this is bbc news. the headlines at seven: the cabinet is more united than the brexiteers think, says amber rudd, ahead of a crucial few days for the negotiations. we meet in the committee privately for discussions, i think that we will arrive at something which suits us all. two people have been killed and more than a hundred injured, after two trains collided with each other in the united states. a fire which killed a man in a care home in hertfordshire is believed to have been caused by an oxygen cylinder exploding. sinn fein‘s gerry kelly is reported to the police after he was filmed removing a wheel clamp from his car. and sportsday is here in half an hour, with highlights from england's six nations tie in rome. their italian hosts had their moments, but england scored seven tries to start this year's campaign with a convincing victory. good evening and

welcome to bbc news. the home secretary has played down the government's divisions over brexit — at the start of a crucial week in the negotiations. amber rudd said she had a "surprise message" for conservative critics of the prime minister — that the cabinet was "more united than they thought". tomorrow the european union's chief negotiator, michel barnier, will be in london for talks. and the cabinet‘s brexit committee will meet later this week, seeking an agreement on the way forward. our political correspondent, eleanor garnier, reports. putting the uk on the world map — last week the prime minister was making friends in china and signing billions of pounds of business deals.

but this week it is her own cabinet she needs to win over amid claims of disunity over brexit. i have a surprise for the brexiteers, the committee that meets is more united than they think. we meet for discussions and i think we will arrive at something which suits us all. exactly how we trade with the eu after brexit is a source of division in the tories. some want complete disentanglement from brussels, others hope to stay close. the home secretary believes the government's priorities are clear. we want frictionless trade at the border, no border on the island of ireland and make sure we can do trade deals outside the eu. but it is clear how difficult it will be to get everyone on side.

there are tensions with brexit, because different people take different views notjust in the conservative party or the labour party. it is across the country and we need a team effort. so far the prime minister's prevented the decades—old split in the conservative party over europe from spilling out into something more serious. something which could spell a crisis for her government. but with crucial ministerial meetings later this week, to pin down an agreed position, theresa may will finally have to pick a path and whichever she chooses, she risks making a large swathe of her party unhappy. but it is notjust a battle at home. winning in brussels is key too. and with more negotiations with the eu this week, the next few days could be pivotal for the prime minister. and we'll find out how this story — and many others — are covered in tomorrow's front pages at 10:30 and 11:30pm this evening

evening in the papers. our guests joining me tonight are the author and journalist yasmin alibhai—brown and the political strategist jo tanner. two employees of the us train company amtrak have been killed and over 100 people injured in a rail crash in the us state of south carolina. a passenger train travelling between new york and miami collided with a freight train and derailed. 0ur correspondent david willis is in washington david, what more can you tell us?m has been confirmed as you mentioned that the two people who died in that collision today were both its employees, the 54—year—old engineer and the 32—year—old conductor. this is the third fatal collision on the us railway system in as many months

and that's prompted the governor of south carolina, henry mcmaster, to call for a renewed discussion about rail safety in this country. congress has not passed a long—term funding measure for the amtrak system for the last ten years. it has relied on short—term ongoing systems with basically existing funding levels being maintained. president trump of course has mooted plans for a big infrastructure programme about a trillion dollars. but it is unclear how much of that if any would go to enhancing the nation's railway system. we often assume from this count are i that many people —— country that many people in the united states travel by air, how widely used is the rail network? it is very well used, particularly in certain parts of the

country on the west and east coast. 30 million people a year, more than that in fact, travel by train. and amtrak in saying that based on, its safety record is good. but i have to say the national transportation safety boa rd, say the national transportation safety board, the federal authority that looks into accidents of the kind that happened today, found a deficient culture as it put it, when it look into a recent derailment at the end of last year. and there is concern about safety levels given this being the third fatal incident of its kind within as many months. thank you. mps have warned that cuts to the royal marines would significantly weaken britain's defences. the government, which is reviewing defence spending, is said to be considering axing two thousand marines and the royal navy's two amphibious assault ships.

