fade. 1986 was the last time northern ireland qualified. now, the shiny new era, northern ireland on the brink of the world cup again. stuart dallas yelled forward by belfast towards switzerland, stopped without subtlety. just a yellow card for the defender. world rankings in individual talent, switzerland stood superior. xherdan shaqiri teased passes towards the northern ireland goal and they were getting close. dallas couldn't continue in the second half and dealing with the swiss attack was tough enough for northern ireland without the referee intervening. hang on, the referee interpreted this as handball by corrie eva ns. in his mind it was a penalty. and, thus, it was 1—0. a manager plots and plans for everything and then sees that. northern ireland launched late attempts, not on target. 1—0 down with the second leg in switzerland, a refereeing decision has left them climbing a mountain. joe wilson, bbc news, belfast. newsnight is coming up on bbc two. here's kirsty wark. tonight, gordon brown tells us britain may be headed for bre

an internal customs border, if you like, between northern ireland and great britain. would that be acceptable to the uk government, or to its unionist political allies in northern ireland, the dup? emphatically not. so what happens next — is there any compromise? the uk side has spoken of technological fixes — pre—screening of goods, trusted trader schemes. the eu side says it's fine up to a point, but is nowhere near enough to avoid the return of some border checks. irish officials argue that there are already cases of rules and regulations being different in northern ireland than in the rest of the uk, and they point to other examples such as hong kong where there are different regulatory arrangements within sovereign states. so it's time for some creative thinking — the aim being no divergence of regulations in key areas. and the creation of some form of customs partnership on the island of ireland which doesn't threaten the constitutional order of the uk. but if a fix emerges that seems to turn northern ireland into a back—door route into the single mark

and northern ireland play switzerland for a place in the world cup. switzerland have a 1—0 advantage from the first leg. spain's prime minister says regional elections next month will help end what he called the "separatist havoc" in catalonia. mariano rajoy was addressing a campaign event during his first visit since imposing direct rule a fortnight ago. he told supporters a victory for his party would boost spain's economic growth. he also called on people opposed to catalan independence to vote. translation: we want the december 21st election to have a massive turnout, so a new political stage can be set in motion, bringing peace, normality and coexistence. we want to bring back the catalonia that belongs to everyone, with democracy and freedom. we will achieve this if the silent majority turns out to voice their vote. 0ur correspondentjames reynolds is in barcelona. he explained how the spanish prime minister's speech went down with his supporters. they were all gathered in a hotel ballroom, just next to barcelona's main train station. perhaps i

review northern ireland assembly politicians pay. your colleagues in the u.p.a. installment little attention friends probably don't happy about that are they doing no work at all at the will for the people who of course that's not true so i think it's a bit unfair on the secular state to say that he wants to review their pay and don't forget he's been paying shenfield millions of pints for the last ten years why they don't get it and why they are in labor while they don't sit and westminster so you know he can't have it both ways he can say cynthia numbers don't do their job where that's what we pay them but we pony shows exactly what ever it is shouldn't be paid if they don't turn up well well i think that's involvement as a matter of really little chef in members at westminster not only get paid for secretarial and split compared accommodation allowance they get paid for the elected if he likes to put it into their job so i don't know for you to say that with like you know it closes there's a good in about oh they don't do their jo

much more attacking spirit from the northern ireland tea m spirit from the northern ireland team in this league compared to the first one, but heartbreak for eve ryo ne first one, but heartbreak for everyone involved. they can be proud of the performers they put into night, and proud of the remarkable journey they have been on in the last five years. they have gone from a team languishing outside the world's top 100 to 18just a team languishing outside the world's top 100 to 18 just outside the world's top 20. now you wonder how many of those faces in the team will stay there for the next olivine campaign which gets under way for the euro 2020. the veterans aaron hughes, steven davis, gareth mcauley, ageing players, will be still be a part of that side considering that they are getting older? perhaps this was the last roll of the dice for them. manager michael o'neill has been receiving many plaudits for the way he has transformed this northern ireland team. he has been linked with the va ca nt scotla nd team. he has been linked with the vacant scotland manager's job, team. he has been l

this bridge connects northern ireland and the republic. there were once customs posts on these roads. what will it take on the brakes in negotiations to stop them returning? the bbc understands that a 24—year—old british man who went to syria to fight so—called islamic state — has been killed. oliver hall, from the portsmouth area, hadjoined kurdish armed groups to fight against so—called islamic state. trials show a new approach to preventing migraines can reduce the number and severity of attacks. good afternoon, it's thursday, november 30th. i'm annita mcveigh. welcome to bbc newsroom live. downing street says the prime minister has been clear the president trump was wrong to retweet videos of britain first. in a retaliatory tweet, donald trump said that theresa may should pay more attention to tackling terrorism in the uk, rather than criticising him. the government has been reiterating the importance of the special relationship between the two countries and has set the state visit by president trump to britain next year will

