi arabia, despite international condemnation of the incident. the united nation's envoy to yemen has arrived for talks with houthi rebels in the capital sanaa, to try to lay the groundwork for urgent peace talks. the fighting in yemen has caused a huge humanitarian crisis — and half of the country's 28 million people are thought to be on the brink of famine. before he arrived in yemen, martin griffiths, who's a former uk foreign office diplomat, called on all sides to exercise restraint.

caroline rigby‘s report contains images you might find distressing. ten—year—old nazir is fighting for her life. four of her siblings never even made it to hospital. like so many others, they were collateral damage in this devastating war. the conflict in yemen has been raging for three and a half years, between a saudi—led military coalition and iranian—backed houthi rebels. as the main entry point for food aid, the rebel—held port of hudaydah has been a focus of international efforts to broker a truce, but hopes of a deal suffered further setback this week when fighting escalated. the un describes yemen as the world's worst man—made humanitarian disaster, with 14 million people on the brink of famine, more than half of them children. and the charity save the children estimates 85,000 under the age

of five may have already died of malnutrition since april 2015. saudi arabia and the united arab emirates have pledged almost £400 million to help tackle the crisis. but as well as being the country's largest aid donors, they are also the biggest military powers in a coalition repeatedly blamed for civilian deaths. there should be an end to this conflict. let's put enough pressure on the houthis to come this time to attend this dialogue, and let's be serious to reach a political solution that brings peace to yemen. 0n the ground, for now, the war goes on, but the un remains hopeful it can resume peace talks between the two sides within the coming weeks. caroline rigby, bbc news. now it's time for a look at the weather with ben rich. good afternoon.

some of us have seen just a bit of the white stuff over the last 24 hours or so, but i wouldn't be expecting a huge amount more over the next few days. things will slowly turn a little bit less cold. through the rest of today, gusty winds across north—east scotland, for northern scotland and northern ireland we will have more cloud, outbreaks of rain and hill snow. further south, aside from a few showers the weather is calming down and the process continues through tonight, the winds across the country will fall a little bit lighter, we will have clear skies overhead so it's going to get cold in the countryside, —4 minus six degrees, —4 to minus six degrees, but by the end of the night something a little bit less chilly developing across eastern areas, because we will have some extra cloud streaming in here. as we go through tomorrow, we will take that crowd with a few spots of rain and push it further westwards into north west england, western scotland, the midlands. but for northern ireland, south wales and south of england should hold on to some sunshine and with lighter winds it will feel a bit less cold.

this is bbc news — our latest headlines. british research student matthew hedges is sentenced to life in prison in the united arab emirates — convicted of spying, charges he denies. as theresa may heads to brussels for more talks — she warns critics that if they block her agreement, the result could be a no—deal brexit the result could be a no—deal brexit. nearly 500 jobs are to go at bombardier in belfast. the shocking rise in teenage gambling — a study says it's a problem for 50 thousand children in the uk. we'll be talking to the granddaughter of clement attlee, about the child refugee secretly taken in by the former prime prime minister to save him from the nazis. sport now on afternoon live with hugh... there are issues at the pfa but the bossis there are issues at the pfa but the boss is staying? well, the chief executive of the professional footballers association — gordon taylor — has come under

increasing pressure in recent days over his handling of a dispute with the chairman ben purkiss. purkiss told the bbc the organisation would become "obsolete" if it doesn't "evolve". and today's newspapers reported over 200 pfa members had signed an open letter calling for the chief executive to stand down — criticising the leadership of the union. today, we heard from taylor for the first time since the dispute and he defended the pfa's record of supporting its members. he announced they will recommend that an independent qc conducts a full and open review into the structure and operation of the pfa. the fa! has announced that martin 0'neill, roy keane and the rest of the republic of ireland management team have left their positions after a disappointing nations league campaign. during his five year tenure, 0'neill ran the best euros campaign in ireland's history and followed that by making it out of a tough group to reach the play—offs for the 2018 fifa world cup.

but they haven't won a competitive match this year and their disappointing nations league run ended with a draw against denmark. a new survey of football supporters has found the vast majority want fifa to consider previous racist abuse when awarding countries international tournaments, such as the world cup. the study from anti—discrimination organisation ‘kick it out‘ and forza football. out‘ and forza football spoke to more than 27,000 football fans from 38 different countries. it found half of the football supporters in the uk have witnessed racism while watching matches, but only 40% say they would know how but only 40% say they would know how to report such incidents. while globally, 60% of fans would support points deductions for either national or club teams whose fans are found guilty of racism. lord 0useley is the kick it out chair. the governing bodies have been very wea k the governing bodies have been very weak in enforcing the sanctions that they should be applying against

offenders, clubs or national associations and their teams, when they are playing in competitions, and that is because i feel that there is a timidity in how they approach this. we have seen on many occasions, uefa for instance, they would back off when a club appeals. fifa are very inconsistent. gregor townsend has made eight changes to the scotland team that was narrowly beaten by south africa last weekend as he looks to end their autumn international series on a high. they take on argentina at murrayfield. the biggest change may be positional as finn russell moves into inside centre. with adam hastings — son of scotland great gavin — starting at fly half. josh strauss is given his first start since last year's summer tour at number eight. james anderson will be rested for england's third and final test against sri lanka, which starts on friday in colombo. he's played a relatively minor role in their two wins so far, taking only one wicket, and he steps aside for stuart broad, who's yet to feature in the series,

which england have already won. jonny bairstow also returns after injury. i understand the reasoning behind it, the series has been wrapped up, it, the series has been wrapped up, it is the opportunity to rotate, and i think with the winter we've got ahead, it makes sense for stuart to get some cricket. we have what will bea get some cricket. we have what will be a tough tour of the west indies, so it could be a long period without him bowling, so to have him get a game under his belt i think is good for him and the team. that's all the sport for now. simon bull be back with more in the next hour. theresa may is on her way to brussels this afternoon to meet the european commisison president, jean claude—juncker. she's hoping to finalise an agreement on what relations between the uk and eu will look

like after brexit. with me to explain what might be in that future framework is our reality check correspondent, chris morris. good afternoon to you. hello. the political declaration, we presume that will be the focus of the high minister's talks with jean—claude juncker, you better explain what it is. it is a short document compared with a 585 page withdrawal document, it'll go alongside it. one thing to remember it is non—legally binding, and the formal negotiations it is setting out can only begin after the uk is due to leave, so after 29th of march next year. the big thing eve ryo ne march next year. the big thing everyone wants to know is what is it going to mean for our trade policy? it will talk about setting out a com brands of free trade agreement. it's the detail of what is that there will be very closely watched, though, particularly on customs. the outline of this document talks about an ambitious customs arrangement, brexiteers will be wanting to look very closely for any language which

suggests we could be locked long—term into a permanent customs union, which would then prevent us doing many trade deals around the world. clearly, trade is key to this but it is notjust about customs either? yellow macro it is about all aspects of the economic relationship and one thing that will be really important is what it says about regulations. you may remember the chequers deal, committee still not dead even though many people have declared it to be so. the government is pushing it forward. it took about a common rule book with the eu on many regulations of the single market. one of the reasons for that is there are still that issue of the irish border and the guarantee that both sides have made to keep that border open under all circumstances. so that will be something closely watched as welcome what does it say about single market rules. people on both sides, notjust in the uk, are whining about that. the other thing of course is down forget 75, 80% of the uk economy is in services, and one of the things we know it will

