this is bbc news. the headlines at apm. president hollande says soldiers who shot a terrorist prevented an attack. president trump tweets a warning to iran. president trump warns iran it's "playing with fire" over its ballistic missile test launch. iran says it will never initiate a war. npower announces a dual fuel price rise of almost 10%. the government says customers are already paying more than they need to. in the next hour — vegetable rationing. some supermarkets restrict the number of iceberg lettuces and broccoli you can buy, as bad weather in spain causes shortages. and it's all

water under the bridge: operators at tadcaster‘s bridge re—opens, more than a year after it collapsed in the floods of christmas 2015. good afternoon and welcome to bbc news. a french soldier has shot and seriously wounded a man who attacked guards at the louvre museum in paris. a police spokesman said the man — who was wielding a machete — had shouted "god is greatest" in arabic. the french prime minister said it appeared to be a terrorist attack. he paid tribute to the bravery of

the soldiers and said they prevented a terrorist attack. our correspondentjonny dymond sent this report. in the heart of the french capital, outside one of its greatest treasures, the louvre, an attack in broad daylight. translation: we heard gunshots. we didn't know what it was. then we evacuated the employees and we left. that is what happened. we were stressed. some colleagues were crying, and we were afraid, we were panicking. translation: it happened very fast. really, it all went quickly. everyone was panicking. we thought of our lives. we saw death coming for us with everything that has been happening at the moment. we were very, very scared. the reason for the shots, a machete attack by a man on soldiers guarding the area, explained a police spokeswoman.

translation: in the commercial area, the man threw himself at a soldier who was there, armed with at least one knife, or bladed weapon, possibly two, with the appearance of a terrorist. the soldier was injured, and his colleagues fired at least five rounds and one bullet hit the individual. he was very seriously injured in the stomach area. france has seen much like this, and worse, before. in attacks in 2015, first 12 then 130 were killed across paris. six months ago, more than 80 were killed in nice. both times, the attacks were claimed by islamist terrorists. before he launched his attack, the man called out "allahu akhbar" — god is great in arabic. as the louvre was closed. a short time ago, macka de gea was

the latest from the french capital. president hollande has been in malta at the summit, talking about the courage and bravery of the soldiers on duty. translation: first of all i would like to pay tribute to the courage, determination and bravery of the soldiers. one was injured neutralising the attacker. he has been hospitalised and will be interviewed by police as soon as possible. it carries determination and reaction of the soldiers underlines how well our patrol operations work. protecting our fellow countrymen and women in public places. this patrol operation has been able to stop an act which was without doubt terrorist in nature. this patrol operation has been able to stop an act which was

without doubt terrorist in nature, it was not to the courts to carry out the necessary enquiries. -- it was up to courts. i got more from oui’ was up to courts. i got more from our correspondentjonny diamond with the latest from paris. the narrative of the morning is beginning to emerge. one key detail is not there, no identification of the attacker, the man who made his way to the louvre, trying to get to the shops underneath the museum. he was told he could not take the two bags he was carrying into the shopping area. at that point apparently reached for a machete, attacking one of the soldiers. the soldier was wounded in the head. another soldierfired

three shots, one of them hitting him seriously in the stomach. he was described as being between life and death. he is now in hospital. talk ofa death. he is now in hospital. talk of a second man being involved, acting suspiciously around the area. he was questioned, nothing else came of that. it was the fact that as he launched the attack, he cried out god is great in arabic. that set alarm bells ringing. that is what prompted the french prime minister to say this is an attack that is terrorist in nature. we're waiting for any identification, to find out whether he is a french national or not. to find out what the motive was. france has suffered so many terror attacks in the last few yea rs. terror attacks in the last few years. so many armed security services on the streets in france. this is a vindication of putting

those officers on the streets from the fact that they were able to act so the fact that they were able to act so quickly. the charities will be saying to that worked. clearly it did work, it worked having heavily armed people on the streets. quite surprising to see outside public buildings, transport house, buildings, transport house, buildings like the louvre, to see the minutes every on the streets. clearly there is the side of this, but they did work. the downside is it will be deeply alarming to french citizens, parisian is, to people thinking of visiting france. this is not just a french thinking of visiting france. this is notjust a french problem. these kind of attacks are popping up across continental europe. with some degree of regularity. this is a vindication for the security measures, but another shock for a country that has suffered grievously over the last to years. some news

