h “a fi southern areas, but i don't think anybody is exempt. as a result, it is going to feel quite cool in that blustery wind. hello, you're watching afternoon live — i'm simon mccoy live at westminster. today at two: all eyes are on the talks in brussels — but so far no signs of any white smoke. i spoke to the prime minister by phone this morning and i've been in contact as well with the european commission. i do think we are making progress, but there are issues yet to be resolved and hopefully that can be done today. as michel barnier prepares to update eu ambassadors on any progress — it's a race against the clock for the prime minister to secure a deal before eu leaders meet tomorrow. here in westminster, the democratic unionist party has had further talks in downing street and the cabinet is due the parents of harry dunn meet president trump at the white house —

and ask again for the woman involved in the crash that killed their son to return to the uk. doctors in italy who are caring for a seriously brain damaged girl from london say they hope that eventually she will be able to return home and be cared for by her family. the government takes the first step towards potentially stripping the north of england's main train operator of its franchise. coming up on afternoon live — all the sport with sarah mulkerins. i will have more on at the events from bulgaria on monday night were buggy and police have arrested six fa ns buggy and police have arrested six fans following up that racist abuse of english players. thanks, sarah. chris fawkes has all the weather. still no sign of any prolonged dry weather. showers are the key word over the next few days, plenty of those. i will bring you the feel update later on. this thanks, chris. also coming up — the camera chain jessops plans

to call in administrators. good aftermoon and welcome to bbc news, live from westminster, as negotiators in brussels try to secure agreement on a brexit deal in time for an eu summit tomorrow. talks resumed early this morning, but the eu's chief brexit negotiator, michel barnier, has spoken of "a number of significant issues" still standing in the way — and mps are now working against the clock, as any agreement must be reached today. it had been reported the democratic unionist party was ready to accept new proposals — but its leader has described the claims as "nonsense". both the eu and the government say progress is being made — but government sources say the chances are shrinking. from brussels, our europe correspondent adam fleming

the uk's negotiators arriving for talks this morning, talks which haven't broken down but which aren't reaching a conclusion yet either. those discussions are ongoing as we speak and we are absolutely committed to securing a deal. we think that is in the interests of both sides. late last night, the two sides burnt the midnight oil — more specifically, the 1:30am oil. the main sticking points, the same as ever. what customs checks there could be on the island of ireland, the role of the stormont assembly, the shape of the future trade agreement. talks have been constructive but there are still remain a number of significant issues to resolve. the eu chief negotiator, michel barnier, will spend much of today updating his bosses. this morning, it was the european commission, this afternoon diplomats

from the other eu countries, who are sticking to their red lines. as the french foreign minister explained, those are protecting the single market and the irish border, and safeguards in case the uk tries to become a ruthless economic rival. i spoke to the prime minister by phone this morning and i've been in contact as well with the european commission and i do think we are making progress but there are issues yet to be resolved and hopefully that can be done today, allowing us to ratify the agreement at the european council tomorrow. sources in brussels say the political action isn't really here, it's in london where, they say, the government needs to make some choices about what it's going to do and work out if enough mps will vote for a revised deal, if there even is one. and we can talk to adam now.

is their one, do we know? no, we don't, the first clues we will have from the side about the state of any revised brexit deal, if it exists and what shape it is in, will be michel barnier‘s brief two 27 other member states about the latest. that meeting was meant to happening right now, it has been shifted back to 5pm brussels time, four o'clock what you are, so we'll have to wait a little while for that. it feels like, at the moment, the sticking points are sort of shifting a little bit, and that we are used to talking about the customs checks on the island of ireland. now, the issue is the consent mechanism for the stormont assembly, and to the people of northern ireland to give the consent of these arrangements in the future. that seems to be coming to the fore, but really conflicting reports about how i resolved that issue is. then

there is the issue of the level playing field, the jargon for what sort of commitments does the eur squad from britain, and what commitments britain is prepared to make in terms of the future economic relationship, how much competition there is between a uk that has left there is between a uk that has left the eu and the eu. it feels like a slight change of emphasis. people are talking about the sequencing of how this will work, for example, is it now too late for leaders to approve a fully revised deal at a summit on thursday? it also goes on into friday, by the way. there is also talk of, do you ask from the eu side for a subtle upfront about from westminster about the sort of deals they would accept or the way forward ? they would accept or the way forward? does that suggest that they might be prepared to have an emergency summit sometime next week if there is a vote in favour here? there has been talk of an emergency

summit perhaps on the 27th, 28, 20 9th of october summit perhaps on the 27th, 28, 20 9th of 0ctoberfor quite summit perhaps on the 27th, 28, 20 9th of october for quite a couple of weeks here now. i don't think the speculation for that has gone up or down, i think it is a present bit of gossip on the sidelines. the fact is the eu has not had a properformal discussion about how it will handle brexit at the summit, we do not even know if brexit will be discussed on thursday or friday, or both days. there are no draft conclusions either, which is the communique that leaders will be asked to sign up, because they just do leaders will be asked to sign up, because theyjust do not have enough fa cts because theyjust do not have enough facts and front of him to decide how to handle this when the leaders gathered. the leaders are gathering tomorrow, this is not a long way in the future, the summit will have started by this time tomorrow. people are a little bit nonplussed about how they will actually handle it all. interesting, leo varadkar speaking today, there does seem to

bea speaking today, there does seem to be a total change in at the irish perspective since that meeting with borisjohnson. it perspective since that meeting with boris johnson. it now perspective since that meeting with borisjohnson. it now appears that the french and germans are saying, hang ona the french and germans are saying, hang on a minute, they are worried about that level playing field issue? the irish government are now totally in favour of getting a deal done, they will not be in favour if it compromises their red lines or jeopardises the peace process or causes problems on the border, they will not go gung ho for a deal at any will not go gung ho for a deal at a ny cost. will not go gung ho for a deal at any cost. that, combined with boris johnson was my insistence that he wa nts a johnson was my insistence that he wants a deal, is what has injected a new momentum into the process. what happens now is what happens as a revised deal reaches fruition, the negotiating team for the eu then it is that shopping that deal around the other 27 states, the countries that will have to sign it off. we have seen it time and time again, when you get to the climate of the negotiations, the member states start taking away more detailed

interest in what is going on, and they raise their own national interest, whether it is france and belgium saying that this level playing field stuff is important to them. i guarantee that someone will raise concerns about fishing, that a lwa ys raise concerns about fishing, that always happens at this stage for slip. yesterday, we had from germany, the concern they were raising was about the time frame— how long will it take to get this all translated, scrubbed about the lawyers for any legal problems? german officials suggesting there might be another two months needed, suggesting that their concern is about being bounced into something too quickly. 0ur chief political correspondent vicki young is in downing street. we could be in for us sort of dating ping—pong, were we watch them now, they may watch us on saturday of this vote goes ahead, then they respond to that? it is possible. i

think the idea of an indicative type late on saturday is just quite risky for borisjohnson, late on saturday is just quite risky for boris johnson, he late on saturday is just quite risky for borisjohnson, he could have the outline of a deal. but if you're a labourmp outline of a deal. but if you're a labour mp considering backing the government, ijust don't labour mp considering backing the government, i just don't think they are going to go for it, at the point where they have not seen the written down political text, the legal text, they haven't seen that. they want to know about the future relationship, really, it sums up the problem is that you have got, there are those in the tory party who never voted for theresa may's deal, they want and which was a future relationship with the eu. the idea of this level playing field is a problem for them. if you think that out of the political declaration, you then have a problem because some labour mps wa nt a problem because some labour mps want that in there, they won't vote for it if it isn't in there. it is at that same old problem— as you gain some doubts on one side you little mitts on the other. then, the issue of the dup, virtually camped inside downing street for the last

couple of days, having hours of talk with the prime minister. we are told that it has come down to the idea of consent, that is what he makes the big difference between the deal they we re big difference between the deal they were being offered by theresa may. is there a way that the communities in northern ireland can say, we do not want to be in this any longer. there was talk of a referendum, the unionist community do not like that at all. all the get back to some is kinda position where they have some kinda position where they have some kind of mechanism whereby the communities can have a say? that is what i think the hold—up is at the moment, i think the dup could well be back inside downing street later on today. in the meantime, the cabinet will be arriving, meeting at 2:30pm. i have detected some irritation amongst cabinet ministers because they really are in the dark about what he is going on in brussels with these negotiations. this may potentially be the first chance to find out exactly what is

going on with negotiation. presumably, boris johnson does going on with negotiation. presumably, borisjohnson does not know either? i would think that he is being told what is going on, i would imagine. he is obviously trying to square things back here, making sure that if there is a deal it can get through parliament. the question about the saturday setting, we are still getting indications thatis we are still getting indications that is likely to go ahead. if a deal has been signed off by friday, you can see how you could have that, and then mps being asked to vote in and then mps being asked to vote in a meaningful doubt on any withdrawal agreement. if there is no—deal signed off in time, what happens then, what is the point of parliament setting? unless it is may be for porous johnson parliament setting? unless it is may be for porousjohnson to say to parliament, come on then, let's vote for no—deal. labour can then say, you're just blocking brexit. for no—deal. labour can then say, you'rejust blocking brexit. i for no—deal. labour can then say, you're just blocking brexit. i think theissues you're just blocking brexit. i think the issues come, if there is no—deal signed off on friday and her comic talks are still going on into next

week, then what happens? this is what gets interesting with the so—called benn act, that is the thing that kicks in on the 19th of 0ctober, saturday, if there is no—deal signed off and parliament does not vote for a no—deal brexit, borisjohnson has to ask for a delay to brexit, by law, that extension to article 50. that is the main thing on saturday there could be happening. the brexit secretary saying today that he will send a letter, but if talks are going on, the eu may say, we have got the letter, we will consider the extension at some point but not yet because we still have more time to hold negotiations. that could be where we end up on saturday. but i have to say, nobody knows for sure what is going on or what is going on. things may become clear once the cabinet has been brief. we do know that we keep passing through many deadlines, we keep talking about crunch days, today is another one.

do you have a sense that we are near the end of something? you get the impression from downing street that they are willing, for another few hours at least today, to keep this going. it is worth saying that there isa going. it is worth saying that there is a difference between a deal being signed off at this eu summit tomorrow or the next day, and then talks finishing altogether. it is not necessarily one or the other. you could end up in a situation where a new deal has not been nailed down on time but talks will continue into the next few days. both sides will be reluctant to away from the table, it is clear that the site do wa nt table, it is clear that the site do want a deal. of course, it is how much of a concession is either side willing to make? the dup, as we know, crucial in all of this, not just because they are the ones that have been propping up the tory government, the numbers do not matter at the moment since boris

johnson is sort of a majority anyway. it is about the unique position of northern ireland and ireland, the history of those countries, what they are worried about. that is why it is so important, so many people, people like tony blair and john major warning about the consequences of brexit on the good friday agreement, thatis brexit on the good friday agreement, that is still what is really at the heart of all of this. with me now is drew hendry, the scottish nationalist party mp for inverness, nairn, badenoch and strathspey. 0ne one thing that we do now, it does seem one thing that we do now, it does seem clear, is that borisjohnson wa nts a seem clear, is that borisjohnson wants a deal? i think once he wants to do is to get anything over the line before the 31st of october, like theresa may, he has put down a possible red wine. we see him now concocting a deal, which seems even

worse than the one that was comprehensively rejected by theresa may, it is not something that we are going to support. if we are all honest, we have no idea what concessions are being given by either side. i'm wondering what your red lines would be? you'rejust going to say no to whatever comes out, aren't you? we have been very clear since the beginning of this process that leaving the eu is not a good dealfor process that leaving the eu is not a good deal for scotland, the process that leaving the eu is not a good dealfor scotland, the new version of brexit is good for scottish economy, society —— new version —— no version. scottish economy, society —— new version -- no version. if there is a deal, there is no way on earth you will work for it on a saturday? there will be massive economic harm done to scotland by any version of the deal done by borisjohnson brought back to parliament. there are no circumstances where we can vote to impose that, particularly when the scottish people made their

position very clear, 62% voted to remain in the eu. that view of the scottish people, all the way through parliament, has been ignored by the westminster process here, which is a broken one, and we will not support that. you know better than i where we are all here, theories on the front the referendum, scotland is pa rt front the referendum, scotland is part of the uk, we are where we are. i'm wondering, on saturday, is there any way that you would consider a change? the scottish government put forward a compromise deal to the uk government that started this process , government that started this process, that was completely ignored. fundamentally, we need to stay in the single market and customs union, those are the only things that will satisfy the needs of scotland. we have just been listening to the debate on immigration and parliament layer, which deceptively carried through the fence on ratio that is set to

devastate economies in scotland, especially at the highlands, where we are already facing difficulties with people feeling unwelcome or not being able to start our services and industries. it is a terrible situation for us to be in, we do not wa nt to situation for us to be in, we do not want to be part of it, we want to make sure we have a for scotland in the future, which probably means waiting for independence. at the moment, the choice is a deal or no—deal, of those two, which one would you prefer? no-deal is catastrophic, the deal that is being proposed is almost as catastrophic. as like a choice between being hit bya as like a choice between being hit by a freight train or a bus, we do not want either. if that is its scenario where there is no—deal, there is legislation in place that should be enacted on monday to ask foran should be enacted on monday to ask for an extension. at that point, the sensible thing to do would be to ta ke sensible thing to do would be to take this back to the people in a general election, that is what

should be happening next, so that we should be happening next, so that we should sort it out through a vote. borisjohnson has called for that four weeks? we have been saying that we are prepared to bring forward a vote of no confidence, the problem is that the lib dems and labour need to get behind the idea of bringing down this tory government. there is no good tory government for scotland, but the borisjohnson one is the worst possible manifestation of that. we want to get him out of power so of that. we want to get him out of power so that we could move onto a new stage as soon power so that we could move onto a new stage as soon as. power so that we could move onto a new stage as soon as. with jeremy corbyn as and interim prime minister? we are very, very open to all of the options that might be there, with the exception of keeping borisjohnson there, with the exception of keeping boris johnson npower further. there, with the exception of keeping borisjohnson npowerfurther. we are willing to discuss this to see where consensus could be found. we need to avoid a no—deal brexit and make sure that this comes back to the people and a general election, that is the absolute priority. as there is a

vote here on saturday, with europe seeing if we can get it through parliament before they get a final say. if borisjohnson gets the vote through, is at the end of the fight for you? the people of scotland will have a choice about the future. the general election is the next thing you will be looking at. after that, the people of scotland will have a choice. the legislation is going through the scottish parliament at this moment to make sure that we can have a referendum lectured on scottish referendum, putting forward the perspectives we should be as an independent nation in the eu so that we can satisfy the economic needs of scotland. it is not up to boris johnson orjeremy corbyn or anybody else to deny us the sovereign will of the scottish people to choose their future. we were told back in 2014 that this was a family of

nations, that would stay in the eu a we voted no to independence, all of those things have been thrown off the table and proved to be outright lies. that is the reason of the people of scotland now have to take another look at this and say what is the choice, is it a broken britain, personified by ladbroke and west ministered behind us? 0ra new opportunity to forge a new future with scotland taking an equal seat at the eu? the parents of harry dunn, the 19—year—old who was killed in a car crash involving the wife of an american diplomat, have met donald trump at the white house. tim dunn and charlotte charles say that when they were there, the president dropped a bombshell, telling them ann sacoolas was in the next room. but they declined to meet her — as duncan kennedy reports. shocking white house meeting. the parents of harry dunn meet with president trump. for the second time in a week, harry dunn's parents are headline news across america. their search for justice now taking them to a meeting

with the president. as they arrived at the white house, they had no idea they would be meeting donald trump, and were stunned when he announced that anne sacoolas, the main suspect in their son's crash, was in the room next door, ready to meet them. we've said all along that we are willing to meet her, we are still willing to meet her, but it needs to be on uk soil, and with therapists and mediators, and that's notjust for us, it's for her as well. he did ask two or three times. he did mention it two or three times, because we said, no, we didn't feel it was right. but he said again, didn't he, no, she's here, so let's get it on. he mentioned trying to heal it. so it was a bit of pressure, but we stuck to our guns, we feel. the family's spokesman from their own village, an american himself, described president trump's attempts to mediate a meeting

with anne sacoolas as a stunt. in the oval office, the circus that it then became, with photographers and camera people all of a sudden appearing, in my view clearly intent of getting that magic shot for president trump, and i got quite angry, so i put a stop to that, and i stood up, and there were several large secret service men around me, and i said, no, this is not happening today. it's not why we are here. harry's parents and family left the white house saying they were grateful for the president's time but don't feel any closer getting mrs sacoolas back to the uk. harry's parents, who are now back in new new york, have only been grieving for six weeks and they are highly appreciative of the time donald trump spared for them but, at the same time, they say they are deeply unsettled, even unhappy that he should try and engineer, force a meeting with the woman who has admitted driving the car that killed their son.

