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 president trump at the white house,

and asked again for the woman involved in the crash that killed their son to return to the uk. six people are detained by police in bulgaria, following racist chanting at the england team, on monday night in sofia. and the uk's national crime agency leads an operation that sees more than 300 suspected paedophiles arrested around the world. good evening. 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 the european council president donald tusk told reporters that it should be clear by the end of the day if a deal can be reached, but that there are what he called "doubts" on the british side. it's thought significant problems still have to be resolved,

particularly over customs on the island of ireland, and how the people of northern ireland through the assembly there would give their consent to the arrangements. there are various strands to this story in westminster and brussels. let's take a look at today's key developments. the prime minister's just finished addressing the 1922 committee of backbench conservative mps after briefing his cabinet earlier this afternoon. in response to reports that the dup has conceded on those contentious ireland proposals, the leader of the dup, arlene foster, called the reports "nonsense," and denied they'd given their support. and within the hour, around 6.00pm uk time, the eu's chief negotiator, michel barnier, will brief eu ambassadors. that had been due earlier this afternoon, but has been twice delayed. 0ur brussels correspondent adam fleming has the latest.

do uk's negotiators arrive this morning for talks, talks which have not broken it down but which are not 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 burned the midnight oil. the main sticking points were the same as ever, what customs checks there could be on the island of ireland, the role of the stormont assembly, the role of the stormont assembly, the shape of the future trade agreement. talks have been constructive, but there still remainsa numberof constructive, but there still remains a number of significant issues to resolve. the eu chief negotiator michel barnier will spend much of the day updating his bosses. this money, it was the european

commission, this afternoon, diplomats from the other eu countries, who are sticking to their red lines. is the french foreign minister explained, these are safeguards in case the uk tries to become an economic rival. i spoke to the prime minister by phone this morning, and i have been in contact as well but 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 european council tomorrow. sources in brussels at say the political action is not really here, it is in london, where they say the government needs to make some choices about what it is going to do, and work out if enough mps will vote for a revised deal. if there even is one.

0ur chief political correspondent vicki young is in central lobby inside the houses of parliament for us. arlene foster of the dup has made it clear she has not signed up to any new border arrangement in the irish sea. is that still the sticking point? it does feel like it. nigel foster and arlene dodds had been in and out of downing street for two days. the issue seems to be that they are willing to accept the changes to the border and the customs arrangement, but it is all about the consent mechanism, so how do the communities in northern ireland either show that they are willing to go into this arrangement, ori willing to go into this arrangement, or i think more likely, how can they show that they want to come out of it? and that is what is proving to bea it? and that is what is proving to be a sticking point, and really no surprise, because all along, be a sticking point, and really no surprise, because allalong, it be a sticking point, and really no surprise, because all along, it has been about how you deal with it, how you make sure the committees in northern ireland are not trapped in something they don't want to be in. so that is one aspect of it, it is very clear from the briefings we have been having today from what

borisjohnson said to cabinet, what he has just borisjohnson said to cabinet, what he hasjust said borisjohnson said to cabinet, what he has just said to a meeting borisjohnson said to cabinet, what he hasjust said to a meeting of backbench mps, which only lasted eight minutes, is that he feels they are getting somewhere, progress has been made, but they are not there yet. we talked about them being near the summit, but they are not at it yet, there is still a lot of cloud around it. so i think that is where we are at the moment, still in this holding pattern, but there is no doubt that both sides feel progress has been made. the big question is, do they need to get that legal text all nailed down tonight ahead of the eu summit tomorrow and friday, or have they got more room for manoeuvre? could into tomorrow and carry on? and that is all because of course at this deadline of the 31st of october, but also another deadline for boris johnson, of october, but also another deadline for borisjohnson, because on saturday, if there is no deal that has been passed parliament has not voted for a no—deal brexit, then by law, he has to send a letter requesting a letter requesting a delay to brexit. arlene foster and the dup, they have a point, don't ta ke the dup, they have a point, don't take about the consent of cross

community consent at stormont over any change to this arrangement between not in south? because it is pa rt between not in south? because it is part of the good friday agreement. —— the arrangements between north and south. this is a sticking point that could stymie absolutely everything. yes, it has always been an issue. as we all know, there are very unique circumstances on the island of ireland, because of the history, the troubled history, and now because of the fact that you will end up with two countries in different customs arrangements potentially. then you have the need for boarders, where those borders are as incredibly important. and all along, and previously under theresa may, they have ruled out this idea of any kind of border down the irish sea so that northern ireland was treated differently from great britain. it does sound as if the dup might be willing to accept something like that, but only with this

consent argument. and that is going to bea consent argument. and that is going to be a problem. i think the dup probably feel they can get more out of brussels in all of this, then the question is of course if the dup are on site, does that bring every conservative mp? certainly i think the brexiteers would be happy, but don't forget you get 21 former tory mps who were booted out of the parliamentary party because they voted to try to prevent no deal. what are they going to do? not all of them would be willing to back a deal. some will want a referendum attached to it. the mathematics, as ever, incredibly precarious for borisjohnson if ever, incredibly precarious for boris johnson if we ever, incredibly precarious for borisjohnson if we get to the point where ideals are signed up, and if we have that sitting on saturday hear what he brings forward a meaningful vote on the deal. thank you, vicki. let's get the latest from brussels now and speak to our europe correspondent, gavin lee. there seems to be optimism on the european side, certainly, that they have reached consensus, the other

