good afternoon. the government is due to formally announce a visa scheme tomorrow that will make it easier for foreign drivers to work in the uk. it's expected the temporary plan will allow visas for about 5,000 drivers to tackle the hgv driver shortage, which has led to supply problems at some petrol stations and other businesses. the road haulage association estimates that the uk is short of about 100,000 hgv drivers in total. here's our business correspondent, katy austin. let's join our correspondent

peter harris at a petrol station near leeds. i would say it is busy but manageable here. it is certainly not scenes of chaos or huge queues. they have actually brought some marshalls in just to keep order, have actually brought some marshalls injust to keep order, which it certainly has been. i reckon here in leedsit certainly has been. i reckon here in leeds it is about ten minutes to get through the petrol station and get your petrol, and that is the picture we are getting for many of the retailers. sainsbury�*s are saying yes it is busy, but with the tiny number of forecourts close, bt have only closed about 20 out of 1200, so there is plenty of fuel in the country if people stick to their regular buying habits. 0bviously country if people stick to their regular buying habits. obviously it is the case many drivers have been a bit spooked in the last 24—hour is about the possibility of shortages, and that is why we are braced this weekend for some kind of announcement from the government, possibly temporary visas for 5000

more hgv drivers into the country. but as you can see here in leeds, busy but manageable.— but as you can see here in leeds, busy but manageable. thank you, peter. he busy but manageable. thank you, peter- he is _ busy but manageable. thank you, peter. he is a _ busy but manageable. thank you, peter. he is a report _ busy but manageable. thank you, peter. he is a report from - busy but manageable. thank you, peter. he is a report from our- peter. he is a report from our business reporter katy austin. people have been told not to panic buy. there is no shortage of fuel itself. but again this morning there were queues at petrol stations. absolute mayhem. nobody can get past, no one can get in. ibg absolute mayhem. nobody can get past, no one can get in.— past, no one can get in. bg group which operates _ past, no one can get in. bg group which operates 400 _ past, no one can get in. bg group which operates 400 sites - past, no one can get in. bg group which operates 400 sites has - past, no one can get in. bg group which operates 400 sites has set| past, no one can get in. bg group| which operates 400 sites has set a £30 per customer limit. the initial problems experienced by bp were due to a shortage of lorry drivers. it is thought the uk has a shortfall of tens of thousands. it is is thought the uk has a shortfall of tens of thousands.— tens of thousands. it is a range of factors, tens of thousands. it is a range of factors. and _ tens of thousands. it is a range of factors, and brexit _ tens of thousands. it is a range of factors, and brexit is _ tens of thousands. it is a range of factors, and brexit is definitely i factors, and brexit is definitely one of them. the pandemic played its part. the change to the payroll regulations, but the general problem has been known about for 10—15

years, the ageing driver workforce retiring and we are not replacing them with younger workers. wages are risin: as them with younger workers. wages are rising as firms — them with younger workers. wages are rising as firms try _ them with younger workers. wages are rising as firms try to _ them with younger workers. wages are rising as firms try to attract _ rising as firms try to attract staff, but freight and retail groups say more action is needed to plug the gap, while a bigger uk workforce is grown. for months the government has resisted calls to introduce a temporary visa scheme for foreign drivers, but it is now expected to announce one tomorrow, with 5000 visas available. they will also be a raft of longer—term measures. itrailiiile raft of longer-term measures. while that is really — raft of longer-term measures. while that is really good _ raft of longer-term measures. while that is really good news _ raft of longer-term measures. while that is really good news from - raft of longer—term measures. while that is really good news from the government, we do have to realise as an industry— government, we do have to realise as an industry that that is a very short— an industry that that is a very short term _ an industry that that is a very short term fix with a view to getting _ short term fix with a view to getting eu drivers back into the uk to help _ getting eu drivers back into the uk to help the christmas retail season. beyond _ to help the christmas retail season. beyond that, what are the government --oin beyond that, what are the government going to _ beyond that, what are the government going to do? what are the industry also going — going to do? what are the industry also going to do to try to prevent that happening again? the business u-rou that happening again? the business a-rou the that happening again? the business groua the cb! _ that happening again? the business group the cbi said _ that happening again? the business group the cbi said it _ that happening again? the business group the cbi said it was _ that happening again? the business group the cbi said it was welcome l group the cbi said it was welcome but late. it group the cbi said it was welcome but late. , . , but late. it is a big relief. hepefully _ but late. it is a big relief. hepefully it _ but late. it is a big relief. hopefully it is _ but late. it is a big relief. hopefully it is going - but late. it is a big relief. hopefully it is going to i but late. it is a big relief. - hopefully it is going to happen, but