which leaves them fighting on for the son whose death took them on a journey from northamptonshire to north america, but yet still is without answers. duncan kennedy, bbc news, new york. four people have been detained by police in the bulgarian capital sofia following racist chanting directed at england's footballers on monday night. the bulgarian interior ministry said the arrests had been made to investigate "those responsible for improper acts" during the match. england's players were subjected to racists chants and nazi salutes during their 6—0 victory. 0ur correspondent daniel sandford has been following developments in sofia. the ministry of interior say that they have identified 15 people that were involved in those nazi salutes and those racist chants at the stadium here on monday night. they say that they have worked out who nine of those 15 people are, they have already arrested six of them — six of them are currently in custody being questioned. they say that they won't tolerate

this kind of anti—social behaviour, and that they are taking action as a result of that. what is becoming less clear is exactly why it was that these men went to the stadium and performed these nazi salutes and insulted the black english players. it could, of course, have been a simple act of football hooliganism — but there is a lot of speculation here that it might have been a slightly more organised act. one theory is that because gareth southgate had spoken out so strongly ahead of the game about racism, then perhaps, they'd deliberately been provocative as a result of that. i have to say, actually, more people here in sofia actually think it was some kind of a political act, tied into local politics here in bulgaria, linked to local elections. and, actually, this was a deliberate provocation, which then prompted an act which allowed the prime minister to get rid of the head of the bulgarian fa, so it's all very murky as to why it was that these men had so blatantly taken to the terraces, despite all the warnings, and performed these nazi salutes, and so blatantly insulted

the black english players. the transport secretary has confirmed he's considering whether one of the country's biggest rail franchises should be taken out of private hands. grant shapps told mps today that the northern franchise cannot continue" delivering such poor levels of punctuality. it's the second largest rail franchise in the country, accounting for the vast majority of services in the north of england, but has been losing money for years and has struggled with late trains, poor customer service and frequent industrial action. northern must submit proposals on how services can be improved before further action takes place. 0ur transport correspondent, tom burridge, is in our business unit. just burridge, is in our business unit. how significant is bro just how significant is this? and bro who real passengers in the enough hungry and have been suffering for a long time, going back to a chaotic timetable,

services being cancelled. they haven't fixed the problem is, new trains have been brought into service but it hasn't made much of a difference, sunday is optically bad. we know that there is a process going on, whereby companies on behalf of the government, have been looking at the franchise and considering whether or not the government needs to step in. it is significant that the government is now going public with this, it has been cloak and dagger for a while, and confirming that the service is well under way. and what is called a last resort as a potential option, effectively meaning a second franchise in the country coming into the hands of the government. we already have services on the east coast mainline already basically being managed by the government effectively, this would be the second major franchise, a effectively, this would be the second majorfranchise, a more complicated franchise because it is commuter services across the north of england. the government is also looking at what is called a

management contract, that would be laid upon for transport stepping in, taking a hands—on approach, but a loving mother and its parent company areva. that is why we have essentially seen on of the meeting from becoming too areva, sort your art out or else. what does it mean for passengers? in the short term, not a great deal, this will not happen overnight, it takes months to change who is managing a rail franchise. it is entering a critical phase but still has a long way to run before the government takes a hands—on approach or full control of the franchise. i think there is a huge amount of pressure, political leaders in this region have already come out saying that there preferred option is that the operator of last resort is brought in, effectively, the government taking full control of the franchise, they believe

northern rail has had its chance, it has not improved performance, therefore it should be stripped of therefore it should be stripped of the franchise. keep you updated on the progress of the talks in brussels, i'm just hearing that leo varadkar, irish prime minister, has said that it remains his view that there is still a parfait to a possible brexit deal. —— pathway. he said that there are still issues to be resolved but there is a possible agreement. he said, that was my view last week, it is still my view, however, it is the question of whether the negotiated will be able to bridge the remaining gaps. that is the issue that everybody is watching, the eu council scheduled to have a two—day meeting tomorrow, they wish for many of them to be waiting on some sort

of them to be waiting on some sort of proposal, some sort of deal, that has been negotiated between eu and british negotiators in brussels. so far, no news of any breakthrough on that. we will keep you updated on that, there is a cabinet meeting on the way here in london and the next few minutes. the climate change campaign group, extinction rebellion, has launched legal action, after a ban was introduced on its protests across london. the group says the ban is disproportionate and an attack on civil liberties. police say more than 1,600 arrests have been made during the protests in the capital. doctors in italy who are treating a seriously brain damaged girl from london say they hope that eventually she will be able to return home and be cared for by her family. 5—year—old tafida raqeeb was flown to genoa yesterday, after a high courtjudge ruled that life—sustaining treatment should continue. 0ur medical correspondent fergus walsh is in genoa — his report contains flash photography. slowly, painstakingly, tafida was taken off the private chartered plan after it landed at genoa airport.

tafida suffered a catastrophic bleed on her brain in february and was being kept alive on a ventilator. she was transferred to the gaslini children's hospital. this morning, tafida's parents were welcomed by hospital administrators and pro—life campaigners. tafida's mother thanked the italian doctors for believing in her daughter's recovery. i'm sure everyone knows that tafida was a very happy, bubbly child before february, and in february our life has been turned upside down. she wasn't born unwell. she wasn't born with a condition. this thing just suddenly happened. tafida's parents say she is making progress and have released several videos of her in the royal london hospital. high court ruled that tafida is minimally aware and that she cannot be cured. the italian doctors caring for tafida say what she needs now more than anything else is time.

the brain injury has been devastating but we cannot exclude that there might be, maybe, a slight improvement in the future, and we are just buying time to assess if this could be possible. the medical team in italy intend to give tafida a tracheotomy, inserting a tube into her windpipe, which will be connected to a ventilator, with the eventual aim that she could be transferred back to england and be cared for at home. what is striking is the marked difference in tone between the italian medical team and the doctors in britain who wanted to withdraw life support. the doctors here believe they can make tafida more comfortable and that, even though there may be no clinical improvement, she deserves the chance to be kept alive. tafida's parents are applying for italian citizenship for her to smooth any bureaucratic hurdles about her treatment, which is all being paid for privately. no—one is sure how long her stay in italy will last.

fergus walsh, bbc news, genoa. time for a look at the weather... here's chris. things looking pretty unsettled over the coming days. although it's an improving weather picture with sunshine coming out for many of us, this morning it was pretty wet and after our recent run of wet weather, we saw surface after our recent run of wet weather, we saw surface water after our recent run of wet weather, we saw surface water building up on some roads. this is the satellite picture which shows today's cloud. we have a weather front bringing in cloudy weather and the front looks like this. further south, cloudy weather and the front looks like this. furthersouth, it cloudy weather and the front looks like this. further south, it is more complicated because we are seeing a pulse of rain developing across north france which will ripple the rain back across south—east england. sussex, kent, eastern parts of essex perhaps. going downhill with the threat of rain this afternoon. elsewhere showers will continue on and off across south—west england but by and large, sunshine coming

through for many of us. still rain to deal with across the far north—east of scotland. 0ver tonight, the rain will clear away from the eastern areas and we will be left with clear skies before showers start to move in from the west. it will be quite chilly, particularly where the winds fall across north—eastern areas and cold enough for a patch of frost in the countryside. 0ur weather over the next few days will be dominated by this, another area of low pressure. as the weather front wraps around and around the area of low pressure, that will be slowly making its way across the uk as we go through the next few days and the weekend. the buzzword is showers. 0n next few days and the weekend. the buzzword is showers. on thursday, many will with a bright were start. showers will quickly move into western areas and they will arrive across eastern england and perhaps some eastern areas across eastern england and perhaps some eastern areas of scotland. at the east hangs on to the driest weather the longest. not necessarily the case on friday because the area

of low pressure is moving closer in. plenty of downpours around. another day where most places will see several of these showers and gaps between downpours and some sunshine. temperatures 11 to 15 celsius. this area of low pressure will stay with us area of low pressure will stay with us for some time and it is still here on the chart as we look through the weekend. the area of low pressure is getting less intense. it is filling. it should mean that although there are still some showers, and lengthy spells of rain around, more generally at the weekend goes by, there should be bigger gaps opening between the showers and a bit more in the way of dry weather between those showers with temperatures around 11 to 15. that is your latest weather. goodbye for now. this is bbc news — our latest headlines. last—minute talks to try to reach a brexit deal continue in brussels — but the eu says outstanding issues remain and uk government sources say hopes are shrinking.

as chief negotiator michel barnier prepares to update eu ambassadors on any progress — it's a race against the clock for the prime minister to secure a deal before eu leaders meet tomorrow. the parents of harry dunn talk with president trump at the white house but reject a surprise meeting with the woman involved in the crash that killed their son. doctors in italy treating a seriously brain damaged girl from london say they hope that eventually she will be able to return home and be cared for by her family. the government takes the first step towards stripping the north of england's main train operator of its franchise. exactly how britain's land border with the eu would work, where northern ireland and the republic of ireland meet, has been all—consuming in these brexit negotiations. norway has a land border with the eu, its border with sweden is over 1,000 miles long, and our correspondent andrew bomford has been to look at what the uk might learn from the norway example. this is sweden.

this is norway. 0ne's in the eu, one isn't. there are limits on what you can transport across the border. tariffs on goods like alcohol and tobacco in norway mean they're much more expensive there than in sweden. we're driving to a big shopping centre, just on the swedish side of the border. this is a place thatjust thousands and thousands of norwegians come to, basically to do their weekly or monthly shopping because it's so much cheaper in sweden than it is in norway. so, i've got some fizzy drinks — not just for me, it's for a lot of people. if you're buying stuff for yourself and your family, do you think people worry that much about how much you're taking back into the country? well, i think it's very up and down. i know a lot of people who don't really care about that. about the alcohol limit. as long as you kind of drive a normal car, you're just going across, like, it's so normal. like, i've never been stopped before. families might buy more than the quotas allow,

but officials say organised crime around smuggling is the big problem. i visited a warehouse on the border, where every day they seize goods crossing from sweden into norway. what you see here is professional. it's organised crime. how often are you finding stuff that needs to be seized? every day. every day? every day. just explain what's going on now? 0h, he's been picked up for x—ray inspection and they run this x—ray inspection. in northern ireland... yes. ..they are proposing that there will be none of this kind of border infrastructure. so, how would you do checks like this if you have no x—ray machine for example? you wouldn't be able to do these kind of checks. if your ambition is to work against contraband, drug smuggling and those things, you will have to have a system of these kind of inspections.

andrew bomford, bbc news, on the norway—sweden border. today, the brexit scretary, stephen barclay, has been talking about communications with the prime minister about safeguarding the peace process in ireland. in two letters in august, mrjohnson said the good friday agreement was central to his brexit proposals. joining me now is our reality check correspondent chris morris. it really has been the issue above all others, hasn't it? certainly it is one of the final issues which is preventing a deal being done at the moment, this issue of consent. if you are going to change northern ireland cosmic economic status with regard both to the uk and the eu, you need to seek some sort of democratic approval in northern ireland for that. the exchange with mr barclay was led by the dup mp sammy wilson, who said the good friday agreement sets out the need for a dual majority, in other words,

a majority among both communities in northern ireland in the northern ireland assembly at stormont, which isn't even sitting at the moment. what mr barclay did was try to reassure mr wilson, and i think tri is the operative word, that the prime minister has set out in writing his commitment to the good friday agreement. i think the prime minister has, at all stages, including in the letter to which i referred, mr wilson, underscored that proposals are centred on our commitment to solutions which are compatible with the belfast good friday agreement, and he set out in his letter. and he set that out in his letter. now, it is then an issue for the negotiating teams in terms of how the proposal put forward by the prime minister is taken forward. but he has, at all stages, underscored his commitment to the belfast good friday agreement. with respect, minister, it's not an issue for the negotiating teams to decide how that's taken forward. not if it's explicit in what we're told, time and time again,

in this committee is an internationally binding agreement which very clearly, in very explicit and detailed terms, sets out how cross community support has to be measured in the assembly. a lot of difficulties over the whole irish issue. interesting look at andrew's piece earlier on, it is complicated. the report about the norway— sweden border was interesting, if you are talking about customs and regulation, vat. it is all very well to have a broad political agreement and we may yet still get something along those lines today, but you still need to be technocrats who write the laws, the lawyers who then approve the law is to go through it with a fine tooth comb. to do that in 28 different capitals takes time. when you have this deadline of a looming

summit, a potential sitting of parliament here on saturday, it feels like there isn't enough time to do that properly. we keep hearing rumours as to what's going on and nobody knows apart from those involved in negotiations but donald tusk has been suggesting we might know something within seven or eight hours. we passed one deadline last night. we could well crush another one. we have only seen the a bit of what he said. we should know in the next seven or eight hours —— we have only seen a bit. by the end of today, on the eve of this summit, if we do not have clarity, we will not be negotiating these things at the summit itself. that has always been the eu's position. we won't have borisjohnson walking into the room and trying to start a negotiation among leaders. this is going to be his first time at a summit like this. in a summit passed, the last few summits this year and last year, when brexit is discussed, theresa may would walk in and say her piece, then leave, had dinner somewhere, while the other 27 discussed it on their own. that will be the pattern

we will see again at this summit. of course there can be discussions inside rooms, on the sidelines of the summit itself, but informal summit session, we won't be getting down to this massive haggling session. that has to be done by the officials in the background. lots of haggling going on here, particularly with the dup who, let's face it, they are central to this. does he need their support still? how many different versions of a potential majority in the house of commons can you find? it would appear that he probably does. because we know that there may well be some, a small number, a small number of tory mps and hard brexiteers who may still not vote for this deal. they, like us, have not yet seen what the deal says. there may be some labour mps who would be inclined to vote for it because they want a deal to be done, but they haven't seen what it says. 0ne but they haven't seen what it says. one of the other issues that has been brought back to the forefront todayis been brought back to the forefront today is the idea of the level playing field. what will be the final relationship that this