27, and how this whole process should move forward. is that the case? i am looking round simply because over my shoulder, guy verhofstadt just what are some of the brexit coordinator for the european parliament. i asked him to speak to us live, and he told me that all the action is now in london. i think that sums up the picture here. they call brussels the bubble, the functions of the eu, but what has been going on for 50 hours isa what has been going on for 50 hours is a bubble within a bubble. technicians on both sides, if you are not a technician, you're not getting into the three rooms where they are trying to work out the details. and it seems from one eu senior official, they said they are waiting for feedback from london now. so all of the suggestions seem to have credibility that northern ireland stays perhaps within the customs union of the eu, and there are concessions made for the uk perhaps on a future relationship and

the consent mechanism, whether or not northern irish people through the parliament, how they get a say on whether or not to stay in the customs union. that seems to be pivotal, we are yet to hear more. european council president donald tusk was speaking to a polish news channel telling us that the conditions are now they are, and a few hours ago, he said it would take about seven or eight hours until there is clarity on a deal. so from donald tusk‘s reckoning, that will be about 11.00 to midnight uk time here tonight where we might see elements of white smoke. and michel barnier will come out of negotiations in a couple of hours in about an hour, and we will get an update then. irish taoiseach leo varadkar has made it clear that if there is not an agreement in place that can be put to parliament by

saturday, then potentially though could be another eu meeting towards the end of the month. is there a sense from the other 26 that that might bea sense from the other 26 that that might be a good idea, if both sides are inching ever closer to a deal?|j think are inching ever closer to a deal?” think so. my sense here is, just a couple of days ago, i was told universally that if there is not a deal by tuesday night, there is categorically no chance operationally for this to be translated into 2a languages, a d raft translated into 2a languages, a draft brexit deal that could be agreed in principle, and then to go to the ambassadors to briefly leaders. it is like watching a bad hurdler running, they are knocking down hurdle after hurdle and still managing to get through. so yes, in principle, leo varadkar saying there could still be a deal, depending on the momentum of today. donald tusk saying there could be a thumbs up tomorrow as well, depending on what happens in the uk. but remember this caveat, there are three officials who are there today told the bbc and

a number of press organisations that if the uk and the eu agree, it will be down to the eu saying boris johnson has to get the numbers on parliament on super saturday as they are coming out in westminster, then they will give it the rubber—stamp. it then has to be voted through the uk parliament and the eu parliament. thank you, govern in brussels. 0ur northern ireland economics and business editor, john campbell, is also in brussels today. —— gavin. just explain the importance of the dup —— to the dup wanting northern ireland is not to be part of the customs union. for the dup, that is one of their remaining red lines. they see that asa remaining red lines. they see that as a fundamental breach of sovereignty. should northern ireland not be part of the uk customs system, but instead remain with the eu. the dup would say they have

already stretched themselves, because they have acknowledged that a deal could involve northern ireland continuing to follow many eu rules and regulations. so that would involve a sort of border and the irish sea, it would mean that products coming into northern ireland from great britain would be subject to new checks and controls. so the dup city have stretched themselves on that. but in customs, they are not prepared to go any further. their view is that northern ireland must remain a member of the uk customs union, not the one with the eu. but the dealwe understand borisjohnson is trying to work out would mean that northern ireland would mean that northern ireland would still be able to take advantage, as some would see it, of future free trade deals that the westminster parliament would be able to negotiate. so they've got the best of both worlds, some might argue. i think certainly on that

single market peace, that would be an advantage to many northern ireland businesses. because if they continue to have unfettered access to the uk parliament, and also the eu market, that is an advantage. customs is a bit more complicated. —— of the uk and eu markets. effectively, northern ireland would be in the uk customs union but they northern ireland authorities and northern ireland authorities and northern ireland authorities and northern ireland businesses would effectively act like a bit of a customs agent or a customs officer on behalf of the eu. so if products are coming from great britain into northern ireland, which are then destined to going to the republic of ireland or further into the destined to going to the republic of ireland orfurther into the eu, the correct tariff would have to be paid at the point of entry into northern ireland to make sure that nothing actually happened at the land border. that is pretty complicated, and is likely to add cost. i imagine that a lot of the very fine legal technical operational details which have been crunched over the last couple of years, have concerned how you could make a system like that operable when it doesn't really exist anywhere else in the world.

