this is bbc news. the headlines at lipm. senior democrats on capitol hill call for the us attorney general, jeff sessions, to resign, because of his undeclared meetings with russian officials. there has been revelation after revelation, mistress of the mysteries, stories shifting like quicksand. if there is truly no there there, why won't they tell the truth? warnings that cutbacks are causing a policing crisis — and the public are being put at risk in england and wales. at least two people are reported to be trapped after part of a hospital roof collapsed in johannesburg. france's marine le pen loses immunity from prosecution for tweeting so—called islamic state images, as her rival sets out his stall in the election. adults with learning disabilities should be allowed to work for less

than the minimum wage — a leading charity says more than a million people in the uk are denied the dignity of a paid job. also coming up — the bus lane cameras snapping up £31 million a year across england... the bbc discovers around 4,000 motorists a day are fined for driving in the restricted lanes. the granddaughter of a former labour leader survives a premature birth — thanks to a research centre set up by another labour leader — former prime minister gordon brown and his wife. good afternoon and welcome to bbc news. pressure is increasing this afternoon on one of donald trump's key advisors, the us attorney generaljeff

sessions, who's been accused of lying under oath. it comes after it emerged he had two undisclosed meetings with the russian ambassador during the american presidential campaign. in the past half hour, the senate democratic leader chuck schumer and his counterpart nancy pelosi called on mr sessions to resign. we will be live shortly to washington. first this report. sessions was already a controversial choice as attorney general because of allegations which he denies of racism. and now it's been revealed that during the presidential election campaign last year, he had two undisclosed meetings with this the russian ambassador to washington. i endorse donald trump. that's potentially damaging for mr sessions because russia has been accused of running a cyber campaign to skew the election

in favour of donald trump. the whole truth and nothing but the truth... and during his confirmation hearing in the senate last month, to become attorney general, mr sessions had been directly asked about contacts with russia. and if there is any evidence that any one affiliated with the trump campaign communicated with the russian government in the course of this campaign, what will you do? i'm not aware of any of those activities. i have been called a surrogate at a time or two in that campaign and i did not have communications with the russians. and i'm unable to comment. already, there's been a furious response from senior democrats including nancy pelosi. she's tweeted that mr sessions is not fit to serve as the top law enforcement officer of the country, and that he must resign. this morning, mr sessions

denied lying under oath. well, i have not met with any russians at any time any political campaign, and those remarks are unbelievable to me. i don't have anything else to say. according to his spokesperson, mr sessions had many meetings with foreign ambassadors last year, but these were in his capacity as a senator, not in connection with the presidential campaign. therefore, he argues, he did nothing wrong. butjust two weeks ago, questions about connections with russian officials led to the resignation of michael flynn, trump's national security adviser. and mr sessions may face another problem now. as attorney general, he oversees the department ofjustice and the fbi. both are currently investigating russia's alleged meddling in the us election and any alleged links with trump's associates. just in the last hour, chuck schumer

has been speaking to journalists. let's here part of what he had to say. the revelations that we learned about last night are extremely troubling, and raise even more questions about the president and his associates‘s contacts with russia. did the president know about the meetings between then senator sessions and the russian ambassador? are these the only two meetings between the now attorney general and the russian ambassador, and other russian officials? did the attorney general disclose these meetings during the fbi background check for his nomination? there has been revelation after revelation. mysteries after mysteries, stories

shifting like quicksand —— mis—truth after mis—truth. if there is no there there, why would they tell the truth? we must evaluate the scope of russia's interference in our election and assess if agents of their government have penetrated to their government have penetrated to the highest level of our government. nothing less than the sanctity of oui’ nothing less than the sanctity of ourdear nothing less than the sanctity of our dear democratic process, primacy of rule of law and the integrity of oui’ of rule of law and the integrity of our executive branch is at stake. we now know the only way that this will happen is if an independent, impartial special prosecutor who has no attachment to this administration conducts this investigation. if the administration is unwilling or unable to manage that, congress should reinstitute the law allowing

us should reinstitute the law allowing us to bring in a special counsel to do it for them. let's heads to washington, dc and joined jane 0'brien, our correspondence. these are very senior democrats making these calls but they are still democrats. how significant is all this momentum in the last couple of hours, jane? clearly calls for resignation on what the democrats would do, but there is an issue of integrity here, and nancy pelosi, who are still speaking right now, said just a few seconds ago that what it comes down to is the trump administration cannot be trusted to investigate itself. what she means by that is thatjeff sessions, as the senior law enforcer in the country, the head of thejustice department, cannot possibly investigate independently allegations of russian interference in the election that may have benefited his boss, donald trump. so

