The major power cut across the uk earlier this month was sparked by a Lightning Strike and the sudden loss of two big generators. Its emerged Jeffrey Epstein signed a will two days before killing himself in his new yorkjail cell, while awaiting trial on sex trafficking and conspiracy charges. Manchester uniteds unsettled star paul pogba misses a penalty as his side are held to a draw at wolves. And coming up. We hear from the chicken connoisseur on the decision to put anti knife slogans on chicken takeaway food boxes. Good morning, and welcome to the bbc news at nine. The irish Prime Minister, leo varadakar, has rejected a fresh demand by borisjohnson for the eu to remove the irish backstop from the brexit Withdrawal Agreement. In a letter to the European Council president , donald tusk, mrjohnson said that it was anti democratic and inconsistent with the sovereignty of the uk, and suggested that alternative arrangements could replace it. The uk and the eu had agreed on the backstop as a way of preventing the return of border checks between Northern Ireland and the irish republic. It would keep the uk in the Eu Customs Union and see Northern Ireland stay aligned to some rules of the eu single market. Our Political Correspondent iain watson is at westminster. What to expect from Boris Johnson, who is laying out his stall in more detail . He and his long standing brexiteers have hated the idea of the Northern Ireland backstop, the insurance policy to avoid a hard border in ireland but would keep the uk close to lots of eu rules and regulations with no ability to exit unilaterally. They have not liked it for a long time and borisjohnson as saying in no uncertain terms, unless the backstop goes than the prospect of no deal becomes even greater. He is ratcheting things up a little, one of the arguments made about the eu and by the Irish Government is that the good friday agreement, the Peace Process in Northern Ireland, could be undermined if there is the risk of a hard budget being reimposed, but Boris Johnson risk of a hard budget being reimposed, but borisjohnson is saying that the good friday agreement is all about consent between the communities in Northern Ireland, nationalists and unionists, and the unionist dup who are propping up its government dont like the backstop, so that breaches the principle of consent. The conservative party chairmanjames cleverly today said there had to be more movement from the eu if there is to be any prospect of a deal. Negotiations only work if people are willing to move and be adaptable, and the uk has been willing to move and the uk has been willing to move and be adaptable. The Prime Minister is asking the eu to look at reality. The Withdrawal Agreement, because of the backstop, has been rejected by the backstop, has been rejected by the house of commons three times and it has been very, very clear that thatis it has been very, very clear that that is the sticking point, but without that there is a good chance of getting a deal to the house, which the Prime Minister has said he wants to do, and he has also made the point that the backstop runs the risk of upsetting the very delicate balance between the communities of different traditions of Northern Ireland and, as he describes, it is unviable, it will not get through the house of commons and it is anti democratic. The house of commons and it is antidemocratic. Unviable is the word being used about the Northern Ireland backstop. It seems that what borisjohnson is ireland backstop. It seems that what Boris Johnson is doing ireland backstop. It seems that what borisjohnson is doing is looking for one of two things, either that the eu will blink as the prospect of no deal can sever closer, and they will change the long held view on the Northern Ireland backstop, or they will be pretty much consistent in what they had said before, that there is no prospect others taking this out of the agreement, in which case there was a hint of it from james cleverly, the government will say the eu has been desperately inflexible and it is their fault we are heading for no deal. Labour suggested that borisjohnsons letter to the eu was fantasyland at the shadow home secretary diane abbott said leaving without a deal which be potentially chaotic and disastrous because businesses would have no time to adjust. What business and eu nationals want, which is more consultation and a longer and more considered transitional process. You would be happy with something that just allowed things to remain, essentially, the same on november the ist as on october 31 . Essentially, the same on november the 1st as on october 31 . You have to have a transitional process, that is what eu nationals and business thing. Anything else is chaos. The governments official position is that it governments official position is thatitis governments official position is that it is angling for a deal, energetic to get a deal, but some conservative dissidents such as the former chancellor Philip Hammond is suggesting borisjohnson setting the bar too high for negotiation with the eu and all of this is setup to fail. We have not had an official response from the eu, but the Irish Government seem to be sceptical that they can ditch what they see as a guarantee of avoiding a hardboard illegally, in other words, maintaining the backstop. A guarantee of avoiding a hard border, legally. Adam fleming is in brussels, how has the letter been received . Let the letter has been circulated amongst other