you're watching bbc newsroom live. it's ham and these are the main stories, this morning. as investigations continue, it's believed the 39 people — found dead, in the back of a refrigerated lorry, in essex, yesterday — were chinese nationals. the number of people carrying knives and other weapons in england and wales hits a record high. will the pm push for a general election, or focus on getting his brexit deal through parliament? as reports of a cabinet split, over how to move forward with brexit are dismissed. research finds people, with long term health conditions, are more likely to suffer pain on days when it's humid or windy. the royal british legion‘s poppy appeal gets under way. your mission? to identify undercover celebrities, working as poppy sellers.

good morning. welcome to bbc newsroom live. the 39 people — found dead, in a refrigerated lorry, in essex — are believed to be chinese nationals. police are yet to confirm that, and are still in the process of trying to identify them. paramedics made the discovery shortly before 2am on wednesday, sparking one of the uk biggest murder inquiries. police say the lorry‘s cabin came via holyhead. officers, in northern ireland, have raided two houses and the national crime agency said it was working to identify "organised crime groups who may have played a part". the lorry driver, mo robinson, from county armagh, has been arrested on suspicion of murder by essex police. prosecutors in belgium

have, this morning, announced that the trailer arrived in zeebrugge, on wednesday afternoon. in zeebrugge, on tuesday afternoon. it then left, the same day, en route to the uk and arrived in purfleet, on the river thames, where it then left the port, shortly after 1am, on yesterday morning. a0 minutes later, paramedics arrived at an industrial estate, in grays, to find the lorry containing the bodies. our correspdonent, jon kay, is in grays and spoke to me earlier. they have said it's going to be a long, complicated international process, due to the nature of what has happened. this is the industrial estate, where the lorry and the container were found, yesterday morning. just on the little road there, behind me. see, it has now been screened off, by police. there is still a large police presence here. and the lorry has actually been taken away to tilbury docks, a couple of miles away, that is where that process is going on. that process of identification. the identification of 38 adults, and one teenager. being done in tilbury docks,

so it can be done in as much privacy and with as much dignity, the police say, as possible. and the police, therefore, not working, notjust working out who were these individuals, but where did they come from, how did they get into that refrigerator unit, and why? how were they being brought to the uk? there are so many questions and the police stressing this isjust the beginning of that investigation. richard burnett is the chief executive of the road haulage association. he says much more needs to be done, to ensure security protections for vehicles across europe. i think there are lots of issues. the root cause of the problem, you are right, in saying that we have seen this a lot, over the last few years. the problem has never gone away. if we go back to the migrant crisis, and calais, the jungle, the problem simply hasn't gone away. drivers are facing attacks, it's fair to say that the traffickers are upping theirgame, in terms of how they are actually

accessing the vehicles and bringing migrants through. we are seeing changes there. but the real cause of the problem is the countries where these people are coming from. eritrea, syria, those war—torn countries. and is there enough being done globally to actually resolve those problems? to stop these people wanting to flee what's happening? but then, the trafficking, there is simply not enough being done in terms of security, in terms of the protection of vehicles across europe, we need to be working for more with the europeans. but there lies an issue in terms of brexit. how close we can influence some of the things that need to be done, to try and stop these things from happening? speaking to us now is vernon coaker, labourmp and co—chair of the all—party parliamentary group for human trafficking and modern slavery.

thank you very much for talking to us thank you very much for talking to us today. what more do you think, on that point, needs to be done, to step up security at various ports? because we have heard since the discovery of the bodies yesterday, that the level of security, the perceived level of security, varies greatly, depending on which port you are talking about. i think that is the point. if you look at calais, the point. if you look at calais, the security there has been increased quite considerably, as has the case at dover. similarly, at other points. if you come across europe, various security measures have been put in place. but clearly asa have been put in place. but clearly as a consequence of that, the traffickers have then looked to other ports and other ways of trafficking people. and so we have seen the movement, we are not quite sure where the people, the u nfortu nate sure where the people, the unfortunate people, were put into the container but we have seen then moved across into zeebrugge and bought across the channel into

purfleet and clearly that means we're going to have to look at that. if the traffickers are playing cat and mouse with the authorities, could not have been anticipated perhaps more, that they would move away from most ports like calais to other locations? one of the questions that needs to be answered, the national crime agency actually did in their latest reports point out that this may be a consequence of improved security. at some ports. and i do think what the government will need to do is to have a summit with the national crime agency, with a border police and so on, and all of these different agencies and have a look at what is going on and it is a look at what is going on and it is a bit, it must be in the light of this horror, it must be a wake—up call for us all to see what more can be done. that is also a national level, that clearly at an international level we are going to have to talk to the belgian government about what more needs to be done there in a bilateral sense, we have to look at what euro poll is doing but also more broadly, if the reports are right as to where these

u nfortu nate reports are right as to where these unfortunate people have originated from, what their nationality is, more broadly that international cooperation needs to be improved. and certainly we need to look to see what more can be done and do it. apps you have mentioned we have reported that it is thought the victims were chinese nationals, based on your expertise in this area, does that give you any clues as to where they may have got on this lorry? in light of what we have just been talking about, it is not totally clear. but certainly, the intelligence that will be being gathered by the government and also the international partners, should identify where or give some clue as to where the overland route will be thatis to where the overland route will be that is bringing these chinese nationals across. certainly, we will need to talk to the chinese government about it. the latest statistics from the national crime agency do, in fact, show that the

chinese are the fourth largest contingent of people who are identified as potential victims of trafficking and modern slavery. so from that point of view, it is a further indication where there is a particular problem and a particular source for the traffickers and we need to look at that and try and understand what is happening with respect to that and do more about it. the efforts might need to be focused. the authorities rely, i understand, and what is called the national referral mechanism, the authorities here in the uk, to try to understand how many people are suspected of being trafficked. but how much can you rely on that sort of data? when perhaps what we have seen yesterday is the tip of the iceberg. just what has come to the public‘s attention. iceberg. just what has come to the public's attention. that is the absolute correct phrase. it is the tip of the iceberg. there is no doubt about it. the latest figures, even from these official figures, of

trafficking and modern slavery, from 2018 and 2017, full—year statistics that we have, adults are 36% increase and four children a 48% increase and four children a 48% increase which gives us a total of around 7000. but there is many more than that. in 2013, the government estimated approximately 13000 and we have to do better at identifying the victims and potential victims but also it is the confidence for these people to come forward. when they are found. they are terrified of the traffickers. they are threatened, theirfamilies are traffickers. they are threatened, their families are threatened back in their source countries if you do not cooperate, if you do cooperate with the police or run away, then we may not be able to find you but we know where your family is. and they are terrified. and it is unbelievable, in our country, in 2019, we're talking about people who are held in slavery. and in bondage. it is astonishing that that is

taking place. and i think we need to look at what more we can do, about this horrendous crime. we have course don't know the exact nature of the story behind this, whether it was smuggling or trafficking, i am not sure what differences you would drop between the two that i was talking to a syrian refugee earlier today, who had been in the shoes of those people, who were found in that lorry yesterday, who had himself spent time, terrified in a lorry on his journey to the uk. he spent time, terrified in a lorry on hisjourney to the uk. he is never refugee here. and i said to him, look, what drove you to do that? and he said he didn't really have a choice because of the circumstances at home. and he said that there was at home. and he said that there was a lack of official, legal, proper routes to get into the uk. now that isa routes to get into the uk. now that is a very political point, of course. but how do you respond to that argued? possible, ifi may, smuggling and trafficking are very difficult because although they are

both illegal, smuggling is usually people consent as opposed to trafficking where they have not consented or they have been deceived. but, in terms of preventing it, in terms of, we need to look at how to prevent it but he is right, or she is right, the syrian person you spoke to. we also have to look at the safe and legal roots, into the country. and we can only do that by international cooperation. but we also have to recognise that there is an issue with that. we can'tjust turn our backs on it and expected to go away because it won't. and this is a across europe. we have seen, a few yea rs across europe. we have seen, a few years ago, 1 million people come across in the mediterranean. fleeing poverty but also fleeing war and persecution. every single country in europe is wrestling with this. it will only be resolved by countries working together. and that includes the united kingdom. we have a proud record throughout our history of welcoming people fleeing persecution

and seeking refuge and we need to ensure that the current practice we have meets that need. and the final thing to say on that as we also need to understand that when we do find these people, that we give them some sort of immigration status. even when they are identified as victims of slavery, when they are actually said that we know they are victims, their immigration status is still uncertain and with respect to that and also how we ensure that they are safe and proper routes for people to come here, according to the law, i think that is something the government will have to look at in light of what this dreadful incident has occurred. thank you very much for your time. the prime minister's preferred deadline for brexit is one week away. there's a lot of attention on the european union. leaders are expected to grant a delay, but it's not yet known how long it will be.

