this is bbc news. i'm vicki young. the headlines at 11:00: the leader of northamptonshire council, which has had to ban almost all spending, says she warned the government their finances were unsustainable. we have been in what you may call a perfect storm of huge increases in demand for our services at the same time to get reductions in funding coming from central government. the italian interior minister says the drive—by shooting that injured six african immigrants in macerata was motivated by "racial hatred". it's emerged tonight that two more women have reported harvey weinstein to the metropolitan police over allegations of sexual assault. ireland pull off a dramatic victory with the last kick of the game in the six nations rugby as they beat france by 15 points to 13 in paris. and in half an hour, we'll take a look at tomorrow's papers with uma thurman on a number of front pages accuses harvey weinstein of assault. he denies the claims.

good evening and welcome to bbc news. a local council has taken the highly unusual step of imposing emergency spending controls after saying it's facing severe financial challenges. the move by northamptonshire county council means a ban on all new spending — apart from what's used to protect vulnerable people. the council's conservative leader, heather smith, says the move is a result of rising demand for services, and cuts in government funding. our political correspondent matt cole reports. like so many others across britain, people in northamptonshire have watched their council manage multimillion—pound budget cuts since 2010, and now they've run out of cash, meaning a host of services

from subsidised buses to libraries are threatened. i'll be absolutely devastated if it closes. we've been here forjust over a year and i was delighted that this is kind of ten minutes down the road from us. we just feel, i suppose, let down, and why wasn't anything in place to prevent this situation happening? there will now be no new spending, save on services to safeguard the vulnerable, until the next financial year. we've been in what you might call a perfect storm of huge increases in demand for our services. at the same time, significant reductions in funding coming from central government. but is this a one—off? english councils say by the end of the decade, they will have seen £16 billion cut from their core central government funding. they say by 2020, there will be a £5.8 billion annual shortfall. what's more, they say they need an additional £1.3 billion now for social care.

ministers will point to much—needed efficiency savings made in the same period, but labour says it's time for change. after nearly eight years of conservative government, councils have lost 50% of their funding from central government. and yesterday, we found that tory—run northamptonshire council is effectively bankrupt. in northamptonshire, government inspectors are now investigating the council's financial management but the conservatives have responded tojeremy corbyn‘s proposals, saying they would deliver less money to people's pockets and hit communities with higher council taxes and worse public services. the government has plans for a new funding system for local authorities to come in at the start of the next decade. alongside that, proposals for councils to be allowed to keep more of the business rates raised locally. but with this year's finance settlement for authorities due to be announced in the coming week,

the local government association is calling on the ministry here to provide new funding for all councils now. matt cole, bbc news, westminster. a little earlier, i spoke to nick golding, editor of the local government chronicle. he began by telling me how trouble had been brewing for some time in northamptonshire. it was a really desperate time in northamptonshire obviously with the councils and really dire financial difficulties. basically the council has really struggled. it faces huge cost as a result of rising social ca re cost as a result of rising social care and children's services cost that if you speak to many people around local government you query whether northamptonshire sort of talks in touch decisions soon enough. and there has been a sensitive is always been quite a losing battle for quite a long time. we have heard an awful lot about austerity over the last few years.

it does seem as if local government really has been at the forefront of all of that, and you spoke about difficult decisions, do you think northamptonshire should have done more 01’ northamptonshire should have done more or is this being replicated in other places across the country?” speculative council chief executives around the country and there are huge worries and many, many places about the tolbert austerity is having on councils. basically a lot of it comes down to rising children's services cost and rising social care cost and a lot of councils are really struggling and when i speak to some senior people in the sector, there are expectations that other councils could go the way of northamptonshire lest they take some fairly drastic action quite soon. and where are the cuts falling in northamptonshire particularly? they said they will protect services to vulnerable people that are there particular areas where people are beginning to notice what is going on? well northamptonshire they are having to up northamptonshire they are having to up across northamptonshire they are having to up across the board and you are

