[an flit pm of england. 23 is likely but only briefly. the weather front bringing rain in the north—west introducing cooler northerly air on monday. this is bbc news. the headlines at lipm. 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 denies ever using chemical weapons — amid international condemnation. es. a senior police officer says possession of drugs should not be punished with imprisonment. 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. also this hour president donald trump gets set to host his chinese counterpart, xijinping, for two days of talks in the winter white house, mar—a—lago. from trade to currency to north korea, a lot is on the table for the leaders of the world's two largest economies. as the masters gets underway, concerns about the world number one dustin johnson who's fallen down stairs and injured his back. good afternoon and welcome to 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. our legal affairs correspondent clive coleman reports. arriving at the highest court in the land, a father, john platt, about to find out if taking his daughter on holiday in term time meant he had broken the law. about to find out if taking his daughter on holiday in term time meant he had broken the law. in 2015, jon platt took his daughter on a week's holiday. he was fined £120 by his local council on the isle of wight forfailing 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, jon 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. i can tell you, i have absolutely no intention of pleading guilty to this offence when it goes back to the magistrates' court. jon platt has lost his case here at the supreme court but he remains defiant. for parents, however, the 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 previous judgment. 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 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 children on holiday during holiday times because the companies want to make money. parents have been warned, but some will inevitably choose to followjon platt by taking their children on holiday in term time and facing the consequences. clive coleman, bbc news. a senior police officer has told the bbc that possession of drugs — even cocaine and heroin — should not be punished with imprisonment. paul bunt heads the drugs strategy for avon and somerset police — and says the 1971 misuse of drugs

act is outdated and unworkable. as an alternative, the force has set up the drugs education programme, a three hour course which drug users can attend, instead of facing prosecution. fiona lamdin has been given exclusive access. police out on the streets of bristol, looking for dealer... their drugs... there's two in there. and their bayers. when they find them these days many drug users are not being arrested. if police in bristol now catch people carrying even class a drugs, there is another option, other than there is another option, other than the criminal justice there is another option, other than the criminaljustice system. we can deal with this on the street. the drugs education programme or dep

a compulsory three hours in the classroom. we have been given unique access. i decided to get myself clean. there ha rd i decided to get myself clean. there hard hitting testimony from a survivor. graphic images of heroin users designed to shock. septicaemia. there is an open and frank discussion on the effects of drugs. i hallucinated, a lot. and the consequences of taking them. . i hallucinated, a lot. and the consequences of taking them. i i hallucinated, a lot. and the consequences of taking them. . i was found with cocaine in a nightclub. understandably, most on the course don't want to be identified. but they all tell us that being here is better than being arrested. they all tell us that being here is better than being arrestedlj they all tell us that being here is better than being arrested. i don't think i will use again because of the shock i've had and the whole process and everything. would you go as far as to say it is a life changer? yes, definitely i would have lost my job changer? yes, definitely i would have lost myjob if i had a criminal record. this new approach has come from this man, paul bunt. he says

the current legislation just isn't working. is this just not legalising drugs through the back door. no, it is dealing with it appropriately for the 21st century, i think there is a general feeling out there the 21st century, i think there is a generalfeeling out there now, that people who use substances and don't use violence or commit crime, why should we be filling our prisons with people like that? back on the streets the emphasis is on getting drug users on to the course on into treatment. people like this man, addicted to heroin and crack cocaine. have you got anything on you. you are close to dying, you are trying to find wraps. and even this man blatantly breaking the law, he will face court for criminal damage, but etch he will be offered a course for his drug use, critics may call this is a soft touch but police forces across the uk are watching with interest, and

it could soon be rolled out nationwide. the chair of the us house of representatives intelligence committee, devin nunes, says he will temporarily step down from the investigation into whether russia influenced the 2016 presidential election. mr nunes cites what he said were "entirely false" accusations filed against him, concerning his close professional relationship with donald trump. us house speaker paul ryan has since said that mr nunes still has his trust, and that he supports his decision to step aside. devin nunes has earned my trust over many years for his integrity and dedication to the critical that the intense gel community does to keep america safe. he continues to have that trust. he is eager to demonstrate he has filed all proper guidelines and law, in the meantime it is clear this process would be a distraction to the house intelligence committees investigation into russian interference in the election, so