we have been calling for it for three months. we could see this problem coming and more problems coming, so it is a shame the government needed queues at the pumps to move, but move i hope they have. and it will help. the uk isn't the only country experiencing shortages. it is unclear how many overseas drivers will apply for a visa, and housing. businesses just want things to improve before the crucial christmas period. katy austin, bbc news. the labour leader, sir keir starmer, is understood to have watered down his proposals to change the voting rules for future leadership elections. they would have given mps a greater say over who wins, but the plans have run into opposition from trades unions. the party is gathering in brighton for its annual conference. here's our political correspondent, ione wells. a crucial moment for sir keir starmer to set out his stall. this government is letting people down so badly, whether it's hammering working people on tax and universal credit, whether it is shortages of food, of fuel.

an embarrassing start on rule changes, though, sir keir? interrupting his pitch, though, are tensions within the party itself. he and his deputy leader angela rayner wanted to spend today talking about their plan to set minimum standards for pay and conditions for different sectors, starting with social care. it is about a fair day's pay for a fair day's work, and it is about my culture that work does always pay and the minimum force of the unscrupulous employers that are undercutting those that are trying to do the right thing are taken out of the market. but there has been rain on their announcement. the leader was forced to withdraw his plans to give mps and unions more say in future leadership contests after a backlash from the left of the party. the labour leadership should get real. people out there want us addressing the real issues that they are facing in their lives. the threat that they now have to their well—being and the quality of their life, that's what we should be

doing. an alternative package of reforms was put to the party's ruling committee, the nec, this morning and passed. the left are still likely to see these as further attempts to decorbynise the party but allies of sir keir see the changes as a way to prevent more internal rows and focus outwards as he faces the climb ahead to the next election. ione wells, bbc news. and iain watson is in brighton for us now. how important is this conference for sir keir starmer?— sir keir starmer? hugely important. he has not sir keir starmer? hugely important. he has got to _ sir keir starmer? hugely important. he has got to protect _ sir keir starmer? hugely important. he has got to protect himself - sir keir starmer? hugely important. he has got to protect himself to - he has got to protect himself to sceptical voters way beyond this conference. it looks as though internal rows will dominate this weekend. in the last few minutes he got the backing of the ruling national executive for a watered down but still significant package of reforms. for example, in future leadership contest, in order to get onto the ballot in the first place, candidates will need the backing of 20% of labour mps, not 10%. that

might sound like a boring procedural change, but to put it in context it would have meant that last time around keir starmer would have prevented being the —— would have been the only candidate, and it would have prevented jeremy corbyn getting on the ballot in the first place. so the left of the party are furious about this, it will be debated tomorrow and they are going to resist it. so his attempts to put himself forward as a man in touch with the working people is likely to be overshadowed by that rail. thank ou, iain. a book of condolence has been opened in south london in memory of the primary school teacher, sabina nessa, who was attacked and killed a week ago. hundreds of people gathered for an emotional candlelit vigil in kidbrooke last night. a 12—year—old boy has died at an indoor ski centre in the west midlands. ambulance crews were called to the snowdome in tamworth yesterday evening following reports that a child had been hurt, but they were unable to save him. police say a man is also being treated for injuries. an executive from the chinese technology firm huawei,

who had been held in canada on fraud charges for three years, is on her way home. meng wanzhou was allowed to leave after reaching a deal with us prosecutors, who originally requested her arrest. two canadians held in china have also been freed. with all the sport now, here's chetan pathak at the bbc sport centre. good afternoon. the wait is nearly over for the biggest fight in britain in more than three years. anthonyjoshua's four heavyweight belts will be on the line tonight when he takes on 0leksander usyk at the tottenham hotspur stadium in front of more than 65,000 people as he hopes to become the undisputed heavyweight champion of the world. ade adedoyn reports. no trash talking tantrums, but big—time boxing is back. on saturday, anthonyjoshua will aim to produce a perfect performance in the biggest fight in the uk since the pandemic.