some snow in northern ireland, scotland and parts of northern england. still uncertain how much snow we will see and for how long. but with cloud increasing across the uk, it will be another cold day, even though the wind isn't as strong but it picks up later again for scotland and northern ireland. but milder air again for scotland and northern ireland. but milderair coming into the uk forjuicy on wednesday, but plenty of cloud. —— choose stay and wednesday. hello, this is bbc news. the headlines: first secretary of state damian green insists police never told him about pornography allegedly found on his computers. he says the allegations have an ulterior motive. the bbc understands the foreign secretary has contacted the husband of a british woman who's in prison in iran. michael gove says tehran should be facing criticism over the case as he rejects calls for borisjohnson to resign. a two minute silence has been observed at ceremonies around the country to honour the dead of two world wars and other conflicts. the spanish prime minister visits cat

they were there to deal with a very difficult situation in northern ireland. what is that solution though? people talk about the frictionless border and for pretty much 18 months now nobody has come up with a solution. what might that be? the solution comes in the trade negotiations and that's the point i'm making. we need to be able to move to the second phase so we can actually get more of the details. but for ireland, north and south, for brussels as well as westminster, the border could yet hold up the deliberation of the next crucial stage. a reminder, brexit is notjust about our departure, notjust about our parliament, and certainly not just about our politicians. laura kuenssberg, bbc news, westminster. uber has confirmed that it concealed a hack that affected 57 million customers and drivers. the attack, which happened in 2016, gave up names, email addresses and phone numbers. the firm paid hackers $100,000 to delete the data. the company's former chief executive knew about the breach over a year ago according to reports. rodney bewes, best known for h

ireland is just as you want to review northern ireland assembly politicians pay. your colleagues in the u.p.a. installment little attention friends probably don't happy about that are they doing no work at all at the will for the people of new of course that's not true so i think it's a bit unfair on the secular state to say that he wants to review their pay on two pints for the last while they're in labor while they don't sit and wonder they acted as if he likes but i don't either then you do it at westminster in the northern ireland for example in two thousand was he for that was not really what race in northern ireland we made a key s. for social needs in northern ireland and the governed accepted that and of course where they really are not get well this is just to put in perspective they have the worst child health indicators to me argue for the extra money for northern ireland the heinz has been allocated for being weird by ministers by local ministers if you receive a reason we're in power and you haven't got the money we'll see only harleston we have i mea

showers dotted about northern ireland and northern scotland. across much of southern england, the midlands, wales, north—west england, south—west scotland, will have sunshine, but another cold day. colder still when you factor in the wind. especially where it is strongest across the north sea coast. a subtle change of wind direction thursday evening and night, more of these sleet and snow showers pushed further inland, again, giving accumulations in place is especially on hills. out west, we stay mainly dry. a lot of clear, cold weather. quite a hard frost particularly across parts of scotland as we start off on friday morning. some sleet and snow showers, some accumulations to parts of eastern england on friday. a lot of the showers turning to rain or sleet as we go on through the day. a lot fade to allow some sunshine to come through. a change for scotland and northern ireland as it clouds over from the north—west and a bit of patchy rain and hill snow starting to move in here. that is a sign of the change coming in for the weekend as t

wales and northern ireland's football managers are on the move. we'll come on to the latter in a moment but first wales and chris coleman has left his job in charge of the national side to take over at sunderland, who are bottom of the championship. coleman had managed wales for five years taking them from 48th to 14th in the world rankings. he'll be sunderland's eighth permanent manager in four years. before chris coleman wales waited 58 yea rs before chris coleman wales waited 58 years to get to a tournament. last yea r‘s years to get to a tournament. last year's victory over belgium marked the dizzying peak for welsh would ball, a time when anything seemed possible. we can't be afraid of our dreams. four years ago i was as far away from this as you can imagine. if you aren't afraid of the dream and you aren't afraid to fail. the low point came when he took over from gary speed, who took his own life in 2011. he had to help the young players speed had helped to bring through, through the shock. he inspired ever in proving performances and the

