this is bbc news, i'm martine croxall. the headlines at nine. a brexit breathing space: eu leaders formally agree to delay the uk's withdrawal beyond next friday the fate of brexit is in the hands of our british friends. at the eu, we are prepared for the worst, but hope for the best. in a letter to mps tonight the prime minister suggests she might not even try to bring her twice—failed deal back to the house of commons at the inquest into the victims of the birmingham pub bombings almost 45 years ago — a witness names four ira men he says were responsible police say they're treating the death of university student libby squire as an ‘unlawful killing'. more rescue operations

to save thousands cut off in southern africa after floods caused by the cyclone there and in half an hour we'll bring you the highlights of a special week of coverage from bradford in west yorkshire, featuring the stories that matter most to the people of the city. theresa may has spent the day meeting senior ministers in downing st — as she battles to get support for her brexit plans after yesterday's eu summit. the uk was originally meant to leave the eu in a week's time — on march 29th. but after two failed attempts by theresa may to get her withdrawal agreement through the commons, the eu last night agreed to an extension. it means if she gets her deal through parliament next week,

brexit will happen on 22nd may — to give mps time to pass the necessary legislation. but if the deal fails again, the uk has to propose another way forward to the eu by 12th april and there are no new proposals, we could leave without a deal. and this evening, in a letter to mps informing them of the outcome of her talks in brussels, she has hinted that she might not bring forward a third meaningful vote on her deal next as previously thought, if it appears there isn't enough support from mps. with me now is our political correspondent jonathan blake, who has been looking at the letter. tell us a bit more about it in detail. few significant things from theresa may, none of it hugely new, but nevertheless i think it is important to stress what she has put down a black—and—white at this crucial point, having got that short extension from the european union to

the brexit process. firstly, she points out that asking for an extension in the first place was a matter of great personal regret for her, a reminder that she did not wa nt to her, a reminder that she did not want to do that in the first place was left with no choice, on the option of leaving the european union without a deal, there's a pretty strong hint that the prime minister does not want to do that. saying that she is conscious of the potential damage to the union that leaving without a deal could do. so thatis leaving without a deal could do. so that is perhaps telling in terms of how prepared she is to take the uk out of the eu without a deal with for so long, the mantra from downing street was no deal is better than a bad deal. she also touches on her deal being voted in the house of commons for a third time, perhaps not happening because that is the main reason why the extension was granted in the european union to give theresa may another chance to get her deal through but it was

negotiated and agreed on with the eu. of the prime minister says that if it appears that there is not significant appeal or the house rejects it again, they can ask for another extension before the 12th of april, so the meaningful vote three may not happen at all and if that is the case, then it will give added pressure on the government to find a new way forward, whether that is three a consensus in the house of commons or even a change of leadership and theresa may decided that she's had enough of the whole thing, we cannot say at this stage. and then lastly, an acknowledgement from the prime minister that the statement where she laid the blame for the brexit and passed squarely at the feet of mps and was judged to have backfired somewhat with most mps reacting angrily to that and saying it had not helped the process , saying it had not helped the process, to which the prime minister acknowledges the concern that it is

raised from colleagues and says, i know you have a difficultjob to do and it was not my intention to make it any more difficult. so not quite an apology after that controversial statement, but certainly an acknowledgement that it was perhaps not the best move. the prime minister returned to downing street this morning after a late night in brussels. our political editor laura kuenssberg looks back at the day's events. how long now? how much longer before we leave? how much longerfor this prime minister? how much longer can our politics really go on like this? just after midnight in brussels, theresa may confirmed the eu granted not as long a delay she had asked for, but a pause. good morning. an extra fortnight to give her another chance to pass her deal. the date of our departure will now be extended to the 22nd of may. if parliament does not agree a deal next week, the eu council will extend article

50 until the 12th of april. at this point, we would either leave with no deal or put forward an alternative plan. so we will leave a little late, if mps are back down and back her. why would they do that when she has strongly pointed the finger at them? doesn't this delay just postponed the dilemma you still find yourself in? what makes you think you have a chance of passing your vote next week, and do you think actually you should apologise for the remarks you made about what parliament has done? there are passionately held views on all sides of this argument. and yes, as i said last night, i expressed frustration. but i know mps are frustrated, too. getting the deal through next week in a meaningful vote means that we can have the extension to the 22nd of may, get our legislation through, deliver on the referendum. theresa may missed out on this last photocall in brussels, with its booming music and cheesy grins.

