and the actor, the earl, and the portrait commissioned to acknowledge their shared history. on bbc london... on newsnight at 1030 we'll go deeper behind the headlines and speak live to key players on today's big stories. plus, a first look at tomorrow's front pages. good evening. the largest local authority in europe, birmingham city council, has declared itself effectively bankrupt. it says all new council spending in the city must stop except for services that it has to provide by law such as schools, social care and waste collection. and there are fears that roads, parks, libraries and cultural projects will now face cuts.

the labour run council is struggling to pay off a huge bill for equal pay claims that dates back more than a decade. it has also had major issues with a new it system. our midlands correspondent navteonhal is there. the first thing to say is that the city council here has not stopped functioning, it has a legal duty to provide certain services and they will continue, but this is a signal to government ofjust how dire the financial situation is here, and admission that the council here cannot pay its bills. the people i have spoken to around birmingham say they are worried about what the future may hold. but for those who have been watching the saga closely, in some ways today has felt inevitable. the pressure on this city's finances has been rising and rising, and europe's biggest local authority is now in big trouble.

the news that their council is, in effect, declaring itself bankrupt has left many people living in birmingham shocked and angry. oh my god, i've never heard of such a thing in my life. how can the council be bankrupt? after the commonwealth games last year, this city was thriving. it is a dynamic vibrant city. but this should never have happened. it should never have got to this point. it's really, really sad. its problems began more than a decade ago, when a landmark case was brought against the council which has led to it having to pay out more than £1 billion so far in equal pay claims to mostly female staff. but earlier this summer the authority announced it had up to £760 million still to find to settle the equal pay claims and that is on top of the cost of a botched roll—out of a new it system which has set it back another £100 million. the city council leader who is currently abroad, he says, as part of a long—standing family

commitment, told us questions on this will be answered. commitment, told us questions we have already got a governance review that has been commissioned jointly with the department for levelling up that's looking at those issues of governance and accountability within the authority. i've also made it clear that at the end of this, there needs to be a judge—led inquiry that looks at the issues around equal pay. this is devastating news for birmingham taxpayers here. the administration have had to declare that they are effectively bankrupt because of their failure to deliver proper accounts for the last three years and their failure to get to grips with the equal pay mess. the council is responsible for, among other things, social care, housing, and waste collection. it says it will protect core services but nonessential spending has stopped and no new expenditure is permitted. it's currently unclear what services will have to be cut, but could include parks, libraries orfunding for cultural projects. the fact they've done this, the nuclear option,

the last possible thing, because they know going cap in hand to government, they are not going to get much joy, anything the government do for them is going to come with lots of strings attached. the commonwealth games here last year were supposed to herald the start of a golden decade for the city but instead, the outlook for residents is one of cuts to services instead. navteonhal, bbc news, birmingham. and chris mason is here. is birmingham a unique case? it isn't, no. more councils recently have pressed the financial emergency button, if you like, as birmingham has done today. some people in government say it is down to local authorities to sort out their finances in the first instance and there has been a few politicaljobs because labour run the council in birmingham. and a conservative government in westminster. some of the other councils that have pressed the other councils that have pressed the emergency button have been conservative councils, and if we

look at the whole issue of equal pay, that is not a uniquely birmingham challenge and glasgow, dundee, coventry, but also looking at this and other slightly to as well and it comes with huge bills. and then there a bigger picture, and in the last couple of years the funding councils have had from central government has ticked up but if we look at it since 2010 when the conservatives came into power, it has been under significant pressure. that has contributed to some local authorities who then encounter other problems, being tipped over the precipice. at the same time as they have dealt with the social care costs, often increasing and inflation, but for birmingham, i do not think anything will change overnight. the people may find themselves paying more council tax in time and because the services that are deemed nonessential are likely to be cut, things like sweeping the streets, improving parks, the danger is perhaps that

the people in the city will feel like it is less nice place to live while the council deals with a difficult situation.— difficult situation. there is another developing - difficult situation. there is another developing story i difficult situation. there is - another developing story tonight? difficult situation. there is _ another developing story tonight? on another developing story tonight? (et the international front. the russian the internationalfront. the russian mostly group, the wagner group, we devoted a lot of time into the death of the leader of the wagner group, in a plane crash, and that organisation will be prescribed by the uk government which means that the uk government which means that the government here believes bluntly that it the government here believes bluntly thatitis the government here believes bluntly that it is in the business of terrorism. it is categorising it along the likes of al-qaeda and others. the government describing it as a proxy military force acting on behalf of the russian state and they say it poses a threat to british nationals abroad in the process of prescribing will begin in parliament tomorrow. in terms of what it means in practical terms, it would make it illegal to be a member or supporter of the group and its assets can be