from bristol, avon fire and rescue say they are dealing with a chemical incident in a chemistry lab. it is a p pa re ntly incident in a chemistry lab. it is apparently part of bristol university. they say there is an u nsta ble university. they say there is an unstable chemical in the lab. unable to tell us what it is. they have fire engines at the scene. bristol university press office has said the building has been evacuated. acknowledging an unstable substance was being manufactured. more news coming in about southern railway. suffering so many problems. for the commuters using that, and the passengers. months of delays and cancellations. we heard there had been a deal to end the dispute between southern railway and one of

the unions over driver only trains. now we're hearing that rmt union have agreed to meet southern railway next week in an attempt to resolve the long—running row over the role of conductors. it seems as if there may be progress with the rmt, on top of the progress with aslef. some news coming to us from the old bailey. royal marines kieron maxwell from devon has pleaded guilty to preparing for a terrorist attack by stashing explosives in purpose—built hiking areas in england and northern ireland. news coming to us just now from the old bailey. he has pleaded guilty of those offences. kieron maxwell, 31, arrested last year after police found a couple of arms dumps him

—— in county antrim. our court reporter will bring us more on that in the next few minutes. with in the meantime the trump administration has imposed sanctions on 13 people and companies because iran's ballistic test. earlier today he said on twitter the country was playing with fire. he said his predecessor barack playing with fire. he said his predecessor ba rack obama playing with fire. he said his predecessor barack obama had been kindly making a deal with taylor run. he would be taking a different approach. he said they had been put on notice for testing the missile at the weekend. the ring in foreign minister has responded, tweeting that his country is unmoved by threats. they would never use their weapons except in self defence. our correspondent is in washington. can

you give us any details about the individuals and the companies that the sanctions have been imposed on? about 13 individuals, 12 entities, most of them in iran. some of them in lebanon, china and the uae. it ta kes in lebanon, china and the uae. it takes awhile to go through all the names, not necessarily very public names, not necessarily very public names 01’ names, not necessarily very public names or public entities, to understand their involvement in the missile programme. probably connected to the iranians revolutionary guards. facing sanctions in line with what the trump administration said they would do putting a run on notice earlier this week. not too dissimilar from what the obama administration did

last year after the iranians tested a ballistic missile. what struck me is the difference in tone. the obama administration was always focused on the nuclear programme alone. it seemed to disregard some of iran's activities in the rest of the region, much to the dismay of their foes. this time the treasury department is talking about countering iran's activities abroad. that kind of language will certainly please countries like saudi arabia. back to the news about the royal marine who has, we are hearing, pleaded guilty to terror charges after he made bombs, and stored weapons for dissident northern irish republicans. kieron maxwell was

arrested in august last year after police discovered two arms dumps, containing mines from the pipe bombs, and mortars in county antrim. he is due to be sentenced later today. this report by daniel sa nford. today. this report by daniel sanford. he was a member of the uk's elite royal marine unit, 40 commando after passing the gruelling 32 week training course. to date, kieron maxwell admitted that for five years he was also helping dissident republicans in northern ireland. to build up hidden stockpiles of explosives, weapons and ammunition. kieron maxwell grew up some 20 miles north belfast. a largely unionist town, with strong loyalist links. a bmx fan, who came from a catholic family, as a teenager he was on the

fringe of republican activity on the town. in the early 2000s, he was seeing a lot of attacks by loyalists. in 2002 kieron maxwell himself was badly beaten up, ending up himself was badly beaten up, ending up in hospital in belfast with a fractured skull. eight years later, despite his background, hejoined the royal marines. posting this footage of his training on his facebook page. leaving some politicians to suggest there was a failure to adequately check his past, or monitor who he was mixing with on his trips back home. once he was in the marines, and had access to the training and the weaponry, there appears to be no attempts to make sure he was not using the opportunities that were available to him to help terrorists in northern ireland. last spring, police in northern ireland uncovered two arms dumps ina northern ireland uncovered two arms dumps in a country park and remote forest. heading in plastic barrels

in the woods or, claymore mines, capable of killing several people, pipe bombs, ammunition and in armour piercing mortar. it was the most significant arms cache found in northern ireland in recent years. it was the two claymore antipersonnel mines, clearly stolen from the british armed forces, that cause the greatest alarm. the claymore mines led the police back to kieron maxwell's barracks in somerset. further searches of his home and nearby woods uncovered electronic components and notes on making bombs. it was clear to detectives that they have found a serving royal marines actively helping republican dissidents. men targeting police and prison officers. let's go live to daniel. there he is. we werejust

