good afternoon and welcome to the bbc news at one. theresa may meets the german chancellor in berlin in a last—minute effort to get an extension to the date of brexit. all smiles for the cameras, but the prime minister still has to convince eu leaders that she has a way forward. with theresa may also heading to paris this afternoon to try to bring the french president onside, we'll be live with our correspondents in paris, berlin, and in westminster. also this lunchtime: the laws governing divorce are to be overhauled in england and wales, so that couples can split faster and with less bitterness. debenhams‘ lenders take control of the struggling high—street chain, after rejecting rescue efforts from sports direct‘s mike ashley. the most prolific cyber criminal to be sentenced in the uk — the student who blackmailed porn website users online. and looking back at concorde, 50 years to the day since it

made its first british test flight. and coming up in the sport later in the hour on bbc news, we'll look ahead to this evening's champions league quarterfinals, including the all—english tie between tottenham and manchester city. good afternoon and welcome to the bbc news at one. theresa may has held talks in berlin with the german chancellor, angela merkel, ahead of a crucial emergency eu summit tomorrow in brussels. the prime minister will next head to paris to meet the french president, as she tries to secure an extension to britain's departure date from the eu. the chief brexit negotiator for the eu, michel barnier, said leaders hoped that talks between the government and labour would result in an agreement on mrs may's stalled deal,

and he said the eu was willing to grant more time to achieve that. our first report this lunchtime is from our europe correspondent adam fleming. don't you hate it when you arrive early? theresa may appeared to touch down in berlin before angela merkel was ready to meet her, but the eu has been hanging around too, the german chancellor and others waiting for the uk to say what it will do with any extra time in the brexit process. and that's what european affairs minister is arriving here in luxembourg for a briefing on brexit wa nt luxembourg for a briefing on brexit want from the uk too. a plan. from every diplomatic limbo, the same message. of course, we still need clarity from the uk's side, the extension will be regarded upon by the government, of course. we want to understand what the uk needs this

extension for, and what are the political surroundings around theresa may to have this extension, and then comes the question of the conditions of what role the uk will play during this extension time. the man whose role is to negotiate brexit for the eu said he didn't wa nt to brexit for the eu said he didn't want to speculate, but right now speculation is all there is. what day is brexit going to happen? the 22nd of may, the 30th ofjune, the sist 22nd of may, the 30th ofjune, the 31st of march 2020? the reason that isa 31st of march 2020? the reason that is a question you have to ask is because, behind closed doors here, ministers think the eu will need to give the uk more time, which means a longer extension, potentially until the end of this year, or maybe until spring next year. one date that is becoming less important — this friday, april the 12th. it is when the uk could leave without a deal. no—one at the eu's top table wants that to happen. we do everything we

can to avoid no—deal brexit. that to happen. we do everything we can to avoid no-deal brexit. 0h that to happen. we do everything we can to avoid no-deal brexit. oh no no—deal on friday? can to avoid no-deal brexit. oh no no-deal on friday? certainly not, thank you. a fond farewell from berlin seem to make up for the awkward arrival, but mrs may's next stop may prove tricky, off to see the french president, who has been most questions about whether it is worth delaying brexit any longer. adam fleming, bbc news, luxembourg. at westminster, cross—party talks between the government and labour are set to continue to try to find a way of getting parliamentary approval for theresa may's brexit deal. but with no agreement so far, and just four days to go before the uk is meant to leave, mps are openly voicing frustration. here's our political correspondent ben wright. ina hurry in a hurry to find more time, theresa may left downing street for berlin desperately seeking another delay to brexit. the prime minister is telling eu leaders she can finally get a deal passed through parliament by the end ofjune.

theresa may has said that the withdrawal agreement itself cannot be renegotiated with the eu, but some brexit back cabinet ministers have other ideas. the prime minister is up to see angela merkel today, and what i think would be fantastic is if angela merkel will try to support a proper uk brexit by agreeing to reopen the withdrawal agreement. and some tory backbenchers clearly hate the idea of another delay. ladies and gentlemen, we chose to leave, we voted to leave, so for god's sake, let'sjust leave! voted to leave, so for god's sake, let's just leave! in voted to leave, so for god's sake, let'sjust leave! in recent days, government ministers have been holding talks with labour, looking for a compromise that might secure a majority in the commons. labour is arguing fora majority in the commons. labour is arguing for a customs union with the eu, but trade secretary liam fox has written a letter to a senior tory mp saying a customs union would be a betrayal of brexit. it is not only tory brexiteers who are despairing

