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a cold start thursday morning, but we will gradually start seeing more cloud working its way in. the winds will be that bit lighter and temperatures will be down a notch or two on today's values. first stop — berlin with the german chancellor. this evening, she's in paris, meeting president macron, pushing to move brexit to the end ofjune. it was never what the prime minister wanted, but right now, theresa may is in the president'spalace, pleading for a brexit delay. with the final decision on a delay due at an emergency summit of all the eu leaders tomorrow, we'll be asking whether theresa may is likely to get her extension, and on what terms. also tonight: debenhams‘ lenders take control of the struggling high street chain — after rejecting rescue efforts from the founder of sports direct. divorce laws in england and wales are to be overhauled so that couples can split faster and with less bitterness. why should someone get totally landlocked in an unhappy marriage, it would be betterfor all to it would be better for all to see the default is no longer something thatis the default is no longer something that is key in the divorce process. the most prolific cyber criminal to be sentenced in the uk — the student who blackmailed online porn users. and the sikh bus drivers‘ struggle to get the turban accepted by their bosses in the midlands, 50 years ago. coming up in sportsday later in the hour on bbc news, a massive night in the champions league, the start of the quarterfinals with an all—english tie to look forward to. tottenham hosting manchester city. good evening. theresa may has spent the day visiting berlin and paris, in a last—minute attempt to get the backing of the two most influential eu leaders for a delay to brexit. her talks with the french president, emmanuel macron, started just over an hour ago. downing street said the prime minister's earlier discussion with the german chancellor, angela merkel, focused on the uk's request for an extension untiljune 30th to avoid a no—deal exit on friday. mrs may's whistle—stop tour comes ahead of the emergency eu summit in brussels tomorrow, where she'll propose her plan and the other 27 leaders will decide on what the next steps could be. with more, here's our political editor laura kuenssberg. no one could accuse the prime minister of not covering the ground. but clocking up the miles isn't the same as convincing your audience. theresa may landed in berlin first, to plead for more time. but the normal red carpet was a rather lonely today. the prime minister had to wait for a welcome, before the two lea d e rs to wait for a welcome, before the two leaders headed back outside for the usual snaps and smiles. the mission, though, not just the usual snaps and smiles. the mission, though, notjust to ask for delay, but to give the answer why. we wa nt delay, but to give the answer why. we want to understand what the uk need this extension for. there is a real effort to try to bring structure to brexit. you know, we've had extraordinary division. we still need clarity from the uk side. theresa may has arrived in berlin... theresa may has arrived in berlin... the reason for the delay this time is to give more space for talks to play out at home. those aren't government ministers on the march at whitehall. good morning. we are here to continue our discussions and we looking forward to hearing what the government has to say. we're just going to start those discussions how. going to start those discussions now. but labour's team invited for negotiations. if the prime minister can't get her deal through parliament with tory votes, they could compromise to get labour numbers, too. there's not really been any fundamental shift, a change in position in the deal itself but we hope that progress will be made. we are continuing discussions with the government over coming days. both sides engaged seriously on a number of issues and were looking for a way forward. as you would expect, there are a number of areas where we differ. but we are anxious to ensure that we can carry on with this process. but at least one cabinet minister would still rather the prime minister goes back to basics. what i think would be fantastic is if angela merkel will try to support a proper uk brexit by agreeing to reopen the withdrawal agreement. number ten's official allies in northern ireland would like that, too, but it's not happening and they seem to be moving further away. it is rather humiliating that we are having to go and to beg so that we can leave. it is nearly 3 years since the nation voted to leave the european union and we are now pleading to stay in so and we are now pleading to stay in so that we can deal with matters that should have been dealt with before now. easy in hindsight in any language. the immediate job before now. easy in hindsight in any language. the immediatejob is ha rd est language. the immediatejob is hardest in paris. the prime minister to persuade the reluctant president that pressing pause on brexit will be worthwhile. emmanuel macron has long been theresa may's toughest eu customer, so she is here tonight