i'm katty kay in washington and christian fraser is in brussels. by some eurpean leaders to talk up then eventually be reached.

christian fraser is in london. brexit was not a word that appeared very often in the british chancellor's budget speech today. and yet it looms large over the spending commitments philip hammond has made. that's because nobody really knows how brexit will end, or whether mr hammond will need to find more money in march 2019, to support the british economy. the chancellor insists commitments he has made today will stand whatever happens. "austerity is coming to an end", he said by which he means government spending will rise. and in many ways, this did feel like a budget beyond brexit. there was an upgraded growth forecast. more cash for the nhs, extra money for social care, plus an additional £1 billion for defence. there's 1.7 billion to get help people switching to the uk's new all—in—one benefits system known as universal credit. and the chancellor brought forward by a year a rise in the tax—free personal allowa nce. which means from next april 32 million people will be paying less tax. let's cross to our politi

i'm katty kay in washington, christian fraser is in london.rms we find out why suburban women could be key in deciding whether democrats win back the house. win back the house. donald trump calls again on the thousands of migrants travelling towards america to turn around, as he deploys more troops to the us border. coming up in the next half hour: the british foreign secretary pledges to recruit business leaders as diplomats to help secure trade deals around the world after brexit. britain is set to leave the european union before the current football season ends, but what impact will brexit have on attracting top players to the premier league? as americans go to the polls in the midterm elections, it is a truism that every vote counts — but maybe some votes are more sought after than others. next week, suburban women could be key in deciding whether democrats will win back the house. in states like newjersey, they are mobilizing, but will that enthusiasm carry over to the ballot box? the bbc‘s nick bryant has gone to have a look. it's in the

hello and welcome — i'm katty kay in washington and christian fraser is in london. arabia's role in the disappearance ofjournalist jamal khashoggi has been clouded in secrecy, the investigation started two weeks late and access to the saudi consulate in istanbul has been limited. it would be hard to describe it as transparent, timely or thorough. yet the saudis today told us secretary of state they are committed to all those things. it's not clear if mike pompeo takes the assurances at face value. turkey rejects saudi denials that they killed mr khashoggi inside their istanbul consulate after torturing him. today turkish president erdogan suggested saudi arabia had painted over evidence at the consulate. earlier we spoke to our correspondent mark lowen who is in instanbul. there seems to be a strategy evolving to shield the highest levels of the royal family in riyadh, is that going to work?m depends on whether saudi arabia's allies by into that and it seems donald trump paved the way for that narrative when he said he had spoken to king salman and there was as a ge

at 7pm, beyond 100 days, and christian fraser will be live in brussels where he'll be joined by our politicalnd europe editors, looking at what's next after today's crucial eu summit. also this evening, the consultation period examining whether rules governing gender—change laws should be amended ends tomorrow. we'll be speaking to a campaigner about the journey she's taken to change gender legally. and mansize no more. as kleenex renames its largest—sized tissues, we'll be speaking to a branding expert about why sexism doesn't sell. that's all ahead on bbc news. now on bbc news it's time for sportsday. hello, i'm olly foster at the bbc sport centre. these are our headlines tonight... a man for all seasons, but autumn could be a tough one for eddie jones. next summer is going to be brilliant for the reggae girlz. they'll be making history in france. it could be wayne's best winter yet. we catch up with rooney as he wows the mls. i've never been a player who is going tojust play i've never been a player who is going to just play and not care, i ca re going to just play and not care, i care abo

hello and welcome — i'm katty kay in washington and christian fraser is in london.ajority of brexit supporters, 63 per cent, would choose to leave the europea union, even if that meant breaking up the united kingdom — that was the finding of a poll this summer. but theresa may says no british prime minister could ever vote to break up the union. the eu wants an insurance policy though. if it can't find a future deal to maintain frictionless trade with the uk, then brussels demands that northern ireland remain a separate customs entity to the rest of the uk. the loyalist dup says it will fight "guerrilla warfare" to stop that happening. scottish conservatives have equivalent concerns. which means brexit is an existential threat to the united kingdom. and the prime minister is battling to hold the deal — and the union together. we cannot let this disagreement derail the prospect of a good deal and leave us with a no deal outcome that nobody wants. i continue to believe that a negotiated deal is the best outcome for the uk aren't for the european union. i believe such

