it out as soon as we can. back in the foothills of the rockies, jillian bearden is focused on the road ahead. the debate over the inclusion of trans athletes is long and complex. a permanent solution that satisfies all sides seems a distant destination and there may well be many more mountains left to climb. alex capstick, bbc news, colorado. the head of great britain s special olympics programme is urging the government to back a bid to stage it here, believing it could be the "best ever" games. abu dhabi staged its closing ceremony last night, officially concluding the largest ever world event for athletes with intellectual disabilities. britain has never staged the special olympics world games. that's all from sportsday. coming up in a moment, the papers. good night.

you are watching bbc news. allies have been on brussels today as the eu 27 have been considering theresa may's request for article 52 b extended to britain does not leave the european union as planned on the 29th of march. my colleague kristian fraser has been engrossed in all of those discussions. let's bring it up to date. with what you have been hearing. and has been a very long run affair today because it started at 3pm this afternoon and has only just wrapped up. and moved away from what donald tusk put on the table yesterday and moved back towards it with some caveats to let me see if i

can spell it out for you. the extension will run until may the 22nd which is the day before the european parliament, that has been granted. but that is the caveat, if by the 12th of april which is the cutoff date for the uk to and from the eu if it is going to take part in the parliamentary elections for the eu, there is no way forward on theresa may's deal or an alternative to the deal, then they want the uk at that point to inform them whether they will be taking part in the european elections and if they are not, the uk would be reading with no deal on the 22nd of may. they are basically creating some space and are well aware that the numbers are not on theresa may's side and are creating space for the house of commons to decide what to do next. all options will be to set not considered if they do not go through next week. if you cannot come to

some sort of way forward, then tell us some sort of way forward, then tell us whether you want to be in the eu and european elections because if you are not in the european elections you cannot be a member of the eu and therefore you would not be leaving on the 22nd of may. we do expect somebody at some point to come and make a statement and repeat no doubt what you just brilliantly told us but for now we will review and thank you very much. hello, and welcome to our look ahead to what the the papers will be bringing us tomorrow. with me are broadcaster henry bonsu and kate andrews, an associate director at the institute of economic affairs. we know what we are going to be talking about. mastalli? just for a few more weeks and months. —— must we. some of tomorrow's front

pages are already in. a somewhat awkward embrace between theresa may and jean claude juncker is on the telegraph. it says a growing number of tory mps want mrs may to step aside. the metro focusses on that story concerning operation redfold, which is the name for part of the mod‘s no—deal plans. metaphorical language in the ft, which describes the new article 50 deadline as a brexit guillotine. the guardian has quotes from one eu aide, who describes the pm's plea to fellow leaders as awful, dreadful and evasive. the mail is more bullish about the prime minister's performance in brussels, saying mrs may is prepared to take britain out with no deal. and the daily star is launching a campaign some of you might want to get behind. it's calling for a whole day when britain doesn't talk about brexit. it is probably a petition under way. but let's start with the guardian shall we. may's appeal falls flat as the eu seizes control of brexit date

ann wake date it was going to be seems to move by the hour.l ann wake date it was going to be seems to move by the hour. a lot of dates in may were proposed and it seems they now settled that if, critically if theresa may can get her deal by the 29th of march nde you will grant the extension to the 22nd of may and that would be the new brexit date. the deal has been confirmed and we just need a few extra weeks and a few more months to get the technicalities and legislation over the line. at the withdrawal deal is not signed off next week, is 149 mp5 are not changing their mind and the eu has been granted and —— unconditional extension to fight it out a little bit more and then we would need to negotiate going forward. we need to go back to brussels they are appearing at the podium.

good evening, ladies and gentlemen and welcome to this press conference following the article 50 european council on brexit. first, donald tusk the president of the european council to take the front. good evening, we voted in the european council meeting to brexit. prime minister theresa may he repeated her request to extend the article 50 period under the 30th ofjune. and to approve the arrangement. during the discussion among the eu 27, the approach the request and a positive spirit. the european council decided

to approve the agreement in regards to approve the agreement in regards to the extension, our decisions and vision and two scenarios. in the first scenario, if the withdrawal agreement as passed by the house of commons next week, the european council agrees to an extension until the 22nd of may. the second scenario, if the agreement is not approved by the house of commons next week, the european council agrees to an extension until the 20th of april. 12th, 12th of april. laughter while expecting the uk to indicate a way forward. what this means in practise until the date, all options will remain open and the cliff edge

date will be delayed. the uk government will still have a choice ofa government will still have a choice of a deal, a long extension or revoking article 50. the 12th of april is a key date in terms of the uk deciding whether to hold european parliament elections. if they have not decided to do so by then, the option of a long extension will automatically become impossible. if you know in accordance with the treaties any extension must be decided unanimously by the eu 27. an agreement with the member state concerned. this is why i met prime minister may several times tonight to make sure that the uk except the

extension scenarios and i am pleased to confirm that we have reached an agreement on this. thank you. thank you and nowjean claudejuncker. since the day of the referendum, the position of the 27 members of the commission has been united and unequivocal. we have worked tirelessly to negotiate an agreement, and we have done everything we could to get over the finishing line. we asked for clarifications and this am barrett, we gave them. i was asked for further reassurances last monday and i gave them. so i have to welcome that today, the 27 l and doris the legally binding clarification of assurances that prime minister