to ask for help. let brexit wait. he and other eu leaders are not likely to refuse her, but this political cost to delay at home and it might come with strings attached. talks just a warm up for the main event in brussels, tomorrow. but the prime minister has no doubt learnt on this political journey even minister has no doubt learnt on this politicaljourney even neighbours can be friends and allies. but also rivals. laura kuenssberg, bbc news, paris. in a moment, we'll be getting more from laura in paris but first let's speak to our europe editor katya adler, who's in brussels. is it any clearer tonight whether the prime minister will get her extension and what how long it could be? some things are clearer but bear in mind the prime minister only saw two eu leaders today and all 27 eu leaders have a veto on her request for another brexit extension. as we heard from laura, it's very unlikely any of those leaders will say no to her at the brexit summit tomorrow but they are still divided over how long an extension should be and the wording of any conditions attached. eu diplomats are trying to reach d raft eu diplomats are trying to reach draft conclusions tomorrow. this is the first draft that has come to light but a warning on that. as soon as those 27 leaders get into a room together in brussels, everything can change. what i am hearing is that eu leaders are warming towards the idea ofa leaders are warming towards the idea of a longer extension, so lasting up until the end of this year. that would mean the uk taking part in elections for the uk parliament. there are leaders like emmanuel macron of france who say that is a bad idea. so does the eu's chief brexit negotiator and his warning is that on the one hand, a longer extension takes pressure off mps to finally come to some kind of brexit conclusion and also, as soon as the uk has new members of the european parliament, the prime minister can keep asking for more brexit extensions, as long as they are in office and that is five years. all eyes on the eu but the prime minister still has all of her problems back home. she does come a long line of awkward customers, not least emanuel macron, the most keen of eu leaders to suggest in his view that britain is not going to profit at leaving the european union. even on the question of delay, more than 100 mp5 on the question of delay, more than 100 mps voted to say they didn't wa nt 100 mps voted to say they didn't want to countenance any more pauses to brexit. there is unhappiness about that. there is also deep unease in the labour party and the tory party over the idea of the two main political groups being able to come together around some kind of compromise at some point in the future. of course, there are plenty of voters looking at this and thinking why is this taking so long and why is this such a mess? and, of course, businesses around the country, who are frustrated, furious, worried about the future with so much uncertainty still hanging in the air. but in the end, the prime minister's calculation has been that it's better to go through the pain of asking for a delay than go through what she worries about, the pain of leaving without a deal. of course, there is controversy about exactly how that would unfold, but theresa may believes that that is potentially a much, much more dangerous situation than pursuing this agonising political path. it might not win her any friends, but in the end, she hopes it will avoid disaster. laura kuenssberg in paris and cathy adler in brussels, thank you very much. lenders have taken control of the high street chain debenhams — after the company rejected a rescue attempt by mike ashley's sports direct. debenhams' 166 stores are continuing to trade as normal for now, although 50 branches had already been earmarked for closure. the chain issued three profit warnings last year. here's our business correspondent, emma simpson. it's got more department stores than anyone else, 166 across the uk. it has more than 25,000 workers and last year, debenhams racked up nearly £3 billion of sales. so, what's gone wrong? this is a story ofa what's gone wrong? this is a story of a business with too high a rent bill, too few customers and way too much debt, which debenhams couldn't afford to repay. and today, its lenders have taken control. in cardiff, today, it's business as usual, stores and shoppers aren't affected, but this transaction will ultimately lead to 50 closures, the first tranche expected after christmas. the company says it's the only way to save the business. sorry about me. but shareholders have been wiped out. including mike ashley, the boss of sports direct, to the tune of £150 million. he had a 30% sta ke tune of £150 million. he had a 30% stake and has been in an acrimonious battle to take over debenhams. his offers were rejected and his right—hand man told me they want the decision reversed. we think it's a disgrace that it's come to this. there was no need to come to this. we had a privately good and achievable solvent solution. debenhams management, debenhams' advisers, debt holders and advisers we re advisers, debt holders and advisers were not interested