up up in the this is bbc news, i'm simon mccoy, the headlines at three. a cash boost for schools in england. tomorrow's budget will include more than £300 million of investment, which could mean new grammars. charities condemn facebook after a bbc investigation found the social network failed to remove sexualised images of children. the government faces the prospect of another bexit bill defeat in the house of lords in the next few hours. caught on camera at a petrol station in australia — the british backpacker rescued by police after allegedly being held captive for more than two months. i'mjane hill, and in the next hour a coroner concludes that george michael died of natural causes. the singer, who was found dead at his home on christmas day, died from heart and liver disease. and the pigeons patrolling the skies for pollution, how these birds are becoming the latest way of tackling pollution problems in our cities. £320 million will be set aside

in tomorrow's budget for new school places in england. the money will help meet the costs of setting up more than a 100 schools, some of which could be grammars. labour says the government is failing to address the current funding pressures faced by schools. but theresa may insists it's part of her plan to make a good education accessible to every child. well, of course we have protected the core schools budget. but, crucially, what we're announcing is £500 million of investment in schools, £320 million of which will be new schools. that will create around 70,000 new school places. what this is about is ensuring that people can know that their child will have a good school place,

and all the opportunities that that provides for them. well, what do head teachers make of the plans? john tomsett is the head teacher of huntington secondary school in york, which has around 1,500 pupils. he says he welcomes more investment in education, but it needs to be done in the right way. at the moment, the biggest pressure, the thing that the government really has to focus on is attracting high—quality people to the profession. because as secondary numbers grow, and you can see that bulge coming through from primary school in the growth of numbers, we can have new schools, but if we haven't got great teachers in those schools, then we've got a real problem. and you can go back to the grammar school thing — my worry is that if you are wanting to improve education for every student in an area, in a community, then actually when you look at places where they have grammar schools, overall the students do worse. if you look at kent, for instance, the students do worse overall in areas where they have

grammar schools, and there's really good data to show that. so my concern would be that there is no really good evidence that grammar schools improve the lot of all the students in the area where they exist. let's speak to the bbc‘s education correspondent gillian hargreaves. let's talk about the money first, £320 million, how much different will take? it sounds a lot of money to you and me, but in government expenditure a very small amount. i tweeted earlier, how many grammar schools could you get out of £320 million? nobody has responded yet, but i am sure somebody will have an answer! what i think is important about this is that it is all about theresa may as prime minister setting out her store, saying, as a conservative government, we will be in favour of selection. there will

be grammar schools in some parts of the country, but critically, for the least well—off children, they will get a chance if they are academically able to move up the ladder in a case that she has argues has not gone on in the past. the government says 140 new schools, but the focus tomorrow is on what theresa may and the telegraph described this morning as a numerical chrissie in education. yes, her feeling is numerical chrissie in education. yes, herfeeling is that numerical chrissie in education. yes, her feeling is that a numerical chrissie in education. yes, herfeeling is that a grammar school in some of the most deprived areas of the country may act as a real opportunity for children with ability to move on. now, she has said, and so has the education secretary, that it would be a mixed bag so that parents can choose. she's very clear that it is all about choice. but 320 million does not go very far, and the old adage in the conservative party of a grammar school in every town in england, i don't think that is going

to happen with £320 million. and labour would point out it is £3 billion behind. yes, this is all in the context of massive savings in england's schools. the nao said there would be savings of £3 billion in english schools up to 2020. they say head teachers, if they are careful, can do that with wise procurement, but unions are saying that when teachers are leaving, they are not being replaced, class sizes are not being replaced, class sizes are getting bigger, so £320 million is eye—catching but that is in the context of billions of pounds of cuts that are taking place in schools. thank you very much, gillian hargreaves. news coming through from the crown prosecution service, we are hearing that barry bennell has been charged with eight counts of non—recent child sexual abuse. the former professional football coach, barry

bannan, 63 years old, the cps says he has been told today that he is charged with eight counts of historical child sexual abuse. —— barry bennell. he will appear in caught fire video link on monday in relation to those charges, thatjust through from the cps. the government is facing the prospect of another defeat in the house of lords over the process of leaving the eu. peers are voting later this afternoon on an amendment to the brexit bill which calls for parliament to be given a meaningful vote on a final deal. joining me from westminster is our political correspondent chris mason. what is the mood music? they have not really had a debate about the idea of a second referendum that the people should decide on the final deal that theresa may comes back with and they should be allowed to reject it if they want to. that was a lib dem amendment that has been rejected by the house of lords, but

