good afternoon. the work and pensions secretary, amber rudd, has appealed to mp5 across the political divide to "forge a consensus" over brexit, acknowledging that the prime minister's deal might not be approved by parliament. her comments in a newspaperfollow another difficult eu summit for theresa may in which she failed to win concessions that might make her withdrawal deal acceptable to mp5. here's our political correspondent, tom barton. what can the prime minister do to get her brexit deal approved by mps? the answer, according to one of her ministers today, appears to be not a lot. writing in the daily mail, the work and pensions secretary amber rudd says the government needs to acknowledge the risk that pursuing the deal as it stands could lead to no compromise, no agreement, and no deal, so, she says, politicians must abandon outrage and accusations and try to forge a consensus. but that assessment is rejected by her cabinet colleague, the foreign secretary, jeremy hunt.

he insisted today that it will be possible to get a version of the deal through parliament. let's be clear, the deal on the table is what we have, but the thing that the house of commons will not accept is any risk of us being permanently trapped through the northern irish backstop in the customs union. and despite all of the difficulties this week, i think it is possible to get this deal through with those guarantees that we need on the backstop. one former minister who resigned from the government last month to push for another referendum says the commons vote on the deal, delayed last week, must take place before christmas. i've got absolutely no doubt that if the vote is deferred again when we come back on monday, the very serious conversations will be had by members of the cabinet and of the parliament, asking what is the strategy?

it is simply unacceptable to run out the clock and face this country with the prospect of being timed out. we still don't know when mps will get to vote. and clearly, today, there are cabinet disagreements about exactly what they should get to vote on. tom barton, bbc news. a large fire has broken out at chester zoo, prompting an evacuation of visitors and animals. according to the zoo, the blaze broke out in its monsoon forest habitat. teams are now working to move visitors other animals away from the fire. tens of thousands of police have been deployed across france, in preparation for a fifth weekend in succession of anti—government protests. there are reports that demonstrators blocked the port of calais this morning. in paris, several hundred people marched along the champs elysees. from the french capital, hugh schofield has sent this report. a moment of tension on the champs elysees.

a group of yellow vests comes up against a police cordon. noise, but not much fury. the tension subsides. the authorities were ready for the worst. as the day began, once again thousands of riot police were on the streets searching protesters for hidden projectiles. but so far, the day has been in general peaceful. even good—humoured. a group of feminists came to lend their support to the yellow vests — but overall the numbers are way down. these are the hardliners in the movement, who want more concessions from president macron beyond the 10 billion euros in spending pledges for the low—paid that he promised last week. still noisy, but this is not a protest on the same scale as previous saturdays. some have come, more have stayed away. hugh schofield, bbc news, paris. a boat carrying suspected migrants has been picked up off the coast of dover by the border force.

in the last three months, more than 100 migrants are known to have attempted crossing the english channel, the world's busiest shipping lane. un climate talks in poland, which were due to end yesterday, have been extended to allow delegates more time to agree a consensus on how to limit global warming. talks continued through the night on contentious issues including how poorer countries should be compensated for the damage caused by global warming. delegates are also trying to agree rules on how to implement earlier pledges to cut emissions. journeys using the two crossings which span the river severn into south wales will soon be toll—free. the barriers on the m4 prince of wales bridge, are being dismantled first, with work planned for the m48 bridge on monday. there is some disruption and drivers are being warned to plan theirjourneys in advance. 0ur wales correspondent sian lloyd has more. and just a warning — there are some flashing images in her report. crossing the river severn

into south wales has until now always come at a price. some 25 millionjourneys a year are made. lorry driver craig evans makes more than most. for 17 years, he's been delivering goods from wales across the border. this could be halfway over the bridge, and you're losing time, your driving time, you're late getting the goods delivered. it's just horrific. his firm makes 31,000 crossings every year. until recently, lorries were charged £20 a time. it's good for my company. they've got more money in to invest, which will create more jobs, but the side that i'm not looking forward to is the traffic which is going to come into wales, and from my point of view, it's going to cause more congestion. to commemorate the first crossing of the severn bridge, i have great pleasure in unveiling this plaque. in 1966, the completion of the first bridge across the severn

caused huge excitement, but the volume of traffic multiplied, and 30 years later, the prince of wales opened a second severn crossing. when this bridge returned to public ownership, the uk government announced that the tolls would go. around 100 staff are affected. among them is darren moore, who said he is said to be losing hisjob but does have fond memories of his time in the toll booths. you'd get people turning up and going, is this the way to exeter? is this the way to scotland? because they've taken a wrong turning, and then you have to break the news that they're actually just about to enter wales. work is now under way to remove the barriers. the aim is to save drivers money and encourage more investment in the south wales economy, but it predicted that scrapping the tolls will increase traffic on what is already a congested stretch of the motorway. sian lloyd, bbc news, on the m4. it isa

