this is bbc news. i'm samantha simmonds. the headlines at 11:00: the french president tells borisjohnson the irish backstop is "indespensible", despite the pm wanting to scrap it. under no circumstances will the uk government he instituting, imposing checks or controls of any kind at that border. why a no—deal brexit could lead to more domestic waste ending up in landfill sites in england. guess where it will end up? the gcse pass rate is up slightly, and that's despite warnings from teachers that some students struggled. and no river in england is currently safe to swim in — that's the stark warning from scientists about the levels of sewage in waterways. and at 11:30, we'll be taking an in—depth look at the papers with our reviewers, anna mikhailova, from

the daily telegraph, and the economist and member of labour's policy forum, grace blakeley. stay with us for that. good evening and welcome to bbc news. paris was always expected to be tougher for boris johnson than berlin, and so it proved today, as the prime minister encountered a friendly but firm approach to brexit from emmanuel macron. the french president said it should be possible to find a brexit deal without totally rewriting the existing agreement, but that any new deal wouldn't be far from that agreed already. and on the key question of the backstop, which guarantees no hard border on the island of ireland, mr macron said it was indispensable — a clear rebuttal to borisjohnson‘s wish to have it removed

from the deal. our political correspondent ben wright reports now from paris. it's a short flight from berlin, but there is 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 cannot be renegotiated, but borisjohnson 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 mutualfriends, and i know that, with energy and with creativity and application, we can find a way forward. but borisjohnson‘s key demand — the removal of the so—called irish backstop from the brexit deal — was given short shrift by president macron. translation: the key

elements of this agreement, 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. we think that there are ways of protecting the integrity of the single market and allowing 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 as unworkable and president macron said any alterations to the deal would be small. in the coming month, we are not going to find a new agreement very different from the current one.

but if there are things that can be adapted, they have to meet the two objectives i've 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, borisjohnson‘s breezy optimism that a new brexit deal can be struckjars 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 is plenty of swagger in politics and eye to eye, their talks would have been frank. an acrimonious and destructive no—deal brexit looms over these cordial—looking discussions and neither side wants the blame for that. so, for now, the diplomacy goes on. ben wright, bbc news, paris. our europe correspondent, damian grammaticas, is in paris this evening and he gave us his analysis of what was said today. what we have seen, warm welcomes,

suddenly and from the uk side of feeling there is a bit of an opening where eu leaders have been saying that renegotiation negotiations possible now they have been sang 30 days or perhaps a bit more. —— saying. but that is not a fundamental shift and the eu has a lwa ys fundamental shift and the eu has always been open to new possibilities. from the eu side they would see a prime minister who has gone back on one of his commitments. he said he would not talk to eu leaders unless they dropped their insistence on dropping the backstop. and yet he raised in paris. a clear message from the two capitals that a unified position in the eu has been maintained and the fundamental principles have been maintained, that they will not dig ireland, the

backstop —— ditch, or anything that damages the integrity of the single market. mr no—deal brexit was saying the backstop has to be in the deal. —— mr macron. they have put the ball backin —— mr macron. they have put the ball back in mrjohnson‘s court and it is up back in mrjohnson‘s court and it is up to him to come up with possible solutions. and we'll find out how this story and many others are covered in tomorrow's front pages, in just over 20 minutes‘ time, at 11:30, in the papers. our guests joining me tonight are anna mikhailova, from the daily telegraph, and the economist and member of labour's policy forum, grace blakeley. a no—deal brexit could lead to a sharp rise in rubbish being sent to landfill, according to council documents seen by the bbc, and much of it could end up in the north of england. currently, millions of tonnes of our domestic waste are sent to europe to be converted into energy, but disruption from a no—deal brexit could make that trade uneconomical. councils say that carparks might

have to be turned into waste facilities, and fear 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 and mashed and sorted before being used as a fuel to generate energy. just two decades ago, four—fifths of this waste used to be buried in the ground as landfill — rather bad for the enviornment. no longer, now it's just a fifth, as government policies designed to meet eu targets means it is turned into energy, as here, or recycled. but the industry says a no—deal brexit will temporarily reverse some of that progress. if we leave with a no—deal brexit in october, then, yes, we will be moving more material, we think, to landfill. but there are some sites in the uk that have been mothballed, because we've been moving away from landfill and haven't needed

them, that could be brought back into operation relatively quickly. the problem across the united kingdom — there simply arenot enough of these facilities. there simply 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 plans to deal with immediate disruption to waste services. bin bags and wheelie bins are being stockpiled — in one case, even new bin lorries ordered to beat the earlier brexit deadline. braintree council, for example, in april listed among its high risks the knock—on effect of transport and fuel problems, thatit might have have to consider reducing allocations of sacks per household to eke out supplies. in a brexit impact assessment, sevenoa ks council mentions that the park—and—ride could be used as a temporary site for waste, and road congestion leading to late or no collections will impact on the community, stockpiling waste