as you say, they will be moving on later to talk about this idea of parliament having what they call a meaningful vote. what they mean by thatis meaningful vote. what they mean by that is not just meaningful vote. what they mean by that is notjust a rubber stamping at the end of it, theresa may gets her deal in brussels, she comes back and says take it or leave it, i accept my deal or we leave the eu without any deal at all. to many, mps and peers, that is not really a great choice, so what they are arguing forand are great choice, so what they are arguing for and are likely to vote for later is that they would have the power to say to theresa may, actually, we don't like that deal, we wa nt actually, we don't like that deal, we want you to try harder. the message from the prime minister has been that all that will do is encourage the eu to give us a bad deal, because they might think, in the end, parliament will reject this and they will end up staying in the eu. she is firmly saying that laws should not go down this route. i think there will be a government defeat later. 0n the rights of eu

citizens last week, there was a majority of more than 100, and they are very hopeful, labour, the lib dems and some crossbenchers, that they can defeat the the government in the same way later. does this slow the process down further? not necessarily, downing street saying clearly that they think theresa may will be able to trigger article 50 and get the brussels negotiations going by the end of march, as she has always said she would, but you never know. this bill will go through here tonight, the final stage, third reading, later, and then, because it has been changed by then, because it has been changed by the lords, it has to go back to the commons, probably next week, and thenit commons, probably next week, and then it is up to the conservative mps who have voiced anxiety about those two issues, do they decide to vote against the government or abstain? do they inflict a damaging defeat on theresa may? there are not many signs so far that the rebellion on the tory side in the commons is growing, but you never know, between now and next week, what might

happen. we will be talking about it again, thanks very much for now, vicki young at westminster. facebook has been strongly criticised after a bbc investigation found it is still failing to remove inappropriate and sexualised images of children. after a series of sexually suggestive pictures and comments were reported to the social networking site, more than 80% of them still remained online. the nspcc described facebook‘s response as "appalling". facebook says it takes the matter extremely seriously — and is continuing to improve its system of removing such content. 0ur correspondent angus crawford reports. the rules are simple. facebook says it removes nudity or sexually suggestive content. but our investigation last year found paedophiles using secret groups to swap obscene images of children. we informed the police, and this man was sent to prison forfour years. facebook told us it had improved its systems, so we put that to the test. but we still found

sexualised pictures of children and obscene comments from men. in every single one of these images, there is a real child who is out there today at school probably, and they don't know that the image is being used in this way, and every time it is used and clicked on by a paedophile, that child is re—victimised. we reported 100 posts that we felt broke facebook‘s own guidelines. only 18 were taken down. 82 images stayed up. they didn't breach facebook‘s community standards. i find it very disturbing. i find that content unacceptable. i'm concerned that that's been brought to facebook‘s attention, and some of those images have not been dealt with and addressed. and this report, this investigation, it casts grave doubt on the effectiveness of the measures that facebook has in place. 0ne former insider says moderation is a huge task. the biggest challenge is one of scale. no—one has policed a site

as large as facebook. 1.8 billion people use facebook every month, meaning the company is effectively running the largest police force the world has seen. facebook asked us to send them examples of what we had reported, so we did. the company then reported us to the police. facebook issued a statement saying... so where does this leave concerned parents? it sends a message that you can't trust facebook‘s methods. parents have told us they tried to raise an issue and got nowhere. it will reinforce their experience. but even now groups

with inappropriate images and comments about children remain on facebook. questions about how the company moderates content won't go away. angus crawford, bbc news. mps could force a rethink on government plans to limit the number of lone child refugees taken in by the uk. the conservative mp heidi allen has tabled an amendment that requires local authorities in england to declare how many children they can house. this is the scene in the house of commons, we think it might be getting under way imminently. this is the amendment from heidi alexander. it would require local authorities in england to declare how many children they could house,

and she is suggesting that local authorities should do that and that the government should collate those figures in the hope that refugee children who don't have any relatives in this country could still be helped. all of this is the knock—on from the government decision last month when it announced it was limiting the dubs scheme to help refugee children. it has only helped about 350 children, whereas the hope was that it would help at least 3000. while we wait to see whether the vote will happen, let's hear from lord see whether the vote will happen, let's hearfrom lord dubs, i spoke to him in the last hour, and he told me that local authorities, some of them, have been telling him that they could take more children. look, the government used as an excuse for stopping the scheme that local authorities weren't able to take any more children. i have talked to quite a few local authority leaders, and i have heard from more, and a lot of them are happy to take the children, so i think the government should

back off and accept the amendments this afternoon. i don't want to put words in your mouth, are you saying that there are some counties that feel they simply can't cope but you have had conversations with others who say, absolutely, we would like to do our bit to help if the system could be facilitated? yes indeed, i have talked to leaders of london boroughs, i have learned directly about the situation in scotland, and other parts of the country, and there is a willingness on the part of many local authorities to take of the children in small numbers, and it could make quite a big difference. why the government is using this as an excuse, i don't know, i think they are plain wrong. do ministers tell you this is purely a question of resources? we're just we'rejust going to we're just going to pull out of that interview to head back to the house of commons, the results of the vote

