this is bbc news. i'm shaun ley. the headlines at 3.00 — the family of murdered labourmp,jo cox, have pledged to support her widower brendan after he admitted behaving inappropriately towards women in 2015. he has resigned from two organisations. i'm not defending his actions, i am trying to think about this person who i know and my friend who isn't here, and make sure that there is a change in the future. the education secretary says university tuition fees should reflect the economic benefit graduates will have to the country, ahead of a wide—ranging review of higher education funding in england. ministers reject pleas to issue a medical cannabis license to a six—year—old boy whose rare form of epilepsy improves after taking the drug. a plane with 66 people aboard crashes in iran. it's not clear whether there are any survivors. israel's prime minister benjamin netanyahu brands iran as the greatest threat to the world, clutching the remains of what he says is an iranian drone shot down by israel. also, emma watson donates £1 million

to a new fund aimed at making uk workplaces safe for women. ahead of tonight's baftas, the actorjoined 200 female british and irish stars in signing a letter calling for an end to sexual harassment in all industries. and click goes skinny dipping in the himalayas, as a remote village receives electricity for the first time. that's in half an hour here on bbc news. good afternoon, and welcome to bbc news. save the children says the widower of the murdered labour mp, jo cox, resigned from a senior role at the charity in 2015 before an inquiry into

a complaint of inappropriate behaviour was completed. brendan cox this morning stepped down from two organisations set up in his wife's memory after admitting he had behaved inappropriately three years ago. but he rejects a separate allegation he assaulted a woman at harvard university in 2015. charlotte gallagher reports. the murder ofjo cox by a far right extremist stunned the nation. the labour mp and mother of two was shot and stabbed in the week before the eu referendum in 2016. in the months after her death, her widower, brendan cox, vowed to campaign in his wife's memory, and set up the jo cox foundation and more in common. now, following allegations of inappropriate behaviour against women, he has stood down from both charities. he was accused of harassing a female colleague at save the children, and assaulting a woman during a trip to harvard university in 2015. late last night, brendan cox apologised for his actions. the labour mp jess phillips,

who was friends withjo cox, said he was right to stand down. i'm not defending his actions, i am trying to think about this person who i know and my friend who isn't here, and make sure that there is a change in the future. i don't defend any of this behaviour. a spokesperson for thejo cox foundation said staff admired mr cox's contribution and dedication to the charity. today, jo cox's sister said the family would support brendan cox as he endeavoured to do the right thing. charlotte gallagher, bbc news. 66 people are feared dead after a passenger

plane crashed in iran. the flight, which took off from the capital, tehran, came down in the zagros mountains, in the south—west of the country, on its way to the city of yasuj. it was operated by aseman airlines. i spoke to a corresponding to tell you about why there is some confusion about the survivors. this isa is a freezing, inaccessible mountainous area. and the latest as they have now followed the lead of a mobile phone signal which will help them to pinpoint the gps coordinates of the exact crash site. nonetheless, it will be quite a few hours between the crash and getting there, and even if there are survivors, there will be concerned about how they will cope in those conditions. the dark is falling now, and it is very cold, so it will be a

big shock for any survivor to actually survive the cold and the night, but there are 30 teams right now trying to reach of that area from every accessible route. so this was a routine domestic flight. what is the record of internal flights in iran? iran has a history of such aircraft is because of a long history of international sanctions, iran has not been able to purchase new planes. that has changed since two years ago. because of the nuclear deal, the sanctions have been lifted and iran can now purchase planes. it has put in orders for 200 planes which it needs, but unfortunately, only 11 have been delivered, because still big banks do not work the run. although the country is ready to pay, no bank is ready to help with that transaction. so runners still struggling with these old planes. and presumably even when that happens, there are most be a lag in

terms of replacing the existing aircraft. do we know anything more about the flight? is this a routine flight, about the flight? is this a routine flight, a regular one, is it a popular route? it is a routine flight, popular route? it is a routine flight, and actually, just after this happened, we were received video footage of a very close landing of that area, where the passenger taking the mobile phone footage thought the plane was too close to the mountain. so it is a routine flight, but it is a very difficult location where this plane was about to pass through and land. but this particular plane had a history of technical faults, and was grounded for seven years before being decommissioned recently. the latest on the crash in iran. mps have called on the home office to issue a medical cannabis licence to a boy whose rare form of epilepsy improved after taking the drug. six—year—old alfie dingley,

from kenilworth in warwickshire, suffers up to 30 violent seizures a day. his parents want to treat him with medical cannabis oil, which is illegal in the uk. to go through that once, would be traumatising, but we are going through it sometimes every seven to ten days and it has just been horrendous. with me now is our correspondent anisa kadri. what is it that they are asking the government to do about alfie's case? these mps sit on the group on parliamentary drug policy reform. what they want the government to do isissue what they want the government to do is issue the young boy alfie's family with a licence so he is

