this is bbc news. the headlines at 8pm: 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. three billboards outside ebbing, missouri has been named the outstanding film at the baftas. guillermo del toro‘s film, the shape of water, leads this year's nominations with 12 in total. darkest hour has been nominated nine

times, including gary oldman for best actor. i feel almost like an honorary family member.” best actor. i feel almost like an honorary family member. i think without clemmie, who understood him incredibly well, we could have had a different winston churchill and perhaps a different outcome. good evening and welcome to bbc news. the family of the murdered labour mp,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, labour mp and mother of two, was murdered in her constituency during the run—up to the 2016 eu referendum. shot and stabbed by far right extremist. in the months after her death, the public rallied in support of family and in particular, her husband, brendan, who set up two charities, thejo cox foundation and more in common. today he announced his resignation from both following allegations of inappropriate behaviour a year before his wife's murder. the claims in a sunday paper are links to incidents at harvard university in massachusetts and while mr cox was working for save the children. in this case he is said to have penned a staff member to a wall whilst making sexual comments. mr cox says the claims are massive exaggeration. the statement continues... labour backbencherjeff phillips,

a friend ofjo cox, said her widower was right to stand back from the charities. —— jess phillips. i'm not defending his actions, i am trying to think about, this person who i know, and my friend, who was not here, and make sure that there is a change in the future. i don't defend any of this behaviour. jo cox's sister stood with brendan cox at the end of the murder trial. today she said it had been another very difficult day for the family but they would support brendan cox and they respected him for admitting past mistakes. no one from save the children was available to speak to us today but in a statement the charity said staff safety and welfare were priorities and that all complaints were dealt with in accordance with its internal procedures.

that was what had happened in 2015, when mr cox was suspended and the disciplinary process began. he had resigned before the process was complete. another senior labour figure linked brendan cox's decision to wider changes in attitude. hopefully we are seeing a change in the climate and the culture where people are recognising that 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. tonight, jo cox's family say they are supporting each other and are wavering in their determination that nothing will 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 myra kesh is holding down. she's in herfirst year of university. the loan for her living costs isn't enough. throughout the process of applying to uni i was thinking this is so unfair, i'm getting a lower maintenance allowance and i'm going to have to work several jobs in order to live. sheffield hallam has lots of students from ordinary families. for alice, that means she worries less about tuition fees and more aboutjust getting by. last year i budgeted for about £50 a week and that was still too much to live on, so i had to bring that down to about £30 and that is still not enough. every so often i might have to ask my parents for help. if they can just give me £20 for food, for basic food. up to 6.1% interest is charged on student debt. an average £5,800 in interest charges before leaving university. in total, it's about £57,000 of

borrowing for the poorest students. after 30 years, any unpaid loan is written off. but by 2021, there could be £160 billion of outstanding student debt. it's 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 just lower tuition 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. only one thing is certain. they expect graduates to help pay for universities. we think it is right that if you benefit from a university degree you should make a contribution and that is what this current system does.

what we're doing in the review is looking at how that system works, making sure there are alternatives, more variety. the government wants more short degrees, more part—time study. there's been little appetite for either so far. universities say making studying affordable is the key. you need to reintroduce maintenance grants at a level which genuinely offers students a basic level of subsistence. universities want a secure future. students, a fairer deal. but with economic uncertainty ahead, the government's review has little wriggle room. branwen jeffreys, bbc news, sheffield. our 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. that is in part because of that labour pledge made during last yea r‘s

of that labour pledge made during last year's election to scrap tuition fees entirely for all stu d e nts tuition fees entirely for all students in england. that was largely credited for labour's popularity with younger voters. the conservatives are conscious that they need to gain some ground on this front, hence the review of higher education. the question is, what can they do on this issue of these will stop as you heard, they remain committed to the principle that it remain committed to the principle thatitis remain committed to the principle that it is those who go to university who benefit for a degree, who should pay for it, rather than everybody. they were not match the offer and scrap fees altogether. the risk is that whatever they do in place, whether trying to encourage different fees for different courses 01’ different fees for different courses or shorter courses, that could be seized as tinkering around the edges. justin greening, the former education secretary, who only recently left government, she said theissue recently left government, she said the issue of student finance should not be kicked around like a political football. 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. our guests joining me tonight

are the former conservative advisor, giles kenningham, and torcuil crichton, political editor at the daily record. 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 air conditions in that area is severely bad. the plane also had a history of technical fall. it was grounded for seven years because of technical problems. commissioned only recently again, but 20 days ago, on the same route, it had to come back to the capital because of a technical problem. so it does have a technical problem. so it does have a history of technical problems,

