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 — and warns a no—deal brexit could loom if critics block her plans. if you look at the alternative to having that deal with the european union, it'll either be more

uncertainty and more division, or it could risk no brexit at all. nearly 500 jobs are to go in northern ireland after canadian after canadian aircraft maker bombardier announces cutbacks. gambling by children rises dramatically — as betting overtakes drug and alcohol use for teenagers. and david attenborough calls for a global solution to climate change — ahead of the united nations‘ climate change conference in poland. it's 5 o'clock — our top story: the prime minister has said she's deeply concerned about the case of a british academic — who's been jailed for life in the united arab emirates. during a brief hearing at a court in abu dhabi — matthew hedges was found guilty of spying on behalf of the british government. the 31—year—old — who's

studying for a doctorate at durham university — has been held since may and has endured long spells of solitary confinement. the uae says the trial was fair and transparent. 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. —— matthew hedges. the hearing lasted just five minutes, according to family and friends. we are all in shock. what this verdict says is that there is no boundaries, there is no academic safety for research in the uae. this afternoon, durham university gave its reaction to the sentence. sending an e—mailto its reaction to the sentence. sending an e—mail to my colleagues confirming this is what has happened is one of the hardest things i've donein is one of the hardest things i've done in my 17 years of working at

the university. it is a conviction which is unjust and a sentence that isjust, which is unjust and a sentence that is just, you know, which is unjust and a sentence that isjust, you know, outrageous. just over six months since matthew hedges was arrested at dubai airport as he tried to leave the uae. he said he had been there carrying out academic research for his ph.d.. 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 not talking about a british academic‘s rights being violated, in a 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 isn'tjust about an individual, because it is britain's integrity that is being brought into question through these accusations,

as well. and it seems to have come as well. and it seems to have come asa as well. and it seems to have come as a shock to the government who had been expecting matthew hedges to be freed. i'm disappointed by the verdict. i realise how stressful this is for matthew hedges and also his family. we are raising it with the authorities at the highest level in the uae. we are seeking a call with the foreign minister. during his visit to the uae on november the 12 he raised the issue with the crown prince and the foreign minister. today, matthew hedges's wife daniela said the last six months had been the worst of their lives, and now the nightmare had only got worse. the parents of a girl who was sexually assaulted at the age of 6 by boys in her primary school playground — have won compensation from the local authority involved. 7 the council has not accepted liability, but the undisclosed five figure settlement could set a precedent. 7 7 the mother has been speaking exclusively to our education editor bra nwen jeffreys. bella has made friends at her new

primary school, but she carries the mental scars of past experiences. at the age of six she was repeatedly sexually assaulted by boys in her primary school playground. staff had seen bella with her underwear partly removed. eventually she told her mum she was in pain. for the family, the legal action was about holding the authority to account. and being able to support bella in the future. it's been worth it financially because there is now a sum of money which will pay for the therapy and support for her up until adulthood. at any point in the court action did the council say, ok, we will offer you support for your daughter, we will offer bella help7 support for your daughter, we will offer bella help? no, they wouldn't even offer her a written apology. offer bella help? no, they wouldn't even offer her a written apologylj know even offer her a written apology.” know that matters a lot to you. even offer her a written apology.” know that matters a lot to youm

matters for her, i think, when she's older, when she can make sense of how she can be so seriously sexually assaulted so many times in a place where she should have been safe. and when she finds out that not only we re when she finds out that not only were the boys not prosecuted or punished, but also the people who we re punished, but also the people who were responsible for keeping her safe from those boys, while she was in school, didn't even write an apology to say, yes, we know we got it wrong, and we are sorry. schools in england now have new guidelines. for the first time they recognise sexual abuse of children via the pupils. but bella's mum says for the child victims more support and more protection is needed. at the moment a child who is raped in primaries school has to decide weather they go to senior school was the perpetrator, or weather they decide to move schools. the onus is on the victim to move schools, not the perpetrator. —— in primary school

