this is bbc news. the headlines at 7pm: brendan cox has stepped down from two charities set up in memory of his wife, apologising for causing hurt and offence. i think the right thing to do is to resign, and to look at his behaviour in the past and try and make a change in the future. could the cost of university courses vary, depending on their content? the government prepares to launch a review of tuition fees in england. ministers reject pleas to issue a medical cannabis licence for a six—year—old boy whose rare form of epilepsy improves after taking the drug. this year's baftas are getting under way at the royal albert hall. guillermo del toro‘s film, the shape of water, leads this year's nominations, with 12 nods in total. many stars arrived wearing black in solidarity with the time's up and me too campaigns against industry harassment. gary oldman is nominated for his

role as winston churchill in darkest hour. i think without his wife, we could have had a different winston churchill and a different outcome. also the highlights from today's winter olympics. good evening and welcome to bbc news. the family of the murdered labourmp,jo cox, have pledged to support her husband after he resigned from charity roles following allegations of sexual misconduct. brendan cox denies assaulting a woman in the united states in 2015, but admits to "inappropriate" behaviour while working for save the children. the charity has confirmed that he was suspended from his role there,

and says he resigned before a disciplinary process was completed. robert hall reports. jo cox, labourmp jo cox, labour mp and mother of two, was murdered in her constituency during the run—up to the 2016 eu referendum. shot and stabbed by a far right extremist. in the months after her death, the public rallied in support of her family and her husband, brendan, who set up two charities. today he announced his resignation from both of those following allegations of inappropriate behaviour a year before his wife's murder. the claims are reported in a sunday newspaper, linked to alleged incidents in massachusetts and while he was working for save the children. in this case, he is said to have pinned a staff when the two wall while

making sexual comments. he says they area making sexual comments. he says they are a massive exaggeration. his statement continues while i do not accept the allegations contained in the complaint to the police in cambridge, massachusetts, i do acknowledge and understand that during my time at save the children, i make mistakes and behaved in a way that caused some women her dad offence. 0ne mp said his widow was right to stand down. i'm not defending his actions, and try to think about this person do i know, and make sure there is a change in the future. i don't defend any of this behaviour. today, another said it was a difficult day for the family but they would support brendan cox, and no one was available to speak to us

today. save the children said that staff welfare work their priorities, and any complaints were dealt with in accordance with their internal policies. that is what happened in 2015, when he was suspended and a disciplinary process began. he resigned before that process concluded. hopefully was seeing in a change in the culture, where those in positions of power should not abuse positions of power. those who end up becoming victims of harassment should have support to speak out. turn right, jo cox putt family say they are supporting each other and unwavering in their intent that nothing should cloud her legacy. the education secretary, damian hinds, has said there should be more variation in the cost of university courses, with each degree reflecting their value to "society as a whole". he was speaking as the prime minister prepares to outline

a wide—ranging review into higher education funding in england. labour, who have pledged to scrap tuition fees, say another review isn't the solution. here's our education editor, bra nwen jeffreys. this is one of two jobs marrakesh is holding down. she is in herfirst year of university. the loan for living costs isn't enough. the rapper process of applying to uni, i thought it was so unfair, i was getting a lower maintenance allowance. i would have to get many jobs to live. alice worries less about tuition fees and more about just getting by. last year, i budgeted for about £50 a week. that was still too much to live on, so i had to bring that down to £30. that is still not enough. every so often, imight is still not enough. every so often, i might have to ask my parents for

£20 for food. up to 6.196 interest is charged on student debt. in total, it is about £57,000 of borrowing for the poorest students. after 30 yea rs, the poorest students. after 30 years, any unpaid loan is written off. but, by 2021, they could be £160 billion of outstanding student debt. it is the poorest students in england who end up borrowing the most. because they can't rely on the bank of mum and dad for living costs. so altering the system isn't simple. if you lowerjewish and fees, you help the richest, unless you also put more money into maintenance support. in his first interview, the new education secretary gave little away. 0nly education secretary gave little away. only one thing is certain,

they expected graduates to help pay for university ‘s. they expected graduates to help pay for university 's. we think it is right that if you benefit from a university degree, you should make a contribution. that is what this current system does. what we're doing in the review is doing at how the system works, making sure that there are alternatives, making sure there are alternatives, making sure there is more variety. the government wants more short degrees, more part—time study. there has been little appetite for either so far. universities say making studying affordable is the key. you need to reintroduce maintenance grants which offer a basic level of subsistence. stu d e nts offer a basic level of subsistence. students want a fair deal. but with economic uncertainty ahead, the government's review has little wiggle room. 0ur political correspondent, alex forsyth, has been explaining why the government is launching their review into higher education.