hello and welcome, i'm christian fraser in london, jane o'brien is in washington.servative party conference got properly underway here in the uk today, but the biggest crowds were not for the home secretary who was setting out the uk's future immigration plan in the main hall— but for boris johnson— the former foreign secretary, now constant thorn in the prime minister's side. his speech attracted so much attention an upper tier had to be opened in the room he was speaking to allow more people in to what was supposed to be a fringe event. mrjohnson shied away from suggesting he was actually making a pitch for the leadership, but he seized the chance to stick the boot into theresa may s chequers proposals, and many have interpreted his speech as a blatant bid for herjob. our political editor laura kuenssberg has more. deep breath, was he ready? was the party ready? this conference hadn't seen anything like this. chief brexit supporter, now with the prime minister's critic in chief. proposals show that the united kingdom, for all its power, and might, and network of

christian fraser is in london.t three dozen people have left the trump administration over the past 19 months. what was remarkable about today's announcement that nikki haley is leaving, was how normal it was. she wasn't fired, she doesn't seem to be leaving under a cloud, she hasn't resigned in protest — the president's ambassador to the un is leaving, as far as we know, on good terms. which in this administration, makes it unusual. ms haley is known to be an ambitious, smart political operative. at the un she's walked a careful line between staking her independence from the white house while keeping good relations with the president. no easy feat and one that earned her an affectionate send off this morning. it has been an honour of a lifetime. you know, i said i'm such a lucky girl to have been able to lead the state that raised me and to serve the country i love so very much. it has really been a blessing and i want to thank you for that. she has done a fantasticjob and we did a fantastic job she has done a fan

i'm katty kay in washington and christian fraser is in london. for all the painful testimony, the hours of television coverage and the fury on both sides — it looks like brett kavanaugh is exactly where he was before he was accused of sexual assault — on his way to becoming america's next supreme courtjudge. the big difference is that everyone is a lot angrier today than they were two weeks ago. polls suggest republicans, particularly republican men, have been galvanised by the entire episode. they feel president trump's nominee has been unfairly accused. and democrats are angry that someone they deem unworthy looks set to become one of the most powerful people in the country. they are also unhappy about how this fbi investigation was carried out. democrats agreed that the investigation scope should be limited. we did not agree that the white house should tie the fbi's hands. it is not credible to say that public testimony in last week's healing is a substitute for the interviews by fbi agents. there was a very different view of this report on th

hello and welcome — i'm katty kay in washington and christian fraser is in london. michael was the strongest storm to hit the us mainland since 1969. and it caught everyone by surprise. far worse than authorities had expected. with winds of over 155 mph, there has been catastrophic damage in parts of the panhandle. panama city took the brunt, where rooves were ripped from houses, pilons and trees were uprooted. so far, two deaths have been reported, but we don't yet know the fate of those who stayed behind in those areas, where the storm surge was over 8ft. hurricane michael is now tropical storm michael, it is currently over the carolinas, which of course were badly hit by hurricane florence. in florida, more than 700,000 people are without power. the rescue crews are trying to get into the worst hit areas. president trump spoke about it a few moments ago. the big problem with this hurricane was the tremendous power, unfortunately it was very fast. it was my tremendous destruction. webb these residents explained why they we re these residents explained why they wer