it is a bit ofa it is a bit of a journey between here and the sports centre, but i can assure you that mike bushell is at least toll—free! can assure you that mike bushell is at least toll-free! no extra charges with me! good afternoon. england's men are out of the hockey world cup, in india after being outclassed in their semi final in india. they were hoping to make their first final, since 1986, but belguim were far too strong and won 6—0. england will now play for third place against australia or the netherlands. manchester city will return to the top of the premier league today if they beat everton at the etihad this lunhtime, with leaders liverpool not playing until tomorrow. everton have a good recent record against city but they are behind in the first half. gabriel jesus putttimng the champions one up..and its still 1—0 after 39 minutes. could the use of the whip, be banned in horse racing within the next few years? well, the bbc‘s frank keogh understands that senior figures are preparing for that possibility, with tougher penalties in big races likely to be introduced to improve public perception. a new penalty structure for overusing the whip will be announced next month. no suggestion of that in these

pictures from bangor—on—dee yesterday, but paul struthers, from the professionaljockeys' association says "it won't make a blind bit of difference to horse welfare". it's over three years since sir ap mccoy retired from professional racing, but next week the 20—time champion jockey will be back in the saddle for a charity event at the london international horse show. ahead of that mccoy has been giving a few tips to some of the next generation ofjockeys. nick hope reports from ascot. all i ever want to do was to be a jockey. retirement is hard. those big sporting events are replaceable, to try to run place that bars. sur a p mccoy clearly misses the thrill of racing. but he has discovered a new passion by guiding some of the next generation of jockeys passion by guiding some of the next generation ofjockeys who will be in the shetland pony grand national at 0lympia next week. the shetland pony grand national at olympia next week. it is a great

thing to get kids involved in our sport, and if you can give a little back and get those kids interested, it is brilliant. yet it was really exciting to meet the championjockey ap exciting to meet the championjockey a p mccoy. every part of the race, you need to thing, can i beat all the others at this point? he told us his tactics when he was a jockey, and how the start and the end is the most important. i love riding a lot. what is the most special part? winning, probably. what is the most special part? winning, probablylj what is the most special part? winning, probably. i amjealous. what is the most special part? winning, probably. iamjealous. i would love to be starting off again and have the dream of being an ascot winner. the days of a p mccoy powering to victory here at scott may be just powering to victory here at scott may bejust memories powering to victory here at scott may be just memories now, powering to victory here at scott may bejust memories now, but powering to victory here at scott may be just memories now, but the 20 time champion jockey has enjoyed a very active retirement and will be backin very active retirement and will be back in the saddle for this year's 0lympia, taking on a very different jumping challenge. it is a great event, jumping challenge. it is a great eve nt, eve n jumping challenge. it is a great event, even as a jump jockey, the atmosphere was amazing. last year, we had five champion flatjockeys

and five champion jump jockeys, we had five champion flatjockeys and five championjumpjockeys, and luckily we won. this year, we have a boys against girls team. it is a great competition, and the most important thing is that you win. great competition, and the most important thing is that you winm is clearly for charity, but that hasn't dulled mccoy's desire to ride winners. great to see the legend backin winners. great to see the legend back in the saddle there. the first race of the formula e season, for electric cars, has just finished in saudi arabia. this season the cars have longer battery life, and so there's no need to change cars during the races, and it was bmw andretti driver antonio felix da costa who won from pole — that is only his second win. reigning champion jules—eric vergne came in second, while 0liver rowland was highest—finishing brit in seventh — but gb‘s gary paffett had car problems and his race ended early. the whistle rather than the roar of the engine is there. that's all the sport for now. silence is golden. you can see more on all of today's stories on the bbc news channel. the next news on bbc one

is at 5:20 — bye for now. hello. you're watching the bbc news channel. i'm shaun ley. let's get more on brexit now and with just a few days left for parliament to sit before christmas, the disarray over brexit — including within the cabinet — shows no sign of resolving. earlier i spoke to the political commentator and columnist tim montgomerie about the impact this is having on the conservative party itself. we are seeing the cabinet asserting itself. i think the cabinet now has

the opportunity and the duty to actually forced theresa may out of her comfort zone and perhaps forced a little bit more realism on her as to whether she can get the kind of changes needed in orderfor her own withdrawal agreement to pass. is that possible, when we know that the cabinet itself has very different views? that is the problem, we have a cabinet with very different views. it is not even clear to me that the intervention in the daily mail this morning, was this something downing street wa nted morning, was this something downing street wanted her to do, to start opening up the possibility of alternatives. to the plan, which we are told there is no alternative. 0r is no alternative. or was this a freelance operation that downing street has had to tolerate? i don't know which of thoseit tolerate? i don't know which of those it is, but amber rudd was

