As steve smith wrested back all the momentum at the end of day two. Thanksjohn and darren bett has all the weather temps dropping a bit . It will be cold and things changing gcioss it will be cold and things changing across the weekend, i will tell you about that in a bit. A choir of people who cannot read but making music together. The eu has formally agreed to move to the next phase of talks on brexit. Theresa may welcomed the move as an important step on the road to ensuring a smooth and orderly brexit. It is always a little bit chaotic toward the end of an eu summit, a bit like a feeding frenzy, all of these journalists running back bit like a feeding frenzy, all of thesejournalists running back and forward to different press conferences. There have been press conferences. There have been press conferences from Emmanuel Macron and ankara merkel and everyone reacting to the idea that the negotiation should move on to the next phase. The test of sufficient for progress has been met and now the hard work will start developing a platform for the transition and a framework for the transition and a framework for a future trading relationship with the eu wants britain believes in march 2019. With all the reaction to the day s news, it is damian grammaticas. 0na big on a big day for the eu, a barrage of questions. Last night, these mps had given theresa may in round of applause. Ankara merkel has led that gesture. Angela merkel has led that gesture. Of course the one leader who is not here today is theresa may herself, the leader whom this matters most to. Getting the green light in the Brexit Process to move to the next stage. And so the looming question, exactly what does the uk what future ties to the eu to look like . I think the first big step is for the uk government to say what it wants. In clear terms. I think if this happens within the next few weeks, by march we can have a clear european position. First, the eu 27 agreed as expected that sufficient progress has been made. Then discussions turn to the eus terms for discussions. A new set of guidelines. They say talks will only move on if all commitments the uk has made so far respected in full. No backtracking on the financial and citizens deals. The eus terms are . As for what the uk wants most of all, in depth discussions about those future ties, they will have to wait until march, eu leaders say. Indicating that it is the eu which is firmly in control of the Brexit Process. In the last hour, the eu president has given his reaction to two days development. 0pening reaction to two days development. Opening the second phase of our negotiation shows the unity of the eu 27. The hard work of Michel Barnier and the work of Prime Minister may. As for future relations, it is time for the eu 27 to get more clarity. Donald tusk speaking earlier, and Jean Claude Juncker praised mrs mabe was like negotiating skills. A group of parliamentarians being involved in this and so we were able to conclude that sufficient progress has been made and now it is up to us to draft the Withdrawal Agreement together with our british friends and i hope that this withdrawal treaty will be approved by the European Parliament and by the house in london. Jungle gym in london. Albert hall correspondence said you could hear the audible sigh in downing street that this part of the negotiation is finally over. Is there an audible sigh here as well . As much as my fellow presenter is never wrong, he it was less a sigh and more of a round of applause that theresa may got. Very unusual for the 27 leaders to applaud one of the others and especially as these negotiations have been so bad tempered. They are happy that they have been able to reach this milestone but it feels the master which i personally have gone through many times. Last monday, mr barnier agreed that sufficient progress had been made and on wednesday agreed again and today the 27 government leaders have agreed. They have helped her along a number of times, there have been concessions, notably, on the European Court of justice. Concessions, notably, on the European Court ofjustice. They have moved a little bit again today. Tell us more moved a little bit again today. Tell us more about that. The blueprint for moving onto phase two includes some language on the discussions about the future relationship on trade, security and co operation going forward. Initially, we thought we wouldnt stop leeds staff those discussions until march 2018. Now it is said that internal investigation can be conducted in this building, in other words, the officials can still do their homework and hit the ground running when those talks are given the green light in march. Donald tusk went further in his comments saying he would allow exploratory talks to be conducted with the uk. Some would say that is talked about the future relationship and others would say it is smaller talks without getting into the detail. Maybe that is theresa mays strategy. She does have to have that is difficult competition with the cabinet, they have told her that will happen on tuesday. It two month pause is not a disaster for theresa may. If tuesday. It two month pause is not a disasterfor theresa may. If the work is being done in the background anyway. A you things are being done anyway, the eu wants to reason a hand her cabinet colleagues to have that discussion about the principles of what they want from the future relationship. You says we cannot offer you an amazing deal based only on the red lines of not being in the Single Market, not being in these Customs Union and not being in the European Court of justice. Customs union and not being in the European Court ofjustice. There we re European Court ofjustice. There were some positives to work with they say. This deal is now on the horizon, that buys a bit more time. They do not have to get everything signed, sealed and delivered about what the future relationship, every dotand, what the future relationship, every dot and, ready by march 2019. They can carry on talking during that transition phase or that implication phase as the nucleon that likes to say. March 2019 becomes a political deadline, does theresa may get a good enough with the agreement that she could call a trade deal in which the eu would call a declaration about a potential trade deal that satisfies brexiteers in the uk . And european politicians here in the eu council s european politicians here in the eu council s mac. We have talked about the problems in the house of commons and what theresa may has been facing. It is notable about what the 27th need to happen to Stay Together. As theyve negotiated the withdrawal, and they talk about the withdrawal, and they talk about the future trade relationship, each of them has different stakes in this. The french and spanish will wa nt this. The french and spanish will want something from fisheries. The Eastern Europeans want to talk about defence. You may start to see fractures appearing among the 27. Juncker and tasks today saying we need to Stay Together and we need to do this as one. Juncker and donald tusk today saying we need to Stay Together and do this as one. Lets get some reaction from westminster stop no, were not going to west minster, so sorry. First, Kensington Palace has announced the date of prince harry and Meghan Markles wedding. Im not going to tell you when it is, im going to wait. The couple confirmed their engagement last month and they have also told us where the ceremonies later take place. Im not going to steal the thunder from an oil correspondence. The 19th of may interestingly is a saturday. As many people made by now have noticed, it clashes with the fa cup final which ta kes pla ce clashes with the fa cup final which takes place on the same day. So william is going to have to choose because william is the president of the fa. He will also be harrys best man, or supporter as the royals call them. You can be assured that william will be at windsor rather than at wembley. It is unusual but not unprecedented for a Royal Wedding to take place on a saturday. There have been saturday weddings before. I would there have been saturday weddings before. Iwould imagine there have been saturday weddings before. I would imagine that part of the thinking would be because there is no bank holiday, by having the wedding on a saturday, that gives those who are so minded an opportunity to go to windsor this is there will be a procession. So people will have an opportunity to cheer and wave and all of that. There we are, the wedding set for the 19th of may. Some people were pinning their hopes on another bank holiday. I think downing street has not been persuaded, i dont think there was ever much chance because these things are so ruled by precedent. A bank holiday, if it is summary precedent. A bank holiday, if it is summary in the direct line of succession, but not necessarily for somebody who will be, by then, sixth in line for the throne. In april, the birth of the cambridges third child will become fifth in line, which is where harry is at the moment. So he moved down one. It will be a busy spring, wanted . hope you have your best tuxedo ready. The prices of hotels in the windsor area of reaching stratospheric prices. There you are, the 90 of may 200018. Stratospheric prices. There you are, the 90 of may 2000 18. £2000 stratospheric prices. There you are, the 90 of may 200018. £2000 on some booking websites. We will put a tent up booking websites. We will put a tent upforyou, at booking websites. We will put a tent up for you, at least. 0n booking websites. We will put a tent up for you, at least. On twitter is asked now we have the dates, the simon mccoy have his hat ready . Lets return to the decision by the eu 27 to move on to the next phase of the brexit talks. 0ur political correspondence, chris mason, is in westminster. After the two is an frozen ups and downs of the last few weeks, this will be music to the gives of the Prime Minister. Yes because 2018 will have plenty of brexit chat in it. While simon is measuring his wedding hats, people like me will be sitting in seats like me will be sitting in seats like this going on about brexit. Perhaps more so than we did in 2017 because what we now know, and we have known this for a week, so it was not a surprise today, 20 it is a stamp needed to come along, that phase two is going to start. Discussions about what happens in terms of the future relationship will, the discussion over the next year, over a nonexistent relationship. Lets hearfrom the Prime Minister. Can we start with your statement . We are rolling. This is an important step on the road to delivering a smooth and orderly brexit which people voted for injune of last year. Uk and eu have shown what can be achieved by commitment and perseverance on both sides. Im pleased that it has been agreed that we should make rapid progress on the implementation period which will give certainty to businesses and individuals. There are still more to do but were well on the to delivering a brexit that will make britain prosperous, strong and secure. With really be brexit in 2019 . Will let the Free Movement and ecj jurisdiction . What people voted for last year was for us to leave the European Union and we will leave the European Union and we will leave the eu on the continent of march 20 19. Think people also want us to do that in a smooth and orderly way which doesnt disrupt peoples lives and doesnt disrupt businesses. That is what we will be delivering. We will be delivering the brexit that people voted for. Are you worried there will be no trade deal until after march and that the trade deal will only be finalised after we leave the eu in 2019. Will be talking the talk about our future election should, we will begin that straightaway and we will be talking about the invitation period which will give certainty to businesses and individuals. We are leaving the European Union on the 29th of march 2019 for stock we will set up and negotiate a new trade deal with the European Union and we will be negotiating trade deals with other countries around the world. This is about building a britain that is fit for the future. There we are, dutifully queued in by my colleague. Chris mason, there she is saying that we are pleased we can move on, it offers certainty, she is repeating that date of the 29th of march, she is determined and short we are going to leave even though this deal, whichever shape it is in has to be put to the house of commons now. And inner insight on the process of recording little interviews this. The house of commons row is an intriguing one because weve had all of this row happening this week about the rebels on the conservative side saying anton, there has be this meaningful vote will stop that was successful and defeating the promised. Then there is the row about whether the departure date is written onto the face of the bill. A bit of toing and froing as to whether or not the government goes with the idea of doing that forfear there government goes with the idea of doing that for fear there will be a defeat in the pipeline. In reality, we have known this since the general election, the planet is does not have a majority and therefore numbers are absolutely key. The Prime Minister does not have a majority. The mass matters at the moment, when there is one of these crunch vote, the numbers in the house of commons matters because it does not take many people to change their mind, particularly on the conservative side, for suddenly the Prime Ministers mathematical situation in the commons to be rather perilous. That is likely to happen again and again. A sigh of relief as you can see there that she is over this first hurdle of the brexit talks. The next couple of months ive had the transition period, kneeling down this idea of this two year transition period where the eu says that the uk will be on the outside, outside of the European Union. In reality, it will still be bound by many of the single rules of the Single Market and the custom union. Then the discussion about the future relationship on trade, on security, for instance. A huge amount of detail, an unprecedented discussion to come. Thank you chris mason in westminster. Youre watching afternoon life. Eu leaders meeting in brussels have agreed to move onto the second stage of brexit with the uk. A judge calls foran of brexit with the uk. A judge calls for an enquiring into the collapse of irate case as it is revealed that police did not reveal crucial evidence pertinent to the case. It is revealed that prince harry and Meghan Markle will marry on may the 19th next year. In sport, australia trailing by 200 runs at the end of the second day in perth. Steve smith nearly a century as the hosts wrestle back momentum after england made 403. In a bid to play at the 0lympic this tennis player goes back to his country of birth. So Bradley Wiggins apologises for calling chris froome a slithering reptile. He made the comment in the wake of Chris Froomes failed drug test. Ill back with more on stories at 3 30pm. But its a more reaction to what has been happening in brussels. We can go back to my colleague christian fraser. I have been watching you and listening to chris mason and i have been thinking when we were talking about maths, they are acutely aware of the maths in this building. They know how weak theresa may is in the uk. They know that she has a real challenge back at home dealing with the remainers and the brexiteers, trying to find a way through. You have to remember as well that this isa giant have to remember as well that this is a giant intergovernmental organisation, enough of these leaders have their own problems at home. Like Angela Merkel who cannot get her coalition together. Some of them lead minority government so they are not too bothered about what is happening in the uk. There are going to set narrow parameters for the investigation with not much wiggle room. Theresa mays uk site is her business although they are acutely aware of what is going on in the uk and are always looking at the news and reading the headlines particularly the comments from david davis. Lets talk to brian hayes who is an irish politician in the European Parliament. Mr hayes, very good to have you with us. I was listening to leo varadkar yesterday when he came into the building and he said that full alignments means full alignments, it does not mean partial alignment. Do you think there is a difference in your approach and the uk side may be approaching it . I dont think so, this become over the weekend, different ministers said Different Things to given audiences. I think the Prime Minister is absolutely Crystal Clear on the comments she made in the house of commons and in the documentation we have at the end of phase one. Michel barnier, the head of the eu task force was in strauss borg with colleagues this week in the European Parliament. He said very clearly that there is no rolling back on the british commitments will stop there is no rolling back on the eu commitments. We have an International Agreements. Of course, we have two gets to the end point, the end point is march 20 19. I think the commitments that we have on the irish question, on the question of financial liability and on the question of the eu and british rights across the European Union, they will inform the way in which phase two happens. If there is a rolling back, with a side, ithink it would make the phase two negotiation even more difficult and more challenging than it already is. We are very clear about the challenges in the irish parliament. B27or challenges in the irish parliament. B27 orany challenges in the irish parliament. B 27 or any have an agreement with canada, this deal was signed off last year. Of course, canada has a footin last year. Of course, canada has a foot in nafta. They trade with the americans. The softly speaking, is in the world sort of converging when it comes to rules. You need to be so concerned about the uk staying in alignment . Isnt that how the world is going . If you have perfect alignment there is no problem. There is no problem on the question of customs duties. The truth of the matter is, the European Union, the 28th currently, the 27 is the most integrated Single Market anywhere in the world. Although individual Member States are individual and sovereign, they are part of this massive, as you described yourself, into Government Organisation which has produced a very seamless Single Market, from Financial Services to energy and other commodities and issues. Trading is done on the basis of agreed rules. If you are not part of agreed rules. If you are not part of those rules, if you are not part of those rules, if you are not part of that, needless to say, needless to say we will have an agreement with you, a third country agreement. In none of the agreements of the eu has in place on trade with third countries, is it ever as good as the relationship with in the European Union. I think the other point, a crucial point, if we have allegiance with canada and soon with australia, new zealand and other regions of the world, they will want to know what the terms of the negotiation with the terms of the negotiation with the uk are. Because the uk will become a third country. In my view, we need to have a close, the closest possible relationship with the uk because of its geography, its exports and imports. I think irish voices will be very important in phase two to ensure we have that close cooperation. It is in everyones interest that we get to that point. Irrespective of the International Agreements elsewhere. You make a good point, it is a unique negotiation, it is the negotiation in reverse. Uk pulling away from trade ties that it orally has. I reference what you havejust said is ireland britains best friend in the room when it comes to this the gauche asian . 