no one here really believes she will get her deal through back in westminster. odds—on, it will then be for mps to determine a different deal or a longer delay. the fate of brexit is in the hands of our british friends. at the eu, we are prepared for the worst, but hope for the best. as you know, hope dies last. how much hope, though, does number 10's weary team have? if the deal fails, they have already promised mps can have different votes on different versions of brexit. what isn't clear, though, is whether those votes would force ministers hands and change the plan, orjust give a sense of direction. the government would provide parliament with the means to come to a view on the options available. some ministers think the government should lead to that process and be bound by whatever gets most

support in the commons. the problem is, others and many backbenchers are horrified by the idea. with no majority, though, theresa may's choice may be budge or be budged. have a nice weekend. are you supporting the indicative vote ? parliament has to take control of the process, the prime minister has failed, her deal is gone. neither labour or some of the prime minister's allies are coming to her aid. she has to listen and consult with parliament. you can't go on living in a bunker and pretending it will come all right next week. it won't unless there is a change by her. the government has not taken a grip of the situation. it has been prepared to be pushed around at every level. i think cabinet divisions have caused real problems for the prime minister. westminster is already sparring over the next round. how to move forward if and when the government loses its deal. another fight breaking out before the current battle is even over.

reports from the united states suggest the us special counsel robert mueller‘s report, into russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election, has been delivered to the us attorney general. mueller has spent the last 22 months investigating if the trump campaign colluded with moscow chris buckler is in washington. chris, just remind us why this investigation was launched. washington has been holding their breath, waiting for this report to be delivered to the us attorney general, robert was investigating these allegations of russian interference in 2016for selection, claims of collusion involving the donald trump campaign and also questions of whether or not the president may have obstructed justice, this long process that has lasted 22 months, we have seen a number of people indicted, number of

people charged in a number of people convicted, including some members of the campaign, although not always related directly to 2016 and the presidential election. it is worth going through some of them, the former campaign chairman with his former campaign chairman with his former deputy, and former policy adviser, and michael cohen, the man who was donald trump's lawyer at one time fixer, and all of this from one investigation that started off and has gone in several different directions. as things stand, this report has been delivered to the us attorney general, but as is up to william himself to decide what is released from this investigation. what details we get from this report, it has not been released publicly and there are even suggestions that it won't be given and full congress, instead what is going to happen now is the attorney general is going to look at what

robert muller has compiled and then he will decide what is given to congress. it is likely to be a report of that report, and maybe a report of that report, and maybe a report with some bits missing from it, but as you can imagine, here in washington and particularly in congress, there is now a deep desire to see this report which has been talked about for many, many months. and of course all the time president trump has been dismissing it. but what might the significance of its contents be? well, at this stage, we simply do not know. it will contain this though, it will give the details of the investigation. why action was taken against some individuals, by some people were charged and in other cases, my people were not charged. just how much detail robert actually gives is going to be interesting in itself,

but as i say, we may not simply know at this stage what is inside the report and the suggestions that we might never know, but already, democrats particularly in congress are demanding that this full report is released. there are two ways to look at this, president trump is argued that this is something that is just argued that this is something that isjust being conjured up by democrats and by his political opponents to try and do him damage, but there are many within the white house, many close to him who feel very strongly that the worst that can happen is that very little comes out from this, that it does not turn out from this, that it does not turn out that we get much information and they'll prefer a lot of details to come through this, that might not be the president's view. but if congress do not get a lot of information, they're going to continue pushing for questions, going to continue to try to get a nswe rs going to continue to try to get a nswers to going to continue to try to get answers to get more details of what

robert has been investigating. just remember, this is a very key subject, during this time, we have the fbi director fired subject, during this time, we have the fbi directorfired by donald trump, we have all of these issues that are potentially involving obstruction of justice that are potentially involving obstruction ofjustice to be investigated, we have meetings between the donald trump campaign and that trump tower meeting in the russian individuals, there are key moments here that robert muller has been looking at what people want to know now is exactly what he has found out and why he has taken action against some people and not others. a former ira bomber has named the people whom he believes were responsible for the 1974 birmingham pub bombings. the man — known as witness 0 — was giving evidence during the inquest into the deaths of the 21 victims. he said he'd been given permission to reveal the names by the current head of the ira. sima kotecha reports.

it was an evening in november 197a. two explosions in two pubs in birmingham. 21 people were killed and more than 200 were injured. six men were falsely imprisoned for the crime. after spending almost two decades in jail they were acquitted, and that's when some of the families of those killed began calling for fresh inquests. four weeks in and today a former volunteer of the ira told the court who he thought was responsible. he said he'd been given permission to do so by the head of the ira in dublin. the man known as witness 0 gave four names. he said seamus mcloughlin was the officer commanding the ira in birmingham at the time, and was in charge of selecting targets. mick murray, he said, was one of the bombers. another member of the bombing team, he said, was michael hayes. and then when asked about a james gavin, witness 0 said, "well,

