this is bbc news, the headlines at three: the president of the european council, donald tusk, suggests a phased strategy for brexit negotiations, allowing trade talks to begin once progress is made on the divorce deal. starting our talks on all issues at the same time as suggested by some in the uk will not happen. we really are moving forward now and there is a lot of goodwill, a lot of willingness, to achieve what the prime minister has said she wants to achieve, which is an orderly transition. there will be longer waits for routine operations like hip replacements as the nhs in england tries to improve a&e and cancer treatments. the government denies reports of a £10 billion hole in britain's defence budget but admits there will be will more cuts to come. also, it's one of the biggest wildlife conservation projects

ever seen in britain. the back from the brink campaign is being launched today and it aims to save at least 20 species from extinction. and it's full steam ahead for the flying scotsman at the re—opening of the settle—to—carlisle rail line. good afternoon and welcome to bbc news. the european union has given its first formal response to the uk's decision to trigger article 50 and begin the process of leaving the eu. the president of the european council, donald tusk, warned the talks would be "complex and sometimes confrontational". and he said negotiations on future trade relations would only start after there had been what he called "sufficient progress" on the separation settlement between the eu and the uk.

he was speaking at a meeting of eu leaders in malta, from where our europe correspondent, chris morris, sent this report. time to get serious. two days ago donald tusk expressed real emotion at the prospect of the uk leaving the eu. this morning, in malta, it was down to business. he's now sent draft negotiating guidelines to the other 27 countries, setting a tough tone for two years of talks, that mr tusk says could be difficult, complex and sometimes confrontational. the eu says four issues should be discussed first. the rights of citizens, legal certainty for businesses, the size of the divorce bill and the border between northern ireland and the republic. only then is it prepared to talk about a future trade relationship. whilst and only whilst we have achieved sufficient progress on the withdrawal, can we discuss the framework for our future relationship.

starting parallel talks on issues at the same time, as suggested by some in the uk, will not happen. and mr tusk suggested that the uk would have little say in the matter. what does sufficient progress mean, and who is it, simply and who is it simply the european council who will define that? it must be clear that eu, as 27, decides if sufficient progress has been achieved. probably in the autumn. at least i hope so. there was also a warning that the uk should not try to hold separate discussions with individual member states. divide and rule, the eu insists, will not be allowed. plenty for the government to chew on. at a nato meeting in brussels the foreign secretary was keen to emphasise the positive. both sides genuinely want an ambitious partnership in the future.

we really are moving forward now and there's a lot of goodwill, a lot of willingness, to achieve what the prime minister has said she wants to achieve, which is an orderly transition and a deep and special partnership between a strong eu and a strong uk. no one ever thought this was going to be easy. this document from the eu shows how many hurdles there are going to be along the road. and if there were to be a transition phase between full membership and a totally new relationship in the future, it suggests that the uk would have to accept that current laws and budget contributions would continue to apply. our correspondent dan johnson is in brussels. one of the questions is who decides when substantial progress has been

made and how do you define it? donald tusk thinks that decision should be left to the european council, to the leaders of the other 27 nations, it is up to them to decide how progress is going and at what stage they want to start talking about a new relationship. the british government will not be pleased, they want to feel they are equal in these negotiations, if not calling the shots themselves. but european leaders think they hold the upper hand now the clock is ticking and they are determined to keep a strong position in these talks. there is probably satisfaction or relief on both sides that donald task was quite clear that the issue of eu migrants must be one of the first things to be addressed. we are talking about brits abroad and eu migrants in this country. everybody has agreed that those people in that situation need certainty very quickly. they are all agreed on

addressing that very quickly, but how they address those issues and agree the rights of those people have gets more complicated. now donald tusk has laid out the different phases of the negotiations, withdrawal, a new relationship and also transitional arrangements. that makes it even more complicated because different rights perhaps for people who are already settled, then for people in the transition period. would they enjoy different access to education, health care, pensions and benefits? what about people who move after the withdrawal is completed? many layers of complexity to these talks. the other area they are agreed on

addressing urgently is the situation of the irish border. that will please people there who want certainty about the new arrangement. one issue that has cropped up that is causing concern is about gibraltar. these draft guidelines propose spain should in effect have to be to over any agreement that has an impact on life in gibraltar. assuming the people of gibraltar will be treated equally by the british government, that means spain could be to any agreement that britain was about to enter into. that will be another point of contention as they get down to negotiating once these draft guidelines are agreed in a month's time. a letter from the scottish government formally requesting the power to hold a second referendum on scottish independence has been delivered to the prime minister. in the letter, the first minister nicola sturgeon repeats her call for a vote within the next two years. theresa may has already said it won't happen before brexit is complete. our correspondent james shaw is in edinburgh and explained more about what was in the letter. in her letter drafted here at bute house, the first minister nicola sturgeon says there is no rational