has to decide whether they go. there are plans to teach primary school children about relationships. pa rents say children about relationships. parents say the system is still struggling to cope with what's happening. it can be very hard to accept that a young child is capable ofa accept that a young child is capable of a sexual assault. and if that child is under the age of ten the police may not record it. allegations of sex offences in schools are not recorded consistently by the 43 police forces in england and wales. 15 forces recorded a total of 593 allegations of sex offences on primary school campuses last year where both the victim and perpetrator were under 18. this involved 71 allegations of rape. among the allegations were 203 offences where the victim was under the age of 13. bella's case is the

first involving a primary score child to reach court. lawyers say it may not be the last. in my experience, i have had around about a dozen families coming forward. a number of those involving primary school age children. and so it's not a problem that seems to be going away any time soon, and does certainly need more recognition, and more measures in place. how is she doing7 more measures in place. how is she doing? i have no yard stick. i have no frame of reference for how a girl was so seriously sexually harmed is supposed to be three years on. all i know is that she has good days, beautifully good days, and she has horribly dark days. branwenjeffries reporting there. if you've been affected by the issues in her report you can find support on the bbc‘s actionline website — that's at bbc.co.uk/actionline. the prime minister has arrived in brussels to meet

european commission presidentjean claudejunker, in an attempt to finalise the plan for relations between the uk and the eu after brexit. several eu member states have expressed concerns over britain' 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. 0ur europe reporter gavin lee is in brussels where the prime minister arrived a short while ago. theresa may is now arriving here in brussels at the european commission to meet with jean—claude juncker, the eu commission president. she will arrive through one of the heavily tinted windows. we can just see the car going in. on the phone, it appears. she's had an interesting day. she has come from parliament in the uk. she will be here for about

two hours with jean—claude juncker. but in the midst of her arrival there appears to be a? 0ver whether there appears to be a? 0ver whether there will be a summit on sunday. a p pa re ntly apparently there are disagreements between the french and german leaders about how to play things the next few days. the german chancellor, angela merkel, has made it clear that the withdrawal agreement, this document, should stay shot. and there are other countries, the spanish, the french, portuguese, say they have their own concerns, but it is a bit like playing political what a mole. if you allow one country to do it, other countries will come forward, and theresa may will look at the political agenda today. here is the issue that the french reportedly and others have said, they want to make

changes to the withdrawal agreement before sunday, but germany have said that it must stay shut. we shall see if the summit actually ever happens. the other thing to look out for todayis the other thing to look out for today is the idea of an extension to the transition period. michel barnier, the eu commission negotiator, has said that it could be up until the end of 2022. so far there is no date. theresa may may decide on putting a date to that after her meeting today with jean—claude juncker. 0ur chief political correspondent, vicki young is in westminster. the prime minister seems to have shored up her position for now. the plot against seems to have stalled. how important are these meetings in brussels for her position here at home7 brussels for her position here at home? i think downing street will be pretty pleased that that particular

rebellion seems to have calmed down. but i think the bigger issue has a lwa ys but i think the bigger issue has always been getting that agreement through the house of commons. today, listening to prime ministers questions, i think they will be quite alarmed that there are still people getting up to speak who they might not have expected to have been questioning it quite so much, saying they couldn't agree with it. it is still hard to see whether support will come from. what she will be hoping for, they have made it pretty clear that the withdrawal agreement is closed, but there is some talk of attendance being put into it to try and please the dup, giving stormont and please the dup, giving stormont a bit more of a role, but it isn't clear the eu will allow that. a lot of hope is being pinned on this political declaration. it could be because if they make it so vague that everyone could read into it what they want about our future permanent relationship, and they can look at it, and if there is something in there for everyone, maybe they can win people over for

now. it is pretty clear that the former remainers in the tory party, most of them have come onside. they've looked at it. they have said they respect the referendum result. i understand people want freedom of movement to end. as they want a close working relationship with you to protect jobs close working relationship with you to protectjobs and businesses. that is why they are behind it. it is the brexiteers who are still not happy. they have been trying to squeeze those numbers down. the only way of doing that is to have some reassu ra nces doing that is to have some reassurances in this document, which i think people expect to be ready towards the end of the week. then on sunday, of course, we see the whole thing. the beginning of next week is going to be absolutely crucial as people look at that and think is there enough in there for me to get behind this? she's been criticised by her critics for giving too much ground in the draft withdrawal agreement. how important is it for her not to concede anything more in terms of the political declaration7