daniela relph reports. it is a warning to government over the future of the royal marines. they're among britain's elite fighting forces and provide half the personnel for the uk's special forces. the report says more cuts would affect their ability to be a high calibre unit. and warned plans to end the use of hms albion and bulwark, ships from which beach assaults are made would be militarily illiterate at this time. the committee praises the defence secretary. he is under pressure to make cuts against the funding cases being made by other government departments, but faces arguments from military chiefs that defence must be a priority. since 2010, our military has been cut by a third in its capability.

if this round of cuts happen it will be cut by half. can you imagine if we had half the number of hospitals? spending on defence has fluctuated. rising when british forces are involved in a live conflict. since 2010 the figure show a decrease, reinforced by austerity measures. defence is now more complex and sophisticated than ever. the head of the army warned of russia's increasingly powerful and aggressive military. a capability he said the uk would struggle to match. there is also now a technological side that needs resources. in the cabinet office there is a suspicion that defence haven't delivered the efficiencies they promised. they have to put defence up against the wall now to make them deliver the savings that were promised.

the mod say the royal marines play a vital role, but it is budget is stretched and in the face of arguments made by other departments, defence is trying to ensure the case for increased funding is heard. an elderly man has died after a fire at a care home at stevenage in hertfordshire, believed to have been caused by an oxygen cylinder explosion. six other residents were also taken to hospital after the incident at woodlands view care home — one is said to be in a critical condition. herefordshire county council says a full investigation will be carried out. 0ur correspondent richard smith is at the scene. investigators are trying to piece together why there was an explosion and fire at this care home in stevenage. the localfire brigade is being supported by police and the london fire brigade in that work. a police cordon surrounds part of the building and the people arriving today have been met by the police. the fire crews were called

to reports of an explosion at about half past four in the afternoon yesterday. 41 people were in the affected part of the building and most were able to get out, but some could not. the fire service rescued five people and lead ten others to safety. seven people were taken to hospital, and one of them, a man in his 80s, has since died. another person is in a critical condition. the fire service said it appears an oxygen cylinder was in the room where the fire started and may have played a part in the fire. today, family and friends have been coming to the home obviously concerned to ensure that their loved ones are safe. 0ne visitor, a 91—year—old, asked why, how could this happen? another woman revisiting her mother described being here at the time of the incident, seeing lots of lights, her family and children being distressed and the situation appearing to be under control.

the home's owners have said in a statement the safety of residents is their number one concern, they have expressed sympathy with the family of the man who died. 0ur immediate priority remains providing all support possible to everybody connected with the home and affected by yesterday's events. richard smith, bbc news, stevenage. two pensioners — including a man in his 70s — have been injured in a suspected gas explosion in bolton. several homes have also been evacuated after emergency services — including firefighters, ambulance crews and air ambulance — were called out to reports of an explosion in farnworth, bolton this afternoon. a woman's been rescued from a submerged car after she became stranded on a beach on the cumbrian coast as the tide was coming in. the driver was forced to climb on to the top of her vehicle to escape rising sea water between mawbray and beckfoot. she was rescued by silloth lifeboat and treated for hypothermia. sinn fein has confirmed that one

of its stormont politicians — who speaks for the party on policing matters — removed a wheel clamp from his car after it was illegally parked in belfast. video footage of gerry kelly taking the clamp off has been posted on social media asjohn campbell reports. gerry kelly represents north belfast in the northern ireland assembly. he's a formerjunior minister and speaks for his party on policing matters. on friday morning, he parked outside his gym in what is clearly marked as a restricted area. what happened next was captured by eyewitnesses. gerry kelly's car is clamped. gerry kelly can be seen on the ground, removing the clamp from his car, untangling the chains from around the front wheel. 0n the ground beside them are a pair of what appeared to be bolt cutters. once the clamp is free, mr kelly took it to the back of his car and propped it against the wall. sinn fein said mr kelly then drove

off to attend a meeting. they added that the issue is now in the hands of his solicitor and that he would be making no further comment at this time. it's not clear if the other cars parked next to mr kelly were also clamped. before his political role, gerry kelly was a senior member of the ira. five years ago, he was at the centre of another controversy, when he was carried on the bonnet of a police land rover. during an incident in his constituency. both he and the police driver were warned about their conduct. today, his political opponents say he must explain his latest actions. when people are elected to the assembly, we sign a pledge of office to comply with a code of conduct that no one should be above the law. so that's why we need these facts to be established as quickly as possible. the police say they are investigating a report of criminal damage to a wheel clamp. german chancellor angela merkel‘s

