edinburgh on 22 in belfast. uncertainty for monday. we may see showers break out and those temperatures perhaps coming down by a degree or two. all. the eu will not give up the irish backstop. that was his response to borisjohnson‘s key demand as he tries to renegotiate the brexit deal. translation: the key elements of this agreement, including the irish backstop, are notjust technical constraints or legal quibbling, but are genuine, indispensable guarantees. but the prime minister says it won't be uk that puts up a physical border between northern ireland and the republic. under no circumstances will the uk government be instituting, imposing, checks or controls of any kind at that border. so, is this the brexit blame game? also on the programme...

why a no—deal brexit could lead to more domestic waste ending up in landfill sites in england — guess where it will end up. most of our landfill capacity is further north, up in the midlands, north of england, so it would have to start being trucked from the ports up to those landfill spaces, further up north. the gcse pass rate is up slightly — and that's despite warnings from teachers that some students struggled. is that a good idea? new warnings about england's dirty rivers — about one in seven meet eu standards. archer on target — jofra's second wicket in the headingley ashes test, and warner is the victim. and coming up on bbc news... a deadline is a deadline. we hear from the efl‘s executive chair, who tells us their hands are tied as bury faces expulsion on friday.

good evening and welcome to the bbc news at six. the red carpets, the handshakes — we saw theresa may go through it all several times. now it's borisjohnson‘s turn, and the question is, will the result be any different? the prime minister was in paris today and on the key question of the irish backstop, there seems to be little change. president emmanuel macron said it was indespensible — a firm rebuttal to mrjohnson‘s wish to have it removed. today's meeting followed yesterday's talks in berlin, and our correspondent ben wright has been travelling with the prime minister. it's a short flight from berlin. but there's a long way to go. welcome to

paris... yesterday, angela merkel invited the uk to find solutions that might avoid a no—deal brexit, but little more than that. and today's trip promised to be tougher still for the prime minister. president macron has long said the existing brexit deal works and could not be renegotiated. but boris johnson is pushing for a different one and seemed buoyed by his trip to germany. i was powerfully encouraged by our conversations last night in berlin with our mutual friends, and i know that with energy and with creativity and application, we can find a way forward. but boris johnson's key demand, the removal of the so—called irish backstop from the so—called irish backstop from the brexit deal, was given short shrift by president macron. translation: the key elements of this agreement to, including the irish backstop, are notjust technical constraints or quibbling but indeed indispensable guarantees to preserve the stability in ireland

and the integrity of the single market, which are fully part of the agreement negotiated over a long period of time between the uk and the eu. both the french president and chancellor merkel said boris johnson now had 30 days to propose ideas which could eliminate the need for a backstop, an insurance policy to prevent a heart border. so what is his plan? we think there are ways of protecting the integrity of the single market, and allowing the uk to exit from the eu whole and entire and perfect, as it were. the prime minister mentioned ideas already rejected many times by the eu is unworkable. president macron said any alterations to the deal would be small. in the current month we are not going to find a new agreement very different from the current one. but if there are things which can be adapted, they have to meet the two objectives i have already mentioned, and they need to be found in the coming month. but the prime minister

remained pugnacious. let's get on now in deepening and intensifying the friendship and the partnership between us, over lunch. once again, boris johnson's breezy between us, over lunch. once again, borisjohnson‘s breezy optimism jars with what european leaders are actually saying. right now, it looks very unlikely that a compromise can be reached, with so little time left. there's plenty of swagger in politics and eye to eye, their talks would have been frank. an acrimonious and disruptive no—deal brexit looms over these cordial discussions, and neither side wants the blame for that. so for now, the diplomacy goes on. george, boris johnson will hold further talks with key eu leaders at the g7 summit in biarritz this weekend. i think what has been interesting about the last 48 hours is the clear willingness on behalf of both president macron and angela merkel to listen to boris johnson, to hear what he has to say. i think they have been receptive to some of his arguments, even though

