a bit of dry weather. this is bbc news. i'm martine croxall. the headlines at 11:00: the prime minister requests another brexit extension until the end of june and says the uk will make reparations for european parliament elections, just in case. the shadow brexit secretary sir keir starmer says the government has proposed no changes to its brexit deal, though downing street has insisted it would be prepared to make changes to secure cross party agreement. we wa nt we want to continue and we've written in those terms to the government, but we do need change if i going to compromise. an inquest finds that a botched ira warning call contributed or caused 21 deaths in the 1974 birmingham pub bombings. free after almost a decade in jail,

sally challen, who killed her husband with a hammer, has been released after a retrial. also coming up: donald trump repeats his warning to mexico to control illegal immigration and drug smuggling. and at 11:30pm we will be taking a look at the papers with michael booker from the express and susie boniface from the mirror. r--. gggaiar— welcome to of the european council asking to delay brexit until the 30th ofjune, but with the option to leave sooner if parliament can agree a deal. theresa may says the uk will now be preparing to take part in elections

for the european parliament at the end of may — in case no agreement is reached. tonight, after three days of discussions, labour has criticised the government's approach calling it disappointing and said they've not come up with any changes to the prime minister's brexit deal. our deputy political editorjohn pienaar reports from westminster. it's a race against time, brexit. just not enough time. the pm's deputy still talking to labour today. not saying much though. lovely weather today, isn't it? some tories hate even talking to labour, though it's all going nowhere fast. here was labour's chief whip. what could break the brexit deadlock? we've received something from the government which we're looking at now. really? what was that then? a piece of paper. a while inside, then out again. you know i can't say anything and i don't want to speculate about it. he'd be talking some more to his own side. this could drag on. and today, the prime minister's had to accept that. she wrote a letter to donald tusk, the eu council president, requesting a leave date extension

tojune the 30th if needed. it also requests an option to leave earlier if a deal‘s agreed in parliament. but the letter accepts no agreement means the uk prepares for the european parliament elections on may the 23rd, something mrs may has been desperately trying to avoid. but brexit‘s a work in progress — and not much progress. mps could vote to set their own limit on any extension — potentially tough for the prime minister, since she'll have to hammer out an agreement in brussels next week. to get the delay, the pm needs to tell the eu she's hard at it, trying everything to build a consensus at westminster. what i think they will see from the actions that theresa may has taken over the last week is that she is leaving no stone unturned to do that, so britain is not dragging its feet in trying to solve this, but we are a democracy with a hung parliament so it's not easy. three rounds of talks this week, and negotiations between team corbyn and team may look barely alive tonight — no sign

of any breakthrough. while team may is saying they'll rework the plan for the future, labour says the tories are offering zero change in the brexit deal and much the same plan for the future. obviously that's disappointing. compromise requires change. we want the talks to continue and we've written in those terms to the government, but we do need change if we are going to compromise. some brexiteers as they leave with no deal and maybe change prime minister. the prime minister herself has made it clear she's not going to be leaderfor much longer. we will have a new leader, we will have a new prime minister. that new prime minister will not want to be tied into the withdrawal agreement with the option of an extension. he or she will be in a much stronger negotiating position to get the right deal for the united kingdom, and that seems to me in the national interest. even if mrs may strikes a deal with mr corbyn, and that looks doubtful,

mps on both sides could mutiny. some tories hate the idea of delaying brexit, or staying close to the eu, or even talking to mr corbyn. many labour mps want a new referendum, whatever deal is struck. and jeremy corbyn has never much liked that idea. both leaders might be privately relieved if their talks come to nothing and it's left to mps to choose their ideal outcome — if they can. mrs may's next trip is to brussels, where a 12 month delay has been suggested, maybe with enough flexibility to allow an earlier exit, but where some eu leaders may want to make britain'sjourney tougher, not easier. john pienaar, bbc news, westminster. our europe correspondent, damian grammaticas explained why the prime minister's request for another short brexit extension hasn't gone down well with many eu leaders. tonight there are some worrying signs from across the eu. no countries appear to be keen on this idea of a short extension that mrs

