emma simpson, bbc news, harrogate.nger on the london 0pera stage. she‘s appearing in 0rpheus in the underworld at the english national opera. however, on stage because of her deep baritone voice, she continues to play male roles. 0ur arts correspondent, david sillito reports. hi. my name is lucia lucas and i am a professional opera singer. sings opera. iam not i am not trying to be a pioneer. i am trying to see how far i can get this to go and how long i can stay in the business because i hope that people in the future won‘t have the difficulties that i have had. lucia lucas. it has been more than five yea rs before lucas. it has been more than five years before she decided to become her true self. the director of the 0pera at the time said... her true self. the director of the opera at the time said... just one question. "what happens to your voice?" i‘ve done some research on that and for better or worse it doesn‘t change. that and for better or worse it doesn't change. and so for that baritone voice she makes the jo

emma simpson, bbc news.arliament for a special sitting on saturday october 19th, after next week's crucial eu summit. it's expected that if a brexit deal is agreed there, boris johnson will ask mps to approve it — if not, a range of alternative options may be put forward. the summit is considered the last chance for the uk and eu to agree a deal by the deadline of 31st 0ctober — something the irish prime minister leo varadkar has warned will be ‘very difficult' to achieve. nick eardley reports. it's uncharacteristically quiet here today. parliament has been suspended ahead of the queen's speech, mps are backing constituencies. there is a frantic fortnight ahead in which we'll find out if brexit is happening this month and if so, what it looks like. after a downing street source said that a deal was essentially impossible, ministers we re essentially impossible, ministers were today trying to sound more optimistic. nothing is over yet, there is a european council meeting that will take place next week, there

emma simpson, bbc news, harrogate.and ben hunte has been looking at how it‘s changed through the decades. glossy magazines fill the shelves, but this one, which looks like coffee—table art, started 47 years ago as a monthly voice for gay activists. here in the national lgbt archives in east london, you will find a treasure trove of queer history. almost half a century later, some of the pages still feel relevant today. one of the things we have seen within this magazine, within the first edition, is media watch. talk me through what media watch was. it was basically a look at what was being said in the national media about the lgbt community at the time. "loonies who want a sense of family life." and even more relevant, "save the children from sad, sordid sex lessons." reading some of the headlines here, they aren‘t too dissimilar to headlines that we actually see today. of course, predominantly targeted at what was called the gay community then, but within lgbtq, some of these headlines being targeted towards people w

emma simpson, bbc news, kent.nic minority women in the police in england and wales — they make up less than 2% of the force. campaigners say more needs to be done to improve diversity. but the home office says there are more female ethnic minority officers than ever before and a new recruitment campaign to take on 20,000 new staff is an opportunity to attract people from all backgrounds. our community affairs correspondent, adina campbell, reports. i hadn't seen any black female police officers. it was something that i thought i do want to come and represent a little bit. it feels the females are taking over, we are coming to make our mark. the latest group of new recruits ready to serve. this year alone, essex police have doubled their intake of ethnic minority officers. a member of the public came up to me and actually commended me on the fact i was a female police officer and not only a female police officer but from a minority group, and it was a great feeling and i was proud. but there are very few women of c

emma simpson, bbc news, harrogate.ity businesses in england. what are community businesses? they are what are community businesses? they a re locally rooted what are community businesses? they are locally rooted businesses that trade for the benefit of their local community. they are in a local place for the long time, and that is why they have a big part to play. what does it actually mean? for example, they are community shops, leisure centres, parks, say businesses owned by local people, run for the benefit of their local community, be investing back into their local communities. surely that happens in high street anyway, and if they were going to be successful, they would work? we have supported many of these across the country, and we have seen that they are skilled at taking on empty properties, bringing life back to those streets, and being there for the long term. that is not an answer to rejuvenating the answer, people are moving online, there needs to be properly thought through reinvestment of these places,

emma simpson reports.candal wiping billions from the value of the business and here at tesco hq dave lewis had only just started as the new ceo. here at tesco hq dave lewis had only just started as the new ceoi here at tesco hq dave lewis had only just started as the new ceo. i will investigate and speak to anyone and eve ryo ne investigate and speak to anyone and everyone who can help me understand what has gone on. investigations and fines, a business haemorrhaging sales and customers and a record £6 billion loss, the biggest in retail history. tesco had badly lost its way. over the past five years dave lewis took this business back to basics, from selling assets like dobbies garden centre to improving stories and tesco offer. he also cut costs a nd stories and tesco offer. he also cut costs and jobs. today he said that the turnaround was complete and it was time to move on. you will be remembered as the man who brought tesco out of a deep hole and tesco was broken in many ways notjust with pricing and q

emma simpson, bbc news.ian boyfriend have been released from a prison in iran after being held for three months. jolie king and mark firkin were arrested for reportedly flying a drone without a permit. australia's foreign minister says tehran has dropped all charges against the couple. if you dread to think how many pairs of shoes you have knocking around the house, at least you can be sure you probably don't have enough to start your own exhibition. take a look at this! these trainers are among 2,000 pairs owned by gary aspden, who put around half of them on display in blackburn. fans queued overnight to see the collection, and to buy a pair of limited edition trainers emblazoned with the name of the town. profits will go to a homelessness charity. there you go. lots of shoes. is that your thing? there you go. lots of shoes. is that yourthing? i there you go. lots of shoes. is that your thing? i have one pair. there you go. lots of shoes. is that yourthing? i have one pair. it there you go. lots of shoes. i

