Transcripts For BBCNEWS BBC News At Nine 20240713

We hear from an mp who is calling on the government and bbc to reach an agreement. And typhoon hagibis is disrupting the weekends sport injapan. Formula 1 qualifying is postponed while scotland wait to see if their Rugby World Cup game against japan will go ahead. Good morning and welcome to the bbc news at nine. The cabinet has been briefed on what happened in the meeting between Boris Johnson and his irish counterpart, leo varadkar, yesterday, ahead of a resumption of brexit talks with the eu this morning. The Prime Minister and mr varadkar say they held detailed and constructive talks at a Country House on thursday. The two leaders agreed they could see a pathway to a possible deal. The meeting has meant negotiations could resume in brussels. The brexit secretary, stephen barclay, and Michel Barnier are currently holding talks there. Last night, the Northern Ireland secretary, julian smith, told the bbc that there was a need to compromise. Im not going to go into the negotiations now but we do need to compromise, we do need a focus on come together and having an accommodation and what we saw today i think was a pathway, as the taoiseach said, to an accommodation and that gives me great heart. Lets speak to our correspondent in brussels, adam fleming. Good morning, tell us more about what is expected to happen today given that we think there is a surprise over the positivity of the meeting yesterday between Boris Johnson and leo varadkar Stephen Buckley arrived for his breakfast with Michel Barnier about an hour ago and it is still going on stephen barclay. We know in a couple of hours at lunchtime he will go and breathe ambassadors from the 27 other eu countries about what was brought to him and what he thinks about it. A lot of speculation is that the best outcome is that Michel Barnier says enough has changed in the british position that it merits restarting negotiations with the uk and restarting them in a way that is more intense, much more private and much more confidential, which is what the uk has been asking for, with the idea that that leads to a revised brexit deal. Although a lot of people here are saying it is too late for that revised deal to be ready in time for the summit of eu leaders on the 17th of october which means a potential emergency summit of leaders later in october and potentially a short technical extension to the Brexit Process to allow the negotiations to conclude and the deal to be ratified at westminster and the European Parliament. I should say that that is the exceptionally optimistic version of what could happen in the next few hours, days and weeks. there is a pathway to a deal lets break down where that possible compromise could come from on both sides because undoubtedly there would have to be some so starting with regulation . Yes, the proposal from borisjohnson with regulation . Yes, the proposal from Boris Johnson on with regulation . Yes, the proposal from borisjohnson on regulation are that Northern Ireland would potentially follow the rules of the Single Market for food, agriculture and goods, which means you would not need to have any regulatory checks on any of those things as they move from Northern Ireland to ireland. You would have checks on them as they went from Great Britain to Northern Ireland and everything would be accompanied by some paperwork, so there was a really clear record of what was moving from Great Britain to Northern Ireland and ireland and the fact that it was safe to enter the Single Market product that has got broadly eight thumbs up from the eu because it meets a lot of their objective is about protecting the safety of the Single Market, has gone down well. And talking about the issue of consent, which has come to the fore very much in recent days, and this is what the say the various parties would have in the process put it one of Boris Johnsons big would have in the process put it one of borisjohnsons big objections to the backstop is that it is anti democratic and does not give the people of Northern Ireland enough of a say in what is happening to them. What he proposed was that the Stormont Assembly could have a vote on whether these arrangements ever came in in the first place, so that would probably happen next summer, and that would probably happen next summer, and every that would probably happen next summer, and every four years after that the Stormont Assembly would have an opportunity to either renew the arrangement or decide to move out of them and then have what the rest of the uk, what arrangement it was in with the eu. The eu is not opposed to the idea of beefing up the role of the Northern Irish Political Institutions and the people of Northern Ireland but it was opposed to the idea that Boris Johnson put forward. Of the eu did not like firstly the idea that the actual voting mechanism, because they felt it would give the dup in particular a veto, and they did not like the idea that the Stormont Assembly could stop the arrangements coming in the first place, feeling that was the wrong way round and if there was a deal, it has to happen. And they did not like the idea of like clockwork every four years, this period of uncertainty when he did not know if the plug was going to be pulled. If the uk can address those aspects, you can see a consent mechanism being put into a revised brexit deal. And finally, what would need to happen around the area of customs arrangements for a deal to be reached . That is the trickiest one of all. The existing backstop proposed by the eu and agreed with theresa may initially had Northern Ireland staying in the eus customs union, it customs zone, following all eu laws as related to customs product that would have meant customs checks on items going from Great Britain to Northern Ireland and potentially different tariffs applying in Northern Ireland and also Northern Ireland are not experiencing the future trade deal that the rest of the uk did with the rest of the world after brexit. That was expanded so that the whole of the uk would be in a new custom zone with the eu. That would have affected the uks room for manoeuvre when negotiating future trade deals and it was all rejected by Boris Johnson. He said Northern Ireland, no ifs, no buts, stays in the uk customs territory, is not in the eu customs territory, is not in the eu customs zone, and you have all sorts of procedures to smooth the flow of goods from Great Britain to Northern Ireland and ireland in a way to make sure that the right tariffs are paid and smuggling is dealt with on an intelligent based spot check basis, and you have a lot of extra procedures for businesses and the authorities and lots of sharing of data. That has been rejected by the eu because Michel Barnier gave a load of reasons. It needs a lot of derogations from eu customs law, it relies on a massive set of turning a blind eye for small businesses, which could help with smuggling, and it