sinn fein, michel barnier and sinn fein are essentially at one, as sinn fein won special status for northern ireland. squaring the circle is the biggest remaining problem. there are plenty of others, but that is the biggest. so how will they do that? because none of this is new. we have been having the same conversation over the past however many months. how can this be resolved? the british government has placed a huge amount of faith in technology, the idea of a smart border, but many customs officials say that is simply a non—runner. another option may be to have a special uk ireland travel arrangement. the common travel area we have at the moment only relates to people. we could have a common trade area where we have free trade between the uk and ireland, taking it on trust that the uk would not use ireland as a back door to avoid ta riffs use ireland as a back door to avoid tariffs the goods that. so there would be no hard border, no checks on the trade that goes between the uk and ireland. that is probably the only way of squaring the circle, because we are looking at the reinvigorat

fein met for urgent talks with chief negotiator mitchell boni in brussels on monday and in the past twenty four hours it was the turn of the protestant body that is the electoral reason to resume as prime minister of britain joining me now is a member of the northern ireland affairs committee and shouted you be spokesman on human rights and health. jim thanks we're going going on. here underground any concerns that there's more leverage in brussels than the when it comes to these border issues sinn fein are not the largest party in north of we are we have a relationship and conferences with that are much the government here westminster were so tight and had a candidate for the northern ireland that lies at westminster and i'm just one thing at what stage the e.u. and the republicans aren't will have a dose of reality they want to solve border we want to solve border where you know some let's do it well that's a sign of any irish deputy prime minister has already cost and resume his plan for no hardboard i don't see what they hope to achieve out of this because most of their trade fo

fein met for urgent talks with chief negotiator michel barnier in brussels on monday and in the past twenty four hours it was the turn of the u.p.a. the protestant body that is the electoral reason to raise them a as prime minister of britain joining me now is a member of the northern ireland affairs committee and shadow devi spokesperson on human rights and health jim chairman jim thanks for coming on and going to be here underground any concerns that information has more leverage in brussels and when it comes to these border issues. are not the largest party in northern ireland we are we have a relationship. with that are much the government here westminster were so tight and had a candidate in the northern ireland that lies at westminster and i'm just well the at what stage the republicans aren't will have a dose of reality they want a soft border we want a soft border where you know some let's do it well that's a sign of any irish deputy prime minister has already cost down to resume his plan for you know hardboard what they hope to achieve out of this because most of their trade

we need to hear what brussels makes of her plans, but also we have the dup and sinn fein meeting with michel barnier, the chief negotiator for the eu, and also the irish border which we were talking about before, that will be a big issue for them. theresa may are supposed to be giving a statement to parliament tomorrow on brexit, and negotiations continuing later this month, because of course we have the eu summit later on, and what britain needsis eu summit later on, and what britain needs is to get to a point where it can agree in transition deal so that it can get onto the trade deals, and thatis it can get onto the trade deals, and that is what theresa may really wa nts. that is what theresa may really wants. susana, thank you. work is continuing to clear snow from roads and railways lines after days of disruption. 15 flood warnings are still in place in the south west and north east of england. andy gill is at scotch corner on the a1 in north yorkshire. andy. tell us how it's going. the a66 is a very important trans—pennine route, linking north yorkshire with penrith in cumbria

being imagined in the national conversation about borders trade and migration that's why leaders of sinn fein met for urgent talks with chief negotiator in brussels on monday and in the past twenty four hours it was the turn of the protestant party that is the electoral reason to raise them a as prime minister of britain joining me now is a member of the northern ireland affairs committee and shadow devi spokesperson on human rights and health jim shannon jim thanks for coming on and going to be here underground any concerns there's more leverage in brussels and when it comes to these border issues. are not the largest party in north we are we have a relationship. with that are much the government here westminster. and on the north it lies at westminster and i just want to know what stage the. republicans aren't well. we want a soft border. let's do it well that's a sign of any irish deputy prime minister has already cost down to resume his plan for you know hardboard what they hope to achieve out of this because most of their trade for the. for the puppy farm is with the medicaid and on

