transitional dealfor theresa may will propose a two—year transitional deal for the uk to get a smooth exit from the eu. it is thought the plan could cost britain £18 billion. the final brexit bill is likely to be higher. the pm is expected to make the offer in a key speech on brexit in italy tomorrow. theresa may also want continued access to the single market during that transition time and for britain to be able to negotiate its own trade deals. here is vicky young. has borisjohnson trade deals. here is vicky young. has boris johnson been trade deals. here is vicky young. has borisjohnson been won over? are you agreed on brexit? he denied he was planning to resign if he didn‘t get his way, but today the cabinet appears to have signed up to the prime minister‘s brexit plan. will we be paying billions into the eu wa nts we be paying billions into the eu wants wheelies? ministers were given time to read the speech before theresa may gives it tomorrow. if the cabin and unified? her party is divided over how quickly we break oui’ divided over how quickly we break our ties with the eu, her task is to find a compromise. —— into the eu wa nts find a compromise. —— into the eu wants wheelies? she is likely to propose a transitional arrangement between the uk and eu starting in march 2019 and lasting up to two yea rs. march 2019 and lasting up to two years. she is expected to signal that britain will continue to pay into the eu during that period. that could amount to 20 billion euros. she repeat her demands for a bespoke trade deal afterwards. eu payments should continue for a while in the meantime. we are leaving a big hole in theirfinances meantime. we are leaving a big hole in their finances if we justly. if the european union is going to deal constructively with us and reach a sensible agreement, well, then there are reasonable political and diplomatic reasons why we should help them meet their budget commitments and not create a great deal of disruption. theresa may is said to be making an open and generous offer to the eu in her speech tomorrow. that is exactly what worries people like boris johnson. he thinks the pm, as she tries to get a deal, will give away too much ground in too much money. this carefully choreographed exit from cabinet suggests the chancellor and foreign secretary have set aside their differences over brexit for 110w. their differences over brexit for now. today in italy, the eu‘s chief negotiator, michel barnier, suggested there could be rapid agreement on a transition period. today, in italy, the eu‘s chief negotiator suggested there could be rapid agreement on a transition period, but repeated that the uk would have to accept eu rules during that time. is the cabinet united? very united. a united front at home but tomorrow theresa may must sell her vision to a wider audience. my colleague christian fraser is in florence. a wide audience, but perhaps she would have to satisfy several audiences, right? she will. i‘m not sure how much the people here in italy are really watching. if i show you the top shot in florence you can see just how much this city is steeped in history. this charge behind me is where galileo, the mathematician, was first denounced in the 17th century for this theory that the earth revolved around the sun. when you put it in that context this speech is vitally important in uk terms. not important for the people of florence. nonetheless, they are interested to hear what she has to say. everybody in europe is aware of the impasse in this first stage of negotiations. and crucially they wa nt to negotiations. and crucially they want to know about the money. particularly countries like italy. they don‘t want to be coughing up more money down the line because the uk has walked away. derrey assurances that do the transition the uk will pay £10 billion for every year. —— there are assurances. that would take us to the end of this current budget around. that in the short term would satisfy countries like italy. and then they are looking further down the line and wondering, what about your long—standing commitments on things like pensions and debt? that will form part of the later negotiations. we shall see what reaction there is around europe and whether it will help move negotiations forward when they reconvened on monday. what happens if they say no to this idea of a transitional deal? well, i think it was mike tyson who said everybody has a plan until they get smacked in the mouth. chuckles that‘s the reality. you might come here with a plan. but what happens if the french and germans turn around and say that it isn‘t enough, sorry. particularly when theresa may has gone very far to convince cabinet colleagues this is the right way forward. the other issue, of course, is what sort of deal are we moving towards? we have had michel barnier in rome today saying, you cannot have the norway and switzerland model, and all of the benefits that come with that, closely aligned with the single market, as well as the freedom of the other