categorised as terraced property and seized and the home secretary tonight describing the wagner group as a violent, destructive and a monster and describing its members as terrorists plain and simple. chris mason, thanks forjoining us. a bbc investigation suggests that three major water companies in england discharged sewage hundreds of times last year on days when it wasn't raining and that's illegal. the practice is known as "dry spilling". it is banned because it can cause environmental harm. 0ur environment correspondent jonah fisher reports. rural west sussex, and one of southern england's celebrated chalk streams. here we are, welcome to the river lavant, or as we locally call it, the river lav. the river lav? the river lav, just full of effluent. rob, a retired businessman, is notjoking. there would be no river lavant in the summer

without the treated discharges from the next door sewage plant. we had the storm overflow coming out here. untreated sewage coming out here. last march, rob found and filmed a spill during dry weather, illegal under environmental law. much to his annoyance, the company involved, southern water, only received a warning from the environment agency. they treated it as a one—off, absolutely, whereas it had probably been going for three to four months. it is a scandal. so how common are dry spills? to find out, the bbc requested details from all nine english water companies. three of the largest complied, providing us with huge amounts of data. we then cross—referenced that with rainfall, and found what looks like nearly 400 sewage spills, lasting thousands of hours, that started during dry weather.

many of the water companies, like southern water at the lavant, say ground water leaking into cracked pipes is behind some of the spills. thames water apologised, while wessex told us there were flaws in their own data. there should never be a dry spill, and any suggestion that there has been one should be investigated fully by the environment agency. the environment agency is the regulator, they are the people who will do the detailed investigation and understanding. but the environment agency has endured years of cuts. this man has worked at the regulator for two decades, and told us it no longer had enough resources or experienced staff. it's quite simple. we are doing less and less, and therefore the potential is there for more to get by us. this ea official told us morale was good, and that they were investing in digital monitoring of water quality. it's the water companies' job not to pollute our environment. and it's yourjob to police them. and that's what we're doing.

in the last... but you're not doing very well, are you? because the spills are still taking place. but in the last eight years alone, we've brought 59 prosecutions, with fines totalling £150 million. stopping the sewage spills will require many billions more. it isa it is a cast likely to be paid by all of us through a higher water bills. jonah fisher, bbc news. at least 13 schools in england confirmed to have crumbling raac concrete had funding to rebuild withdrawn in 2010. 0ur education editor branwenjeffreys is here. building schools for the future was an ambitious programme that was meant to rebuild or replace most of england's secondary schools and it was set up under labour and in 2010 michael gove the then education secretary pulled the plug on this partly because of concerns about value for money and how expensive the schools were, and bbc verify

have looked at the list of projects that had their money poured, more than 700, and found 13 of the schools that now are dealing with the disruption of raac and having to have some or all of their buildings close, raising the question that if they had had more help earlier, with they had had more help earlier, with they have been in these difficulty now? although some have had some money towards their buildings in the intervening years, it clearly has not been enough to replace their ageing buildings and prevent them from having to stop the term in such a disruptive way.— from having to stop the term in such a disruptive way._ -- l from having to stop the term in such| a disruptive way._ -- to a disruptive way. many thanks. -- to start the term _ a disruptive way. many thanks. -- to start the term in _ a disruptive way. many thanks. -- to start the term in such _ a disruptive way. many thanks. -- to start the term in such a _ a disruptive way. many thanks. -- to start the term in such a disruptive i start the term in such a disruptive way. at least one person has died in eastern greece after severe rainful triggered flash floods. the regional capital volos, which you can see here, has seen the same mount of water falling in 2a hours that it usually gets across the whole of autumn. that's according to

local meterologists. and on nearby skiathos, planes reportedly can't approach the airport. grace this summer, first wildfires, and now train so it has turned into rivers, and has washed away trees, cars and anything that stands in its path. the island here in the north—east of greece has been transformed, usually a buzzing holiday paradise, now deluged as fierce rain lashes the streets. hgppy fierce rain lashes the streets. happy holidays. fierce rain lashes the streets. happy holiday5-_ fierce rain lashes the streets. happy holidays. fierce rain lashes the streets. han holida s. ., , , ., , ., happy holidays. tourist plans are in disarray and — happy holidays. tourist plans are in disarray and there _ happy holidays. tourist plans are in disarray and there are _ happy holidays. tourist plans are in disarray and there are reports - happy holidays. tourist plans are in disarray and there are reports of. disarray and there are reports of tourists including from the uk forced to stay in their hotels, effectively stuck while the downpour continues. 0n the mainland this town has also been lashed by the storm, and one man has been killed in the local mayor has pleaded with people to stay at home. translation: in a