0k,john, thank exist anywhere else in the world. 0k, john, thank you very much. i'm joined byjonathan powell, former chief of staff to tony blair, and during that time, chief british negotiator on northern ireland. thanks forjoining us. this idea of community consent within the good friday agreement, essentially as far as the dup are concerned, they see that as they are right to a veto on any new arrangements, which seems to be the sticking point here. any new arrangements, which seems to be the sticking point harem any new arrangements, which seems to be the sticking point here. it is certainly one of them. the point is, this could be a veto on a change, but what does change mean? does it mean change in the membership of the eu at the moment, with northern ireland in the single market and a customs union. doesn't mean a change in the relationship of the uk? and that will be the sticking point. you cannot have one side having a veto. in these circumstances, you need croscombe to consensus to change from whatever is agreed. so you will stay in the customs union and on the

that if both sides agree. 0therwise, you would need to have a referendum, because it is clear the majority of opinion in that northern ireland is for staying in the customs union. opinion in that northern ireland is for staying in the customs unionm sinn fein decided to not want this particular arrangement because the dup would have a veto, then that in itself would contravene of the good friday agreement, wouldn't it? because you need to have consent from all of them. yes, there are competitions about what actually requires croscombe and consensus. but yes, in effect, if you try to impose something against him will of the majority of the people in the northern ireland, that will not be democratic. according to recent polls, around 60% are opposed to leaving the single market in the customs union. boris johnson is going back to an arrangement that theresa may put to —— that the eu put to theresa may, it bordered and the odyssey, which she refused because it would upset the dup whose votes she needed in parliament. neither nationalist nor unionist communities are going to be happy

with this, are they? yes, somebody's rights to be trampled on, whatever happens. either it will be a border between northern ireland and the rest of ireland, or a borrowed and the odyssey. borisjohnson has gone back to the original northern ireland only backs up, but it is now a nota ireland only backs up, but it is now a not a fullback, that is the arrangement, because we are in free canada arrangement, because we are in free ca na da style arrangement, because we are in free canada style free trade agreement, which will be a problem for the dup. they want to stay in the united kingdom, and they will see this as the first step on a slippery slope toa the first step on a slippery slope to a united ireland. that is the thing, this would be the beginning of entering the waiting room to some kind of border vote. yes, this border between the rest of the uk are to northern ireland will grow over time, because we will diverge in terms of regulation and tariffs, so the border will become more important. at the same time, we have seen the numbers move in the opinion poll in terms of a border poll towards a united ireland. just imagine what a nightmare it would be if we had a border poll on 52% voted

for a united ireland. it would make the brexit are out look like com plete the brexit are out look like complete nonsense, because you would have a 48% of people in the northern ireland being forced into a united ireland, and for us. some ideological concerns, the existential threat that the dup perhaps suit another ireland, they feel that that completely outweighs the possibility that northern ireland could have a free trade agreement along with the united kingdom, australia, canada, or whatever. that is why you have heard of the loyalist movement is making noises about this because they are concerned about their identity is being undermined. the good friday agreement was about identity, that people can feel british, irish or both in northern ireland. 0nce people can feel british, irish or both in northern ireland. once you start undermining that by a border in heresy, you're opening a whole can of worms. jonathan, thank you. —— opening a border in the irish sea. 0ur chief political correspondent, vicki young, is in central lobby

inside the houses of parliament for us. we have had some short meetings in london today. the cabinet on the last a0 minutes, and we were told the cabinet was not told about the details of the deal because it has not yet been done. we keep hearing over and over again progress is being made, but there is more work to be done. let's speak to a conservative mp now. borisjohnson has just conservative mp now. borisjohnson hasjust spoken to conservative mp now. borisjohnson has just spoken to you and other tory mps. what was his message? that he wants to do a deal and he is hopeful, but we are still no further forward in knowing what the detail is, rather like the cabinet. but i think the analogy he used with us was that this is like climbing a mountain, and we are not far off the peak, but there is still cloud on the top. so still a lot more work to do. and from what we are hearing, the dup have their reservations, they want to make sure they have consent, it feels very familiar, it feels like december 2017. we have been here three times before. we have been marched up to the top of

this metaphorical mountain only to be thrown offered by the vote in the commons. the dup is obviously important to this command to have any chance of getting this through, i expect we have to get them outside. so we will see what the final discussions are today, the prime minister seems very upbeat, but that is his general manner. —— we need to get the dup on side. but it'll still be difficult to get it through this place. that is partly because boris johnson through this place. that is partly because borisjohnson has expelled 21 former tory mps, and some of them may not be minded to back a deal at this time. that hasn't necessarily helped. but a good chunk of those who probably would come on board for a deal because they are people who, ironically, voted for the deal that the conservative government had negotiated on three occasions, and they got thrown out. while others who stopped brexit ended up in the cabinet. but a good number of those will come on site. but we are also hearing that labour mps michael they we nt hearing that labour mps michael they went ones around me who represent a big lever voting constituencies, should be voting for a deal to make good on the promise they made to