this is what this is now coming down too. i think we have moved past the point of the original programme, which is whether or notjeff sessions lied under oath about his contract —— contact with the russians. it is now about whether these ongoing investigations into russian hacking can be conducted by him as the general overseer. i think what is possibly more significant is that we now have senior republicans saying he should recuse themselves from those investigations, not that he should resign, but that he should recuse himself. that is an indication ofjust how much of a distraction this is now becoming. and presumably everyone is beating a path to his daughter get more response from him. right now before wa nt to response from him. right now before want to hear from response from him. right now before want to hearfrom him, what he response from him. right now before want to hear from him, what he feels again. he has said a little bit but he needs to say a lot more. it seems that his reading this is a matter of semantics. he seems to believe that

the question, the original question he was asked his confirmation hearing about whether he had spoken oi’ hearing about whether he had spoken orany hearing about whether he had spoken or any member of the trump administration had spoken or had any contact with the russians, he believed he was being asked in his capacity as someone involved with the trump campaign, not as a senator, because as a senator it would be perfectly normal and perfectly legal for him to talk to russian diplomats, as it were to any otherforeign russian diplomats, as it were to any other foreign diplomats. so russian diplomats, as it were to any otherforeign diplomats. so he thinks he was answering only in his capacity as a member of the trump campaign. that is not how the democrats see it, they say the business leading, he was lying, but interestingly even chuck schumer, who is calling for his resignation and an independent enquiry, hasn't gone so far to say thatjeff sessions was actually committing perjury. both sides acknowledge there is a grey area here that it is now about a matter of trust. thanks, jane. several patients are reported to be trapped after part of a hospital

roof collapsed in the south african city ofjohannesburg. rescue services are at the scene at charlotte maxeke hospital. reports say the roof caved in while construction workers were trying to repair a leak. well, earlier on i spoke to russel meiring a media liason officer for the south african paramedics team er24. i'm standing here amongst the rubble where a roof has collapsed on the fifth floor by the general reception area. the canine search and rescue dogs are busy sniffing through some of the rubble to see if there are any trapped patients underneath. of the rubble to see if there are any trapped patients underneathm it is the fifth floor reception area. so from what you understand, does that mean there is rubble on top of wards, or purely on an area

where people would be gathered waiting for appointments? perhaps you can expend about the geography of the building. fortunately it is mostly in the waiting area. there is some damage to the surrounding paediatrics unit that borders the waiting area at the hospital here. mostly the floor has been evacuated before, so the paramedics on the scene at the moment. unfortunately we are having to use specialised rescue equipment to stabilise the scene before we go any further. so the priority at the moment is working out how many people might be tripped and get teschke trapped and getting them out as quickly as possible? absolutely. paramedics have treated ten to 12 patients that have treated ten to 12 patients that have sustained minor to moderate

injury. that the moment initial reports show there are approximately three people that are trapped under the rubble but that cannot be confirmed at the moment. as i said before, the canine search and rescue units are wading through the rubble to see if they can find anything. the french presidential candidate marine le pen, has lost her european union immunity from prosecution for tweeting graphic images of atrocities carried out by the islamic state group. the european parliament voted to lift the national front leader's immunity in the case, which was opened by french prosecutors in 2015. until now, ms le pen's position as an mep had meant she couldn't be prosecuted. publishing violent images is an offence in france which can carry a penalty of up to three years in prison. well, meanwhile another of france's presidential election candidates, emmanuel macron, has unveiled his manifesto. 0pinion polls suggest he's likely to reach the second round of the vote in may, where he's expected to face marine le pen of the national front.

one of his main rivals — the centre—right candidate, francois fillon, is currently embroiled in a scandal about employing his wife and children. mr macron has promised to ban nepotism in parliament, and during his manifesto speech also spoke about the transformation of france's rigid labour market. translation: we in our project have chosen first of all to look to the future, the transformation of the world of work, the transformation of our productive model, the digital transition... these are risks but they'll also brilliant opportunities. and so, at the heart of this project, there is the refusal to acknowledge defeat. i will not say in this project now we have already lost the battle over the nature of work. no. work is going to change and we will be part of that change. we will go with it and we will transform the balance of forces. 0ur paris correspondent hugh schofield has been

following the developments from both candidates. the situation with marine le pen, is that just a distraction? the situation with marine le pen, is thatjust a distraction? yes, i don't kill or make a blindest bit of difference to the campaign, it might even help her. her supporters look at the european parliament as a total shower, so were the issue turns to their will say what is new? she tweeted those pictures in response to her party being like daesh, and she said no, this is islamic state and broadcast the three images. it laid her open to this prosecution which might now be able to go ahead because of her community... it is not actually community, it is immunity from charges relating to her work as a parliamentarian that has been lifted. so yes it is an inconvenience to her but frankly i don't think you will make any difference to the. emmanuel macron,