choice, the canadian model. you cannot have a bit of both. we are not having that. but in theresa may‘s speech she is pointing out that this will be a bespoke deal. there is a great difference on that. the europeans are saying that it is one all the other. theresa may knows that. she just has not told the cabinet which way she is going to go. how much did the eu 27 need some form of deal, as much as the uk? —— how much do. of course they do. they all have big ties to europe. this country exports to britain. we are one of the wanton importers into italy, as well. —— we are one of the most important importers into italy, as well. everybody is on the same page that no deal is not an option for the uk 01’ no deal is not an option for the uk or eu. but the europeans have the upper hand on this. it‘s the uk that will have to decide which way it goes. they gave the message today through michel barnier, that they are prepared to talk, but they will only talk of britain stands by its commitments. that starts with money, honouring the commitment to europeans in the uk, and, of course, finding some sort of solution to that very difficult issues in ireland. thank you. and we‘ll have extended coverage throughout the day on the bbc news channel tomorrow live from florence and reaction in westminster to the prime minister‘s speech. and we‘ll find out how this story — and many others — are covered in tomorrow‘s front pages at 10:40 this evening in the papers — our guests joining me tonight are the journalist and author, sarfraz manzoor and larisa brown, defence editor at the daily mail. rescuers are racing against time to free survivors of the earthquake in mexico on tuesday which has killed almost 240 people and injured thousands more. more than 50 people have been pulled out of the crumpled buildings alive. but efforts to rescue a 12—year—old girl from her collapsed school are continuing slowly. they‘ve managed to pass her food and water — but still can‘t free her. the 7.1 quake was the deadliest to hit the country for 32 years. 0ur correspondent aleem maqbool sent this report from mexico city. dos medicos. the rescue efforts are getting all the more desperate in mexico city. volunteers hang on to moments of hope, but in all the confusion, none really know what the ambulances are carrying away. at any sign of life in the rubble, the call goes out for doctors, orfor more soldiers who‘ve been deployed. the focal point now is the school where children and teachers remain trapped. there has been an extremely tense rescue operation unfolding at this primary school, an excruciating wait for parents. the rescuers say they will continue through day and night until every last child is accounted for, and it feels like right now everyone in this nation is waiting for that moment, too. for a time, we were given access to the school yard with rescue workers, right beside the collapsed three—storey building. there was a dramatic moment where it was announced all efforts were now to be focused on a 13—year—old girl they had made contact with. then one of the teachers from the school, who has been waiting here for hours, was called forward and escorted into what remains of the collapsed building, a friendly, familiar voice for the trapped girl to hear. through the night, rescuers worked at the site, but the girl remains trapped, as do many others. it appears someone was rescued, but his condition is unknown. much of the news in the past 2a hours has been bad. it‘s believed one teacher was the last whose body was recovered. at the school, and rescue operations elsewhere, it‘s hard to use heavy machinery because of the risk of causing further collapse. "the work is so delicate", says hector mendez, head of one rescue brigade. "we have to do everything by hand or chisel, "with a hammer or handsaw. "if you don‘t, you could cause something very serious". and those rescue attempts go on far beyond mexico city. in the state of morelos, close to the epicentre of the earthquake, buildings and cars were flattened. with fewer high—rise structures, the area escaped the kind of loss of life suffered in the capital. there are questions being asked about why structures here can‘t all withstand earthquakes better, when this country is so prone to them, particularly schools. just in mexico city, we have more than 9000 schools, and this is the only one that has these serious damages. of course, many are giving thanks that more schools weren‘t affected, but that is little comfort for the parents who‘ve suffered and who continue to suffer here. trump has announced new sanctions targeting north korea. he said the new measures would affect companies and companies in trade with pyongyang. the action is designed to cut off sources of revenue which are being used to fund the north‘s nuclear weapons programme. let‘s get more reaction to the presidents speech. 