rain showers overnight in northern ireland. icy patches where we have showers overnight with widespread frost at -6 overnight with widespread frost at —6 and —7 possible across rural spots as we go across thursday morning. the cold is enhanced by the wind. further wintry showers around three north and northeast scotland, mainly rain showers into northern ireland, afairamount mainly rain showers into northern ireland, a fair amount of cloud. down north sea coasts of england, rain and sleet. there will be sleet and snow. temporary accumulations to lower levels in a few spots on thursday. rain showers continue to move through mainly pembrokeshire and cornwall through the day. many places across southern england, midlands, will have a dry day with plenty of sunshine. it will be a cold day wherever you are, regardless of whether you get the blue sky or the showers to start the day and end the day, you are in the same place. the strongest winds are in north sea coasts. it feels more like this in the afternoon. perhaps gale force

set a budget for northern ireland. while important progress has been made, the parties have not yet reached an agreement. i'm not in a position to bring before the house the legislation necessary for an executive to be formed this week. the consequence of this is that it is now highly unlikely that an executive could be in place within a timetable to be insured of passing a budget before the end of november. which is the point at which we and the northern ireland civil service assessed that northern ireland will begin to run out of resources. no government could simply stand by and allow that to happen and we would you shirking our responsibilities to the people of northern ireland were we to do so. james brokenshire's opposite number used the opportunity to attack theresa may. we believe that the prime minister of great britain and northern ireland could get stuck into this problem and try and bring about a resolution over the impasse. it is, in my view, inexcusable and completely inexplicable that she's only visited

and northern ireland is for northern ireland to remain in the customs union or to continue to follow the rules and the regulations of the european customs union but arlene foster clear, that her party would not take up on an arrangement to set her and her party apart from the uk. saying that great britain was northern ireland's most important trading market. and had a message for sinn fein, saying that the party is up for respect, and respect has to go both ways and has called for sinn fein to respect british elements of culture which are important to unionists, saying that over the protection of the irish language, that she respects those who speak the irish language and has indicated would legislate for the irish language but only if it is parallel to protect unionist cultural aspects. she has raised them before and when she has, sinn fein has rejected them. so no so, arlene foster making it clear, that she is committed to getting stormont back up and run if the deal is right. chris, thank you very much. the headlines on bbc news: egypt carries out air strikes on those they say wer

this is one of the bridges that connects the republic of ireland to northern ireland and it's one of the places where there is concern about what brexit will mean. some fear it could mean a return of customs posts to roads like this, but today, there are indications that the british government is prepared to do a deal that will have certain dispenses for northern ireland and that will be welcome news to the irish government, who have been hardening their language about the potential of the hard border. for many months now politicians have been huddled in brexit negotiations. the uk and the eu both pushing their priorities, and what's decided on one of the key issues will have quite an impact here. the derry donegal vipers are an irish american football team and their players come from both northern ireland and the republic. our whole team is split almost down the middle from either side of the border, which is great. a key question is what will happen to that border after brexit. in the future is it possible that people will have to negotiate their way through customs posts, as they

isles and expecting a friday in northern ireland but a fairamount of friday in northern ireland but a fair amount of cloud, just a few showers spreading south across northern england to begin with but behind those will have the sunshine. frost and sunny spell the east anglia and south—east england, not lasting long. while the sun, wales and south—west england, but cloud and south—west england, but cloud and patchy rain and that is going to extend eastwards across parts of southern england and a few spots perhaps in the east anglia but brightening up in northern england, the sunshine in scotland but blustery wind and showers in the far north, when three on the hills and cloudy northern ireland mainly dry. some of us technically milder than males and the south—west, not feeling that we perhaps with the cloud and heavy rain but most of us, another single filler —— single figure chilly day. rain comes from the far south—west of england, elsewhere clearing skies, the bridge is dropping away and the frost will be more widespread humming into sunday morning, as temperatures o

northern ireland. our ireland correspondent, chris page is in belfast. we have been hearing that neither side wants a hard order, as such. but the uk says there can be no special customs arrangements for northern ireland. it feels like a stalemate, how is this being viewed in belfast? certainly it's been a huge talking point today, particularly the leaking of the european commission document, which suggested that in order for the border between northern ireland and the irish public domain as it is, essentially an open border with no controls, the way to do that is for northern ireland to remain abiding by the rules of the european customs union. that would resolve the customs conundrum at the centre of this diplomatic riddle. perhaps the strongest criticism of that proposal came from the democratic unionist party, northern ireland's biggest political party, also at a pivot point in westminster at the moment because they are propping up the conservative minority government. three dup ministers, includin