their electorate, are being threatened with expulsion if they do vote for the deal. so the labour party has already come out against a deal that is not yet been negotiated and of which none of us know the details. so i am not hopeful for the parliamentary arithmetic. we keep hearing that people just want to get this done, don't we? and yet it feels like the mathematics it is still very difficult. and cabinet minister said to me it comes down to trust in boris johnson, minister said to me it comes down to trust in borisjohnson, particularly for those brexiteers in the tory party who may be trust him more than the trust theresa may because he led the trust theresa may because he led the campaign to leave the eu. will that be relevant? as soon as you can summary at one end of the brexit debate, you lose somebody at the other, which was the problem for theresa may, whose deal i voted for three times. it is funny now watching some of these people saying it is very easy, let us have a go at it, finding out it is not quite as easy as perhaps they thought. but the challenge we have is that you say everybody wantsbrexit done, i think that is what the public wants

and certainly the opinion polls, including the biggest one it done on brexit since the referendum, show that most people just want this done. but i don't think that is the case for people here. you have a lot of people in this place elected on a promise to deliver brexit, and they have no intention of voting for brexit. they are never going to vote for the deal. they did not vote for theresa may's deal, they will not vote for this one because they do not want to deliver brexit. and that is the brexit conundrum. so we are still stuck because of that. what is the only way out of it? some would say it is another referendum.” think that is the worst of all options, because you cannot in a democracy say to people, we're going to have this mode in which both agree we are going to implement it and at the subsequent general election the two biggest parties stand on that platform and receive the biggest share of the votes combined with received for a generation, on delivering that referendum, and then saying that we are going to undo it now and have a second one. it is the worst of all options because the country remains roughly divided, sophie germain these remain as you want to overturn

these remain as you want to overturn the first one submitted people like me in 70% of my constituents who voted leave and probably would do again are just going to toddle off and disappear if we have a second referendum and forget about it all, they have got another thing coming. they are not going to go away, and we implement the result of the referendum we were told was a once ina referendum we were told was a once in a generation referendum in 2016, we respect that democratic vote and we respect that democratic vote and we will permit it. thank you very much indeed. so the message loud and clear is that this is not going away. you can say that again, vicki. thank you very much indeed, vicky john. let's go live to toulouse in france now where french president emmanuel macron has been meeting with german chancellor angela merkel. they are visiting the airbus factory down there, 50 years since france

and germany cooperated in building aircraft to rival boeing in the united states. lots of talk about planes, but we are interested in what they have to say about brexit. so if we talk to that press conference a bit later on, when both leaders will be speaking addressing the gathered journalists and local dignitaries, and he mentioned brexit and the talks that are going on, then we will bring you that here on then we will bring you that here on the news channel. some more of the day's other news stories now. 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, as our home affairs correspondent, june kelly, explained. it's an international law enforcement operation. just to give you an idea of some of the countries where arrests have been made, we have the uk, ireland,

the us, canada, germany, spain, and then countries in the middle east, saudi arabia, and the united arab emirates. now, this website, which as you say, operated on the dark web, it was called welcometovideo. it was actually uncovered during an investigation by the uk's national crime agency. they were investigating a man called matthew falder, who turned out to be a prolific paedophile. he was a geophysicist, but he is now serving 25 years in prison for paedophile offences. now, as a result of the falder investigation, then the nca started looking at this website, obviously notified international partners, and as a result, we have this global operation. and to give you an idea of the scale of it, in the uk alone, its lead to 18 investigations and one of those, for example, one man, kyle fox, he was from surrey, he was jailed earlier this year for 22 years and he had uploaded images of himself abusing a young girl. but what the nca is stressing

is that when you are fighting these sort of people, these paedophiles and trying to unmask them and bring them tojustice, you have to rely on your international partners, and they would say this is a massive success in terms of what has been achieved and these people now, they hope, can be brought tojustice. and the website was operating from south korea, which gives you an idea of the global nature of all of this. 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. 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 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 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. the president reflected on the meeting this afternoon and spoke to reporters. we had a very good meeting, they are very nice people. and we met with a full group, it was four people, actually, you know how it's all broken up. the meeting took place right here at about six o'clock last night and it was very sad, to be honest. she lost, they lost their son. i believe it was going down the wrong way, because that happens in europe. you go to europe and the roads are opposite, and it's very tough if you are from the united states. you do make that decision to make a right turn where you are supposed to make a left turn, the roads are opposite, and she said that's what happened. that happens to a lot of people, by the way, but she said

