this is bbc news, i'm simon mccoy. the headlines at 2pm. a father who refused to pay a fine after taking his daughter out of school for an unauthorised holiday has lost his case at the supreme court. to attend regularly no longer means to attend frequently. it now means to attend on all the days and at all the times that the school requires it. the syrian government has spoken for the first time since the gas attack that killed 70 people, and denied ever using chemical weapons amid international condemnation. jeremy corbyn says a labour government would add vat to private school fees and use the money to pay for free school meals for primary pupils in england. welsh assembly member mark reckless quits ukip and rejoins the conservatives. i'm jane reckless quits ukip and rejoins the conservatives. i'mjane hill. also this hour, president trump is getting ready to host his chinese

counterpart xijinping, getting ready to host his chinese counterpart xi jinping, for two days of talks in his resort in florida. from trade to currency, to north korea, there is a lot on the table for the leaders of the world's two largest economies. and as the masters gets underway there are concerns about the world number one dustinjohnson, who concerns about the world number one dustin johnson, who fell downstairs and injured his back. good afternoon and welcome to the bbc news. a father has lost a landmark case at the supreme court in a dispute about taking his child out of school without permission. jon platt, from the isle of wight, refused to pay a fine after he took his daughter to florida, and had won previous court cases. but today, the supreme court ruled unanimously that it is disruptive to a child's education to remove them from school during term time. the prime minister theresa may welcomed the ruling, saying it recognised the importance of children attending school.

0ur legal affairs correspondent clive coleman reports. about to find out if taking his daughter on holiday in term time meant he had broken the law. in 2015, john platt took his daughter ona 2015, john platt took his daughter on a week's holiday. he was fined £120 by his local council on the isle of wight for failing to ensure she regularly attended school. he refused to pay and was prosecuted. but argued successfully that his daughter, who had a more than 90% overall record, was regularly attending school. today the supreme court unanimously disagreed with that. unauthorised absences have a

disruptive effect. not only on the education of the individual child, but also on the work of other pupils and of their teachers. outside court, john platt was visibly upset by the ruling. this case now has to go back to the isle of wight magistrates and start all over again. ican magistrates and start all over again. i can tell you, i have absolutely no intention of pleading guilty this offence when it goes back to the magistrates' court. john platt has lost his case here at the supreme court but he remains defiant. parents, however, their position is now crystal clear. you have to obey the attendance policy of the school or else you're committing a criminal offence. the government says headteachers still have the ability to decide when exceptional circumstances allow for a child to be absent. but that today's ruling removes the uncertainty for schools that was created by the previousjudgment. many still believe that parents should be able to take their

children on holiday during the school year. i think they should be taken out of school because they a lwa ys taken out of school because they always did in our day and it never did us any harm. a week or two they don't lose that much they learn so much when they are on holiday. it's really expensive to take on holiday during holiday times because the companies want to make money. pa rents companies want to make money. parents have been warned, but some will inevitably choose to follow john platt by taking their children on holiday in term time and facing the consequences. clive coleman, bbc news. joining me now is sian griffiths, education editor at the sunday times. i should ask first of all, what do you make of that ruling? we were expecting the ruling, we ran a story on sunday in the sunday times to say john platt, the father who lost the case, was expecting to lose the case. i think it's going to be very difficult for schools and for families now, because this has been absolutely one of the most unpopular

education policies that has come out of government in recent years and since it's been brought in, three and a half years ago, thousands of families have been fined and about 20,000 families i think have been prosecuted. law—abiding families that didn't have criminal records before now have criminal records and hundreds of thousands of parents have signed petitions against this against very strict interpretations of these school rules. surely there isa of these school rules. surely there is a common—sense argument of these school rules. surely there is a common—sense argument that says, if children are allowed to be pulled out of school at any point it not only disrupt their education but the education of all the other children in the class because as any pa rent children in the class because as any parent knows there is a catch up. if you talk about two, three, four children in one class, it'll create a nightmare. of course it will. nobody but aren't you children shouldn't be in school, of course they should be. but there are circumstances where — and i do think pa rents circumstances where — and i do think parents have a strong case here— there are circumstances especially in primary school where for whatever

reason a parent may decide it's better for child to stay at home for a few days whether it's bullying in school or there has a divorce or... surely that is totally different because they will argue in cases like bereavement, and if children are feeling put under stress, there are feeling put under stress, there a re systems are feeling put under stress, there are systems in place to help get them back and make sure it is done carefully. we' re them back and make sure it is done carefully. we're talking about pa rents, carefully. we're talking about parents, frankly, trying to save money, taking their children on holiday because it's cheaper than doing holiday time. holiday because it's cheaper than doing holiday timelj holiday because it's cheaper than doing holiday time. i think some pa rents a re doing holiday time. i think some parents are doing that, that's definitely the case. against that you have to consider sometimes families need a holiday. when you have two parents working and they're very stressed and the kids are young they can maybe only get time out of school holiday time to go away or can only afford to go away. are we saying they shouldn't be allowed to 90, saying they shouldn't be allowed to go, the child is seven years old and they are going to miss five or six days of school and that's more important than the family spending time together? when i was a kid

