bxézfingifflgfl doctor ben carson and his beautiful family. forjoining doctor ben carson and his beautiful family. for joining us doctor ben carson and his beautiful family. forjoining us today. it was very special to accompany him and his family for the first time, seeing the carson exhibit. i love this guy, he's a great guy. he can tell you better than me but i will tell you what, we really started something with them. we are proud of him and hopefully next week he'll his approval. three or four weeks late and you are doing better than most right? the democrats, they will come along, i have no doubt. then will do a fantasticjob, i have absolutely no doubt he will be one of the greatest ever in that position. he grew up in detroit and had very little, he defied every statistic, he graduated from yale, and he went on to the university of michigan's medical school. he became

a totally brilliant neurosurgeon. saved many lives and helped many people. we are going to do great things in our african—american communities together and ben will work with the very closely. we have a meaning far beyond house, if properly done it is a meaning as big as anything bearers and then will be able to find that true meaning. i just look forward to watching this, he will do things that nobody ever thought of. i also want to thank senator tim scott forjoining thought of. i also want to thank senator tim scott for joining us today, a friend of mine, a great senator from south carolina. today, a friend of mine, a great senatorfrom south carolina. i like the state of south carolina, like all those states that i won by double digits but south carolina was won and tim has been fantastic cali represents the people. i want to thank alfreda king, he certainly

deserves this. mr king i can tell you this personally. she is a tremendous fight for justice so thank you very much. i have been watching you. alarm and you are so incredible —— i have been watching you for so long and you are incredible. you are the best, you are great. thank you i appreciate. so with that we're just going to end this incredible beginning of the morning, engraved in the wall very nearby by the referendum martin

luther king nearby by the referendum martin luther kinng., nearby by the referendum martin luther king jr. , in 1955, nearby by the referendum martin luther kinng., in 1955, he nearby by the referendum martin luther king jr., in 1955, he told the world we are determined to work and fight the justice runs the world we are determined to work and fight thejustice runs down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream. and that is what it's going to be. we're going to bring this country together, maybe bring some of the world together. but we are going to bring this country together, we have been a divided country, it has been divided for many years. the two are going to bring together i hope every day, my presidency we will honour the determination this very worthy goal and for lardy, david, ben connor albedo and everybody, ijust have to say what they've done here is something that can probably not be duplicated. it was done with love and lots of money, we can't avoid

that. but it was done with tremendous love and passion and that's why it's so great. thank you all very much for being here, i appreciated and congratulations, this is a great museum. donald trump speaking after his visit to the national museum of african american history and culture. saying that the museum was an important reminder of how america has to fight hatred and bigotry in all of its forums referring to a recent spate of threats to jewish community centres around the us saying anti—semitism is horrible and has to stop. we will leave what is an incredible morning in washington and turn to london. some hospital services could be cut or scaled back in nearly

two thirds of england, in order to save money and to try to improve efficiency — according to a bbc analysis of plans in 44 areas. proposed changes range from full closures, to centralising services on fewer sites. our health correspondent sophie hutchinson has the details. protests outside horton hospital in oxfordshire just a few months ago where there are concerns about bed closures and cuts to stroke and critical care. and it's not the only place. right across england, proposals for big changes are afoot in the nhs. the bbc has analysed 44 of the transformation and sustainability plans. two thirds include either hospital closures or moving treatments to a different site. more than a third involve cuts to the number of hospitals providing non—emergency treatments and around one third plan to reduce the number of hospitals offering emergency care. proposed closures to hospital beds

have been heavily criticised by the think tank the king's fund. that has prompted concerns after scenes like this. to shut even 10% of beds is unrealistic at the moment with the current crisis. when hospitals are full they become less safe places we have to make sure any bed reconfiguration is done with patient safety the priority. the ambition of taking care out of hospital and moving it closer to patients homes has been praised by experts as the best hope of delivering essential reforms to the nhs but they say it can't be done without extra funding. ideally there ought to be an earmarked fund for new investment, to strengthen and improve the out—of—hospital services, and to shore up adult social care, which is really

in crisis at the moment. if those additional funds aren't forthcoming, the government needs to be honest about the consequences for patients and what the offer to the public will be. leaving downing street today, the health secretary was asked to comment... are you cutting hospital services? but decided not to. the challenge, though, for the nhs in england is the short time given to deliver these large—scale improvements and during a period of unprecedented low increases to nhs budgets. you can find out the nhs plans in your area in england

by going to bbc dot co dot uk forward slash health. a heterosexual couple have lost their attempt to be allowed to have a civil partnership. they have pledged to continue their campaign. rebecca steinfeld and charles keidan had argued that being prevented from entering into one is discriminatory. todayjudges at the court of appeal said that there was a potential human rights breach, but the government should have more time to decide on the future of civil partnerships — which were created in 2004 for same sex couples. our legal affairs correspondent clive coleman reports. emerging from court, charles keidan and rebecca steinfeld, a heterosexual couple fighting for the right to enter a civil partnership. all three of the judges agreed we're being treated differently because of our sexual orientation and that this impacts our private and family life. all three rejected the argument that we could just get married.