i think the government has been feeling pressure on this front for some time, which is in part because of the labour pledged to scrap jewish and fees entirely for all stu d e nts jewish and fees entirely for all students in england. that was largely credited for labour's popularity with younger voters. the conservatives believe they need to gain some ground on this. which is why they are reviewing higher education. the question is, what can they do on this issue of fees. as you heard, they remain committed to the principle that those who go to university, who benefit from a degree, that should benefit —— who should pay for it, rather than everybody. whether they would encourage different fees for different courses or shorter courses for. that is tinkering around the edges. the former education secretary said the issue of student finance should not be kicked around like a political football. sir anthony seldon is vice—chancellor of the university of buckingham.

he joins me on webcam from windsor. thank you forjoining us this evening. how desirable would it be to cost different courses differently? i welcome the review, which is long over due. there has been so much public misunderstanding about higher education fees. but it's problematic. if there was a right answer out there, we would have got there a long time ago. so i think that it's right to look at it. whether it's right to have variable fees, with more for courses like science and technology, which cost more, the disadvantage of that is that you end up with it being too expensive for students. we need to have more, not fewer students

studying technology and engineering. if we get the idea that humanities courses that don't lead to a job... 0ur courses that don't lead to a job... our economy needs people who are educated in both left and right brain degrees. i don't think there are several solutions out there. this could be opened up for recent debate. how much say will universities be given in this review? i think they deserve to have a real say, don't they? they are fully invested in higher education. they are some of the world's top universities. we have a very exceptional university sector. it

would be sad and remiss if the universities were not at the very heart of this. they do have the best interest of students in mind. they have an impact on the local and regional economy. if we are going to get something which has an improvement on what we have at the moment. we should see more degrees properly funded and maintenance gra nts to properly funded and maintenance grants to reduce the burden on those stu d e nts grants to reduce the burden on those students from less advantaged backgrounds. the interest rate must also come down as well. those things would really help. how much should the interest rate be? well, that's a good question. at the moment, 3% over rpi is too much. it is widely seen over rpi is too much. it is widely seen as over rpi is too much. it is widely seen as too much. bringing it down, any movement downwards would be attractive. it would gain widespread

popular support. what about the banding of courses? how precarious might the future of some universities be? i think it is a worry. universities at the moment are operating quite close to the wire, particularly universities in more deprived parts of the country where they play an invaluable part, not just where they play an invaluable part, notjust in the local economy but also the social and cultural fabric of this coastal towns in the north and north—west. these universities, the humanities courses on them, would be at risk if the funding was to decrease at the universities. the strong are strong, they will survive

brexit. it is the ones in the middle and low end of the universities which provide social services which will suffer. thank you. absolute pleasure. and we'll find out how this story — and many others — are covered in tomorrow's front pages at10:30pm and 11:30pm this evening in the papers. 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. the bbc‘s persian correspondent, amir paivar, has been explaining why there is some confusion over whether or not there are survivors. we don't quite know exactly the reason for the crash. we know the weather conditions in that area are

severely that. also the plane had a history of technical. it was grounded for seven years because of technical problems was the it was commissioned only sadly again. but only 20 days ago, on the same route, it had to come back to the capital because of a technical problem. it does have a history of technical problems, this particular plane, which crashed today. but also in that area do weather is not great. it could be either of those two. israel's prime minister, benjamin netanyahu, has launched a scathing attack on iran, calling it the "greatest threat to our world". at one point during his speech at a conference in munich, he held up a piece of an iranian drone shot down in israeli territory. iran's foreign minister dismissed the speech as "cartoonish" and not worthy of a response. 0ur middle east analyst, alanjohnston, said the rhetoric was matched by heightened tension on the ground. these were two men who are

articulate and put across their message with vigour and passion, and they did it again today. they have diametrically opposed views, they blamed each other‘s camps for all the problems of the middle east. they didn't really say anything particularly new. but what is new is the ratcheting up of the tension on the ratcheting up of the tension on the ground as a result of that affair with a drone. just saturday morning last weekend, for 80 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, would have drawn in the united states quickly and spread far beyond syria. the atmosphere in which these two men trade their allegations is very much more heated and tense, and we need to watch the

situation carefully. stu d e nts students have protested in florida after the shootings that the other day. 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. the headlines on bbc news: the family ofjo cox have said they

plan on supporting brendan cox after admitting behaving inappropriately in 2015. ministers reject pleas to issue a medical cannabis licence to a six—year—old boy whose rare form of epilepsy improves after taking the drug. the education secretary says that university tuition fees should reflect the economic benefit graduates will have on the economy. and the man with written's forgotten vetera ns and the man with written's forgotten vete ra ns — — and the man with written's forgotten veterans —— and the nuclear test vetera ns. the home office has said it can't issue a medical cannabis licence for a six—year—old epileptic chid, despite calls from a group of mps and his family. alfie dingley, who's from warwickshire, regularly suffers violent seizures. a cannabis based treatment he received in the netherlands improved his condition, but it's illegal in the uk. charlotte gallagher has the story. six—year—old alfie has a revel

