this is bbc news, the headlines at eight. famine in parts of africa and the middle east could lead to the biggest humanitarian crisis since 1945 according the united nations. a retiring judge is criticised for saying women can protect themselves against potential rapists by not getting too drunk. critics say her remarks blame victims for the crime. the labour leader, jeremy corbyn, says it would be absolutely fine for scotland to hold a second independence referendum. online touts who bulk buy tickets and sell them for inflated prices will face unlimited fines under government plans. and it's victory for england at twickenham, aas the hosts claim the six nations trophy with a win against scotland. and in half an hour, bbc sport takes a look at paralympicgb's medal prospects at the winter paralympics in south korea.

good evening and welcome to bbc news. the world's facing its largest humanitarian crisis since 1945. that's the assessment of the united nations which says more than 20 million people face the threat of starvation and famine in four countries in africa and the middle east. three and a half billion pounds are said to be needed — byjuly — to avert disaster. this report from our world affairs correspondent richard galpin contains images some people may find distressing. for months now, it's been known that millions of people, including this young baby in yemen, have been starving. she was just four months old when a bbc team met her in december. across yemen, hundreds of thousands

more children have so little to eat they are struggling to stay alive. and the threat of mass starvation is affecting three other countries. this is a refugee camp in south sudan, which, like yemen, has been torn apart by conflict. families forced to flee their homes and left with little to eat. already, a famine has been officially declared here, with almost half the population in urgent need of help. we stand at a critical point in our history. already, at the beginning of the year, we are facing the largest humanitarian crisis since the creation of the united nations. now more than 20 million people across four countries face starvation and famine. without collective and coordinated global efforts, people will simply starve to death. of the huge number of people the un says are now in danger,

almost 2 million are in nigeria, nearly 5 million in south sudan, nearly 3 million in somalia, and more than 1a million in yemen. the un is predicting that, without serious help, 1.4 million people could die before the end of the year unless more aid money is found. they're calling for 5.6 billion to tackle this crisis. aid agencies on the ground say at the moment they do not have enough money to deal with the rising demand for help. a child who suffers from severe acute malnutrition, unless they are treated, there is a high likelihood they will die. if they are treated, then they can recover completely, and the cost of that treatment can be as little as $80. apart from conflict, the other because of the crisis is drought. somalia has been hit hard.

in this hospital alone, almost 50 children have died in two months, most from dehydration. with the lives of so many children like these now at risk, the un believes the global response must be quick. richard galpin, bbc news. and we'll find out how this story, and many others, are covered in tomorrow's front pages at 10:30 and 11:30pm this evening in the papers — our guests joining me tonight are the political commentatorjo phillips and nigel nelson, political editor of the sunday mirror and the sunday people. ajudge has been criticised after warning women who get drunk that they are putting themselves in danger of being targeted by rapists. lindsay kushner qc said what she called "disinhibited behaviour" could put women at risk. her comments have been described by the campaign group rape crisis as "outrageous" and "misguided". frankie mccamley reports. jailed for six years

for what police described as a horrifically prolonged attack. ricardo rodriguez was found guilty of two counts of rape, but, sentencing, judge lindsey kushner used herfinal words before retiring to issue a rape warning to women. she said girls are perfectly entitled to drink themselves into the ground but should be aware of potential defendants to rape gravitate towards girls who have been drinking. if push comes to shove, a girl who has been drunk is less likely to be believed than one who is sober at the time. while many might see her comments as useful advice, others believe this is a backwards step. i'm very anxious that whatever message she meant to send, it's very clear that what it has sent is the message

there is not much point in reporting. that's wrong. whatever amount of drink you've had, do report, you will be treated better than this suggests. a rape survivor herself, this woman now helps others through the ordeal. it makes all of us really quite angry, and not just because they're arrogant, factually incorrect comments, but it's one thing to go around making these comments when you sit in a court room all day, and you are engaging in one aspect of society without engaging with the women who are experiencing this. judge lindsey kushner is not the first to comment on this sensitive subject. otherjudges have faced criticism in the past. campaigners, though, hope this will not stop other rape survivors from coming forward in the future. frankie mccamley, bbc news. the bitter diplomatic row between turkey and the netherlands appears to be worsening. president erdogan has described the dutch government as "nazi remnants" after it stopped his foreign minister from flying to rotterdam and holding a rally of turkish voters there in favour of a referendum