about the prime minister's strategy. some conservative mps have come round to the idea of another referendum to solve the crisis. round to the idea of another referendum to solve the crisislj wa nt referendum to solve the crisis.” wa nt to referendum to solve the crisis.” want to leave, i voted for the prime minister's deal three times, to keep no—deal on the table and against an extension of article 50. parliament has failed, we cannot deliver anything, the only way we will get through the 17.4 million voters' wishes is to take it to the people and bypass parliament. senior figures within labour have called for another referendum too. there is little sign ministers are tempted by the idea, but they accept mps might try. as we have the withdrawal bill going through the parliament, somebody is very likely to put forward an amendment seeking a confirmatory vote, and parliament has, you know, an opportunity to vote on it. this place has rejected the prime minister's brexit deal three times already, and only by convincing the eu she can get it passed will they give her the time she wants.

ben wright reporting, and in a moment we'll speak to ben and our correspondent in paris, lucy williamson. but first, jenny hill is in berlin. jenny, what sort of reception did theresa may get when she arrived? well, as you saw, what the german press a re well, as you saw, what the german press are referring to as theresa may's begging tour got off to that rather awkward start, it could have been worse, last time she visited angela merkel, you will recall she was unable to get herself out of her car, the dog got stuck. but you know, symbolism aside, this was probably one of the easiest meetings of the day for the prime minister, and that of causes because, as we know, angela merkel is relatively relaxed about granting britain more time. we don't know what was said over that working lunch between the two leaders, but mrs merkel‘s europe minister this morning clarified germany's position, he said, yes, we would consider an extension, we

would consider an extension, we would consider a longer extension too, although there would be conditions attached, and that means the uk would have to participate in the uk would have to participate in the eu elections, where the extension to go on for a certain amount of time. the reason germany is relatively relaxed about the brexit position is, i think, down to two perceptions. first of all, they believe that the impasse right is from a domestic political crisis. berlin thinks britain needs time and space to sort that out before progress can be made. secondly, berlin is looking to the future relationship, once brexit happens, if brexit happens, it still wants a good trading relationship with britain. that is behind angela merkel‘s relatively relaxed stance. one other thing, expect a message of unity to come from both capitals today, the eu knows its strength lies in sticking together. 0k, jenny, thank you, jenny hill in berlin. lucy williamson is in paris for us, and theresa may on her way 110w for us, and theresa may on her way now to me the french president, she is going to have quite a tough

encounter. yes, a much more difficult conversation here for theresa may, angela merkel and president macron have been presented sometimes as good cop and bad cop in these negotiations, and there is no doubt france has been quite tough on the brexit negotiations, and particularly on the conditions required for an extension this time round. mr macron has like to present himself as a strong defender of european interests, and that is certainly how he is sounding at the moment, there are good reasons for that, he has no interest in making it look easy, especially with eu parliamentary elections around the corner. but on the other hand, it may not be in france's interest to use his veto right now and force a no—deal, not only because it will be divisive for the eu 27, but also because of the economic impact on france itself, so what theresa may can probably expect when she comes

here this evening is a tough conversation about the conditions for this extension. france has already said that she needs to bring already said that she needs to bring a plan that has clear and credible political backing at home, and mr macron will also be quite tough, we expect, and getting assurances from her that she won't block the eu 27 going forward. lucy, many thanks, lucy williamson in paris. ben wright is in westminster, ben, these cross— party is in westminster, ben, these cross—party talks are going on now, no outcome from them yet, and signs that ministers are starting to go off piste. well, theresa may has not had a cheery good look away from her fellow tory mps and ministers as she heads off to the continent macro today, in fact the various voices from within her own party have exposed deep divisions and acrimony that still swirled around here, you know, from liam fox saying that any compromise around a customs union would be a betrayal of brexit through to andrea leadsom saying that the whole withdrawal agreement should be reopened. you heard mark

francois, a leading brexiteer, saying that britain should just leave on friday, even though the prime minister is insisting that would be very damaging for the economy. so the political arguments that have been dominating westminster for months dragged on, but the prime minister has made a chance, she has decided she cannot get the withdrawal agreement through parliament just get the withdrawal agreement through parliamentjust on the backs of tory mps and the dup, the numbers are not there, which is why she has gone to labour looking for help, and those talks will continue this afternoon, and the question, though it is, will that be enough for the eu, to hear from the prime minister that she has a process, a route map through to what she says will be a solution to this crisis? or will they want more, proof from her that she can deliver the numbers with a plan in parliament? i mean, she can't do that, really, at the moment, and it is clear that the eu's patients with all this is now wearing pretty thin. ben, thank you, our political correspondent ben wright there.