in gardens or streets. southampton council listed the risk that delays or blockages on waste export could result in recycling banks and waste—tra nsfer stations becoming full and potentially closing, and one response mentioned by its contractor was diversion to landfill. that's the issue causing the biggest headache. it's not just recycling, ordinary household waste is exported on ships like this heading from southampton to sweden, over three million tons of household rubbish directly. 600 ships‘ worth of your black bin bag rubbish gets put into these white cubes, put on ships like this to be sent to the european union. it's system that's built over decades in order to limit the growth of landfill in the uk. just 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 eu countries,

but the issue here arises if there is general port congestion and, as has already occurred, 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 there. most of the landfill capacity is further north, up in the midlands and north england. so it would have to start being trucked from the ports to those landfill spaves further up north. the south of england's rubbish which currently gets exported...? would then have to go... if we're not able to export it, the only other option for this waste that 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 the very point of brexit is freedom from eu rules targets and standards such as this. the environment agency says the environment will be protected, and it's encouraging exporters of waste to plan alternatives

in case of border disruption. the impact of no—deal could yet be filled in where the nation's bin bags end up. faisal islam, bbc news. more than 700,000 teenagers across england, wales and northern ireland, received their gcse results today. there was a slight increase in the overall pass rate and in the percentage of top grades this year. in england, headteachers said the exams were harder, and demoralising for some pupils, after the biggest changes in a generation. there's less coursework and a new numbers system replacing a star—g grades. 0ur education editor branwenjeffreys has more. two years of pressure, weeks of exams. terrified! i'm all right. it is what it is. a bit nervous. just desperate to find out, really. i'm just, like, whatever happens happens. i tried my best. now it's reality! finally, results day. tears and hugs.

there is so much riding on this for them... ..and their teachers. it's quite emotional. this is the culmination of their effort and our effort and it's really special. i'm happy to get it all over and done with. i've got a—levels to go yet, though. their grades in england now 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, 31%. there was a lot of talk

about the maths gcse this year. how was it? it was challenging. yeah, it was quite hard. it's been usefuljust to see where we are as students and how much we know. some want 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 it than i do sitting and watching. you will have seen people in the hall who achieved ten nines, which is absolutely phenomenal, but for some of my young people, for achieving a three, they have smashed their target grades. i've passed everything so i'm really happy. gcses are different around the uk but northern ireland still seems to get the best results, both in top grades and passes overall. in wales, a small increase in passes but still one of the lowest levels for ten years. in barnstable, after results, time to sign up at college. technical options are growing,

with new t—levels round the corner and, for some, the chance to resit some gcses. branwynjeffreys, bbc news, devon messing about in the river carries more risks than you might think. 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. victoria gill reports. 0ur rivers are the veins of our towns, cities and countryside. i likejumping offjust into rivers! oh, it's so warm now! 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. really? 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 i think 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. the headlines on bbc news: the french president tells borisjohnson the irish backstop is indespensible, despite the pm wanting to scrap it. why a no—deal brexit could lead to more domestic waste ending up in landfill sites in england. the gcse pass rate is up slightly and that's despite warnings from teachers that some students struggled.

the latest official immigration figures show that 226 ——— 226,000 more people came into the uk than left in the year since march 2018. that's broadly unchanged since 2016. most of them are from around the world, with roughly a quarter coming from the eu. however there are questions about whether the government can meet its pledge to end the free movement of people if there's a no—deal brexit. our home affairs correspondent daniel sandford reports. with a possible no—deal brexit fast approaching, there's been a new surge in eu citizens living in britain applying for what is called settled status. people like aneska, who's been working as a nanny in london for 11 years and wants to stay and sees settled status as a key step. it will help me to 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.

today's 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, 7,000 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. and 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 dosdovic 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 event of a no—deal brexit the end of freedom of movement with eu countries could be effectively delayed. she's asked officials to quickly come up with a new plan. how you magic that out of thin air in eight weeks, when past changes from kind of design to rollout of big immigration changes have taken four years, we don't even know what this new proposal is yet. it doesn't seem like government knows what this new proposal is yet. government sources insisted that a new plan for a no—deal brexit, one that is tougher on people with criminal records, can be made to work and would be announced in due course. daniel sandford, bbc news. 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 said it was a joke

and 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. a woman has been arrested on suspicion of neglect, after her 10—year—old son was found dead in a caravan in birmingham. police and paramedics were called to the acocks green area of the city this morning, but the boy was pronounced dead a short time later. detectives are treating the death as unexplained until a post—mortem is conducted. president trump has branded an anti—fascism movement a terrorist organisation and says he's considering officially designating it as such. his comments on antifa, short for anti—facism, have prompted accusations of hypocrisy from critics who say he hasn't done enough to curb white supremacist groups. earlier this week, our north america correspondent aleem maqbool reported on those far—right groups. now, from portland in oregon he takes a look at the far—left.

