hello, welcome to outside source. the us gun lobby launches an angry defence of weapons ownership amid calls for stricter controls following the florida shooting. to stop a bad guy with a gun, it takes a good guy with a gun. amid more terrible suffering in eastern ghouta, the un is trying to agree a humanitarian ceasefire. translation: shame on you! this is just a little boy who wants freedom. why are you doing this? i don't know what to do. theresa may is meeting at her country residence, and the only topic is brexit. justin forsyth has resigned from a senior role at unicef. we will get you up to date from new york. the national rifle association

and trump has set out what it believes can stop on school shooting — more guns. its leader spoke earlier at a major literal event in washington, dc. after every mass shooting in the us there is a further national debate on gun control. wayne lapierre said this is playing politics with a tragedy. as usual, the opportunists wasted not one second to exploit tragedy for political gain. the break back speed of calls for more gun control laws and the breathless national media, eager to smear the nra. the nra has been targeted in this advert in the new york times today. it lists 276 members of congress who "take nra money and block gun control" — along with their phone numbers.

the nra also has good relations with president trump. yesterday he backed the idea of arming teachers. and wayne lapierre warmed to that theme earlier. it isa it is a bizarre fact that in this country our jewellery stores, all over this country, are more important than our children. our banks, our airports, important than our children. our banks, ourairports, our important than our children. our banks, our airports, our nba games, oui’ banks, our airports, our nba games, our nfl games, our office buildings, oui’ our nfl games, our office buildings, our movie stars, our politicians. they are all more protected than our children at school. does that make any sense? to anybody? do we really love our money and our celebrities more than we love our children? yesterday on outside source we brought you that listening session in the white house

where donald trump came out in favour of arming teachers. they gathered and listened to teachers as well survivors of school shootings, and relatives of victims. the president was seen holding a check list with five points on it. number one was what would you most wa nt number one was what would you most want me to know about your experience? number five was want me to know about your experience? numberfive was i hear you. donald trump has also been tweeting today. he's been talking about the idea of arming teachers. you can translate that as the president of america suggesting that every school in the country should have at least one gun inside it. later today he spoke to ask both sides of the political divide tojoin him in taking action.

i think we're making a lot of progress and i can tell you there's a tremendous feeling that we're that we're going to get something done. and we're leading that feeling i hope, but there's a great feeling, including at the nra, including republican senators and hopefully democrat senators and congressmen. polling suggests the majority of the teachers don't want a gun in the classroom. this is one in pennsylvania. in my opinion, i think guns in the classroom are absolutely ridiculous. i think most teachers are not trained, i think you are putting stu d e nts trained, i think you are putting students at risk having guns in the classroom. i think it is not a bad idea to have security people with guns, buti idea to have security people with guns, but i am qualified on the m—16 rifle and .45 pistol, and there is no way that a teacher should have a gun ina no way that a teacher should have a gun in a classroom. there are two money opportunities for accidents and if you kept the weapon locked,

how would you access it if something we re how would you access it if something were happening? anthony zurcher was at that speech earlier and has been telling me about it. it was interesting, i have been to a lot of these conferences and the crowd can be very raucous, animated. they really weren't all that animated during the speeches of the nra folk. it was interesting. in fact, they made reference to that, i hear you are quiet, you are afraid, and you need to be afraid because they are coming for your guns, essentially. that is what wayne lapierre said. then when vice president mike pence came out, a couple of speakers later, they cheered really loudly for things like building the mexican war, neil gorsuch, the supreme court nomination, tax cuts, standing for the national anthem. it was a sombre

mood, but it was not the reaction you would expect from some of the red meat that wayne lapierre was throwing out there, media bashing, democratic parishing and even criticising the fbi, which is a bogeyman for the right these days. presumably, the nra is relatively pleased with the current state of the debate, given that normally in the debate, given that normally in the aftermath of a mass shooting it comes under pressure, but it now has the president backing one of its primary ideas on this, arming teachers? right. you saw donald trump tweeting earlier today, saying that the nra are great people and that the nra are great people and that he has their support. the nra supported him very early in the presidential campaign when there we re presidential campaign when there were a presidential campaign when there we re a lot presidential campaign when there were a lot of conservative groups that were not sure whether to back donald trump when it looked pretty clear he was going to get the nomination. the nra jumped clear he was going to get the nomination. the nrajumped in with both feet and supported him to the tune of about $30 million over the course of the campaign. donald trump knows who is loyal to him, and he rewards loyalty. i think he sees that from the nra. as you mentioned,