0r friend in the room when it comes to this the gauche asian . Or is is ireland the uks best friend in this negotiation . The agreement that ireland, the uk and eu have on phase one is very important. We know about the terrible history of the border. The breakdown in Committee Relations in ireland and the schism that occurs north south, east west. The appalling terrorism that affected our country and britain for some years is now at an end. We have a peace process. Sheltering that peace process, making sure we dont go back to those days is absolutely crucial and i have no doubt that the british and irish governments, or any composition, wants to protect the peace process. That is the key aspect of phase one. I think, as we go forward, ireland is going to be the best front of the uk because it is in our interest that we have the closest possible relation with the uk. They are our biggest market, the uk. They are our biggest market, the uk is uk. They are our biggest market, the ukisa uk. They are our biggest market, the uk is a hugely important market, ireland is a huge important market for the ireland is a huge important market forthe uk, ireland is a huge important market for the uk, but ireland is a huge important market forthe uk, but there ireland is a huge important market for the uk, but there are other countries which are equally important to the uk. The netherlands, belgium, germany, luxembourg, denmark, those net exporting countries to the uk. That is the kind of deal that we need. A trade that does not diminish our economies, a circumstance where we are only ten years from the eco crisis eu zone is stronger financially. This is a . 0ver eco crisis eu zone is stronger financially. This is a . Over the future posterity of our countries. It has to be done on the basis of integrity of the Single Market. That is some thing that continental and especially mediterranean colleagues wa nt especially mediterranean colleagues want ireland to uphold. Thank you for talking to us this afternoon. Joining me from next door in the European Parliament is the belgian mep philippe lambert. My day has gone full circle. I listen to you on the radio this morning and now i am talking to you live. When i listen to you this morning, you are talking specifically about the transition. It was interesting that you said that nobody in this building is saying what you think is a reality, that the transition period needs to be longer than two years. that the transition period needs to be longer than two years. I guess so. Be longer than two years. I guess so. When i look at the average length of negotiating free trade deals, i know its more than two years. Even if we start in march this year, it will take beyond march 2000 21. Three years is orally quite ambitious and were notjust 2000 21. Three years is orally quite ambitious and were not just talking to free trade agreement, we are talking about security arrangements, about a rasmus and other things. There are other issues to be discussed and agreed to maybe we will need more time than the two year transition period we are talking about. That should not be a problem because thats symbolises the eu and the uks interest about avoiding a cliff edge will stop if we need more time, that should not bea we need more time, that should not be a political problem for anyone. That get started, as we have orally wasted too much time since the triggering of article 50. Lets see what we can already achieved in terms of principles before the brexit date and then how much we can materialise these printable is in the two years that follow. We realise we need more time, and that should not be a problem. Obviously, the focus is on the framework for the focus is on the framework for the future trade relationship but you will be aware that theresa may has to be able to sell something to the brexiteers within her own camp. When we are talking about the transition period, if they wiggle room in that . Can britain go and start conversations with other countries at its trade deals . Can Start Talking about a migrants registered . Talk Start Talking about a migrants registered . Talk my Start Talking about a migrants registered . Talk my fisheries . These are things on the other side of the transition of britain want to talk about. If there is wiggle room on the duration of the transition, i hear no appetite on this side of the eu 27 and that i think is valid on both accounts in eu for allowing any deviation from eu rules drink transition period. The transition period basically allows us to define a future relationship but of course a future relationship but of course a numberof things a future relationship but of course a number of things that you have mentioned will in a way pre empt the future relationship if we allow them to happen during the transition period. I do not expect and i would certainly not support any exception during the transition period. To be honest, the United Kingdom already e njoys honest, the United Kingdom already enjoys a honest, the United Kingdom already enjoysa numberof honest, the United Kingdom already enjoys a number of rebates and opt outs, more than any other member state so it should be content with what it has the moment. That will of course continue during the transition period. The issue of Holding Together theresa mays majority is an issue that she had to solve. It is not for the eu 27 to solve. It is not for the eu 27 to solve that. We have our own domestic issues. Spare us, taking care of the internal tory problems. We know that the wrap referendum on business was organised because of internal Party Politics in the United Kingdom. That was unfortunate. There is not a lot of appetite to carry on the way. You pay special attention to what david davies and borisjohnson you pay special attention to what david davies and Boris Johnson as saying. We, on the uk side are paying attention to your colleague on the steering committee. He said this is now a negotiation between the European Parliament and the uk parliament. That is not strictly true, is it . I think parliament. That is not strictly true, is it . Ithink that parliament. That is not strictly true, is it . I think that we should keep a cool head. It is certainly not a negotiation parliaments to parliament. It is between the British Government and the European Commission to act on behalf of the European Parliament. Likewise, the European Parliament. Likewise, the european government acts on behalf of the European Parliament. Anything that smells of grandstanding or. 0ffe nsive that smells of grandstanding or. 0ffensive expressions should be ignored. Iam 0ffensive expressions should be ignored. I am listening to theresa may will stop what she is saying. We have seen and revolution in what she says and, to me, she is a legitimate expression of the will of the British Government and i try not to listen to much to what mr davies is saying. Thank you for being with us from the European Parliament. You hear their that they do see theresa may as the main interlocutor in this negotiation. Shes the one they give some concessions to. Donald tusk tweeted today that he sent congratulations to the british Prime Minister. And a round of applause after dinner i hear. Thank you very much. It is time to look at the Weather Forecast. These wildfires in california are an immense issue for the authorities. And the weather is not helping them. No, not at all. The biggest fire is the thomas fire, the fifth largest in history. It has already burned Something Like 240 acres of land will stop the weather has not helped at all. The big problem is the santa ana winds that you get. This is normally the wettest time of the year across california. There has been no rain. They are very gusty winds that come down from the high ground, from the interior, very dry, low humidity. You have very dry vegetation and this makes the fires worse and worse. If you were to look at Santa Barbara forecast on the bbc weather website, there is no rain for the next ten days. We have this persistent area of High Pressure. Area. A persistent area of High Pressure. Area a chance ofa persistent area of High Pressure. Area a chance of a little bit of erow over area a chance of a little bit of snow over the high ground but it has been very dry. I was talking to somebody today in make up who is going skiing and there isjust no erow. Going skiing and there isjust no snow. No rain at all and you have these gusty winds. California has had a lot of drugs. Is this particularly a lot of drugs. There is quite a lot of snow over the high ground as well. This fire started at the beginning of december. When you get a fire that size it generates its own weather. I will weather is calming down. It is pretty cold right now but many parts are enjoying sunshine. If you have the force of those winds the chances that you will have a shower. A very wintry, cold looking skies. Some showers coming into North Eastern england. Showers driving their way further south. We will keep those showers going a while longer. Showers in Northern Ireland into this evening. Mostly rain but the colderair this evening. Mostly rain but the colder air across scotland. Southern scotland turning frosty quickly and the north west of england. 0ne scotland turning frosty quickly and the north west of england. One or two showers in the north. Clear skies as human move further inland. Mostly they are going to be a long because as we head into the night. 0n because as we head into the night. On friday, across europe. I will come back to that later in the programme. 0n come back to that later in the programme. On saturday. Widespread frost on the colder than it was last night. We start the weekend with cold air with milder south westerly winds arriving as the weekend goes on. We start with frost, some sunshine actually. Away from Northern Ireland if you showers and later into the south west. There will be some sunshine around but after that cold start we dont get the mild that airjust yet. It could be another chilly night for eastern areas. This weather system that is moving into the uk across the weekend. You will notice a change in the weather. A stronger south westerly wind that will blow in much more cloud and outbreaks of rain tumbling south eastwards across the uk. That will lift the temperatures, as high as nine or 10 degrees will stop as we head into the first half of next week we will keep mostly dry weather. Mild weather will come with a good deal of cloud. She theresa may said it was an important moment. It will give certainty to businesses and individuals. There is still more to do but we are well on the road to delivering a brexit that will make britain prosperous, strong and secure. Scotland yard is carrying out an urgent assessment after in rain trial lapsed. Please feel to disclose evidence. Prince harry and Megan Michael will marry on may the 19th next year. They announced their engagement in november. Sport now on afternoon live withjohn watson. The england batsmen really managed to clock up quite a few runs. It is about time to be honest with you. Dawid malan and Jonny Bairstow, the plus points, to give england to lose if theyre to keep their ashes hopes alive. The australian captain put on an incredible performance. Stephen smith finished the day on 92. I think it is fair to say that joe root and his england team will view his wicked as a crucial one. Andy swiss is in perth. The waca is traditionally where australian heroes are made. They picked up their marathon partnership where they had left off. Best all completed a superb century after his where he celebrated head butting his helmet. England were enjoying themselves. The rest crumbled in all two from a fashion, losing their last six wickets in 48 mind boggling minutes. They made it to the 400 mark but it should have been so much better. To be all out by lunchtime here wasnt part of englands plan. Australia are suddenly right back in this. Could englandss bowlers repair the damage question mark they made a decent start. Further chances slip through their fingers. There we re slip through their fingers. There were difficult ones but they proved damaging. He made a half century and there was no budging his skipper. Steve smith is still there on 92. If only some of englands batting had shown such as stability. We have let the position slip but at the same time ourjob when we come back in the morning is a case of, right, we have the capabilities of taking five or six wickets in a session. There is no reason why we cannot now. The day which belong to australia. A test which england cannot afford to lose is still tantalisingly poised. It is going to be a fascinating day three. Aliaz bedene, britains number two, has announced his intention to revert to play for slovenia, his home country. He said the decision was based on his dream of playing in the davis cup and at the Olympic Games and his legal bid to represent Great Britain had failed. 0ur tennis correspondent Russell Fuller says the lta are likely to be disappointed, if not totally surprised. There is no question that the lta has invested a lot of time and a certain amount of money in the Legal Process and ultimately they have got nothing for their investment on this occasion. There was the cost of the arbitration in february early this year, the Legal Department and they have quite a lot of time into the case. I dont really detect any bitterness within the lta. Frustration i think, lack of communication over the years and the rather opaque nature about future intentions but i think they understand why they have taken the decision. The wife of Bradley Wiggins has apologised for comments she made about chris froome on social media. After it emerged that hed been found to have double the permitted level of an asthma drug in his system during the vuelta a espana, Catherine Wiggins called froome a slithering reptile and suggested hed been protected while Bradley Wiggins had been under scrutiny for his use of legal medication. She later said her comments had been made in the heat of the moment. As is often the danger when you turn to social media. I will be back with plenty more over the next hour. Thank you much. Some breaking news from the Health Ministry in gaza. A palestinian man has been shot and killed in the east of gaza city by the israeli army. It has happened during ongoing clashes with the israeli army near the border. There have also been other palestinians who have been wounded in gaza and also the occupied west bank. There have also been protests that have been happening since the us President Donald Trump recognised israel as donald trump recognised jerusalem as israels capital. 0ne man in the east of gaza city shot and killed by the israeli army. The metropolitan police are to hold an urgent review of a rape case. Charges against liam allen, a 22 Year Old University student who had spent 2 years on bail, were dropped three days into his trial, after thousands of messages were unearthed proving his innocence. Andy moore reports. 