his manifesto, does that change things? yes, it is more good news for him that he can move in where more or less francois fillon has vanished in the policy debate. he is the centrist ex—holland s2. he has been accused of having anything of substance, merely being a internet style presidential campaign of the new era. that has been confounded today. he spent a good two hours speaking the news journalists about his manifesto. some of them are leftwa rd his manifesto. some of them are leftward leaning, some of them are rightward leaning, that he can say to the public that this is something which should appeal to broad, open minded moderates, pro—european of both left and right, and that of course is where he sees this great hole opening up in the electorate, because the right wing candidate, ffos las along, is moving to the

right, almost thatcherite, the left—wing candidate is very left wing so there is this great big park opening up for a candidate like him. what is the next crunch date in this campaign? we are looking at something else right now actually, which is the possible and total colla pse which is the possible and total collapse of francois fillon. we are hearing of news of defections from inside his camp and that is the first time we have seen it. fissures opening up with people walking out. we are told that the nuts and bolts people who calls and trains and things, they not turning up. this is a story that is developing. he is having a big march or demonstration on sunday, which he hopes will rally people around him and all eyes are going to be on that meeting on sunday to see if a lot of people turn up or whether we really are seeing the few non—campaign on the skids —— the francois fillon campaign on the skids big—time. thank you. there are claims that policing

in england and wales is in a "potentially perilous" state — with victims being let down, criminal cases shelved and suspects left untracked. the police watchdog says most of the 43 forces in england and wales are providing a good service — but a third require improvement. it says some forces are putting the public at an unacceptable risk, by rationing their response to crime as they struggle with cutbacks. our home affairs correspondent dominic casciani reports. the cornerstone of british policing — the bobby on the beat. part of the neighbourhood front line services that solve so many crimes. but posts like this being eroded as forcesjuggle priorities? that's one of the warnings contained in a stark report. laura beale was the pride of devon and cornwall police. after 14 years, she's had enough and resigned and says she cannot deal any more with the workload. the team covering her patch went from 17 officers to six. we need to focus on the front line.

that is way it needs to be. you want to see a police officer and if somebody came up to me and said, officer i needs help, i'd be able to go and have the time to deal with it. hmic says after five years of cuts to the budget and workforce, some chiefs are not making the right tough calls and in some areas, inspectors found 999 calls being downgraded because they could not manage the pressure with officers left behind. hmic also said some domestic violence calls are not being treated seriously enough. 0therforces have ignored leads on organised crime, and only durham is delivering outstanding results. neighbourhood policing, that proactive presence of police officers in communities, is eroding even further so that means they are not stopping crime from happening in the first place and that is what the public want to see. domestic violence is now a national priority, one of the modern demands on forces long focused on burglaries, car crime and muggings. 0fficers need new skills,

including finding and solving crimes with computers. some experts warn forces will lose the trust of the public if they do not modernise. if people don't have a response from the police force when they call, what's going to happen when they actually see something happening? what about when they get a piece of information that should rightly be handed on to the police? they will think, "i don't care." "i'm not going to, they didn't care about me." this report is a very clear message that police officers have work to do. a clear message from us and the hmic that the police and crime commissioners need to get a grip and look at what there are. this report is a warning that some forces have been tipped over the edge in an era of austerity. the nature of crime has been changing and that means ministers, chief constables and the public need to think carefully about what modern policing is for.

hmic says there is even a national crisis in recruiting detectives. decades ago, the dream job. just another of the reasons why some forces are facing a difficult future. dominic casciani, bbc news. the headlines on bbc news: leading democrats on capitol hill have called on the us attorney generaljeff sessions to resign. he has been accused of lying under oath after he failed to disclose meetings with russia's ambassador during the presidential campaign. the play standards watchdog has warned of the potentially perilous state of the service in england and wales. the french presidential candidate and leader of the front national marine le pen loses immunity from prosecution for tweeting so—called islamic state images. in sport, british cycling needs to sort out its problems forced that is the call

from uk sport, following negative headlines over doping and culture issues. andy is on court against philipp kohlschreiber in dubai. he is currently 2—1 up in the first set. sam billings is likely to open for england in their one—day international against the west indies in antigua tomorrow. steven finn will also play with jake ball and alex hales out of the side. i will be back with more on those stories just after half past. the family of mark duggan, the 29—year—old who was shot dead in 2011 by a police marksman have gone to the court of appeal in a bid to challenge the inquest verdict that he was lawfully killed. mark duggan's death sparked riots in tottenham that spread nationwide in the summer of 2011. mark duggan's shooting in august 2011 sparked riots in tottenham where he was shot and then around the country. mark duggan was stopped following a police operation, and