set out is that there should be a system of equivalence. there are two models, if you're not in the single market for services, there are two models, one is called mutual recognition, i recognise your standards, you recognise mine. the other is equivalence, which is not quite as close, not really what the uk wanted, but i think for the city of london it will probably in the end prove sufficient with some negotiation, not least because the eu knows that it needs the city, it needs its financial strength around the world and it needs the capital it provides to the european economy. also what else is in it is hugely important because this is the basis of our future relationship. it is about most of thing really. we could pick all sorts of things, but this is just pick all sorts of things, but this isjust a view, pick all sorts of things, but this is just a view, mobility is what they call migration, what are the rules going to be the people moving back and forth in the long term? we know the government has said free movement of people will come to an end for eu citizens coming to the

uk. that also means in this future relationship free movement for uk citizens eu will come to an end. they doesn't mean there will be visa free travel in the short—term, that's what both sides want but it doesn't mean there will be on the automatic right necessarily to live and work in other countries. transport is another area you could pick, air transport, what are the rules going to be for lorries going back and forth across borders? all of these things have to be sorted out. and one thing that is important to remember is it is notjust about what we want. a level playing field isa what we want. a level playing field is a phrase you will hear a lot, it is a phrase you will hear a lot, it is very specific about rules of the single market, things like eu countries wanting to make sure the uk government does not have a competitive advantage in social policy, environmental policy, so their businesses have to follow less stringent rules but you could look at level playing field and the across—the—board, whether at level playing field and the across—the—boa rd, whether in at level playing field and the across—the—board, whether in fishing or other areas, the eu will say hang on this has to be fair to both sides and then finally, and it is a

massive area, security, both internal security rules, so police cooperation, but also foreign policy and defence, external security. all of those things will have to be wrapped up in this political declaration as well. it may be no more than 20 pages but it may be the building block for the entire future relationship if we leave on schedule on the 29th of march next year. chris, as ever, factory much. today marks the 80th anniversary of the kindertransport scheme that saved thousands ofjewish children from nazi germany. and it'sjust emerged that clement attlee, the labour prime minister whose government founded the welfare state, looked after a child refugee who escaped from the nazis in the months leading up to the second world war. attlee invited paul willer, who was then ten years told, to stay with his family forfour months. paul says he regarded mr attlee as a kind and gentle man, but that he hadn't understood how important he was at the time. well, i was a ten—year—old

schoolgirl, it was all —— schoolboy, it was all that of an adventure. before we came over my mother explained that everybody in england ate cornfla kes for breakfast, explained that everybody in england ate cornflakes for breakfast, and that in front of every house there was a green square called a lawn. and you were in a house, though, where clement attlee at the time, well, he was leader of the 0pposition of the labour party. were you aware that you were in the home of someone who was such a senior political figure? no, i of someone who was such a senior politicalfigure? no, i wasjust of someone who was such a senior politicalfigure? no, iwasjust a 10—year old schoolboy, i didn't know about politics or anything like that. what do you remember him? oh, he was a very gentle person, very kind. and you stayed with the family for how long? about three or four months. i was moved to northern ireland, where i went to a boarding school. well, clement attlee's grandaughter,

jo roundell greene, will meet paul for the first time shortly — and shejoins us now from westminster. good afternoon to you, i know you are very good afternoon to you, i know you are very excited about this because literally i think after this interview you will meet in for the first time? yes, hello, good afternoon, in 15 minutes i will be meeting paul and his daughterjo for the first time, and it will be a very special meeting. particularly given that it was only a few months ago that you had an e—mail from the association ofjewish ago that you had an e—mail from the association of jewish refugees, ago that you had an e—mail from the association ofjewish refugees, and up association ofjewish refugees, and up until then you knew nothing about this? no, i have a vague memory of my mother felicity, who was clement attlee's second daughter, saying they had a refugee staying with them once and they were a child, but no more detail so these revelations are very special for more detail so these revelations are very specialfor our more detail so these revelations are very special for our family and it will be the huge privilege to meet paul this afternoon. your grandfather took him in, easter sunday 1939. the interesting thing is nobody knew about it, he made no

political gain from this, did he? no, but he wouldn't. i think history relates to get things very quiet and he was a very modest man, and having another child in the family would have been a great pleasure and a joy to them, and i'm sure that pauljust mucked in with the rest of them. it's quite interesting, he came over asa it's quite interesting, he came over as a ten—year—old boy and it was your mother felicity who really made contact with him, and she spoke latin, is that right? yes, he didn't speak english and she couldn't speak german that they had a few words of latin and managed to communicate, which must have been very comforting for paul being away from home in a strange country, tequila killie at that time. you were able to piece together in your own mind what was together in your own mind what was to happen, because your mother must have mentioned a refugee but only recently have you worked out that was paul? i was told it was paul and sadly my mother died 12 years ago but i spoke to him earlier today and went he told me they had lots of kittens, i remember that because they always seem to have kittens but

my mother told me about the kittens, and he also related a story about breaking a sink, and i have a memory of my mother telling me about that and how her mother was not terribly pleased about it. so we are going to have an awful to talk about today buster in 15 minutes, when you first see him, i wonder what i get asking, what are you going to do?|j see him, i wonder what i get asking, what are you going to do? i don't know, adding the emotions will be running very high. i think i might probably give him a hug, i do now. and dewsbury, not anxious, but feeling very excited about meeting him and very much looking forward to it, and i'm just so sad i would not have been able to meet him before, but it's better late than never, isn't it? i look forward to hearing how the meeting goes, i wish you all the luck in the world, and enjoy it, it is going to be remarkable. thank you very much indeed. you better go! better go! jo roundel green, she can't get away quickly enough,

meeting him in the house of commons very shortly. jamie is here with all the business news very shortly. first a look at the headlines on afternoon live british research student matthew hedges is sentenced to life in prison in the united arab emirates — convicted of spying. as theresa may heads to brussels for more talks — she warns critics that they could end up with a no—deal brexit if they block her plan. aircraft manufacturer bombardier slashes nearly 500 jobs in belfast — in an effort to improve efficiency at the firm. here's your business headlines on afternoon live. the amount the government has had to borrow has spiked sharply upwards over last month. for most of the year it's managed to keep a lid on borrowing and in fact for the financial year so far its still 11 and a half billion pounds less than it was this time last year. but the october figure on its own was the highest in three years. the number of children classed as having a gambling problem has quadrupled to more than 50,000 injust two years. a study by the gambling commission

suggests that 450,000 children aged 11 to 16 bet regularly, more than those who have taken drugs, smoked or drunk alcohol. bets with friends, slot machines, and scratchcards were most popular. accountancy firm grant thornton is under investigation for its role as the auditor of patisserie valerie. the bakery chain that almost collapsed last month after it discovered a £40 million black hole in its accounts. the financial reporting council said it was investigating the audits of the financial statements of patisserie holdings — the chain's parent company — from 2015 to 2017. a quick check with the markets. yes, we have seen here the ftse everything recovering a little bit, difficult to know if this is a bit ofa difficult to know if this is a bit of a bounce back after sharp falls, people just buying in of a bounce back after sharp falls, peoplejust buying in because of a bounce back after sharp falls, people just buying in because the price is a little bit lower. the big

problem over the last week has really been in the tech stocks, the big companies like apple, facebook, amazon, netflix and so on. they have had a real sell—off. however they are coming back a little bit today. the ftse 100 are coming back a little bit today. the ftse100 was up almost 100 points earlier so it is not quite sustaining those gains stop the pound at the moment is a little bit wea ker pound at the moment is a little bit weaker against the euro, it has been falling quite steadily against the euro today, more to do with strength in the euro, to do with what is going on in the european commission and italy. the budget in italy. or not. but it seems there is talk at the moment with compromise between the moment with compromise between the two. it is more to do with the euro strength at the moment. there is the french market as well, all of them up, looking fairly sharp today. 0k. them up, looking fairly sharp today. ok. we have also had some figures out about public borrowing, as well,