coming through. the ayes to the right, 267, the noes to the left, 287, so the noes have it, unlock! the honourable member for penistone and stockbridge... 287 vote saying no, 267 saying yes, close, let's talk very soon to our political correspondent alex forsyth, she has been following that. this was on the amendment brought forward by conservative mp heidi allen in relation to trying to help migrant children, refugee children who don't have any relatives in this country to come to this country. we will be back there and we'll talk, i hope, to our political correspondent for more reaction on that very shortly. as we

we re reaction on that very shortly. as we were hearing from lord dubs insult, so instrumental in the scheme, he was saying that he has been talking toa number of was saying that he has been talking to a number of local authorities up and down the country who believe that they could help unaccompanied children. more reaction to that vote in the next few minutes. the headlines on bbc news: the chancellor will? millions of pounds for new school places in his budget tomorrow, money that could be used for new grammar schools. —— earmark. facebook comes under strong criticism from charities after a bbc investigation finds the social network is failing to remove inappropriate images of children. former football coach barry bennell is charged with a further eight cou nts is charged with a further eight counts of historical sex abuse. zlata n counts of historical sex abuse. zlatan ibrahimovic has accepted a three match ban for violent conduct following an incident with tyrone mings during saturday's1—1 draw at 0ld mings during saturday's1—1 draw at old trafford. the bbc understands

leicester city will offer craig shakespeare the manager's job until the end of the season. leicester have whoa both matches since he was named interim manager after claudio ranieri's si king. —— have won. and kevin pietersen has signed for surrey to play in the t20 blast, he will play against essex at the oval onjuly the 19th. will play against essex at the oval on july the 19th. back with will play against essex at the oval onjuly the 19th. back with more on those stories later. a coroner has confirmed that the singer george michael died of natural causes. the 53—year—old was found dead at his home on christmas day. 0ur arts correspondent david sillito gave us this update earlier. there have been tests, repeated tests. today, a statement by darren salter saying that george michael died of natural causes from dilated cardiomyopathy with myocarditis and fatty liver. in essence, heart disease. myocarditis is well—known

as a heart disease that can affect young people, people who seem otherwise healthy, it can lead to sudden death, sometimes of athletes, it has been linked there. so heart disease rather than the many other things that have been speculated about over the last two months or so since he was found dead at his home in goring—on—thames. and given that speculation, as far as police and the authorities are concerned, that is it now? they say there will be no further updates, no inquest. it is natural causes. this is the end of the matter. george michael can finally have his funeral. do we know when that might be? not at the moment, the statement was just made this morning. media correspondent there talking about george michael. let's return to westminster, because we have just

seen that vote about the amendment brought by conservative mp heidi allen in relation to child migrants, child refugees, ishould allen in relation to child migrants, child refugees, i should say, allen in relation to child migrants, child refugees, ishould say, in relation to the dubs scheme. let's talk to alex forsyth, explain what has happened. well, the government have effectively seen off this challenge, so a brief bit of background, this was mp heidi allen, who was trying to, in a roundabout way, get the government to look again at their closure of this keen, whereby they would take in unaccompanied refugee children who we re unaccompanied refugee children who were already in europe. —— this scheme. the government closed it because they said councils had no capacity to process and look after these children. the amendment that has just been voted on would have asked for an annual audit of the space councils had to take children, really to try to and mind the government's arguments that there was no more capacity for these children. but mps havejust been boating on this, and the government as won, seen off that challenge

287-267, so as won, seen off that challenge 287—267, so the amendment has not passed, there will not be an annual audit of capacity for refugee children, and therefore the government can to make the argument that, from their perspective, councils have reached capacity so they will not be reopening what was known as the dubs scheme, taking unaccompanied refugee children from europe and bringing them to uk. lord dubs, who we spoke to in the last hour, said he felt there was public appetite for this scheme, parliamentary and public appetite, and that local authorities he had been speaking to, some said, we could offer some places. but is this the end of the matter now? is that it? the reason that the government originally announced the scheme was because there was public and parliamentary pressure on the government to allow unaccompanied refugee children to be settled in the uk, and then it was because of that capacity issue that they closed it. some local authorities, particularly intent, do already

taken a lot of unaccompanied children. the art and that lord dubs and his supporters were making was, across the country, there may be capacity elsewhere, and that is why they were trying to force the audit to show there was still scope to ta ke to show there was still scope to take in more children. the government has seen that off, so from their perspective, there is no immediate option to reopen the dubs scheme. but they do point do other work they do, taking in refugee and migrant children through other schemes that operate. this was a very specific scheme about taking children already in europe. the pressure on the government will no doubt continue, labour have been clear that they think the government should be taking unaccompanied children in europe, because they say those children are at greater risk, great personal danger, and it is the right moral thing to do to bring them into the uk. the government argument has been, by taking children who are already in europe, they encourage the flow of refugees from, example, country surrounding syria through europe if they think

there is a possibility of them coming to the uk, and that increases the risk of people smuggling and people who want to take advantage of these children. 0n people who want to take advantage of these children. on this scheme particularly, the government position has not moved, it remains clear, but you can expect there to be parliamentary and public pressure continuing on this particularfront. alex, for now, thank you very much, alex, for now, thank you very much, alex forsyth. french officials have confirmed that nobody was killed or seriously injured by an avalanche that struck the alpine ski resort of tignes this morning. initial reports had said that many people were missing and quoted police as saying the avalanche buried several skiers.bad weather had hampered the rescue operation but it has now concluded. a woman from liverpool has been rescued by police in australia after allegedly being held against her will for more than two months. a 22—year—old man from queensland has been charged with several counts of rape and assault. police say they made the arrest when a car being driven by the woman was stopped for a routine check.