22 year old liam allan spent two years on bail accused of six rapes and six sexual assaults. This morning, he told the bbc he was overwhelmed and dealing with the confusion of going from being a villain to being innocent. Jerry hayes was the prosecution barrister in this case. His job was to put mr allan behind bars. But then the Police Revealed they had a computer disk with 50,000 texts from the woman making the accusations. She said that she didnt like sex with him. There are Text Messages saying that she loved sex with him. There were rape fantasies, sex in the open air, this was a 12 count indictment. If the defence had not got that, that man would have been convicted. That man would have got 12 years. That man would have had his life trashed and been put on a Sexual Offences register for ever. In a statement, the metropolitan police said its all coming as quite a big shock to him and hes quite worried because, naturally, his neighbours are being pestered. There are lots of people around his home and all he wants to do right now is have a little headspace. As a 22 year old, you can imagine, that it has all been quite unnerving, especially given the two years prior. In which his life was pretty much at stake. After the case collapsed at Croydon Crown court, judge peter gower said the problem goes back for at least two decades. In various forms. Trying to manage how much of the Background Information that the Police Gather in an investigation should be disclosed to the defence. Everyone working in the profession is a where that there are problems filtering out the relevant material and sometimes it gets missed. Mr allan is a criminology student, he said he felt betrayed by a system he wanted to work in. Andy moore, bbc news. In a moment the Business News. First a look at the headlines on afternoon live. Eu leaders meeting in brussels have agreed to move forward to the second stage of brexit talks but there are warnings, the discussions which will cover transition and trade will not be easy. Ajudge has called for an inquiry after a student was cleared of rape, when police failed to disclose evidence casting doubt on the case. And the date has been set for the wedding of prince harry and his fiance Meghan Markel for saturday may 19th. Sky and bt have signed a deal. Bt is now going to provide sports channels. Rya nair is now going to provide sports channels. Ryanair is going to recognise pilot unions for the first time. A strike was scheduled for later on today and earlier this year ryanair had to cancel 20,000 flights after messing up its pilot s lead schedule. It was moving its headquarters back to birmingham last year. They decided they were going to make people redundant and they were given here. However, the amount of money they were paid was important. They should have given them a total of about £1 million. The given. It is more than what was expected, isnt it . The problem is, they are gone. Those people are very happy for christmas. Have you been speaking to an employment lawyer question mark chief executive has now moved on to rolls royce. Chief executive has now moved on to rollsroyce. It has been said that the department for transport has said that they have written to the Parliamentary Committee. He has said, idid Parliamentary Committee. He has said, i did not approve of these payments at the time and i denied wrong doing. Just to clarify what happened we spoke to Anna Mccaffrey who is an lawyer. The extra payments we re who is an lawyer. The extra payments were not organised. To be fair, Many Employers choose to do that voluntarily and statutory payments are relatively limited but the key thing here is that hs2 chose to make the payments and were refused consent will stop. You thought it was going to be dressing up as father christmas. Tellers, what is a sa nta rally . Father christmas. Tellers, what is a santa rally . Typically what we see towards the end of the that the markets are doing really well will stop people are doing a lot of investing and a lot of people attribute that to that there are still some money left over and they wa nt still some money left over and they want to be invested towards the end of the year. If i look right over here to the big board, it is a sea of green with a little bit of red. The rally continues but i would suggest that it has been going on since the 2016 president ial election. We see the market here closed at record highs. 84 times since november of last year. Closed at record highs. 84 times since november of last yeahm closed at record highs. 84 times since november of last year. It is the trump and i think they called it. But it is a bit more than a bump. We had the trump bump and then we had the euphoria for other possibilities that were going to happen with regards to washington. We havent seen any of those legislative advances so there are some people suggesting that perhaps it has to do with how much money has been sloshing around, both domestically as a result of those policies that we sought by the federal reserve, and also the fact that a lot of people around the world have been putting money in the United States to make up some of those returns. There is a whole lot of money sloshing around. But Interest Rates are about to go up and beg . That has a lot of people wondering about what is going to happen. It is a wait and see kind of game. Not a sign of a pixie oren alf anywhere. A sea of green on the streets. What about here . Lets look at the magic board. Not very magic, is it . There are the markets. It is not a sea of green. The pound has come down by the you wrote will stop it does come down a bit today. A lot to do with the shenanigans going on with British Aerospace will stop thatis with British Aerospace will stop that is what the markets are looking like at the moment. Thank you so much. Nasa say they have discovered a planet. The start known as kepler 90 reveals an order like earth and its neighbours with bigger ones further away. Astronomers have discovered more than 3000 planets circling the stars but very few of these distant planetary systems resemble our own. Now a team using the kepler telescope has confirmed the kepler telescope has confirmed the existence of eight planets around a single star. Seven of these we re around a single star. Seven of these were already known but experts trained a programme to recognise known planets. The programme search through raw data and identified it previously unknown world. The new planet we found is the smallest. It isjust outside. It is probably rocky and doesnt have an atmosphere and is likely scorching hot. Weve calculated it has an average to bridge of 800 fahrenheit. Providing good candidates for worlds hidden within the kepler data, machines can pick up the slack and discover these worlds. The distant planetary system is ordered like our own, with the small worlds nearer the start. All the planets are pushed further into wards their parent star. This means they are probably far too hot for life. Machine learning could be used to find the signatures of earth sized worlds. That could lead to Ground Breaking discoveries of sized worlds. That could lead to Ground Breaking discoveries of life in the universe. Time for a look at the Weather Forecast. It is going to get cold tonight. A widespread frost expected. In south wales is much more sheltered. Wake you have those northerly winds bringing in showers, you get guys like this. That was pembrokeshire. 0ne you get guys like this. That was pembrokeshire. One or two showers continue to clip west wales. Marshall was coming into Northern Ireland. The showers we have in northern scotland are mostly of sleet and snow and hail. Central and southern scotland dry and clear this evening after lots of sunshine today. Apart from those showers, the far south west should be dry. Always a bit more card for a while across england where we still have a few showers coming in. They will become fewer overnight. Coming into west wales and northern scotland, but otherwise inland it will be dry and clear. Cold as well. Widespread frost tonight with those of minus 56 frost tonight with those of minus 5 6 in rural areas. The threat of icy passage, icy patches. We will replace that cold air with more than south westerly wind that will bring some milder conditions with it as well. We will see those showers moving offshore and more cloud across Northern Ireland into wales, into western pa rt across Northern Ireland into wales, into western part of england as well. Further east and north we will hang on to more sunshine but it is going to be cold after that frost. Temperatures no higher than two or three degrees. That is where we will see the higher temperatures. Thicker cloud to come. Weather systems ahead of these weather fronts there may well be a patchy frost across the uk. This weather system brings about a significant change because the winds will be stronger and outbreaks of rain, but because temperatures will be higher, perhaps as high as nine or 10 degrees. Next week, on the dry side and the mild side but that mild weather comes with a good deal of cloud. Today president trump. They are calling it the brexit election. This isa calling it the brexit election. This is a much more dangerous world. It got more dangerous yesterday. Making sense of the stories shaping our world. Beyond 100 days. Hello, youre watching afternoon live. Today at 3pm eu leaders give the green light for the second phase of brexit talks to begin. We will be beginning the talks about our relationship. Well be beginning those straight away. The last of the eu leaders has left the building in brussels. There have been a lot of press conferences and we will bring you all the reaction. Ajudge calls for an inquiry, after a student is cleared of rape when police failed to disclose evidence casting doubt on the case. Prince harry and Meghan Markle set the date for their wedding, they will marry on may 19th next year. Coming up on afternoon live, all the sport. Australia fighting back in the third ashes test. The captain, steve smith, has wrestled back the momentum in their favour. Thanks. Well be joining you for a full update just after half past. Darren has all the weather. It is going to be a colder night than last night with widespread frost, but things will change over the weekend. It is slowly going to get milder. I will tell you that and more later on. Also coming up nasa has found the biggest planetary system outside of our own solar system. Hello, everyone. This is afternoon live. The eu has formally agreed to move to the next phase of talks on brexit. Theresa may welcomed the move as an important step on the road to ensuring a smooth and orderly brexit. Christian fraser is following the story for us in brussels. The test of sufficient progress has been met. Welcome to brussels, where eu leaders have agreed that the brexit talks can move to the second phase which will focus on future relations between the eu and britain. The Prime Minister, theresa may, called this an important step on the road to a smooth and orderly brexit. But the president of the European Commission, Jean Claude Juncker, warned that the second phase will be considerably harder than the first. This report is from our europe correspondent damian grammaticas. We had a meeting of the group of European Parliamentarians and we concluded sufficient progress has been made. Now it is up to us to d raft been made. Now it is up to us to draft the Withdrawal Agreement, together with our british friends. I hope this will be approved, and by the European Parliament, and by the house in london. In the last hour, the European Council president , donald tusk, has given his reaction to todays agreement. 0pening opening the second phase of negotiations would not be possible without the unity of the eu 27, the ha rd without the unity of the eu 27, the hard work of Michel Barnier, and the constructive effort of Prime Minister may. As for the framework for future relations, it minister may. As for the framework forfuture relations, it is now time forfuture relations, it is now time for internal eu 27 preparations and exploratory contract with the uk to get more clarity on the vision. 0n that basis, we should have guidelines and starting positions next year. Music to the years of theresa may. She has been giving her reaction in her constituency. This is an important step on the road to the smooth and orderly brexit people voted for last year, and the uk and the eu have shown what can be achieved by commitment and perseverance on both sides. I am pleased it has been agreed to make rapid progress on an implementation period to give certainty to businesses and individuals. There are still more to do but were well on the road to delivering a brexit that will make britain strong and secure. Reporter will it be brexit in 2019 if we have to accept Free Movement and ec] juristic during transition . People voted to leave the European Union and we will do that. But people also want us to do that in a smooth, orderly way that does not disrupt lives and businesses, and thatis disrupt lives and businesses, and that is what we will be delivering, the brexit people voted for. Are you worried there will be no proper trade talks until after march and a final trade deal can only be finalised after march 2019 . We will be beginning talks about our future relationship straightaway and also talking about the implementation period that will give certainty to businesses and individuals. We are leaving the European Union on the 29th of march 2000 and 19. We will set up and negotiate a new trade deal with the European Union but also we will be negotiating deals with other countries around the world. This is about building a britain fit for the future. Some clarity on the last point the Prime Minister was talking about, discussing in parallel the transition and how that will work, also with the framework of the future trade negotiation, the future trade deal. They are saying they will come up with new guidelines in march to define that negotiation. But in the background, across the road in the European Commission, they will be able to start ground work for those talks. So it is not specifically talks about the future relationship, but the work going on in the background. That probably suits the Prime Minister because she has not had the conversation yet with her cabinet and has to bring brexiteers and remainers around the table to form a plan. Until they do that the European Union is at a loss as to what sort of negotiation it will be. Another couple of details. There is a discussion on social media about whether, through the transition period, the uk will be able to go away and talk to other countries about trade steals. The commission is briefing that strictly speaking the uk will have left the European Union in march 2019, so well be able to talk to other countries. But because it will be following eu rules, the Single Market, the Customs Union, it will not be able to sign deals, so discussions can go on but they will not be able to sign those steals. Lets speak to the europe correspondent for a german newspaper. Angela merkel was standing alongside Emmanuel Macron. What was she saying about the course of the second phase of negotiations . First, she emphasised it would be bad for everybody, the eu and then, if the eu would allow itself to get separated along specific national interests. The second thing she said is that the uk really has to make its mind up about what the future is going to be, what it wants for the future relationship with the eu. Going to be, what it wants for the future relationship with the sum is an interesting point about the 27 countries staying united. They have let Michel Barnier take the lead in divorce proceedings. But now it comes to the future relationship with the uk, Different Countries wa nt with the uk, Different Countries want Different Things. Perhaps france and spain want to talk about fisheries, the germans about the car industry. How will they keep them together . It might be difficult and some fear that the eu might develop some fear that the eu might develop some cracks. However, there is a very strong interest for everybody in the eu 27 to keep the eu together, which is the Single Market and the Customs Union. You mentioned the german car industry. What you hear from them is the german car industry. What you hearfrom them is not the german car industry. What you hear from them is not what people we re hear from them is not what people were hoping in britain, that they would intervene at a point and make Angela Merkel assume a softer stance towards the uk. The contrary is the case. They say it is much more important to keep the integrity of the Single Market, than to give the uka good the Single Market, than to give the uk a good deal. Its giving the uk a bad deal, it hard brexit, is the price to protect the Single Market, so be it. What did you make of the dynamic between Emmanuel Macron and the chancellor . Because she is the queen of the hall when she comes here, and what she says goes. But Emmanuel Macron is carving out a niche for himself, and she does not have a coalition at home. Has she been supplanted by the french president . I would not say so, because she was new and it always was the case that without france things are not going to work in the eu. Sol things are not going to work in the eu. So i think she is quite happy that she now has a french president with whom she can work better than his predecessor. Especially after the last german elections, merkel has lost some of her power inside the eu, so it is important for her to have a Strong Partner at her side. What you are seeing with the dynamics between the two of them seems to be positive, going in the right direction. She lost a bit of power in germany because of the migration issue and the numbers of people she let into the country. Aside from brexit, there has been an extraordinary row in the summit over the last two days about Eastern European countries not taking their quota of migrants. She takes a particularly ha rd quota of migrants. She takes a particularly hard line. What did she say . She said there cannot be piecemeal solidarity. You cannot have Eastern European countries counting on the rest of the eu when it comes to eu funds, of which Eastern Europe gets quite a lot, and then denies solidarity when it comes to taking in migrants or asylum seekers. Thank you very much. It was a frank seekers. Thank you very much. It was afrank and seekers. Thank you very much. It was a frank and forthright discussion, they said, on migration. That is diplomatic code for a real humdinger. There were a lot of strong thoughts. Donald tusk said they needed a clear the air discussion on migration if they are going to move forward. A couple of issues on brexit, the first phase which is now being parked and we are moving the second phase. The Commission Said today that there is still work to do on the first phase. They want the text put into a legal framework, so they wanted to be legally binding, and they need to finish some of the things that pertain to eu citizens and uk citizens in europe. So there is work going on on that and meanwhile they will begin the work at the European Commission, preparing the way for Michel Barnier to start talks about the talks on a future relationship. 