there is going to be significant pushback from turning schools into ha rd pushback from turning schools into hard targets, in his words. donald trump talked about arming teachers, there are 3.5 million public school teachers, you're talking about 100,000 teachers conceivably, and that idea, being given guns, a massive undertaking, by any reasonable understanding. last week, in the immediate aftermath of the florida shooting, we spoke to a wr hawkins from breitbart news. he was making the argument then, right after the tragedy, that teachers should be armed. let's catch up with him again now in arizona. thank you very much for your time. would you support the idea of 700,000 teachers that currently don't have guns at school being harmed? if the teachers want to be

-- being armed. you don't force them to be, but if they want to be armed, certainly. sandy hook, nobody was armed, 27 people killed. virginia tech, nobody was armed, 32 people killed. this most recent attack, no body was armed, i7 killed. this most recent attack, no body was armed, 17 people killed. we tried it that way and it doesn't work. i am all for a social studies teacher that can take out an attack in the first five seconds. what would you say to people watching in the uk and around the world, to whom the uk and around the world, to whom the idea of a gun being in a classroom along with their young child is horrific, in compensable? well, i mean, iwould say child is horrific, in compensable? well, i mean, i would say that they may not understand. many of those teachers have concealed carry permits, and at night, when they travel to the gas station, the restau ra nt, travel to the gas station, the restaurant, they have a gun with them and they have young kids with them, and their friends with them. that is everyday life, that is just how it is in america. so, the fact

that you send them to school and say, while you are at school you cannot have that gun for self defence, that is the real atrocity. there is no atrocity and having a gun with him when the child is with him in other settings, why should they be denied that right when they are at school? you force them to be sitting ducks and it is a ridiculous policy. i am interested that you are focusing on how to deal with somebody coming into a school with a gun, rather than talking about the fa ct gun, rather than talking about the fact they have a gun in the first place? that is a fair point. i'm talking about somebody that comes into school with a machete, with a knife, with a hammer, with anything. the way we are set up right now, the teachers are defenceless, period. you can bring in any weapon you want. that is a good point. i don't care if the attacker has a sword or gun, if the teacher is arm she can ta ke gun, if the teacher is arm she can take him out. that is the important thing. what we have seen in america is the outward perimeter on schools are so weak. anybody that wants to get on campus, they can get on campus. there is a broader issue of

school security, but what about the core issue here? it struck me during the listening session that people we re the listening session that people were talking about dealing with pupils that are isolated, making sure people connect with each other, making sure teachers are armed, but not necessarily talking about the fa ct not necessarily talking about the fact it is just too easy to get a gun in america? well, the reason they didn't bring that up is the left has pushed background checks, waiting periods, all of these things. florida has a waiting period of three days for a handgun purchase, they have background checks. this guy complied with that rule, as almost every mass public attacker does. so, we have tried all of their gun controls and none of them work. that is why i'm not addressing it, i'm not trying to skirt the issue, it is not worth addressing because gun control failed. now we have to find out what will work in place of gun controls, and it is letting his teachers defend themselves. help me understand, then, why you are not

focusing on gun control, but that would appear to be the primary difference between america, where there are a huge number of mass shootings, and lots of other countries in the world, where their arms? right... why would we focus on gun control at any point? let me ask you a question, who would obey gun control laws? woodlore —— would law—abiding citizens obey, or criminals question in a case of australia or the uk... in general, law—abiding citizens do, criminals do not. why would i respond to a crime by looking at how we could restrain law—abiding citizens? crime by looking at how we could restrain law-abiding citizens? the reality is that if i am minded to get a reality is that if i am minded to geta gun reality is that if i am minded to get a gun in london, it is awfully harder than if i were to get it where you are in arizona. that is just a fact, whether i am a criminal or law—abiding citizen. just a fact, whether i am a criminal or law-abiding citizen. well, it