right, services to most vulnerable people will be maintained. but when a look around councils around the country, all types of council services are being cut back and our intelligence from meeting people is that areas like public health, street cleaning, they will be among the areas hit worst in the coming period and when councils have to cut money from public health, it is very short term, it is not good, if you invest money in that, it saves money and leads to greater population health in future. italy's prime minister paolo gentiloni has insisted that hate and violence will not divide his country after a series of drive—by shootings which the police say were motivated by racism. six people, all of african descent, were injured in the town of macerata, in central italy. police have arrested a 28—year—old man who is a supporter of the far—right, anti—immigrant northern league. from italy, james reynolds reports. one man, a young italian

armed with a pistol, turned the italian city of macerata into a terrifying place. the gunman fired from his car at anyone who appeared to be a migrant from africa. there was no time for his targets to hide. i was passing by this morning to go and buy cigarettes. when they shot me on my leg this morning, you know. so the person inside the car was shooting, you know? idid not i did not see his face, you smoke. —— yeah. during the attack, the authorities posted warnings instructing the city's residents to stay inside. the gunman was arrested when he got out of his car. he was draped in an italian flag. witnesses say that they saw him give a fascist salute. he is identified as

28—year—old luca traini. the italian media reports he had been a candidate forthe anti—immigrant northern league party in local elections held in 2017. translation: heinous crimes will be punished. criminal behaviour does not have any ideological motivation. criminals are criminals. the state will be particularly severe to anyone who feeds a spiral of violence. this attack comes at a time of high anxiety in the city of macerata. earlier in the week, the dismembered body of a young italian woman was found — a nigerian migrant arrested in connection with her death. now migrants have been injured in this drive—by shooting. the country now heads into next month's general election with all this on its mind. james reynolds, bbc news, rome.

joining us from rome is alvaro ranzoni, political commentator and journalist. thank you to joining thank you tojoining is thank you to joining is this even thank you tojoining is this even in here on bbc news. this was a shocking attack which everyone says was motivated by racism. unless the country being reacting to it? well, with dismay and shock. now the country knows exactly what the next election will be, voters going to be, a vote around xenophobia, racism, this kind of stuff, illegal emigration, which is not necessarily what the country needs. the country needs jobs, to what the country needs. the country needsjobs, to get what the country needs. the country needs jobs, to get out of the economical problems, but this fact, this tremendous episode today really

is bringing up to the conscience of everybody a delicate is the situation with 500,000 illegal immigrants mostly from africa in the country, being in the country illegally. and the figures as you say are pretty stark, aren't they? clearly there were areas of italy that are struggling to cope with all of this. how people reacted to this influx of illegal immigrants? the italians have discovered most, many italians have discovered most, many italians have discovered themselves to be racist. this is a really unheard of situation. this is because for years, this illegal immigration is being allowed to come into the country without any real...

anybody taking any... real... action about it. for instance there is a law in italy that was passed by past governments of the right which makes an illegal immigrant automatically a criminal which means anyone coming into the country we know with this boatin into the country we know with this boat in the mediterranean, the desperate situation, is a criminal! is theoretically a criminal, is supposed to be tried in a tribunal which is of course it is impossible to do that. with 500,000 illegals in the country. this law should be repealed as soon as possible and to make... make the way for possible solution, a practical solution. you spoke about the elections, the

italians are going to vote in national elections on the fourth of march, i think. national elections on the fourth of march, ithink. 0ur national elections on the fourth of march, i think. 0urfar right political movements trying to exploit the situation? yeah, i think this will be possible their main argument because for instance today the leader of the liga which is the most xenophobic party in the country has set of course shooting is a... whoever have shifted anyone is a criminal but the moral bill in full moral responsibility rests on the politicians who allowed this country to be swamped by these wave of invasion of immigrants. so exploiting this fact is serious. 0ther exploiting this fact is serious. other political relations are on the centre and the left and the new