occasionally my parents would go away. 0n holiday. during term time. nobody ever thought we would be fined or that my parents would be prosecuted or they would have a criminal record. there are times when parents have the right to say, actually, i know what's in the best interest of my child. it's notjust to save a bit of money, but because pa rents to save a bit of money, but because pa re nts ca n to save a bit of money, but because parents can feel this is something we need to do right now. some of the cases i've covered have been actually heartbreaking. i covered one case where a woman, a family, had adopted a quadriplegic boy. that boy was 1a by the time i wrote about him. he'd been given a year to live and they went on a last holiday, the last holiday of his lifetime. it was a cruise because he liked the water. and they were fined. they refused to pay the fine. then they came to us. when the story broke in the media the council apologised and withdrew the council apologised and withdrew the fine. there are many cases like this. these rules were being applied

harshly in a blanket way. i'm not saying kids shouldn't go to school, of course they should go to school. but you need common—sense, empathy and understanding. if you want kids to do really well at school it has to do really well at school it has to be families and teachers working together, not having them at war with each other, which is the situation we've had into many cases since these rules came in. i would ask headteachers, you have this ruling, apply it with common sense. ifa ruling, apply it with common sense. if a child has 95% attendance, look at it, look at each case on its merit and if a child is missing three orfour merit and if a child is missing three or four days of school, don't automatically send that case to the council so they can be fined. surely the irony of what has happened here is thatjohn platt has made... he's done the opposite committees made it harderfor parents to done the opposite committees made it harder for parents to argue that because he has rather enshrined the view that grooming school and you have no excuse to take your child out of it. it's certainly the ruling that has come from the supreme court today but there is still the fact

that councils can interpret this law sensibly. yes, we have a law that says you should drive for more than 30 miles an hour. in a 30 mph zone. sometimes people drive at 32 and don't get prosecuted. i'm saying, look, headteachers don't go to war with your parents just because there is this blanket ruling again. have common—sense, have discretion. i think most headteachers want that, most don't want to be at war with families. they want to get away with families. they want to get away with families and have both sides working together in the interests of the children. the other thing we have to remember, there was a postcode lottery going on before with some councils fining parents and others weren't. that's not fair either.|j suppose that'll change now. we have to leave it there but thank you very much forjoining us, sian griffiths. the syrian government has spoken about the chemical attack in the northwest of the country for the first time — denying it would ever use such weapons. more than 70 people died in the attack in idlib province.

turkey says the results of autopsies carried out on victims confirm that chemical weapons were used, and has blamed president assad's forces. this report from richard galpin contains distressing images. this is the moment on tuesday when the rebel held town of khan sheikhoun in idlib province was hit by an air strike. it soon became clear it was not a conventional attack. dozens of babies, children and adults were left choking and foaming at the mouth. and today, tests on some of those taken to hospital in turkey have proved it was a chemical attack. there's speculation it was the deadly nerve agent sarin. for us president donald trump, this was enough for him to make an abrupt u—turn on his comparatively lenient policy towards the syrian regime. when you kill innocent children, innocent babies, babies,

little babies, with a chemical gas that is so lethal, that people were shocked to hear what gas it was, that crosses, many, many lines beyond a red line, many lines. these heinous actions by the assad regime cannot be tolerated. with hints that washington is now even considering military action, the syrian government has acted quickly to deny it used chemical weapons in khan sheikhoun. translation: 0ur army has never used chemical weapons and will not use chemical weapons, not only against our civilians, our people, but also against the terrorists who are attacking civilians. but during the long civil war in syria, government

forces have been accused of using chemical weapons on several occasions. including a sarin gas attack near damascus in 2013 which killed hundreds. although this crossed a red line for the then president barack 0bama, there was no military intervention. instead. piles of chemical weapons in syria were supposed to have been removed. now, some experts think the trump administration may do something more robust. we are looking at some kind of limited air strike, with a symbolic value, from the trump administration, on the assad regime installations? that would at least show that the americans aren't willing to accept these kind of actions. but for now, focus is on diplomatic action at the united nations. britain and other countries want a resolution condemning this latest attack and calling for those responsible to be brought tojustice. richard galpin, bbc news. the united

nations has called for a three—day truce in syria to allow it to deliver aid to millions of civilians living under siege conditions across the country. the un humanitarian adviser, jan eggplant, has just been speaking to the media. he said he hoped the development could be a ca ta lyst hoped the development could be a catalyst for a cessation of hostilities. i hope this is a watershed moment. i hope. and with all of these world leaders saying that they have again woken up to the suffering of the civilians that we see every single day. i hope it's a rebirth for diplomacy, both humanitarian and political. i will continue working. we don't have the luxury to look away. jan egeland speaking in geneva. let's talk to

jonathan marcus. 0ur diplomatic correspondent. but for the first time regarding syria we ask, what on earth might be done? —— not for the first time. what is your sense of the un? it's unlikely to get any agreement at the un, the russians have given multiple alibis to their syrian ally, if one assumes, as many experts do, that the evidence so far suggest this was a chemical attack. the russians are busily not accepting that, neither are the syrians. russia has made it very clear in its interventions yesterday, it seems this whole process as pointless and unacceptable, they are not going to allow the syrian regime to be criticised here. it's understandable as you heard there that people will try to take from this incident if perhaps a momentary reprieve to try to get aid in to besieged places and so on. to get aid in to besieged places and so on. very sadly, i'm afraid, the syrian crisis seems to lurch from