government wants to aim for with the eu after brexit? the level playing field refers to the extent to which the uk will follow eu regulations and stay close to eu relegation is on things like social and environmental policy after brexit. mrjohnson has certainly suggested he wants a more distant and hands off relationship with the eu then theresa may was advocating. the eu is saying if that is the case and you want to be more distant and potentially want to undercut us on some economic issues, we have to be absolutely sure that whatever we agree that the irish border is absolutely legally watertight. again, that adds to the urgency. don't go too far! with me is vincent boland, columnist with the irish newspaper the sunday business post. and lso i'm joined by mary regan, political reporter with irish broadcaster rte. thence, could i start with you because the question in ireland is not what the best deal they could

look for but what is the least word? that is correct, simon, yes. the least worst from an irish perspective would have been theresa may's withdrawal agreement. i guess the second least worst would have been if that agreement had been taken back to the northern ireland only backstop that was the initial proposal. this boris johnson only backstop that was the initial proposal. this borisjohnson deal is very much a third worse choice. that is why it has taken so long to... hammer it out and it's taking so long in brussels to negotiate it. the difficulty now doesn't seem to be so much the customs line, whether thatis be so much the customs line, whether that is in the sea or not, it seems to be the issue of consent. that's correct. that issue, the whole issue of consent is absolutely central to politics and society in northern ireland. it is a very controversial

issue because bear in mind northern ireland voted quite strongly to remain in the european union. it is being taken out against its will, so to speak. the democratic unionist party, which is now propping up the conservative government and boris johnson's government, voted to leave and are quite strong brexiteers. representing part of the united kingdom voting to remain. the consent issue is all caught up in that contradiction. it will be difficult to iron it out and know what consent means. mary, let's hear from leo varadkar who has been speaking in the last few minutes. this is about securing an agreement that works for the people of ireland and the people of europe. if it works for the people of ireland it is avoiding a hard border between the north and south. ensuring that

the north and south. ensuring that the all ireland economy can continue to develop and that north and south cooperation as envisaged by the good friday agreement can resume. and just as important, to protect the single market, its integrity and our place in it. i said last week that i thought there was a pathway to a possible agreement and that is still my view. however, the question is whether the negotiators will be able to bridge the remaining gaps in advance of tomorrow's council. what is important now is that all focus is important now is that all focus is kept on achieving a deal that delivers for everyone. mary, that optimism started with that meeting last week with boris johnson that brought us to where we are now. is there still optimism in the air? i think there is. that optimism has been quite strong, surprisingly so here since yesterday morning when the taoiseach briefed his own cabinet, when he was convinced that the prime minister borisjohnson wanted convinced that the prime minister boris johnson wanted a deal and thought this was the best outcome.

the optimism this morning around here was very much that there could bea here was very much that there could be a deal before... a draft deal at least before the leaders meet in brussels tomorrow. just a short while ago, there was added to that optimism because my colleague, who is on the ground in brussels, he reported quoting two senior sources there that one of the biggest stumbling blocks had been removed. that the dup had accepted an issue around consent and that would pave the way to some sort of movement over the coming hours. very soon after he reported that, the dup leader tweeted that those sources might have been speaking nonsense. the taoiseach said last week that there is many a slip between cup and lip so we have to wait to see if that slip is going to manifest itself in the next few hours or not. clearly, once again, the dup are going to be the focus here? yes,

very much so. all the focus here is on the dup, watching very carefully that tweet from arlene foster. could it have been a bit of a last—minute wobble? we don't know. we don't know what is going on in those negotiations. we would have to expect that the taoiseach, by speaking to boris johnson expect that the taoiseach, by speaking to borisjohnson on expect that the taoiseach, by speaking to boris johnson on the phone this morning, that there was some issues involving the dup that still had to get across the line. this is a very big call for the dup, a very big moment for them, a very big day for them. they find themselves in a position of being supporting a government in london and also having to make this very big call. 0n the one hand, you know, it very difficult balancing act, i guess, between satisfying their vote rs guess, between satisfying their voters in the run—up to a likely general election. they find themselves in a bit of a bizarre situation when they are at odds with some of their constituency because we have had businesses and farmers

groups in the north supporting the deal that was already there, which theresa may sorted. this was a very big call for the dup to make. any tension or any nervousness on their pa rt tension or any nervousness on their part at this point in the process is to be expected. vincent, it is a big deal too for boris johnson to be expected. vincent, it is a big deal too for borisjohnson who could yet decide to effectively dump the dup and just go ahead without. yes, he could. the dup is always on guard against any british government doing that. which is why they are so sensitive to every nuance and every word in any agreement that concerns them and what they regard as their interests and what they regard as the interests of northern ireland. they will be extremely on guard for that. if borisjohnson they will be extremely on guard for that. if boris johnson feels they will be extremely on guard for that. if borisjohnson feels he has support elsewhere, vertically from the labour party, from some mps in the labour party, from some mps in the labour party, he may feel he

could do without the dup‘s vokes —— particularly from. i think that would be that it might happen in the event that he couldn't get the dup on—site —— without the dup‘s votes. you would like to get the dup on—site and they would like to be on site and the irish cabinet would likely dup to be onside as well. france to talk to you. thank you. —— fascinating to talk to you. the cabinet meeting is under way in downing street i think. 0ur chief political correspondent vicki young is in downing street. are they all there? yes, it started at 2:30pm. for many if not all of them, this is going to be the first indication that they have had for a few days about exactly what the state is of these negotiations. we we re state is of these negotiations. we were told earlier by downing street that progress had been made over night but there was still a lot of work to do. in the last half an hour orso, work to do. in the last half an hour or so, donald tusk said that in

eight hours things might become clear, music to everyone's ears. although we talked about deadlines and yesterday we were saying about this midlife dead ninth from michel barnier. —— midnight deadline. if they are talking, i could imagine they are talking, i could imagine they would stop if they feel they are getting close. there are many issues. cabinet ministers going in and we asked all of them if they thought there was going to be a deal. if they were confident. 0ne said they were very confident there was going to be a deal but there are still issues. i was thinking back to i think it was december 2017 when the eu had theresa may thought they had a deal to move onto the next stages of talks. theresa may had to leave a meeting, take a call from arlene foster, the leader of the dup and basically she was told the deal was off. that could very well happen again. any more development is we will be back to you. here's your business headlines on afternoon live.

uk consumer inflation remains at its slowest pace since 2016 while wage growth continues to outstrip inflation, that's according to the office for national statistics. it said real wages nearly back to pre—crisis levels which will have implications for the state pension — set for its biggest increase since 2012 next year. profits at asos have plunged, after warehouse problems led to what the online fashion retailer said was a "disappointing" year. over the last year, asos has installed more robots in its european warehouses and expanded in the us. but the speed of growth hit profits, which dropped almost 70% for the year. the cost of renting rose fastest in nottingham, leeds and bristol last year, whilst falling in aberdeen, that's according to property website zoopla. but on average, renting a home in the uk has become more affordable. part of the reason — according to zoopla — is an increase in the number of people buying their first home,

relieving some of the pressure on the rental sector. today, it's being reported that three of america's biggest drugs distributors are in talks to settle legal allegations that they helped to fuel the us opioid crisis. according to the wall streetjournal, the according to the wall street journal, the street journal, the settlement could be worth a massive $18 billion or £14 billion. let's turn to our new york corrspondent vivienne nunis to find out more. these are drug distribution companies, how are they thought to have contributed to the crisis? these are three of america's largest drug distributors. basically, they are seen as drug distributors. basically, they are seen as part of the supply chain, part of the problem that really helped get these opioids into the hands of so many americans. their role is to buy these opioids from the manufacturers, store them in warehouses and deliver them to pharmacies across the country. to

give you some idea as to why blame is being attributed to them. some companies had faced legal action before. they were accused of having lax distribution processes and not reporting suspicious opioid reports from pharmacies. those suspicious orders were being used to feel illegal prescriptions that had been downloaded from the internet, part of the supply chain and part of the problem in this supply chain. and the timing of this is interesting — these companies were slated to go to trial on monday. that's right. these three distributors were part of a trial that kicks off in ohio on monday. this is a key trial and test case, bellwether in the raft of litigation being brought by literally thousands of state and county governments across america. these three

distributed had decided it is in their interest to put money on the table, make this offer of an $18 billion settlement rather than go through this court case and so many other cases. investors agree and shares in one of the companies is up 596. shares in one of the companies is up 5%. we will see if this agreement can be made. all plaintiffs have to agree. thank you. the rollercoaster ride for the british pound continues — having enjoyed its best week since 2017 last week after borisjohnson and leo varadkar said they could see "a pathway" for a brexit agreement — it surged as much as 1.5% on tuesday to a nearfive—month high. the day began with cautious pessimism with sterling giving up a large chunk of those gains. in the last hour or so has seen sterling suddenlyjump into positive territory on a rte report and hopes of a breakthrough and then fall back in the red, courtesy of the dup saying eu

sources were talking "nonsense". needless to say, european stocks played the same dance and yoyoed away. sterling is now hovering around 0%, perfectly illustrating market sentiment. back to you, simon. cautious pessimism! not heard that one before! thanks! you are watching afternoon live, the latest from westminster and brussels. that's all the business news, now time for the weather with chris fawkes. we will continue with our unsettled run of whether and today we had rain for the start for many of us and for many of us brightening up ever since with the best of the sunshine across western areas. we have a lump of rain returning to parts of south—east england, particularly sussex and kent. showers will continue to affect south west england and we still have rain in north—east scotland. 0vernight, the rain will clear away and clearing skies and light winds a combination at this time of yearfor getting light winds a combination at this time of year for getting pretty low temperatures. it will be a chilly night, particularly across

north—eastern areas, cold enough for some frost to develop in the countryside. western areas, it will be quite breezy. that will keep the cold temperatures at bay. a decent start to the day for many of us with some sunshine. quite quickly through the morning, we will see bands of showers work into these western areas. they will be frequent are so many areas will seek several showers. after a dry morning, we will see downpours across eastern areas but it is in the east where we will keep the driest weather longest. that is

hello, you're watching afternoon live — i'm simon mccoy, live at westminster. today at three: the dup leader arlene foster says it's "nonsense" that her party has accepted any new brexit border proposals — but all eyes are on brussels as we await news of a possible agreement. i spoke to the prime minister by phone this morning and i've been in contact as well with the european commission. i do think we are making progress, but there are issues yet to be resolved and hopefully that can be done today. as michel barnier prepares to update eu ambassadors on any progress — it's a race against the clock for the prime minister to clinch a deal before eu leaders meet tomorrow. here in westminster, the cabinet is meeting at the moment — we'll keep you up to date with everything as it happens. the parents of harry dunn meet president trump at the white house — and ask again for the woman involved

in the crash that killed their son to return to the uk. doctors in italy treating a seriously brain damaged girl from london say they hope that eventually she will be able to return home and be cared for by her family. the government takes the first step towards stripping the north of england's main train operator of its franchise. coming up on afternoon live, all the sport with sarah mulkerins. bulgarian police have arrested 15 fa ns bulgarian police have arrested 15 fans and are questioning six of them following the racist abuse of english players in bulgaria on monday. thanks, sarah. chris fawkes has all the weather. rain isjust rain is just about clearing away, however, a slow moving air of pleasure will be hanging around, the buzzword and the outlook is showers. thanks, chris.

also coming up this hour: hello everyone — this is afternoon live — i'm simon mccoy. from westminster, where all eyes are on the negotiators in brussels trying to secure agreement on a brexit deal in time for an eu summit tomorrow. in the last half hour, european council president donald tusk has told reporters that it should be clear by the end of the day if a deal can be reached. talks resumed early this morning, but the eu's chief brexit negotiator, michel barnier, has spoken of "a number of significant issues" still standing in the way. it had been reported the democratic unionist party was ready to accept new proposals, but in a tweet, its leader, arlene foster, has described the claims as "nonsense".

both the eu and the government say progress is being made, but government sources say the chances of reaching a deal are shrinking. from brussels, our europe correspondent adam fleming reports. the uk's negotiators arriving for talks this morning, talks which haven't broken down but which aren't reaching a conclusion yet either. those discussions are ongoing as we speak and we are absolutely committed to securing a deal. we think that is in the interests of both sides. late last night, the two sides burnt the midnight oil — more specifically, the 1:30am oil. the main sticking points, the same as ever. what customs checks there could be on the island of ireland, the role of the stormont assembly, the shape of the future trade agreement. talks have been constructive but there are still remain a number of significant issues to resolve.

the eu chief negotiator, michel barnier, will spend much of today updating his bosses. this morning, it was the european commission, this afternoon diplomats from the other eu countries, who are sticking to their red lines. as the french foreign minister explained, those are protecting the single market and the irish border, and safeguards in case the uk tries to become a ruthless economic rival. i spoke to the prime minister by phone this morning and i've been in contact as well with the european commission and i do think we are making progress but there are issues yet to be resolved and hopefully that can be done today, allowing us to ratify the agreement at the european council tomorrow. sources in brussels say the political action isn't really here, it's in london where, they say, the government needs to make some choices about what it's going to do and work out if enough mps will vote for a revised deal,

if there even is one. the irish prime minister, leo varadkar, has told the irish parliament that he still thinks there is a "pathway" to a possible brexit deal — but he couldn't give an exact timeframe in which the agreement could be made. this is about securing an agreement that works for the people of ireland and the people of europe. if it works for the people of ireland it is avoiding a hard border between the north and south. ensuring that the all ireland economy can continue to develop and that north and south cooperation as envisaged by the good friday agreement can resume. and just as important, to protect the single market, its integrity and our place in it. i said last week that i thought there was a pathway to a possible agreement and that is still my view. however, the question is whether the negotiators will be able to bridge the remaining gaps in advance of tomorrow's council. what is important now is that all focus is kept on achieving a deal that delivers for everyone.

