this is bbc news. the headlines at 11:00pm: the mueller report says there is no evidence of the trump campaign colluding with russia over the 2016 us election. this was an illegal take down, that failed. and hopefully somebody‘s going to be looking at the other side, so its complete exoneration, no collusion, no obstruction. senior conservatives have been holding talks with theresa may at her chequers country retreat on how to deliver brexit, as ministers touted as possible replacements defended her. it's not the time to change the captain of the ship. i think what we need to do is to chart the right course, and the prime minister has

charted that right course by making sure that we have a deal which honours the referendum mandate. a 54—year—old shop worker has been stabbed to death in north—west london following a robbery earlier this morning. police say the till was stolen from the newsagents in pinner. a cruise liner that ran into trouble off the coast of norway has reached port, after hundreds of passengers were winched to safety. and at 11:30pm, we will be taking an in—depth look at the papers with our reviewers, martin bentham, home affairs editor for the evening standard, and bonnie greer, playwright and writer at the new european. stay with us for that. good evening. a two—year investigation into russian interference in the 2016 us presidential election has concluded that there is no evidence of conspiracy with moscow by members

of donald trump's campaign team. a summary of special counsel robert mueller‘s report was released this afternoon by the us attorney—general, william barr. here are the report's key findings. firstly, it says that there is no evidence that the trump campaign conspired with russia to influence the 2016 presidential election, and it also did not find sufficient evidence to conclude that president trump obstructed justice. but it says that its findings do not exonerate president trump either. president trump has always denied wrongdoing, calling the mueller inquiry a witch hunt. speaking as he was about to board a plane back to washington, mr trump described it as an illegal take—down that had failed.

so after a long look, after a long investigation, after so many people have been so badly hurt, after not looking at the other side, where a lot of bad things happened, a lot of horrible things happened, a lot of very bad things happened for our country, it was just announced there was no collusion with russia, the most ridiculous thing i've ever heard. there was no collusion with russia. there was no obstruction, and none whatsoever. and it was a complete and total exoneration. it's a shame that our country had to go through this.

to be honest, it's a shame that your president has had to go through this for — before i even got elected, it began, and it began illegally. and hopefully somebody‘s going to look at the other side. this was an illegal take—down, that failed. and hopefully, somebody‘s going to be looking at the other side. so it's complete exoneration, no collusion, no obstruction. thank you very much. let's get some reaction now and talk to steve herman, white house bureau chief for voice of america. are complete and total exoneration, but not quite. what does all this mean? no, that's not what the report said. yes, that's not what the report said, and just a few minutes ago the chairman of the house judiciary committee, who will be playing a very important role from

110w playing a very important role from now on as the democrats control the house, he was just speaking to reporters saying it is unconscionable that the president is trying to spin the mueller report is an exoneration of himself, and he has stated flatly that the president has stated flatly that the president has not been exonerated by the special counsel. but we have both republicans and democrats, including the white house and heads of these powerful committees, in full spin mode at this hour, after these reports came out. undeniably, though, a significant victory for mr trump. for the democrats, what does this then mean? because they were hoping to begin impeachment proceedings. well, nancy pelosi had backed away from impeachment before seeing what came out of this report. we are going to see the democrats in full battle mode. theirfirst priority right now is to get the full report, or as much of it as possible, out into the public. and that will mean calling the attorney general and robert mueller before

congressional committees if necessary , congressional committees if necessary, and then they will be full stea m necessary, and then they will be full steam ahead with continuing investigations by key committees in the house against what they see as criminal misdeeds by the president and his aides. they were of course a number of convictions out of the special counsel. and then i think we also have to keep in mind that there are investigations, ongoing at the federal level, here in northern virginia, in washington, dc, and then manhattan, new york, that could further implicate people around the president and possibly the president himself. yes, just talk us through this accusation of obstruction of justice. and you just talk us through what exactly that was referring to? right, well, what the special counsel was saying, and we have to remember what we are hearing about this report is being filtered right now through the attorney general, so wejust

