this is bbc news. i'm lukwesa burak. the headlines at 2:00pm. police fire tear gas on the streets of paris as anti—government protestors clash with officers in a fourth weekend of demonstrations. this is the scene live in paris. police have made at least 500 arrests and ministers say the "yellow vest" movement opposed to fuel tax rises has been hijacked by "ultra—violent" protesters. police in new zealand are to charge a 26—year—old man with the murder of british backpacker, grace millane, who went missing in auckland last week. sadly the evidence we have gathered to this point of the enquiry has established that this is a homicide. amber rudd becomes the first government minister to publicly discuss an alternative to theresa may's brexit deal. what happens if it is voted down? and anything could happen, there's lots of different things could happen, most of which they don't want to happen.

so when they think about this deal, they need to weigh up the alternatives as well. six people — five of them teenagers — have died after a stampede at a nightclub in italy. and in half an hour here on bbc news, 100 women takes a look at women who volunteer to give birth to a stranger's child and receive only expenses in exchange. police have used tear gas on protestors in paris as thousands of people rallied for a fourth weekend of demonstrations against president macron‘s government. the "yellow vest" movement — as it's called — began three weeks ago, against a planned rise in fuel tax.

that's been suspended, but french ministers say the protests have been hijacked by "ultra—violent" extremists. 0ur paris correspondent, hugh schofield reports. from early morning, once again, the yellow vests began arriving in numbers on the champs—elysees, the luxury shops along the avenue now boarded up because of the threat of more violence. riot police, out in force, had adopted new tactics after last saturday's chaos. today, they were stopping and searching, confiscating anything that could serve as a missile against them. the focus became, once again, the area around the arc de triomphe and here there were the first signs of trouble — a crowd goading riot police, police responding with tear gas and moving out to retake ground, keep the crowd moving. the riot police have moved out from a side street to take up a position along the avenue here. you can see them standing at the ready, and they're being insulted, booed,

had the occasional projectile thrown at them by the crowd around. most of the yellow vests kept well back from the trouble spots. all they wanted was to get their message out. translation: emmanuel macron has to step down. the parliament should be dissolved and we have to return to better foundations. everything should be fair, because we're fed up. as the morning wore on, it was clear that so far, the government's worst fears had not been realised. the prime minister, edouard philippe, appeared on television to announce there'd been more than 200 arrests, and to emphasise again the exceptional scale of the police operation that's been mounted, both in paris and across the country. a combination of police saturation on the ground, smaller—than—expected numbers of protesters, the government is beginning to hope that the moment of peak danger is passing. hugh schofield is on the streets of paris. we will take a look at some of the

live shots we can see. hugh schofield, we can see what i presume are members of the public, or are they security forces behind you? we are ina they security forces behind you? we are in a very tense situation. behind me are a group of riot police, the mobile gendarme. 50 feet away is a very angry crowd. we have had a lot of tear gas fired in the last few minutes here. a lot of flash bang crowd disbursing projectiles that the police use. a few minutes ago, there was a fire. to turn the camera around the other way, the fire engine there is putting out the fire of a car that was in conflagration about ten minutes ago. and then the police arrived and pushed the crowds down to the bottom end of the street,

very close to the champs—elysees. what is happening, we have groups very much like last week appearing in side streets. to turn you around again and show you the situation. it is very tense. this group of seven oi’ is very tense. this group of seven or eight men with helmets on are the police. they are watching very carefully what is going on in front of us. the crowd is getting more nasty, we can certainly say that. of us. the crowd is getting more nasty, we can certainly say thatm does look precarious for you. we do realise if you have to move away very quickly. in terms of comparing it to last week, do you get the sense that the government and police on the streets have a firmer handle in controlling the crowds? we understand 500 people have now been arrested. i would have said that up until we came out just arrested. i would have said that up until we came outjust now. i had the sense earlier on that it was contained on the champs—elysees.

