it is a bank holiday weekend and there's always a degree of uncertainty as we looked this far ahead. there could be some more showers around in the west but at the moment things are looking pretty promising. he died in the line of duty — pc andrew harper, just married, was investigating a burglary when he was killed. jed foster appeared at reading magistrates' court — he'll be tried for murder and the theft of a quad bike — charges his legal team deny. he emphatically denies any responsibility or involvement in the horrific murder of pc andrew harper. we urge the police to follow every single line of enquiry to prove who is responsible. pc harper is the first policeman to be killed for over two years. pc harper had been married forjust 28 days. also on the programme.

a warning from britain's oil refineries — their long term future might be in doubt after a no—deal brexit. the night a million people in england and wales lost power — the industry watchdog opens an investigation — there could be fines. khaleeya was just 1a when she was diagnosed with ovarian cancer — that's rare but the number of teenagers with the disease is rising. fancy a trip into space? virgin galactica says they'll be issuing boarding passes as soon as next year. and coming up on bbc news: steve smith will miss the third ashes test after suffering concussion — he's been unable to train after suffering a blow to the neck.

good evening and welcome to the bbc news at six. pc andrew harper was doing his duty when he was killed last thursday. today the man charged with his murder appeared at reading magistrates' court. jed foster, aged 20, is also charged with the theft of a quad bike. he denies the charges and his solicitor called on the police to follow all lines of inquiry. pc harper of thames valley police had only been married for a month. our home affairs correspondent daniel sandford was in court. here at reading magis were two families found themselves in one small court room for a very emotionally charged hearing. —— reading magistrates' court. the family of pc andrew harper staring intently at the man accused of killing him and the family ofjed foster, the man in the dock.

being brought upstairs in handcuffs, at reading magistrates court today, jed foster, who was charged last night with the murder of pc andrew harper. the 20—year—old is also accused of the theft of a quad bike, just before the police officer died. pc harper's family came to court to see the man accused of killing him in person, to bear witness to his first appearance in the dock. during the two—minute hearing, jed foster simply confirmed his name, date of birth and his address near reading. his family were also in court, including his mother, holding a teddy bear, and afterwards his solicitor made this statement. on behalf of him and his family, he emphatically denies any responsibility or involvement in the horrific murder of pc andrew harper. we urge the police to follow every single line of inquiry to prove who is responsible and to ensure that there is justice in this case. pc andrew harper was the first police officer to die in the line

of duty for more than two years. he married his wife just 28 days before he was killed. pc harper had been called out on thursday night to reports of a burglary and a stolen quad bike, but somehow he ended up under a vehicle, being dragged across the busy a4 and ended up being treated for his fatal injuries in that road on the other side of the junction. this afternoon, scenes of crime officers continued to work at a local travellers' site and on nearby roads, while the nine other people who had been held on suspicion of murder were released on police bail until next month. pc harper's death has been felt very deeply in the wider police family, with officers from forces across england laying flowers at the crossroads where he fell. daniel sandford, bbc news,

berkshire. british fuel refineries, where oil is turned into petrol and diesel, could face severe difficulties in the aftermath of a no—deal brexit — that's according to industry leaders and documents seen by the bbc. under current plans for a no—deal brexit the government says it will not impose duties on imports — that might mean cheaper petrol from places like russia on sale here. good for us, the consumers, in the short term, but potentially not so good for the industry, with british refined fuel exports facing a 5% eu tax. documents obtained by the bbc also reveal the extent to which councils are already stockpiling fuel — in preparation for a no—deal brexit. here's our economics editor faisal islam. by by the humber, tankers fill up with petrol just refined by the humber, tankers fill up with petroljust refined from north sea oil at one of the six remaining refineries in the uk. pumping out the petrol and diesel used by millions of vehicles. according to contingency planning, there is a

danger to their viability under the governments current no—deal brexit plans. the specific problem is that under no—deal brexit, these refineries face a mere 5% tax on exports is a terrace into the eu. it's currently zero with the uk as a member of the eu. anything that puts uk industry at a disadvantage isn't something we think is a good idea. if we export petrol to europe we face a 5% tariff whereas european refiner would face no tariffs. it's not a level playing field but in the context of refining, it's a significant figure. on top of that, in order to keep pump prices for british consumers down, the government has allowed all petrol imports in that makes the fuel produced here at the refinery in pembrokeshire wales uneconomical for exports to ireland and yet at the