right now through the attorney general, so we just have right now through the attorney general, so wejust have partial sentences from that report. but what we have seen is saying that there wasn't enough information to proceed with any sort of conclusion that there was obstruction ofjustice, there was obstruction ofjustice, the report leaving no doubt that the russians were involved in meddling in the 2016 presidential election. of course, a lot of democrats are absolutely furious and disappointed, and feel that robert mueller for some reason hesitated to do what he should have done. of course, the republicans are saying that that's ridiculous. there's a video already out by the president's re— election campaign calling this collusion i hoax and targeting the democrats and ridiculing them for taking that position —— a hoax. ridiculing them for taking that position -- a hoax. andjust how closely was this being followed by

americans, and will it in any way, with the release of this summary report, affect their opinions? well, perhaps not. most of the political a nalysts perhaps not. most of the political analysts i have been speaking to think opinions about donald trump and his culpability are already pretty ha rd and his culpability are already pretty hard baked into the minds of voters. perhaps there was a tiny fraction of voters who possibly could have been swayed by this. but again, it'sa could have been swayed by this. but again, it's a long time until the november election next year, and we have these congressional committees that are going to continue to investigate the president and his campaign, and people around him, and also the federal investigations are not over. this isjust also the federal investigations are not over. this is just one chapter that has ended. thank you so much for your thoughts on this. 0ur correspondent chris buckler is in washington. chris, first off, let'sjust chris, first off, let's just go chris, first off, let'sjust go back to special counsel mueller. just how difficult a job did he have?”

to special counsel mueller. just how difficult ajob did he have? i think it was an incredibly difficultjob, and bear in mind there has been 22 months of investigation. and we have seen during that, of course, some members of mr trump's in a circle convicted of crimes, among them his campaign chairman, paul manafort, michael flynn, michael cohen, of course, who was his former lawyer and fixer. so those were actually issues that were not connected to the key questions of whether or not there was collusion, and whether or not the president tried to obstruct justice. so gives you a sense that this investigation has gone off on many different fronts. but what we have seen from robert mueller in the last couple of months is he has sat down and really tried to get to the heart of the matter, to those key questions, and trying to really find as much evidence as he can. and it is clear when you look at this

report that, although he has looked at many different things, he hasn't come to some definitive conclusions. certainly on the issue of conclusion, collusion, if you take a look at that, he says very clearly that he believes writer interfered in the 2016 election, and even reached out to the trump campaign, but he says there is no evidence of collusion. so as far as the trump campaign is concerned, as far as this president and this white house is concerned, that is extremely good news. but then there is the other issue, and that is about the obstruction of justice. issue, and that is about the obstruction ofjustice. and here, robert mueller has deliberately handed over that question to the us attorney general, bill barr. essentially, he hasn't answered the question. in fact, essentially, he hasn't answered the question. infact, in his essentially, he hasn't answered the question. in fact, in his words he has made a specific point of not drawing a conclusion one way or the other as to whether the president's conduct did amount to obstruction. and he says while this report does not conclude that the president committed a crime, it also does not exonerate him. now, in many worlds there are not definitive is. it is

very difficult to investigate in investigations, to try to find something that is totally definitive, particularly when you are trying to find out about conversations that have happened in the past. but he has handed that over to the us attorney general, bill barr, and by saying those words he has left the debate open, and certainly left the democrats with enough rope to come out and basically say, listen, we want the president to answer more questions, and we want to look at whether or not they were potentially questionable at during the campaign and shortly afterwards. chris, you know, just listening to what you have just said and what analysts are saying in america about how special counsel mueller played this, the attorney general has said that, you know, he didn't provide sufficient evidence to establish that there was an offence committed. he essentially froze. is this going to be a problem for froze. is this going to be a problem foer froze. is this going to be a problem for mr mueller, in terms of his credibility? because people are now starting to ask questions as to why

he did it this way. well, i think it's simple. the simple answer is that he felt that there was evidence there, but it probably didn't amount, or he was concerned it might not amount, to a crime. and i think to some extent there is also this question of policy. the department ofjustice has this policy which basically says a sitting president cannot be indicted of a crime. now, if you take a look at the response from the us attorney general, bill barr, you take a look at this four page letter, he does address that. he says it is very much the case that they didn't look at that issue. they didn't even take into account whether or not the president can be indicted of a crime. they look at the facts. but i also think that, when you take a look at any decisions about prosecutions, there are times when there is evidence, but it will not reach that standard of effectively reaching court and going beyond a reasonable doubt. you