would rely on a lot of technology. As a system, it is u ntested technology. As a system, it is untested and would leave big gaps potentially in the eus border with the uk. If borisjohnson has managed to find some ways to assuage those concerns, then perhaps the eu might be prepared to engage in renewed talks on a new model for how to handle customs in Northern Ireland to. Thank you very much, adam. All those areas to be compromised on for a deal to be achieved. Our Political Correspondent iain watson is in our westminster studio. What are you hearing about why Leo Varadkarand what are you hearing about why leo varadkar and Boris Johnson emerged from the meeting sounding so positive . What are the grounds for that positivity . Im not sure entirely what the arguments are because downing street are keeping pretty tight lipped and so are the dup. Most of the cabinet were not briefed on the details of what happened at that meeting. Clearly, as adam pointed out, there has to be some movement on these two issues, the two cs, customs and consent. There must have been some movement in those areas to have that optimism but fundamentally, what has to happen now is that borisjohnson clearly needs to get into what is called the tunnel with these intensive negotiations and so far we have only seen the light at the beginning of the tunnel and not at the end. We dont know if the serious negotiations will commence after Michel Barnier meets with the brexit secretary this morning. If they do, he still has to bring a deal back to parliament and it is likely that anything that emerges will be discussed at that special saturday sitting on the 19th of this month. Then he has two problems. The first is we are focusing on Northern Ireland and if he concedes perhaps too much, if he decides the dup will not have a veto on any future arrangements, will he get them on board for a deal . That is an open question. Also, we should focus on a little bit on what Michel Barnier was saying in the week at the European Parliament because he confirmed some other things in the johnson proposals which clearly did not like. For example, Boris Johnson has withdrawn his deleted references toa has withdrawn his deleted references to a level Playing Field post brexit, something which theresa may signed up to. Effectively that will keep us in very similar rules and standards to the eu, something which labour mps standards to the eu, something which labourmps in standards to the eu, something which labour mps in leave areas who might be minded to vote for a deal are very concerned about, wanting to make sure there is not a Bargain Basement in britain, if you like, eight raced at the bottom in standards and they want to protect workers rights. Even if this hugely difficult problem of the Northern Ireland ireland border it solves, you still have some aspect of a deal that people take a look at and he might not get the necessary support from some labour mps and dont forget he has no majority in parliament, to get a deal through. There are various obstacles and to date this meeting with Michel Barnier isjust the date this meeting with Michel Barnier is just the first obstacle to be overcome. 0k, thank you very much. As the human cost of the turkish offensive against kurdish fighters and us allies in Northern Syria grows, pressure is mounting on turkey to stop. In washington, some republicans and democrats are now working together to introduce sanctions. And president trump, who last week said he was withdrawing us forces from the area, has been telling supporters at a Campaign Rally that he is considering three options to deal with the situation. So, in the case of turkey and syria and kurds, we could send in thousand troops for a military conflict with turkey. Inaudible no, you dont want to do that. We could hit turkey very hard financially, or we could mediate a deal between turkey and the kurds. I like that. Lets mediate a deal. But, remember, they have been fighting each other for hundreds of years lets speak now to journalist and Stirling University lecturer dr idrees ahmad who joins us from glasgow. Good morning to you. Having started this offensive, do you see any reason why turkey would back down or pack off despite the ideas that donald trump is talking about . |j doubt donald trump is talking about . doubt that is going to happen. I think turkey will make sure to secure some kind of buffer zone between itself and the mainly kurdish force, the stf, although it has a lot of arabs in it as well. I think turkey has also taken into account that they were waiting for the opportunity they are trying to get as much territory before trump changes his mind and that is why they are rushing ahead. I also feel that it they are rushing ahead. I also feel thatitis they are rushing ahead. I also feel that it is also a response to turkish domestic politics because theres been a growing anti immigrant sentiment in turkey. This is an attempt at population engineering and they are hoping to create a zone in which they could repatriate or force a pack a lot of the refugees. Talk to us about that, you used the phrase population engineering, and there are huge concerns obviously for the various groups of refugees in the area so explain what you mean by population engineering. It is something that has been happening in syria for some time. At first, the Syrian Regime has been doing it for some time but now, because the Syrian Regime got away with it again and again, turkey as finally determined that it could do the same thing. It is going to repeat rate all these refugees repatriate these refugees. There are 3. 6 million in turkey at the moment and there is a growing sentiment, a cross party, across ideological lines in turkey, one thing on which there is a lot of agreement. One thing is to prevent a kurdish state or autonomy emerging on the southern border, and also to get rid of the refugees. They are trying to force them back into these areas and in a sense they are trying to create an arab buffer zone between turkey and the kurds of syria. More broadly, do you think the International Community beyond the us can help with this situation . The west has very little leveraged now. It can re establish deterrence by placing personnel may be on the south of this buffer zone but at the moment, this buffer zone but at the moment, this is one of the things, this is the reason why prompts action was so damaging. It took away a small number of American Forces to keep turkey at bay all this while a very small number. It was a feud other that but it was a few dozen soldiers and out turkey as moved in so anybody put salt in it now will be risking a confrontation with turkey also feels that because this crisis obviously is an exacerbation of an already bad situation, already in idlib there have been massive violations of human rights and the thing that brought this crisis to a head was that in idlib, because of the russian and regime bombardment, there was