that's what happened. she was in the room right out there, we met right here in this area. i offered to bring the person in question in and they weren't ready for it, but i did offer. i spoke with boris, he asked me if i would do that, and i did it. unfortunately, they wanted to meet with her, and unfortunately, when we had everybody together, they decided not to meet, perhaps they had lawyers involved by that time. i don't know exactly. i know that the people were lovely, they were very nice, and they were, you know, desperately sad. president trump they're reflecting on that meeting. we will show you a beautiful shot here at westminster of clearing skies, shocking, isn't it? given all the rain that we have had recently. could this be an omen for the brexit talks? may be the gloom is lifting. let's get the full

forecast, not on the brexit talks, but on the weather. helen has the details. thank you for that, clive. well, that sunshine has been enjoyed by many parts today. this was brecon earlier in the day, but u nfortu nately, earlier in the day, but unfortunately, clive, it does not mean that the rain has stopped. we have got more rain across the far southeast of the country at the moment. it's unfortunately going to stay quite damp in the northeast for the next few hours. for the vast majority, we have drier comments weather. then through the night, we have clear skies which will lead to mist and fog, already further west, we have the advance of the next fans of showers, stronger winds, here, temperatures will be up above freezing, but actually come in the glens of scotland, we are looking at a touch of frost overnight. so it is chilly, i think bursting for tomorrow, there will be mist and fog, but the big story again and tomorrow will be the extent of the showers. there will be some torrential downpour is, the firm still saturated, flood warnings out

of the momentum of the river levels are elevated, so any more rain, not welcome at all. of course there will be sunshine as we often have with showers in between, but this shower picture continues through friday, i wouldn't like to say that edinburgh and belfast and london will stay dry, but there are more showers to come into the weekend as well. i will have more for you later. this is bbc news. the headlines. i'm clive miry. brexit negotiators are hard at work in brussels. the european council president donald tusk says the basic foundations of an agreement are in place, but "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 progress so far.

in other news, president trump describes a meeting with the parents of harry dunn as beautiful and sad. the family asked again for the woman involved in the crash that killed their son, to return to the uk. six people are detained by police in bulgaria, following racist chanting at the england football team, on monday night in sofia. and the uk's national crime agency leads an operation that sees more than 300 suspected paedophiles arrested, around the world. sport and for a full round up, from the bbc sport centre, here's 0ly foster. good evening. bulgarian police have now arrested six men suspected of racially abusing england players during monday night's euro qualifier in sofia. nine more fans have been identified and are under police investigation. fare, an anti—discrimination network across europe, says that about 20 stewards joined in with fans who were

chanting racist abuse during the 6—0 win over bulgaria. the group had spotters in the crowd, who saw the stewards take off their hi—vis vests before the game. fare have called for bulgaria to be expelled from the qualifying campaign. 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 the match played in madrid instead. a record attendance for a women's match in the uk could be set it's expected that barcelona are going to reject that request from the league. they said they want to play it at home. 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 nine 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. the crowd will exceed the current england record for a home match , a5,000 against germany at wembley 15 years ago. we have all been so excited for this wembley game, and to play against germany one of the most famous fixtures in the world, and speaking on behalf of the girls come i think we really deserve to go and play in one of those types of stadiums in front of them types of people that are coming to watch us, and we need to put on a performance as well. 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. we are proud of how far we've come in six seasons and to be able to

consistently push out domestically is always our main objective, we are pleased with the start of the season, but, you know, to be competitive and to go into the final stages of the champions league just shows where you are out on the european stage. so it's really important for us. you know, we are excited for the game now. arsenal and glasgow city ladies, they are also playing at the last 16, arsenal havejust they are also playing at the last 16, arsenal have just kicked off. two—time paralympic champion jonnie peacock has had to pull out of next months world para athletics championships he's also the reigning world champion over 100 metres in his class. he's got a knee injury that he says ‘has taken longer to heal than expected'. the british team has a squad of a2 for the championships in dubai that start on the 7th november. the international olympic committe says the marathon and race walking events at next year's tokyo games could be moved 800 kilometres 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 heat and humidity. temperatures in sapporo on the northernmost island of hokkaido are significantly cooler, the proposals will be discussed next month. ronnie 0'sullivan has beaten yuan sijun by a frames to 3 in the second round of the english open in crawley. the 5 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. we'll have more for you in sportsday at half past six. he is never a happy chap, is he? no, he's not, but he does have a play.

he no question about that. ali foster there. as you have been hearing — there is a lot still to be agreed in the next couple of hours. but, what are the key dates to watch out for over the next two weeks — as things currently stand. a crucial two—day summit of eu leaders begins tomorrow in brussels. this is seen as the last chance for the uk and the eu to agree a deal before the end of october. if a deal is agreed, boris johnson will ask mps to approve it during a special sitting of parliament on saturday. if mps reject the deal he has brokered — as well as the prospect of the uk leaving the eu with no deal — then the prime minister must ask for another delay to brexit under the benn act. at the moment, the uk is due to leave the eu with or without a deal on thursday the 31st of october, that's two weeks tomorrow. 0ur reality check correspondent, chris morris, joins me now. we are getting lots of tweets out of brussels saying it's all done, apparently, i mean they seem to be very happy with the way things are

