to help. some people with shingles will have long term nerve pain which can last for a few months to a few years. don't wait until you or someone you love develops shingles. talk to your doctor or pharmacist about your risk. hello and welcome to "gmt" on bbc world news. i'm stephen sackur. our top stories. islamic state militants wage war on 3,000 years of history, looting and destroying the ancient iraqi city of nimrud one of the world's great archaeological treasures. the jewel of the ancient assyrian empire has been bulldozed to bits. iraq's government calls it cultural barbarism. mayday from a movie star as harrison ford's plane loses power. >> 178, engine failure. immediate return. >> reporter: the indian jones

star pulls off his own great escape as he crash lands on a golf course and emerges with bumps and bruises. a nasa spacecraft prepares for an up close look at ceres, a dwarf planet between mars and jupiter which might tell us more about our solar system. and jamie's here with all the business including some important numbers coming out of the united states. >> yes, stephen. they are going to be getting the employment numbers. they're seen as crucial indicators of the health of the u.s. economy. 12 months in a row, now, the country has been adding over 200,000 jobs every month, but the problem is when are interest rates going to have to go up? a very warm welcome to "gmt." it's 7:00 a.m. in washington, 12:00 noon in london, and 3:00 p.m. in baghdad, where government officials have accused islamic state militants of cultural barbarism after they used bulldozers to destroy the

ancient assyrian city of nimrud in northern iraq. one of the world's most important archaeological sites has, it seems, been reduced to rubble, as i.s. continues its campaign to erase millennium of history. nimrud lies just a short distance from mosul in northern iraq which is still firmly in militant hands. but further south, another of their strongholds, tikrit is now under concerted attack from government forces and shia militia fighters. our world affairs correspondent, mike wooldridge, has all the latest developments. >> reporter: the five-day-old offensive to take saddam hussein's hometown from islamic state is intense. there are now said to be around 30,000 iraqi soldiers and allied fighters involved.

but the recapture of tikrit if it happens is not expected to be quick, as the islamic state have had more than eight months to dig into their positions in the city. and they've apparently set fire to oil wells in an attempt to slow down the government advance. the u.n. is worried about the thousands of civilians now fleeing the battle. >> when families run from fighting and they seek safe haven, our first priority is to help stabilize them. and then in coming days and coming weeks, we talk to them about their stories and about what's happening to them. and this is when i think, we'll have much more of a sense of what's going on in tikrit what's going on in nimrud what's going on in these places where the fighting is occurring. >> reporter: nimrud founded in the 13th century bc is an ancient assyrian city. the treasure discovered here is regarded as one of the greatest archaeological finds of the 20th century. most of the artifacts, long ago moved to museums, but the site itself, still regarded as a jewel of iraq's rich archaeological heritage. iraqi officials say i.s.

militants have begun bulldozing nimrud. the extent of the damage has not yet been confirmed. it comes a week after the jihadist militants released this propaganda video showing themselves smashing artifact artifacts at a museum in mosul. in their extreme interpretation of islam, the militants regard such artifacts as idolist. how far there is now a battle in iraq for its soul as well as for its territory. mike wooldridge bbc news. now, to talk a little bit more about what is happening in nimrud and its significance i'm joined by a leading iraqi archaeologist and an associate fellow at the london-based institute of archaeology. give me a sense of how important a site nimrud is.

what does it mean? >> well nimrud was a capital, one of the capitals of the empire assyrian which ruled the world. >> the assyrians, at the time dominated what we now call the middle east. >> well not the middle east but the known world then. the rest were nothing. >> and we're talking about a period, what -- >> 9th century. >> more than 3,000 years ago. >> yep. >> and what if we had been able to go there just before the i.s. militants moved in what would we have seen in today's nimrud? >> quite a lot. it's a big site. it being, you know, the capital of an empire and the most important is the palace. the palace which is 9th century bc around them. it's huge. it really is huge. and it was absolutely full of assyrian relieves. some of it is in the british