saying in report, how extraordinary a royal marine commandos should be involved in this kind of activity, helping dissident republicans. do we know anymore about his motivation? we don't at this stage. sentencing has been put off to a later date. reports ordered by the defence to give insight into his state of mind. at some point, when his defence lawyers give their mitigation and explanations as to why this sentence should be reduced, we may get some insight into the motives. not the first time that serving members of the armed forces have been accused of being involved in terrorism in northern ireland. almost always they have been accused of being involved in terrorism on the other side, supporting loyalist terrorist groups. incredibly unusual case. unusual because of the state of politics in northern ireland. very

much paramilitary activity has been pushed to the sidelines. there has been an upsurge in dissident republican activity in recent years. the threat level has been raised in northern ireland, and in mainland britain. more specifically the threat level was raised in mainland britain last year, at the time when this investigation was going on, and kieron maxwell was ultimately arrested. the speculation is that either he never really left his republican lift daily macca links behind, or when coming republican lift daily macca links behind, orwhen coming home republican lift daily macca links behind, or when coming home from serving with the royal marines on leave, he became disillusioned with life in the royal marines, and drifted back to being involved for people interested in republicanism. or he was doing it for purely financial reasons. at this stage we do know what it is. we're talking about relatively large quantities of arms and explosives? when the second

find was made last year, it was described by the psni as being a very significant find. one of the most significant find a dissident republican weaponry in recent years. partly because of the sophistication of the weapons involved. a handgun, not that unusual. two claymore mines, military issue. absolutely lethal. they throw ball bearings about 100 metres in a 60 degrees arc in front of them. use to protect bases and ambitions. if the context of northern ireland, a claymore mine set off to destroy a police vehicle would be absolutely lethal. also this strange shaped mortar, quite a modern style explosive mortar shell, which could every tablet if it had been fired at a vehicle, or a

building. that caused alarm. then lots of bits of explosive devices. in various stages of construction. more traditional improvised explosive devices from a car bombs and the like. quite a significant find. of course those claymore mines led to an investigation with the police in mainland britain map fleeing back to the base where kieron maxwell was operating from, and ultimately to kieron maxwell himself. we will show you a couple of images that are coming from paris. the city has been on a state of high alert today after a man attacked guards at the louvre museum in paris. in the last hour or so the louvre has reopened to visitors. after that

attack early today in which a french shoulder was seriously wounded. we have heard from president hollande, currently in malta at the summit, where he has been praised the courage of the soldiers who intercepted that assailant. otherwise it could have clearly been a terrorist attack. it is being classified as a terrorist attack. president hollande praising the courage and determination of soldiers in supporting the attack. theresa may is attending a european union summit in malta where she'll brief leaders on her recent meeting with president trump. downing street says she wants relations with the eu to be constructive and positive. ahead of the talks, the german chancellor, angela merkel, said the leaders needed to focus discussions on europe, rather than "dealing with other parts of the wo rld ". our europe correspondent damian grammaticas reports. malta's ancient cannons.

europe feels threatened again. so this volley was an appropriate welcome to a summit of an eu leadership which feels besieged, with challenges on every side — migration, terrorism, and now donald trump's america. theresa may believes her nascent relationship with president trump means she can be a bridge between europe and america. that could be an asset dealing with the eu, but it could also become a liability. today we have mixed feelings. the dangerous aspect of mr trump's politics are raising some concerns. europe's leaders are wary of mr trump and what they see as his hostility to the eu, so they were keen to see mrs may's first—hand impressions. i think there are room for explanations, because sometimes there is the impression that the new administration doesn't know the european union in detail, but in europe, details matter.

lithuania's president, always to the point, added europe didn't need a bridge. today we communicate with the americans on twitter, she said. the sense there are threats all around is driving eu leaders to focus on the challenges they face. this meeting's agenda, the migrant boats still crossing the mediterranean, and the eu's future after brexit. finland's prime minister told me there is no way trade with britain will be as smooth once it is out of the eu. yes of course there will be a change, because being a part of the single market, there are no barriers at all, but create a distance between the european union and the uk, there will be some barriers anyway. soon theresa may will be negotiating with all these leaders as she gears up for brexit she is facing a eu that under pressure is seeking to close ranks and shore up its defences.