a cabinet meeting is under way right now in downing street. 0ur chief political correspondent vicki young is there. now, like others, wanting to know what is happening in brussels?” think there have been some irritation amongst cabinet ministers who really do not know what is going on, a very who really do not know what is going on, a very few number number of people know what is going on in brussels. this is a chance for the cabinet to ask questions and been told how much progress has been made. downing street, earlier, said that they did feel that progress had been made overnight but they were more issues to deal with, and the dup had been in and out of downing street for the last couple of days. i think that is the issue, the stumbling block seems to be little idea of consent. if the dup were to accept this idea of this customs

arrangement, i want to be able to know what form of consent there will be for the community in northern ireland, how to agree to it, and also when does that kick in. but has been a tweet a couple of hours ago from sammy wilson, a dup mp, saying, the good friday agreement requires cross community consent for all controversial issues passing through at the assembly. the point he is making is that something like this will have to be agreed about the unionist and nationalist communities, suggesting that even this idea of a majority vote in stormont might not be enough because if the dup are against it, they do not want it to go through. the other question is when does this issue of consent kick in? is it tojoin question is when does this issue of consent kick in? is it to join this arrangement, or to say that we want to leave it after a certain amount of time? these are the problematic issues. there has been talk about money, whether there is some haggling going on from the dup about

more funding for northern ireland, not surprising, because when boris johnson laid out his new deal that he was going to propose, it did talk about a financial settlement for the northern ireland region, that is probably in the mix. but i think this issue of consent seems to be the stumbling block at the moment, whether they can resolve it in time for tomorrow or friday is what seems to be up in the air. i'mjust reading twitter from an mp to be up in the air. i'mjust reading twitterfrom an mp in brussels saying, donald tusk talking about a possible brexit deal. yesterday evening, as ready to bet it is all set and agreed. today, there are certain doubts on the british side. clearly a reference to what is going on with the dup, a set of data have you as well, this was theresa result main's problem as well? it feels like september 2017,

when theresa may was in a lunch with jean—claude juncker, about to when theresa may was in a lunch with jean—claudejuncker, about to sign off, had to leave that one can take a call from arlene foster, and when the whole thing was. i think it is not surprising that it is this issue about what happens on the island of ireland that is problematic, it is a unique situation, the troubled history of the island itself feeds into all of this, the good friday agreement must be adhered to. these things are incredibly difficult when you have two different countries with different trading arrangements and customs arrangements — that is going to require checks, potentially borders. all of this makes it very difficult, it has been the stumbling block, really, all along, the dup are the key to this. a lot of people think that most tory mps, if dup we re think that most tory mps, if dup were happy, would come along and

support boris johnson deal? were happy, would come along and support borisjohnson deal? a cabinet minister i was talking to say that a lot of this comes down to borisjohnson himself, say that a lot of this comes down to boris johnson himself, his say that a lot of this comes down to borisjohnson himself, his force of personality, they feel that he can't maybe persuade the dup, setting out those brexiteers in the tory party, to back something whereas theresa may may not have been able to. because maybe they trust him more because he feels that he is a through the city. borisjohnson clearly signalling that he was a lucid featured relationship with the eu. that causes problems on the labour side if he is looking for thereabouts, that is not what they want. you gain some, and then you lose some. but has always been the problem with this. when at the cabinet meeting and, perhaps the faces will say more than any words. i will be back with you later. the parents of harry dunn, the 19—year—old, who was killed in a car crash involving the wife of an american diplomat, have met

donald trump at the white house. tim dunn and charlotte charles say that when they were there, the president dropped a bombshell, telling them ann sacoolas was in the next room. but they declined to meet her, as duncan kennedy reports. shocking white house meeting — the parents of harry dunn meet with president trump. for the second time in a week, harry dunn's parents are headline news across america. their search for justice now taking them to a meeting with the president. as they arrived at the white house, they had no idea they would be meeting donald trump, and were stunned when he announced that anne sacoolas, the main suspect in their son's crash, was in the room next door, ready to meet them. we've said all along that we are willing to meet her, we are still willing to meet her, but it needs to be on uk soil, and with therapists and mediators, and that's notjust for us, it's for her as well. he did ask two or three times. he did mention it two or three

times, because we said, no, we didn't feel it was right. but he said again, didn't he, "no, she's here, so let's get it on." he mentioned trying to heal it. so it was a bit of pressure, but we stuck to our guns, we feel. the family's spokesman from their own village, an american himself, described president trump's attempts to mediate a meeting with anne sacoolas as a stunt. in the oval office, the circus that it has become, with photographers and camera people all of a sudden appearing, in my view clearly intent on getting that magic shot for president trump, and i got quite angry, so i put a stop to that, and i stood up, and there were several large secret service men around me, and i said, no, this is not happening today. it's not why we are here. harry's parents and family left the white house saying they were grateful for the president's time but don't feel any closer getting mrs sacoolas back to the uk.

harry's parents, who are now back in new new york, have only been grieving for six weeks and they are highly appreciative of the time donald trump spared for them but, at the same time, they say they are deeply unsettled, even unhappy that he should try and engineer, force a meeting with the woman who has admitted driving the car that killed their son. which leaves them fighting on for the son whose death took them on a journey from northamptonshire to north america, but yet still is without answers. duncan kennedy, bbc news, new york. you're watching afternoon live, these are our headlines: the dup leader arlene foster has dismissed as "nonsense" a suggestion her party has accepted any new brexit border proposals. harry dunn's parents go to the white house but refuse to meet the woman involved in the fatal crash which killed their son, saying they felt "ambushed". the government takes the first step towards stripping northern rail of its operator franchise

in the north of england. turkey's president erdogan is to meet the us vice—president mike pence today — despite rejecting an american appeal for an immediate ceasefire in northern syria. turkish troops are leading a military operation to create what mr erdogan calls a safe area along his country's border with syria. kurdish forces have struck a deal with the syrian government, and their russian and iranian allies, to help in their battle against the turks. the turkish ambassador to the uk, umit yalcin, has spoken to christian fraser from the bbc news programme beyond 100 days. he said sanctions would not make the country rethink its actions. these countries, when they are taking these decisions, of course, they are disappointing us as allies, but they should understand our legitimate concerns and they should give support to us. i mean, sometimes being alone doesn't mean they are not right. we will be determined in our efforts against terrorists.

if our nato allies are trying to sanction us, then how can they expect us to sit and wait for our defence needs? we can change and replace our procurement sources but we cannot replace our borders. six people have been detained by police in the bulgarian capital sofia following racist chanting directed at england's footballers on monday night. the bulgarian interior ministry said the arrests had been made to investigate "those responsible for improper acts" during the match. england's players were subjected to racists chants and nazi salutes during their 6—0 victory. 0ur correspondent, daniel sandford, has been following developments in sofia. the ministry of interior say that they have identified 15 people that were involved in those nazi salutes and those racist chants at the stadium here on monday night.

they say that they have worked out who nine of those 15 people are, they have already arrested six of them — six of them are currently in custody being questioned. they say that they won't tolerate this kind of anti—social behaviour, and that they are taking action as a result of that. what is becoming less clear is exactly why it was that these men went to the stadium and performed these nazi salutes and insulted the black english players. it could, of course, have been a simple act of football hooliganism — but there is a lot of speculation here that it might have been a slightly more organised act. one theory is that because gareth southgate had spoken out so strongly ahead of the game about racism, then perhaps, they'd deliberately been provocative as a result of that. i have to say, actually, more people here in sofia actually think it was some kind of a political act, tied into local politics here in bulgaria, linked to local elections. and, actually, this was a deliberate provocation, which then prompted

an act which allowed the prime minister to get rid of the head of the bulgarian fa, so it's all very murky as to why it was that these men had so blatantly taken to the terraces, despite all the warnings, and performed these nazi salutes, and so blatantly insulted the black english players. the climate change campaign group, extinction rebellion, has launched legal action, after a ban was introduced on its protests across london. the group says the ban is disproportionate, and an attack on civil liberties. police say more than 1,600 arrests have been made during the protests in the capital. the transport secretary has confirmed he's considering whether one of the country's biggest rail franchises should be taken out of private hands. grant shapps told mps today that the northern franchise cannot continue delivering such poor levels of punctuality. it's the second largest rail franchise in the country, accounting for the vast majority of services in the north of england,

but has been losing money for years and has struggled with late trains, poor customer service and frequent industrial action. northern must submit proposals on how services can be improved before further action takes place. here's our transport correspondent, tom burridge, on how significant this is. rail passengers in the north of england have been suffering for a long time. go back to the chaotic introduction of a new timetable the summer before last, huge numbers of services cancelled and delayed but since then, really, the service hasn't got better. they haven't fixed the problems, new trains have been brought into service but it hasn't made much of a difference — sundays are particularly bad at the moment. what we have known for a while now is that there has been a process going on whereby companies on behalf of the government have been looking at the franchise and considering whether or not the government needs to step in. this is all cloak and daggers, or it has been up until now. i think it is significant that the government is going public with this and saying and confirming that this process is well under way, that what is called the operator of last resort is a potential option and that would mean, effectively,

a second franchise in the country coming into the hands of the government. we already have services on the east coast mainline up to leeds, from london to leeds and on to edinburgh already basically being managed by the government effectively. this would be the second major franchise, but a more complicated franchise, really, because of its commuter services across the north of england. it is not the only option. the government is also looking at what is called a management contract. that would essentially be the department for transport stepping in, taking a hands—on approach onto the franchise but allowing northern and its parent company, arriva, to continue operating the trains and that is why i think we have seen essentially an ultimatum from the government today to arriva to say, "sort your act out or else." that is all very well, tom, but what does it mean for passengers? well, in the short term, simon, not a great deal, because this will not happen overnight. when you take a rail franchise and you change who is managing it, it takes months. so, this process is really entering a sort of critical phase but it

still has a long way to run until the government would take a more hands—on approach or even take full control of the franchise. but, you know, ithink there is a huge amount of pressure. political leaders in the north of england have already come out in the last few days and said their preferred option is that the operator of last resort is brought in so effectively the government would take full control of the franchise. they believe that northern has had its chance, it hasn't improved performance across the board and therefore it should be stripped, they believe, of its franchise. let's pick up on the ongoing brexit negotiations in brussels. and we can now talk to our europe correspondent, gavin lee. anything? there is a whiff of something of some sort. donald tusk has just given an interview on polish tv, the equivalent of their

news channel, saying that the basic foundations of a deal is there. that could now put on the momentum of a deal being reached between the eu and the uk tomorrow night at the summit. he said that we should have clarity, that mythical white smoke, within the next five to seven hours. i think something is coming, good or bad, we arejust i think something is coming, good or bad, we are just waiting to see what it is, still no clarity on the details. how many times have we say that either the us? you get the sense while watching what is going on over there, they are watching what is going on here, at some point, we will all be at the wiser? ultimately, there were some leak suggesting that a deal was very close last night. arlene foster, meeting borisjohnson, perhaps meaning more discussions,

suggestions that some ground has been given to the other. we have heard part of the erg group saying today that the actual feature relationship, what they get in the declaration, the lee consent mechanism, how the people of northern ireland, whether there is i referendum, an agreement through stormont, how they say yes, we will continue having this european customs and single market. also, the sense that we are getting from free officials today that they may give up officials today that they may give upa thumbs officials today that they may give up a thumbs up agreement at the summit tomorrow, but on the condition and it goes through parliament on a saturday, and the europeans now that boris johnson parliament on a saturday, and the europeans now that borisjohnson has the numbers. flipped reverse what happened to theresa may, when it fell flat three times.

doctors in italy who are treating a seriously brain damaged girl from london say they hope that eventually she will be able to return home and be cared for by her family. five—year—old tafida raqeeb was flown to genoa yesterday, after a high courtjudge ruled that life—sustaining treatment should continue. 0ur medical correspondent fergus walsh is in genoa. his report contains flash photography. each slowly, painstakingly, tafida was taken off the private taken off the private chartered plan after it landed at genoa airport. tafida suffered a catastrophic bleed on her brain in february and was being kept alive on a ventilator. she was transferred to the gaslini children's hospital. this morning, tafida's parents were welcomed by hospital administrators and pro—life campaigners. tafida's mother thanked the italian doctors for believing in her daughter's recovery. i'm sure everyone knows that tafida was a very happy, bubbly child before february,

and in february our life has been turned upside down. she wasn't born unwell. she wasn't born with a condition. this thing just suddenly happened. tafida's parents say she is making progress and have released several videos of her in the royal london hospital. high court ruled that tafida is minimally aware and that she cannot be cured. the italian doctors caring for tafida say what she needs now more than anything else is time. the brain injury has been devastating but we cannot exclude that there might be, maybe, a slight improvement in the future, and we are just buying time to assess if this could be possible. the medical team in italy intend to give tafida a tracheotomy, inserting a tube into her windpipe, which will be connected to a ventilator, with the eventual aim that she could be transferred back to england and be

cared for at home. what is striking is the marked difference in tone between the italian medical team and the doctors in britain who wanted to withdraw life support. the doctors here believe they can make tafida more comfortable and that, even though there may be no clinical improvement, she deserves the chance to be kept alive. tafida's parents are applying for italian citizenship for her to smooth any bureaucratic hurdles about her treatment, which is all being paid for privately. no—one is sure how long her stay in italy will last. fergus walsh, bbc news, genoa. a gp accused of 34 sexual assaults against eight female patients has gone on trial today. dr manish shah allegedly carried out unnecessary intimate examinations of patients, aged between the ages of 11 and 30, at his surgery in romford. the old bailey heard that dr shah was previously convicted of similar allegations involving 17 other female patienets.

mr shah denies the charges against him. 0ur correspondent, richard lister, was in court. the prosecution was opened by kate bex qc, who told the jury that doctor shah had abused his position to persuade women to have invasive, intimate examinations when there was no medical need for them, purely for his own sexual gratification. these 34 alleged assaults are alleged to have taken place between may 2009 and july 2013. the jury heard from the prosecutor today that in one case, with one woman, he raised the issue of angelina jolie's cancer fears and with another, jade goody‘s death from cervical cancer to persuade patients they should have these intimate, invasive examinations. the jury was also told by the prosecutor that he had persuaded women under the age of 25 to have smear tests,

sometimes multiple times, against nhs guidelines. he denies all the charges against him. the court heard he had been previously convicted of 17 similar allegations against 17 women. that's a case which can only now be reported. three people have been arrested following last month's theft of a golden toilet from blenheim palace. the art installation, valued at around £4.8 million, was allegedly taken in an overnight raid last month. thames valley police said a 35—year—old man, a 34—year—old man, and a 36—year—old woman — all from oxford — had been arrested. the duke of cambridge says more education and political action is needed to tackle climate change, as he visited a melting glacier in pakistan. prince william and his wife visited the hindu kush mountain range on the third day of their tour of the country. they were shown how the glacier has retreated rapidly in recent years because of global warming. time for a look at the weather.

here's chris fawkes. day weather it is time definitely not the unsubtle side over the next several days. today, we have seen some rain this morning. worth the wait weather over recent days, there was a localised flooding issues on the road. the rain bearing clouds across eastern areas now, sunshine falling too many in western parts. there are some complications across northern france, the front has developed a wave on it, meaning the rain is returning across south—east england, particularly sussex and kent, could push into eastern parts of essex as well. a few showers as well for south—west england, showers for western scotland, still some rain across the scotland. aside from that, a lot of dry weather to end a day with some welcome sunshine. 0vernight tonight, the rain does

quit out of the way. with clearing skies, it will turn out to be quite a chilly night, temperatures are low enough for a touch of frost in sheltered areas of north—eastern parts of the country. further west, there will be a bit more breeze and a cloud because we are closer to this area of low pressure, it will ta ke this area of low pressure, it will take his time, 4 days to be precise, to slowly push its way eastwards across the uk. we are in for an uncertain spell of weather. i do i start on thursday, across western areas throughout the morning, there will be several bands of showers working their way in. a eastern parts of scotland and england, the weather will stay dry is for a but weather will stay dry is for a but we can still see some showers arriving into the afternoon. by friday, low pressure is still with us, that theme of blustery downpours continues. the showers will be widespread, no one is immune from

getting a few sharp showers. i think they will be most frequent across parts of wales and south—west england. temperatures 11 to 15 degrees. 0ur area of low pressure is there throughout the weekend, the pressure is rising, getting a bit weaker, meaning that there will be showers are around but there should be bigger gaps between them is opening up as the weekend goes by. not a complete write—off, but they will be showers from time to time through the weekend, temperatures will continue in the range of 11 to 15 celsius. perhaps they will look at hyundai for a time next week. this is bbc news. our latest headlines... as talks to try to reach a brexit deal continue, european council president donald tusk says the basic foundations of a deal are in place but that "certain doubts have appeared from the british side" today. as chief negotiator michel barnier prepares to update eu

ambassadors on any progress, borisjohnson is in downing street briefing his cabinet on the talks. that meeting broke up a short time ago. the parents of harry dunn meet president trump at the white house and ask again for the woman involved in the crash that killed their son to return to the uk. doctors in italy treating a seriously brain damaged girl from london say they hope that eventually she will be able to return home and be cared for by her family. the government takes the first step towards stripping the north of england's biggest train operator of its franchise. time for the sport now with sarah. we begin with the continued fallout from we begin with the continued fallout fro m eve nts we begin with the continued fallout from events on monday night. bulgarian police have arrested six men suspected of aiming racist abuse at england players during monday night's euro qualifier in sofia. they have identified 15 fans in total — the nine not arrested are under police investigation, with three wanted.