going at the moment, and we know that donald tusk has made it clear that donald tusk has made it clear that the problems are on this side. what are those problems? i think one of the things we've seen in the last few days is that you turning borisjohnson's in the last few days is that you turning boris johnson's deadline against him and saying if you want to deal, here it is. and he has had to deal, here it is. and he has had to concede on several points, and the problem with that, of course, is that he still needs the support of his allies, the dup in northern ireland to get any deal through parliament. i think, ireland to get any deal through parliament. ithink, particularly ireland to get any deal through parliament. i think, particularly at the moment to come on this issue of consent, the idea that if northern ireland's economic relationship with the rest of the uk is going to change, then you need some democratic approvalfor change, then you need some democratic approval for that in northern ireland. the key thing is, how do you get it? the good friday agreement does set out a complex process , agreement does set out a complex process, whereby you do need a majority in both communities. unionist nationalist. but is that a double majority to opt into a new arrangement, or a double majority to t arrangement, or a double majority to opt out of the arrangement you currently have, which is eu the

brexit secretary was before the brexit secretary was before the brexit committee earlier today, and he was rather taken to task by the dup and p sammy wilson, mr barclay tried to reassure mr wilson, i think the emphasis on the word tried to come up at the prime minister has said, in writing, that he will honour what is written in the good friday agreement. well, i think the prime minister has, in all stages, including in the letter to which i referred, mr wilson, underscored that proposals are centred on our commitment to solutions that are compatible with the belfast good friday agreement, 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 then 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 fact and in very explicit and detailed terms, sets out how cross community support has to be measured in the assembly. sammy wilson there. you made the point about whether or not it's a double majority, or whether it could potentially be a simple majority within the stormont assembly. now, that seems to be what steve barkley and boris johnson are that seems to be what steve barkley and borisjohnson are suggesting might be the way around this. but clearly the dup are not happy. they don't appear to be happy, and it does seem that at the moment, that basically, as you suggested at the beginning, the eu saying, what we think we have got them at least in broad principle, our ducks in a row. but the issue now is on this side, and particularly the issues on those kinds of coins with the dup, ——

those points, we know there is a session in the house of commons on saturday, and without those dup votes, it seems highly unlikely that borisjohnson would get any deal through parliament. don't forget, also, we are talking about the broad outlines. there are still technical and legal details, which people will wa nt to and legal details, which people will want to go through in 28 capitals right across europe. this is a big change for everybody, and i think one of the big difficulties is there has been an of, let's try and rush at all throughout the last minute, maybe negotiations always work like that, but i still think it's going to be difficult, however much mr johnson wishes it to be so, that evenif johnson wishes it to be so, that even if there is a broad agreement in the next couple days, then to get it approved in this parliament and the european parliament, to get it turned into legislation, which mps wa nt to turned into legislation, which mps want to look through, line by line, very difficult to do that before the 3ist very difficult to do that before the 31st of october, not impossible, but... they're working hard, no question about it, they are stuck in the tunnel, and not a lot of light at

the end of it at the minute. let's be clear about what's happening here. theresa may, or the european union, had put to theresa may the possibility of a customs line down the irish sea, she rejected that because of the dup. so, boris johnson, now accepting that, seemingly, that is a big concession. it isa seemingly, that is a big concession. it is a big concession. you recall, imean, i it is a big concession. you recall, i mean, i think it was in february 2018, theresa may standing up in the house of commons and saying, that kind of mind on the irish sea, that is something that no british prime minister could ever accept. i look back at the video of that yesterday, and you can see borisjohnson nodding along gently in the background. now, he willargue nodding along gently in the background. now, he will argue this is different, because of this dual customs idea that we are putting forward. it means that northern ireland would still leave the eu customs union alongside the rest of the uk, and would therefore be able to ta ke the uk, and would therefore be able to take part in any future trade deals the uk did around the world. but it's still, it is a big concession, and an especially big concession, and an especially big concession for unionists in northern

ireland to say, there will be impediments to trade between great britain and northern ireland, and that certainly isn't where they started out at the beginning of this process. sure, all right, chris, thank you there. our reality check correspondent there. i should say, we arejust correspondent there. i should say, we are just hearing that at that press co nfe re nce we are just hearing that at that press conference i was telling you about, angela merkel and president negron of france have been speaking, and president macron seems pretty happy at the moment of its some kind of framework for a deal, he believes that a deal is being finalised, but, look, donald tusk, the president of the european council, he has made it clear that if there are problems, they are on this side of the channel. 0n the uk side. we have been talking throughout the last half an hour or so about the issues, particularly that the dup have, arlene foster, and her colleagues in northern ireland, that they have two northern ireland, that they have two northern ireland, that they have two northern ireland staying within some kind of eu customs arrangement, but

also, seemingly, at the same time, being part of a uk customs framework as well. lots of issues they are still to be sorted out. but it seems the european side are quite happy with the situation at the moment. let's get a little bit more now. let's talk to dmitry grozoubinski, a former australian trade negotiator and the founder of explaintrade.com, who joins us on webcam from geneva. hello to you, thanks very much indeed for being with us. first of all, the idea of a customs border down the irish sea, that is going to upset some people in northern ireland, there is no question about that, but it was the first idea put forward by the european union in order to deal with brexit. there are only three places you could put a border will stop you could put it in the irish sea, you could put it on the irish sea, you could put it on the island of ireland, or you could put it between ireland the country and the rest of the eu. that last option was a nonstarter for the eu.