all three emphasised that the government cannot maintain the status quo for much longer. a civil partnership defined in the 2004 act that created them as a relationship between two people of the same sex so they are not available to heterosexual couples. in december 2014, charles and rebecca were stopped from registering their notice of intention to form a civil partnership by their local registry office. same—sex marriage came into force in march 2014. sir eltonjohn and david furnish were among the first to tie the knot. since then, civil partners have been able to convert their civil partnership into a marriage, and some 13% have done so. charles and rebecca argued that the ban on heterosexual couples becoming civil partners breached their right to a family life and discriminated against them. the government won but only by a whisker. all three judges found that the ban on heterosexual couples entering

into civil partnerships was potentially in breach of their human rights and discriminatory. but two of the judges found that the different treatment of same—sex and opposite sex couples was justified by the government's policy on civil partnerships which is to wait and see how many same—sex couples want to enter into one, rather than to get married. the government has welcomed the court's ruling and says it will carefully consider it. but campaigners are impatient. the government has to wake up and smell the coffee. there is a growing feeling this needs to happen. there is a growing appreciation backed up by the court today that this is an inequality that cannot go on. there are more than three million heterosexual cohabiting couples in the uk who, campaigners say, want the option of a civil partnership which conveys and protects virtually all of the same rights as married.

this important issue of social policy is not going away. with the budget only a fortnight away the chancellor has received a boost showing that government finances were £9.4 billion in surplus in thatjanuary, according to the office for national statistics. the first month of the year traditionally sees a surplus, because of the high level of income tax receipts — but this is the biggest january surplus for 17 years. our business editor, kamal ahmed explained why this is good news for the government. defied £10 billion will get my cheque—book out but will philip hammond splash out like that? these are the last public figures who will get before the budget next month and clearly the economic performance has been better than expected which means tax receipts are up, we are paying more, businesses are paying more and it's a better performance for the economy which means the government gets more income which is why you're seeing this larger surplus was certainly philip hammond

is different than george osborne. i think he knows the believes that his biggest test will be balancing the books, getting rid of the deficit during the next parliament and i don't think he's the kind of chancellor who will come out with a spending spree on any area. public finances are still in debt and the government are still borrowing £60 billion a year, it has to pay a lot of money to service that side don't expect too much when we get the budget although there may be some tweaking on the toxic issue. a little bit of tweaking but nothing of yet. still the treasury is concerned that economic campaign once we trigger article 50 and negotiate. put some perspective on the figure, 9.4 billion, it looks like it's huge amount? the

government borrows like it's huge amount? the government boi’i’ows every like it's huge amount? the government borrows every year, 60 to £70 billion that these are the best borrowing figures we have had since the financial crisis. £10 billion sounds a huge amount of money, it is but in the context of reducing that deficit the government is still spending more than it earns. it wa nts to spending more than it earns. it wants to balance the books and other people argue it is good for the government to invest in infrastructure, it is on the way to famously fixing the roof whilst the sun is still shining. on the face of it this is good news though? tax receipts month by months of fairly volatile. the numbers that we are dealing with

a very large numbers on the debt by the end of the forecast period will be touching £2 trillion. £60 billion might bea be touching £2 trillion. £60 billion might be a lot of money, 2 trillion is an awful lot of money so it shows that the government spent a huge amounts running into the financial crisis and then had to spend a lot rescuing the banks after the financial crisis fixing those numbers will take a long time and they will need good news month by month to get as there. and we haven't got brexit yet. we haven't even started the process yet and if there is economic pain to come he would rather save money for them rather than spend it quickly up front. five people have been killed after a light aircraft crashed into a shopping centre

in melbourne in australia. the pilot reported a ‘catastrophic engine failure' shortly after take off. the shops weren't open at the time of the crash, and no—one on the ground is believed to have been injured. 0ur sydney correspondent hywel griffith reports. just metres from the runway, a site strewn with charred metal. inside the wreckage of the plane which came swooping from the sky. eyewitnesses described seeing flames rise after it crashed into the dfo shopping centre which was due to open its doors one hour later. i just saw a blue flash come down past the dfo billboard over there. and, then, all of a sudden, it hit the spotlight, and just erupted into a huge fireball. there's explosions going off one after the other. so, the plane go up, then cars going off as well. so there was a lot of smoke and flame. piecing together what led to the crash may take weeks. specialist investigators have been called to the scene, but the police have confirmed that the pilot made a mayday call shortly before the impact,

reporting engine problems. we understand there was potentially catastrophic engine failure but we are unsure at this stage. it crashed into the back of the dfo shopping centre. it took more than a dozen fire crews to extinguish the flames. the aircraft would have been full of fuel. drivers on the nearby freeway reported feeling the heat as it burned. the crash has left many shocked. it's a desperately sad day, very, very sad day for our state. a number of people have died as a result of what is the worst civil aviation accident that our state has seen for 30 years. all flights out of essendon airport have been supended as teams on the ground try to establish exactly what went wrong. 0ur headlines this afternoon.

