seaborne freight would have earned £118 million under a deal with the department for transport — intendedin the event of a no—deal brexit. the transport secretary, chris grayling, had defended the deal — saying he would make no apologies for supporting a new british business . his department says it's cancelled the contract because the company's irish backer pulled out. our business correspondent, rob young, reports. preparations have been under way for weeks. dredging started at ramsgate port at the beginning of january. the work was meant to ensure the port would be ready at the end of march, should britain leave the european union without a deal. the plan was for seaborne freight to run regular services to ostend in belgium once it managed to get it hands on some ships, but now the company has now been stripped of its contract. the government says seaborne freight‘s main backer has pulled out, meaning it could not mean its contractual requirements. we first flagged problems with seaborne freight in april of last year, and we have been tracking it since then, both in terms of its attemp

was doable, and he has been banned from calais, and i think he should be banned from the department for transportation upon humiliation for our country and it is time for him to go. you would presumably be pressing this case in the house of commons next week, but in the meantime, the issue is one of ensuring that there is some kind of deal on brexit. this potential crisis we are talking about, it is in labour's hands to sort this because if you gave theresa may your votes, she could get this through the house of commons and there would be no issue of extra controls being imposed at dover. and that is why jeremy corbyn wrote to theresa may and set out very clearly a very rational, coherent plan to secure a deal with the eu, and you have heard the noises from brussels that they see a great deal of merit in what is being said. conservative mps, nick bowles and others, have said that this is the basis for a sensible discussion. so, if she removes her red lines and starts to try to garner a consensus in the house of commons, it is there for her, and she should be doing that right now instead of diggin

the department for transport have to do something in case there are problems after a no—deal brexit. it is a rock and a hard place. a small insurance policy to make things work as effectively as they can, and i don't believe there will be difficulties. i trust what the deputy mayor of calais has said recently, giving assurances for some time that he foresees no difficulties in the dover— calais route, they will keep things going, customs arrangements will be in place. i thought that common sense will prevail and that will happen. he says he does not want chris grayling back at the calais port because he is unimpressed by how the british government has dealt with calais. it may be unfair on mr grayling, but he is developing a terrible reputation for things turning to dust in his hands. for a politician, that is a bit of a liability, isn't it? these are difficult times and we are in uncharted waters, dare i put a bit of maritime spin on it, and we are relying on that single point of traffic from dover to calais, and i think sensibly the government has been trying to plan for every event

the department for transport has terminated a controversial contract to provide extra ferries in the ministers have faced strong criticism since seaborne freight was awarded a £13 million contract in december to operate even though it had never run a ferry service or had any ships. we can speak now tojon donnison, whojoins us from our london newsroom. the ferry company with no ferries was always going to be a challenging reputation to overcome but seaborne freight insisted they would be ready by the end of march to operate a ferry service between ramsgate in kent and 0stend in belgium. today the department for transport said it has become clear they will not be able to meet their contractual requirements, coming after a another shipping company, an irish shipping company, said it was pulling out this comes after negative headlines. they had terms and conditions on their website that seem to be appropriate for a fast—food takeaway restau ra nt. appropriate for a fast—food takeaway restaurant. we had the mayor of 0stend in belgium saying the port was not ready to operate a new service

the uk's department for transport says it acted transparently and competitively.ement to buy eero, a startup company that makes home routers. it's amazon's latest push into the smart home, following the acquisition of video doorbell maker ring last yearfor $1 billion. amazon hasn't revealed how much it's paid for the firm. softbank‘s vision fund has invested $940 million in the robotics company nuro as part of a broader move towards tech investing. nuro, which has launched a self—driving delivery service to run errands, said it plans to use the money to upgrade its service and technology. japan opened for the first time this week, up 2.61% overall. the dollar has had a bit of a rally of late. the best run it has seen since january 2016 so exporters doing well injapan. nissan january 2016 so exporters doing well in japan. nissan shares january 2016 so exporters doing well injapan. nissan shares will be reacting to their results tomorrow. the nissan results released after the trading day ended in tokyo. a big move in london. debenhams department store chain has conf