divorce laws in england and wales are to be reformed to make it easier for couples to split up without having to blame each other. the legal right for a husband or wife to contest a divorce will also be scrapped. critics of the current system say it often makes reconciliation harder and can be damaging to children. but others say the changes will trivialise marriage. here's our legal correspondent clive coleman. currently, when a marriage has irretrievably broken down, divorcing couples are forced to blame each other on the grounds of adultery, desertion, or behaviour which is intolerable to live with, or prove they've been separated for a minimum of two years, or five if one spouse doesn't agree. for decades, campaigners have been pressing the government to change the law, because they argue that when you're getting divorced, you're being torn apart emotionally and financially, trying to sort out living arrangements for your children, and so to throw fault and blame into the mix at that point is to make a bad situation a whole lot worse. amelia jacob is currently going through divorce and believes

a no—fault system would have avoided unnecessary stress. there were elements of the process that just felt quite stressful and unnecessarily antagonistic, through no fault of either of ours, but more the process that we had to operate within. in 2018, 118,000 people petitioned for divorce in england and wales, with blame a factor in a large percentage of all cases. now the government has decided to act. the laws currently have been in place for 50 years, they do need modernising, there's been a long—standing campaign, if you like, to bring our divorce laws into the 215t century, and it's right that we take that opportunity to do that now. following a consultation, new legislation's to be introduced that will replace the need to provide evidence around fault or separation with a requirement to provide a statement of irretrievable breakdown, create an option for a joint application for divorce,

while continuing to allow one party to apply, and remove the ability of one spouse to contest a divorce. there'll be a minimum six—month period from petition to final divorce to allow couples time for reflection and turning back. campaigners have welcomed this major change to the 50—year—old divorce law. that blame element can really cause incredible animosity between separating parents, and i think that's what can cause difficulty for the children, but it also can cause difficulty for the couple themselves. so whatever we can do to reduce that is, i think, incredibly important. the government says the new legislation will be introduced as soon as parliamentary time allows. clive coleman, bbc news. the department store chain debenhams has fallen into the hands of its

lenders as part of an administration process. the company has 166 stores that will continue to trade for now, but 50 branches have already been earmarked for closure. our business correspondent emma simpson is here. emma explain what means for debenhams? its has been in big financial trouble and its fate was sealed this morning, it tipped into administration, but then its two operating companies were immediately sold on to its lender, now they have effectively been calling the shots because of the huge amount of debt that debenhams owes and couldn't afford to repay. it has been weighed down by falling sale, rising costs and expenses release, what does it mean for the stores and the staff? they are unaffected in this process, but it will ultimately lead to store closure, lenders will want to press on with the turn round plan to close round 50 store, to cut costs and get

out of the expensive releases, in fa ct out of the expensive releases, in fact further funding depends on this restructuring happening, but the first tranche wouldn't happen we are told until at least after christmas, the biggest loser today is mike ashley, the boss of sports direct. he was the biggest shareholder, and all the investors have been wiped out and he is nursing something like £150 million loss. he was battling to ta ke £150 million loss. he was battling to take control. it was increasingly acrimonious but his proposals were rejected. the administrators said today that none of the plans were practical given the compa ny‘s financial position and this was the best deal available for debenhams creditors but an undignified outcome. thank you our top story this lunchtime. theresa may holds talks with the german chancellor, angela merkel, as she tries to persuade european leaders to delay britain's exit from the eu. and still to come.

celebrating half a century since concorde's first test flight in britain. we are at the fleet air arm music alyeovilton, this is where brian the run shaw the concorde test pilot would have sat for coming up in the sport in the next 15 minutes on bbc news, we look ahead to the first golf major of the year, the masters — england's justin rose is world number one, but it's rare that leads to the green jacket at augusta. israelis are voting in the country's most closely fought general election in years. the prime minister, benjamin netanyahu, is seeking a record fifth term in office. but his campaign has been dogged by corruption allegations, which he denies. he's being challenged by a centrist alliance led by a former military chief, benny gantz — he presents himself as the candidate representing honesty in politics. our chief international correspondent, lyse doucet, is injerusalem.