same time leaves the production here outcompeted by european refineries for use within the uk. that is why a local authority brexit planning documents from anglesey says... but there is more than that. under wto rules that will apply after a no—deal brexit, the uk government's offer of zero tariff free access to eu refineries must apply to the world refineries too. the industry has told government that that means an increased dependence on the likes of russian fuel. isn't it a good thing for consumers if they can get cheap petrol from russia and everywhere else in the world? cheap petrol from russia and everywhere else in the world ?|j think everywhere else in the world?” think the inflationary pressures long term of having a dependency on

an import market would be a disadvantage. do we want to be dependent on any country outside of the uk for dependent on any country outside of the ukfor our dependent on any country outside of the uk for our fuel? is that really a possibility? we could end up in a situation where it becomes extremely uncompetitive for a domestic industry to stay in the uk. although these same companies have gone public to the bbc on the threat to their refineries, they are understandably more shy on the impact ofa understandably more shy on the impact of a possibly imminent no—deal brexit on fuel availability. but other internal council documents seen by bbc news shed a light on existing preparations. aberdeen council has two weeks of bunkered appeal and says of the uk wide worst case no deal... dorset council have identified key

staff. chichester district council outlines plans for... so that its services don't have to operate hand to mouth in a fuel shortage after a no—deal brexit. the system to deal with fuel shortages, the national emergency plan for fuel is already well developed after the gridlock caused by protests in 2000. now councils are going to notable length but there are wider concerns about the viability of large parts of this vital industry. and faisal is here — what is the government's judgement here? it's quite a dilemma for government, arising out of a no—deal brexit. in other industries they made a differentjudgment. farming, ceramics chose to protect the uk domestic industry by making it more difficult to import. they've made a

differentjudgment with difficult to import. they've made a different judgment with petroleum and they were dodgy because they wa nt to and they were dodgy because they want to protect the consumer, the price of the bill at the pumps, they wa nt to price of the bill at the pumps, they want to keep that down. but now we had the industry say that has an impact on us and on our refineries. that's the dilemma. scottish and welsh governments have written a letter expressing alarm and they wa nt letter expressing alarm and they want the government to take immediate steps to protect the industry. the problem is, if they change the no deal tariff for this industry they may have to change it in full. thank you. and staying with brexit — brussels has again firmly rejected borisjohnson's insistence that the controversial backstop should be scrapped. we'll be talking to our political correspondent in a moment but first what is the backstop? right now uk and the republic of ireland are both in the eu, so there are no border checks between the two. but that changes after brexit. northern ireland will leave

with the rest of the uk — while the republic will still be in the eu. normally that would mean border checks — precisely what both sides don't want. that's where the backstop comes in. if a future trade deal can't be agreed, the eu says there must be an insurance policy keeping the border open and northern ireland closely aligned with the eu. that's a no—no for the government. 0ur political correspondent ben wright is in westminster. it seems, ben, that the two sides couldn't be further apart. the government said there was no point talking to brussels if the backstop was ditched but now we have seen backstop was ditched but now we have seen claims and counter claims showing how far apart the two sides are and how much rancour is running between them as well. in the letter to eu leaders last night, boris johnson said the backstop had to go, said it was intolerable for the uk

but said he was open to looking constructively at other ideas. that got a really frosty knock— back from the eu who said he was offering nothing new, no real alternative and was misleading on what the backstop actually amounted to. downing street then said there would be no deal, no prospect of a deal unless the withdrawal agreement was reopened. it's hard at the stage to know whether or not downing street really does think there is the possibility ofa does think there is the possibility of a new deal being reached or whether we are in the early stages of the no—deal brexit blame game. we might have a better idea tomorrow when borisjohnson might have a better idea tomorrow when boris johnson goes to might have a better idea tomorrow when borisjohnson goes to meet angela merkel before going to see the french president. certainly, there is now very little time for a new compromise to be found. thank you. italy's prime minister has announced his intention to resign, after making a scathing attack in the senate on his far—right coalition partners, the league. giuseppe conte accused the party's leader, matteo salvini — who was sitting next to him — of jeopardising the country and its economy for electoral gain.

