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. and coming up in the sport on bbc news... team gb's men are out of the curling at the winter olympics. the silver medallists from four years ago lost 9—5 to switzerland in their play—off match. hello, welcome to the news out on.

there's a crucial meeting this afternoon of the government's inner cabinet on brexit. the prime minister is holding talks with senior ministers at chequers, in an attempt to secure a common approach on britain's negotiating position with the european union. the meeting begins in an hour, but with significant differences to be resolved, it could go on until late into the evening. here's our political correspondent, chris mason. the official country residence of british prime ministers since 1921. checkers in the buckinghamshire countryside, hosting a meeting of the government's most senior figures

involved in making brexit happen. the chance for them to work out what they see our long—term relationship with the eu looking like. questions to the secretary of state for international trade. back at westminster, brexit dominates everything. liam fox faced questions this morning, as did the prime minister's de facto deputy, who tried to talk things down. this is one of a number of meetings of cabinet ministers to talk through how we approach the forthcoming negotiations. obviously everybody brings their particular departmental interests to the table but if you look at what happened back before the december european summit there was a lot of speculation the cabinet would not reach agreement. we all agreed the position the prime minister took to brussels and got a successful outcome and we are determined to get the best possible deal. but there are continuing rows

about precisely how long the transition period immediately after brexit next year should be. and crucially there are differences of instinct around the cabinet table about what the uk's long—term relationship with the eu after brexit should look like and those differences won't melt away easily. the prime minister has got to keep brexiteer backbenchers onside. the brexiteer backbenchers onside. the brexit cabinet all fought the last election on a manifesto of leaving the european union and that's basically what they are talking about, the structure as to how we do that. the prime minister enunciated yesterday the main principles about taking back control of our laws and money, leaving the single market and customs union. labour has faced criticism is itself about a lack of clarity about what it wants but is 110w clarity about what it wants but is now saying... we have been evolving and deepening our policy over the last few months. the key issue is to say to the government you got to

have the transition period of these two years, but also for the long—term look at the potential of a customs union. the cameras won't get much closer to checkers than this today. spectacular views, yes, much closer to checkers than this today. spectacularviews, yes, but don't expect spectacular political theatre. the process of negotiating brexit and home —— at home and abroad is a slow and grinding on. our political correspondent alex forsyth is at chequers. how important is this meeting? it is pretty crucial because, as chris was outlining, the whole point of it is to try to get some agreement among theresa may's top tea m agreement among theresa may's top team about what the long—term relationship between the uk and the eu will be. the tricky aspect of thatis eu will be. the tricky aspect of that is trade. the prime minister has been clear it's her view of the uk will be leaving the single market and customs union. the question is what kind of trading relationship replaces that and crucially how

closely aligned the uk will state of the eu with its rules and regulations, and what it is prepared to trade off in terms of the uk's own sovereignty in order to gain access to the markets. the difficulty is there are significantly different views about that, not just between significantly different views about that, notjust between parties but between the ministers who will be meeting here today. some of course whom campaigned for brexit, some of whom campaigned for brexit, some of whom wanted the uk to stay in the european union. this meeting this afternoon could be tricky, could be very long, and they will have to try to agree some sort of compromise. we may get detail later about what that looks like but we are also expecting a speech from the prime minister next week outlining what the uk hopes to achieve. when they get through the negotiations here, once they agree what they want, they have to agree it with brussels too. alex, thank you. the eu appears to have rejected a key british proposal for the future relationship after brexit, according to documents published

by the european commission. our reporter adam fleming has been looking at them. adam, what has the eu been saying?‘ couple of weeks ago eu officials have a private meeting put forward by areas where the uk keeps eu some areas where the uk keeps eu rules and regulations, other areas of the economy where they have the same goal but get there using different rules and regulations, and areas where things are totally different between the two. a document published last night shows the european commission's brexit negotiators said that concept would be incompatible with the eu ground rules for brexit which are all about protecting the integrity of the single market, the internal market as they call it here in brussels. this morning a senior eu diplomat said it looks like the uk was trying to pick bits of the single market it

liked and reject bits it didn't like which to them is not an acceptable course of action. this meeting at chequers today is all about the uk agreeing an opening position for the next phase of brexit talks which is all about trade and the future relationship. if we have learned anything about the process, all of these meetings here with michel barnier and david davies are about finding a compromise between the british and brussels position which they are happy with in brussels and end up being happy with in britain. adam, thank you. the number of european union nationals leaving the uk is at its highest level for a decade. new figures show that 130,000 eu nationals emigrated in the year to last september. our home affairs correspondent danny shaw is here. danny, how significant are these statistics? these figures from the office for national statistics appear to indicate to me is certainly that brexit is having an impact on

whether eu nationals want to live in the uk. if you look at the referendum june 2016, since then every quarter these figures are published there's been a drop in the number of eu nationals coming to live here and there's been a rise in the number of eu citizens leaving britain. the latest numbers we have got, 130,000 people leaving, that's the highest since 2008, and 220,000 arriving, the lowest for almost four years. at the same time we are seeing a rise in the number of people from outside europe coming to britain, the highest number since september 2011. what does this do for the controversial target to cut net migration, the difference between overall numbers coming and leaving to less than 100,000? they are still way off that target at 240