mafalda lets you and suffers up to 30 violent seizures every day. —— has a rare form of epilepsy. it is just absolutely horrendous. last september, the family moved to the netherlands so he could be prescribed medical cannabis oil. his pa rents say prescribed medical cannabis oil. his parents say he went 2a prescribed medical cannabis oil. his parents say he went 26 days without having a seizure. they have now moved back in the uk, but cannabis oil is illegal in britain, so they wa nt oil is illegal in britain, so they want the home secretary to give alfie a license to use it. but the home office has ruled it out. they say that a group of mps want the home

secretary to make an exception for alfie. if we can find a way for her around the regulations that exist, and we believe that we can, she can issue a license to make sure that alfie can get this medicine. alfie's family have now to continue their battle, saint you have got to fight for your kids, and we want to know we have done everything we can. crispin blunt, who chairs the all—party parliamentary group on drug reform, says that parliament must look at reforming laws around cannabis for medical purposes. we need to find a way through the mess that our laws are around medical cannabis. there is a strong support for those who find a way to

license cannabis for medical use. even in the republic of ireland recently, they found a way for the minister to give exceptional use in exactly these kind of situations that would help alfie. we need to get real here. there is a boy who is suffering greatly, and we should find a way for him to get the treatment he needs. there's been a large fire at the most important shrine in tibetan buddhism, the jokhang monastery in the capital, lhasa. video footage showed smoke and flames billowing from the roof and at least one gutted pagoda. chinese state media gave few details but insisted that the blaze was quickly extinguished and no relics were damaged. a memorial service for zimbabwe's opposition leader, morgan tsvangirai has been held in the capital harare, four days after he died from cancer in south africa. politicians from across the political divide gathered

at the church to pay tribute to mr tsvangirai, while outside hundreds of supporters wearing the red colours of the mdc party celebrated his life. his body was flown back to the country yesterday from south africa, where he had been receiving treatment. the bbc‘s shingai nyoka has been watching events in harare. 0n on this overcast day, hundreds of opposition supporters, leaders from across the political divide, as well as diplomats and representatives from some african countries have been here to bid farewell to morgan tsvangirai. the speakers that were in this service remember to its contribution to democracy in this country, and they say that he is an icon that should be honoured. but there was also a reference to the fa ct there was also a reference to the fact that in his death his supporters should now unite behind one leader. there have been disputes over hugh the rightful successor

should be amongst the three vice presidents. this is because said that they should use his death to unite. a committee of mps has warned that a hard brexit could mean higher food 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. 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 26 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 odd 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 cells 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. they 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. the bafta awards ceremony has just got under way at the royal albert hall in london, and the first winner of tonight has just been announced. three billboards 0utside ebbing, missouri. that was the first award coming in. it was heavily tipped to duberry well tonight. earlier, the duke and duchess of cambridge joint the stars outside the albert hall. programme crowe leads the nominations, with 12 nods in total. —— the shape of water. many stars w0 re —— the shape of water. many stars wore black in solidarity with the

time's up movement. the rising star award has gone to daniel kaluuya. we will have more on that throughout the evening. jane hill has done watching all of the stars arrive, and will be finding out more about who has won what throughout the evening here on bbc news. it does mean that late bulletin on bbc one is later than usual, at 11pm. church buyers —— spires will help people get better mobile service. it will help the service. government ministers are hoping these will give the perfect infrastructure to help small part of

the uk get better signal. they say the uk get better signal. they say the deal will make it easier for because and bishops to get their technology installed, and there's cash to be made. the rental is typically between £5,000 and £10,000, which can be equivalent or more to normal income for a church for a year. conservationists may not like the idea of a mobile phone mast bolted onto their local church, but the governor that in many cases the technology can hidden within the spire. it will be rolled out in the next five years, and both parties will be hoping it signals that are coverage and internet for more parts of the uk. now for the weather. sunshine was more limited today. a different look to the weather out there. more cloud from the west bringing a drizzle. there are some bricks,

which could bring a change of fortu nes which could bring a change of fortunes perhaps. in those breaks, we have got the mild air. those temperatures could push up to 30 degrees or so. i temperatures could push up to 30 degrees orso. i mild night temperatures could push up to 30 degrees or so. i mild night tonight, but with some breaks in east anglia. the cloud will push slowly eastwards. still... typical temperatures between five and seven celsius. no frost by monday morning. instead, two weather fronts close to the uk. most of the rain comes on that first one, it is between those two fronts that we get the breaks in the cloud. a change in fortunes because eastern scotland and eastern england are likely to be drab with rain and drizzle. further west, some sunshine in coastal areas and perhaps across northern ireland ahead of the next weather front bringing