a new wave of refugees which was gathered on the northern border punch at the western response to that was, well, there was no response, when the g7 convened, syria wasnt even on the agenda. Because of that there was a sense that turkey has to look after its own interests and at the moment they have the this campaign which will obviously have massive and catastrophic consequences in the long run. Dr idrees ahmad, thank you very much for your thoughts on that story. The headlines on bbc news. The brexit secretary, stephen barclay, is meeting the eus chief negotiator, Michel Barnier, as negotiations resume in brussels. Fears of a humanitarian crisis in Northern Syria tens of thousands flee their homes and the us threatens sanctions against turkey. The e cigarette industry launches a campaign to reassure millions of vapers in the uk, despite concerns in the us. And in sport, formula i qualifying is postponed as a tycoon approaches japan. It will take place on sunday ahead of the race and scotland fans are waiting to hear if their crucial world cup game againstjapan will go ahead. Scotlands hopes of automatic euro 2020 qualification are over as they are thrashed by russia. Northern ireland lose in the last minute to the netherlands and wales drew with slovakia. Simone biles won the all immaterial gold at the world just matches championships. The all round individual gold at the world gymnastics championships. More on all of those stories later in the hour. The bbc and the government need to find a way to save free tv licences for people over 75, according to a group of mps. The scheme comes to an end next year, and the Media Select Committee has criticised plans to only give free licences to those claiming pension credit. David sillito reports. Dont switch us off the decision to restrict free license fees for the over 75s to those receiving pension credit has led to anger and protests. The process behind that decision today comes in for criticism. A group of mps questioned the director general of the bbc and the Media Select Committee has now concluded the process by which the government passed on the £745 million cost was flawed. I think there needs to be a funding formula where the bbc takes on some responsibility for this concession and the government the rest as well. The bbc has offered to pay for about a third of the free licenses, but i think we should look at how everyone is paying. I dont think that can be a cost the bbcjust takes itself, or if it does take it on, clearly we would have to look at how the bbc could make up the money that it is investing because otherwise that money will simply come out of other programming because there is nowhere else for it to come from. It also says the new scheme in which the bbc decides who gets a free licence fee is absurd as it says the corporation is essentially now administering a welfare benefit. The next negotiation over finance should, they say, be open and accountable. The bbc agrees. Meanwhile, the government says the free licence fees for everyone over 75 should continue and the bbc should pay. But todays report says the bbc cant afford it and that the government will have to step in to help fund it. David sillito, bbc news. We will have more on this story with Damian Collins and also chris curtis from broadcast. More now on one of our main stories. Fears are growing of a humanitarian crisis in Northern Syria. Tens of thousands of people have fled their homes after turkey began attacking Kurdish Forces. Theres been International Condemnation of the military action, but turkey says its trying to create a safe zone for Syrian Refugees. Lets go live now to our correspondent martin patience whos on the turkey syria border. What signs are you seeing of the intensification of this fighting . What we are seeing in the past half an hourorso is what we are seeing in the past half an hour or so is continued turkish shelling into syria with the bourdy area behind me. Iwas speaking shelling into syria with the bourdy area behind me. I was speaking to one woman who was inside syria in one woman who was inside syria in one of the towns that has been targeted, not far from where i am, and she described absolutely chaotic scenes. She said the shelling started yesterday, her and 20 members of their family were forced to run for their lives. Extraordinarily, she told me she tried to go back to the house because they left with nothing but they were not able to do so to pick up they were not able to do so to pick up some belongings, simply because the shelling was so intense. That is a snapshot of what is happening on the syrian side of the border. You have co nte nt the syrian side of the border. You have content that tens of thousands of people on the move and what we do know is that kurdish fighters are staying in some of those towns and firing back. Here, for example, three mortar shells landed, killing three people yesterday put in total you have had seven civilian casualties in turkey and the most reliable figures we have had from what is happening inside syria is that perhaps 30 kurdish fighters have been killed along with ten civilians but, as you said, the longer this operation goes on, the fears will grow for a humanitarian crisis. And you are talking about people who were already settled, having to flee their homes, what about people who are already refugees, and i appreciate it is hard to give a full picture given the volatility of the situation and the full area involve . It isa situation and the full area involve . It is a huge area, were talking about an offensive that is stretching along 70 or 80 miles. The story in syria is people being forced from their homes, half of that country have been forced from their homes because of the violence in the past eight years. What were seeing is yet another of people on the move. Aid agencies are warning that perhaps up to a quarter of a Million People could be forced from their homes because of this offensive. From the turkish point of view, what they are saying if they wa nt to view, what they are saying if they want to establish a essentially a buffer zone, they want to push back kurdish fighters but, importantly from their side, they want to resettle Syrian Refugees in turkey back into syria and they will use this buffer zone in order to do that. When that will happen, it will obviously take time, and the first thing the turkish authorities will need to do, if they are to achieve that objective, is to actually secure that buffer zone and what were seeing is more shelling and more fighting. Martin, thank you much. Two political donors with links to Donald Trumps private lawyer, rudy giuliani, have been arrested on suspicion of trying to funnel foreign money to the republican party. Igor fruman and lev parnas, pictured here on the left, are accused of trying to help mr giuliani investigate the family of the former Vice President joe biden. Mr trump insists he doesnt know the men. Irans National