0ur Political Correspondent chris mason is in westminster. Theresa may has been responding about that decision by the eu 27. What has she been saying . about that decision by the eu 27. What has she been saying . A response from the Prime Minister an hour ago. Picking up on what christian was saying, the asymmetry around the Brexit Process. Brexit consumes the business of this place, westminster, dominating every conversation, dominating every conversation, dominating legislation in the house of commons, dominating the mental space, the brain space of the government and the opposition parties. And yet for the European Union there are a lot of other things to talk about, not least the migration crisis. As far as the Prime Ministers response to the seal of approvalfrom Prime Ministers response to the seal of approval from the European Council, the summit, the leaders of the heads of state and government, basically a thumbs up. She is not the kind of politician to do thumbs up the kind of politician to do thumbs up on the kind of politician to do thumbs up on camera the kind of politician to do thumbs up on camera but we got the gist in a text message and an interview an hour ago. She said a text message and an interview an hourago. She said in a text message and an interview an hour ago. She said in her tweet, thank you to Jean Claude Juncker and donald tusk, today is an important step on the road to delivering a smooth and orderly brexit, forging our deep and special future partnership. If those last few words, deep and special future partnership, ring a bell, the bell will get louder in the next few months because we will hear it again and again. It could be the 2018 equivalent of brexit means brexit, because that is the essence, in slogan terms, of the government pitch on the future relationship. We dont know exactly what that future relationship should look like as far as the British Government is concerned, not least because there isa concerned, not least because there is a huge range of views, a rainbow of views around the cabinet table, around the conservative party and parliament more broadly, and around the country, about exactly what flavour of brexit the uk should eventually be happy with. A rainbow of views. That is a nice way to put it if they want a smooth and orderly brexit, as she has also said, they cant afford to hang about. If she wants to hit the deadline of the 29th of march 2019 and put the deal to a legally binding vote in the commons. Exactly. There is not much time. Give it a couple of weeks, and people like me will be saying that brexit is happening next year. Even though there will still be 15 months once we get to the new year before that point at 11pm on the 29th of march 2019, the cogs turn rather slowly in european politics because you have all of these countries each having a say. So the government has to crack on and nail down the transition arrangement, likely to be two years and to involve remaining signed up to pretty much everything involved with the eu, apart from not being part of the Decision Making process. Then a discussion about the future on trade and security and a number of other issues. The expectation is that by autumn of next year, various european institutions and National Parliaments start looking at the outline of a future arrangement and a deal. So, yes, time is pretty tight and the Prime Minister is very aware that there is going to be that meaningful vote, another brexit phrase we have heard a lot of, that will happen as a result of that defeat for the government in the commons the other night. In the last hour, quite a striking tweet, a tease of a tweet from julian smith, the chief whip for the conservatives, who has the unenviablejob conservatives, who has the unenviable job of trying to do the sums and get the votes to add up favourably from his perspective when it comes to crunch votes in the commons. He tweeted a picture of a telephone receiver, suggesting, picking up on the announcement this afternoon of the date of the Royal Wedding next may, that putting dates in the diary can be sorted out and sorted out quickly. Whether that was a suggestion that he is comfortable with a boat pushing ahead next week on the idea of having that date of departure stamped on the front page of the bill a vote next week, or a suggestion that it will happen a nyway a suggestion that it will happen anyway so perhaps the government does not need to risk another defeat, who knows . But it seems on the face of it that he might be up for the idea of this going through a vote again. Therefore, from his perspective, very much hopeful that the result is different from the one the result is different from the one the other night. Indeed. I always think it is a good idea to put things in yourdiary think it is a good idea to put things in your diary in pencil because they are subject to change, in my experience. Thank you very much. The headlines eu leaders meeting in brussels have agreed to move on to the second stage of brexit talks with the uk. A judge calls for an enquiry into the colla pse judge calls for an enquiry into the collapse of a rape case after it emerged police did not reveal crucial evidence to the defence. Kensington palace says prince harry and Meghan Markle will marry on may 19 next year. In sport, australia trail england by 200 runs at the end of the second day in perth, steve smith nearing a century, as the hosts wrestle back the momentum. England made 403 in their first the momentum. England made 403 in theirfirst innings. Britains number two reverts to his country of birth, slovenia, in a bid to play at the olympics and the davis cup. And Bradley Wiggins has apologised for calling chris froome a slithering reptile on social media. The wife of Bradley Wiggins has apologised. She later said she had been speaking in the heat of the moment. I will have more on all of those stories at around half past. Kensington palace has announced the date of prince harry and Meghan Markles wedding. They will marry on may 19 next year. They confirmed their engagement last month and said their engagement last month and said the ceremony will take base at windsor castle. Nicholas witchell has been giving us details. Windsor castle. Nicholas witchell has been giving us detailsm windsor castle. Nicholas witchell has been giving us details. It is unusual but not unprecedented for a Royal Wedding to take place on a saturday. I would Royal Wedding to take place on a saturday. Iwould imagine Royal Wedding to take place on a saturday. I would imagine that part of the thinking is that because there is no bank holiday in the case of harry and meghan, by having the wedding on a saturday, it gives those who are so minded an opportunity to go to windsor, because no doubt there will be a carriage procession through the centre of windsor town and maybe the park, so people will have an opportunity to cheer and wave. But the wedding is set for the 19th of may, 2018. Some people were pinning their hopes on a bank holiday, street parties and everything. Downing street has not been persuaded and i do not think there was ever much chance, because these things are ruled by precedent. You get a bank holiday if it is somebody in direct line of succession, but not necessarily for someone who is, as he will be by then, sixth in line to the throne, because what do we have in april but the birth of the cambridges third child, who automatically becomes fifth in line to the throne, the position harry is in at the moment. So he moves down one. So it will be a busy spring, with a baby in april and a wedding in may. I hope you have your best bib and tucker sorted. Absolutely. And the cost of hotel rooms in the windsor area is reaching unprecedented and stratospheric levels. There we are. The 19th of may is the date for the Royal Wedding. Just in response to what nicholas was saying about that fixture clash between a football match and a Royal Wedding, an fa spokesman has said that saturday the 19th of may promises to be a wonderful day, with such a special royal occasion being followed by english footballs showpiece event, the fa cup final. It goes on to say, with millions coming together to watch both events at home and around the world, it will be a day to celebrate. Get the bunting out, in other words. Ryanair has agreed to recognise pilots unions for the first time, to try to prevent strike action in the run up to christmas. The airline has invited pilot unions from a number of countries to talks next week. It is urging staff to call off industrial action plan for wednesday the 20th of december. It is europes Largest Airline in terms of passengers. It prides itself on low fares and no frills. It has also refused to recognise trade unions in its 32 year existence, until now. Faced with a highly damaging strike next week, ryanair has highly damaging strike next week, rya nair has invited highly damaging strike next week, ryanair has invited pilots to talk about forming a trade union. In a letter to unions in britain, ireland and for other countries but this is a major change of tone from only three days ago when the airline said it would face down the union behind the planned strike, which it described as a small group who dont care how much upset they cause colleagues or customers. This is astounding news from ryanair, the last thing i would have expected. They are known for toughing out in negotiations. It reflects that the pilots have used good bargaining skills. They know christmas is very sensitive. It wont have been an easy decision but i think they finally recognised it had to make a change in order to keep future industrial peace and maintain their competitive position. But the offer to recognise unions comes with strings attached. Ryanair says it will only recognise unions if they work exclusively for the airline, pilots with a rival carrier would not be allowed to negotiate with ryanair. They would form a Ryanair Company council, would work with Union Officials and their negotiators, and we would Work Together with them to try to come up with the collective agreement in the uk. What we dont want to get involved in it is a British Airways pilot who could be a potential competitor, negotiating on behalf of ryanair pilots. If the offer works, it could put thousands of passengers minds at ease as they plan holidays, but whether it will improve the Airlines Overall reputation is unclear. Ajudge has called reputation is unclear. A judge has called for an reputation is unclear. Ajudge has called for an enquiry after a University Student was cleared of rape because police failed to disclose evidence casting doubt on the case. 22 year old liam allan spent two years on bail before his trial was halted when it was revealed his accuser sent messages suggesting she wanted to continue to have sex with him. 22 year old liam allan had spent almost two years on bail, accused of six rapes and six sexual assaults. This morning he told the bbc he was overwhelmed, and dealing with the confusion of going from the villain to being innocent. Jerry hayes was the prosecution barrister in this case. Hisjob was the prosecution barrister in this case. His job was to put liam allan behind bars. But then the Police Revealed a computer disk with 50,000 texts from the woman making the act is a. She said she did not like sex with him but the Text Messages say she loves sex with him. There were rape fantasies, sex and the open air. This was a 12 count indictment. If the defence had not got that, he would have been convicted, he would have got 12 years, he would have had his life trashed and been on the Sexual Offences register forever. The metropolitan police said, we are aware of this case being dismissed from court and are carrying out an urgent assessment to establish the circumstances which led to this action being taken. We are working closely with the Crown Prosecution Service and keeping in close contact with the victim whilst this process ta kes with the victim whilst this process takes place. It is coming as a shock to him and he is worried because naturally his neighbours are being pestered. There are lots of people around his home. What he wants to do is to have a little bit of headspace, because as a 22 year old, you can imagine that it has been quite unnerving. Especially given the two years prior, in which his life was pretty much at stake. After the case collapsed yesterday, the judge said, there is something that has gone wrong and it is a matter that the cps should be considering at the very highest level will stop otherwise there is a risk there will bea otherwise there is a risk there will be a very serious miscarriage of justice. He leaves the courtroom and innocent man, without a stain on his character. The problem goes back at least two decades in various forms. Trying to manage how much of the Background Information that the Police Gather in an investigation should be disclosed to the defence. Everyone in the profession is aware that there are problems with filtering out relevant material and sometimes it gets missed. Liam allan isa sometimes it gets missed. Liam allan is a criminology student. He said he felt betrayed by a system he wanted to work in. The uks most senior military officer has warned of a new threat posed by russia to communications ca bles posed by russia to Communications Cables that run under the sea. The chief of the Defence Staff said britain and nato must do more to protect the communication lines. They are the arteries of the information age, hundreds of thousands of miles of cables laid on the sea bed. The life blood to our way of life and the internet economy. 90 of Global Communications rely on them. They are the means that allow £7 trillion of Financial Transactions every day. Reason enough, says britains top military chief, to worry about sabotage. And with one nation above any other in his sights. Russia. Russia, in addition to ships and submarines, continues to perfect both unconventional capabilities. Can you imagine a scenario where those cables are cut or disrupted which would immediately, and potentially catastrophically, affect both our economy and other ways of living . There has been a recent increase in Russian Submarine activity. With Us Intelligence officials also warning they have been aggressively operating in areas where the cables are laid. The defence chief said britain and nato needed to match russias fleet modernisation. But the royal navy has been shrinking, and with fears of more defence cuts, this was also a plea for more resources. This kind of problem and the protection of these assets does require more naval effort. The number of ships and submarines we have has been reducing over decades, so it is a call for modernisation. So just how real is the threat of cutting cables or tapping lines of communication . The reality is, they are more likely to be damaged by stray and is, or nature, even curious sharks. And with dozens of cables and ships regularly carrying out repairs, it would be harder to completely sever these lines of communication. Yet in this era of information and Unconventional Warfare, it is a growing concern. Joining us is the conservative mp, author of a report on undersea ca bles author of a report on undersea cables commissioned by the think tank policy exchange. Thank you for joining us. Why has it taken such a senior military figure to speak out on this . If we know these things are there, the threat to them is pretty obvious. This has grown up over yea rs. Obvious. This has grown up over years. It was only 20 years ago that we used satellites for our digital communications. It is a relatively new phenomenon and. It is also new for russia to use unconventional means of warfare. When they annexed crimea, one of the first things they did was to take control of the Internet Exchange serving the peninsula and to cut the internet cable. Events like that, russias maritime aggression, has put this on our map in a way it was not before. How big is the network of cables . Well, it is extensive, hundreds of thousands of kilometres of cabling around the world, but actually surprisingly concentrated. There are 200 main cable systems. What is interesting is the locations for all of those are publicly available, so it is not a great secret where they are. And they tend to be geographically concentrated in particular choke points, for reasons of ease of laying and cheaper efficiency of laying the cables. But that makes them vulnerable and easily identifiable targets. There has been an example of where a cable was cut accidentally not so long ago and close by. Yes, that happened in the Channel Islands recently. As we put in our report, there are surprisingly common outages of ca bles surprisingly common outages of cables around the world, often due to accident rather than sabotage, or indeed natural disasters like earthquakes. But what they show is the damage that can be done, even from accidental damage. Take taiwans several years ago where there was an earthquake which severed the main cable serving the country. Regional currency markets ground to a halt, 80 of Communications Capacity was knocked out, e mail accounts, bank Communications Capacity was knocked out, e mailaccounts, bank accounts, everything went silent and it took weeks to fully recover all that capacity. And that was from an accident. So you can imagine the disruption if there was a systematic concentrated attempt on sabotaging these cables. You believe the potential threat could also be from china and iran, but what have these countries said about these potential accusations . That was an american admiral who was the supreme allied commander of nato, who wrote the full work for the policy Exchange Report he wrote the foreword. He was making the point that we thought about Unconventional Warfare is happening on land. He was saying thatis happening on land. He was saying that is now extending into the maritime sphere. He mentioned iran and china as examples that he had experienced in his career. What does it mean . Unconventional warfare is perhaps not using typical state actors. As russia, we saw in crimea there were people who went into the peninsula without Russian Military clothes, they did not look like members of the state apparatus. Similarly, you can imagine targeting cables, you could have people disguised as Fishing Vessels with relatively unsophisticated equipment that could cause damage. That is what the admiral was preparing us to get ready for and make sure we have the capability to protect against. These countries would say there is no substance to these fears, as they have done about other threats, but what do you do about protecting and defending the cables . There are a number of recommendations in the report. You can probably place monitoring censors along the cables at sea. It would act as a deterrent anderson Early Warning system as well. Working with a private Cable Companies we could install more dark cables, as they are called, redundant cable capacity, backups in case of emergency and use less concentrated areas. We need to invest in a modernised navy so it has the capability to defend against these threats at sea and patrol these threats at sea and patrol these sea lines and update International Law. We havent touched International Law in about 20 years with regard to cables. They dont enjoy the same level of protection as orbits of critical struck do. That would serve as a deterrent. Thank you very much. Time for a look at the Weather Forecast with darren bent. Frosty weather on the way tonight. Chilly out there today. The showers towards the west become fewer. Most of the showers in eastern parts of england will fade away. Temperatures will fall underneath the clearer skies. Lowest temperatures inlined, minus five or six in the countryside. There is risk of icy patches. A cold start on saturday. We will see more cloud in Northern Ireland, some showers still here, running over the irish sea into wales west earn parts of england. Further north and east any showers will move offshore and weed should see sunshine it will be cold. Temperatures two or three degrees. Highest temperatures south and west where we have the cloud. Chilly start on sunday for eastern parts. 