the rise of white supremacy in the us has seen a counter surge, in an anti—fascist movement that has come to be known as antifa. it gets attention when activists come out to oppose far right marches, often in dangerous confrontations with neo—nazis or the police. it's our duty, it's our obligation as human beings to come in and use our voice and use our bodies to protect our communities. i, personally, am comfortable with the thought that my life could be... like, i could die in order to make it easier for other people to live. many conservatives here say that antifa, and not the far right, is the real danger. in the past, antifa protesters have vandalised businesses and beaten people during rallies in the name of anti—fascism. we are not going to let fascists take over peacefully. by whatever means.

by any means necessary. which means the potential use of violence? u nfortu nately. luis, who has been arrested many times, insists it is never his objective to start violence, only to physically confront hate groups on the streets. but, even in recent days, we have seen that the antifa movement takes many other forms to oppose fascism. well, you don'tjust see anti—fascism expressed in this country on the streets when people come out to confront white supremacists. antifa has also found a home in the supporters clubs of some of america's professional football teams. the stadium at this portland timbers game was awash with anti—fascist slogans and signs, and messages of inclusion. even the supporters club logo

is that of the iron front — its three arrows representing opposition to nazism. and this is antifa, too. the metal band lockdown part of a thriving us anti—fascist music scene. so, what do they think about the president saying he is thinking of designating antifa a terrorist organisation? antifa is not an organisation whatsoever. itjust should be who you are as a human being. we've done nothing terroristic at all. we've committed no sorts of atrocities, unlike the other side, the far right side, where there have been many, many very deadly terroristic attacks. and when you do look at the mass shootings by white supremacists, at a black church or a synagogue or targeting latinos, there has been no equivalent violence on the far left. that's not to say things aren't heading in a more extreme direction.

aleem maqbool, bbc news, in portland, oregon. 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. tonight, federal prosecutors have announced they will investigate the fires. 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 3 million species of plants and animals and 1 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 the 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. and we'll be taking an in—depth look at the papers with our reviewers anna mikhailova from the daily telegraph and the economist and member of labour's policy forum grace blakeley — that's coming up after the headlines at 11:30. now it's time for the weather with chris fawkes thursday's weather brought wet weather across northern ireland, and scotla nd weather across northern ireland, and scotland but the weather is going to get drier over the next few days. many of us, quite a bit hotter as well. looking at the weather picture through friday, we got this weather front which continues to edge its way northwards across scotland bringing some rain in western areas.

across 0rkney. the rest of the uk, after a rather cloudy start. the sunshine makes all the difference. temperatures climbing into the low 20s of the uk, towards the south—east, it becomes up to 28 the greens. winds coming from the continent and that will help with the temperatures quite significantly and warmer weather to —— weather is on the way. it's not entirely dry everywhere. the prospect of showers across the north—west of the uk but for many of us, dry start to the weekend. highs of 23 in edinburgh

newcastle. warmer in south—east england. sunday, another fairly straightforward weather day. most areas will have prolonged spells of sunshine. a few patches of low cloud and mist nests on north sea coasts but for the majority, another dry day and warm day as well. —— mists on. highs of 30 in eastern england. heat spreading north, 2a in edinburgh. it could be nice if i could stop the forecast there because on monday onwards, the forecast becomes uncertain and for a good reason, the jet forecast becomes uncertain and for a good reason, thejet stream. with the jet stream, the good reason, thejet stream. with thejet stream, the high good reason, thejet stream. with the jet stream, the high winds heightened in the atmosphere. small differences in wind direction can make a big difference with our weather but we have a trough moving in through sunday and monday to the west of the uk. this trough is kind of like a river. sometimes those river bends get so big, you get an oxbow lake forming. that happens in

the atmosphere and you get a cut—off low. this changes wins by 180 degrees, a huge change with huge effects on whether on this cut—off low could be over spain or southern england, 1000 miles, and different models are telling us different things so that is no certainty with the forecast on monday. 0ne scenario, one model shows a band of rain coming into the north—west of the uk. it would be hot through monday and tuesday with more that warm sunshine but an alternative scenario shows that weather front through monday and tuesday staying mainly away from the uk and instead, we get some big thunderstorms moving up we get some big thunderstorms moving up from the south to the kind of differences we're looking but in the forecast for and tuesday. ultimately the weather changes and becomes more u nsettled the weather changes and becomes more unsettled but the details of rain and thundery showers is uncertain and thundery showers is uncertain and how hot, uncertain through monday and tuesday and the timing of that change to more unsettled weather as well.