for example, on gibraltar and fishing rights, where she may under major come pressure from the eu and jean—claude juncker. major come pressure from the eu and jean-claude juncker. that's the thing at this stage, the fact there isn't much movement doesn't sound good for theresa may. 0n the other hand,it good for theresa may. 0n the other hand, it could be quite good that nothing more is extracted from the uk. ijust don't think politically she could withstand any more of that. i think already, having she could withstand any more of that. ithink already, having been overin that. ithink already, having been over in the house of commons this afternoon, speaking to people on all sides of this, there is all sorts of talk about what happens if the deal doesn't get through. does she bring it back a second time? does that focus peoples minds7 in terms of the message from the government today, it's been pretty confused, saying if you do not vote for my deal you might not get brexit at all. but also confirming that we are leaving at the end of march. there are slight confusion amongst that messaging. saying to those brexiteers, the point is if you vote down this deal then the uncertainty and the slight chaos there might be

means that no one can be certain about what happens next. and if you wa nt to about what happens next. and if you want to be sure of brexit, she will say that you have to back her deal. thanks very much. the headlines on bbc news... a 31—year—old british man is jailed for life in the uae. matthew hedges was convicted of spying in the uae. the family of a primary school girl who received compensation from a local authority following a serious sexual assault speaks about her ordeal. and theresa may arrives in brussels for crucial talks ahead of an eu summit on sunday. the pfa chief executive gordon taylor has called for a full and open review into the organisation structure following criticism of his 37 year spell in charge, and his £2.2 million yearly salary. martin 0'neill says it is with a heavy heart that he leaves his role as republic of ireland manager. they

fail to as republic of ireland manager. they failto wina as republic of ireland manager. they fail to win a competitive match in 2018. james anderson has been rested for the final test against sri lanka. stuart broad replaces him. jonny ba i rstow stuart broad replaces him. jonny bairstow comes in for the injured all—rounder sam curran. i will have more on those stories at around half past. 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 thousand children in the uk have developed a gambling problem, according to a report by the gambling commission. the regulator says more teenagers now gamble than drink alcohol, smoke or use drugs. 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. 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. the number of children in england receiving treatment for knife attacks has soared. bbc analysis of nhs figures shows an almost 90% rise for 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 crime7 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 gangs7 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. this week is the bbc‘s 100 women series — which highlights inspirational women around the world. stacey cunningham is president of the new york stock exchange — the first woman to occupy that post and one of a few women in very senior positions in a very male dominated industry. she's been speakign 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. 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 senior roles. i think that we are moving in the right direction. we are not moving quite as quickly as the global landscape, but i think we are heading in the right direction. still, the number of public company ceos that i 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 research looks like. why are there fewer women ceos is not 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 the 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 moment7 when i look back 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 and the office. —— 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. i think 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'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 have had children earlier in life? what i can 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 different expectation for women than they do for men. and that's something that is a challenge that women do have to fight. time for a look at the weather — here's ben rich with the forecast. goodies on. some of the source of an

order huge amount, but over some of the hills we saw a covering. —— good evening. this picture is from derbyshire earlier on. this is the radar picture from the last 12 hours, areas of rain, but white areas show there has been sleet and snow mixed in. the showers are starting to fade away in many places. 0ver tonight, the skies are likely to clear. for many it will turn into a very cold night with a widespread frost. there are some exceptions, showers in the west, some of these will continue over northern ireland overnight. not getting quite as cold here. cloud approaching eastern areas. that will eventually lift the temperatures. we could develop some fog patches, freezing fog patches at that, because the temperatures out in the countryside will drop to maybe —4, maybe even minus seven degrees. with the cloud rolling in from the east, not such a cold start for tomorrow for eastern areas. a bit patchy rain