eu countries and their brexit teams,. Lj imagine there will be an agreed, united eu position by the end of the day, even if it is just acknowledging the ideas in the letter rather than setting out what they will do about it. Borisjohnson is going to see Angela Merkel in berlin tomorrow, Emmanuel Macron in paris on thursday, then he will be at the g7 summit at the weekend. Donald tusk, the president of the European Council, will also be there. It will be hard for the eu side not to comment, probably the intention of the British Government. But speaking to diplomats privately here, there are three camps. There are people very close to the drafting of the backstop and the Withdrawal Agreement who were really involved and are frankly quite horrified. They think it crosses one of the eus big red lines, which is you need to have a ready to go, fully worked out back a plan for the irish border in the brexit deal that is signed by both sides before brexit day. They are pretty unhappy. Then another pan think this is more ofa then another pan think this is more of a stunt and a tactic from the uk rather than a genuine offer and it is putting some stuff that Boris Johnson had said on the campaign trailfor johnson had said on the campaign trail for the johnson had said on the campaign trailfor the leadership johnson had said on the campaign trail for the leadership of the tory party and then as Prime Minister, putting that onto paper to make it look more official and more of a process. And then a handful of people think it could be an opening, the start of something that could break the stalemate. It will be fascinating to see in the next couple of days how the eu handles this. As you mentioned, these meetings coming up for borisjohnson with key players and much being made of the fact that with biarritz at the weekend, this is his first step out into the eu spotlight. Will he get a warm reception . They will certainly be diplomatic towards him, thatis certainly be diplomatic towards him, that is how diplomacy works. What is interesting about these meetings is the fact they are happening at all, a couple of weeks ago Boris Johnsons people were briefing he did not want to meet eu leadersjust to be told the Withdrawal Agreement is closed. Now he has found time to meet eu leaders even though their position as the Withdrawal Agreement is closed. The briefing from downing street ahead of these meetings is they will not really be about brexit. They are trying to make them look more like normal diplomatic bilateral chats, one world leader to another, talking about world leader issues, rather than brexit. Another, talking about world leader issues, ratherthan brexit. One another, talking about world leader issues, rather than brexit. One of the conversations he has already had was last night, it was with irish Prime Minister, the taoiseach, leo varadkar. It was before the letter was published, the two men did not discuss the letter but in a statement jointly agreed discuss the letter but in a statementjointly agreed by both about the phone calls, released afterwards, leo varadkar was quoted as saying the Withdrawal Agreement, the brexit treaty, will not be real and there has to be a legally operable backstop in it. Boris johnson is asking for the Withdrawal Agreement to be real open and for the legally operable insurance policy for the irish border to be taken out. For the Withdrawal Agreement to be reopened. Thank you, adam. A man will appear in court later charged with the murder of pc andrew harper, who was killed whilst investigating a burglary last week. The Police Officer died on thursday in berkshire, after being dragged along the road by a vehicle. 20 year old jed foster will appear at Reading Magistrates Court this morning. Nine other men have been released on bail. James ingham is in the village of sulhamstead for us. A very emotional tribute from lissie, pc harpers wife . Yes, pc harpers widow lissie has written an open letter to her husband, an incredibly poignant and moving tribute to a man who she described as her best fans, a man she spent 13 years with budget statement for the short four weeks of marriage. She described him as the kindest, loveliest, most selfless person anybody could meet, and she said, i want to be angry that yourjob took and she said, i want to be angry that your job took you away from us, but i know you loved it and always wa nted but i know you loved it and always wanted to keep everyone safe, especially me. Lissie painted a picture of what andrew was like as a man, his personality. He loved silly jokes, sunday roasts, bike rides and long walks. She said he was full of life and always smiling. Lissie went on to say, my heart is broken without you, my sweetheart. You have imprinted so much love and laughter u nto imprinted so much love and laughter unto all our lives, and we are on to say, my heart is broken without you, my sweetheart. You have imprinted so much love and laughter onto all our lives, and we are honoured. She signed off, as superman, our bodyguard, are late in the dark. My god, you will miss us. There has been a development in the Police Investigation . My god, we will miss you. Thames Valley Police have spent four days questioning ten people arrested soon after the death of pc harper in the local area. Last night they charge 20 year old jed foster from reading with night they charge 20 year old jed fosterfrom reading with his murder. Sometime this morning we expect him to be at Reading Magistrates