it comes as borisjohnson wrote a letter — which you can see here — delaying his appearance, before a select committee. chairperson, sarah wollaston, accused the prime minister of refusing to face "detailed scrutiny". all this comes as number 10 has been forced to deny splits in the cabinet, over when to hold an election. if the eu proposes delaying brexit untiljanuary, it is thought the prime minister will seek a snap election, but reports suggest some cabinet members want him to focus on getting the withdrawal agreement through parliament, instead. so, with wesminster full of election speculation, how could it be held? borisjohnson is constrained by the fixed—term parliaments act. in order to override that, two thirds of mps could vote to end this parliament and go for an election. alternatively, the prime minister, or labour, could call for a vote of no confidence in the government. ifjeremy corbyn failed to form a government, the country would head to the polls. the final option is a one line bill, dissolving parliament. this just needs a simple majority

of one, but can be ammended, which could constrain any future eu negotiations. so much to discuss here, our assistant political editor norman smith in westminster. norman, what are you hearing about which the prime minister is minded to go for? the parliamentary route 01’ to go for? the parliamentary route ora to go for? the parliamentary route or a general election?” to go for? the parliamentary route or a general election? i think the honest answer is that decision has not been taken. the message, the signalling from number ten, is that they do not see the point in bringing back boris johnson's they do not see the point in bringing back borisjohnson's deal, because they are convinced the labour party will never back it. and they have reached that conclusion following the talks yesterday between the prime minister and jeremy corbyn which i do not think where particularly acrimonious but they just formed the where particularly acrimonious but theyjust formed the view where particularly acrimonious but they just formed the view that where particularly acrimonious but theyjust formed the view that mr corbyn would do whatever he could to make life difficult for the prime minister. so, at the moment, the preferred strategy, we are told, is

to bring about a general election. how would that work? is that really practical? i am joined how would that work? is that really practical? iam joined by how would that work? is that really practical? i am joined by the party chairman, james cleverley. let's clarify, i general election is the preferred route? we have been calling for one for months and the labour party have been running scared for months. and we had a deal. the prime minister did what everyone claimed was impossible. reopen the winstrol agreement, got rid of the backstop and presented a deal that was welcomed by business leaders across europe, the taoiseach and the eu 27. and having initially voted for it, parliament then had a spasm of indecision and voted against the timetabling motion which leads us to believe that either labour party can't or won't deliver on brexit and we have got to do something to bring this to a conclusion. does that mean you have closed the door on bringing the deal back or is there are still a chink there way you could possibly bring

it back? desire has all been to leave the european union with a good deal, this is a good deal and there is still at opportunity for parliamentarians with their skates on to get this over the line. but it will rely on people doing what they said they were going to do, backing ideal and being honest with the british people. unfortunately, we have seen over and over again, that has not played out so we have to make reparations. it is myjob to make reparations. it is myjob to make sure we're ready and able to when i general election and when that general election comes, whether sooner or later, we will be determined to get a stable working majority for the prime minister and thatis majority for the prime minister and that is what we will do. how relaxed are you about a wintry general election? all sorts of concerns about turnout, getting close to christmas. it is far from about turnout, getting close to christmas. it is farfrom ideal? about turnout, getting close to christmas. it is far from ideal?m is far from ideal. but as i say, we have in calling for a general election for months. at some point, the labour party will realise that

their blocking tactics, propped up by the lib dems and snp, have got to come to an end. the british people wa nt come to an end. the british people want their government to govern. the people here visiting us, they want us people here visiting us, they want us to deliver those extra police officers, the money going to the front line of the nhs, those increases in teacher salaries. this is what people want and we are being prevented from delivering on their priorities because of the blocking tactics of labour party, the lib dems and the snp. how do you get there? if you go through the fixed term parliament retrieved a two thirds majority, you need labour to back it. they cite they might. but then again they might not. audio for a straightforward vote of no confidence in your own government? it is not really possible for me to predict or speculate as to the mechanism. but at some point, parliamentarians have got to realise that the british people watch what we do and are getting incredibly frustrated, with opposition parties

saying no to everything. and yet denying the government the opportunity to deliver on the priorities of the british people.- some point that anyone dropped and that they will realise the best thing they can do to maintain the confidence in the parliamentary process is to give us a general election, let us take our respective messages to the country and see who the british people well back and i am confident they will back my party, the party that is delivering brexit, and also delivering on their priorities. briefly, is your best guess on what happens next at pre—christmas election?” guess on what happens next at pre-christmas election? i am not in the guessing business i am in the planning business. we are planning to fight an election when it comes, ta ke to fight an election when it comes, take our message to the country, deliver a workable sustainable majority for the government. thank you very much. the truth is, we are slightly still in the waiting game. just waiting to see what the eu does next. if the offer an extension, how long the extension is, then it is

decision time. norman, thank you very much. the headlines on bbc news. as investigations continue, it's believed the 39 people — found dead, in the back of a refrigerated lorry in essex, yesterday — were chinese nationals. the number of people carrying knives and other weapons in england and wales hits a record high. will the pm push for a general election, or focus on getting his brexit deal through parliament? as reports of a cabinet spilt over how to move forward with brexit are dismissed. in sport. england have made one change for the rugby world cup semifinal against new zealand. george ford returns at fly—half and captain 0wen farrell moving back to centre. that match is on saturday morning. there are full and chelsea both won in the champions league last night. a late winner for the blues in amsterdam against kayaks.

and the english teenager, josh hill has become the youngest man, at 15, to when an official world ranking golf event but couldn't claim the prize money because he is still an amateur. i will be back in the next 15 minutes with more details. researchers have found people with long term health conditions, such as arthritis, are more likely to suffer pain on days when it's humid or windy. scientists at the university of manchester used a smartphone app to track the pain experienced by more than two—and—a—half thousand to track the pain experienced by more than 25000 by more than 2500 people across the uk — while also mapping the local weather conditions. jayne mccubbin reports. three years ago, bbc breakfast launched an ambitious citizen science project, with the university of manchester, to find out if there was a link between weather and pain. we were asking people to track their symptoms, using a smart app.

pretty much moderate pain, today. after the bbc programme, we had 13,000 people joined the study. that's amazing, isn't it? and the results are in. data, from breakfast viewers, has proven there is a link between weather and pain, and exactly how that link works. but this didn't have anything to do with rain. 0h... what is it to do with then? well, we found that pain is associated with high humidity and pain can also be higher if there were strong winds and if the pressure was low. so it's all about the pressure? that's right, it's about those three things. and low pressure. high humidity, strong winds. and low pressure. but basically, the old wives tales, that weather links to pain is absolutely true. we found an association with thousands of our participants, that's right. some are more equipped to deal with the cold than others, but surprisingly, the study showed temperature was not a key factor when it came to pain, pressure was.

dry days were least likely to be painful. humid, damp windy days most likely to be painful. increasing your chance of arthritic pain by 20%. do you ever suffer from aches and pains? yeah i do, yeah, from time to time. can anybody here tell when the weather's gonna change because they can feel it in theirjoints? i normally feel it in my water. laughter. is it worse in particular weather? yes. well i think my mum used to say things like that. did she? she could feel what the day was going to be like by her bones. you can tell her she is scientifically correct. well... 0h... well done, mum. what, until now, has been seen as folklore, is now, in fact, fact. next science stop? possibly the weather pain forecast, coming to a screen near you. soon.

the number of people found carrying knives, in england and wales, has risen to a record level. 14,205 offences were formally dealt with, by the criminaljustice system, in the year to the end ofjune. that's a 6% increase on the same period, the previous year, and is the highest number, since the figures were first compiled, 10 years ago. our home affairs correspondent, danny shaw, is here. this is specifically dealing with possession of a knife? that is right. people found carrying a knife 01’ right. people found carrying a knife or bladed article. the figures are compiled by police forces and then published by the ministry of justice. these are figures for people who are actually caught and are processed through the criminal justice system. either given a caution or some kind of formal warning or they will be sentenced in some way. what these figures show is

that, as you say, we are now at a record number of people who are caught carrying the knives. if you look at the breakdown for every three months for the quarterly figures, what you are seeing is not very encouraging news either. it doesn't fully show there is any particular slowdown in these offences. it is being driven, in particular, by adults. people aged 18 and over who are being caught carrying knives. and if you look at the overall offences, four knife physician and other weapons possession offences, also at high levels, the highest since 2010. interestingly, as we look at the figures, the proportion of repeat offenders, who are sentenced, is also now at its highest level. how big a concern is that going to be to people who are trying to tackle this? i think that is a real concern because what it would suggest is that people who are being caught and sentenced, it is not working in

many, sentenced, it is not working in any sentenced, it is not working in many, many thousands of cases. because the figures now show that 2996 because the figures now show that 29% of those who are cautioned or convicted, for possessing a knife or other weapon, had in fact done it before and been sentenced before. that figure has been steadily increasing. so that is a real concern in terms of what happens to people, increasing proportions of them do go to prison. 38% of those caught go to prison and the average sentence for adults is about eight months. that is an increasing proportion on what it was before. interestingly enough, despite new laws, to toughen this whole regime up, a third of repeat offenders are not being sentenced to prison. despite the fact that the government introduced laws, some years ago, to ensure that repeat offenders were sent to custody in most cases. 0ne third still not going to prison. thank you very much for taking us through that.

some news just some newsjust coming some news just coming to us humberside police have been given authorisation to charge a suspect with the weight and murder of hull student. she went missing and her body was found seven weeks later in the humber estuary. the crown prosecution service now saying that they have been given, have given humberside police permission to charge the suspect, who is 25, with the rape and murder of libby squire. more detail coming through which i am scanning through, it is the chief crown prosecutor, explaining what the decision is with relation to giving humberside police permission to bring those charges. they say the decision was made following a careful review of all the evidence presented to us by humberside

police, as a result of their lengthy and complex investigation. a bangladesh court has sentenced 16 people to death, for the murder of a 19—year—old student, who was set on fire, after accusing her teacher of sexual harassment. the murder of nusrat jahan rafi sparked outrage and protests, across the country. the trial was one of the quickest in bangladesh, where previously it may have taken years to conclude. the metropolitan police is working with facebook to try and stop terrorists livestreaming their attacks, on social media. the partnership was formed after the new zealand mosque attacks, when facebook was criticised for not removing material posted by the gunman quickly enough. our home affairs correspondent sarah corker reports. firearms officers simulate a terrorist attack. the scenario — multiple gunmen, on the loose, in a disused building. the metropolitan police regularly

practise their counterterrorism response and the body cameras, recording these images, have been supplied by facebook. subject down, red jumper. hundreds of people work in facebook‘s safety and security team, at its base, here in london. over the past two years, 26 million posts, from global terror groups, have been removed. facebook uses artificial intelligence, to spot extreme content. this is how the technology works, identifying people and objects. but the company was criticised, for failing to prevent videos of the new zealand mosque shootings from being widely shared. the christchurch attack went more viral than any one piece of terrorist content i have ever seen and i analyse terrorist content, every single day. what we also realised was that, because it started on facebook live,