the middle option seems to be a nonsta rter the middle option seems to be a nonstarter for both sides, really, because it violates the good friday agreement. and this is the only option left that seems to be capable of gathering any kind of consensus. but it absolutely will upset unionists, and in some ways, justifiably so. this was always going to upset somebody. yes, i mean it, what the european union wants, one suspects, is certainty in terms of the checking of goods and so on and so forth, and of course, they don't want any kind of friction when it comes to trade passing between the north and south. that's absolutely right. look, every trading regime wants to control goods as they come in to its territory. the only way countries have figured out how to do that at major borders is by building infrastructure at those borders. for the eu, if building that border at the eu, if building that border at the edge of the actual customs

territory set on the island of ireland itself was a nonstarter, as it is under the gfa, they need one —— in the irish sea to provide that same legal certainty. do you see the talks now, do you believe that some kind of arrangement can be reached that could go to the eu summit tomorrow? whether an absolutely final legal text that can be considered and fully approved can 90, considered and fully approved can go, iama considered and fully approved can go, i am a little bit sceptical, just because of how difficult these issues are. but it certainly sounds like there are some positive signs that they would be able to bring to the european council, the absolute bedrock of an idea and say, look, we are 99% there, there are no huge remaining outstanding, but we need a bit more time to work at the technical details and get to a version of the legal text that works on both sides. now, whether the european council is willing to take the passage of such legal text through the house of commons on

faith is a much bigger question, given the volatility in that uk politics in the last couple of years can you explain what seems to be the outline of the deal, that the european union, it seems has accepted, and that is that northern ireland stays within the eu customs arrangements, but is still part of the uk customs framework in order to ta ke the uk customs framework in order to take advantage of future trade deals? sure. so the way it will work him as we understand it, is that to get a goods into northern ireland, you would be eligible to pay the uk terror. that is the law, so therefore northern ireland is still in the uk kind of customs area. however, practically, once a good gets two northern ireland, it pays the eu's tariff, and is therefore at that point free to go on into the european union and if it's not going

into the european union, and you present the paperwork as the person transporting that's good to say, hey, look, iam transporting that's good to say, hey, look, i am only staying in belfast, or i am not going into the rest of the european union, you would then receive a rebate. so that way they are trying to balance two things. so on paper, northern ireland is part of the uk's customs area. but practically, goods are paying the eu tariff by default, u nless paying the eu tariff by default, unless they can prove they are staying in northern ireland. so that gives the eu certainty that there isn't a giant back door into their market, where goods can pay lower or no tariffs by entering across that border, and it avoids building to ha rd border, and it avoids building to hard border on the actual island of ireland itself. all right, 0k, thank you for that clarification, dimitri, it's good to talk to, forjoining us. 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, which is in the eu

single market, 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. well, ahead of a busy days in westminster and potential sitting on saturday, for the first time since the falklands war. let's discuss what happen in the house of the commons over the next few days. with me now is ruth fox, director and head of research at the hansard society, which specialises in independent research and advice on parliament and parliamentary affairs. ruth, it's good to see you. motions have been put down for sitting on saturday. boris johnson have been put down for sitting on saturday. borisjohnson obviously isn't going to want to be in there if he hasn't got a deal. know, and if he hasn't got a deal. know, and if the government tomorrow, it has it on the order paper for debate,

and approval, but it will have to move the motion. so we will know tomorrow if the government doesn't move the motion, that will be a good indicator that perhaps, the talks have collapsed, and he hasn't got a deal. but if he has got a deal he needs to ensure that it is laid before parliament by saturday, so that mps can approve a motion on it. to be clear though, if he hasn't got a deal by saturday, the ban act kicks in, right? yes, so if he is unable to secure a deal, and cannot lay the text of an agreement before the house of commons on saturday the 19th under the terms of the benn act, he has to write a letter to the eu to request an extension. and that act sets out the preferences of an extension to the end of january. the pet that does not preclude, doesn't, the possibility of talks continuing to try to get a deal before october to try to get a deal before october to the 31st? no, they could still continue talking. and if after that time, he managed to secure a deal and could bring it back and get approval, then they could come you