there is talk of controls being inside northern ireland. because obviously the political ramifications of having a physical border security post on the board itself could be significant. inevitably if you are going to have some sort of check, there is the possibility of some friction anyway being introduced in trade between the republic of ireland and northern ireland and that could be difficult because there is a lot of trade which passes in both directions every day. how different then would it be if the border were outside northern ireland and you used the whole of the island of ireland, north and south, as a sort of separate entity for trade purposes? then you would be talking about trying to introduce some sort of border between northern ireland and great britain. i think, the government has ruled that out already, and of course politically it would be very difficult for the dup to accept. what examples are there for lawyers to draw upon to possibly use this as a tinplate to get round this? there isn't a direct precedent. in cyprus bet

england and northern ireland and scotla nd england and northern ireland and scotland —— by night. that will head northwards across the rest of scotland, and for the rest of england and all of wales will be variable amounts of cloud, some brighter spells, and one or two showers. we are still looking at double figures. could building just a few more affordable homes in the countryside save some of our rural towns and villages from dying out? that is what some campaigners think. sean. we often talk about infrastructure, but affordable homes is an important element. this is from a report out this morning from the national housing federation. they say there is a real lack of affordable homes in rural areas, which forces young families to move away. it says that then damages the local infrastructure. 52 schools in rural areas in england have shut in the last five years. seven country pubs shut every week. this there were no opportunities, jobs wise, unless it was an agriculture. it was very difficult to live in this area. you would have to live in this area. you would have to move to on

ireland and northern england. hello. this is bbc news. the headlines... robert mugabe has been given an ultimatum of midday tomorrow to resign from his position as president of zimbabwe or face impeachment proceedings. the chancellor, philip hammond, has said britain needs to build an extra 300,000 homes a year to make an impact on the housing crisis. police say they're confident that a body found near swanage is that of the missing teenager, gaia pope. gaia's sister described her as "beautiful, emotionally wise and intelligent." now on bbc news, it's time for click. this week, a phone is born and we are exclusively behind the scenes. can artificial intelligence block the bullies? and driving monsters. just across the water from hong kong, on the chinese mainland, lies a city at the heart of the country's technological revolution. welcome back to shenzhen. this is where stuff gets made. when you think of china's electronic scene, this might be what you think of. thousands of factories and millions of people massâ€

and the issue of northern ireland ? issue of trade? and the issue of northern ireland? you would think so. northern ireland? you would think so. i mean, it is very important, you know. thinking, it will sort itself out in the end. that is not good enough for the uk. you have to get somewhere. let's move on, talking of strategy, negotiation, and lack of headway, it would seem. we had more discussions going on in germany, of course, this time last week, talking about the collapse of coalition talks, which was not, well, i say not expected, it was difficult to predict how it would work out. right now, angela merkel working extremely hard to get a deal with sp0. working extremely hard to get a deal with spd. so, how are we doing with that, do you think? this is so important. the german economy critical for the eurozone. absolutely. everybody is watching this, every twist and turn. the stability of the euro, it has been in since tony blair was in. indeed. it has been a long time. they are putting everything into get the coalition working, the grand coalition, as they call it

and you're exempt in scotland, wales and northern ireland so the cost rests ona northern ireland so the cost rests on a 10% of people with long—term conditions that are not exempt, people of working age with asthma, hmv, depression they are the people paying these description charges, it is tough to label these people as fraudsters, they need medical assistance and should be supportive and informative information from government rather than perhaps the sort of like behaving today. do you feel that in some ways it may be understandable that some people who are struggling with long—term conditions which mean they have to keep paying, they may occasionally try and circumvent that payment? we're talking with people with long—term pain so if you have arthritis or asthma medication you are taking is not trivial, it is about keeping it out of hospital and making sure you can stay and work. if those scots suddenly become higher than you can afford, you have to make some really difficult choices about whether you can afford food or heating, or medication. peeved putting people in that kind

first, here's the uk's northern ireland secretary. as we leave the european union, we leave the single market and we leave the customs union. but we know that there needs to be specific outcomes to meet the unique circumstances of northern ireland and the island of ireland as a whole. now remember all 27 eu countries need to agree before brexit talks can progress to the next phase. so ireland could, in theory, stop that happening. here's the irish foreign minister with the chris buckler. this is an historic moment and we're not going to allow the re—emergence ofa not going to allow the re—emergence of a physical border on this island. the european union will support us on that. there will be no need to use a veto. it sounds like if you did have to do, you would be prepared to use it? the eu side, in my view, will extend phase one and not progress phase two unless we make sufficient progress in all three areas. and it is the border thatis three areas. and it is the border that is the sticking point? the border is the sticking point