he was involved." all are dead apart from michael hayes, seen here two years ago. in court, my brother and my sisterand i, we were all sobbing, hearing what witness 0 had to say about one of the bombers who, quote, said, he's harmless now. that's because the damage has already been done. 18 months there was an ongoing legal battle between some of the families of those killed and the coroner over the scope of the inquests and whether it could include the potential perpetrator issue. the court of appeal ruled that it could not. but today, for hours, the court discussed suspects. when asked about a michael patrick reilly, witness 0 said he didn't recall him at all. reilly has always denied

playing any part. 21 killed 44 years ago, and now the names of the potential perpetrators have been mentioned for the first time in a formal setting. the inquests continue. the headlines on bbc news. a brexit breathing space: eu leaders formally agree to delay the uk's withdrawal beyond next friday. at the inquest into the victims of the birmingham pub bombings almost 45 years ago — a witness names four ira men he says were responsible police say they're treating the death of university student libby squire as an ‘unlawful killing'. sport now...and for a full round up, from the bbc sport centre, here's sarah mulkerrins.

england are in action in the opening match of their euro 2020 qualification campaign....they‘re taking on the czech republic at wembley currently “11 nil to england closing in on 20 minutes to go. raheem sterling is having a stellar game — he's scored a hatrick. he got the first, their third and in the last few minutes the fourth. — and he also had a hand in the second — he was fouled in the area — with harry kane scored the resulting penalty. montenegro, bulgaria & kosovo are also in this group with the top two teams qualifying automatically for finals. live commentary of england against the czech republic is on bbc radio 5 live right now. championship side birmingham city have been deducted nine points by the english football league

for breaching profitability and sustainability rules. 0ur sports correspondent andy swiss told us earlier why the midlands club has been punished. this is the first time that the club has been docked points for breaching these new financial regulations which they brought in a few years ago saint that clubs are not allowed losses of more than £13 million a year three year period. birmingham and spent a lot of money over new players, it seems that their recent losses have gone beyond this limit and they have been put under a transfer embargo, the nine point penalty is very significant, in fact it is the biggest point deduction since the lead united, which is deducted 15 points, it does leave birmingham and the slightly precarious position because it pushes them down to 18 from the table, just five points above the relegation zone. some fans will feel this could have been worse because the maximum penalty for this is a 21 point deduction and as long as they can stay up the season, they should be able to start next season with a clean slate. these new financial regulations which they brought in a few years ago saint that clubs are not allowed losses of more than £13 million over a three year period. birmingham and spent a lot of money over new players, it seems that their recent losses have gone beyond this limit peter beardlsey has been charged by the fa with racially

abusing youth players while working as a coach with newcastle united. the former england forward left his role with the under 23's at the club earlier this month, that was after a 1k month internal investigation into bullying. he has denied the allegations. kick it out, the anti—discrimination group, are unhappy with the club for not revealing the reasons behind his departure. he has until april 12th to respond to the fa charge. super league leaders st helens look on course to extend their unbeaten start to the new season to seven matches. they're thrashing third placed castleford 36—6 — running in seven tries. this the second of them from regan grace. and in the other game, bottom side huddersfield lead 36—8 against hull kr in rugby union's premiership, northampton saints are on track to move up to fifth. they're beating leicester tigers 29—3 — tom collins with two of northampton‘s three tries so far. three games in the pro

1a this evening. after winning the six nations grand slam — lots of the wales players are back in action — fly half gareth anscombe has started for cardiff blues — they lead the scarlets 38—12. edinburgh are hosting the defending champions leinster, and the scottish side lead 28—11, and connacht lead 22—14 against the italian side benneton. britain's number one kyle edmund is through to the third round of the miami 0pen. he won in straight sets over ilya ivashka of belarus. edmund will play former wimbledon finalist milos raonic next. history has been made at the world figure skating championships in japan. just 25 seconds into her four minute free skate routine, kazakhstan‘s elizabet tur—syn—bae—eva became the first woman to land a quadruple salchow. despite that she only moved up from bronze to claim silver. gold was won by

russia's alina zagitova. that's all the sport for now. police say the death of the university student libby squire, whose body was found in the humber estuary on wednesday, is being treated as a potential homicide. the 21 year old, originally from buckinghamshire, disappeared at the beginning of february after a night out with friends. police say a 24—year—old man arrested on suspicion of abduction remains under investigation. danny savage is in hull with the latest. libby squire was last seen in the early hours of friday, february the first sitting on this bench, which has now been covered with flowers. after that late that night, she vanished. there's been a huge police investigation taking place ever since, but it's always been treated as a missing person inquiry. but all that changed this week, because libby's body was found floating

in the humber estuary down at spurn point. nearly 20 miles away near the sea. it was recovered by lifeboat, a postmortem examination took place yesterday. as a result of that postmortem examination, police now believe that libby squire died as a result of a crime. this afternoon, they have released a statement saying that libby's death and the recovery of her body now leaves us to solely investigate this as a potential homicide. that could mean murder, it could be manslaughter, it could be unlawful killing, but any thought that people may have had that libby squire was unfortunate and somehow fell into the river near here by accident that night, is obviously now not the main line of inquiry by humberside police. she was a 21—year—old student, studying philosophy here at the university of hall. this is almost turned into a shrine now to her ever since the