reason why the prime minister should reject her request for a second independence referendum. if it is an issue of timing, she says the vote could take place after brexit negotiations have finished so people in scotland have a choice between brexit and independence. she also hinted what her reaction might be if her request is rejected. in my view the will of the scottish parliament must be respected, it is a quest of not if it is respected, but how. if the prime minister chooses not to do that, i will set out to parliament over the next few weeks is what i intend to do to make sure the will of the parliament is respected and we make progress towards giving the people of scotland a choice. well, what might that response be? perhaps ina what might that response be? perhaps in a worst—case scenario it could be the first minister somehow disrupting or delaying the

legislative process which is intended to repatriate, to bring back powers from europe to the united kingdom. ministers here in edinburgh and in london will be thinking aboutjust edinburgh and in london will be thinking about just how edinburgh and in london will be thinking aboutjust how disruptive that could be. waiting times will be longer for routine operations, such as hip and knee replacements, as a "trade off" for improvements in a&e performance and better treatment in other areas. that's according to the head of nhs england, simon stevens, who's unveiling a strategy for the nhs over the next two years. he says increasing patient demand and the growth in new treatments, mean that choices have to be made. at the age of 97, iris needs a little help, especially after recovering from a recent illness. so her gp called a local nhs service that provides the right care in the right place and for iris, that was home. the treatment at home has been absolutely wonderful. they have said, you need a commode,

it was there straightaway. you need a walking frame, it was there straightaway. without help at home, iris might have ended up here, in her local a&e. one of the big challenges facing busy emergency departments like this one is how to reduce the sheer pressure in terms of numbers of patients who are attending, particularly those frail, older people who might be treated at home. so today's announcement reflects a broader push to keep people out of hospital whenever possible. nhs england leaders are taking stock of progress since their five—year plan was published in 2014. a new strategy also focuses on improved cancer survival rates, increased access to mental health therapies and recruiting more gps. but nhs leaders are warning that faced with limited resources, there will be a trade—off between these improvements and other services.

for example, people may have to wait longer for nonurgent operations. there is a solution and that lies in encouraging different component parts of the nhs to work much more closely together along with local authorities and social services to help us get people out of hospital. but medical unions say patients with conditions such as heart disease or chronic pain will be affected. these things are being de—prioritised at the moment whereas i think that to an individual patient, the important thing is to be able to treat every patient on time as to what they need. and today, it's clearer than ever the money available to the health service means tough decisions are being made. there is only a fixed pot of money for the nhs and social care and we can't meet all of the priorities that matter to patients and the public without additional funding so the onus is on politicians, nhs leaders to start a discussion with the public about what the nhs can afford. a crisis in a&e, the collapse of social care and financial problems have all threatened to blow the nhs england five—year plan off course.

today, the health service is trying to refocus on what works for patients like iris. the defence secretary, sir michael fallon, has denied a report that a funding shortfall has left the armed forces trying to find an extra billion pounds in savings every year for the next ten years. the claim's based on an analysis and conversations with seven serving and former senior officers. richard galpin reports. the armed forces are in the midst of a major upgrade. new aircraft carriers, planes and submarines on order. but all this now reportedly leaving a £10 billion hole in the defence ministry's budget. the report has come just as the defence secretary, sir michael fallon, holds talks here with his us counterpart, james mattis. the americans want all nato member states to have well funded defence budgets and therefore effective military forces.

and there are now fears that the reported budget problem here could lead to cuts to the royal marines. and sir michael has not ruled this out. the royal navy is growing over all, growing by around 400, because the royal navy is getting new ships, new submarines, and then it is up to the first sea lord as to the number of sailors he has and royal marines he has. the estimated price tag for the royal navy's dreadnought submarines increased by £620 million between 2015 and 2016. the project will take several decades to complete. and the cost of the f—35 joint strike fighters, bought from the united states, has increased by £843 million. it is still not known when the new aircraft carriers will be commissioned. some of our major potential

opponents like iran, china and russia are improving their capabilities day by day. we are not matching those capabilities, nor are we providing the technologies that are needed to suppress some of their systems. at a separate meeting today in brussels, nato foreign ministers are holding talks with the us secretary of state, rex tillerson. britain is one of a minority of member states which does meet its commitment of spending 2% of gdp on defence. right now, hundreds of british and other nato troops are in estonia and other areas bordering russia. part of an operation to counter russia's current aggressive foreign policy. this is a time when nato needs to be particularly strong. richard galpin, bbc news at lancaster house. the headlines on bbc news:

the president of the european council, donald tusk, suggests a phased approach to brexit negotiations and says discussions about future trade relations can only begin after sufficient progress has been made on a divorce deal. the chief executive of nhs england, simon stevens, has warned that nhs waiting times will be longer for routine operations as a "trade off" for better treatment in other areas. defence secretary michael fallon has denied there is a black hole in the defence budget, but refused to rule out cuts to the royal marines. johanna konta continues to impress. she has made the final of the miami open. she will play caroline wozniacki. aston villa manager steve bruce said his defender neil taylor is desperately sorry for the tackle that broke seamus coleman's leg during their international match last friday. and defending champion