know, renegotiate the extension. 0k, so we now know that more than 20 conservative rebels, the whip was taken away from them, and because they didn't vote the way that the government wanted them to in those previous votes a few months ago. if he comes back with a deal, and there are people, the erg, for instance, who decide members of the erg, and they decide to vote against the deal, are they likely to lose the whip? well, he has said that they would. and if you have taken the whip away from the other anti—no deal mps earlier this month, then you would think that that would be the fair thing to do. but we will have to see. if he has got a deal, and its delicate numbers through the house, and i'm sure it will become a lot will depend on whether the democratic unionist party, how they vote, and so on, how many people prepared from the labour side to vote and support the government, if any. —— labour. then from his perspective, he's got to think about

not just what happens, perspective, he's got to think about notjust what happens, the day after, but what he needs in the next few weeks. if he's got a deal, he's got a very big piece of important legislation to get through the house. he hasn't got a majority. so removing the whip from mps will make it more difficult. if he does come back with a deal, puts it before parliament, could amendments be added to that, which could mean that some of those remainders inside the commons could say it's got to be dependent on a new referendum on the deal that you are putting forward in front of us? well, there possibly could, yes. but ultimately, whatever they do, he has got to enshrine it in primary legislation. he's got to get a bill after the agreement, the vote on the agreement, probably on saturday, he has been got to get a bill through the house. a huge scope for amendments to that bill, and one of them might be the provision for a referendum attached to it. but a lot would depend on the numbers, because you know, are there enough mps to support a referendum, if they have got a deal in front of them? indeed, all right, doctor ruth fox thanks

very much indeed for that. so it will be a busy night, and still no sign that a deal is close, or at least to be finalised. but now, it's time for a look at the weather news. clive, thank you very much indeed. again, we have had more rain haven't we, today. and although we have been enjoying some sunshine, still the river levels are very high, in there is still a cluster of warnings out across england, so that's something to be aware of, because, yes, they are responding very quickly now, but they are not emptying us quickly either, we are into 25 days with rain of some parts of the uk. there is still a pulse of rain crossing southern areas of the moment, but other places it is clearing away. a little ridge of high pressure for the night, but basically, this area of the pressure is with us through much of tomorrow. as well as friday and the weekend. we have to look beyond that to start to see the chance of something a little drier. this little ridge of high pressure at in the atlantic is set, we think,

to just drift across the british isles as we go into monday and tuesday and bringing us a couple of days of mostly dry weather, but the weather fronts are never too far away. as if they haven't been today. asi away. as if they haven't been today. as i say, that is clearing to mothering from the northeast, we will have a few more hours of rain potentially in the far southeast, then it's dry for a time overnight, but it is clear with light winds. so mist and fog certainly a problem i think through the morning rush. and it could turn quite chilly for most of us, but with some frost in the glens of scotland, so a colder night than last night, and a chilly start to thursday morning's commute, with the hazard of mist and fog as well. but the main story, really, it's going to be the extent of the showers. it's going to be very difficult to pinpoint exactly where those showers are going to be over the coming few days. but it looks certain to be unsettled, and it looks certain that most of us will have yet more rain come potentially lots of spray and further flooding issues. the wind it strengthens through the day tomorrow, it will push those showers quickly eastwards, although it's in the east where we see lengthier spells of sunshine in the morning after the fog clears, and drier weatherfor a

long time. but once the showers get going, they could be torrential with hail, thunder, and lightning. temperatures on par today, but it will feel cooler, because there are no light winds and sunshine that we have had. freddie sees that low pressure system moving in across the united kingdom, so the winds fall light around the centre of the low pressure, the showers will become slow moving, so there could be some lengthy downpours here. for south, still moving through, but they are coming together, they will at time be longer spells anyway, and could give 20—30 mm of rain. but it is just pinpointing exactly where, and with the river is quite high, and already having had 70—80% of the rainfall we would normally see across england and wales in october, clearly we are concerned. the showers are still a riskjust about anywhere as we go through the day, as you can see on saturday. also at that stage picking up a northerly wind in the north, so temperatures ebbed away, it stretched or gets cooler as well by day. it will feel it by night. by sunday, we could start to see those showers becoming confined to central and eastern

areas, perhaps fewer showers further west with that pending high—pressure. it is a chilly breeze, isn't it, coming down from the north? at that high—pressure may well settle things down for the start of the new week, but with that settled weather comes the issue of frost and fog. stay tuned if you've got plans.

today at six — as we go on air, brexit negotiators are still hard at work in brussels — a deal is on a knife edge. the two sides are closer than they have been for days — but nothing has been signed off yet. clearly, there is very intensive discussions under way, but, you know, we can't be certain what the outcome will be, but i remain hopeful that a deal might be reached. as we go on air, meetings are going on in brussels and in london. we'll bring you the latest. also on the programme. harry dunn's parents at the white house. they've been talking about the bombshell invitation to meet the woman involved in the fatal crash. we are still willing to meet her, but it needs to be on uk soil. the americans move out and the russians move in.