hospital services in nearly two—thirds of england could be cut 01’ two—thirds of england could be cut or scaled back, bbc analysis of local plans shows. a heterosexual couple have lost their court of appeal battle to have a civil partnership instead of a marriage. government finances recorded a 9.4 billion pound surplus in last month, the biggest january surplus for seventeen years. and in sport the fa is investigating a possible breach of their betting regulations after a bookmaker offered odds on the reserve keeper for sutton united eating a pie in the fa cup tie against arsenal last night. when shaw was seen on television in the second half eating a pasty. manchester city face monaco tonight in the first leg of their last 16 champions league tie. pep guardiola has never failed to reach the semifinals in his managerial career.

and gold cup favourite thistle crack and not race again this season. the king george cup winner has torn attendance will miss the cheltenham festival next month. i will be back shortly. police are continuing excavation work at two properties in swindon in wiltshire, one of which is the former home of christopher halliwell, who's serving a life sentence for the murder of two young women. halliwell, who's 53, murdered becky godden in 2003 and sian 0'callaghan in 2011. 0ur correspondent, duncan kennedy is in swindon. what has led police to these properties now? we're not sure of the exact circumstances, all they sank as they are acting on new information. the search is taking place behind me behind this black

tarpaulin, at two terraced houses about ten feet beyond that. if you look at a high camera you can see what is happening, they have put up white towns and it looks like they have covered up a back garden building. all to cover up what they are doing so they can carry on with privacy and also because it has been raining and all they are saying is that they are looking at the gardens and the garage areas of those two houses. 0ne and the garage areas of those two houses. one of which christopher halliwell left him and we think between 1996—2000. they are not saying they have bodies are anything like that that they are saying they are acting on new information. they say this operation will last up to five days. so because of the gap between the two murders of which christopher halliwell was convicted, 2003-2011, our christopher halliwell was convicted, 2003—2011, our police working on a possible theory that there might be other victims? you are right on that point. this is all about dates.

becky godden was killed in 2003, sian 0'callaghan was killed in 2011 and there is this eight—year gap, it could be entirely innocent and christopher halliwell is not guilty of anything else. the trialjudge couldn't devious and callous and the police themselves say as a result of interviewing him, they have got suspicions, this is what they said last september at the end of the becky godden trial that they could be other victims. it might be this asa be other victims. it might be this as a tick box exercise that is going through the motions, going through their investigations which led on from the becky godden and enquiry or it could be something more. we're not been told in all we do know is that there is an eight—year gap. there is one more factor in this which we should mention though, at the time last year wiltshire police we re the time last year wiltshire police were heavily criticised for the investigation into becky godden, to cut a long story short there were procedural errors made in that case which delayed the case getting to

court and becky godden's family were upset by that and angry with yorkshire police for those procedural errors that were made and it might be that attempt to rectify this problem is that this investigation is going on. we simply don't know and all they are saying is they have no information which they are acting and they could deliver the rest of week. thank you for that. it's 20 minutes past three let's look at other stories making the headlines this afternoon. the bodies of more than eighty migrants — including children — have been washed up on the shores of libya. it is believed they were trying to cross the mediterranean to italy in a rubber boat. the libyan red crescent say they are expecting to recover as many as forty more bodies. an israeli soldier who shot dead a wounded palestinian attacker has been sentenced to 18 months in prison for manslaughter. elor azaria was convicted by a military court of killing abdul fatah who was lying on the ground, badly injured, after stabbing a soldier. the case has divided israel — the prime minister

benjamin netanyahu had led calls for the soldier to be pardoned. police in barcelona have arrested a man after shooting at a truck loaded with butane gas canisters that was speeding the wrong way along a busy road. authorities now say the man has a history of psychiatric problems and they do not believe the incident was terrorist related. mps have warned of a worsening shortage of teachers in english schools, particularly in maths and science. the education select committee has called on the government to find ways of making teaching more attractive, to stop people leaving the profession. frankie mccamley reports. maths class for these children, with mr walton. but professionals like him are increasingly hard to come by. that's according to a group of mps who says school teacher shortages in england are getting worse. i'm into my fourth year of teaching now. i know some people have dropped out now. i think that's mainly due

to workload and pressure, and things like that. the education select committee is calling for a long—term plan to recruit more teachers and a bigger emphasis to be placed on retaining them, warning many are leaving. reasons include a lack of job satisfaction, curriculum changes, and workload. research has found teachers in england worked nearly 20% more than they do in other similar countries. an average of nearly 50 hours of week. 20 of those are spent here in the classroom teaching. mps say secondary schools are hardest hit in subjects like physics, maths and computing. what we've got to get across is just how important teachers are to our society and our economy. they need to feel valued and trusted. the department for education says it's investing in teacher recruitment and development, to make sure the best in the profession stay put. the house of lords is continuing to debate the legislation that