talking openly about a second referendum, backing the norway plan, doing her brief time outside cabinet. here we have senior cabinet ministers taking a position which she took outside. very different to liam fox, the trade secretary, who is probably much closer to wanting a damaged no—deal brexit. and has said openly that it might be that the cabinet would allow this to go back for a vote the second time. which is why this is important, when liam fox says the cabinet won't allow it, who is he speaking for? he's not speaking for chancellor philip hammond who this last week has described those people who a managed no deal as extremists. you are old enough, as i am, to remember the last time the party had a collective nervous breakdown over europe. there have been one or two. and

other parties have had their crises over the years, and some have split over the years, and some have split over it and some have talked about the conservative party splitting. when you talk about some of the rhetoric and language and some of the open contempt shown by different conservative members for each other, does that now look possible? become. it has gone way past ideology and there are some pretty horrible examples of the way conservative mps now talk towards each other. i don't think a split is on the cards yet. i think the thing that would do it would be a second referendum. if you look at the polling of the population at large, you see the public is fairly divided about a second referendum. but tory members and tory voters, it is a 4—1 against a referendum. that would be pouring petrol on the fire. i think if you wanted to set up a new political party, a sense of betrayal on the issue so fundamental to years of getting to this point by the conservative party, having a referendum, saying it would be honoured and then failing

to implement it... amber rudd says she will be accused of betrayal when she talks about reaching out to another party. is that not a sensible view when it comes to another referendum or other options? if there is no majority for the prime minister's deal, if the dup doesn't support it, that deal is probably dead. if the party can't agree on it then you have to reach out. you do. one of the reasons i've upset a lot of fans of brexit by backing the deal is that my fear is this is going to be the best kind of brexit that any of us can hope for, and what will happen, inevitably, something has to get past the house of commons. i don't think it will allow a no deal. so the norway or other

options are a more diluted form of brexit than theresa may's, and that is what i think my fellow brexiteers are risking. the conservative political commentator tim montgomery speaking to me earlier on. we have been getting reports of a fire at chester zoo. these are updates that we have from david wearing. and you can see at the time these pictures were taken, the smoke was extensive but you could also see fire. the incident was first noticed at around 11:30am this morning by neighbours, who saw the fire and smoke. a large number of emergency ci’ews smoke. a large number of emergency crews turned up and we are told fire engines arrived very quickly. eventually, most of the fire is out

but the smoke is continuing. a second smaller fire, we are told, continues to burn. this is the monsoon habitat, the largest indoor zoo monsoon habitat, the largest indoor zoo exhibit in the uk. it is a big space. it is a space that accommodates among other things orangutan and a number of bird species. the important thing to note is that visitors at the monsoon forest habitat were evacuated, as we re forest habitat were evacuated, as were other visitors to the zoo as a precaution. what we are not clear about yet is if any of the animals based in that part of the zoo in the monsoon forest habitat may have been affected by the fire, potentially injured by the fire, and efforts are being made certainly to move the animals to other parts of the zoo and to evacuate people, visitors and staff, completely from the site. we are told that there are still...

eyewitnesses say there is still smoke, but the main fire has been extinguished. nevertheless, because the roof is inflatable it is likely to have done considerable damage to the roof and potentially to the structure. something firefighters may have to consider as a cause, but also the safety of the structure left behind by this fire. a fire at the monsoon rain forest habitat and in the inflatable feeling of that habitat which has been burning from around 11:30am this morning, but no reports of any injuries. 28 people have been injured when a tram derailed and overturned last night in the portuguese capital, lisbon. reports said the tram came off the rails on a bend at the bottom of a steep hill, before hitting a building. most of the casualties were taken to hospital, but none of them is believed to be in a serious condition the uk airprox board has reported an incident of the "highest risk of collision" between a plane and a drone. a plane landing at

stansted airport in essex last summer came within 50ft of a drone flying at more than 20 times the allowed height. drones must not be flown in airspace or above a00ft without permission from air traffic control. a british sailor who was rescued after her boat capsized during a solo round—the—world race has said she would do it again "in a heartbeat." susie goodall was picked up after several days stranded on her wrecked boat after being hit by a storm 2,000 miles west of cape horn. yesterday, she finally arrived back in chile and was reunited with her mother and brother. campaigners are urging the government to stop plans to issue prison officers with a synthetic pepper spray to help tackle violence in jails. the prison reform trust says that during trials the spray — known as pava — was used unsafely and inappropriately. but the prison service says lessons have been learnt form the pilot and there'll be clear rules on how the sprays should be used. how we care for older people

is a complicated issue, made more difficult in europe by falling birth rates, meaning that there are fewer young people paying taxes to fund much needed—care. so can we learn anything from other countries? japan has the world's oldest population and our tokyo correspondent rupert wingfield hayes has been to see what they do, as part of our "who cares?" series. music plays. deep in the mountains two hours north of tokyo, nanmoku is now the oldest town in japan. once a week the andos drive their mobile shop up into these valleys. at each street corner they turn the music up and wait for their customers. music plays. the young have all left for the city. now only the old remain. for them the andos' mobile shop is a lifeline.