i'm katty kay in washington and christian fraser is in london. donald trump says the investigation into brett kavanaugh must be quick and comprehensive. and therein lies the debate. can it really be both? democrats fear the fbi investigation into the president's supreme court nominee will end up being a whitewash because it is limited in scope and only a few people are being interviewed. here's donald trump a few moments ago. this is not a man who said alcohol was... he was perfect with respect to alcohol. i thought he was actually, going back so many years, excellent. the thing that is interesting in the past 25 of 30 yea rs interesting in the past 25 of 30 years during his professional career is there are no bad reports. there are bad reports on everybody in here, most of the people sitting down, except to mike pence, by the way. if we find one on him, that will be the greatest short of all time. speaking about alcohol there because thatis speaking about alcohol there because that is one of the things that raised is whether brett kavanaugh was

hello and welcome — i'm katty kay in washington and christian fraser is in london.'s no avoiding the costs — scientists say we either invest now to clamp down on greenhouse gases or we pay later for the enormous climatic changes that will come. a three year long study says we need an extraordinary change of direction, from governments and individuals to limit the damage. the un report urges changes to our transportation, to our diet and to the way we produce and consume energy. it will also demand a vast increase in the emerging technologies that can remove carbon dioxide from the air. if we don't do all this, then by 20a0, there will be drought and flooding with enormous loss of life. here's our science editor david shukman. the warming of the earth is heading for levels that modern humans have never experienced. that's the unnerving implication of this latest report. it says the rise of the oceans could accelerate, even with what sounds like a small increase of temperature. heatwaves are set to become more intense sooner than expected. and forest fires combined wi

i'm katty kay in washington and christian fraser is in brussels.n their way into the eu summit this evening there was an obvious attempt by some eurpean leaders to talk up the positives. they praised the sizeable work that has been done on brexit, they emphasised their confidence that a deal can eventually be reached. but standing in the way of that agreement, is the not so insignificant conundrum of what to do about the irish border. and on that single issue this entire process could collapse. the president of lithuania, dalia grybauskaite seemed to sum it up best. we don't know what they want. she said, they don't know what they want, and that's the problem. if you have a negotiator who has no strong mandate, she added, it's difficult to negotiate. course theresa may would beg to differ. she is still confident she has the best plan. i will be talking to leaders tonight about the very good progress that has been made since salzburg, both on the withdrawal agreement and our future partnership. the teams have been working very hard in order to ensur

i'm katty kay in washington, christian fraser is in london.tors are getting ready to receive their copies of an fbi investigation into judge brett kavanaugh, donald trump's nominee to the supreme court. depending on what's in that report — and we just don't know yet — the republicans hope to vote on his confirmation as soon as possible. that's the plan — but donald trump may have disrupted the process by making fun of mr kavanaugh‘s accuser. until now the president had been careful to say christine blasey ford was credible and compelling — that changed last night at a rally in mississipi. how did you get home? i don't remember. how did you get there? i don't remember. where is the place? i don't remember. how many years ago was it? i don't know. cheering. i don't know! what neighbourhood was it in? i don't know. where is the house? i don't know. upstairs, downstairs, where was it? i don't know. but i had one beer. that's the only thing i remember. certainly, she was a very credible witness. .. she was certainly, she was a very credible witness

i'm katty kay in washington, christian fraser is in brussels. if everything had gone according to the original plan — this european summit would have seen british prime minister theresa may and the president of the european council, donald tusk, shaking hands on a done brexit deal. instead mr tusk said that there have been no improvements and — for the moment — he doesn't plan an extra summit in november. the difficulty remains the irish border. how do you control that border without bringing back checks that could undermine the peace in northern ireland. with no fix in sight, the proposal is to extend the 21 month transition period — post brexit — by another year. thus pushing the problem further down the road. but another year tied to the european union!? jean claude junker the commission president says it is the best option— for now. what has now emerged that an idea to extend the implementation period could be a further solution to the issue of the backstop in northern ireland. what we are not doing, we are not standing here proposing an ext