judd trump is out of the china open after losing to world number 76 in the quarterfinals. i will be back with more just after half past. a man remains in a critical but stable condition in hospital after being stabbed during an attack at his home in the west midlands. his wife and their teenage son were stabbed to death. detectives are continuing to question a man in his 20s, who was arrested nearby. phil mackie is in stourbridge. what are the police saying this afternoon? we expect very shortly to know whether they will apply for an extension to his custody time limit because he has been in custody for 24 hours. he was arrested a short distance from here yesterday in a land rover which had been taken from the wilkinson family home. a growing

number of floral tributes are here today. two headteachers from redhill school, which is where13—year—old peers will concern when, came and laid some flowers. they said pearce was a loyal, caring and conscientious pupil and will be sadly missed by all members of the school community. he met everyone with a smile and was a kind and thoughtful young man and he was passionate about west bromwich albion and donate absolutely adored his pet dog mandy. they will be keeping a close eye on the father peter wilkinson who is in a stable condition, but still critical. his wife tracy was killed here yesterday along with her son. we are still not any along with her son. we are still not a ny clearer along with her son. we are still not any clearer about the man in custody. he was arrested in a land rover not far from here about half an hour after the police were called to the house in stourbridge. locals

here say he was somebody who was down on his luck with the family had befriended and who had helped him with work. i suspect as the afternoon continues we will see more people coming to lay tributes. it is something that has genuinely touched the hearts of many people here. ken livingstone has said he is hopeful labour will not expel him because of comments he made about hitler. a former mayor of london is facing an internal disciplinary hearing following his claim that the german dictator supported zionism in the 1930s. the conduct panel is expected to deliver its verdict a little later today. let's find out more from our political correspondent who is at the hearing. this is the second day. what has been happening? we are waiting for the verdict which we think might

happen this afternoon. we heard from ken livingstone who is going through this internal labour party disciplinary procedure. a couple of hours ago. yesterday he was suggesting it would not be a fair process , suggesting it would not be a fair process, but today he said he might not be facing expulsion. but it is up not be facing expulsion. but it is up to the panel to decide whether his comment about whether there was collaboration between the nazi government and the zionist movement, leading right up to the second world war, real collaboration, whether those comments not necessarily were true, but whether they damaged the electoral fortunes of the party. we are waiting to find out whether he isa are waiting to find out whether he is a liability and whether the party is a liability and whether the party is better off without him in it. this is purely about the party's reputation in essence and if the panel decides against ken livingstone, is that the end of the

matter? what could happen after that? if they decide against him, he will be expelled for the second time. the first time was when he stood for london mayor. ken livingstone has said he would appeal against that result. the grounds he has given is because this is being carried on behind closed doors and his reputation is at stake, he was a judicial review so he can air his arguments in public and he feels he will get a fair hearing if that happens. i know you will come back to us if we get that result later on this afternoon. hotels, restaurants and the tourism sector are warning that they'll face a recruitment crisis if eu immigration is heavily restricted after britain leaves the eu. the british hospitality association says it relies on 60,000 eu workers a year and it will take a decade to recruit enough british workers to fill those posts. john moylan reports. here we go...

at butlins in bognor regis, they are gearing up for the summer season. around 40% of the staff here are from outside the uk and the boss says they would face a recruitment crisis if brexit causes that supply of workers to be cut off. if the tap was just turned off straightaway, that would be very difficult. we are where we are at the moment, we rely on a third of our workplace from european employees. to be able to turn that straight off and replace it straight off would be very difficult. we are in the hospitality industry, we are in the service industry, you actually have to employ people who like to serve people. tourism and hospitality accounts for around 10% of the economy. now a new report is warning that restrictions on foreign labour could hit it harder than any other sector. the uk's hospitality sector employs around 3 million workers, but it's highly reliant on overseas staff. 24% of the workforce are eu migrants. they could face a shortfall of 60,000 workers a year if immigration is tightly controlled.

the industry wants to reduce its dependence on eu workers. its new ten year strategy includes recruiting more unemployed and older workers in the uk. one thing we have to do in the united kingdom is to actually tackle the perception of careers in our industry which isn't necessarily the same as it is in france, switzerland, austria or germany where hospitality careers are actually seen as a career of choice. the government says that while it will end free movement as it is now, it will design a new immigration system that is in the national interest. john moylan, bbc news. the driver of a bin lorry that crashed in glasgow in 2014 has been banned for driving for three years. he was ordered to carry out 150 hours of community work. the