little while it — to stay at home. translation: i�*i —. little while it will overflow onto the street. look, it will be sweeping people up. look at the bridge. please stay at home. iliiui’ith bridge. please stay at home. with homes flooded _ bridge. please stay at home. with homes flooded and _ bridge. please stay at home. with homes flooded and people stranded, it is another punishing about of extreme weather for the people of greece and its visitors. and it is not just greece greece and its visitors. and it is notjust greece because the same whether system is now hitting neighbouring turkey and this is the same tonight in the capital istanbul. —— the scene. more than 1,300 jobs are to go at the collapsed retail chain wilko after it failed to secure a buyer for the whole business. a rival chain has agreed to buy 51 shops but 52 others will be closed. the stores affected won't be made public until tomorrow morning once staff have been told. and the fate of the remaining 300 stores is still unclear. the grandfather of a ten—year—old girl who was found dead at a house in woking has said that the girl's father told him she died accidentally.

sara sharif�*s father, urfan sharif, as well as his partner and his brother, fled to pakistan the day before the child's body was discovered. her grandfather, muhammad sharif, has been speaking to our correspondent caroline davies in pakistan. weeks of courts, police, and lawyers. the search for urfan sharif has pulled his pakistan family into the limelight. his father now willing to speak on camera and confirm he did see his son in pakistan. did urfan tell you what had happened to sara? translation: it was an accident. nothing more than that. how it happened, he didn't say. after sara died, did he explain to you why he had come to pakistan? translation: because of fear. what was he afraid of? translation: his daughter died. and when you undergo so much trauma, obviously you can't think properly.

they returned out of fear — nothing else. sara sharif�*s body was found on the 10th august in this house in woking. why she died hasn't been established, but a post—mortem did find multiple and extensive injuries — likely to have been caused over a sustained period of time. what was sara like as a little girl? very nice. very beautiful. very lovely. translation: i'm saddened. because of my granddaughter. she died. the grief will always stay with me for the rest of my life. sara's father, urfan sharif, stepmother beinash batool and uncle faisal malik, along with five children, are still in hiding. muhammad had this message for all three. translation: wherever they are,

they will be able to listen to this. | i say they should come out, defend their case, whatever it is. they should answer the questions. i don't say they should stay in hiding. after weeks of searching, can this message make the difference in finding out what happened to sara? caroline davies, bbc news, rawalpindi. the government has announced that planning permission for onshore wind farms is to be relaxed in england, as long as there's community support for them. the head of an onshore wind trade body says its unlikely that any easing of rules will lead to a large number of new applications. the coach of spain's world cup winning women's football team has been sacked following the outcry over luis rubiales. the two men are considered close allies. rubiales, the president of the country's football federation, has been suspended for kissing a player on the lips

without her consent, as the team celebrated their victory. here's our sports correspondent, katie gornall. 16 days ago, jorge vilda seemed on top of the world. little could he have known what was to unfold. the fallout from luis rubiales' now infamous kiss onjenni hermoso today taking a new turn. the writing had been on the wall after he was seen applauding rubiales at a federation meeting on friday, when instead of resigning, rubiales announced he was going nowhere. vilda later distanced himself from the spanish fa president but stopped short of calling for him to go. the spain coach was already a controversialfigure. last year, 15 of his players went on strike, accusing the leadership of poor treatment. the federation supported him back then — not any more. he is notjust a coach that has won a world cup, he has also played an active role in this kind of misogynist culture within the federation that the players are now speaking up about. things would have remained the same

but now the world is looking and this is what's happened, just because it happened in the middle of a world cup celebration. two weeks on from that incident, the spanish football federation has today apologised for the enormous damaged caused by its suspended president, describing rubiales' behaviour as "totally unacceptable", saying it had "tarnished our national team, our football and our society". now spain want to look to the future. montse tome, seen here celebrating with her former boss, has been announced as vilda's successor, becoming the first woman to hold the role. spain's next match is september's nations league fixture against sweden. currently, all of this squad are refusing to play while rubiales remains in the post. will these changes be enough to persuade them back? katie gornall, bbc news. scotland's first minister has said he will prioritise tackling poverty as he set out the scottish government's programme for the coming year. plans to expand childcare and free