allowed to have cannabis —based treatment, which is currently illegal in the uk. the reason we wa nt to illegal in the uk. the reason we want to be able to have access to this treatment is because he has recently been in the netherlands, and it is there that he had access to this cannabis oil. the merits of cannabis treatment is often debated, but alfie's family said it made a massive difference to his condition. he can suffer up to 30 seizures a day, but over a 2k day period after taking this treatment, he did not have a single attack. that is a very striking figure. whatever the medical explanation is, clearly the family think this is the magic ingredient that might make alfie's life a lot more bearable. what has been the reaction, and in the meantime, what are the alternatives available for the family? the reaction as you have got mps speaking about this. this issue of how much cannabis can help with treatments for conditions like epilepsy is often debated. in terms

of what treatments are available at the moment, he has them taking steroids, but the family are very concerned that this could result in organ failure and pulls a massive risk to his mental health. as for the government, it says it will not allow a licence which the mps have been calling for to enable the personal consumption of a banned drug when it comes to alfie's case. thank you very much. the education secretary says university students should pay different amounts to study different courses. damian hinds suggested that subsidies could be provided to fund more expensive degree courses, such as science and engineering. it comes as the prime minister prepares to outline details of a wide ranging review into higher education funding, which will be launched tomorrow. but labour say another review isn't going to solve basic funding problems. tom barton reports. what's this worth? cheering

that's the question facing ministers as they try to address concerns over the cost of university, both to students and taxpayers. a review launching tomorrow to look at how degrees are funded and whether it's right that expensive science and engineering courses cost students the same as cheaper arts and humanities degrees. when the system was brought in, it wasn't anticipated that so many universities, so many courses, would all have the same fee for their course. there hasn't been as much variety that has come into the system as we would have expected and wanted, so i think it is right to ask questions about that and see what can be done to stimulate that diversity and variety. the review comes as mps from the commons treasury committee say interest rates as high as 6.1% on student loans are questionable, with many undergraduates in england accumulating £5,000 in interest whilst still studying, and leaving university with average debts of £50,000. many are seeing today's announcement as a response to labour's success with younger voters at last year's general election, after promising

to end fees and reintroduce maintenance grants. we've had three announcements of reviews in the last 12 months and eight years of the conservatives that have damaged higher education and totally decimated our further education infrastructure, so another review really isn't going to solve the problem of the hike in interest rates which this government has done. tuition fees remain a divisive subject, something ministers hope this review will help address. nearly 200 british stars of film, tv and stage have signed an open letter calling for an end to sexual harassment at work, ahead of tonight's bafta awards in london. emma thompson, keira knightley and emma watson are among the names listed in the letter, published in the observer. the stars are expected to wear black for tonight's bafta, in a show of solidarity with the hollywood

movement time's up. and there is coverage of the baftas on this channel that 5.15. president trump has criticised the fbi for missing warning signals about wednesday's school shooting, describing it as unacceptable. in a tweet, he said the fbi's failure to stop the gunman, nikolas cruz, were because it was spending too much time investigating allegations of russian interference in the presidential election. he said the fbi needed to get back to basics. thousands of people in florida, including survivors of the shooting, have taken part in a rally to demand tighter gun controls in the united states. the event took place outside the court building in the city of fort lauderdale, a short distance from the school where cruz killed 17 people. laura westbrook reports. chanting: no more! outside the federal courthouse in fort lauderdale, this was the message to lawmakers. among the protesters was emma gonzales, who took cover on the floor of her school's auditorium as a gunman started shooting.

she had this to say to donald trump. if the president wants to come up to me and tell me to my face that it was a terrible tragedy and how it should never have happened, and maintain telling us how nothing is going to be done about it, i'm going to happily ask him how much money he received from the national rifle association. cheering and applause what she's referring to is the millions of dollars the nra has given towards the trump campaign. on a visit to the hospital where the victims of the attack are being treated, the president once again made no mention of guns or gun control. instead, he says the problem is mental illness. just a few kilometres south of where the protest is being held, a gun show is taking place. in the us, there is as many guns in circulation as there are people. the nra is the most powerful lobbying organisation in the united states. they have successfully resisted

every move to tighten gun controls and for their supporters, it is a fundamental freedom. when somebody infringes a right for persons in this country to keep and bear arms, then it's an infringement upon our rights as a violation of our civil liberties, now we have a bigger problem. we will be spending our times at funerals! but after yet another school shooting, anger among the younger generation is rising. anger comes to mind for the fact that all of this happened, but overall i cannot be angry at law enforcement, they did theirjob. i cannot be angry at the school, they did theirjob. this kid was expelled, he was put through the system, and then he came back in with a gun and killed people. that was out of their power. all they could have done was make sure that somebody like that could not get a gun. i am feeling in shock, it is like i am dreaming. last night i was discouraged when people started going on about the trump investigation, which is important,