60—year—old had already admitted culpable and reckless driving. lorna gordon reports. three days before christmas and in glasgow street packed with shoppers, a bin lorry driven by harry clark ran out of control. he had lost consciousness and 419 seconds the vehicle careered through the busy city centre thoroughfare knocking down pedestrians. six people died. erin mcquade, her grandparents jack and elaine sweeney, gillian tate. the enquiry that followed found the tragedy could have been avoided if clark had not lied about his history of blackouts. he had his licence revoked on medical grounds. nine months after the crash he was spotted by neighbours driving out of the car park near his home. he pleaded guilty to culpable and reckless driving. in sentencing him sheriff martinjones said he had

been wholly irresponsible and reprehensible in driving his vehicle while his licence was revoked. he said in so doing, the 60—year—old had placed the public at risk. are you sorry, mr clarke? he was never prosecuted over the bin lorry crash and an attempt by some of the families of those who died to bring a private prosecution failed. clarke stated through his lawyer today that nothing said in mitigation was intended to diminish the losses suffered by so many people as a result of the accident. he said it was a gross error ofjudgment to drive his car nine months later knowing he was unfit to drive. it's one of the biggest wildlife conservation projects ever seen in britain and its aim is to save at least 20 species from extinction, creatures like the black click beetle, the shrill carder bee and the natterjack toad. and it's hoped thousands of people will volunteer to help

as duncan kennedy reports. they are the most striking, the most elusive and the most endangered species in britain. but today, a project begins to save them. when they reach the right temperature they automatically begin to use their sonar. jenny clark has been protecting bats for 30 years and is joining today's campaign called back from the brink. if this one were to go to extinction, what will that mean to somebody like you? it would be an appalling loss and a great tragedy and it mustn't happen. we would be absolutely bereft if we lost the grey long—eared. the natterjack toad is another of the 20 species facing extinction. so too, the ladybird spider. £8 million of heritage lottery and otherfunds is being put in to create the back from the brink project, but the organisers say it will only work if the publicjoin in.

the ambition is to involve 1.3 million people, engage over 5000 volunteers actually going out surveying, recording, monitoring species. so there will be lots of opportunities for the public to really get involved. and here, at this nature reserve in dorset, some of the first of those 5000 volunteers have just started work. the public is needed to help identify the threatened species and record details of their habitats. back from the brink's top 20 also includes adders and the shrill carder bee, with 30 organisations coming together in this unprecedented scheme. we depend on each and every one of the species, even the ones that are perhaps less fashionable or more obscure than some others. they all have their own interesting story to tell. from woods, to back garden ponds, this four—year project will seek out the 20 at—risk species and dozens of others who can join them. human activity may be

causing their problems, but now human action will try to save them. duncan kennedy, bbc news in dorset. a californian company has made history by launching a rocket into space for a second time. rockets are generally used only once before they are scrapped. but spacek ‘s has landed its boosters safely on earth, allowing them to be recycled. you are looking at a rocket with a difference. unlike the rest, it is fitted with a booster that has been used before. and now history as it successfully is relaunched back into space. boosters cost tens of millions of dollars and are normally discarded and destroyed during an

ascent. but the private californian aerospace companies spacek ‘s has found a way to eject them safely back to earth. after the successful launch, another key moment in the flight launch, another key moment in the flight to see if the second—hand booster can safely detach and fly back to its landing pad in the atlantic. ra pturous cheers back to its landing pad in the atlantic. rapturous cheers from the mission crew tell you it is a success. minutes later it is back on earth, an unprecedented double achievement of launching a reusable rocket and recovering it for a possible third mission. this will be a huge revolution in space flight. if you had aeroplanes were you threw away an aeroplane after every flight, away an aeroplane after every flight, but in this way you can use them multiple times. it represents a new era in the space race where private enterprises compete against each other instead of countries. the success will be a boost for a

country that has much more ambitious goals, that includes sending people to the moon next year. today started quite showery, in north yorkshire, sunshine coming out, rain still with us in the north highlands, scotland in particular, showers arriving in the south—west of england heading towards northern ireland. still awful lot of dry and fine weather, warm as well, 16s, 17s. fine weather, warm as well, 16s, 175. in the mainland of scotland, hanging around in the northern isles, although showers around through the night, western areas, not going to be a cold night, will not going to be a cold night, will not be as warm as it was last night stop fine start in eastern areas, showers of the story, slow—moving heavy downpours, hail and thunder, but, equally, some lengthy spells of sunshine in between, in that case, the light wind and the strengthening

a full sunshine tomorrow. it will feel fine. april showers at the start of april. sunday looks drier, rich of showers, chilly, plenty of sunshine drying, very useful weather, if you start the easter holidays, great start, should last until the beginning of next week. we will have more later for you this afternoon. headlines: the president of the european council donald tusk has suggested a phased strategy for " b rex it" suggested a phased strategy for "brexit" goucher shins, he says any discussions on future trade deals can only begin once the terms of the uk's departure are finalised. starting our talks around issues at the same time as suggested

by some in the uk will not happen. we really are moving forward now, and there is a lot of goodwill, a lot of willingness to achieve what the prime minister has said she wants to achieve, which is an orderly transition. the head of nhs england has warned routine operations like hip and knee replacements will take longer. it's a "trade off" for better treatment in other areas, like a&e and cancer treatments. the defence secretary michael fallon has denied reports of a multi—billion pound shortfall in the defence budget. he says he accepts the funding is tight but no cuts have been signed off yet. one of the biggest wildlife conservation projects ever seen in britain has been launched today. the back from the brink campaign aims to save at least 20 species from extinction. the latest from the world of sport, with jessica now. we have lots of football news