in engaging with us were not interested in engaging with us whatsoever. isn't mike ashley just a bad loser? i would call him a very good retailer, which is a lot more than you can say for the board of debenhams. debenhams state his proposals had too many strings attached and didn't address its fundamental problems. which run deep. a lot of the seeds of debenhams' problems were sown during its private equity ownership about 15 years ago. they stripped out loads of cash, replaced it with debt, and that diverted funds that might otherwise have been used to invest in the business. debenhams is in the hands of its banks and us hedge funds now. an undignified outcome for this household name. they are already looking for a new buyer, one willing to take on its debts. emma simpson, bbc news. a doctor convicted over the death of a six—year—old boy can return to work, a medical tribunal has ruled. in 2015, dr hadiza bawa—garba was found guilty of gross negligence manslaughter over the death of jack adcock. she was struck off last year, but appealed against the decision. an inquiry has heard that a police helicopter, which crashed into a pub in glasgow in 2013, killing ten people, had given five indications that it was low on fuel. the fatal accident inquiry was told that the pilot, david traill, who was among those who died, had told air traffic control he was returning to glasgow city heliport. 31 other people were injured when the aircraft came down into the clutha pub. divorce laws in england and wales are to be radically overhauled, in the biggest change for 50 years. it will allow couples to separate more easily, without proving that one of them is at fault. it's a system that scotland has had for some years. northern ireland has no plans to change its law. thejustice minister, david gauke, said it would help to end what he called "the blame game". here's our legal correspondent, clive coleman. when the fizz and sparkle have gone from a marriage and it has irretrievably broken down, divorcing couples are forced to blame each other on the grounds of adultery, desertion, or behaviour which is intolerable to live with. 0r prove they have been separated for a minimum of two years, or five if one spouse doesn't agree. christmas eve, 2014, was my decree nisi. jenny divorced several years ago, but blame and fault meant the entire family suffered. it caused complete communication breakdown and hostility. 0bviously, mostly from me, i became very hostile towards him, which i hadn't been and it caused shouting matches and problems that my children were then witness to. for decades, campaigners have been pressing the government to change the law because they argue that when you are getting divorced, you're being torn apart emotionally and financially, trying to sort out living arrangements for your children, and so to throw fault and blame into the mix at that point is to make a bad situation a whole lot worse. the government listened and now new legislation will remove fault and introduce a requirement to provide a statement of irretrievable breakdown, create an option for a joint application, and remove the ability of one spouse to block a divorce. when there are children involved, the need to strip out as much acrimony as possible is really essential. and there is a better way of having a civilised relationship in order to co—parent your children than actually dredging through the history of a marriage and apportioning fault. the government's reforms have angered some, who fear a more those are children like rachel, who wishes her parents had to blame each other when they were divorced. these things are never ideal but being a child under ten, things are never ideal but being a child underten, i things are never ideal but being a child under ten, i was seven, i couldn't quite understand it and i think the blame aspect meant that certainly the reaction by both my parents and my family was more heightened than it would have been if that element wasn't there. the government's reforms have angered some, who fear a more on—demand system will see divorce rates rise, but ministers are determined to help those caught in a blame game. clive coleman, bbc news. the time is 6:15pm. our top story this evening. theresa may has been visiting berlin and paris as she tries to persuade the eu's most powerful leaders to back a brexit delay. coming up, tottenham's new stadium gets its european debut as spurs take on manchester city in the quarterfinals of the champions league. coming up on sportsday in the next 15 minutes on bbc news. we'll have the latest from augusta national ahead of the first golf major of the year, the masters. england's justin rose goes onto the tournament as world number one. as we were reporting earlier, the prime minister has been pushing hard for a further delay to brexit. but as things stand, the uk is still set to leave the eu at 11pm this friday. plans for a no—deal brexit are being drawn up on everything from food to cross—border trade and transport. today, the chancellor, philip hammond, expressed concern that too many companies "have adopted the approach of the ostrich in the sand". our special correspondent lucy manning has been to see what plans are being made for a no—deal brexit. it could be three days to go. still no—one knows. if it is no deal and if it is, what the consequences will be. the uncertainty unsettling. 