the department for transport says it's in advanced talks with other companies to supply freight servicesl brexit timing is tight. i don't know why they pulled out if it is appointment but i want to make sure the point is ready for brexit resilience. however the cash—strapped local authorities considering a cut to the funding which could prevent the service starting in the future. our political correspondent is iain watson is in westminster. what sort of reaction has there been to this move? to be honest when you're awarded a contract to a company that does not fairies of its own, it's always good to be politically contentious, chris grayling. .. they say that cancelling it was a communication notjust for him, but for the country, it was a communication notjust for him, but forthe country, he survived various controversies in the past, a vote of no confidence in the past, a vote of no confidence in the past, a vote of no confidence in the past, tonight downing street are the past, tonight downing street are the prime minister has full confidence in him, but we can expect them to continue

the department for transport has terminated a controversial contract to provide extra ferries in thent of a no—deal brexit. seaborne freight was awarded the £13 million contract in december. it had no ships and had never run a ferry service. last month, the transport secretary chris grayling said "i make no apologies for supporting a new british business". an irish shipping line which was planning to back the company has pulled out. the government says it is already in advanced talks with a number of companies to secure additional freight capacity in the event of no—deal. with me now is our news correspondent simonjones. you have been following this story, how big a difficulty was the company facing in terms of finding the capacity to fulfil this contract in a relatively short amount of time? as soon as the contract was signed backin as soon as the contract was signed back in december, questions were being raised, this was a very firm with no fairies, no experience of running ferry services. it wanted to operate from the port of ramsgate selling to ostend, belgium, the ramsgate port

the department for transport has terminated a controversial contract to provide extra ferries in therexit. ministers have faced strong criticism since seaborne freight was awarded a £13 million contract in december to operate from ramsgate in kent, even though it had never run a ferry service or had any ships. we can speak now tojon donnison who joins us from our london newsroom. people are going to be surprised at this kind of deal was being made. people are going to be surprised at this kind of deal was being madem is fairto this kind of deal was being madem is fair to say the ferry company without any ferries was always going to bea without any ferries was always going to be a bit ofa without any ferries was always going to be a bit of a challenge but despite much criticism, seaborne freight had said they would be ready to runa freight had said they would be ready to run a ferry service from ramsgate in kent to belgium by the end of march. today, the government, department for transport, said it was clear seaborne would not be able to make its contractual requirements a p pa re nt

the uk's department for transport says it acted transparently and competitively.ower cuts in years. the heavily indebted state firm eskom has slashed thousands of megawatts from the national grid — after several generators unexpectedly went offline. fixing the struggling firm presents a big challenge for president cyril ramaphosa — who faces elections in may. all taxi and private hire drivers here in the uk could face additional criminal record checks under new government proposals. a consultation has been launched on new licensing guidelines to better protect vulnerable passengers. last year a government report found that current laws regulating drivers were not fit for the modern world. girls as young as five years old are learning about cybersecurity with help from the girl scouts of america. scouts can earn badges and patches by participating in various activities. the bbc‘s cody godwin joined some of the girl scouts of northern california as they earned their first cybersecurity patch. these are some of the first girls to earn our patch. 0ne these are some of

ship traffic going in case of a no deal brock's it the contract was signed even though the department for transport was aware that the company had never operated across the english channel . william know a glue craft is here to hopefully clear some of this up for us look my first question would be how can something like this happen well the company that got the contract is called seaborne freight it was founded in two thousand and seventeen and as soon as the deal was announced at the end of december it's was already getting ridiculed there was a parity a twitter account set up to sort of mock it we can see it we can see it here the whole ordeal was quite a joke for many people in the british isles. it was ribbing the company and the u.k. transport secretary chris grayling who made the deal we even have one tweet specifically where the company likes to talk about strategic planning and we could see their shipping fleet here a bathtub full of toy boats you can also see they've offered fake tickets for rides on their nonexistent ferries to attract followers to their twitter account this is a parody a