0ur correspondent hywel griffith sent this report. moments before her ordeal would end, this footage shows the woman at the petrol station with a bruised face. she left without paying for her fuel. when the police pulled her over, they could tell something was wrong. she said for weeks she had been violently abused. the police say they found the man hiding in the boot. the pair met at a party in cairns, and the violence started on january 2nd. they travelled along the coast before finally being stopped in the outback town of mitchell on march 5th, far from the usual backpacker routes. a lot of the areas where she would have been would have been unknown to her, and she wouldn't have known anyone there. it would have been difficult to make an escape and then to try and

link up with people. from the information we have been provided, she had limited opportunity to do that. officers believe her passport was destroyed. the man has been charged with rape, assault and denial of liberty. in a state which hosts hundreds of thousands of backpackers, the case has caused real distress. you have to be careful, especially in the outback, no signal on your phone, you don't know where the next petrol station will be. the woman has spoken to her family but may need to remain here to give more evidence so the police can piece together what she went through. news coming through from greater

manchester, we are hearing that two people are being treated for life—threatening injuries after a car hita life—threatening injuries after a car hit a group of pedestrians in a car hit a group of pedestrians in a car park at withington hospital. so a car hitting pedestrians in the car park at withington hospital, we are hearing that two people are being treated for life—threatening injuries. those are all the details we have so far, we will keep you up to date with that. peugeot chief executive carlos tava res has said he is not considering shutting 0pel and vauxhall plants after his company's takeover of the brands. he said instead he wants to unleash the potential of the plants. a deal was announced yesterday between psa, peugeot's parent company, to buy the european operations of general motors. mr tavares has been speaking to our business editor, simonjack, at the geneva motor show. if we were to have an hard brexit, which by the way i don't know if it will happen or not, i think we have to face all possible scenarios, but if we were talking about this scenario, hard brexit,

with custom duties and all that stuff, then it would be, of course, an opportunity for us to have a uk source for the uk. of course, for that to happen, you also need to have the supplier base in the uk so that the cost structure would be in bounds, structure would be in pounds, the revenue structure would be in pounds, and therefore the sensitivity, the volatility in profitability will be lower. for that to happen, we would need the support of the uk government to develop the supplier base in the uk to improve the cost structure in pounds. and what kind of conversations have you had with the uk government? you've met with theresa may, you've met with greg clark, the business secretary — do they understand that, are they willing to help you? the discussions were very constructive, and this is exactly what happened. what i told the prime minister and mr clark is exactly what i am telling you here — for us, what we want to do is to improve the performance. what is striking europe, being in the uk, germany, france,

is everybody is asking for protection, and the only honest answer for protection is performance. if you increase your level of performance, we become the best. if you become the best, there is no risk. so what we have to do, by bringing 0pel, vauxhall, the psa group together is to become better, and we can become better by sharing best practices and having the best benchmarks inside of the company. the energy giant e.on says it will increase prices for gas and electricity customers by an average of 8.8% from next month. households who only use electricity will see a rise of 13.8% on average from the 26th april. it says it's the first such rise in three years and blamed the hike on government social and environmental schemes. thai surgeons have performed emergency surgery on a turtle after they discovered it had eaten nearly a thousand coins. the operation on the sea turtle is thought to have been the

first of its kind and could have saved her life. caroline davies reports. the next time you throw a coin into waterfor luck, take a look at who you might be throwing it at. this turtle was found floating strangely in her pond. vets weren't sure what was wrong until they carried out a 3d scan and found this — a pile of old coins she had eaten sitting in her stomach. it was so large it wasn't only stopping her swimming properly but had caused the underside of her shell to crack. translation: this is a female turtle that weighs about 59kg and the coins altogether weigh 5kg, which accounts for about 10% of her weight. the 25—year—old turtle had eaten a total of 915 coins in several currencies. vets worked for seven hours to remove each one. throwing money onto turtles is thought to bring

long life in thailand. the chief surgeon said she was upset when they discovered what had caused the turtle's pain. translation: when i found out, i felt angry that humans, whether or not they meant to do it or if they did it without thinking, had caused harm to this turtle. the turtle is now recovering in hospital. it's hoped she won't continue to live up to her nickname, omsin, which in thai means "piggy bank". that was quite hard to watch, wasn't it?! we are going to pause to catch up with the weather prospects, ben rich has those. things are going downhill out west,