4000. danny, thank you very much indeed. the uk economy expanded by less than previously thought in the final three months of last year, official figures reveal. gross domestic product — or gdp — grew by 0.4% in the october—to—december period, down from the initial estimate of 0.5%. the office for national statistics said the downgrade was due to slower growth in production industries. donald trump has suggested that giving guns to some teachers would stop massacres like last week's high school shooting in florida, in which 17 pupils and staff were killed. the president said teachers with firearms training could have concealed weapons in the classroom. his comments came as he met survivors of the florida massacre and other shootings. barbara plett—usher reports from florida. 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. they would be there and you would no longer have a gun—free zone. there is some support for that argument, but students who survived the attack flooded florida's state legislature, demanding a ban on assault rifles. lawmakers may make it harder for a teenager to buy one, but not more than that. all: never again! still, that's movement in an unmoving debate. the students aim to harness that momentum and turn it into a national campaign. change will be the story

of the coming months. barbara plett—usher, bbc news, tallahassee, florida. our correspondent gary o'donghue is in maryland where later today the head of the national rifle association is making his first speech since the florida school shooting. gary, what's he likely to say? that is interesting because the nra has a pattern of these things, when the shootings happened. it goes very quiet in the immediate aftermath of that and that's exactly what's happened this time. this will be the first public comments by the head of the nra since the parkland shooting and there's a lot of things for him to address. there is pressure for

example for a ban on assault rifles, something they won't support at all. there is pressure to raise the age at which you can buy such guns, that's one of the suggestions in the florida house at the moment. then there's the question of what you do about people with mental health problems and their access to guns. he will be talking among friends, this is a right—wing conference so he will i think get a lot of support here. but bear in mind his organisation is extraordinarily powerful. it spends a lot of money lobbying and politically giving money to congressmen for their runs and they know that. in terms of the president himself, he is saying this morning it does have to be the time when teachers get guns in ordered to stop what he calls sickos shooting in schools. thank you.

the united nations security council will today consider a resolution calling for a ceasefire in syria. it comes as government forces in the country continue their intense bombardment of the rebel enclave of eastern ghouta, on the outskirts of damascus. the un have described the enclave as "hell on earth", and in the last few days hundreds of civilians, including many children, have been killed there. this report from paul adams does include some distressing images. a massacre, hell on earth, a monstrous campaign of annihilation. the world is running out of ways to describe what's happening in eastern ghouta, but the bombs are still falling and the toll is dreadful. and medicalfacilities falling and the toll is dreadful. and medical facilities are falling and the toll is dreadful. and medicalfacilities are not being spread. this children's hospital now wrapped. translation: the clinical care and surgery translation: the clinical care and surgery unit is out, the incubator

unit is out, the paediatric section is out. all of the departments of hospital are out of service, the destruction is total. elsewhere medical staff tried desperately to keep up with hundreds of casualties. the siege of eastern ghouta began five years ago. the situation was intolerable long before this terrible week. translation: these are hopeless cases, there's nothing we can do to save them. these victims have suffered head and brain injuries. this one has stopped breathing. i'm worried about this boy too, both need intensive care but we cannot operate because the bombing is relentless. where are the arabs? where are the muslims? do we have to appeal to israel instead to help? shame on you, this isjust a little

boy who wants freedom. why are you doing this? i don't know what to do. can any of this be stopped through diplomacy? the un wants a ceasefire and there's a meeting at the un security council this afternoon, but in geneva its envoy for syria doesn't sound optimistic. comment on whether you think there will be a deal today on a ceasefire resolution? i hope it will, but it is uphill, it is very urgent. if there isn't one, what happens? we will have to push for it to take place as soon as possible because there is no alternative to a ceasefire and humanitarian access. russia says the real blame lies with terrorists firing out of ghouta into the capital. jihadi fighters including some connected with al-qaeda have been active in the area since the siege began. this for