the department for transport has been planning for this for quite a while. for all outcomes, including no deal. chris grayling does a fantasticjob. the department for transport is at the forefront of brexit because as we know 95% of everything that we consume comes in and out of our ports, and he is doing a fantasticjob in difficult circumstances, trying to prepare for brexit. were there any errors with the procurement process, could it have been handled in a different way, the handing out of those co ntra cts ? way, the handing out of those contracts? chris grayling gave a robust statement to the house yesterday. he answered questions from across the house on this issue and made it clear that all of the due diligence has taken place. and we are preparing as we should for brexit and indeed we are. the subject of making taxis safer for all of those who use them, it seems that there is widespread support from taxi drivers, both black cabs and private hire companies for the sort of plans that you are consulting on. but one area that was raised as an area of conc

can i say to the right honourable gentleman that the department for transport and other parts of governmentcan i also just again remind the impact of this contract. but can i alsojust again remind the right honourable gentleman of why it is that the department for transport has taken these actions in relation to ferry capacity. it is in order to be able to ensure in a no deal situation that we are able to guarantee that medicines will be brought into this country, primarily, as we are prioritising medicines being brought in. that was a question i seem to remember being asked on more than one occasion yesterday by members of the snp who had an interest in that. the right honourable gentleman doesn't seem to be interested in ensuring that we can ina be interested in ensuring that we can in a no deal situation provide the medicines that people in this country need. that's what we are doing. that's the sensible approach ofa doing. that's the sensible approach of a government taking this matter seriously. maybe the prime minister should follow the advice of the house and techno deal off the tabl

the department for transport has terminated a controversial contract to provide extra ferries in thexit. ministers have faced strong criticism since seaborne freight was awarded a £13 million contract in december to operate from ramsgate in kent —even though it had never run a ferry service or had any ships. we can speak now tojon donnison who joins us from our london newsroom. what's going on, all these plans we re what's going on, all these plans were supposed to be in place yet this contract, which was controversial to begin with, does not seem as if it would ever have been fulfilled. what going --by's going on is a good question. the decision to award a very contract to a company with very ——no ferries raised eyebrows. seaborne freight said it would be ready by the end of march to operate a service between ramsgate in kent and ostend in belgium, but now the department of transport has said it has become clear that the company would not be able to meet its contractual requirements after another company, arklow shipping, an irish company, allegedly withdrew its support for seaborne

the department for transport has terminated a controversial contract to provide extra ferries in theal brexit. ministers have faced strong criticism since seaborne freight was awarded a £13 million contract in december to operate from ramsgate in kent — even though it had never run a ferry service or had any ships. we can speak now tojon donnison who joins us from our london newsroom. this sounds a rather remarkable, doesn't it, contracts that were put in place with no experience. no deal, this is the thing people have been screaming about an worried about. it is fair to say that awarding a contract to run a ferry service to a company with no ferries raised some eyebrows. but seaborne freight assured the government that they would be able to do this, despite having no experience with running a ferry service. they planned to run services from ramsgate in kent to ostend in belgium. they said they would be ready to do so via the end of march in the event of a no—deal brexit. however, the government today said it has become clear that seaborne freight would not be able to meet its contra

seaborne freight would have earned £13.8 million under a deal with the department for transport intended chris grayling had defended the deal, saying he would"make no apologies for supporting a new british business.

the department for transport has just carried out a review of the current regulations.conclusions. can i ask whether the government accepts the views of the guide dogs and the living streets charity campaign of all wheelchair users, of all parents pushing chair is a lot the pavement, along with the authorities preparing the pavements after damage, —— repair — that the government has built a default position by london of no parking on pavement and designate otherwise, rather than just a discouragement which is currently the case? a recent survey from an organisation cited that 95% of them have collided in the last three months, and vehicles parked in the pavement was the single most reported obstacle. that our cost of the government to introduce a lot that beds all pavement cracking in england. —— parking. and we want to make it as simple as possible, but before seeking new legislation, we are looking at the effectiveness of the legislation. it isa it is a curious alice in wonderland situation. the pedestrians would have to go into the road because the cars are already o