which is quite interesting, because what has happened over the last nine months or so is you see public borrowing actually coming down really quite grammatically, something like £11.5 billion. which is great and in 0ctober‘s figures come out. and they all now it's back, it is still live in 5p less than last year, but we talked to vicky pryce about it earlier and this is what she said. what has happened is that spending has been considerably higher. it is not so much the tax receipts that other problem, more that the government has quite a lot of responsibilities right now because of the increased amount of services, whether the national health service, anything to with social care, and that is basically what has been going on. the interesting thing is it is still well below where it was a year ago and it is moving in the right direction. there are monthly differences that exist, so it varies seasonally. what happens is that we are soon going to be hitting the tax

paying months of december, january and sometimes beyond, so there are possibilities that the chancellor might find himself in a surplus for a few months but we have to bear in mind that although we are talking about a considerably better fiscal position overall for the year as a whole than perhaps had been forecast just perhaps one or two years earlier, if you compare it with where we were in march 2018, just for the referendum, we are actually borrowing something like 40 billion more than we would otherwise done. the next year, where we were supposed to have a surplus, we are actually going to have a big deficit still, and borrowing something like 30 billion. ikea is changing the way it does business. elementary gas, it seems to be embracing, well, it is getting into this idea of smaller stores within the towns. ikea has was been big out—of—town warehouses but it is notjust doing that, not

just coming in to have small stores, it is also blending it in with the internet and with online sales. so what happened is, they have a trial store in tottenham court road, go in and have a look of the things you like an order of the things online, so you do it through seeing the stuff in store, browsing through catalogues, looking at what is on offer, to the people and then going online, so it is very much bricks and clicks, combining bricks and mortar store with clicks online. have you ever put together a piece of ikea furniture? yes, i succeeded, but i think it was a very simple piece. you didn't get the last bit of them realise the first thing you got the wrong thing around and you have to take the whole thing around? and the answer is in swedish will stop i was all right but it was only one piece and a very small piece. thank you, jamie. see you a little later. some breaking news on the main story, the imprisonment for life of matthew hedges, the foreign

secretaryjeremy matthew hedges, the foreign secretary jeremy hunt matthew hedges, the foreign secretaryjeremy hunt has just treated. —— tweeted. so ratcheting up the pressure on the diplomatic front from the foreign secretary, we will keep you in touch with any modern elements on that. whale song has intrigued scientists and sailors for centuries. now it seems the distinctive chorus of squeaks and groans can change over time — and not all whales sound the same . researchers in australia say humpback whales undergo major changes which mean their song is constantly evolving. here's our science correspondent helen briggs. humpback whales are known for their haunting songs, and, much like human tunes, they can quickly spread until all whales in the group are singing

from the same song sheet. whale song. this signature song evolves gradually over time, as individual males add embellishments, and others copy. seen here off the east coast of australia, this is what the whales were singing two years later. but every now and then, a song completely disappears from the oceans, and it is replaced by something new in what scientists call a "revolution event". normally, when a song is evolving through gradual changes, you can hear the songs from one year to the next and hear those similarities. but with a revolution, the song is completely different, they essentially they start from scratch with a revolution. researchers studied whales over 13 years and found when they changed their tune, the new ballads were almost always more simple.

it tells us there could be some kind of limitation to that learning, so there might be some kind of cap either in terms of how complex a thing that they can learn, or how much new material they can learn at one time. and that could explain how the crooners of the sea adapt and change their songs, ensuring their musical repertoire stands the test of time. helen briggs, bbc news. you are watching afternoon live. the speaker of the house of commons has reprimanded a group of mps for playing football in the house of commons. john bercow said the "historic" chamber should not be used for a kickabout. the snp's hannah bardell was filmed playing keepy—uppy in the chamber and posing for photos with other mps. they had been due to play for the newly formed uk women's parliamentary football club but had to cancel their first game as it was expected to clash with votes. the speaker added he'd received "fulsome" letters of apology from three of the mps involved and that were "no hard feelings" time for a look at the weather...

good afternoon. some of us have seen just a bit of the white stuff over the last 24 hours or so, but i wouldn't be expecting a huge amount more over the next few days. things will slowly turn a little bit less cold. through the rest of today, gusty winds across north—east scotland, for northern scotland and northern ireland we will have more cloud, outbreaks of rain and hill snow. we have had a squeeze between high—pressure emma north and low pressure in the south, but still strong winds through the rest of today, particularly across north—east scotland, gusts of 40 to 50 mph. further south, a few showers, that process continues into

tonight. the winds will ease, clear skies overhead kameni and that will allow it to get cold. if you live out in the countryside can you might get down to —4, —5, maybe minus six degrees but no to something a bit less cold in eastern areas by the end of the night. that's because here we will be bringing in some extra cloud. so we start thursday morning with cloud and some patchy rain in aberdeen. 7 degrees. freezing in glasgow because we have clear skies overhead so here there will be some sunshine. bright but chilly, whereas further is there will be more clap and the odd spot of rain around. we push that further westwards through the day, moving into parts of north—west england and western scotland into the midlands as well. for northern ireland, south wales, southern england, we should hold onto some sunshine, the wind is a bit lighter and the temperatures just a little bit higher. a similar story on friday with the addition of some hefty showers across the far

south—west. so some patchy rain in northern and eastern areas, break a glimpse as if you are lucky and temperatures again between seven and 12 degrees. as we head into the weekend, still a bit of a squeeze between low pressure and high pressure. the white lines, the isobars, show where the air will be coming from, it will again be coming from the east, so nothing desperately warm, especially by night. there will be a lot of cloud, some rain, especially in the north and the south west. hello, you're watching afternoon live — i'm simon mccoy. today at 4pm. british research student matthew hedges is sentenced to life in prison in the united arab emirates — convicted of spying, charges he denies. deeply disappointed and concerned at today's verdict and i realise how difficult and distressing this is both for matthew hedges and also for his family. as theresa may heads to brussels for more talks — she warns critics that if they block her agreement, the result could be a no—deal brexit. the shocking rise in teenage gambling — a study says it's a problem for 50,000 children in the uk.

coming up on afternoon live, all the sport with hugh. hello again, simon. pfa chairman gordon taylor defends its record in supporting professional footballers but says it will recommend an independent qc—led review into it's practises after criticism of its leadership. more on that later in the hour. snow for some of us. not an awful lot but some to give a covering in some places. not a lot in the forecast over the next few days, temperatures will climb slowly. a different story on the other side of the pond, a cold thanksgiving on the way, details coming up. thank you very much, ben. also coming up — in news nationwide we go to plymouth where a new contender for britain's fattest dog — bopper the whopper — is being looked after at a rescue centre.