perhaps our tooling wasn't as good as it could be, about proactively detecting, what might be, first— person shooter content. social media platforms are under increasing pressure, to stem the flow of violence and hate online. the home office now plans to share this footage with other technology companies. sarah corker, bbc news. the remains of spain's former dictator, francisco franco, are being exhumed and will be reburied, alongside family members, in a cemetery near madrid. since his death, in 1975, general franco's body has been in a mausoleum carved into a mountain, among thousands of others who died in the civil war, which he triggered and eventually won. socialist prime minister, pedro sanchez, made moving the remains a priority, since coming to power injune last year, arguing that the country should not "continue to glorify" a man, who ruled with an iron fist. his family unsuccessfully challenged

the exhumation in the courts. it's taken 10 years to put it all together, but, today, an exhibition opens in the louvre in paris to mark the 500th anniversary of leonardo da vinci's death. as lucy williamson explains, it also shows us a new way of looking at one of the world's most famous paintings. scientist or painter? leonardi da vinci is often seen as a universal genius. but this exhibition suggests his insatiable curiosity was all about creating the perfect image. and it offers a new, scientific way of looking at his paintings, too. with a specially created virtual reality experience, around his most famous work. the mona lisa. da vinci spent the last few years of his life in france, and the louvre already owns five of his paintings, including the mona lisa. more than any other

institution in the world. they have used new technology to reveal the different layers of his key works. some of which took 15 years to create. he changed the form of the composition, but also the iconography of the composition. so, without these scientific investigations, we would not be able to understand the meaning and also the evolution of each painting of leonardo. the queen has lent two dozen pictures from the royal collection. including these studies of plants. but other requests have proved harder to come by. lending a leonardo, the museum admits, is no small favour. the fact this exhibition is taking place in paris has ruffled a few feathers in rome. "leonardo was italian," one junior minister said, "he only died in france." both countries are planning major events, this year, to mark the anniversary and not everyone has agreed on where the artworks should be shown.

it took an italian court to rule the vitruvian man — one of the most famous drawings in the world — could be sent to france. a cultural heritage group had objected that it was too fragile. italy, in 2015, made a wonderful exhibition on leonardo da vinci. and we were the only country in the world to send three paintings by leonardo da vinci. we were the most generous lender to their exhibition. and now, they help us, lending us the vitruvian man. over 200,000 tickets have been sold before opening. and the louvre is expecting more than 500,000 visitors, in total. drawn to understand the secrets of the artist who painted this enigmatic smile. now it's time for a look at the weather with simon king.

hello. it has been a rather grey morning with some drizzle upon across parts of england and wales. heavier rain developing in the midlands, central southern england and eastern areas of england with showers around the north west, gales around scotland. generally speaking there will be some sunny spells across northern parts with cloud clearing away towards the east with maximum temperatures getting up to about 1k degrees. tonight the rest of the rain will clear away from eastern areas with showers moving m, eastern areas with showers moving in, wintry showers in scotland. some clear spells, turning quite chilly across northern areas. temperatures here close to freezing. further south temperatures staying at around 10 celsius. throughout friday heavy rain spreading in, particularly across south—west england, wales and the midlands, into northern areas of england. that will persist into saturday as well. leading to some

localised flooding and travel disruption. well worth staying tuned to the forecast. goodbye. hello, this is bbc newsroom live with annita mcveigh. the headlines: as investigations continue — it's believed the 39 people found dead in the back of a refrigerated lorry in essex yesterday were chinese nationals. the number of people carrying knives in england and wales hits a record high. the crown prosecution service says a man can be charged with the rape and murder of hull university student libby squire. will the pm push for a general election or focus on getting his brexit deal through parliament? reports of a cabinet split over how to move forward with brexit are dismissed. and coming up — we'll be finding out more about coldplay revealing their latest album tracks in the classified ads of a local paper.

sport now, and here's a full round up from the bbcsport centre. good morning. england have named their starting xv for their rugby world cup semifinal against new zealand and fly—half george ford is back. that's the only change for saturday mornings match against the reigning champions. he was a replacement for the quarterfinal against australia with henry slade coming into the side. he'll move back to the bench with captain 0wen farrell returning to the centre to make way for ford at 10. but what can they expect from the world champions? new zealand have always shown a propensity to change the order of the way they play, and it will be up to our team to understand that pretty clearly at the start of the game. and they always have some sort of surprise first phase type of attack. all we can do is be creative

in training, think about different situations and equip the players to deal with it and then we have to anticipate on the field. you've got to be alive all the time playing against new zealand because they are a lwa ys against new zealand because they are always in the game and always looking for opportunities. you've just got to be alive in the game and our players are equipped for that, they are ready to go and i can't wait for it. all four english sides won in the champions league this week. alex 0xlade—chamberlain impressed for liverpool away at genk and chelsea had a great win away in amsetrdam at ajax. austin halewood rounds up the action. a warm welcome for the champions of europe. genk hadn't yet faced liverpool in their 31 year history, but it didn't take the visitors long to settle into their new surroundings. second minute, first goal. alex 0xlade—chamberlain with his first for the club in over a year. from then, liverpool were far from their best until 0xlade—chamberlain burst them back into life once again. special. the 0x back at his dazzling best.

after that it was a matter of how many. mane added a third before mo salah made it four. for two years, liverpool haven't won away from home in the group stage but this one was never really in doubt. for chelsea, it was a night out in amsterdam but contrary to belief, it became less of a struggle as the evening wore on. ajax were ahead in the first half when it was tapped in, but only for a moment. the goal ruled out for offside by the ar. for offside by var. 0nly just. chelsea just needed a chance, an opening. when they got one, they missed it. substitute batshuayi blasting over the bar. when his chance came again, this time he didn't miss. a crucial away win, probably frank lampard's best as the chelsea manager so far. just another note on that liverpool win at genk, the club has condemned an offensive banner that was displayed by their travelling fans at the stadium. they say it "perpetuated

a racist stereotype" and was "completely unacceptable". they are waiting to see whether uefa ta kes they are waiting to see whether uefa takes action. liverpool women will play at anfield in the league for the first time next month. they take on rivals everton on sunday november the 17th. liverpool are the latest women's superleague side to play a fixture at their men's ground. over 30,000 watched the manchester derby at the etihad stadium in september. teenage golferjosh hill has become the youngest male player to win an official ranking event. the english player who was born in dubai and lives there is 15—and—a—half. he came out on top at the al ain open in the uae. and a final round of 62 saw him win by two shots ahead of fellow englishman harry ellis. but because hill is still an amateur he couldn't claim the £10,000 prize, that went to ellis instead. that's all the sport for now. i'll have more for

you in the next hour. that does seem a little unfair but i'm sure his time will come. more now on our main story. the 39 people found dead in a refrigerated lorry in essex are believed to be chinese nationals. police are yet to confirm that, and are still in the process of trying to identify them. paramedics made the discovery shortly before 2:00am on wednesday, sparking one of the uk's biggest murder inquiries. 0ur correspondent simonjones is in grays where the lorry was found. simon, bring us up—to—date with what's going on there? there are many aspects to this investigation at many locations involved. this is very much an international investigation. the situation here is pa rt

investigation. the situation here is part of the industrial estate remains cordoned off with a lot of police vehicles. behind those screens you can see behind me there are people doing fingertip searches around the area where the lorry was found in the early hours of yesterday morning. that lorry has now been moved from this site just down the road to tilbury docks so the process can begin of removing the process can begin of removing the bodies from the back of the lorry, from the container so that can happen in privacy and with dignity. we understand all those on—board were chinese nationals. what we don't know yet is the identity of those people, and that is going to be the key thing for police investigation. as well as what's happening here, it is going to involve the authority is no doubt in china and also the authorities where the container was loaded onto a ship before it arrived here in essex. there is going to be a lot of

international cooperation here but the key thing is going to be to identify the people found dead in the back of the lorry and find out where they might have got on board and when there journey started originally. we have literally just originally. we have literallyjust found out from the police, you probably haven't had a chance to find this out yourself, but police sources say in 31 of the deceased were men, eight women. a third property in northern ireland has been raided by police. that is what we often see in cases like this in terms of the tax of those involved. it often tends to be predominantly men and in this case, the majority have been men. also potentially we are talking about family units here, given the fact women were also discovered. it brings to mind the fact they were chinese nationals, what happened in doverin chinese nationals, what happened in dover in the year 2000 when 58 chinese nationals were found dead in the back of the lorry there. during the back of the lorry there. during

the inquest we had some harrowing details about how some of those on board the container in which they we re board the container in which they were found were banging on the side desperately, trying to raise some kind of help as the air ran out. what happened in this case is going to be part of a police investigation backin to be part of a police investigation back in dover, it took several weeks to be able to identify the people who were involved. what we are hearing from the police here in essexis hearing from the police here in essex is this is likely to be a long and complex operation as well. in terms of what's happening in northern ireland, you mention a third property being searched. we understand two properties were searched overnight, believed to be linked to the person currently being questioned, mo robinson, a 25—year—old from northern ireland. the police investigation continuing apace in terms of the searches and what is happening here but the warning it it may be a long time before we are able to explain what happened here in such tragic circumstances. thank you very much, simonjones.