face—to—face. the problems become even more entrenched. there aren't any even more entrenched. there aren't a ny clear even more entrenched. there aren't any clear ideas at the moment how to resolve things. it's interesting to listen to what comes out of the white house and try to unravel what donald trump's thinking about this might be. it's very difficult to do that, he's an unpredictable figure, he's not well versed, let's be fair to him, in these matters. he says these events have changed his view on syria. so far this administration has focused almost entirely on combating so—called is, slavic state, it's pretty well moved in a direction that frankly the 0bama administration had accepted relu cta ntly. — — administration had accepted reluctantly. —— islamic state. it accepted president assad would not be removed from power any time soon. whether he's going to change that view and believes mr assad should be in some sense forced from power i don't know yet, also what we do know is what he intends to do in the wake

of this particular attack. is there going to be some kind of american military response, the american un ambassador hinted in a sense at times countries sometimes have to ta ke times countries sometimes have to take action themselves. is there going to be an effort to arm opposition groups in syria? 0ne wonders who exactly americans might armour. it has been a successful policy in the past. in many ways with russian aircraft in the air over syria, russian air defences on the ground, with the assad regime more entrenched than ever, it's very ha rd to more entrenched than ever, it's very hard to see, practically, what the us administration can do. area is a public ‘s sense that this is different, that the use of chemical weapons somehow crosses a different, that the use of chemical weapons somehow crosses a line and crossing a line is a phrase a lot of politicians have been using. we've been here before and you've outlined all the obstacles there are. we have been here. let's be absolutely frank about this, chemical weapons have been used quite a lot this conflict.

chlorine gas has been used on a number of occasions by the regime. so—called is itself has had recourse to mustard gas on occasions in the region. the taboo that we feel very much in the west is perhaps not held in the same way in the region. and the fact is that mr trump particularly spoke about his horror at the injuries to young children. young children are getting maimed and killed almost every day in syria and killed almost every day in syria and have been for the last six yea rs. and have been for the last six years. that, grimly, is the reality. at the moment it seems the key external players, if there is going to be any sense of a resolution, of russia, iran and turkey to a considerable extent. not the united states and the european countries. they seem to have, in a sense, pulled back from the crisis in that sense, preferring to focus, as i

say, particularly at the moment, on the military struggle against so—called islamic state. the military struggle against so-called islamic state. thank you very much for now, jonathan marcus. the headlines on bbc news. a father who refused to pay a fine after taking his daughter out of school for an unauthorised holiday has lost his case at the supreme court. the syrian government has spoken for the first time since the gas attack that killed 70 people and denies ever using chemical weapons amid international condemnation. welsh assembly member mark reckless quits ukip and rejoins the conservatives. and in sport referee keith stroud is dropped from his scheduled ligue one ‘s weekend whilst his mistake in newcastle's match against burton last night is reviewed. chelsea striker diego costa will not face retrospective action after appearing to kick out at manchester city captain vincent kompany in last night's match at stamford bridge. and the masters is underway at augusta but there is concern over

whether world number one dustin johnson will compete after falling down some stairs and injuring his back. i'll be back with more on all those stories just after half past. for the first time since his election, donald trump will meet the leader of the world's other economic superpower, president xi jinping of china. mr trump has said he believes the summit in florida will be very difficult. relations have become fraught with the us president taking a confrontational stance on trade and the north korean nuclear programme. 0ur correspondent barbara plett usher reports. musketeer in iowa, the pearl of the mississippi. an old industrial town in the american heartland, a brief stopping point for mark twain and more recently for another famous visitor. xijinping has friends here. he met them during an agricultural research trip as a young man 30 years ago and returned

for a reunion shortly before he became president. this is the house where he stayed? yes, and i think he had not home state before, so... certainly haven't home state before. he ate around the breakfast table. the chinese leader got a taste of american life by staying with a localfamily, then american life by staying with a local family, then the american life by staying with a localfamily, then the bedroom american life by staying with a local family, then the bedroom was filled with star trek toys, now the house has been turned into a museum aimed at promoting us china ties.|j think xijinping has great aimed at promoting us china ties.|j think xi jinping has great presence and when he comes in the room, shakes his hand, you know, i believe donald trump... i hate to say it this way... this is a guy i can make a deal with. we can't continue to allow china to rape our country. donald trump's brand is bashing china, particularly on trade. they've ta ken our jobs. china, particularly on trade. they've taken ourjobs. could a dose of iowa hospitality finished that? as the chinese businessman behind the project. maybe president trump, i think, maybe need some time to know more about china. maybe donald

trump needs to visit this town. yeah! he knows the story about muscatine to china. i think he will have great interest. the story is bigger than friendship, its business. there is no trade deficit in iowa, it exports a lot to china, especially agricultural products. this town of this state voted for donald trump but it doesn't mean iowa buys his approach to china, here they see china as a business opportunity, not threat. in this state there was so much trade with china it would have a lot to lose if mrtrump china it would have a lot to lose if mr trump started a trade war. there is no sense of uncertainty here. an established family run business pounding out steel stamps for more than 100 years. the new owner has branched out to tap new markets, now looking vulnerable to trade disputes. i'm concerned about it, i think the chance of it happening on a large scale is pretty small so i don't lose sleep over it. i'm exporting a lot of goods to china, i