yes, there was a lot of fury and chanting, tear and a lot of anger being directed at the government and police, but you sensed it was under control. now we have come to other side streets around the champs—elysees and it feels different, more reminiscent of what happened last week with groups scuttling down side streets and coming up against the police in smaller scale confrontations. there will not be the same protection of shops and stalls on the champs—elysees. here there is the risk of cars being burned and shops damaged. we will let you go because we can see a crowd damaged. we will let you go because we can see a crowd of yellow vests moving up the street. we will let you get away to safety. hugh schofield in paris. we are keeping a close eye on events taking place in paris and we will bring you more as and when we get it. police in new zealand

are preparing to charge a 26—year—old man with the murder of british backpacker, grace millane. grace was last seen in auckland exactly a week ago. police say there's evidence she's dead, but her body has yet to be found. angus crawford reports. fun—loving and family orientated. grace millane's parents say her disappearance a week ago was entirely out of character, and was extremely hard to take. now they've been given the worst possible news. the evidence we have gathered to this point of the inquiry has established that this is a homicide. grace's family have been advised of this development and they are devastated. police say a 26—year—old man will be charged with her murder when he appears in court on monday. grace arrived in new zealand last month, and had been staying at a backpackers' hostel in auckland. she was last spotted on saturday night, entering a hotel in the city with a male companion, who the police say had been

with her during the evening. detectives have released pictures of jewellery they believe grace had with her. this necklace, and a distinctive pink watch, are both missing from her possessions and could help them find her body. when grace's father arrived in new zealand, he spoke to the media and was hopeful she could be found alive. but this is now a murder investigation, a man will soon be charged, and the police search for grace continues. angus crawford, bbc news. let's talk to our reporter simonjones, who's in wickford, essex, where grace millane's family live. simon, tell us what the mood is like. we are here at the local catholic church, and there is a

great sense of loss. the person in charge here says he will keep the doors open all weekend so people can come in for a quiet moment of contemplation or to light a candle oi’ contemplation or to light a candle or discuss with a priest exactly how they are feeling. there is a picture of grace displayed prominently inside the building where people can say prayers. they had been hoping and praying over the last few days that she would be found safe and well. but overnight those hopes have been dashed with the news that this is now being treated as a murder investigation. the priest here says many people in the congregation knew grace and her family, many people in the congregation knew grace and herfamily, and the family are absolutely devastated to stop thoughts here are with the family, and they are going to say special prayers and services throughout the weekend to mark her life. what people want to hear now is for the body to be discovered quickly. what is happening in new zealand seems so far away from here, a long, long way

away, but thoughts are very much with family members out there, and those family members remaining here in essex. very much support towards the family is the feeling coming from the church here. simon, thank you. amber rudd has become the first government minister to publicaly discuss an alternative to theresa may's brexit deal. the work and pensions secretary described the so—called, "norway plus" option as plausible if mps reject mrs may's deal in the vote scheduled for tuesday. if such a plan were adopted, the uk would retain its access to the single market, but would have to permit free movement of eu citizens into the uk. 0ur political correspondent, matt cole reports. lll u llull lll lll

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‘ij’ cole“? news. ~fl ’ ' ' " ‘ij’ colagnevamber" ' ' " ‘ij’ cole, t nev amber rudd = in to say what she has now? ‘ij’ cole, t nev amber rudd = in to say \ a at she has now? ‘ij’ cole, t nev amber rudd = in to say \ a llli'lllas now?'i is very significant, a cabinet minister, in the inner circle, and very close to theresa may, deputising for her in the 2017 election when theresa may did not do leadership debates, amber rudd stepped in to do them for her. a chief lieutenant of the prime minister, someone whose words we should pay heed to. she has become the first member of the cabinet to not advocate a plan b, but open the door to the discussion of it, where before everyone was very clear there b, amber if ' she " " '”"""' supporting the see the deal

see the t to. the that they are speaking to. the political journalists. that they are speaking to. the politicaljournalists. they know how it will work out. she will understand by almost flying a kite for this option that it will be out there. i think there is a real sense here that this is perhaps the first of the battle of the plan bs coming up. so we will hear from a lot of people on tuesday after the vote goes down, and people think it will, so we goes down, and people think it will, so we will see a lot of people getting their own version of what happens next coming in. we are hearing much about the norway option, as you mentioned in your report. norway and the united kingdom, is it a fair comparison? is it feasible to have that norway option? we are very different countries. norway has around 5 million people, and is very wealthy

through the massive oil reserves it has. a very different style of country to the uk. it actually is quite a big contributor to the european union, the latest figures off the top of my head, i think they are in the top ten of contributors, because they have to pay in to get access to the single market, even though they are not members, there is still that club membership, if you like, and britain would have to pay that as well. so there could be real hurdles for the uk. you would have tojoin the real hurdles for the uk. you would have to join the european free trade association, and then get access to the european economic area. it's not clear whether britain would get access to those stages to get there. and then there is the question of opposition. some brexiteers spoke about the norway deal as being a good option beforehand, but now they would reject it calling it brexit in name only. but you have to do what