tonight, in terms of political reaction, sinn fein have said, we fully agree with this idea the backstop is the best option on the backstop is the best option on the table, that michel barnier has got this right and he is right to emphasise the backstop. the dup have said, there is nothing too much to concern us said, there is nothing too much to concern us tonight about what has been agreed because the irish border issue has not been resolved and we did not expect that at this stage. many thanks for the latest. from belfast. a 26 year—old british woman has been killed in northern syria, fighting alongside kurdish forces. it‘s understood that anna campbell — from lewes, in east sussex — died in the town of afrin, which has been the target of turkish bombing. our turkey correspondent, mark lowen, reports. from the calm of east sussex, anna campbell felt a calling to fight in syria. a 26—year—old plumber and human rights campaigner, shejoined the kurdish militia last year, dyeing her blonde hair to stand out less. she was killed reportedly in an air strike by turkey in its offe

we need to hear what brussels makes of her plans, but also we have the dup and sinn fein meeting with michel barnier, the chief negotiator for the eu, and also the irish border which we were talking about before, that will be a big issue for them. theresa may is supposed to be giving a statement to parliament tomorrow on brexit, and negotiations continuing later this month, because of course we have the eu summit later on, and what britain needs is to get to a point where it can agree a transition deal so that it can get onto the trade deals, and that is what theresa may really wants. susana mendonca. polls have opened in italy's general election, following a divisive campaign dominated by immigration. the centre—left government is facing a stiff challenge from both a right—wing coalition and the populist five star movement, which could emerge as the largest party. gavin lee reports from rome. this election is seen as a test of the populist movement against the establishment, a choice between the promise of change or the stability of the old guard. and a familiarface is back — s

we need to hear what brussels makes of her plans, but also we have the dup and sinn fein meeting with michel barnier, the chief negotiator for the eu, and obviously the irish border which we were talking about before, that will be a big issue for them. theresa may is supposed to be giving a statement to parliament tomorrow on brexit, and negotiations continuing later this month, because of course we have the eu summit later on, and what britain needs is to get to a point where it can agree a transition deal so that it can get on to the trade deals, and that is what theresa may really wants. susana mendonca. work is continuing to clear snow from roads and railways lines after days of disruption. 16 flood warnings are still in place in the south west and north east of england. 0ur news correspondent andy gill is at scotch corner on the a1 in north yorkshire. this is the a66, a vital transport links for businesses, freight and passengers, too, and it has been close for five days. it links scotch corner and penrith. this morning it finally opened, the highways agency saying its crews work

fein met for urgent talks with chief negotiator mitchell bania in brussels on monday and in the past twenty four hours it was the turn of the protestant body that is the electoral reason to raise the money as prime minister of britain joining me now is a member of the northern ireland affairs committee and shouted you be spokesman on human rights and health jim shannon jim thanks for coming on i'm going to be here underground any concerns that there's more leverage in brussels and when it comes to these border issues. are not the largest part in north of we are we have a relationship. with our much less government here westminster were so tight and had a candidate in the north at westminster and i'm just well the at what stage the republicans aren't will have a dose of reality. we want a soft border where you know some let's do it well that's a sign of any i was deputy prime minister has already cost out and resume his plan for you know hardboard what they hope to achieve out of this because most of their trade for the proportion of the kid for the puppy farm is with the united kingd

fein and the sdlp, the irish nationalist, will walk away from stormont altogether so we are seeing what is termed a glide path towards direct rule with more decisions like this budget being made by london ministers but trying to make it without declaring they have ta ken over completely. the headlines on bbc news: the police officer seriously ill in hospital after being exposed to the nerve agent when trying to help a russian spy and his daughter in salisbury has been named as detective sergeant nick bailey. tens of thousands of patients in england had their non—urgent operations — like hip and knee replacements — postponed in december and january because of a shortage of hospital beds. the uk government has set a budget for northern ireland in the absence of a power—sharing administration at stormont. sport now and a full round up from the bbc sport centre. what a result for arsenal in the europa league tonight. they've beaten ac milan 2—0 in the first leg of their last 16 tie, with arsene wenger avoiding a fifth straight defeat. milan were in great form ahead of this one, un