0ur bbc world news america correspondent laura trevelyan is in new york for us now. how much more is there to sanction on north korea? the us has tightened the screws. it is targeting north korea‘s shipping industry, its textile industry, information technology, manufacturing. basically any companies on individual entities, that have asset in the us who are seeking to be facilitating trade with north korea in these areas could be sanctioned by the us treasury department. what‘s interesting is that it is ratcheting up interesting is that it is ratcheting up the diplomatic path, just days after trump warned the us could totally destroy north korea if it carries on testing intercontinental ballistic missiles. trump with the south korean president and japanese prime minister, on the same day there was a warning to the un general assembly that the nuclear issue with north korea needed to be managed stably. a lot of diplomatic action here today. how effective can sanctions be from the united states? this is particularly looking at companies in the us who might be doing deals with north korea. they will be affected. the us treasury department has a long history of effectively sanctioning companies, over iran, for example. they sanctioned businesses doing business with iran very effectively. that is one of the reasons why the ukrainian economy was so crippled. many of those sanctions have now been lifted. the question is whether the sanctions change any behaviour. will this do anything to peter kim jong—il and will this do anything to peter kim jong—iland —— will this do anything to peter kim jong—il and —— will this do anything to deter kim jong—il? jong—il and —— will this do anything to deter kimjong—il? it might bring it to to deter kimjong—il? it might bring ittoa to deter kimjong—il? it might bring it to a point of negotiation. that is the theory but we have to wait and see what the practice is. where does this leave us in terms of diplomacy? this is a diplomatic acts, the tightening of sanctions. it isn‘t an act of war. the south koreans have said they would like to talk directly with north korea if they stopped working on their nuclear programme. the south koreans and neighbours of the north would immediately be in the firing line if there was any escalation of the conflict. it shows that despite the words trump used to hear, taunting kimjong—un, words trump used to hear, taunting kim jong—un, calling words trump used to hear, taunting kimjong—un, calling him rocket man, the united states is still doing all it can to put as much economic pressure on north korea in the hope that will change its behaviour. thanks very much. the headlines on bbc news: ina in a major speech tomorrow it is thought theresa may will propose a two—year transitional deal after brexit which could cost the uk £80 billion. —— £18 billion. the race against time in mexico city to find the children trapped beneath the rubble of their school after tuesday‘s earthquake. cancelled flights — but now ryanair‘s pilots are being asked to change their holiday plans because of a rota crisis. let‘s get a round—up of the sport. good evening. it‘s been claimed the fa was warned about employing england women‘s manager mark sampson before he got the job. england women‘s manager mark sampson before he got thejob. he england women‘s manager mark sampson before he got the job. he was sacked yesterday after evidence emerged of inappropriate and unacceptable behaviour with female players. in a previous role at bristol, this was. questions over suitability were raised during his recruitment process. he has been dropped as a charity patron. i think the fa have a responsibility to make sure this is looked up properly. if you look at the timeline. but you look at the end of november when mark was appointed. before it was announced he was appointed somebody went to somebody quite high up in the fa and said, by the way, i think you should be aware ofa the way, i think you should be aware of a side of his personality. they we re of a side of his personality. they were warned before they announced he had been appointed. 0 nto had been appointed. 0nto the football matters. chelsea have agreed to sell diego costa to his former club atletico madrid. he is yet to play for chelsea this season after they told him he was free to leave the club. when a move didn‘t materialise in the summer tra nsfer didn‘t materialise in the summer transfer window the spanish international refused to return to london. he scored 20 league goals last season. he will now move to madrid in january if last season. he will now move to madrid injanuary if personal terms and a medical are confirmed. the president of cycling‘s world governing body, brian cookson, has left his role. he says he has left with his head held high. despite losing the election to the presidency. the new president has vowed to get rid of the corruption that has left the uci with what he saysis that has left the uci with what he says is a disastrous reputation. more from our correspondent... we need to have a strong vision for the future with the holders of cycling. this is what i will do. i will be focused on guaranteeing the