movement the 5—star movement who are very keen to say not to exploit this horrible fact. 0k, we must leave it there. thank you forjoining us. scotland yard are looking into two more allegations of sexual assault against harvey weinstein. it brings the total number of women who have reported weinstein to british police to nine.0ur correspondent ben ando explained more about the allegations. co nta cted by a woman in this country claiming that she had been sexual assaulted by harvey weinstein. there are a further six women who came forward. up to christmas this year, that's what we thought. there were seven alleged victims making a variety of allegations. there were seven alleged victims making a variety of allegations. what has emerged today, though, is that on october the 31st, a woman came forward and claimed he had attacked her in the republic of ireland.

the police say that they forwarded that information to the irish police. on november 13th of last year, another woman came forward and claimed she was attacked on two occasions. one in london in 2011 and another in 2010 in a foreign country. the police aren't saying which country that is but they say they will forward the information to the relevant force there. this comes on the same day as uma thurman has made allegations as well. actually, there's been a response from mr weinstein and his team. yes, that's right. she's told the new york times in an interview that back when she was promoting the film pulp fiction, in which she starred, made by quentin tarantino but produced by harvey weinstein, she was at the savoy hotel in london when he attempted to sexually assault her. she says it was like "a lizard trying to wriggle away from him". she says that came after a similar incident in a hotel in paris. what he has said through a spokesman, apparently, is that he misread the signals that he thought she was giving him. a syrian rebel group says it shot down a russian fighter plane near the city of idlib on saturday. the syrian 0bservatory

for human rights monitoring group said the pilot ejected from the plane and was killed, but this has not yet been confirmed. video posted on social media appeared to show the plane being hit, while other video showed burning wreckage on the ground, with a red star on a wing. russian fighters have been bombing positions south of the city of aleppo in support of a syrian government offensive. the government has announced a package of financial support for small companies affected by the collapse of the construction company, carillion. the state—backed british business bank will provide up to 100 million in loans. customers worried about repaying mortgages will also be offered help. thousands of suppliers were left unpaid, after the firm went into liquidation last month. a prominent conservative mp has stepped up his criticism of civil servants at the treasury — accusing them of ‘fiddling the figures' in brexit forecasts, in order to make the case for the uk remaining in the eu's customs union.

jacob rees mogg, who was caught in a scuffle last night when protesters disrupted a meeting he was attending at the university of the west of england — told the today programme on radio 4 that treasury forecasts about the impact of brexit were ‘clearly politically influenced'. a referendum and the eu, the treasury has gone back to making forecasts. it was politically advantageous to them in the past. it's the same now. so yes, i do they are fiddling the figures. earlier i spoke to our political correspondent eleanor garnier. she said this was the second time in a week that mr rees—mogg had questioned the impartiality of civil servants. this is about far more than an mp who is unhappy with treasury figures. as you say, he is an ardent brexiteer. he lea pt figures. as you say, he is an ardent brexiteer. he leapt a group of tory

brexiteers. that group could one day be the undoing or doing is theresa may and her future be the undoing or doing is theresa may and herfuture in number ten. —— he lead. we have had a strong response to date from the union which represents senior civil servants. it's secretary said mr rees mogg had been peddling an lies. this is an issue within the conservative party with. we have government ministers undermining the government's own figures. as you say, theresa may under pressure from

all sides. say, theresa may under pressure from allsides. particularly, going into next week and yet another crucial few days for the brexit negotiations. bello michel barnier will be in downing street on monday. he will be having talks with the prime minister and the brexit secretary. bello —— michel barnier. --. a group of senior ministers will be getting together over a couple of days to thrash out what kind of relationship the government should be pursuing with the eq after we leave the eu. —— eu. does theresa may back the ardent brexiteers orders she sighed lacks some in her —— or does she sighed with —— side. the headlines on bbc news:

northamptonshire council imposes emergency spending controls because of what it describes as severe financial challenges. the italian interior minister says the drive by shooting that injured six african immigrants in macerata was motivated by "racial hatred". it's emerged tonight that two more women have reported harvey weinstein to the met police over allegations of sexual assault. sport now and a full round up from the bbc sport centre. good evening. what a start to the six nations. wales and ireland displayed their potential title credentials on the opening day of rugby union's six nations tournament. wales' win was a comfortable 3a points to seven victory over scotland. while a dramatic last mintue drop goal in paris gave ireland a 15 points to 13 win over france. joe wilson reports from cardiff. the six nations is designed to stir you, but does it inspire or overwhelm you? josh adams making his debut for wales here.