0utbreaks chilly start on sunday for eastern parts. 0utbrea ks of chilly start on sunday for eastern parts. Outbreaks of rain coming in and the milderair parts. Outbreaks of rain coming in and the milder air arrives with highs of nine or ten celsius. This is bbc news, our latest headlines. Eu leaders have formally agreed to move forward to the next stage of brexit talks after accepting that sufficient progress had been made on citizens rights, the irish border and the final divorce payment. Theresa may said it was an important moment. Im pleased that its been agreed we should make rapid progress on an implementation period which will give certainty to businesses and individuals. Theres still more to do, but were well on the road to delivering a brexit that will make britain prosperous, strong and secure. Scotland yard is carrying out an urgent assessment after a rape trial collapsed. 22 year old student liam allan was cleared after it emerged police failed to disclose evidence casting doubt on the case against him. Kensington palace has announced that prince harry and Meghan Markle will marry on may 19th next year. The couple, who have been dating since the summer of 2016, announced their engagement in november. Theyll marry in st georges chapel at windsor castle. Sport now on afternoon live with john watson. Englands batsmen put ona john watson. Englands batsmen put on a good total. Not much to shout about from a batting perspective from england so far in this ashes series. There was today and yesterday as well. Australias captain has come out fighting . He has. He is closing in on another century. An ashes century with a score of 92 at the end of day two. His wicket will be viewed as a crucial one when play resumes on day three. The waca is traditionally where australian heroes are made, but would this be another day for english ones . Well, it seemed so at first, as dawid malan and Jonny Bairstow picked up their marathon partnership where theyd left off. Bairstow completing a superb century. After his now infamous incident in a perth bar, he celebrated by head butting his helmet. England were enjoying themselves. But out of nowhere, guess what . Malan went to a brilliant catch by Peter Handscomb for 140, and the rest crumbled in all too familiar fashion, losing their last six wickets in 48 mind boggling minutes. Theyjust made it to the 400 mark, but it should have been so much better. Well, to be all out by lunchtime here wasnt exactly part of englands plan. That was some batting collapse, even by their standards, and australia are suddenly right back in this. So could englands bowlers repair the damage . Well, they made a decent start craig 0verton removing both openers but further chances slipped through theirfingers. They were difficult ones, but they proved damaging. Usman khawaja made a half century by the time he was eventually trapped leg before, and there was no budging his skipper. Steve smith still there on 92. If only some of englands earlier batting had shown such stickability. You can look at it and go, yeah, weve let the position slip. But at the same time, ourjob now when we come back in the morning is a case of, right, well, weve got the capabilities of taking five, six wickets in a session. Weve shown that previously, so theres no reason why we cant now. A day which belonged to australia, then, but a test which england cant afford to lose is still tantalisingly poised. Andy swiss, bbc news, perth. Aliaz bedene, britains number two, has announced his intention to revert to play for slovenia, his home country. He said the decision was based on his dream of playing in the davis cup and at the Olympic Games and his legal bid to represent Great Britain had failed. 0ur tennis correspondent, Russell Fuller, says the Lawn Tennis Association are likely to be disappointed, if not totally surprised. Theres no question the lta have invested a lot of time and a certain amount of money as well in the Legal Process. Ultimately, they have nothing forking their investment on this occasion. There was the cost of the arbitration hearing in february this year, the Legal Department and the british davis cup captain have put a lot of time into bedenes case. I dont detect bitterness within the lta. Frustration at his lack of communication over the years and also perhaps the rather opaque nature of some of his answers about his future intentions. They understand why hes taken the decision he has. The wife of Bradley Wiggins has apologised for comments she made about chris froome on social media after it emerged that hed been found to have double the permitted level of an asthma drug in his system during the vuelta a espana. Catherine wiggins called froome a slithering reptile and suggested hed been protected while Bradley Wiggins had been under scrutiny for his use of legal medication. She later said her comments had been made in the heat of the moment. Thats all the sport for now. Lizzie Greenwood Hughes will be here in the next hour. Ah, the daily changeover. The Prime Minister says shes working to secure the best trade deal with the eu while regaining control over issues such as borders and immigration. Chris morris, from the bbcs reality check team, looks ahead to the second phase of talks. So the other 27 countries have now agreed that its time to move on to phase two of these negotiations, while continuing to finalise all those issues from phase one. To start with, there will be talks about a transition period of about two years after brexit, during which the uk will operate under all eu rules and regulations. Some of the detail about what that means will be controversial. Then next spring, if all goes to plan, negotiators will also begin to consider the future relationship between the uk and the eu on security, on Foreign Policy and of course on trade. The eus aim is to produce a very broad political agreement on the outlines of a future deal before brexit actually happens. Detailed trade talks will take a lot longer. Part of the problem is that at the moment the eu has no idea what the uk actually wants. A deep and special partnership is the governments preferred phrase, but what does that actually mean . Well, theres been a lot of talk about this, the canada model. A free trade deal between the eu and canada, which came into effect this year, eliminates most tariffs in the trading of goods. But it does relatively little to liberalise the trade in services, which is a far more significant part of the uk economy. So understandably, the uk is looking for something a little more ambitious. The brexit secretary david davis says he wants canada plus plus plus. What we want is a bespoke outcome. Well probably start with the best of canada, and the best of japan, and the best of south korea, and then add to that the bits that are missing, which are the services. But the eu is cautious about this, arguing that the more access you get, the more responsibilities you take on, and the uk doesnt want to make big annual budget payments, accept thejurisdiction of the European Court ofjustice, or allow the Free Movement of people. Im afraid that my best guest will be that we might get canada plus, in other words, the eu offering us a bit, but i dont think well get canada plus plus plus, because the negotiating cards are more on the eu side than on the uk side. So is there any middle ground between a country like norway, which is in the Single Market, and a country like canada . Well, some eu leaders accept that a bespoke deal for the uk needs to be found, but there is no such thing as membership lite. The government argues that the uk and the eu are starting from the same point, so doing a deal should be much easier. But thats also a reminder that this will be the first trade deal in history where the two sides are trying to get further apart rather than get closer together. Martine. Chris thank you very much. Its very complicated. As always. 0h, its very complicated. As always. Oh, yes, i would its very complicated. As always. Oh, yes, iwould be disappointed if it werent. There was a catastrophic failure when the church of england agreed to compensate a woman, who said shed been sexually abused by a bishop thats according to a lawyer whos reviewed the case. The former bishop of chichester george bell, who died in 1958, was alleged to have repeatedly abused a young girl. The woman made a formal complaint in 1995 and, 10 years later, won an apology and compensation from the church of england. 0ur religious affairs correspondent, martin bashir, reports. Scholar, priest and champion of the oppressed george bell served as bishop of chichester for 30 years, until his death in 1958. But his reputation was suddenly challenged two years ago, when it emerged that this woman had made allegations that hed abused her when she was a child. I want people to know that he might have been a hero, but heroes dont always do good things. The church apologised and paid her more than £16,000 for what it called a devastating betrayal of trust. But supporters of bishop bell found the claims impossible to believe and demanded a review of the churchs handling of the allegations. Todays report is the result of an 18 month audit conducted by the barrister lord carlile. The way in which the george bell case was investigated was poor. That the wrong questions were asked, that there was oversteer in the investigation by which, i mean there were preconceptions, which were not in favour of george bell. The report contains a catalogue of criticisms. It says the investigation was very weak. Almost no effort was made to contact bishop bells family. And concludes that for bishop bells reputation to be catastrophically affected in the way that occurred was just wrong. As a church, we acknowledge that and we certainly dont want to hide want to hide from that, but we have put in place as youll be aware policies and guidelines. Were much more rigorous. Were much more better resourced. Were undertaking training on a much wider basis. And its for those reasons that i can see the church is taking safeguarding extremely seriously. Lord carliles review is the third occasion in this year alone that the church of england has had to acknowledge serious failings in its handling of child abuse allegations. Although in this case, it was not the alleged victim who suffered additional harm, but the reputation of a bishop who died 60 years ago. Martin bashir, bbc news, at church house. In a moment the Business News. First, a look at the headlines on afternoon live. Eu leaders meeting in brussels have agreed to move on to the second stage of brexit talks with the uk. Ajudge calls for an inquiry into the collapse of a rape after it emerged police did not reveal crucial evidence to the defence. Prince harry and Meghan Markle will marry on may 19th next year. Heres your business headlines on afternoon live. The hs2 rail project overpaid 94 people £1. 76 million in what mps have called a shocking waste of taxpayers money. A Parliamentary Committee has revealed a string of excessive redundancy payments made to staff when the state owned company that runs hs2 moved its headquarters to birmingham. Sky and bt signed a deal to sell their channels on each others platforms. Under the deal, bt will now supply its sports channels which show Uefa Champions League and premier League Football to sky. Ryanair, which is the worlds fifth Biggest Airline by passenger numbers, says its going to recognise pilot unions for the First Time Since it was founded 32 years ago. The airline hopes it will stop pilots holding a strike that was scheduled for later today over pay and conditions. Earlier this year ryanair had to cancel 20,000 flights after messing up its pilots leave schedule. More on this in the next hour. Let us do it the it now. Lets not wait. Union recognition at ryanair . Remarkable. They have been forced into it by the threat of these strikes coming up to christmas. The unions, the pilots really know this is obviously their weak point. It is what they can do to put pressure on them. That said, it is quite remarkable that a, going back to september, looking at some of the figures, passenger number figures. You get the impression ryanair on the back foot and pushed into doing this. In september, right in the middle of the shenanigans over cancellations of flights passenger numbers up 10 on the year before. I think of the line from the head of raya n think of the line from the head of rayan air who says, my planes are full of people who swore they would never fly ryanair again full of people who swore they would never fly rya nair again its full of people who swore they would never fly ryanair again its an indication about its power as a brand. We spoke to ryanairs chief 0perating brand. We spoke to ryanairs chief operating officer. We spoke to imhad on we had threatened skype. Industrial action in a couple of countries for next week. Obviously, christmas time is the most emotional and important time for people travelling home and across the world. More importantly we have spoken to our staff. We had feedback over the last week or two the time for recognition is coming now. Thats been the request. We havent had requests from many places before. That occurred over the last coming of weeks. We are changing a longstanding policy. Its part of the transformation of the company over time we the transformation of the company overtime we are the transformation of the company over time we are moving to recognise the unions. Is how big a deal is this . It is a big deal. The strikes i think will be called off. From a pilots point of view they will say we pilots point of view they will say we have recognition, its the post important thing. They have a platform to move forward on to. We can deal head to head with ryanair on an official basis and work out what we can gain as a result of that. I spoke to an aviation expert. He gave us the deal on this earlier. They have never recognised unions before. They had a massive debacle with the flight cancellations, but christmas flights are the most important for customers in the year. They didnt want bad publicity by risks cancellations in the days ahead. The pilots recognised this was a moment to have a key negotiating chip with the sensitivity about christmas flights. The companies realised the time has come there has to be an a change in approach. Its an offer to engage different unions according to which one represents pilots in each country and not to get embroiled in non ryanair issues. Its a major step and major policy change. The cost of moving house is going up and yet i thought they had done away with stamp duty on lower yet i thought they had done away with stamp duty on lower i was surprised by these figures. I tell you why, autumn the costs are linked to the price of the houses and the price of houses is going up. I will give you a couple of examples. Conveyancing up 54 . Incredible jump. The cost of a survey is up about 15 . Conveyiansing fees on a purchase up 38 . On a sale up 42 . These are big numbers. We talked earlier to the chief executive of really moving. This is what he told us really moving. This is what he told us about. Its driven by Property Prices going up. If you look at it in absolute terms. Property prices have gone up by 25 . Under inflation they havent gone up that. If they havent gone up that. If you look at the proportion of house prices that proportion of Property Price that Estate Agents charge that has been reducing, largely driven by competition from online and hybrid Estate Agents. Stamp duty has been reballs balanced so the stamp duty cost, although it has gone up in absolute terms, in percentage terms has gone down for the vast majority of people. The richest people buying houses £1 million plus where the stop rate of stamp duty has gone up. We are talking about rya nair stamp duty has gone up. We are talking about ryanair recognising unions. Breaking news. They have accepted their offer to recognise them as the Representative Union for their pilots. The change of heart and position by ryanair is welcomed. Both sides now agree. It doesnt say specifically that the strike is off. They have accepted. Not yet. At the moment that looks like its on the cards. Thats right. I want to flag up cards. Thats right. I want to flag up one other story. European Planemaker Airbus has revealed a shake up of its top management