school meals were at the centre of humza yousaf�*s speech. the scottish conservatives described the plans as �*rehashed' with nothing to reverse what they described as 16 years of snp decline. scottish labour said the plans were not bold enough. we are a government who will maximise every single lever at our disposal to tackle the scourge of poverty in our country. we have adopted progressive tax and spending policies to face those challenges. i will never shy away from the belief that those who earn the most should pay the most. but let me be equally clear, without any equivocation — we also need to support economic growth _ lorna gordon is outside holyrood. talk us through the proposals. yes, well humza yousaf has been in the pose for a little over five

months. this was his first programme for government. in it, he tried to explain a little of what makes him tick. his grandfather, his faith, his family and set out what his priorities will be for his government going forward. he said he will be unashamedly anti—poverty and progrowth. he said there would be an acceleration, and expansion of childcare. some areas will be able to expand it to all children from nine months of age to the end of primary school. he said that front line care workers will see a pay bump to £12 an hour, that will mean an extra couple of thousand of pounds for some people. there will also be a consultation on the banning of single use rates. there will be 1a banning of single use rates. there will be 14 bills banning of single use rates. there will be 1a bills in total. there is a bill to criminalise misogynistic abuse, for instance. and more money being made to build affordable homes. some organisations who work to alleviate deprivation say they are disappointed. they say the moves to combat poverty don't go far

enough. others say the devil will be in the detail. as to the opposition, parties here at holyrood say this is the same old, same old, a tinkering around the edges. whether or not the voters agree might become clearer when humza yousaf faces his first electoral test in a westminster by—election in rutherglen and hamilton west in october. by-election in rutherglen and hamilton west in october. many thanks. lorna _ hamilton west in october. many thanks. lorna gordon _ hamilton west in october. many thanks. lorna gordon there. - the rugby world cup kicks off on friday in paris, where the hosts france play new zealand. all the home nations are then in action over the opening weekend. england, who were beaten in the finalfour years ago, have had one of the most challenging build ups to a world cup after a dramatic loss of form. our sports editor dan roan has been with the squad as they get ready in le touquet. england's players have been enjoying the tranquil way of life in this quaint corner of northern france, but the length of their stay here is uncertain. amid a turbulent build—up to the world cup, they tried something different at training today... cheering. ..but there has been very little

to celebrate recently. a troubled warm—up campaign ended with an embarrassing first ever defeat to fiji, the eighth loss of a dismal year. there were injuries to key players, and the suspension of captain owen farrell, ruling him out of the start of the tournament. but today, one of the squad's most experienced players told me they were determined to make amends. hopefully, we've got the bad stuff out of the way in those games and we've learned the lessons. but it's down to us now to perform on saturday, because we know — we know we haven't been good enough, but there's a real belief in this squad that we've not shown anything, really, yet of how capable we are, and we can't wait to rip in. england have a proud history in the world cup — champions 20 years ago. but since reaching a fourth final at the last tournament, they've sunk to eighth in the world rankings — their joint—worst—ever position. england defeated, in disarray. this is the biggest stage. this is where, as a player, you want to go out there and show really what you're capable of. and we've got some good players, we're just not playing well at the moment.

but that's the great thing about sport, you can turn it round, and that's hopefully what's going to happen. despite all of their resources, rarely — if ever — having england arrived at the world cup amid such low expectations and after such poor performances. but if somehow they could find form now, when it matters most, a friendly—looking draw could help them go deep into this tournament. with the top four best teams in the other half of the draw, england face a tough opener against argentina in marseille on saturday, but then other group games againstjapan, chile, and samoa should offer a good chance to progress. i certainly get the feeling from the players that they feel they've been written off a bit too early. i know that there's been a feeling that people have rung time on these players. and i think that decision might have been made a little bit too early. in stark contrast to england, the world's top ranked team, ireland, are among the favourites here. singing.