Tanker company says one of its vessels has been the target of a missile attack. The company says the incident took place in the red sea, about 90 kilometres off the port ofjeddah in saudi arabia. They say the two main oil tanks on the ship have been damaged and that oil has been spilling into the red sea. The Tanker Company says all the ships crew are safe and that the ship is stable. Well keep you up to date with this story as we get more information. More now on the news that the bbc and the government are being told to find a way of saving free tv licences for people over 75. The corporation had agreed to fund the scheme as part of its new charter agreement, but now says it cant afford it. It was previously paid for by the government. The Media Select Committee of mps says both sides need to Work Together to find a solution. Lets get more on this with chris curtis, editor of broadcast. Hejoins me now. Good morning. Do you think this is a fair report by the because it finds flaws in the way the government and the bbc handle the process. Flaws in the way the government and the bbc handle the processm flaws in the way the government and the bbc handle the process. It is pretty evenhanded. We are in a bit ofa pretty evenhanded. We are in a bit of a strange situation. Its quite nuanced, whereby the government did was pass on responsibility for the policy of licence fees for the over 75s to the bbc, especially giving it the power to make a decision about whether it continued with the policy but that is quite completed it to understand as id and it feels now like the bbc is getting criticism for making a decision was probably not its to make in the first place. The Committee Says the bbc finds itself in the strange position of, in its words, having to administer a welfare benefit. Ideally, it wants tv licences to be free for all over 75s. What pathway does it suggest to reach that position . The bbc has been wrestling with this as its number one corporate issue for a number one corporate issue for a number of years. It has come up with the idea of pension credits, pensioners that are able to get a certain type of credit would get their license fee for free which is way of mitigating some of the enormous cost it would take on put the reality is it leaves a whole swathe of a whole swathe of pensions would lose their licences and what this report is trying to do it to get the covenant and bbc to bang their Heads Together and find a more effective compromise the government and the bbc pulled of said he was pleased. How are they going to do this, if the bbc is not funding the full cost . Will the government had to step in . It recognises that the bbc funding model is at risk as younger viewers turn away to get their content online so where is the money going to come from . That is the question there are not many obvious a nswe rs. Question there are not many obvious answers. The problem is that if the bbc took on this cost of funding these licence fees, it would have to effectively cut almost every major tv channel other than bbc one, that is the community of cost, bbc two, childrens bbc, all of these things they would have to be cut to find they would have to be cut to find the money. They will push hard against that. At the question is whether there is a bit more gift on both sides, if the bbc can find more money and the government can so that another portion of those protect pensioners potentially missing out could be given a licence fee. Or will some better potential in some pensioners have to pay for theirfee . Some pensioners have to pay for their fee . There was a principle that if you were over 75 you get a free license fee and people got used to that idea. If you are a pensioner, all you feel is that someone has taken that away from you and your trunk to find out who to blame. There is an element of what going on is a blame game put up this report try to suggest that the parties get together and find what a compromise. Thank you very much. A quarter of patients with secondary Breast Cancer had to visit their gp three or more times before getting a diagnosis, according to a charity. Breast cancer now says its unacceptable that some people are not getting early access to treatments. Gps say theyre doing their best for patients but symptoms can be difficult to spot. The five year old daughter of imprisoned british iranian woman Nazanin Zaghari ratcliffe has returned to the uk. Heres gabriella arriving back with herfather, richard ratcliffe. Shes been living with her grandparents in tehran and and visiting her mother in the notorious evin prison since she was arrested on spying charges more than three years ago. Her parents decided to bring her back to the uk so she can start school. In a moment, the weather, but first heres joanna gosling, with whats on the Victoria Derbyshire programme hello, this morning, could Greta Thunberg win the Nobel Peace Prize . The teenage climate activist is among the nominees and when it will be announced in the next hour. We have the details. Plus a special report on the impact of tourism on the white island of ibiza put it generated half a tonne of waste per person this year which is 14 more than the rest of europe. Join us at ten oclock on bbc two, the bbc news channel and online. Now its time for a look at the weather with simon king. Good morning. There is more rain in the forecast today, and its going to be quite heavy for some of us, particularly in northern parts of england and across wales. Some pretty gusty conditions associated with that rain especially for england and wales. You can see this morning some outbreaks of rain across the south east of england as well, heavy and frequent showers moving their way into the west of scotland. But this rainfall across wales and Northern England could bring 50 70 millimetres, particularly in west wales and across the pennines, and that could lead to some problems. The rain in the south east will continue, but gradually that rain will ease its way southward. Some brighter skies developing in northern parts, but the frequent showers in the west of scotland could lead to some problems as well. These are the wind gusts through today. Up to around 50 mph around coastal areas, could be quite breezy for many of us. Maximum temperature 15 18 degrees. As for the weekend, more rain especially for england and wales and a little bit drier and brighter further north. Flocking for hello this is bbc news with annita mcveigh. The headlines. The brexit secretary, stephen barclay, arrives for more talks in brussels with the eus chief negotiator, Michel Barnier. Both sides hope a deal can be struck following yesterdays positive talks between borisjohnson and the irish Prime Minister leo varadkar. The e cigarette industry launches a campaign to reassure millions of vapers in the uk, despite concerns in the us. And coming up highways england have admitted dozens of drivers are getting stranded on smart motorways every day. Ill