team. To find out more head to our website www. Bbc. Co. Uk news business. You can look tef story there. And the markets. Looking great. Ftse is up the markets. Looking great. Ftse is up 20 points. Pounds level. Not a huge amount of movement. Not so. Of huge amount of movement. Not so. 0fa huge amount of movement. Not so. Of a santa rally, as they call it. Which is where people spend money towards the end of the year . That is right. They get Christmas Spirit going into their investing. They think why not. A self fulfilling prophecy. You say there will be a sa nta prophecy. You say there will be a santa rally every year and everyone charges in. Therein is a hangover in the new year so it will settle out a little bit. Might regret that. I might. Along with other things. Over christmas people dont have money to invest. We a re christmas people dont have money to invest. We are not all so fortunate. Thank you. The us space agency, nasa, says its discovered an 8th planet circling a distant sun making it the first solar system to have the same number of planets as our own. The eight orbit a star known as kepler 90, and the discovery reveals an order like earth and its neighbours with small planets nearest the sun, and bigger ones further away. Paul rincon reports. Astronomers have discovered more than 3,000 planets circling other stars, but very few of these distant planetary systems resemble our own. Now a team using the kepler space telescope has confirmed the existence of eight planets around a single star. Seven of these were already known, but experts trained a Software Programme to recognise known planets. The programme then searched through raw data and identified a previously unknown world. The new planet we found, kepler 90i, is the smallest of the bunch and orbits just outside the inner two planets. The new planet is small enough that we think it is probably rocky and doesnt have a thick atmosphere. The surface is likely scorching hot. We calculated that it probably has an average temperature of about 800 degrees fahrenheit. Weve been able to task computers to go and look into data and to find things that people didnt spot, or perhaps didnt have time to spot. So, providing good candidates for worlds hidden within the kepler data, machines can then pick up the slack and actually go and discover these worlds. The distant planetary system is ordered like our own, with the small worlds nearest the star and the bigger planets further away. But all the planets are pushed further in towards their parent star, which is known as kepler 90. This means theyre probably far too hot for life as we know it, but Machine Learning could be used to find signatures of earth sized worlds elsewhere in the cosmos. That could lead to Ground Breaking discoveries in the search for life in the universe. Time for a look at the weather, heres darren bett. It will get cold tonight. A widespread frost is expected. It follows a good deal of sunshine that many of us have been enjoying today. Neath in south wales for one, sheltered from the northerly winds, has seen blue skies. Where you have the wind bringing in showers you get skies like this. This was pembrokeshire and showers clipping west wales and the far south west of england. Showers into Northern Ireland. They will be mostly of rain. The showers in northern scotla nd rain. The showers in northern scotland are mostly of sleet, snow and hail. Central southern scotland though dry and clear after lots of sunshine today. Apart from the showers clipping west wales and the far south west, most of wales and the west country should be dry and clear skies this evening. Tumbling temperatures. More cloud for a while across eastern parts of england where we have showers coming in. Those will tend to become fewer overnight. We will keep showers for Northern Ireland coming into wests wales far south west of england and northern scotland. Inland dry and clear and cold as well. More widespread frost tonight and lows of minus five or minus six in rural areas. We start the weekend cold and frosty, slowly but surely we will replace that cold air with more of a wester to south westerly wind bringing milder conditions with it. We will see the showers moving offshore in Eastern England but push showers and cloud across Northern Ireland, wales, western parts of england as well. Further east and north we will hang on to more sunshine. It will be cold after that frost. Temperatures perhaps no higher than two or three degrees where we have the cloud to the west we will see the higher temperatures. Thicker cloud to come and weather systems as well ahead of these weather fronts. There systems as well ahead of these weatherfronts. There may be systems as well ahead of these weather fronts. There may be a patchy frost to the eastern side of the uk early on sunday morning. This weather system brings about a significant change, not just weather system brings about a significant change, notjust because the winds will be stronger, and because we are going to have outbreaks of rain spilling across all areas, but because temperatures will be higher, perhaps as high as nine or ten degrees. This is the milderaircoming in. Nine or ten degrees. This is the milderair coming in. Next week nine or ten degrees. This is the milder air coming in. Next week it will be on the dry oiled and on the mild side as well. That mild weather comes with a good deal of cloud. Thats it, goodbye. Hello, youre watching afternoon live. Today at 4pm eu leaders give the green light for the second phase of brexit talks to begin. We will be beginning the talks about our relationship. Well be beginning those straight away. Ajudge calls for an inquiry, after a student is cleared of rape when police failed to disclose evidence casting doubt on the case. A scene of horror the family of four children who died in a manchester house fire describe the moment they arrived at the burning house. There are not words to describe what you see. You cant describe what you see. Prince harry and Meghan Markle set the date for their wedding, they will marry on may 19th next year. Coming up on afternoon live, all the sport. England face a huge day three in the crucial third ashes test. They must at least draw in perth to keep alive their chances of retaining the trophy. And darren has the weather. Temperatures starting to drop . We had a few showers near the coast today but inland, clearing skies and light wind, we are looking at widespread frost tonight. 0ver light wind, we are looking at widespread frost tonight. Over the weekend, temperatures will slowly climb. I will tell you later. The eu has formally agreed to move to the next phase of talks on brexit. Christian fraser is following the story for us in brussels. Welcome to brussels. There have been some hard knocks in the brexit negotiation but the year has ended ona negotiation but the year has ended on a broadly positive note. Eu leaders have agreed the brexit talks can move to the second phase, the future relations between the eu and britain. The Prime Minister, about an hourago, britain. The Prime Minister, about an hour ago, called this an important step on the road to a smooth and orderly brexit but the president of the European Commission, Jean Claude Juncker, warned of the second phase will be harder. This report is from damian grammaticas. We had a meeting with the group of the European Parliamentarians being involved in this and we were able to conclude sufficient progress has been made. Now it is up to us to draft the Withdrawal Agreement, together with our british friends, and i hope the withdrawal treaty will be approved by the European Parliament and by the house in london. Theresa mays negotiating skills were praised today and in the last Howard Donald task gave his reaction to the agreement. Opening the second phase of negotiations would not be possible without the unity of the eu 27, the hard work of Michel Barnier and the constructive effort of Prime Minister may. As for the framework for future relations, it minister may. As for the framework forfuture relations, it is now time forfuture relations, it is now time for internal eu 27 preparations and exploratory contact with the uk to get more clarity on their vision. 0n that basis, we should adopt guidelines and start negotiations next year. Speaking in her constituency, theresa may said an important step had been taken on the road to a smooth and orderly brexit. This is an important step on the road to the smooth and orderly brexit people voted for last year, and the uk and the eu have shown what can be achieved by commitment and perseverance on both sides. I am pleased it has been agreed to make rapid progress on an implementation period to give certainty to businesses and individuals. There is still more to do but were well on the road to delivering a brexit that will make britain strong and secure. Reporter will it be brexit in 2019 if we have to accept Free Movement and ec] jurisdiction during transition . People voted to leave the European Union and we will do that. But people also want us to do that in a smooth, orderly way that does not disrupt lives and businesses, and that is what we will be delivering, the brexit people voted for. Are you worried there will be no proper trade talks until after march and a final trade deal can only be finalised after march 2019 . We will be beginning talks about our future relationship straightaway and also talking about the implementation period that will give certainty to businesses and individuals. We are leaving the European Union on the 29th of march 2019. We will set up and negotiate a new trade deal with the European Union but also we will be negotiating deals with other countries around the world. This is about building a britain fit for the future. Lets clarify that last point. There has been talk on social media about the framework of trade talks being pushed down the line to march. She did wina pushed down the line to march. She did win a small concession from the European Commission today. All the preparatory work behind the scenes for trade talks will begin in the new year across the road at the European Commission, so they will start work in parallel talking about the transition but also the work that will go into the framework. That conversation has to happen in the uk. She has to agree with her cabinet, remain as an brexiteers, before they can move on to trade talks. Remainers and brexiteers. Joining me is german mep and vice chairman of the european reformists. Welcome. Ispoke vice chairman of the european reformists. Welcome. I spoke to you in the last few weeks and you were advocating that we pause brexit and go back to the negotiation David Cameron had in february. You were saying the british side should be given concessions and brexit should be cancelled. Is that still how you feel . Absolutely. I have not met one german person in the last 18 months who thinks brexit is a good idea. Of course, i certainly do respect the vote of the british but i think it is also fair that we look at the disadvantages of brexit to europe, especially to germany. The Economic Impact of brexit is slowly showing in britain, and i think you see increased inflation, the dropping pound, and you see and hear that a number ofjobs pound, and you see and hear that a number of jobs are being pound, and you see and hear that a number ofjobs are being transferred to europe. But that is the british problem. I think europe suffers at least as much as britain. For me it isa least as much as britain. For me it is a lose lose situation. I think it is irresponsible that so many people in britain and on this continent know it is a lose lose situation and no one really tries to change it. We are definitely trying to change it and we would like, therefore, making sure that donald tusk, as the head of the European Council, offers britain a new deal which gets britain what it always wa nted which gets britain what it always wanted without the disadvantages of brexit. But you will know, and we have seen evidence of it over the last two days, that when it comes to things like migration, for instance, countries do not cia to live. There has been a row over migration. Trying to get them around one particular position for britain and for brexit, only part of the discussion, is very difficult. You are right, but the discussion shows that the continent is changing. Lets face it, David Cameron did not get what he should have been given, terms of autonomy for his own immigration. Meanwhile, there are more countries on the continent and in europe who believe that the countries should definitely control their own immigration. There is a convergence of views. Lets face it, the disadvantages of brexit, both on the disadvantages of brexit, both on the continent and in britain, become visible, number one. Number two, the continent and in britain, become visible, number one. Numbertwo, the differences on those issues like controlled immigration, become less and less. So i am convinced, had cameron been given more autonomy on issues like immigration, the whole vote would have gone the other way. Meanwhile, there are more and more countries in europe who believe that it isa countries in europe who believe that it is a countrys responsibility to determine who comes into the country and who does not. Can i quickly ask you a final question . Angela merkel, who gave a press conference a couple of hours ago, made particular reference to the need for the 27 countries to Stay Together. I think thatis countries to Stay Together. I think that is going to be more difficult because, as opposed to what happened over the last few months with the divorce procedures, where they were a homogenous group, now every country has an interest. The Eastern European countries want to talk about defence, the germans might wa nt to about defence, the germans might want to talk about banking and the car industry, the spanish and french might want to talk about fisheries. Everyone has an interest in keeping the group together could be more difficult. You are right, but here i ta ke difficult. You are right, but here i take a european viewpoint, not the british viewpoint, that the british mentorship in this unit will be missed by many people. Because it was the british in the last couple of years who were always advocating more autonomy, less bureaucracy. They were focusing on competitiveness on the continent. Whereas on the continent we have many more countries, especially france and unfortunately also lately germany, who focus on the United States of europe, which is one thing iam sure states of europe, which is one thing i am sure the majority of europeans do not want. I always say, when britain leaves, the last country with common sense is leaving the European Union. And with a group of other germans who have started the initiative, a new dealfor britain, we will do Everything Possible to avoid it. Very good to talk to you. We move onto the next phase of negotiation. I got the quick word with Michel Barnier this afternoon. His work will start next week. They are pressing ahead, and the preparatory work for future talks will also go on across the road, starting in january. Will also go on across the road, starting injanuary. Thank you. Some breaking news. You are watching bbc news, although it feels rather different at the moment. Lets speak now to chris mason who is in westminster, for some local reaction to the agreement to move onto the next phase. There was a lwa ys onto the next phase. There was always this ambition to get to this point by december. Were we always going to get to this point . Has it been theatre . He did not always feel like we were going to get here, and there has been more than a healthy dose of theatre, pantomime even, in this season. But if you take a couple of steps back, there was a lwa ys couple of steps back, there was always a highlight the hood we would get here eventually, simply because there was a desire on both sides to get here. There was a high likelihood. Albeit, there was a lot of agreement and the go sheshan. But both sides, the eu and the uk, wa nted both sides, the eu and the uk, wanted some sort of deal, not an acrimonious divorce, a no deal scenario. That is not to say there is not still potential for a no deal, but it seems rather less likely than prior to this first hurdle being cleared. Still a huge amount to discuss next year, as discussions move onto trade and security and the future relationship. Also, isuspect, quite a lot of tangle and discussion early in the new year, potentially even next week at westminster, over the practicalities of that window, that transition period, the meditation period in a couple of years after march 2019, with the suggestion from the European Union that after then the European Union that after then the uk will be outside of the eu, brexit will technically have happened, but in reality, particularly for passionate brexiteers, they will point to the fa ct brexiteers, they will point to the fact that very little is likely to change. The un is likely to be in the Single Market and the Customs Union and bound by rulings of the European Court of Justice Union and bound by rulings of the European Court ofjustice and still suck subject to Free Movement, while not being around the table to be involved in the Decision Making process. That will have potentially practical implications. Take the fishing industry. Lots of people we re fishing industry. Lots of people were mass in the fleet in that industry were massively passionate for brexit, because they wanted to set their own quotas and that kind of thing. There is a chance in the transition period that fishing quotas, the haggling process that ta kes pla ce quotas, the haggling process that takes place at this time of year in brussels, will happen. The uk will be subject to what is decided but it will not be around the table for those years where we are still bound by the rules under the transition period. So a lot of politics and debates to come in the new year and still a little bit next week before parliament packs up for christmas. Very busy year it is going to be, for you as well. Chris mason, thank you. Some breaking news. At the airport in amsterdam, we understand from dutch police that a man who was wielding a knife at the airport has been shot. The authorities are trying to clear the building. We do not know whether the man has sustained injuries or has been fatally wounded. We do not know his condition, that a man wielding a knife at amsterdam Schiphol Airport has been shot by dutch police. The building has now been cleared. Youre watching afternoon live, these are our headlines eu leaders have agreed to move onto the second stage of talks with the uk. Ajudge the second stage of talks with the uk. A judge says the second stage of talks with the uk. Ajudge says police did not reveal evidence to the defence in a rape trial. Prince harry and Meghan Markle will marry on may the 19th next year. England are ahead in the ashes test but they need to get australias captain out fast. He is 92 not out, as the hosts close on 203 for three. England must draw to stay in the series. Britains number two tennis player reverts to his country of birth, slovenia, in a bid to play at the olympics and the davis cup. And the wife of sir Bradley Wiggins has apologised for calling chris froome apologised for calling chris froome a slithering reptile on social media. She later deleted the post and said she had been speaking in the heat of the moment. More for you just after half past. Ajudge has called for an inquiry after a University Student was cleared of rape because police failed to disclose evidence casting doubt on the case. 22 year old liam allan spent two years on bail, before his trial at Croydon Crown court was halted, when it was revealed his accuser had sent messages suggesting she wanted to continue to have sex with him. Andy moore reports. 