midfielderjordan henderson says the england players wanted to make the home fans "suffer" for the racist abuse by beating them on the pitch. they won 6—0. there are also reports that some bulgarian players told england that the racism was pre—planned and co—ordinated, with claims that some of the abusers were disguised as stewards in sofia. it looks organised, to get that many people inside the stadium, all dressed up in the t—shirts and no respect sign, if you compare that to our own stadium, that would not be allowed, and they were there for the best pa rt allowed, and they were there for the best part of the first half before they left their own accord, whether they left their own accord, whether they were asked to leave. it looked coordinated. talking about them being disguised as stewards cup that makes sense as well. the authorities there had pretty much 72 hours before the game before the to get —— to get things right and to know the eyes of the world would be watching

and they did not take the opportunity, unfortunately. uefa have sanctioned the italian side lazio becasue of the racist behaviour of theirfans. their stadium in rome will be partially closed for their europa league game against celtic on november 7th. that follows incidents during their match against the french side rennes earlier this month. they've also been fined just over £17,000. the spanish football authorities are looking to reverse the fixture between barcelona and real madrid later this month. the first el clasico of the season is scheduled to take place at camp nou on october 26th. catalan groups and political parties are preparing a demonstration in barcelona on that day following the sentencing of nine separatist leaders by the spanish supreme court. authorities want it to be played in madrid instead. the women's champions league resumes later on wednesday. it's the round of 16 with manchester city looking to become only the second english team to win the prize. they take on atletico madrid in the first of two legs,

knowing they have to start making a bigger noise on the european stage, against a team that beat them last season. we are proud of how far we have come in six seasons, being able to consistently push hard domestically was always our main objective. we are pleased with the start of the season but to be competitive and go into the final stages of the champions league, shows where you are at on the european stage so it is really important for us. we are excited for the game now. that game kicks off at 7pm at city's academy stadium. there are two other games involving british sides tonight. wsl champions arsenal travel to slavia prague this afternoon, glasgow city are in denmark against brondby. there is full coverage on the bbc. the international olympic commitee says the marathon and race walking events at next year's tokyo 0lympics will be moved south to the city of sapporo. 0rganisers want to avoid a repeat

of what occurred at the recent world athletics championships in doha, where almost half the field failed to complete the women's marathon because of sweltering heat and humidity. sapporo, the host of the 1972 winter olympics, can be five to six degrees cooler on average than tokyo during the games period of mid—to—late july and early august. ronnie 0'sullivan has beaten yuan sijun by four frames to three in the second round of the english open in crawley. the five time world champion continued his criticism of the venue earlier this week. last year he described the k2 leisure centre as "a hellhole" and feels little has changed since, saying, "every day in crawley is a day lost in my life." he will have to stay a little longer as he secured his place in the third round. that's all the sport for now. i'll have more for you in the next hour. ican i can sort of see where he is coming from but i will say no more than that! thank you. exactly how britain's land border with the eu would work,

where northern ireland and the republic of ireland meet, has been all—consuming in these brexit negotiations. norway has a land border with the eu — its border with sweden is over a thousand miles long. 0ur correspondent andrew bomford has been to look at what the uk might learn from the norway example. this is sweden. this is norway. 0ne's in the eu, one isn't. there are limits on what you can transport across the border. tariffs on goods like alcohol and tobacco in norway mean they're much more expensive there than in sweden. we're driving to a big shopping centre, just on the swedish side of the border. this is a place thatjust thousands and thousands of norwegians come to, basically to do their weekly or monthly shopping because it's so much cheaper in sweden than it is in norway. so, i've got some fizzy drinks — not just for me, it's for a lot of people. if you're buying stuff for yourself and your family, do you think people worry that much about how much you're taking back into the country? well, i think it's very up and down.

i know a lot of people who don't really care about that. as long as you kind of drive a normal car, you're just going across, like, it's so normal. like, i've never been stopped before. families might buy more than the quotas allow, but officials say organised crime around smuggling is the big problem. i visited a warehouse on the border, where every day they seize goods crossing from sweden into norway. what you see here is professional. it's organised crime. how often are you finding stuff that needs to be seized? every day. explain what's going on now? 0h, he's been picked up for x—ray inspection and they run this x—ray inspection. in northern ireland... yes. ..they are proposing that there will be none of this kind of border infrastructure. so, how would you do checks like this if you have no x—ray machine for example?

you wouldn't be able to do these kind of checks. if your ambition is to work against contraband, drug smuggling and those things, you will have to have a system of these kind of inspections. andrew bomford, bbc news, on the norway sweden border. i have just seen from adam fleming, he says the meeting between michel barnier and the ambassadors of the eu countries, he was meant to be briefing them on the progress or otherwise of the negotiations and his debrief has been pushed back to seven o'clock local time, six o'clock here tonight and we can pick up o'clock here tonight and we can pick up on that. joining me now is georgina wright, from the institute for government. any pushing back of time suggest there is hope? absolutely, talks are

ongoing and the fact we don't know what is happening is normally a good sign. if you are in the middle of negotiations, it's difficult to predict what will happen at the end, and we are pretty much at that crucial point right now. the fact that michel barnier has pushed back the meeting suggest there are some things to be ironed out. it is often easy as we concentrate on the minutiae here to forget the wider picture so where are we right now? essentially, if you want a deal, there are four steps pundit british and eu negotiators need to agree a legal text. you need the uk government and eu leaders to endorse it, and then the european to content consent it and finally you need to pass it here in the uk parliament and there is an extra bit on the uk side, in that they would have to pass the withdrawal agreement built what is the domestic legislation required to adopt a deal if one is reached in brussels. the mood music in europe, donald tusk was saying last night, we were almost there, he

says it was a problem on the uk side. without being a brain of britain, he is talking about the dup. there was a problem again here. it is difficult, you want to read things into it but we are not in the room and we don't know what the hurdles are. we know that some of the big questions and gaps between the big questions and gaps between the uk and eu were around consent what role could you give the northern ireland assembly and executive over what happens in the future of northern ireland, if you could give them consent and what would that look like. and there is also the issue around customs, which needs to be ironed out, the eu felt the detail was lacking still and it was difficult for them to commit to something at this stage. we don't yet know whether at this place will be sitting on saturday, getting the sense that one tactic the eu might be using is to see if borisjohnson can get anything through the uk parliament before they commit to it

so parliament before they commit to it so how would that work? i'm not sure thatis so how would that work? i'm not sure that is a tactic but it is something they are thinking about. they want to make sure that if they are going to make sure that if they are going to put in hours and hours of negotiations... they're running out of time. absolutely but they are thinking what happens if parliament rejects a deal to end it is almost a step too far, we don't have a deal yet, so i think they are also thinking possibly about a further delay. what does that look like and how long would it last and what are the terms and conditions required to enable the uk to remain a member state in that time? we missed one self—imposed deadline last night, the next is basically tomorrow, the meeting of the eu council. it is a two—day meeting, and if nothing happens there, could they reconvene? again, the eu council is notjust about brexit, there are other issues they will be discussing to do there isa they will be discussing to do there is a new incoming commission that is supposed to take up its seat around december time we think and they will be discussing other issues but brexit will be the dominating one.

there are two scenarios put the first, british and eu negotiators reached a deal in principle, saying that they have found an agreement but still need some time to iron out the legal detail and then they agreed tomorrow to endorse it. 0ption two is that they have made significant progress but they still need more time so they will reconvene next week to discuss it again. boris johnson has briefed his cabinet. presumably he is in regular touch with whoever is doing the negotiations in brussels? absolutely, in the same way that eu leaders will be briefed by the commission negotiating team on what is going on. this is a negotiation between the uk and eu on the eu side you have the european parliament, updating them, the leaders and then on the uk site you have updating backbenchers and other people. multiple negotiations going on at the same time. georgina, always good to see you, thank you. all eyes at the moment appear to be on the dup.

there were eu sources earlier talking about a potential imminent breakthrough. arlene foster as taken to twitter, as so many seem to do at the moment, saying, "eu sources talking nonsense. discussions continue, needs to be a sensible deal which unionists and nationalists can support. . deal which unionists and nationalists can support.. her team are meeting on monday. they agreed to seek a recall of the assembly. as you can see, nonsense is a to seek a recall of the assembly. as you can see, nonsense is a pretty strong word and you could see where she seems to be coming from with that. the vice—chair of the conservative party, andrew bowie, is with me. what have you heard, what's going on? i knowjust as much as you or your viewers. negotiations continue apace, they are locked in negotiations in brussels as we speak, cabinet is being briefed by the prime minister and we look for the prime minister and we look for the white smoke which will tell us

where we are but i'm confident that a deal is very much there to be done. how competent is very competent? i know no more than you or your viewers, are we waiting for an indication from downing street. what is it that you know that makes you competent? i have confidence in this government and its negotiated to get a good deal between ourselves and the eu so we can leave the eu at the end of october and deliver on the end of october and deliver on the priorities set out in the queen's speech on monday. with huge respect, you could read that of a script. i have heard those words many times in the last few days. we have seen arlene foster saying, hang on, this took the eu are saying we are nearly there is nonsense, there are nearly there is nonsense, there are still major issues. do you sense that perhaps borisjohnson is prepared to ditch the dup support? does he need it? it's about the numbers. of course it is all about the numbers, we want a brexit deal thatis the numbers, we want a brexit deal

that is good for the entire united kingdom and that is what we want to achieve and what the prime minister set out to achieve and what negotiators are working hard to achieve right now in brussels. i will not get drawn into hypotheticals about who is ditching who and what's going on in what room pundit without behind the government to get a good deal and leave the eu at the 31st of october. in terms of the cabinet, some are not happy they are being kept out of the loop. they are being briefed right now by the prime minister and thatis right now by the prime minister and that is the right way to do things, how we do things in this country and we are governed by cabinet government and they are being told right now what the situation is in brussels and where we are with negotiations. as i said, we are very confident that a deal is within our grasp and we look forward to presenting it to parliament, getting it through the house of commons are leaving the eu on the 31st of 0ctober. leaving the eu on the 31st of october. what are the concessions you think boris johnson

october. what are the concessions you think borisjohnson has made?” will not get drawn into hypotheticals can i just will not get drawn into hypotheticals can ijust know that what is going on right now and what i'm hearing fills me with confidence that a deal is close to being done and that is good for the country. i think people are fed up with the interminable angry debate about if we are leaving or not, when we are leaving or not, it is time to get on and deliver the result of the referendum that took place three and a half yea rs referendum that took place three and a half years ago and we want to talk about things people care about, the nhs, schools, instruction project. if you were a betting man, i'll be going to be discussing this tomorrow or discussing a deal?” going to be discussing this tomorrow or discussing a deal? i very much hope we are discussing a deal. i know that is what the negotiators are working hard to achieve in brussels and i know that is what the prime minister is looking to get in front of his cabinet right now. to talk to you, thank you. we will turn to brexit later but some breaking news from the national crime agency who are saying that 337 people have been arrested globally

in what they are describing as a multi—agency operation sparked by an investigation into one of the uk's worst ever child sex offenders. we are hearing a mess had been made in 38 countries including the uk, ireland, america, canada, saudi arabia, germany and spain. it in relation to a child abuse site which has been taken down by international task force set up by the nca it also includes the homeland security investigation and internal revenue service and criminal in discussions in the us pulled the south korean national peace and germany's federal police to this site is run from south korea and it contained more than 250,000 videos described by the nca as horrific. users have made more than! nca as horrific. users have made more than 1 million downloads. nca as horrific. users have made more than! million downloads. the website monetise the sexual abuse from children and was one of the first to offer videos for sale using the cryptocurrency bitcoin. that is

the cryptocurrency bitcoin. that is the lead late —— the latest we are hearing, 337 people arrested globally in an nca inspired operation. much more on that coming up. alice baxter is here. these are your business headlines. camera chainjessops, owned by dragons den star peterjones, is set to call in administrators for the firm's property arm. mrjones bought the chain from administrators in 2013 after it collapsed under £81 million of debt. but since then, the firm, which has 46 shops, has not made a single profit and losses have mounted in recent years. last year alone, the business, which employs 500 people, reported a £13 million loss as rent costs increased to £4.7 million. trade tensions between the us and china area trade tensions between the us and china are a major risk for the global economy with the potential domino effect causing real spill—overfor smaller domino effect causing real spill—over for smaller emerging

markets. so say top officials at the international monetary fund. and profits. profits at asos have plunged after warehouse problems led to what the online fashion retailer said was a "disappointing" year. more on that in just a moment. over the last year, asos has installed more robots in its european warehouses and expanded its facilities in the us. but the speed of growth hit profits, which dropped the cost of renting rose fastest in nottingham, leeds and bristol last year, whilst falling in aberdeen — that's according to property website zoopla. but on average, renting a home in the uk has become more affordable. part of the reason, according to zoopla, is an increase in the number of people buying their first home, relieving some of the pressure on the rental sector. joining us now is richard donnell, research and insight director at zoopla. many thanks for joining many thanks forjoining us on the

programme. interesting research coming out of zoopla. rents are rising fastest in nottingham, leeds and bristol so was that a surprise? i think mental growth rates are burying across the country and it reflects what is happening to the supply a property in these cities and how much demand there is, particularly the affordability of renting against buying. and tenants moving in aberdeen, good news for them because that is where rent has dropped by 4.1% in the third quarter but is that to do with falling oil prices? it is, the weakness in the aberdeen housing market is to do with the fall in the oil price since 2015 and we have seen house prices falling and rent prices falling as well and it reflects underlying demand. that is the thing, what is happening to rent and house prices around the country are all linked to the underlying demand for property and how strong the local economy is. the other major interesting point to

come out of the research is that on average renting uk home has become much more affordable. that's right, and what we have seen is that the current level of rental growth of 2% on average is half the level of earnings growth and this is a trend that has been established for the last three years. we saw rental growth slowed to have complete in 2016 as a lot of landlords bought property which increased the supply of housing and slowed rental growth. what we have seen more recently is a big slowdown in the number of investors buying properties since the tax changes and exit stamp duty and it has reduced the supply of rented homes and that is why we are starting to see this pick—up but the pick—up in the number of investors buying properties since the tax changes and exit stamp duty and it has reduced the supply of rented homes and that is why we are starting to see this pick—up but the pick—up input is well below the level of growth in earnings. and still less than the peak we saw in 2016 put it interesting to see the concentration of renters in private rental properties and to what degree thatis rental properties and to what degree that is concentrated in london still. yes, what you find is in

markets with high rents, you find more than one person sharing a property. this extra occupancy has increased, is part of that recent rents have increased but there is so much money that tenants can afford on renting so there is a limit as to how far rents can increase. indeed, interesting stuff but we will leave it there. thank you for your time. profits at asos have plunged after warehouse problems led to what the online fashion retailer said was a "disappointing" year. over the last year, asos has installed more robots in its european warehouses and expanded its facilities in the us. but the speed of growth hit profits, which dropped almost 70% falling to £33.1 million for the year. "with the benefit of hindsight, we were not adequately prepared for the additional complexities," asos said. a source is about 20 years old, it

was a huge success in the uk but as soon as was a huge success in the uk but as soon as it went on the stock market, investors were looking for growth —— asos is about 20 years old. they realised they could not grow much in the uk because it had such a big share so i had to go abroad in the areas it went for were europe and america. in both cases, as the ceo has admitted, they totally underestimated the size of the problem, which of course raises questions about the quality of management at asos. the rollercoaster ride for the british pound continues — having enjoyed its best week since 2017 last week after borisjohnson and leo varadkar said they could see "a pathway" for a brexit agreement, it surged as much as 1.5% on tuesday. todayit today it is a different story as it swung around a five—month high amid a blizzard of contradictory headlines about whether britain and the eu on the verge of agreeing a deal or not.

