this is bbc news — i'm martine croxall. the headlines at seven: amber rudd quits borisjohnson‘s cabinet, attacking his handling of brexit — the government insists it is doing all it can to get a new deal you might expect in the balance between getting a deal and no deal, 50—50 in terms of work, but it's not that, it's, like, 80, 90% of government time going into preparing for no—deal. we are working wholeheartedly, straining every sinew to get a deal, and the prime minister is personally putting in all the significant effort you would expect. peace talks between the taliban and the us are called off — president trump blames a deadly attack in the afghan capital, kabul. hours to go before british airways pilots go on strike — affecting up to 300,000 passengers.

joy for australia — they've retained the ashes after bowling out england on the final day of the fourth test at old trafford. good evening. government ministers have dismissed the accusation of a former senior colleague that too little effort is going into securing a new brexit agreement with the eu. amber rudd — who resigned from the cabinet last night — said today that the vast majority of brexit—focused work was going towards no—deal and that there were no formal negotiations with brussels. she's also called the expulsion of 21 conservative mps opposed to no—deal "an assault on decency and democracy." the chancellor, sajid javid,

says the government hasn't given up on a deal and is sticking to plans to leave at the end of october, come what may. 0ur political correspondent, jonathan blake, reports. from cabinet minister to backbench mp overnight, amber rudd walked out of government no longer believing the prime minister's priority was to get a new brexit deal. this morning i'm joined by the now former work and pensions secretary amber rudd... this morning she explained she could see little evidence of efforts to reach an agreement with eu. there is this huge machine preparing for no—deal, which is fine, you might expect in the balance between getting a deal and no—deal, 50—50 in terms of work, but it isn't that, it's about 80, 90% of government time going into preparing for "no deal" and the absence of actually trying to work to get a deal which is what has driven 21 of my colleagues to rebel and i need to join them.

expelling those mps that voted against the government was an act of political vandalism. the former work and pensions secretary had written in her letter of resignation. i know i could not carry on in the conservative party at such a high level and see 21 of my colleagues, who are good, moderate people, who also want a deal, excluded from it. and ijust needed to move and stand by them. will brexit ever happen? the chancellor said he was sad at what happened, but defended the prime minister's strategy and hit back at amber rudd's claimed the government wasn't trying in earnest to get a new brexit deal. i am absolutely clear that we are working wholeheartedly, straining every sinew, to get a deal, and that the prime minister is personally putting in all of the significant effort you would expect from a leader to get this deal done. in brussels this week, the uk's top official having regular meetings. by the eu's chief negotiator reportedly described talks as in paralysis. downing street said negotiations have been constructive,

but acknowledged the two sides are still far apart. the prime minister has been in campaign—mode this week for the election he wants to avoid asking for a brexit delay. 0pposition parties say not until leaving without a deal is ruled out. i don't trust him an inch, i don't think anyone does. we've got a prime minister now who is saying he won't even abide by the law. the law! i've never heard that before. we are in a situation now where no one can trust while he is in place what might happen. keeping away from the cameras at the government's countryside retreat, the prime minister met his closest advisers, perhaps plotting his next move. the promise is still to deliver brexit by the end of october. the unanswered question — how? jonathan blake, bbc news. let's look ahead to the next few days — and weeks — and what might be in store.

tomorrow, the government will make a second attempt to call a general election — but that requires the support of two—thirds of mps and is expected to fail. the government is then expected to suspend parliament for five weeks. 0n the 17th of october there's the key eu in summit in brussels — where the government says it hopes to agree a brexit deal and leave on the 31st of october. but if there's no agreement, then by the 19th of october the new legal deadline imposed on borisjohnson because of the law pushed through by mps comes into force. it requires the prime minister to either persuade mps to agree to leave with no deal at the end of october — which is highly unlikely. or it says he must ask the eu to delay brexit — something he's insisted he will never do. today, the foreign secretary dominic raab said the government was scrutinising the new law —