museum, because it was discovered in the middle of the 19th century. >> we're talking about not just the most precious history of iraq but the history of the world. and i just wonder what your personal feelings are, as an iraqi archaeologist, when you consider these reports that bulldozers have moved in. >> i can't explain it. you know i mean it's one of the most tragic things. i never thought that would happen. maybe the looting of the museum before in mosul, because we got used to looting museums. but to go and really hack the reliefs in nimrud i never thought about it. >> you clearly are feeling very upset, personally. >> absolutely. >> tell me something, you know it's hard in a way to know how to respond to this because the humanitarian suffering in iraq right now is so profound. so many thousands killed, so

many hundreds of thousands lost their homes. as an archaeologist, how do you, then put into context the destruction of something so immensely important in historical terms? >> well it's terrible. i mean i don't want to talk about the lives that have gone because it's not acceptable again. but this is history that goes away. and if you destroy it you destroy your own history. >> do you think, ever that it could be justifiable to see the destruction of one of the world's important archaeological sites like this one, as grounds for some sort of military intervention? >> oh, i hope so. i really do you know? we have to save what is left. i mean now the museum with the best artifacts has gone next the second one, they tried to destroy some of it.

and now nimrud. what is left in the north of iraq? and before that all the islamic sites. mosul is the best place in iraq for islamic sites. >> that question of yours, what will be left is an important one. but we have to end there. dr. ghailani, thank you so much for joining me on "gmt." thank you. now, in other fuse the military chief of syria's al nusra front has been killed. and that is according to the militant group itself. it said on social media that abu al shammy and three other liters died in an air strike. the state-run agency says the army targeted the al nusra leaders as they met in northern israel province. a palestinian has rammed his car into a group of pedestrians in jerusalem, injuring four police wem and another passerby. it happened close to the site of

similar attacks last year on the seam between east and west jerusalem. police say the driver tried to stab people before he was shot and wounded by officers. kremlin critic alexei navalny has been released from prison after serving a 15-day sentence for handing out leaflets to promote a protest rally. the russian opposition leader vowed not to step back as he left jail a week after the killing of another opposition figure, boris nemtsov. the american actor, harrison ford is well used to cheating death on screen as anyone who is familiar with the "indian jones" movies will know but now he's done it for real. he was piloting a vintage plane in california when the engine failed. the hollywood star crash-landed on to a golf course and happily emerged with bumps and bruises, but nothing more. alastair lepe has this report. >> reporter: first it looked bad. harrison ford being helped by paramedics after being lifted

out of the small, vintage plane. but it had been the perfect emergency landing. icallying clipping a few treetops before coming to a standstill on the eighth hole. >> he's going to land on the golf course. >> patient was in moderate condition, alert, conscious, and breathing, and was transported to a local hospital. >> reporter: air accident investigators have already arrived on the scene, and will be trying to establish what went wrong. he'd just taken off from the nearby santa monica airport when he started to have trouble with the 80-year-old plane's single engine. he calmly told air traffic control he was in trouble and wanted to circle back around. >> 178, engine failure. immediate return. >> ryan 178, run a 21 clear to land. >> i have to go to 3. >> okay ryan 178 running 3, clear to land. >> the person inside the plane,

and then i saw they put him on the ground so when i see they're moving that was good. he's alive. >> his son, ben ford tweeted an update. at the hospital he said. dad is okay. battered, but okay. he is every bit the man you would think he is. he is an incredibly strong man. harrison ford has been flying for years and has already had a few scrapes along the way. well, what a dramatic landing. just meters away from houses and from trees. hans solo and indian jones would be proud of a landing like this and we can say that now that we know that harrison ford is okay. the question is at 72 is he now doing his own stunts? and how is he going to top this in the new "star wars" film? stay with us on bbc world news because still to come -- >> it's a pretty impressive