iam sure i am sure it might swing around a bit more by the time i next come to you in an hour. that's all the business news. thank you very much. a quick line from laura kuenssberg, our political editor, who said that ministers told the bbc cabinet was not briefed on the bbc cabinet was not briefed on the full content of the possible eu deal because it has not been done yet and negotiators are still in what they call the tunnel where everything is confidential. she said the mood was said to be cheery but very much steady as she goes, with the possibility, not the certainty, that an agreement could be reached this week. this week. it is also understood the cabinet discussed the plan for mps to sit on saturday and vote on whatever the outcome of the eu summit is an ministers may put down a resolution to try to make

that happen tomorrow. 0bviously much depending on what happened in brussels, what negotiators are looking at and the possibility that was raised by adam fleming that some within the eu may see if boris johnson can get his proposals, or any deal come through parliament here before they make a decision over their. it is very fluid and we await news from brussels. donald tusk suggested earlier that he expects some resolution a little later this evening. but we don't yet know. more from here in the next few minutes but first a look at the weather with helen. good afternoon. still a handful of flood warnings across england following the recent deluge and we have had more rain this morning and potentially in the south—east we could have some more coming in in the next few hours but it will clear away. some high pressure come in and then on thursday, friday, saturday and sunday, the same low pressure sits across the uk and that means

the risk of more rain but in the form of showers. nevertheless, they can bring significant rain. it is only towards the end of sunday and the beginning of next week that we start to see this brief high pressure which could give us a day or two of the drier weather. as for the rest of the afternoon, yes, the sun is coming out in western areas for a lovely day, light winds and very few showers but the rain will be slow to clear in eastern scotland and there could be more in the south—east. in the sunshine, light winds, 16 degrees and feeling quite pleasant. at this time of year, the nights are longer and temperatures will fall away quite rapidly. the showers will build up in the west, so showers will build up in the west, so not as chilly in the west of england and wales and ireland but there will be a touch of frost in there will be a touch of frost in the glens of scotland as we head towards morning. notjust frosty to start with but potentially mist and fog under this high—pressure. it is low pressure creeping closer tomorrow though so the winds will be

strengthening and the early morning mist and fog will clear but then we have the showers, initially heavy and persistent in western areas and southern areas but through the day we could see lengthy spells of showery rain pushing eastwards. nowhere is exempt from the showers, some suntan in between but the winds will be quite blustery, particularly those showers —— some sunshine in between. 0n those showers —— some sunshine in between. on friday, the low pressure creeps in and sits across the country so the showers will meander around with longer spells of rain at times. all through the weekend they could be intense showers and torrential downpours with hail and thunder and lightning subtle change, we have more of a northerly breeze in the north of the country and it will feel cooler day and at night. at the weekend, it is sunshine and showers. more on the website. goodbye.

hello, you're watching afternoon live. today at four: talks to try to reach a brexit deal continue — european council president, donald tusk says, the basic foundations of a deal are in place, but that "certain doubts have appeared from the british side" today. it comes as the dup leader, arlene foster, dismisses as "nonsense" a suggestion her party has accepted any new brexit border proposals. meanwhile, borisjohnson has been briefing his cabinet on the talks. here in westminster — we're hearing from our political editor that cabinet meeting was good—natured, but that ministers were not briefed on the full contents of the talks. in other news — the uk's national crime agency leads an operation that sees more than 300 suspected paedophiles arrested around the world

the government takes the first step towards stripping the north of england's main train operator of its franchise. ministers say they're dropping plans to introduce age verification controls on pornographic websites. coming up on afternoon live — all the sport with sarah. bulgarian police have identified 15 fa ns bulgarian police have identified 15 fans had arrested six of them following the racist abuse of england players during their euro qualifiers on monday. thanks, sarah, and we'll bejoining you for a full update just after half—past. chris fawkes has all the weather. a slow—moving a slow— moving area a slow—moving area of low pressure throughout the rest of this week will bring plenty of showers our way, full details a little bit later on. another high street store in trouble — camera chainjessops plans to call in administrators.

good aftermoon and welcome to bbc news, live from westminster — where all eyes are on the negotiators in brussels trying to secure agreement on a brexit deal in time for an eu summit tomorrow. this afternoon, european council president donald tusk has told reporters that it should be clear by the end of the day if a deal can be reached. talks resumed early this morning, but the eu's chief brexit negotiator, michel barnier, has spoken of "a number of significant issues" still standing in the way. a briefing he was due to give eu ambassadors has been postponed again. it had been reported the democratic unionist party was ready to accept new proposals — but in a tweet, its leader, arlene foster has, described the claims as "nonsense". both the eu and the government say progress is being made — but government sources say the chances of reaching a deal are shrinking. from brussels, our europe correspondent adam fleming reports. the uk's negotiators arriving for talks this morning,

talks which haven't broken down but which aren't reaching a conclusion yet either. those discussions are ongoing as we speak and we are absolutely committed to securing a deal. we think that is in the interests of both sides. late last night, the two sides burnt the midnight oil — more specifically, the 1:30am oil. the main sticking points, the same as ever. what customs checks there could be on the island of ireland, the role of the stormont assembly, the shape of the future trade agreement. talks have been constructive but there are still remain a number of significant issues to resolve. the eu chief negotiator, michel barnier, will spend much of today updating his bosses. this morning, it was the european commission, this afternoon diplomats from the other eu countries, who are sticking to their red lines.

as the french foreign minister explained, those are protecting the single market and the irish border, and safeguards in case the uk tries to become a ruthless economic rival. i spoke to the prime minister by phone this morning and i've been in contact as well with the european commission and i do think we are making progress but there are issues yet to be resolved and hopefully that can be done today, allowing us to ratify the agreement at the european council tomorrow. sources in brussels say the political action isn't really here, it's in london where, they say, the government needs to make some choices about what it's going to do and work out if enough mps will vote for a revised deal, if there even is one. the irish prime minister leo varadkar has told the irish parliament that he still thinks

there is a "pathway" to a possible brexit deal but he couldn't give an exact timeframe in which the agreement could be made. this is about securing an agreement that works for the people of ireland and the people of europe. if it works for the people of ireland it is avoiding a hard border between the north and south. ensuring that the all ireland economy can continue to develop and that north and south cooperation as envisaged by the good friday agreement can resume. and just as important, to protect the single market, its integrity and our place in it. i said last week that i thought there was a pathway to a possible agreement and that is still my view. however, the question is whether the negotiators will be able to bridge the remaining gaps in advance of tomorrow's council. what is important now is that all focus is kept on achieving a deal that delivers for everyone. earlier we spoke to our europe reporter gavin lee about the negotiations in brussels. there is a whiff, simon, of something, of sorts. i will let you be the judge of exactly what it is.

donald tusk has just given an interview on polish tv, the equivalent of the news channel, and he has said that the basic foundations of a deal is there and that could now put on the momentum for a deal being reached between the eu and great britain and northern ireland tomorrow night at the summit. he said that we should have clarity, that mythical white smoke, within the next five to seven hours so i think something is coming, good or bad, we just will have to wait and see what it is but still no clarity as to what the devil in the detail is. how many times have we said that over the years? you get the sense that they are perhaps watching what is happening here while here they are watching what goes on there and at some point we will all be the wiser. ultimately, there were some leaks suggesting they were very close toa deal as of last night and borisjohnson had some meetings in downing street.

arlene foster came in to meet him clearly and perhaps that meant more discussions about how to placate one side, given that there suggestions they had given some ground on the other, leaving northern ireland, allowing them to be in a customs union. what matters, and we have heard those as part of the european research group saying this today, the brexiteers saying that the future relationship, what they get in the declaration, be it the consent mechanism, how the people of northern ireland and therefore through its parliamentarians and politicians, whether there is a referendum or an agreement through stormont when the parliament eventually sits, how they say yes, we will continue having this european customs and single market. also, the sense we are getting from three officials today that they may give a thumbs up agreement tomorrow at the summit, if we listened to donald tusk, but on condition that it goes through parliament on saturday and the europeans know that borisjohnson has the numbers. flip reverse what happened to theresa may

when it fell flat three times. borisjohnson's been briefing his cabinet in downing street. that meeting ended in the last half hour. ministers have told the bbc that they weren't briefed on the full contents of the possible deal with the eu because it has not been done yet. 0ur chief political correspondent vicki young joins us now from the houses of parliament. borisjohnson, a boris johnson, a meeting borisjohnson, a meeting of the 1922 committee later? yes, it was a very short meeting by cabinet standards, only 40 minutes. they weren't given the detail because detail has not been the hammered out yet. i asked liz truss if there was a deal, she said it was all looking very positive. as we keep hearing, there has been progress but there are more hurdles and there is more work to be done. i think that is why we are seeing these meetings, the times of them changing, some are going later. downing street was certainly

indicating that this morning that they felt this could well run for another few hours. they are notjust going to stop talking because there isa summit going to stop talking because there is a summit tomorrow, i think if they are getting close, they will keep going. boris johnson they are getting close, they will keep going. borisjohnson is about to speak to backbench tory mps in a corridor over here, i think he is trying very hard to get a deal, he thinks that they are close and everybody needs to be brought on side, mainly, that means the dup and this issue of consent, that they may be willing to accept this change in the customs arrangements, but only if there is a mechanism by which the communities of northern ireland could either say, we are going to go into that mechanism, or they need a way out of it, that seems to be the sticking point for stop unless they are on site, it seems very difficult for borisjohnson to sign up for something. if the dup are on site, that would suggest that most

conservative mps would fall in behind some kind of deal. i think the question is about the saturday sitting here in parliament, that is not definite yet, although the indications is that it is more likely than not. if a deal hasn't been signed off, do they still go ahead with it? gavin williamson was talking about less —— was talking about this political thumbs up from the eu, white fraught with difficulty and risk for boris johnson. what if it doesn't go through? labour mps i have been speaking to, some of them are minded to back a deal, but not on a vague thumbs up, i think they would need to see the legal text before they really put their heads up above the parapet and decide to vote for something. that is still quite fluid, but you get the sense that something has shifted quite a long way. but everyone keeps saying that there is more work to be done. not for the first time, we are looking at the dup, seeing how they are

responding to everything. thus boris johnson have the option of ploughing ahead without their support? ah he does, but i think that is very difficult, i think you would lose more conservatives. and then labour, they have their own concerns, some labour mps they have their own concerns, some labourmps are minded they have their own concerns, some labour mps are minded to back a deal. they are worried about possible changes to the declaration, it is not legally binding, but it gives an indication of what the future relationship will be. boris johnson wants all this kind of relationship but that causes problems for labour mps because they wa nt problems for labour mps because they want the opposite. as has always been the case, you gain some on some sad, but then is that you lose some on the other. the arithmetic is going to be incredibly tight. and at the end, it's about trust. even though they dup might be looking at this deal and thinking it is different to theresa may's but not

necessarily better, do they trust borisjohnson is necessarily better, do they trust boris johnson is more necessarily better, do they trust borisjohnson is more to deliver it? tutorial mps think this is the man who led the leave campaign, we trust him more in a sense of where we are going for the future relationship. that could be enough to persuade people who are on the theresa may we re people who are on the theresa may were not persuaded by what she was trying to sell to them. more than 300 suspected paedophiles have been arrested across 38 countries, in an international operation led by british police against a child sex abuse website. the national crime agency uncovered the site which was operating on the dark web and being run from south korea. our home affairs correspondent, june kelly has more. what are we talking about, and what have the nca done? this really is an international law enforcement operation. some of the countries involved are the uk, ireland, the

us, canada, germany, spain, saudi arabia, the united arab emirates. this website, which as you say operated on the dark web, it was actually uncovered during an investigation by the uk's nca. they we re investigation by the uk's nca. they were investigating a man who turned out to be a prolific paedophile, he is now serving 25 years in prison for paedophile offences. as a result of that investigation, the nca started looking at this website, notifying international partners. as a result, we have this global operation. to give you an idea of the scale, in the uk alone, it has led to 18 investigations, one of them, one man was jailed for 22 yea rs. them, one man was jailed for 22 years. he had uploaded images himself abusing a young girl. what

the —— himself abusing a young girl. what the -- nca himself abusing a young girl. what the —— nca was stressing was that when you are in fighting these paedophiles, you have to rely on your international partners. they say that this is a massive success in terms of what has been achieved and that these people can now be brought tojustice. and that these people can now be brought to justice. the website was operating from south korea, giving you an idea of the global nature of all of this. turkey's president erdogan is to meet the us vice—president mike pence today, despite rejecting an american appeal for an immediate ceasefire in northern syria. turkish troops are leading a military operation to create what mr erdogan calls a safe area along his country's border with syria. kurdish forces have struck a deal with the syrian government, and their russian and iranian allies, to help in their battle against the turks. the turkish ambassador to the uk, umit yalcin, has spoken to christian fraser from the bbc news programme beyond 100 days. he said sanctions would not make the country rethink its actions. these countries, when they are taking these decisions, of course, they are disappointing us as allies, but they should understand

our legitimate concerns and they should give support to us. i mean, sometimes being alone doesn't mean they are not right. we will be determined in our efforts against terrorists. if our nato allies are trying to sanction us, then how can they expect us to sit and wait for our defence needs? we can change and replace our procurement sources but we cannot replace our borders. you're watching afternoon live — these are our headlines: talks to try to reach a brexit deal continue. european council president donald tusk says the basic foundations of a deal are in place but that "certain doubts have appeared from the british side" today. more than 300 suspected paedohiles are arrested around the world in an operation lead by the uk's national crime agency. the government takes the first step towards stripping northern rail of its operator franchise in the north of england.