the gulf between the sides remains large. i think no 10 feels there is a channel of communication open and it remains in the interests of both sides for brexit to happen with a deal. but we come back again and again to this issue of the backstop. borisjohnson says, if it ever kicked in, it would trap the uk in eu trade rules, and more importantly he does not think it will get through parliament. the eu say it is absolutely essential. borisjohnson in the future once britain to be outside the single market and the customs union, and the eu is emphatic, the only way to keep that border open in ireland is to have that backstop in the deal. and so after these two days of intensive talks, it is still pretty hard to see how those differences can be bridged. ben wright, thank you very much. failing to agree an eu withdrawal deal could lead to a sharp rise in rubbish being sent to landfill — that's according to a number of council documents seen by the bbc. much of it could end up in the north of england. at the moment, millions of tonnes

of our domestic waste are sent to europe to be converted into energy, but disruption resulting from a no—deal brexit could make that trade uneconomical. councils say that carparks might have to be turned into waste facilities and warn that people might start dumping rubbish in streets and gardens. 0ur economics editor, faisal islam, reports. processing household rubbish, in this case near bristol. it is london's black bin bags being churned, mashed and sorted before being used as a fuel to be generated for energy. two decades ago, four fifths of this waste used to be buried in the ground as landfill, no longer, now, it is just a fifth as government policies designed to meet eu targets means it is either turned into energy as here or recycled. the industry says a no—deal brexit will temporarily reverse some of that progress. if we leave with a no deal

brexit in october, yes, we will be moving more material we think to landfill but there are some mothballed sites in the uk which could be brought back into operation relatively quickly. the problem is that right across the united kingdom, there are not enough of these facilities. these industry concerns and more more are shared by councils many of whose internal preparations for a worst—case scenario, no—deal brexit, seen by the bbc detail immediate plans to deal with disruption to waste services. bin bags and wheelie bins are being stockpiled, in one case even new bin lorries were ordered to beat the earlier brexit deadline. braintree council lists on its high risks the knock—on effect of transport and fuel problems, it might have have to consider reducing allocations of sacks per household to eke out supplies. sevenoa ks council says

a park—and—ride could be used as a temporary site for waste. road congestion leading to late or no collection will impact on the community, stockpiling waste in gardens or streets. southampton council listed delays that could be a result in recycling banks and waste transfer stations becoming full and potentially closing and one response from a contractor was diversion to landfill. that is the issue causing the biggest headache, it is notjust recycling ordinary household waste like this is exported on ships like this heading from southampton to sweden, over 3 million tonnes of rubbish directly. 600 ships worth of your black bin bag rubbish gets put into these cubes and put on ships like this to get sent to the european union. this system was built up over decades to limit the growth of landfill in the uk. who would have thought that brexit

and no deal in particular could impact where our rubbish goes? the government did gain recognition for uk waste to be continued to be exported with individual european countries. but the issue arises if there is general port and as has already occured a general slide in the value of sterling — making the trade uneconomic. a lot of waste comes out of the south—east. we have very little landfill capacity in the south—east, most of the capacity is farther north. it would have to be trucked from the ports further up north. the south of england's rubbish which currently gets exported...? if we're not able to export it, the only other option for this waste which currently goes to the netherlands, to power the amsterdam arena and all that, that will have to be shipped up north and stuck in a hole in the ground.

for some, this is the very point of brexit, freedom from eu rules, targets and standards. the government has made some progress here but the impact of no deal could yet be felt in where the nation's bin bags end up. faisaljoins me now. 0ver over the last few days you have looked at food, oil, and now waste, what lesson do you draw from all of this? we are used to the idea that airbus, or car manufacturers, they have parts which fly around the whole of europe and we are reliant on that. i think what is quite stark from the documents i've seen is how oui’ from the documents i've seen is how our local public services also rely on those supply chains, that stretch into the european union. and so there is a potential impact from brexit and from a no—deal brexit. the government was on top of this, they did enable the permissions that weren't back in with the european union to get this going, the environment agency have told us, we are encouraging businesses who export waste to continue and consider alternative options in case of disruption at borders. the question, where does the waste go,