the police said they had intelligence that he had collected a weapon from another man. injanuary 2014, an inquest verdict recorded that mark duggan had been unlawfully killed. he was shot by one police officer, and that police officer said he opened fire because in his words, he believed that mark duggan had a weapon in his hand, and he said that he had an honestly held belief, this is what the officer said, that mark duggan was going to shoot him. that officer only known by the codename of v53 said that was why he opened fire on mark duggan. mark duggan's family have never accepted that he was lawfully killed, and today at the court of appeal their lawyers argued that this verdict should be quashed, and they argued it on the grounds that they argued it on the grounds that the way the coroner had directed the jury the way the coroner had directed the jury was wrong. they said the coroner, and this is a very fine legal point, they said the coroner when he was directing the jury should have highlighted to them that they should have asked themselves they should have asked themselves

the question, whether the officer's belief was reasonable. a very fine point of law it is all being argued on. three seniorjudges listened to this appeal today. we have had many hours of legal argument, but at the end they said they would be reserving theirjudgment, end they said they would be reserving their judgment, and end they said they would be reserving theirjudgment, and that judgment will come in due cause. the family said that if this was to go their way, and the verdict were to be quashed, they say they don't want a new inquest, because the lawyers say the family don't want to go through the trauma, as they put it, ofa through the trauma, as they put it, of a new inquest. they say that no verdict is better than this verdict, which they believe is wrong. army explosives experts are trying to make a world war ii bomb safe in north west london. homes have been evacuated, roads are closed and a large cordon is in place after the device was found near a school in brondesbury park late this morning. the met police say the situation remains ongoing. the chief inspector of hospitals in england has given a stark warning about the state of the nhs, saying it stands on a "burning

platform", with most trusts needing to improve patient safety. professor sir mike richards says the traditional model of caring for patients is no longer capable of delivering the needs of today's population. 0ur health correspondent dominic hughes reports. this comprehensive review of all 136 hospital trusts in england paints a very mixed picture. the regulator, the care quality commission, found many examples of excellent care and some hospitals improving services despite extreme pressure. but plenty of areas, too, where the nhs is struggling. you can get a very good service within a trust that is struggling or you can get an individual service not doing so well in an otherwise good trust. what we are trying to do is to shine a spotlight so that the trusts themselves know what it is they need to improve. this is my local hospital in stockport. i've been here a couple of times myself, and with the family. the report today allows us

to see how hospitals like this one are performing, notjust the whole hospital but individual departments, such as accident and emergency or children's services, and what the report shows is real concerns over staffing, safety, levels of overcrowding and hospitals facing unprecedented pressure. across the major hospital trusts in england, 68% have been rating as inadequate or requiring improvement. 81% are said to need to improve safety but 93% were rated as good or outstanding for the caring attitude of staff. university hospitals bristol is one of those trusts that has made significant improvements. it's the first to go directly from requiring improvement to outstanding between two inspections. the report findings are very positive for us and i think, in the report,

it acknowledges a lot of the hard work this department does. and the very positive culture for providing patient care we have. but there are concerns over the pressure of staff right across the nhs of coping with an older, sicker population. they have become the shock absorbers in an nhs that doesn't have sufficient staff or resources. i worry about the long—term consequences, staff cannot carry on working in this way without their own health and well—being being affected. the department of health says these inspections play a key role in making the nhs in england the safest and most transparent healthcare system in the world, but they will also remind ministers the nhs continues to face serious challenges. figures revealed today show almost 4,000 motorists a day are fined for driving in bus lanes in england, with the most lucrative camera making £6,000 every 24 hours. bbc research revealed has revealed that, in total, the cameras earned local authorities around £31 million last year. 0ur correspondent phil mackie has

spent the day trying to avoid bus lanes in birmingham. i wouldn't dare drive down here to be perfectly honest. it's a really confusing junction around here. we have the bullring shopping centre that side, new street station that way and a little tunnel through there and the problem start when you drive through the channel. that is where it is a bus lane, only taxis, buses and bicycles can go through there. there are cameras and as soon as you go through that you will be sent a £60 penalty notice. we have seen sent a £60 penalty notice. we have seen about a couple of —— about a dozen cars do that and a couple of hours, they are just a little dozen cars do that and a couple of hours, they arejust a little bit lost, not playing —— paying close attention is. this is one of the worst five spots in the country for bus lane camera fines. saint martin's weans way in birmingham. it

raises around £2500 a day, so roughly 40 motorists go through the everyday. that is a taxi, that's ok, it is if it is not a taxi then i will get into some kind of trouble. local authorities are coming into some criticism for this. the rac says it is a cash bonanza for them, something like £1.6 million was raised just in the city in 2015 to 16 since they introduced bus lane cameras birmingham has raised £7.5 million. so you get this impression that motorists probably have, every time one goes through the tunnel, a little light flashes, there is another 60 quid of the coppers. that is not like that, say birmingham city council. —— quid in the coffers. they say it is not about raising money, it is about enforcing a bus lane so public transport can move around the city more freely. they say they would rather no one was fined, and that is generally the