here in the uk, the department for transport has terminated a controversial contract to provide extra a no—deal brexit. ministers have faced strong criticism since work began at ramsgate in kent, to return the ferry port to operational use after five years in mothballs. seaborne freight was awarded a £13 million contract in december, even though it had never run a ferry service or had any ships. an irish shipping line that was planning to back the company has pulled out. at least ten people, including young footballers, have been killed after a fire swept through one of brazil's largest football clubs, flamengo, engulfing one of the player dormitories. the blaze happened at the club's youth team training centre in rio de janeiro. julia carneiro reports. a fire that put an end to young athletes‘ dreams while they slept. firefighters were summoned to the flamengo training ground in riojust after 5:00 in the morning. translation: the place was completely overtaken by flames. we tried as much as possible to locate victims, but all we found were dead bodies. this is what's left of the dorm

before we go, time to tell you that the british department for transport has terminated a controversiale a strong criticism since seaborne freight was awarded a £30 million contract in december to operate from ramsgate in kent, even though it had never run a ferry service or had any ships. an irish shipping line that was planning to back the company has pulled out. of course, much more on that story on oui’ course, much more on that story on our website as well, to explain all those details of brexit add all the jargon. and much more on our top story, the aid that is on the border of venezuela that nicolas maduro, the president, is not allowing in. the opposition leader calling for that aid to come to those who need it in the country. do day with us on bbc news. ——to stay with us. hello there. storm erik still not done with us yet, there is more wind to come — in fact it looks like we could see some very gusty conditions through the early part of this morning. storm erik passes to the north of the uk with a swathe of 60—70 mph gusts likely for northern ireland, southern scotland and nor

the department for transport says it does routinely seek legal advice but this is a significant sum onerry issue. also, today, the government revealed details about what would happen at the ports in case there is a no—deal brexit. that goods can come into the uk without companies telling customs and without paying duty as they enter. critics have said that could bea enter. critics have said that could be a safety issue. and that it could mean anything coming into uk ports. lucy, thank you. northern ireland's coroner has described deaths linked to counterfeit versions of the anti—anxiety drug, xanax, as an escalating crisis . joe mccriskin says he's now signing off close to one death a week related to fake versions of the drug bought illegally on the street or online. the latest figures for england and wales show the numbers of young people being treated for abuse of fake xanax has seen a significant rise. our correspondent, chi chi izundu, reports from belfast. it made you feel happy and it made you feel like a different person, as if, like, you know, all your problems were gone. it ma

he will know that the department for transport have agreed a number of new freight routes from the euy planning. but meanwhile, the government seem to be relying on existing staff in existing ports to carry out the food inspections, despite the fact that they won't have access to the eu quality assurance documentation that they have had in the past. so is the minister not concerned that as this becomes known, some unscrupulous eu and third country food importers will exploit these new routes that will now exist, and off—load their second rate or even contaminated food when they know that they are unlikely to be checked ? so what guarantees can he give to uk consumers that food imports will continue to be safe to eat in the event of no—deal? my lords, clearly food safety... and we've been working very closely with the food standards agency on all these matters. and as i say, there has been very careful consideration with apha, with the food standards agency, hmrc, precisely to ascertain whether the ports and port health authorities have got the appropriate facilities to accommodate wha

it is another embarrassment for transport secretary chris grayling and the department's attempts to caterit, what could happen to the short sea crossing between dover and calais which is very important for much british industry. studio: as you say, it raises wider questions about the government's handling of preparedness for brexit or a no—deal brexit? there was an interesting memorandum published for a common circulating by the national audit office which looked into the background of the ferry contract quite carefully, it showed the department for transport was quite worried about awarding these contracts at short notice and it sought legal advice at each step. it names the legal advisers who gave the advice and what the grounds were, and government departments, in times of urgency, they have quite wide discretionary powers. eurotunnel will aim to show those powers we re eurotunnel will aim to show those powers were not exercise properly and the award of these contracts was not right. the judge and the award of these contracts was not right. thejudge has to and the award of these contra

but i am sure a ministerfrom the department for transport will be happy to meet my honourable friendnked to rising poverty. yet there is a chronic shortage of trained psychiatrists to treat these children and we rely on the eu for one in seven trained psychiatrists and much of the primary research. what is he going to do to avoid a further deterioration of the situation if we brexit and would he agree with me that parents who voted to leave did not vote to leave their children in greater risk of mental disorder and deserve the final say to protect... order. minister. on his point about eu health workers, of course, with the end of freedom of movement, we will need to put new arrangements in place and the immigration bill now before this house provides the framework within which those more detailed arrangements can be made for the future. i do have to say to the honourable gentleman, of course, the honourable gentleman, of course, the health service in wales is devolved and is a matter for the welsh government and assembly, but nhs england's long—term plan is good to see the largest e