does it stay at the ports, does it go to the north of england, or does it end up in landfill? tens of millions of costs for that. faisal islam, thank you. more than 700,000 teenagers across england, wales and northern ireland received their gcse results today. there's been a slight increase in the overall pass rate and the percentage of top grades this year. in england, there were warnings that the exams were harder and tougher on less able students following the biggest changes in a generation, with less coursework and a new numbers system replacing a—g grades. 0ur education editor, branwen jeffreys, reports from devon. two years of pressure, weeks of exams. terrified come? i am all right. it is what it is. a bit nervous, just desperate to find out, really. the build-up is very stressful. whatever happens happens, i tried my very best, now it is reality. finally, results day. tears

and hugs. there's so much riding on this, for them and their teachers. it is quite emotional. you see them come in in year seven and then you pick them up in year ten and year 11 and get them through their exams, and get them through their exams, and this is the culmination of their effort, and our effort, and it's really special. i'm really that they are all overand really special. i'm really that they are all over and done with but i have got a—levels to come now. are all over and done with but i have got a-levels to come now. the grades now go from nine down to one, with more sitting academic subjects. there is a lot of relief here today. gcses in england have been much harder in the last few years. but despite that, top grades are up slightly, and that is partly because the system is being so heavily managed. so, the pass marks for some harder papers are set lower. for a grade four gcse this year, higher

maths needed just 22%. physics, 27%. french, 3i%. there was a lot of talk about the maths gcse this year — how was it? it was challenging! yeah, it was it? it was challenging! yeah, it was quite hard. it has been useful just to see where we are as students, how much we know and what we need to push ourselves when we wa nt we need to push ourselves when we want to go on to other things. someone to go on to learn while they train. spending as little time as possible at a desk is great for me because i learn better doing than i do sitting and watching. you will have seen people in the hall who achieved ten nines, which is phenomenal, but for some of my young people, achieving a three, they have smashed their target by two grades, in some respects. i passed everything. gcses are different around the uk, but northern ireland still seems to get the best results, both in top grades and in overall

passes. in wales, a small increase in passes, but still, one of the lowest levels for ten years. in barnstaple, after results, time to sign up at college. technical options are growing, with new t—levels around the corner, and for some, a chance to resit gcses. branwenjeffreys, bbc news, devon. a man who filmed a model of grenfell tower being burned on a bonfire has been found not guilty on two charges of posting grossly offensive material. paul bussetti claimed he never intended for the video to be shared, after it was circulated on whatsapp groups. the prosecution team was criticised by the judge for the late disclosure of evidence. the latest migration figures have been released by the office for national statistics and they show that 226,000 more people came into the uk than left in the year since march 2018 — that's broadly the same as it has been since 2016.

the majority of those coming into uk are people from across the world, with around a quarter coming from the eu. though the rate of eu citizens coming to the uk is continuing to fall, there are questions about whether the government can meet its pledge to end the free movement of people in the event of a no—deal brexit. our home affairs correspondent daniel sandford reports. with the possible no—deal brexit fast approaching, there has been a new surge into divisions living in britain applying for what is called settled status. people like this woman who has been working as a nanny in london for ii woman who has been working as a nanny in london for 11 years and wa nts to nanny in london for 11 years and wants to stay, and sees settled status as a key step. it will help me reach my goal which is a british passport in the future, and be sure about everything. despite brexit, there is still net inward migration

to the uk from eu countries. the figures show 59,000 more people came here then left in the year to march, but from those countries thatjoined the eu later in 2004 like poland, 7000 more people left than arrived. the main exceptions to the trend are bulgaria and romania. from those countries there was still net inward migration of 32,000. all the figures have to be treated with caution now. they were downgraded yesterday to experimental statistics because of concerns over how accurate they are. barbara runs a resource centre for east europeans. she told me people are leaving because of concerns about the future and this week the government has been emphasising its desire to end freedom of movement. that brings this sense of feeling unwelcome again. it reminds people that actually people did vote

