this is bbc news. and these are the top stories developing at 11.003m: theresa may will seek to overcome differences on brexit among her senior ministers later. senior ministers are pressuring the government to spell out what it wa nts government to spell out what it wants from brexit talks. the number of eu residents leaving the uk is at its highest point for a decade. giving teachers guns might be the answer to stopping school shootings in the us — the message from donald trump as he meets with survivors of last week's shooting in florida. university lecturers walk out for a month in protest at changes to pensions. universities uk calls the action disappointing, and says it's working to minimise disruption. disruption for students as lecturers in leeds take to the picket lines. union members belonging to the union colleges and universities union will be marching to the town hall in the

next hour. we will have the latest from the picket line. scientists say they've settled one of medicine's biggest debates. a huge study concludes that anti—depressants do work, afterfinding common anti—depressants were all more effective at reducing symptoms of depression than dummy pills. and at the winter olympics: russian curler aleksander krushelnitski is stripped of his bronze medal after admitting to doping. good morning. it is thursday, 22nd of february, i am rachel schofield. welcome to bbc newsroom life. theresa may is due to host a lengthy meeting with senior ministers today to try and hammer out the cabinet's position on future relations with the eu.

the meeting will take place at chequers, the prime ministers‘ country retreat. one of the main issues on the table is how closely the uk should follow eu rules after it leaves. our assistant political editor norman smith is in westminster. norman. thank you very much. a key meeting and probably a marathon meeting today which some say could go on as late as 10pm tonight. there will be an effort to get some sort of agreement between squabbling cabinet ministers over the sort of a final brexit deal we are seeking, with tensions over how far we should seek to stay close to eu rules and regulations and how far we need to break free so we can strike our own trade deals with other countries. joining me is nigel evans, a prominent brexiteer, one of those who signed a letter to theresa may with six so—called helpful

suggestions. what chance peace in oui’ suggestions. what chance peace in ourtime suggestions. what chance peace in our time tonight? i think it will happen. don't forget the brexit cabinet all for the last general election on a manifesto of leaving the european union and that is basically what they are talking about, the structure of how we do that. the prime minister enunciated that. the prime minister enunciated that at the dispatch box yesterday, the main principles of taking back control of our laws and our money and leaving the single market and a customs union. everybody should agree that that is just the basics as to what will happen when we leave the european union. i know there are all sorts ofjokes about them being locked in until they come to some sort of agreement but it will go until ten otherwise they won't get dinner but the prospect of them all getting sleeping bags and staying the night, i don't think it will be necessary. what we have heard from the prime minister so far has been broad brush strokes, generalisations with phrases like a deep and special partnership and a bespoke deal.

bespoke deal is what we are looking for, we are net importers from the european union, a deficit of £70 billion and i would assume they still want to sell us goods and services and we still want to buy them. i have just services and we still want to buy them. i havejust been services and we still want to buy them. i have just been talking to a new zealand trade negotiator who said how keen he was that they can start as soon as possible trade talks about a trade deal with us so let us get on with it and that will send an important signal to the european union about our intent. there is an analogy with people talking about how long the transition will be and hopefully we will talk about that as well but if you go on holiday you hopefully set a date as to when you will leave and u nless a date as to when you will leave and unless you do that you do not start packing their bags and that is what we need, clarity about the date as to when the transition will end and then clarity about whether liam fox will be able to start negotiating those trade deals during the

transition which i expect him to do and then whether the trade deals are signed about the day we effectively need which is straight after the transition is over. you mentioned timing. there is a lot of nervousness among some brexiteers in the document setting out the approach to transition and there was approach to transition and there was a phrase saying it would take as long as it takes. how do you read that? not particularly well, but i understand that particular phrase wasn't passed by cabinet so it is an official that has put that sentence in there. there has to be an end to date. the budget ends at the end of 2020 and michel barnier has suggested that the 20 month is the transition period and that is as it should be. it will give focus to eve ryo ne should be. it will give focus to everyone as to exactly when we leave the european union. how soon does theresa may had to say it is the date that we go? as soon as

possible. if it is practically possible. if it is practically possible that we leave the european union and the transition date is 20 months and that is when the budget ends we stop paying into the european union budget then i would be very happy with that. if we don't getan be very happy with that. if we don't get an exact date and we had a trade minister yesterday saying there would be a date set and it will not be going to never—never land, then i think the businesses themselves to serve the clarity of getting some form of direction as to when we are going to be effectively leaving. form of direction as to when we are going to be effectively leavinglj know you believe there will be a deal to night, but if there is not, if a philip hammond says we have two only depart very modestly from eu rules, what are the implications?” don't actually see it happening. when we leave the european union we have legislation going through that transpose is all of the laws of the european union into british law. if you are talking about some form of rule or regulation that we diverged

from on the day we leave the european union than i do not see happening. what will happen in the future as far as new technology and new things coming forward is clearly there will be aspects where we diverged from the european union but there is such a thing as equivalents. we have incredibly high standards in this country, as they do in the eu and we will respect their standards and we expect them to respect ours. thank you very much indeed. it will be a long, long, long day, i think. thank you very much indeed. thank you very much indeed. the number of eu citizens leaving the uk is at its highest level for a decade. the office for national statistics estimates that 130,000 eu nationals emigrated in the 12 months to last september. net migration — the difference between people coming to the uk for a year or more and the number of people emigrating from britain — was 90,000, the lowest for five years. let us talk about this and how it

all ties in with brexit. the immigration minister caroline noakes is in our westminster studio. talk us through what you see as the significance of this figures. shows us there is still net migration from the eu and eu citizens are still coming yearand we the eu and eu citizens are still coming year and we are still attracting the brightest and best people to come to the uk to work and study and one of the huge positives from these figures is the increase in the number of overseas students who come here to some of our great higher education institutions. in terms of the breakdown, it says we are attracting the brightest and the best and is there evidence to pull out of these figures that we can support that? there is, especially from the eu nationals who are coming here, more of them are coming here with a job to come to that are coming looking for work and i think thatis coming looking for work and i think that is a significant proportion that are now coming with employment prospects arranged for them and they are all unsponsored bezus from the

rest of the world and i think it is really important to demonstrate that the uk is open for business and wa nts to the uk is open for business and wants to attract people to come and work and study here,. does it show that the uk is becoming significantly less attractive to european migrants for both economic and psychological reasons?” european migrants for both economic and psychological reasons? i don't think that is the message at all. we have worked very hard, certainly since december when the joint report was issued, to give certainty to eu citizens living here as to what their future status will be. it is important that it is still net migration and there are still more eu citizens coming here than previously and it is important to reflect we owe a country that is open for business and we want great relations with our eu neighbours going forward but at the same time we need a sustainable migration system. is there a risk that falls in eu migration could potentially

adverse leaf affect some areas and some sectors of the economy, for example the nhs gets mentioned over and over again where we have shortages and we could be in danger of jeopardising shortages and we could be in danger ofjeopardising the attraction of our country to others who could help with the shortages? we are looking carefully with the migration advisory committee who are body of experts looking at the impact of eu labour on experts looking at the impact of eu labouron ourlabour experts looking at the impact of eu labour on our labour market and they report the government in september this year and it is important that we understand how eu labour patterns flow and we make decisions based on map from a position of evidence. you mention that you feel you have already offered people living in this country from mainland europe you have given the uncertainty about what to expect but is it true that there is quite a deal of uncertainty for people coming in a transition period and so on. had you characterise where we are and the message we are giving to eu member states about what their citizens can

expect? our first priority is to the citizens already living here and living here prior to the 29th of march next year and importantly to british citizens living in other eu member states. the prime minister has been really clear, people who come here after we have left the eu will have different expectations and they will have come here knowing we have left the eu so what we must now do is to negotiate closely with our european partners about what position they will be in going forward. is our government red line on that? we have to negotiate but it is clear there are different views between the british government would like to see what the other member states would like to see? anyone who comes here after the 29th of march 2019 will know that we have left the eu and they must have different expectations but it is a job for our negotiators and for the prime minister to determine with our european partners and neighbours. thank you for your time this morning. president trump has proposed arming

teachers to prevent a repeat of last week's mass shooting in florida, in which 17 people died. he was speaking at the white house to survivors and relatives of victims from the attack and other school shootings, who made emotional appeals for action. mr trump also suggested he might be in favour of raising the minimum age for buying an assault rifle from 18 to 21. barbara plett usher reports. the people demand a hearing. in florida telling their lawmakers loud and clear, they don't want this mass shooting to drop off the political agenda like all the others have. at the white house, president trump was listening to victims of the parkland school attack, but also those that came before it. andrew pollack‘s18—year—old daughter, meadow, was killed last week. it doesn't make sense, fix it, should have been one school shooting and we should have fixed it. and i'm kissed. because my daughter i'm not going to see again. she's not here, she's not here,

she's in north lauderdale at whatever it is, king david cemetery, that's where i go to see my kid now. it doesn't make sense to her schoolmate, samuel zeif, either, especially the gunman's access to a semiautomatic rifle. i don't understand, i turned 18 the day after, woke up to the news that my best friend was gone and i don't understand why i could still go in a store and buy a weapon of war. the president has responded to calls for tougher gun laws with promises of strong background checks, but also more guns. it's called concealed carry, where a teacher would have a concealed gun on them. they'd go for special training. there is some support for that argument, but students who survived the attack flooded florida's state legislature demanding a ban on assault rifles.

all: never again! the students aim to harness that momentum and turn it into a national campaign. a photo has emerged from donald trump's meeting with the survivors of school shootings, which sheds light on how the president planned to manage the event. the hand—written memo on white house notepaper lists five points. mr trump planned to ask the audience about their experiences, then what the authorities can do to help them feel safe. he then lists a question about resources, before ending with "i hear you". britain's biggest energy supplier, centrica, says it's to cut 4,000 jobs over the next two years after announcing a big drop in profits. they fell by 17% last year to £1.25 billion. the group, which owns british gas, has blamed its performance in north america as well in the uk, where it's lost about 750,000 customers.