devin nunes has offered to step aside as the lead republican on this particular probe and i fully support his decision. particular probe and i fully support his decision. the top ranking democrat in the house of representatives intelligence committee, adam schiff, has said that nunes stepping aside is an opportunity to move forward in the investigation. ijust want i just want to express my appreciation for what the chairman decided to do, i am sure it was a very difficult decision for him, but as he mentioned, i think it is in the best interest of the investigation, it will, i think, allow us to have a fresh start, moving forward, i look forward to working with mr conway, this investigation is of such critical importance, that we need to get fully back on track. we will have more from washington on that. theresa may has met the president of the european council donald tusk

at downing street. it's the first time the leaders have held talks face to face since theresa may formally started the brexit process last week. they agreed to stay in close touch as talks progress. let us find out more from our political correspondent who is following this at westminster. that is the polite diplomatic language about it all. what do we think is going on there? well, an eu source said they had a good and friendly meeting, it was almost two hours long, they agreed to keep in regular contact throughout the whole brexit process, they would keep having conversations to try to keep any tension down and also when there are any issues that flairup also when there are any issues that flair up that cause some difficulty and they referencings gibraltar, so and they referencings gibraltar, so an eu source saying gibraltar was discussed. downing street saying it was discussed. that is because last

week, when donald tusk published the guidelines for the brexit negotiations, the eu said decisions affected gibraltar, which of course isa affected gibraltar, which of course is a british territory would be run past the spanish government. that led the former tory leader, lord howard to say he thought theresa may would defend gibraltar, in the same way that margaret thatcher had defended the falkland islands. now that prompted a lot of criticism, and a bit of toing and froing between some conservative politicians here and some across the eu too, so downing street saying that in the discussions between donald tusk and theresa may this lunchtime, the prime minister made clear that the subject of gibraltar, the uk's position on it had not changed, the uk would seek the best possible dealfor changed, the uk would seek the best possible deal for gibraltar as the uk exits the eu, and there would be no negotiation on the sovereignty of gibraltar, without the consent of its people. and what talk, how much talk about theissue and what talk, how much talk about the issue of eu might, people living

in this country, brits living abroad, that has long been high on so many people's agenda, is is there a sense that is something that really has to be real clarity on, very quickly? it is something i think, jane, both sides want to deal with at the beginning of these negotiations, i know this sounds a bit silly but i think today's talks we re bit silly but i think today's talks were talks about talks if you know what i mean, the nitty gritty, the ha rd what i mean, the nitty gritty, the hard work of the brexit negotiations haven't started yet. at the end of this month, the 27 eu member states are getting together as a special summit, which they are going to formalise, if you like, the guideline, the negotiating guidelines that have been put together so far, it is only after they have been formalised the tough talking will start, but as you point out, the rights of eu citizens currently here in the uk and those from the uk who are currently living across the rest of the eu, that is one thing that both sides want to get sorted as soon asable only, also one of the other issues that will be

right up there is the brexit bill if you like, how much is this going to cost the uk? the other issue that donald tusk was pretty firm on, last week, was that while britain and the eu negotiate the withdrawal arrangement, there can be no talks in parallel on the future trading relationship that the uk will have with the eu. he said that talk could only begin once there had been a substantial amount of progress on the withdrawal talks, so that is another keyish shoe that will need to be sorted out pretty early on in these talks. thank you for now. 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: our 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, stock piles of chemical weapons in syria were supposed to have been removed. this time 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 advisor for syria jan egeland has been speaking to the media at a news conference in geneva — he said he hoped the development

could be a catalyst for a cessation of hostilities in the conflict. i hope that 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, i hope that it's a re—birth really for diplomacy, both humanitarian and political. i will continue working, we don't have the luxury to look away. the un humanitarian adviser, jan egeland. speaking in geneva. 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 sort, still no decision on whether world number one dustin johnson will compete at the master, his team say his back injury is improving after he fell at his apartment last night. it is due to tee off 7.00 our team. tea for two wins the big race today and two of england's big stars are meeting for a couple of big sixes before falling for 38. i will be back with more just after 11.30. i will be back with morejust after 11.30. 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. his resignation follows the departure of douglas carswell as ukip's only mp, last month.