in the hope of finding a loophole. we are always going to behave as a government but we are going to test the requirements. that is not only the requirements. that is not only the lovely thing to do but the responsible thing to do. —— are lawful. let's go back tojonathan — who's is in downing street. does it look like the government is going to try and get around the law? i think that's the indication from dominic raab. although government ministers have said that the government will abide by the rule of law and not seek to break it, it's clear that they will try to find a way around it. perhaps not surprising because the government's strategy has been, sends morris out and became prime minister, to deliver brexit by the 31st of 0ctober, come what may, do or die. the legal gauntlet thrown down by opposition parties in the form of a bill forcing the perimeter to ask for a delay if you think to no—deal by that summit in mid october will

not change the game plan here in downing street. how exactly do anything to do it, well, i think will have to wait to see because thatis will have to wait to see because that is a question that everyone is asking at the moment. legal advice, i'm sure, it being taken. premise that has been at his countryside retreat today discussing what his next move would be, whether anything will change in the days ahead before parliament is due to be suspended, by thursday at the latest, we will just have to see. i think the message to mps who are preparing a legal challenges of the prime minister try to get around that law, the central clause in the bill which forces him to ask for a brexit extension, the message in government coming a response that today seems to be, we will see you in court. how likely is it that we will see more people stepping down? after amber rudd dramatically resigned last

night, there was perhaps an expectation that others who shared her concerns in government would follow suit. but it seems like the premise that has managed to stave off any further ministerial walk—outs for the time being, the likes of matt hancock, health secretary, format remains a pot that has made it clear that he is going nowhere. nicky moderne appears to be staying. robert buckland, the justice secretary, tweeting today that he has confidence in the prime minister's strategy and has been reassured about the government but my invitation to follow the rule of law. it does not seem it any more ministerial resignations are imminent. in terms of what downing street is next moves are, will have to see, as they were that those who do have an uneasiness in government, stay put or decide that they cannot continue to serve. president trump has called off peace negotiations with the taliban after they admitted being behind an attack in afghanistan that killed an american soldier.

the taliban condemned the decision to withdraw from talks that come after 18 years of war — warning america would lose the most. 0ur chief international correspondent, lyse doucet, reports from the afghan capital, kabul. a busy kabul junction. the attack said to have changed president trump's mind. a young us soldier died here and ten afghans, aged ten to 70. the taliban struck this kabul neighbourhood, too, the very day last week the us said it had reached a deal in principle with the taliban to start bringing its troops home. they've been negotiating for nearly a year in the gulf state of qatar, and the taliban almost hit the diplomatic jackpot — a trip to camp david to talk to president trump, his classic high—stakes summitry. but now, it's off. a taliban spokesman sent us their response. a few days ago, the peace

agreement was concluded with the us negotiation team, and it was initialed by heads of both negotiation teams. that tweet by president donald trump is astonishing, and i think it harms his reputation. a peace process that may have consequences. . . the afghan government — the taliban still refuse to talk to — welcome the move. i think it was the right move at the right time, and a genuine reflection of the concerns that not only the afghan people, but many in dc, raised of the threats, of the consequences of any deal that could be harmful to all of us. was it this one terrible attack in kabul which provoked president trump's dramatic move?

or was it the rising chorus of anger and anxiety, in kabul and in washington, over peace talks which only seemed to bring more war? many fear taliban at the table don't speak for fighters on the ground. until they put down their guns, their commitment to peace won't be clear. lyse doucet, bbc news, kabul. 0ur north america correspondent, david willis is in washington for us. as is often the way, president trump has taken to social media, what has he been saying about his decision? he has been saying that this is all down to this attack last thursday near the american embassy in kabul which killed an american service man. he says that, basically, that is proof that the taliban is not negotiating in good faith. but the

very fa ct negotiating in good faith. but the very fact that this secret meeting was due to take place today at the presidential retreat, camp david, has come as a surprise and i would say a shock to many people here. not least because this taliban is the same group that has been taking many american service men and women's lives over the last 18 years during fighting in afghanistan. many people have said it is almost unprecedented for them to be invited onto american soil, let alone to be invited to sit down with the president at camp david. republicans have also expressed dismay about this, not just the democrats to stop the republican house member, liz cheney, whose father is dick cheney, vice