steady now. if you get a chance, snatch it. commentator: interception, opportunity for wales! scotland could see their pre—match optimism disappearing afterjust six minutes as gareth davies, legs and lungs, reached the line. wales led 14—0 at half—time. scotland tried the fancy stuff and failed. wales did basics brilliantly. leigh halfpenny scored two tries. who saw this coming? well, not the scotland coach. now the welsh flourish to finish. four tries in a match means a tournament bonus point. at its best rugby is pace, power and agility. in other words, steff evans. 34—7 final score. remember, so many injured players were missing from this welsh team, then they produced a performance like that. wales really made everything about home advantage count. in paris nothing much happened to 71 minutes,

then everything did. teddy bridgewater to win the game for france, it seemed. france led by a point. time was up, ireland had one chance to win, one kick. get the ball tojohnny sexton. drop goal... watch and wait. what a moment. what a day. joe wilson, bbc news. the women's six nations got under way last night with wales narrowly beating scotland while tonight ireland faced a tough opener in toulouse. the french side were relentless, scoring four tries in total — including this from jade le pesque in the first half — her first of two — to give the hosts 211—0 victory and a bonus point. 2017 england begin their title defence tomorrow away to italy. it was an emotional day for manchester united as they commemorated the 60th anniversary of the munich air

disaster with a minute's silence. the game was won by united. they beat huddersfield town 2—0 with new signing alexis sanchez scoring the second goal. sanchez‘s old club didn't seem to miss him too much. aaron ramsey scored a first hat trick in this, his tenth year at arsenal as they thrashed everton 5—1 at the emirates. new signings henrik mkhitaryan and club record signing pierre emerick aubameyang both made their debut, with aubameyang scoring the fourth goal. it looks we have the quality to integrate the game we want to play. quick, sharp movement, agile and wa nt quick, sharp movement, agile and want the ball. that's very good. very positive signs. manchester city's lead at the top of the premier league has been cut to 13 points after their 1—all draw with burnley.

there were important wins for bournemouth, brighton and southampton whlie leicester city and swansea drew 1—all. in the scottish premiership, celtic suffered their second defeat under brendan rodgers. elsewhere, aberdeen closed the gap at the top of the premiership tojust closed the gap at the top of the premiership to just eight points after their 3—0 win over hamilton. bottom side ross county one and it endedin bottom side ross county one and it ended in a draw for partick thistle. tennis now and britain face an uphill battle in marbella to rescue their world group davis cup tie with spain, after losing in the doubles this afternoon. jamie murray and dominic inglot were beaten in straight sets by pablo carreno and feliciano lopez — which means britain have to win both singles matches tomorrow to be victorious. there's live coverage on bbc two from 10:00 tomorrow. that's all the sport for now. i'll have more for you in the next hour. president trump has said a classified memo —

accusing the fbi of abusing its powers — vindicates him and his election campaign. the memo, written by republican members of congress, accuses the fbi of bias against the president, in their investigation into the trump campaign's alleged ties to russia. david willis reports from washington. chanting: usa, usa, usa! his supporters believe he struck a blow for justice. but by releasing a secret memo alleging bias on the part of officials who are currently investigating him, others believe the president is undermining a vital branch of government. this memo totally vindicates trump in probe, he tweeted today, but the russian witch hunt goes on and on. there was no collusion and there was no obstruction. the memo, written by republicans, describes a politically biased justice department and fbi, which was determined