22 year old liam allan had spent almost two years on bail, accused of six rapes and six sexual assaults. This morning he told the bbc he was overwhelmed, and dealing with the confusion of going from the villain to being innocent. Jerry hayes was the prosecution barrister in this case. It flips your life upside down. Everything can be torn away and you become aware, you realise how much you have toulouse but you also start losing things as the process gets longer and longer. Jerry hayes was the prosecution barrister in this case. His job was to put liam allan behind bars. But then the Police Revealed a computer disk with 50,000 texts from the woman making the act is a. Making the accusations. She said she did not like sex with him but the Text Messages say she loves sex with him. There were rape fantasies, sex in the open air. This was a 12 count indictment. If the defence had not got that, he would have been convicted, he would have got 12 years, he would have had his life trashed and been on the Sexual Offences register forever. The metropolitan police said it is coming as a shock to him and he is worried because naturally his neighbours are being pestered. There are lots of people around his home. What he wants to do is to have a little bit of headspace, because as a 22 year old, you can imagine that it has been quite unnerving. Especially given the two years prior, in which his life was pretty much at stake. After the case collapsed yesterday, the judge said, there is something that has gone wrong and it is a matter that the cps should be considering at the very highest level. Otherwise there is a risk there will be a very serious miscarriage of justice. He leaves the courtroom an innocent man, without a stain on his character. The problem goes back at least two decades in various forms. Trying to manage how much of the Background Information that the Police Gather in an investigation should be disclosed to the defence. Everyone in the profession is aware that there are problems with filtering out relevant material and sometimes it gets missed. Liam allan is a criminology student. He said he felt betrayed by a system he wanted to work in. Kensington palace has announced the date of prince harry and Meghan Markles wedding. They will marry on 19th may next year. The couple confirmed their engagement last month and said the ceremony would take place at windsor castle. 0ur royal correspondent Nicholas Witchell has more details. It is unusual but not unprecedented for a Royal Wedding to take place on a saturday. I would imagine that part of the thinking is that because there is no bank holiday in the case of harry and meghan, by having the wedding on a saturday, it gives those who are so minded an opportunity to go to windsor, because no doubt there will be a carriage procession through the centre of windsor town and maybe the park, so people will have an opportunity to cheer and wave. But the wedding is set for the 19th of may, 2018. Some people were pinning their hopes on a bank holiday, street parties and everything. Downing street has not been persuaded and i do not think there was ever much chance, because these things are ruled by precedent. You get a bank holiday if it is somebody in direct line of succession, but not necessarily for someone who is, as he will be by then, sixth in line to the throne, because what do we have in april but the birth of the cambridges third child, who automatically becomes fifth in line to the throne, the position harry is in at the moment. So he moves down one. So it will be a busy spring, with a baby in april and a wedding in may. I hope you have your best bib and tucker sorted. Absolutely. And the cost of hotel rooms in the windsor area is reaching unprecedented and stratospheric levels. There we are. The 19th of may is the date for the Royal Wedding. Nicholas witchell, our royal correspondent. Just a little more information coming in about the shooting of a man wielding a knife at Schiphol Airport in amsterdam. Dutch military police opened fire because the man was carrying a knife, and he was shot and injured by gunfire, but they are saying that he has now been overpowered and arrested. He had been making threats with the knife and the authorities are trying to clear the building. Reuters are quoting a Police Spokesperson at amsterdam airport saying the suspect is in custody having been injured. Those are the only details but we will bring you more when we get it. Ryanair has agreed to recognise pilots unions for the first time to try to prevent strike action in the run up to christmas. The airline says its invited pilot unions from a number of European Countries to talks next week. Its urging its staff to call off the industrial action which is planned for wednesday 20th. Heres our Business Correspondent joe lynam. It is europes Largest Airline in terms of passengers. It prides itself on low fares and no frills. It has also refused to recognise trade unions in its 32 year existence, until now. Faced with a highly damaging strike next week, ryanair has invited pilots to talk about forming a trade union. In a letter to unions in britain, ireland and four other countries it said but this is a major change of tone from only three days ago when the airline said it would face down the union behind the planned strike, which it described as a small group who dont care how much upset they cause colleagues or customers. This is astounding news from ryanair, the last thing i would have expected. They are known for toughing out in negotiations. It reflects that the pilots have used good bargaining skills. They know christmas is very sensitive. It wont have been an easy decision but i think they finally recognised it had to make a change in order to keep future industrial peace and maintain their competitive position. But the offer to recognise unions comes with strings attached. Ryanair says it will only recognise unions if they work exclusively for the airline, pilots with a rival carrier would not be allowed to negotiate with ryanair. They would form a Ryanair Company council, would work with Union Officials and their negotiators, and we would Work Together with them to try to come up with the collective agreement in the uk. What we dont want to get involved in it is a British Airways pilot who could be a potential competitor, negotiating on behalf of ryanair pilots. If the offer works, it could put thousands of passengers minds at ease as they plan holidays, but whether it will improve the Airlines Overall reputation is unclear. The Weather Forecast now. Baron has joined us. Parts of europe struggling with terrible conditions. Yes, slovenia and here in italy. A river has burst its banks, following days of heavy rain. This picture was taken a day or two ago. Very heavy rain. All of the wet weather has been stuck across northern parts of italy and into slovenia where they have also had rain and some snow. 0n the satellite picture you can see the satellite picture you can see the cloud which has brought the rain. Coming into that, you have another area of cloud from the north and everything stops over the hills. Some very heavy rain to come in the next 24 hours. Rain and snow, possibly up to six inches in the next 24 hours. It eventually moves away but you have this battle between cold air from the north and a warm southerly wind, which is why you have such an active area of heavy rain. It will be the cold winds which win out, and more snow across the alps to come. Pretty miserable for many people in the run up to christmas. Will they have a dry spell . What drives this weather. Is it the jet stream . It is the jet stream. You can trace it all the way back to north america. We were talking about the wildfires and the High Pressure keeping it try. This undulation of the jet strea m try. This undulation of the jet stream meant cold air diving down across europe. Because our weather is going to change, the weather in europe will change as well. Lets have a look at our weather. It is going to get milder this weekend. Because the position of the jet strea m because the position of the jet stream will change. We have had showers today. That victory was pembrokeshire, and this is scarborough. Wintry looking skies, and quite cold in the showers. They are mainly coming in on the northerly wind and running into coastal areas. Not all of it is snow. We have rain for Northern Ireland. A wintry mix across scotland. You can see the showers running across yorkshire, lincolnshire and around into east anglia. Few are showers at the moment across western wales and south west england. More cloud across east anglia and the south east for a while but the showers retreating to the east coast. A fewer showers in west wales and the south west and later across Northern Ireland, but many will be dry. The wind is trapping, skies are clearing and temperatures tumbling, so widespread frost. Colder than last night. In rural parts, it could be six below freezing. We start with the cold air but we will push that out of the way. The wind direction will change to south westerly, pulling in mild air. But it takes a while. Still cold on saturday. More cloud coming into Northern Ireland. That will move into wales and the south west of england, too. Much of scotla nd south west of england, too. Much of scotland and Eastern England will be try and bright with some sunshine but quite cold. The wind will be lighter tomorrow. In the second half of the weekend, the wind will strengthen. A chilly night for eastern areas on saturday. This weather system is coming in from the atlantic, bringing significant changes in the second half of the weekend. Much more cloud. Also a stronger south westerly wind, blowing in some patchy rain south east across the uk, and lifting temperatures. As we look ahead into next week, the run up to christmas, the first half of the week looks like there will be largely dry conditions. It looks like it will be mild with temperatures as high as 14 or 15 degrees. But with the mild air, we do see a lot of cloud. See you later. This is bbc news, our latest headlines. Eu leaders have formally agreed to move forward to the next stage of brexit talks after accepting that sufficient progress had been made on citizens rights, the irish border and the final divorce payment. Theresa may said it was an important moment. Im pleased that its been agreed we should make rapid progress on an implementation period, which will give certainty to businesses and individuals. Theres still more to do, but were well on the road to delivering a brexit that will make britain prosperous, strong and secure. Scotland yard is carrying out an urgent assessment after a rape trial collapsed. 22 year old student liam allan was cleared after it emerged police failed to disclose evidence casting doubt on the case against him. Kensington palace has announced that prince harry and Meghan Markle will marry on may 19th next year. The couple, who have been dating since the summer of 2016, announced their engagement in november. Theyll marry in st georges chapel at windsor castle. Sport now on afternoon live with lizzie Greenwood Hughes. Well talk about the ashes shortly, but first Great Britains number two tennis player no longer wants to be british . Yes, but its all to do with the olympics. World number 49, aliaz bedene is from slovenia, but has lived in london for the last nine years and in 2015 he switched nationality to brtitish. Since then hes been looked after by the lta, receiving the training and funding they give to elite players in the uk, but crucially, bedene still wasnt allowed to represent Great Britain at an olympics or a davis cup. The lta have tried to change that rule through legal channels, but couldnt. So bedene has been lured back by slovenia to play for them and will do so from january 1st. It will be in time to play in tokyo in 2020. Disappointing for britain. 0nto the cricket, and england put on some runs, but australia doing the same, their captain leading by example again . Yes. Steve smith the australian captain is a machine hes 92 not out and looking determined as ever to pile on plenty more runs when day three starts in perth in the early hours of tomorrow morning. So although england have had a good test so far at the waca, theyre 200 runs ahead thanks to centuries from david malan and Jonny Bairstow they need wickets and fast because this is a crucial test. Defeat at the waca is not an option. Heres a round up of day three from our correspondent, andy swiss. If day one belonged to england, day two belonged to australia. Not that it seemed that way at first. Ba i rstow it seemed that way at first. Bairstow reached his century. He headbutted his helmet. A reference to that infamous incident in a bar in perth. When malan went the batting collapsed. They lost their last six wiebths for 35 runs. They will feel as if they should have got more. Englands bowlers set about repairing the damage, two wickets for craig oar tonne. A half century from khawaja and 92 not out from steve smith turned things around in australias favour. It was australias favour. It was australias day. No doubting englands man of the day, johnny ba i rstow englands man of the day, Johnny Bairstow with that century. These we re bairstow with that century. These were his thoughts afterwards. The 100 in many ways was my favourite one because obviously i played in a few ashes series so far now and to score an ashes 100 is something you dream about as a kid, to be really honest with you. Yeah, its eluded him until now. Yeah, it was a whole heap of emotions that came running through. As for australia, they will feel they are right back in this. 0ne feel they are right back in this. One of their key men a battling half century helping to turn things around. He said he was surprised by the speed of englands batting collapse. It wasnt that england have a history of collapsing we knew if we got a breakthrough the new batsman would find telephone tough coming in. Waca is a tough wicket to start up on, just for its pace and bounce. Sort of leading into that tail we knew one more wicket and another wicket, when when you get their tail its never an easy place to bat. Good day for australia. You sense their captain, steve smith, is the key man. 92 not out going into day flee. If he gets a big century, australia will still be hopeful of securing a first innings lead and potentially a match winning and an ashes winning position. Andy swiss reporting from perth for us. The wife of Bradley Wiggins has apologised for comments she made about chris froome on social media after it emerged that hed been found to have double the permitted level of an asthma drug in his system during the vuelta a espana. Catherine wiggins called froome a slithering reptile and suggested hed been protected while Bradley Wiggins had been under scrutiny for his use of legal medication. She later said her comments had been made in the heat of the moment. Thats all the sport for now. Ill have more for you in the next hour. Yoin us then. Lizzie, thank you very much. Three people charged with the murder of four children in a house fire in Greater Manchester have appeared in court. Zak bolland, whos 23, 20 year old courtney brierley, and 25 year old David Worrell were remanded in custody, following the fire on monday. 0ur reporter Chi Chi Izundu joins me now. The family have been talking about this . To remind people what actually happened. Four children died in the house fire which is thought to the have started around 5. 