president assad is about securing damascus, there's no immediate sign of him stopping. britain is halfway towards its target of resettling the most vulnerable refugees from the syrian civil war. the home secretary says 10,000 refugees have already come here and she's looking to see what to do after the scheme ends in two yea rs' what to do after the scheme ends in two years' time. daniel sandford reports. far from the horrors of the war in syria, we found khaled kara hasan playing football in his garden in coventry with his sons, mahmood and zid. his family are some of the 10,000 people now given refuge in britain under the vulnerable person resettlement scheme. khaled, who was a pharmacy assistant in syria, now works part—time in waitrose. he told me he fled homs in 2012 after syrian government forces bombed first his neighbourhood and then a second area, where he'd taken refuge. i decided with my family to leave syria, turkey, because i like my family.

to protect them. i remember my brothers, i remember my friend, my neighbours. here it's more safe, more safe, but in syria it's like, you know in syria it's like fighting, but it's still my country. you miss it a bit, yeah? yeah. but the old syria is gone. this mobile phone footage sent by a friend shows what their flat in homs looks like today. the scheme to resettle refugees from syria is overseen by the home secretary, amber rudd, who was in a camp in lebanon this week. the uk has promised to give homes to 20,000 of the most vulnerable by the end of 2020 and is now halfway to that target. i think that the british public can be very proud of that, proud of the fact they've been able to reach that commitment,

that these families are being resettled in the community and are being looked after. but campaigners say britain could still be doing much more. there are more than 5 million syrian refugees living in neighbouring countries, some in terrible conditions. like this woman, who has three children under ten and whose husband is missing. a couple of years ago she had the chance to go to germany. i was afraid at the time, as my children were still young, so i declined the offer, she told the bbc. with a return to syria still impossible, it's a decision she now bitterly regrets. daniel sandford, bbc news. our top story this lunchtime. theresa may is holding crucial talks with her ministers at chequers this afternoon, to agree a united approach for the brexit negotiations. and still to come. more disappointment for team gb

in the winter olympics — men's curling is the latest to be knocked out, with the skipper coming up in sport... mercedes reveal their new car for the formula one season. lewis hamilton says he'll quickly get used to the new halo designed to protect drivers. new research shows antidepressants are effective — and that many more people could benefit from taking them. the study, in the medicaljournal the lancet, found 21 common antidepressants were more effective than placebos at reducing symptoms of acute depression. here's our health correspondent, james gallagher. how did the chicken cross the road? comedian christian talbot makes a career out of making people laugh. ..to feel safe. but off the stage he takes antidepressants in order to get from one day to the next. it did feel literally like a weight off my shoulders.

i was less anxious. and i sort of feltjust more even, you know, not happy, but even. antidepressants are some of our most commonly—used drugs. 64 million prescriptions were handed out in england in 2016 and, yet, they are the source of huge debate. so many people take antidepressants that it seems remarkable there could be serious questions about whether they work, but some trials have hinted they have no affect, and for the fiercest critics, antidepressants are snake oil. but scientists think they have finally answered the question in a huge study. they analysed more than 500 clinical trials, including previously unpublished data held by drug companies. we found that all the most commonly prescribed antidepressants work for major depression and for people with moderate to severe depression and also we found that some of them are more effective than others,

or better tolerated than others. the study assessed whether these drugs are effective in the short term. more work is underway to see how long any benefits last. however, there are still patients that don't respond to any form of treatment. the patient can be reassured that if they need antidepressants and they take antidepressants they are doing the right thing, but we can move on to the new most important questions, which is what we do with patients who don't respond to all available antidepressants. the study included 21 drugs, yet some to patients do not respond to any of them. how can we help them? another concern is too few people with depression get treatment. researchers estimate at least one million more people in the uk would benefit from therapies including antidepressants. james gallagher, bbc news. university lecturers across the uk are beginning a series of strikes. the action will affect around a million students. members of the university

and college union are walking out in protest at planned changes to their pension scheme, which they say will leave them worse off in retirement. our correspondent tomos morgan has this report from cardiff — where hundreds of university staff are taking action. know ifs, no buts, no pension cuts. picket lines, protests, the scene at universities across the country. staff walking out in a dispute over pensions. institutions say there's a £6.1 billion deficit in the current scheme, which is unsustainable. they say changes must be made. but after 35 meetings over the past year, the university and college union says the strikes were inevitable is the proposed new scheme would be far less generous. we are saying changes to the scheme should be fair. we are in the scheme which the staff and employers are committed to. they employers are committed to. they employers have now junked employers are committed to. they employers have nowjunked that approach and are going for something where the staff are being shoved