/phaou /sebg yes, it is a sunny day here, the polls have been opened for more than eight hours and the turn out is less thanit eight hours and the turn out is less than it was in the 2015 election, and it comes after a campaign in which there only one issue on the agenda. does binyamin netanyahu deserve that historic firth term in office, he will be the longest serving prime minister in israel. it is not history that is on israeli minds, it is notjust the future of binyamin netanyahu but their country, this is a nation shifting to the right and binyamin netanyahu has made it clear he will do what it ta kes to has made it clear he will do what it takes to stay in power. if he forms a new coalition it will be with far right—wing parties. let us see how it looks so far. we have this report from our middle east reporter tom bateman. election day is a public holiday for israelis. patriotic moment for some. but one that will shape

the region's future, after a turbulent campaign. the israeli leader has made a last minute appeal to get the vote out. he's told his right—wing supporters not to be complacent, that his opponents could still win. this has in effects become a referendum on mr netanyahu's decade in office. the situation's very good, the economic is growing, security is good. i think the welfare of the citizen in israel is great, and of course, this is because of him. we used to be netanyahu people, but it's really getting too much, you know. in what way? there is an atmosphere of corruption. mr netanyahu has pitched himself to voters as the only one who can guarantee israel's security. but he has been dogged by looming corruption charges. if he is worried about forming another government he wasn't showing it. translation: this is a sacred act,

the essence of democracy, and we should be thankful for that. you need to choose well but i can't tell you for whom, or i can, but i'm not going to. the current leader is facing his toughest challengers yesterday. a former army chief, benny gantz, who has positioned himself firmly in the political centre ground. choose whoever you believe in. respect each other, and let us all wake up to a new dawn, a new history that we need to begin. the election has been dominated by the issue of security. a flare up between israel and palestinian militants in gaza saw mr netanyahu's opponents brand him ineffective. the israeli leader made a controversial pledge pledge to annex jewish settlements in the israeli occupied west bank if he is re—elected. a move that could furtherjeopardise the chances of a palestinian state. the polls suggest mr netanyahu is on course to edge to victory, but after an unpredictable campaign,

there may be surprises in store. tom bateman, bbc news, jerusalem. so it is about binyamin netanyahu this time, they call it is bb ballot but tomorrow it will be about more the former boss of nissan, carlos ghosn, who is being held in prison accused of financial misconduct, has said the charges against him are part of a conspiracy. in a video statement made before his re—arrest in japan last week, mr ghosn blamed what he called "back—stabbing" by former colleagues. our business correspondent, theo leggett, is here. it is what you would expect. carlos ghosn was one of the most powerful people in the global car industry, a hugely influential businessman. he has gone through humiliations since

his arrest five months ago and now he is fighting back. he denies the charges of financial misconduct. we can't question him on the detail, because he is injail. but the point he wants to make comes across clearly, he was planning a merger between renault and nissan, and he thinks managers at nissan felt that would undermine their own positions, reduce their autonomy so they set out dublin rattly to get rid of him. this is what he had this is a conspiracy. this is not about specific events, this is not about, again, greed, this is not about dictatorship, this is about a plot, this is about conspiracy, this is about back—stabbing. that's what we're talking about. so strong language there, nissan itself isn't having any of it, it says it has evidence of serious ethical misconduct by mr ghosn and uncovering more evidence all the time, people within nissan have suggested this is an attempt to distract by mr ghosn. neither the

allegation nor his response have been tested in court yet, in this video mr ghosn said he wanted a fair trial. and he implied his lawyers don't think he will get one. that looks to me like a very, very deliberate step, he is trying to increase the international spotlight which is on japan increase the international spotlight which is onjapan and itsjudicial system, where there has been frankly a lot of embarrassment since he was arrested last november. thank you. a student who blackmailed users of pornography websites with cyber attacks — and made hundreds of thousands of pounds in the process — has been jailed for almost six and a half years. the court was told that zain qaiserfrom barking, in essex, is the most prolific cyber criminal to be sentenced in britain, as dominic casciani reports. zain qaiser, a university drop out who made hundreds of thousands of pounds before he was 19—years—old. he hit upon what he thought was the perfect cyber crime that would never be reported. qaiser placed fake adverts on popular porn websites, and users who clicked on them saw their machines locked up.