00am on monday onjackson street in manchester. Demi was found dead at the scene. Brandon, lacie both died in hospital as dids three year old lia. Michelles sister, claire, detailed exactly how three year old lia passed on. Sister, claire, detailed exactly how three year old lia passed onm sister, claire, detailed exactly how threeyearold lia passed on. It was horrible because as much i didnt wa nt horrible because as much i didnt want to be, there i had to be there because i know michelle is my sister, shes my best friend. If the roles were refersed she would be in the same situation. We did everything we could for that baby girl. We did. Manchester childrens hospital, i thank enough everything they did. They never gave up once. Nothing was any no trouble at trouble. All. When lia started to slip away they moved the bed. They allowed me to hold her as she passed. She passed away in her arms. Claire and chris pearson, family relatives of those children who died. Their mum, who is 35, shes still critically ill and in a coma . She is still critically ill in hospital. Her dad, mike, detailed some of her injuries and said she may have surgery soon. He also said hes dreading the time that will inevitably come when he may have to tell her about what has happened to herfour tell her about what has happened to her four other children. The first question out of her mouth is wheres my children. She will realise whats happened. How can i turn round and say. Theyve gone. You know, i cant even turn round to say ones gone, all her young ones, all her babies have gone. I dont know. Im dreading the day that comes. I am absolutely dreading the day that comes. Yes, michelles dad, mike pearson, talking about the tragedy that happened on monday morning. Thank you very much. Back ta our main story now. The Prime Minister says shes working to secure the best trade deal with the eu while regaining control over issues such as borders and immigration. Chris morris, from the bbcs reality check team, looks ahead to the second phase of talks. So the other 27 countries have now agreed that its time to move on to phase two of these negotiations, while continuing to finalise all those issues from phase one. To start with, there will be talks about a transition period of about two years after brexit, during which the uk will operate under all eu rules and regulations. Some of the detail about what that means will be controversial. Then next spring, if all goes to plan, negotiators will also begin to consider the future relationship between the uk and the eu on security, on Foreign Policy and of course on trade. The eus aim is to produce a very broad political agreement on the outlines of a future deal before brexit actually happens. Detailed trade talks will take a lot longer. Part of the problem is that at the moment the eu has no idea what the uk actually wants. A deep and special partnership is the governments preferred phrase, but what does that actually mean . Well, theres been a lot of talk about this, the canada model. A free trade deal between the eu and canada, which came into effect this year, eliminates most tariffs in the trading of goods. But it does relatively little to liberalise the trade in services, which is a far more significant part of the uk economy. So understandably, the uk is looking for something a little more ambitious. The brexit secretary david davis says he wants canada plus plus plus. What we want is a bespoke outcome. Well probably start with the best of canada, and the best of japan, and the best of south korea, and then add to that the bits that are missing, which are the services. But the eu is cautious about this, arguing that the more access you get, the more responsibilities you take on, and the uk doesnt want to make big annual budget payments, accept thejurisdiction of the European Court ofjustice, or allow the Free Movement of people. Im afraid that my best guest will be that we might get canada plus, in other words, the eu offering us a bit, but i dont think well get canada plus plus plus, because the negotiating cards are more on the eu side than on the uk side. So is there any middle ground between a country like norway, which is in the Single Market, and a country like canada . Well, some eu leaders accept that a bespoke deal for the uk needs to be found, but there is no such thing as membership lite. The government argues that the uk and the eu are starting from the same point, so doing a deal should be much easier. But thats also a reminder that this will be the first trade deal in history where the two sides are trying to get further apart rather than get closer together. A firefighter has died while battling a huge wildfire north of los angeles. The blaze, which started 11 days ago, has now destroyed an area bigger than new york city and paris combined and is on track to become the largest wildfire in californias history. The firefighting operation has already cost more than £60 million. 0ur correspondent james cook reports from the town of santa paula in california. An orange glow is lighting up the night sky here, as this gigantic wildfire rages in the mountains to the north. More than 8,300 firefighters are now tackling the blaze, trying to prevent it from advancing into half a dozen towns, including Santa Barbara, on the pacific coast. Celebrities mansions are among 18,000 buildings at risk. More than 800 homes have already been destroyed. Were actually returning from down south, where we tried to go get some fresh air and visit a friend who just had a baby. But the smoke is now back down there. My mom had a Lung Transplant four years ago and so she has a compromised. She has pulmonary fibrosis. Im so concerned. We just left our house, just to see what the conditions are like, and its really bad. The firefighter who died has been identified as cory iverson, a 32 year old engineer, who is survived by his pregnant wife and two year old daughter. This is a tragic event, and its a reminder of the inherent dangers that we face here in california with wildfire, and the risks that we take in the fire service. We understand the job that we do when we get into this profession and we enjoy the idea of helping people. Um, but what this tells us is that you should not take any time for granted. And our thoughts and prayers really go out to this individuals family. It has not rained here for more than eight months, and with dangerous gusty winds forecast, one fire chief said the weekend would bring a horrible combination of critical fire conditions. James cook, bbc news, in california. An update on Schiphol Airport. A man was injured in gunfire but had been overpowered and arrested. The Schiphol Plaza has been declared safe. Its open again. No delay to any air traffic. Things returning to normal in amsterdam. The uks most senior military officer has warned of a new threat posed by russia to Communications Cables that run under the sea. The chief of the Defence Staff, air chief marshall sir stuart peach, said uk and nato must do more to protect the communication lines. Heres our defence correspondent, jonathan beale. Theyre the arteries of the information age. Hundreds of thousands of miles of cables laid on the sea bed. The lifeblood to our way of life and the internet economy. 90 of Global Communications rely on them. Theyre the means that allow £7 trillion worth of Financial Transactions a day. Reason enough, says britains top military chief, to worry about sabotage. And with one nation above any other in his sights russia. Russia, in addition to new ships and submarines, continues to perfect both unconventional capabilities. Can you imagine a scenario where those cables are cut or disrupted, which would immediately and potentially catastrophically affect both our economy and other ways of living . Theres been a recent increase in Russian Submarine activity, with Us Intelligence officials also warning theyve been aggressively operating in those areas where the cables are laid. The defence chief said britain and nato needed to match russias fleet modernisation. But the royal navys been shrinking. And with fears of yet more defence cuts, this was also a plea for more resources. This kind of problem, and the protection of these assets, does require more naval effort. And, of course, the number of ships and submarines that weve got has been reducing over decades, actually. So it is a call for modernisation. So, just how real is this threat of cutting cables or tapping lines of communication . The reality is, theyre more likely to be damaged by stray anchors or nature, even by curious sharks. And with dozens of cables and ships regularly carrying out repairs, it would be hard to completely sever these lines of communication. Yet in this era of information and Unconventional Warfare, it is a growing concern. Jonathan beale, bbc news. In a moment the Business News with jamie robertson. First, a look at the headlines on afternoon live. Eu leaders meeting in brussels have agreed to move on to the second stage of brexit talks with the uk. Ajudge calls for an inquiry into the collapse of a rape after it emerged police did not reveal crucial evidence to the defence. Kensington palace says prince harry and Meghan Markle will marry on may 19th next year. Heres your business headlines on afternoon live. The hs2 rail project overpaid 94 people £1. 76 million in what mps have called a shocking waste of taxpayers money. A Parliamentary Committee has revealed a string of excessive redundancy payments made to staff when the state owned company that runs hs2 moved its headquarters to birmingham. Sky and bt signed a deal to sell their channels on each others platforms. Under the deal, bt will now supply its sports channels which show Uefa Champions League and premier League Football to sky. Ryanair, which is the worlds fifth Biggest Airline by passenger numbers, says its going to recognise pilot unions for the First Time Since it was founded 32 years ago. The airline hopes it will stop pilots holding a strike that was scheduled for later today over pay and conditions. Earlier this year ryanair had to cancel 20,000 flights after messing up its pilots leave schedule. It we catch you out . You did. I was concentrating hard. You have breaking news . A story about unilever. Its selling its margarine and spread business, like flor or cant believe its not butter. We knew it was up for sale six months. The price is £8 billion. Its interesting this because private Equity Companies like the idea of splitting off whole sections of companies, stripping them down, making them better and selling them again. Tell us about the sky bt deal . We have a guest we want to get on to and talk to quickly. They are pushing stuff on to each others platform. Joining me now is jasper lawler, head of research at London Capital group. How important is it . How big a deal is it particularly in the light of the premier league auctions which cost so much money now . the premier league auctions which cost so much money now . I think it isa cost so much money now . I think it is a pretty huge deal in the context of where tv is going for, particularly sky and bt, because the big fearfor sky, particularly sky and bt, because the big fear for sky, especially a brought about a lot from competition from bt people are cutting the chord with their subscription, cable and satellite channels. They are trying to prevent that. They have done that through their now tv offering where people can pay month by month. That brought them into competition with amazon and netflix who offer the same Monthly Subscription services. Amazon has gone into sport which was the large attraction for sky and bt. Amazon took the tennis tour, outbid sky. They are seeing Something Like amazon out bidding them for the premier league and that would be catastrophic because that would be a mass drop off in subscriptions were to to happen. They are trying to join forces to face off the new enemy. Looking back over the last week, big story outside business has been brexit and the pound following the fortunes of what is going on at the fortunes of what is going on at the negotiating table and in brussels. Its fallen very sharply today. Why was that . The back drop is there has been dollar strength, a lot of the currencies have been falling. The pound fell more than others. We have moved on to phase two of the brexit negotiations. That should be a good thing, but i think there is a sell the fat here. That is understandable because that fact is understandable because that fact isa is understandable because that fact is a changeable scenario. There is full understanding from the market that although this phase two is coming, we dont know when, it might be march. There is a delay there. It just may completely change the underwriting of what we understood because trade will be harder to negotiate an these facts we understand from phase one. 0k. Negotiate an these facts we understand from phase one. Ok. We will leave it there. We have run out of time, im afraid. Lets look at the markets. Let us look at the pound. Down three quarters of a percentage. A big jump downwards. We have unilever because of that deal. Up have unilever because of that deal. Up1. 235 . Have unilever because of that deal. Up 1. 235 . Selling its margarine business. Sky, its dealwith up 1. 235 . Selling its margarine business. Sky, its deal with bt, why its up. A lot of changes at the top of airbus. That is reflected there. Not a huge amount of change. The ftse up 42, looking strong. Thank you so much. A lovely week with you. Its been a pleasure. See you next week if its your turn. Thank you. The us space agency, nasa, says its discovered an eighth planet circling a distant sun making it the first solar system to have the same number of planets as our own. The eight orbit a star known as kepler 90, and the discovery reveals an order like earth and its neighbours with small planets nearest the sun, and bigger ones further away. Paul rincon reports. Astronomers have discovered more than 3,000 planets circling other stars, but very few of these distant planetary systems resemble our own. Now a team using the kepler space telescope has confirmed the existence of eight planets around a single star. Seven of these were already known, but experts trained a Software Programme to recognise known planets. The programme then searched through raw data and identified a previously unknown world. The new planet we found, kepler 90i, is the smallest of the bunch and orbits just outside the inner two planets. The new planet is small enough that we think it is probably rocky and doesnt have a thick atmosphere. The surface is likely scorching hot. We calculated that it probably has an average temperature of about 800 degrees fahrenheit. Weve been able to task computers to go and look into data and to find things that people didnt spot, or perhaps didnt have time to spot. So, providing good candidates for worlds hidden within the kepler data, machines can then pick up the slack and actually go and discover these worlds. The distant planetary system is ordered like our own, with the small worlds nearest the star and the bigger planets further away. But all the planets are pushed further in towards their parent star, which is known as kepler 90. This means theyre probably far too hot for life as we know it, but Machine Learning could be used to find the signatures of earth sized worlds elsewhere in the cosmos. That could lead to Ground Breaking discoveries in the search for life in the universe. Now on afternoon live, lets go nationwide and see whats happening around the country in our daily visit to the bbc newsrooms around the uk. Edward sault is in southampton, where a 12 Year Old Girl is trying to make cycle helmets a legal requirement after one saved her life when she was hit by a car. Tell us about this young girl. So what happened to maisie last year . She was cycling to school one morning, down a hill, she realised she was cycling too fast. She went to brake on her bike, but but she went over her handle bars. What happened next was extraordinary. She landed into the path of an oncoming car. She shattered her pelvis in five places. She is still here to tell the tale. Maise, her mum and the medics said it was the fact she was wearing a cycle helmet it helpeded to save her we wonder if life. They make a difference. How did she start on this campaign to make them compulsory . Help. Did she start on this campaign to make them compulsory . Helpm isnt compulsory, but she wants people of all ages to wear them. She is pleading to people of her age and other ages to heed the warnings and wear a cycle helmet. In the report tonight she said some of the excuses from her friends as to why they dont wear them is quite funny. Some people say they dont worry them because it might mess up their hair and they dont look cool. Heres wh she told us as a to why she wants people to wear i want to them. Make cycle helmets law because theres like so many people who dont wear a cycle helmet because its not cool. It really is a remarkable story am sheu it really is a remarkable story am shelf is a remarkable young lady. Shes on the road to recovery. She is back at school and even back doing her gymnastics. A great ambassador she is, too. Absolutely. Thank you very much edward. Thats it from your afternoon live team. The bbc news at five is coming up next. Now a look at the Weather Forecast. Heres darren bent. Cold frosty weather is on the way tonight. Chilly out there today. Showers to the west become fewer, most of the showers in eastern parts of england will fade away. The temperatures will fall underneath the clearer skies with the lowest temperatures inland. It could be down to minus five or six in the countryside. There could be a risk of icy patches. A cold start on saturday. We will see more cloud in Northern Ireland. Some showers here rung over the irish sea into wales west earn parts of england. North and east any showers will move offshore and we should see some sunshine. It will be cold still temperatures two or three degrees. Highest temperatures further south and west where we have that cloud. After a chilly start for eastern parts on sunday we have strengthening west to south westerly winds. Outbreaks of rain and milder air arrives with highs of nine or ten celsius. Today at 5 00. The man whose trial for rape collapsed because police failed to disclose vital evidence, speaks out for the first time. Ajudge calls for an inquiry, as liam allan talks of his anguish and mental torture of spending two years under suspicion of rape. It kind of flips your whole life upside down, i suppose is the best way to put it. Everything you build up way to put it. Everything you build upfor way to put it. Everything you build up for yourself, it can be torn away. Well talk to mr allans barrister about how such vital evidence could have been missed. The other main stories on bbc news at 5. 00 brexit talks get the green light in brussels. They will now move onto the next phase. This is an important step on the road to