i'm feeling happy, i'm feeling blessed. what an opportunity this is. i'm one of the lucky ones. i get to go out there and perform. it is difficult, don't get me wrong, there is a lot of sacrifice, but as long as you apply yourself, you should have not too much to worry about. you can't predict the outcome, but leading up to it, you should be confident. so, if he is the leading man in the show, what of his co—star 0leksander usyk? happy to play the joker, he turned up to thursday's press conference dressed in a suit inspired by the movie character. eccentric and zany. behind the smiles, a fierce and fiery competitor. likejoshua, he is a gold medallist from london 2012 and a former undisputed cruiserweight champion of the world. 0leksander usyk is arguably the better_ 0leksander usyk is arguably the better boxer, and technically he has never _ better boxer, and technically he has never been — better boxer, and technically he has never been beaten. usyk is blessed with great footwork and hand eye coordination, though he is not the only one

who can do that. joshua was nearly 20lb heavy adjust of a's way in, but how will that favour him?— of a's way in, but how will that favour him? , .,, , ., , favour him? some people seem to be oeratin: favour him? some people seem to be operating under _ favour him? some people seem to be operating under the _ favour him? some people seem to be operating under the belief _ favour him? some people seem to be operating under the belief that - favour him? some people seem to be operating under the belief that he - operating under the belief that he is tiny, _ operating under the belief that he is tiny, but— operating under the belief that he is tiny, but he_ operating under the belief that he is tiny, but he is— operating under the belief that he is tiny, but he is not. _ operating under the belief that he is tiny, but he is not. joshua - operating under the belief that he is tiny, but he is not. joshua is . operating under the belief that he is tiny, but he is not. joshua is a i is tiny, but he is not. joshua is a giant, _ is tiny, but he is not. joshua is a giant, he — is tiny, but he is not. joshua is a giant, he is— is tiny, but he is not. joshua is a giant, he is a— is tiny, but he is not. joshua is a giant, he is a man— is tiny, but he is not. joshua is a giant, he is a man mountain. . is tiny, but he is not. joshua is a. giant, he is a man mountain. this luy giant, he is a man mountain. this guy is— giant, he is a man mountain. this guy is big — giant, he is a man mountain. this guy is big enough. _ giant, he is a man mountain. this guy is big enough, but _ giant, he is a man mountain. this guy is big enough, but he - giant, he is a man mountain. this guy is big enough, but he has - giant, he is a man mountain. this guy is big enough, but he has notj guy is big enough, but he has not joshua _ guy is big enough, but he has not joshua proportions, _ guy is big enough, but he has not joshua proportions, but _ guy is big enough, but he has not joshua proportions, but who - guy is big enough, but he has not joshua proportions, but who is. l joshua proportions, but who is. there _ joshua proportions, but who is. there is— joshua proportions, but who is. there is little _ joshua proportions, but who is. there is little margin _ joshua proportions, but who is. there is little margin of - joshua proportions, but who is. there is little margin of error . joshua proportions, but who is. i there is little margin of error for anthonyjoshua. lose, and it is not just this title that is gone, but a lucrative reunification bout. ade adedoyn, bbc news, london. for the first time in his career, rory mcilroy�*s been dropped from a ryder cup session and is sitting out today's foursomes at whistling straits in wisconin after the us opened up a record 6—2 lead. mcilroy was twice disappointed yesterday, beaten alongside ian poulter in the foursomes and with shane lowry in the fourballs. europe captain padraig harrington says despite their frustrations, the team gave it everything they could. we are very happy with everybody�*s play, ball striking, so wejust

we are very happy with everybody�*s play, ball striking, so we just need to hole a few more putts, plenty of gutsy performances so i am confident with that, it is just a question of a few things going right for us, getting the odd break, there is no doubt about that. these are today's foursomes. the opening match, which sees america's brooks koepka and daniel berger face the spanish pair sergio garcia and john rahm, has just got under way. there's live commentary now on bbc radio five live sports xtra. and they're approaching half—time in the two lunchtime games in the premier league, with three of the top five in action. manchester city are at the early league leaders chelsea, who beat them in the champions league final last season. it's currently goalless at stamford bridge. manchester united, who like those two sides also have a chance of being top of the table today, are playing aston villa at old trafford, where it's also currently 0—0. you can follow all of today's football on the bbc sport website including the women's super league with everton playing birmingham city. and you can keep up to date with the latest from the russian grand prix.