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hey, a bipartisan group of members of congress have written to president obama urging him to supply the ukrainian military with weapons. they argue that the cease-fire in eastern ukraine has only consolidated russian and rebel gains. thousands of people have been forced from their homes during the fighting. the bbc's tom burridge has been to a factory in donetsk, where rebels say they're repairing tanks that they've seized from the ukrainian military. >> reporter: inside this factory in donetsk, the main city here in eastern rebel-controlled ukraine, is a pretty impressive selection of military hardware

and tanks. now, the rebels say that they see all of these vehicles over the past few weeks and months from the ukrainian army. and what they say they're doing is essentially stripping down some of the parts and using them on others. you can see this tank has been opened up in the back here where the engine is and simply doing some kind of work here. and the best example, possibly is this tank over here, which has been completely stripped down. and you can see the huge gun at the front. these are soviet-era vehicles dating back possibly to the '70s and '80s. the rebels say they're getting no new parts from russia. and they claim they have no idea what will happen to these vehicles after they're repaired. but clearly they brought them here for a reason. that reason is probably to send a message to the ukrainian army that if there is an escalation

in the fighting again here in eastern ukraine, than this is the military hardware they have to fight with. so this is an armored personnel carrier. again, you can see parts of it are being stripped away. and up the front is the gun and then next to that vehicle, is this one. a self-propelled artillery. this can fire shells at targets around 25 kilometers away. and this is being characterized by the use of heavy artillery by both sides. in fact areas not far from here in donetsk have been completely flattened. and it's heavy artillery that's caused most of the deaths. more than 6,000 people have now died in this conflict. >> there you go. tom burridge there in a makeshift workshop for military hardware in the rebel-held territory in eastern ukraine. let's stay with the story, because we can bring you the latest on the ukrainian female

pilot who has been on hunger strike in a russian prison for 83 days. nadya savchenco has agreed to suspend her protest, partially, and eat some chicken broth. she is charged with a conspiracy to kill two supporters. she denies the charges and insists she is held in russia illegally. sarah rainsford has this report from moscow. >> reporter: nadia calls glory to ukraine as she's led into court. still defiant after months behind bars. kiev calls this woman a prisoner of war. russia has charged her as an accessory to murder. she had been on hunger strike since december, a protest that caused visible concern. she called it off due to concerns about her health. i asked her if she has hopes

she'll be freed. hopes are the last thing to die she told me. >> translator: i want to return home and do my duty to start working at last in ukraine, and for ukraine. and not waste my time in russian prison. >> reporter: this is the deadly mar mortar strike she's accused of coordinating in ukraine's war against pro-russian rebels. the russian cameraman filmed the attack as he took cover. his correspondents and sound pan were killed just meters away. this is the team's last report that day. nadia is accused of giving their location to ukraine's military. in russia the journalists' families were awarded state honors on their behalf the order of courage. dasha just tells us her dad was brave for going there, and very kind, she says. but this case has become highly

politicized. there are increasingly international calls now from the kremlin to release nadia. there's outrage that after her capture in ukraine, she says she was smuggled here across the border in a blindfold. but supporterers argue the only solution to her case now would be for president putin to intervene directly. but so far, there's been no sign of that. her defense team warned she wouldn't survive until a trial. she had moved herself here from prison hospital. and yet the lawyers say mobile phone records from ukraine clearly prove her innocence. >> we can see that nadia has absolutely albieibi. >> reporter: president putin has said this woman's fate will be decided by the courts. but at home in ukraine, nadia has become a powerful symbol of resistance to russia as she

vows to go on fighting for her freedom. sarah rainsford, bbc news, moscow. now, any moment now, a nasa spacecraft is about to go into orbit around the mysterious so-called dwarf planet called ceres, which sits between mars and jupiter. the dawn mission is in its eight year and will give us an up close look at mars' bright spots, and may give us new information into the formation of our solar system. joining me to talk about is our science correspondent and rsht space expert jonathan amos. jonathan, do we really care about ceres very much? how excited are you? >> when they first discovered it in 1801, they thought it was a planet. and you look at it and it's round. the reason it's round, it's 950 kilometers across so the gravity of the body has pulled it into a spherical shape. you look at it now, and it does look like a planet. >> but it ain't a planet?