0n the roads, at the ports, in the factories. 0n the wirral, bags and bags of starch, so the british love affair with crisps won't be disrupted if there is no deal. we've had customers in the uk who are stockpiling just in case the raw materials are impacted. and we've seen a 30% increase. with politicians still negotiating extensions to leave, the fear of no deal remains. nobody is prepared, because we can't prepare for something you don't know what you're preparing for. so it's going into the unknown, of chaos and cost. in kent, with fears that the lorries could back up at the ports, they've been testing out emergency plans for the roads, but truckers fear their deliveries might not be on time. brexiteers laugh about this scaremongering about food on the shelves, but if we load, abroad, vegetables on day one for day two delivery and we spend the day crossing the channel, the food is going to be later, isn't it? i'm not saying it will be a problem, long—term, but certainly short—term. a few days before the april the 12th brexit deadline, if there is still no deal, dover will be the brexit pressure point. what happens here will have an impact across whole country. police and local officials in kent think they are as prepared as circumstances allow, but delays at the ports could have knock—on effects for the area. if this goes on for weeks and weeks, it is an issue to us, particularly the transport disruption. our major concern is the difficulty of getting children into school, the difficulty of getting staff into school. and no deal planning has not been cheap. it's £13 million that we hope is completely wasted, because we hope that this turns out to be unnecessary. we are prepared and we will be ready if we have a no deal on friday. across the country, resilience forums will tackle any disruption. it would be really nice to have some clear direction as soon as possible. and if not? i've just been in the mindset for so long that we need to plan for a day—0ne no deal that i will keep doing it until somebody says stop doing that now. a brexit extension might move no deal, but won't make it disappear. lucy manning, bbc news. a student who made hundreds of thousands of pounds blackmailing users of pornography websites has been jailed for more than six years. zain qaiser from east london used his computer programming skills to trick people into paying a fine, or face the threat of being exposed as a user of internet porn. he's been described as the uk's most prolific cyber criminal to be jailed. 0ur correspondent dominic casciani reports. cashing out in a london casino, this is zain qaiser, one of the uk's most prolific and wealthy cyber criminals. the university dropout hit upon what he thought was the perfect online crime that nobody would report as he reaped the rewards. qaiser placed fake adverts on popular porn websites, and as thousands of users clicked, machines locked up with fake prosecution warnings. people thought they were under investigation from british police, the fbi and others. users could pay a small fine to get their computer back, and thousands did so, in the fear that their habit would be exposed. national crime agency says he hit millions of computer users with the help ofa russian gang. i would regard him as the most significant cybercrime offender that the national crime agency has investigated. why is that? the sheer volume and complexity of the actions he has undertaken. the number of people he is connected with worldwide. the complexity of the malware he deployed and the success of his operation. judge timothy lamb qc said there was no equivalent case anywhere in the uk. qaiser had styled himself, "the king of the internet" and caused untold damage around the world. he has shown no remorse and dragged out his prosecution at great public expense. qaiser is seen here in a london internet cafe and was caught after one of the companies he exploited raised an alarm. key to his conviction were these meticulous monthly logs of his profits, discovered by detectives. today, £700,000 had been traced out of an estimated £4 million, and if he does not disclose where the rest went, he faces even longer in jail. dominic casciani, bbc news. israelis are voting in a general election in which the prime minister benjamin netanyahu is seeking a fifth term in office. in a hard—fought campaign, mr netanyahu and his likud party have faced a major challenge from a newly—formed centrist alliance, led by a former army chief, benny gantz. polls suggest the outcome will be close. chelsea midfielder danny drinkwater has been charged with drink—driving after a car crash in cheshire in the early hours of monday morning. the 29—year—old, who has three england caps, was arrested after the incident which police say involved one vehicle. three people were treated at the scene for minor injuries. it's 50 years since the end of a ban on sikh bus drivers in wolverhampton wearing their turbans at work. the lifting of that ban followed a lengthy dispute between the sikh community and the city's transport officials, after a driver was told to remove his turban in 1967. 