but so are children's' lives. in fact, students across the country are planning a mass walk—out of schools in april — the anniversary of the columbine high school massacre. they are demanding adults listen to them and tighten gun control. laura westbrook, bbc news. it's 3.15. the headlines on bbc news — brendan cox, the widower of the murdered mp, jo cox, has resigned from two organisations set up in her memory after claims of sexual misconduct in the past. jo cox's family have pledged to support him. ministers reject pleas to issue a medical cannabis license to a six—year—old boy whose rare form of epilepsy improves after taking the drug. the education secretary says university tuition fees should reflect the economic benefit graduates will have to the country, ahead of a wide—ranging review of higher education funding in england. no medals for great britain today at

the winter 0rbix. james would just missed out, had been lying in the response down to fourth. —— james woods. great britain's women lost their final match woods. great britain's women lost theirfinal match in woods. great britain's women lost their final match in the scaling there curling after the final stone was disallowed. a 2—1 victory for england against new zealand, but not enough to reach the against australia. in the fa cup, rochdale and tottenham kick off in the next 45 minutes. 11 changes for spammers. an update on the rest of the sport in the next hour. —— 11 changes for spurs. a committee of mps has warned that a hard brexit could mean higherfood prices for consumers. a report by the commons environment, food and rural affairs committee also said failure to get a free—trade deal with the eu could be devastating for farmers.

our business correspondent joe lynam reports. the peace and bucolic splendour of uk farmlands could be dramatically upset if britain fails to get a comprehensive free—trade deal post brexit. a key group of mps says consumers might also end up paying more forfood if the uk reverts to world trade organization rules. the environment, food and rural affairs committee of mps says a so—called hard brexit would have a devastating effect on rural communities. that's because 60% of uk food exports go to the eu and they could face much higher tariffs. the committee also said that britain should not dilute its own high food standards in order to sign new global trade deals, such as one with the us. we go into a sort of wto situation where there's tariffs on imported food, that will actually drive food prices up. now, for some commodities, that will actually suit farming, but perhaps not the consumer if they have to pay more for theirfood.

but the government has sought to soothe those concerns. it said that leaving the eu gave the uk a golden opportunity to secure ambitious free—trade deals while supporting our farmers and producers. it said it would not compromise on the uk's high environmental or welfare standards. joe lynam, bbc news. israel's prime minister has warned that his country is ready to act against iran, calling it the world's greatest threat. benjamin netanyahu made his remarks at an international security conference in munich, just over a week after the first known direct engagement between their militaries. israel shot down an iranian stealth drone that entered its airspace from syria, and then bombed the iranian vehicle that controlled the drone. during his speech in munich, mr netanyahu warned iran not to test israel, while holding up what appeared to be a piece of the downed drone. here is a piece of that living in

drone. what is left of it after we shot it down. i brought it here so you can see for yourself. mr zarif, do you recognise this? you should, it's yours. you can take back with you a message to the tyrants of tehran. do not test is real‘s resolve. —— israel's resolve. iran's foreign minister, mohammad javad zarif, mentioned there, said mr netanyahu's speech was an attempt to undermine the landmark nuclear deal made between his country and several global powers in 2015. here's some of what he had to say at the conference. ican i can assure you that if iran's interests are not secured, iran will respond. we will respond seriously andl respond. we will respond seriously and i believe it would be a response

that people will be sorry for taking the erroneous actions. we will not be the first ones to violate an agreement for which all of us try, in spite of netanyahu's attempts, to achieve. we achieved it in spite of him, we implement it in spite of him, we implement it in spite of him, and the world will maintain that agreement in spite of his delusional attempts. 0ur middle east analyst alan johnston spoke to me earlier. he told me the rhetoric was matched by heightened tension on the ground. the real moment of diplomatic drama with mr neta nyahu the real moment of diplomatic drama with mr netanyahu holding up the bit of ruined drone. two men who articulates and stick across their message with vigour and passion, and they did that again today. they have diametrically opposed views, blaming

each other‘s camps for all the problems of the middle east. they did not say anything particularly new. but what is new is the ratcheting up of the tension on the ground as a result of that affair with the drone. saturday morning last weekend, for a few hours, we wondered if we were watching the beginning of a really serious escalation, maybe even a war between israel and iran escalation, maybe even a war between israeland iran in escalation, maybe even a war between israel and iran in syria. something that would have been extraordinarily serious, that would have known no doubt drawn in the united states very quickly spread far beyond syria. so the atmosphere in which these two men traded allegations is very much more heated and tense, and we need to watch this situation carefully. how great has been the failure, would you say, among the people you talk to him diplomatic and military circles, that we could accidentally stumble into some kind of real serious conflict involving