theresa may agreed and strassburg. discloses and completes the full package. we are hopeful that the agreement will be adopted by the house of commons. speaks french. translation: speaks french. translationzi so—called no deal, we are ready and we have been ready since 2017. emergency measures are in place and we are continuing to prepare, we adopted 19 legislative proposals to tackle the main problems of hard

brexit will create, particularly air and road links and citizens plus fishing. commissioners have been told and discussed national preparations and emergency plans. ladies and gentlemen, this has been a long haul. but we have got to look forward now. the clock is ticking not only for brexit but for other things as well. we have got to deliver things for the european citizens. 321 legislative proposals have gone through parliaments councils since we started in this commission. we have got to move forward , commission. we have got to move forward, tomorrow we will talk about our relations with china and industrial policy and we will be

talking about competitiveness. fees are important and essential things for europeans and this is what our mainjob is. for europeans and this is what our main job is. i opened for europeans and this is what our mainjob is. i opened the for europeans and this is what our main job is. i opened the floor for a few questions. shall we start right here. yes? james chris from the daily telegraph and this is for both presidents please, how long is a long extension please? until the very end. laughter

kevin lee at the bbc, a question for both presidents, first of all can you describe the atmosphere and the room, my understanding is theresa may was prepared and surprisingly to some for no deal and backing away and if there is no deal, that is where it goes and dphil there is a big risk of kicking the can down the road now? —— and do you feel there isa road now? —— and do you feel there is a big risk of kicking the can down the road now? the atmosphere was much better than i expected and especially better than for example in december it not only the because of... frankly speaking, it is not the most important thing here. our

discussion was really constructive andl discussion was really constructive and i can only confirm that what i felt not only today but before. it is good will and determination. i know that all of us are aware objectively how the situation is. and the fact that we are still able to find, not find a solution but to at least easy process for both sides i think was very tangible. i am satisfied, especially that we are still open to negotiation. it means, it is my personal view i am satisfied and i think it is a good

sign. frankly speaking i was very sad for our meeting and now i am much more optimistic. speaks french. we will take one last question. president donald tusk, you said a while ago that there is a special place in hell for those who promoted brexit without a plan. with drawl agreement as part of a plan and if british mps do not vote for it next week, do you think that special place and how it should be enlarged to include more members of the house of commons and since it theresa may's speech last night, more than 2 million people had signed a petition to support the

revocation of article 50. would you welcome this? according to our pope, the head is still empty and that means that there is a lot of space. laughter i think this is the right moment to conclude the press conference, thank you. don't go to hell. so, with that, donald tusk and jean claudejuncker so, with that, donald tusk and jean claude juncker wrap up the so, with that, donald tusk and jean claudejuncker wrap up the press conference for the evening and we are expecting theresa may to give a statement later this evening, so maybe that will come in the next few minutes and of course we will bring you that when she appears. i think there is one or two things that we should take out of that press conference, first of alljean claude

juncker it setting out the efforts and links they have gone to to support theresa may and the clarifications they offered and december and assurances they gave in january and the extralegal assurances they date and strassburg which was approved tonight in february. and what i think has been going on through some part, according to people i have spoken to here, there is an attempt to assure the head of european elections at the head of european elections at the casino yelling at the european union is not blamed for it. i think you are starting to already see senior european figures pointing out they have done everything they could do. and to avoid a no—deal brexit. why is that important, there is reporting around tonight in the financial times and from the briefing we had here that the theresa may has reconciled herself to no deal if she cannot get her deal through. now obviously, there

will be an enormous pushback from the house of commons if that was the case and there will be cabinet resignations and members on the benches who would perhaps try to bring the government down but after such an acrimonious debate within the cabinet, in the early hours of wednesday morning, she is in a position where she thought she could ta ke position where she thought she could take the uk out without a deal and someone take the uk out without a deal and someone told me tonight that the reporting from the financial times was relatively accurate to what they heard in the q&a session within the summit. let's bring in chris mason who is in westminsterfor ask. that question that he asked, and the response from donald tusk because he then said of what we have discussed today has been pretty positive and there are still options open to us and they obviously granted that extension so maybe they do not think

she will take britain out without a deal. just making a point there that after a ll deal. just making a point there that after all of this countdown towards the huge amount of speculation around the prospect of a delay, that that delay has been agreed and that the uk subject to a change in the lawn here next week is not going to be reading the european union at 11pm a week from tomorrow which we have been counting down for the last three years providing a window, not a wide one but a window that they will have another crack at getting the withdrawal agreement through parliament and parliament can try to cook up an alternative strategy but the window remains very tight because of the deadline that britain is desperate to meet to try and sort something out before it is obliged to submit candidates to contest the european parliament elections. that is the natural plot that might cut

off point, the 12th of april because if you do not but the candidates forward , if you do not but the candidates forward, and the fact that you are leaving the european union and they made that clear this evening. the very fa ct made that clear this evening. the very fact that jean made that clear this evening. the very fact thatjean claude juncker went on to spell out the preparations that they are making and they make this clear and the conclusions they had come to tonight, that the new deal planning continues and we are hearing from reporting in the uk tonight that operation yellow hammer, the uk preparations for this are go next week. that tells us though that no deal is still very much on the table. it absolutely is. for two reasons, one despite the agreement from brussels tonight, we are due to leave next friday and secondly, even if it is changed more likely than not, it is a delay to that prospect rather than the cancellation of that prospect and that is important for the last three days, this operation yellow hammer, contingency planning

for it no deal, wednesday to be pressed on monday and