for eastern areas. a bit patchy rain for aberdeen in the morning. sunshine for glasgow, but your temperature is around freezing. for many western areas it is that bright pa rt many western areas it is that bright part to the start to the day. whereas further east we have more cloud and the odd spot of rain, but the temperatures will be a bit higher. through the day, we take this cloud in eastern part of the country with the odd spell of rain, and we moved it west. it'll cloud over north—west england. not feeling great after that chilly start. it'll cloud over western scotland, as well. the northern ireland and the south—west of england, he will hold onto sunshine. lighter winds co m pa res onto sunshine. lighter winds compares with recently. to bridge is just a bit higher, seven to 10 degrees. friday opens the equation of showers for the far south west. —— temperatures just a bit higher. some patchy rain in the north—east. the in between bits and central areas have the best chance of seeing some sunshine and again those temperatures just a bit higher. some sunshine and again those temperaturesjust a bit higher. for the weekend, high pressure to the

north, low pressure to the south, and easterly wind squeezing between them. this frontal system threatens to bring rain over southern areas on saturday. uncertain about just to bring rain over southern areas on saturday. uncertain aboutjust how far north this will get. but for many we will see lots of dry weather, some spells of sunshine, generally large areas of cloud, temperatures between seven to 10 degrees. similar story on sunday. no heat wave forecast, but it would be as chilly as it has been once we get past the frost tonight. this is bbc news. the headlines... a british academic is jailed for life in united arab emirates after being found guilty of spying for the government. the foreign secretaryjeremy hunt says the uk is very concerned for his welfare. it is absolutely devastating news for matthew hedges, his wife daniela and his family and we are totally in

and his family and we are totally in a state of shock about it. we see absolutely no evidence for any of the charges laid against him and we are very concerned for his welfare. uae is supposed to be a friend and ally of britain, we have given them repeated assurances about matthew and if it goes on and there are going to be serious diplomatic consequences because this is totally unacceptable but right now our thoughts are with matthew, his family, and we want to do everything we can to get him home. a primary school girl receives compensation from a local authority following a serious sexual assault. her mother speaks exclusively to the bbc about her child's ordeal. theresa may arrives in brussels for crucial eu talks, and warns a no—deal brexit could loom if critics block her plans. and nearly 500 jobs are to go in northern ireland after canadian aircraft maker bombardier announces further cutbacks. now all the latest sport with john

watson. thank you, good afternoon. the pfa chief executive gordon taylor has called for an independent enquiry into the structure of the organisation. he's faced criticism over his role and size of salary with more than 300 current and former players signing a letter calling for him to resign. 0ur sports correnspondent david 0rnstein has been following the story. we know we are dealing with the man who has been in charge of the pfa for a long time now. 40 years as chairman and then chief executive. he is 73 years old. we know about this reported open letter that has been signed by more than 200 players past and present. a man who is earning £2.29 million a year making him the most highly paid union boss in the world apparently. this open letter from in the world apparently. this open letterfrom him, finally he spoke amid all this criticism and said they have listened and taken time to carefully think about what is in the best interests of the organisation

and members, they are extremely proud of the work they do and they are happy to defend their record including on issues such as mental health, diversity and player welfare but they admit there are always areas they can improve and they are adamant the criticism must not be swept under the carpet and he confirms an independent qc led review will take place, full and open review into the structure and operation of the pfa. they will come out again with the parameters and timeline but it appears that gordon taylor will remain in position despite this row he appears to be having with the chairman of the pfa, it isa having with the chairman of the pfa, it is a fascinating one but gordon taylor remains in position and he has said there will be a full and open review. manager martin 0'neill says it's with heavy heart he leaves his job as republic of ireland manager. a disappointing nations league campaign saw ireland relegated from their group and they're without a competitive win this year. he and assistant roy keane, who also leaves, were appointed five years ago, and guided the republic to the last 16 of euro 2016. fifa should strip nations

of the world cup if fans are guilty of racist behaviour. a survey of 27,000 supporters discovered the strength of feeling over the issue. kick it out and forza magazine also found half of football supporters in the uk have witnessed racism at games, 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 responsible. scotland have made eight changes to the side beaten by south africa last weekend ahead of their final match of the autumn series with argentina. the biggest change sees finn russell move to 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. 0n pitches suited more to spin than swing bowling he's taken just the one wicket. stuart broad, who's yet to feature in the series, comes into the side, 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 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 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. (tx sor) that is all for now. holly hamilton will have a full round—up of all the talking points from the world of