mr reckless has been speaking to our wales political editor , nick servini, about his reasons for leaving the party. i think that now article 50 has been triggered, a conservative government is staking us out of the european union. that is something i have company for my adult life, i would like to support them in doing that, and here wales i think andrew rt davis, working with the uk government, can make sure that wales' interests a re government, can make sure that wales' interests are protected. this is devastating for your former party, you must surely realise that? i wish my former colleagues in ukip well, there is no personal animosity, it is just well, there is no personal animosity, it isjust i want well, there is no personal animosity, it is just i want to see the conservatives as their official opposition? the assembly, andrew is there as the leader. i think i will have more influence in my constituency and i want to support the uk government as it takes us out

of the european union and seeks to get the best deal for uk. is ukip a sink ship? i don't know what the future will be or wores will want to ta ke future will be or wores will want to take it, and others will speakfor themselves, i wish ex colleagues well. i am leaving positively having achieved ourjoint objective of winning a vote to get out of the european union i want to work with the conservatives to take the fight to labour, and to ensure that there is isa to labour, and to ensure that there is is a real voice standing up for those who have been let down by the labour government in wales. quite a brutal response from your former ukip colleagues, saying look, this is isa ukip colleagues, saying look, this is is a betrayal, and they have a point, don't they? you were voted as an assembly member, as a member of ukip. now, you are not, surely the logical position would be to resign as an am? i would love to be able to put my decision to the electorate in a by—election, as i have before in a

different context, u nfortu nately with the system we have in wales, thatis with the system we have in wales, that is not possible, but i think many of the people who did vote for ukip back in may of hast year, are coming over to the conservatives at all coming over to the conservatives at a ll levels, coming over to the conservatives at all levels, just as i am here in the assembly. all levels, just as i am here in the assembly. earlier i asked the ukip chairman paul 0akden how many members his party could afford to lose. if the people that are leaving don't believe in ukip in its future, then, as many as it takes for to us have a party full of committed ukipers which we believed mark reckless once was, he has decide it is betterfor him to move away, which is reg retta ble him to move away, which is regrettable to say the least. what we are looking to see is mark vacate the seat he has in the senate purely on account of being elect as a ukip assembly member and letting the next person on the list fill that vacancy. person on the list fill that vacancy. but really in the wider scheme of thing, the problem is far bigger isn't it. you are haemorrhaging support aren't you? with all due respect for we are not. i speak from a position of

knowledge, in that i know that our membership has gone up since the end of last summer, i know we have had three times as many members join our party in the last six weeks, as we have had leave it, losing mark is reg retta ble have had leave it, losing mark is regrettable but there are a great number of people joining ukip, interested in what we are going to do, iam interested in what we are going to do, i am welcoming them, they are our priority, we are looking forward to welcoming a new member once mark does the honourable thing and resigns his seat. the figures have gone up to how many?” resigns his seat. the figures have gone up to how many? i am not going to give you specific fixture, we have more members now than we did at the start of the year, so that is not what i would say about a party thatis not what i would say about a party that is on in decline as you suggest. ukip is a party on the up, it is still attracting new members, we have lost one today, that is reg retta ble we have lost one today, that is regrettable but it won't be anything like the end for our party. what, why do you think he left? well, mark similarly to douglasjust

why do you think he left? well, mark similarly to douglas just two weeks' ago, apparent i are saying the only reason they came to ukip was to help get britain out of the european union. collectively we did that, if he played some part in helping to achieve that it was worth it, that is what we wanted for 23 years but thatis is what we wanted for 23 years but that is not to say ukip haven't got more to offer. to that was mark's only reason for being in the party, then, frankly, he shouldn't have stood, a as candidate in wales in the first place, because we were standing candidates for the welsh assembly based on more than just the european union questions, so mark clearly has some questions to answer about why he chose to stand, if that was the only reason he was in the party, and about what he will now do, given he was elected op a ukip ticket. he has no personal mandate in wales whatsoever. that is a ukip seat and we are looking for him to vacate it so we can put another ukip me member into that position. 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. labour has proposed adding vat to private school fees, and using the money to pay for free school meals for all primary school children in england. 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. rich westgate complained for years