president under george w bush, tweeted that no member of the taliban should set foot layer, referring to camp david, ever. a erm and illinois republican echoed that statement, saying that the taliban should never be allowed in the united states. meanwhile, a democratic senator said that this was another example of president trump are treating foreign policy at the same way that he would treat a game show. but president trump made all sorts of promises about afghanistan, didn't he? he made a promise to withdraw a sizeable number of us troops that are still there, he actually wanted to get them out by now but the generals are basically convinced him to maintain the presence until this sort of peace agreement had been signed off

on. now it has on hold, although the us secretary of state, mike pompeo, has been doing the rounds of the us talk shows this morning, saying that these peace negotiations are off for these peace negotiations are off for the time being. he said that the us is still working on making a deal that will pave the way for the withdrawal of some us troops. time is running out for president trump to make good on his promise before the election which is next november. it does sound like they will be leaving the door open though. we can discuss this in more detail now with michael kugelman, an afghanistan expert at the wilson centre in washington. thank you forjoining us. how far have the socks gone? these talks gone? one surprising thing is that these talks got further than i have

ever got before. the two sides were oi'i ever got before. the two sides were on the cusp of a deal, it was at the point where the chief negotiator shooters was essentially trying to get buy in from kabul and others in washington. we had never got to the point where we were in the last few days, that was a lot more incredible that president trump decided to call off talks, at least for now, not permanently. how hopeful are you that they will start up again, and why? at the end of the day, both the us and the taliban have a similar go, to make a plan for withdrawal of us forces so i do think eventually there will be a deal. trump has been a very clear about how he wants to get out of afghanistan, i think you would like to make some sort of announcement will before the us presidential election of bringing

troops home. the taliban has said for so long that they want us troops out. that indicates to me that they two sides will come together, clearly, a major blow has been dealt to this negotiation process. however, give it a bit of time, as you indicated, administration officials in washington have suggested that there are plans to set up new meetings, even now. i think it will happen, i think what happened here is that the trump administration was uncomfortable with this deal, it has not became very uncomfortable, thinking they we re very uncomfortable, thinking they were not enough assurances that the taliban would lay down arms after signing this deal. we are only a few days away from the anniversary of 9/11, a lot of people will be quite rightly remembering those who died in those atrocities. for many people, it was an abhorrent idea to have the taliban at camp david, why would president trump want such a thing to take place? in my view,

this idea of the taliban coming to talk to is about in trump? a wheelhouse. it would have been dramatic, a lot of pageantry, photo ops, media attention, much like a reality tv show. i do think the timing of it is what have been so tasteless, we are coming up to the anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, carried out by a group sheltered by the taliban. i think i would have beena the taliban. i think i would have been a dreadful idea, in that regard, it's probably a good think this is not happening, that the taliban will not be coming here. setting that aside, as trump says it, it would not have been the taliban leadership but also the afg ha n taliban leadership but also the afghan president. he would have been at camp david two, they would have been separate meetings between him and the taliban with the us. that would have been significant given that the taliban have repeatedly

refused to be in negotiations with the afghan government until they have a deal with the us. i think thatis have a deal with the us. i think that is a key factor, the taliban would have been uncomfortable with a participating in this kind of meeting at camp david, so long as the afghan president was there. what's the minimum that the great states needs from a deal with the taliban? that's hard to say. first, it was an taliban? that's hard to say. first, it was an assurance taliban? that's hard to say. first, it was an assurance company tell about that it would not provide any space to international terrorist groups like al-qaeda and isis. i think that has changed, the expectations of the us have changed, i think they will us for more from the taliban. when negotiations resume, new us will want some kind of clear indication that the taliban will be willing to lay down arms, even temporarily, before there is a withdrawal deal, it should go deal, between the us and the taliban. i think the us government would also like to see some sort of assurance from the taliban that it will