aside. with lectures being affected by the strikes there a danger that student degrees will be impacted. there are suggestions exams may have to be modified marking relaxed. the thousands of students that have come out today to protest across the country are doing so alongside their lecturers. their frustration country are doing so alongside their lecturers. theirfrustration is aimed at their institutions. they are seen as consumers in aimed at their institutions. they are seen as consumers in the eyes of regulators and the courts and if this deadlock continues students believe they deserve some compensation from universities for the loss of teaching time. students across the country have begun petitions, calling for universities to recognise that they are not receiving a service paid for by their tuition fees. the petition here in cardiff has already had almost 5000 the glitches. it's an opportunity to focus on financial compensation, we believe that academic compensation is more beneficial. we don't believe in the long—running financial compensation will benefit students and changes to

exa m will benefit students and changes to exam feedback or deadlines benefits is more. the union says senior lecturers could be £10,000 a year worse off under the proposed new scheme. universities uk, the body that represents institutions, says that represents institutions, says that they are making every effort to minimise the impact of industrial action on students, adding that changes proposed will make the pension scheme secure and sustainable, safeguarding the future of universities. currently, 14 days of universities. currently, 14 days of protests are planned. but unless a deal can be reached soon, unions say more strike action stretching into the summer exam period is inevitable. tomos morgan, bbc news, cardiff. britain's biggest energy supplier, centrica, says it's cutting 4000 jobs over the next couple of years. it follows a big drop in profits, down by 17 % last year. the group — which owns british gas — has blamed its performance in north america as well in the uk. our business correspondent emma simpson reports. it's been a disappointing yearfor

britain's biggest energy supplier. today, the hard numbers will stop centrica's group profits down 17% come at a £1.25 billion. it also lost 1.4 million british gas customer accounts and more cost—cutting is on the way, with 4000 jobs to go. and those cuts, the boss told me, are partly down to the government's looming price cap on bills. it's about competition and what customers are wanting, but there's a third reason. there is a link between our cost efficiency programme and preparing for price cap in the uk. we've got to be competitive and this measure means that we've got to drive more efficiency. the posts will go over the next three years, mainly in its

uk residential business. it's only a couple of years ago that i was talking to the chief executive around 5500 job losses and that being the necessary action required, and now here we are again with a further 4000 job cuts being announced. it's very, very concerning. the government says britain's energy market isn't working. customers are being overcharged. that's why it wants to cap the most expensive energy bills. a move which could put another squeeze on centrica's profits, so our price rises on the cards?” can't make any guarantees others and we watch the input costs closely and we watch the input costs closely and we are trying to make our energy as competitive as possible. from government intervention to increasing competition, the whole industry is in the midst of change, but will it come at a price, and for

whom? emma simpson, bbc news. in the winter olympics, british skier dave ryding finished ninth in the men's slalom. the gb men's curling team failed to reach the semifinals, after switzerland beat them in their tie—break match. in the men's skiing half pipe, some spectacular aerial acrobatics — as you'll see in david ornstein's report from pyeongchang. commentator: from great britain and northern ireland, dave "the rocket" ryding. at the gateway to olympic glory. from a dry ski slope in lancashire to the real stuff in south korea, dave ryding has followed an unconventional path, but now finds himself battling against the world's best. the rocket starts to get acceleration on the flat. ryding's final run here propelled him to a ninth place finish — britain's best olympic alpine skiing result in 30 years. that's a superb performance by dave ryding, but it won't quite be enough to get him on the podium, and britain's wait for another medal at these games goes on.

i'm 31, but still life in the old dog yet, and it motivates me for another four years and i know i can improve on that still. curling has become one of the country's main sources of olympic success — the men taking silver in sochi four years ago. this, however, is a new team and they leave empty—handed, after an agonising defeat by switzerland. leading 5—4 with just two ends to go and a semifinals place at stake, the brits capitulated to lose 9—5. we had a good game today, but it wasn't to be, sadly. a couple of things didn't go our way and a couple of half shots and that's all it takes against a team as good as them. meanwhile there was confirmation today that the russian mixed doubles pair of alexander krushelnitskiy and his wife anastasia bryzgalova have been stripped of their curling bronze medal after krushelnitskiy was found guilty of doping. in the women's ice hockey there was incredible drama

as the united states and canada went to a sudden—death shoot out. commentator: saved, the usa win gold. having claimed each of the last four titles, canada were left devastated as the usa celebrated a famous victory. there was more american joy in the men's ski half pipe. defending champion david wise making the spectacular look simple, to triumphant again with a near—perfect final run. commentator: oh, that's it! david ornstein, bbc news, pyeongchang. time for a look at the weather. here's stav. we are in