this is bbc news. i'm shaun ley. the headlines at 4.00 — brendan cox, the husband of the murdered mp, jo cox, resigned from two organisations set up in her memory, after claims of sexual misconduct in the past. her friends say it's the right thing to do. 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 students should pay different amounts, to study different courses, ahead of a 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. final preparations under way ahead of the 20 18th after

final preparations under way ahead of the 2018th after this. —— ba ftas. i'm jane hill live at the awards at the royal albert hall. ahead of tonight's event, nearly 200 female british and irish stars signed a letter calling for an end to sexual harassment at work. and caught on camera — an attempted ram—raid on a high—end watch shop in leeds. police say the shop front was damaged but nobody was injured. 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. 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. more than 60 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. earlier i spoke to our bbc persian correspondent amir paivar about the crash. he began by telling me why there is some confusion over whether or not there are survivors. this is a freezing, inaccessible mountainous area. and the latest is 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. that should speed things up. 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 want to work with iran. although the country is ready to pay, no

bank is ready to help with that transaction. so iran is still struggling with these old planes. and presumably even when that happens, when that happens, there will be a lag in terms of replacing the existing aircraft. do we know anything more about the flight? is this a routine flight, a regular one, is it a popular route? it is a routine flight, and actually, just after this happened, we 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 technicalfaults, and was grounded for seven years before being decommissioned recently.

—— recommissioned. the latest on the crash in iran. we are still waiting to hear if they have managed to get to the crash scene. 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 are 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

leaving to go and cover 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. 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. jane hill is on the red carpet in central london. hello, welcome to the royal albert

hall in london for the annual awards. and as you suggest, it is a very striking backdrop. the letter of course signed by more than 200 women 110w, of course signed by more than 200 women now, british and irish woman working in the entertainment industry, released today to get maximum publicity with tonight's awards here. and we will be talking about that an awful lot. we have a special programme coming up for you, but as the final preparations are made, many hundreds of members of the public are already here, as they a lwa ys the public are already here, as they always are on the red carpet. also on the red carpet with me again is the film criticjason solomon. lovely to see you. always an interesting event, but this one is particularly striking, isn't it? this letter and the backdrop that inevitably gives us. this movement, the will to change the industry has taken over awards season. we saw it at the golden globes at the beginning of january, and at the golden globes at the beginning ofjanuary, and that has filtered through to become a global

movement. we are not being slow to react, movement. we are not being slow to rea ct, ba fta movement. we are not being slow to react, bafta wants to be seen or people monthly baftas to be seen to be part of this movement, and people working in the british film industry wa nts to working in the british film industry wants to be seen. —— want the baftas to be part of the movement. some people just want to watch the films, but it is quite shocking and more female stories need to be told on film. people will be talking about politics, a and a greater cultural movement, which is the beauty of cinema, it represents the wiltshire. and it allows people to read things in different ways. it is one of the most exciting red carpets we have had in many years. it will be fascinating, i think, had in many years. it will be fascinating, ithink, and had in many years. it will be fascinating, i think, and quite a lot of the women who have signed the letter will be on this carpet in a couple of hours, and that is what people are going to be asked about, we know. as you say, every year it

isa we know. as you say, every year it is a cause for celebration, reminding people what has been best about the film industry. let's think about the film industry. let's think about the film industry. let's think about the categories, best films and best british films. quite a mixture of this year, i think. very difficult to pick this year, some year we definitely have favourites. this year, five and a major film categories. i couldn't really tell you what is going to wind. three billboards 0utside ebbing, missouri is probably the favourite, but the one with the most nominations, the shape of water was 12. there may be a drought for the shape of water and it may not wind anything. and i think dunkirk could surprise a lot of people. bafta is quite a lot of written for the home boy body of voters, and dunkirk stirred up quite a loss of national spread, in a good way, people are proud of christopher nolan and the work he has done has a director. —— quite a lot of national

pride. why will we see as best british film something cute and escapist like paddington 2? i would not to pass people to fall for the kids charms of the bear, i know i did. —— would not put it past people. thank you, jason. specialist coverage from 5.15 tonight. some breaking news just some breaking newsjust coming into is now from vienna. an avalanche in the swiss town between france and italy has swept away ten hikers. quite we do not yet know if anyone has been rescued. we will bring you more

as we get it. it's 11.17. 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 review of higher education funding in england. a full round—up now of all the sport news with 0lly foster. a very important football match going on at the moment but it will start with the winter olympics. no medals for the british team in south korea today, they need just one more to make it

a record five at a winter olympics. james woods came very close, the slope—style skier was fourth. lizzy yarnold and laura deas received their medals today after yesterday's sliding success but great britains women have lost again in the curling. from pyeongchang, here's our sports correspondent andy swiss. from a dry ski slope in sheffield to an olympic final. james woods has long made the extraordinary seem effortless. 0nce long made the extraordinary seem effortless. once again, he rose to the occasion. commentator: what's he got for us? you can hear what the crowd think of that. what a run by james woods! he came here with such high hopes for a medal, will that be enough? it seemed it might be. second place for woodsy. .. and with just a few left to go he was still in bronze, before america's nick goepper snatched away his medal. so close. it's a game of perfection, and it's notjust that, you've got to go above and beyond

technical difficulty. that was insane. eve muirhead was penalised for not letting go of her stone in time. she felt she had let go in time, but no video technology is used in curling. they lost out to sweden. meanwhile, it's emerged speed skater elise christie suffered soft tissue damage in her crash yesterday. her boyfriend posted this... with her next event on tuesday, it's a race against time. but for others, there was celebration. lizzy yarnold receiving her skeleton gold medal. her historic success, she told me, was still sinking in. it was a big goal four years ago to try and be the first british winter 0lympian to retain my title. it was scary to say it, but now it's rolling off the tongue a bit more. i'm just so proud that it all came together. and with team—mate laura deas collecting her bronze, a picture—perfect podium for british sport. andy swiss, bbc news, pyeongchang.