sport at 6:30pm. any thank you, john watson there. 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. let's discuss all of this and what the future framework might look like with our reality check correspondence chris morris. thank you for being with us. so the political declaration — we presume that'll be the focus of the pm's talks with jean claude juncker in brussels this afternoon. remind us what it is. we have the draft withdrawal agreement, 580 pages, alongside it isa agreement, 580 pages, alongside it is a relatively short political declaration, maybe about 20 pages, not sure. it is not binding order legal, that could change. it basically sets out the basis for the whole future relationship. formal

negotiations on that cannot begin until after we are due to leave, the 29th of march 2019 if brexit on schedule. 0ne 29th of march 2019 if brexit on schedule. one thing everybody wants to know is what will the trading relationship be in the future. the outline of the declaration talks about a comprehensive free trade agreement. 0ne about a comprehensive free trade agreement. one of the controversial beds will be what it says about customs. it's talking about an ambitious customs partnership, brexiteers will be watching closely for the exact language and any hint that they are worried about that any temporary customs arrangement somehow turns into a permanent customs union. so it is looking at a future trading relationship but that isn't exclusively about customs arrangements. no, it is literally everything. it also includes the rules of the single market, but includes regulation. the chequers agreement, a lot of people wrote it off and said it was that, but it includes a single rule book between

the uk and eu to sort out regulatory issues. part of the reason for the debate about customs and regulations is what might happen at the irish border because there is this guarantee still which will continue after brexit from both sides of the border remains open. it is notjust about goods, the stuff we make, because of course the majority of the eu -- uk because of course the majority of the eu —— uk economy is services come about 80%, the document will reference equivalents, two different ways you can have a service relationship, but the uk originally wa nted relationship, but the uk originally wanted was something called mutual recognition. i recognise your standards and you recognise mine. equivalence is slightly less certain. for example financial services and the city of london. at the city is so important to the eu, capital, financial strength around the world, i suspect it will get a pretty good deal in the end. what

else will be in this political declaration7 it is essentially a blueprint for our whole future relationship with the eu. if it is 20 pages now you would assume it would have to be a lot more than that if it is the entire future relationship. it will get longer and we could pick out many things but one thing, migration, they describe it as mobility. what will happen after brexit and the transition period7 after brexit and the transition period? the government is clear that free movement of people into the uk will come to an end and that also means for uk citizens to the eu, that will come to an end. there will also be talk about short—term travel. both sides want to ensure they won't have to be visas for that but it has to be negotiated. transport will be big, air transport, the rules, lorries crossing borders, drivers inside them, but permanent system7 crossing borders, drivers inside them, but permanent system? a level playing field is a phrase we will

hear a lot, referring to concerns among eu countries that somehow the uk might get some sort of special advantage by being only half in the eu but still retaining all the benefits. it wants to make sure that its interests a re benefits. it wants to make sure that its interests are upheld in this documentjust as its interests are upheld in this document just as much its interests are upheld in this documentjust as much as the uk, it is not just documentjust as much as the uk, it is notjust theresa may negotiating, it is all the other leaders. 0ne last thing, a big part of the relationship, security, both internal security, police co—operation and so forth, what access will be uk had to the eu databases we use at the moment, and external security, foreign policy and defence, that will all be decided to stop it is a short document. if it is only 20 pages every ward will be pored over because the basis of the whole future relationship. from that document. thank you very much indeed. chris morris there. 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 for 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. we reported earlier

on the concerns raised by the gambling commission over the huge rise in gambling by teenagers. well, that's come at the same time it's been revealed that the billionaire founder of the betting firm bet365 earned an extraordinary £220 million last year. i'm joined by our business editor simonjack. a huge sum. how has she managed to earn quite so much money? you remember richard branson, the green, but the highest paid executives in the world last year was denise coates who has eight stoke —based business called bet365. that has done astonishingly well. it took wages of £53 billion last year. they made a profit after they paid her a salary, her total pay including