to bring this afternoon ahead of a full fixture list this weekend, following the international break. aston villa's neil taylor is desperately sorry for the tackle that broke seamus coleman's leg, according to his club manager steve bruce. wales defender taylor was sent off for his challenge on the republic of ireland's coleman last friday, during a world cup qualifier. fifa have opened proceedings against taylor, which could result in an increase of his automatic one—match ban to three games. coleman's manager ronald koeman has been critical of the republic of ireland for not protecting another of his everton players. james mccarthy aggravated a hamstring injury while on international duty, and had to be withdrawn from the side to face wales shortly before kick—off. side to face wales shortly before kick-off. the assessment by ireland's medical team was that it would be a high risk forjames to play against wales, but of course, james, of course, he is strong, he

decided to play for his country, so when asked if he was fit to play, he said he felt he was fit to play. and he was selected to start the game by the ireland manager. who, in my opinion, in this instance, he was not protecting the player in this instance. more injury news for you, and the problems sustained by chris smalling and philjones on england duty last week are "long term" according to their manager at manchester united jose mourinho. jones picked up a toe injury in what seemed to be a harmless training ground tackle, with reports claiming it involved smalling. and fellow centre—back smalling was pictured with a leg brace following an injury also suffered in training days later. a shocking claim from stoke city striker saido berahino. he served an eight—week doping ban earlier this season whilst at his former club west brom but he says it was because his drink was spiked in a nightclub.

berahino insists that there was such a small amount in his system, it proves he couldn't have taken the drug intentionally. for me to get banned for something you have not done is hard to take. so, it was spiked? yeah, definitely, because if i was going to get high, like the specialist said, you would have took an amount that would get you high. what they found in my system was really low. so, why would you want to take something and not to take something and not get a buzz off it? that was the question, but because i'm in the premier league show the fa have to have zero tolerance. and you can watch the the full interview on football focus on bbc one on saturday from midday. british canoeing is the latest national sports governing body to have concerns raised about the welfare of their athletes. a coach was suspended last year following a formal complaint. an independent investigation was then started, and is yet to be concluded. here's our

reporter david ornstein. uk sport, the government arm that provides public money for olympic and paralympic sports, they have also said they are aware of the investigation but said that it is the responsibility of the governing body to deal with and they are not able to comment on the detail of any ongoing investigation. british canoeing at its most successful olympics at rio, two gold and two over. three gold and three runs medalfor paralympics over. three gold and three runs medal for paralympics gb, over. three gold and three runs medalfor paralympics gb, as over. three gold and three runs medal for paralympics gb, as they topped the medal table. —— three gold and two bronze medals. —— two gold and two bronze medals. —— two gold and two silver. johanna konta will climb to a career high seventh in the world tennis rankings if she beats caroline wozniacki in the miami open final this weekend. konta beat venus williams to become the first british woman to reach the final. amazing to think, konta was just six years old when williams first won this tournament 19 years ago. konta has said venus is one of her all time heroes,

but dispatched of her opponent in straight sets. defending championjudd trump is out of the china open snooker. he lost 5—3 to the world number 76 hossein vafaei. vafaei made two centuries on his way to victory, with breaks of 100 and 106. the 22—year—old from iran now takes on mark williams for a place in the final, after he beat shaun murphy. that's all sport for now. i'll have more in the next hour. news coming through from west midlands police, in the last few moments they have told us that a man has been charged with the murder of tracy wilkinson and her 13—year—old son. the force telling us that 23—year—old arron barley has been charged with murdering tracy wilkinson, and her son, charged with murdering tracy wilkinson, and herson, pierce, and also the attempted murder of the 13—year—old's father, peter. he is still in hospital, very seriously injured with stab wounds. 823, aaron barley has been charged with murder and attempted murder. —— aged 23. let's get more now on our main story,

the eu has published draft guidelines setting out its approach to the brexit negotiations. the document suggests talks on a trade deal can only begin once "sufficient progress" has been made on a separation settlement. speaking in malta, the president of the european council, donald tusk acknowledged the talks ahead could be tough. only ones we have achieved sufficient progress on withdrawal can we discuss the framework for the future relationship. starting parallel talks on all issues at the same time, as suggested by some in the uk, will not happen. and when talking about our future relationship, we obviously share of the uk desire to establish a close partnership between us. strong ties reaching beyond the economy and including security corporation, remain in our common interest. —— co—operation. let me conclude by saying that the talks which are about to security corporation, remain in our common interest. —— co—operation. let me conclude by saying that the talks which are about to start will be difficult, complex and sometimes even confrontational. there is no way around it.