wales, meanwhile, made their presence heard at their base in versailles. and despite a tough group, scotland enjoyed their arrival in nice. all four nations given warm welcomes in this rugby—loving country. dan roan, bbc news, le touquet. here's a fascinating story about the british actor david harewood and another man who shares his name, the eighth earl of harewood, who commissioned this portrait. it's a story that starts hundreds of years ago in the caribbean on a plantation where the actor's ancestors were enslaved. our culture editor katie razzall reports. one of britain's grandest stately homes, harewood house in west yorkshire, built in the 18th century on the proceeds of slavery from money made on caribbean sugar plantations. obviously it was my ancestors who were actually doing the work. absolutely. and that's not something that's acknowledged fully enough, i don't think.

na - renowned actor david harewood is descended from slaves, slaves owned by the current earl of harewood's forefathers. this is henry, the second earl. he's the guy who owned my ancestors. yeah. which is why you share the name. yeah. each slave was given the surname of the owner. my family's history and your family's history interlock in a weird and dark way, historically. the portrait in the frame... wow. ..in the room where it will end up. hey, david. dude, how are you, man? good to see you. that is fantastic. now, this new work by the artist ashley karrell will sit amongst the harewood family portraits, painted by the likes of reynolds and gainsborough. it's a commission for harewood house's missing portraits series, to reflect a more truthful history. hundreds and thousands of people visit this house. when they see that, they're going to stop for a minute and go, "hang on a minute." "so what's he doing here?" "what's he doing here?" and that's exactly the question we want them to ask.

exactly. and then they will understand the legacy of slavery. yeah. i'm not responsible, but i am — and i feel this very strongly — i am accountable for the legacy of that time, and that's what we've tried to do in many ways here over quite a long period of time now. 230 negroes. .. what's that say? at £45... per person. ..per person. the archives itemise plantation property — enslaved people listed below horses, goats, and cattle. and after slavery was abolished in the 18305, the lascelles received £26,000 in compensation. that's more than £2.6 million today. slaves got nothing. and more widely, demands for apologies and reparations are increasing. do you think the british government should apologise for slavery? oh, 100%. to acknowledge it is at least making, is going towards mending it. healing. and until you do apologise, that sense of healing, i think, will remain a bit of an open wound. there's a part of me

that just wants to scream, "burn the place down," but i'm not sure what that would achieve. it's a complex issue. at least we can talk about it, because i don't think being angry about it is going to achieve much. visitors to this house are now part of that growing conversation about the brutality and enduring legacy of slavery. katie razzall, bbc news, west yorkshire. time for a look at the weather. here's chris fawkes. we are having some are in the autumn and now there are heat warnings, what is going on? yes, that is it, lots of hot and sunny weather, the heatwave set could continue. we could see some interesting stats in the next 2a hours. the highest temperature of the year so far stands at 32.2 and we are forecast very similar temperatures tomorrow thus that the significance of that is if we meet that mark, that

becomes something quite rare. there are bony been four years in the last 100 where we have recorded the highest temperature in september. those years by 2016, 1954, 1949 and 1919. stat attack over. let's have a look at the weather. a bit of low cloud, mist and fog patches coming into north sea coasts, may be some patches around the north sea as well but otherwise clear skies. it is a nightwear temperature is well very gradually drop. so by the end of the night, 14—17. gradually drop. so by the end of the night, 14-17. it gradually drop. so by the end of the night, 14—17. it will be a warm night, 14—17. it will be a warm night and a warm start to tomorrow morning as well for most, with the sun up already there is thing for most if you do start off with the low cloud and mist and fog, give it an hour or two low cloud and mist and fog, give it an hour ortwo and low cloud and mist and fog, give it an hour or two and it should tend to mostly burn out of the way. temperatures, mid 20s in scotland and northern ireland, england and wales hotter than that, 26—32 and we could just about get their for the highest temperature of the year so far. on thursday, the weather looks pretty similar. the only real

difference is they could be more high cloud in western areas. that will make the sunshine more hazy and if you are really unlucky, you might see a passing shower but for the vast majority, another dry and sunny day. with those high temperatures back again, we are looking at at least the mid—20s for most of us but into the low 30s in the hottest areas. more of the same on friday and into the weekend, although we will start to see some changes as we get into the early stages of next week. some rain arriving and the temperatures pushing a bit lower and closer to average. but the next few days looking very hot. 0k, days looking very hot. ok, many thanks, chris. and that's bbc news at ten. there's more analysis of the day's main stories on newsnight, which isjust getting under way on bbc two. that with victoria derbyshire. the news continues here on bbc one, as now it's time to join our colleagues across the nations and regions for the news where you are. but from the ten team, it's goodnight.

birmingham, the biggest council in europe, goes bust, but they are not the first and they won't be the last.