giving the turkish presidency more powers. there's been a demonstration outside the dutch consulate in istanbul today. our correspondent mark lowen reports. they love his nationalism, his blindness, his standing up to the west, and today recep tayyip erdogan doled it out. after his foreign minister was blocked from landing in the netherlands, president erdogan hit back at the dutch, his diplomacy typically undiplomatic. translation: they don't know anything about politics or international diplomacy. they are very nervous and cowards. they are nazi remnants, they are fascists. the foreign minister had wanted to rally turkish voters in the netherlands before a referendum on boosting mr erdogan‘s powers. but with the dutch election

next week, the government there feared it could provoke tension and feed the anti—immigrant geert wilders. on the campaign trail, the dutch prime minister said he wouldn't give in turkish blackmail. this morning, on television, he made clear that he threatened the netherlands with sanctions, and of course we cannot negotiate under such threats. so then we decided, the foreign minister, the flemish prime minister and myself in a conference call, that it was better for him not to come to the netherlands. his country having been occupied by the nazis, mr rutte reacted bluntly to the fascist comparison. it's a crazy remark, of course. i understand they're angry, but this is of course way out. germany too was branded nazis by mr erdogan after it blocked turkish rallies — unprecedented language among nato allies. president erdogan has an advantage with europe, turkey the most active route for migrants,

and its role crucial to stemming the flow. he's used it as a bargaining chip, but the eu is getting increasingly frustrated with the turkish strongman. this is a classic erdogan political tactic — painting turkey as the victim of western oppression and himself as the protector of national pride. he thrives when he and his country are seen as the underdogs, and this growing stand—off with europe will rally his nationalist support base, which he needs for a referendum victory. so vintage erdogan, pleasing his supporters, horrifying his opponents, and reiterating the sense that polarised turkey is drifting everfurtherfrom europe. mark lowen, bbc news, istanbul. reports from syria say at least a0 people have been killed, and dozens injured, following two explosions in the capital damascus. it's thought two suicide bombers targeted buses transporting shi'ite pilgrims near an ancient cemetery in the city. it's not yet clear who

was behind the attack. our correspondent alan johnston reports. these explosions went off in the vicinity of an ancient cemetery. it houses the mausoleums of several prominent shia muslim religious figures. it's a sacred place that draws visitors from across the shia world. and when the bombers struck, they targeted a parking area for buses that bring pilgrims to the site. video images show the shattered vehicles. on the ground around them were some of the belongings of the victims of the attack — shoes, items of clothing, a wheelchair. there are reports that most of the dead were iraqi citizens. it's not yet clear who was behind this, but the islamic state group has set off bombs before in damascus that have aimed at causing casualties among shia muslim pilgrims, who the militants regard as religious heretics. alan johnston, bbc news. the labour leader, jeremy corbyn,

has said it would be absolutely fine for scotland to hold a second independence referendum. the scottish first minister, nicola sturgeon, hasn't ruled out holding another vote next year because of brexit. our political correspondent alex forsyth has been following the story. shehzad the usual the second referendum has become all contentious after the brexit vote. we have had increasing chat about the prospect of a second referendum since the brexit vote, because the majority of people in scotland wanted to stay in the eu. we had some clarification from jeremy corbyn, saying it was not for westminster to decide. in principle,

he object the idea. if there were to bea he object the idea. if there were to be a referendum, labour would campaign against independence, as they did previously, but he says the opposition to the idea of a second referendum should come from scotland, it is not something for westminster to impose its will on scotla nd westminster to impose its will on scotland about. and that, his people say, is in line with the labour party wider view. presumably good news for nicola sturgeon, who is meeting a wall of resistance to the idea. she tweeted when she saw the comments, saying it is nice to have jeremy corbyn campaigning in scotland. you can say she is trying to use it to further vocals. she said later that she had not ruled out the possibility of a referendum as early as next year. this is obviously something the snp has wa nted obviously something the snp has wanted for some time, and with the uk said to leave the single market, nicola sturgeon sees this as an opportunity to bring the case for a second referendum. but of course it is not just second referendum. but of course it is notjust the blue scotland, and thatis is notjust the blue scotland, and that is where this issue withjeremy corbyn comes into play, because it is down to westminster to give the