Court for a first initial hearing. Nine other people, including five under 18s, have been released on police bail until september 13. Behind me can see a growing carpet of flowers. This morning we have seen more and more officers, colleagues of andrews from different parts of the Thames Valley force, paying respects and very visibly moved. I spoke to some officers keeping watch here, keeping the cording in place, they say it mean so much to them to see these messages of support and condolences they stand guard over a place where one of their own was killed. Keeping the cordon in place. A has been lodged by the thames Valley Police foundation for lissie and her family, thames Valley Police foundation for lissie and herfamily, it has reached £210,000 from members of the public who clearly want to show their respect to bits for the policeman. Thank you very much, james. A Lightning Strike led to two power losses which left more than a Million People without access to power earlier this month, according to a report. The National Grid said the blackout was the result of an extremely rare and unexpected event. Energy regulator 0fgem has now launched a formal investigation into the power cuts which left thousands of rail passengers stranded and a hospital temporarily without power. According to a report. Earlier this morning, bbc breakfasts business presenter Steph Mcgovern explained the issues the National Grid faced on the day. So they want all the power to be going out at 50 hertz frequency, but because of this power drop it meant it fell below that stable 50 hertz. This then kicks off a Safety System and National Grid which then means more supply is brought into try to get the frequency back up to 50. What happened was they did not have enough, there was not enough back up to get that back up to 50. If the frequency is not at 50, it triggers Power Outages in order to protect the whole network, meaning that by cutting off the houses, the hospital, the airport and things, it meant there was not an even bigger power outage by the whole thing, so various safety elements were triggered, but the problem was it was not enough to bring everything straight back on straightaway, so thatis straight back on straightaway, so that is why there is the big investigation by the regulator 0fgem to see why that happened, who was at fault, why we did not have the back up. National grid could face a fine from this because something went wrong somewhere. Fine from this because something went wrong somewherelj fine from this because something went wrong somewhere. I suppose even if the back up does not work, it is the choices about which amenities lose power, so many people were so shocked that a hospital was one of those. Exactly, there are lots of questions to be answered. They make this point that this is a very rare, extremely unusual event to happen, too because by a Lightning Strike, but, as we know, lightning happens, there should be safety plans in place and patented teams on this occasion it did not work as it should. And it seems on this occasion it did not work as it should. A man has been shot dead at a petrol station in the village of waringstown in county down. The incident is not believed to be linked to recent dissident republican activity. Politicians from all sides have condemned the killing. Hong kongs leader carrie lam has said she hopes a peaceful demonstration at the weekend that saw hundreds of thousands take to the streets in an Anti Government rally was the beginning of efforts to restore calm to the chinese ruled city. Sundays protest was the calmest since the latest demonstrations against the influence of beijing escalated in mid june. Ms lam also said the would immediately set up what shes calling a platform for dialogue with people of all backgrounds. I have just explained and elaborated on two important areas of work we are doing. 0ne on two important areas of work we are doing. One is an important fact finding study, in addition to a very robust system to investigate and look at the complaints against police over this prolonged period of confrontations and violence. The other is a more rare arrangement, for the ipcc, which is statutory and independent, to create a fact finding study into the causes and the facts of this incident. So i hope this is a very responsible response to the aspirations for better understanding of what has taken place in hong kong, and more important of all, it is notjust fact finding to provide a sequence of fa cts, fact finding to provide a sequence of facts, it also will provide the government with recommendations on how to move forward and also how to avoid the recurrence of similar incidents. The second area of work i have announced, which will give us a much better basis to address some anxieties and differences in society. We will start immediately a platform for dialogue with people from all walks of life. So this is something that we want to do, in a very sincere and humble manner. I and my principal officials are committed to listen to what the people have to tell us. And we want to reach out to the community as soon as possible. Carrie lam. 0ur correspondent Stephen Mcdonell is in hong kong. Two commitments from carrie lam, she talked about open dialogue and an investigation, independent investigation, independent investigation, she called it, into alleged Police Brutality . Gulp it is something of an olive branch from the hong kong leader something of an olive branch from the ho