of severe headaches and vision problems, he was convinced he was being poisoned by toxic fumes that we re being poisoned by toxic fumes that were leaking on the aeroplanes, this is isa were leaking on the aeroplanes, this is is a british air wears a 320. just one of a type of aircraft richard westgate flew for many yea rs, richard westgate flew for many years, one of the safest in the skies. but when the 43—year—old pilot died in 2012 aged 43 it came after he complained of long—term health problems he said were due to breathing cabin air, his mother and brother came to the inquest believe he was the victim of toxic cabin air, having breathed it over many yea rs air, having breathed it over many years while flying, which they say affected his nervous system. this 2015 flight affected his nervous system. this 2015 flight from florida to new york shows a visible example of what the industry calls a cabin fume event. richard westgate was not involved with this flight. the pictures appear to show what can happen when oil vapour is sucked

into the aircraft itself. tristan lorraine who says he suffered it showed me the kind of pipe that links an engine to cabin. he says nearly all commercial aircraft could be affected and the industry must accept what is happening. you assume everything is safe. you board a train you assume it is safe and the airline industry is an incredibly safe industry, you know, it is, but the realities on this particular issue, this is the achilles heel of aviation. this doesn't just affect aviation. this doesn'tjust affect british airways, both ba and the civil aviation authority have denied there isa aviation authority have denied there is a problem with cabinen air, ba said it wouldn't operate an aircraft if there was contamination, it says there has been substantial research and none shows there is a risk to long—term help. the coroner has made clear this is not a public inquiry into cabin airfumes and while clear this is not a public inquiry into cabin air fumes and while the

industry has insisted cabin air is clea n industry has insisted cabin air is clean the westgate family and others believe this issue is real and must believe this issue is real and must be taken seriously. let us go to darren with the latest weather. good afternoon. it has been a lovely spring day for many parts of the country today, as always it is not the case everywhere and you will what i mean by looking at the satellite picture. we have got the sunshine across more southern and eastern areas but stubborn cloud for northern ireland, western scotland, and across the north—west of england, and these areas are reichly to stay cloudy, notjust through this evening and overnight. a few brea ks this evening and overnight. a few breaks further south and east and there may be patches of cloud too. these are temperatures in the towns and cities but where we see clearer skies in southern england, eastern england and eastern scotland, it will be another cold night with temperatures about two or three degree, we start with sunshine, we may see a bit of cloud building

through the day, but the best of the sunshine, likely to be for eastern scotland, much of wales and the south—west of england where temperatures are going to be a least into the mid teens but still on the cloudy side for western scotland and a good part of northern ireland. however, away from the far north—west of the uk, this weekend w. north—west of the uk, this weekend w, we should get nor sunshine round, it is quite strong as well and it will warm up, so up many so we could see 23 degrees in the south—east on hello, good afternoon, this is bbc news with simon mccoy and jane hill. it is just after az30pm. the news with simon mccoy and jane hill. it isjust after az30pm. the main stories: 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 unanimous judgment says unauthorised absences have a disruptive effect on pupils and teachers. the syrian foreign minister insists his regime has never used chemical weapons, following the attack in idlib, which killed more than 70 people. a senior police officer has told the bbc that possession of drugs — even cocaine and heroin — should not be punished with imprisonment. welsh assembly member mark reckless

has left ukip and joined the conservative group in the welsh assembly. few is doing the sport. could afternoon. belgian thomas pieters leads in the early stage of the 81st masters in augusta as those under way in the first part of the day battled some pretty tough conditions. americans phil mickelson and rickie fowler in the group of four behind thomas pieters. meanwhile, no official word on whether another american world number one dustin johnson will tee off later, he is due to, but he failed on the stairs in his rented home last night in during his back. johnson was favoured to win the green jacket johnson was favoured to win the greenjacket on johnson was favoured to win the green jacket on sunday, and johnson was favoured to win the greenjacket on sunday, and his johnson was favoured to win the green jacket on sunday, and his team have revealed he is up and moving around at the very least, even taking a couple of gentle practice