theresa may has been speaking about the meeting and of aeeu ministers. how has this summit help the cause of brexit? what we have been discussing at the summitare the summit are the issues europe is facing, the issues of migration from syria. the uk has contributed significantly to the effort, we will continue to do so, even after we leave the european union, because we wa nt to leave the european union, because we want to continue to be a good friend and ally to the european union, as we build a global britain standing tall in the world. on the question of holding on to britain's clout in the world. can getting close to a us

president that so many leaders here find it hearty welcome, they don't like or trust him to mccann that help your mission? i was pleased to visit president trump and his administration, when i was there i was able to confirm to him is 100% commitment to nato, which is help to keep the security of notjust the uk, but europe, and is crucial in keeping that security in the future. as we look forward to the negotiations we have the european union we will be looking to build a partnership with the european union. in the best interests of both the uk and the eu. will the us relationship help? it is important we have the 1% commitment to nato, because nato has been crucial in protecting the security not just been crucial in protecting the security notjust of the uk, but also europe. and we'll do so in the future. as we look to our negotiations, what i want to build

the eu is a strong partnership, we wa nt the eu is a strong partnership, we want a strong continuing eu. we want a strong partnership because we're not leaving europe we leaving be. a strong partnership because we're not leaving europe we leaving hem a joint press conference with other senior eu officials, this is what the european council president style task had to say that breaks and the relationship with donald trump's administration. in the future we have 27, because of obvious reasons. because of brexit. our intention, and it was clear for all of us, what we need is a strong transatlantic friendship and relationship. the uk can be inside or outside europe, the eu, not europe. and can be helpful. i have no doubt after today's discussions, and what theresa may said, i have no doubt today we can

feel some kind of spirit of solidarity. donald tusk, the latest from the summit in malta. the energy company npower has announced big price rises. standard tariff electricity prices will rise by 15% from next month, and gas prices by almost 5%. the company blames increases in wholesale energy costs, and the cost of delivering government policies such as smart meters. but the regulator, ofgem, has questioned the rises, telling suppliers they should absorb the costs of wholesale price rises by buying energy in advance. our business correspondent john moylan reports. we don't think energy should be complicated. try telling that to npower‘s customers. from next month, 1.4 million are facing a jump in energy tariffs. npower says it is the first major rise in more than three years. it is blaming rising wholesale gas and electricity costs, and the impact of government policies like the roll—out of smart meters. npower‘s dual fuel customers will pay an extra £109 per year, that is 10% more. it includes 4.8% on standard gas prices and a whopping 15% increase on standard electricity prices.

this is a significant price rise will that will cost a million customers £100 per year more on energy, so customers really need now more than ever to look around to get the best deal. it's not the first of the big suppliers to move. edf customers will pay around 8% more for electricity from the 1st of march, and some warned that other firms may follow suit, adding to pressure on household budgets. but the energy regulator has criticised the move, saying... and npower‘s move could spark a political row by highlighting the rising cost of government policies like subsidies for wind farms. today the department for business warned that

where markets are not working, it is prepared to act. let's find out what the weather is doing this weekend. all going downhill across the southern half of the country, early sunshine in norfolk earlier on. we have had some wet weather early on. sleet and snow around this area of low pressure. this low pressure bringing strong gusty winds to southern counties of england and wales, heading northwards. those gusts of will escalate throughout the day. not pleasa nt escalate throughout the day. not pleasant on the roads, wet and windy. snow on the hills to contend with. quieting down in the south overnight, frost, ice, possibly fob, and a wintry mix across scotland. that means a wet, windy cloudy day. not too bad for northern ireland,

the bulk of england and wales. perhaps the cloud spoiling the sunshine in the south—east. for many of us saturday does not too bad. similarly so on sunday. just feeling colder by day, and indeed by night. hello. this is bbc news. the headlines. ciaran maxwell, a royal marine commando from northern ireland has pleaded guilty to preparing acts of terrorism including bomb—making and storing stolen military weapons. he'll be sentenced at a later date. president hollande has paid tribute to the soldier's courage by preventing a terrorist attack at the louvre earlier today. the attacker was shot and seriously injured after wielding a machete at police. the us opposes new in sanctions on iran. president trump warns iran it's ‘playing with fire' over its ballistic missile test launch — iran says it will never initiate a war.