giving us some contrast, not a bad story earlier today in milton keynes, beautiful blue skies, but all changing in the south—west, a lot of cloud spreading in across cornwall. as we go through this evening, the rain, which is patchy and only affecting the far west, will become more extensive, heavier, sweeping eastwards over night. briefly a spell on snow over the hills of scotland, may be the highest hills of northern ireland and scotland. southern areas tomorrow having a cloudy day with rain coming and going, but that is where we will see the mildest weather, up to 14 degrees. northern england, northern ireland, decent day, sunshine, blustery showers. czech czech thursday looking decent. we will see spell of sunshine and cloud on trid and patchy rain at time and it stays mild. hello.

this is bbc news with simon mccoy and jane hill. the headlines at 3.31pm: an extra £320 million for new school places in england will be confirmed in tomorrow's budget. the money will go towards the government's existing free school programme, and could be used to support new grammar schools. children's charities have strongly condemned facebook after a bbc investigation found it failed to remove some content featuring sexualised images of children. former professional football coach barry bennell has been charged with eight further counts of non—recent child sexual abuse, following an investigation by cheshire police. members of the house of lords are preparing to vote on the brexit bill again. the government could face another defeat tonight, on an amendment which calls for a more "meaningful" vote in parliament,

on the final eu exit deal. a backpackerfrom liverpool has been rescued by police in australia after she was allegedly held hostage for more than two months. a 22—year—old man has been charged with several counts of rape and assault. a coroner has confirmed the singer george michael died of natural causes. the final post—mortem examination found he died as a result of heart disease and a fatty liver. it is time for the sport. jj is there. zlatan ibrahimovic has accepted a three—match ban for violent conduct for elbowing bournemouth‘s tyrone mings. the incident took place during saturday's1—1 draw at old trafford between the sides. it means he will miss monday's

fa cup quarter—final bbc sport understands leicester city will offer craig shakespeare the manager's job until the end of the season. the important thing is to consider the right critics, he is a manager with a lot of experience, and more experienced than others. i am sure that he will be able to react and to manage the situation, a situation that can happen to every manager. so

it is normal. england's women face germany tonight, mark sampson's side go into the game on the back of a win against usa at the weekend. tough game, all three games are tough, all three teams are ranked higher than us in the world rankings. the germans, we've beaten them once ever, and that was the world cup, which wasn't too long ago, but we have had tight result against them since, and it will be another good test, but i think we can beat them. former england batsman kevin pietersen has re—signed for surrey to play in this summer's t20 blast competition. he will play his first game against essex at the oval onjuly 19th and then he'll be available for the rest of the tournament. pietersen firstjoined the club in 2010 and he says he's "absolutely over the moon to be joining surrey again." finally, the afternoon session of the 2nd formula one pre—season

test is under way in barcelona. williams driver felipe massa still has the quickest time of the day with 1:19.726. sebastian vettel and daniel ricciardo are the only other drivers to break the! minute 20 barier. lewis hamilton is currently 4th on the timesheets. that's all sport for now. i'll have more in the next hour. let's get more on the build up to tomorrow's budget. we've already been hearing that the chancellor's statement will include an extra £320 million for new school places in england — to go towards the government's existing free school programme. so, what else can we be expect from philip hammond tomorrow? rachel home has been looking at what could be in the budget box. roll up, roll up. get your popcorn, bags a seat. tomorrow it's your last chance to watch the spring budget, because from next year it's being moved to the autumn and which, as a season, is less about new shoots of growth

and more gloomy forecasts. surely the chancellor knows what he's doing? now, this spring budget will set out the government's plans for the economy based on the latest forecasts from the office for budget responsibility, telling us how much money the government has borrowed and how strongly or not they think the economy will grow. now, back in november the obr predicted that gdp growth for 2017 would be 1.4%. now, the signs are that growth figure might be revised up from 1.4%. over 2% after better—than—expected figures in the back half of 2016. now, higher growth means there's more money in the treasury's coffers, but will that mean the chancellor will start spending? he says no, and that he wants to make sure the country is prepared for leaving the eu. mr hammond is under pressure to increase public spending, especially on social care. but businesses say they also need the government to invest to support the economy. so we've asked a few key figures in the business world what's

on their budget wish—list? first up, the federation of small business, and it's no surprise where they want the chancellor to put his money. first and foremost, not surprisingly, business rates, which no longer reflects the way the current businesses work in the modern environment. and for the small businesses that are facing some massive increases following the revaluation, it is clear that they must have some additional help to overcome the problems that they are faced. once he's dealt with business rates, the tuc has a few requests. the prime minister promised that this would be a government on the side of working people so the chancellor has to prove just that. he can do it by lifting the public sector pay cap, by reversing george osborne's cuts on universal credit and by doing something about the living standards crisis that is still a real problem for working people in britain. how will he pay for all of that?