back to brexit now — another tense day. number 10 having to deny brexit divisions in the cabinet. meanwhile the prime minister is coming under fire for cancelling a select committee appearance. all this is happening whilst parliament patiently awaits the eu's decision on an extension to article 50. the length of that — whether it be long or short — has a direct effect on when the uk has an election. let's go straight to westminster now to get the latest from our assistant political editor norman smith. norman, we are unlikely, aren't we, to hear anything more from the uk end of all of theirs until the eu announces what the extension will be? that is right. they won't be any decision until we get clarity from the eu. it might be tomorrow or it might take until monday but mr johnson faces a tough call if he wa nts to johnson faces a tough call if he wants to go down this election road because it is not entirely in his gift. if he wants to go down the fixed term parliament road, he will need the backing of the labour

party. some in the shadow cabinet have signalled he will get it, others on the back benches are much less relaxed about that approach. i'm joined by a prominent supporter ofa i'm joined by a prominent supporter of a peoples vote. what is your take? do you think the party should automatically back an election if the eu offers an extension? we have to have a general election because this hung parliament isn't working. the question is, should we make sure that we have guaranteed that we can't crash into a disaster no deal first? and everybody in the labour party think that's right. the problem for us is that because we are not the government, we are left responding to what the government put in front of us. at the moment we are in limbo because we got through the first stage of the brexit bill, not able to get through the rest of it because the government couldn't agree a programme, a timetable for dealing with this properly. it is incumbent on the government to untie that not, give us a programme that

we can deliver, get the amendments debated and lets get back on the road of dealing with this mess. if the government decides to go down the election route, and that is what they seem to suggest they will do, you will have to decide pretty quickly whether you are going to back them. do you think people like richard burgin, members of the shadow cabinet, have said pretty clearly that you should back them, are right? the issue is whether or no deal has been taken off the table and whether it's richard burgin, ian lay very, me or anyone else... the eu gave an extension without taking no deal of the table? not if we haven't dealt with the brexit issues before us. in this brexit issues before us. in this brexit bill is the facility to crash out with no deal after 2020, after the fermentation period. in the brexit bill is all kinds of loopholes that could see no deal still being allowed. —— the implementation period. we don't want

an election in which borisjohnson wants to go hell for leather to get a mandate for no deal and we won't do that. u nless do that. unless you secure an amendment which changes the current deal to rule out the possibility of no deal at the end of transition, labour should hold back from giving the go—ahead toa hold back from giving the go—ahead to a general election? i think we should hold back until we have ruled out a no deal. that is why we want to get on with this bill. the idea of a programme where you ram it through in 36 hours is unacceptable, which is why we voted against it. give us a decent programme, get on with the bill and deal with the amendments. in the end we know from all of the analysis of brexit that there isn't really a form of brexit that will be better form of brexit that will be better for our country than the deal we've got now. that is why one of the most crucial amendments is to get a public vote on this which is so we can say to the british public, now you know more about brexit and what is involved and the fact we are

going to be in this negotiating period for years and years to come, do you still want to go ahead with it or do you want to stop it now? that is the most important thing. that is the most important thing. that would involve more delay because you would have to get a referendum bill through parliament, which could take months. we are talking about another six months at least in the eu. borisjohnson said in the house that it won't be the work of the next couple of parliaments. what brexit has shown is that it brings us the debate... we haven't left yet and the debate brings us nothing but tension because people were promised what isn't possible. they were promised the same relationships we have now but better trade deals around the world. people were promised this would cost nothing and we would gain from it and it has been demonstrated that is not the case. when you offer people a prospectus that is undeliverable, all you get is discussion and debate and delay. eight referendum would

ta ke and delay. eight referendum would take time but going ahead with brexit in this way would take a lot longer to deliver. maybe tomorrow we will get some results from the eu, but it may drift into the weekend and into monday. thank you, norman. i want to bring you an update from essex police which they have just released in the last few seconds about the investigation into the deaths of the 39 people discovered in that lorry trailer in essex yesterday. this statement confirms a lot of things that we've been talking about, but it is worth going through it in some detail. they say that a lorry driver, 25—year—old lorry driver from northern ireland remains in custody after the discovery of those 39 victims. they say this is the largest murder investigation in essex police history and they say for the foreseeable future, their

work continues to be focused on providing the victims and their loved ones with an investigation thatis loved ones with an investigation that is filled with dignity, compassion and respect for those who have died, which explains why the lorry was moved from the location where it was found to another, where the remains could be removed in a more private setting. they confirm they cab of the lorry entered the uk via holyhead on sunday, having travelled over from dublin. via holyhead on sunday, having travelled overfrom dublin. the lorry then collected the trailer at the port of purfleet on the 23rd of 0ctober. the port of purfleet on the 23rd of october. the cab and trailer left the port shortly after 1am, and it was only 35 minutes later at 1:40am that the east of england ambulance service was called to the industrial park in essex. the police confirm that all the victims are believed to be chinese nationals, 31 men and

eight women. they say now that each of those victims must undergo a full coroners process of those victims must undergo a full coroners process to establish a cause of death before moving on to attempt to identify each individual. they call this a substantial operation and can't underestimate how long this will take. they say that local residents and businesses have shown police officers the utmost kindness and respect as they deal with this sensitive investigation, so in this statement essex police offering thanks for people's patients, for offers of cups of tea, the flowers. they also say there is a book of condolences at the local civic centre. that is the latest update from the essex police on their investigation. as they say, the largest murder investigation in the history of the force. in a moment we'll have all the business news, but first the headlines on bbc

news... as investigations continue — it's believed the 39 people found dead in the back of a refrigerated lorry in essex yesterday were chinese nationals. the number of people carrying knives and other weapons in england and wales hits a record high. a man has been charged with the rape and murder of hull university student libby squire. i'm victoria fritz. in the business news: ppi takes its toll. royal bank of scotland counts the cost of mis—selling payment protection insurance. the bank, which is still 62% owned by the taxpayer, says its investment banking division has also had a particularly challenging three months. 85,000 people may have lost theirjob in retail in britain this year. that's the estimate from the british retail consortium. the government is facing calls to overhaul its high street policies. shares in tesla soar by more than 20% after unveiling an unexpected profit and record car deliveries. the company now expects to launch

model y suv by next summer, and its new "gigafactory" in china has already started trial production. royal bank of scotland has been forced to set aside nearly a billion pounds to deal with a late influx of complaints about payment protection insurance. its pared—down investment bank also dragged down the group, after core income fell by 44%. the state—controlled lender warned that indicators about the state of the economy had deteriorated since june. little wonder that the shares are down this morning. let's speak to fiona cincotta, the financial market analyst at city index. total provisions for ppi at this bank have now topped £6 billion. when are we going to see the end of this?

well, this, supposedly are supposed to be the end of it now. it would be brave to say you could draw a fairly firm line in the sand right now but you can start to put it in, saying this is it. as he said, over £6 billion is an enormous cost that they have had to face. they will be pleased to be able to move on from theirs. that sounds like good news, if they are able to draw a line under it. they have put money aside to cover potential bad loans and the amount of money they have put aside has increased. they have admitted that the underlying level of defaults, people unable to pay back the loans they have taken out with rbs, is rising. how worried should be be about this? is concerning. these are points of information we should be paying attention to over the state of the uk economy, and especially as we head towards brexit. massive

uncertainty as to where we are going. feeling that as individuals and people not able to plan how they are going to pay back. if we have increased unemployment because of the economy slowing down, this problem is only going to get worse. we have a new boss taking over next month, alison rose. 0ne we have a new boss taking over next month, alison rose. one of the big things on her agenda will be the timeline for undoing the government in this business. currently 62%. where do these results put the timeline for that? it will be a challenging timeline. there are a lot of obstacles she has to face, and a lot more than you might have thought rbs would be facing a future years ago. this is going to be a big challenge. these results have not necessarily helped. asi results have not necessarily helped. as i said, the uncertainty of brexit is not helping either. thanks very much. that's all the business news.

they're one of the biggest bands in the world, but coldplay have decided to reveal their latest album tracks in the classified adverts of a local paper. the notice for "everyday life" sat alongside ones for a fridge—freezer and bales of hay in north wales' daily post. it comes just days after the band announced news of the new album, by sending a letter to one of theirfans. let's get more on this with lisa verrico, a music journalist at the sunday times. thanks for coming along, lisa. i guess this is the post—social media age. how does a band as big as mac do something a bit different? how does a band as old as coldplay do something a little bit different? so much marketing is done through social media for music and it doesn't suit older people are banned. if beyonce wears something striking, a picture can break the internet and can be shared millions

of times. coldplay are not going to do that. so they don't go for the single image, they go for the story. everyone is talking about the fridge freezer and the bales of hay and it isafun freezer and the bales of hay and it is a fun story. have we seen other people do this? taking a less orthodox approach? radiohead have sent out postcards and put things on the tube. it is sort of commenting on social media because it's saying, this is what we did before and we still managed to sell out shows and people got information. in the classified ads, this is how people manage to buy and sell and exist and find out about things before the internet. it is going to appeal to their existing fans but the fact we are talking about the story like this, is it going to win them any new ones? i think so because people like a sense of humour, it makes them look smart. they are doing posters as

them as a 1920s wedding band, which isa them as a 1920s wedding band, which is a more interesting band of coldplay than a current picture of coldplay. what do we know about the new album? they are certainly making a comment on the content of the album, that it is going to be everyday life, it is going to be a simpler life, may be. it isa going to be a simpler life, may be. it is a double album with sunrise and sunset, i think it is. eight songs each side. instead of putting out a comment or a picture of themselves, it sounds like it might bea themselves, it sounds like it might be a bit back to basics. they are saying it is a bit experimental. they are eight albums in so they have to do something a bit different. it isa different. it is a teaser. how do you get people to pay attention in a way they might not have done had it been a conventional launch. and it gets you to talk about things

like fridge freezers, which is fun. when you are in your 40s with seven albums under your belt, everyone knows you and to be able to be funny then, it's perfect. thank you for your thoughts on that story, lisa. let's take a look at the weather forecast. i think we have still got simon. we have. hello. we have some rain and drizzle of acting parts of central and eastern areas of england at the moment. still quite misty for many parts with sunshine coming through across wales and south—west england, northern england and scotland and northern ireland. heavy showers drifting south—east with heavy wind. lingering rain in eastern areas into the afternoon with maximum temperatures of the afternoon with maximum temperatures 01:14 degrees. tonight the rain will shift away with some showers coming through clear spells and wintry showers affecting the high ground of scotland. it will

turn pretty chilly in northern areas with temperatures close to freezing. not quite as cold further south. throughout friday we will see some heavy rain moving in, particularly across england and wales, southern scotland. that will last well into saturday morning as it shifts further south and east. for wales, northern england, south—west england, a lot of rainfall expected across the next 48 hours which could cause some flooding and travel disruption. stay tuned to the weather.