brexit, fair enough, maybe this is because of me. on monday it became clear the new home secretary priti patel had rejected an idea that in the eight event of a no—deal brexit the eight event of a no—deal brexit the end of freedom of movement with eu countries could be effectively delayed. she has asked officials to quickly come up with a new plan. how you magic that out of thin air in eight weeks when pass changes from kind of design to roll of big immigration changes have taken four yea rs, immigration changes have taken four yea rs , we immigration changes have taken four years, we don't even know what this new proposal is yet. it doesn't seem like government knows yet. government sources insisted that it can be made to work and would be announced in due course. daniel sandford, bbc news. the time is 18 minutes past six. our top story this evening... the prime minister in paris — president macron tells borisjohnson that the irish backstop has to stay. the wild fires raging across brazil's amazon forest —

activists accuse the country's president of encouraging clearance. coming up on sportsday on bbc news...george ford and owen farrell are set to start together for the first time in over a year when they line up for england against ireland this saturday. messing about in the river may no longer be as fun or as safe as we once thought. the world wide fund for nature says english rivers are being "used as open sewers", with nearly nine out ten failing to meet clean water standards. they say the environment agency is very unlikely to meet its clean river target by 2027. the agency is planning an autumn consultation on the "challenges and choices" faced in cleaning up our rivers. victoria gill reports. 0ur rivers are the veins of our towns, cities and countryside.

shall ijump into rivers? oh, it's so warm! but beneath a picturesque surface, there is a festering problem. i've had quite a few friends that feel a bit poorly after they've gone in. what kind of thing? just a bit, like, feeling sick. as these videos, captured in ilkley, west yorkshire, show, when heavy rain overloads sewage treatment pipes, untreated sewage is simply released into the river. and campaigners here argue that the water company is allowing this to happen too often. the limit, the amount of inflow going into the sewage plant, was set 17 years ago. we've got a significantly different environment now. there's much more run—off, we've had much more building going on in ilkley, we've got a huge population increase and we've got climate change, so more water is flowing into the sewage plants. so, it's filthy and it's sitting in the bed of the river. yorkshire water, the company responsible, told bbc news that it had already taken steps to ensure that the works discharges less

frequently and that it operates legally and within environment agency guidelines. and this isn't just about one local beauty spot. pollution in our rivers is a much bigger issue. with outdoor swimming becoming more popular, public health england already recommend that people take a hot shower after a swim to reduce the risk of getting sick. but some experts say we should avoid swimming in rivers altogether. we have so many sewage works on a river that even if you treated it perfectly, in the sense of, to the current standards of waste water treatment, you would still have enough pathogens coming out of a well—operated sewage works, that you wouldn't want to swim in the river. so, are the water companies doing enough with our money to stop pollution? vast peatland restoration schemes helped northumbrian water to earn the environment agency's best environmental performance rating this year.

this is the outfall, that's right, so when we come along, way check the water to see if there's any pollution. and with their volunteer water ranger scheme, they're involving the local community in stopping pollution. the company says zero raw sewage in rivers is a realistic target here. but the industry admits most of us will never see that achieved. that's going to take many decades to achieve, given the legacy infrastructure that we have to deal with. some companies want to move faster, but the important thing to recognise is that we aren't standing still, we are investing to ensure that the level of pollution falls. the environment agency admits funding cuts have affected its ability to protect rivers, but it has refuted claims from campaigners that it is allowing the industry to pollute. but while many of us might not notice it, pollution continues to drain into our waterways. victoria gill, bbc news.

ryanair says all its flights to and from british airports went ahead without disruption this morning, despite a strike by pilots over pay and conditions. the pilots' union balpa says the 48—hour walkout has caused huge cost to ryanair, but the company says 97% of flights took off on time this morning. the brazilian president jair bolsonaro says his government lacks the resources to fight wildfires raging across the amazon rainforest. satellite images show there's been a massive increase in the number of fires this year. but conservationists have blamed brazil's government for what's happening, saying the president has encouraged the clearing of land by loggers and farmers. camilla mota reports from sao paulo. fire in the amazon's rainforest. this is happening in the world's largest and most important ecosystem, that's home to three million species of plants and animals and one million indigenous people. it generates more than 20% of all the oxygen in our atmosphere. this is what it's

like at ground level. brazil's had more than 73,000 fire outbreaks this year and more than half have been in the amazon. sao paulo, brazil's largest city, is over 1,600 miles from fires. but this week, in the middle of the day, it was plunged into darkness due to smoke from the fires. in recent months, the country's president has ripped up environmental protections for the amazon. who does he blame for the fires? translation: guarding the amazon fires, i'm under the impression they could have been started by the ngos because they'd asked forfunding. what was their intention? to bring about problems for brazil. chanting. protesters have blamed bolsonaro's government for encouraging greater exploitation of the amazon, and weakening its environmental safeguards. this is how they greeted brazil's environmental minister at a climate conference.

