suffering from a type of dementia. hello and welcome if you re watching in the uk or around the world. the prime minister rishi sunak is holding talks with northern ireland s political leaders in belfast today with hopes that a deal between the uk and the eu on northern ireland s brexit arrangement could be reached as early as next week. the current trading arrangement know as the northern ireland protocol was negotiated during brexit talks. it was put in place to deal with the fact that northern ireland is in the uk and the republic of ireland is in the eu. some goods passing from england, scotland and wales into northern ireland are getting checked when they cross the irish sea, as the current deal prevents checkpoints on the island of ireland. unionist parties argue that this places an effective border across the irish sea which undermines northern ireland s place within the uk. the largest unionist party, the dup, is currently refusing to take part in the country s po
this. we appreciate you talking to us, thank you very much. - a former security guard at the uk s berlin embassy that pleaded guilty to spying for moscow faces up up to ia yea rs years in prison when he is sentenced today. david ballantyne smith admitted to passing sensitive material to the russian embassy in germany and was then caught in a sting operation. we can cross to that sentencing at the old bailey now. you gave evidence at that hearing, i rejected your basis of plea, and determined that you should be sentenced in line with the prosecution case. i have already given a fulljudgment outlining my reasons for reaching that conclusion. i will not repeat those reasons now, but will briefly set out the facts of the offences as i