brussels says if you want rights to the single market access. even if amber rudd came out later, and this is now the plan i would like to see 110w is now the plan i would like to see now the vote has gone down, if she had said that, there is no sense there would be a smooth passage to that. but i'm not sure there is a smooth passage to any alternative at the moment, and there are hard yards ahead for all politicians no matter what they believe in. matt cole, thank you. a big week ahead. the headlines on bbc news... police have fired tear gas on the streets of paris as thousands of anti—government protestors stage more demonstrations against the french president, emmanuel macron. police in new zealand investigating the disappearance of the british backpacker, grace millane, say a man is to be charged with her murder. the work and pensions secretary, amber rudd, has warned the country would be in "uncharted territory" if mps reject theresa may's brexit deal. six people — five

of them teenagers — have died after a stampede at a nightclub in italy. dozens were injured in the club in corinaldo, near ancona, on italy's east coast. it's reported that panic broke out at a rap concert after a pepper spray—like substance was released. james reynolds reports. the blue lantern nightclub in the town of corinaldo was packed. around 1000 people, many of them teenagers, had gone to see a concert by one of italy's leading rappers. at around one in the morning some reports say that a pepper spray—like substance was used, provoking a stampede. translation: we were together. we started seeing everyone rush towards the emergency exits. at the beginning we didn't understand why, but then we started to cough and thought there might be a fire or something, so we decided to leave.

one of the emergency exits was blocked. in the crush to get out of the club, a railing collapsed causing dozens of partygoers to fall. translation: since three this morning we were very close to the bodies and to the relatives. and then we've accompanied them here to the morgue. you can imagine it's been a very sudden thing. you cannot believe that it's true. the government has named the dead as teenagers between the ages of 1a and 16, and the 39—year—old mother of one of these victims was also killed. italy's interior minister, matteo salvini, says the authorities will find those responsible for turning a party night into a tragedy. james reynolds, bbc news, rome. one of the uk's biggest government contractors is reported to be seeking a second rescue deal after accumulating debts of more than half a billion pounds. interserve works in prisons,

schools and hospitals and it also mends roads and motorways. the firm says it is considering ways of raising money. lets get more on this from aimee donnellan, who's a columnist at reuters breakingviews. what has gone so wrong? this contractor providing probation services, doing lots of contracts on the go, but essentially what you have seen this year, there has been waste energy projects in derby, they have had delays and extra costs and what that means for a company like interserve, although it has a vast balance sheet, it spends more to counter that and debt is the real issue, echoing the kind of thing we saw from carillion at this time last year. echoing the want to avoid a

carillion style collapse. the banks have to agree terms. the financial times is reporting they have crunch talks on at the moment. they will be deciding whether they can be given better terms or whether some of the debt can be written down to make it more sustainable for them. the timing is interesting. this time last year carillion was doing exactly the same and in the end of the banks decided they did not see the banks decided they did not see the company as viable. so interserve is trying to show they have profitable areas, they service hospitals for the nhs, and in local service. they might even be making school meals, so it's a very important company. their first rescue deal was put in place back in march. £834 million given in march. they are heavily in debt, and their shares have fallen by 80%. they are

110w shares have fallen by 80%. they are now at the table saying they will raise cash and there was a statement from the government saying they will support them in any way. what sort of form with that support come in and with the government step in? so far they haven't. people thought they would step in with carillion, given the sheer size, given that they employ many people, tens of thousands of people employed by i nte rse rve thousands of people employed by interserve in the uk. what you have seen interserve in the uk. what you have seen from the government in the last few weeks is they have asked these companies, other out sourced companies, other out sourced companies in similar trouble, to come out with a living will, an idea of the day after you collapse, who ta kes of the day after you collapse, who takes over the projects and co ntra cts ? takes over the projects and contracts? how healthy is the outsourcing sector at the moment? you mentioned carillion and a number of other outsourcing companies and what we are now witnessing with into serve. you could say there is and

out sourcing crisis at the moment. another company who collect bins for local councils are asking for money, banks are reluctant to lend the sector money. they are being squeezed on both sides. 0n sector money. they are being squeezed on both sides. on one hand the government wants to see these companies are strong, low levels of debt and generating profits. but at the same time banks charge more interest to borrow from them so it's very difficult for them to come out and say, we are fine. because they have pressure all around. thank you. a man captured on cctv has come forward and identified himself to detectives after being mistaken for missing airman corrie mckeague. corrie was 23, when he went missing after a night out in bury st edmunds in september 2016. these are the last known images of corrie,