to unpick this i am joined by our business presenter, alice baxter. bad news for centrica. yes, three bad headlines coming out today. group profits are down 17% and they have lost 10% of the uk customer base and they are also having to slashjobs in the uk, 4000 jobs. when we drill down into the first two points, operating profits for the group centrica, as you mentioned, operating in both north america and ireland as well as in the uk, that is down 17% but profits for british gas are up 3%. 0n the loss of customers they have lost 1.4 million customer accounts here in the uk which is 10% of its customer base here but actually they make the point that many customer accounts

actually have two accounts within them, we often get our electricity and gas from british gas, so in reality it is just the loss of 750,000 customers in the uk and again the boss said that 70% of those accounts were loss—making which is why it hasn't really accounted —— affected the british gas margins particularly. so possibly a more complex picture but thejob so possibly a more complex picture but the job losses sound painful, especially for individuals. yes, 4000 jobs going here in the uk isa yes, 4000 jobs going here in the uk is a huge number and that is mostly in the uk energy supply business. the bost spoke to emma simpson this morning and blamed intense competition in the marketplace and a lot of customers moving to digital services. he also quite blatantly pointed the finger at regulatory and political intervention in the energy centre site in the corner from mps in the uk for an energy price cap

which we last heard about in last year. he said it is bad news for the sector as they have to prepare for it and they have a cost restructuring programme that ultimately could lead to a loss of choice for the customer. really good to have you talk us through the details of that. the headlines on bbc newsroom live: theresa may and her cabinet collea g u es theresa may and her cabinet colleagues meet at chequers to find agreement on the way forward for the brexit negotiations. that number of eu citizens leaving the uk is at its highest level for a decade. donald trump suggests arming teachers might be a way to tackle school shootings in the united states. tea m states. team gb ‘s men are out of the curling at the winter olympics in south korea, losing 9—5 to switzerland in their play—off match. they failed to reach the final four and it means team gb lose another medal chance after winning silver in

sochi four years ago. the russian curler and alexander krushelnitsky has been stripped of his bronze medalfrom has been stripped of his bronze medal from the mixed has been stripped of his bronze medalfrom the mixed curling event after being found guilty of doping. nathan hughes will start at number eight for england at this weekend boss mike six nations clash with scotland. he replaces the injured sam simmons with the propjoe marler returning on the bench. i will have more on those stories at 11:30pm. —— 11:30am. the united nations security council is expected to vote later today on a draft resolution demanding a month—long ceasefire in syria to allow deliveries of aid and medical evacuations. international concern has grown following the syrian government ‘s intense bombardment of the rebel held area of eastern ghouta outside damascus. reports suggest more than 300 people have been killed in the district since sunday. the un secretary—general, has described eastern ghouta as hell on earth. 0ur middle east correspondent lina sinjab is in beirut.

so, bring us up to speed on what we can expect later today. well, syrians inside ghouta are hoping that the un resolution would be voted for a 30 day ceasefire but from previous experience throughout the war there has been so many vetoes, mainly by russia, on any un resolutions that they do not approve on itand resolutions that they do not approve on it and even the un special envoy was a bit sceptical, although really hopeful that it will happen. you said it will be difficult and uphill but it is necessary and important. the situation is really terrible inside eastern ghouta. it has been five days of continuous shelling and bombing, with many civilians, as you mentioned, dying. also there were many mortars fired by the opposition

fighters into the capital damascus. there have been people injured yesterday there but it is not comparable to the situation in eastern ghouta. when it comes to the region more widely, there is concern that this latest intense bombardment is really just playing that this latest intense bombardment is reallyjust playing into a broader picture of tension in the region. tension is already going on in the region. the syrian conflict has spilled over to 11 on, turkey and now we are seeing the tension between the syrians and the turks but this particular case is because eastern ghouta is very close to damascus but it is nowhere near any borders so there will not be any refugees leaving eastern ghouta to a neighbouring country. what we would expect of the resolution is passed and there is a ceasefire or any deal that we do not see a similar

scenario in aleppo where syrians and even the rebels were bussed out of their towns towards another area in their towns towards another area in the north that is not safe and has been bombed out by the government. thank you very much indeed. as thousands of people continue to flee the war—torn country, the home secretary has said britain could increase its commitment to resettle syrian refugees. figures released by the home office show 10,538 people have been granted refuge in britain under the vulnerable person resettlement scheme, which has the target of rehoming 20,000 by 2020. speaking on a trip to lebanon, amber rudd said the target may be reached early, and she was already holding talks about what may follow the scheme. stephen hale is the chief executive of refugee action, a charity providing support to refugees resettling in the uk. he is in our westminster newsroom. good morning. good morning. what do you make of the home secretary ‘s comments that britain could increase its commitment to syrian refugees.

it is welcome news, if you just go back two minutes in this programme you were talking about the crisis in syria and the appalling suffering of people in eastern ghouta and clearly every country must step up and do more to support people who have been through so much and lost their homes and lost their friends and all of their possessions and are in such desperate need. it is very welcome that the home 0ffice, it is very welcome that the home office, the home secretary, has given this indication. i would say three things. first of all the scale of this programme must expand because the scale of that need is there, the uk contribution to this crisis is welcome but we can and must do more and hundreds of local authorities have stepped up and want to do more. secondly we need a programme not just was to do more. secondly we need a programme notjust was syrians but for people of whatever nationality they are so we should not be focusing purely on one country in our view, we need a resettlement programme for people fleeing war and persecution. thirdly and finally think it is really important that however many people come to the uk through that they are able to truly successfully rebuild their lives and deal with all of the to. the quality of support to people is really

important as well as the quantity of people that we welcome. on that point, as a charity directly working to resettle people, give us a sense of how the process have faced and to become a part of the uk for as long as they want to. the quality of support to people is really important as well as the quantity of people that we welcome. 0n important as well as the quantity of people that we welcome. on that point, as a charity directly working to resettle people, give us a sense of how the to health services and what we do with every person is to build a personal integration plan and deal with the specific needs for them. that is the issue, people, we need people at the airport, we support them for 12 months and we support them for 12 months and we support them for 12 months and we support them beyond and we want to make sure that we give them support and volunteers with local communities work with us and also they are able to step up to build they are able to step up to build the skills and learn the language and then they can stand on their own two feet and then they can make their own way without the support of refugee action or others and that is our hope for them. you spoke about the role of local authorities and

the role of local authorities and the role of the government in this. 0ther the role of the government in this. other areas you feel you need to see more from statutory bodies and so on where you are not getting the right approach? i think the primary issue for refugees, facing the uk, a bottleneck if you like is that it is very difficult of them for refugees from all countries, people coming to claim asylum and through the resettlement programme, to learn english, because there is a big short of funding for english—language crosses and we have two crack that because without it they cannot speak to their neighbours or the gp or go on to find work so access to english—language and increased funding for english—language classes is vital for funding for english—language classes is vitalfor all funding for english—language classes is vital for all refugees in the uk. really interesting. thank you. lecturers across the uk are beginning five days of strikes, which will affect around a million students at more than 60 universities. members of the university and college union are walking out in protest at planned changes to their pension scheme, which they say could leave them up to £10,000 a year worse off.

our correspondent phil bodmer is outside leeds university. clearly people there are expressing their views. there are indeed. there isa their views. there are indeed. there is a mood of defiance here in leeds today amongst the lecturers and there seems to be support among stu d e nts there seems to be support among students who are having their lectures disrupted today. 33,000 stu d e nts lectures disrupted today. 33,000 students are likely to be affected but this is a fair sized picket line. it has been underway since 8am and people are forming up to take pa rt and people are forming up to take part ina and people are forming up to take part in a march that will follow the line of protesters and pickets down to the city centre, where they will rally in front of the town hall. this is the first of 14 days of escalating strikes over a four—week period and as you mentioned that the lecturers are protesting about changes to their pensions. at the moment their pension scheme, they

we re moment their pension scheme, they were changed from defined pensions to career average schemes and that is now according to the union people here now the idea is to change them to stock market related pension schemes and they say that that could leave average irving spy about £10,000 per year worse off in retirement. this is what an organiser of this picket had to tell us organiser of this picket had to tell us earlier on. students will be missing their lectures and that will impact on the man we felt terrible about that but striking is our last resort at the last thing we can do to defend our pensions. we have been heartened by the messages of support we've had from our student saying that they understand that they met in our position they would do the same thing. say they are being set a good example by us because we are defending what is right. let us talk toa defending what is right. let us talk to a lecture on strike today. alan, you teach german here at the university of leeds, why are you supporting this action? the

university pension scheme is being moved from a defined benefit to a defined contribution scheme which means we are likely to be at least £10,000 a year worse off in retirement and that is a lot of money. is the mood one of anger or frustration or what? it is resolution. a lot of people of tender and there is massive support for the strike and the union has seen an upsurge memberships and people feel really confident and we are sad to be letting our students down and we do not want to strike, no one wants to strike, but it doesn't mean that don't feel that what we are doing is right. we all thought very hard about cancelling our classes and lectures so we are sorry to let our students down but we ask glad to have the solidarity. we have some students here. you are a final year student, does this have an impact on your education?m a final year student, does this have an impact on your education? it is less important the act on my education and more important that if the staff members are having their

pensions cut that the university will lose good staff members and that will have an impact on the education sol that will have an impact on the education so i am less concerned about missing a few lectures than i am about the general university culture. i studied german and we really dependent on all sorts of members of staff from the eu so the pensions are being cut in the eu, why would they stay after brexit? you are a second-year student, if the strike goes on for a length of time your studies will be affected, what do you make of the suggested that students should have compensation? obviously would pay a lot of money so it irritates me but my main concern is that the people who make my student experience are these people who are being negatively affected by everything thatis negatively affected by everything that is going on so my main concern is not really what is happening with my cancelled lectures at the moment and whether i should be reimbursed, thatis and whether i should be reimbursed, that is not my priority or why i support this. i support this because these people are human beings as well, with futures that they need to