will allow the government to begin the process of taking the uk out of the european union. some peers are seeking changes, despite the measure being approved by the commons in the wake of last summer's referendum. a team of british soldiers is hoping to become the first all—female group to cross antarctica unsupported. during a 3 month expedition they'll face temperatures of minus 40 degrees — and they'll be walking in that for up to 9 hours a day. 0ur reporter phil mackie joined them for some of their training, in norway. the ice maiden team is heading out across a frozen norwegian lake at the start of its final training exercise. in september, these soldiers will begin their historicjourney,

hoping they will now succeed and inspire a generation of women. it is notjust about five women crossing antarctica, it is about encouraging women from across the military but also in civilian life to get out there and give things a go, and realise there is no ceiling and you can achieve anything. i think we can inspire some women to get out there and be physically active. it doesn't have to be antarctica. their 5k can be their antarctica. we're just going to have... 0oh, it's hot chocolate with orange today! their home for the next few weeks and the 80 days of the expedition will be a small tent. it will be a bedroom, living room and kitchen. hi, mum. hi, dad. there are doctors, a former teacher, and an electrical technician on the team. i am just a normal person from newcastle and i have just happened to come across this incredible opportunity. if you want it and work for it, you canjust do it. they will leave their families and partners behind to spend nearly three months together on the ice. there is important research being done as well. no one really knows what it will take to sustain an all—female team on a journey like this. it is notjust about the calories.

it is about the actual composition of the rations — making sure there is the right amount of carbohydrate, fat and protein — and trying to figure out how we can manipulate that, i suppose. and also for a group of women whose nutritional requirements are quite different to men, there has been very little research done and certainly not published. so i haven't really got a lot to go on. one of the hardest things will be maintaining morale as each long day's march goes by. they have just been for a two—hour march. they will have to do up to nine hours a day once in the antarctic, carrying everything they need along with them. it will be very, very tough, which is why they need to practise in conditions as harsh as these. there are seven ice maidens. two will be reserves as only five can cross the antarctic, where they hope to break the ice ceiling, putting them in the history books alongside explorers like scott, shackleton and amundsen. phil mackie, bbc news, norway.

that is quite something. i think we might be getting some snow this week, not as much as they're clearly but doris is on the way. stormy weather to come on thursday, we will get snow but not too much hopefully, but it could cause disruption. for the time being we have rain up into the time being we have rain up into the north and west with wind. a lot of clout and the grey old afternoon, mild old afternoon and yet again temperatures peaking around 14 degrees, way above the average for this time of year but the weather front will straddle its way down through the country, still producing outbreaks of drizzly rain, nothing substantial but a lot of clout, mild and windy, severe gales into the far north of scotland and here colder with a good slice of sunshine. you

can see the difference to the temperatures but as we move into thursday, the fourth main storm of the season is expected to arrive which would bring wet and windy weather and there is an amber weather and there is an amber weather warning which could cause disruption and there is potential for some snow across central and southern parts and the north pennines. that could cause disruption first thing, keep watching the forecast and matt taylor will have all the latest in 30 minutes time. hello. this is bbc news with annita mcveigh and simon mccoy. the headlines at 3.30pm. nearly two—thirds of local plans to reform nhs services in england involve closures or downgraded hospital facilities, analysis for the bbc has revealed. the government says patients will receive better care in the community. a heterosexual couple have lost their court appeal for the right to enter into a civil partnership. but london couple rebecca steinfeld and charles keidan say they will continue their campaign to change the law.

new figures show government finances were £9.4 billion in surplus last month, the biggest january surplus for 17 years. economists say the government could undershoot the forecast deficit of £68 billion for the current financial year. five people have been killed in the australian city of melbourne after a plane suffered engine failure and crashed into a shopping centre. no one on the ground is thought to have been injured. it is time for some more sport. here is jj. the fa and the gambling commission have opened investigations into an incident involving sutton united reserve keeper. wayne shaw was seen on camera eating what was then thought to be "a pie" in the dugout during their loss to arsenal in the fa cup last night. however, it has been reported that it was part of publicity stunt

for a betting company. he had said last night that some of his friends have made money on the bet which would break fa rules. but now shaw insists it was "just a bit of banter". we're told that we're not allowed to gamble because it is full—time football. so, you know, i no way put anyone injeopardy football. so, you know, i no way put anyone in jeopardy of that. this football. so, you know, i no way put anyone injeopardy of that. this is not the case here. this isjust, you know, a bit of fun and me being hungry and like i say, if it was a pie then whoever it was, it was a pasty that i was eating. manchester city's manager pep guardiola says his club's critics will "kill them" if they don't progress out of the last 16 of the champions league. they face monaco at home in the first leg of the tie tonight. city are without their captain vincent kompany as he has been plagued by groin and calf injuries this season. in seven years as coach of barcelona and bayern munich, guardiola has won the champions league twice and never failed