who was last seen entering a bin loading bayjust before he disappeared. china's foreign ministry has called on canada to release an executive employed by the telecoms giant huawei or warned it would otherwise face consequences. meng wanzhou, the company's global chief financial officer, was arrested in vancouver last weekend and faces extradition to the united states. she's the daughter of huawei's founder and is accused of breaking american sanctions on iran. universal credit has been criticised for pushing people into "unacceptable ha rdship", and now the bbc understands it will be rolled out in north kensington, just days before christmas, which could impact many of those affected by the fire at grenfell tower. the welfare reform scheme combines six different benefits into one monthly payment, but delays of up to 5 weeks have been blamed for rent arrears

and a growing reliance on food banks. ashleyjohn—baptiste has more. maher has lived with polio since he was a child in syria. he moved to england a decade ago and lived in grenfell tower with his wife and three daughters. 0n the night of the fire, he hobbled down 13 sets of stairs through blackening smoke to escape with his family. they now live in this kensington flat, still struggling with the impact of the fire and with his disability, maher is out of work and receives employment support allowance. he is worried about the rollout of universal credit. i ask the government now, don't make the decision. it's wrong. the move will affect people in the area who sign

on from the 12th of december and existing claimants whose circumstances change. universal credit combines six different benefits and is paid monthly in arrears. people who switch to the scheme must wait five weeks for their first payment. but from next year, this will be reduced to three weeks. it's now been a year and five months since the grenfell tower fire but still, many locals continue to struggle rebuilding their lives and moving forward. it is against this backdrop that some question whether days before christmas is the right time to be rolling out universal credit. the mp for kensington has set up this new food bank in time for christmas. she has written to the department of work and pensions asking them to stop the rollout. it is unthinkable, really. they're going to have

another christmas now wondering whether or not they are going to be able to afford to buy food, let alone presents for their children. we have people coming to us were completely destitute, lost their home, they've been through the most horrific experience, they lost family members and neighbours and friends, com pletely u nsettled and their lives are now destitute because of grenfell. we asked the government for an interview. they declined, but gave us this reply... in his budget speech last month, the chancellor pledged to spend an extra £1 billion in universal credit over the next five years but in recent months. however, the welfare scheme has been blamed for causing destitution and increased bank usage. antonio, who lived in the 10th floor of grenfell tower, works in catering.

although he doesn't plan to sign on, he is also critical. it is bad timing. when it comes to putting policies into place like this one, they should totally know the sense of reality, that's the right word, a sense of reality of what goes on in the normal life, in the normal world, in the normal working class people. ashley john—ba ptiste, ashleyjohn—baptiste, bbc news. a british sailor, whose yacht was crippled by a ferocious storm during a round—the—world race, has been rescued. susie goodall was sailing alone when she ran into trouble 2,000 miles off the coast of chile leaving her stranded for days before a cargo ship came to her to aid. andy moore reports. safety at last. the cargo ship that rescued susie goodall used its crane to winch her on board. she's reported to be uninjured and in good spirits. it was an ordeal that began 50 hours earlier with this distress call in the teeth of a ferocious storm. her yacht had lost its mast

and water had to be pumped out. in one of the remotest places on earth, she had a long wait for help to arrive. she was tossed about, seasick, in a disabled boat, in heavy seas. it was a difficult rescue right to the end. the engine on susie's yacht kept cutting out as it manoeuvred alongside the rescue ship, the tian fu. and then the first news of success in a brief tweet. "0n the ship", she wrote, followed by three exclamation marks. in the time waiting to be rescued with a broken cooker, she said she'd been longing for a cup of tea. so it was no surprise that in the second message she said she had enjoyed a very good hot drink. her friends welcomed the good news after an agonising wait. it was an absolutely huge relief, a massive relief, and i think

everybody in our sailing community was just absolutely overjoyed by the news. susie is now on her way to chile. her dream of sailing solo around the world is over, for now, but at least she's safe. andy moore, bbc news. an 8—year—old boy took control of a car travelling at 60—miles—per—hour after his mother blacked out at the wheel. lauren smith had a seizure while driving near colchester. her son, ben, turned on the hazard lights and drove onto the hard shoulder, before the car stalled. a rare scottish wildcat born at chester zoo has been captured on camera for the first time. bosses at the zoo say the female kitten, born in august, could offer a "lifeline for the species". wildcats, also known

as highland tigers, are britain's rarest mammals and as few as 100 are estimated to remain in the uk. lots going on this weekend. rain, windy, how is it looking? it is not particularly special at the moment, especially across central and western areas. to start the day, glorious sunshine but tonight the winds will ramp up on the valleys, especially across wales and the southern counties of england whether gust could, in exposed