make provisions for and so i am basically standing in solidarity with them and not really worried about whether i will miss four or five lectures. i can sort that out myself and do that work in my own time but they are are a priority and they need to be treated like human beings. thank you for talking to us today. this rally is due to march to the city centre to the town hall, where they will be staging a demonstration until 1:30pm today. thank you very much. as we've been hearing, the number of eu citizens leaving the uk is at its highest level for a decade. the office for national statistics estimates that 130,000 eu nationals emigrated in the 12 months to last september. our home affairs correspondent danny shaw is here. having had a good rifle through these figures. danny, what strikes you? i think the striking thing about these figures is that this is

further evidence of the impact of brexit on people's likelihood to come to the uk, or to leave the uk, eu nationals. it is very difficult to say there is a definitive cause and effect but certainly that is the overall impression you are left with because when you look at the number of eu nationals leaving britain, 130,000 in the 12 months of september, that is the highest total since 2008 and you at the number of eu nationals coming to live here for a year or more, that was 220,000. that is the lowest total since march 2013. so still large numbers of eu nationals coming to live here but lower than we have seen over the last few years and certainly more who are going home. and the figures who are going home. and the figures who are going home. and the figures who are out on just concerning eu travel, are they, it is for around the world, and the picture of immigration more widely. that's

right, and for people who are coming to britain from outside the european union, which are seeing a rise in immigration. that is largely driven by people coming to stupple —— study in britain. there seems to be an uncharacteristic dip this time last year. that may have been corrected a bit, but the net figures is now at its highest for around six years. 200 and 5000. now, is that partly because as firms perhaps are struggling to recruit workers from the eu or struggling to retain employees from the eu, they are living outside the european union? of course there are restrictions on how many workers can be employed from outside the eu but that might bea from outside the eu but that might be a factor, something the government is very keen to look at. thank you for taking us through that. headlines in just thank you for taking us through that. headlines injust a moment but we will look at the rather chilly

weather outlook with simon. klindt if you think it is chilly at the moment, just wait until we get into sunday and next week. for today lots of dry weather, lots of bright weather, here in suffolk, but a bit of cloud across england and wales. still fairly bright for many of us and drive the vast majority, except perhaps the east of northern ireland towards western scotland, where you could catch the odd shower or two. feeling chilly, temp just could catch the odd shower or two. feeling chilly, tempjust five could catch the odd shower or two. feeling chilly, temp just five to seven or eight celsius. through this evening and tonight, with clear skies, there will be a frost. more ofa skies, there will be a frost. more of a widespread frost and a hard frost in places as well, temperatures down to potentially —4, minus five degrees in northern areas. cold and frosty on friday, lots of dry weather with some sunshine, increasing amount into the weekend but it is into the weekend weekend but it is into the weekend we will notice it will start to feel

much, much colder. this is bbc news, our latest headlines. theresa may will seek to overcome differences within her cabinet on brexit this afternoon as senior ministersjoin the prime minister at her rural residence chequers. she is under pressure to spell out what the government wants from brexit talks. the number of eu citizens leaving the uk is at its highest level for a decade. around 130,000 left in the last year, partly, it's thought, because of brexit. president trump says giving teachers guns might help prevent future mass shootings in us schools. in a meeting with survivors of last week's shooting in florida, mr trump also backed calls for improved background checks on people buying guns.

lecturers at more than 60 universities across the uk are beginning five days of strikes in protest at changes to pensions. universities uk calls the action "disappointing" and says it's working to minimise disruption. a major study has concluded that common anti—depressants anti—depressa nts are effective. we will be hearing about the experiences of people who have been on the medications for a number of yea rs. now, though, let's get a look at all the sports news. good morning, plenty of action down at the winter olympics in south korea. not the greatest news to start with. team gb's men couldn't match

the women by reaching the semi finals of the curling competition... they had one last chance to survive, a play—off against switzerland but they were beaten 9—5, despite being ahead with just two ends to play... however, the swiss did something you don't see too often, scoring a five—point end in the penultimate end to advance. it's disappointment for team gb who took a silver medal in the event at sochi four years ago... we came in ourfirst 0lympics we came in ourfirst olympics and we gaveit we came in ourfirst olympics and we gave it our best shot and we made the play—offs. we had a good game today but it wasn't to be, sadly. a couple of things didn't go our way. a couple of half shots, and that's all it takes against a team as good as them. so there is plenty to look forward to, going forward, and we just need to take some time and reflect on this experience and what we can take from it. some positive news for

skier dave ryding though skier dave ryding though. he finished ninth in the men's slalom and vowed to come back and challenge for a medal in beijing in four years' time. ryding believes he can return to do the same as today's gold medallist. andre myrher. a surprise victory from the swede. he beat the favourite marcel hirscher to gold after the austrian made a surprise error early on in his final runs. the last two 0lympic winners of the slalom have been 35 years old. after winning bronze in the downhill ski yesterday, lindsey vonn didn't make it to the podium in the combined event. the american led the way going into the final slalom run, but slipped up handing gold to switzerland's michelle gisin. that could be vonn's final individual 0lympic run. there was a tense finish to the women's ice hockey final. the united states won a dramatic

penalty shoot—out in the women's final to take gold and stop canada from winning theirfifth straight title... usa keeper maddie rooney was the hero, sparking wild american celebrations. wu dajing has won gold in the men's 500 metres short track skating. the chinese athlete led from the front and set a new world record 39.584 seconds. and the womens' 1,000 metres short track skating final has just taken place. dutch skater suzanne schulting claimed the gold. also going on is the women's 4 x 6 kilometres biathlon relay. you can follow that on the bbc sport website and app. russian curler alexander krushelnitsky has today been stripped of his mixed—doubles bronze medal, alongside his wife, after being found guilty of doping... he was representing the ‘0lympic athletes from russia' team —

as one of 168 russians allowed to compete as neutrals but the court of arbitration for sport has announced today that krushelnitsky admitted to the anti—doping violation. that's all the sport for now. i'll have more for you in the next hour. lecturers at more than 60 universities across the uk are beginning five days of strikes. members of the university and college union are protesting about proposed changes to their pensions, which they say will leave them an average of £10,000 a year worse off in retirement. the employers' group universities uk says the changes are needed because the scheme has a forecast deficit of £6 billion. professorjohn kelly is a professor of industrial relations at birkbeck college, which is part of the university of london, and he's a member of the university and college union. good morning. give us a sense of

what it is you are so concerned about that you are taking strike action? first of all about the players's plans to destroy our pension scheme in its existing form. at the moment you have defined benefits, you know what you will receive in benefits when you retire. they want to move towards what they call a fine contribution scheme. it would depend on the stock market. they have rejected all proposals for a form and we have put forward a number of proposals. we are not saying keep the scheme in its present form, we're happy to see changes, and finally they walked out on negotiations. they simply abandon talks and have no intention of resuming them. that combination of measures has angered large numbers of members full stop you made the point that you have been trained to say there is room to manoeuvre. they do make the point there is this projected shortfall in a pension scheme, as we have seen in so many sectors, they are saying there have

to be changes. you are not as agreeing with that in principle? we don't disagree that they need to be changes, the universities have proposed a number of reforms over the past few months. as far as a deficit is concerned, there are many different estimates. you think they may be exaggerating that number? the problem with employers, out of the range, they have chosen the most pessimistic scenario and plan for that. we are saying let's adopt a more prudent and modest proposal. let's make some changes now, review than anya let's make some changes now, review than any a few years' time, rather than any a few years' time, rather than destroying a scheme highly valued by members. we know that 80% of members voted for strike action, an unprecedented number in our union. some of the figures we have talked about, lecturers have said they would face cuts, they would lose £10,000 a year from their pension. how widespread a picture is that? we commissioned independent

research, by a firm of actuaries to estimate on average what the lecturers lose if we went to this new scheme proposed by the employers, taking into account the stock market can go up, down or stabilise, we don't know. their best estimate was on average a lecturer will lose £10,000 each year over your 25 years of retirement, £2000 or thereabouts, a huge sum. clearly it is an average figure, some will lose less, some will lose more. but all the scenarios we predicted and projected into old people losing money. this is a rolling series of strikes, assuming nothing changes. it does mean students are missing crucial teaching days. what is your message to those students who go in today to find they have had the lecturers cancelled ? today to find they have had the lecturers cancelled? the first thing is we have been notifying all of our

stu d e nts to is we have been notifying all of our students to let them know that the lecturers are cancelled, explaining to them why they are cancelled, and when we do that, many are synthetic or submitted to them if you want to ta ke or submitted to them if you want to take action right to your vast —— your vice chancellor. all right to the universities uk, the employers organisation. urged them to come back into meaningful talks. thank you. a helicopter carrying six british tourists on a flight near the grand canyon in the united states spun around at least twice before crashing and catching fire, according to investigators. three passengers died in the accident earlier this month, while four more people, including the pilot, were badly hurt. the preliminary report by air accident investigators does not say why the helicopter crashed. people convicted of domestic abuse offences in england and wales will be more likely to go to prison, under new sentencing guidelines. for the first time, the guidance will say domestic offences should be treated more seriously than similar

crimes which do not involve family members or partners. the new guidance will also extend domestic abuse to include threats on social media. a major study of anti—depressants has concluded that they are effective, and many more people in the uk could benefit from taking them. the in—depth analysis of 21 anti—depressa nts showed that the drugs were all better at reducing symptoms of acute depression than placebos. andrew plant reports. in the world with millions of prescriptions for antidepressants given out every year. but for years there's been debate and doubt over how effective they really are. now the university of oxford has analysed the data on a huge scale and says every one of the 21 drugs they looked that did help patients to manage their depression.