will see even in the uk, whenever the crown prosecution service, for example, decide whether or not to ta ke example, decide whether or not to take a prosecution, sometimes they simply are not sure. and i think robert mueller was basically saying that. but of course, given that there have been 22 months of investigations, given the seriousness of the allegations, given the gossip and rumour there has been in washington and across america about all of this, everybody wa nts america about all of this, everybody wants definitive ‘s. and actually, at this stage, i suspect the focus is not on robert mueller. he has left that question hanging, but it is the us attorney general, bill barr, that is now going to be the focus of questions for democrats. because he is the one who has decided the evidence does not amount to enough to bring a prosecution. and when you take a look at state m e nts and when you take a look at statements from the democratic leaders, chuck schumer and nancy

pelosi, they have already questioned whether bill barr is totally independent in this. they have suggested he might be biased against the enquiry. he has also suggested of course that he was appointed by president trump, and therefore effectively has a dog in this game. but let's be honest about this. we have had a report, and we still haven't seen the full report. so we do not know what robert mueller has actually decided, and we don't know exactly what evidence he has actually gathered. indeed, 0k. thank you. theresa may has spent the day meeting senior conservative brexiteers at her chequers country retreat as she tries to gather enough support to put her brexit deal to another vote this week. a downing street spokesman said the talks had been lengthy. two ministers who attended the talks, david lidington and michael gove, denied reports that they were part of a cabinet coup to oust the prime minister. 0ur political correspondent alex forsyth reports, and a warning — her report contains flash photography. it was no day of rest for the prime minister,

with her brexit plan and her future plagued with uncertainty. reporter: are you prepared to resign to save your deal? for now, it seems the answer is no. reporter: are you looking forward to it, boris? instead, key brexiteers were summoned to her country retreat. the prime minister, it seems, still trying to win their support for her troubled deal. but all the while, talk is swirling about whether she can keep herjob. her de facto deputy today had to deny reports of a plot to replace her, which would see him step in, saying he had no such plans. don't think that i've any wish to take over from the pm, who i think is doing a fantasticjob. i tell you this — one thing that working closely with the prime minister does is cure you completely of any lingering shred of ambition to want to do that task. i have an absolute admiration for the way she's going about it.

hello, mr gove. cabinet ministers were keen to quash rumours of any plan to oust their boss. it's not the time to change the captain of the ship. i think what we need do is to chart the right course, and the prime minister has charted that right course, by making sure that we have a deal which honours the referendum mandate. but publicly, some tory mps are calling for a change. on twitter one said: "this is a constitutional crisis, which demands new leadership." another simply: "resign." with frustration on the tory benches, some mps could reluctantly back the prime minister's brexit deal, as long as she doesn't lead the next stage of negotiations. this former party leader said that was a possibility, but warned ministers not to move against theresa may now. i think around the country, in the conservative party and outside the conservative party, there will be real disgust at the behaviour of some of our cabinet ministers, who are not fit for their positions if they behave like this. they should be apologising, and they should shut up,

for god's sake. with such turbulence, some think parliament should wrest control of the process from the government. tomorrow, mps will decide whether they should get a vote on different brexit options. labour said, if that happened, ministers must listen. but the point is, if we are to do that and get to a conclusion of that exercise, the prime minister then has to own the outcome, because otherwise, we're going down a road she is using really to frustrate the process. but the brexit secretary said parliament's view would not be binding, and if mps back a strategy that contradicts government policy, there could be an election. ultimately, at its logical conclusion, the risk of a general election increases, because you potentially have a situation where parliament is instructing the executive to do something that is counter to what it was elected to do. as the talks at chequers broke up this evening, there was little clarity about where things are headed. with so much at stake, few clues about which way the prime minister will turn. alex forsyth, bbc news.

and alex is with me now. it sounds after—the—fact, what have we learned about what actually happened at checkers? our remaining very tightlipped about what was discussed, which i think tells you that it was very sensitive, it was focused on whether the theresa may could get enough support to bring her brexit deal back to parliament for a third time despite the fact she has been kicked out twice. she is trying to assess the mood to see if she can bring brexiteers on board and spends a reasonable chance of getting it through. number ten has been certain she will not get it passed. at the moment it still looks very uncertain. we are starting to hear how she could possibly get that deal through, and that is if she agrees to step down. the front of the sun has a very interesting editorial. the sun has come out and called her exactly that. the