as low as —2 and —3 in rural england, wales and northern ireland, -6 england, wales and northern ireland, —6 in rural scotland. a chilly start to monday, the cloud will arrive making for a chilly feeling day in the afternoon. further north, rain in northern ireland and scotland but in scotland, we could see some snow down to 150 metres for a time on monday. a wintry feel to the north, a chilly day on monday but milder prospects as the week goes on. thanks very much, seeing those white fla kes thanks very much, seeing those white flakes of snow, speak to you later. you're watching breakfast from bbc news. let's look at the newspapers. technology expert dan sodergren is here to tell us what's caught his eye this morning. we'll speak to dan in a minute. let's ta ke let's take a look through the front pages. starting with the observer, their headline: this isjeremy corbyn with his message to theresa may as a result of the difficulties the foreign secretary has found himself in recently. careful choice of words! let's look at the front page of the daily star sunday, huntley brags i'll be ou

government says it is preparing to legislate for a budget in northern ireland while stressing that it does not want to say a return to a direct role in james a pastor who joins us from northern ireland welcome to day w what happens now. nobody really knows exactly what's going to happen but certainly what will be attempted as they know there are sense of musi actions of some kind in order to restore power sharing what is specific here in northern ireland as you've hinted as we have this strange situation that an assembly can only be formed if there's an executive and an executive requires the agreement of to use the civic parties thing and do you pay at the moment they are. making some progress it seems but nothing like enough to agree to form not exact in three to four not government here which made us in the very odd position that we have no ministers when it comes on to issues such as health education transport but what is rather peculiar about this whole situation is that you know it is not a thing like somewhere like confluent where there are protests and people coming together t

for northern ireland, some) first ground in scotland. for northern ireland, some ) first thing. in the midlands, la showers. in other areas as well. quite scattered showers as the day goes on. the subtleties for sunday, slightly lighter wind. that should make it a touch less cold. fewer showers as the day bans opened more than we have played in central and eastern areas. as the day comes toa and eastern areas. as the day comes to a close, watch over this weather system pushing its way across scotla nd system pushing its way across scotland and northern ireland.

the cloud increasing in northern ireland to specially, scotla nd in northern ireland to specially, scotland already seeing rain pushing into the western isles with a strengthening wind once again. a weather system from the atlantic moving into the cold air in place so is that takes its moisture especially into scotland and northern england, we could see snow, especially in the hills, maybe too low levels briefly four times. a lot of uncertainty about how much we will see for how long, so keep checking the forecast in the morning. north of the central belt in scotland and on higher ground you are likely to see snow. mostly rain into northern ireland, cloud elsewhere in england and wales increasing and another cold fielding day. monday evening and night the system day. monday evening and night the syste m ta kes day. monday evening and night the system takes its moisture south but most of the rain at this stage, as we get milder airfrom the most of the rain at this stage, as we get milder air from the atlantic. milder advanta care will moving from tuesday and wednesday. that will come with a

we want a sensible brexit, a brexit that works for northern ireland and the united kingdom. however, we will not support any arrangements that create barriers to trade between northern ireland and the rest of the uk. or any suggestion that northern ireland, unlike the rest of the uk, will have to mirror european regulations. i have written to the heads of government of each of the eu 27 member states, setting out our views. mrs foster rejecting suggestions that have been made by the irish government that the way to solve the problem around how to keep the border and the republic in its present state, a border that is invisible with no checkpoints, is for northern ireland to remain in the european customs union or to continue to follow the rules and regulations of the european customs union. she has been very clear her party will not accept any arrangement which would set northern ireland apart from the rest of the uk and create a trade barrier between northern ireland and the rest of the uk. she says it is great britain, england, scotland and wales, that is northern ireland'

things will brighten up for northern ireland. it will be a lovely afternoon across northern england. and things should improve in east anglia. across the south, we will keep a lot of cloud. south wales in southwest england it will be raining almost all day. the rain will be light and patchy through the daylight. but in the evening, the rain will turn heavier. it will also bring some brisk winds. saturday and sunday, we will push that weather away the wet weather. following the white lines, all the way up to the arctic. that is where the air will be coming from on sunday. a plunge of cold air right across the country. but with that, there will beafairamount country. but with that, there will be a fair amount of sunshine and some showers perfor the northern and eastern areas. perhaps... temperatures are six or 10 degrees from north to south. we have some rain in the south, a mix of sunshine and showers and for all of us we will feel the cold. hello, you're watching afternoon live — i'm simon mccoy. today at 2:00... as theresa may