final say in scotland. and jeremy corbyn and many of the other big players in westminster recognise that in doing that, it would be seen as imposing westminster‘s will in scotla nd as imposing westminster‘s will in scotland — none of them want to be seen doing that. where does this leave the issue of a second referendum? most people have said if there is an appetite for it, that is when the snp will come forward. nicola sturgeon, it is something she has always wanted, and without a shadow of a doubt they dominate politics in scotland at the moment. so this is not an issue that will go away, there has been increasing talk about it. nobody has ruled out the possibility, not even theresa may, but the conservative party and the labour party position is that it should not be the focus now. they have consistently said that the question was settled in the previous independence referendum and the time is not right for it. jeremy corbyn today, later from the is not right for it. jeremy corbyn today, laterfrom the initial comments, says that is still his position. alex forsyth speaking earlier. online ticket touts who buy in bulk

and then sell tickets for inflated prices will face unlimited fines under new government plans. it will also be illegal to use so—called "bots" , or automated computer software , to bypass limits on the maximum amount of tickets that can be bought. our business correspondent joe lynam reports. when it comes to seeing your idols up close, people will sometimes pay large sums. but increasingly fans are being priced out by robots, or bots, that snap up tickets in seconds and resell them at inflated prices. and fans are often squeezed out. it stops the youth from going to these places, from seeing these shows, it's not really fair. it's not necessarily fraud, but if people are making money out of something that it's kind of a bit like you shouldn't put such a premium on something. the rise of the internet has enabled touts to use software known as bots to automatically buy up thousands of tickets in seconds, and that's what the government wants to make a criminal offence with unlimited fines. this is one of the reasons why the government wants to make the use of these bots a criminal offence with unlimited fines. we think it's unacceptable that fans are being ripped off by these computer bots buying up all the tickets and then selling

them at inflated prices. so we're going to make that illegal, so that people can buy tickets more easily and fans can get to the concerts, the sports venues that they want to. but can we ever fully remove illegal ticket touts? there's always more that can be done. as long as there are people out there wanting to profit on the back of tickets, there will be people wanting to buy those tickets as well. the important thing is to sort of distil it to a good market, a market that works well for the industry, and a market that works well for consumers as well. and that might mean that official ticket sellers for popular shows will have to be far more vigilant when someone tries to suddenly buy or suddenly sell a lot of tickets. criminalising these bots which snap up tickets which fans otherwise want could work, but if they're overseas, then there's very little the government could do. also, ticketing experts say that the bots might in fact be real human beings, paid paltry sums of money by the illegal ticket touts to do their work — criminalising them would be fraught with problems. joe lynam, bbc news, in the west end. with me is reg walker,

a ticket fraud expert and operations manager at iridium consultancy, which tackles ticket irregularities for a major uk gig venues. it sounds like this is quite different from what we grew up with. i think, with the advent of the internet, it was a massively changed landscape, and the stereotypical arthur daley typed out on the streets are less of a problem now than people on the internet. how do these so—called bots actually work? many people will be starting to face what they think barriers to the bots, saying you have to copy down a piece of writing or identify a photo? it is very simple, touts have coders make custom—made programmes for them, custom—made software which targets primary ticketing systems.

this system has security bypass features in, they are relatively simple for the bots to get around, and now we are seeing more complex bypasses, which your card details should match the address being given. do you believe it is an issue that can be tackled, and that these kind of fines could work?|j that can be tackled, and that these kind of fines could work? i think it isa kind of fines could work? i think it is a quantum leap forward. it will have an impact if the legislation is made to supranational, if it is an offence everywhere in the world, the same as it was for tickets for the 2012 olympics. without that, it would be simple for touts to operate offshore and still carry on using the software. are there currently penalties in place? is this going to bea penalties in place? is this going to be a big difference? it is a massive difference, bots are already illegal under the computer misuse act, but that has never been tested. the fines for that relatively modest. with unlimited fines, this must be a