this enigmatic smile. you're watching bbc newsroom live, it's 12pm, and these are the main stories this afternoon. as investigations continue its believed the 39 people found dead in the back of a refrigerated lorry in essex yesterday were chinese nationals. eight women and 31 men. the number of people carrying knives in england and wales hits a record high. a man has been charged with the rape and murder of hull university student, libby squire. will the pm push for a general election, or focus on getting his brexit deal through parliament? reports of a cabinet split, over how to move forward with brexit, are dismissed. research finds people with long term health conditions are more likely to suffer pain on days when it's humid or windy. and the royal british legion's poppy appeal gets under way. your mission? to identify undercover celebrities

working as poppy sellers. welcome to bbc news from live, i'm annita mcveigh. the 39 people found dead in a refrigerated lorry in essex are believed to be chinese nationals. police are yet to confirm that, and are still in the process of trying to identify them. paramedics made the discovery shortly before 2am on wednesday sparking one of the uk's biggest murder inquiries. police say the lorry‘s cabin came via holyhead. officers in northern ireland have now raided a third house and the national crime agency said it was working to identify "organised crime groups who may have played a part". the lorry driver, mo robinson, from county armagh, has been arrested by essex police

on suspicion of murder. prosecutors in belgium have, this morning, announced that the trailer arrived in zeebrugge on tuesday afternoon. it then left the same day en route to the uk and arrived in purfleet on the river thames, where it then left the port shortly after 1am on wednesday. 40 minutes later, paramedics arrived at an industrial estate in grays, to find the lorry containing the bodies. 0ur correspondent, simonjones joins us now from grays. i referred to the statement released by essex police just a short while ago saying it is the biggest murder investigation in the fourth's history. what else have they told us? they say this is a huge operation, and they are determined to carry it out with the utmost respect and dignity for the 39

people who lost their lives. they say they are determined, as well, to get a nswe rs say they are determined, as well, to get answers for the families of those people who have died. we have heard from the police that all those found in the back of the container we re found in the back of the container were chinese nationals. they have given us a breakdown, 31 of them we re given us a breakdown, 31 of them were men, eight of them were women. what we do not know yet is their identities. who exactly they were, other than their nationality. and the police are warning that will ta ke the police are warning that will take some considerable time. because the first thing, having found these bodies, is the coroner has to do an examination of each of those people, to establish the cause of death. and only once that has happened, can the process begin of actually trying to work out who these people wear and trying to let their families now. it is possible that could take several weeks to happen. the warning from the police as they will not be able to provide immediate answers to everything but as you said they are describing it as the biggest murder investigation in the forced's

history. they are determined that they will get to the bottom of exactly what happened and what they are calling a tragic and horrendous event. the toll this is taking on professionals doing with the case because the police thank local people for their support and words of comfort, cups of tea, and so on to give them that extra bit of support through this investigation? you get a sense from the place of how much that means to them. people just coming along and talking to them, getting a chance to speak to them, getting a chance to speak to them about these awful events, even just bringing police a cup of tea, at various sites they have been taking this investigation tools. you have to put yourself in the place of the emergency services when they came and opened the back of that container, initially, ambulance service, to find so many dead bodies, would have been extremely harrowing. the police were then

immediately called and they too were seeing such sites. of course now the lorry has been taken away from this site, just down the road to the docks at tilbury, so the bodies can be removed in dignity and away from the media spotlight. and once again, thatis the media spotlight. and once again, that is going to be a difficult task for the coroner officers and police involved in that. from the local community, we know that the residential taking place at a church nearby, book of condolences and set up nearby, book of condolences and set up in people have been bringing flowers. the other side of this industrial estate, which is also cordoned off. —— there is a vigil taking place at the church. the community and a police officer did not imagine something on the skill could happen. that is why you get a sense in a statement from the police that they are determined to leave no stone unturned to find out exact what happened and what is going to bea what happened and what is going to be a major international

investigation. thank you very much for taking the time to talk to us, today lucy. first of all, your reaction to this discovery yesterday and what has been unfolding since then? discovery yesterday and what has been unfolding since themm discovery yesterday and what has been unfolding since then? it is really sad. these things to happen, not frequently. but they do happen. it was 2010 the test last happened in the uk but there was a find in the netherlands rather more recently, again the same nationalities, also in a refrigerated lorry. it is not common, it is very tragic, but it does happen. has been a lot of discussion around the fact that zeebrugge, the trailer was moved through zeebrugge because security is perceived to be not as tight compared to other ports like

california example. is that something that members of your union are thinking about on a daily basis? the uniformity or otherwise of security at various ports, like. the last port of call can go down into spain, we have no presence there, we have no agreements with the countries. we are reliant on them making their checks and that is where we get instances like this u nfortu nately. where we get instances like this unfortunately. where individuals have been boarded and not found until they reach the uk. the vast majority do survive but in this instance, these folk didn't. so there is that line of checks or in this case not, but once vehicles come to the uk, what checks are done then? we are not able to check every single piece of freight! this wasn't a moving vehicle as i understand it!

it was picked up in the uk, presumably deposited in zeebrugge docks for another track to move it. there may have been other drivers involved as the container made its move. police will work that out over time. two interrupts, disconnected trailers, are they not checked as opposed to caps that are connected? we do not have the facility to check the vast majority of freight which arise in the uk whether or not it moves. but certainly disconnected freight containers which are then transported separately are somewhat less likely unless we have intelligence to the contrary that suggests we need to do that. but we do not have the facilities and do not have the space to check every single arriving container in the uk. that is hundreds of thousands of pieces every day. the unpalatable fa ct pieces every day. the unpalatable fact is that this could potentially happen at any time? because it is simply impossible for the

authorities, here in the uk or at those ports in belgium, france etc, to check every single piece of freight that moves through those reports? not in the way that would have been required to detect this particular entry method. it is something we could do, border force are civil servants, they will do what the politicians talent to do, but it is extremely expensive to recruit enough staff to do it. to have enough space in the uk ports to do it, and it would also slow the freight movement of traffic through the uk very very badly. we could do it if we were resource to do it but it if we were resource to do it but it is something that politicians have chosen over a long period of time, not recently, that is something we do not want to do. so we only do intelligence —based cheques. lucy from the immigration union, very interesting to get your insight on this, thank you again.

let's cross to shanghai and our correspondent robin brant. these victims are believed to be chinese nationals, any response yet? chinese nationals, any response yet? chinese foreign affairs ministers say they are in the process of collating information. an newspaper here has been told they will release further details once they know more. the inferences are confirmation that they are chinese nationals. because they are chinese nationals. because the chinese embassy is dealing with it. at the moment, scant detail. some reports emanating from the uk that chinese embassy staff are travelling to essex to assist the police in the investigation. it will clearly be on trying to help identify these victims. we now know because of some informational race from essex police in the last 30 minutes or so at 39 victims, 31 men,

eight women. it has a yearly tragic similarities to, 2000, 28 chinese people died discovered in the back ofa people died discovered in the back of a lorry coming from belgium and then in 2004 we had the cockle pickers tragedy in morecambe bay, the circumstances of their death are different, they died in the tide, 23 people will stop but they had been brought illegally to the uk, via a container that went through liverpool. that had been organised by chinese organised crime triad gangs. we do not know whether these people were trafficked, whether these victims have paid money to be smuggled into the uk, but, in china, how many people, i do not know statistics are very hard, official statistics, are hard to get or may

only be the tip of the iceberg, but what sensor you have of people trying to get to other countries in the eu by any means necessary, even dangerous methods? look, china is a vast country and it goes without saying it is one which has a very very long history of migration away from its shores to pretty much every corner of the earth. the focus recently in terms of illegal migration or other associate to come to the european union as refugees, has often been on this well leaving from northern europe. look at the two cases i pointed to in 2000, 19 yea rs two cases i pointed to in 2000, 19 years ago and then 2004, the ended tragically for a large number of chinese people who sought to get into the uk illegally. we don't know where this number of chinese, 39, are from. those two previous cases, the vast number came from one

province on the south—east coast of china, not forfrom province on the south—east coast of china, not for from when province on the south—east coast of china, not forfrom when i am now, opposite taiwan. a province proud of its entrepreneurial spirit but also very well—known for its migratory history. ok, thank you very much for that. in the last few seconds we're seeing that the chinese government is saying embassy are heading to the uk, to assist in this investigation. breaking news from the independent enquiry into child sexual abuse, focusing on its latest report the benedictine abbey, and a school ealing abbey, run by the order, highly critical report has blamed a culture of cover—up and denial for extensive child sexual abuse at the

school in westland and. allegations at ealing abbey and its associated schools were often trulyjudged or floored. this relates to abuse in the 1970s through to 2008. we now say goodbye to bbc two viewers. the prime minister's preferred deadline for brexit is one week away — there's a lot of attention on the european union. leaders are expected to grant a delay, but it's not yet known how long it will be. it comes as borisjohnson wrote a letter — which you can see here — delaying his appearance before a select committee. chairman sarah wollaston accused the prime minister of refusing to face "detailed scrutiny". all this comes as number 10 has been forced to deny splits in the cabinet over when to hold an election. if the eu proposes delaying brexit untiljanuary it is thought the prime minister will seek a snap election but reports suggest some cabinet members want him to focus on getting the withdrawal agreement through parliament instead. so, with westminster full of election speculation,