response from around the country. probably the worst of the country is in newcastle upon tyne, £6,000 dre, about 100 drivers going through that one and getting those penalty notices. time for the weather now. a pretty usable day across large swathes of the uk but they have been a few showers, particularly across the north and west of the uk. you could see this area of cloud making its way to northern ireland and that is containing some rain. there will also be some snow over the hills of northern ireland, that area of rain and snow makes its way to the southern uplands of scotland. largely dry here. in northern scotla nd largely dry here. in northern scotland quite chilly overnight, a touch of frost. temperatures further south held up by increasing amounts of cloud moving in, a pretty wet start to the data south wales and southern counties of england. rain slowly works its way northwards through the day. looks like some parts of the southeast should dry up

for a time through the afternoon, giving it pretty wet for the afternoon. the northern half does better, the best of the sunshine in scotland. 7 degrees in belfast but relatively mild in the south—east, 11 or 12 degrees. keep your umbrella handy because there will be some rain at times. hello. this is bbc news. the headlines: the two most senior democrats on capitol hill have called for the us attorney generaljeff sessions to resign. jeff sessions is accused of failing to disclose meetings he had with russia's ambassador, during the presidential campaign. there must be an independent, bipartisan, outside commission to investigate the trump political, personal and financial commitments to the russians. the police watchdog says the public is being put at risk, because of recent cutbacks in forces across england and wales. a report, out today, warns services are in a "potentially perilous" state.

at least two people are reported to be trapped after part of a hospital roof collapsed in the south african city ofjohannesburg. in the french presidential elections — marine le pen has lost immunity and could now face prosecution, for tweeting pictures of is violence. in the meanwhile her rival, the centrist candidate emmanuel macron, has unveiled his manifesto. campaigners are calling for allowing adults with learning disabilities to work for less than minimum wage. a bbc investigation has discovered that almost 4,000 motorists a day in england are fined for driving in bus lanes. the most lucrative camera makes £6,000 every day. time to catch up with all the latest sports news. the head of british cycling has apologised following failings of fleeing and sexism. he is also said they would deal with

concerns raised by mps yesterday at a select committee into... dashed into doping. what's been said today? this all the late back to last april when the sprint cyclist complaint about discrimination and immediately an independent investigation was set up an independent investigation was set up to look into the culture at british cycling. a report on the investigation is due soon, but in the meantime british cycling today published a 39 point action plan designed to address some of the issues and criticisms that will be raised in that report. today, the new chairman of british cycling had a very strong set of proposals to put forward and here is what he had saved. the report has highlighted some issues that we as an organisation need to address. in the

same way as we need to address processors, structures, we also need to address behaviours. we have already met with groups of riders and staff and we have made it clear that where there has been failures we apologise. so, that has been today and what has been the fallout from yesterday's select committee hearing on doping? the mp in charge describe british cycling's credibility as in tatters. very strong words indeed an sir bradley wiggins he was the focus of that committee meeting, was asked by his response at his home today and he was on willing to answer any questions. jonathan browning who you had from the admitted failings and said he wanted to get to the bottom of these issues. ashley you heard from. we also heard from... action

is wanted. there is a lot going on around british cycling, a number of fires that seem to be going off in different areas and it is difficult for them at this point in time. the most important thing as an investor in british cycling is that we see the information that is being revealed is accepted by british cycling and acted upon. the report into the cultural investigation that has been ongoing since april will be published in the next couple of months and that, we are told, will raise some quite stinging criticism of british cycling. meanwhile, we have the uk anti—doping investigation into those anti—doping procedures. there was no suggestion that british cycling or any of the individuals involved have committed

any anti—doping violations, but certainly british cycling is fighting fires on several fronts and it isa fighting fires on several fronts and it is a difficult time the briton's most successful and well funded 0lympic sports. andy murray is on court against philipp kohlschreiber in the quarter finals of the dubai championship — it is currently 3—3. the pair has met five times with murray only losing once. murray has been suffering from singles dee shingles. sam billings is likely to open for england in their first one day international against the west indies in antigua tomorrow. tomorrow is the first of the three match series. that is all the sportsmen out and, if you are wondering if i ever go home, it is time for me to head home. it was

yesterday asked that, but thank you very much. let's get more now on watchdog has warned that policing in england and wales is in a "potentially perilous" state with victims being let down, criminal cases shelved and suspects left untracked. her majesty's inspectorate of constabulary says most of the 43 forces in england and wales are providing a good service, but a third require improvement. jon boutcher is the chief constable for bedfordshire police, which was rated as being inadequate. he said his forces grading was not correct. i disagree with the grading, bedfordshire police is working tirelessly to protect vulnerable people and connect with our communities and very little of the really good work that has been done has been commented on in this report. i was pleased, i will say, having seen some of the national

headlines that they hate you may see say that bedfordshire police is good at dealing with dangerous and prolific offenders. also, they comment positively that we have good processes for managing and arresting outstanding suspects which has clearly been a concern nationally and that we prioritise on those that present the highest risk to our communities. i want to reassure you and reassure all the communities in bedfordshire that this force is working really hard, this grading is not a correct grading for bedfordshire. if you are going to talk about inadequate, then talk about inadequate research is an funding and that has been the case in this force the ten years now and something has got to be stopped. sorry, something has got to be done to stop the cycle of reports from the hmo see about this force.