swings today. rory mcilroy has moved up swings today. rory mcilroy has moved up to second favourite in the betting. he tees off at 20 to seven. it has been a relatively quiet build—up to the masters for me, which has been quite quiet. it has made a bit of a change from the last couple of years, especially 15, coming off the back of two major wins ina coming off the back of two major wins in a row, going for the career grand slam, and even last year. i mean, last year i felt that the spotlight was shared a little bit among a few guys, but this time with dust and winning three times, he is the former player right now. there isa the former player right now. there is a lot of storylines, but i feel like it has been relatively quiet, which has been quite nice. ifeel like i can fly under the —— not that i feel like i can like i can fly under the —— not that ifeel like i can fly like i can fly under the —— not that i feel like i can fly under the radar any more, but it has sort of felt that way for me, and it has been nice to prepare and just go about my business and try to you

ready for this tournament. from augusta at aintree, where jockey lizzie kelly had a major success as tea for two sotloff cue card. tea for two eventually came out on top. kelly made history back in 2015 when she became the first female rider to wina grade she became the first female rider to win a grade one race in britain, as tea for two landed the novices race at kempton. the centrepiece, the grand national itself, on saturday at quarter past five. armed police are in attendance in the wake of the westminster terror attack. this weekend's race will mark the 20th anniversary of the national being delayed by a merseyside bomb scare. racegoers can expect to see high visibility policing across the three days of the event. kyle edmund will play their first match at the davis cup tomorrow against lucas pouille for stop the won his second singles in the tie against canada at tampa

canada. dan evans will facejeremy chardy in the reverse singles. there is coverage of the tie across the bbc. two of england's biggest stars are facing each other in the second match of this year's ipl. ben stokes is the most expensive foreign player in the t20 league, having passed the rising pune supergiants £1.7 million. he has been bowling this afternoon to jos million. he has been bowling this afternoon tojos buttler, who opened the batting to the mumbai indians. first blood to buttler, launching stokes over his head. the england wicketkeeper has since fallen. 0ne of the five wicket so far for south african spinner so far tom imran tahir, though it might not feel necessarily was the best decision by the umpire. 0ne necessarily was the best decision by the umpire. one of the best 200 metre runners in the world has switched his allegiance to great britain. not usain bolt, anyone watching without hearing me will be slightly confused. his training partner miguel francis has done so. 22 years old and was born in the

british 0verseas territory of montserrat, which does not actually have its own 0lympic montserrat, which does not actually have its own olympic committee. until now he has been competing for antigua and barbuda. he ran a personal best last summer, which was the seventh fastest time in the world in 2016. more in the next hour. let's return to the news that the chair of the us house of representatives intelligence committee, devin nunes, says he will temporarily step down from the investigation into whether russia influenced the 2016 presidential election. mr nunes cites what he said were "entirely false" accusations filed against him, concerning his close professional relationship with donald trump. us house speaker paul ryan has since said that mr nunes still has his trust, and that he supports his decision to step aside. with me now is niall stanage, associate editor from the hill, a us political website.

hello, a very good afternoon to you again. and to you. was this inevitable, actually, this stepping aside, because there had been a lot of pressure, hadn't there? there had come absolutely. no question that devin nunes is seen, not only by democrats, as overly close to president trump. mr nunes actually served in the transition team in the period after donald trump won the election, and so that was clearly seen as something that undercut his credibility when it came to this investigation. and where does it go from here, that investigation, because there have been so many bumps on the road, what happens now? so essentially what happens is another republican congressman from texas ta kes another republican congressman from texas takes over as the head of that investigation. the hope, i think, will be that this gives the investigation more credibility.