credibility of the sport. and specifically the technological fraud. i think we are professional enough on the subject. it is mission accomplished for one of the best boxers in the world as andre ward retires from the boxing ring. he says he leaves the sport while still at the top of the mountain. the american light heavyweight world champion is regarded as one of the finest fighters on the planet, having won all 32 of his contests, including beating carl froch in britain six yea rs beating carl froch in britain six years ago. at 33 he says his body can no longer cope with the rigours of the sport. that is all the sport for now, more in the next hour. thank you very much. ryanair is planning to make its pilots change their planned holidays as it tries to deal with a rota crisis that‘s already led to the cancellation of 2000 flights. ryanair had offered to give pilots a £12,000 bonus if they gave up some holiday. but the pilots rejected that idea. the company‘s chief executive michael 0‘leary says they‘re now looking to recruit an extra 500 pilots over the next six months. here‘s our transport correspondent richard westcott. under fire for thousands of cancelled flights, ryanair‘s boss was not in the most patient mood today. is he feeling the heat? no, we‘re having a very good year. he is making pilots delay some leave to avoid cutting yet more flights. there is extra money in it for them, there is also evidence some may turn it down. ryanair is split into 86 bases scattered around europe. each has pilot representatives but they rarelyjoin forces, until now. i‘m told around half have backed a letter, seen by the bbc — that say, the majority of our colleagues rejected your last memo which offered them a £12,000 bonus to work on days off. they are demanding new contracts and better working conditions instead. that bonus is not the end of the goodies, as michael 0‘leary called them, that are being offered to pilots. this is dublin, the home of ryanair. this is one of their biggest bases. pilots here, along with others in london, frankfurt and berlin are being offered an extra 10,000 euros if they help out. but i have seen messages on social media suggesting that pilots here, anyway, don‘t want to take that money because it‘s not being offered across the whole company. compared to most people, ryanair pilots have a very well—paid job. so why are they so angry? they are under a lot of pressure. they have their schedules changed quite a lot. they often are overworked, frankly. 0ne sent me his roster today, he has got 45 hours and 50 minutes of flying in one week. that really means you are at work about 60 or 70 hours. ryanair has had quite an effect on the industry and has dragged down conditions for everyone. 0ne union that is not allowed to get involved unless the pilots ask them to says it has never known a situation like it. the reality is that airlines need pilots. there is a shortage of pilots. ryanair clearly are throwing money at this problem. i would suggest to them that they need to fundamentally look at their employment model, rather than sticking a plaster on the problem. angry pilots keep telling me that this is their big chance to get more secure contracts. but michael 0‘leary is not the type to back down. if these crews do pull together and take action, it could mean more cancelled flights for passengers. richard westcott reporting there. well let‘s talk a little more on this with someone who has many years of experience working in the airline industry. the aviation analyst, john strickland joins me in the studio. thank you for coming in this evening. what is it like being a pilot for ryanair, how appealing a company are they? the simple reality is that they are well—paid but worked hard. it is a good entry point for many people who wa nt good entry point for many people who want a career as an air pilots. there is a global pilot shortage. regional airlines flying small aircraft is at the bottom of the chain. at the top would be british airways and emirates offering worldwide flights. there is a career choice to be made. people who want to get in get started there, and maybe put up with being worked very ha rd maybe put up with being worked very hard at ryanair, but they certainly get well paid while doing it. hard at ryanair, but they certainly get well paid while doing itm that key to why they have turned down £12,000 instead of giving up their holiday? that'll be a reason for it. it is a low—cost airline. they sell to the public low fares and they make profits from that. ryanair is successful at making profit, they manage every cost. in the winter when things are not so busy, there could be as many as 70 aircraft on the ground. they don‘t wa nt aircraft on the ground. they don‘t want expensive crew sitting around doing nothing. so when they can work them hard in the summer they do. they seem to have been caught by this. they have suddenly found they need to take pilots up now. this. they have suddenly found they need to take pilots up nowm this. they have