dividends was 265 main pounds. 0ver a quarter of £1 billion. we don't know a great deal about her, she graduated from sheffield university, took over her small string of betting shops that her fatherjohn had owned and then decided to take a bet of her own setting up to coral and investing it all in online gambling and it has turned out to be amazing that, these astonishing sums. also along with herfamily amazing that, these astonishing sums. also along with her family she owns stoke city football club whose shirt sponsor is, let's guess, bet365. it has been driven by the splits of advertising you seek, ray winston, the hard man and film star, he is on the ads, but the person making the real money is denise coates. this comes on the same day asa coates. this comes on the same day as a report expressing real concern about gambling addiction amongst young people, teenagers, what has

been the fallout from these wage figure revelations7 been the fallout from these wage figure revelations? clearly she is not personally to blame for all this but there has been a massive rise in online gambling. there have been some negative comments, the high pay centre which monitors how much people are paid, and described it as obscene and impossible to justify. evenif obscene and impossible to justify. even if she was doing something with great social benefit it would be ha rd to great social benefit it would be hard to justify compensation levels of this nature and as there are social concerns about this and addiction concerns, a lot of people saying, sir vince cable has been very critical, but this is not an issue that will go away. we will be talking about this next year because they have got aggressive expansion plans into the us which is a deregulated gambling market, so there is a racing certainty she will be the earnings quite —— chart for quite some time to come. simon jack our business editor. the headlines on bbc news...

a 31—year—old british man is jailed for life after charges of spying. jeremy hunt has warned of diplomatic consequences. the family of a primary school girl who received compensation from a local authority following a serious sexual assault speaks about her ordeal. and theresa may arrives in brussels for crucial brexit talks as both sides try to finalise a deal. sir david attenborough says that solution to climate change must be a global one that involves everybody. speaking to the bbc ahead of next month's 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 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 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 abstract thing, these are the people of the world whose view is this, that and the other. kick some of that is impossible really. but 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. whale song has bewitched and beguiled 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, 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. the weather is next, but first...

let's return now to our top story. the prime minister says she is deeply concerned about a british academic who's been jailed for life in the united arab emirates. during a brief hearing at a court in abu dhabi, matthew hedges was found guilty of spying on behalf of the british government. the 31—year—old — who's studying for a doctorate at durham university — has been held since may. earlier one of matthew hedges' colleagues at durham university has been giving his reaction to our north of england correspondent fiona trott. iam i am appalled. it has been a desperate time for obviously mostly mad and his family and especially his wife, sending the e—mail to my collea g u es his wife, sending the e—mail to my colleagues confirming that it is one of the hardest things i have done in may 17 years at university. this conviction that is unjust and a sentence that is just outrageous. his wife today saying she is very

concerned for his welfare, knowing him as you do and you think years at the moment? i can't begin to think what must be going through matt cosmic mind. 0ne what must be going through matt cosmic mind. one of the things we know from, his mental health was not good during his period of detention. he was on suicide watch for parts of that time. clearly we were desperately worried about what this might do to his well—being and possibly and any benefits he has had, the game he has made in the period on bail will be wiped out overnight with this. explained as specifically why he was there in the first place and what the basis of his research was. his research was into development within the united arab emirates in terms of how its foreign and security and defence policies have been developing, particularly since 2011, a lot of

academic work into this field because how the gulf monarchies such as the uaa or saudi arabia for kuwait were the others, have developed since the arab spring is something very important and interesting. matt was coming towards the end of his ph.d., he had done a great deal of open source work using the existing published literature, looking at news coverage of these things in that area, collating the information together so he was out there looking to interview people he had previously identified and made contact with, just to get the particular insider perspectives upon the developments. what kind of people7 the developments. what kind of people? a bit of a mixture. some would—be international experts based in the uae, some former government officials who had worked in areas who were known to have inside information and understanding about how the processes operated, just to

get information on whether the published literature was getting this right or if there were other issues or insights he could gain talking to people directly involved in these activities. what about the people he was speaking to, the former government officials and the material he was looking at? the information we have been given and the uae authorities have provided very little about this is that matt was brought to our attention by a citizen of the uae who was concerned about the questions he was asking. we don't know who that was, as far as we are aware they remain anonymous and have never been cross—examined by defence counsel at the trial for example, we understand the trial for example, we understand the defence had no opportunity to question any prosecution evidence that alone cross—examine witnesses. so it is speculative for us because his work was drawing of upon things that were already in the public