certainly mr nunes's democratic counterpart was quite constructive in his comments, so i think from both sides there is a desire to get this back on a more even keel. and the probe overall, is this something still very much what you were described in the states as inside the beltway? this is hugely important and fascinating to those who study the minish i of politics and the political system —— the minishi and the political system —— the minish i clear macro it is great question because as you say there is a lot of rather arcane detail in this. you can get into the wheels of exactly who said what when, who might have been under surveillance, and who might have passed that surveillance on. i don't think that those details have a massively wide appeal but i do think the fuel a

bigger narrative of the trump campaign perhaps having rather shady links to russia. and so that story of alleged collusion, which has not yet been proven, but alleged collusion between the trump campaign and russia does actually command considerable attention outside of the beltway, as well as within it. so the notion that they're mike bishay dealings as you call them, that will persist presumably until these sort of investigations can do their worst. is anyone hopeful that sort of work would be done quickly? not really is the perhaps lightly dispiriting answer! i think the investigation is expected to wind on for quite a while. that is one of the reasons why this is quite a damaging story for the trump administration because at any time there are likely to be new developments in the story, and as we just discussed not every development will be earth—shattering, but it

keeps this damaging story, from trump's perspective, constantly in the news. and again it is interesting track —— timing because of russia's involvement with syria. we are all looking to see what the trump administration response will be to what seems to be a chemical attack in syria, and if there are concerns, suggestions, whatever, about those links between donald trump and russia, that all plays into a very bloody civil war in syria. it does absolutely. president trump was making comments about a more anti—assad stance that he has previously indicated. i believe the us secretary of state rex tillerson will be going in the

next couple of weeks. that will be watched closely for stop mr tillerson's remarks will be very closely past. not the last time we will talk about it, thank you. for the first time since his election, president donald trump will meet the leader of the world's other economic superpower — president xi jinping of china. mr trump says he believes the summit — in florida — will be ‘very difficult‘. he's taken a confrontational stance on trade, and on north korea's nuclear programme, as barbara plett—usher reports. train horn blares muscatine, iowa, the pearl of the mississippi. it's 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—stayed before. i'm certain he hadn't home—stayed before! and he ate around the breakfast table... the chinese leader got a taste of 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. i think xijinping has great presence, and when he comes ino the room, shakes his hand, you know, i believe donald trump... well, i hate to say it this way — this is a guy i could make a deal with! we can't continue to allow china to rape our country... but donald trump's brand is bashing china, particularly on trade. they have taken ourjobs... could a dose of iowa hospitality fix that? ask the chinese businessman behind this museum project. maybe president trump, i think maybe needs some time to know more about china. maybe donald trump needs to visit muscatine? yeah! if he know the story

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

to be some rebalancing. rebalancing a complex and crucial relationship — that will take more than cornfield diplomacy. joining me now, at the moment, these relations have to be said not great. clearly expectations are not particularly high for this meeting. but a lot could go wrong. yes, and thatis but a lot could go wrong. yes, and that is the risk. if we get to the weekend without something going wrong, this will be a success. they can craft very bland statements, have some good photo opportunities and that at least will set them on a path where as the us policy towards china evolves then they can have something more substantive. i don't think anything particularly substantive will come out but if they can get through it without

humiliating xie pain, without donald trump feeling he has to do a bit of grandstanding, then it will be a success. the difficulty with the lead up that there has been on trade, but north korea as well, they are in positions where a climb—down is the only way to save face and thatis is the only way to save face and that is not going to happen, is it? north korea, they can expressjoint concern, and china is concerned. this is china's neighbour. and they are exasperated with north korea. but it is not an easy problem, it is a very knotty problem. china does not want a collapse. china can apply pressure but only up to a certain point and would like to find a more constructive way forward with north korea. what china would really like is for north korea to follow the path of opening up the market, becoming more prosperous and stable. that is a long—term prospect, and trump seems to want a quick hit. but you could forgive china for saying the donald trump you perhaps learning now that talk is easy?|j

think they would be a little too polite to put it in those terms but i hope that somebody is saying that the donald trump. because promising quick fixes, we will do it ourselves, there was no follow—up. that really isn't a good look. so i think the chinese have been preparing for this. they have been cultivating, his daughter and son—in—law, they have been trying to identify people in the administration who are feeding serious foreign policy ideas into the process, and trying to contain the process, and trying to contain the wild sides of the president and his wilder advisers. the body language, i know we should not of service with it, but that first handshake could tell as rather a lot about how it will go. yes, the handshake is a bit of a worry. there is quite a funny meme going around on how donald trump might handle the handshake because you remember the japanese prime minister had a very bad time with the handshake. appearance is really matter in