suddenly found they need to take pilots up now. if there is an international shortage of pilots, how are ryanair going to employ another 506 months? that is their scale. from a passenger point of view it is flying millions of people every year. —— another 500 in six months? the ability to pay high salaries, albeit with the very high work schedule, is an enticement. without ryanair work schedule, is an enticement. without rya nair around there work schedule, is an enticement. without ryanair around there would be fewer pilotjobs available where you can fly in modern aircraft and mainly come home at night, as well. some pilots would make a lifestyle choice. they wouldn‘t want to do a long haulflight choice. they wouldn‘t want to do a long haul flight when they are away overnight in a hotel for a long time. you are going to have to have a lot of pilots dotted around the place if you have such a big network. that must have an impact on operations if you have people in the wrong place at the wrong time. ryanair tries to wrong place at the wrong time. rya nair tries to make wrong place at the wrong time. ryanair tries to make it simple compared with other airlines. broadly speaking pilots would be in hotels overnight. rya nair broadly speaking pilots would be in hotels overnight. ryanair has 86 bases. they have locally —based crew, so they don‘t often put people in hotels overnight. this means that you can get home in the evening as a pilot. how can they dissuade pilots from leaving rya nair pilot. how can they dissuade pilots from leaving ryanair is, really, they could take their pick once they have clocked up some experience and join another airline? there is the way they can fundamentally change and suddenly ratchet up salaries enormously or reduce the working hours. that won‘t work. ryanair would disappear. i don‘t see that happening. they know there is a risk of attrition. people make off to other airlines. 0ther of attrition. people make off to other airlines. other airlines don‘t as many in the fleet. norwegian, also another low—cost airline, it a tt ra cts also another low—cost airline, it attracts the pilots but not the scale ryanair attracts the pilots but not the scale rya nair has. attracts the pilots but not the scale ryanair has. that still means they will keep a large number of people working for them successfully. how do you see this problem being resolved that ryanair are facing? they will be working as ha rd are facing? they will be working as hard as they can. they are recruiting additional pilots. we are moving into a quieter winter period. they admit it was an own goal, a self—inflicted wound. they will look to see how they need to change their microprocessors. i‘m sure some heads will roll internally. they will look to avoid trouble next summer. —— their processes. it is no mean feat to have got that scale of operation that they have achieved today. we sometimes moan about work. there are understandable reasons why people do so. understandable reasons why people do so. but it is a competitive industry. ryanair so. but it is a competitive industry. rya nair has so. but it is a competitive industry. ryanair has managed to attract a big volume of pilots. thanks very much. a sixth man has been arrested by police investigating last week‘s attack on a london underground train — in which 30 people were injured. a 17—year—old was detained in thornton heath, in south london, just after midnight. meanwhile a 21—year—old man, thought to be yahyah farroukh, has been released with police taking no further action against him. an inquest into the death of the moors murderer, ian brady, has found that he died of natural causes. the 79—year—old was being held at the ashworth secure unit in merseyside when he died in may. the inquest heard that he frequently removed his feeding tube while on hunger strike, but this did not contribute to his death. there was no mention of what has happened to his remains. we can return to mexico. rescuers are racing against time to free survivors of the earthquake which has killed almost 240 people and injured thousands more. we can get more of an understanding of what is happening in this situation now. on the line is ray gray from the international rescue corps. you have a team ready to go, tell us what you are planning. it looks like from the coverage we have seen, are planning. it looks like from the coverage we have seen, the request for specialist equipment, we have a tea m for specialist equipment, we have a team of eight people with pieces of equipment ready to go. we are waiting for that request to be confirmed by the mexican government. why is that equipment so important? it means that if you are trying to track a voice you can locate somebody buried under rubble. it works using powerful microphones that you place on top of the rubble. eubank three times, you listen, and you get a response if somebody is alive underneath. —— you bang three times. you literally go around and x marks the spot, you know that the person is