ina in a sport, bulgarian police have identified 15 fans they suspect are possible for projecting black english players to racist abuse. six have been arrested, the night not arrested are under police investigation. spanish football authorities are looking to reverse the picture between real madrid and barcelona later this month, it was scheduled to take place on the same day planned catalan group demonstrations. the ioc says that the marathon and race walking events at next years 0lympics the marathon and race walking events at next years olympics will be made to the south of the country, which can be five to 6 degrees cooler than tokyo during the games. i will be back with more than the stories that have passed. six peoeple have been detained by police in the bulgarian capital sofia following racist chanting directed at england's footballers on monday night. the bulgarian interior ministry said

the arrests had been made to investigate "those responsible for improper acts" during the match. england's players were subjected to racists chants and nazi salutes during their 6—0 victory. 0ur correspondent, daniel sandford, has been following developments in sofia. the ministry of interior say that they have identified 15 people that were involved in those nazi salutes and those racist chants at the stadium here on monday night. they say that they have worked out who nine of those 15 people are, they have already arrested six of them — six of them are currently in custody being questioned. they say that they won't tolerate this kind of anti—social behaviour, and that they are taking action as a result of that. what is becoming less clear is exactly why it was that these men went to the stadium and performed these nazi salutes and insulted the black english players. it could, of course, have been a simple act of football hooliganism — but there is a lot of speculation here that it might have been

a slightly more organised act. one theory is that because gareth southgate had spoken out so strongly ahead of the game about racism, then perhaps, they'd deliberately been provocative as a result of that. but i have to say, actually, more people here in sofia actually think it was some kind of a political act, tied into local politics here in bulgaria, linked to local elections. and, actually, this was a deliberate provocation, which then prompted an act which allowed the prime minister to get rid of the head of the bulgarian fa, so it's all very murky as to why it was that these men had so blatantly taken to the terraces, despite all the warnings, and performed these nazi salutes, and so blatantly insulted the black english players. daniel sandford in sofia. the transport secretary has confirmed he's considering whether one of the country's biggest rail franchises should be taken out of private hands. grant shapps told mps today that the northern franchise cannot continue delivering such poor

levels of punctuality. it's the second largest rail franchise in the country, accounting for the vast majority of services in the north of england, but has been losing money for years and has struggled with late trains, poor customer service and frequent industrial action. northern must submit proposals on how services can be improved before further action takes place. 0ur transport correspondent, tom burridge, told me how significant this move is. rail passengers in the north of england have been suffering for a long time. go back to the chaotic introduction of a new timetable the summer before last, huge numbers of services cancelled and delayed but since then, really, the service hasn't got better. they haven't fixed the problems, new trains have been brought into service but it hasn't made much of a difference — sundays are particularly bad at the moment. what we have known for a while now is that there has been a process going on whereby companies on behalf of the government have been looking at the franchise and considering whether or not the government needs to step in. this is all cloak and daggers, or it has been up until now. i think it is significant that the government is going public

with this and saying and confirming that this process is well under way, that what is called the operator of last resort is a potential option and that would mean, effectively, a second franchise in the country coming into the hands of the government. we already have services on the east coast mainline up to leeds, from london to leeds and on to edinburgh already basically being managed by the government effectively. this would be the second major franchise, but a more complicated franchise, really, because of its commuter services across the north of england. it is not the only option. the government is also looking at what is called a management contract. that would essentially be the department for transport stepping in, taking a hands—on approach onto the franchise but allowing northern and its parent company, arriva, to continue operating the trains and that is why i think we have seen essentially an ultimatum from the government today to arriva to say, "sort your act out or else." that is all very well, tom, but what does it mean for passengers? well, in the short term, simon, not a great deal, because this will not happen overnight. when you take a rail franchise

and you change who is managing it, it takes months. so, this process is really entering a sort of critical phase but it still has a long way to run until the government would take a more hands—on approach or even take full control of the franchise. but, you know, ithink there is a huge amount of pressure. political leaders in the north of england have already come out in the last few days and said their preferred option is that the operator of last resort is brought in so effectively the government would take full control of the franchise. they believe that northern has had its chance, it hasn't improved performance across the board and therefore it should be stripped, they believe, of its franchise. tom burridge there. the government has scrapped plans for compulsory age verification on pornography websites. the scheme was supposed to start last year but was repeatedly delayed because of technical problems and concerns about users' privacy. the culture secretary, nicky morgan, said other legislation in the pipeline would meet the same objectives. let's speak to our technology reporter rory cellan—jones, who is in our business newsroom.

what has gone wrong here? this has been quite a saga, the idea was first submitted back in 2015 by the government of a robust age verification scheme which all the pornography websites in the uk might munich you had to be over 18 to access them. agencies were brought on board to make sure everything worked, and sites which don't comply with this would effectively be blocked in the uk. why quickly, people spotted all sorts of problems with this legislation, for one thing, it would have been relatively easy for children to get around it, they could have viewed virtual private networks. it didn't cover, for instance, social media. it wasn't going to be effective if site offer their services for free. repeated delays, it was due to be

launched in april last year, it was continually put back, the government said it was time to do it but it has now been shelved. if you're trying to prove your age online, you have to prove your age online, you have to show some sort of documentation, is that where the problem is? there we re is that where the problem is? there were a lot of question marks about what kind of information people using the sites would had to hand over on how secure using the sites would had to hand over on how secure that would be. civil liberty groups say that there could be no guarantee that, effectively, the government would not be building a vast database of people using pornography websites. they came back to this idea that evenif they came back to this idea that even if this project was brought in, it would not actually stop children stumbling across this material, for instance, on all sorts of social media sites which weren't covered by the legislation. thank you for joining us. the parents of harry dunn, the 19—year—old who was killed in a car crash involving the wife

of an american diplomat, have met donald trump at the white house. tim dunn and charlotte charles say that when they were there, the president dropped a bombshell, telling them ann sacoolas was in the next room. but they declined to meet her. they spoke to the bbc earlier today about the meeting. he didn't really react much at hall, if i'm honest. i think it was probably expecting it but then pushed it a couple more times after that. also, he clearly wanted us to have that meeting to try and bring some healing, i think was how he put it. but, we haven't begun to grieve yet. as the weeks have gone on, we have just gone yet. as the weeks have gone on, we havejust gone on yet. as the weeks have gone on, we have just gone on complete emotional lockdown. we are running on adrenaline. we are not able to sink m, adrenaline. we are not able to sink

in, really, that we have lost our boy. it is too scary to think about it, so you tend to go on emotional lockdown and keep yourself busy and talking to each other. yeah, you just keep rolling with it. we know that we are going to crash at some point, and is not going to be healthy for any of us to keep going with this frame of mind. but until justice of some kind is brought, we are not going to be able to rest. meeting her in the white house yesterday would not have brought any healing to her or us, i cannot imagine she would feel any healing from it either. the co—leader of the green party has been arrested after joining climate change protesters in central london. the party tweeted that jonathan bartley was arrested on whitehall while peacefully protesting. earlier, around 500 people gathered in trafalgar square, some of whom covered their mouths

with black tape which they said was to symbolise the silencing of their protest. lawyers for extinction rebellion activists have launched a high court action over the police decision to prevent them demonstrating anywhere in london. police have made more than 1,600 arrests in the ongoing protests. 0ur reporter andy moore is in trafalgar square, with the protesters — he sent us this update this demonstration going on and tell how gore square at the moment —— trafalgar square. this is technically an illegal gathering according to the powers imposed by the metropolitan police. they have imposed a section 14, meaning any assembly by members of extinction rebellion is technically illegal, and anybody taking part in it could be arrested. speakers here are saying that we are all criminals today, as some people have come a long think that they want to be arrested. as you can see, at the

moment, there is hardly a police officer nearby, they are around the square at the moment. very much a softly, softly policing operation at the moment, no damage been arrested yet. i journalist said the moment, no damage been arrested yet. ijournalist said he was attending after the speech he had to go down to whitehall to be arrested. the mayor of london, siddique khan, taking a slightly different view from the police. he says that the people can protest lawfully and peacefully. 0nly people can protest lawfully and peacefully. only if they interrupt traffic and roads, should they be arrested. possibly a development in the high court today, extinction rebellion talking about going there to get a judicial review to have the 1614 order overturned. i strange sort of legal grey in no man's land.

this is an illegal protest, but nobody being arrested. now it's time for a look at the weather with chris fawkes. hello again. it's an improving weather picture to take us through the rest of the day today. in many cases, it is going to be drier and brighter. however, it was a wet start to the day, and after the recent run of wet weather we have seen over recent days, we did see some surface water on some of our roads. the satellite picture shows a stripe of cloud, which is today's weather front, edging eastwards. the best of the sunshine across western areas, a few showers in the south—west, and a little bit of rain for a time in kent and sussex. but through the rest of the night, clear skies dominate for most areas, showers will start to move into western coasts and hills later in the night. it's going to be a cold one across the north and east, with temperatures low enough to give us some patches of frost in the countryside. but it should be a fine and settled, sunny start to the day for many of us on thursday — that is before showers get going. those showers will arrive quickly across western areas, they will be widespread and frequent, most places seeing

several downpours in the west. whereas, further east, will keep the driest weather longest, but some showers will probably move in later in the afternoon.

this is bbc news. our latest headlines... talks to try to reach a brexit deal continue. european council president donald tusk says the basic foundations of a deal are in place but that "certain doubts have appeared from the british side" today. it comes as the dup leader arlene foster dismisses as "nonsense" a suggestion her party has accepted any new brexit border proposals. meanwhile, borisjohnson has been briefing his cabinet on the talks. in other news, the uk's national crime agency leads an operation that sees more than 300 suspected paedophiles arrested around the world. the government takes the first step towards stripping the north of england's main train operator of its franchise. ministers say they're dropping plans to introduce age verification controls on pornographic websites.

sport now on afternoon live with sarah melkerrins. bulgarian police have arrested six men suspected of aiming racist abuse at england players during monday night's euro qualifier in sofia. they have identified 15 fans in total — the nine not arrested are under police investigation, with three wanted. fare, an anti—discrimination network across europe, says that about 20 stewards joined in with fans who were chanting racist abuse and involved in far—right activity during the 6—0 win over bulgaria. the group say they had spotters in the crowd, who saw the group take off their hi—vis vests before the game. fare have called for bulgaria to be expelled from the qualifying campaign. it looks organised, to get that many people inside the stadium, all dressed up in the t—shirts

and no respect signs, if you compare that to our own stadia, that would not be allowed, and they were there for the best part of the first half before they left their own accord, whether they were asked to leave. it looked coordinated. talking about them being disguised as stewards, that makes sense as well. the authorities there had pretty much 72 hours before the game to get things right and to know the eyes of the world would be watching and they did not take the opportunity, unfortunately. uefa have sanctioned the italian side lazio becasue of the racist behaviour of theirfans. their stadium in rome will be partially closed for their europa league game against celtic on november 7th. that follows incidents during their match against the french side rennes earlier this month. they've also been fined just over £17,000. the spanish football authorities are looking to reverse the fixture between barcelona and real madrid later this month. the first el clasico of the season is scheduled to take place at camp nou on october 26th. catalan groups and political parties are preparing a demonstration in barcelona on that day following the sentencing

of nine separatist leaders by the spanish supreme court. authorities want it to be played in madrid instead. the women's champions league resumes later on wednesday. it's the round of 16 with manchester city looking to become only the second english team to win the prize. they take on atletico madrid in the first of two legs, knowing they have to start making a bigger noise on the european stage, against a team that beat them last season. we are proud of how far we have come in six seasons, being able to consistently push hard domestically was always our main objective. we are pleased with the start of the season but to be competitive and go into the final stages of the champions league, shows where you are at on the european stage so it is really important for us. we are excited for the game now. that game kicks off at 7pm

at city's academy stadium. there are two other games involving british sides tonight. wsl champions arsenal travel to slavia prague this afternoon, glasgow city are in denmark against brondby. you can keep updated on the bbc sport website. the international olympic committee says the marathon and race walking events at next year's tokyo 0lympics could be moved north to the city of sapporo. 0rganisers want to avoid a repeat of what occurred at the recent world athletics championships in doha, where almost half the field failed to complete the women's marathon because of sweltering heat and humidity. sapporo, the host of the 1972 winter olympics, can be five to six degrees cooler on average than tokyo during the games period of mid—to—late july and early august. the international olympic committee says the marathon and race walking the ladies european tour have confirmed it is in talks with the lpga over a "true partnership" to build on the legacy of europe's solheim cup win last month. the two organisations have been working together since the event

at gleneagles, in which europe beat the united states by a single point, to agree a "joint venture relationship" that will offer european based players more playing opportunities. just before we go, a record attendance for a women's match in the uk could be set after england announced their wembley friendly against germany has sold out. the game on 9th november at the 90,000—seat stadium could beat the previous record of over 80,000, for the 2012 0lympic final between united states and japan. that's all the sport for now. now on afternoon live, let's go nationwide and see what's happening around the country in our daily visit to the bbc newsrooms around the uk. simonjones is in yalding in kent, we'll be talking to him about an exclusive interview on south east today about the parents of a boy who died from substance misuse

who are speaking out about the dangers. with him injust a moment. and nick 0wen is in birmingham with good news for former but first, simon tell us more about what the family of 0wen kinghorn have been saying. iam in iamina i am in a place called that kingsnorth trust near maidstone in kent and here they run residential courses for people who develop problem with substance misuse, drink and drugs but they also go into schools to warn about the dangers and risks people are taking it when they use drugs. it is now a charity thatis they use drugs. it is now a charity that is being supported by the family of 0wen kinghorn who was 15 yea rs old family of 0wen kinghorn who was 15 years old and died just six weeks ago. his family believe he took a drug which is a form of ecstasy called mdma. he was found dead in a field near ashford and his parents believed it was the first time he had ever used drugs. his mother has decided to speak out because she

does not want other families going through the grief they are currently experiencing. it's just through the grief they are currently experiencing. it'sjust devastating, your family is ripped apart. just a massive loss... to all of us. what i am hoping is that children realise it is not a game, they are playing with their lives, and also to think of their families with what they are doing. i knowa of their families with what they are doing. i know a win would not have intended to go out that night and not come home. there was a group of boys just having fun for all intents and purposes and it went very wrong. what are they hoping to achieve with theirfundraising? what are they hoping to achieve with their fundraising? they have already raised hundreds of pounds for the trust put the vast majority of money that the charity has goes towards these residential courses, rehab

courses but the money the family races will be used to send in people to schools in the ashford area where 0wen used to live on the type of people they sent in our people who have had problems in the past themselves so they can tell their own stories to pupils. we have come a long way from the days ofjust say no to. the feeling is that it simply does not work any more, the prohibition message. 0therwise, what they do now is they go in and tell their own stories, they give the fa cts their own stories, they give the facts so that young people can make an informed decision. 0wen's grandfather said it was a vital thing to do. i buried my grandson. in normal circumstances, he should have been burying me. that is the way you have to look at it. are we prepared to keep losing our young children to this business? because it isa children to this business? because it is a business. some people might think it is fun but somewhere,