to reach the semi—finals. he knows tonight opponents, who are top of frances league 1, are a formidable side. they are intelligent, physically strong, they arrive at the box. they area strong, they arrive at the box. they are a complete team. so it's the most successful team in europe in terms of scoring goals. so, a tough draw. i'm looking forward to playing against them. sojust draw. i'm looking forward to playing against them. so just compliment because they are a real, real good team. the england women's head coach mark sampson has made seven changes to his squad for the she believes cup in america next month. liverpool defender casey stoney returns to the squad following injury. england recently lost to norway and drew to sweden in two friendlies. they will play the three top—ranked teams in the world, the usa, germany and france, in the tournament, starting with the french on 1st march in pennsylvania. laura muir will go for double gold at next month's european indoor

athletics championships as part of a 31—strong british team. muir has been showing great form this year, setting a new british indoor record in the 1000 metres in birmingham on saturday where she took a second off dame kelly holmes‘ previous record. she will race in the 1500 and 3000 meters in belgrade. uk sport chief executive liz nicholl has warned there is "no excuse" forfailures to look after athlete welfare. this comes ahead of a report into british cycling investigating whether or not there was a culture of bullying, favouritism and sexism within the organisation. nicholl has also revealed that they were never given the full details of a 2012 internal review into the sport that may have highlighted some of the current issues being investigated. we were given to believe that actually we a very light touch

version of it fed to us at uk sport. so we had no indication of the significance of that report. it is only now come to light through a very well managed cycling independent review that's been led by annamarie phelps. cheltenham gold cup favourite thistlecrack has been ruled out for the rest of the season with a slight tendon tear. his trainer colin tizzard said the injury was discovered this morning when he was scanned. he had won his first four races over fences, including a three—length victory over cue card in the king george vi chase on boxing day. it means he'll miss the cheltenham festival next month. that's all sport for now. i'll have more in the next hour. before you go, jj, a lot of people will be switching on and saying, we have not seen him before. who is this guy? who is this guy? that's a good question. i'm jj this guy? who is this guy? that's a good question. i'mjj chalmers. i come from scotland and i used to be in the royal marines. i was a

competitor at the invictus games. in the royal marines. i was a competitor at the invictus gamesm is good to have you on board and a warm welcome. see you later, jj, thank you. let's return to one of our main stories today. the chancellor philip hammond has assured conservative mps that he's listening to concerns about a business rate revaluation in england and wales. the rates are being updated for the first time in seven years, and will leave more than a quarter of companies facing higher bills. 0ur reporter ashleyjohn baptiste explains how the changes will work. business rates — they are what companies large and small have to pay. think of them as like council tax, but for companies. they are the charge on a business‘ property and that charge is decided in proportion to the value of the land. the government has decided that the rates need to be revalued, which they‘re supposed to do every five years, but they didn‘t do it when they should have last time, so it‘s been seven years since the last valuation. that seven—year gap means that some companies are bracing themselves

for a whopper of a rise, while others may see their rates stay the same. so the extra rate paid by an online retailer who owns a huge warehouse in the middle of the countryside will in some cases pay less than a cafe in london, and that‘s why we‘re here. alex is the manager and owner and it looks like his rates could double. we‘ve been here for 34 years. it was my father‘s. he bought it when i was four. it‘s one of the now longest running businesses left in victoria. at the present moment, we‘rejust shy of £11,000 and come april, i‘ve been advised i‘m going to be paying just shy of £22,000, which will be a 100% increase. and if you even go further back, three, four years ago, we were only paying about £7,000, so the rates have probably quadrupled now. ministers and mps have been lobbied by businesses to either water down or scrap the increases, but the government says

that the majority of people will see their rates on hold or decreased. the government believes around 520,000 ratepayers will see their bills increase as a result of the revaluation. while 920,000 will see their bills fall and 420,000 will see no change. but despite these assurances opposition to the upcoming changes isn‘t dying down and the changes kick in on 1st april. well, one point of contention amongst smaller businesses has been how some of the big retailers, especially those whose primary business is online, will be less affected or even better off when the changes are made in april. for instance, amazon‘s rates will increase by only 0.95% 0nline 0nline fashion retailer boohoo.com will see their rates cut by 13% and fashion giant asos.com, their rates will stay exactly the same. with me is mahesh soneji the owner of madesil pharmacie in central london. first of all, what will this rate

change at the moment, business rate change at the moment, business rate change do to your business?m change at the moment, business rate change do to your business? it is very difficult because, it is nearly doubling of the rates and we‘ll have to find... from what to what? there £80,000 to £160,000. £160,000? that‘s right. it is based on the rate at which the rental values have gone up in central london over the past five to ten years. which suggests you have had a rent rise in that time as well? yeah. so a double whammy. what will this do to your business if this goes through? we have to find ways of improving our reve nu es have to find ways of improving our revenues and certainly, improving our profits, but being in the kind of business that i‘m in which is health care, there is a limit as to how much we can play around with profits because at the end of the day, we can easily be priced out.