christian fraser is in london. one week today, americans will go to the polls to send a verdict on donald trump. although the president is not on any ballot paper, he is on everybody‘s mind. this mid term election that votes in members of congress, is both a referendum on america's unusual president and a potential check on his agenda and the result may well be decided in the swing suburbs of cities like this one. in these closing days, mr trump hasjust made a radical promise on an issue that excites his supporters — immigration. he says he's going to do away with the constitutional provision that gives anyone born in the us the right to be an american citizen. it's legally complex and he may not be able to do it, but with just seven days to go until election day, the proposal is political dynamite. how ridiculous, we are the only country in the world where a person comes in, has a baby, and the baby is essentially a citizen of the united states for 85 years with all of those benefits. it's ridiculous, it's ridicul

and earlier today, my colleagues katty kay and christian fraser spoke to the former secretary of homeland scurityjehjohnson — for their programme beyond 100 days. what is the difference between the way that this president has responded to this atrocity and the way that previous presidents have responded? well, part of a president'sjob in an environment like this is to bring the nation together and to heal. i think that right now, the president'snumber one priority has to be that he speaks to the nation and calls on anyone running for office next week in this country to lower the temperature, lower the toxicity and try to restore some level of civility into oui’ restore some level of civility into our political debate. invariably, the president has the largest microphone. he has the largest bullhorn, and this president in particular has the largest microphone by about a factor of five. so it is incumbent upon him to try and restore stability to our debate and insist that others do the same. some of those pipe bombs were sent to yourformer same. some of those pipe bombs were sent to your fo

let's go to christian fraser.eks. will there be enough movement have the summit we do not know. let's talk to adam fleming. he has been watching since last night. she says she is neither positive nor pessimistic. she is where she was two days ago which is precisely the problem. also what is interesting talking to the officials working on brexit, i keep saying to them how you feel about this, will it bea them how you feel about this, will it be a disaster, you hope for? they don't think in those terms because a lot of them are technocrats working on bits of paper, and the deal is done when it is done. they do not see it in emotive terms, it is a series of problems to be solved, for example the idea is extended the transition is a way of solving the problem in a technical way not forcing theresa may to swallow something that is a disaster for her domestic two. and if you wanted evidence of that, they all went out for a beer after they listen to her! what about the timetable now? if we are now into december, we would

let's cross live to brussels and our presenter, christian fraser.ve known for several days there wouldn't be a breakthrough at this european summit, but in the end, theresa may took only half are allocated time in addressing the 27 other eu leaders last night. if they we re other eu leaders last night. if they were frustrated by that, they didn't show it today. there has been a concerted effort on the part of the eu and all 27 leaders to talk and more positive terms than they perhaps did after the results back summit. they recognise that they caused to aretha quite a number of political problems back at home. so, they are hopeful of a deal, even though the november summit, which is pencilled in for the 17th and 18th, remains on ice, pending the negotiations over the next few weeks. the big news here from brussels is that in the realm of this negotiation is the idea that the transition period, or the impairment nation period —— the implementation period, could be extended by another year. it is not set in stone and the leaders weren't prepared to tal

let's go over to christian fraser in brussels.ill come to brussels, it is still that thorny issue of the irish border that stands in the wake of an agreement here and bustle —— brussels. how do you control that border without bringing back checks that could undermine the peace in northern ireland? the solution from the european side is to keep ireland within a customs union. theresa may has said that is unacceptable union. theresa may has said that is u na cce pta ble to union. theresa may has said that is unacceptable to any prime minister. prominent‘s new solution seems to be to extend the 21 month transition period by several months, perhaps up toa period by several months, perhaps up to a year. not all the european leaders are happy with that, as our political editor laura coombs berg reports. the longer this rolls on, the more things stay the same. europe's leaders frustrated in brussels, when theresa may arrives with not that much to say. but listen carefully, very carefully. there comes a hint of compromise. a further idea