we found that all the most commonly prescribed antidepressants work for major depression and for people with moderate to severe depression, and we also found some of them are more effective than others, or better tolerated than others. many who take antidepressants say there is still a stigma attached to using the medication. when i first started taking them, the first question asked was, when are you going to come off them, are you going to take them for a short amount of time? it doesn't really work like that. you wouldn't say to a diabetic, when are you going to wean yourself off insulin, you know? so i think people need to realise that the benefits... it's an ongoing thing. the study also ranked the drugs according to how effective they were, which could help doctors pick the right prescriptions for their patients. andrew plant, bbc news. we can speak to a doctor who

specialises in depression. presumably you are encouraged by this research? i welcome this paper with open arms, and in quite a few ways. to start off with, it reduce is the stigma, similar people hate taking medicines that they are not convinced will work, so i am very delighted with the outcome of this research paper. talk a bit more about the stigma and why it is that some people hesitate and get the message from friends or colleagues come you don't want to take pills for that communicated with different approach? absolutely, i have similar patients coming to me, and it is important to state the difference. some people are depressed in themselves, but you actually have two target the clinically depressed patients, and they are worried about taking these tablets, because they

fear them. there hasn't been a research data like this before to absolutely confirm that these ta blets absolutely confirm that these tablets work. but one of the other interesting points in this paper was that the research has showed that some antidepressants actually work better than others, and they looked at two ways. which people responded more, and also how many people stayed on them. dame sally davies, who is our chief medical officer, what we have been doing for some time is we can use personalised medicine to find out exactly which antidepressant works for you as an individual. so this paper highlights that different antidepressants work for different people. that is so true. but, at the moment, it is a false economy, in that we are guessing which antidepressant will work, and this paper again confirms this. however, we don't have two

guests any more. thinking about other research, only one in five people actually respond to the first antidepressant they are given, so they have to try another one after six weeks, and another one, but with the advancement, and this revolution in medicine, we can actually say to one individual person this is you as an individual, we have got the right medicine for you with the least amount of side effects. so it is a great breakthrough in medicine. just explain a little more, if you would? there is a clear indication in the study that certain antidepressants work better for certain people but how clear is it, then, when a person presents to a gp, which antidepressant they should be prescribing? is it a genetic issue or something to do with the kind of depression they are experiencing? how do you know? you have absolutely hit the question spot on: all of

gas, general practitioners, psychiatrists, we guess. we have a list of maybe 21 using the evidence in this study, number of antidepressants we could give a patient. how do we know, as a doctor, looking at you as an individual, which one suits you? which one will give you side effects, and which one will get you better? at the moment, we don't. however, we can do. and we, along with dame sally davies in the nhs, have been actually testing individuals so that they know they are on the right antidepressants. so there is no trial and error any more, and that is the important link that this paper also shows, that certain antidepressants will work for one person, but not on another person, and that is down to their individual genetic make—up, which we can find out. ok, thank you braehmer

choice planing some of that to us. staying with us, we are joined by henry hardy, who has been on antidepressants for a number of yea rs antidepressants for a number of years in stock we are very grateful for you speaking to us. perhaps you could tell is a little bit about your experience? i first became depressed 20 years ago in 1998. i went to the gp and was given the old kind of antidepressant, the tricyclics, which didn't work very well, if at all, and i asked to be referred to a psychiatrist, the same person who still looks after me, who put me on the ssri type of drugs that are reviewed in the study, and i have been successfully medicated now for 20 years, and i am the greatest possible fan for antidepressants. do you understand the reticence some people have about the reticence some people have about the medical intervention approach, and feel that they are somehow cheating when they reach the ta blets ? cheating when they reach the

tablets? absolutely, i understand it, but i reject it as well. it seems to me quite clear that depression, clinical depression, is a genuine illness, just like any other kind of physical illness, and i think to represent it as some kind of personality weakness or failing is quite wrong. it seems that one of the key and important findings of this report, as we were just hearing, is that it will hopefully help people get onto the right medication more quickly, so they don't have a poor experience that puts them off first of all? absolutely, that's a very important point. each of the attempts to find the right drug requires several weeks of experimenting. in my experience, it took something like eight to ten weeks to find out whether a particular drug was effective, and if you are right at rock bottom and feeling suicidal, waiting for eight weeks is really tough. and so anything that can

speed up the period from the appearance of symptoms to the discovery of the best treatment is best. thank you for talking to us, henry hardy. in a moment a summary of the business news this hour but first, the headlines on bbc newsroom live. theresa may and her cabinet colleagues meet at chequers to find agreement on a way forward for the brexit negotiations. the number of eu citizens leaving the uk is at its highest level for a decade. donald trump suggests arming teachers might be a way to tackle school shootings in the united states. the business news for you this hour. british gas owner centrica is cutting 4,000 jobs, after what its chief executive called a "weak" end to 2017. the job losses were partly down to plans for an energy price cap, and just over half will be in the uk.

british gas revealed it lost 750,000 uk customers last year — a fall of about 9% — while group profits at the energy supplier, which also operates in north america and ireland, fell 17% to £1.25 billion. heathrow airport has reported record financial results but posted a fall in pre—tax profits. while revenues were up 2.7% on the year before at nearly £3 billion, pre—tax profits fell 18.7% between 2016 and last year. meanwhile, the number of customers who passed through the airport grew over 3% to 78 million. heathrow said significant progress had been made towards expanding the airport, including the government agreeing to a vote in paliament. the uk economy grew less than previously thought at the end of 2017, according to revised figures from the office for national statistics. the british economy grew by 0.4% between october and december,

below the initial estimate of 0.5%. it takes estimates for growth seen in 2017 down to 1.4%, the weakest the uk economy has seen in over half a decade. barclays bank has revealed one—off costs prompted it to lose £1.9 billion last year. this includes an £127 million loss, related to the collapse of construction firm carillion, to which barclays was a key lender. but when these one off factors are stripped out, the bank's underlying profits actually rose to £3.5 billion, up 10%. joining me now to talk about this is russ mould, investment director at aj bell really good to talk to you. interesting that these one—off costs are interesting that these one—off costs a re really interesting that these one—off costs are really the headline news at ba rclays, are really the headline news at barclays, taking are really the headline news at ba rclays, taking away are really the headline news at barclays, taking away from the fact

that profits were up at the bank. but you can't get away from the huge effect that carillion has had on the lender. carillion is just effect that carillion has had on the lender. carillion isjust one of a series of loan repayments, if a big company goes bust there is a fair chance they have lent to it. hsbc is reportedly in the frame as well, so in that respect it would almost be a big surprise if barclays was not involved in some ways. it is a story not just the barclays involved in some ways. it is a story notjust the barclays but all the big bank. they have all got these big bank. they have all got these big one—off items, whether it is loa n big one—off items, whether it is loan repayments, conduct and litigation charges for things like ppi, they have been costing these banks billions, i figure ppi, they have been costing these banks billions, ifigure was ppi, they have been costing these banks billions, i figure was about £6 billion in totalfor barclays in the year just £6 billion in totalfor barclays in the yearjust gone, about 25 billion in total in the last five years. if they can keep their nose clean, keep down and cut down on the loan repayments underlying there is a widely profitable bank looking to get out. the question is can they keep those costs down, particularly on the legal side? despite that £127

million hit on the collapse of carillion, i think of the five lenders barclays was the least exposed, so we will see more of the ramifications as more banks bring out their results. but looking at ba rclays out their results. but looking at barclays specifically, it is the top prize on the footsie today. to what degree is that due to this announcement that they will increase their dividend payments?” announcement that they will increase their dividend payments? i think thatis their dividend payments? i think that is a huge signal of confidence and that explains why the ftse 100 and that explains why the ftse100 is up. he is targeting 6.5 pence for 2018, pending regulatory approval, other things permitting but it is a big gesture of confidence. some of these one—offs like the african write—down behind us. he believed that profits will go forward. the

whistle—blowing case, and the serious fraud investigation. so there are still some potentially big finds out there waiting, so that could come in a very worst—case scenario, constrain the bank's ability to pay that dividend, but clearly at the moment it doesn't seem to be the case. interesting times. lots of fourth—quarter earnings out today. profits at the public services outsourcing firm serco file. —— fell. group chief executive rupert soames said there was an urgent need to re—think the relationship between the uk government and its suppliers. miner anglo american has announced it will pay its biggest dividend in a decade — 54 cents a share —

after halving its net debt to 4.5bn dollars — that's about £3.2 billion. meanwhile, pre—tax profits doubled to $5.5 billion. chief executive mark cutifani said improvements in productivity had helped boost the company's bottom line. bae systems has reported positive full—year figures, boosted by new orders for its f—35 fighterjets and typhoon aircraft, as well as growing demand for its laser—guided rockets. group sales increased by £0.6 billion to £19.6 billion last year compared to 2016, while revenue also came in slightly higher. disappointing results, big stocks going ex—dividend and concerns over rising bond yields hit britain's top share index on thursday, pulling it to a one—week low. that is all the business from me, more throughout the day. grime artist stormzy picked up the award for best british male at the brits last night — and had a strong message in his performance.

# yeo, theresa may, where's the money for grenfell? what, using we just forgot about grenfell? stormzy also won the award for best british album, while the singer, dua lipa, scooped best british female, as well as the breakthrough award downing street has insisted theresa may is "absolutely committed" to supporting people affected by the grenfell tower tragedy after she was criticised by grime artist stormzy at the brit awards. lots of dry conditions and some sunny spells, there is a bit of cloud floating around that as you can see here in cumbria, lovely blue skies. we continue with those sunny spells across much of england and wales. a bit more in the way of cloud across western scotland, eastern areas of northern ireland, here there could be the odd shower. mostly, it is dry, a bit chillier kabaddi yesterday. mostly, it is dry, a bit chillier ka baddi yesterday. 0vernight tonight, —— compared to yesterday.