someone think it is fun but somewhere, someone is making a lot of money out of this. the family has done a lot of this. the family has done a lot of research and it is a research they never wanted to do but they believe that drugs are becoming more freely available, the so—called cou nty freely available, the so—called county lines means drug suppliers are moving from areas like london into places like kent and the reason they believe this is vital work to do by the charity is a recent survey by the nhs which suggested that some 18% of schoolchildren aged 11 to 15 said that they had taken drugs in the previous year. simon, thank you very much. more on that exclusive interview at 6:30pm on south—east today. so nick, thomas cook staff, left without a job after the company went into liquidation but they're no longer out of work. bring us up to date. this is good news! it really is a good news story to cheer us up in these troubled times. from the gloom

of the september 23 when the renowned travel firm thomas cook went into liquidation, 555 shops closed and around 9000 jobs were lost, to what is bright new dawn. hays travel stepped in, a family fun run byjohn hayes and his wife from sunderland, they bought all of the shops and they are offering the jobs back to at least 2000 workers. so far, they have reopened more than 180 if those shops and a former —— former thomas cook employees are backin former thomas cook employees are back in their. in worcester that they are up and running again and some employees have been there for more than 30 years so happy days. some employees have been there for more than 30 years so happy daysm has been fabulous, to see the reaction from the public and to be back with my team, working for hays travel, it has been amazing to. the la st travel, it has been amazing to. the last few days have been a bit of a well we nt last few days have been a bit of a well went but we are getting back on track now it has been amazing to the

first time some of us have smiled all afternoon! it is a turnaround not just for all afternoon! it is a turnaround notjust forjulie but all afternoon! it is a turnaround not just forjulie but all of those at thomas cook. it is because when they announced they were going into liquidation, and the shops were too close, it looked like another example of the declining high street, particular shocking because thomas cook with such a well—known and much loved brand with a proud history. and ostensibly very successful. the news inevitably hit the workers hard. it was almost like a grieving process, you know, real highs and lows. nothing i had experienced before. i had never not worked and you go through these emotions but you're not familiar with and the overriding one is how to provide for your family and make sure you can carry on looking after them. they have come in and they have done an amazing thing for our industry and we are all very grateful to them that we all have ourjobs back and are able to do the job that we have loved since we left

school. meanwhile, questions have been asked by a commons committee about how thomas cook collapsed so suddenly and dramatically, costing so suddenly and dramatically, costing so manyjobs suddenly and dramatically, costing so many jobs and suddenly and dramatically, costing so manyjobs and leaving hundreds of holiday—makers stranded overseas. more specifically, should their bosses be giving back some of the hefty bonuses to help employees are now out of work, and indeed to repay taxpayers for funding holiday—makers to get back home? nick, thank you very much. more on the show tonight at 6:30pm. thank you very much, that is nationwide. if you would like to see more on any of those stories, you can access them through the bbc iplayer and a reminder that we go nationwide every weekday afternoon at 4:30pm every afternoon on afternoon live. back to our top story. the cabinet has been meeting at downing street to discuss the latest brexit negotiations.

both the uk and the european union say there are a number of issues still to be resolved ahead of an eu leaders summit which is due to start tomorrow. 0ur chief political correspondent vicki young joins us now from the houses of parliament. there was a meeting between the prime minister and the 1922 committee but is it over already? yes, i was looking at tweets from our colleagues who have been outside that meeting. a day of short meetings in london. the cabinet lasted only 40 minutes and equally this address by the prime minister to backbench tory mps up the corridor, he was out after eight minutes. not much to say, given that no deal has been signed off and therefore he cannot give an awful lot of detail but we are told that what he said was that the summit is not far from but there is still cloud at the summit, and i don't think he means the eu summit but we will see. the other thing that has happened is that the government has tabled a motion to have parliament sit on saturday for a few hours. they put that motion down, they

don't actually have to move it to a vote tomorrow, that will depend probably on what happens overnight, whether they get a deal signed off by brussels and whether there is actually anything meaningful to either vote on or talk about on saturday. that decision does not have to be made until tomorrow. we are still in this waiting game and it does feel as if it is the support of the dup which is crucial to boris johnson at the moment. there's been a lot of talk about what that they could be a broad outline of an agreement in brussels or at the summitand then agreement in brussels or at the summit and then on saturday, boris johnson could put it to a vote but i just think there is a lot of problems about that product there are several labour mps who would be very uneasy about voting for something they have not seen the detail of an equally, remember the 21 conservative mps who were booted out of the parliamentary party and are now sitting as independents, some of them would be a bit nervous about voting for a deal they have not seen the detail of so i'm not

sure that is a wise idea for boris johnson. equally, he would like to show the eu, i have got the numbers but if he doesn't, that would kibosh the whole thing. we will have to wait and see. again! thank you very much. we hearing that the erg's steve baker has reportedly said that he thinks the deal as it stands could be tolerable, which again gives you a sense of may there being a movement. joining me now is the deputy leader of the liberal democrats, sir ed davey. i will not ask him what is going on because none of us know what is going on! but what would you like to be going on? i'd like to be thinking that they would want to involve the british people in this but the reality is that whatever deal they bring back, it will be highly damaging to our economy and jobs and society. people will see income is going down as a result of any deal pundits were talking about a very ha rd pundits were talking about a very hard brexit which would be very damaging and so i think it needs to go back to the british people. the liberal democrats have argued consistently that they should be a

people's vote on whatever deal that is with the option of remaining and that remains our position. sticking with the original people's vote which is why we are where we are now, it boris johnson which is why we are where we are now, it borisjohnson comes back with something, you will be working on saturday, there could be a vote. is there anything that would make you think this was better than any of the options that realistically we face at the moment? the deal that britain has at the moment in the eu is the best deal we could possibly get. and remember that during the referendum there was no talk of a border down the irish sea. boris johnson in that referendum said britain would stay in the single market. the conservatives and boris johnson have no mandate whatsoever for the sort of deal that is being talked about and that is why liberal democrats will oppose it, why we will argue for britain to stay in the eu and we will argue that ultimately it should be the british people who have the final say. do you accept the argument that frankly, out there are people are just saying, we had a vote, there was a decision, let's get this done?

i think people are tired of it, but if you read the opinion polls, people want the best thing for our country, even if it takes a bit longer. i think the best way will be to get the consent of the people. they have seen how brexit is so costly, how complex it is. things have been uncovered in the last three years that no one was told about three years ago. and i repeat, the deal we are looking at will not just be damaging, it will frankly fly in the face of the promises that borisjohnson himself gave during the referendum. do you accept that the referendum. do you accept that the country is still split and another referendum potentially could solve nothing and prolong this agony, as some people describe it question what it is true that there are divisions and no one can deny that. i do think there has been a shift towards remain... where is the evidence? the opinion polls consistently... they also suggest many people are more entrenched in their views than they were before.

they do show there has been a swing to remain, which is greater than you normally get between general elections and parliaments so that is quite a big shift. would you have a best—of—3? quite a big shift. would you have a best-of-3? of course not, what we wa nt to best-of-3? of course not, what we want to do is give the british people the final say, it will be the final say, and what liberal democrats believe it is not only would it be the most democratic thing to do but if we can persuade the british people to our view of staying in the eu, there will be a massive bonus to our country. we will have a lot more money to spend on our public services and health and schools and police because what is absolutely true, and this is conceded by the government's own figures, eight hard deal brexit as borisjohnson is figures, eight hard deal brexit as boris johnson is proposing figures, eight hard deal brexit as borisjohnson is proposing would cost the taxpayer cost individual families, every single viewer, a huge amount of money and that is not good for the liberal democrats want to make sure that money stays in people's pockets, that we have money for the health services, and that is why we want to remain and we want the british people to have that chance. they could be a huge

surprise, they could be an announcement tonight that makes you 90, announcement tonight that makes you go, it's not so bad! absolutely not! good try! i will give you that! look, the way they are talking, if someone look, the way they are talking, if someone like steve baker from the erg, one of the extreme brexiteers and quite on the right wing of the conservative party thinks it's a good deal, i'm afraid most people in the centre of british politics, most people out there in the real world will say it can't be very good. people out there in the real world will say it can't be very goodm is nice to smile, isn't it? just for a change! it is! thank you very much. alice will be with us in a moment with the business news but first, the headlines. talks to try to reach a brexit deal continue, european council president donald tusk says the basic foundations of a deal are in place — but that "certain doubts have appeared from the british side" today. more than 300 suspected paedohiles are arrested around the world in an operation lead

by the uk's national crime agency the government takes the first step towards stripping northern rail of its operator franchise in the north of england here's your business headlines on afternoon live. camera chain jessops, owned by dragons den star peterjones, is set to call in administrators for the firm's property arm. mrjones saved the chain from collapse in 2013 with £81 million worth of debt. but since then, the firm, which has 46 shops, has not made a single profit. last year alone, it reported a £13 million loss. trade tensions between the us and china — the world's two largest economies — are a major risk for the global economy, with a potential ‘domino effect‘ causing "real spillover" for smaller emerging markets — so say top officials profits at asos have plunged after warehouse problems led to what the online fashion retailer said was a "disappointing" year. more on that in just a moment. over the last year, asos has installed more robots in its european warehouses and expanded its facilities

in the us. but the speed of growth hit profits, which dropped almost 70% for the year. it has been a rollercoaster of a day for the british pound, tracking, as it does, the highs and lows of brexit negotiations. just to give you some context — last week it enjoyed its best week since 2017 after pm borisjohnson and his irish counterpart leo varadkar said they could see "a pathway" for a brexit agreement. it surged as much as 1.5% on tuesday but today it swung around five—month highs amid a blizzard of contradictory headlines. the day began with cautious pessimism with sterling giving up a large chunk of those previous gains. it later suddenlyjumped into positive territory on an rte report and hopes of a breakthrough and then fall back in the red, courtesy of the dup saying eu sources were talking "nonsense". needless to say, european stocks played the same dance and yoyoed away.

fiona cincotta, senior market analyst, city index, joins me now. the pound has been up and down, a similar but slightly less dramatic story on the markets so what to make of it? we are seeing high levels of volatility, especially in the pound which is traded through a range of 200 pointsjust which is traded through a range of 200 points just today. which is traded through a range of 200 pointsjust today. this is the pound is the fear gauge in the markets are no—deal brexit. as investors jump from headline to headline, they decide on their possibility of us having a no—deal brexit and that is reflected in the price of the pound. what we are seeing is that the pound is up right

now at a five—month high, pushing through 1.28 against the dollar and that tells us investors are much more optimistic on the chances of a no—deal brexit being avoided than they were a way to go when the pound was down at 1.2 to levels. before we all get too worried about these swings and this level of volatility, i like the term the fear gauge to what degree are the fluctuations we have seen today reminiscent of those we have seen in the past or is this unusual? they are heightened today, they are elevated, because we have that deadline if the eu summit so close. what we have seen is when there are tight deadlines, we see there are tight deadlines, we see the volatility in the pound pick up as we did in previous brexit deadlines. and another story, uk consumer inflation, we were expecting a slight increase to 1.8% but it remained at the slowest pace we have seen since 2016. wage growth

continued to outstrip inflation, this is all according to the office for national statistics. real wages are almost back to precrisis levels so were you are almost back to precrisis levels so were you surprised by that data? it was slightly lower than perhaps what we were expecting, we expected something in the region of 1.8, and especially because wages are performing so well that we would have expected inflation perhaps to have expected inflation perhaps to have hit a higher mark. meanwhile, it is worth saying that the lower level of inflation is good news for the households, as we continue with brexit uncertainty because it means their spending power its higher. however, it does mean, as far as the pound is concern, that the next moves by the bank of england could bea moves by the bank of england could be a rate cut and that is because inflation seems to be staying away from the bank of england's 2% target. if they do have a next move, obviously brexit dependent, it could bea obviously brexit dependent, it could be a rate cut. one analyst i spoke to earlier said that after october 31 all bets are off the table on that front! worth mentioning the

eurozone inflation fell further from the 2% target. of the last story, jessops, another sacrifice of the high street or was there something particular with them that has led to its demise? it was in trouble in 2013 when peterjones took over and bought the outfit. the losses have mounted and it is fair to say the turnaround plan has not gone as they would have hoped and it isjust turnaround plan has not gone as they would have hoped and it is just the latest exa m ple would have hoped and it is just the latest example of a challenging time on the high street. we have seen various firms disappearing, toys "r" us, maplin, and also otherfirms like new look entering into restructuring talks so it is clearly a challenging environment at the moment on the high street for retailers to actually be able to weather. and also for those on the

internet, interesting to see asos profits plunged as well but we will have to leave it there. good to talk to you, fiona cincotta, senior market analyst at city index. we talked about the pound and markets but now look at the numbers themselves. european stocks moderately lower. the pound had strengthened after going up and down is now settled slightly up against both the dollar and the euro. the european council president donald tusk it should be known seven or eight hours when brexit can happen and if a deal could be expected on thursday so we expect the pound to react accordingly. 0ver expect the pound to react accordingly. over in the states, increased trade tensions between washington and beijing, they have genuinely been supportive of the dollar so that is performing well and the dowjones has onlyjust kicked off but currently it is ever so kicked off but currently it is ever so slightly up. it is time now for the weather with chris.

the weather will continue to brighten up for many with a bit of sunshine coming through but it was a 5°99y sunshine coming through but it was a soggy start to the day and after the recent rain, surface water issues built up pretty quickly on some roads. satellite shows the cloud and no prizes for guessing this is a weather front and it looks something like this. it is a bit more complicated in northern france where we are monitoring a pulse of heavy rain that will ripple back into south—east england. you can see this area will continue to extend its way into two parts of south—east england could most at risk is kent but it will be wet for a time as well in sussex through the afternoon and this evening. that is before it pulls out when we will then look at clear skies overnight before showers develop in western areas. some of them could be quite heavy around coastal areas. a chilly night, potentially cold enough for some frost in the countryside in the

north and east of the uk. 0n thursday, a big area of low pressure to the west will be with us for a few days and around this area we have a front rapped around and around into the centre of it and that will move across the uk gradually over the next few days. it is an unsettled picture. many start dry and bright with some sunshine, and might keep the sun shone in eastern and north—eastern areas for much of the day, further west, the weather goes downhill and we will have several bands of showers making inroads. some of them could be heavy and thundery but there will be some sunshine in between the downpours. a similar story on friday. still some blustery winds, and the showers will continue to be pretty widespread. some gaps between them from time to time. temperatures on friday afternoon ranging from 11—15d. and the all—importa nt weekend ? afternoon ranging from 11—15d. and the all—important weekend? the same

low pressure is still on the charts but it is filling and getting less active and deep and that meet that although there will still be showers, they should be bigger gaps between them and in many cases as we go through that weekend, it is u nsettled go through that weekend, it is unsettled with the risk of some downpours, temperatures 11—15d. that is your latest weather. good for now.

today at 5.00, we're at westminster, where the watching and waiting continues for a possible brexit deal. negotiators are hard at work in brussels, but time is running out. the european council president donald tusk says the basic foundations of an agreement are in place, but that "certain doubts have appeared from the british side" today. it comes as the dup leader arlene foster dismisses as "nonsense" a suggestion her party has accepted any new brexit border proposals. boris johnson has just addressed a meeting of the 1922 committee at the house of parliament. earlier at downing street, he briefed the cabinet on the talks. in other news, the parents of harry dunn have met