below that position. so you can target where you need to dig. when you see the pictures of the current search and rescue operation what are you thinking? they are doing a terrificjob. they have got about 50 people out alive. that is one heck of an achievement. we are prepared to offer our assistance if they require. you have assistance if they require. you have a huge amount of experience. tell us about the other big disasters you have worked with. i've been doing it for 28 years. i‘ve been to earthquake in pakistan, india, algeria, iran, columbia, nicaraguan, all over the world. how important is it to get that equipment there very soon? we are saying that the rescu e rs soon? we are saying that the rescuers are racing against the clock. but they do seem to be buoyed up clock. but they do seem to be buoyed up by clock. but they do seem to be buoyed up by the success they are having. there are so many variables when people are trapped under rubble. if they are in a void, not injured, in a space where they can move around m, a space where they can move around in, albeit not a lot, and there was a fractured pipe, they can sometimes last up to six days. children are very resilient in those situations. if they are physically trapped, concrete on a part of their body, and injured, the chance of them getting out alive becomes less and less. we hope you can get the kit out there very swiftly. thank you very much. just before we take a look at the weather forecast, just want to give you an update regarding those arrests in connection with the parsons green london underground explosion from last week. we are hearing that a second man has been and released, having been arrested in connection with that. it was a 48—year—old man who was arrested yesterday at an address in newport. he has now been released. that is in addition to the 21—year—old man who has also been released earlier today. four men are still being questioned. let‘s take a look at the weather forecast. it has questioned. let‘s take a look at the weatherforecast. it has been questioned. let‘s take a look at the weather forecast. it has been a day of mixed fortunes across the british isles. it started wet towards the west. with time, the weather front has pushed towards the east. eventually in the small hours of friday it will get away from the east shores and east anglia. underneath those clearing skies it‘ll turn out to be chilly. even in major towns and cities. down to single figures. in the countryside eve nflo. single figures. in the countryside evenflo. a touch of frost in sheltered spots in northern britain. —— in the countryside even lower. more cloud and wind coming in back towards scotland and the western side of england, through northern ireland, brightening sky is here. and it stays bright for a good part of the east midlands, east anglia and the south—east, where we will see probably the highest of the temperatures. saturday a bit a mishmash. the best of the sunshine will be in the far south and for a time in northern ireland. hello. this is bbc news. the headlines: theresa may is expected to propose a two—year transitional deal for the uk in a speech in florence tomorrow. the plan could cost britain £18 billion, although the final brexit bill is likely to be higher. mexico has asked other countries to provide specialist teams and equipment to help search for survivors after the earthquake on tuesday in which at least 200 and 30 people were killed. ryanair‘s chief executive, michael 0‘leary, is planning to make pilots delay taking a week of their annual leave, after the airline was forced to cancel 50 flights a day for the next six weeks. donald trump has signed a new executive order extending us sanctions against companies and banks that finance and facilitate trade with north korea. a sixth man has been arrested by police investigating last week‘s attack on a london underground train. meanwhile, two men have been released by police. more now on our top story. rescuers are racing against time to free survivors of the earthquake in mexico on tuesday which has killed almost 240 people and injured thousands more. more than 50 people have been pulled out of the crumpled buildings alive. we arejoined by we are joined by pedro who lives in mexico city and has been affected by the earthquake. thanks forjoining us. the earthquake. thanks forjoining us. where were you when the earthquake struck?