know about the import taxes i pay on my product going in. i think there does need to be rebalancing. rebalancing a compact and crucial relationship will take more than cornfields diplomacy. we can speak to barbara at the florida resort now. in the history of these things rarely have expectations been solo just before an event. sturridge so low. i think we are all wondering what's going to happen and i think both sides made expectations low in terms of concrete things that will come out of the summit but both sides hope they will set up a working relationship between the leaders of these two most significant global powers. yes president trump, perhaps, as made this assessment, caused this assessment that expectations would be low because of his blustery rhetoric. just last week he tweeted out, it's going to be a very difficult meeting, especially on issues of trade, we can't have job losses a ny issues of trade, we can't have job losses any more. really his

officials are expecting public state m e nts officials are expecting public statements to be quite cordial. if the iraqis resort and his club in florida, where he likes to keep things informal. they will try to build up some kind of rapport between the men. as his officials have said, they want to set up a framework for dialogue on this thorny issue of trade so they are not expecting to resolve it obviously this time around, but they wa nt to obviously this time around, but they want to start the conversation. in particular. and the trump administration says they want to reduce barriers come investment barriers, mr trump isn't going to mention the 45% tariff he threatened. he says, i don't think i'll bring it up on the first meeting, but he'll make his point known. president xi has put out conciliatory tones beforehand. his officials have said, the trade deficit isn't something we try to do, it's because of the difference in structures of our economy. he may bring offers of investment in jobs himself to try to smooth tension. i think both men will be working at it

but there is no doubt that on this and some of the other issues there has been very different approaches and a quite confrontational approach from the president in america. barbara plett usher, thank you very much. labour has proposed adding vat to private school fees, and using the money raised to pay for free school meals for all primary school children. critics say the plan would force less wealthy families to remove their children from private education, at the same time as subsidising the better off in the state sector. 0ur political correspondent ellie price reports. soggy brussels sprouts and lumpy mashed potato are as a general rule a thing of the past in school dinners these days. in fact, they're healthier and more appealing. labour now want free school meals to be available to every primary school pupil in england, and they will pay for it by imposing vat on private school fees. we want all children to get its. all the evidence from those councils that do provide free school meals is that there is higher levels of attainment, better

concentration and better health for all of the children. launching the policy this morning, labour estimates it would cost up to £900 million a year, while introducing vat on private school fees would raise around £1.5 billion annually. critics say the sums don't add up. this would put up the fees of independent schools, so these hard—working parents who are working really hard to pay the fees, they would no longer be able to afford them. so smaller schools would have to close and that would move pupils out of our system into the state system. at the moment, all children up to the age of about eight are eligible for free school meals. after that, eligibility depends on whether a family receives certain benefits. the latest figures show that just under 14.5% of pupils in year three to year six are known to be eligible for and claiming free school meals. i would much rather see the extra money, any extra money, being derived from taxation, whether it is on private

schools or other sources, given to the poorest children in our country, and not necessarily subsidising those parents who can afford free school meals. the policy may sound familiar. that's because it was in the lib dems' election manifesto in 2015, although they did not suggest putting vat on private school fees. before that, the labour government under gordon brown had promised to pilot the idea at the 2010 election. what's new about today's policy is the idea of raising the money to fund it through private school fees. jeremy corbyn's pitch is that it's taxing the rich to feed the poor. he says it is about fairness, a message he hopes will appeal beyond labour's base. any price, bbc news, westminster. the president of the european council donald tusk has arrived at downing street for talks with the prime minster. it's the first time the leaders have met face to face since theresa may formally started the brexit process last week. the pair are expected to discuss the timetable

for the uk's departure. the eu has made it clear it wants to conclude discussions on the terms of britain's exit before negotiations can start on a future trade deal. 0ur political correspondent eleanor garnier is in westminster for us. another one of those meetings you'd love to be a fly on the wall at. that's right. so far smiles all round, the tough talking hasn't yet started. it was actually only a week ago the two year period for the talks, the brexit talks, was triggered, when theresa may said that letter triggering article 52 donald tusk. since then he's put out some draft negotiation remit is for the eu and this is their first face—to—face meeting since all that happened. there are going to be key issues they will probably talk about, things like how much it's going to cost britain to leave the eu. the divorce bill, if you like. the issue, as you mentioned, of

whether the talks about britain's divorce, but also the new trade deal, can go on at the same time. in parallel donald tusk has made clear that until sufficient progress is made on other areas talks on any new trade deal cannot begin. also the issue of the rights of eu citizens currently in the uk, about 3 million people, and those from the uk living across the eu. so they will have plenty on the agenda and i think gibraltar may pop up, too. the tone so gibraltar may pop up, too. the tone so far has been really interesting. the letter from theresa may struck a conciliatory tone. we saw that emphasised again today. big smiles on the number ten doorstep as donald tusk arrived. theresa may saying this morning she wanted to maintain a deep and special relationship with the eu, adding she believed that had been reciprocated. donald tusk has made clear he wants to seek a fair settlement, but he's also pointed

out at times the talks could get difficult, complex and confrontational. interesting. let's see what emerges later in the day. thanks for now, eleanor garnier following talks at westminster. let's have a look at the weather. and it is with tomasz schafernaker. i'm getting whiplash! the weather is pretty good for most of us today, a nippy morning this morning, and a beautiful sunset. this high pressure is going to stick around for the rest of the week into the weekend. it means the weather will remain settled and the good news is the weather will be warming up news is the weather will be warming up over the next few days. so tonightjust a up over the next few days. so tonight just a bit up over the next few days. so tonightjust a bit of cloud. might be some drizzle across these far north and north—western areas, western scotland for example. in some towns and cities the temperatures will be down to 5 degrees, highest of eight and nine. tomorrow a nippy start, bit of cloud, and we do it all over again, copycat conditions for most of us,