so you're like a social service, checking on everybody each week? translation: i think the village will be more deserted without us coming here. these villages are what we call shopping refugee. translation: we know the people here. we have known them for over 30 years. we want to do what we can to help them. all over ruraljapan there are more and more places like this where the vast majority of the population are in their 60s or older. by the middle of the century, more than 40% of japan's total population are going to be old age pensioners. no other country in the world has ever experienced that before. it's notjust a question of how they are going to pay to look after all these all people, it's who is going to do the caring. japan has a well—funded care system. everyone over a0 must pay into it.

that pays for people like this. today she and her colleagues are going door to door checking on pensioners. but this system is already under huge strain. the reason is dementia. in another neighbourhood, they are checking on a 90—year—old man. a year ago his wife was diagnosed with dementia. now she needs almost constant care. translation: sometimes she waits outside the front door until late at night. she thinks our children are coming to collect her. i try to persuade her to come in, but she refuses. there are already five million people injapan suffering with dementia. by 2025 that will rise to seven million. where japan goes the rest

of the world will soon follow. but even here no one is sure how it is going to work. rupert wingfield—hayes, bbc news, in gunma, centraljapan. japan, a country whose birth rate has been falling for a0 years. it's time for a look at the weather with chris fawkes. an awful lot going on weather—wise. some of it will bring absolutely treacherous conditions, particularly to the northern half of the country, courtesy to the storm bringing a combination of freezing rain, widespread ice and snow. the amber weather warning is for sale affecting parts of northern scotland, with 10—20 centimetres expected. ice age across northern england and midlands as well. this

is what is happening. cold air with temperatures just below freezing widely across the north of the uk. internationally, low—pressure moving in bringing a mixture of ice and snow, particularly for the northern half of the country. we will concentrate on scotland over the next 18 hours or so. some wind and rain bringing icy conditions and heavy snow in the north of the central belt, where we are likely to see the relations of 10—20 centimetres as we go on through this evening and overnight as well. blizzard conditions on account of the strong wind so dangerous driving conditions and treacherous on the roads. ultimately, it will be turning marred by the end of the night as westerly winds begin to blowback in. further southwards, england and ireland, there will be freezing rain for northern england. treacherous conditions here with some snow mixed in. further south it is just cold rain that falls for the most pa rt

is just cold rain that falls for the most part but then it gets very windy. north—west england and west wales could get gusts up to 75 mph, which could cause some problems but we will see a change to milder conditions by the end of the night. temperatures well above freezing, blowing that cold air out of the way. in summary, we are expecting this afternoon, this evening and overnight, storm dreary grey —— storm deirdre could bring significant disruption and a high chance of power cuts across the north. by the time we get to sunday, it is the transition to milder weather. milder weather across western and southern parts but look at the temperatures. it is turning milder and that process continues into the week ahead with temperatures up to around 12 celsius or so as we had through the next few days. in the short—term, truly atrocious conditions out on the roads and airports could be

affected. we may seize power cuts. the worst of the problems are likely to be across northern england and scotland. we will keep you up—to—date with what is going on over the next few hours. that is the latest. hello you are watching bbc news. the headlines this hour, the work and pensions secretary causes —— calls for a consensus on bracks as the foreign secretary said it is still possible to get version of the prime ministers deal through the house of commons. firefighters cut tackling a large blaze at chester zoo, animals have been evacuated from the monsoon forest habitat. un climate talks in poland have been extended after continuing through the night. countryside i defined the way forward through the paris agreement and a warning of freezing rain, ice and a warning of freezing rain, ice and snow through parts of the uk as storm deirdre hits in what is one of the busiest shopping weekends of the year. this is the scene live in paris where protesters take to the streets in a six successive weekends in an anti—government demonstration.

now, on bbc news are special programme looking back on a year of commemoration for the armistice and scenery. “— commemoration for the armistice and scenery. —— centenary. last month europe marked the end of a terrible conflict. the first world world war cost millions of lives and ruined millions more. a century on from the armistice, this generation paused to remember tragedy, both global and personal. i just cannot believe what man can do to man.