. >> steve, you first, we hear from the president that all is sinn fein at the white house. is that because he is approaching this with the mentality of a reality television producer? or with the biggest audience -- with the biggest audience ever saying everything is great, no chaos here, in the meantime one person after the other is leaving? >> listen, don, first of all i'll concede, it's better to have less turnover. i'll admit that. the rappedty of turn joifr is troubling. and giving ammunition to critics. but here is what's more important. most americans don't care about palace intrigue. they don't. it dominates newsroom in new york. the salens of lobbyist. what most americans care about is personal prosperity and security. that's what they care about. and the president is delivering on the secure border abbetter wages, lower taxes, judges on the court. so on every measure of what he promised he is delivering. if there are some personnel shenanigans going on so be it. that doesn't matter to regular folks who elected the president. the blue collar workers in the mid-weste

on that subject, the irish republican party sinn fein has been holding talks with the eu's chief brexit negotiator today. party president mary lou mcdonald, who you can see in the middle here, said they'd shared a meeting of minds and there could be no overall agreement on brexit unless the issue of the border was solved. meanwhile, the british prime minister has been updating parliament on the talks' progress following her speech on friday. we cannot escape the complexity of the task ahead. we must build a new and lasting relationship while preparing for every scenario. but with pragmatism, calm and patient discussion, i am confident... jeering i am confident we can set an example to the world. yes... yes, there will be ups and downs over the months ahead. but we will not... jeering we will not be buffeted by demands to talk tough or threaten a walkout. and we will not give into the of despair, into the councils of despair, that they simply cannot be done. hear, hear! for this is in both the uk and eu's interests. but the leader of the opposition jeremy corbyn was dismissive. 20 months

this is what i have underlined on the same terms in my recent meetings with the leaders of sinn fein, the democratic unionist party and the ulster unionist party and the ulster unionist party. ireland and northern ireland form a distinct strand within the framework of the negotiations of the uk's withdrawal from the eu. i repeat, within the framework. in this context, we have agreed with the uk on the detailed agenda for discussion over the coming weeks. translation: it to conclude i would like to say over the last few days we have trodden an essential part of the road towards a northern league we st the road towards a northern league west drawl which i have been working on ever since the first day of this mission. we will continue and we will continue to bear in mind that all the points that i have just mentioned are part of the same agreement and have to be agreed together, and i would like to add that legal certainty on all these points including the transition which is part of this agreement will come only with ratification on both sides of the withdrawal agreement. nothing is agr

sinn fein leaders along with democratic union parties took a courageous step no one believed was possible 20 years ago. they denounced violence. and committed themselves to peaceful power sharing and reconciliation to live in peace together. mr. speaker, let this st. pat tribbling's day and 20th anniversary of the good friday agreement stand as a shining lights of hope for a gentler america and more peaceful world. yield back. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the the gentlewoman from indiana seek recognition? mrs. brooks: yield back. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the madam spe ask unanimous consent to trem. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentlewoman is recognized for one minute. mrs. brooks: madam speaker, i rise today to shine light on the ongoing tragedy in syria. today marks seven years of civil war in syria. seven years of indiscriminate killing of women and children. seven years of intermittant hemical attacks on civilians by the assad by the assad regime. seven years of bombing, of people thrown out of their homes, of children whose yo

fein and the sdlp, the irish nationalist, will walk away from stormont altogether so we are seeing what is termed a glide path towards direct rule with more decisions like this budget being made by london ministers but trying to make it without declaring they have taken over completely. mark devenport in stormont, thank you very much indeed. let's return to our main story. the home secretary has described the nerve agent attack on two russians in salisbury as a "brazen and reckless act". amber rudd said the pair had been the targets of an "attempted murder in the most cruel and public way." this was attempted murder in the most cruel and public way. people are right to want to know who to hold to account. but if we are to be rigorous in this investigation, we must avoid speculation and allow the police to carry on their investigation. joining me from southampton is doctor paul lemley, senior lecturer in politics and international relations at the university of portsmouth. it was interesting listening to amber rudd and contrast in her words with those of borisjohnson, and contrast in her