booing. fires in the amazon caused by people are fairly common at this time of the year, but it was the arrival of smoke from the blazes here in sao paulo that ignited outrage in brazil and worldwide against the government's attitude towards the environment. camilla mota, bbc news, sao paulo. the racehorse enable galloped to a 12th consecutive win as she triumphed at york in what is likely to be her final race on british soil. jockey frankie dettori was in tears after steering the five—year—old mare to a clear—cut victory in the yorkshire 0aks. enable has been beaten only once, and has won more than £9.5 million in prize money. the third ashes test between england and australia is under way. after early rain delays the teams

seem fairly evenly matched — wth bowlersjofra archer and stuart broad taking early wickets, and australia rallying. from headingley, andy swiss reports. grey skies, but decidedly colourful supporters. england fans of all species headed to headingley in search of an ashes comeback. with australia's star batsmen steve smith sidelined with concussion this was surely their chance but instead the hosts faced another old adversary, the weather. but in between the early showers, england's bowlers reigned. jofra archer was soon posing problems, and when the breakthrough came it just posing problems, and when the breakthrough came itjust had to be him. marcus harris edging behind for eight and him. marcus harris edging behind for eightand in him. marcus harris edging behind for eight and in the nick of time for england as the rain returned. it would become a frustrating feature. an hourand a would become a frustrating feature. an hour and a half later they came back although not for long. not outside the umpire but replays showed he had nicked it, much to

england's delight. but an australian recovery, england's delight. but an australian recovery , a england's delight. but an australian recovery, a gritty half—century for david warner. suddenly it was the visitors on top. just when england needed them, the wickets came. archer finding warner's edge before broad accounted for travis‘ head. another day of fluctuating fortunes. australia have now lost another wicket so they are currently 157 for five. england are trailing 1—0 in the series so this is a match they need to win. it‘s not been an easy day for them but they have battled back well, george. andy, thank you. time for a look at the weather. here‘s tomasz schafernaker. the weather was quite varied across the uk today, sunshine in the south but we had the rain further north. the next few days it is turning

sunny the next few days it is turning sunny across the next few days it is turning sunny across the country and it will turn very warm as well, hot in fact across the south—east. in the short term this is the cloud we have across the country now so that gave across the country now so that gave a spell of rain across lancashire, the lake district, northern ireland and scotland. that will continue through the night but there will be a tendency for the rain to drift north so that means belfast for example, ca rlisle and north so that means belfast for example, carlisle and yorkshire will be drying out after that damp weather today. in the south, clear spells, and wherever you are in the country it will be a mild night. the temperatures will shoot up quickly, especially in the south and south—east with the sunshine. probably around 28 degrees is the top four tomorrow, but in scotland and northern ireland still relatively modest. newcastle 23 degrees. the real warmth comes in time for the weekend so saturday and sunday we will see a plume of warm

aircoming infrom sunday we will see a plume of warm air coming in from the south, the jet streams to the north and west will allow for that warm weather to come in from the south. sunshine across the board, a beautiful day on saturday and i suspect temperatures in the capital will hit around 30 celsius. we haven‘t had those sorts of temperatures for about a month when we had that record—breaking heat about four weeks ago. sunday is looking pretty hot as well and the chances are it will stay warm into bank holiday monday as well. great. thank you. that‘s all from the bbc news at six. 0n bbc one we nowjoin the bbc‘s news teams where you are. goodbye. the problem is there are simply not enough of these facilities across the uk.

hello, this is bbc news. our latest headlines: the french president tells borisjohnson the irish backstop is "indespensible" despite the pm wanting to scrap it. under no circumstances will the uk government be or imposing any checks or controls

at that border.