domain, journals, academic books, authoritative intranet sites that collate and produce this kind of information, the people he was looking to speak to people he had previous established contact with, one of the parts of the process we go through when we look to authorise people to conduct research overseas is can you identify specific people you work is going to try to talk to? .com —— what kind of questions would you be asking so we can be confident that those are appropriate for the academic research that someone is trying to undertake. the protocol is pretty strict around those if matt had wanted to change those expected questions for example, he would need to come back to us to check. clearly he will follow lines of inquiry that emerge from the conversations he is having with people but matt new where the parameters of those conversations were because of the

approvals he had in place are carrying out this research. and he grew up with the uae. he spent a lot of time there prior to going back to the uk the university he had been in the uk the university he had been in the uae for a number of years because that is where his family was based. do think that might have been a reason for him to be arrested? know but there is no reason for him to be arrested so there is no reason for his detention or his prosecution and certainly not his conviction. how confident are ye you can successfully launched an appeal?” don't know. 0nce successfully launched an appeal?” don't know. once we are dealing with theissues don't know. once we are dealing with the issues of the legal process and the issues of the legal process and the uae is beyond any claims to expertise and insight i can offer and we will do everything we can to help matt. let's ta ke let's take a look at the weather forecast. pretty chilly out there. this is how it looked very weather watcher in derbyshire. but everyone

has seen snow like that but there has seen snow like that but there has been somewhat weather and slate and also a of snow. those showers now beginning to fade. that will lead us into a particularly chilly night. mostly clear skies so it will turn cold and it will be quite frost. still some showers through the first part of the evening in the south—west of england, wales, northern ireland. these will continue for a lot of the night. not quite as cold. cloud and it is to turn things mild. in between a zone of clear skies. the default patch. it will be freezing fog. if you live in the countryside, minus four or maybe minus seven. further east things not as cold because by tomorrow morning there will be some extra cloud bringing some outbreaks of patchy rain. seven in aberdeen but a bit grey and dumped to start. beautiful sunshine in glasgow but it will be around freezing at eight o'clock. across western areas some

sunshine, but quite chilly field. further east there will be more cloud and the odd spot of rain but a little bit milder. through the day we ta ke little bit milder. through the day we take that glowed in the east with the odd spot of ring and we further west and cloud is over north—west england and of clouds over across western scotland, midlands, north wales and northern ireland and south wales and northern ireland and south wales and northern ireland and south wales and the south of england keeping hold sunshine. temperatures slightly higher than today. the winds will be quite a bit later. similar weather on friday. some showers across the far south—west. some heavy and thundery. extra cloud towards the north—east and the odd spot of rain. in between some bright sunny spells hopefully and temperatures just a bit higher. towards the weekend the pressure looks like this. high pressure to the north and low pressure to deserve. between the two still bringing us an easterly not particularly warm. systems will come close to the south. the channel

islands and the south of england we could see some rain. uncertain how far north that will get. a lot of dry weather. some spells of sunshine but large areas of cloud and 7—10dc. similaron but large areas of cloud and 7—10dc. similar on sunday. after a cold and frosty night tonight a bit less cold over the next few days. a british student from durham university is sentenced to life in prison in dubai, after being found guilty of spying for the british government. 31—year—old matthew hedges has been held in solitary confinement for six months — he was arrested during a research trip last may. the uae is supposed to be a friend and ally of britain's. we've given them repeated assurances about matthew. and, you know, if we can't resolve this, there are going to be serious diplomatic consequences. the government is now urgently seeking talks with the united arab emirates. also tonight: a 6—year—old sexually assaulted by boys at school — her parents win compensation from the local authority.

all smiles in brussels, as the prime minister arrives to discuss what our relationship with the european union will look like, after brexit. tens of thousands of children are now classed as problem gamblers — a steep rise in numbers as more and more under 16s turn to betting.