with some sunshine and if you are lucky, clear blue skies. top temperatures tomorrow around 15 in london, fresher in glasgow around 10 degrees. the weekend looking guy with high pressure. some strong sunshine. hello. this is bbc news. the headlines. a father who took his six—year—old daughter out of school to go on holiday to disney world loses his case at the supreme court. the judgment says unauthorised absences have a disruptive effect on pupils and teachers. the syrian foreign minister insists his regime has not and never would use chemical weapons. labour pledges to make school dinners free for primary school children free paid for by increased taxes on public schools. welsh assembly member mark reckless quits ukip and rejoins the conservatives. jessica has the sport. you were

smiling then. maybe i'm just having a good day at work, simon? i remember those. anyway, to the sport. we start in golf. the 81st masters is under way at augusta, with ceremonial starters and former champions jack nicklaus and gary player hitting the first ball, before the first groups came out onto the course. russell henley is the early leader, he's one under after six holes. one of the main talking points in the build—up has been about world number one dustin johnson, who might not be fit to compete. he fell down the stairs in his rented home last night, and injured his back. johnson has been in great form, winning his past three tournaments, and is favourite to win the greenjacket on sunday. but he's currently taking anti—inflammatories to ensure he makes his tee time just after 7 o'clock this evening. referee keith stroud has been dropped from his scheduled

league one match this weekend, whilst his mistake in newcastle's match against burton last night is reviewed. players from both sides encroached into the area as newcastle were taking a penalty. matt ritchie's spot kick went in but stroud wrongly awarded burton a free—kick, instead of ordering ritchie to retake it. much to the bemusement of players, manager rafa benitez and 119,000 newcastle fans. ritchie did get on the scoresheet though, his second—half goal gave newcastle a 1—nil win which keeps them top of the championship. you have seen the incident and you have a lot of experts on tv and radio and newspapers to analyse what's going on. what i would say, i was talking to the referee and obviously, i will not keep talking about that because, for me, it was

an important game and we have to win and get three points. a fantastic goal, a fantastic performance from the players. great in possession, passing, a lot of positives. u nfortu nately, we passing, a lot of positives. unfortunately, we will talk about the incident but i'd prefer not to talk too much. chelsea striker diego costa will not face any retrospective action after appearing to kick out at manchester city captain vincent kompany in last night's match at stamford bridge. there had been suggestions that the spaniard could face a ban, but referee mike dean did actually see the incident so the case can't be dealt with any further. neither chelsea manager antonio conte or his city counterpart pep guardiola saw what happened. the republic of ireland women's team have reached an agreement with their governing body, after allegations from players that they weren't being treated properly. the team had threatened not to train if demands for compensation whilst on international duty and improved support weren't met. after mediation talks, fai confirmed this morning that all issues have now been resolved,

and the players will resume training ahead of monday's game against slovakia. kyle edmund will play the first match of britain's davis cup quarter—final tomorrow against france's luca pwee edmund helped britain to the last eight by winning his second singles in the tie against canada in february and takes on pwee, who reached the quarter—finals of wimbledon last year. dan evans, british number one for the tie in the absence of andy murray, facejeremy chardy in the reverse singles. there's coverage of the tie in rouen across the bbc. the three—day grand national festival starts in a few minutes at aintree — with the centrepiece, the grand national itself on saturday at 5.15. armed police are in attendance at the course in the wake of the westminster terror attack and marks the 20th anniversary of the national being delayed by an ira bomb scare. merseyside police have said that race goers can expect to see high visibility policing across the three days of the event.

one of the best 200 metre runners in the world has switched his allegiance to great britain — not usain bolt, but his training partner miguel francis. he's 22 years old and was born in the british 0verseas territory of montserrat, which doesn't have its own 0lympic committee. until now he's been competing for antigua and barbuda. francis ran a personal best of 19.88 seconds last summer, which was the seventh fastest time in the world in 2016. that's all sport for now. i'll have more in the next hour. we don't know what he looks like. we will get you a picture in the next bulletin, how about that? something to look forward to. thank you very much, jessica. two former barclays bankers have been found not guilty

of conspiring to rig the libor inter—bank interest rate. stelios conto—goulas and ryan reich were cleared in this second trial, after a jury failed to reach a verdict last year. our business correspondent andy verity is at southwark crown court. live border is the london rate measuring the real cost of borrowing money and how it works is every bank each day would say what interest—rate they thought they would have to pay to borrow money. they take an average, which is then liable. at the same time, the banks had big money stakes on the way which way libor went —— libor. they would request for higher or lower libors but back in 2012 when bob diamond resigned, those requests we re diamond resigned, those requests were frowned on as corrupt and dishonest but the traders defended those requests saying they were not against the rules are tall and not

dishonest and have a statement here from one of the traders who has been acquitted who said, "i'm saddened it's taken so long to expose the case against me. at 23—year—old traderjust doing myjob a decade ago has been totally without foundation, based on a fundamental misunderstanding of the facts." the jury misunderstanding of the facts." the jury ‘s previous trials it's important as had a lower burden of proof and didn't have to the traders would deliberately disregard the rules. when the burden of proof was that a bit higher as it was in this trial, the prosecutors failed to prove their case. andy verity reporting there. the ukip welsh assembly member and former mp mark reckless has left the party and will now vote with the conservative group in cardiff bay. the resignation of the former mp mark reckless from ukip follows in the footsteps of the departure of douglas carswell as its only mp last month. 0ur wales political editor, nick servini is in cardiff bay. he explained what the reaction had been so far to mr reckless‘ resignation. the leader of the wealth