>> it ain't a planet. >> so what is it? >> this is an argument. they've decided now there are eight planets in the solar system. if you remember there used to be nine. pluto was the ninth planet. and then they said well you know, there's some things about pluto that aren't just right as well, so they downgraded it demoted it and put it this in new category called dwarf planet. and there probably hundreds of these things out there. and this ceres, which is in that category is the first to be visited by a spacecraft. so that is why it's special. >> so the dawn mission has been eight years in the making. it's going to go round and round and round and round and take lots of photographs. what i want to know are these shiny bright spots. nobody seems to be able to tell me what they really are. >> this has been the assignment on approach. as the dawn spacecraft has got nearer, it's been able to take pictures that surpass anything the hubble space telescope has taken. the space telescope got a hint of something that was bright in the northern hemisphere but as we've gt closer we can see

distinctly now two bright spots on the surface. what are they? fascinating. >> come on don't just pose a question. you're the space expert. >> so the speculation is we think ceres is essentially a rocky core surrounded by ice and over the top, it has a deposit of other rock. we think it's been impacted by something, it's gouged down exposed ices. on an airless body ice is not stable, it vaporized, and that i have left salt highly reflective material. and it's so reflective it's burnt out the sensors on the camera of dawn. they've corrected the lighting for the rest of the body and in doing that it's completely burnt out this reflective material. which tells you it's very very bright, indeed. >> it's fascinating, all of that, but are we going to learn much more in terms of the solar system and what it tells us about the formation of it? >> listen when the planets got going, they started very very small and they amalgamated into larger and larger bodies. this object ceres is probably

one of the protoplanets. it's an object that never quite got into the big-time. it stalled. >> we're almost out of time. when are we going to get the first pictures back from this orbit? >> we've gone in behind the back that's the dark side. we've got to come back around the front, in a few weeks' time. late april, i'll come back and tell you all about it. >> you darn well with. it's an invitation. thank you, jonathan very much, indeed. now, it is called the ladies coach. the carriage on the delhi merit that has traditionally been reserved for women only. ahead of this weekend's international women's day and amid a controversy about sexual violence in india, our reporter bought a ticket to listen to the gossip of the city's modern day female commuters. >> i take the delhi metro every day on my way to work. and i don't have to think about

what coach i'm going to get into. the first coach is reserved for ladies only. and it's always my first choice. it's actually a women's only club that sometimes doubles up as a powder room. ladies inside the coach have a great level of ease, and they talk like no one is listening. and i can't help but overhear their conversations. ladies here talk about everything from their boyfriends to their in-laws to their studies to their careers. >> the girl is nice. she wears jeans. she's not too modern. >> my professor lost her cat. she was so upset, she canceled the class yesterday. >> my dad hides money from us in different places around the house. i recently found a bundle of cash under his mattress. i paid off all our debts with it. and when he asked us about money, we just acted like we didn't know. >> happy new year! may the burdens on your family shift to your neighbor's house. >> i've lost my cool with that woman. i set up my whole presentation

on her laptop. the next day, she says she's lost it. go to hell. i'm not going to make that presentation again. >> for me, it's like a little window into the life of these women. in the last few years, i've seen more and more young and working women on board. they feel much more empowered now, it seems, and they're not scared of speaking their minds anymore, not at least on the ladies coach. now, before we close, we're going to bring you an unusual story from germany. a chance to see, perhaps, the world's most modest pop singer in action. because look at this this was the scene as german tv viewers voted for the winner of the competition to represent their country at the annual euro vision song contest. the victorious performer was andreas with his song "heart of gold." so far, so ordinary, but then things went a bit offscript. instead of celebrating, he told the presenter that he wasn't really in the right shape to accept so he said the second place performer should take his

place. she accepted, so germany's official 2015 euro vision entry is going to be a song called "black smoke." so there you go. that's almost it from us for now, but stays was here on bbc world news.