how could it be held? borisjohnson is constrained by the fixed—term parliament act. to override that, two thirds of mps could vote to end this parliament and go for an election. alternatively, the prime minister or labour could call for a vote of no confidence in the government. ifjeremy corbyn failed to form a government, the country would head to the polls. the final option is a one line bill, dissolving parliament. this just needs a simple majority of one, but can be amended — which could constrain any future eu negotiations. so, much to discuss here, our assistant political editor norman smith in westminster. all still in the realm of the hypothetical, until the uk government here is what the uk is going to grant by way of any extension and how long that would be? we are basically in limbo land. borisjohnson is be? we are basically in limbo land. boris johnson is in be? we are basically in limbo land. borisjohnson is in limbo land, his bellas, parliament is, we are all

waiting watching for the eu to decide whether we can have an extension but all the smoke signals emerging from number ten is that tea m emerging from number ten is that teamjohnson emerging from number ten is that team johnson are increasingly of the view that the best option is to go for that winter election. because they are of the view that there is no chance ofjeremy corbyn given the thumbs up to his brexit bill. i think they formed that few after the talks with the labour leader yesterday after they came away with the belief that however long was given to consider the legislation, at the end of the day, labour would a lwa ys at the end of the day, labour would always seek to scupper it, basically. and i think they were slightly speech by the fact that some in labour were briefing that the sort of extension or time they thought would be necessary to get the bill through would be one month, some labour folk even said two months. so now they seem to be moving very firmly in the direction of trying to trigger a general election. not easy, at the same

time, the dup allies seem increasingly angry, incensed, hostile, towards team johnson. have a listen to the westminster leader talking to the brexit secretary, steve barclay in the commons this morning about the threat of customs checks between great britain and northern ireland. the fact of the matter as this will adversely affect the most important trade we have in northern ireland, a point we have always made. no checks along the irish land border but you can't then have a cheques in the irish sea. please take seriously the point that the shadow secretary made and the chief constable has said today. you are really in danger here of causing real problems with the belfast agreement, the st andrews agreement, the political institutions and political stability in northern ireland by what you are doing to the unionist community.

the government's view is still there will be no checks but there will be administrative processes, what is the difference you say? between an administrative process and a cheque? well, according to the brexit secretary, steve barclay, these administrative processes would be paperwork, only they would not be paperwork, only they would not be paperwork, they would be digital. and it would just be one form. in other once, not much of an issue. question is why would anyone bother to fill them out? whether be any checks on them? really we're coming down to a bit of semantics but there no getting away from the real disquiet and unease amongst the dup, certainly, that they feel our border is being put down, between great britain, and northern ireland which makes it evermore unlikely they are going to come round to boris johnson's belle. french—mac thank

you very much for that. the headlines on bbc news. essex police confirm the 39 people found dead in the back of a refrigerated lorry in essex yesterday were chinese nationals — eight women and 31 men. the number of people carrying knives in england and wales hits a record high. a man has been charged with the rape and murder of hull university student, libby squire. sport now. angry and have named their starting 15 for the rugby world cup semifinal against new zealand. fly—half george ford is back in the side, that is the only change against the reigning champion, he was dropped to the replacements bench for the quarterfinal against australia with henry slade coming into the 15. he will move back to the bench with captain 0wen farrell making a positional switch, moving back to

the centre to make way for ford at ten but what can they expect from world champions? new zealand have always shown a propensity to change the order of to change the order of the way they play, and it will be up to our team to understand that pretty clearly at the start of the game. and they always have some sort of surprise first phase type of attack. all we can do is be creative in training, think about different situations and equip the players to deal with it and then we have to anticipate on the field. you've got to be alive all the time playing against new zealand because they are always in the game and always looking for opportunities. you've just got to be alive in the game and our players are equipped for that, they are ready to go and i can't wait for it. i , mcgregor says he will make his return to mixed martial arts. he has

not fought since losing a year ago. the irishman claimed he had retired but is in prime physical condition and has agreed to fight injanuary 18 in las vegas and does not care who his opponent would be. liverpool won back in the champions league last night in belgium but the club has condemned an offensive banner that was displayed by their travelling fans at the stadium. they say perpetuated a racist stereotype and was completely unacceptable. u efa and was completely unacceptable. uefa will wait for the official match report before deciding whether not they will take any action. chelsea went to the top of the champions league group with an impressive win over last season's winners ajax. 0nly impressive win over last season's winners ajax. only one goal scored late on, which sealed a sixth straight when for chelsea competitions and probably their best under frank lampard. liverpool women will play at anfield in the league for the first time next month. they

ta ke for the first time next month. they take on rivals everton. liverpool are the latest women's super league side to play at the men's ground. that's all for now, i will be back about1:30pm. the number of people found carrying knives in england and wales has risen to a record level. 14,205 offences were formally dealt with by the criminaljustice system, in the year to the end ofjune. that's a 6% increase on the same period the previous year and is the highest number since the figures were first compiled ten years ago. our home affairs correspondent danny shaw told me these figures relate specifically to possession of a knife. people found carrying a knife or bladed article. the figures are compiled by police forces and then published by the ministry ofjustice. these are figures for people who are actually caught and who are processed through

the criminaljustice system. either given a caution or some kind of formal warning or they will be sentenced in some way. what these figures show is that, as you say, we are now at a record number of people who are caught carrying the knives. if you look at the breakdown for every three months for the quarterly figures, what you are seeing is not very encouraging news either. it doesn't really show there is any particular slowdown in these offences. it is being driven, in particular, by adults. people aged 18 and over who are being caught carrying knives. and if you look at the overall offences, four knife possession and other weapons possession offences, also at high levels, the highest since 2010. interestingly, as we look at the figures, the proportion of repeat offenders who are sentenced, is also now at its highest level. how big a concern is that going to be to people who are trying to tackle this?

i think that is a real concern, because what it would suggest is that people who are being caught and sentenced, it is not working many, many thousands of cases. because the figures now show that 29% of those who are cautioned or convicted, for possessing a knife or other weapon, had in fact done it before and been sentenced before. that figure has been steadily increasing. so, that is a real concern in terms of what happens to people, increasing proportions of them do go to prison. 38% of those caught go to prison and the average sentence for adults is about eight months. that is an increasing proportion on what it was before. interestingly enough, despite new laws, to toughen this whole regime up, a third of repeat offenders are not being sentenced to prison. despite the fact that the government introduced laws, some years ago, to ensure that repeat offenders were sent to custody in most cases. one third still not going to prison.

a 25—year—old man has been charged with the rape and murder of a hull university student. libby squire, who was 21, disappeared in february after a night out. her body was found seven weeks later. our correspondent danny savage has been following the story. the crown prosecution service releasing a statement earlier saying said police could go ahead and make this charge? when libby disappeared in february this year there was a huge search operation by humberside police. hundreds of officers involved in a very detailed examination of the area of hull where she lived in her student digs and that went on for some time but it was seven weeks before libby squire's body was found in the humber estuary, several miles away. 0ur body was then recovered from the water. it was shortly after then humberside police said they were not

treating this as a missing persons enquiry but a murder enquiry effectively as the continued investigation. the man they have charged today, pawel relowicz, was questioned at the time, a local man who lives in hull but no charges we re who lives in hull but no charges were brought. after eight months, humberside police have announced they are charging pawel relowicz with the rape and murder of libby squire. what some people may have seen as a stagnant investigation, there has been a very complex investigation going on, say humberside police which has now led to these charges being brought. he will appear before magistrates in hull next week. couple of brief comments from the senior officer in charge of this investigation. who says my heartfelt thanks go out to levy‘s parents for their continued understanding and patience —— libby squire's parents. and also a

statement from the vice chancellor of hull university. libby was an important part and we will continue to support our students. pawel relowicz will appear before magistrates next week in hull charged formally with the rape and murder of libby squire. the metropolitan police is working with facebook to try to stop terrorists live—streaming their attacks on social media. the force has started recording its counter—terrorism training exercises on body cams to give facebook a template to recognise what footage from a first—person gunman would look like. it's hoped the information will enable facebook to identify videos more quickly, and shut them down. that gives us the opportunity to ca ptu re that gives us the opportunity to capture footage from the viewpoint ofa capture footage from the viewpoint of a shooter. i sharing that with facebook they will be able to build algorithms to identify this type of

material when it is loaded to the internet very quickly and prevent that being shared further. the remains of spain's former dictator, francisco franco, are being exhumed and will be reburied alongside family members in a cemetery near madrid. since his death in 1975, general franco's body has been in a mausoleum, carved into a mountain, alongside thousands of others who died in the civil war which he triggered and eventually won. socialist prime minister, pedro sanchez, made moving the remains a priority since coming to power injune last year arguing that the country should not "continue to glorify" a man who ruled with an iron fist. his family, unsuccessfully, challenged the exhumation in the courts. now it's time for a look at the weather. although it has been a murky start with mist and fog around, visibility will

improve as a band of rain turns increasingly heavy across east anglia and south—east england. behind that, some sunshine but also showers particularly widespread for northern ireland where there is a risk for thunder and hail and heavy downpours coming through. it will also feel module behind this weather front. taking the showers with it. still a few showers in scotland, some wintry in nature and possibly some wintry in nature and possibly some snow on the high ground in scotland, temperatures plummeting in the north. a cold night with a touch of frost developing. england and wales holding onto the milder air, 10-12d in wales holding onto the milder air, 10—12d in the south. sunday's weather picture, strengthening winds, to the north and west another blustery day of sunshine and showers. add a big temperature contrasts. highs of up to 16 degrees for cardiff and london but half of that in scotland, eight in edinburgh and glasgow.