the department for transport will look at new measures such as enhanced background checks, a national cctv in all private hire vehicles. the consultation runs until 22nd april. republicans and democrats have reached an agreement in principle to keep the us government running and avoid another partial shutdown. the deal includes less than a quarter of the money president trump had demanded for his promised wall along the border with mexico. it still needs to be approved by congress. the president told a rally in texas that the wall would be built anyway. a regulator should be appointed to oversee tech giants like google and facebook and prevent the spread of fake news, according to a government—backed report published today. it's one of several recommendations by dame frances cairncross, aimed at protecting local newspapers, 2115 of which have closed since 2005. her review also calls for an institute for public interest news, to channel funding towards organisations doing good work. horse racing will resume tomorrow after an outbreak of highly infectious equine flu caused the sport to

one line of breaking news, the department for transport has announced in the last few minutes that theyntracts to provide those extra ferry services in the event of no deal could be illegal and that the government is pre—empting that, getting big advice and looking to protect itself. it has spent £800,000 on medical advice. australia has just endured its hottest month on record in january, and the scorching temperatures are set to continue. but — in a season of extreme weather — a thousand people have had to be evacuated after a year's worth of rain injust a week in the city of townsville, in the northern state of queensland. officials say that twenty thousand homes are still at risk. 0ur correspondent hywel griffith reports from sydney. monday morning update, not so good. this is how people are starting the week. working out just this is how people are starting the week. working outjust how much of their films by underwater. week. working outjust how much of theirfilms by underwater. almost week. working outjust how much of their films by underwater. almost a year ‘s worth of rain has

no—fly zones for drones around airports will be extended from next month by the department for transport, only a one—kilometre restriction is in place. in december, gatwick was closed for more than a day following drone sightings there. rescuers in the swiss alps have spent the night searching for skiers feared trapped under more than two metres of snow. four people are confirmed to have been injured, one seriously, following an avalanche at cra ns montana yesterday afternoon. there have been suggestions that recent warm weather in the area may have triggered the incident. the people of llanelli may have been walking past a priceless piece of art every day for the last ten years — without even realising it. but now the council there have protected what it thinks might be its very own banksy. the image of a rat holding a cigarette has been on a charity shop wall in the welsh town for at least a decade. council officials are now trying to find out whether it really is a genuine work of art. it is going to be an "is it or isn't it"? it is of that ilk, but how do you verify it? it is not as

purchase and sales agreement and any relates documents with the state of california department of transportation for the purchase of approximately 1.7 acres of unimproved real property located at 2 rankin street in san francisco, for 8,991,000. >> i'll move the item. >> second. >> public comment on this item? all those in favor? [voting] >> opposed? the motion carries. next item, please. >> clerk: item 23, approve the terms and conditions of and authorize the general manager to execute a five-year lease with a single three-year option to extend the term, for an annual rent of 118,332 for the first three years and annual rent of 121,882 for the fourth and fifth years of the term. >> i'll move it. >> second. >> public comment on this item? all those in favor? opposed? the motion carries. next item, please. >> clerk: item 24. approve and authorize the general manager to execute amendment number one to the september 28 memorandum of agreement for the bay area regional reliability drug contingency plan extending the plan by 36 months for a total duration of 75 months. >> i have a question. the parties to

he has raised a very interesting point and i will ask the department for transport to look at it seriouslyure that the fathers and pa rents of make sure that the fathers and parents of premature babies like myself get the support they need to support their families? obviously i know this is an issue that is close to the heart of many members, but particularly to the honourable gentleman. i know that he has met with ministers to discuss this issue last year. officials are not taking what is a shorter focused internal review for parents of premature, sick and multiple babies to obtain an understanding of the barriers to participating in the labour market. they're working with organisations to better understand these issues and have held focus groups with a number of parents. they have offered to discuss the conclusions that are reached with those interested parties in due course and i am sure will be happy to meet with the honourable gentleman to discuss this and take this forward. the prime minister will be aware that the british army has engaged in a recruitment campaign from commonwealth