conservatives said he'd been an assembly member since taking on the job and indeed the statement from mark reckless saying he was keen to joina mark reckless saying he was keen to join a united group at the assembly and they are pointed and they think they are pointed criticism to the infighting we have seen criticism to the infighting we have seenin criticism to the infighting we have seen in the ukip group since, they we re seen in the ukip group since, they were elected at the assembly last year. but there was a paradox, you are right, at the heart of this because we are told he is not going to rejoin the conservative party. we are told the conservative party would not have him because of the bad blood which still exists as a result of that very high—profile defection two and half years ago when he originally left the conservative party to join when he originally left the conservative party tojoin ukip, but he would join the conservative group here at the assembly for the p will ta ke here at the assembly for the p will take the web which means he will be forced to vote along the conservative lines and we are even told that his official designation

ear at the assembly will be a welsh conservative assembly member and that's come from the welsh conservatives. so i think it will be fascinating to see how some of this plays out with the party more broadly and centrally, at a uk basis, but, you know, from the public ‘s perspective, to all intents and purposes, mark reckless becomes a tory politician again certainly in terms of how this place works. joining us now is paul 0akton. good afternoon. you've lost another wonderful to how many more can you afford to lose? if the people who are living don't believe in ukip's future, as many as it ta kes in ukip's future, as many as it takes frost at a party full of committed ukip members which we believed mark reckless once was. he has decided it's betterfor believed mark reckless once was. he has decided it's better for him to move away, which is regrettable to say the least. what we are now looking to see is him vacate the seat he has in the senate surely on account as being a ukip member and

at the next person on the ukip list fill that vacancy. in the wider scheme of things, the problem is far bigger, isn't it? you're haemorrhaging support. we are not at all. by speak from a position of knowledge and i'm no our membership has gone up since the end of last summer. we have had three times as many members join our summer. we have had three times as many membersjoin our party in the last six weeks as we have had leave it, and losing mark reckless is reg retta ble it, and losing mark reckless is regrettable but there is a great number of people still joining regrettable but there is a great number of people stilljoining ukip, interested in what we're going to do in the future and they welcomed them, they are our priority is it move forward and we are looking forward to welcoming our new assembly member once mark reckless resigned his seat. it's interesting deluxe figures for the last —— give me an idea of the figures in the last six weeks? we have more members now than we had at the start of the year so that's not what i would say about a party being in decline. we

area about a party being in decline. we are a party attracting new members from across the country. we've lost one of them today, regrettable, but it's not going to be anything like the end of our party. why do you think he left? similarly to douglas two weeks ago, apparently he's now saying the only recently came to ukip was to help get britain out of the eu. collectively we did that. at mark played a part in that by joining ukip, frankly, it was worth it because that was what we wanted for 23 years but that's not to a ukip up and got an awful more to offer. if that was mark reckless‘ only reason for being the party he shouldn‘t have stood as a candidate in wales in the first place because we worked standing for the welsh assembly based on far more than just the european question so he has some questions to answer about why he chose to stand for the senedd if that was the only reason he was in the party, and about what he will now do given that he was elected surely on a ukip ticket, he has no

personal mandate in wales whatsoever. it‘s a ukip seat and we wa nt to whatsoever. it‘s a ukip seat and we want to vacate it so we can but another member into that position. want to vacate it so we can but another member into that positionlj don‘t another member into that position.” don‘t know what you say to those outside the party looking on who‘s the nigel farage‘s behaviour in parliament yesterday, they see something some would say the wheels are beginning to come.” something some would say the wheels are beginning to come. i don't see how you could make that a session. nigel farage was doing in the european parliament yesterday exactly what the 17 plus million people who voted to leave the european union expected him to do. it was that kind of straight talking in the european parliament against people who don‘t care about what is in britain‘s best interests and the people in this country needed to hear pre—referendum and the majority of them, who voted for brexit will be glad to hear there are still a politician out there speaking up for them in the european institutions. if what you described to be now, an increasing members, the loss of another senior member of your party

constitutes success, what constitutes success, what constitutes failure? ukip are not a party of aspiring politicians. being elected to a position such as assembly member is something we of course enjoy and look forward to, because the wanted to make peoples lives better across this country, that we are a grassroots movement trying to make politicians more accountable, politics more accessible and that‘s what we are about as a party. mark reckless feels that‘s not now for him and has moved on. we expect him to vacate his seat and let someone fill his seat to disbelieve in those things. thank you very much for your time. news coming through from washington, dc in the last few minutes. the reuters news agency says that nunes will step down from the russia probe and he is saying he is stepping down from the russian probe due to

entirely false accusations filed against him. that is all we have at this stage, the chairman of the house intelligence committee of course, saying he will step down from the russia probe. there has been a lot of pressure for precisely that to happen. but, as we are perhaps gathering from this very brief statement, he says the accusations against him are entirely false. that is all we have the moment. i‘m looking to save anything further is coming through from the white house. the republican chairman has been distracted from questions about the trump team and moscow and is under pressure to explain why he went to the white house alone to review intelligence a day before announcing new evidence in his committee‘s investigation, so he‘s been under considerable pressure, many in the usa feeling this was perhaps the inevitable result but we‘ll talk to mark washington correspondence shortly. back here.