israel and iran as a result of the mess that is syria right now? the big picture, in the mess that is syria as you put it, the war is moving into another phase. the islamic state group has been largely defeated, and the syrian government has largely defeated its level opponents. the syrian government has been a winner, but iran has been a winner, too. it is very much militarily in support of the syrian government, which means that iran is now ina government, which means that iran is now in a position to entrench itself more in syria militarily and in other ways, and entrench its militia allies, the likes of the hezbollah organisation from lebanon. the israelis have looked at that development and aghast, no longer are there iranians rivals on the far side of the middle east far beyond the gulf, the iranians feel that

they are in israel's backyard and their is every danger that there could be some sort of event that spirals and escalates very quickly indeed. benjamin netanyahu is nothing if not a master of political theatre, as we saw there with the debris flourished aloft. i wonder how he got that through the security at the munich security conference! but never mind. in terms of his own position, how much of this is about the problems he is facing at home? because police have recommended he be indicted on corruption charges. he has major problems domestic way, no question about that. as you say, the police have recommended he be indicted, but there may be many months before the attorney general a cts months before the attorney general acts on that, decides whether or not he should actually face trial, and i think the chances very much that mr netanyahu think the chances very much that mr neta nyahu is good think the chances very much that mr netanyahu is good to continue. i

think we can really set that aside toa think we can really set that aside to a degree, there are real problems now, in that israeli — iranians relationship. and israel is determined, it says, to stop the iranians setting up the sort of bases that could threaten israel. we may see them striking in syria or more times, we have seen the israelis want a tax several times in recent yea rs. israelis want a tax several times in recent years. but they might feel as a result of the drawn from last week, but they need to act with more caution. politicians from across zimbabwe havejoined mourners for a memorial service to honour the late veteran opposition leader, morgan tsvangirai, who died of cancer four days ago. his body was flown to zimbabwe from south africa yesterday. mr tsvangirai is being given a state—paid funeral. many of his supporters say he should have been awarded the status of national hero,

which would have seen him buried at the heroes' shrine in the capital. they describe themselves as britain's forgotten veterans. 60 years ago, thousands of uk service personnel were sent to the south pacific to test nuclear bombs. some claim the radiation caused cancers and birth defects which they passed onto their children and grandchildren. they're hoping a new study of their dna will prove their claims. sarah corker reports. it was so bright you could see the bones in your hand. you just saw, like, another sun hanging in the sky. that's what it was. the south pacific at the height of the cold war. the british military testing the nuclear bomb. i'm bob fleming. i was a nuclear test veteran. bob was 24 and in the forces when he watched one of the world's most powerful weapons detonate on christmas island. one of 22,000 british men involved

in the testing programme. we had no protection. bush hat, shirt, shorts, flip—flops. most of my children and grandchildren have suffered a range of illnesses, some frightening. three generations of the fleming family believe they have suffered because of his exposure to radiation. 21 other members in our family, and 16 of us have health problems. muscular, skeletal, tumour problems, kidney stone problems. they have spent decades searching for answers. it was back in 2012 when the test veterans took their case to the supreme court and lost. the court said they had faced great difficulty proving a link between their illnesses and taking part in the test. now, here at brunel university

in london, they are carrying out scientific research to see if their dna has been irreparably damaged. the chief scientist told me blood samples will be taken from 100 veterans and their families. we are sampling a group of veterans that we know were present at nuclear tests back in the ‘50s and ‘60s, and we are comparing samples of their blood with a control sample of veterans who we know were not present at the nuclear test sites. and the scientists will work closely with veteran charities. they are the forgotten generation of people who saw these very, very powerful weapons explode in their faces, and it is almost like they have been wiped from the history books. the ministry of defence says it is grateful to the servicemen, but says three previous studies of the veterans found no valid evidence to link the test to ill health.

the government set up the aged veteran fund in 2015 to help fund this new research. the flemings want to take part in this study and are waiting to hear if they have been selected. we want recognition. that is what we are fighting for. so, 60 years on, nuclearfamilies are still living in the aftermath of these bomb tests. sarah corker, bbc news. time now to take a look at the weather forecast. plenty of this sort of thing around, leaden skies, bits of pieces of rain in the forecast as well. this is how

we are shaping up through the evening and tonight. rain into northern ireland and western scotland. the western half of the british isles, until later on in the night. but without that cloud around, the breeze coming in from the south—west, not a cold night. nautical start to the new day on monday. here's how we shape up, the warm weather front moving across the british isles. the cold weather front giving away a lot of the cloud way out in the atlantic. so we are stuck with what we started with. perhaps peddling of these eastern parts going into the afternoon. summer the irish sea coast, and here are 11 or12 summer the irish sea coast, and here are 11 or 12 celsius as possible.