will authorize the director of public works to execute an agreement with the california department of transportation for the jefferson street project for phase two in the amount of $6,000,000.782000. these finds are from the road repair and accountability act of 2017, otherwise known as senate bill one. san francisco public works is authorized to expend these funds due to city and county san francisco 2019, 2020 budget and appropriation ordinance on file with the board under number 180574. they do require that san francisco public works governing body, and in this case, the board of supervisors, passed a resolution which identifies the person or the position that can execute the agreement for this project with caltrain. with that said, public works respectfully request their committee to approve the resolution in order to execute the agreement. i am joined by the public works public manager, and we would be happy to answer any questions from the committee. >> thank you very much. colleagues, any questions? seeing none, there was no b.l.a. report on this. let's open this up for public comment. any member

agreements and cooperative agreements and any amendments thereto with the california department of transportation for receipt of federal and state funds for the westside bridges seismic retrofit project in the amount of $7 million and the southgate improvement project for $30 million. this is an action item. >> good afternoon chair peskin and commissioners. i'm happy to report that we're getting very close to construction on very important projects here on y.b.i. so i'm going to go ahead and do this here in the next five minutes, understanding the hour. i just want to do a refresher course for some of the commissioners that have not been out to y.b.i. recommend or new to the board. we completed the eastside ramps, the new westbound on and off ramps, in the latter part of 2016. and the total project cost over $100 million funded with bridge program, and state proposition 1-before and tida funds. we're currently closing out that project. you know, as part of that we created a vista point which is actually quite gentlema majestiu can see the view. >> sfgtv, your powerpoint. you might want to go back to

for businesses? >> it does. >> okay. yeah, correct, because my understanding, the department of transportation had that limitation for businesses, but not necessarily all federal departments. >> in this case, it does, as well. >> okay. all right. and then the other question i had, i'm interested in how we obtain these grants, because that's wonderful. do we have, as part of our financial planning, do we apply for these grants? i'm interested in understanding how are we able to get this money? do they just kind of randomly give it to us or do we have to apply for it or is it competitive? are we going to get more? >> i can confirm we applied for these grants in 2006-2007. it was before i was on this project. >> commissioner mondejar: okay. >> well, with dissolution, so we don't have the ability to apply more. that's why we were able to get an extension and request an extension, and it worked, because this would complete the project. we can't do any new project which would potentially void these results that could be available, we can't apply for any new grants. >> so these were existing granted that were extended. >> yes. >> okay

we have been encouraged with what we have been hearing from the department for transport who issued a the railway. the people living this morning who might feel frustrated by their commute, how quickly could we see these changes? if the government worked with us we could complete a nationwide roll—out between three to five years. we will between three to five years. we will be back at 8:20am talking about homepreneurs. we need a more dynamic name for them. i like the french name, maison preneurs. time now to get the news, travel and weather where you are. good morning from bbc london news, i'm asad ahmad. a man has been arrested and charged with murder after getting off a flight at gatwick airport. it's over the death of doorman tudor simionov, who was attacked outside a party in mayfair on new year's day. 23—year—old nor hamada is the fourth man to be charged over the killing. london fashion week continues this morning, but there have been calls for the industry to reduce its huge carbon footprint. fashion is the world's largest polluter after the oil industry and so the bbc has team

the department for transport entered into contact with seaborne freight to provide ferry services betweenttractive part of the package. see point part of this was backed by ireland's biggest shipping company. for commercial reasons i am not able to mention involvement to the support for the proposition from the support for the proposition from the outset pervaded confidence in the outset pervaded confidence in the availability of this deal. the company told me the intended delay or confirm that the seaborne plans where both viable and deliverable. these assurances include it clear evidence about the formal steps that seaborne had ta ken evidence about the formal steps that seaborne had taken to secure that is however releasing this information could have it turn up the cost of the vessels and even resulted in them being removed from the market. i therefore had to refrain from saying anything publicly about this to date. my department monitored the progress of seaborne in meeting its commitments. they had secured firm options for ships however late last week despite previous assurances art