formally negotiate with the afghan government,. the problem here is that there is no way to measure that, at the way to trust that the taliban with the taliban would do those things even if the us gets those things even if the us gets those assurances. this is really a very complicated process, and when the talks do resume, it's going to bea the talks do resume, it's going to be a very long process to get to any type of resolution. thank you for joining us. conditions in the bahamas are said to be "rapidly deteriorating", six days after hurricane dorian ripped through the islands. tens of thousands of people are homeless — many are desperate to flee the destruction in the abaco islands and grand bahama. cruise liners, private planes and helicopters are being used to help those still trapped. officials believe hundreds of bodies are yet to be found in areas flattened by the storm. joining me now is luis david rodriguez from medical aid organisation, direct relief. they've been providing vital medical supplies to people on the island.

tell us about the scale of this operation is under way? as you properly have an idea, the devastation in the bahamas here is huge. there only a few builders standing in the abaco, people are being evacuated but they have nothing left, you can only imagine what they are going through. there is definitely medical aid coming in, supplies and whatever people, but still, people are getting desperate because of the horrendous situation. people are remarkably resilient, aren't they? even in the worst of times, to what extent are you saying that in the bahamas? i'm actually from porto rico, so i could see the resilience of the bahamian people.

at such difficult times, they are showing resiliency, showing that they are uniting. they are just hoping for what the future can bring, hopefully something positive to their lives, because right now they were going through a very tough times. conditions are deteriorating, people obviously need shelter, food, clea n people obviously need shelter, food, clean water, but is that dirty water that carries him at risk, isn't it? what are you doing to try to keep people safe from waterborne diseases? assessments are still being done, there are hundreds of islands in abaco and grand bahama, flooding was a big problem. the local government, along with other countries, a lot of organisations are lucky to be going to safer ground are making sure that they are safe and don't have to deal with these bodies. it's a tough

situation, there are thousands of people and not everyone wants to leave their homes. how feasible is it to evacuate people from the bahamas to other islands? from what i have seen in the last couple of daysin i have seen in the last couple of days in the capital, it is starting to become an issue because so many eva cu ees to become an issue because so many evacuees and there is only so many pcs to put them. what was originally thought to be a couple of months to shout at people, now they are thinking about long—term shelter, thatis thinking about long—term shelter, that is becoming a problem for so many people. we are still extremely early in the hurricane season, there are still weeks to go, how can these islands prepare themselves for anything else that comes their way? that's a good question. hopefully, it's tough, out know a lot of them don't have anything left. help is

coming but it's tough to get to eve ryo ne coming but it's tough to get to everyone and get a full assessment of what is needed. we are still did have a clear sense of what is needed on the islands. let's start preparing for another storm of this magnitude. passengers are being warned of possible disruption to british airways flights this evening, ahead of a pilots' strike which is due to begin at midnight. most ba flights taking off from the uk on monday and tuesday have been cancelled. the dispute is over pay and conditions. our business correspondent, katie prescott, has the latest from heathrow. 0ne one of amber rudd's exclusive terminal five, before terminalfive, before the passengers empty out. after midnight tonight, almost all flights leaving here are

cancelled. with several weeks notice, is that of the 300,000 passengers affected have made other arrangements, but not without a lot of disruption behind the scenes. duncan is currently in ibiza and is owed around £400 after he had to do because flights. this is the first timei because flights. this is the first time i have ever thought, never ever book with british airways again, they are a disgrace. their customer service is a disgrace. i could book a flight tomorrow with british airways, they want my money, but they will not refund me for a flight booked in january last year, they will not refund me for a flight booked injanuary last year, they took £402 from me, and i am still waiting for my refund. months of negotiation over pay between british airways and its pilots have failed to reach an agreement. the pilots' union says they accepted pay freezes when ba made losses, and they now want to share in its success. they want to see a greater slice of the £2 billion profit that ba made last year.