well, the message from the pension sector is a clear hands off. when bank robber willie sutton was asked why he kept robbing banks, he famously said because that's where the money is. why does the treasury keep coming back and salami slicing away at pensions? because it costs them £48 billion a year. we expect this week to see in the budget an announcement on the money purchase annual allowance, a restriction on people who've taken money out of pension pots and want to pay money back in again subsequently. what would we like to see from the government this time around? really, we'd like them to just leave pensions alone for once. in the long term, we think we need reforms of the pension system, but this is not the time to do it. we can't discuss business without mentioning brexit. back to the tuc‘s frances o'grady, who has this advice. i think the government knows that brexit is the biggest challenge we're facing forjobs and industries in the uk, and if it's serious about getting us

match—fit, then we need big investment, support the manufacturing, for sure, but also investment in public services and in people's pay packets, that's the best way to ensure that the economy can weather the storm. tomorrow philip hammond will brush off his red briefcase for his first and our last spring budget. after that it's an autumn budget and a spring statement but, whatever you call it, what really matter are the figures. the charity, save the children, has said six years of war in syria has left millions of children in a state of toxic stress. a new study found that half of children experience grief or extreme sadness and without help, the damage inflicted could be irreversible. throughout the war, the bbc has reported on the lives of children affected by the conflict. here is a look back on some of these stories. a warning that viewers may find some images distressing. out of the rubble, the shouting and

confusion, the casualties are carried out. among them, a five—year—old boy. his father later spoke to the bbc, he confirmed this little boy's entire family including pa rents little boy's entire family including parents and four brothers and sisters were injured in this attack. there have been countless villains in this war. terrible crimes against humanity have been committed. this boy aged 11 was wounded in an air strike. with me is james denselow, head of humanitarian policy

and advocacy at save the children. always the victims of war particularly in this one. what are the long—term effects that we're seeing now? it has been six years. yes, we're generally seeing a tipping point here. that's what this report shows us. it shows while the children have been resill zant, 2190 days have had its toll. two—thirds lost a loved one or had their house hit. what we are seeing with the idea of toxic stress is unless there are idea of toxic stress is unless there a re steps idea of toxic stress is unless there are steps taken to alleviate the situation in terms of the conflict and in terms of the project and the programme support we can provide they will have a lost generation whose biological effects will go with them into adulthood. whose biological effects will go with them into adulthoodlj whose biological effects will go with them into adulthood. i can only imagine the effects of constant shelling and seeing loved ones die around you. what was the most

shocking aspect of the report?m around you. what was the most shocking aspect of the report? it is a sense of nowhere being safe and the idea of home and school, places that you associate with child safety being seen as places in which they associate with death and destruction. the fact that we are living under a blitz that lasted for six years and at the same time there is this passion for learning, a passion for having a normal life that flame is still kept alive there and there is a desperate sense of being isolated and feeling the world has abandoned them. it is a protracted conflict in which children and civilians are paying a high price than we have seen in previous conflicts and that's the most poring aspect. it seems a silly question. what do the children need? they need to get out and find places of safety, but if that's not possible, what can be done? well, there is a huge discussion about so—called safe zones inside syria. so we will see where that goes, but at the moment there is an inability to... currently in parts of syria, there is one psychiatrist dealing

with a population for over one million. this report is a real wake—up call. it is the first of its kind looking into baseline problems looking into mental health for children and it can give us a point of reference to really upscale our response to these things. you lived in the middle east. one aspect when we talk about young children and people being involved in wars like this. if there is no sense of help ora this. if there is no sense of help or a future, the tendency to get driven into the arms of the extremists and the terrorist, those who are in many ways perpetrating the horror is even greater. is there evidence that's happening? there is evidence that's happening? there is evidence that's happening? there is evidence that children are showing higher signs of aggression as well as the other classic signs of bed wetting and difficulties forming relationships etcetera. i think there is, of course, exposure to armed groups in lots of these areas and bt recruitment to them and the fa ct and bt recruitment to them and the fact that members of their family are joined fact that members of their family arejoined up or fact that members of their family are joined up or linked fact that members of their family arejoined up or linked to them, as well as the day—to—day violence,

when you hear stories of children who witnessed executions and behead, these are being witnessed by young minds. i hear the these are being witnessed by young minds. i hearthe idea these are being witnessed by young minds. i hear the idea that syrian collea g u es minds. i hear the idea that syrian colleagues that there is no childhood left in syria, just small adults. save the children has been at the fore front in this particular war. is there any evidence, any suggestion, that there might be cause for optimism? that this may come to an end? all wars have ended at some point and as we approach the six year anniversary, i think it is a chance to take stock. it is a chance to revive urgence yu for those who are responsible and practitioners to the conflict to address it. we have a peace process that's more or less stalled. we have a meeting in brussels next month when the world's powers will come together to address the challenge and the fall—out from syria and this report should require reading from them and for them to act quickly.