they were tricked into believing they were being investigated by british police, the fbi and others. users could pay a small fine to get their computer back, and thousands did so, out of fear their habit would be exposed. the national crime agency says a russian organised crime gang assisted the scam. i would certainly regard zain qaiser as probably the most significant cyber crime offender that the national crime agency has investigated. why is that? the sheer volume and complexity of the actions that he's undertaken, the number of people he's connected with worldwide, the complexity of the malware that he deployed, and the success of his operations as well. he made significant amounts of money, as did his associates. judge timothy lamb qc said there was no equivalent case anywhere in the uk. qaiser had styled himself the king of the internet, and caused untold levels of harm around the world. his sentence of almost six—and—a—half years had to reflect the lack of genuine remorse. qaiser‘s control panel revealed how much he was making every month, £700,000 traced so far.

the total profits could be more than four million, and he could face longer in jail if he doesn't disclose where its hidden. dominic casciani, bbc news. few have had to work under greater secrecy than the men and women who worked at bletchley park during world war ii. the codebreakers there were intercepting thousands of enemy messages, and are credited with shortening the conflict. but they kept their work under wraps until well after the fighting stopped. now, a new exhibition reveals for the first time the crucial role their intelligence played in the d—day landings. graham satchell has been taking a look. recording: bletchley park helped the allies to create a detailed picture of hitler's fortress europe. rena stewart is 96, she is watching part of a new exhibition at bletchley park where she worked in the war. what was the atmosphere like here at bletchley

as d—day approached? it was very tense, really, as far as work was concerned it was just business as usual. you just carried on? yes. rena was just 21 when she arrived at bletchley, she worked in hut 3 using her degree in german to type up intercepted messages. this was the centre of intelligence where millions of decrypted messages were indexed and analysed. we knew we were reading german messages at more or less the same time as the germans were. and that the people in the field relied on it completely. there are 103,000 million million million possible ways of encrypting a message with this machine. that is quite a lot.

that is quite a lot, two to the 77. breaking the german enigma machine changed the course of the war. it is really fundamental to allied success in the war because if you can break enigma, you can read such a huge proportion of their traffic and find out about so much of the activity. the new exhibition at bletchley shows just how pivotal intelligence was to the success of d—day. the work here certainly saved lives, some see it shorten the war but it remained a secret for decades. you had not told anybody? no. how do you feel about it today? because today bletchley is this big visitor attraction. it is quite a relief to be able to talk about it and to realise that people know about it and you know, it makes you feel quite proud. graham satchell, bbc news. it's arguably the most famous passenger plane ever built — concorde was a marvel of british and french engineering, able to reach speeds of 1,350 miles an hour. the supersonicjet made

its first british test flight 50 years ago today. john maguire reports. this was the moment, the 9th of april 1969, that concorde made its first british test flight. it was a relatively short hop from filton airfield, where she was built, on the outskirts of bristol to raf fairford in gloucestershire. this was 002. as the project was an anglo—french venture, the very first flight of 001, built in toulouse, had been made a few weeks earlier. from concept to reality, engineers had spent the past 15 years getting concorde ready for the skies. incident free, apart from the fact that test pilot brian trubshaw had to complete the first landing by sight after a problem with instruments. his subsequent interview post flight personified british stoicism. very pleased we got it here,

we had a splendid flight. i think all the crew liked it. they'd never been in a concorde before, i was the only one who had been. i think we are quite bucked, to be frank. it took seven years before the aircraft entered commercial service in 1976, flying for almost four decades before her rolls—royce olympus engines fell silent for the last time. the british test jet the british testjet was retired here to the museum in somerset. anyone who has been onboard concorde will tell you it is very small inside but the difference with this test aircraft the 002, is there are none of the seat, the champagne and the can pays, just all of the equipment that enabled the engineers to establish concorde's capabilities. this was was tank of us all having a break. this picture features three

engineers who returned to celebrate concorde today. i think it was a one off experience, never see it again in my lifetime and never experience it again but what i did was fantastic. i was chuffed to be able to work op it and if you had three laptops onboard to work op it and if you had three laptops onboa rd you to work op it and if you had three laptops onboard you would have all the instrumentation onboard now. this set the standard for the fleet. it was a quality aircraft, the fleet of concorde that came along later was especially built, and it lasted 27 years in service, which is a wonderful feat as well. a controversial yet inspirational and unique chapter in the history time for a look at the weather. here's mel coles. yesterday in parts of suffolk temperatures were just shy of 20c. while today's weather may look similar, there is a different feel to it. it