some in northern scotland. outbreaks of rain for norther ireland some outbreaks of rain for northern ireland and parts of east anglia. further south and lots of cloud around. not particularly wet that it may be dampened recently in places. what many will notice is as mundy begins, it isjust what many will notice is as mundy begins, it is just how mountains is competitive recent morning. —— monday. there is a mild flow of air beading in across the uk but with plenty of cloud. sunshine is hard to come by during monday. a few brighter breaks to the east of high ground. even into the afternoon, a few areas of thicker cloud and patchy rain not amounting to very much. double—figure temperatures may not figure —— factor into southernmost parts of scotland. ba rely southernmost parts of scotland. barely above freezing in shetland. monday evening and monday night, another spell of rain through northern ireland, parts of wales and northern england. into scotland, any snow in the hills turning back to rain. the milderair snow in the hills turning back to rain. the milder air comes in

cold in northern ireland and scotland, 4—5. much milderfurther south, particular converter reeson morning. quite a wet start the day across much of northern england, northern england and scotland. further south, more cloudier and breezy but mainly dry. a little bit of patchy rain but look at the temperatures compared to morning. some outbreaks of rain in east anglia, and it will be slow to clear here. a cool start the day. rain slyly easing from northern ireland. it will take its time to go from northern scotland. snow above 400 metres. the rains slowly clears eastwards through the day that takes its time to go from parts of northern england, the midlands and eastern parts of england. the south and west, some patchy outbreaks of rain in the afternoon. once that rain in the afternoon. once that rain clears, some brighter skies. much milder, 12—13, but still in some colder air across scotland and northern ireland. there has been a battle going on between the cold air to the eastern something milder to the west. in the coming da

sunny spells northern ireland. showers running in north—west england, maybe the odd one in the wales and some into the midlands. a range of temperatures for friday. double figures across parts of wales and southern england, but already chilly across scotland and tonight where the windfall flight we will have a touch of frost in places. a ba few icy patches. you will notice for northern ireland there will be rain moving in this evening and that will push across much of england and wales as the night goes on, keeping the temperature up here. it's really just in scotland in the clear spells asa just in scotland in the clear spells as a touch of frost. sunshine to start tomorrow. that sunshine develops into northern england and the east midlands. you will see we keep a lot of cloud in southern parts of wales and england and still outbreaks of rain in south wales, south—west england and maybe towards hampshire and! south—west england and maybe towards hampshire and i love of —— isle of wight throughout saturda

just to bring you up—to—date with the northern ireland tea m up—to—date with the northern ireland team news george saville makes his first start for northern ireland, coming into midfield to replace the suspended corry evans. kyle lafferty who played as a lone striker in the first leg loses his place, having a tough time of it of late. it has been a year since he has scored an international goal. 0n been a year since he has scored an international goal. on paper, you have to say that northern ireland are massive underdogs in this match, quite a bit below switzerland in the world rankings. they are only three match losing streak, scoring just one goal. in the first leg against switzerland, they did not manage a single shot on target. but you have to say, northern ireland have been one of the surprise packages in european football in recent years. they had that incredible run in the european championships just last summer, reaching the last 16, fantastic result for them. and although, you have to say this is a formidable task for northern ireland, because they have shown themselves to be

the hardest question in the brexit talks is about northern ireland. money remains a major sticking point in the negotiations, but we know how we can fix that. there is no simple way out of the irish question. let us say britain is no longer in a customs union with the european union. that will let us strike trade deals with third countries who have no similar deal with the eu. but the eu needs to be able to stop goods from that third country flowing into northern ireland and then into the eu via the republic. further, what if we decide to divert from eu rules, so goods in our markets no longer meet all eu standards? ireland need to be able to check stuff and may be turned back before it gets into the market. so they need a border. now, everyone says they want to avoid that. a hard border would be a major economic burden, especially for farmers, and could undermine the peace process. the eu appears to be shifting position. in september, they said the onus to propose solutions which overcome the challenges created on the island of ireland remains on the

northern ireland is that way, the republic of ireland is that way. this is one of almost three hundred rd crossings across the border these days. now, hundred rd crossings across the borderthese days. now, in hundred rd crossings across the border these days. now, in terms of how this is paying into the brexit negotiations, all sides say they wa nt to negotiations, all sides say they want to keep the border basically in the stated is that the moment, that is open, no passport checks, no barriers, no physical infrastructure of any barriers, no physical infrastructure ofany kind. barriers, no physical infrastructure of any kind. but where there is disagreement is how you achieve that. the uk is outside the customs union following one set of rules and the republic of ireland remains in the republic of ireland remains in the eu following the customs rules. the times newspaper reported that british newspapers tried to avoid checks at the border by devolving new powers to stormont which means northern ireland could continue to follow eu regulations even if