when you say play around with profits, you mean, passing it on to the consumer? that's what it boils down to eventually. so what's in your mind at the moment? it is a huge leave for any business, i would have thought, but for a smaller businesslike you, how can you sustain that? it's difficult. it's going to be difficult, but i think, i think this applies to all the retailers and anyone from the big supermarkets, to even the big pharmaceutical retailers and then gradually you will tend to find that eve ryo ne gradually you will tend to find that everyone is increasing their prices and the public is the one who is going to suffer in the end. these rates have been out of date in effect for seven years. the government said this had to be done, the fact that you‘re in london, you benefit from that as well, you should be able to swallow this? it's not that easy. especially with the brexit equation. there is a lot of uncertainty out there and one

doesn‘t really know exactly as to, you know, how easy it will be for people to spend money. it's people to spend money. it‘s a business that you set—up. you‘ve been running for how many yea rs ? you‘ve been running for how many years? i've been in the pharmacy for 28 years. have you ever known a threat like this to your business? no, this time it is like major and the increases in overheads is just like double. there is a budget coming up. if philip hammond is watching you now, what‘s the message? well, i understand that he is willing to look at the matter seriously and i really hope he does because, you know, ithink seriously and i really hope he does because, you know, i think the high street is going to suffer and when it comes to shopping, let‘s face it, shopping and high street go hand—in—hand. i mean i know things are going online and i know people like amazon and all that, but still at the end of the day, people would

like to go to a high street and do their shopping. it‘s as simple as that. thank you very much for coming in to talk about it. thanks. some breaking news. it is about a meeting that theresa may has been having. he said i want banks, academics to come to france. saying that he has a series of initiatives in his presidential programme to get talented people currently working in the uk to come to france. he said, "i reaffirmed my willingness first to have a fair exclusion of brexit. he spoke of his need to defend french and european interests." an interesting meeting there at downing street. more now on the couple who lost their court of appeal battle to have a civil partnership instead of a marriage. rebecca steinfeld and charles

keidan, from london, claim it‘s unfair that only same—sex couples can have a civil partnership. they explained why they believe marriage isn‘t for everyone. in october 2014 we went to chelsea register office to try to give notice of our intention to form a civil partnership. we were turned away because we‘re not of the same—sex. so since then, we have had a baby who is now 21 months old and we have taken the government to court and we have launched a political campaign to challenge what we see as an unfair situation and ask the government to make this simple popular change that would be great forfamilies simple popular change that would be great for families and children. lot of people might ask, why a civil partnership, why not marriage? marriage is a meaningful institution for many, many people. we have got no objection to marriage. it is not right for us. we see each other as partners in life. we're not alone. there is over three million

long—term cohabiting couples. it is likely that a significant proportion of them would choose to form a civil partnership and avail themselves of the rights and protections that it would confer, but they're denied from doing so because they're of a different sex. that can't be right. it is surely a basic principle that everyone should be treated equally under the law. had you been confident before today‘s decision that it would go in your favour? confident before today‘s decision that it would go in yourfavour? how surprised were you by the judgment? we hoped it would go in ourfavour and we‘re disappointed by the judgment. but it was a very narrow ruling. 2—1. and on so many points thejudges agreed with ruling. 2—1. and on so many points the judges agreed with each other and agreed we‘re being treated differently because of our sexual orientation and that impacts our family life and the argument that we can get married is not sufficient and the government has to act and act soon. how are you moving this forward ? act soon. how are you moving this forward? is act soon. how are you moving this forward ? is it act soon. how are you moving this forward? is it on the grounds of the potential human rights breach that thejudges alluded to potential human rights breach that the judges alluded to our solicitors are filing for permission to appeal

to the supreme court, but we hope it won't come to that, it seems unnecessary and wrong that we have to continue all the emotional and financial costs and actually the government can do what is in their interests and in the country's interests and in the country's interests and in families interests and that's to extend civil partnerships, they can do that in the queen's speech by slow deucing legislation that has cross party political support including from many members of their own party, senior conservative mps as well as mps senior conservative mps as well as mp5 from other political parties. we think we've come a long way in spite of this ruling today. how far can you go? you were relying on financial support from well—wishers. if that‘s there, how far does this go? it is very difficult for us to keep going. we‘re ordinary citizens. and litigation costs a fortune. we have been advised by our solicitors it will cost £25,000 to go to the supreme court and that‘s wherer‘ really hoping the government simply voluntarily acts to make this tiny

amendment to the civil partnership act, all they need to do is remove six words. that‘s it. this could all be over. rebecca steinfeld rebecca steinfeld and charles keidan speaking to us earlier. bar da sues za made the comments in a bbc documentary. a house of lords spokesman said the chamber is active and effective and peers can be suspended if they claim expenses without carrying out any work. they are the peers of the realm, appointed by the monarch on the prime minister‘s advice. unelected but often experienced politicians. tv cameras have for the first time been allowed to film freely in committees and behind—the—scenes of the lords.