the 27 does not and will not pursue a punitive approach. "brexit" in itself is already punitive enough. after more than 40 years of being united, we owe it to each other to do what we can to make this divorce as smooth as possible. china is closing almost half of its official ivory carving factories and shops today, with the rest due to close by the end of next year. the news has been welcomed by conservationists, in their battle against the illegal trade in ivory. despite a global ban on international sales, a surge in demand has resulted in the death of tens of thousands of african elephants in recent years. conservationists say today's move is

a "game changer" in the fight to save the african elephant. our beijing correspondentjohn sudworth reports. we are here in the marketplace, we have seen a shop that has closed its ivory market, we see another that closed at the end this year, momentous decision, momentous day, it is worthy of attention. this business is one of those being

forced to close today, the owner shows off the system of markings and certification to prove that his supply comes only from china's authorised stockpiles of ivory. translation: i feel sad, i authorised stockpiles of ivory. translation: ifeel sad, i love this trade, even if we abolish it, it will not necessarily stop the illegal trade in fact, it mean courage it. but campaigners including prince william, who has as gna rly including prince william, who has as gnarly lobbied china's leaders on theissue, gnarly lobbied china's leaders on the issue, disagree. factories like this send a signal to consumers that ivory is ok to buy, and provide criminals with an opportunity. certifications for pieces like this one can easily be forged, the reality is, however inadvertently china's legal ivory

trade has acted as cover for a much larger, illegal black—market smuggling operation. that is why the step being taken here is so important, the complete closure of china's officially sanctioned domestic trade. they look like ivory products... ? domestic trade. they look like ivory products...? questions remain, it is already illegal to sell ivory in china, over the internet, and yet it took us just china, over the internet, and yet it took usjust a china, over the internet, and yet it took us just a few clicks to find it. is the ivory from africa, we ask? yes, comes the reply. our investigations suggest china's new restrictions will not stop these criminals entirely. nonetheless, it isa criminals entirely. nonetheless, it is a bold and important step, china is a bold and important step, china is sacrificing this ancient art in order to save an ancient species. just hearing news about bmw, workers

at bmw in the uk have voted overwhelmingly to go on strike in a dispute over pensions, and the union, unite, have announced they will be going on strike, we are not sure of the date of that, they will begin industrial action in that dispute over pensions. teaching assistants are facing new challenges as a result of growing financial pressures across the education system. unions also say teacher shortages and budget cuts mean too many assistants are being left to teach classes on their own. jayne mccubbin has been speaking to support staff to hear their stories. john isner a real teacher but he is frequently called in to cover a class when a real teacher is. originally it was meant only to be a few days, it turned into month after month. he says that he's used as a cheap alternative to a sub that you

teacher, with no qualification and no authority. this behaviour meant you spend your time firefighting, thatis you spend your time firefighting, that is what you do. -- substitute teacher. it can happen where the kids will have me looking after them in one lesson and in another lesson, another unqualified member of staff in another subject, so they could have two or three hours of this in the same day. i'm not furious at the head teacher, the budget isjust the same day. i'm not furious at the head teacher, the budget is just not there. in scotland, only a qualified teacher can leave a class, in english and welsh state schools, it is at the discretion of the head, and all heads are facing financial pressures . and all heads are facing financial pressures. here in bernard, they value tas more than most, many stu d e nts value tas more than most, many students speak english as a foreign language, many have special educational needs, but even here, they are increasingly used to fill gaps. the added pressure is taking away from the role that we have to do, which is incredibly valuable. away from the role that we have to do, which is incredibly valuablem has the domino effect, one child is

not understanding something, they then feel that they cannot cope with them in the situation and it affects other children and the teacher, the whole environment there not one for learning. in other schools, financial pressures are more intense, built—in primary is £120,000 in the red. tas likejill are not just filling £120,000 in the red. tas likejill are notjust filling gaps, they are being axed, a third of the 40 in clwyd here have just received their redundancy notice. it is very upsetting, very upsetting. the elastic is stretched as far as it be stretched. losing these tas is a disaster, really is a disaster. seven yea rs disaster, really is a disaster. seven years ago, three in ten secondary schools were in deficit in england, today, the national audit office says it is six in ten and with a further £3 billion of cuts ahead, that will get worse. department for education told me

they believe efficiencies can be made without having to cut staff, without an impact on education. there was a time when do we did not have teaching assistants, yes, in yea rs have teaching assistants, yes, in years gone by, one teacher to teach a class full of pupils but now we expect more from the education system, so we will let a generation of pupils there and if we do not provide the support for them. pa rents provide the support for them. parents expectations might be for more but in terms of funding, the reality is less. headteachers will have to decide how they strike a balance. ina in a moment we will have all of the business news. first, the latest headlines. the president of the european council, donald tusk, suggests a phased approach to brexit negotiations and says discussions about future trade relations can only begin after "sufficient progress" has been made on a separation deal. the chief executive of nhs england simon stevens,

has warned that nhs waiting times will be longer for routine operations, as a "trade off" for better treatment in other areas. defence secretary michael fallon has denied there is a "black hole" in the defence budget, but refused to rule out cuts to the royal marines. google was charged £36.4m in uk corporation tax last year, according to its latest annual results. —— 30 4p. —— 36 point former lien pounds. -- 36 4p. —— 36 point former lien pounds. —— 36 4p. —— 4p. —— 36 point former lien pounds. -- 36 4p. -- £36.4 4p. —— 36 point former lien pounds. —— 36 4p. —— £36.4 million. this compares with £46.2 million for the previous 18 months. that was for between january 2014 tojuly 2015, when google changed its tax structure.