they were there to deal with a very difficult situation in northern ireland. what is that solution though? people talk about the frictionless border and for pretty much 18 months now nobody has come up with a solution. what might that be? the solution comes in the trade negotiations and that's the point i'm making. we need to be able to move to the second phase so we can actually get more of the details. but for ireland, north and south, for brussels as well as westminster, the border could yet hold up the deliberation of the next crucial stage. a reminder, brexit is notjust about our departure, notjust about our parliament, and certainly not just about our politicians. laura kuenssberg, bbc news, westminster. tomorrow the chancellor philip hammond will outline his vision for britain's economy and spending when he delivers his budget. he says he will use it to "invest to secure a bright future for britain." our economics editor, kamal ahmed, has been looking at what we can expect him to say and asking just how much room for maoeuvre the chancellor actually has

ireland and wales and the south—west and went to showers across northern scotland. tonight cold the last eight, not desperately cold the last eight, not desperately cold just yet and patchy frost maybe 80 patches we have wintry showers and north of scotland. sleet and snow remaining over the highlands and some winter weather possibly over the southern upwards and borders. a few showers screaming and bunny north—westerly wind across northern ireland and the irish cn to west wales, showers and north—east england near the coast so for many inland areas and try and sunny but into the showers across the south—west of england. frequent showers here and also crossed west wales with northern ireland ilonen are now strengthening winds. wintry showers across northern scotland, near the coast and north—east england will get blown inland through the morning down towards the midlands and across east anglia and the afternoon. more cloud around here so that is a change as the day goes on. temperatures lower than today, feeling colder especially in the wind but many places

northern ireland need to score. the swiss havejust still 0—0. northern ireland need to score. the swiss have just cleared the ball. agonisingly close for northern ireland. we will have the results for you later. an old man with great power — he runs a media empire — sees his influence crumbling away. he's losing his grip, his family, perhaps even his sanity. what becomes of him? edward st aubyn‘s novel, dunbar, is a retelling of the story of king lear, as a contemporary novel. funny and melancholy by turns, the author of the celebrated series of novels about patrick melrose, is back on his favourite territory, dealing with a life touched and changed by tragedy. welcome. the inspiration for this story, the start of the novel in a way, was the idea that you should take the king lear story and do something with it. now, is it easy to leave the thought of that fundamental story behind, and take off on your own? at first, i suffered from a "don't mess with the bard" angst, because i was in the face of a sort of monument of world literature,

it is between northern ireland, part of the u.k., and the republic of ireland, in the eu. the want it to remain in customs union and the singer market, but that idea is deeply unpopular with many in northern ireland. our ireland correspondent reports. reporter: on the island of ireland, culture does not recognize borders, and neither do people. the uilleann pipes are one of the traditional signs of the land, and in this workshop, it sits just a mile from where northern ireland meets the republic, he makes the pipes. he is closely watching the slow negotiations to carve out a deal that will see the u.k. leave the eu. he fears it will mean a return of checks on the irish border. promising -- they are promising there will be none of that at the border, but i cannot see how they will stand by the promise. reporter: neither the british government nor the european union want the return of customs posts. or the border bridges that connect ireland northern and south. the eu says one way to ensure that is for northern ireland to stay inside the customs union and the single market,

this weather in scotland and northern ireland, wintry showers. not as cold across parts of southern england and wales. we could have more rain, turning snowy maybe later on across the south—east of england. frost across northern part of the uk. this is where we will head off to win the morning. as well as frost, icy patches as well. northern and western scotland again, sam hale, sleet and snow. wintry showers into northern ireland, especially the north. creeping over the irish sea into wales. most of england and wales starting drive. misty in the south—east after the overnight rain cleared away. showers lurking through the channel and coming in across the south west approach. one those heading inland. most of england and wales having a dry day. sunny spells developing. more showers continuing across scotla nd more showers continuing across scotland and northern ireland of a wintry flavour. sunshiny beside the showers. a data catching a rainbow. cold day, temperature is lowered across the border. starting off quite cold and frosty on saturday.