most peers don‘t get a salary but can claim an attendance allowance of £300 a day. this system is, not for the first time, facing questions. there is a core of peers who work incredibly hard, who do that work, and there are — sad to say — many, many, many peers who contribute absolutely nothing but who claim the full allowance. baroness d‘souza claimed an unnamed member kept a taxi running outside the lords whilst signing in to collect the allowance. 0fficials here at the house of lords are pushing back hard against the idea of freeloading peers. they say there is a robust code of conduct which is independently overseen. the trouble for them is that even the merest hint of an expenses abuse will play into that long sense of a demise of trust in politicians. lord‘s officials point out that a member was suspended in a previous case, but without names they can‘t investigate this new claim of allowance abuse. i never thought i‘d get expert at putting stockings or tights on... this rare access to peers behind the frills is a clear attempt to show the purpose of the lords

in modern political life. many want it to be seen as a crucial working part of the constitution, advising on and improving laws. we take all of the nonsense, rubbish, legislation — and some of it is rubbish — that comes down from the other end of the building in the comments. we work on it, line by line, clause by clause, and we improve it. parliament‘s traditions come dressed in a rich sense of history. peers want people to see why they are relevant to modern life, too. a bit tight at the moment, as you can see. but fresh claims about the abuse of allowances will do little to help their cause. in a moment a summary of the business news this hour, but first the headlines on bbc news: hospital services in nearly two—thirds of england could be cut or scaled back, bbc analysis of local plans shows. a heterosexual couple have lost their court of appeal battle

to have a civil partnership instead of a marriage. government finances recorded a £9.4 billion surplus in last month, the biggest january surplus for 17 years. in the business news, shares in hsbc have fallen more than 6% on the ftse this morning. the bank reported a steeper than expected fall in annual profits. their pre—tax profits were down 62% on the year before. the bank says most of the fall was down to one off charges, including fines and the sale of its operations in brazil. the chancellor philip hammond has said he‘s "listening" to concerns about business rates. rates are being updated for the first time in seven years, to bring them into line with property values. some businesses have argued that significant increases will lead to some shutting down. they‘d like to see the chancellor soften this impact in next month‘s budget.

and sticking with the budget, government finances were £9.4 billion in surplus last month, meaning the government took in more money than it spent. it‘s normal to have a bit left over injanuary because of the high level of income tax receipts that month. but it is the biggest january surplus since 2000. so it‘s leading to lots of speculation about whether the chancellor might have any extra cash to play with. full—year results for banking giant hsbc have come in quite a bit below expectations. pre—tax profit fell 62% from the previous year, with the bank calling it a period to be remembered for its "largely unexpected economic and political events". last year hsbc agreed to pay £1.29 billion to end a class action lawsuit over its involvement in the us sub—prime mortgage scandal during the financial crisis. it is also facing pressure to tighten up safeguards against money—laundering. and they are closing an additional 62 branches in the uk on top

of the 55 announced last year. a lot going on, we asked our business editor kamal ahmed what the reaction has been to today‘s figures. well, the reaction at the moment, the share price has come off a little bit. it is down nearly 5%, but a lot is it do with profit taking. hsbc shares have gone up by over 50% since the referendum in the uk last summer. and also it said it was going to execute a $1 billion share buy—back and that was a little disappointing to some shareholders. they thought it might be around $3 billion, the shares have been softer because of that. i think what it shows are two things. firstly, it is very ha rd to shows are two things. firstly, it is very hard to make money in banking in this low interest rate, low inflation world we are still inhabiting and secondly, that global shocks for a global bank like brexit, like the election of donald trump, mean that trading tends to soften slightly. their revenues therefore soften slightly and their profits soften slightly, but i think

in overall terms, hsbc is a robust bank. it revealed that its capital ratio, its core capital, is now above 13%, well above its target. so it isa above 13%, well above its target. so it is a very robust balance sheet. new research reveals that opportunities for women in the workplace have rapidly improved in the uk since 2000. the accountancy firm price waterhouse coopers have been looking at key indicators that measure economic empowerment. better employment rates for women and a narrowing pay gap, means the uk is doing pretty well compared to economic rivals. joining me is yongjing teow, an economist from professional services firm pwc. let‘s look at these figures. better employment rates for women. is that because the picture overall is doing quite well? yes, that's right. so the uk has improved slightly in its position from 14th to 13th this year. and this is largely due to stronger economic conditions in the uk that has created employment opportunities, notjust uk that has created employment opportunities, not just for women, but also for men. so it is a rising

tide that lifts all boats. what industries are pretty good to women? that‘s a very good question. this year we ta ke that‘s a very good question. this year we take a closer look at the gender pay gap and we find that women are you know, the reason behind the pay gap is women tend to behind the pay gap is women tend to be unrepresented in higher paying sectors and even within certain sectors, they tend to take on lower paying and lower skilled jobs as well and this is particularly the case especially in financial services sector, but it is better in other sectors such as public administration and in health services. are there certain age brackets that do that, ages after 40, do they tend to do as well as the younger ages? the pay gap changes all the time. what we found asa changes all the time. what we found as a working woman, when you‘ve got children, that‘s when the pay gap tends to widen. this is the reason why it is so important for

