this is bbc news. the headlines at 8. a race against time, as the prime minister tries to rally enough support ahead of tomorrow's crucial vote on his brexit deal. what matters is mps coming together across the house tomorrow to get this thing done. the vote — tomorrow afternoon — is looking extremely close. the government hopes to persuade backbench conservatives — and some labour mps too. what i hear on the ground and what i see on the telly, people getting interviewed, it is time they get on with it. it is a very difficult decision, it is one each one of us will make, thinking very carefully. masked demonstrators clash with police in barcelona, following protests over the jailing

of separatist leaders. more than 700 people arrested in a week, as police crack down on drug gangs operating across the uk. and two nasa astronauts make history with the first ever all—female spacewalk. good evening, and welcome to bbc news. the prime minister has been meeting his cabinet and mps — as he tries to secure enough support for his brexit deal — ahead of tomorrow's crucial vote in the house of commons. borisjohnson says there's "no better outcome" than the deal he has negotiated — but he needs 320 votes to get it passed —

with only 287 voting conservative mps. that means he must persuade members from across the house — including labour rebels, ex—tories as well as brexiteers in his own party — to support him. the deal would see the uk pay around £33 billion pounds — in a so—called ‘divorce bill‘ when leaving. eu and uk citizens will retain their residency and social security rights. and a transition period — during which time the uk would abide by the eu's laws — would last at least, until the end of 2020. the agreement would see the whole of the uk leaving the eu customs union — but there would be customs checks on some goods entering into northern ireland from great britain. 0ur political editor, laura kuenssberg reports.

that's not the real borisjohnson, if they fancy dress version. the claimant scaled the scaffolding around big bend. the actual prime minister is teetering on an even more narrow edge. he has to take a lea p more narrow edge. he has to take a leap not knowing if you will ever meet victory or defeat. we got a deal that will allow us to get out of the backstop. clearly what matters is mps coming together across the house tomorrow to get this thing done. and ijust kind of invite everybody to imagine what it could be like tomorrow evening if we have settled this. but in order to get this deal you've excepted a significant border between northern ireland and the rest of the united kingdom. that is something you said you would never do, you said no british prime minster could do that. 0n the contrary, nobody wants to

have checks at the northern irish borders to what we have agreed with the eu is that temporarily and by consent of the people of northern ireland if the stuff that is coming from great britain into ireland or anywhere else in the world via northern ireland then yes there can be that but of course those checks can be levied by the authority. but thatis can be levied by the authority. but that is very far from having a tariff border. it's there in black—and—white and the deal, there will be extra customs checks and for some people including your allies, that's just not acceptable and puts the union at risk. there are no tariffs, going from gb to northern ireland. but there are extra checks, that's in the agreement. there already are, but of course it's also going to be superseded as we come

out which i hope we do at the end of this month, as we get on to negotiate the uk eu free—trade agreement. so all of these arrangements are in fact going to be obsolete once we do that big eu, uk free—trade deal. obsolete once we do that big eu, uk free-trade deal. you've made a compromise to get the bigger prize of the deal but do you accept that has what's happened here they've broken a promise that you made to the dup. that's what they feel. broken a promise that you made to the dup. that's what they feellj think what you have is a fantastic dealfor all think what you have is a fantastic deal for all of think what you have is a fantastic dealfor all of the think what you have is a fantastic deal for all of the uk. a deal brokered by brains in whitehall into brussels contains concessions from the uk. it leaves the future more more open between the two sides compared to the previous agreement, and in theory gives the uk more ability to trade around the rest of the world. but it does contain what could be significant changes to how to northern ireland fits into the rest of the uk. and that's not the only reason why the prime minister

faces an uphill struggle to get this through mps. in wake field, around 70% of people voted to leave the eu. but just like the vast 70% of people voted to leave the eu. butjust like the vast majority of labourmps, mary butjust like the vast majority of labour mps, mary here has no attention at all of backing mr johnson's brexit. attention at all of backing mr johnson's brexit. off to london tomorrow on the deal, what do you think we should be doing? about the brexit deal? renegotiate. she's one that would have instead. i will be voting against the deal tomorrow. people have told me they want to vote . too to vote on this deal. it's too important to be left to the politicians. even though party bosses are trying to talk them out of it. as a clutch of labour mps whose votes might help the deal sneak through. i've been lobbied this morning byjohn mcdonald and jeremy corbyn. to abstain. i'm a 100% lever, and they expect me at