the us search giant recorded sales of £1.03bn and a pre—tax profit of £149m in the uk for the 12 months to the end ofjune 2016. google and other major tech firms have come under pressure over their tax arrangements. —— one 3p. uk house price growth "softened" in march with values rising at an annual rate of 3.5%. the nationwide says the rise was down from a 4.5% annual growth rate in february, and was the slowest annual increase since august 2015. the nationwide also said that the level of home ownership had fallen to its lowest since 1985. 1.03 billion pounds. the minimum wage known as the national living wage goes up tomorrow by 30p to £7.50 for people over twenty five. by £7.50 for people over twenty five. by2020 £7.50 for people over twenty five. by 2020 the government plans for it to reach £9. young people in the 16 to reach £9. young people in the 16 to 24—year—old age bracket will see their pay rise in october. tomorrow a raft of changes including business rates, car tax, and the a raft of changes including business rates, cartax, and the minimum a raft of changes including business rates, car tax, and the minimum wage come into effect. and thursday marks the start of new 2017—18 tax year signalling changes to income tax personal allowance and inheritance

tax. tell us about the specific changes. joining me now is christine ross, head of advice, handelsbanken wealth management. we have some specific changes for savers and also for those planning how they will leave their assets to their beneficiaries, inheritance tax. inheritance tax changes are quite significant. what we have now is one child introduction of the residents band, an extra allowance, on top of the 325,000 band, an extra allowance, on top of the 325, 000 that band, an extra allowance, on top of the 325,000 that everyone has as their own allowance for leaving assets to their beneficiaries. but now we will have an allowance that specifically links to 1's residence, to leave the house to direct descendants. that generally means children. from next week we have 100,000 extra per person, and that is linked to the property, and then over the next few years, we will see another 25,000 per year, until the extra allowance gets to 175,000 per person, what it means for a couple is that in total they can pass on assets to the value of £1 million by

2020. looking at the savings as well, there are some changes to ices but they will not come into effect straightaway. some changes, the general allowance is going up. -- isas. apart from that we have the lifetime ice in next week, that is a new form, where someone can save up to £4000 a year as long as they are aged between 18 and 40 on the 6th of april. 25% bonus from the government for all the savings that are accrued between the ages of 18 and 50, you cannot apply for one of the 40, you cannot apply for one of the 40, you can carry on saving in it until you are 50, those can be used, either to buy for a deposit for your first time, up to a house value of £450,000, or can be used as an alternative type of pension. if savings are not drawn out until age 60, bonus is preserved, and it can

be used as part of the overall retirement planning. thank you very much forjoining this. now if you cast your mind back to that time when we didn't talk about brexit — house prices if you remember use to prop up quite frequently. well, figures out today suggest that over the last year the cost of a home in the uk is still growing — but not as fast as it was. there are a number of different house price indexes which release figures — one of them is the nationwide's which uses numbers from its own mortgage lending. today they show the average house price across the uk actual fell by 0.3% in the month of march, the first fall since june 2015. now, monthly figures can be very volatile, but this is the largest such fall for nearly five years. earlier we asked the nationwide's chief economist just how significant is that march fall? if you look at the price change over the month, what we have seen is prices fell by 0.3%, it is the first decline over the month that we have seen since early 2015,

but you shouldn't read too much into one month stated, especially when you look at changes over the month, much better measures, when you look at the annual change in prices, we see prices worth three fine 5%, compared to march last year, and that is basically in the same three to 6% range that we have seen over the last two years. looking at the housing market at the moment, we see a range of things influencing prices, on the demand side, it is pretty firm, if you look at the labour market and employment rate, unemployment is at its lowest level since the mid—19 70s, wages still rising, borrowing costs close to all—time lows, all those things helping to support demand. prices still relatively high compared to earnings, that is because the supply side of the market is very constrained. we are not building and of homes to keep up with the natural increase in population and therefore even though demand is very robust, supply situation is very constrained, and that is keeping prices high relative to earnings. if you look at the trends in home ownership in recent years, we have seen a gradual decline in the rate of home ownership, what we see at the moment is in 2016, homeownership rate in england was at its lowest level for over 30 years. i think that shows that affordability has been becoming more stretched for many people, and we have seen, as a counterpart,

the growth of the private rental sector, if you look at the number of people privately renting now, it is around 20% of households in the private rented sector, up from 12% one decade ago. —— mid—1970s. let's have a look at the markets before we go. the ftse100, the london market, trading lower most of today, with business interest in south africa hit after the country's finance minister was hit. the removal of pravin gordhan after days of speculation sent south africa's currency, the rand, lower. insurer old mutual, which has significant

interests in south africa, fell 8% in response. direct line was the biggest riser in the ftse100, climbing 3%, after several stock brokers upgraded the stock. that is it from me, i will be back in one hour's time with business news. a little more business news concerning bmw, the car giant, workers have voted overwhelmingly to go on strike in a dispute over final salary pensions, unite union members backed walk—outs by 93% of the workforce, unite general secretary len mccluskey says that bmw needs to reflect on this, the real possibility here that bmw's british workforce will strike for the first time under its ownership in the coming weeks. that is the latest