thank you very much. but first the headlines on bbc news: the chancellor is to earmark millions of pounds for new school places for england in the budget tomorrow. facebook under heavy criticism. a bbc investigation finds the social network failed to remove inappropriate and sexualised images of children. barry bennell has been charged with a further eight counts of child sexual abuse alleged to have been carried out in the 1980s. in the business news, e.on has said it will increase its dual fuel standard variable tariffs by 8.8% from next month. electricity prices will rise by an average of 13.8%, and gas prices by almost 4%. e.on said that 2.5 million customers would be affected by the increases, which come into effect at the end of april. the chief executive of the new owner

of vauxhall and opel has said that he will not be shutting plants. speaking to the bbc he said that he wants to "unleash their potential" by exporting the cars outside europe. he said the previous owners, general motors, did not do this. the latest house price index by halifax show that house prices rose 5.1% year on year in the three months to the end of february. the index also reveals that house prices are now increasing at around half the rate seen a year ago. in march last year, the annual house price growth stood at 10%. uncertainty over brexit terms. the food and drink federation said that 90% of businesses it surveyed has seen a hike in costs and half are feeling less confident. joining me now is tim rycroft

from the food and drink federation. let's start off by talking about the manufacturers who say prices have gone up. raw material prices have gone up. raw material prices have gone up. raw material prices have gone up. we have been told manufacturers should be benefiting from the more competitive edge they have now because of the fall in sterling. are you not finding that? yes, 90% of our members tell us that their costs have gone up, whether that's raw materials or energy, whether it is about the cost of employing people, that's also going up. yes, that's a real pressure that they're feeling of the but at the same time, they're seeing opportunity, 2016 was a record year forfood opportunity, 2016 was a record year for food and drink exports, opportunity, 2016 was a record year forfood and drink exports, we smashed through the £20 billion barrier, but there is a lot more to be done and there is a lot more opportunity and that's where our members want to see the government helping them to take advantage of the opportunities. 0k. helping them to take advantage of the opportunities. ok. so nearly half of your members, 47%, said they're feeling uncertain about brexit and that's why they are not feeling as confident. what do you think that they are going to want to

hear from the chancellor tomorrow? two things. so they want to see more support for uk food and drink exports. a brilliant year last year, but only one in five food and drink businesses does export and we think that helping small and medium sized businesses to learn about how to crack overseas markets would be really beneficial. now is the time for government to invest behind our exports for government to invest behind our ex ports su ccess for government to invest behind our exports success so that figure of £20 billion can look more like £30 billion. the second thing we're looking for is investment in skills. i was really heartened to hear over the weekend about potential investment in technical and vocational training. we know we're going to have less access to workers from overseas in the future. so it is very important that we upskill our domestic workforce. 0k. is very important that we upskill our domestic workforce. ok. so invest in skills and training. you wa nt to invest in skills and training. you want to see more investment in the resources . want to see more investment in the resources. what happens if that doesn't happen? if there is not enough money and we have to make sure that businesses grow organically and are able to train

their staff internally? the cost pressures we talked about are very acute and i think if we don't get some help to boost those positives, to really seize the opportunities, then my fear is we're going to see factories being closed and small businesses going out of business during this period of particular uncertainty and particular cost pressure. 0k, and what about jobs? well, naturally, if factories close and if businesses close then jobs will be lost as well. thank you very much forjoining us. remember snap, the company behind disappearing messaging app snapchat, that went public last week with stocks soaring 44% on their first day of trading? well, its wall street honeymoon may be over. it's shares tanked more than 12% on monday, falling below the price at which they opened when they started trading last week. kathleen brook, research directorfor city index, gave her take on why the firm has lost its ipo gains. snap are saying we want to list on

these indepks, however we don't want to give you any voting rights and some of these guy also have to buy sizeable amount of snap and they wa nt to sizeable amount of snap and they want to have a say. the founders, he makes the decision. the asset managers are saying hang on, if we put a lot of money into your company, we want a say as well. there is tension between them. what we have seen with google and alphabet and facebook, they have non voting rights shares, however, they leave those to the sidement they are given to company members or employees of the company and they have actually caved and they do allow voting right shares. paddy power betfair has reported a loss of £5.7 million for 2016. shares in directline down after it reported that profits had fallen due

to changes in the way compensation payments are to be calculated. when you think of reducing air pollution, you probably think of electric cars and energy efficient light bulbs, but academics at birmingham university believe pigeons are the answer! city flocks is a new project which sends pigeons with sensors strapped to their backs into the sky to record more accurate pollution forecasts. graham satchell went to watch their maiden flight. can pigeons help us in the battle against air pollution? it sounds far—fetched, but academics at birmingham university are convinced it can. everybody i brought into it, they first give me the look that maybe you're giving me. it's sort of, "is this for real? is this actually going to work?" we have a superfast temperature sensor... climate scientist rick thomas will attach these tiny sensor packs to the backs of pigeons. if we know the temperature

above the rooftops, we can test the models of urban air pollution. time for the test flight. fitting the sensors is a delicate operation. hello, my little friend. they are tiny, just 5% of the pigeon's weight, to protect the welfare of the birds. one pigeon has a tiny camera fitted to record the flight. much is resting on the next few minutes. i feel nervous. this is the first time we've done this. it's the culmination of many months of work to get to this stage. i think they'lljust take off and find their way home. i'll cross my fingers for that. it is the moment of truth. they look happy enough. they look like pigeons flying to me. did they to you? they will flyjust over a mile. this is the disorienting view from the pigeon—cam. but what is it scientists are trying to discover?