the flick of a finger to turn around. i'm not going to do it. even if there is a sprinkling of labour held, number ten still needs to work to make sure all of their own side are lined up. some of the most resolute brexiteers may hold out. i'm very glad we had such constructive discussions, nothing is concluded yet. it is a good chance this will not pass, if it does not pass do you still state we will leave the european union at the end of this month? i think we should leave the european union. at the end of october. saying we should is different and saying we will. we will leave the european union on 0ctober will leave the european union on october the 31st. not all of his collea g u es october the 31st. not all of his colleagues are so sure, leaving in two weeks might seem very plausible this time tomorrow. but for now, every single minister has one job

and onejob every single minister has one job and one job only. every single minister has one job and onejob only. to get this deal over the line. so tomorrow will be all about the numbers. can the prime minister get enough support from across the house of commons to see a deal finally approved. 0ur deputy political editor, john pienaar, has been doing the maths. this deal still lives the future relationship at the negotiating. brexiteers want to dry new trade deals and break clear of new eu rules and regulations. critics fear will be worse off. first, borisjohnson had to get mps behind is deal that allows the uk to leave. the numbers look painfully tight and he either has to win round the dup, which looks close to impossible, while elsewhere for votes. why? well, in the commons, the pme three had on 20 votes to guarantee when. the dup‘s ten mps don't want to be blamed for a ideal brexit

but they fear customs and regulatory checks on goods arriving from the british mainland will weaken the union. they won back the tories will back it and some reluctantly. a number of rebels have been won over, some keen to a may stick with the dup. labour will vote strongly against the brexit plan, the government denies it butjeremy corbyn fears a tory brexit means weaker workers' rights. poorer environmental safeguards. services say up for sale in a future trade deal. but some fear losing support unless brexit is delivered in a number will split or abstain and every cope —— vote could come. what about the independence? they will split too. some are back the pm, including a few who want back into the tory fold, they want to keep their seats. others want to stay close to the eu but they might swallow this deal in the meantime. a few who are worried about britain's future after brexit may refuse.

mrjohnson can forget the snp and some others, they are against brexit. there are no struggles in the pipeline, and push for another referendum, for example. and some mps will vote to guarantee a brexit extension. they will try to make sure the deal comes before they approve it and that there is no last—minute attempt to back out. let's cross now to westminster, where the brexit party leader nigel farage is making a speech on brexit. a great new deal, but it is not great for the reasons i will go into ina great for the reasons i will go into in a moment. it is not new, because 95% of that withdrawal agreement is exactly the same as that put before the commons and voted down three times by mrs may. this is, there is an improvement and i will come to it, but essentially this is a

reheating of mrs may's eu treaty. if the attempt to put lipstick on the pig andl the attempt to put lipstick on the pig and i hope and believe of the house of commons and the british public won't buy it a fourth time. applause. now, there was one thing up applause. now, there was one thing up for us to do here, he said he would get rid of the backstop. and we have got rid of the backstop, but we have got rid of the backstop, but we have got rid of the backstop, but we have actually managed potentially to free most of the united kingdom from the customs union. that is the one big achievement here. but of course in terms of northern ireland that backstop has been replaced by something that boris johnson that backstop has been replaced by something that borisjohnson said no british prime minister could ever do, we have effectively placed a

border within our own nation between great britain and northern ireland, andl great britain and northern ireland, and i am very pleased to see you here, en, on the stage tonight let me tell you. even if many of your erstwhile friends in the conservative party are not brave enough to stand with you tomorrow we come in the brexit party, do stand with you and we believe in the united kingdom. applause. and of course the real reason there were smiles all around in brussels yesterday is because they have now got us where they want us. the slogan at the tory party conference was clever, it said get brexit done. well hey, who doesn't want to get brexit done? but here's the problem. we have agreed to give away a very

large sum of money to sign up to a new legally binding eu treaty, and it has been bounced upon us before anybody could actually see or absorb or think about the detail. this, if it is to pass will not get brexit done. all we have done is to win the first phase of the negotiations, in fa ct first phase of the negotiations, in fact in the last three and a half years we have just done the easy bit. because we will move on to a long, agonising negotiation in which brussels will hold all of the cards, andl brussels will hold all of the cards, and i don't know whether you have heard this or not, but michel barnier has been reappointed to head