may is asking for. they think that would just create a new crisis point just a few weeks away. but what they do seem to be doing is splitting into two different camps. quite a lot of countries, like germany and ireland, want to avoid a no deal exit at the end of next week. they are open to what donald tusk appeared to be suggesting today, which is a long extension into next year. but there are other countries who are unconvinced. they're unconvinced, it seems, by what mrs may put in her letter, they're unconvinced that the talks with the opposition could deliver anything, 01’ opposition could deliver anything, or that those in parliament could deliver anything. there we see the french, emmanuel macron‘s office today saying "a precondition for an extension was a credible plan from the uk and they had not seen that yet". even the dutch, prime minister mark rutte, usually close to the uk, he said today that the uk had not met —— yes met the tests set. it may all come down to what happens in the next few days and those talks and

then what happens in the room here on wednesday at the summit, whether theresa may can convince the leaders there, because, as he was saying, every single one of them has to agree. it will be a decision by consensus. damian grammaticas in brussels. the jury at the inquests into the birmingham pub bombings 44 years ago, has found that a botched ira warning contributed to the deaths of 21 people. two massive explosions tore apart two pubs in the city centre in november 1974. the jury also found that there were no failings, errors or omissions in the police‘s response to the call. sima kotecha reports. the one thing that will always stick with me for the rest of my life is the smell — flesh, hair. that will never ever go from me. kevin burgess, one of more than 200 people who were injured on the night of the bombings. two explosions in two pubs, killing 21 people. the city was in shock. destruction and debris everywhere.

these men, who were known as the birmingham six, were then falsely imprisoned for the crime. almost two decades later they were acquitted. and then some of the families of those killed campaigned forfresh inquests. today, the jury concluded a botched warning call from the irajust minutes before the bombs went off led to the death of 21 people and meant the police weren't able to evacuate the pubs in time. it's been 44 years. 44 years it's took us to have an inquest, let alone a murder trial. it is now time — way, way past time, for a murder trial. the jury deliberated for almost five hours and unanimously concluded there was not sufficient evidence of any failings or errors by the police in their response to the bomb warning. well, this used to be the tavern in the town, one of the pubs that was

bombed on that evening. now, a significant moment during the inquests was when an ira bomber, witness 0, told the jury who he suspected of being behind the bombings. foui’ men were named. he claimed mick murray, who had been tried and acquitted in 1975, was involved, along with the unit's commander, seamus mcloughlin, former british soldierjames gavin, and michael hayes, the only one who's still alive. now there are calls for the police to investigate. as we say to, i think, any family when we investigate a death or a murder, we can't promise of course that we will result in a prosecution orjustice. we can promise that we'll do our best and we will do our best. nobody has clearly been convicted of the atrocity at the time. that has led to a lot of frustration in me, personally.

we know it was the ira, but who were the actual people? and it's really a case of closure and i don't think we're ever going to find closure. in his final remarks, the coroner sir peter thornton qc said, "the dreadful events will never be forgotten because the people of birmingham will never forget the 21 lives that were tragically lost". sima kotecha, bbc news. president trump has repeated his warning to mexico to control illegal immigration and drug smuggling saying the united states is full. on a visit to the border, he said he would impose 25% tariffs on cars from mexico if they failed to act. he also said he would not rule out closing the border at a later date. our correspondent sophie long is at calexico in california right on the border with mexico. sophie. thank you. president trump has now left the border area and is on his

way to a fundraising event in los angeles. he came here to calexico earlier. he was greeted by a chair from the small crowd that gathered to welcome him. he met with law enforcement officials and then he came here do the border to tour some newly refurbished barrier that has been installed. now, earlierthis week he had threatened to close the border with mexico if the authorities that didn't do more to stop the flow of migrants to the us border. yesterday he seemed to soften on that stance. again today he took the opportunity to reiterate that threat. he said if more isn't done he would be prepared to close the border if necessary. the southern border of the united states. it runs from the gulf of mexico to the pacific ocean. donald trump said he wanted to build a wall along its entire 2000—mile length. it was the rallying call of his campaign. it is one of the most controversial issues of his presidency. today, president trump flew to el centro in southern california to view a section of

newly replaced barriers. despite his claims to the contrary, no new wall has yet been completed. we're going to have to tariff the cars coming in from mexico to the united states. and if that doesn't work, which it will, we'll close the border. somebody said it will take a year. no, it won't take a year. it'll take a day. this is the san ysidro border crossing. it is the busiest land port of entry in the world. but president trump's determination to keep unwanted migrants out has led him to consider closing the border completely. this is just one of many ports of entry. imagine the chaos even a short closure could cause. so the products are received, they're unpackaged in another area of the shop... barry runs an electrical refurbishment factory in tijuana in mexico. he lives in los angeles in the united states. he and his business are dependent on the border remaining open. it would be a disaster, ok?