newspaper says theresa may must set her departure date, and if she does, the paper says tory mps and the du people from northern ireland should back her deal, get it over the line and somebody else can be the next phase of these negotiations when we discuss our future relationship. there has been talk of that on the tory backbenchers. how many conservative mps, it might convince to come over at this point. at number ten, they will not be drawn and a discussion about her political future, and so far she has not set any date of her departure, but that is the conversation. how long can and should theresa may stay in her job? there are so many options that could possibly make it to the table. indicative votes, this than that. let's put that to one side because nobody really knows what will happen. i would like to touch on, you said somebody else pick up the leadership. just give us a few

options of the names that are being mentioned. this is part of the problem. the party is divided from top to bottom, there is no obvious candidate to come forward and unite the party. it would change the party. there have been suggestions that david livingstone who is theresa may's de facto deputy, could step up for a short time to oversee this process because he has friends on both sides of the house. there are other future contenders, jeremy hunt in the cabinet, but it must be clear that at this point there are plenty of voices saying, now is not the time to enter into a protracted leadership contest because it would fuel uncertainty. what they are looking forfor fuel uncertainty. what they are looking for for the fuel uncertainty. what they are looking forfor the prime fuel uncertainty. what they are looking for for the prime minister isa looking for for the prime minister is a clear plan about what happens now and what that means for her down the line. alex, thank you very much for that. sport, and for a full round—up from the bbc sport centre, here's damian.

three of the home nations have secured welcome victories in the day's european championship qualifiers. northern ireland beat belarus. wales started their campaign with a home win against slovakia. but scotland fans reacted angrily to a lacklustre 2—0 victory away to international minnows san marino. joe wilson watched the action. he had gathered the worst team in the world. such as san marino's official status. scotland's confidence around almost as low, but a lovely glance from kenny macleanmckenna may lead inside for me— macleanmckenna may lead inside for me —four macleanmckenna may lead inside for me — four minutes. ideal. what follows was as our of anxiety. two chances to score scotland's second here. while san marino were just one goal behind, any wild shot could end up goal behind, any wild shot could end up an equaliser. it didn't happen. scotla nd up an equaliser. it didn't happen. scotland only made the game safe in the 74th minute. johnny russell, and the 74th minute. johnny russell, and the net rattle with sheer relief.

commentator: now we can keep calm. close your eyes at cardiff and you could be back at the six nations. but open them quick because the foot bowlers of wales started their game at lightning pace. when slovakia's defendant got the ball, james was too strong. too good. james's 21. his manager could barely have done better. the name is james. signed right there. in belfast, whenjohnny evans right there. in belfast, whenjohnny eva ns was right there. in belfast, whenjohnny evans was left to head in at his leisure, northern ireland were jubilant. justifiably. but three minutes later, belarus equalised with a shop which deflected into an agonising loop. northern ireland bosman qualification hopes needed victory here. all the players knew it. josh mcguinness wanted. that's merit is still hard to beat. joe wilson, bbc news. —— spirit. the other match in northern ireland's group this evening

was between the netherlands and germany in amsterdam. it was 2—2 and heading for a draw before substitute marco reus set up nico schulz to win it for germany in the 90th minute. the result means that northern ireland top group c at the moment, although they have played a game more than the germans. arsenal are top of the women's super league table after a 5—1 win over liverpool. vivienne miedema scoring arsenal's fifth goal as they moved one point clear of title rivals manchester city, and they still have a game in hand. paul casey has retained his valspar championship title in florida. casey led by one shot overnight, but dropped three shots on the opening nine holes. he still had a share of the lead heading into the 18th, but found a bunker, then recovered superbly and went on to make par, which was enough to win by one stroke from south africa's louis 0osthuizen and american jason kokrak. ronnie 0'sullivan is back as snooker‘s world number one after sealing a hard —fought tour championship final win over neil robertson in llandudno.

robertson had earlierfought back to level at 8—8 frames heading into the evening session, but 0'sullivan reasserted control and a perfectlyjudged clearance helped him to a13—11victory. to tennis, where british number one kyle edmund defeated canadian milos raonic in straight sets in the third round of the miami 0pen. raonic took an early lead, but 19th seed edmund came back to take the first set 6—4 with a fine forehand winner. edmund then went on to win the second set, also 6—4, to advance to the fourth round, where he will play defending champion john isner. exeter chiefs confirmed their place in the premiership play—offs with a 29—10 win over bath. exeter captain jack yeandle scored the pick of the tries, running a perfect line for dan armand's inside pass. the win means exeter extend their lead at the top of the premiership to 9 points. that's all the sport for now.