major deterrent. and what about the suggestion from some people that the problem is that there is a slightly murky, dodgy dealing that happens between the people selling the tickets initially, the venues and so on, and the people that we come into contact with on the internet, the ticket vendors? there have been scandals where promoters and their representatives have been caught placing tickets directly onto the secondary sites at vastly inflated prices. i think the bigger problem though is that the primary ticket agents themselves are not doing enough to clamp down on touts harvesting tickets from their systems. and why is that? is it too much effort for them? presumably they don't get any money extra from it, do they not care who is buying the tickets. two reason - first, the more tickets a primary ticket agency sells, the faster they sell them, the quicker they can get more to sell. so that is a cycle. the second

one is some primary ticket agents are conflicted, they have primary and resale sites, so there is no incentive for them to actually block the touts and the bots in the first place. it sounds like quite a big issue, good to hear your thoughts. the headlines on bbc news: famine in parts of africa and the middle east could lead to the biggest humanitarian crisis since 1945, according the united nations. a retiring judge is criticised for saying women can protect themselves against potential rapists by not getting too drunk. critics say her remarks blame victims for the crime. the labour leader, jeremy corbyn, says it would be fine for scotland to hold a second independence referendum. ok, sport now, and for a

full round—up from the bbc sport centre, let's join full round—up from the bbc sport centre, let'sjoinjessica. full round—up from the bbc sport centre, let's join jessica. rachel, thank you very much, good evening, everyone. we start with rugby. england have retained their six nations title with an emphatic 61—21win over scotland at twickenham. the victory secures them the calcutta cup and equals new zealands record of 18 straight test wins. alex gulrajanio reports on a great day for english rugby. advice twickenham just after two, any view will do. when england arrived at this match, unbeaten, as all the spectators well knew. they have won their games in the six nations by being good enough. the tea m nations by being good enough. the team which i've really excelled and found a new level in the tournament, that was scotland. passion and aggression come as standard — the challenge of rugby is control. a minute into the game, a stag lane elliot daly, sin—binned. but if

there was a glimmer of space in the scotla nd there was a glimmer of space in the scotland defence, england had a man to exploit it, jonathan joseph scotland defence, england had a man to exploit it, jonathanjoseph — gonna. scotland were stretched. their star back, stuart hogg, off, head injury. guess what, jonathan joseph had the ball again, and he was gone again. lovely step, what a try from jonathan joseph! now, finally, says the coach, you are listening to me. muscle from one metre can be as effective as a dash from a distance. two minute into the second half, joseph again, almost at a stroll, his hat—trick. billy vunipola, more of a bulldozer, and 110w vunipola, more of a bulldozer, and now this was record score territory for england. scottish labour was never given the oxygen to breeze, 61-21 in never given the oxygen to breeze, 61—21 in the end. —— scottish flair.

the six nations cup awaits in dublin, one more win there and england will have the record for consecutive victories. with eddie jones in charge, they can lose, but so far they never have. earlier, france ended their dismal six nations away form with a bonus—point 40—18 win against italy in rome. the women's six nations will go down to the final weekend, with both ireland and england winning their penultimate matches to remain unbeaten in the tournament. ireland edged past wales, while england's kay wilson ran in a record seven tries against scotland. england ran out winner by 64—0. lincoln city's fairy—tale fa cup run has come to an end at the quarterfinal stage. they were the first non—league side to reach the last eight of the competition since 1914. but their brave efforts weren't enough

against premier league arsenal at the emirates. theo walcott opened the scoring just before half—time. the gunners scored four more after the break, including this one from alexis sanchez, to secure their place in the semifinals. earlier, manchester city cruised passed middlesbrough at the riverside stadium. david silva scored after three minutes, and sergio aguero sealed the victory in the second half. hull city boosted their chances of premier league survival with a 2—1win over swansea city. substitute oumar niasse scored twice to help hull take an important three points. swansea got a goal back but remain in 16th place. everton continued their push for a top—six place with a 3—0 win over west brom. bournemouth finally have their first league win of 2017, thanks to a hat trick from joshua king. in the scottish premiership, niall mcginn scored the only goal