be talking to a campaigner who wants the government to step in. Time now for the morning briefing, where we bring you up to speed on the stories people are watching, reading and sharing. Lets start with brexit because thats the most read story on the bbc news website this morning. As weve been hearing, negotiations resumed this morning in brussels thats after a meeting between Boris Johnson and his irish counterpart, leo varadkar yesterday, in which they agreed they could see a pathway to a possible deal. Brexit also dominating the newspaper headlines this morning. Irish eyes are smiling is the headline on the front page of the metro, which says hopes of a brexit deal have been revived after that two and a half hour meeting between the Prime Ministerjohnson and leo va radkar yesterday. Dare we dream of a deal . Asks the daily mail. The paper says mr varadkar has long been seen as the roadblock to an agreement, but now believes one is in sight. And, theres optimism in the irish times too, which says chances of a Brexit Agreement have suddenly improved after that meeting yesterday. Now onto another story doing well on our website this morning. Theyre calling it the stormzy effect, and Cambridge University says it has contributed to more black students being admitted to the world famous university. Thats after the grime artist pledged to fund tuition fees and living costs for two students each year. This year, 9 black students were admitted to the university, up about 50 from 2018. For the first time, black students made up more than 3 of new undergraduates, according to figures released by the university. Theres been plenty of reaction to this on social media this morning. Twitter user nana bonsu said its a great news story, adding that opportunities enable possibilities, which create realities. Another user, john macaskill, praised the stormzy effect and said it showed positive leadership. And tom levinson, who is head of Widening Participation at the university of cambridge, says huge for the two students who got the money, but the stormzy scholarship was always about more than that. Other twitter users have also welcomed the increase in black students joining the university, but noted that there is still a long way to go. In 2003, actor Keira Knightley joined protest marches against the iraq war. Now for her latest role shes playing a gchq whistleblower who tried to stop the invasion. Official secrets tells the story of katharine gun, who exposed an operation by the United States to blackmail members of the Un Security Council into authorising the war. Shes been speaking to Louise Minchen on bbc breakfast. This is about katharine gun, who worked at gchq, and she found a piece of information which he passed on, didnt she, which was an incredibly brave thing to do. Did you know much about her . No, i knew nothing about this at all. I was really interested because i really remember the lead up to the 2003 war and i totally didnt know anything about this. Youre a spy. You work for the british government. No, i work for the british people. I dont collect information so the government can lie to the british people. She released a memo that was from the nsa that asked for help in looking for information into the members of the Un Security Council, so that they could basically blackmail them into voting for the war in iraq. So it was a very explosive memo that she released. And she released it in order to try to stop the war in iraq happening. Which we know, it didnt she didnt manage to stop it. She didnt manage it and it did happen. What do you think about what she did, because its kind of a moral dilemma right at the heart of the story . Would i be brave enough to do that . I dont know that i would, no. I think thats what sort of extraordinary about this story. What you really realise is that most people dont. Most people look the other way. And its completely understandable to look the other way because you want to save yourself and you dont want to completely derail your life. The winner of the Nobel Peace Prize will be announced later this morning. Nominees are not traditionally announced, but amongst the bookies favourites to win the accolade are 16 year old climate activist Greta Thunberg and new zealands Prime Ministerjacinda ardern. The organisers say any talk of who is the favourite to win is sheer guesswork. Sheer guesswork it may be, but that hasnt stopped people speculating on social media about whos going to win. The hashtags nobel and nobelprize2019 are both trending this morning. Twitter user philipp kastli says if gretathunberg receives the nobel price, it is a well deserved slap in the face of the big and powerful of the world. And he praised her efforts to make the planet a better place. Another user, hume johnson, said jacinda ardern, new zealands Prime Minister, is stellar but she adds that in her view, Greta Thunberg looms larger at this moment, given the extraordinary significance of her cause. Quick look at what you are reading and watching on the bbc news app with brexit at number one. Talks resuming in brussels this morning after what was described as a promising and positive meeting between Boris Johnson promising and positive meeting between borisjohnson and leo varadkar yesterday. Between borisjohnson and leo va radkar yesterday. Nazanin zaghari ratcliffes daughter gabrielle at returning to the uk to start school is at number two. Images of her being held by her father as she arrives back. The most watched, eliud kipchoge, thats the number one. He says he is aiming to runa number one. He says he is aiming to run a marathon in under two hours. When he ran his first marathon he completed it in two hours and 25 seconds. No mean feat for a first marathon and he now hopes to go below two hours and he says if he does he will feel like the first man on the moon. Thats the number one most watched story on the bbc news app this morning. Thats it for todays morning briefing. Sport now, and for a full round up, from the bbc sport centre, heresjohn watson. Good morning. The Rugby World Cup not the only sporting event affected by hurricane hagibis. Qualifying for the japanese grand prix has been pushed back to race day on sunday in suzuka. The circuits 230 miles west of tokyo where the typhoon is set to hit on saturday and the bbcs fi reporterjenny gow is there. Well, this appears to be the calm before the storm. Typhoon hagibis is expected to be one of the worst weve seen in the history of japanese typhoon recording so whilst now its dry and theres pretty much no wind, we can feel its becoming oppressive and f1 have decided along with the event organisers to postpone qualifying. Its not unheard of but it is very unusual. Normally practice and qualifying takes place on saturday with a race on sunday afternoon. Now it will be a ten oclock qualifying on sunday with the race four hours later. That will be a challenge for the teams and drivers alike. They will have a whole