thank you, damien. a man has been stabbed to death in a robbery at a newsagents in north—west london. it is believed the 54—year—old was attacked whilst opening his shop early this morning. the murder has been described as a tragedy by locals. no arrests have been made. a cruise ship, which suffered engine failure in a storm off the coast of norway, has been helped into port. hundreds of passengers, most of whom were from the united states and britain, were airlifted to safety from the viking sky. around 20 people were taken to hospital. caroline davies reports. caught in crashing waves off the coast of norway, when the viking sky suffered engine failure yesterday afternoon, the luxury liner began to roll. on board, parts of the ceiling fell on passengers, who dodged sliding tables, chairs and plants. water all over the ground. passengers have said that some

of the ship's windows were smashed, and others filmed water rushing past their feet. some queued to be evacuated, wearing orange life jackets. helicopters whinged over 400 people to safety, including injured and elderly passengers, airlifted in strong winds. george davies and his wife were among them. well, one of the most frightening moments i've had, because the waves were just, you know, you just sort of lost it, really, and you couldn't quite work out where the ship was going, it was swinging everywhere, and the wind was terrible and it was freezing cold. back on land, passengers began to think about what they had witnessed. itjust hit me, the enormity and the potential disaster — we came so close. i thought that this was it, at that time, i mean, the water was going to rush in and...and this is it. the ship's operator, viking cruises, have said that 20 people were injured. some have been taken to hospital. the company said that arrangements have been made to fly passengers home, with some leaving today.

nearly 900 people remained on board the liner, including chris 0'connor. the idea of actually being hoisted up to a helicopter in those winds, i didn't like that idea at all. today, the liner was able to restart three of its four engines and made its way to the nearest port, pulling in this afternoon. at least one person was evacuated on a stretcher. those on board were grateful for calm waters and to be back on dry land. caroline davies, bbc news. iam i am getting rather excited about the weather. you have good news for us. mild weather is on the cards as we head through the week. we should see quite a bit of sunshine as well. with lots of sunshine across parts of england today. this was the scene at saint james ‘s of england today. this was the scene at saintjames ‘s park this afternoon. it wasn't like that everywhere. the northern half of the country was windy with lots of

showers. low pressure pushes across the north sea and allows this area to establish itself. higher pressure will bring us a fine week ahead. windy tonight across northern and eastern areas. still a few showers around. many areas should be dry. with lengthy clear skies, it will turn chilli once again with low single digits for many. monday sta rts single digits for many. monday starts cold but bright. lots of sunshine around. we do have a weak front moving in after the atlantic. a warm front, that will bring temperatures up higher than we saw today. more cloud around, some spots of rain around. it will be a glorious day with widespread sunshine, top temperatures around 11 to 13 celsius with light wind. that is monday. as we head through the week, this area of high—pressure sticks around and as it moves eastwards, we tap into some dry air

from the near continent, and that will break up cloud and give us quite a bit of sunshine. the temperatures will be higher by day. warm, mild and sunny by day. the night will be quite cold, though, and clear skies with light wind. drive, brighton lots of sunshine. the temperatures rise and a bit of cloud in the afternoon. across the far north of scotland, a weather front will produce outbreaks of rain. but it will be a mild day. double—figure values across the board. wednesday, we do it all again with a cool start, lots of sunshine and variable cloud across northern and variable cloud across northern and western areas. generally light wind because of that high pressure and temperature is creeping up further. 1a degrees in aberdeen, 13 in belfast. 15 across southern and eastern parts of england. it warms up eastern parts of england. it warms up and we could be making 17, 18 or

19 celsius. lots of sunshine. but the nights will be quite cool. a touch of mist and fog. that is your latest weather. good night. hello, this is bbc news. we'll be taking a look at tomorrow morning's papers in a moment, first, the headlines: the mueller report says there is no evidence of the trump campaign colluding with russia over the 2016 us election. this was an illegal take—down that failed. and hopefully somebody‘s going to be looking at the other side. so its complete exoneration — no collusion, no obstruction. senior conservatives have been holding talks with theresa may at her chequers country retreat on how to deliver brexit