ireland asa bargaining to use security in northern ireland as a bargaining chip but she also went tonne say some people are taking their moment in the sun, saying the new irish taoiseach should know better than anybody, you don't play around with northern ireland. she accused the island and the rest of the eu of being reckless. the political sensitive anies in northern ireland and and ireland over this, of possibly the trourn a hard border between them is incredibly difficult to resolve and i have to say i haven't heard anyone who's come up with a suggestion that e#24er side is willing —— either side to willing to look at at the moment. the taoiseach will be saying he's willing to block that move to trade talks if the british government is saying we won't trourn a hard borer. we will have to see hoy that works owl. one suggestion is northern ireland could stay much more aligned to the european union even maybe with regulations staying closer to a customs union. that's not going to wash with many in northern ireland —— hard border. they don't want to have some kind of border with

elsewhere, western parts of scotland, may be brushing northern ireland, and the odd one into cumbria and lancashire, but most of england and wales, northern ireland and southern and eastern parts of scotla nd and southern and eastern parts of scotland will be dry. the further south you are, barely a cloud in the sky, and temperatures for most of us in single figures, and dropping quickly on friday evening. we will see an area of cloud and if you showers and rain spreading through parts of northern ireland and scotland. filtering sell—through england and wales on saturday. the best sunshine will be on scotland. still some showers in the north—east, where it will be windy. frost on saturday night and into sunday morning, and then on sunday, a weather front coming in from the west, a bit of cloud and patchy rain. some uncertainty about the timing of that, as it moves north—east across the uk. we will keep you updated on that. it looks like any sunshine on sunday will last longest on the eastern side of the uk. to the west, it will begin to cloud over and it will turn a bit less ch

into northern ireland and parts of northern england. it looks like, by the weekend, that cold air will be all the way south across the uk. once again, it turns things a bit drier and brighter as it happens, but with the possibility of wintry showers. colder air last to reach southern areas on saturday. this is bbc news. i'm carole walker. the headlines at 11: at number 10, ministers are said in principle to agree an increased brexit divorce payment to the eu. but in germany, the future of chancellor merkel, one of the eu's strongest voices, is in doubt after the collapse of coalition talks. robert mugabe faces a formal process of impeachment following his refusal to step down as president of zimbabwe. and now they are man and wife. from 1947 to 2017, the queen and the duke of edinburgh have been celebrating 70 years of married life. and on newsnight, merkels plans for a government run aground. what next for germany, europe, and brexit plans now? and should paperchase be forced to apologize for advertising

from monday we will see some quite heavy rain developing and northern ireland and western scotland. further south and east across england and wales after that cold start it may well be a dry day with sunny skies of the south—east and averagesjust with sunny skies of the south—east and averages just about into double figures. this is bbc news, i'm lukwesa barak. the headlines at nine. labour's kelvin hopkins categorically denies allegations of inappropriate behaviour, as his party faces criticism for his promotion months after he was rebuked for sexually harassing an activist. tonight, labour is also investigating a formal complaint against former shadow cabinet member clive lewis, who denies any wrongdoing. i don't, as a rule, at packed labour party conferences, group people's bottoms when i meet them. —— group. it isn't how i roll and what i do. scotland yard is investigating an allegation that the hollywood actor kevin spacey sexually assaulted a young man in london. an official arrest warrant is issued for the ousted catalan leader,

this is one of the 300 crossing points between the republic of ireland and northern ireland. bridges and roads that connect them together, but what do you do when all of a sudden one part is in the eu and the other is outside? the eu says northern ireland could stick to its trading rules even if the rest of the uk doesn't, perhaps even stay inside the customs union and the single market. some say that would offer real opportunity for the economy here, but unionists are angry and say they will withdraw their support for the conservative government at westminster if they even consider it. 0n the island of ireland, culture does not recognise borders, and neither do people. uilleann pipes are one of the traditional sounds of this land, and in his workshop that sits just a mile from where northern ireland meets the republic, martin gallen makes the pipes. he's closely watching the slow negotiations to try to carve out a deal that will see the uk leave the eu, and he fears it will mean a return of checks on the irish border. they're promising that there would be no hardening of the

how would a border, on literally the boundary between northern ireland and ireland, affect trade? it doesn't necessarily have to be on the border, there is talk of controls being inside northern ireland. because of the sleeve the political ramifications of having a physical border security post on the border it self could be significant. but, inevitably, if you are going to have some sort of check ‘s, there is the possibility of some friction a nyway the possibility of some friction anyway being introduced in trade between the republic of ireland and northern ireland and that could be difficult because there is a lot of trade which passes in both directions everyday. how different then would it be if the border were outside northern ireland, and you used the whole of the island of ireland north and south as a separate entity for trade. you would be talking about introducing a border between northern ireland and great britain, which, i think, border between northern ireland and great britain, which, ithink, the government has ruled that out already, and of course, politically, th