i've been speaking to christian fraser in brussels., how would extra time help with the irish border issue? the simple answer it won't, because all it really does is push the issue further issue further and further down the line. now if you are to be an optimistand down the line. now if you are to be an optimist and perhaps those who voted to remain at my see it this way, some of them could say that what they're doing is extending the negotiation period by another year to almost three years, and that should give you a future trading partnership that makes the backstop redundant. that would be the optimistic reading of it. the other way is that the chequers plan that she has but on the table, this idea of staying in a customs relationship, that does not solve theissue relationship, that does not solve the issue itself. because as angela merkel said just the other day, if you are leaving the single market and you are a third country, you can never have truly frictionless trade with the single market. so at some point, you have to face up

let's go live to brussels for the latest with my colleague christian fraser. thank you very much.this was supposed to be eight, the decisive summit in october, which they rubber—stamped the agreement on the withdrawal. but it is not. many journalists are frustrated and also 27 leaders who will listen to two aretha in around one hour's time. right now, she is sitting down with donald tusk, who has talked about the risk of a no deal and who is calling for concrete measures. so what will to reason may provide him with? she was talking on the way into that meeting. i will talk to peter's into that meeting. i will talk to peter 's tonight about the progress that has been made since salzburg. -- i will that has been made since salzburg. —— i will talk to leaders tonight. the teams have been working hard to ensure that we can address these issues. what we have seen is that we have solved the issues in the withdrawal agreement. there is still the question of the northern ireland backstop, but i believe that everyone around the table wants to get a deal and by working intensely and closely

let's cross to brussels, and to christian fraser, who's there for us.many smiles around on this? no, there are not. if you were to look at it as an optimist, you can say we are a long way down the home stretch because 90% of the withdrawal agreement has been put into green and signed. in these parts today, there is talk they are quite advanced and talks of the future customs relationship. 0n the flip side of all of that, when it comes to the thorny issue and fate of the irish border, really we are no further forward than we were in december 2017. we are all watching what sort of reaction theresa may will get here today. we all remember what happened a few weeks ago in salzburg, it descended pretty quickly, there were recriminations and on that occasion, the eu, backed forcibly by the french president, said if there hadn't been enough concrete progress by this summit, the november one, pencilled in for the november one, pencilled in for the 17th and 18th of the month, would be cancelled. so the question is, is there enough progress to keep that on the di

christian fraser is in brussels.tilthe irrelevant at the moment to the eu 27, isn't it? until the irish border backstop issue is resolved. precisely, yes. theresa may presented no new facts here last night. in fact, presented no new facts here last night. infact, she presented no new facts here last night. in fact, she reportedly only took half of the 30 minutes she was allotted before the dinner. that is allotted before the dinner. that is a frustration to many eu leaders who come into the building today. they we re come into the building today. they were hoping for more concrete progress. it is, in the words of one french official, that an solvable problem of the irish border and how to secure frictionless trade that is in the way of any deal being finalised. the big news is this idea that you can have an extra year of months on the end of the transition, perhaps to make the backstop less releva nt. perhaps to make the backstop less relevant. that is certainly something that the european leaders are in favour of al

million followers on instagram. her call to get out the vote is having quite the effect. and christian fraserin london. the panhandle of florida. michael is a category four storm with big winds and huge waves. are not equipped to deal with winds this strong. some four million people are under a hurricane warning. of florida's gulf coast. it is now too late to get out of the way. which right now is in the path of the hurricane. vision but it's now so bad that you have sensibly gone indoors. have sensibly gone indoors. a bit about where you are and what you've seen. you've seen. which is a sort of ireland, part of the panhandle. the panhandle. it is feeling the force of michael landing. force of michael landing. the winds now and the costs are extraordinary. extraordinary. been ripped off, power lines dangling. in the hotel i'm in... there are substantial leaks. infrastructure is taking a real pounding. pounding. about 50% of people are under a mandatory evacuation order. mandatory evacuation order. them didn't and we spoke to one of them, he was going to stick it out. them, he was going to sti