the league has been performing strongly in opinion polls, and is calling for new elections. the national grid say a lightning strike was to blame for an electricity blackout that caused more than a million people to lose power in england and wales earlier this month. two generators effectively tripped causing the biggest blackout in more than a decade. the national grid and other companies involved are now being investigated by the energy regulator — and they could face fines. our business correspondent emma simpson reports. lights—out, chaos and confusion. it was the biggest blackout in a decade, hundreds of trains cancelled and passengers stranded. traffic lights not working, a large hospital affected and newcastle airport too. today, more detail on what caused the power cut. at liz52pm, there was

a lightning strike north of london hitting a transmission line. immediately, hornsea offshore wind farm immediately, hornsea offshore wind fa rm lost immediately, hornsea offshore wind farm lost power. it shouldn't happen with lightning. at the same time, a gas power station in bedfordshire also tripped with two large generators failing. there wasn't enough reserve power to instantly bridge the gap. so the emergency system kicked in to prevent a wider shutdown, 5% of the countries electricity demand was taken out. it meanti.i electricity demand was taken out. it meant 1.1 million customers lost power. shortly after 5pm, the system stabilised. it could have been a lot worse, the system worked to prevent a cascade failure and we still have a cascade failure and we still have a system operating now. i would say it worked intended. did it? why was there so much disruption, especially on the railways? there were some minor signalling problems but the keyissue minor signalling problems but the key issue was 60 new thameslink

trains. an internal safety mechanism is triggered on the ground to a halt. around half of them needed engineers to get them restarted, causing widespread chaos and delays. so, should the national grid be more resilient? this company in its batteries help to restore the power supply. it's on standby to deliver insta nt supply. it's on standby to deliver instant electricity when needed. simply the incident could have been avoided. what we need is more back—up, fast response power such as batteries which operate in less than a second. if we had those we wouldn't have seen an outage. as we go further forward with climate change, this will happen more and more. that's something the energy regulator will also be looking at is pa rt regulator will also be looking at is part of its investigation. it could fine the national grid or any of the other electricity companies involved

if they are found to be at fault. emma simpson, bbc news. the time is 6:15. our top story this evening. a 20—year—old man has appeared in court charged with the murder of police officer andrew harper last week. and coming up: down on the farm in norway — a glimpse of what the future might hold for british farmers after brexit. coming up on sportsday on bbc news: twitter say they've suspended several accounts after paul pogba was subjected to racist abuse online. it's the third time in a week a player has been subjected to attacks online. it's a disease that normally affects women over the age of 50 — but cases of ovarian cancer in younger women and teenagers are increasing. the teenage cancer trust is now calling for young people with symptoms to see their gp as early as possible. so what should you look out for? 0ur correspondent, adina campbell, has been to meet one girl who was diagnosed at the age of 14.

in the lead up to her diagnosis, aspiring singer kelliyah had a number of symptoms, but didn't think they were serious. my belly got really big, but i thought i was putting on weight. then i started doing exercises, i started going up hills, doing push—ups, but nothing was working. then i went vegan to see if i would lose a bit of weight. but my belly was getting bigger and bigger. weeks later she was rushed to hospital and diagnosed with ovarian cancer at the age of just 14. doctors found a tumour weighing five kilograms. the woman's face was like... like, what is that?! so, i then started to get scared and i started crying. ovarian cancer normally affects women over the age of 50, but the teenage cancer trust and cancer research uk say there has been a rise in the number of under 25s being diagnosed

since the early 1990s. overall, the number is low, around 140 cases in the uk every year. unfortunately, there is no screening test for ovarian cancer. there is confusion, that women believe the cervical smear test will test for ovarian cancer. it doesn't, it only tests for the cervical cancer. only 2% of these cases affect women and girls over the age of 20. —— under the age of 20. kelliyah has made a full recovery, but has to have checkups and scans every three months for the next five years. her fertility may also be limited. i can still have children in the future, but i would have to have them earlier, because unfortunately, i might experience menopause at an early age. ijust wanted to do everything now, now, now. time doesn't wait for anyone, so i might as well do it now. adina campbell, bbc news.