|j us. where were you when the earthquake struck? i was at the university of mexico, teaching. a few hours before i started teaching... inaudible and then i was walking through the corridor after finishing classes and it was immediately the earthquake and the alarms started ringing. so i ran. it was easy for me. i had done everything i needed. that was fine. very scary. i was here in mexico city in 1985 for the earthquake, but this was much more scary. how quickly did everyone realised this was a real earthquake? clearly there was a real earthquake? clearly there was a real earthquake? clearly there was a huge tremor but you had just undergone the rehearsal. was a huge tremor but you had just undergone the rehearsalm was a huge tremor but you had just undergone the rehearsal. it takes time to realise. my wife was in a different state and i never imagined it was there in the centre of that region where everything was worse than here. and then little by little you start putting things together. i came home and in front of me something collapsed from the top of the building and the car underneath was completely destroyed. i started walking along the streets and seeing people outside houses. some people in bad conditions. the good thing was, maybe because we did that in 85, the reaction of the population was clearly trying to help and moving and making connections and it is still going, that. how badly damaged visual building? —— is your. very scary, you see, but it is all superficial, the structure is fine. i wasn‘t here but it moved. but the building is ok. all the buildings in the area, other buildings have been destroyed. i live in an area which was affected in 85 and it has buildings from the 60s... was affected in 85 and it has buildings from the 60s. .. inaudible we can still hear you. i have one final question. what more could the authorities have done? you are critical of the way things are run in mexico. well, i think... the thing they have done... i don‘t see them much, actually. there are regulations which were not respected at the time, there were buildings that collapsed because they have a big advertising and on top of it and the building could not supported. —— advertise meant on top of it. those things were not carefully... sorry, sorry. pedro, we appreciate you talking to us and we are glad you we re talking to us and we are glad you were not badly affected by the earthquake. thank you, pedro, in mexico city. hurricane maria is continuing on its path of devastation across the caribbean, and is now hitting the dominican republic. it made a direct hit on puerto rico, leaving the whole island without power. homes have been destroyed and catastrophic flooding has been reported. a curfew has been imposed on the 3.5 million residents. 0ur correspondent will grant is in puerto rico and sent us this update. well, from the look of things this morning, you wouldn‘t realise that the biggest storm to hit puerto rico in over 80 years struck, hurricane maria was a category four storm and brought widely damage especially to the northern coastal region, there isa the northern coastal region, there is a small village that has lost the vast majority of its homes, we understand. rooms have been torn off houses, buildings across the island, and he in the capital we are still without electricity, no sign of that being back for a couple of days, and the infrastructure here is creaking, the infrastructure here is creaking, the island is seriously in debt, bankrupt. the last thing it needed was a storm with the size and ferocity of hurricane maria, barrelling into it as it did over the past few days. this rebuild is going to take many many millions that the island simply doesn‘t have. 0ur reporter in puerto rico. it‘s a powerful and effective drug that‘s been prescribed for decades to people with epilepsy and bipolar disorder. but some women who were told to keep taking sodium valproate during pregnancy were devastated to find that it had harmed their children in the womb and they‘re now calling for a public inquiry. it‘s estimated that around 20,000 children have been left with physical and mental disabilities in the uk. it comes ahead of a europe—wide drug safety review next week. this special report from our health correspondent sophie hutchinson. three—year—old alfie has only just learned to walk. he can‘t speak or point. he has severe learning difficulties caused by the epilepsy medicine which his mum took while pregnant. sodium valproate has been prescribed since the early 1970s, but women say they are still not being told about the risk. there was nothing mentioned about valproate at all. theyjust said, keep on the drug. i wasn‘t aware of any risk. you can do three things from that one. it wasn‘t untiljulie‘s fourth child was born that she was told her pills had harmed three of her children. i think shock at first. numb. and then afterwards is laying in bed and just feeling guilty. her seven—year—old daughter, 11—year—old son and 21—year—old daughter have all been affected. as time went by and i had more children, we saw more paediatricians, we saw gps, we saw midwives, we saw all of these health care professionals. why did it take me to have four children before somebody finally sort of said, well, that child looks like it‘s got sodium valproate syndrome. valproate medicines are an effective treatment for epilepsy and bipolar disorders, but babies exposed to it in the womb have a 10% risk of physical abnormalities and 30 to 40% risk of autism, learning disabilities and low iq. warning signs about the danger of the drug emerged as early as the 1980s and increased in the ‘90s, but