0ur midlands correspondent sima kotecha has been talking to the man who triggered that protest. it was 1967, and tarsem singh sandhu worked as a bus driver, but his career behind the wheel was short lived, when he was suspended for wearing a turban in wolverhampton. the inspector told me that you cannot wear a turban and you have to take it off if you are going to work. isaid, no, iam not taking my turban off. his story caught on. from across the uk, the community headed for the city. theiraim, to make their voice heard. it was very hurtful. two things, one a person insulting your religion, second thing, i come to england to work and when somebody takes yourjob off, you can see how bad it is for you. sikhs believe their hair is holy and some prefer not to cut it, but to cover it. if you see, it is stitched in the middle, so the length goes 3.75 metres. this man makes turbans for a living. over five or six years, youngsters have more gone into the turbans. the awareness comes due to the actors in even the bollywood, hollywood movies, you can see the stars and heroes with the turbans. they are in the main leading roles. they encourage kids to try a turban. but he argues in pockets of the country, it still causes discomfort. he now wants more religious education. teach a little bit about every religion to kids. and then they know what to do, what they are expecting, so they are not scared of it. he would like to lift the ban on the turban. two years after tarsem singh sandhu lost his job, drivers were allowed to wear a turban at work. the episode paved the way for greater acceptance of religious expression. sima kotecha, bbc news. three of the four british clubs through to the quarter finals of the champions league are in action tonight. liverpool take on fc porto while tottenham are up against manchester city. our sports correspondent natalie pirks is at the tottenham hotspur stadium now. spurs have a task few would envy tonight, taking on premier league champions and the champions league top goal—scorers. city chasing an unprecedented quadruple and they have already won one trophy and won their last ten games. tottenham have conceded the most goals of any side left in the champions league but they have been growing in confidence after a rocky start to the campaign and this stadium could make all the difference tonight. elsewhere, manchester city's premier league title rivals liverpool will play porto at anfield in a match most expect them to win. they hammered porto in the last 16 last season but it must be said that porto are much improved this season. four of the eight quarters finalists this time oui’ eight quarters finalists this time our premier league sides, the first time it has happened in a decade. backin time it has happened in a decade. back in 2009, three of the four sides went on to reach the semifinals but ultimately it was barcelona who won and it is the spanish giants who manchester united face tomorrow at old trafford in a mouthwatering tie. they have had the least shots of any sides left in the competition and barcelona have had the most. not a surprise when you look at the likes of lionel messi and luis suarez. the manager was asked today how you deal with the argentinian and he said, what kind of plan can you have to stop one of the best players in the world? he has 2a hours to figure that one out. thank you, natalie. time for a look at the weather. here's mel coles. it might have looked like spring in this part of lincolnshire this afternoon but there was a fresh appeal to the weather and i think we will all notice the temperature is taking a tumble heading through the next few days. high pressure in charge but around that we are drawing in cooler air as we head towards the weekend. we have had a cloudy zone down towards south wales and into south—east england which has been producing outbreaks of rain as well, heavy at times, but away from that we have had sunshine so heading into tonight under the clearing skies it will get chilly and we still have a nagging breeze for east anglia, lincolnshire and yorkshire and the further north we go through northern england and scotland, it is here that we see temperatures fall closer to freezing so we could have a touch of frost first thing tomorrow. down in the south—west of england, temperatures holding up underneath the cloud. a change as we head through wednesday because high pressure continues to exert its influence over the uk and it will gradually squeeze the weather front out of the way but a bit of a drizzly start with cloud for places like falmouth, the channel islands, the isles of scilly but an improving story. elsewhere, good spells of sunshine again but we have a keen north—easterly breeze which will make north sea coasts feel fresh, particularly as temperatures struggling to double digits. the best of the temperatures out to the west, but even here down on today's values. not only cold by day, but a chilly night to come with more places are seeing the tempera