day basically to spend in their hotel rooms on saturday and they will come to the track and have one hour to set the fastest lap around what is a very difficult suzuka circuit. So i suppose a lot of apprehension going into this weekend of what will happen but hopefully the main thing is everyone stays safe. And we are waiting to hear what will happen with the scotland match against japan on sunday. The nike oregon project has been closed down after the four year ban handed to its former head coach Alberto Salazar for doping violations. A statement from nike this morning said it had become a distraction they said no orchestrated doping, no finding that performance enhancing drugs have ever been used on oregon project athletes. This situation including uninformed innuendo and unsubstantiated assertions has become an unfair burden for current op athletes. Scotlands remote hopes of qualifying automatically for euro 2020 are over. They do still have the play offs to come though next march. They were thrashed 4 0 in russia and have now lost four consecutive matches in all competitions for the First Time Since 200a. Their manager thinks theyve hit rock bottom. For us, is to try and make sure that this is the very bottom and go from here and make sure we come up. Able to be very competitive and get through the play offs to give ourselves the chance to be in the same championships. Northern ireland, will need four points from their final two games to qualify, but that wont be easy when theyre playing netherlands and germany next. They went ahead against the dutch with just over 15 minutes to go, but went on to lose 3 1 with three late goals from the home side. Wales kept their qualification hopes on track with a draw in slovakia. They led i 0 before conceding an equaliser. England play the Czech Republic tonight. Lets have a look at some of this mornings back pages. The times have quotes from england head coach eddiejones, who says scots cant complain if they go out of the Rugby World Cup. Suggesting they only have themselves to blame if typhoon hagibis forces the canellation of sundays game with japan. Telegraph has a picture of Harry Maguire and harry kane, england will qualify for euro 2020 if they beat Czech Republic tonight. And in the guardian theres a brilliant picture of simone biles following her 22nd World Championship medal in yesterdays all around final in stutgart. Four more events for her to come over the weekend. And speaking on bbc breakfast this morning beth tweddle says theres no end to what simone biles can achieve in gymnastics. With four more events to come at the worlds in stuttgart. Shes been breaking boundaries, having created two new moves in the sport which have been named after her as Natalie Pirks explains. It is jaw dropping in its complexity. Launching into the air at around 13 mph, she is up there for little more than a second. It means simone biles has to move quickly to perform two somersaults while twisting three times simultaneously. Even other elite gymnasts are dumbfounded by the ease with she performed such a tough move. Thats her motivation. I mean, she is that many times world champion. What gets her out of bed in the morning . I guess its inventing all these new skills, but the thing is she makes them look so easy. That triple double on the floor, everyone just stops to watch that. Its that incredible. To have someone like simone in our sport, she is notjust a legend within our sport, its kind of across the world of sport. Everyone knows who she is and how amazing she is so it kind of does draw in your non gymnastics vans which can only be good for participation levels within our sport. And she is only 22 so you wonder how many more medals simone biles could go on to win. This she is quite phenomenal. And she has more events to come in stuttgart this weekend. More now on the news that the bbc and the government are being told to find a way of saving free tv licences for people over 75. Lets get more on this with Damian Collins, the conservative mp and chair of the digital, culture, media and Sport Select Committee hejoins me from our westminster studio. You deliver tough criticism in the report on both sides of the process, the government and bbc, leading to the government and bbc, leading to the position we are in now. The main message coming from it, you would wa nt message coming from it, you would want and like a way to be found for free tv licences to be delivered to all people over 75. How do you think that can be achieved . all people over 75. How do you think that can be achieved . I think it requires a contribution both from the government and bbc. The bbc past my current position as they think they can fund around a third of three licenses. When the negotiation was entered into by the government with the bbc in 2015 the intention was always that the over 75 licence fees would be preserved. There was never a debate about scrapping free license fees. The bbc entered into an agreement which it thought it could afford, but it turns out it cant. Given when the government started this process the intention was to preserve those licenses, i think we should find the funding. I think we should find the funding. I think for the first year, 2020 21 there should be a deal done to fund that gap. After that, 2021, there will be a renegotiation with the bbc and government as part of the bbc charter review and then we should look at the long term sustainable plan for the bbc licence fee and for funding three licences for the over 75s. The funding three licences for the over 755. The bbc funding three licences for the over 75s. The bbc has said it is pleased there is no assumption that the bbc would continue to bear the full cost of the licences alone. You also say the bbc funding model is at risk because younger viewers are getting more of their content online and presuming you dont want to see some of the services the bbc might have to cut to achieve these free tv licences for the over 75s going because that would reduce another Major Service to those viewers. There are two important things there. The chairman of the bbc had said that. The chairman of the bbc acknowledge the fact the bbc wasnt bound beyond 2020 to fund universal free licence fees for the over 75 is but when it entered the agreement with the governance it gave the impression it would and never sat up front it would definitely go. On both sides, the government and bbc, this is a process where i think licence fee players, older licence fee payers, they would have thought their licence would continue to be free and that has turned out not to be the case and both the government and bbc share some responsibly for that. This issue has shown there are funding pressures on the bbc that the licence fee is dwindling against the licence fee is dwindling against the cost of the bbc has, the cost of making programmes are going up substantially and the licence fee isnt rising with inflation fast enough