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hello and welcome to "gmt" on bbc world news. i'm stephen sackur. in this half hour the search goes on. one year after malaysian airlines flight 370 went missing. we have a special report from the remote stretch of indian ocean thought to hold the key to the mystery, as australia's prime minister says the search cannot go on forever. for the relatives of the passengers, the pain of not knowing remains as sharp as ever, and there is no end in sight.

>> and news about the missing plane, we can think about it him. we can't forget him. 50 shades of awkward. a schoolboy dresses up as christian grey the fictional sex fiend for world book day and he ends up in a whole heap of trouble. and jamie's here and he's got a look at what's happening in the business world, including a question of quotas in germany. >> yes, germany's parliament on friday passed a law which forces the country's biggest countries to have 30% of their supervisory boards made up of women. i'll be talking to one who thinks it will do more harm than good. a very warm welcome back to "gmt." it was a year ago this weekend that the malaysian airliner, mh-370 disappeared soon after

takeoff from kuala lumpur en route to beijing. despite finding no sign of the aircraft and little indication of its fate malaysia's government officially declared the disappearance an accident. for months now, underwater robots equipped with sonar has been scanning the indian ocean seabed for any sign of mh-370. they're also using sensors, which can detect any tiny amounts of jet fuel. they're being towed by ships on steel cables up to 10 kilometers long allowing them to sink deep into the ocean, hovering about 100 meters above the sea floor. but moving at walking speed and operating at depths of up to 5,000 meters the size of this task is monumental. so far, the underwater search has covered 24,000 square kilometers, just over 40% of the priority search area. they hope that the search might be finished by the end of may. to give you an idea of the size here's how it compares to the size of britain. now, in a moment we'll have a

report from our correspondent, john donnison who's been with the men conducting the search but first, imagine the agony for the families of the missing passengers. the government believes all 239 people onboard mh-370 were killed but many relatives aren't willing to accept this. the bbc's jennifer pac has been speaking to some of the relatives. >> reporter: his son's picture used to hang on this wall. now, only the nail is left. his father took down the photo after flight mh-370 disappeared. he says his son was on the plane to beijing for a work trip. he tells me it's painful to be reminded of his son. >> translator: it's been very difficult. when i am on my motor bike, i will look up and wonder where he is. then we go home and watch news

about the missing plane and we think about him. we can't forget him. it's hard for us to move on. >> reporter: he says his son is a good and caring son. he still talks as if his son, seen here with his wife, were alive. that won't change until there is evidence to prove otherwise. other families are also struggling. grace says her mother was on board mh-370 to see her father in beijing. she says her mother is warm, patient, and devoted to the family. >> she's barely 5 feet high, but she had a huge personality. >> reporter: like many families, she tells me she's frustrated with the way malaysian officials have been handling the plane's disappearance. >> so, for example, the investigation, they say it hasn't closed, but they don't give us any information. >> reporter: grace may seem composed, but she tells me she's very depressed.

>> for me, it's about just waking up and getting through the day. and i think i've sort of pushed a lot of people out of my life, pushed a lot of things out of my life. i mostly want to be alone or left alone. i don't find any joy in any social outing anymore. >> reporter: he also has to make changes. he no longer has a son to support him in and his wife, so he has to go back to work as a part-time security guard. he prays every day to the hindu god for his son to return home safely. jennifer pac, bbc news, malaysia. >> so so much pain for the families of those passengers. the fate of mh-370 remains one of the world's great aviation mysteries. the underwater search continues, of course, and it's focused on a remote area of the southern indian ocean. and from there, john donnison sent us this special report.