up barnier has been reappointed to head up the next phase of the negotiations. i tell you what, i wish we could employ him, he's a damn sight better than our negotiators have been over the course of the last few years. that was the brexit party leader nigel farage, he is speaking live in central london and really there as you would have heard clearly will not be backing and it does not back boris johnson's not be backing and it does not back borisjohnson's version of his brexit deal. that vote of course taking place tomorrow. a lot of excitement concerning that vote. there is the possibility that we will see a spanner in the works, there is an amendment being tabled by the former conservative sir 0liver that could alter what happens to that vote. to explain more on joined by chief political commentatorfrom joined by chief political commentator from the independent. you're a very busy man. just tell us about this amendment. was he helping to achieve? he's worried about the

gap between the big vote that was going to happen tomorrow and the end of the month. he's worried that if we agree to the deal but don't actually get the legislation that actually get the legislation that actually gives effect to the withdrawal agreement in time for the end of the month that we might leave ina end of the month that we might leave in a disorderly fashion from the snow deal brexit that he is very worried about it was so worried that he's been expelled from the conservative party for voting against the government. he and his fellow conservative expel these have tabled an amendment which postpones the vote on the deal until the legislation is through. so that means that the vote would happen sometime in the next few days or weeks we hope, but not tomorrow. such a break this down as simply as possible he is not trying to block the deal? that's what he says.

trying to postpone the vote until we're sure there cannot be a deal brexit. what is not likely to do to boris johnson's timetable? the moment is likely to pass because it has the support of all of the opponents of boris johnson's has the support of all of the opponents of borisjohnson's deal plus people like 0liver who said they support the deal in principle but just worried about this one possible loophole. i think it will pass and that means there won't be a vote on the deal until after the legislation is passed. and now that should be quite a long time, but these things get compressed in the current situation, so borisjohnson will try to pass that legislation in the next few days and then that will be the moment we reached a big decision time and it has as we saw in that report, on the knife edge. when you are saying is an extension.

yes, because the effect of the amendment is the house of commons has not approved with the withdrawal agreement tomorrow which is the deadline for the legislation and that means the prime minister has to ask for an extension. do you think you will break the law? no, i don't. he's the prime minister, he cannot possibly break the law. i think he will send letter reluctantly but will send letter reluctantly but will say, it will take time for the evil leaders to respond and it will have to have a special summit to decide how long that extension should be, and in the meantime boris johnson will say i'm going to get this legislation through and then the deal will be sealed, signed and delivered by the 31st of october.m the meantime, let's say we have that extension, does that give an opportunity for a push towards a general election and second referendum? well, that would not be come up boris johnson referendum? well, that would not be come up borisjohnson would not be

hoping to allow time for that, he will be hoping to get it all done by the 31st of october. looking for a very short extension or in fact he will say i don't know need the extension at all, i will have satisfied his concerns and we will get the deal through. very quickly, first question, do you think boris is going to get backing for his deal tomorrow and is it likely to go through? it's not going to be voted on tomorrow, i suspect it will be postponed and then when it comes to it who knows, it's really on a knife edge into close to call, i am terribly sorry but i'm not going to predict it here and now. why is man, john, thank you very much, always good to see you. police have arrested more than 700 people across the uk, during a week—long operation to tackle so—called ‘county lines‘ drugs crime — where gangs from cities expand their operations to smaller towns. in total, drugs with a street

value of about 400,000 pounds were seized — as well as guns and other weapons. here‘s our home affairs correspondent, tom symonds. aston, birmingham. police have flooded the area. looking for the science of county lines dealing. drugs. money. looking for a car is previously identified as involved. there is intelligence on the vehicle is related to drug dealing in the local area. suddenly, upper head, a pursuit begins. when they find the suspect was my car, it is crashed into a gas main. we can hear it. the gas is escaping. they have to clear the street but what about the suspect? he‘s run out of the vehicle into that premises and slammed the door. cue a helpful firefighter.