the chief constable of bedfordshire police. right, we're going to take you back to washington because the row about jeff sessions you back to washington because the row aboutjeff sessions continues and amongst those likely to defend him, the house speaker paul ryan is giving a press conference and we can hear from giving a press conference and we can hearfrom him now. i think he answered that question this morning which was if he himself is the subject of an investigation then of course he would put if he is not again see any purpose in doing this. let's take a step back, number one, we know that bush tried to meddle in the election, why do we know this? ——— we know that russia. because we in congress discovered this. this is something we all well—known. here is another thing, well—known. here is another thing, we have seen no evidence from any of these ongoing investigations that anyone in the trump campaign team

was involved in this. there has been no evidence that an american was clued in with the russians to meddle. we are still doing investigations, in the house and senate, the intelligence committees have been investigating this. the intelligence community itself, the committees, did an investigation after the election in gibbs devolves a lts after the election in gibbs devolves alts before the inauguration. the house intelligence committee just finished coming up with this oversight plan to continue investigations. we will also mix saw that we are protecting sources and methods and getting to the bottom of these things. we have been prevented with no evidence that anyone on the trump campaign on american was involved including with the russians. dashed on the trump campaign. —— on the trump campaign. democrats getting their hair on fire

to try and get this coverage going. there is nothing new that we have seen there is nothing new that we have seen here, this is stuff that we have been going over and we will make sure that we leave no stone unturned which is why our intelligence committees are conducting the investigation is. that is where they should be conducted. i am that is where they should be conducted. iam not that is where they should be conducted. i am not going to speak to the motives of the ic, but all i can tell you is that they did an investigation intelligence community wide many others went down and got the briefings after the election before the inauguration and never have ever seen before the inauguration and never have ever seen any before the inauguration and never have ever seen any evidence that an american or a person on the trump

campaign was involved or working with the russians. i would have to defer to the senate on that one, whether or not they can ta ke on that one, whether or not they can take it up or they will do something with it, merge it with something else it is more of a senate question it takes them a lot longer to do things over there then is so he's got the mighty as calendar so whether or not that goes separately is something that will have to be passed to the senate. inaudible we think defence is important and

the reason we think we have to do with it as quick as possible is because it is uniquely bad for the military. they have to buy exactly what they bought last year, this year, which is not how the military operates whether it is munitions or supplies they need to have the flexibility that you do not have in a continuing resolution to be up to customers what they need. that we get somebody in the back. usa there was nothing new here the russian ambassador at least implied... do you not think there are questions to be asked it? sure, ask some questions but we meet with ambassadors all the time, i did one

last year with about a hundred ambassadors and i do not remember. it is really common both members of congress to meet with ambassadors, i met with the indian ambassador yesterday. as for the rest of it i would have they to jeff sessions. that was paul ryan to say that there was no evidence that anyone in the trump campaign colluded with the russian meddling in the election will stop nevertheless there is pressure onjeff sessions and we will be keeping a night of what is happening in washington and bring you the latest rummy get it. ——— the latest when we get it. at some point in our lives — one in four of us will experience a mental health issue. but many people hide their problems from their employers for fear of it impacting on theirjob. now the government's trying to encourage businesses to improve mental health support in the workplace. and today the institute of directors has launched its first—ever mental health strategy to help those affected. no matter where you work, tough days

are often part of the job, but for construction worker lee, difficult days turned into difficult weeks and months. ijust felt down one day and i stood at the top of the building and just went to the edge of the building, to about six storeys high and unhooked my harness and just stood there and thought, it would be better if i was dead. and new figures suggest lee's experience is much more common than we might think. nearly a sixth of the uk workforce faces mental health problems. and it's here, on building sites, that the problem is all too evident. more construction workers lose their lives through suicide than serious accidents at work, and it's something the industry is working hard to address. we need to do something now and actually raise awareness within our industry with our workers, and actually get people trained up in the same way