0vernight it will turn pretty cold pretty quickly and there will be a widespread frost into friday morning, more so than last night. across northern areas of england, across scotland temp just down to -40 -6 across scotland temp just down to —40 —6 aussies, a little bit less cold in northern ireland where we have some cloudier skies. for friday itself, a cold and frosty start, temperatures 6 degrees with some sunny spells, but as we go into the weekend, things turning much colder, especially as those south—easterly winds started in elop and the cold weather lasting through to sunday, and next week. this is bbc news, and these are the top stories developing at midday: theresa may and her cabinet colleagues meet at chequers to find agreement on a way forward for the brexit negotiations. i think it will happen. do not forget the brexit cabinet all for the last general election on a ma nifesto the last general election on a

manifesto of leaving the european union and they will be talking about how we are going to do that. the number of eu citizens leaving the uk is at its highest level for a decade. university lecturers begin a month of strikes in protest at changes to pensions. their employers say they're working to minimise disruption. donald trump suggests arming teachers might be a way to prevent school shootings in the united states. also scientists say they've settled one of medicine's biggest debates. a huge study concludes that anti—depressants do work, afterfinding common anti—depressants were all more effective at reducing symptoms of depression than dummy pills. and at the winter olympics, russian curler aleksander krushelnitski is stripped of his bronze medal after admitting to doping. good afternoon.

welcome to bbc newsroom live. theresa may is due to host an eight hour meeting with senior ministers today to try to hammer out the cabinet's position on future relations with the eu post—brexit. the meeting will take place at chequers, the prime ministers' country retreat. one of the main issues on the table is how closely the uk should follow eu rules after it leaves. meanwhile, european commission presidentjean—claude juncker has been delivering a speech titled europe — back on track at a conference taking place in brussels. 0ur reporter adam fleming has been listening. president yunker has not started his speech yet so there is nothing for me to listen to just yet. as soon as we finished speaking i will go back and keep a year out. it is billed as

and keep a year out. it is billed as a big brexit speech but with presidentjuncker you never know. in terms of what is happening in chequers today, this is about the uk government and the senior figures, the cabinet, getting around the table and agreeing a position about what they want the shape of the future relationship to look like. the reason they are doing that now is because at the end of march leaders of the remaining 27 eu countries will have a summit where they will adopt some guidelines for they will adopt some guidelines for the next age brexit talks, phase two, which is all about deciding the shape of the future relationship. the uk once an opening offers and to have influence on that discussion amongst the eu leaders so that talks about face two can get off on a good foot. here in brussels they love along meeting but what they love even more is details from the uk government about what they want from the future relationship so they can get down to negotiating that. how much sense of frustration is there that while we are going through all of these meetings at our

end they remain in limbo? i don't think it is frustration that i am picking up when you speak to people about this, it is more a sense that they are pragmatic about it. the equation people use behind the scenes is the more detail the eu gets from the uk then the more substantive the document they adopt as the blueprint for the talks in march. the less detail they get from the uk then the less detail that document will be. they will publish guidelines for the next phase of brexit talks whatever happens. iam brexit talks whatever happens. i am sorry we brexit talks whatever happens. i am sorry we were brexit talks whatever happens. i am sorry we were trying to make presidentjuncker speak before he even opened his mouth but i am sure you will follow it when he does! we will also be speaking to norman slid down in westminster to get the view on what might happen at chequers a little later. the number of eu citizens leaving the uk is at its highest level for a decade. the office for national statistics estimates that 130,000 eu nationals emigrated in the 12 months to last september. net migration with the eu —

the difference between people coming to the uk for a year or more and the number of people emigrating from britain — was 90,000, the lowest for five years. earlier i spoke to the immigration minister about the significance of those figures. what this shows us is that there is still net migration from the eu, eu citizens are still coming here. i think it demonstrates that we are still attracting the brightest and the best people to come to the united kingdom to work and to study and one of the huge positives from these figures is the increase in the number of overseas stu d e nts increase in the number of overseas students who are coming to some of our higher education institutions. in terms of the breakdown, you said it demonstrates we are attracting the brightest and the best, is there evidence to support that? absolutely. what we can see

particular from absolutely. what we can see particularfrom eu nationals coming here is more are coming here with a job to come to that are coming and looking for work. it is a significant proportion that are coming here already with their employment prospects arranged for them. sponsored visas from the rest of the world are up and it is really important that we demonstrate that the uk is open for business and wa nts to the uk is open for business and wants to attract people to work and study here. does it not also potentially show, as kings college london have said, that the uk is becoming significantly less attractive to european migrants for economic psychological reasons? that is not the message at all. we have worked hard since september to give certainty to eu citizens who are living here what their status will be. it is important to reflect that this is still net migration and eu citizens are still coming here more than previously. it is a country

thatis than previously. it is a country that is open for business and we wa nt that is open for business and we want great relations with our european neighbours going forward but at the same time we need a sustainable migration system. but at the same time we need a sustainable migration systemm there a risk that falls in eu migration are, as jonathan there a risk that falls in eu migration are, asjonathan porters and others have commentated, are potentially adversely affecting some sectors of the economy such as the nhs which gets mentioned time and time again where rehabs shortages and we might be in danger of jeopardising the attraction about country to others who could help us with those shortages. we are looking very carefully at the body of experts that look at the impact of eu labour on experts that look at the impact of eu labouron our experts that look at the impact of eu labour on our labour party —— labour market. they will be reporting later this year and it is really important that we understand how eu labour patterns globe and we make decisions based on that from a position of evidence. you mentioned you have offered people already living in this country from mainland europe, you had given the uncertainty about what they can

expect, but is it not true that there was quite a deal of uncertainty about people who come in a transition period and so on? how would you characterise where we are and the message we give to eu member states about what their citizens can expect? our first priority was to the eu citizens who are already living here and we'll be here prior to the 29th of march next year and importantly to british citizens in other eu member states. the prime minister has been really clear that people who come here after we have left the eu will have different expectations, they will have come here knowing that we have left the eu and so what we must do now is negotiate very closely with our european partners as to what the position of those people will be going forward. let us return to the discussions that will happen at chequers today about where we are going with brexit. as norman smith is in westminster for going with brexit. as norman smith is in westminsterfor us. thank you very much. theresa may

gathers her key cabinet ministers today for a long day. suggestions it may not conclude before 10pm tonight in an effort to end the squabbling amongst ministers and cobble together and agreed position on brexit. at the same time there has been a warning this morning from sir bill cash, a leading eurosceptic, chairman of the european scrutiny select committee that if brexit is delayed it could cost the uk billions of pounds. he suggested that if it is stretched beyond december 2020, what the european commission are proposing into 2021 would cost an extra £5 billion. this is coming as there is mounting anxiety among some tory brexiteers that the government might be poised to lengthen the transition period and is delay our departure from the european union. i put that to the tory mp nigel evans, a leading brexiteer this morning, and i asked how the idea had gone down the

brexiteers. is not particularly well but i understand that particular phrase was not passed by cabinet. it was one of the officials who has put that sentence in there. there has to be an end date. the budget ends at the end of 2020 and michel barnier has suggested that the 20 mounts is the transition period and it will give focus to everybody as to exactly when we leave the european union. downing street insists that the idea that the transition period could last for three years is untrue and they say their aim remains something around two years. this was robin walker, the brexit minister. it is not our intention to extend the transition beyond what the prime minister has always set out. two years, but as you say in the explanatory note you would like it to be flexible and not fixed. that is not quite the point. we want to

ensure that both sides in agreeing in end date to consult period will have taken into account the time needed to put more pressure is —— procedures into place. we can talk now to hilary benn. most tories i speak to say they are confident that there will be a deal tonight. let us see. we are 19 months on from the referendum and as your reportjust illustrated the conservative party continues to be riven with this agreement, including in the cabinet. we haven't even started negotiating our future trade with the european union. people are focused on october at the end date but next month the european union will decide what the negotiating instructions are to michel barnier and if we are not clear as a country about what we wa nt clear as a country about what we want then we may find options are closed off and the commission has

published a paper today that indicates what would or would not be a cce pta ble indicates what would or would not be acceptable to them so we need a decision and we need the right decision. when it comes to staying in a customs union with the european union the government has made the wrong decision and parliament may have to make the decision for it if we don't get the right leadership from the government, which we have not seen so far. given the difficulties ahead, is it more likely that the transition period could last longer than two years? the transition period now will be to negotiate the future relationship. the government has maintained all along that we will have it all sorted by october and we know it will not be the case because this will not be the case because this will be a complex and detailed negotiation, particularly because the government says it wants to diverged from european rules which we have been in alignment with for a very long time. therefore i think that the transition should last as long as is necessary to complete the negotiation of the final deal, and that has always been my view. the

government actually said yesterday the document that they published that although they have talked about around two years, there is no point in suddenly saying, crimes, we haven't figured this denotes —— finish the negotiations but i am afraid the time is up. it needs to last as long as is necessary to get a deal in the interest of british jobs in british businesses. we know thatjeremy corbyn will make a key speech on brexit on monday. mounting calls for clarity about what labour position is on a customs union, the customs union. what do you want to hear from customs union. what do you want to hearfrom mr corbyn? customs union. what do you want to hear from mr corbyn?” customs union. what do you want to hear from mr corbyn? i have been arguing for some months that we should come out and say that we think the united kingdom should remain ina think the united kingdom should remain in a customs union with the european union after the end of the transitional period because that is right for british business embassy is what the cbi supports and it is essential if we are to keep a free and open border between northern ireland and the republic. 0ne and open border between northern ireland and the republic. one thing the government has got spectacularly wrong is that you cannot say you wa nt wrong is that you cannot say you want that free and open border and

to keep it as a kid and then to say we are leaving the customs union and the single market so i hopejeremy will come out and say that that will be our position and it will be warmly welcomed. will we get that clarity? i hope we will. we have to wait for monday but there was a strong body of opinion in the labour party in the business community in view of the cbi ‘s important announcement at the start of the year, i hope that is what we will find. thank you very much. you get the sense that things are really building toa the sense that things are really building to a head on the brexit front. we obviously have this meeting at chequers and then we have thejeremy meeting at chequers and then we have the jeremy corbyn thejeremy corbyn speech on monday. the prime minister is also expected to deliver her keynote speech later in the week, setting out exactly what she wants from brexit as well. thank you very much, indeed. lecturers across the uk are beginning five days of strikes, which will affect around a million students at more than 60 universities. members of the university and college union are walking out in protest at planned changes