hello, everyone — this is afternoon live — i'm simon mccoy. "0ur nightmare has just got worse" — the words of daniela tejada — wife of phd student matthew hedges — on hearing he'd been sentenced to life in prison for spying in the united arab emirates. hedges, who's 31 and studying at durham university, was arrested after a research trip to dubai where he was looking into security policies. his family say he's innocent — and have called on the uk government to take a stand. the foreign secretaryjeremy hunt has warned the verdict may have repercussions for the relationship between the two countries. jon donnison reports. matthew hedges had hoped today's court appearance would see him a free man. instead, the 31—year—old academic, seen here with his wife, faces life in prison. his family and friends say the hearing lasted just five minutes. we are all shocked. because, in fact, what this verdict

says is that there is no boundaries, there is no academic, no safety for academic research in the uae. it is just over six months since matthew hedges was arrested at dubai airport as he tried to leave the uae. he says he had been there carrying out academic research for his phd. the authorities say he was a spy. speaking to the bbc last month, his wife daniela said the british government should have been doing more to help. we are notjust talking about an innocent british academic‘s rights being violated in the most outward and outrageous manners. we are talking about an innocent british academic, who is being accused of being a spy for the british intelligence services. that immediately makes this a state matter and it is not just about an individual because it is britain's integrity that is being brought into question through these accusations as well. it seems to have come

as a shock to the government, who had been expecting matthew hedges to be released. deeply disappointed and concerned at today's verdict. and i realise how difficult and distressing this is, both for matthew hedges, but also for his family. we are raising it with the authorities at the highest level. my right honourable friend the foreign secretary is urgently seeking a call with the foreign minister, abdullah bin zayed. during his visit to the uae on november12th, he raised the issue with both the crown prince mohammed bin zayed. and the foreign minister. today, matthew hedges' wife daniela said the last six months had been the worst of their lives and that now the nightmare had only got worse. jon donnison, bbc news. in the last hour — one of matthew hedges' colleagues at durham university has been giving his reaction on hedges' imprisonment. i'm appalled. it's beenjust a

desperate time for, obviously for matt and his family and especially his wife dani. sending the e—mail to my colleagues that this has happened is one of the hardest things i've donein is one of the hardest things i've done in my 17 years at the university. it is a conviction that is unjust and a sentence that is just outrageous. his wife today saying that she is very concerned for his welfare. knowing him as you do, how do you think he is at the moment? i can't begin to think what must be going through matt's mind. 0ne must be going through matt's mind. one of the things we know was that matt was not well, his mental health was not good during his period of detention. we understand he was on suicide watch for parts of that time and clearly we are desperately worried about what this might do to his well—being, and the possibility

of any benefits he has had, any gains he has made in his health in the period he has been on bail will be wiped out overnight by this. explain to us specifically why he was there in the first place, what the basis of his research was. matt's research is in developments within the united arab emirates and how its foreign and security policies have been developing particularly since 2011. there is lots of academic work into this field because of how the gulf monarchies such as the uae, bahrain, saudi arabia and kuwait, and the others, have developed since the arab spring, it is something that is very important and very interesting. and so matt was coming to the end of his phd and he had done a great deal of open source work using the existing published literature, looking at the news coverage of these fields in that area, and collating that information together.

he was out there looking to interview a number of people he had previously identified and who he had made contact with just to get their particular insider perspectives on the div elements within the country. what kind of people? -- developments. a mixture of people, some were international experts based in the uae, some were former uae government officials who had worked in relevant areas and were known to have inside information and understanding about how it is these processes operate to get a perspective upon whether the published literature was getting this right, or whether there were other insights you could gain from talking to people who were directly involved in these activities. the prime minister is to meet the european commission president in brussels in a few hours' time, to try to finalise the plan for relations between the uk and the eu after brexit. several eu member states have expressed concerns — over the uk's future access to the single market, fishing rights in uk waters for eu boats, and the status of gibraltar. theresa may is under pressure

from her own mps not to concede any further ground. from westminster, alex forsyth reports. when they meet this afternoon it will not be the first time. in the past there has been handshakes, hugs, even awkward kisses. this afternoon they will be hoping they can find common ground, iron out the creases in the brexit deal, before eu leaders meet later this week. first, though, the prime minister had to face mps, knowing many, some in her own party, are not happy with what is on offer so far. speaker: questions to the prime minister. instead of giving confidence to millions of people who voted both leave and remain, this half—baked dealfails to give any hope that can bring the country together again. but the prime minister is not budging. the right honourable gentleman is playing party politics, he is opposing a deal he has not read, he is promising a deal he cannot negotiate. he is telling leave voters one thing and remain voters another. whatever the right honourable gentleman might do, i will act in the national interest. westminster is officially waiting

to see what is signed off by eu leaders, but some think parliament will eventually back what is on offer rather than the alternatives. it is my view that when the deal comes before parliament it will get through despite what people say, but i do also feel, having spent the past six or seven months on the backbenches talking to other backbenchers, that parliament will stop a no deal. we do not know how parliament would react, we do not know what will happen. i think there is a serious danger of not brexiting at all. so, back the deal, or rather than no deal, risk no brexit seems to be how some are trying to rally support for the prime minister. much will depend on what labour does and their position is not completely clear. they suggest they will not back this deal, but do not want no deal, so could try to force out the government, or push for an election or another public vote.

yes, we have kept the option on the table of another referendum. but the debate about what the referendum question or questions would be would have to be agreed amongst the parties in parliament itself. so, the only certainty seems to be that there is still uncertainty, which begs the question... brexit is going to happen, right? there is an element of nostradamus in this. we demand a people's vote. despite some demand, the government has ruled out another vote, the prime minister insisting today we are leaving next march. exactly how is still not clear. alex forsyth, bbc news, westminster. well, all eyes now turn to brussels where theresa may is about to meet with eu officials as she attempts

finalise a deal before sunday's meeting of eu leaders. earlier our brussels reporter adam fleming explained what was left to negotiate. there is very little likelihood that there could be any alterations made to the withdrawal agreement, which is the divorce treaty that was sealed as far as the eu is concerned last week. in fact, the only thing that remains outstanding there is for both sides to agree an ultimate end date for any potentially extended transition or implementation phase. basically, there are two digits that can be added to that withdrawal agreement and that is about it. all the dick's agreements are on the other document as vicki young said, the political declaration. we think it will be 22-23 declaration. we think it will be 22—23 pages setting out the future relationship and a whole load of sectors. they are the issues are ones where theresa may doesn't have a lot of room for manoeuvre because the eu wants her to give things as opposed to offering her other stuff,

so the outstanding issues are about trade and the trade in goods and to what extent this document reflects the prime minister's chequers plan, which remember included a free trade area in goods with a common rule book shared between the two. then there is the issue of fishing rights and how much access eu boats will get to uk waters, and incredibly emotive topic in some parts of the uk. and then another emotive topic, gibraltar. emotive for the spanish government who have kicked up a fuss in the last few days because they do not want the future relationship after brexit to apply automatically and directly to gibraltar because they think that would amount to a permanent status for gibraltar that they do not agree with. those are three tricky issues were the eu is either saying to theresa may you can't have what you want, can you give us a little bit more, or can you change your policy regarding a british territory where there are also strong feelings? quite a tricky number of options she will have to discuss with jean—claude juncker.

what is interesting in the air at the moment in brussels is this idea of, will the summit even go ahead? the vice president of the european commission valdis dombrovskis who looks after the euro, he did a press conference about the euro area this morning and gave a quick update about brexit having spoken to michel barnier the chief negotiator this morning, and he said, for the summit to go ahead you need a final text of the political declaration, and privately diplomats have been talking about the fact that angela merkel, the german chancellor, has said if there isn't a finalised text on the table, if there isn't a whole dealfor her to on the table, if there isn't a whole deal for her to sign off on sunday she is not coming to the special summit. so just a she is not coming to the special summit. sojusta bit she is not coming to the special summit. sojust a bit of she is not coming to the special summit. so just a bit of pressure on this afternoon tea between theresa may and jean—claude juncker. just a little! adam fleming in brussels. gambling is usually thought of as an adult issue — but now there's real concern about the impact it is having on the lives of teenagers. more than 50,000 children in the uk have developed a gambling problem, according to a report by the gambling commission.