>> reporter: this is the international team leading the arguably most difficult search operation in history. it's the last time the crew will see land for seven waex. and where they're heading is about as bleak and remote as you can get. this is one of four ships that has been hunting for mh-370 for almost a year. just to arrive at the search area, it takes six days. they're focusing on a priority zone of 60,000 square kilometers. but the underwater search equipment can only operate at walking pace. so imagine walking around an area 40 times the size of london and then imagine doing that in waters up to 5 kilometers deep. >> it's a very small target in a very large area. although a plane looks large when you see it on the ground, when you look at the size of the area we're covering, it is quite

small. >> reporter: the team are using what's known as a tow fish. it's dropped into the water on a cable up to 10 kilometers long. it uses sound waves or sonar to scan the ocean floor. if the tow fish detects anything of interest, they can send down this $10 million automated submarine, which is equipped with a camera and sensors that can pick up traces of oil or fuel in the water. the crew are left with huge quantities of data to analyze. and all the while, trying to stay safe. during this search, the crew have faced some truly horrendous conditions, including two cyclones. at one point, they tell me, the waves were so high, they were crashing over the top deck. it has been an incredibly long and difficult job. they genuinely believe that if

the plane is down there, they will eventually find it. but what they don't know is whether they're looking in the right place. and for the crew, there's no point in being negative. >> they concluded that this is the best place to search for it, so that's what we're out here for, is to see. and you have to believe you're going to find something, you know? will we find it? i hope so. i don't know. >> reporter: as the team prepare to head out into the wilderness again, nobody, at least publicly, is talking about giving up. but after a year of looking is and millions of dollars spent, the world's greatest ever aviation mystery remains unsolved is. john donnison, bbc news, in perth. now, jamie is joining me with all the global business. and jamie, it's the first friday in the month, so i know you're going to kick off with u.s. jobs -- >> you know what i'm going to say, it has to do with employment figures in the united

states. we're shortly expecting more evidence that the world's biggest economy is recovering really pretty strongly. official employment figures for february expected in the next hour and they're going to show another bump among the report for job creation and a further fall in unemployment, as well. these are the clues that the u.s. federal reserve has got to inspect, as it decides when it's going to start raising interest rates. let's have a look at the actual numbers or what we think the numbers are going to be. u.s. firms are expected to have created about 240,000 new jobs last month. that would mean the u.s. labor market has had its best year in two decades. it would also be enough to bring the jobless rate down to 5.6%. the figures don't always tally together, but that's roughly where it's expected to be. and that's really close to normal levels for a healthy economy, as one would expect. the other thing that the fed, the central bank and the global financial markets are all going to be looking for is wage growth. january saw a big jump in average hourly wages, and again,

that could be more evidence that america is beginning to see a bit of inflation coming in and that's going to mean higher interest rates soon rather than later. here's michelle ferick from new york. >> reporter: for some waitresses and bartenders a raise is on the menu. in new york, the minimum wage for those who rely on tips to boost their salaries is going up at the end of the year. and here at culla's restaurant, staff have already seen an increase. >> with the holidays and everything, we thought, we're making money, and we can afford to bump them up a little bit. and even when it slowed down with this horrible weather, it didn't affect -- you adjust your budget. >> reporter: and what's true here is true for a growing number of americans. more and more workers are quitting their jobs for better ones. since the labor market has improved i that no longer feel they have to settle for the first job they can get. and that's forcing some

companies to think about increasing compensation. including the u.s.' largest private employer. a few weeks ago, walmart announced it was raising wages for half a million workers. >> one of the most immediate changes is that we'll raise our starting pay. for our current associates we'll start by raising our entry wage to at least $9 an hour in april. and by february of next year all current associates will earn at least $10 an hour. if these wage gains continue this economist tells me it could not only lift america's living standards, but also help the economy. >> it's a great thing. obviously, rising living standards for the average family depend on rising real wages and rising real wages are the touchstone for profitable companies. at some point in time companies need a healthy consumer base to make money. over time they can only squeeze their cost base so far, so they go hand in hand. rising real wages are good for the economy, good for stocks

and good for the world. >> reporter: from restaurants like this to retailers, wages are starting to pick up. economists now are waiting for signs that pay is beginning to grow more broadly. michelle flory bbsc news new york. >> a short while ago, the german parliament voted through legislation that's going to force businesses there to appoint more women to board room positions. this will initially affect 100 of the country's largest companies from 2016. they'll have to ensure that women make up at least 30% of their supervisory boards. now, rachael short joins me from the 30% club steering committee. the 30% club was launched in the united kingdom in 2010 and had a goal of 30% women on boards by the end of 2013 but not using quotas. why not using quotas? >> hi jamie. for a number of reasons,