might bea or law-abiding citizen. well, it might be a fact, but there is another deal, in america, it is part of our heritage. it always has been. that is part of life in america since 1791, when the second amendment was ratified. in america, we are guaranteed by the constitution the right to keep and bear arms. exercising that right is checking the fact, that other people are armed. but you cut to it, in the end, your history, your heritage, it is actually more important than stopping people dying in mass shootings. i'm not saying that is right or wrong, but is that not a fa ct? right or wrong, but is that not a fact? not at all. we have problems that have nothing to do with guns. i think trump is right when he looks at the mental health issue. our mental health is a broken system, because of the left. the same people that push gun control, they help themselves by not taking care of the

mentally ill and then when the mentally ill and then when the mentally ill and then when the mentally ill do something wrong, instead of addressing the mentally ill problems, they say we need or gun laws. they use everything, they let a certain degree of chaos exist, in order to feed arguments for gun control. i would agree with you, there are some things we can do, but addressing gun laws is not one of them. we have so many thousands and thousands of gun laws and they don't matter. they will never met. —— never matter. good to talk to you, i have gone over the time i had to talk to you because it was so fascinating. that was awr who writes for breitbart news. we want to bring you the latest now on the crisis in syria. a un resolution had been tabled in new york — calling for a 30 day truce. that's been blocked by russia, moscow wanted it amended — it said it only put pressure on the syrian government, which it backs. also, the awful situation in eastern ghouta. it is the last major rebel

stronghold near to the capital. and for five days, syria — backed by russia — have been carrying out an intense bombing campaign. more than 400,000 people are trapped there. and more than 400 people have died, 94 of them children. these are some of the latest pictures — i want to warn you they are disturbing. this video is from the so—called white helmets, a civil defence group. they have been giving lots of details on their twitter account. they say some residents have no access to food or clean drinking water. lots of people are living underground to try to stay safe. medicalfacilities and underground to try to stay safe. medical facilities and staff are being targeted and the un is now warning of a massacre. we've also been following videos posted by two girls trapped in eastern ghouta. this was put up a day ago. warplanes attacked...

they say warplanes and helicopters are attacking their neighbourhood. and that there's nowhere to run for cover. they are pleading for help. a twitter account has been set up using their names. this video was posted earlier today. you can see very clearly that one of the girls has been injured. even hear them screaming in arabic, crying for help. you can see the snow that has been left from the shelling. her mother told us later that the house had been bombed and that the house had been bombed and that her son was also hurt. we have been contacting doctors working in eastern ghouta. they say the situation is going from bad to worse

and personnel are under so much stress. ahmad tarakji is president of the syrian american medical society. i was just talking to my colleagues in ghouta as i walked into the studio. they are terrified, the situation is terrible and they feel they are facing a massacre coming up soon. where are they able to work? are there still medical facilities they can use? the medical capacity has dropped by about 60% compared to what it was last week before the situation started. there are still some medicalfacilities situation started. there are still some medical facilities operating. not to the point where they can help people. we have seen many casualties and people dying from treatable conditions. the doctors are committed to continue serving, and chewing nickell robey humanitarian workers. with limited resources and the constant bombing of hospitals, they can't do that as effectively as they can't do that as effectively as they should. do the doctors believe

they should. do the doctors believe they are being politically targeted? absolutely, it is a clear pattern of attacking by the syrian air force. it is completely paralysed in the medical sector. i was communicating with my colleague, the head of the white helmets team, and he said most of the ambulances are also targeted. they are not even able to evacuate patients from the building, orfrom the basements, to the hospitals. whoever gets to the hospital might not get treated correctly because they are destroying hospitals. not get treated correctly because they are destroying hospitalslj assume they are destroying hospitals.” assume the casualties and injuries are caused by bombs from fighter planes? absolutely, they are coming from the syrian air force, we're starting to see different missiles being utilised. everybody is hiding in basements. we are seeing the

missile similar to what we have seen in aleppo. the last seven years have seen any number of horrors in syria. how do your colleagues compare what we are seeing in eastern ghouta with other situations that have played out? it is a replay of three displacement scenarios. we have seen comparable escalation of the situation as we have seen in aleppo. we have seen situations in other places. the doctors in ghouta the same doctors that treated the chemical attacks in 2013, the very famous ones. they have been besieged for the last three and a half years. we are seeing the worst days we have ever seen over the past five or six yea rs. ever seen over the past five or six years. background information is available whenever you need it online. alijaz bedene tweeting about how she has not opened snapchat very much and that appears to have had a