from bmw. unite representatives from the group cited, cowley, goodwood and swindon meeting in the coming days to discuss dates for the strike action. the flying scotsman was back on one of the uk's most scenic routes today, as it marked the re—opening of the settle—to—carlisle rail line. the world —famous train took the scenic route through the yorkshire dales and the eden valley, a year after a major landslip closed it. danny savage reports from appleby. one of the most charming things about the railway line is it looks like something from yesteryear, water tower ready for steam engines to come through on excursions, old—fashioned signalling as well. what it means is that despite it looking like something from the last century, there has been a real drive

over the last year or so to get this line open again. voiceover: at lunchtime today, one of the most famous names in the world of steam arrived at appleby, a station on one of the most famous rail lines in britain. after being closed for 16 months, the settle to carlisle route is open again. everyone has a personal reason for being here. i think it'sjust childhood memories. the smoke, the dirt, the grime, the coal, coal dust, everything. when you think you had the bus services, lately, it's been amazing how we coped. it's an ever—changing scene. you can come up here in the winter, fabulous. it's an ever—changing scene. you can come up here in the winter, fabulous. come back in the summer, completely different picture. and there are so many villages on the line to explore. we are just coming into langwathby, lovely village. this line is famous for its landscape. it runs through the high pennines in the yorkshire dales national park, over the ribblehead viaduct and on into the beautiful eden valley in cumbria. but a landslip south of carlisle left it closed

to through traffic until today. network rail said the £23 million repairjob is the most challenging project they have undertaken in their 15—year history. a year ago we had a landslide of half a million tonnes of earth slipping into the eden gorge. we've done a really complicated repair, we've driven 226 steel—encased piles down into the bedrock below. we put 6000 tonnes of concrete on top and we've reinstated the railway. and today we are open for business. although this wonderful, old locomotive is attracting all the headlines today, the big issue for the more remote communities along this line is they've got their main transport link back and that means a return of visitors and business. whistle. built in the 18705, threatened with closure in the 1980s, this old—fashioned, but much—loved railway route is open again. a new era, celebrated old style. hundreds of people were on the

platform to see the flying scotsman pass—through about an hour or so ago, going south again later this afternoon, going back down the route. more people will be out to watch. perfect timing for the line to reopen, just ahead of the easter holidays, running into the summer, the real hope is that the number of passengers on the line will rise sharply in the coming months. time for the weather forecast. sunshine eventually across the uk, this picture taken in cambridge, let me show you what has been happening, at band of thick cloud out of the way, still some rain across the north west, hanging around for a little longer, showers beginning to gather not just in little longer, showers beginning to gather notjust in northern ireland but across here, more of those showers right the way through the evening and overnight. that rain

finally clears the north—west and heads up to the northern isles. easton area should be largely dry, not a cold night, i little bit cooler than it was last night, eight or9 cooler than it was last night, eight or 9 degrees. as we head into tomorrow, showers to come for the first day of april, april showers, and some sunshine as well. probably and some sunshine as well. probably a dry start across much of south—east england and east anglia, ready to the east of the pennines, across the north—east, north wales, quite a few showers from the word go. showers across northern ireland, coming down from the north and north—west, mixture of sunshine and one or two showers to begin the day in scotland, not that many. however, more will be developing across the country as the day goes on. there may be some heavy and thundery showers as well, no one particularly immune from the showers, southeast and east anglia probably seeing a few until later on in the afternoon, temperatures lower than today, 13 being fairly typical, 15, 16. in the

sunshine, still quite warm, wind will be fairly light, hence slow—moving showers. moving away during the evening, high—pressure building in, in time for the second half of the weekend. sky is clear overnight, turning chilly, temperatures in towns and cities there. in the countryside, there are maybe a touch of frost here and there. chilly starter the boat race but looks like it'll be lovely day, wind much lighter than it was last weekend. the thames should not be anywhere near as choppy and sunshine around as well. across the uk, fine day, good spells of sunshine, more cloud building up through the afternoon through the eastern parts of england, threatening just a very light shower. we will call it a dry day. temperatures, 12, 13 degrees, warmer in the south—east. temperatures should rise even further as we head into monday, across central and eastern parts. england and wales looked like being driver the start of next week. changes coming into the northwest,

wind picking up, we will get a band of rain into scotland and northern ireland. that is it see you later. this is bbc news, the headlines at four: the president of the european council, donald tusk, suggests a phased strategy for brexit negotiations, allowing trade talks to begin once progress is made on the divorce deal. we really are moving forward now and there is a lot of goodwill, a lot of willingness, to achieve what the prime minister has said she wants to achieve, which is an orderly transition. a 23—year—old man has been charged with the murder of a mother and her 13—year—old son, who were stabbed to death at their home. there will be longer waits for routine operations like hip