so i gap is developing fast of it has been exposed because of the debate of a free licence fees but the trend may well continue in which case the bbc will be in a position where if it cant increase reve nu es position where if it cant increase revenues from making programmes by bbc studios or Subscription Services through things like brick box it will have a funding gap. Thats something they will have to have a debate about because im not sure licence fee payers would want to see a substantial increase in the licence fee but the bbc could be in a position where its current funding model is not sustainable and a range of services on offer today will not be affordable in the future. And those viewers may not want to see some of those services go either is the point im making. Im asking, would you want to avoid that situation as well . Of course, but there will have to be a debate involving licence fee payers in the near future about the funding model for the bbc, which is to say, is there scope for further savings within the way the bbc is run or do people want to see an increase in the licence fee or more Subscription Services bolted onto the bbc. They may well be the range of choices but rather than this being done behind closed doors as a quiet negotiation with the government, i think this is something licence fee payers should be consulted on. It might be unpalatable at the moment but blue think part of the debate should include perhaps better off pensioners accepting their licence fee may no longer be free. Or is that a red line you dont think anyone should cross . that a red line you dont think anyone should cross . I think licence fee payers should be consulted on it. One of the criticisms last time, and the bbc trust was also critical of this, is that a major change in the bbc and its funding was made behind closed doors without licence fee payers being consulted. As we look further down the line, that has to be part of the debate but i think players themselves should be consulted on that. Damian collins mp, thank you for your time. We can take you to a live News Conference involving nato leaders and turkey. They have been holding a meeting and we can dip into this news co nfe re nce meeting and we can dip into this News Conference and find out what is being said. My question is to the secretary general. How does nato think about the pyd and k pg and how it relates to the pkk in the nato assessment documents and i would like to ask whether nato has ever assessed them as a terrorist threat to nato or any of its members . Nato does not have a public list where we list different organisations as terrorist organisations. Some other National Organisations have a list, for instance the un and eu, but nato does not have that kind of public list where we list terrorist organisations. We find terrorism is in all its forms and manifestations, and we do that together in nato, in the Global Coalition to defeat daesh. Nato is part of the Global Coalition all the way and we have made enormous progress in the fight against daesh, which is still a threat and a common enemy. If we need to make sure the gains we have made are not authorised. You have to remember that the nato presence in countries like afghanistan and iraq is also about fighting terrorism. We strongly believe the best way of fighting terrorism is to train local forces. Thats what we are doing in afghanistan and iraq. Again, turkey is an important part of that. It is one of the lead nations in afghanistan. We highly appreciate the contributions from turkey to natos efforts in the fight against terrorism. When it comes to the situation in Northern Syria and also the ypg, there are different views among nato allies. Nato is not present on the ground in Northern Syria but we are part of the Global Coalition. We continue to fight terrorism but we are not on the ground in Northern Syria. Secretary general of nato there alongside the Turkish Foreign minister. They have been meeting in istanbul as International Bodies expressed growing concern about the offensive by turkey in Northern Syria and the offensive against the Kurdish Forces in that area. Highways england have admitted that dozens of drivers are stranded on smart motorways every day in a letter to mps. Theyre promising to roll out new safety features but campaigners say people are dying unnecessarily on the roads because drivers dont understand how the motorways work. Lets speak to Richard Goddard from the campaign for safer roadside rescue and recovery. Good morning. Remind us how many smart motorways there are. They are rolling out all over the country. The m25, a new roll out on the m4 m3 and m1. They are nationwide and rolling out as fast as they can. You are saying fast but an smart but not necessarily safe enough. Im not necessarily safe enough. Im not necessarily saying smart. All lane running is what we are dealing with. They are a variant of smart motorways. You are 38 more likely to break down in a live lane on one of the so called smart motorways. The safety mechanisms put in place, the technology to actually read when someone has broken down, if you can imagine driving, coming to a stop on a live lane with nowhere to go, there is no hard shoulder. The general public are not made aware and educated properly on the safety of so called smart motorways. They are ina of so called smart motorways. They are in a very dangerous and precarious situation. If someone brea ks precarious situation. If someone breaks down in that scenario you have just described, what should they do . To be perfectly honest, they do . To be perfectly honest, they cant do anything but sit there like a sitting duck and wait for highways england or one of their hay toes to come and maybe the police to protect them. Nobody really knows what to do. The statistics given out are simply not correct or stop looking at smart motorways, or all lane running, they are a cost cutting exercise. They are more worried about saving money than lives. The public needs to be made miles more aware than they are at the moment, their needs better education and there must be more resources and Better Safety mechanisms put in place to protect the general public and rescue recovery operators. I dont know if you have figures on the number of deaths in accidents on these smart motorways. There have been three on the new part of the m1 in south yorkshire. There was the one that went to court on the ma, which is pa rt went to court on the ma, which is part of the roll out. I think there we re part of the roll out. I think there were three casualties there. Many casualties and not all of them are reported. If this many people were being killed during a world war they would be on the news every night. People are dying and highways england are not doing enough to protect them, educate them and save lives. We only have a moment left in the interview, but in the absence of Public Information campaigns you are talking about, where