of the match as second place aberdeen beat motherwell. hearts thrashed second from bottom hamilton academical 4—0. partick drew with the side at the bottom of the table, inverness caledonian thistle. kilmarnock won at ross county, and stjohnstone beat dundee. that's all the sport for now. i'll have more in the next hour. jess, thank you very much indeed. more than 60 prisoners were moved out of a jail in dorset last night after a major fire was started by an inmate. it's believed the prisoner climbed onto the roof of hmp guys marsh near shaftesbury, after complaining about a change of regime at the prison. fiona lamdin reports. flames and thick smoke filled the night sky above hmp guys marsh. after an inmate, thought to be drunk, set light to them on top of the prison roofjust after eight o'clock last night. as firefighters controlled what they described as the large

fire outside, inside 64 prisoners were moved from their cells to the safety of the gym. in an unannounced inspection, two and a half years ago, investigators found this place in crisis. they said staff and managers had all but lost control. they said one in four prisoners felt unsafe as gangs operate openly. from where you are here, what could you actually see? we could see out of our bedroom windows some flames. george bolton lives opposite the prison. as i understand it, he ripped tiles off the roof and set fire to his clothes, and it caught the timbers alight. that's where the fire came from. we didn't see flames, because we can't see past that house there, but we did see the glow. another blaze in another prison. it'sjust one in a long string — 50 fires are reported each week in prisons in england and wales. these figures have doubled in two years, a strong indication of the problems going on behind the country's prison fences.

fiona lamdin, bbc news. an intruder has been arrested in the grounds of the white house, the us secret service has confirmed. president donald trump is thought to have been in residence when secret service agents arrested the intruder, who was carrying a backpack. although the backpack was screened, no dangerous materials were found. police have clashed with rioters in italy's southern city of naples. the trouble broke out during protests against the visit of a northern league politician whose party has been known for its anti—southern stance. police used water cannon and tear gas to disperse an estimated 200 to 300 people who broke away from a peaceful march and started throwing rocks and petrol bombs. a giant green sea turtle has been returned to the sea off the florida keys, a month after becoming tangled in a crab trap. janey mitchell has more.

joy, as jolly the female turtle is released back to the wild off the city of marathon, florida. jolly was named after the wildlife officers who helped rescue her from multiple crab trap lines last month. weighing in at 150 kilos, she made a quick recovery from the partial amputation of her right rear flipper. the release is timely. the nesting season in florida keys starts in april. so she being a mature female, she can get out there in time to date and hopefully lay some eggs. breeding is all the more crucial in view of the green sea turtles' listing as a threatened species in the atlantic ocean. it's really important to get a turtle this mature back out into the wild — they are sexually mature, which means they are productive, and sea turtles aren't reproductive until they are 20 or 25 years old. jolly is probably 50 plus years old,

so that's when we want to make sure she gets out so she keeps making baby turtles. jolly could live to 100 or more, so well worth shelling out for her treatment and care. janey mitchell, bbc news. good news there! now a look at the weather prospects for the weekend with helen willetts. the sun shone across south—eastern areas, and the warmest day of the yearfor northern areas, and the warmest day of the year for northern ireland, areas, and the warmest day of the yearfor northern ireland, but underneath the cloud quite reread for southern scotland, coastal fog in the south, and generally speaking thatis in the south, and generally speaking that is because we have a weather front that will be joined in force by another weather front coming into northern ireland. with all the cloud and patchy rain, it would be a cold night, just a rather grey and misty

start to sunday morning. and then it looks like a different day for the eastern side of england with damp and dreary weather, not a huge amount of rain, and as it meanders, it beaters out. decent sunshine in eastern areas initially, through the spine of the country, then later in the west, but for northern ireland nowhere near the temperature we have seen today. sunday night into monday morning will be a chilly one, but otherwise a great deal of dry weather to start the week. hello. this is bbc news. the headlines: more than 20 million people are at

risk of starvation in yemen, nigeria, south cezanne and somalia in what the un says is the biggest humanitarian crisis since the end of the second world war. —— south sudan. ajudge the second world war. —— south sudan. a judge has the second world war. —— south sudan. ajudge has been criticised for warning women they put themselves at greater risk of rape if they drink too much. labour leaderjeremy corbyn said it would be absolutely fine for scotland to hold a second referendum on independence. how to buy tickets online and seldom for inflated prices are to face unlimited fines. the crackdown follows pressure from mps. and england have beaten scotla nd mps. and england have beaten scotland 61—21 to win rugby's six nations. now on bbc news, in path to pyeongchang, nick hope brings