emma simpson, bbc news, harrogate.ouse hands over documents for their investigation into president trump. mr trump is accused of pressuring ukraine to investigate his political rivaljoe biden, which he denies. here's our washington correspondent chris buckler. democrats inside congress had been asking the white house for these documents. now, by issuing the subpoena, they are demanding them. and this is all intended to put pressure on the president. among the things they want to see is a full, rather than a rough, transcript of exactly what donald trump said to his ukrainian counterpart volodymyr zelensky back injuly. you might remember that controversially on that call, mr trump asked president zelensky to launch an investigation into his political rival and potential presidential candidate joe biden. democrats also want to find any documents that suggest people in the white house were discussing the possibility of suspending security assistance to ukraine. there have been suggestions that the president might have bee

emma simpson, bbc news. let's take a look at some other stories making the headlines.re to disperse demonstrators angry about unemployment, corruption and poor public services. at least three people are reported to have been killed. hundreds of people have gathered in a shopping mall and other places across hong kong in support of a teenage activist who was shot by police. yesterday saw some of the worst violence since the pro—democracy protests started this year and overshadowed china's celebration of 70 years of communist party rule. the teenager is in a stable condition in hospital. thousands of french police have been protesting in paris over rising rates of suicide in the force. unions say longer hours, fewer resources and the government's controversial pension reforms has all contributed to low staff morale. there have been more than 50 police suicides since the start of the year. the winner of the royal institute of british architect's most prestigious award, the riba stirling prize, will be announced next tuesday. there are six nominations for britain's best ne

emma simpson, bbc news. the headlines on bbc news...aturday sitting, on october 19th, after the eu summit that week, seen as the last chance to avoid a no deal brexit. european leaders say they'll continue to negotiate, but that the blame game has already begun, in london. an update on the market numbers for you, here's how london's and frankfurt ended the day. and in the the united states this is how the dow and the nasdaq are getting on. thousands of children across britain are having multiple teeth extractions in hospitals because of what's been described as a ‘double whammy‘ of high needs and poor access to nhs services. the british dental association have told the bbc that families, especially in coastal communities, face "epic" journeys to get the care they need. as part of a special series of reports about the challenges and opportunities in coastal britain, jemma woodman has been to west cornwall to find out more. and a warning that some people may find some of the footage uncomfortable to watch. we have got jasmine we have gotj

our business correspondent, emma simpson, has more.hat prides itself on its expertise and service. the 0gden brothers have been keeping a close eye on their high street, too. and these last two years, it's lost a bit of its sparkle. this is the prime shopping area. it's lovely. it's a lovely street, and yeah, it's always been a premium shopping street in harrogate. but you've got gaps now. we've got gaps, and it's very sad to see. five years ago, it would have been unthinkable to have these empty units. it's a real shame. even this attractive and popular spa town isn't immune from our changing shopping habits. i think it's the cost of trading in harrogate is quite high, rents are high, rates are high, and i think all that needs to happen is footfalljust drops a fraction, it becomes less viable. it's the big chains that have been pulling out. a familiar story on high streets up and down the country, and we have been crunching the numbers. since the start of 2018, 23 chains have done restructuring deals to cut costs. they're known as com

our business correspondent, emma simpson, has more.he optimum brothers have been keeping a close eye on their high street, too. and in these last two years, it's lost a bit of its sparkle. this is the prime shopping area, it's lovely. it's a lovely street, and it's always been a premium shopping street. but you've got gaps now. we've got gaps, and it's very sad to see, because five yea rs it's very sad to see, because five years it would have been unthinkable to have empty units, it's a real shame. even this, attractive popular urban town isn't immune from the changes in our shopping habits. it's the cost of trading, rents are high, rates are high, and if the football drops off a fraction, it becomes less viable. it's the big chains that have been pulling out. a familiar story on high streets up and down the country. and we've been crunching the numbers. since the start of 2018, 23 chains have done restructuring deals to cut costs. they are known as company voluntary arrangements, a form of insolvency proceedings. so far 1676 outlets h

with 16% of roles left unfilled last month across uk horticulture emma simpson reports from kent. it is for this farmer. they look good enough to eat. yep, beautiful fruit. he doesn't have enough pickers. normally we would pick every single apple on this farm. never ever have we not picked every single apple. this year, tomorrow, we're giving up. you'll leave the apples on the trees? yeah, that's it. we are going to leave them on the trees. the national farmers union says more than 1100 tonnes have been left unpicked across england so far this season, that's 16 million apples — a small proportion of overall, but enough to give an apple a day to 44,000 pupils for a year. so what's the problem? there's a short window to pick fresh produce like this. it's seasonal work and, for decades, farmers have relied on eu workers, mostly eastern europeans, to come over and do the vast majority of the picking. things were getting harder even before brexit, but the fall in the pound and all the political uncertainty is making things even worse. these are the workers phil has left, a far cry from

emma simpson, bbc news.travel, irene and john hays, who are in sunderland. john, i'm just wondering how difficult a decision that was to make, a huge one for you. yes, it is a big, important decision, we are not small to begin with, we are the uk's largest independent travel agent, with sales of 1.2 billion, so it is obviously still a very big decision, and it will double our size. it is approximately £1 billion worth of sales from these 555 branches that we are taking. we obviously did a very careful analysis, and we went very promptly to the civil aviation authority, our regulator, to run our plans past them, and we are very confident we can makea them, and we are very confident we can make a success them, and we are very confident we can make a success of this. irene, for those who have lost theirjobs with thomas cook, who are hoping now that they have a future, what is the message to them? well, the messages we would love to hear from you. we are determined to recruit as many of the talented people who w