hello this is bbc newsroom live. the headlines: essex police confirm the 39 people found dead in the back of a refrigerated lorry in essex yesterday were chinese nationals — made up of eight women and 31 men. the number of people carrying knives in england and wales hits a record high according to new figures. a man has been charged with the rape and murder of hull university student libby

squire. will the pm push for a general election orfocus on getting his brexit deal through parliament? reports of a cabinet split over how to move forward with brexit are dismissed. research finds people with long term health conditions are more likely to suffer pain on days when it's humid or windy. and the royal british legion's poppy appeal gets underway. your mission? to identify undercover celebrities working as poppy sellers. and coming up — we'll be speaking to a woman who was jailed for life for killing a man who had picked her up for sex. she hopes sharing her story can prevent it happening to other women. a life—changing drug for cystic fibrosis will be made available for the first time on the nhs, in england. around 5,000 people will now have access to 0rkambi, after health service bosses agreed

a deal with the medicine's manufacturer. let's speak to our health correspondent, dominic hughes. dominic, first of all, tell us about this drug and how it works? this deal covers 0rkambi and a couple of other drugs but we are focusing on 0rkambi because it can be prescribed for children as it has two to treat cystic fibrosis, which helps improve lung function and help people with breathing difficulties. but it comes with a hefty price tag. it was valued at around £100,000 per patient per year, and that was deemed to be too expensive to make it available on the nhs. months of very difficult negotiations followed. it has been licensed in the uk since 2015, so these talks have been going on for quite a long

time. last month the scottish government reached an agreement with vertex pharmaceuticals to make it accessible for patients in scotland, and now nhs england have done the same thing for patients in england. incidentally, it will also cover northern ireland and wales. it should be available on the same terms. it has been welcomed for campaigners for the change. how much is this the tip of the iceberg in terms of discussions going on behind—the—scenes between the nhs and drugs manufacturers over medications that they think could really make a difference in peoples lives? this is just the latest in a series of what nhs england are calling smart deals to provide access to patients for these innovative and effective drugs. they have to balance up this difficultjudgment between the effectiveness of these drugs, the difference it will make to peoples lives and in the case of

0rkambi, that is clearly there. it has been described as a life changing and life—saving drug. the enormous price tag is on the other hand. they are negotiating with these pharmaceutical companies so they can access these drugs for patients at a price the nhs can afford. it involves tough negotiations as as we have seen with 0rkambi, they can get there in the end. back to brexit — downing street is playing down reports of divisions within the cabinet about the way forward. some ministers think borisjohnson should focus on getting his deal through parliament rather than push for a snap poll. but the conservative party chairman, james cleverly, has said the party is ready for a general election. so much to discuss here, our assistant political editor norman smith in westminster. imean, do i mean, do you geta i mean, do you get a sense, despite those denials, that there is a real tussle in government about what is

the best way to proceed? certainly all of the language coming from team johnson is an election, election, election. as the door closed to bringing back the bill? perhaps not. there are tories who think that would be an easier route than fighting a winter election. 0ne of them is tobias ellwood. why do you say that? a general election is needed. we can't make any decisions here and the nation is frustrated with the inability of us to find a compromise but if we do it right now orjust when we have a second reading of the referendum bill coming through, the trouble is that election would be, every time we knock on the door, it wouldn't be about what we can do for the police force or the armed forces, it would be what is your view on brexit? 315t of october was the totemic date but we have something on the table. let's give that time for us to conclude the scrutiny here in parliament? what do you say to those around mr

johnson who take the view that even though you won the second reading, at the end of the day, labour will seek to thwart the legislation going through parliament? they are never going to help get onto the statute book? this illustrates the difficulties we had over the last three years. this parliament is unable to agree but we did have indicative votes where people gave their tuppence worth to say, let's have a customs union or a single market. no doubt they will be repeated as well. what is important is to give it a try. if we fail, the argument for holding a general election becomes powerful because we can't get any business through. we are supposed to complete the queen's speech today with all the other bills we wanted to agree on and move forward but ultimately the biggest thing on the table is concluding brexit. we have an opportunity to do that and i want to see that happen. if the bill was brought back and there was a longer period to scrutinise it, that would mean going beyond the do or die deadline?

it would, and we have to recognise it has added some impetus and has affected peoples energy to come to an agreement. boris johnson went to brussels and came back with a deal. nobody expected that to happen. normandy landings were delayed, the apollo landings were delayed. people don't look back on them and criticise them for it. theresa may had to ask for further time because there was nothing on the table at all. we are so close, let's resolve that situation. where do you sense the balance is in the argument in the tory party? are those arguing for an election in the ascendancy? there is definitely an appetite for a general election and i don't criticise that at all. it is about the timing. do you do it before you attempt to conclude brexit or after? a winter election isn't something we wa nt a winter election isn't something we want to entertain anyway and we haven't done one of those for many

years. i want to broadcast a manifesto which talks about our domestic policies and a domestic status, our voice on the world stage. we won't do that if we are still talking about brexit. what are the risks of a winter general election? team johnson assumes it will wind if there is a winter election but it isn't a foregone conclusion. i don't think it is. the liberal democrats will be promoting their sort of... actually dodging the second referendum and going straight to revoke. labour with its confused picture of asking for a second referendum but not even agree on this deal to have as a comparison to staying in itself. it will be difficult to call. no suggestion we will get the numbers, so we could end up, ironically, in a worse place. that is what theresa may did and it didn't work out well the last time we had a general action.

thank you, tobias. clearly the language coming from number ten is clearly there is going to be an election but actually we understand there are talks going on between the usual channels about a longer time to make the belt that nobody has slammed the door shut on bringing back the legislation. thank you very much, norman smith. now with all the business news here is victoria fritz. in the business news: ppi takes its toll. royal bank of scotland counts the cost of mis—selling payment protection insurance. the bank, which is still 62% owned by the taxpayer, says its investment banking division has also had a particularly challenging 3 months. 85,000 people may have lost theirjob in retail in britain this year. that's the estimate from the british retail consortium. the government is facing calls to overhaul its high street policies.

shares in tesla soar by more than 20%, after unveiling an unexpected profit and record car deliveries. the company now expects to launch model y suv by next summer, and its new "gigafactory" in china has already started trial production. tesla has caused quite a buzz on wall street, by posting a surprise profit. shares in elon musk‘s company have charged ahead in after hours trade, rising by a fifth. analysts had been expecting tesla to lose money. so, is the electric revolution finally here? last year, the number of electric vehicles on the world's roads leapt to more than 5 million, up 2 million on the year before. china is the world's biggest market, with more than a million people buying electric, last year. tesla has just announced the start of production at its mammoth new £2 billion factory there. amanda stretton is motoring editor at confused.com.

amanda, it's the fastest growing of sales of new cars here in the uk. is the age of the electric motor really here? definitely. tesla have definitely had first to market advantage over recent yea rs had first to market advantage over recent years but really they are a niche company. they don't own a lot of what goes into their cars. they buy it in. we are having traditional manufacturers coming to the market with their product. battery vehicles are inherently expensive to produce. tesla a re are inherently expensive to produce. tesla are on the top end of that anyway, even with their model three car, which is an expensive car to buy. we are seeing more traditional manufacturers coming in with a broad spectrum of offerings from very low end to very high end. the world is your oyster. the problem we have got is the infrastructure, and that is a serious problem in our own expert study, it is one of the main reasons people cite for not making the

switch. as it happens, i was having this conversation with my dad less than 12 hours ago. the problem is the infrastructure and the fact is even if everyone switched to electric, what then happens is everyone queueing up for the same plug? it isa queueing up for the same plug? it is a massive problem. unless you are one of the privileged few who have a driveway where you can charge your car have a driveway where you can charge yourcarand have a driveway where you can charge your car and guarantee you can charge your car, you are going to be relying on public charge points and there isn't enough of them. i could technically dry into an inner city, plug in my car in a parking space. it could only need a small top up but i could leave it there all day and essentially what i'm doing is taking up the charge point though somebody else can't use it. until we have got a massive roll—out of charging points and green energy to support those charge points, it is going to be a real stumbling blocks. the government is flip—flopping over

subsidies and the green number plate incentive is great but i'm not sure whether allowing drivers to potentially use bus lanes is going to bea potentially use bus lanes is going to be a sufficient incentive when we don't have the infrastructure in place. let's check in with some other stories. network rail is planning to reduce the amount of track it buys from british steel to guard against the risk of the manufacturer folding. since it accounts for less than 5% of british steel's turnover, a fall in its orders is unlikely to prove fatal but it does go to show how months of uncertainty over the future of the company, which employs 5,000 people, mostly at the scunthorpe steelworks in lincolnshire, is taking a toll. is your supermarket full of halloween decorations? fa ncy dress costu mes, lights and pumpkins — much of it is made from plastic and some of it is impossible to recycle. a study suggests halloween costumes being sold by some of the uk's biggest retailers contain the same amount of plastic as over 80 million plastic bottles. nokia's shares lost almost

a quarter of their value after the finnish telecoms equipment maker said it would stop payments to shareholders temporarily — and cut its forecasts for this year and next. nokia said that competition from the likes of china's huawei and sweden's ericsson had increased, leading to pressure on pricing at the same time as its costs were high. the rollout of 5g telecoms networks has turned into a business and geopolitical battle between china and the west. watch those chairs today. more in about an hour watch those chairs today. more in aboutan hourand watch those chairs today. more in about an hour and a half. watch those chairs today. more in aboutan hourand a half. i'm watch those chairs today. more in about an hour and a half. i'm going off for lunch. lucky you! cyntoia brown—long was just 16 when she was jailed for life for shooting dead an estate agent she claims bought her for sex. she had run away from home and had been forced into sex slavery by her then—boyfriend — a pimp known as kut throat — who regularly sold herfor drug money. after being convicted of murder

in 2004, cyntoia was told she wouldn't be eligible for release until she was in her 60s. but she was freed in august this year after being granted clemency by the governor of tennessee. a campaign to get her released was backed by celebrities including rihanna and kim kardashian—west. cyntoia joins us now from nashville, tennessee. thank you very much for agreeing to talk to us. you are very welcome on the programme. let's begin with, obviously, your story began well before that, the conditions that lead you to be in this very vulnerable situation. let begin at 16 when he got involved with a man who was your pimp, but you say as a young girl you thought he was your boyfriend. you didn't see yourself asa boyfriend. you didn't see yourself as a victim of sex trafficking, did you? no, not at all. and i think that's common. i think a lot of young girls are caught up in situations like this. they view themselves as in a