news broke that her body had been found and people in the area are deeply upset by what happened and probably even more so tonight now knowing that police are treating this as a major crime. we are hearing that the judiciary is told to expect notification that special counsel robert potts was report has been delivered to the attorney general, here we can see a letter that they are setting out that notification, just to give the background on this, robert has been investigating russian involvement, potential interference and the 2016 election and whether the donald trump campaign colluded with moscow, something that the kremlin and donald trump deny. donald trump's lawyers say that they are pleased

that he has delivered his report and that he has delivered his report and that attorney general will determine the appropriate next steps that we will here in a few moments from now, and washington. we do not know yet how much, if any, of this report the attorney general will decide to reveal. so a little bit of that letter, saying that it is addressed toa letter, saying that it is addressed to a huge number of very well known people who sit on the judiciary committee and it says, i write to notify you that robert mueller has concluded his investigation and the 2016 election and relates it back. in addition to this notification, special provides you with a description and explanation of insta nces, description and explanation of instances, if any, the attorney general or acting attorney general

took proposed action by counsel was so took proposed action by counsel was so inappropriate and unwarranted by established practises, that it should not be pursued. there were no such instances, this letter says. so the journey to, a such instances, this letter says. so thejourney to, a confidential report for the declaration decisions he has reached and i am reviewing this report and i anticipate that i may be in a position to advise you of the principal conclusions as soon as this weekend. separately, i consult the deputy attorney general on what information from the report can be released to congress and the public is well consistent with the law. i remain committed to have as much transparency as possible and i will keep you informed as of the status of my review. so that is been the thrust of the attorney general‘s

letter to the committee, let's hear now from nick bryant. robert mueller is one of the most talked about men in washington but ever since this former fbi director was stated counsellor, he has not made a single public comment about his high—stakes investigation. he has been looking into whether or not there was collusion between the kremlin donald trump during the 2016 campaign, was he giving e—mails to wikileaks to release? if you are listening, i hope you're able to find the 30,000 e—mails that are missing. i think you will probably be rewarded mightily by our press. would happened at a meeting injune 2016 between key campaign officials, including donald trump junior and

russians with links to the kremlin. that the president fired the fbi director and that the president fired the fbi directorand an that the president fired the fbi director and an attempt to obstruct justice? the president has claimed that it's all a part of a witch hunt. a witch hunt, it should have never taken place. hunt. a witch hunt, it should have never ta ken place. the hunt. a witch hunt, it should have never taken place. the entire thing is been a witchhunt. a witchhunt, that's all it is. paul mena ford, his one—time campaign chairman has been found guilty of financial crimes but not collusion. michael flynn, the former security adviser, pleads guilty of lying to the fbi about his contacts with russia and has cooperated with the special counsel. long—time adviser has been accused of lying to congress about his efforts to get in touch with wikileaks during his efforts to get in touch with wikilea ks during the his efforts to get in touch with wikileaks during the 2016 campaign and michael cohen, his former lawyer has made a plea deal with the special counsel and turned on his

former boss. he is a racist, he is a con man, and he is a cheat. other members of the campaign team, robert has charged about two dozen russian nationals, including 12 intelligence officers accused of hacking the hillary clinton campaign. prosecutors in washington, virginia, and here in new york, are pursuing cases that will outlive his investigation. now the new attorney general has been handed the mueller accords, it is up to him to decide what will be made public. accords, it is up to him to decide what will be made publiclj accords, it is up to him to decide what will be made public. i am in favour of much transparency as can be, consistent with the rules and the law. the burning question, will it accuse donald trump of collusion and criminality? next on bbc news, the highlights of a special week

of coverage from bradford in west yorkshire, featuring the stories that matter most to the people of the city. this is we are bradford. we are bradford. doesn't it look fantastic and over the next half an hour we are going to be exploring the issues that really matter to the folk who live here. the people of bradford are driving the new agenda and they are helping us make a decision about what we cover. and the stories reflecting all of the city's life, being broadcasted across the bbc, on tv, on radio, online and on social media.

already we have received hundreds of stories and i promise you this every single one of them will be looked at but how did we get here in the first place? david sillito can explain. can i ask you a quick question is that is ok? can you say hello to the camera? hello. hello, i am from the bbc. they are making a little film and bradford. that is brilliant, thank you very much. and he has had all sorts of responses. hello. chao. that is lovely. brilliant, thank you very much. 0ne that is lovely. brilliant, thank you very much. one more time for me please? come on. 0ne think he had to do was reassure people that this was not once again