to their pension scheme — which they say could leave them up to £10,000 a year worse off. thousands of lectures cancelled across university campuses. the strike's in response to plans by vice chancellors to make changes to the private pensions of university staff. we're going to see people really lose probably in their retirement up to 40% of what their pensions were before. the university and college union says lecturers, on average, will lose up to £10,000 a year from their pensions. as many as 42,000 stuff at 64 universities will be affected. universities uk, which represents vice chancellors, says changes to the pension are essential due to a deficit of £6 billion. if the dispute isn't resolved by the summer, exams could be cancelled. more than 70,000 students have signed a petition calling for fees to be be reimbursed

for lost teaching hours. it's extremely worrying in terms of the impact that it's going to have on students' educations. but myself and a lot of other students i know are very clear that we unequivocally support our lecturers in this dispute. it's quite scary to think about how much time we're leaving, and especially with how much money we're paying every year, i don't know whether we'll get that time back, especially with exams coming up and everything. 14 days of action are planned but it could go on longer. a dispute which could have a significant impact on the retirement of thousands of lecturers and on the careers of millions of students. elaine dunkley, bbc news. 0ur correspndent charlotte gallagher is outside goldsmith college, which is part of the university of london. this is one of the 64 universities where lecturers are taking action. this is a row about money. lecturers

i have been speaking to today are concerned they will be in retirement poverty. they say when they signed up poverty. they say when they signed up to the job they were guaranteed a certain income when they finish work and now it is looking doubtful in their eyes. they say they are prepared to take it as far as possible and the action could even continue into final exams, which would obviously be worrying for some students. i am joined today by the labour shadow chancellorjohn mcdonald, who spoke at the rally. you are supportive of this action? we are trying to encourage employers to get around the negotiation table. that is what the union asking for, for negotiations to start effectively and resolve this. there isa effectively and resolve this. there is a resolution to disappoint —— disputed the employers listen. they say there is a £6 billion deficit, how would labour address that? the union believes that that deficit can be addressed over time so there is no need for precipitous action in cutting people's pensions. what is

happening, and this is the reason people are so angry, is that the employer is trying to unilaterally impose something without proper negotiations. you don't get this level of support for a striker less people are very angry. they have had huge turnouts in the ballot and votes in favour of industrial action and rallies all around the country. universities are out all over the country so employers need to listen and get back to the negotiations with the union listen to the alternative is that the union are proposing. students will miss out on lessons and vital education that they are paying for, what do you think about that. do they have a right to be concerned? yes, i met a number of students this morning who support their lecturers. the argument is this. if you undermine wages and conditions and pensions you will not attract the quality of lecturers to the job that you need. what lecturers are saying, they have already had pressure on wages...

what is your message to the students who are missing lessons? the university needs to know what is happening and the consequence to stu d e nts happening and the consequence to students and lecturers. the way to resolve this is to get back around the negotiating table. the action could continue into the summer and lecturers say they are prepared to ta ke lecturers say they are prepared to take this as far as possible. there are further strikes planned for the rest of this month and four march and they will continue unless a resolution is found. thank you very much indeed. the headlines on bbc newsroom live: theresa may and her cabinet collea g u es theresa may and her cabinet colleagues meet at chequers to find agreement on the way forward for the brexit negotiations. a number of eu citizens leaving the uk is at its highest level for a decade. university lecturers begin a month of strikes in protest at changes to

pensions. the employers say they are working to minimise disruption. time now for some sport. good afternoon. team gb ‘s men could not match the women by reaching the semifinals of the curling competition at the winter olympics south korea. they had one last in south korea. they had one last chance to survive in a play—off against switzerland but they were beaten 9—5 in the end despite being ahead with just two ends to play. the swiss did something you do not see filling curling, a 5—point stone in the penultimate end. they advance, to the disappointment of tea m advance, to the disappointment of team gb, who took silver at the eventin team gb, who took silver at the event in sochi four years ago. became in our first 0lympics event in sochi four years ago. became in our first olympics and gaveit became in our first olympics and gave it our best shot. we made the play—offs. in the end we had a good game today but it wasn't to be, sadly. a couple of things didn't go our way and

sadly. a couple of things didn't go ourway and a sadly. a couple of things didn't go our way and a couple of half shots thatis our way and a couple of half shots that is all it takes against a as good as them so there is plenty to look forward to going forward and we just need to take some time to reflect on the experience and what we can take from it. there were more positive words for the skier dave ryding who finished ninth in the men's slalom but he vowed to come back and challenge for a medal in beijing in four years' time. he believes he can return and do the same as the gold medallist today who is performing at the age of 35. in the last hour will die shing has won gold in the short track skating. the chinese athlete led from the front and set a new world record on his way to victory, 39.58 seconds. the women's skating final saw a dutch skater claim the gold. that was the event that elise christie was u nfortu nately

was the event that elise christie was unfortunately disqualified from. there is a small positive note for her as her boyfriend is part of the hungarian team who has just won gold for the men in the short track skate relay. he celebrated with a big hug and a little peck as well so good end to the for elise christie. also going on is the women's biathlon relay. you can follow all of the events going on at the winter games on the bbc red button. also on the bbc sport website and app. alexander krushelnitsky, the russian curler, has been stripped of his bronze medalfrom curler, has been stripped of his bronze medal from the curler, has been stripped of his bronze medalfrom the mixed doubles, along with his wife, after being found guilty of doping. he was representing the olympic athletes from russia team as one of the russians who were allowed to compete as neutrals. today the court of arbitration for sport has said that he admitted to his anti—doping violation. that is all the sport for

now we have a full round—up that 1:30pm. thank you very much indeed. president trump has proposed arming teachers to prevent a repeat of last week's mass shooting in florida, in which seventeen people died. he was speaking at the white house to survivors and relatives of victims from the attack and other school shootings, who made emotional appeals for action. mr trump also suggested he might be in favour of raising the minimum age for buying an assault rifle from 18 to 21. barbara plett usher reports. the people demand a hearing. in florida telling their lawmakers loud and clear, they don't want this mass shooting to drop off the political agenda like all the others have. at the white house, president trump was listening to victims of the parkland school attack, but also those that came before it. andrew pollack‘s18—year—old daughter, meadow, was killed last week. it doesn't make sense, fix it, should have been one school shooting and we should have fixed it. and i'm kissed. because my daughter i'm

not going to see again. she's not here, she's not here. she's in north lauderdale at whatever it is, king david cemetery, that's where i go to see my kid now. it doesn't make sense to her schoolmate, samuel zeif, either, especially the gunman's access to a semiautomatic rifle. i don't understand, i turned 18 the day after, woke up to the news that my best friend was gone and i don't understand why i could still go in a store and buy a weapon of war. the president has responded to calls for tougher gun laws with promises of strong background checks, but also more guns. it's called concealed carry, where a teacher would have a concealed gun on them. they'd go for special training. there is some support for that argument, but students who survived

the attack flooded florida's state legislature demanding a ban on assault rifles. all: never again! the students aim to harness that momentum and turn it into a national campaign. barbara plett—usher, bbc news. a photo has emerged from donald trump's meeting with the survivors of school shootings, which sheds light on how the president planned to handle the event. the hand—written memo, on white house notepaper, lists five points. mr trump planned to ask the audience about their experiences, then what the authorities can do to help them feel safe. he then lists a question about resources, before ending with "i hear you". the united nations security council is expected to vote later today on a draft resolution demanding a month—long ceasefire in syria to allow deliveries of aid and medical evacuations. international concern has grown following the syrian government's intense bombardment

of the rebel—held area of eastern ghouta, outside damascus. reports suggest more than 300 people have been killed in the district since sunday. the un secretary—general, has described the situation as "hell on earth". 0ur middle east correspondent gave of this update about what we can expect later today from the un. syrians inside ghouta are hoping the resolution would be voted for a 30 day ceasefire. from previous experience throughout the war there has been so many vetoes, mainly by russia, on any un resolutions that they do not approve on it and even they do not approve on it and even the un special envoy was a bit sceptical, although really hopeful that it will happen. he said it will be difficult and uphill but it is

necessary and important. the situation is really terrible inside eastern ghouta. it has been five days of continuous shelling and bombing with many civilians, as you mentioned, die. also there were many mortars that were fired by the opposition fighters into the capital damascus. we have heard reports of about ten or 18 people injured yesterday but that does not compare at all to the situation in eastern ghouta. when it comes to the region more widely various concerned that this latest intense bombardment really just plays into a broader picture of tension in the region. well, tension is already going on in the region. the syrian conflict spills over to lebanon and turkey and now we are seeing tension between syrians and turks. this particular case because eastern ghouta is very close to damascus so it is not near any

borders and it is besieged so we will not see any refugees leaving eastern ghouta towards any neighbouring country. what we might expect of the resolution is passed and there is a ceasefire or any deal that we might see a similar scenario for aleppo where people and civilians and even the rebels were bussed out of their town towards the north into another area that is not safe and is bombed out by the government. a major study of anti—depressants has concluded that they are effective and many more people in the uk could benefit from taking them. the in—depth analysis of 21 anti—depressa nts showed that the drugs were all better at reducing symptoms of acute depression than placebos. andrew plant reports. they're one of the most commonly used drugs in the uk with 64 million prescriptions for antidepressants given out every year. but for years there's been debate and doubt over how effective they really are. now the university of oxford has analysed the data on a huge scale and says every one of the 21 drugs

they looked that did help patients to manage their depression. we found the most commonly prescribed and antidepressants worked for major depression and for people with moderate to severe depression, and we also found some of them are more effective than others, or better tolerated than others. many who take antidepressants say there is still a stigma attached to using the medication. when i first started taking them, the first question asked was when are you going to come off them, are you going to take them for a short amount of time? it doesn't really work like that. you wouldn't say to a diabetic, when are you going to wean yourself off insulin, you know? i think people need to realise that the benefits... it's an ongoing thing. the study also ranked the drugs according to how

effective they were, which could help doctors pick the right prescriptions for their patients. andrew plant, bbc news. headlines injust a moment but headlines in just a moment but first we will have a quick look at the weather. grab your hats! for some time we have been talking about the beast from the east that is already unfolding and bringing cold all around an area of high pressure from siberia and across into western russia and much of europe. by next week it will feel bitterly hold for many of us particularly with the easterly breeze. this afternoon is not too bad the plenty of sunshine and high pressure dominates and keeps the weather front at bay. most places dry with variable amounts of cloud here and there. in the sunshine it is not too bad. it is a cold afternoon and the temperatures will be falling. 0vernight the clear skies with a bit of cloud around and