businesses and government to work together in order to make sure that you‘ve got the right conditions in place such as greater flexible working opportunities to make sure that, you know, these women can go back into work, can go into higher quality and better paying roles and contribute to society and the uk economy. and how much of this improvement is down to employers and the government improving conditions versus women becoming more educated and better skilled and just generally entering the workforce with more to offer? so, what we‘ve found from our research is that actually the pay gap hasn‘t narrowed that much quickly for higher skilled women as well which, you know, would suggest that actually a combination of government policies as well as business action would be critical in terms of trying to address the pay gap which, you know, again i think suggests the importance of businesses ensuring that there are enough flexible working opportunities for women to get back into work, into better quality work

as well. because it is notjust about more numbers of women getting into employment, but it‘s also about getting women into higher quality, better paying jobs and we need more flexible working to support that. 0k, we have to leave it there. thank you forjoining us. shares in hsbc down considerably after those results. they are down 6%. we have had rise from bhp billiton and intercontinental hotels. that‘s it from me. a man in new york has had an extraordinary escape after he was crushed by a car while shopping in a supermarket. he was in mini—mart in the bronx when a vehicle smashed through the window. he was taken to hospital, but was not seriously hurt, as tim allman reports. an entirely unremarkable afternoon in the bronx. a man enters a local grocery store, waves to the person behind

the till and starts to shop. he goes to a fridge and picks up some bottles of what looks like water. so far so normal. little can he imagine what‘s about to happen. he heads to the counter, but there is one last item he needs. then this happens. caught on cctv from a different angle, you can see a white car ploughing through a plate glass window and crushing the man between two rows of shelves. but look at him staggering free, obviously shocked and hurt but remarkably, amazingly, not suffering from any major injuries. he sits down in the corner. later he would apparently walk to the ambulances. and what about the people in the car? one of the doors opens and a woman clambers out. she looks around more

than a little shocked herself. it‘s not clear why she or the car she was in took this unusual route adding a whole new dimension to drive through shopping. but when you see these images again, you can only wonder how tragically this might have ended and how miraculous it was that no one was seriously injured or killed. remarkable. each time you see the pictures, they seem more remarkable. they do. quite an escape. let's get a weather update. matt. thank you very much, simon. good afternoon to you, what a week of weather we have. we started the week with the warmest conditions of the winter so far. we saw temperatures on monday get to 18 celsius in around the south east of the country. the second half of this week though, a different story. yes,

some of you will be seeing snow and some of you will be seeing snow and some struggling to get to six celsius. in between it all, a spell of stormy weather to come too. i‘ll have more in a second. but out there tonight, it‘s turning windy. the culprit a deep area of low pressure between us and iceland. it increase the winds across the country bringing outbreaks of rain for the evening rush hour. it stays wet throughout the night across the hills of northern england and strong to gale force winds the further north you are. blustery for all of the uk, but this zone of rain which is dividing the country in two, separates the mild air. temperatures not dropping below double figures for some to something cooler across the north. the showers to turn wintry, president winds will be at the strongest on thursday. winds could touch 70mph or 80mph. showers most frequent in the north and the west of scotland. across wales and the midlands and east anglia and southern parts of england, you start

cloudy and occasional rain. some heavy bursts here and there, but temperatures get into the teens here. and then through wednesday evening, we start to see rain push its way northwards again. this is ahead of what‘s a developing storm system. storm doris. it is set to push across the uk as we go into the start of thursday. it is set to bring, we think, quite a bit of disruption for some of you. several elements to this storm system on thursday. we‘ve got met office amber, be prepared warnings, out already for the wind. it looks like the strongest of the winds as it stands at moment will be across parts of northern england and into wales and the north midlands. we could see 70mph, or 80mph. strongest winds during the second half of the day. another element is snow. yes, i told you the temperatures were dropping! in southern and eastern scotla nd dropping! in southern and eastern scotland we could see five to ten centimetres of snow. this is how the day plays out. there will be outbreaks of rain anywhere. the

strongest of the winds in the southern half of the uk. not too blustery across northern scotland and whilst we start with rain, sleet and whilst we start with rain, sleet and snow, things will brighten up from the west through the day, so we will see sunshine, but the winds go a northerlith north—westerly. the other element is the drop in temperatures, some only around three orfour temperatures, some only around three or four celsius temperatures, some only around three orfour celsius and temperatures, some only around three or four celsius and turning colder across the south east as well. what will follow will be a chilly night with some frost. bye for now. the headlines at four: a heterosexual couple lose their court of appeal battle to have a civil partnership, instead of a marriage, but pledge to fight on. marriage, we recognise as a meaningful and valuable institution for many people, it is just not right for us. we see ourselves as partners in life and we want to be partners in life and we want to be partners in life and we want to be partners in law and there are many thousands he‘s feel the same way. most hospitals in england face cuts or the scaling back of services under local reform plans, bbc analysis shows. president trump condemns anti—semitic threats againstjewish community centres as ‘horrible and painful‘.

a muslim teacherfrom swansea denied entry to the united states while on a school trip said he has still not been told why, juhel miah was with his students when he was escorted off his flight to new york. and in the next hour, the ice maidens cometh.