it would be as if we had a horrible earthquake. it would be as if the power supply went down to our plant — no difference. it's foolish, so we hope it doesn't happen. right? same way i would never hope to have a power outage, or an earthquake, or horrific floods. but this is right up there with natural disasters. this is an unnatural disaster. how about that? 2020, trump! but those gathered to welcome their president today say the benefits of closing the border would be worth the disruption. there is already chaos at the border, and congress is not doing theirjob. so since they are not taking action, something needs to be done to protect the borders and protect, notjust americans but the people that are being used, politicised, and that is our illegal aliens. carmen rivera has been living in a makeshift shelter in tijuana for three months. a closed border wouldn't have stopped her coming here.

she says a gang in el salvador gave her 24 hours to choose whether to leave or die after she reported them to police. she chose to live, but had to leave her five children and her sick mother behind. she says she hopes the us president will be more humane and grant people who need it asylum. while carmen waits, cars continue to queue and president trump forges on with his fight to fund the wall. sophie, how do you think it will be received that this threat is being reiterated? well, i think he did say that the mexican authorities had done a lot of to curb the flow of immigrants and he was also talking about putting tariffs on cars before he got to that point. so i think people here will at least feel that threat isn't imminent at the moment. but we spent the day speaking to people living on both sides of the

body yesterday and almost everyone who travels across the border said any who travels across the border said a ny closure who travels across the border said any closure for any short period of time would cause absolute chaos and would be devastating to their businesses. they also point out that they don't feel it would do anything to address the problems in central american countries that are causing people to flee their homes and travel north to the border. but as you saw in my report there, we spoke to some donald trump supporters who gathered here today and they all support their president's policies. they say there is already chaos at the border and something needs to be done, notjust to protect us citizens, people seeking asylum legally as well. so president trump has now left the border area and is on his way to los angeles or a fundraiser tonight. i think what he feels is that the crisis, as he calls it, at the border will be central to the 2020 election campaign and he is keen to keep it in the headlines, which is what he has done today. sophie, thank you very much. sophie long in mexico. the headlines on bbc news:

the prime minister requests another brexit extension until the end of june, and says the uk will make preparations for participation in the european elections just in case. the shadow brexit secretary, sir keir starmer, says the government has proposed no changes to its brexit deal, though number 10 has insisted it would be prepared to make changes to secure cross—party agreement. an inquest finds that a botched ira warning call contributed to or caused 21 deaths in the 1974 birmingham pub bombing. a woman who has spent almost ten years in jail after killing her husband in a hammer attack has been released on bail tonight after her conviction was quashed. sally challen, who was found guilty of murdering 61—year—old richard challen in 2011, now faces a retrial injuly. charlotte gallagher reports. sally challen, in prison for nearly ten years. tonight, she's been released. her family arriving here

in the white car to collect her, just hours after a judge granted bail. her supporters, who were at the old bailey this morning, were thrilled with the decision. the family are all supporting sally. we have done from day one, and our strength builds and will build even further. you know, this is a fantastic day for us. sally and richard challen were married for 30 years, but in august 2010 sally killed her husband here at the family home in claygate in surrey, hitting him more than 20 times over the head with a hammer. she has never denied killing him but has always said it wasn't murder. in february, the court of appeal overturned her original murder conviction after hearing evidence that she was suffering from two undiagnosed psychiatric conditions at the time of the killing. they also heard claims she had been subjected to coercive control and had been emotionally abused, bullied and humiliated by her husband.