and a bridge back over once troubled waters. after 12 months, a town reconnected as tadcaster bridge reopens. just before we go to the sports we have breaking news coming from sheffield. roger dodds has been sentenced to 16 years. roger dodds he worked for sheffield city council has been sentenced to 16 years in prison having admitted four counts of indecent assault. these are historical cases and involve the use of his victims in council offices

for over two decades. he also was pleading guilty to indecent assault ona pleading guilty to indecent assault on a young boy. he is now aged 81 and he worked for sheffield city council for and he worked for sheffield city councilfor some 40 and he worked for sheffield city council for some 40 years. in the 19705 council for some 40 years. in the 1970s who was responsible for providing grants to colleges and university students and used his position to abuse teenagers and if forced teenagers to undergo section lacks. let's get the background of this. 1980, olympic gold for seven cove. celebrating in his parents front room a sexual predator. at this time roger dodds was secretly abusing young men at sheffield city council. just this has today finally caught up today with the 81—year—old. in the 1970s he used to work a giving grants to sheffield

students. he used thatjob to sexually assault some of those teenage applicants. decades later his victims were speaking out. his left hand started to fill its way towards my writing pocket. this man was assaulted in his very first meeting and on several other visits. he had a big bunch of keys with them and the opened the door to this type of classroom for want of a better word and i went in in front of him andi word and i went in in front of him and i remember turning around and looking at roger dodds with his big bunch of keys locking the door. and that was horrifying. in 1981 a raft of allegations were made against roger dodds and the council launched enquiry. richard rowe gave evidence. he told officials he had been repeatedly sexually assaulted by his manager over 18 months. sheffield city council simply moved him to anotherjob. within a few weeks he

was back in the department and this job was based on the department regularly took out to schools. and once i found that i was horrified. decade later kenny dale, another council employee was assaulted by roger dodds. kenny complained. the council acted. unbelievably it gave roger dodds early retirement with enhanced pension. i was the victim ofa enhanced pension. i was the victim of a really horrible man. what is your attitude toward sheffield city council? gosh the council also responsible. they are so responsible. they are so responsible. i even think at times they'll more responsible than he was. they allowed it to happen. everyone though. everyone in the council knew that they chose to do nothing about it. an internal report

we have seen says they were complicit in allowing roger dodds to abuse students and colleagues. in a statement sheffield city council told us we have accepted responsibility and would never defend the indefensible. they insisted they have now changed. we tackle abuse head—on and do everything we can to ensure perpetrators are brought to justice. we canjoin our perpetrators are brought to justice. we can join our correspondentjudith mart who is outside the court for us. this reflects very badly on sheffield city council? yes in fact one of the victims of roger dodds has told the bbc as you just saw that he feels they are equally if not more responsible than roger dodds himself because this was so well known within the council, not even an open secret. it was so well known around those offices that when

people joined known around those offices that when peoplejoined up known around those offices that when people joined up as employees, they we re people joined up as employees, they were warned to be aware of what's roger dodds was like. everybody knew about it and yet despite internal investigations and even a police investigations and even a police investigation in 2008, nothing was done until now so what he saw in the courtroom and that sentence was passed a few moments ago and the reaction of his victims was very telling. the relief you could see on their faces is that there has been yea rs or their faces is that there has been years or decades of their suffering. we had a lot of details about this in court because statements were read out on their behalf and those victims spoke about having suffered anxiety, depression, suicidal thoughts, his abuse they say has ruined their lives. and what has compounded that is the fact that the council or people within it knew that this was happening. sheffield city council have released a statement today in which they have

said, their thoughts go out to the victims and they are deeply sorry that he committed the offences whilst working there and they say they would never defend the indefensible. thejudge they would never defend the indefensible. the judge a few moments ago in passing sentence said he could see no understanding, he couldn't explain to the court why it was that dodds was able to continue in his employment to the council for so many years and he said he hoped thatis so many years and he said he hoped that is further investigation into the switch yet happen. we will coming that's right we will be coming that's right we will be coming back to you throughout the afternoon before now thank you. let's ta ke afternoon before now thank you. let's take a look at the sport now and go to the bbc sports centre. thank you very much. it has been announced that there would be a debate in parliament and a motion of no confidence about how english

football is governed. the culture media and sport committee will hold a debate this coming thursday, following two reports published last year calling for reform of the football association. richard conway jointly from london to discuss this. where has this come from and what can we do to expect as a result? this is the culture media and sport select committee, a body of cross— party m ps select committee, a body of cross—party mps who have had their patients want them in recent years. they have had two reports into the governance of football and as they see it, the fa needs to reform and needs to look at how it governs itself and it needs to look at the make up of its board level, the power from the football league, the premier league is too entrenched that there is not enough diversity in that group of decision—makers and also throughout the organisation so this debate will take place next