that you would treat an injury with a first aider, to actually help people, before you get to the stage where the worst—case scenario is people are thinking about suicide. but it's notjust industries like construction that are tackling mental health. aside from the personal impact on staff, it costs the uk economy around £26 billion a year in lost work and productivity. so business is paying attention, like the department store chain debenhams. its chairman told me of his personal experience dealing with mental health problems and why he wants to do more to help staff. i've had family members, including one of my sons, who's had a real, very specific challenge, and ifind myself being hesitant talking about it, whereas if i said he's broken his leg or got a bad infection, that would have been fine and we could have all talked about it. i thought if i can't talk about it this is ridiculous, and i've got to find ways and means of making this a more normal, more everyday conversation,

and not something you have to pretend to hide away. do you want to get a coffee? that's the basis of schemes like this one at the royal mail. it encourages staff to talk about their worries with trained mental health first aiders. for lee, who is now managing his depression, talking is part of the answer, but he says simple changes can make a big difference. a few months after i actually came off my medication, one of the site managers where i was at the time came up and asked me how i was doing and if everything was ok. she's the first person who's ever actually asked. that's what i feel will make the biggest difference i think with a lot of people. ben thompson, bbc news. around 20 skiers were in the area at

around lunchtime today and the second avalanche followed an hour later in call thing to off piste skiers. that is according to the latest reports. adults with learning disabilities should be allowed to work for less than the minimum wage. that's according to the charity worker and businesswoman, rosa monckton, whose daughter demonica has down's syndrome. she's one of the uk's 1.4 million people who have a learning disability, and according to government statistics, 1.3 million of those people are unemployed. we can speak now to karen taylor, her daughter, lilly, has a learning disability and works in a restaurant. i know she wanted to talk to is about this very topic for that reason. i hope we canjoin her and our webcam link holed up. you able to hear is? yes i can hear you well. i know your daughter lily has a learning disability so, why do you

feel so passionately about this particular topic, has lily been able to find black? ——— has lilly been able to find work? has lily bash been able to find work. lilly was given the opportunity to have work experience within the kitchen where she works and it has transformed her confidence and her life. it gives her a fantastic purpose and she truly enjoys it. i believe she is a very valued member of staff. when it is said that people in that situation should be allowed to work less than the minimum wage, why does that resonate with you? i totally agree with her. in this day in age we like to think we are all inclusive and try and help everyone as we can, but the reality is that we don't. there are

thousands of people like lilly who have very little to do and if she did not have college and her work experience then she would be extremely lonely and would not have the purpose that the rest of those have. by going to work, working in the kitchen, being part of the team being except dead and working new skills gives had the purpose that all of us should have. but, busy lilly will work at a different pace so lilly will work at a different pace so employers can't really afford to give young people like had the opportunity. we are very grateful that she has the opportunity and she gets a share of the tips, said lilly is delighted when she can go shopping with her sisters. she cracks had tips and goes out shopping, it would not matter if she got £70 in total 700, she has no concept of what she has learned. the hair it is the opportunity to be

working, that is the key. all of which makes absolute sense. i'm furious in times of the big picture, when we hear that extraordinary statistic. ——— i am furious. do you really feel that is purely because of the issue of the minimum wage? then that lots of factors playing into that? i agree. i'm sure there are many factors that play into that. i am very fortunate, lilly is very fortu nate that. i am very fortunate, lilly is very fortunate that although she has a very low iq, she is able to line. she is also able to, she has no issues that could potentially make her more difficult or challenging. ---is her more difficult or challenging. ——— is able to land. lilly is quite compliant on house rules, if you like, iagree compliant on house rules, if you like, i agree there will be many issues, but with regards to the

money, any parent with a young adult with learning difficulties would accept help wherever help is offered, and if it is a job that the young person can do and can contribute to that company, then if they are getting paid less than the minimum wagei they are getting paid less than the minimum wage i doubt very much whether the parents or that young person would be the key priority. the key priority is having the work. really, really interesting to touch you, iam so we really, really interesting to touch you, i am so we can't speak longer, we really appreciate your time. ——— really interesting to speak to you. in a moment a look at how the financial markets in europe closed the day, but first, the headlines on bbc news: leading democrats on capitol hill have called on the us attorney generaljeff sessions to resign. he's been accused of lying under oath, after he failed to disclose meetings with russia's ambassador during the presidential campaign. the police standards watchdog has warned of the "potentially perilous" state of the service in england and wales.

the french presidential candidate, and leader of the national front, marine le pen, loses immunity from prosecution for tweeting so—called islamic state images. hello. now a look at how the markets in europe have ended the trading session. we saw the ftse hit record highs yesterday — today painted a different story. we're seeing the ftse in the green at the moment but it spent much of the day in the red. all eyes were on wall street, which opened unchanged, to see which direction investors would take the dow index after a record day yesterday. it opened unchanged. sports direct owner mike ashley has bought struggling retailer agent provocateur out of administration. the firm has 10 stores in the uk and employs around 600 people. it's thought the company is worth between £25m and £30m.