qualifying isjust under way in sochi. but that's all your sport for now. back to you. thank you very much. that's it for now. the next news on bbc one is at 5:10pm, goodbye. hello. you're watching the bbc news channel with joanna gosling. more now on the tense diplomatic and legal standoff between the united states, china and canada coming to an end. the huawei executive meng wanzhou is flying back to china after being released from home detention in canada, following the temporary resolution of a us legal case against her. in return, china has released two canadians it had imprisoned on espionage charges. i've been speaking to charles parton, former senior british diplomat in china, and associate fellow at the council on geostrategy. i asked him if the chinese authorities were engaging in hostage diplomacy.

that is precisely what it is. it's an indication that china, or the chinese communist party, is not prepared to stand by the dictates of international law or agreements that it's signed, just as an instance of that it has a consular agreement with canada and that lays down conditions that when citizens are arrested that you are allowed to visit them and that was never allowed. so it is undoubtedly a very good lesson to us, to all governments in the way that china is prepared, frankly, to go well beyond any norms of international accepted behaviour or law in order to pursue the communist party's aims. and it clearly was hostage diplomacy, they deny all along but nothing

and right through the crisis from the start whenever there was a move in america or canada or in anticipation of it, within a day or two the chinese made a move. so they arrested the two michael's nine months after she was arrested. and then itjust went on and on like that with the trick solution the underlying quite clearly that this was hostage diplomacy. and it is not the first time, they did it in 2014, again with canadians, because the americans had arrested for spying, taking military aviation secrets which he eventually pleaded guilty to. and he was in jail for two years on trumped up charges. so there is a pattern there and it is extremely worrying,

i think of the future. yeah, you said there are lessons to be learned but what lessons can be learned? well, i mean the first lesson is to understand the nature of the chinese communist party and the fact that it won't stick by legal agreements or by the norms of international behaviour. and another lesson to learn is that just how close the communist party the communist party and huawei are, the effort that the communist party has put in to getting meng wanzhou away from the processes ofjustice in canada and america is a very good illustration. and therefore you know i think uk, the us, japan and other countries that have turned their backs in huawei. in terms of hostage diplomacy

and if a high profile chinese citizen is arrested in wales in the world, presumably —— anywhere else in the world what you are saying is exactly the same scenario could unfold again. what can be done to stop that? i don't think a great deal can be. in terms of certain individuals and i'm one of them but there are many others actually when i talk to fellow think tankers, academics and people in other areas. we are not prepared to go back to hong kong or china because although the risk of being arrested is extremely small, the consequences are extremely large. so if there were to be a disagreement of some political sort between the uk and china we might

well find that a british citizen gets arrested. and a lot of people are not prepared to take that risk. i think that is very dangerous in the long term because if countries aren't talking to each other as much as they should, it is extremely bad for understanding. so we're to get this sort of iron curtain of ignorance imposed i think by beijing's behaviour and it is not good for the world. more now on our top story. details of a temporary visa scheme to make it easierforforeign lorry drivers to work in the uk are to be set out by the government tomorrow , to help ease the problems affecting retail supply chains and the delivery of petrol. tom reddy has been a lorry driver for 15 years. he hasjust handed his notice in saying he is seeking a better work life balance. he said this problem has been forseen in the industry for years. the general problem has been around and known about for ten to 15 years or more and the ageing driver workforce retiring. we're not replacing them with younger workers in this country and we need to look at why that is. one of the things that grant shapps has done to try to help improve

the situation is to extend the hours that lorry drivers can drive for. what do you think about that? very, very bad idea and within the industry we resist that a great deal. if you want to come and look at my twitter you can see the average working day of a lorry driver in the uk. we already work up to 15 hours, driving for potentially ten of those, extending the hours an already exhausted workforce. we have been working much harder the past two years on the back of the pandemic, so it's a very, very bad idea for road safety to talk about extending the hours. we work hard enough and that's too easy for the government to do that. too easy. i'm just wondering, i mean listening to you and your reasons for leaving, might it actually backfire in making thejob less appealing? yes, and i'm a positive person, i do not want to put people off doing this job, ijust want to bring you the truth about what is involved in doing it. because the attrition rate is very high. you might see the salary appealing, come and do the licence, get into the job and then six months, a year down the line,