but the suspect has disappeared. by his actions, we have had to evacuate the entire street, in the rain, small babies, mothers, the elderly. but the harm goes further. the dealers have created supply networks on rail and road and they‘ve recruited vulnerable young people to carry the drugs. they use vulnerable adults and children, that is where they exploit them. the people at the top of the chain make a lot of money and the people at the bottom of the chain are likely to get caught and be exposed to criminality. it‘s called a county line not because of trains but because urban dealers set up mobile phone lines to sell drugs in rural areas like worcestershire. it‘s the county bit of county lines, it‘s where the drugs are being taken and the police have told us that one drug dealer is making £4,000 a day selling cocaine down there. west mercia police make a move against suspected dealers

being tracked by neighbouring west midlands police from birmingham. rural and urban forces working together. for the drugs gangs, county lines gives them a bigger market across the country. for the police, it means they have to coordinate their efforts, forces talking to forces, different types of units, uniformed and plainclothes, using technology, all has to work together. it means a big operation like this. we know more than we have ever known about the gangs and those people that get exploited, as part of county lines activity, because we have real close coordination now between different forces up and down the country. but there will be more of these coordinated operations... ..because they get results. 169 weapons were found in this one week, including these. the county lines gangs deal in drugs and violence. and they seem to be here to stay. tom symonds, bbc news.

sport and for a full round up, from the bbc sport centre, here‘s gavin. the rugby world cup quarterfinals take place this weeknd. three home nations are still involved with england taking on australia tomorrow, followed by ireland facing the favourites and reigning champions new zealand. wales play france on sunday. from japan here‘s our sports editor dan roan. here in the south ofjapan the pressure is rising. the volcanic town of beppu, famous for its numerous hot springs, is where england have been preparing for a defining moment. earlier they let off steam themselves here in nearby 0ita, where tomorrow they will play their first world cup knockout game for eight years. straight through the middle... england go into the match on a six—game winning streak against australia, but there are painful memories too, having been eliminated by them four years ago on home soil, and nothing is being taken for granted.

we have the best eight teams now in the world playing four games, so we have worked four years to get here, we have done a lot of hard work, the players have been absolutely brilliant in terms of their preparation on and off the field, and we feel like we have prepared well for this game. but england aren‘t the only home nation in action here in 0ita this weekend. six nations champions wales are also in town and ahead of their quarterfinal against france on sunday. plenty of time then for the welsh fans to make more friends in 0ita, having already tasted victory here earlier in the tournament. it is a huge game for us, there is no underestimating that. but we are confident. the welsh boys, what they have done in the past, they are not going to take france lightly, but it is a massive game and we can‘t wait for it. you are grand slam champions, you must be very confident of victory against the french. you never know how the french are going to turn up, do you? we‘ve got faith in the team.

but it‘s ireland who face the toughest challenge this weekend, taking on reigning champions new zealand in tokyo. but having beaten the all blacks twice in their last three encounters, the underdogs will believe they can reach the semifinals for the first time. the all blacks are always raising the bar and everyone else is chasing the bar and trying to get to the same height. i guess it is genuinely something we will find out on saturday. but the action starts here, 600 miles away where two world cup quarterfinals will provide a new attraction this weekend and with the losers going home the heat is on. dan roan, bbc news, 0ita. andy murray is in action, in the quarterfinals of the european open in antwerp. but two time wimbledon champion — and former world number one, missed the chance to close out his match with marius copil and make the final four. murray took the first set 6—3.

and was a game away from winning it, when at 5—2. copil recovered, to take the second set on a tie break. currently its three games each in the third. the bulgaria national coach krasimir balakov has resigned. he was in charge of the team for the 6—0 defeat to england in sofia on monday night, which was marred by racist chanting from home supporters. the bulgarian football association say he has left his role because of unsatisfactory results in recent months. the match, which was a euro qualifier, had to be stopped twice because of monkey chants and nazi salutes among the home support. after first saying that he didn‘t see any abuse, he later apologised to the england players. the premier league‘s "no room for racism campaign", first launched in march, will again be highly visible across all matches for the next week. one of the objectives is to get fans to report any discrimination they might witness on match—days. there‘s room for every kind of emotion.