conservatives will continue negotiations on forming a government with the social democrats tomorrow — after they failed to meet the deadline they set themselves today. a senior spd member said the two sides still have some differences. four months after its general election germany still has a caretaker government and the country remains in political limbo. 0ur correspondent damien mcguiness is following developments in berlin. she has already tried once to form a government with the liberals and the green party. those talks collapsed in november. this now, the potential government with the centre—left, the social democrats, is her only chance. if those talks fail, that would seriously undermine her credibility. and the most likely outcome then would be fresh elections. that would lead to a long period of instability here in germany and potentially no new government until the autumn really. and there is no guarantee after all that we wouldn't find ourselves in exactly the same position we are now where a potential chancellor would find it hard to cobble together a coalition. now, it has to be said

there is a caretaker government, there is no sense of crisis here in germany, the economy is doing well. so with this caretaker government in the short—term things are ticking along nicely, the economy is booming. but what it does mean is there is no ability for this temporary government to take long—term decisions such as reform and particularly when it comes to europe. and so this is of course a problem for the whole of the eu. president macron has been waiting for a long time to push through an ambitious period of reform. if a government is not in place, france can't do that, germany can't support france and that could potentially also have an impact on brexit because a disunited and uncertain europe would also be less inclined or less able to even strike a good deal with britain on brexit. the headlines on bbc news: the cabinet is more united than the brexiteers think, says amber rudd, ahead of a crucial few days for the negotiations. two people have been killed and more

than a hundred injured after two trains collided with each other in the united states. a fire which killed a man in a care home in hertfordshire is believed to have been caused by an oxygen cylinder exploding. north and south korea, two nations which remain technically at war, put on an unprecedented show of sporting collaboration today, fielding a joint women's ice hockey team. it played an international friendly against sweden ahead of the winter olympics, which start in south korea on friday. 0ur correspondent laura bicker was there. fierce and determined, the korean players head onto the rink to prove they are notjust pawns in a political drama or an experiment in sports diplomacy. they fight hard against high—ranking sweden. willed on by a crowd

eager to witness a piece of history and waving the flag of a unified korea. translation: i was so touched, i feel so good because i felt the passion of the players and it felt like we were one together. but this team's formation has been controversial. the south korean hockey coach has had to tell players she has worked with for years that they have lost their spot to make way for north koreans, such as this player. we are not allowed to ask the north koreans any questions at the press conference, but the south korean coach was frank when i asked her about the challenges. translation: any players that have not been with us for the last four years, learning our systems and understanding all our team plays, it is difficult. —— how ourteam —— how our team plays. north korean is different different to south korean so for our team meetings it is going

through to english, to south korean, to north korean, so the meetings take three times as long. the event feels like a celebration but playing as one team under one flag has not been welcomed by the younger generation in south korea. to them unifying the two countries is a very distant goal. the north korean players will not stay with their team—mates at the athletes‘ village, they will be kept in separate accommodation and watched over by minders. as the olympics draw ever closer, language is not the only barrier this team faces. the top six officials from south africa's governing anc have arrived at presidentjacob zuma's official residence in pretoria to discuss his future. elections are not due until the middle of next year but pressure has been growing on mr zuma to step down as he faces allegations of corruption. joining me now is our correspondent will ross. we have been talking about the pressure onjacob we have been talking about the pressure on jacob zuma we have been talking about the pressure onjacob zuma for some time so pressure onjacob zuma for some time so why is this coming to a head