temperatures fall away. there will be frost and rural areas could be down as far as minus six. a cold and frosty start on friday. you will need to scrape the car. sunshine once again and cloud comes and goes across the north sea coast. it will be quite cool in the easterly wind. temperatures five to seven but as we head to the weekend it will be fine and dry and the weather temperatures start to fall. see you later. this is bbc newsroom live, our latest headlines. theresa may will seek to overcome differences within her cabinet on brexit this afternoon as senior ministersjoin the prime minister at her rural residence chequers. she is under pressure to spell out what the government wants to secure from brexit talks. meanwhile the number of european union citizens leaving the uk is at its highest level for a decade. around 130,000 people

left last year — which is thought to be in part — because of brexit. more than 60 universities across the uk are preparing for a month of strike action as lecturers walk out in protest to proposed changes to their pensions. universities uk calls the action "disappointing" and says it's working to minimise disruption. president trump suggests arming teachers with guns might help prevent school shootings in america. in a meeting with survivors of last week's shooting in florida mr, trump also backed calls for improved background checks on people buying guns. just to add a little bit more to that last headline, on twitter we are seeing a tweet now from donald trump, who said i neversaid are seeing a tweet now from donald trump, who said i never said give teachers guns, like was dated on fa ke

teachers guns, like was dated on fake news. what i said was to look at the possibility of giving concealed guns to gun adept teachers with military or special training expertise. 0nly with military or special training expertise. only the best 20% of teachers would now be able to. some clarification issued by the president. the latest immigration figures are out today, and they show the number of eu citizens leaving the uk is at its highest level for a decade. the office for national statistics estimates that 130,000 eu nationals emigrated in the 12 months to last september. to help us make sense of these figures i'm joined by the bbc‘s head of statistics robert cuffe. we will come back to the immigration specifically back to the eu in a

couple of seconds but it is worth starting with the overall headline figure, because that has been declining for quite some time. if you take a look at the data, we see that before the eu referendum, it we we re that before the eu referendum, it we were taking on about 330 million migrants every year overall, and that has come down very clearly since then. the changes you see in the last month or in the last year, not that significant, all hovering at around 250,000. but those big changes we have seen over the long term, you don't want to look at the short—term changes too much. so they see as well that the eu numbers are changing quite differently, and that has been hidden by the headlines. how accurate are these figures? people want to know they are seeing some think they can have confidence in the what is your take on that? they are good to within a margin of error. these numb is based on a survey. the 0ns stop people coming

through airports and ports, and asked them how long are you coming to the uk, are you coming for holidays, what are your plans? people who will stay more than a year, they are migrants. like any survey with an opinion poll you have a margin of error. is that is what you can see the hashed area around it. yes, they could be up or down a little bit. that is why i say you don't want to focus too much on tiny changes quarter to quarter or year—to—year you want to look at the big longer term trends. when you are looking at trends and interesting things that jump at looking at trends and interesting things thatjump at you, what can you see happening behind this data? the main thing is a continued drop in net migration from the eu. we are seeing the continuation of more people leaving, fewer people coming m, people leaving, fewer people coming in, so that is falling down continually over time. it has been balanced out in these headline figures we see here by an increase in migration from outside the eu, but there has been a very clear drop. with statistics like this,

presumably you get a sense of who came in and who went out but there is not much in terms of people don't get asked about their reasons and their thoughts and things like that. they are figures that we have to surmise what might be motivating them to go one way or another. they are asked are you coming to work, do you already have a job, are you coming to study, but it is hard to know the answers to some of the questions people really want to know, like brexit, because there is no question about that. what we can say is that fewer people are coming and looking for work. as i said, fewer people are coming from the eu, so you might want to tie that together to the brexit vote, but really migration is much more complicated than that. people come forfamily reasons, complicated than that. people come for family reasons, because they can't find a job where they are, they had to find a job in the uk. it isa they had to find a job in the uk. it is a complicated picture. we get some insight from the data but we don't get every answer we would like. as we've been hearing, the un security council is expected to gather later, to vote on a resolution which calls for a 30—day ceasefire in syria.

the move comes as international concern grows over the syrian government bombardment of the rebel—held enclave of eastern ghouta, on the outskirts of damascus. the bbc‘s lyse doucet spoke to iran's deputy foreign minister, abbas araghchi, about what his country can do to help stop the violence in syria. well, from the very beginning of this crisis, we had a very clear policy, and we believe that there is no military solution to this crisis. there is no military solution in syria for is that we should all go for a political solution. that has been our guideline from the very beginning. so we have always tried to stop violence, to stop conflict, and to de—escalate tension. that is why recently, or some months ago, we decided or agreed together with russia and turkey to establish a new

process in order to help de—escalation of tension in syria. as you know, we were quite successful to make these de—escalation zones in different parts of syria. and that was a successful experience, so this has been our policy. in this particular case, we also are in close contact with both russia and turkey, and of course with the syrian government, with whom we have close connections, and we working on how we are able to de—escalate tension in that area, and how to help and maintain a system for the people who are suffering. it is a fact that people in so —— in syria are the ones who have suffered from all the conflicts from the beginning until now. we certainly care about that and we are, asi certainly care about that and we are, as i said, working on it together with the syrian government together with the syrian government to see how we can end it. you must

be worried about pooter, and the huge human cost of the intensified bombing —— about ghouta. delie eve ryo ne bombing —— about ghouta. delie everyone is worried about ghouta, eve ryo ne everyone is worried about ghouta, everyone is worried about ghouta, everyone is worried about ghouta, everyone is worried in the world, and particularly in syria. we are worried about people all around syria. they have suffered in the past several years that the crisis is going on, and we hope that by accepting, you know, the territorial integrity and unity of syria, and going for a political solution, in which all people of syria can sit together and talk, to go for a syrian— syrian talk, let me to say, we can actually overcome these problems, and i believe that our

processes and the sochi congress are the first steps in this direction. as thousands of people continue to flee syria, the home secretary, amber rudd, says britain is ahead of schedule in its programme to resettle refugees. just over ten and a half thousand syrians have come to britain as part of the vulnerable person resettlement scheme; the government has set a target of 20,000 within two years. amber rudd was speaking on a visit to a syrian refugee camp in lebanon. iam i am confident we will reach that 20,000. first of all it is a priority for me to make sure that we do. it is an important commitment to make sure that we resettle 20,000 of the most vulnerable from the syrian refugee crisis. we've done just over 10,000, which is a great achievement, it is slightly ahead of schedule, so i am confident we will get to the 20,000, and i think the british public can be very proud of that. rather the fact they have been able to reach that commitment, that these families are being resettled

in the community and are being after. to discuss this i'm joined by dr lisa doyle , the director of advocacy at the refugee council. are you encouraged by what you have heard from the home secretary today? greatly encouraged, this is definitely something to celebrate. 0ver definitely something to celebrate. over 10,000 definitely something to celebrate. 0ver10,000 people have been brought safely from the region surrounding syria to the uk and have been supported to rebuild their lives. resettlement schemes are life changing if not life—saving and it is great we are doing so much here. we are looking at this target, we hear, 20,000 within two years, and the feeling since to be that the government is on track, are saying. do you feel that is a realistic target, a helpful target? where are you with that kind of number? target, a helpful target? where are you with that kind of number7m does seem a realistic target and winner that local authorities are willing to take and support syrian refugees. 0ur concern will be what happens after 2020 ? and refugees. 0ur concern will be what happens after 2020? and we would encourage the government to build on the success of this scheme come and

look at what we have been really able to achieve here, and look to continue that level, if not higher, after 2020. and also to broaden it beyond those who are fleeing syria. we are in the midst of the greatest refugee crisis since the second world war, and many people across the world in different countries could benefit from the support. soave countries that you specifically feel are tending to get overlooked —— so are their countries that tend to get overlooked by the british government? we support the gateway resettlement programme, which brings people from places like sudan, somalia, eritrea, and those are very long—standing conflict in those areas, and we think that people who have fled those conflicts often live in refugee camps are sometimes decades, and they could benefit from this lifeline of being resettled in the uk. there is often a discussion that goes on about how on balance the way one helps, some

say it is great to bring refugees over, some say it is added to keep them in their own country where possible. is that a debate that is helpful? we don't think it should be either/or, some people will be to stay in the region near the country where they fled. but if you are looking at this programme today, what it is doing is bringing some of the most vulnerable people who can't cope with the conditions in lebanon orjordan, and who simply can't rebuild their lives, or are at risk in those places. so it is right for us in those places. so it is right for us to be bringing people safely here so that we can support them. and when it comes to the bigger picture, as you say, so many areas around the world where people are in need of help, how does the government, how do organisations like yours try and come up with a proposition that is realistic, given the possible constraints of funding and local authorities who may have concerns that they are out of their depth with things like this? how does the whole picture come together in terms of numbers and what will be sustainable, going forward? we look

to the likes of the un refugee agency, unhcr, who are proposing that the uk should take around 10,000 refugees a year through resettlement programmes, and they look at balancing our economy, the numbers across the world, and our contributions to aid effort across the regions. do you know how many we re the regions. do you know how many were taken at the moment? last year were taken at the moment? last year we took around 6000, but averaging out, this 20,000 figure, that comes to about 4000 a year since it was launched. so you feel there is some headroom still? there is. this hour but first, the headlines on bbc newsroom live. theresa may and her cabinet colleagues meet at chequers to find agreement on a way forward for the brexit negotiations. the number of eu citizens leaving the uk is at its highest level for a decade. university lecturers begin among the strikes in protest to changes