pilots have rejected their offer of an 11.5% pay rise over the next three years, and the strike is expected to cost brock british airways says that the salaries they offer are already market leading. people are being advised not to head to the port and any passengers affected by the strikes are entitled to a refund or a rebooking with ba or another airline. iran says an oil tanker that's been at the centre of tension between tehran and the west has reached its destination and sold its cargo. iranian state media didn't say where the tanker had gone, or who'd bought its cargo of oil. but satellite images that emerged on saturday appeared to show the ship just off the syrian port of tartus. injuly, the authorities in gibraltar seized the vessel on suspicion that it was bound for syria, in breach of eu sanctions. wildfires across two australian

states are continuing to rage in hot and windy conditions that officials warn are unprecedented this early in spring. in queensland, over 50 fires were burning on sunday. a lodge founded by conservationists in the 1930s — binna burra in lamington national park — has been gutted by the flames. the number of deaths during a summer heatwave in france rose by 10%, according to data from the ministry of health. figures show there were 1,500 more deaths than usual injune and july, during which temperatures reached half of those who died were aged over 75. the health minister said that preventative measures had ensured that the rate was ten times lower than the same period in 2003, when almost 15,000 people — mainly elderly — died during a heatwave. thousands of pro—democracy activists have marched to the us consulate in hong kong to urge america to support their bid for political reform.

some of them carried the us flag, the stars and stripes, and called for president trump to "liberate" the territory. china claims the united states is orchestrating the protests, which have been going on for three months. in theatre—land they call it "the half" — those precious 30 minutes before a performance begins. it's normally a private time but one photographer has spent years capturing the moment as some of the country's biggest stars get into character. now he's put his work on display. the bbc‘s nicola rees went to take a look. big stars captured moments before the curtain goes up. a new exhibition at the lawrence batley theatre in huddersfield called simply, the half. the half is the period in a theatre as the actor gets him or herself ready to go on stage. tannoy: this is your half-hour call.

the half—hour before an actor goes on stage is precious. these are the minutes for concentration and composure. it is a period that has long fascinated photographer simon annand. i'm trying to show the actors as workers who have a serious job to do and they need a lot of discipline to do it. i'm not particularly interested in the ephemera of the rooms, it is really what is in their head that i'm interested in, and their relationship to themselves, not the camera. i have andrew in the foreground, can you just look at him and not move too much? with paul in the background, it's just amazing. for 35 years, simon has had backstage access at theatres across the world. here we have david suchet, which is interesting i think for a number of reasons. people might think that is a pose, but actually he is performing to himself in the mirror as lady bracknell. a man as a woman, can

he get away with it today? that face, so disapproving, so pouty! well, that's lady bracknell. the exhibition has been organised to celebrate 25 years of the lawrence batley theatre. it's such an amazing opportunity to have an exhibition that maybe would have had a life in london or internationally, and we get to bring it to huddersfield, to the centre of yorkshire, where it is starting its life, and it is such an amazing thing to celebrate our 25th with. ian mckellen and patrick stewart, almost 97% in the character they are going to play, the two leads in waiting for godot. they're ready to go there? they are ready to go, they are not really interested in me, they are trying to get a sense of the journey they are about to go on. the photographs are a celebration of everything theatre. what better place to showcase them?

now it's time for a look at the weather with darren bett. hello there. it has been warm in the sunshine today, a little chilly when the cloud comes over. we will find more cloud arriving overnight from the north—west. that will bring rain as well. initially across scotland and northern ireland, then moving into western england and wales, quite heavy rain at times. with much more cloud around tonight, it is not as chilly as last night, except perhaps in east anglia where we will have clearer skies for a bit longer. but tomorrow is quite a messy day, cloudy day, some outbreaks of rain, some rain pushing into eastern england, for northern areas the rain eases off through the afternoon, it may brighten up a touch. but the wettest weather continues to be in wales and the south—west. some heavy rain, possibly thundery, and it will a chilly day under that cloud. temperatures only 14, 15 degrees in many areas, for tuesday, things look a little brighter. there is a bit of cloud here that might produce one or two showers, but on the whole it's a drier day, with some sunshine.