thursday and from what happens there, it remains to be seen. the government has also said it wants to see reform. it could withhold funding from the fa which wouldn't bea funding from the fa which wouldn't be a serious blow to the organisation because they are wealthy but it would be a sign of discomfort from the government that they need to get the house in order. the levers pressure of being clamped up the levers pressure of being clamped u p slowly the levers pressure of being clamped up slowly and for their part they say they are looking to expand the border to 110 members and bringing in two women members onto that decision—making body and are trying to reform the football parliament as well saying these things will take time but progress is being made. parliament on thursday will have its say on from there the pressure will be inspected to increase until the fa is satisfying all parties. thank you. staying with football pep guardiola said today the top scorer

sergio aguero is still one of the club's key players. he dropped in favour of gabrielle jesus club's key players. he dropped in favour of gabriellejesus but he insists aguero is still the main man in attack. a big club needs a lot of strikers and you need, of course sergio remains one of the most if not the most important players. winning without him would not be possible. he played all the games apart from one of barcelona and another one here he came back from argentina and the other games he was played. and played good. mark hughes says he sees no reason to exclude saido berahino for tomorrow's premier league meeting with west brom. it has been confirmed he served an eight—week fa suspension last year and our newspaper reports today that he failed and out of competition drugs test that this is unconfirmed by either club or the

fa, hejoined stoke last month unconfirmed by either club or the fa, he joined stoke last month from west brom. he served the band when he was here at west brom, i don't wa nt to he was here at west brom, i don't want to comment on the reason why but i will go back to saying what i said then and i'll say it again. saido berahino never played for me regularly because he wasn't fit enough. for what ever reason. it was a personal matter and we are under strict obligations not to release any of that information and that is any of that information and that is an fa directive. tony pulis there. we will have more sporting the next hour including rugby and the davis cup. the defence secretary is warning that russia is using sustained cyber attacks to target democracy and infrastructure systems in the west. sir michael fallon says moscow is "weaponising misinformation" in an attempt to destabilise nato. his claims come on the same day a report by mps criticises the government's approach to cyber security saying responses to large

data losses have been "chaotic our correspondent daniel boettcher reports. attacks in cyberspace are risk to personal data to infrastructure and there are increasing worries about cyber warfare as a risk to national security. sir michael fallon has accused russia of carrying out a sustained campaign of cyber attacks against the west. we find ourselves dealing with a country that is weaponising information and has created the post—truth. and finally the cyber weapon to disable and finally the use of cyber weapons to disable democratic machines. russians have engaged in cyber attacks against the united states of america. russia stands accused of meddling in the us presidential election, us intelligence said that all sanctioned at the highest level

below that is denied by the kremlin. germany believed hackers targeted its parliament in 2015. the defence secretary's warning follows commons warning follows comments by the nato secretary general last week. the reports we have seen from many national intelligence services including from germany, united states and others that russia is behind many of the cyber attacks and we have seen the same pattern against nato. meanwhile an influential group of mps has warned that the government needs to raise its game to counter cyber threats, the public accounts committee says minister's haven't consolidated an alphabet soup of agencies and they are struggling to find enough people with skills. if something goes wrong it could close down hospitals, we could have a loss of important data, there are serious things which could happen now with the skills of hackers. the cabinet office says the government has acted with pace with the investment and

the national cyber security centre which has been running for four months says it has transformed how the uk deals with cyber security. residents of tadcaster have spoken of their delight as a bridge which collapsed was reopened. for more than a year the people of tadcaster could only cross the river with a temporary footbridge and danny savage was there when the bridge reopened. here they can't. they begins. walking across the local mp. and a lot of cheering and clapping because this is a big dealfor this town after what has happened here over the last 13 months. if you wanted to get from one side

of tadcaster to the other it was a 16 mile round trip for what should have been of course a 150 metre river crossing so it has been a long drive for people and they've now got onto the stage thankfully after all this time but they can get to using their main bridge again. fully restored, billions of pounds, some of it from the government and some from the local authority, and here are the people of the 20 witnesses. —— to witness it. let me see if i can have a quick word with the mea. this is fantastic, look at these sheer numbers. hundreds of schoolchildren, members of the public from miles