actually, and i should say my professional background is a business psychologist. so i will give you the psychological reason as well as the business reason. so if you only use quotas what you're actually doing is, you are forceing people to comply with something they have no choice about. what that does is, you tend to end up with people with a box ticking mind-set. they're appointing the right number of women, so they can tick the box. it doesn't actually drive sustainable change. what you end up is people do comply, you get 40% of them in just thereabouts on board, but you find an even bigger gap them in terms of the executive release, because they have been sucked into these supervisory roles. by the way this german legislation does apply to supervisory roles. it is not applying to the management boards, ie the executive positions, where you make the day-to-day decisions about these strategic operations. >> you're swimming against the tide, really, aren't you? are more and more countries doing this?

france has done it norway has done it. germany has now done it. a lot of people are changing their minds. and two particularly influential women have now come around to the idea of quotas. one, angela merkel and two, christine lagarde of the imf. that's a quite impressive argument, isn't it? >> i absolutely can understand why women will feel that enough is enough. it's time to make a real change. what quotas do is they bring about change very quickly. what they don't do is create that sustainable pipeline of executive female talents, who are going to fill those senior-level leadership positions over a longer period. and there's a lot of national even the german legislation is supplemented by the 3,500 companies beneath the top 100, that have to actually provide more transparency around disclosure of the proportions of women. >> but take the norwegian example. it's working there, isn't it? there are many more -- we're up to about 35%, aren't we? >> yes and no it's working.

it's working -- >> of course, you're always going to get yes and no running together. there's always going to be some mistakes and some failures. but the point is you're pushing the whole argument forward. >> not necessarily. what you're actually doing, and norway's a very good example. what you're actually doing, you've created a much bigger gap in terms of the proportion of women sitting on those supervisory boards the board. was there's a drop-off in terms of representation of women at the executive committee level is much bigger. what the uk has managed to achieve, by this much more systemic voluntary approach so we're not against goals or aspirations or ambitions. it's the imposition factor. if you can get government leaders and policy makers to set a goal and create voluntary movement towards that goal you're much more likely to create a sustainable pipeline of female executive talents that will keep that going forward.

>> rachel fascinating to talk to you. thank you very much indeed. >> now, just one more story i want to tell you before i move on, there are some angry seats in brazil's congress today, as enquir en en enquitery got underway on thursday. more than 20 executives at the oil giant have already been indicted in the scandal. it is alleged that billions of dollars were siphoned away from the company over the past decade. some of the pay to political parties. brazilian media report suggests a list of politicians, allegedly involved could be made public later today, that is friday. that's the business news. more on that later. stephen? >> thank you very much, indeed. stay with us on bbc world news. still to come thousands of children have celebrated world book day dressing up as their favorite characters. but one schoolboy, he was sent home because of his costume. we're going to find out, why. you total your brand new car. nobody's hurt,but there will still be pain. it comes when your insurance company says they'll only pay three-quarters of what it takes to replace it.

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welcome back to "gmt." yesterday was world book day in a number of countries, including the uk where it's become a big day in the school calendar. pupils are encouraged to dress up as their favorite book characters. so inevitably, there are hundreds of harry potters and hermione grangers. but the costume of one boy in northern england caused a bit of a kerfuffle. here he is 11-year-old liam. he turned out as christian grey from the "50 shades of grey" book about a very particular kind of sexual relationship. liam wore a smart suit as you can see, and his accessories included a blindfold and plastic cable ties. a teacher said the costume was inappropriate and excluded him from the school's group photograph.