chinese politics, the dignity of the president really matters, the idea that he can present to his domestic audience a sense of handling was very important relationship correctly, that matters, and if that goes wrong, then the chinese won't forget. and shooting thing will come under pressure at home to stand up more robustly to the united states. at the moment, they are in a conciliatory mood. there are other issues, one thinks of climate change, which are often overlooked. everyone is assessing about the issues brought up in the general di president shall election. but climate change, if you don't have china and the united states as one, there is no point anyone looking at it. there was a huge success of the obama administration, and climate change played this critical role, whenever thing else was going wrong, and it often did in the us china relationship, climate change was something you could talk about constructively. you need something in the relationship where you get a positive way forward, a positive

mood, and climate change was that. it is not obvious now what will play. it is not obvious now what will play, which issue will play that role in the us china relationship. it might be investment, infrastructure. business, because thatis infrastructure. business, because that is what the president... well, but business is fraught, then you have a question of us access to the chinese market, you have trump's threats on high tariffs, how much investment and on what terms will china make in the united states. it is more fraught, whereas climate change was pretty much a win—win, which is something the chinese a lwa ys which is something the chinese always like to talk about. the chinese notably have said very little publicly about climate change since rex tillerson's visit to china a couple of weeks back, and i think they have turned down their talk on climate change, largely to avoid irritating the trump administration. but the chinese are very committed to climate change, and they will not resile from their commitments, as she didn't think —— xiejin ping

made clear. a memorial event has been held in moscow to commemorate the victims of the deadly attack on st petersburg's metro. 14 1a people were killed and nearly 50 injured in the attack on monday. the main subject from kurdistan died in the attack. several suspects are being held by russian police, after explosives similar to those used in the attack were found in a flat in the attack were found in a flat in the city. in a moment, a summary of the city. in a moment, a summary of the business news, a look at how the financial news have closed. first the 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. he'll vote with the conservatives

and the welsh assembly but he won't be rejoining the party. now a look at how the markets in europe have ended the trading session... for the most part, european markets largely tracking wall street, with prices edging up at the start of the session ahead of that us — china presidential summit. here in london, the ftse100 has continued to flounder with embattled publisher pearson continuing its woes today. its share price sliding nearly 7%. its share price sliding nearly 7%. it was a good day, though, for consumer products giant, unilever, gaining a late afternoon trade, and budget airline easyjet tracking up some 4%. it has also been a big day for central banks with the ecb meeting with so—called central bank watchers. comment out of that meeting suggest it is not planning to change its policy message this month, despite mounting calls from

germany for it to wind down its stimulus. also on that theme, theresa may and eu president donald tusk have held their first face—to—face talks since she triggered article 50. the us federal reserve has indicated chases to its bond investigation policy as it aims to trim its balance sheets. joining me to talk through all that is christian shorts, director of the european economic ‘s at citigroup. let's get started at the federal reserve. trying to trim its balance sheet, openly beginning to discuss unwinding its crisis in measures. yes, what a shift. we are discussing the juicing that amelia ‘s yes, what a shift. we are discussing thejuicing that amelia ‘s —— enormous pile of nearly 4 trillion us since then, the fed has always been

reinvesting principal repayments on a bigger pile but perhaps by the end of the year, kind of by the end of the year they may be starting to divest that emojis their balance sheet. they big shift for markets as well. on the theme of us having to gradually get used to the idea of rising rates, the ecb met with the so—called central bank watchers. you are one of those. there be an end to asset partnerships and negative interest rates time soon? the european economy is still years behind the us economy, unemployment is still high and inflation are still low. the ecb is not under as much pressure as the fed to move, but the discussion about raising interest rates and stopping asset purchase eventually the juicing the assets on the value of the central bank has also reached frankfurt, and the ecb is starting to have to