this particular plane which crashed today, but also the weather in that area is not fine. it could be either of those 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. our middle east analyst, alanjohnston, said the rhetoric was matched by heightened tension on the ground. these were two men who articulate and put across their message with bigger and passion, and they did that again today. of course, they have diametrically opposed views. they blame each other‘s camps for all the problems of the middle east. but they didn't say anything particularly new. what is new is there ratcheting up of the tension on the ground as a result of that

affair with a drone. saturday morning last week, 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. it would have no doubt drawn in the united states quickly, and spread far beyond syria. the atmosphere in which these two men trade the allegations is very much what he did and tends, and we need to watch the situation carefully. a group of american teenagers who survived a school shooting in florida earlier this week have announced a national march on washington to demand political action on gun control. they say they're determined that the mass shooting, in which 1a pupils and three staff members were killed, will be a turning point in the national debate on guns. 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 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 rod alfie has a rare form of epilepsy and suffers up to 30 violent seizures every day. to go through that once would be traumatising, but we're doing it sometimes every seven 01’

traumatising, but we're doing it sometimes every seven or ten days. it's just absolutely horrendous. last september, the family moved to the netherlands so alfie could be prescribed medical cannabis coil. he went 2a days without a seizure. they have now moved back in the uk, where cannabis oil is illegal. they want the home secretary to give alfie a license to use it. it is thought this drug works with nerve receptors in the brain to help control the seizures. but the home office has ruled it out, saying... 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 we can, she can issue and we believe we can, she can issue a license to make sure that alfie can get the medicine. alfie buck two family have that to continue to fight the battle, saying you have to fight the battle, saying you have to fight for your kids, and they want to know everything they —— they want to know everything they —— they want to know everything they —— they want to know they have done everything they can. 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. 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 wt0 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. the headlines on bbc news: the family ofjo cox pledge to support her widower, brendan, after he admitted behaving inappropriately to women in 2015. the government has rejected calls to give a license for cannabis oil to a

six rolled with a rare form of epilepsy. there will be a review into tuition fees in england. and now for a round—up from the bbc sport centre. good evening. there was a shocking today's only fa cup tie. rochdale came from behind to earn a replay with tottenham. rochdale cultured a dramatic equaliser deep into injury time. steve davis was their hero, and they will face each other again at wembley for a place in the quarterfinals. an amazing game, an amazing event for us. a real pleasure. we took the opponents on. we know how good they are, but we tried to take them on with sacrificial daily at times the player. but every one of the players

was magnificent. we knew, going 1—0 up was magnificent. we knew, going 1—0 up in the first half, we knew what was going to come in the second half. although the players went deep, they played superbly. their heads could have gone down but they didn't. we got a deserved equaliser. rangers are up to second in the scottish premiership one goal difference after an eight goal thriller at hamilton. they took the lead after five minutes, thriller at hamilton. they took the lead afterfive minutes, but thriller at hamilton. they took the lead after five minutes, but rangers went ahead after it was spilled badly by the hamilton goalkeeper. hamilton pulled one back in the closing stages, but the 5—3 win means rangers move above aberdeen. celtic drew 0—0 at home in the day's other picture, but has still increased their lead to nine points. james woods described his

fourth—place finish as meaning as he narrowly missed out on a bronze medal. britain need just one more to make it a record five, but failed to add to their tally today. great britain's women have lost again in the curling. from a dry ski slope in sheffield to an olympic final. james woods has made the difficult seem effortless and once again he rose to the occasion as he flipped right into contention. what has he got for us? you can hear what the crowd think of that. what a run byjames woods. he came here with such high hopes for medals. will that be enough?m seemed it might be. second place was that with a view runs to go, he was still in runs before the american

snatched away his medal. so close. game of perfection. it's notjust that, you have got to go above and beyond. that was insane. controversy at the curling. the women's captain penalised for not releasing her stone in time was that she felt she had let go before the line, but curling doesn't use video technology. the incident handed victory to their opponents, sweden. meanwhile, it emerged that elise christie suffered soft tissue damage yesterday. her boyfriend boasted this. with an exhibit on it is a race against time. for others, celebration. lizzy yarnold received her gold medal, her historic success was still sinking in. it was scary to say it, but now it is rolling off the tongue a bit more. i'm just so proud that it all came together.