they already know that nitrous oxide, the pollution that comes out of diesel engines, rises with the heat coming from roads to rooftop level. but what happens to the pollution next? where does it go? to model it, they need accurate data in this microclimate. but how do you get the data? ithought, well, birds, they fly everywhere. if they could carry our sensors if they could be tiny and accurate enough. we could start to understand the dispersion of air pollution around the city. just six minutes after taking off, the pigeons are back. oh, brilliant. there is an anxious wait as the sensor is retrieved. the light is still flashing. that's a good sign. this is what the data shows — the route taken by the pigeons and, crucially, the temperature just above the rooftops.

it will show how it changes across big cities. rick says it will be used by planners to see where we should build hospitals and schools. it could give us much more accurate street—by—street air pollution forecasts. i call him number 80. it's not a particularly heroic name, but, pigeon number 80, we salute you and your contribution to the fight against air pollution. let's look at what's happening in the lords. we're expecting a vote, quite possibly, we will get the vote in the next hour. all to do with britain's departure from the eu. the government facing the prospect of another defeat in the lords about the process of leaving the european union. the bishop of york there, talking at

moment. the government is facing a possible defeat. we will bring you that result as soon as it happens. this debate is winding up now in the house of lords. we will return shortly. it's time to catch up with the weather prospects. nick miller. for most places it has been a lovely afternoon. some of us are starting to see patchy rain move in. the story for the rest of the week now is temperatures edging up a few degrees. milder air is temperatures edging up a few degrees. milderair coming in. we colour them mild air, yellow and orange. i hope you've enjoyed the sunshine today. it has been in evidence in scarborough as we can see. not so in

cornwall. quickly it clouded over this morning. we have seen some outbreaks of rain because we have low pressure and the frontal system coming our way from the atlantic. as we've noticed, it is into cornwall. it's into northern ireland as well. it's into northern ireland as well. it is light and patchy. for northern ireland, northern england and scotland, it will be turning heavier through this evening tonight, but elsewhere, some heavier bursts too. hill snow for northern england and scotland. temperatures up and down. either with or after rain overnight, but it is going to be a milder night thanit but it is going to be a milder night than it was last night and a milder start to the day tomorrow morning. here is a look at things north to south from 8am. plenty of showers to come on strong to gale force winds across northern scotland tomorrow. a few bright spells in between. plenty of morning sunshine for the central belt and southern scotland and for northern ireland and for northern england. we have a trailing front and that's affecting south wales, south mid—land and southern england and parts of east anglia tomorrow.

with cloud and occasion outbreaks of rain. there are pulses of energy running along this trailing weather front. so it may dry up and brighten up front. so it may dry up and brighten up and then you get another area of rain and the wlet might come back. strong to gale force winds pushing plenty of shors across northern scotland. you can see the bulk of the dry and sunny weather across northern ireland, northern england and north wales and the north midlands and temperatures have come up midlands and temperatures have come upafew midlands and temperatures have come up a few degrees. it is feeling mild. further showers affecting the north and the west of scotland. they will ease on thursday with the wind. on thursday. a lot of fine weather again. feeling really pleasant in the sunshine. more cloud to the far south and south—west with outbreaks of rain. pushing northwards on friday with plenty of cloud. still mild on friday. but much cloudier. the weekend at the moment is looking u nsettled. the weekend at the moment is looking unsettled. spells of rain moving through or showers, but there will be drier and brighter moments too.

we'll keep an eye on the weekend over the next few days and keep you up—to—dated and there is a forecast for where you are or where you're going on our website. this is bbc news, i'm simon mccoy, the headlines at four. the government braces itself for a another possible defeat over the brexit bill in the house of lords. extra funding for schools in england. tomorrow's budget will set aside more than £300 million for school places, which could mean new grammars. former football coach barry bennell is charged with eight further counts of child sex abuse, alleged to have been carried out during the 1980s. charities condemn facebook after a bbc investigation found the social network failed to remove sexualised images of children. cctv footage from australia shows a british backpackerjust before she was rescued by police after allegedly being held captive for more than two months. in the next hour, a coroner concludes that george michael died of natural causes. the singer, who was found dead at his home on christmas day, died from heart and liver disease.