pensions. their employers say they are working to minimise disruption. more now on that story. let's get more now on that story — the strike action by university lecturers. members of the university and college union are protesting about proposed changes to their pensions — which they say will leave them an average of 10,000 pounds a year worse off in retirement. the employers' group universities uk says the changes are needed because the scheme has a forecast deficit of six billion pounds. ali milani is vice—president of union development at the national union of students. he's in our central london studio. good afternoon to year. thank you for having me. a difficult position perhaps for students who may feel some sympathy with lecturers but in the meantime are turning up the lectures that have been cancelled and tutorials that aren't happening. yes, i think students will rightly be concerned about the disruptions to classes and lectures, but we have seen a yougov poll today and more

importantly students understand that their lecturers are not striking for any other reason than they have two. strike action is very often a last resort for unions, and we now the simple fact is that teachers want to teach and students want to learn, and the only reason we are in this position is because universities uk has left the negotiating table and our lecturers have been forced to ta ke our lecturers have been forced to take industrial action. so while it is an incredibly difficult position for students to be in, we nonetheless understand and stand in solidarity with our sister union. there seems to be some discussion about how these talks stalled. 0n the one hand we were hearing from a union representative earlier, who was saying we have kept the door open, we keep trying to get back to the table, universities uk saying we have met over 35 times with the union and it seems like there is some kind of stalemate. do you feel it is easy to allocate blame? the simple pact is we know where the power lies in this. universities uk

other ones changing the pension schemes. the lecturers and the individual academics within universities and different institutions around the country, they are the ones that stand to lose £208,000, these are their retirement hopes and dreams. regardless of whether you meet five times or 45 times or once, ultimately the power to end this dispute lies on universities uk's table. there may be discussions and revisionist history about how the negotiations happen, but i think it is clear where the power lies to end this disruption. so what do you hope will be the next step forward? clearly as things stand there is a prospect of a month of strike action on and off, which could have quite an impact on stu d e nts which could have quite an impact on students who may be taking exams and so on. our ultimate hope is the universities uk to return to the negotiating table and to seriously look at whether it is appropriate to

cut pensions of our academics and teachers by £10,000 a year. these are good teachers, good lecturers, who will only leave the sector, will only damage our education system in the long term, if they are having to leave the sector because there are not appropriate renumeration is and standards for their retirement. as well as the short—term impact on stu d e nts well as the short—term impact on students and why we are calling for universities uk to return to the negotiating table, we are concerned about the long term impacts on education as well. whether it will mean our good teachers and lecturers will leave the system. the power lies in uk's hand, they can end this tomorrow if they climbed down from the hill and give our lecturers and teachers the pensions that they deserve. just a final thought, there was a suggestion that some students who are frustrated, shall we say, that they are missing lectures, and feel that they have paid good money for some of these services from their lecturers and they are not being honoured, there has been a suggestion that they might want to

seek redress in some way. what do you make of that idea that they should be able to be compensated by lecturers ? should be able to be compensated by lecturers? in the hypermarket housed education system that this government and uk has created, that is natural. when students are paying £27,000 for a degree, if they are missing contact hours at lecture times, there are going to be talks of compensation and refunds to their lecturers, but what is more important is the long—term future of the education system. what is more important is despite these talks of compensations, students are not going to be used as political leveraged over our academics. we understand our success is intertwined with our lecturers and academics and there's with ours. it is completely understandable there will be discussion around refunds and compensation, but ultimately the nature of our education system is at sta ke nature of our education system is at stake and the future of good teaching and good learning is at sta ke. teaching and good learning is at stake. students will, with the poles that come out, they do understand that. so our solidarity is notjust

a word, it will continue until uk climb—down from this hill. a word, it will continue until uk climb-down from this hill. thank you very much indeed. in the past few months, the battle against plastic has been brought into sharp focus, in part thanks to the television series blue planet two. series blue planet 2. later today, annual waste statistics will be published. in recent years wales has outperformed the rest of the uk at recycling household waste. john maguire reports. it's bin day in bridgend, and on the curbside, a rainbow of refuse. 0range bags for cardboard, white for paper, brown for food. there are even bags for nappies — purple — and just two blue bags of non—recyclables collected every other week. residents who transgress risk being fined, but locals here seem happy. good, yeah. good for the environment and everything, keeps everyone on their toes.

very good, yeah. i've got a child that's eight as well and he finds it quite odd 'cause he automatically chucks everything in the bin butjust getting him used to it. once you're used to it, you're all right? yeah, it's fine then, yeah. bridgend council is achieving rates other parts of the uk dream of, reaching 74%. the recycling level in wales is 64% against a uk average of 44%. the pretty coastal village of aberporth is cutting down on single—use plastic and has been awarded a special status by the environmental campaign group surfers against sewage. at the local shop, the owner mike allen shows me around. milk bottles, glass milk bottles... they haven't banned plastics, they are offering alternatives — wooden clothes pegs, looseleaf tea, and even a toothbrush made from bamboo. wooden toothbrushes. those are probably our second biggest seller, after the glass bottles of milk. they seem to have attracted people's attention.

we have the option of the plastic then with those as well. there are around 150 dolphins living out in cardigan bay. the environment here is jealously guarded, and it was a concern about ocean plastics that inspired resident gail tudor to rally community support. you look at the beautiful beach and you think, yeah, it looks pretty clean but when you start going down and you see the stuff that's washed up, and plastic bags washed up in the seaweed, it's not all stuff left by holidaymakers or local people here, a lot of it is washed in. but it still needs to come out of the sea. the talk here is that cutting down on waste, especially plastic, can spread to the next village, the next county, the next country. plastics are under attack from people power. john maguire, bbc news, aberporth. just some breaking news coming to us ina just some breaking news coming to us in a statement from the metropolitan police. it says police are investigating after a package containing a substance was delivered to st james's palace

containing a substance was delivered to stjames's palace on monday 12 february. they stressed that the substance was tested and confirmed as non—suspicious. officers, they say, are also investigating an allegation of malicious communications, which relates to the same package. the metropolitan police saying there had been no arrests and enquiries continue. a very short statement as you can see, not a whole lot of information. worth pointing out perhaps that prince harry and meghan markle have their home at stjames's palace, but no indication really as to where this package exactly was addressed. downing street has insisted theresa may is "absolutely committed" to supporting people affected by the grenfell tower tragedy after she was criticised by grime artist stormzy at the brit awards last night. during his performance he'd demanded to know where the money for grenfell had gone. stormzy came away with two awards, beating ed sheeran to win best british male and best british album. the singer, dua lipa, also picked up two awards at the ceremony at the o2 arena in london.

our entertainment correspondent, lizo mzimba was there. # yo theresa may, where's the money for grenfell? # well, you thought we just forgot about grenfell? a powerful political performance from grime star stormzy. he won best male and best album for gang signs & prayer. gang signs & prayer, this was the hardest thing that i've ever worked on something like this in my life. everything i put in that album, i didn't have anything left after. you can ask fraser, we went in there, we made something that i feel like is undeniable, i can stand by it today. gang signs & prayer, album of the year, i love you guys. thank you so much, man, thank you. # one, don't pick up the phone. # you know he's only calling 'cause he's drunk and alone. # two, don't let him in... two awards for 22—year—old dua lipa. she won breakthrough artist and best female. she paid tribute to the many women in music who'd influenced her. i want to thank every single female who has been on the stage performing who has given girls like me,

notjust girls in the music industry but girls in society, a place to be inspired by, to look up to, and that have allowed us to dream this big. there was a politically charged winner's speech clearly referencing brexit from blur star damon albarn whose band gorillaz won best british group. this country is, believe it or not, quite a small little thing, right? but it's full of. . . it's a lovely place. what i want to say is, don't let it become isolated. # i'm only human, i do what i can. rag'n'bone man won best single for his hit human. ed sheeran received the global success award. and there was a special tribute from liam gallagher, commemorating last month's manchester arena bombing. # maybe i don't really wanna know how your garden grows... lizo mzimba, bbc news.

in a moment the news at one with ben brown. first the weather with stav. hello, for some while now we have been talking about the potential of some very cold air pushing in from the east, and it is certainly what is developing now. you can see the blue colours indicating that very cold air, actually pouring out of siberia, western russia, spreading across much of europe and reaching our shores, particularly as we head into the weekend and next week, you will really notice it will be bitterly cold, widespread morning frost, and even the chance of some snow in the forecast as well. but, that said,

there should be a good deal of sunshine around from day—to—day, because it is high pressure that is largely dominating, keeping all these weather fronts at bay out in these weather fronts at bay out in the atlantic. so for the rest of this evening and into the overnight bit, there will be plenty of clear spells, patchy cloud, the mist and fog patch but under clear skies, temperatures plummeting away, a hard frost tonight than what we have seen the last couple of nights, may be down to —5, —6 celsius in central and northern areas in some rural places. friday very cold, frosty start, there should be a good deal of sunshine around, with cloud coming and going here and there. the breeze coming in from the east or the south—east will be fairly fresh and it will feel cold. apache wires, we are looking at four to six or seven celsius at best, but out on the breeze and with a bit of cloud it will feel even colder. into the weekend, high pressure still dominating but bringing this colder air across the continent, ever closer to our shores. temperatures will be falling away as the weekend wears on, but again keeping weather fronts out at bay. looks like it will be another dry day for

saturday, a cold, frosty start, we should seize to dispose of sunshine here and there, generally light winds but it will be fresh across eastern coastal areas. temperature—wise again, five to seven celsius. this sunday's picture, starting to turn colder now, really pulling in this very cold air across most areas have stopped a little bit of cloud across the north—east of the uk rolling in and of the north sea, but most places again dry with some good spells of sunshine. it is beyond sunday where we really start to feel that bite in the wind, daytime maximum of around two to four celsius, and on the wind will feel like subzero, so you really will be needing to wrap up. theresa may holds crucial talks with ministers to agree a united approach to brexit. senior ministers are at chequers this afternoon as the prime minister tries to get cabinet consensus on brexit. we'll have the very latest from our correspondent at chequers. also this lunchtime: the number of eu citizens leaving the uk

is at its highest for a decade. president trump suggests giving guns to some teachers as he meets survivors of the florida school shooting. scientists say anti—depressa nts do work, and more of us should be on them. and up, up and away at the winter olympics — it's gold for america in the men's skiing half pipe.