you decide you have to give up too much and i don't want to see that. but i did at one time love this job and it is a great industry, a very interesting role, so i don't want to put people off but people should be informed about the realities of it. the government is introducing this temporary visa scheme to enable drivers to come here from abroad to try to help with the shortfall. 5000 drivers will be able to come for six months to work. what do you think about that? it's vital, absolutely vital. it is long overdue and something the industry and myself have been pushing for quite hard. there is no certainty that it is the solution but we at least have to have the mechanism in place to allow that to happen. perhaps the problem with the tanker drivers with increasing salaries they have been tempted away from the tankers into other roles which might carry less responsability. i think that's what's happened and that is why we're seeing the problem. but there is no guarantee the non—eu workforce, the eu workers will want to come back because conditions in those eu countries have risen and in many cases they can be closer to their family and the job is just as appealing there. but we can hope. i'm always positive with this industry, we can hope that it will help, at least in the meantime

because that is the only short—term solution. joining me now is madeleine sumption, director of the migration 0bservatory. it describes itself as providing impartial, independent, authoritative evidence—based analysis. welcome, thank you for joining us. what you think then about this by the government to issue those temporary short—term visas lorry drivers? i issue those temporary short-term visas lorry drivers?— visas lorry drivers? i think it's very interesting. _ visas lorry drivers? i think it's very interesting. last - visas lorry drivers? i think it's very interesting. last year - visas lorry drivers? i think it's very interesting. last year as| visas lorry drivers? i think it's i very interesting. last year as the government was preparing to end free movement from the european union that she took a pretty hard line on migration into low—wage jobs and effectively said if you're not in

the highly skilled, highly pied position then there won't be visas available and employers are going to have to think about that. there will be no carveout for social care, hospitality, construction, any number of different examples. i think what's interesting about this is perhaps the first maybe the only case, we will see, but this obviously is a little bit of a reversal of the position that the government is actually saying, well, maybe we do need a special programme to bring people in in this case. it's interesting when the description ofjobs being low—paid is brought in in terms of this debate because what we're seeing in the jobs market is thatjobs that been very low—paid are suddenly being pied much better because of the shortage of workers in those areas. for instance, fruit and vegetable because being pied £30 an hour which prior art is up to a salary of 62,000. lorry driver's

salary of 62,000. lorry driver's salary doubling with reports of 78,000. note lorry drivers being offered £40,000. so how do you see the picture in terms of what should classify as an area that perhaps could be termed as skilled? that's a really important _ could be termed as skilled? that's a really important question _ could be termed as skilled? that's a really important question and - could be termed as skilled? that's a really important question and i - really important question and i think the key thing first is to see how long some of these pay raises last and whether it's a short—term blip to me a specific issue now versus a kind of longer term change in the labour market because we don't yet know if this is going to be a long—term systematic change. i think in the long run the government has always taken the position that the skill of a job is really based on how long it takes to train for it. and from that perspective, even though wages may go up and fluctuate up though wages may go up and fluctuate up and down in different occupations, if it's a job that

doesn't take very long to train for it is probably going to continue to be classified as not a highly skilled job.— be classified as not a highly skilled 'ob. ., , skilled job. one of the things the government _ skilled job. one of the things the government said _ skilled job. one of the things the government said it _ skilled job. one of the things the government said it wanted - skilled job. one of the things the government said it wanted to - skilled job. one of the things the - government said it wanted to achieve with brexit was for companies not to rely on cheap foreign labour any more going forward. but if the cost of labour continues to increase at the pace it does at the moment and as you say we have no idea what's going to happen, it will feed through to inflation and they are already predictions of inflation going up 4% this year. what are your thoughts on that whole ecosystem? in thoughts on that whole ecosystem? i�*i general one of the things is actually quite surprising that immigration is when we look statistically for the impacts of immigration on things like wages and inflation, the prospects of british workers or whatever you are looking for, the impact always tend to be a little bit smaller than people

expect and sometimes they're pretty close to zero. so i think in the very long run there are these short—term disruptions that you get when you radically change your immigration policy without much of a transition, as the uk is done. but that doesn't necessarily mean that it's going to have a systemic impact on the economy as a whole ten years from now. �* , ., ., from now. and in terms of how the market settles _ from now. and in terms of how the market settles and _ from now. and in terms of how the market settles and how _ from now. and in terms of how the market settles and how long - from now. and in terms of how the market settles and how long it - from now. and in terms of how the l market settles and how long it might take, 2 million, there are 2,000,005 job ads in this country, so it does imply that it is going to be a sustained situation. and just in one week in september 55,000 job ads were posted for the social care sector, 36,000 chefs are being advertised for, 32,000 sales assistants advertised for, 6500 bar staff, the list goes on. what do you think about where the labour market is headed and whether there maybe more use of those short—term visas