secondary school children in england appear to be rejecting cigarettes in greater numbers than ever before. according to a new survey, i6% have never smoked tobacco, that's down from 19% in 2016. speak with your macro —— down from 49%. however, a quarter of the 13,000 pupils surveyed from 193 schools have tried drugs. researchers have discovered that more than £28 million of overpayments on student loans in england are being held by the government. it's the result of cases in which repayments continued to be taken even though loans had been paid off in full. the student loans company says it's tried to contact people who have been overcharged to arrange refunds. the foreign office says it is extremely concerned about reports that a worker at the british consulate in hong kong has been detained at the crossing with mainland china. simon cheng, a trade and investment officer, is believed to have gone missing on the 8th of august while on a business trip. throughout this week across bbc news we're looking at the issues facing farmers in the uk —

and today we focus on brexit. the uk's farming unions have warned that leaving the european union without a deal would cause severe disruption to the industry. the government's farming minister, george eustice, said the government would support the sector through what he called "short term turbulence". gareth barlow reports. brexit has brought uncertainty to agriculture, but nowhere more so than here on the irish border. 0wen martin's family have farmed dairy cattle in south armagh on the very edge of northern ireland for nearly 100 years. you wouldn't think there was a border. many times you cross the border and you don't realise it. no deal is chaos, it's going to be. nobody seems to know what we can do. staff you can hold on, but milk has to... 0ur tanks are full every other day. second day, with a hard border, we'd have to throw it out. that's our livelihood. so what do you need to see? what's the best possible outcome?

a deal and a transition period. hundreds of thousands of animals and millions of litres of milk cross the irish border every year. it's somewhere around here — but there's nothing to show exactly where it is. for the businesses and for the people on both sides, it's practically invisible. unlike here, between sweden and norway, where you simply can't miss the border. this crossing from an eu country into a non—eu country is not only a physical barrier but also impacts the decisions made by the norwegian government and their farmers. norway isn't in the eu, but it is a key trading partner, a situation the uk will be keen to replicate. the country's agricultural policy is focused on guaranteeing food prices and supporting norwegian farmers. one of the biggest challenges forfarmers like bjorn is competing against the size of the european union. we feel that it's always in favour of the eu because we are not able to compete on the eu market.

there is a strong support for agriculture in norway by the consumer and by the government and parliament. so, the best paying market is right here outside my barn door. back in the uk, farming unions have called on the government to strike a deal with the eu and do more to support british farmers. we've spent three years planning for a no—deal brexit, we're going to do everything we can to make sure that the border flow continues and we are also going to put in place support for sectors like sheep that may be affected through that short—term turbulence. confidence in westminster, but even amongst farmers who support brexit there are calls for clarity. i probably would vote the same way. the problem is, we've let politicians take over and do it and that's where the problems arise. it doesn't matter what happens comes the 31st of october, we just need to know what's going to happen. just knowing. this uncertainty has been the biggest challenge. forfarmers, dealing with brexit is like dealing with the weather. the question being asked

across the sector — what's coming next? gareth barlow, bbc news. cricket — the australian batsman, steve smith, has been ruled out of the third ashes test at headingley, because of the concussion he suffered at lord's at the weekend. smith, who has already scored two centuries in the series, was hit on the neck by a bouncer from the england fast bowler, jofra archer. australia currently lead the ashes series 1—0. the new boss at virgin galactic says the company has announced their new spacecraft will begin taking people into space on commercial flights by the end of 2020. the project has not been without its problems — in 2014 a pilot died after crashing during a test flight, and there have been question marks over its environmental impact. —— a co—pilot died. the bbc‘s marc cieslak travelled to spaceport in the united states and sent this report. 20 miles past the town of truth or consequences in the new mexico desert,