an emotional sally challen appeared in court today via video link from prison, where she's been for almost a decade. she confirmed she would plead not guilty to murder at her retrial. her sons, who have campaigned for her release, were here again today to support her. today we are overjoyed that bail has been granted for our mother, and she will now be released back to us. our mother now rejoins our family. david challen later added his mother couldn't believe what was happening. the judge today said her new trial would begin in july, adding, if necessary. charlotte gallagher, bbc news. armed forces in eastern libya have been ordered by their leader to march on tripoli, where the

internationally recognised government sets. khalifa haftar‘s order to the self—styled libyan national army came as the un chief was visiting the country. antonio guterres says talks with general haftar ended in failure but the un will work hard to find a political solution. i still hope it will be possible to avoid a bloodied confrontation in and around tripoli. whatever happens, the un will remain committed, and i will remain committed, and i will remain committed, to supporting the libyan people. libyans committed, to supporting the libyan people. libya ns deserve committed, to supporting the libyan people. libyans deserve peace, security, prosperity, and the respect of their human rights. thousands of people have taken to the streets in cities across algeria demanding a complete overhaul of the country's political structure. this is the seventh successive week of friday protests. tuesday's resignation of long—serving president abdelaziz

bouteflika does not appear to have satisfied the demonstrators. according to the constitution, pa rliament‘s speaker should take over, but protesters want all those associated with mr bouteflika to go. gypsy, traveller and roma people have been comprehensively failed by the government and public services for far too long, according to a group of mps. after a two—year inquiry, the women and equalities select committe said the plight of traveller communities had been filed under the ‘too difficult‘ category for too long. this roma people came originally from india before migrating to central europe hundreds of years ago. our correspondent, frankie mccamley, reports from derby. hello, derbyshire police. hello, it's lindsay rourke from women's work. lindsay and dion are out on the streets of derby every week helping sex workers. so, we look for signs, you know, if they are looking into car windows. they spot a young roma girl who they often help. hello! have you done something

to your hand? do you have condom? yes, we've got condoms. how many condoms would you like? er... 20. 20? have you had a fight or broke something? no, no. so, have you got somewhere to live? yes. yes? are you ok? safe in your house? i think she has either got learning difficulties or she's just had no education because she is very, very childlike. the women from those communities do tend to drop out of education earlier. support workers here in derby also tell us roma are being subjected to extreme overcrowding. in some cases, 20 people living in a two—bedroom house. roma, as a community, can be susceptible to the kind of exploitation by landlords that would lead to this. a resident allowed us into this property but was too scared to speak on camera. you can smell urine. there's a needle over there. the door doesn't close.

there are sheds... yeah, i would say those sheds are probably apartments that people are living in. and paying for? and paying for, absolutely. and why are the roma communities so exploited? i think that... there is language barrier. roma not wanting to complain, not knowing that they have the right to complain. after a difficult time in school, roma volunteers lucy and michael are helping to integrate roma children into the community. when i got to secondary school, that's when all the abuse started from the other pupils. "you need to go back to your country." why's that? i've every right to be here, same as you do. i did get excluded permanently when i was in year nine because of that. i did get a feeling that the teachers didn't want to support me. in this playground, around half the children are roma. many didn't turn up to school, it wasn't considered a priority for some of their parents

in eastern europe. this head teacher is turning things around. we had children who would go and interrupt games and start fights. their attendance was poor. many of our children arrive notjust new to english but new to schooling. and you've had to bring in a number of measures, haven't you? we have a learning mentor, whose key focus in the morning is around attendance. so, she checks the register, sees who is in, who's not in. and, then, if we haven't got a reason, we will try and ring. if we don't get an answer, then we will go round knocking on doors. it's easy to say roma children are going to be excluded. but we've got to have high expectations. expect them to be in schools. because they want what every other child has got. but, despite these pockets of positivity, there are still clear divisions in the community that will take years to overcome. frankie mccamley, bbc news in derby.