can motorists look as individuals to educate themselves . There are various websites. What i would suggest to most people is to look at where they are travelling, look to see if it is are travelling, look to see if it is a smart motorway. If it is, please make sure your car is going to make the journey. There is make sure your car is going to make thejourney. There is nothing worse than being made a sitting duck, and sitting on one of those live lanes, at the risk of being hit. Its 15 minutes before you are even detected sometimes with the technology. So you are a sitting duck. Make sure your vehicle is safe and make sure your vehicle is safe and make sure you know you are going on a smart motorway and work out where the refuge areas are. They are one mile and a half apart, instead of 500 metres, which was agreed in the beginning. Highways england need to better look at that, and you must better look at that, and you must better educate yourself where you travel and find out where the smart motorways are. A number of deaths, allegedly linked to e cigarettes in the United States, has led to concern over the safety of vaping. So today the industry is launching a campaign to try to reassure millions of vapers in the uk that its a safe alternative to smoking. Graham satchell reports. Milwaukees Health Department issued an alert telling people to stop using those e cigarettes immediately. It is being described in america as an epidemic. That is now 27 deaths linked to vaping in 22 states. Every day a new report of someone dying or being hospitalised. This is the illicit market for thc vape oil. This undercover report shows why. Back street stalls selling fluid laced with cannabis. Most of the reported deaths have been linked to vaping unregulated, home made cannabis oil and the panic now gripping america has prompted the uk vaping industry to act. Today they have started a print campaign in national newspapers. It says. What is happening in america couldnt happen here because the uk industry is tightly regulated. We feel that it is really important that the general public and vapers can be reassured that the products they are buying here in the uk are safe to consume, and that they are dealing with facts and not fiction. Vaping in the uk is controlled by an eu directive. All liquids have to be tested and registered. There are restrictions on advertising and selling to under 18s. But, as time goes on, there are also scientific studies starting to suggest that vaping can cause some damage. Can you guarantee that if someone is vaping in the uk, that they will be safe . I can guarantee that if you are using vaping to get off smoking, that it is far less harmful for you to vape than it is to smoke. But nothing that we do in this world is 100 safe. So, this is your husband . Yeah, this is terry. Glyniss husband was 57 when he died in 2010. He had smoked since he was 15 but, in the last year of his life, he switched to vaping. He became ill and was admitted to hospital. Doctors discovered oil on his lungs. He was diagnosed with lymphoid pneumonia. His lungs obviously were damaged through the smoking, but using the e cigarette, he was very susceptible to pick up other things and i think that was. How can i put it . The straw that broke the camels back . As faras, like, yes, in effect, at the end of the day, it was the oil, the e cigarette that done it. It killed him. An inquest into terrys death recorded an open verdict and there is no evidence vaping directly caused his pneumonia, but glynis remains deeply suspicious e cigarettes. If people want to stop smoking, use another method. Use the patches, use the lozenges, use the chewing gum. Dont go on e cigarettes because you just dont know the long term effect. There is now a Scientific Consensus that vaping is less harmful than smoking but the jury is out on the long term effects of using e cigarettes. Graham satchell, bbc news. Now its time for a look at the weather with simon king. Its not been a great start to the day across england and wales. We have had heavy rain particularly across west wales and Northern England. A rather wet to commute first thing this morning to stop this was in surrey. We have another band of rain currently affecting the south of england. All coming from this where all the way to the mid atlantic. This where all the way to the mid atla ntic. Its a this where all the way to the mid atlantic. Its a waving front, so if you imagine flicking a rope and seeing waves going up and down, thats what these weather fronts do. The rain goes up and up and down and back up again as we go through the next few days. The rain this morning in the south east of england is marginally clearing away but the rain across wales, the midlands and Northern England, which has been heavy this morning, and will continue into the early part of this afternoon. 50 70 millimetres in western wales and the pennines. Could cause flooding issues. Moving further south. Further north, sunny spells but some heavy and thundery showers in the west of scotland that could cause flooding issues. Its also quite windy. These are the gusts, up to 50 mph around southern and western coasts this afternoon. Maximum temperature today of 13 18. Through this evening and overnight, the rain in the south will continue. Very wet night to come. Further north, still showers around but they are easing off with clear skies across northern parts of the uk mean temperatures will drop to single figures. Further south it will stay mild but you can see the rain here continue. There is the weather front, still positioned across southern areas. On saturday it will gradually move northwards. Further north across the uk it should be largely dry. A few showers for scotla nd largely dry. A few showers for scotland and Northern Ireland, largely dry and bright weather here. In the south the rain will continue, edging into south wales and the south midlands during saturday afternoon with maximum temperatures on saturday of around 1a, may 16 celsius. The weather front again, on sunday it will move further north, covering many parts of england and wales. A messy picture on sunday with rain spreading north, with showers in the south. Hello, its friday, its ten oclock, im joanna gosling. Is Greta Thunberg the winner of this years Nobel Peace Prize . Shes among the favourites, and well find out in the next few minutes. The teenage climate activist would become the recipient of the 100th prize if she wins. This is the scene live in oslo. The announcement is about to happen. We will bring it to you when we get it. All over 75s should get back the licence fee for free. A report out today is highly critical of the bbc and the government over the decision to means test it. This 81 year old lady feels so strongly about the issue shes travelled here from wales to tell us what she thinks. Its the Party Capital of the world but what impact are tourists having on the resources, nature and the beauty of ibiza