that's double the figure a year ago. chi chi izundu reports. i got addicted to fixed odds betting terminals, which are the machines in betting shops. matt started gambling when he was 16. by the time he had stopped, he had racked up debts of more than £16,000. it was very exhilarating, when you win it is like a massive adrenaline rush. what you become addicted to eventually is the anticipation between bets. so if you have a bet, on these machines, you can gamble again 20 seconds later. so you're getting that hit three times a minute. now a new report has found that the number of children classed as having a gambling problem has quadrupled to more than 50,000 in just two years. the gambling commission says 11 to 16—year—olds are using bets with friends, slot machines, and scratch cards. the regulator also highlighted concern of nearly a million young people being exposed to gambling through loot boxes in video games and apps. those can involve a player paying money for an item that is only revealed after purchasing. we are clearly concerned

as an industry that in—game enticements such as loot boxes will encourage young people into gambling. so that is something we would be looking at, legislation and regulation. campaigners agree to a clamp down on gaming but they also want regulation on gambling ads in and around live tv sports games and treatment centres for those who need help. they say that cost should be compulsory to the industry. i want 1% and that would produce £140 million a year. so we could treat people, we could educate people, we could make sure that parents — terribly important — parents understand how to help their children once their children begin gambling online. that is an essential part of the whole programme. in a statement, the department of digital, culture, media and sport said it expects the gambling commission to take the strongest action against companies that do the rules, but it is also important that parents and businesses remain vigilant to the risks posed by gambling.

today's study suggests 450,000 children bet regularly. but the warning is unless more is done, some of those will definitely become addicts. chi chi izundu, bbc news. let's speak to megan pengelly, youth 0utreach co—ordinator for the gambling advice and support charity gamcare. 0n the face of it, staggering figures, surprised by this? not surprised necessarily because this is what we see in the sessions we run with young people. there are some elements of the report which are concerning, the increase of young people who are identified as problem gambling but also elements of other things, so nearly half the amount of young people say they have had a conversation about problem gambling with a parent or a teacher, which is really encouraging. but when we look at the amount of

conversations young people have about other topics such as tobacco and alcohol, which are also referenced, it is still not as great as that so that is where they may be an opportunity for improvement. are most of those young people who are gambling, do their parents know?m tends to be split. some young people gamble without their parents' knowledge but there is also a significant amount of young people who gamble with their parents' knowledge. and then there are types of gambling which they engage with where it is very hard for parents, staff, youth facing workers to identify that, informal bets in the playground are not so easy to identify. we need to define our terms and for many adults these terms and for many adults these terms will mean nothing so you are going to explain. skin gambling, what is that? skin gambling is when a specific element of a video game is traded in line with other people who are interested in getting that, soa who are interested in getting that, so a little bit like if you could imaginea

so a little bit like if you could imagine a special pog 15 years ago if you sold it on ebay to somebody who is particularly interested in that, it is a digital version of that. does that come under the definition of gambling? lots of emergent types of gaming are not necessarily defined as gambling, so we would look at things like loot crates on that. they are not formally classified as gambling at the moment? they are not. these are built into a large number of games. explain what a loot crate is. the comparison i would give is it is like buying a pack of football stickers. you might buy stickers you already have and you do not need to add to your catalogue, or you might buy stickers which could be really great and help you progress and build up your catalogue. that's happening in the game so it might help you progress through the game. young people might invest money and even their own or a parent's money in buying that in the game but not really knowing whether it will benefit them or not. these things can cost as much as the game itself.

there can be significant amounts of money spent on them, yes. what is esports? video games, for example, like fort knight, played competitively, in some countries it is much more prevalent than it is here but i believe wembley stadium is rented out this year to host one of these events, and people will place different wagers on these kinds of things. —— fortnite the key is where people might place bets legally, over 18, operators is where people might place bets legally, over18, operators might allow you to place bets on esports but it is an emerging market and not much is known and targeting people who are young and might have an interest in it, will really help them mitigate risk. anyone with kids ofa them mitigate risk. anyone with kids of a certain age, nephews, nieces, whatever, fortnite, you have used the word, it is such a phenomenon. is there evidence that that one game

itself could be behind some of this? difficult to say whether it is one game alone that influences lots of the different statistics that we are looking at. what we would say is definitely influencing young people's perception of gambling and gaming where those lines might be blurred. it's how many conversations they are having about it and how much they are challenged to think critically about it. when we talk about problem gambling with young people, are we talking about young people, are we talking about young people who are actually stealing from their parents to pay for these things? 0r children who are perhaps not aware necessarily that that is a problem in itself? problem gambling can look different to each individual it impacts, some people might look at the financial element of it and that might be using a pa re nt‘s of it and that might be using a parent's money, or money that isn't yours for young people, but also the psychological impact of it as well. a lot of the conversations we have with young people in the sessions we

run our thinking about not necessarily just money that you are losing but also time spent with peers and family that you might miss out on because you are engaging in gambling or gambling activity. you have been running your outreach programme for two years. have you seenin programme for two years. have you seen in that time a change in how youngsters view gambling? when we have conversations with young people, it is really striking. when they are given those skills to think critically about what gambling is, the key things they are jumping to our things like loot crates and things like in app purchases. they don't see that as gambling? when they unpick the definition a little bit more they easily make that link. that is not to say whether those things should be classified as gambling or not. but what we are really looking at is the key skill of thinking critically about what they are doing. what we see in the report here is that actually a big chunk of the gambling activity that is happening is informal things

between friends. so it might be playing pound at the wall, game played in of schoolyards across the country. if young people are developing a relationship with gambling at that age but not also challenged about where there might be risk involved, or are told where they can get support, the risk is when they get over there is potentially more area for harm as well and it could have a greater impact on them. fascinating. megan pengelly, thank you for coming in. almost 500 jobs are to go at aircraft manufacturer bombardier in northern ireland. the canadian company said it needs to cut costs and improve efficiency. bombardier is one of the biggest employers in northern ireland, with a large base in east belfast. 0ur northern ireland business and economics editorjohn campbell is outside the bombardier factory in belfast. this is about one in ten of all bombardierjobs in northern ireland to be going. we knew thatjobs were going to go because earlier this month the company said it was cutting 5,000 jobs across its global operations but i don't think anybody quite anticipated the scale of the job losses here and the union,

the unite union, described thesejob losses as completely disproportionate. the government's borrowed far more in october than analysts predicted — the first figures to be published since the chancellor's budget last month. the deficit rose to £8.8 billion, making it the biggest 0ctober figure for three years and well above what the £6.1 billion forecast. however, borrowing is still at its lowest levels for 13 years. the number of children in england receiving treatment for knife attacks has soared. bbc analysis of nhs figures shows an almost 90% rise in under—18s going to hospital over the last four years, far outstripping the increase among adults. the government says it has plans to deal with the problem, and that police will be given more powers. tim muffett reports. in september, bereaved mum tracey hanson appeared on breakfast with a message for the london mayor. what would you want to say to him? to sit down and share with him our frustrations. will you do that? of course, i'll carry on meeting

with bereaved families and experts, including tracey. two months on, tracey‘s about to meet sadiq khan. how are you feeling before your meeting with the mayor? hopeful. is he doing enough at the moment to tackle knife crime? he's saying it's a generation, it's going take up to ten years, i'd actually really have to say why, why does it have to take ten years? tracey‘s son, josh, was stabbed and killed in 2015. josh was murdered in an unprovoked knife attack. for no reason, no fight, no altercation, totally unprovoked. the person who killed josh has never been caught. as well as more support for bereaved families, tracey and josh‘s sister, brooke, want to talk to children in primary schools about the realities of knife crime. they've set up a charity injosh's memory, but are finding it hard to get access. schools could potentially not want somebody to come in and talk about knife crime. they might worry it might make children think more about knife crime.