but there‘s never room for racism. there's no room for racism... in the premier league... ..or anywhere else. if you see it, report it. there‘s been more success for great britain at the european track cycling championships, in the netherlands. two more medals — katie archibald got bronze, in the women‘s individual pursuit. and laura kenny took silver, in the women‘s omnium. kirsten wild of the netherlands took gold. kenny missed out by four points. that takes britain‘s medals tally to seven so far in apeldoorn. that‘s all the sport for now. you can find more on all those stories on the bbc sport website. you can also keen upto date with the first match of rugby union‘s premiership season — bath v bristol. that‘s bbc.co.uk/sport.

thank you very much for that. there have been clashes between police and protesters in barcelona, where a general strike has brought the city to a standstill. these are live pictures in barcelona now. this is now the fifth day of protests. hundreds of thousands have been demonstrating after separatist leaders calling for catalonia‘s independence, were jailed earlier this week. trains have been cancelled, roads have been blocked and the sagrada familia church has been shut down after protesters blocked its entrance. barcelona and real madrid have also postponed a match they were due to play on 26 october. and in the last few minutes spain‘s interior minister has said that protestors risk lengthyjail sentences if they continue. well let‘s get some perspective on all of this. aurora madaula is a catalonian mp,

and historian on nationalism. thank you for speaking to us here on bbc news. are they likely, is the minister they‘re likely to carry out his threat do you think and jail those protesters on the road? welcome the first of all, thank you for reminding me and giving me this opportunity. —— inviting me. we have no trust on the spanish judges, so yes we believe that they are going to put injail every yes we believe that they are going to put in jail every person that is at least pronounced to be pro—independence. this is what they are doing. there chasing pro—independence people. after more than 100 years of prison for the former government and two of the main civic leaders of the catalonian

independence movement, peaceful movement, as we have no trust on the spanishjustice. movement, as we have no trust on the spanish justice. a lot of people have said that as long as they continue peacefully, there will be support for those calling who have taken to the streets, but we have seen taken to the streets, but we have seen violence, what do you make of that? if you have seen today, it's beenin that? if you have seen today, it's been in general strike day. peaceful general strike and i think that successful general strike day, and todayit successful general strike day, and today it has been one of the last three days of this massive march come from different parts from catalonia to barcelona to protest this verdict that peaceful marches, one of them ijoined, i‘vejust arrived from. i might look tired, but we have been marching 25 km

today from other cities to barcelona. peacefully. we have been demonstrating in the centre of barcelona and what we are seeing now, right now, in the city centre of barcelona in the streets of barcelona is how the spanish police are violently attacking protesters, demonstrators with, for instance the rubber bullets used by a spanish police and rubber bullets which are prohibited by the catalonian government. so the spanish police are chasing pro—independence peaceful protesters...” are chasing pro—independence peaceful protesters... i just want tojump in very peaceful protesters... i just want to jump in very quickly. what are you hoping to achieve by these protests ? you hoping to achieve by these protests? are you looking for the sentences to be overturned or is this an independence, are you

continuing the argument for independence? what is this all about really? it's a mix of that. of course we are not chasing, we are not looking for an overtake of the sentences. we don‘t believe that they‘re going to release the political prisoners that have been there for two years now in pretrial detention and are now condemned. but of course we have to protest against one benedict that we cannot accept. they are condemning our political and civil rights because they are condemning the right of demonstration and self—determination, and we are protesting for this because this verdict is condemning not only the people who were condemned in this verdict, but two more of the 2 million people who have voted for

catalonian independence. there have been calls for intervention from the eu, what‘s likely to happen when carlos is after dated back to spain? i hope he is not being extradited to spain. they have already sensed the third extradition call from spain in spanish only, so now they have to translate it into flemish or french at least, so we believe that our exile president is innocent. he has not done anything that is a crime, he has only defended our rights and our right of self—determination and our right of self—determination and our right of voting for that. we hope that he is not going to be extradited to spain. thank you very much indeed. now it‘s time for a look

at the weather with nick miller. hello. there are some heavy showers out there this evening, perhaps a rumble of thunder. low pressure moves across the uk. clear spells and some showers around overnight. more clout in scotland, rather than showers, just an area of rain heading further south towards temperatures dipping into single figures. winds have been light overnight. 0nto the start the weekend, the cloud and rain in scotland pushing into parts of northern england. south of that, sunny spells, fewer showers then we have that in the past few days, and a contract and how things feel across the uk during saturday. south of this area, south—westerly winds. north of it is a northerly, feeling colder. where you have the south—westerly and sunny spells, mid teens. fewer showers on sunday.