stamp duty should be a tax on property sellers, rather than buyers, to help those trying to buy their first home. that's according to the yorkshire building society who say that nearly three—quarters of first—time buyers now paid the tax, compared with just over half in 2006. and today is the day for the most anticipated tech market floatation since twitter. snap, the owner of photo messaging app snapchat is making its debut on the stock market in the us. the company is valued at £19bn. let's get detailed analysis of all of this with tom stevenson, investment director at fidelity international. tom, let staff with snap chap. considerable amount of money, £19 billion. we've seen previous social media companies struggle with growing the company, and they are packed in maybe buy up other smaller social media companies, with the

case in facebook. i do think snapchat will find the great?l case in facebook. i do think snapchat will find the great? a very interesting question, the valuation that has been put on is terry snapchat is an awful lot of money. even more when you consider that the company only has sales, revenues of about 400 million dollars. and it is losing money. it is being valued at 60 times its revenues. it is actually losing money. if you remember the .com bubble of 15 years or so ago remember the .com bubble of 15 years or so ago then this feels very familiar, indeed. let's talk about sports direct buying agent provocateur how'd you think they will cope with this different sort of branding and you think they can make a success of bit? you wouldn't have put these two together in your

mind, would you? sports direct is a pallet high, sell it cheap sportswear retailer, mike ashley is trying to move upmarket, he is diversifying by buyinge trying to move upmarket, he is diversifying by buying a jumper that the test it is a launch of a company retailer, very different from the sportswear brand but it has been a bit of a disaster for its own as a private equity company he paid £60 million that the company ten years ago, they have written of most of that they will sell it for about half much, probably. we'll have to leave you there, tom thank you very much. us stock indexes were mostly lower in early trading today — giving up some of their gains from a day earlier when the market surged to its latest record high. that's all from me, there is a roundup of all the other top business stories on our website — bbc.co.uk/business. thank you, very much. time for a look at the weather...

let's get all the latest details. hello. good afternoon. it has been pretty good the many parts of the united kingdom, some good spells of sunshine. he was the view for one of our weather watchers. it was a bit ofa our weather watchers. it was a bit of a breezy day but good spells of sunshine. 0ne of a breezy day but good spells of sunshine. one or two showers in the north and west. it cloudy in northern ireland and the cloud does contain some rain. notjust brain, some snow upon the hills in northern ireland as well. ——— notjust brain. not much gets into the central and to the north there was some clear spells. touch of frost by dawn, but further south we have rain moving in and temperatures stay at 67 degrees. a wet start of the day across the south—west of england. windy as well and some rain the most southern

panties. some will get to the midlands and east anglia to the best pa rt midlands and east anglia to the best part of the morning. ——— most southern counties. largely dry in northern england but brain in northern ireland. still some rain in southern areas of scotland. a cold, bright skalak in northern scotland. there we will see the best of the sunshine through the day on friday. elsewhere the sunshine will be limited, lots of cloud and rain in northern ireland. the rain will be putting north across england and some parts of wales will see that as well. the south eastern corner should brighten up and dry up. that is where we will see the highest temperature in london but most places are in single figures. keep the umbrella is handy for the weekend, not a complete wash—out but the rain comes and goes. the saturday they'll be quite a bit of rain but most of the western side of europe and some snow over the alps, maybe up to a metre. that will be

blowing around into some strong winds but good news for some spring skiing overall. meanwhile, some wet weather for the start of the weekend in scotland, northern ireland and some rain close to east anglia in the east. elsewhere, scattered clouds. many places are still in single figures but cardiff, london just about ten or 11 degrees. sunday, questions about how far north the rain will go. looks like wales and some part of england will be cloudy. the rain could be heavy. most be cloudy. the rain could be heavy. m ost pla ces be cloudy. the rain could be heavy. most places stay in single digits to the second part of the weekend. top temperatures, at the best ten of 11 degrees in the london area. a fair bit going on as you head towards the weekend. there is more detail always available on the bbc weather website. by for now. today at five.

our main story is that policing in england and wales is in a "potentially perilous”'state with forces putting the public at risk by rationing their response. that's the warning from the police watchdog, the inspectorate of constabulary. the report did say most of the 43 forces were providing a good service, but others were letting victims down. the government has said it expects to see a "rapid improvement", inspectors say policing is in a potentially perilous state, but ministers say there's no excuse for rationing services. proactive, preventative presence of police officers in communities is eroding even further. so that means they're not stopping crime from happening in the first place and that's what the public want. we'll have more on that report and we'll be talking to sir peter fahy, former chief constable of greater manchester. the other main stories on bbc news at five. calls for the us attorney general, jeff sessions, to resign over undeclared meetings with russian officials. the fact that the attorney general — the top cop in our country —