all organisations talking about knife crime need to be speaking in schools as young as primary. the average age of those being attacked with a sharp object, such as a knife, seems to be getting lower. we've analysed nhs data from across england. last year, 11% of those admitted to hospital because of such an attack were children, and the rise in the number of child victims far exceeds the rise in the number of adult victims. five steps to stay safe... all saints primary school in bootle in merseyside, and a pilot scheme aimed at nine and ten—year—olds. a tough topic, perhaps, for children this age, but these parents support it. i think it's a really, really good idea, especially with boys, because they see what other boys are doing and they go, "i might do that!" why do you think some kids are attracted to knives or gangs? people have got nothing better to do now, these children, they all tend to get into groups. i'm saying, "i'm 0k, but you're not." it's that feeling of belonging with a group of older children.

is that going to be in a positive way or a negative way? so you just met the mayor, how did it go? really, really well. yeah, very positive. through sharing our story and the devastation it had on us, you can change somebody‘s mindset quite quickly. we met the mayor later at the spotlight youth centre in east london, which offers creative classes for teenagers. some schools are worried about their school being labelled by allowing in groups like the group tracey founded. my message to all schools is, nobody is immune to this challenge. there might be a weapon... such a tough subject at such a young age, but for many, lessons like this are the best way forward. tim muffet, bbc news. sir david attenborough says that solution to climate change must be a global one that involves everybody. speaking to the bbc ahead of next months un

climate change conference in poland — the naturalist says the discussion must include people from across the globe — regardless of nationality or cirumstances. sir david made his comments as he prepares to deliver the people's seat intiative — which aims to bring the voice of millions of citizens around the world to the conference through digital technology. the united nations felt that in their debates it shouldn't just the united nations felt that in their debates it shouldn'tjust be politicians, it shouldn't just their debates it shouldn'tjust be politicians, it shouldn'tjust be scientists, it should be ordinary people and people around the world. and around the world there is an increasing understanding and recognition of the climate change problem and the catastrophe that awaits us unless we do something about it. and to sharpen the minds of those who are taking decisions in these complex debates, they thought

it would be a good symbolic act if the overwhelming view of people around the world was represented. the question is, how do you do that? because we want people in china and in australia, and in europe, and in south america, and the pacific to have a chance of feeling that their reactions and their understandings and their view of what is happening in the world is important. and, so, there has been the suggestion that there has been the suggestion that there should be a seat and which politicians should see while they are debating, yes, those are the people of the world, this is not an a bstra ct people of the world, this is not an abstract thing, these are the people of the world whose view is this, that and the other. it will give

symbolic power and i hope make politicians emphasise that what is at stake is really extremely important and matters to every man, woman and child on this planet, let alone the natural world. woman and child on this planet, let alone the naturalworld. sir woman and child on this planet, let alone the natural world. sir david attenborough. the united nation's envoy to yemen has arrived for talks with houthi rebels in the capital sanaa, to try to lay the groundwork for urgent peace talks. the fighting in yemen has caused a huge humanitarian crisis — and half of the country's 28 million people are thought to be on the brink of famine. before he arrived in yemen, martin griffiths, who's a former uk foreign office diplomat, called on all sides to exercise restraint. caroline rigby‘s report contains images you might find distressing. ten—year—old nazir is fighting for her life. four of her siblings never even made it to hospital. like so many others, they were collateral damage

in this devastating war. the conflict in yemen has been raging for three and a half years, between a saudi—led military coalition and iranian—backed houthi rebels. as the main entry point for food aid, the rebel—held port of hudaydah has been a focus of international efforts to broker a truce, but hopes of a deal suffered further setback this week when fighting escalated. the un describes yemen as the world's worst man—made humanitarian disaster, with 14 million people on the brink of famine, more than half of them children. and the charity save the children estimates 85,000 under the age of five may have already died of malnutrition since april 2015. saudi arabia and the united arab emirates have pledged almost £400 million to help tackle the crisis. but as well as being the country's largest aid donors, they are also the biggest military powers in a coalition repeatedly blamed for civilian deaths. there should be an end to this conflict.

let's put enough pressure on the houthis to come this time to attend this dialogue, and let's be serious to reach a political solution that brings peace to yemen. 0n the ground, for now, the war goes on, but the un remains hopeful it can resume peace talks between the two sides within the coming weeks. caroline rigby, bbc news. now time to look at the weather. ben andi now time to look at the weather. ben and i will get through the weather forecast with whatever map appears. that is a forecast for tomorrow, which is not going to be as cold as today. there will be a a lot of cloud around. could it on to friday, quick. this is friday, heavy showers into the south—west, some patchy

rain in the north—east. the point at issueis rain in the north—east. the point at issue is we have seen some snow in bits of the country over the last couple of days, certainly in the last 24 hours, and that pattern has changed a little bit. certainly by the time we get into the weekend, low pressure to the south, high to the north, and easterly wind, the same sort of pattern that brought us the snowfall some of us have seen but those temperatures not quite as low, final 10 degrees, a bit of rain around at times, particularly in the north—east and the south—west. generally speaking, not a story of snow any more. we will see two nights in very cold weather if you are out and about over tonight tonight, it could get down as low as -7 in tonight, it could get down as low as —7 in some places. that could potentially ten things a bit i see in one or two spots. —7 will be some of the lowest we have seen this season, a cold start to tomorrow but a dry day, we have lost the strong winds. feel a bit better. this all started on monday. by the weekend, we are a bit better off? yes, a bit.

you use the word tropical earlier. plymouth in the southwest 12 degrees, it is all relative, tropical compared to what we have had. but temperatures will be a bit better than they have been. still in most better than they have been. still in m ost pla ces better than they have been. still in most places talking single digits, eight, nine or 10 degrees. as far as the weekend goes, yes, it looks a little bit like this, some dry weather, some cloudy weather, a bit of rain in the north—east and the south—west but crucially not quite as cold as it has been. matthew hedges sentenced to prison in the united arab emirates, convicted of spying. as theresa may heads to brussels for more talks, she warns critics that if they block her agreement, the result could be no brexit at all. theresa may arriving in that convoy for those talks. with jean—claude juncker. this assistance of lee to talk about the future relationship between the eu and the uk after brexit. there area eu and the uk after brexit. there are a couple of tweets suggesting that there are problems within the eu, in that france and germany, according to one correspondence for the times, not on the same page. of

course the two issues there, for france it is the fishing rights and the deal thatjean—claude juncker and theresa may will be discussing, the germans are also unhappy. we are just awaiting the arrival of theresa may at the summit. but as i was saying, in the house of commons during prime minister's questions, there was some confusion as to what there was some confusion as to what the government's policy is. now theresa may scrambling really in these closing days. let's just see if they stop and speak, mr jean—claude juncker and theresa may. mrs may, are you here to negotiate? well, all fairly businesslike there,

and formal. jean—claude juncker and theresa may beating eu officials as the two sides try to find that brexit deal in time for a summit on sunday of european leaders, but there are now some questions as to whether that summit will be going ahead. stumbling blocks remaining over uk access to the eu single market, access to uk waters for eu boats and the issue of gibraltar, which is certainly something the spanish cup and say they are not happy with at the moment. any develop and in brussels we will return there for you. more on our main story. let's get more now on our main story and a 31—year—old british academic has been sentenced to life in prison for spying in the united arab emirates. matthew hedges, who's studying at durham university was arrested after a research trip to dubai. mr hedges did his masters at exeter university, and they say they are shocked by the life sentence and are