hello, this is bbc news with lu kwesa burak. the headlines. a race against time as the prime minister tries to rally enough support ahead of tomorrow‘s crucial vote on his brexit deal. what crucial vote on his brexit deal. matters is mps com across what matters is mps coming together across the house tomorrow to get this thing done. the vote tomorrow afternoon is looking extremely close. the government hopes to persuade backbench conservatives, and some labour mps too. more than 700 people arrested in a week, as police crack down on drug gangs operating across the uk. masked demonstrators clash with police in barcelona, following protests over the jailing of separatist leaders. let‘s return to brexit now, and jeremy corbyn says the labour party won‘t vote

for the brexit deal tomorrow when it comes before the commons. at the heart of his reasoning is a belief that the deal fails to ensure workers‘ rights. the clause that protects the rights of employees has been removed from the withdrawl agreement and placed in the non—binding poltical declaration. earlier our colleague ben brown spoke to professor catherine barnard, professor in eu law and employment law at the university of cambridge to cast some light on the issue. can you spell out the differences you see on workers‘ rights between this deal and theresa may‘s deal? absolutely, so what you see in theresa may‘s deal, as part of the backstop, you have what is called a level playing field commitments, which is maintenance of workers‘ rights. now that was in the legally binding document. what‘s happening now is this so—called level playing field commitment have been put into the political declaration, which its name would suggest

is political and not legal. that said, there is a link between the patrol agreement text, —— withdrawal agreement text. the legally binding text that says there will be endeavours to come get the political declaration done. and of course, the eu is deeply worried about having a sort of singapore on thames style country next to its borders, so probably it will insist there be no free trade agreement without level playing field commitments, including on workers‘ rights. we‘ve heard concerned about this from the labour leadership — do you think, in your opinion, they are right to be worried about the deal from the workers‘ rights point of view? well certainly, the very fact that the level playing field commitments have been move to the political declaration automatically weakens the position. 0n the other hand, the eu will press very hard for maintenance of workers‘ rights. but what the interesting question is, what do

we mean by workers‘ rights? do we mean that the uk must carry out respecting the whole body of the eu rules on workers‘ rights as it stands at the moment, a sort of static or non—regression position? or will there be a requirement for the uk to carry on implementing future eu directives on workers‘ rights — in other words, a dynamic position? and that is not clear from the wording of the text in the political declaration. the bottom line is, there clearly is an expectation that the uk will comply with workers‘ rights, otherwise there will be no free trade agreement post—2020. the governor of the bank of england mark carney has said he‘s pleased a brexit agreement has been reached because it should reduce economic uncertainty. speaking at a meeting of the international monetary fund, he said that if agreed, the deal would make it easier for business to take decisions about investment.

it takes away the tail risk from a disorderly brexit, which is something very significant. and what it does is it pulls back on some of the entrenched uncertainty that businesses have been facing. now of course, the new economic partnership remains to be negotiated, so there is still a wide range of potential relationships that can be struck on the basis of this deal. but short—term, it takes away those risks. and i will say that in the room last night, in the g20 room, it was universally welcomed that this progress had been made. the duchess of sussex has revealed she has struggled to cope adjusting to her new life as a wife and mother and living in a new country. speaking during her recent tour of africa with her husband the duke of sussex, she said juggling the challenges of being a new parent while under the spotlight had been

particularly hard for her. look, any woman, especially when they are pregnant, you are really vulnerable. and so that was made really challenging, and then we have a newborn. you know. it's a long time ago, but every member. and especially as a woman, it‘s a lot. so you add this on top ofjust trying to be a new mum or trying to be a newlywed. it's... also, thank you for asking, because not many people have asked if i am ok, but it‘s... it‘s a very real thing to be going through behind—the—scenes. and the answer is? would it be fair to say not really 0k? yes.