around, notjust members of the public from miles around, not just tadcaster but a really fantastic. this is the way forward and upwards. is it emotional? without a doubt, the town has been split into four to long. mps are calling on the government to ensure that planned cuts to disability benefits won't undermine disabled people's chances of finding work. the work and pensions select committee has raised concerns about the impact of cutting some weekly payments by nearly £30. ministers say the changes will help encourage people to work. our correspondent sima kotecha reports. there's a lot of things to think about with your cv. a group of disabled people are being taught how to write a cv properly. they‘ re all unemployed, and some are worried about the disability allowance cuts coming into force in april. bob suffers from inflammation of the spine. people need that money. they need the help. like i did, i needed it for mobility. obviously people with different

things wrong with them, it's a help to them, as well. today's report calls on the government to postpone reducing the amount of cash given to those who can't work because they're ill or disabled. all these here fall into what the government calls the work—related activity group. they are those who can't work at the moment, but are judged capable of returning back to work at some point in the future. and it's those who will be put into this category that will be affected. at the moment, they're being paid £102 per week, but from april, the amount will go down to £73, bringing it in line with thejobseeker‘s allowance rate. only new claimants will get this amount. lesley suffers from depression and has a bad back. losing another £3o is making actually people worse off, and that's why a lot of people are actually ending up sort of turning really

like to crime and that. like to live, and support their families, their children. mps say they want clarity on how the government will help those in this group who won't be able to make ends meet because of the changes. what we're beginning to see in britain is the emergence of destitution, of people ground down at the very bottom. and we're anxious that those people, disabled people who cannot make the jump into employment, which the government wishes them to make by cutting their benefits, to ensure that these people are protected properly before this grand strategy is rolled out. ministers argue their welfare reforms are increasing the incentives for people to get into work. they say they're giving extra money to those who need it because they're disabled.

sima kotecha, bbc news, west bromwich. first the headlines on bbc news. ciaran maxwell a royal marine commando from northern ireland has pleaded guilty to preparing acts of terrorism including bomb—making and storing stolen military weapons. he will be sentenced later today. an ex—council boss who forced teenagers to engage in sex acts to get grant payment has been jailed for 16 yea rs. payment has been jailed for 16 years. a french soldier guarding the louvre museum in paris has shot and wounded a man who tried to attack a security patrol with a machete. president: has paid tribute to the soldiers on duty. now as the government prepares to invoke article 50 how is the digitial sector preparing for leaving the eu. vishala sri—pathma is in east london meeting tech startups in london's techhub. hi,|

hi, iam in hi, i am in trendy east london at the tack up. it is essentially an incubator. the technology companies. start—ups incubator. the technology companies. sta rt—ups can incubator. the technology companies. start—ups can come along plug in their laptop, have meetings and network with other professionals in the industry. the idea is to take them into an office environment. technology was largely against leaving the european union and joining me now is ed newton wrecks. one of the key concerns today is recruitment, is that something that is going to be ahead of going forward ? is going to be ahead of going forward? yes it is something we think about a lot and worry about, we are in artificial intelligence company and it isn't pressing for us because artificial intelligence is something that researchers are few and far between and we have seven

research is here in our company and three of them are from the eu, to from italy and one is from greece and they are moving to a stage where freedom of movement is restricted which was hugely cause a big problem for us in terms of building these kinds of artificial intelligence teams. following the referendum lots of a nalysts teams. following the referendum lots of analysts have pointed to the technology sector as a sector that will steer us out of any doom and gloom with the economy, will that be the case? i think it will help, the technology sector is one which will cause growth absolutely, it'll be one of our most effective industries but i think it'll only be slowed by brexit and it would have happened anyway, brexit will be more of a hindrance than a help and i think there is a bigger question here which is ultimately artificial intelligence, automation, all of these things will cause a huge societal impact in the next few decades. there was a report recently

which says by 2055, half of today's jobs, half of all the jobs today will be able to be done by machines and that is a huge issue that we have to think about. by leaving the european union we are taking ourselves out of this global policy— making unit so all we ourselves out of this global policy—making unit so all we are doing is equipping ourselves with less things to do with issues that will arrest the and whether or not technology helps, i think it will, ultimately brexit will be proved to be only have hindered us in the war in general. what do you think companies and the government can do to help technology in other sectors to help technology in other sectors to prepare for the eventuality? companies and governments can be encouraging the technology industry as much as possible which is incredibly important and i think we can get involved at a young age and i would love to the government put more resources into programmes that