adamant that matt was in the uae to carry out further research and said it is vital that academics are free to carry out their research without fear of address the world over. earlier i spoke to drjohn nagle from the university of aberdeen. he explained to me more about his own experience of academia in the united arab emirates. there are many kind of different ways in which the uae system impinges upon academics. as soon as i arrived in the uae, it was very clear to me about the boundaries which are placed on academics. there are very which are placed on academics. there are very few things that you can do research on. there are very few things on which you are allowed to teach on, there are quite a few numerous examples of academics working in the uae universities who have been arrested for human rights activism. there are even examples of academics working on the american new york university abou diaby campus and have been penalised for

doing research, issues to do with migrant workers in the uae, and also talking very generally about uae‘s position politically in the deadliest at the moment. so it is a very sort of problematic issue for anyone doing research in the uae. which raises the question, why do you go there to do research if that is the sort of constraints that will be on you? i think academics do research on a number of different places in which there are constraints and it is supported for us to kind of engage with the dynamics and the processes and political events which occurred in these societies. that is what academics do. however, at the same time, we need to be mindful of issues to do with the personal safety a nd issues to do with the personal safety and the safety of others. was matthew guilty of anything, was he guilty of naivete? it is very hard to tell with matthew hedges. he was doing research which had been very

clearly been given the green light by the university of durham. he was seen to be doing research on a safe subject. however the middle east is a very politically volatile region at the moment, and the situation can change very quickly. so it seems as if matthew hedges was unfortunately just got himself into a situation where he just found just got himself into a situation where hejust found himself just got himself into a situation where he just found himself on the wrong is line of what is permissible in terms of doing research in the uae. so western institutions perhaps need to rethink how they treat the eu infuture, need to rethink how they treat the eu in future, though i suspect that will already be happening, given what is happening to him? yes, i think researchers and universities will need to be very clear comment terms of the guidelines that will be given, there is so another really important issue, about uk

universities building campuses and institutional links in places like the uae and qatar, not only about the uae and qatar, not only about the type of research but issues about personal safety, about human rights being guaranteed of many people who are being sent to work in this basis, members of the lgbtq population have voiced some degree of worry about the status and safety of worry about the status and safety of members of that particular population doing research and working on these campuses. as we've been reporting, theresa may is in brussels this afternoon to meet the european commisison president, jean claude—juncker. she's hoping to finalise an agreement on what relations between the uk and eu will look like after brexit. 0ur chief political correspondent vicki young has been gathering reaction at westminster though theresa may is inching

towards getting that deal signed through parliament, there is disquiet on all sides of the house about the deal she is getting, even in her own party, let's find out if there is some support from caroline spelman, former cabinet minister. what is your view of the deal as it stands theresa may is hoping parliament will back? it is better than no deal and it is in the words of business leaders good enough. like any divorce, it is unusual for any party to win outright, always difficult and costly and this is no different but the important thing for my constituency in the west midlands region, because we are the largest exporter of goods to the european union, we need an agreement in place, and no deal would be a very bad outcome for the west midlands. i have read the documents andi midlands. i have read the documents and i have spoken to a number of business leaders from the west midlands. large companies like jaguar land rover and rolls—royce have come out in support of this deal, the cbi came out in support of this deal, and i think an increasing

number of my colleagues need to listen to what business has to say. today during prime ministers questions it was clear there were some who are still not persuaded, the numbers do not seem to be there at the moment, what is your message to colleagues thinking of voting against this deal? i think my collea g u es against this deal? i think my colleagues need to read the document in full, it takes roughly five and a half hours, i discovered, but to really understand what is in it, it isa really understand what is in it, it is a treaty covering our withdrawal but it is part of a package which also will contain the agreement about our future relationship, also will contain the agreement about ourfuture relationship, which is what mrs may has gone off to negotiate this weekend. that will be very important for a number of sectors in our economy, it has been indicated there might be a single market partially further financial services was dubbed those kind of things don't exist at the moment so if you like that is where the upside is, the future is, the eu is our most important trading partner and questions from the floor of the house made it clear today that we need to maintain good trading

relations with our largest trading partner. what about those on the pro—eu side of the argument like yourself who are saying actually this is such a bad deal because we would be much better off staying in? i think we have to listen to the outcome of the referendum. i was a remainer but my constituency voted to leave, the region i represent voted leave. so i have to try and deliver on what people said they wanted. what primarily informed their decision was the whole question of immigration and the prime minister has got a very important concession out of her collea g u es important concession out of her colleagues in europe. david cameron was refused to put a stop on free movement, mrs may has that concession whilst allowing us to continue to trade without tariffs being put on the goods that we export to the european union. that is at the heart of this agreement and that is for me what makes it good enough. thank you very much

indeed. theresa may will be hoping there are many others in her own party and across the house of commons who agree with that view. vicki young in the lobby of the palace of westminster. jamie is here with the businesses but first the headlines. british research student matthew hedges is sentenced to life in prison in the united arab emirates — convicted of spying. a charge he denies. theresa may has just arrived in brussels. she is meeting jean—claude juncker to discuss her brexit plans. aircraft manufacturer bombardier slashes nearly 500 jobs in belfast — in an effort to improve efficiency at the firm. we will talk about that in just a moment. here's your business headlines on afternoon live. the amount the government has had to borrow has spiked sharply upwards over last month. for most of the year it's managed to keep a lid on borrowing and in fact for the financial year so far its still £11.5 billion less than it was this time last year. but the october figure on its own

was the highest in three years. the number of children classed as having a gambling problem has quadrupled to more than 50,000 injust two years. a study by the gambling commission suggests that 450,000 children aged 11 to 16 bet regularly, more than those who have taken drugs, smoked or drunk alcohol. bets with friends, slot machines, and scratchcards were most popular. accountancy firm grant thornton is under investigation for its role as the auditor of patisserie valerie. the bakery chain that almost collapsed last month after it discovered a £40 million black hole in its accounts. the financial reporting council said it was investigating the audits of the financial statements of patisserie holdings — the chain's parent company — from 2015 to 2017. as promised, let's talk about bombardier. a large aboutjob losses

announced. we knew earlier this month that the company was going to cutjobs right month that the company was going to cut jobs right away across the world, about 5000. today the unite union has said as to regards what is going in northern ireland, it exceeds their expectations, about 490 jobs. bombardier of course, exceeds their expectations, about 490jobs. bombardier of course, it makes pc series trim, —— plane, now called the aid to 20, under the wing ofa called the aid to 20, under the wing of a bus, which took a majority sta ke of a bus, which took a majority stake in it when it was having that spat with the us. do you remember? the us decided to say it was being anti—competitive. they all went to court, and actually bombardier a won but during that time a majority sta ke was but during that time a majority stake was ta ken but during that time a majority stake was taken by ebersohn now it is part of the kind of air bus stable, and it makes this a 220, which is very competitive, they say, and they have to cut back in order

to be able to compete in this market. let's talk about ikea. they are changing the way they do business. this is more in town small stores. what is shooting about the way they are doing business now, this is the whole clicks and bricks idea of how you do retail, you do a place you can walk into, a small store, and then you go online. you look of the pictures can you talk to the people, you have someone what you ought to be buying and then you go online. see how easy it is to put together. exactly. then you do it online. they tried to straddle both sides and they are quite a head of the game, you look at other companies who are rather floundering as they try to combine the two but there will be a fewerjob losses as well, probably about 350 in this country. but kingfisher and diy generally is in a bit of trouble?