relationship. there is not really an understanding of what a healthy relationship is at that time in my life and i think that carries on to other young girls. i think we really don't have an understanding of what trafficking really is when it concerns miners in this country. i think that really played a role. this ultimately led to the situation you find yourself in in 2004, when you find yourself in in 2004, when you killed a man named johnny allen. tell us about that night. so, that was actually a man who had picked me up for sex. i was sent out by the man who i previously thought was my boyfriend but was actually my trafficker. i met mr allen. was my boyfriend but was actually my trafficker. i met mrallen. he picked me up and we went back to his house. he began to make me feel really u nco mforta ble house. he began to make me feel really uncomfortable and i started to feel like i just wanted to really uncomfortable and i started to feel like ijust wanted to leave but i couldn't, and things really

just spiralled out of control and i ended up shooting him. what i believed was self defence. in the court he said he thought he was reaching for a gun and then very quickly, you are aged 16, within a couple of years, aged 18 you were being handed this life sentence of 51 yea rs. being handed this life sentence of 51 years. you were told it was 2055 before you are eligible for parole. did that whole time seemed like a blur to you? and the sentence you we re blur to you? and the sentence you were given, did you think that because you were a woman of colour that you are being treated more harshly perhaps than others would have been? you know, it really does seem now like a blur but when i step back into that moment, it was so difficult, you know, going through the entire trial process, waiting, co nsta ntly the entire trial process, waiting, constantly trying to be heard and seeming to be shut down at every

turn. then the appeal process was very long, very hard, very drawn out process. very difficult. i think there are several factors that come into play when we are talking about justice in this country. i think that class is a factor, i think, you know, gender, ithink that class is a factor, i think, you know, gender, i think that is a factor, and i just know, gender, i think that is a factor, and ijust think there is a lot of inequality going on in our system that needs to be addressed. multiple reasons. you have written a book about your search for redemption in the american prison system because you were remarkable, educating yourself and getting 2 degrees. one of your professors had argued against you but then com pletely argued against you but then completely changed his mind. how much was what you had done yourself to kind of rebuild your life, along with that celebrity backing for your case with mac how much did that come into play in your release from prison earlier this year?

you know, i've had the opportunity to speak with governor haslam since he made the decision and, you know, he made the decision and, you know, he has stressed that he was very intent on looking at the actual petition, on looking at the facts and not being swayed by the celebrity support. i think that, you know, it was a testament that there are people from all over the world, people in the uk who came together to support me, to pray for me and i think that was incredible. and i think that was incredible. and i think it's important, i think it's important for other people still trapped in the system, other women going through the same thing that i went through but when it comes to my particular release and the governor's decision, he has made it very clear that he just looked at, you know, what he saw was my rehabilitation and my efforts to make use of the programmes in the prison and reallyjust better myself, and he thought i would be a

good fit to be reintroduced back into society. thank you very much for telling us your story, cyntoia brown—long. thank you very much for telling us yourstory, cyntoia brown—long. she said she felt like she has been given a great opportunity to help young girls who find themselves in the situation that she was in. cyntoia brown—long. but first the headlines on bbc news. essex police confirm the 39 people found dead in the back of a refrigerated lorry in essex yesterday were chinese nationals — eight women and 31 men. the number of people carrying knives in england and wales hits a record high. a man has been charged with the rape and murder of hull university student, libby squire. today sees the launch of the royal british legion's poppy appeal. this year, it's being supported by gchq - the intelligence department responsible for breaking the enigma codes at bletchley, in world war two. a number of celebrities are helping

to launch the appeal, by taking part in what's being called "operation poppy". this year, the royal legion has also confirmed that as well as remembering the uk's armed forces, the red poppy will also pay tribute to civilian victims of war and "acts of terrorism". earlier we were joined by the former strictly come dancing judge arlene phillips and vera dunning, who told us how she started fundraising after her son pete was injured in afghanistan. we discovered, only last year, that my father's cousin was in world war i and was killed. and this was a new discovery for us. and so, when they asked if i would be part of the poppy appeal, i instantly said yes. and i went out on a secret mission, selling poppies, with a poppy seller called lynn. and basically, it was undercover, in the sense of people would have to recognise me. because i am standing

there selling poppies, and people came and a lot of people walk past, i have to say. and that absolutely, their thing, that's fine. they are used to seeing you in a certain context. in a very glamorous gown, perhaps. yes. so, i guess some people recognised you instantly, but others may have done a double—take. a double—take and even, one woman who bought the poppy, bought the poppy, went inside to do her shopping, and came out, and kept looking at me. "i just have to ask, are you arlene phillips?" and i said yes, and i met a mother and her adorable family, whose kids are huge strictly fans and she had shown them the old videos, so... in fact, we can just see you meeting some of the people buying the poppies now. and i think that must have been great fun, actually, when you had people coming up to you and just doing that double—ta ke thing. yes. it was, double—ta ke. when you are out of context, you know?

vera, i want to move on to you now, you have been selling poppies at king's cross this morning, i think ross kemp was there, amongst other people, other celebrities involved in operation poppy. but you are very much at the front line of what this is all about. and how the british legion royal poppy appeal has helped him helped you and your family. he was injured in 2008, he was driving a viking, he was in a viking carrier. his driver was killed outright. and he was kicked out of it, through the top hatch. and had severe, life changing injuries. including losing the bottom of both his legs. fracturing a vertebrae and all sorts of other things. the legion has helped us in so many ways, they helped us adapt our bathroom, and make it into a wet room for him, because he kept falling in the bath and hurting himself. they are there all the time and the legion does so many things,

besides helping families like ours. if that support had not been there, both the emotional, practical, financial support, all of it, if it hadn't been there, would it have been possible for pete to be living at home? yes. because he is very adaptable, in himself, and he will get on and do things. but climbing in and out of the bath was one of the struggles that he had. and making it into a wet room was so much easier for him. it has just made things easier for you, hasn't it? and arlene, there are so many things competing for everyone's attention now, whether it is on social media, all around us. yeah. i guess the british legion, the royal british legion each year, is looking at a way of getting people's attention and this operation poppy has a really dynamic way of doing that, isn't it? absolutely, and it is going to engage young people because you have

to break a code to find out who the celebrities are that may be standing by one of the poppy sellers and you can sort of have a look and break the code and a lot of young people are going to be much faster at this, actually heard a speech by the codebreakers, the original women at bletchley, and they were saying you just have to be good at maths to be a code breaker. but what is extraordinary about this is that the poppy sellers, themselves, give hours upon hours upon hours of their time selling poppies all voluntarily, to raise money to help the people who really need it, who have been in the armed forces, who need help when they come back, with ptsd, whatever it may be. but this is a really exciting way of raising funds. and vera, you are very much giving back. yes. do you have any idea how much you have managed to raise or where these funds have specifically gone to? i guess they go in to huge great big pot, don't they?

but i know it's notjust about what the appeal has done for your son, but about what it is doing for other people as well? last year, i personally helped to raise over 100,000, over the time i have been doing it. wow, that's credible. i hadn't realised it was that amount, myself, until someone asked me to tot it up. and i was amazed that i had helped to raise that amount. it was lovely to welcome vera and arlene phillips to the studio earlier to talk about this years p°ppy earlier to talk about this years poppy appeal. the bbc news that 1pm is coming up injust a moment, but now here is a look at the weather. it has been a murky start to the day that across the north of the uk we are going to notice a big change in the way the weather feels as we lose the way the weather feels as we lose the milder air the way the weather feels as we lose the milderairand the way the weather feels as we lose the milder air and replace it with colder air across northern parts. in the south, the mild air does hang on. over the course of the

afternoon, this band of rain becoming heavier across the north and west and we will see plenty of showers in northern ireland and western scotland. showers turning heavy and in northern ireland a risk of some hailstorms and thunderstorms. through this evening and overnight, this weatherfront pushes in. that is the dividing line between the cold air across northern areas — it could be cold enough for some wintry showers— and a touch of frost to start the day on friday. further south we are still in the relatively mild air with temperatures between five and 12 celsius overnight. looking at the weather picture for friday, this divide between the mild conditions in the south and cold in the north is set to continue. a day of sunshine and showers in northern areas, blustery at times. further south we will see outbreaks of rain after a bright start, turning increasingly heavy and persistent. it will be mild across the southern areas with temperatures around 15

degrees in london and cardiff. just eight further north. into saturday, this band of rain becoming very slow moving with some large rainfall totals building across the high ground, as much as 120 millimetres over the hills in wales and not far off that for the pennines. this brings the threat of some localised flooding issues as we go into friday night and the weekend. persistent heavy rain causing a few issues out and about. for it saturday, the rain does start to slowly push its way south and east. blustery showers across the south—west of the uk with hailand across the south—west of the uk with hail and thunder mixed in. cool air extending into most areas by saturday with milder conditions hanging on in the far south. on sunday, the cold northerly winds extend into southern england with a day of bright skies, glorious sunshine and showers affecting northern and western areas. temperatures ranging between 9—11d.

that's your weather.

police say all 39 people found dead in a lorry in essex were chinese nationals. they're continuing to question the lorry driver from northern ireland on suspicion of murdering the eight women and 31 men. we'll get more from our correspondent at the scene in essex and we'll be asking about the factors in china that push people to take such desperate risks. also this lunchtime. reports of divisions in the cabinet on the best way forward on brexit are played down by the government. the number of people found carrying knives in england and wales has risen to its highest level for a decade. exhuming the remains of a dictator — the controversial reburial of general franco in spain. and it's gone from yellow, to all black and white for coldplay. we'll tell you why. coming up in the sport later in the hour on bbc news,