there is just the one fa cup fifth round tie today. they are under way at spotland, league 0ne's bottom club rochdale are playing premier legaue spurs. 11 changes for the premier league team from their 2—2 draw againstjuventus in the champions league on tuesday night. rochdale have re—laid their much—criticised pitch, so there should be no complaints from spurs. an early penalty claim for handball for rochdale, not given. 0—0 at the moment. the winners will play swansea or sheffield wednesday in the quarters. there have been a few championship fixtures this weekend for those teams not involved in the cup. tim klose scored an injury time equaliser to rescue a point for norwich in the east anglian derby at carrow road. ipswich took the lead against the run of play when luke chambers headed home martyn waghorn‘s corner with two minutes of normal time remaining. but ipswich's nine year wait for a victory in the derby will have

to wait as klose scored in the fifth minute of added on time. both teams are locked on 45 points, seven adrift from the play—off spots. leeds against bristol city kick—off in around 15 minutes. rangers are up to second in the scottish premiership on goal difference after an eight—goal thriller at hamilton. accies actually took the lead after only five minutes at new douglas park, but rangers equalised and then took the lead after a josh windass shot was spilled badly by hamilton keeper gary woods. the home side made it 2—2, but rangers scored two quick—fire goals and then windass scored his third to make it 5—2. hamilton pulled one back in the closing minutes but the 5—3 win means rangers move above aberdeen. celtic are playing stjohnstone is the day's other fixture. 0—0, into the second half. if it stays like that celtic will be nine points clear. that's all the sport for now. i'll have more for you in the next hour.

still goalless between rochdale and totte n ha m. 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. 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. a short while ago, i spoke to our correspondent anisa kadri about this case. these mps sit on a group on parliamentary drug policy reform.

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 they 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—based 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 is 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 been taking steroids, but the family are very concerned that this could result in organ failure and pose 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. and the home office say that they cannot issue a license for what is an experimental treatment to an individual patient. we will hear more about this over the coming weeks. back to the baftas, and the letter published today signed by more than 200 british and irish stars, calling for an end to sexual

harassment in all industries. we are now going to talk to sarah green, welcome to bbc news. thanks for speaking to us. it is symbolic, but how important is it? it is very real. there is a whole bunch of tissue and irish women and men actors who have today decided we will use this moment, the spotlight is for the bafta awards, google talk about sexual harassment and discolouration in our industry, and we will recognise that this kind of harassment goes on in other workplaces where women might not be under such a spotlight and there might not be such a gaze. so we will use our power might not be such a gaze. so we will use oui’ power and might not be such a gaze. so we will use our power and the fact that people with it as to talk about what goes on here, but also on the shop floor, in warehouses and another ca ns floor, in warehouses and another cans of employment up and down the

country. the actors involved have chosen today not only to talk on the red carpet and to take special guests who are activists rather than the regular dates with them, they have also started up a huge fund, which they are calling thejustice and equality fund, and have put their money where their mouths are. it is already heading towards £2 million, that is an important fund that will last and be able to take important legal cases. you mentioned the guests who are going to be there, two of the original dagenham women workers who led the campaign back 50 years ago, hard to believe it is that long, but it is 50 years ago this year. it has been a long process. back then, they were totte n ha m process. back then, they were tottenham about inequality in terms of pay. we are talking here about harassment and abuse of power to exploit women. we need to examine

the kind of woman had our industry promotes and sells to the world, and particularly hollywood, but the british film and television industry is well in terms of the roles they provide for women, the sorts of characters that are on display. what you think the prospects are attending that aspect of it?|j you think the prospects are attending that aspect of it? i think it is the right thing to try and do, to put out there that we recognise not only that weeks billions harassment and discrimination as workers and the wants to talk about this, identifying with other female workers, but they are also saying that what we do is a very special role in arts and edutainment, and it creates the images that people really observe and becomes part of oui’ really observe and becomes part of our culture from cradle to grave for all of us. actors in the entertainment industry are literally creating our ideas of what men and women are, and who is allowed to behave in what way. and when these women actors get together and say, we agreed to take this on as well, not just working

we agreed to take this on as well, notjust working conditions and pay and sexual harassment, which is massively where this movement has come from, but we are also great to ta ke come from, but we are also great to take on the stereotypes and the ideas that are promoted through our industry in terms of who is allowed to do what to whom. i think that can be very powerful, and i would bet that they will have easily could result in have an impact on that in the long—term. result in have an impact on that in the long-term. sarah jane, good to talk to you, it'll be interesting to. thank you. —— interesting to see. police in leeds have been called to one of yorkshire's busiest shopping streets after an attempted ram raid took place. as you can see, men in two cars drove onto a pedestrianised street in the centre of leeds and attempted to rob a high end watch shop. the men in balaclavas didn't succeed in gaining entry and escaped before the police arrived. hopefully, those pictures can help

them to quickly identify the people involved. time now to take a look at the weather forecast. the weather for the next 2a hours or so. the weather for the next 2a hours or so. plenty of this around, will lead and skies, bits and pieces of rain in the forecast as well. it is how things shape up to the evening and through the night. a warm weather front thickening the cloud across western areas. already rain into northern ireland pushing towards the west of scotland. the western half of the british isles until late in the night when