we find find spaceport america. we are here to get a rare glimpse inside that. it bills itself as the world's very first purpose—built commercial spaceport and its home to virgin galactic, sir richard branson's company, that is hoping to send fee—paying customers to space. fire, fire! the spaceport‘s exterior is the product of british architects foster and partners. it's cost £179 million to build. a bill which has been footed by state government and local taxpayers. eventually, five spacecraft will reside in the hangar and it's here passengers will receive three days' training before blasting off into the upper atmosphere. virgin's tickets cost £200,000 for a 90—minute flight. so far, 600 people have signed up. but at a time of increased concerns about the environment, is it responsible to send wealthy people to space for fun? we actually don't have a very big

rocket motor in the back, so the per person co2 emissions is for the average flight around that of a business class flight from new york to the uk. there is an awareness of our planet documented scientifically with astronauts — they come back changed, with a greater realisation of fragility of our ecosystem and ecosphere. the irony of this idea isn't lost on space experts, though. the fact they have to go that far into space above the planet to have that emotion of feeling protective over the world they live in is sort of ridiculous. but you have to put it into perspective of the fact that space travel is very limited in how much it actually contributes to c02 emissions, in comparison to aircraft, it is a tiny fraction of what aircraft put out there. there have been setbacks for virgin galactic. in 2014, one of its spacecraft crashed during flight testing, resulting in the death of its co—pilot and serious injuries for the pilot.

0n the the spaceport‘s two—mile long runway, chief pilot dave mckay acknowledges the time that flight testing is taking. it has taken longer than we thought it would do initially. with hindsight i don't think that's at all surprising. virgin galactic is part of a new space race. amazon's founder and ceo jeff bezos' blue origin and tesla boss elon musk‘s space x also have plans to take fee—paying customers into space. the race is on. space could be about to get a lot more crowded — for those that can afford the price of a ticket, that is. marc cieslak, bbc news. time for a look at the weather. here's darren bett. some good news a little later. but first, we have had fewer showers today. a bit more sunshine. if we look into the atlantic, a lot of cloud, some of that will be heading our way cloud, some of that will be heading ourway in cloud, some of that will be heading

our way in the next few days. this crowd already has brought some rain across northern ireland and into wales. the of that, some sharp showers across eastern scotland. these will move away. this cloudier zone with showers moving away from northern ireland. across northern england and heading towards scotland. north—east scotland could be chilly tonight. also the north—east of england. elsewhere, temperatures remaining in double figures. sunshine on the way tomorrow, perhaps a few showers across north wales, northern england and scotland. then a band of wet and windy weather sweeping into northern ireland come into western scotland during the afternoon, the wind picking up. towards the south east of the uk, probably still dry, to produce 23 or 24. we have a weather front on the scene for tomorrow, as it runs southwards, so it tends to wea ken it runs southwards, so it tends to weaken overnight and into thursday. it's a band of cloud, may produce some rain and drizzle over the hills of wales. that will peter out and instead we see some rain pushing

back into northern ireland stop it is the far north of england and into scotland. still temperatures of around 19 or 20 is in northern ireland but towards the south east, it is going to be dry, temperatures into the mid 20s. now to the good news. the jet stream into the mid 20s. now to the good news. thejet stream is moving northwards, that means the rain dance will be moved to the north of the uk, high—pressure starting to build in from continental europe. that means for the weekend, the bank holiday weekend for some, it should be dry and it should be warmer as well, temperatures in the south east of the uk probably hitting 28 celsius. thank you very much. that's all from the bbc news at, so it's goodbye from me, and on bbc one we nowjoin the bbc‘s news teams where you are. going off to germany and then france and then see the g7 at baia ritz — biarritz and i made the point that the backstop's going to come out.

hello this is bbc news. the headlines. the eu rejects borisjohnson's calls to ditch the irish backstop, which he says is unacceptable to the uk. the existing agreement does not work for the uk the existing agreement does not work forthe uk and the existing agreement does not work for the uk and parliament has thrown it out three times, we cannot have this backstop. a man appears in court charged with the murder of pc andrew harper. lawyers say he is innocent. he emphatically denies any involvement in the horrific murder of pc andrew harper. the night of a million people in england and wales lost power, there could be fines on the way. carry out was just 14 when she was diagnosed with ovarian cancer. it is rare but the number of