to ensure donald trump lost the presidential election. they got a warrant on someone in the trump campaign using opposition research paid for by the democratic party and the hillary clinton campaign. the man the president appointed to lead the fbi was fiercely opposed to the memo's release, having questioned its accuracy. in an e—mail to his beleaguered staff, christopher wray wrote, talk is cheap. the work you do is what will endure. we're going to keep doing that work, because we know who and what we are, and because we know our mission comes first. the american people come first.‘ democrats accused the president of recklessness in releasing the memo. it's appalling. it's a misrepresentation. it isn't even the release of intelligence material. it's a release of a distortion of it. what is its purpose? its purpose is of course to thwart the investigation, the mueller investigation. special counsel robert mueller

is thought to be nearing the end of his investigation into allegations of collusion between the trump campaign and russia. and there have been reports here that he may soon be looking to interview the president himself. the white house, for its part, has consistently denied suggestions that the president may be about to sack robert mueller, but democrats have warned that such a move could prompt a constitutional crisis. david willis, bbc news, at the white house. archaeologists in egypt have unveiled the newly discovered tomb of an ancient priestess that dates back more than 4000 years. the tomb, found near cairo, is adorned with well—preserved and rare wall paintings depicting the priestess in a variety of scenes. duncan kennedy reports. discovered near the pyramid of giza south of cairo, the tomb was found under 300 cubic metres of earth. archaeologists were astonished

to see how well preserved the paintings on the wall of the l—shaped room were. they depict a high priestess, hetpet, in a variety of settings. she's seen in hunting and fishing scenes and receiving offerings from children. hetpet was known to be a priestess to the goddess of fertility, hathor, who assisted women in childbirth. finding hetpet‘s tomb is being seen as an important and rare addition to our understanding of the structure of egyptian royal life 4,000 years ago. we believe that she lived during the fifth dynasty which means 21100 bc. the tomb has preserved its colours. she was a high official and she had a strong link with the royal palace. the tomb contains scenes of music and dancing performances. going into the afterlife was a moment of celebration

as well as sadness. archaeologists say they have only discovered about 40% of what lies beneath the surface of this site around giza. but this lavish burial chamber with its vivid artwork dedicated to the life of one woman is another revelation of this ancient civilisation. duncan kennedy, bbc news. now it's time for the weather. it isa it is a bit chilly out there. it will stay like it at the next few days. cold enough for some snow as well, just about. the good news is, tomorrow, on sunday, some writer weather on the way. —— brighter. this weather front originated out in the atlantic and came our way and basically decided to park itself

over us basically decided to park itself over us and not basically decided to park itself over us and not move basically decided to park itself over us and not move anywhere else. it has been sitting over us and bringing us outbreaks of rain all throughout the last 12— 18 hours. the good news is, by the time we get to the early hours of sunday morning, the weather front of will have dried out and we will be left with clearing skies. that means on sunday morning, there will be sunshine around. it will be chilly so few are outgoing for a run, it will feel fresh. this is what it looks like, three degrees in the lowla nds looks like, three degrees in the lowlands of scotland, a couple of degrees above freezing in manchester. there will be frost around. some nice weatherfor hampshire. all the way to cornwall. the far south—east underneath cloud and showers. 0ne the far south—east underneath cloud and showers. one thing you will notice, on sunday, strengthening north—easterly wind. it is coming from sweden, across denmark and the north sea and it is dragging in moisture and showers. this push of

the uk will have showers during the course of the day, maybe sleet as well. this is what it will feel like. watch what happens sunday night and into monday, a forecast doesn't pick out all the detailjust yet. some of the showers may be substantial. could be snow lying around very early on monday morning. for most of us on monday, it is actually looking relatively bright. tuesday, a weather front approaching from the west. shots of whether from the east and west. this time it is coming in out of the west. they could be snow across northern and western areas, could include manchester and parts of yorkshire. two degrees. here is a summary. it will stay cold for a week or so. widespread frost and it will be