a hospital in england has told many of its patients who live in wales that it can no longer treat them because their government isn't fully paying its bills. the countess of chester nhs foundation trust says it's becoming unsafe to carry on and patient safety has to come first. the hospital says that to accept referrals without proper funding would put patient safety at risk. so mickjagger says he would put patient safety at risk. so mick jagger says he is would put patient safety at risk. so mickjagger says he is on the mend and feeling much better after undergoing surgery. the rolling stones postponed their tour of the us and canada when the singer was advised by doctors that he needed medical treatment. it's used for everything from food to pharmaceuticals, now seaweed is to be grown commercially for the first time in england, off the east yorkshire coast. it's already harvested by hand in the waters north of filey

in north yorkshire, but soon it'll be grown on a larger scale. it's hoped the farm's first harvest will be within a year. it isa it is a plant that grows in abundance of the yorkshire coast, and this seaweed farmer regularly braves the north sea to harvest the crop. it is full of iodine, many vitamin dand crop. it is full of iodine, many vitamin d and minerals. it is being gathered by hand from the shore at present but large—scale farming out at sea will soon begin here, with the hope of bringing environmental benefits. it can go into biotech styles, and plastics, we can use it to create biodegradable plastic products, so inevitably when it ends up products, so inevitably when it ends up back in there it will dissolve. scientists at the university of hole are looking for the best variety to

use commercially. seaweed farming is at the beginning, we have wild crops, but which ones can be improved on, can we choose with the kind of instruments we have here? we have see letters or see greene's. in the meantime there is also demand to get yorkshire seaweed on the menu. we try to use a lot of stuff from the area, with chefs learning about it all the time and trying to integrate it into the menus. i think it could be made more widely available from the customers at home. nearly half £1 million of government money has now been awarded to get the farm started. the huge potential of seaweed from both an environmental and industrial point of view is the reason why this project is being taken so seriously. the first commercial crop could be

harvested from these seas as early as spring next year. it is a tough working environment, but scientists believe the strong tides and cold waters of the east coast could provide ideal growing conditions. a pairof sea a pair of sea otter pops that were rescued in california have been rehomed at the georgia aquarium in the us. the otters survived an unusual journey but are the us. the otters survived an unusualjourney but are now the us. the otters survived an unusual journey but are now settling in well in their new environment. making a splash in their new home, sea otters. discovered on the californian coastline, both pipes we re californian coastline, both pipes were pa rt of californian coastline, both pipes were part of a special double rescue after being separated from their mothers during a storm. with efforts to reunite them with their families u nsuccessful, to reunite them with their families unsuccessful, they were taken to be cared for at a local sanctuary. requiring round—the—clock care, they we re requiring round—the—clock care, they were viewed as unbelievable by wildlife authorities and faced being

put to sleep. as the search faded for a new permanent home, and aquarium willing to take on the pair was discovered over 3000 kilometres away in atlanta. to get the pipes there as quickly and with as little stress as possible, their only option was to travel in luxury on their own private jet. option was to travel in luxury on their own privatejet. with the otters' health and well—being on mine, thejet was otters' health and well—being on mine, the jet was cooled to 60 fahrenheit and supplied with plenty of ice to keep them cool. now in atla nta, of ice to keep them cool. now in atlanta, they remain behind the scenes under 24—hour watch and care. mara is currently eating solid fish and swimming on her own, but gibson, the younger of the two, is still being bottle—fed. both pops are believed to be settling in well to their new home and will soon be ambassadors for their endangered species, providing millions of guests with a chance to learn more

about them. after a chilly few days it will feel a little warmer this weekend, with a reversal of fortu nes com pa red a little warmer this weekend, with a reversal of fortunes compared to what you may have had during friday. if you had the sunshine, this view from northumberland, expect more cloud. if you had clouded outbreaks of rain because of an area of low pressure sitting to the south—west, you will have some rain through friday, expect things to be drier. low pressure declining over the weekend, and cloud and patchy rain or showers over the weekend. we will switch things around for the weekend, just to reinforce the point, eastern parts of the uk, the chance of rain and showers. a drier picture, sunnier and it will feel warmer. looking at saturday, cloud and patchy rain through much of scotland. lots of south—west, sunny

for north and western wales, some passing light showers here. rather cool along the north sea coast but certainly feeling warmer with friday's rain exchange for saturday possible sunshine. we will pull more cloud across the uk, with the chance of seeing some patchy rain, meaning that someday starts fairly mild underneath that blanket of cloud. more cloud in the west compared with saturday, but some sunny spells to be had. heavier showers running into the eastern part of england. temperatures for many of us are a little higher, cool along the north sea