again now? i think the feeling within the governing anc is it so great danger that if this goes on for many months, with jacob zuma still in power, the allegations of corruption snowballing, not going away, the damage to the party ahead of next yea r‘s damage to the party ahead of next year's election, and the damage to the economy, which is already in trouble, could be huge. so the feeling is, as many people are now deserting him from within the party, it would be better to come to some sort of agreement where he steps down, resigns, and cyril ramaphosa ta kes down, resigns, and cyril ramaphosa takes over, with a clean start, and tries to tackle the corruption which has become such a problem in south africa, and jacob zuma does not end up africa, and jacob zuma does not end up being dragged through the dirt, with more people deserting him. is there any indication that he is becoming more willing to make a move on to go? certainly not publicly, no. he denies all the allegations of

corruption, but the big thing that happened recently was in december. he lost the leadership of the anc, he was voted out and cyril ramaphosa is now the main man, the kind of president in waiting. nobody knows how long it will take forjacob zuma to say, i'm going. people will think back to thabo mbeki, when he was president. he also lost that vote, when zuma was the man the rise. it took thabo mbeki another nine months before he resigned. i think the anc wa nt to before he resigned. i think the anc want to avoid two centres of power within the party and the party tearing itself apart. we've spoken about the top six going to talk about zuma. waiters cyril ramaphosa on all of this, is he ready to wear on himself? he's holding back at the moment, to make it look as though this is the anc we're talking about, this is the future of the country, this is not about the future of cyril ramaphosa.

we understand he will not be end the room, but these are the six most senior positions within the anc, so it could not be coming from a higher place within his governing party. presidential elections next year so still some way to go but the risk of damage to the anc. give us the broader picture in south africa of how the balance of power stands and how the balance of power stands and how voters might be feeling? 0ver how voters might be feeling? over the last 10—15 years, even more than that, there has been a decline in the support for the anc, but it has massive support across the country. there is always a danger that as the infighting increases, other parties could form from within. that has happened before but they have not got very far. the anc is in they have not got very far. the anc isina they have not got very far. the anc is in a massively strong position, but they are concerned they are becoming increasingly unpopular. there is more and more resentment with the rising corruption, and

there has been this feeling, especially during jacob zuma's yours and others, that top officials can get away with anything. what we've seen from mr ramaphosa, he seems to be keen to tackle the corruption. the anc has a chance to clean itself up the anc has a chance to clean itself up and ensure there are no surprises at next year's collection. i know you will continue to follow this for us, and will bring us any updates. thanks very much indeed. a deck officer from a wightlink ferry has been praised for his heroism afterjumping off his ship to save a drowning man. the dramatic rescue happened late last night in portsmouth harbour. today the young man who was pulled out of the water phoned his rescuer to thank him for saving his life. steve humphrey reports. he is a modest hero. it is just lucky we were around, i suppose, at the time, yeah. it had been a normal saturday night shift for steve chamberlain. a wightlink employee for nearly 22 years, he and his colleagues were getting the ferry

ready for the midnight service from portsmouth to the isle of wight, then there came a shout of man overboard. i remember a life buoy going over my head here. and they attempted a throw at the guy. when the man in the water failed to grab the life rings, steve decided to take action. the only way out for him was for someone to go in and yeah, the coat came off, the jumper, and i actually remember grabbing hold of this here and climbing up and slinging myself over the side, without really thinking too much. steve kept the man's head above water as wightlink‘s harbour launch raced to the scene. the casualty was pulled on board and taken into paramedics who were waiting on shore. steve climbed out of the water up this ladder. he was also taken to hospital for a checkup. it was brave. 0ur lads are trained to do these types of exercises. they practice on a regular basis. a truly heroic act? we think so, we are very, very proud of steve. lots of people are saying what you did was heroic. what is your reaction to that?

i do not really know, i do not think i am a hero. i was just lucky enough to be around to help someone out in trouble. it is not known how the man fell into the water. this morning he made a phone call from hospital to thank steve chamberlain for saving his life. he is well and good and very thankful. and appreciative. next week, steve chamberlain, and the man he rescued are planning to go for a drink together. would you do it again? yes, without a doubt. the guy, that was it. there was no sort of decision to be made. it was do or die, i think. research suggests regular churchgoers are more likely to support immigration, than people who regard themselves as christian but don't attend services. the study of data from the british social attitudes survey has been carried out by bristol university for bbc local radio. graham satchell reports. sausages, bacon and a warm welcome.