the story has made headlines in britain and across the world. and joining me now, i'm delighted to say, is liam's mum, nickola. welcome to "gmt." let's go back a little bit in this story. whose idea was it for liam to go as christian grey from these infamous books? >> it was liam's idea. it came about because we were discussing the character has to be for world book day, he didn't want to wear a costume-type character. and at the time he was choosing the character, the film was being released so it was all over the media, constantly. wherever you looked all you could hear about was christian grey. >> there might be people watching this thing, nickola, what were you thinking? because presumably you had a bit of a veto here. you could have stopped him doing this. and he chose a character from a book which is all about sex. it doesn't sound very appropriate. >> no, but you could look into any book and see the sinister side in any book that you pick

up. and he could have chose other characters, he could, but he wanted to be christian grey. >> yeah but he's 11! he's 11 years old! >> i know he's 11. and you ask any 11-year-old, and they'll know who he is because of how media has portrayed him and plastered him over everything. >> he got to school and the teachers didn't think it was right, particularly when they fished out the cable ties and blindfolds from his pockets. what did they say to liam and what did they say to you? >> liam was told he had to change his character. he was told he has to be james bond instead. and the irony in that is that james bond is a promiscuouser mispromiscuous character who kills people. we agreed to disagree on his costume. >> there is a bit of a funny element, but also slightly serious element to it. our kids we worry about them

getting oversexualized too young. i can't imagine liam age 11, really sort of knew quite why the cable ties and blindfold were so important to his getup. >> well after the film was released, i know all i was reading was about "50 shades of grey," and buying some cable ties. >> but they're not 11 years old! >> no but as an 11-year-old, he's seen that all over twitter, all over social -- you know all over social media and on the telly, everywhere. that comment's been made, you know, daytime tv and other things. it's just a joke. it's not anymore inappropriate with a child going to school with a plastic gun. >> what's he going to go as next year? >> i really don't know. probably not this. >> nickola, thank you ever so much for joining us. >> thank you. >> now, new york is a city filled with music, whether it's

on the subway or the symphony at carnegie hall but as of today, it is a slight less friendly place for lovers of classical music. that's because the city's last remaining classical sheet music store is closing its doors today. the bbc stopped by to speak to the owner. >> i need to know what you -- >> my own frank music company, which is a store that sells classical sheet music. and i'm closing after 37 years. >> look at that! i love those. >> this was my guitar teacher's guitar teacher. >> get out of here! >> these were the two shops in new york where you could go and if you were a beginning violinist, you could stand next to maestro jimmy levine and

ezack pearlman, ordering a piece of music at the counter and talk to them. this doesn't happen online. >> my mom and i used to come here to take a look at the music and i felt so upset, this is the last store in new york. >> and we feel several days last year where we didn't see anybody all day. of course now that i'm closing, i'm the hottest thing since sliced bread, as they say. look, i was very lucky. i met a lot of great people. >> very very painfully clear that when someone comes out to the counter, she's like what do you need? what can i find for you? she's so connected to these books and so in love with them and it's a shame that something so beautiful has to go away and move over for digital. >> when i had money, that's what i did. i put it into the inventory. because that was the great feeling of saying yes, i have it. yes, i have it. yes, i have it.

it's pretty hard to compete with amazon. i think it's a huge loss because all of the character of new york of places that are unique, this stuff can't survive. i have a fairy tale ending. there's a school in los angeles, they offered to buy all my inventory. i mean this is what i've done my whole life and i know every opus number and every composer and every public -- but, you know, that's not a salable skill. my husband and i own a farm upstate. i'm going to get some new chickens, play the piano, cook read, sleep late. i think that's pretty good. >> so a poignant ending there in new york city. and an ending from us too. that's it for this edition of "gmt." but philippa is here to tell us what's coming up on "impact". >> stephen, thank you very much. our lead story on "impact" is

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picard: captain's log, stardate 44932.3. the enterprise is preparing to entnter the mar oscura, an unexplored dark matter nebula. commander data is modifying several of our photon torpedoes for an experiment designed to elicit more information about this unusual phenomenon. the initial dispersal pattern should not be more than 7 kilometers in diameter. jenna? oh, 6.8 kilometers.