not as popular as it was. its role has faded away but the interesting thing is they're screwfix business, much more for the professional in the trade, that is doing very well, so it seems to suggest people are saying i can't do this, let's get someone else in. which is what we all say after we have a go tried put it together. you then spent ten times more putting it right than you would have done. anyway, so kingfisher has both sides of this particular market and is doing well out of it, but on the other hand internationally it is having to pull out of some countries pulling out of russia and portugal and spain, so it is going through a five—year transformation. shares are down quite sharply and that is because people last till not convinced it is actually streamlined enough. it hasn't quite got the acho perhaps that ikea has about being able to do the online, the bricks and mortar,

is dangerously. public borrowing. generally, the figures for this year are generally, the figures for this year a re really generally, the figures for this year are really good, they have come down and down except this last month, which has gone up suddenly. still if you look back over the last six or seven months, the figures are actually pretty good. we talked to vicky pryce earlier this is what she said. the interesting thing is it is still well below where it was a year ago and it is moving in the right direction. there are monthly differences that exist so it varies seasonally. what happened of course is that we are soon going to be hitting the tax paying months of december, january, sometimes beyond

so there are possible at is that the chancellor might find himself in a surplus for a few months. but we are talking about a considerably better fiscal position overall for the year asa fiscal position overall for the year as a whole than perhaps had been hmmfi as a whole than perhaps had been forecastjust perhaps as a whole than perhaps had been forecast just perhaps one as a whole than perhaps had been forecastjust perhaps one or two years earlier. if you compare it with where we were in march 2018, just before the referendum, we are actually borrowing something that 40 billion more than we would otherwise have done. for next year, where we we re have done. for next year, where we were supposed to have a surplus, we actually going to have a big deficit still, and borrowing something like 30 billion. and now a look at the markets. all looking very strong but we have come i don't know why the character is doing that, it was ashley up quite sharp, about 120%. the euro at the moment looking very strong, against a slightly weaker pound. that is because relations between italy and the european commission seem to be going a little bit better because as you know the

italians want a far too generous budget according to the european commission, but they feel they might bea commission, but they feel they might be a bit of reconciliation going on. that is happening on the other market, the american market that i don't have up there but is in percentage terms roughly the same amount is it is a bounce back from all of those falls we have seen, particularly in the tech industry, the big tech companies, amazon, facebook, apple and so on. the initial falls were sprung by worries about the iphone. that has fed through to the whole tech sector. but a bit of a recovery. today marks 100 years since the passing of the parliament qualification of act, which allowed women over 21 to become mps for the first time. to mark the date, mps from across the political spectrum , including cabinets ministers, the leader of the opposition and senior liberal democrats , have been hosting more than 300 aspiring women from their constituencies to show them

the inner workings of westminster. the "askhertostandday" is aimed to encourage more women to go into politics, as currently only one in three politicians are women. this week is the bbc‘s 100 women series, highlighting inspirational women around the world. stacey cunningham is president of the new york stock exchange — the first woman to occupy that post and one ofjust a few women in senior positions in a very male dominated industry. she's been speaking to samira hussain. there is still a discrepancy between the number of women and the number of men that are in finance, particularly in seniorship rolls. in seniorship roles. i mean, do you see that changing? when i look around at the nyc management team, or more broadly at the intercontinental exchange management team, there are a lot of senior women in very senior roles. you know, senior executives. so, i don't see it quite as... i do think there is a trend to have more senior women in leader roles. and i think that we are moving

in the right direction. we are not moving quite as quickly as the global landscape, in the global landscape, but i think we are heading in the right direction. still, the number of public company ceos that are women is dreadfully low. and it's frankly falling, which is the wrong direction to see. so i think we need society to change a little bit and help support what the expectations are of what a senior executive looks like. why are there fewer women ceos? there has never really been the ceo of an investment bank, either, that's a woman. yeah, we welcome ceos of public companies here at the new york stock exchange all the time. and if i look back, most of them are men. there were two women ceos that came to celebrate bringing their companies public and ringing that bell. but as we are standing on the bell podium, while there have been very few women, there are more women in senior executive roles of those companies. so, we see that women are rising through the ranks. and i think that is a sign of good things to come.

do you think the finance industry is overdue its own me too moment? when i look back at some of the trends we saw in finance a couple of decades ago, there was i think, a bit of a cleansing there. certainly there was a message that people need to be treated with respect in the office. and there were stories of women, where they had not been treated appropriately. so i think finance may have been ahead of the game to some extent in this movement. but the message that we need to take away, that we should all be taking from any of the events that have unfolded over the last 12 months or so is that every individual deserves to be treated with respect. and if you are coming into work each day, that is a base level right that you have. and as leaders of organisations, we need to make sure that that's what's going on. for you personally, do you think you would be in this prominent role, president of the new york stock exchange, if you would have decided to perhaps have had children earlier in life?

what i could tell you is that a man probably wouldn't get that question. and that's important. because society needs to change their expectations around what women should be doing and what men should be doing. and if we're focused on how people are operating as executives, and let them manage their personal lives in their own way, i think you will see women progress more through society, progress more through business and achieve higher goals. society often has a different expectation for women than they do for men. and that's something that is a challenge that women do have to fight. that is it from your afternoon live team, next up the bbc news at 5pm with ben, but now the weather forecast with ben roach. some of us have seen a bit of the white stuff over the last day or so but i would not expect much more because slowly things will start to turn a bit less cold over the next few days. if we look at the radar picture, some showery rain spreading

westwards but some white colours mixing in, that shows where we have had some sleep and some snow. we have had a squeeze over the last day or two between high pressure in the north and low pressure in the south, which has brought us a brisk easterly wind, and we still have strong winds through the rest of today, particularly across north—west scotland. still some patchy rain, and aside from a few showers, the weather coming down, and that process continues into tonight. the winds will ease, clear skies ahead for many and that will allow it to get cold. if you live in allow it to get cold. if you live in ain allow it to get cold. if you live in a in the country, it might be —4, _5’ a in the country, it might be —4, —5, minus six degrees, but notice something a bit less cold in eastern areas by the end of the night. that's because we will be bringing in some extra cloud. cloud and patchy rain in aberdeen, 7 degrees, freezing in glasgow because we have

clear skies overhead, so here there will be some sunshine first bright but chilly to many of these western areas where is further is there be more clout and the odd spot of rain around. we take that cloudy and in places doubt whether and we push it further westwards through the day, moving into parts of north—west england and north—west scotland into the midlands as well. but from northern ireland, south wales, southern england, which are told on to some sunshine, the wind a bit lighter and a temperatures just a little bit higher. a similar story on friday with the addition of some hefty showers. some brighter glimpses if you are lucky and temperatures again between seven and 12 degrees. as we head into the weekend, still a bit of a squeeze between low pressure and high pressure, the white lines, the isobars showing where the air will be coming from, again from the east. nothing desperately warm, especially by night. there will be a loss of clout, some rain especially in the north—east and the south—west. today at five — a british academic —

jailed for life in the united arab emirates after being found guilty of spying. friends and family of matthew hedges say the conviction is based on a forced confession. it's a conviction that is unjust. and a sentence which is just outrageous. we'll have the latest — and we'll be talking to the chair of the commons foreign affairs comittee about the case. the other main stories on bbc news at 5... a primary school pupil receives compensation from a local authority following a serious sexual assault — her mother speaks exclusively to the bbc about their ordeal. theresa may arrives in brussels for crucial eu talks —