encourage that kind of thinking at a young age and encourage participation. at the same time it's important that outside more politicians start addressing the issues and questions about automation and artificial intelligence. as things like the report show, these will cause huge questions. thank you very much. that's it from the tack up, back to you. thank you. britain's vegetable shortage is continuing with some supermarkets rationing the sale of produce. the shortage is due to bad weather particularly in spain where there's been snow and now the worst rainfalll for 30 years. tesco and morrisons are limiting customers to three iceberg lettuces and morrisons are reported to be preventing shoppers from buying more than three heads of broccoli. frankie mccamley reports. they are part of our staple diet and we have them with almost every meal. so for many, vegetables are not considered a luxury. but with poor growing conditions

in southern europe, the iceberg lettuce is the latest vegetable to fall victim to the shortage. it was courgettes last month. so much so that supermarkets have been selling out and are now restricting the number we can buy to two or three. the rations are not targeting us when we go for our weekly shop. let's face it, who can get through three lettuce in a number of days? what they are trying to do is stop small businesses from buying in bulk when they are facing shortages. and for weeks some market sellers have struggled to get their hands on the lettuce. you cannot get it and whatever you can get is very expensive. and it's affecting aubergines, lettuce, courgettes, chinese veg has gone through the roof. when it goes like that ijust back off. and this is the reason for the shortage, severe weather in spain. it's where the majority of the uk's vegetables come from through the winter months, but crops have been damaged which has meant a poor harvest.

and if things don't change there, the prices of some vegetables may continue to rise here. what i do is buy what i can afford. £1.49 i thought it must be 49p, they must have marked it wrong, i did not question it, i did not realise there was a shortage. it is not clear how long rations on one of the country's favourite salad vegetables will last, but if things don't change, it could be for months. let's get the reaction to the sentencing of roger dodds sentenced to 16 years in prison after four cou nts to 16 years in prison after four counts of indecent assault after historic cases were uncovered. we can geta

historic cases were uncovered. we can get a reaction now from the executive director of children and young people and families at sheffield city council. we welcome the fact that roger dodds has finally been brought to justice after so many years. our thoughts go out to his victims. whose bravery in coming forward has resulted in the conviction and subsequent sentencing. we are deeply sorry that he committed these offences while working for sheffield city council. we are glad to say that finally such cases of historic abuse are coming before the courts. justice is being done and the victims are having their voices heard. despite the fact that this happened more than quarter ofa that this happened more than quarter of a century ago, we have accepted responsibility and would never seek to defend the indefensible. in 2008, a complaint of historic abuse was

made to south yorkshire police regarding an ex—employee of sheffield city council. as a result, we commissioned an independent investigation into this allegation. this highlighted that things had happened in the past and the 2008, major changes had already taken place in policy, procedure and practice. both at the council and in wider society. between sheffield needed to know if there was anything more that we could learn. this independent report made some recommendations, all of which were accepted and have been implemented fully and sheffield we tackle abuse had on provide care and support for victims and do everything we can to bring perpetrators to justice. victims and do everything we can to bring perpetrators tojustice. we urge all victims of abuse to come

forward as soon as possible so that they can get the support they need and offenders can be brought to justice. jane ludlam from shefford cou nty justice. jane ludlam from shefford county council with their reaction to the sentencing today of roger dodds. let's take a look at the weather. good evening. we have some rather nasty weather if you're taking to the wrote the next hour or two, we have had the sort of pictures coming in. this was weymouth and you can see it is looking quite turbulent and with gusts of 50—60 miles an hour driving that rain it is the midlands and into northern england and the wintry element as well. by the morning you can see that will grind to a halt and it is icy out there. then the risk of more rain across the far south, showers late in the day and to the west, a more dismal day to

scotla nd to the west, a more dismal day to scotland with outbreaks of rain. for many islanders a lot of dry weather around, there will be the early morning showers and icy conditions but the sun will meander its way to the cloud with lightish wins. not many showers around. iran, with the film awards season in full flow, today at 5pm — a royal marine commando from northern ireland pleads guilty to preparing acts of terrorism including bomb—making and storing stolen weapons. ciaran maxwell was arrested last year after police found two arms dumps in county antrim linked to dissident republicans. we'll have the full details in a moment. the other main stories on bbc news at 5pm: a french soldier guarding the louvre museum in paris has shot and wounded an attacker armed with a knife. the us imposes new sanctions on iran as president trump warns it's playing with fire over its ballistic missile test launch.

a former sheffield council block has been jailed a former sheffield council block has beenjailed for 16 years a former sheffield council block has been jailed for 16 years for abuse.