as is being introduced for lorry drivers? because no doubt other sectors will start to push that now it is being brought in for lorry drivers. , �* , , ., drivers. yes, i'm sure they will and obviously the _ drivers. yes, i'm sure they will and obviously the picture _ drivers. yes, i'm sure they will and obviously the picture is _ drivers. yes, i'm sure they will and obviously the picture is very - obviously the picture is very different in each sector. there are a number of sectors that you mentioned there, lorry drivers, also social care, they have migration can obviously help fill vacancies in those industries but they also face a much more fundamental problem, which is that they have not been very attractive for people, the british people to come and do those jobs. in the case of lorry drivers, very anti—social hours, difficult to combine it with family life. and people have not fault that they're getting the pain conditions that will attract them into that work. and that in the long run is really theissue, and that in the long run is really the issue, not the migration piece. because ultimately all occupations in the uk are staffed by brits and not by migrant workers in the majority. there are very few seasonal agricultural workers, that

is one of exceptionally few occupations where you see the large majority of workers being migrants. thank you very much. hundreds of people gathered for an emotional candlelit vigil in south london for sabina nessa last night. the 28—year—old primary school teacher was attacked and killed in kidbrooke a week ago. earlier i spoke to alia butt from the group women will not be silenced. she began by explaining why it was important to attend the vigil. well, i think first of all in solidarity as many people who came to the vigil, you know, we were there to show support to the family. but also very much to draw attention to the very important issue of violence against women and really think about it with the community. because that is what it requires actually and that's where we need to be addressing the issue. it is not a problem of men or a problem with women, it is very much an issue within society in the way that we think about, you know, women and men.

and i think that really begins from a very early age. we need to think about the way that boys and girls are educated about these things. i work in children's services in the nhs as a therapist and i hear more and more young women talking about the harassment that they get from young boys and this is very, very early on actually. and it is often swept under the carpet. now, you think about the legal system. it fails more women every year and the prosecution rate is at an all—time low. and women really report rape but then also the way that we understand things like, for example, rohypnol. it's a class c drug, it's used frequently in the abuse and the murdering of women. we are not addressing things like curb crawling. you know, lots of very young girls are accosted or attempts are made to kind of, you know, really convince young girls to get

into cars with much older men. and things like this we are not addressing. but at the same time, the defunding of essential services that would really help both men and women. so, you know, domestic violence services have been cut huge amounts over the past ten years. they are barely existing any more. at the same time, rehabilitation services for men or even sort of therapy services, we don't have those services any more available in the way that we used to. and i don't think we ever really had enough in the first place. so these things are incredibly essential in understanding how to tackle the problem of violence against women. you've brought obviously a lot of things into the picture there and it is, inevitably, a complicated picture and many factors in it. in terms of targeting the people though that do take things to an extreme, i mean, you talk about the curb crawlers. obviously the people that

will perpetrate violence. it is a minority but it is an awful fact of life, so how you actually sort that out? i think it is a minority, i agree. but we are hearing about this more and more, aren't we, in the media. which is on the one hand a very good thing. however, the fact that we are not really doing anything about it is very problematic because in a way it is effectively saying that this kind of thing is not going to be challenged in the way that it should be. of course these individual people are criminalised. but the fact that, you know, as we've mentioned curb crawling, street harassment and there are many other forms of aggressive harassment that aren't taken out, there aren't dealt with within society, you know, at the vigil yesterday there were more conversations

and there were more men there actually than the previous vigils that i've attended for women in similar positions. and there were more conversations. and the conversations were being spearheaded by men. and that is what we need to see more of. politicians vying to become the next chancellor of germany are making their final appeals to voters, on the last day of campaigning before the election. german chancellor angela merkel has backed her centre—right party's candidate armin laschet to succeed her. in a cdu rally in mr laschet�*s home town of aa—kuhn mrs merkel praised him as a "bridge—builder who will get people on board". the election is too close to call, with polls putting the centre—right almost neck and neck with the centre—left spd. mrs merkel has dominated german politics for 16 years as chancellor. now it's time for a look at the weather with matt taylor. most m ost pla ces most places will be dry and with some sunshine breaking through parts

of central and eastern areas will see temperatures of 20