a brother and sisterfrom birmingham have appeared in court in london on terrorism charges. it‘s alleged that 21—year—old ummariyat mirza bought a knife and other items, while planning an attack in the uk. his sister zainub, is accused of sending him links to beheading videos. both were remanded in custody until the end of the month. our home affairs correspondent daniel sandford is there for us. ummariyat mirza and his sister zainub were arrested in a dramatic sequence zainub were arrested in a dramatic sequence of events last week passing people with mobile phone videos caught their arrests in birmingham with lots of police officers with guns. they‘ve been in custody ever since then but this morning they made theirfirst court since then but this morning they made their first court appearance here at westminster magistrates‘ court in london. ummariyat mirza is charged with repairing a terrorist act and the allegation being that he had purchased a knife and some other

items in preparation to carry out an attack in the uk. he is also charged with possessing the anarchists cookbook and other poisoners handbook. his sister zainub is charged with sending him beheading videos and execution videos and photographs of people holding their heads from people who‘ve been beheaded, so those are offences of items which are used for propaganda. they both appeared in the dock at westminster magistrates‘ court, only confirming their name, date of birth and their addresses, as is usual. there was no suggestion they should be asked to plead guilty or not guilty to the offences. he was wearing a grey sweatshirt and trousers often issued in police stations and she was wearing a long black dress and avail and though both told they would stay in custody until the next hearing which will be at the old bailey on the 28th of april. daniel sandford westminster

magistrates‘ court. in a moment the business news but first our headlines. a father who refused to pay a fine after taking his daughter out of school for an unauthorised holiday has lost his case at the supreme court. the syrian government has spoken for the first time since the gas attack that killed 70 people — and denies ever using chemical weapons — amid international condemnation. welsh assembly member mark reckless quits ukip — and rejoins the conservatives. hello there, i‘m alex baxter with a business news now. taking a cut. 0il giant bp said its chief executive bob dudley saw his pay package fall by 40% last year. mr dudley‘s total pay dropped from £15.5 million to £9.3 million. the firm says the fall was due to a drop in performance—related pay. this year‘s shareholder vote on bp‘s pay policy is binding — unlike last year when shareholders protested against mr

dudley‘s 2015 pay package. not guilty, that‘s the verdict. 0il giant bp said its chief executive bob dudley saw his pay package fall by 40% last year. two former barclays bankers accused of rigging libor have been found not guilty in a highly significant verdict. the uk‘s serious fraud office tried them for a second time after a jury failed to reach a verdict on their case last year. stelios contogoulas and ryan reich have now cleared their names after a 7—year ordeal. the co—op group has reported its first annual loss since 2013 after declaring that its stake in co—operative bank is worth nothing. it reduced the value of its 20% stake in co—operative bank from £185m to zero, reflecting the bank‘s continuing problems. the firm made a loss before tax of £132 million for 2016. a much—anticipated meeting between the leaders of the world‘s two largest economies. us president donald trump will host chinese leader xi jinping at his mar—a—lago resort in florida today.

it is the very first time they are meeting in person and trade ties are expected to top the agenda. michelle fleur is at the new york stock exchange. up up until this point, china bashing has been a big part of the trump brand. if you go back to the campaign, tom talked a lot about china, saying it would hurt mac manufacturing in america —— trump. talked a lot about china saying it had manufacturing. there‘s a lot of questions as to what the rhetoric will be like when they meet face—to—face and i don‘t think we can underestimate the importance of this meeting. you‘re talking about the leaders of the world‘s largest economies and after that this is also a very significant foreign

policy moment for what is still a very young trump administration. lots of questions as to what he will or walmart say to chinese leader xi jinping when it comes to trade. really reiterate talks about currency manipulation, will you stay away from that? the trade deficit? he directed his commerce secretary to look at countries with which the us has big trade deficits. what police say on that? a lot of questions remain. currency manipulation is a theme we‘ve heard a lot about in trump‘s rhetoric. talking of trade, of course, president trump has decided to walk away from cpp. we‘re not seeing that pivot towards asia we saw in the second 0bama term. what are we expecting to hear in this visit? of course it‘s only the first visit between the two leaders. us officials have told us at this point the meeting is not scripted. in

other words, they haven‘t preset, it‘s not been stage—managed. so we will have to wait and see what does come out. this meeting as they get to know you, tried to establish a framework of discussing things going forward. there were questions about whether or not the issue of tariffs trump has threatened before for big trade deficits with the us, would be brought up. us officials said there was no necessary plan to mention it but it wasn‘t off the table. a lot is unknown but you mentioned tpp, the trade deal with asia, which didn‘t involve china. there was a fear that by stepping away from that the us would see leadership to china. the other question is on climate change. donald trump has shown less interest on climate change and is that an area china could step up? people that started

say, are we talking about in eire where china is the leader of free trade? it‘s still very early days, but certainly, a lot at stake. so much on the agenda the getting to know you visit between these two leaders. the government‘s flagship savings programme, the lifetime isa, has been snubbed by banks and building societies on the day it launches. none of them will be offering the product immediately. only three providers will offer the lisa this month, and they are all investment platforms. unilever, which owns some of the uk‘s most famous household brands, has announced plans to sell its margarine business, including flora and stork. the move comes as part of a wide—ranging review at the anglo—dutch firm, which recently saw off a takeover bid from us food giant kraft heinz. unilever‘s boss says the margarine business was a "declining segment" that could be "better managed by others". sales at the baby goods retailer