with laura dees collecting her bronze, he picked —— a picture perfect result for great britain. and the england cricketers have finished their series with a win against new zealand. a thrilling climax as they won by two buns. they we re climax as they won by two buns. they were now compete in a one—day series next sunday. that's all the sport for now. thank you. the stars are out for this year's baftas, which is taking place in central london. winners so far include three billboards outside ebbing, missouri, which was named outstanding british film. we have just heard that sam rockwell won best supporting actor for his

role in that film. the rising star award went to daniel kaluuya. he is also nominated for best actor. the shape of water leads this year's nominations, with 12 nods in total. one of the awards it has scooped so far is for best music. there is a lot of flash photography in the next few pictures. many stars wore black in solidarity with time's up and me too campaigns. the ceremony, presented by joanna lumley, is being broadcast on bbc one from 9pm this evening. joining me now from our studio in glasgow is film critic siobhan synnot. thank you for tearing yourself away from it for a moment. let's start with this film, three billboards outside ebbing, missouri. it has already got the best outstanding

british film. surprising to a lot of people that it is a british film. it isa people that it is a british film. it is a british production company. there are strong british elements, but an american topic. it is a timely topic, which is why the bafta audience appreciated it. it has issues of race, and a strong female performers from frances mcdormand. we have also heard that sam rockwell one test supporting actor in that role. how deserved was that, in your view? he was a strong favourite, but i feel sorry for the actors in a very strong category. you grant was up very strong category. you grant was up there for paddington to. it was also up for best outstanding film. sad news for fans of paddington and

family fun. difficult when you're up against such strong films. let's look at the rising star award. daniel kaluuya, it for his role in get out. there have been complaints in the past that the rising star translates as actor who has been around for a while. but tv has broken through, and unknown a year ago. get out has been incredibly popular. it is a smart film that has a lot to say about racism in the modern age, and daniel has done extremely well to get the rising star. he may get best actor as well. there is a lot of love out there. the shape of water is the huge favourite, got 12

nominations. it may break out in the bigger awards later. it has already got best music, but it will be aiming fora more got best music, but it will be aiming for a more prominent award. sally hawkins is up for best actress. the only british actress in the best actress category. interesting to see how that pans out. in terms of the type of film that that is, it is pretty unusual, isn't it? the shape of water is an unusual film isn't it? the shape of water is an unusualfilm in isn't it? the shape of water is an unusual film in that it is a mixture of fa ntasy unusual film in that it is a mixture of fantasy and love, and the creature from the black lagoon. you don't see many of those films around. even in awards season. let's talk about the campaigns we have seen, both in hollywood and tonight at the baftas in london. time's up

and me too. many on the red carpet wearing black in support of those campaigns. it would've been surprising if they show their support tonight. a letter went out to those attending, inviting them to wear black in support of those campaigns. joanna lumley is hosting, the first female host since 2001. maybe time is up for that as well. an interesting time, isn't it? you cannot help but notice that in the directing category, greta gerwig wasn't even mentioned. awards ceremonies can only do so much. it really is down to the production stage. i was speaking to a female

director the other day. she was askedif director the other day. she was asked if she had to have two female protagonists, if one of them had to be older. gemma adam brought along two women who were the inspiration for the dagenham girl ‘s, who were involved in the equal pay issue in the 1960s. evidence of those equal pay battles going back 50 years. absolutely. great to see them walking the red carpet. a reminder of when the fight for equal pay started. they were not that fussed about seeing the celebrities! while we are talking, we have just heard that production design, that category has gone to the shape of water, which given the nature of the film and the style of it, that is

really... it is a strongly visual film and a lot of the technical awards could be going to the shape of water. that could be awards for things like star wars as well, which is british made. the shape of water is british made. the shape of water isa is british made. the shape of water is a delightful movie, just out this week for british audiences. it is the kind of thing that award ceremonies laugh because it is technically very gorgeous, and also a movie about movies, and very few film awards committees can resist that. thank you forjoining us. a deal between the government and the church of england will make it easier to put mobile phone masts

within church spires. given that the church of england has more than 16,000 buildings of different kinds, government ministers are hoping that the spires will give a boost to the obstruction to give more parts of the uk data signals. there is cash to be made. the rental is typically between £5,000 and £10,000, which can be equivalent or more to a normal income for a church for a year. conservationists may not like the idea of a mobile phone mast being bolted onto that local church. it can be argued that it can be hidden in the spire. both parties will be hoping this signals better mobile coverage and internet for more parts of the uk. time for a look at the weather forecast. sunshine was more limited today, and

they could be a change of fortune. more breaks in the cloud could arrive in the west of the country. we have thicker cloud pushing its way in eastwards, bringing outbreaks of rain and drizzle. through the night, that becomes lighter and more patchy. still some breaks in the cloud for a while across east anglia, so turning chilly here. but no frost by the end of the night. temperatures around seven or 8 degrees was still misty and buggy over the hills. heading into tomorrow, a change in fortune for the east of scotland and england. it will be dull and stabbed with some rain and drizzle, misty and murky. some brighter skies further west. sunshine perhaps around coastal areas. they