defend its view that it still can keep interest rates low and that is what we have learned today. they have given us is and why they still are cautious about the economy. there are clearly political risks out there. inflation is still very low, so maybe the ecb has time but evenin low, so maybe the ecb has time but even in frankfurt, the tone of the debate has clearly shifted and central banks may eventually start hiking their rates there as well. let's touch on brexit, those talks between theresa may and donald tusk, what came out of them? really it is the start of the negotiations. we had yesterday the european parliament taking a relatively tough line on what they would be ready to improve, in terms of a brexit deal. remember, the european parliament is one of the bodies that has to approve the deal in early 2019, i guess. donald tusk, the head of the eu council, had sent out this letter with draft guidelines, the one that also contained that famous passage now on gibraltar. so i am sure that

he and mrs may had some talking to do. i think the main issue at the moment is what to discuss in what order. the europeans want to discuss the separation first and then the future trade deal, the uk wants to do both at the same time, so they have to find some sort of compromise in orderfor things to have to find some sort of compromise in order for things to move slowly, which is what we all hope. a theme we will revisit time and time again. a quick recap of how stocks are doing here, and then let's across the pond as well. us stocks were flat in trading today as investors waited ahead of a potentially tense meeting between the presidents of us and china and as the chances of quick fiscal stimulus ebbed. that's all from me, there is a round—up of all the other top business stories on our website — bbc.co.uk/business this weekend, some extraordinary

a cts this weekend, some extraordinary acts by young people are being rewarded at the rotary awards. one of them is harry mccann from co kildare. you could call him a real whizz kid. he founded his first business at the age of 15, called the texas took over the space of 15 months, he taught over 800 children the computer code. this is his story. kids coming to learn how to code. we get them involved in notjust being users of technology but also creators. my name is harry mccann. i am 18 years old, a leading research student and the founder of the digital counsel in ireland. i have a passion for technology, and i share that with the kids. it is just a great opportunity to be able to show them they cannotjust use technology

but they can also learn how to build things and control the technology as well. these kids are very much my generation, they are just people who are on facebook and twitter, just using youtube, but they are not. they understand somebody has built it and they understand if they put a lot of work in, if they understand the technology, they too could build the technology, they too could build the next facebook, google, twitter, the next facebook, google, twitter, the next facebook, google, twitter, the next billion—dollar business online. i don't do it for the recognition, i never worked to receive trophies or awards. it has a lwa ys receive trophies or awards. it has always just been the added bonus and it is great encouragement for me to be up to go on and do other things after. it is a good motivator. it is just great deal to get involved in something that i enjoy and the kids enjoy doing. to share a passion for technology that i have with other people. especially when the kids get to go on and have the opportunity to build bigger and greater things. all this week we are featuring the stories of many of the winners, and

on saturday just to stories of many of the winners, and on saturdayjust to tell you there will be a special live programme broadcasting the 10—year anniversary from manchester, that is coming up at 1030 on saturday morning. time for a look at the weather. thomas sheffer necker has the latest. the weather is pretty good for most of us, a bit of a the weather is pretty good for most of us, a bit ofa nippy the weather is pretty good for most of us, a bit of a nippy morning this morning and a beautiful sunset as well. this high pressure will stick around for the rest of the week into the weekend as well. that means it will remain settled and the good news is that the weather will be warming up also over the next few days. the night, just a bit of cloud. might be some drizzle. western scotland for example, in some towns and cities the temperatures will step down to 5 degrees, at highest it will be eight or nine. tomorrow, again a nippy start, a bit of cloud and then we do

it all over again, copycat conditions for most of us with some sunshine and if you are lucky, clear blue skies as well. top temperature is tomorrow 15 in london, a bit fresher in glasgow at around about 10 degrees. the weekend is looking drive. some strong sunshine and it is warming up for sure. today at 5: britain's highest court rules against a father who took his daughter on holiday during the school term. jon platt from the isle of wight had won earlier legal battles but the case was pursued by the department for education all the way to the supreme court. the issue is no longer, if ever it was, about term—time holidays — it is about the state taking the right of parents away when it comes to making decisions about their children. the case has implications for any parent intending to take a child out of school in england without permission. we'll be looking at the findings of the court and we'll be examining the impact in thousands of schools across england. the other main stories on bbc news at 5: the syrian government has rejected claims that its forces were responsible for a chemical

attack which killed more than 70 people. a very difficult summit in prospect, says donald trump, as he prepares to welcome the chinese president to the usa.