this the anglican church of the martyrs in leicester. it's open to everyone, families, students, homeless people, migrants. jane has been helping out here for more than a decade. for me, i think it is part of my faith to serve and to encourage people and to help people. some people leave their own country, not out of choice, but because they have to. as a christian, it is about being welcoming, welcoming to the stranger. evernice isjust one migrant who has been warmly welcomed. she came to britain from zimbabwe 16 years ago. i found the same christian principles of loving your neighbour as yourself is what they hold here. —— hold dear. so it was easy for them to welcome me, because of their christian faith. so surprising then that the vast majority of people who describe themselves as church of england are opposed to immigration. researchers at the university of bristol analysed a series of social attitude surveys in britain.

they found that 87% of anglicans think the number of immigrants coming to britain should be reduced. it compares with 77% of people who say the same thing with no religion. church leaders say they have work to do. we don't have a great history in this country and the church of england of having welcomed immigrants, way back since the ‘50s and ‘60s. and we still have a long way to go in order to enable, to help to educate congregations to be able to express a more fuller welcome to those who both enter our churches and also come to our country. the study also found a difference between those who go to church every week and those who call themselves christian, but don't go to church. 66% who regularly go to church say migrant numbers should be reduced. whereas it is 86% for those who say they're christian but never attend. the church of england, you know, you go to some of them and it feels like a branch meeting of momentum.

david curtain is a ukip member of the london assembly. he is still a committed christian, but stopped going to church after the eu referendum. i was quite shocked at one point, because the vicar of the church actually was against brexit and he started using the pulpit to preach against brexit. for people like me, who think, well, it is not so much that i've left the church, but perhaps the church has left me. but aren't christians meant to love your neighbour as yourself? absolutely, but that doesn't mean that you support rapid mass immigration. back in leicester, breakfast is still going strong. so is it possible to be a christian and to be opposed to immigration? richard worsfold is the vicar here. intellectually, i'm sure it's possible for people to make an argument for that, whether i would accept that argument is another matter. there are complex arguments here about cultural attitudes, christian teaching, politics, the difference between economic migrants and refugees,

but if the surveys are right, there remains a huge disconnect between hierarchy in the church and the majority of its congregation. darkest hour, a film depicting winston churchill during the war, has been nominated for nine baftas and six 0scars. the make—up team that transformed gary 0ldman into the prime minister are among those hoping to win an academy award. brennan nicholls has been to meet one of them. you cannot reason with the tiger when your head is in its mouth. gary 0ldman's performance in darkest hour has already earned him many accolades and critical acclaim. turning him, though, into britain's wartime prime minister has been hailed as a masterpiece of make—up. gary would come into the bus, we would shave his head, apply the make—up, it takes just over three hours to apply the make—up and the wig, plus including getting into his fat suit and costume, close to four hours for the entire thing. he would then go to set for ten, 12 hours a day filming and we need

to be there the whole time to maintain his make—up throughout that. he would then have his make—up removed which takes an hour. and then, once he goes, lucy and i stay for another hour or two. gary 0ldman convinced kazuhiro tsuji to come out of retirement to design the churchill make—up. he had just been working with david on another movie, and it was 0ldman who asked him to be on set applying it alongside colleague lucy sibbick and it's the three of them that have been nominated for the oscar. extremely proud. it's the bestjob i have done so far to date and i am just so pleased it is getting the recognition it deserves because of the amount of effort myself, kazuhiro and lucy have put into it and the people behind—the—scenes, such a big team involved. we are getting the credit and our names are on the award, but the amount of people in the workshops involved is amazing. we are to receive our reward. the 39—year—old make—up artist has a cv full of blockbusters to his name,

but this is his first—ever oscar nomination. but look at the work here, the texture, the colour. the broken vein work. spending a bit more time prepping, that is why the day was so long, i wanted to make sure i painted all of it perfectly so that they match every day. david flies out to los angeles for the oscar nomination lunch this weekend. then back for the baftas, before heading off to la again for the oscars themselves on the 11th of march for what could be his finest hour. good luck to all of the team. let's get a look at the weather. there will be sunshine at times this week, but wintry weather at times too.