large studies were slow to follow up. it wasn‘t until 2005 that patient information leaflets included risks of delayed development in children, and only last year warnings were put on the outside of packets. these are some of the faces of the 20,000 children it‘s estimated have been harmed by sodium valproate in the uk, and the tens of thousands injured across the world. in france, 1,200 families are suing the drug‘s manufacturer, sanofi. they claim it was aware of the risks and should have warned women. these red files are just some of the cases for the french trials. lawyers say they give an indication of the huge scale of the harm caused by sodium valproate. the lawyer showed me a sanofi document which lists cases of children born to mothers taking valproate who had developed mental problems, many of them in the uk. you can see uk, uk, uk everywhere. the french government is supporting the legal action and has also put aside around £9 million to compensate the families. but here, parents like emma friedman have given up hope of a day in court. her 18—year—old son andy is severely autistic after being harmed by valproate. in 2010 his case was part of a class action, 100 families tried to sue sanofi but three weeks before the trial legal aid was pulled and the case could not go ahead. i believe the children have had justice denied. we need to have a public inquiry into what went on. why were the warnings ignored with this drug? why wasn‘t further research done? why weren‘t we informed? who was responsible? sanofi declined to comment about the legal cases but said: despite being an effective drug, the valproate natasha took is only meant to be prescribed to women of child—bearing age as a last resort, according to the uk medicines watchdog. it said it‘s kept the drug under constant review and updated warnings, but next week the european medicines watchdog will examine whether those warnings are actually reaching women and protecting children. and the advice if women are concerned about valproate is to consult your doctor. for more information and links to help groups you can go to the bbc website. police searching for a missing teenager in fife have found a body on an area of land in kirkcaldy. 17—year—old libbi toledo was last seen in the town ten days ago. 0fficers discovered the body in a disused scrap yard. formal identification is yet to take place and the death is currently being treated as unexplained. the world‘s richest woman has died at the age of 94. she was rarely seen at the age of 94. she was rarely seenin at the age of 94. she was rarely seen in public after leaving the lorry or board in —— l‘oreal board in 2005. gideon bettencourt gave a billion euros to a reporter, when asked why, she said because he is worth it. council officials have carried out a raid on a four bedroom house in the london borough of brent — which was found to be home to 35 men. the case is by no means unique and it‘s claimed many of london‘s poorest are being exploited by greedy landlords. this is said to be a growing problem, with the number of prosecutions reaching an all time high. as tarah welsh reports. in a dawn raid in suburbia, officers find 35 men packed into this four—bedroom house. it was an immense shock to find wall—to—wall mattresses, apart from the bathrooms. and we also found there was a mattress in the kitchen. there was also a mattress in a gazebo to the rear of the property. the council said neighbours had complained about anti—social behaviour and it is trying to trace the landlord, but we found him right outside. he said he rented out the property five weeks ago to somebody he knew. he says he only found out how many people were living there when he saw it on the news. he didn‘t want us to show his face. as the landlord, isn‘t it your responsibility to know what‘s going on in your property? surely, unless i come and inspect it, i can‘t. yes, a landlord should be responsible, but you are saying that they were making noise. that‘s the first i heard of it. a house like this should have no more than seven people living in it. 0r or it is deemed overcrowded. if more than three of them are unrelated, landlords are supposed to hold a licence. is this a house of multiple occupancy? absolutely not. not at all. but you knew there were lots of people? no, that is putting words in my mouth. no way did i say that. but you knew that there were five, maybe six. four or five people is not overcrowding. the man who answered the door could not speak english but the landlord said he was receiving £2500 a month from one tenant only. we spoke to many local people and they all say this is not an isolated case but a big problem in the area, and have even pointed out other houses where many people are living. a local postman even told us that he thinks that at least one house on every street he visits is overcrowded. people coming, going, different times, night—time, daytime, cars. everything is broken when you have that

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