mothercare dropped 2.2% last year as currency fluctuations hit its international revenue. the company reported that international sales were down 2.4% in the year to march — but that stripping out the effects of currency changes, they were up 10.3%. british shares dropped on thursday after minutes of the federal reserve‘s last meeting indicated the bank would shrink its balance sheet later this year. so the blue chip ftse100 currently down xx%. miner anglo american is currently the biggest gainer while pearson, so the blue chip ftse100 currently down 0.63%. miner anglo american is currently the biggest gainer while pearson, the educational publisher, has shed the most. that‘s all the business from me but back to you now. thank you, alice.

thank you. this weekend, some extraordinary acts by young people are being celebrated at the rotary young citizen awards in manchester. there are seven winners from across great britain and the republic of ireland, one of whom is harry mccann from county kildare. you could call harry a real whizz kid. he founded his first business at the age of 15 — called kid tech. over the space of sixteen months, he taught over 800 children to computer code. this is his story. what generally happens here on tuesday evening, the kids learn how to code. we introduce kids to coding as young as seven and get them involved, in technology and creating it. my name is harry mccann, i‘m 18 yea rs it. my name is harry mccann, i‘m 18 years old, i‘m a student from county kildare and i‘m the founding director and kildare and i‘m the founding directorand an kildare and i‘m the founding director and an entrepreneur. i have

a passion and i‘m sharing it with the kids. it‘s a great opportunity to be able to show them they cannot just use technology but also learn how to build things and control their technology as well. these kids are very much my generation. not just people on facebook and twitter, just people on facebook and twitter, just using youtube, but they understand somebody has built it and if they put a lot of work in and understand the technology, they, too, can build the next twitter, facebook and a billion—dollar business online. i don‘t do it for recognition. i don‘t want to receive awards and it‘s just been an added bonus and it‘s great for me to be able to go out and do other things afterwards. it‘s a good motivator. it's afterwards. it‘s a good motivator. it‘s great to be able to get involved in something the kids enjoy andi involved in something the kids enjoy and i enjoy doing. we have to share and i enjoy doing. we have to share a passion for technology with other people especially when the kids get to go on and have the opportunity to go and build bigger and greater

things. just to tell you all this week the bbc news channel is featuring the stories of the past and present award winners. and on saturday, we‘ll be broadcasting the 10 year anniversary ceremony live from manchester. that‘s at 10.30 this saturday morning. time now for a look at the weather. thomas is going to cheer us all up. yes, and so will your neighbours when you are sunbathing at the weekend. temperatures could get into the low 20s. this is what it looked like this morning, quite misty, murky and a few places quite chilly. but a beautiful sunrise there. at the moment, a lot of sunshine across eastern and southern areas, the north—west of the country. a fair

bit of clouds stuck in this high—pressure. this high pressure is with us for a while. certainly for the next few days, and it will bring us some very warm weather the next few days, and it will bring us some very warm weather but another feature of our weather is pollen. it‘s pretty high across central and southern areas. a lot of us will have itchy eyes and smoothly noses. the north—west of scotland, pretty cloudy at times, a few spots of rain. the north—west of england, northern wales, as well, but the south and east today, this is where the best of the weather is. in wales, temperatures around 16—17. a very pleasant day. not much changes overnight. the clouds will clear. these temperatures are probably at their highest what they will be, 7-8, but their highest what they will be, 7—8, but in some areas not for out—of—town, down to 2—3, so quite a

nippy night for some of us and then tomorrow, very little change. a fine day with plenty of sunny spells. temperatures in the high teens in some areas and in the north—west, a little bit more cloud. the wind blows around like so. and then, once the high moves that way, we start to see warmer air drifting in from the south, so this is good news if you wa nt south, so this is good news if you want warm aircoming south, so this is good news if you want warm air coming from spain. temperatures will rise. this is quite a conservative figure. it could be saturday, 20. great weather for entry to entry. the airjust keeps on getting warmed up by the sun through the course of sunday, so we could be talking about 23 degrees across some southern areas. we could be talking about 23 degrees across some southern areas. 21 across some southern areas. 21 across yorkshire and a little bit fresher unfortunately for north—western scotland, but

certainly warming up. nice warm weather and it‘s almost feeling a bit likejune. weather and it‘s almost feeling a bit like june. that‘s weather and it‘s almost feeling a bit likejune. that‘s it. this is bbc news. i‘m simon mccoy. the headlines at 3pm. a father who refused to pay a fine after taking his daughter out of school for an unauthorised holiday has lost his case at the supreme court. to attend regularly no longer means to attend regularly no longer means to attend regularly no longer means to attend frequently. it now means to attend frequently. it now means to attend frequently. it now means to attend on all the days and at all the times that the school requires it. the syrian government has spoken for the first time since the gas attack that killed 70 people — and denies ever using chemical weapons — amid international condemnation. welsh assembly member mark reckless quits ukip — and rejoins the conservatives. jeremy corbyn says a labour government would add vat to private school fees — and use the money to pay for free school meals for all primary pupils in england. i‘mjane i‘m jane hill. also this hour president donald trump gets set to host his chinese counterpart, xijinping, for two days of talks in