the climate change protest group, extinction rebellion, have been holding a closing ceremony, after a fortnight of demonstrations across the uk. the group, which calls for more action to be taken on the issue of climate change, had continued protesting in london despite a police ban. campaigners have faced criticism after demonstrators at three tube stations, brought parts of the system to a halt. helena wilkinson reports from trafalgar square. well, the closing ceremony is taking place here in trafalgar square. around 1,000 or so demonstrators from extinction rebellion have come here for what is the end of 13 days of demonstrations by the organisation, the group, across central london. now today, earlier on in oxford circus, the busiest shopping area in london, that was brought to a complete standstill when demonstrators set up what appeared to be a makeshift tp. —— tee pee a couple of the demonstrators got

onto that, and various specialist officers from the metropolitan police had to come and get them down using a cherry picker. they made a number of arrests there, too. the demonstrators then made their way through some of the streets of central london. they passed various government buildings, and when they stopped, they made speeches outside their government buildings, calling on the government to take more action on what they say is a climate emergency. and a bit earlier on this evening, one of the protesters from extinction rebellion climbed up the side of the elizabeth tower, also known as big ben. he got onto the netting there, unfurled a couple extinction rebellion banners. of course, there was a huge police presence to try to get this man down. but this evening, the ceremony is still taking place here, and the metropolitan police say there are just over 1,700 people arrested in these demonstrations

over the past 13 days or so. women‘s fashion chain bonmarche has appointed administrators, putting the future of the business in doubt. the chain‘s 318 shops will remain open while a buyer is sought. the yorkshire—based chain, which specialises in clothing for the over—50s, employs nearly 3,000 people. two astronauts have made history — with the first ever, "all—women" spacewalk. christina cook and jessica meer have been floating out of the international space station in an operation to replace defective equipment. more than 200 people have carried out spacewalks since the first one in 1965 — but only 11; were women — and until today, they‘ve been accompanied by men. well, a short time ago, i spoke to libbyjackson, who has worked in mission control for the uk space agency and taught

the astronaut, tim peake. she told me she was thrilled by this historic spacewalk. oh, it‘s delightful to see, and it‘s an inspirational milestone. it‘s going to be great particularly for young people all around the world and the uk, for us particularly, to see that space is somewhere where everyone can work in. i know a lot of little girls around the world will see that the space sector is not the male—dominated place as much as it used to be, and that it‘s changing. diversity is a great thing for it. as we said earlier, it certainly puts women at the table. it‘s only taken 221 spacewalks — why do you think there was that long delay? well, part of it is just when you look at the number of female astronauts, they are growing now. we are seeing astronaut selections being gender—balanced, which is how it should be, and it‘s great. it‘s taken time, like many other areas, for us to grow the grassroots people to have people applying to be astronauts.

and spacewalks don‘t happen that often. when they do, we very often only had one female astronauts on the space station, so it‘s unusual enough for us to have two female astronauts on the space station. so it‘sjust a question of numbers and time, and we‘re getting there. and this won‘t be the last time, we will see many more in the future, i‘m sure. was this all—women spacewalk actually planned by nasa? so when spacewalks happen, the crew selection, just like for any mission, is done on who was there and who has the right skills. there was going to be an all—female spacewalk earlier this year in march, when two female nasa astronauts were going to head out. unfortunately that got changed, the crew members got changed at the last minute because anne herself said, "look, the spacesuit that i was going to go out in — i thought i could go out and what was called a large spacesuit, doesn‘t fit me". astronauts try these space they are on earth,

when we have gravity pulling us down. things change when you go into space. in these spacesuits — there is a medium, there‘s a large — they take weeks of careful preparation to make sure everything is working. it is the only thing that is keeping astronauts alive when they go out and do a spacewalk, so it is vital that it works well. so when anne made the decision that a large would not be safe for her, they thought it best to swap out a crew member and nick hay went out instead. so that shows you always so many things that go into the planning of spacewalks, the consideration of who was there. jessica and christina were the people on the space station, they were the right people to do thejob. there‘s a whole string of spacewalks going on at the minute, they are replacing a lot of batteries. luca parmitano and andrew morgan, who are also on the space station today — they are heading out in a little while to go and fix an experiment. so all of these things play in, and we just had the stars aligning for this all—female spacewalk today. and 0livia, this may be a very simplistic question. you‘ve trained tim peake, for example — are expectations on men and women different

when you are out in space? from an astronaut‘s perspective, absolutely not.