significant impact on the market value of the company that owns snapchat. we will be live in new york to find out what is going on. we'll be talking to yogita limaye about it police say they're investigating a letter sent to st james palace as a racist hate crime. scotland yard say it was delivered along with a package containing what's reported to be a white powder. it was reportedly addressed to prince harry and his fiancee, meghan markle. tests on the substance confirmed it was not harmful. no arrests have been made. richard lister has more. it seems to refer to something written on the letter. the couple themselves have not made any comment and it has not been formally acknowledge that the letter was sent to them. of course, meghan markle is of mixed race. prince harry spoke of last november about the racist abuse he said she received on social media. this would clearly take it to another level if they were the

targets of this. one interesting thing that the police will be looking at, the following date: february 13, another letter containing a suspicious powder was received the palace of westminster, addressed to amber ruud, and clearly the police will be looking at whether those letters are linked. we live in the bbc newsroom. pressure is growing for more gun control in the us, but the powerful nra are calling for armed security at every school. donald trump has been tweeting that teachers could have the option to the answer they can fire back if a savage dzeko comes into the school. from bbc russia... russian opposition leader alexei navalny has been detained by police in moscow — and then released shortly afterwards. he's already barred from running in the presidential election in a few weeks — and is calling for a boycott. these egyptian policemen

were guarding a bank when they noticed that a child was hanging from a third floor window. one of them manages to catch the child, who was not in any way injured. shares in snap, the company behind social media app snapchat, plunged by around 8% today. that means the company lost around $1.5 billion in market value. what caused the slump? well reality television star kylie jenner tweeted that she doesn't use the social media platform anymore. you would not think that was enough to move the market value of a company by over $1 billion. but perhaps? yogita limaye is in new york. is it as simple as that? well, i

don't think anybody can say with certainty that is what has happened. but she tweeted yesterday at 4.50 local time, 50 minutes after the market closed. suddenly, today, once the market opened, it has been a pretty bad day for snap. they have ended more than 6% down, but that is a very dramatic fall. i have to say, the other thing that had happened, which involves the company, is that they released a report, and in that report, they talked about the compensation that chief executive is getting. he actually gets a stocks grant of more than $600 million. there are also analysts that are saying that perhaps it is a combination of those two factors. generally, a lot of snapchat users have been very unhappy with the new update that they have released on snapchat. kylie jenna's update that they have released on snapchat. kyliejenna's tweet, and she has about 24.5 million followers, if that is going to

result in less users. the redesign, which a lot of people are not happy about, it sounds like they are not backing down? the statement i saw basis it had to get used to it? backing down? the statement i saw basis it had to get used to me ashley, there was even a petition online by people who want them to go back to the original snapchat. the company saying they have segregated content on the app, so stuff that you see from friends and things that you see from friends and things that you see from celebrities that you follow or other platforms, that are making content for snapchat, you sort of see that separately. people are quite unhappy with how the stories have been mixed up. snapchat says that it is an effort to segregate the content and make it easierfor people to segregate the content and make it easier for people to use. but i think a lot of people are unhappy with that. 0k, thank you very much. this is the financial times telling

us this is the financial times telling us that evan speigel‘s pay has hit $638 million. nice work if you can get it! a german federal court has failed to come to a decision today over whether to allow cities to ban diesel cars. instead, the court has delayed the decision until tuesday. the car industry is watching this very closely. theo leggett explains the complexities of the issue. cities across europe have to abide by european limits on emissions, like nitrogen oxide, which can cause respiratory problems. we have a court looking at whether or not, in order to achieve that goal, and people driving diesel cars into city centres should be considered. if they were to decide that it should be an effective way of reaching the quality targets, cities across germany would feel pretty much obliged to introduce them, otherwise they could face legal challenges

from environmental groups. they would pretty much have to do it. that, then, would have a knock—on effect for millions of drivers, who bought diesel cars in good faith. we are even told by the german government and other governments, a few years ago, that diesel cars were environmentally friendly. so, the ramifications are profound. it could affect millions of consumers, affect the industry, affect the policies of local government. it is a complicated matter. straight after the end of this first half of outside source we are going to be looking at brexit. it has been a huge day for theresa may. she gathered some of the most senior ministers at chequers, her country retreat. their job is ministers at chequers, her country retreat. theirjob is to thrash out what kind of relationship the uk once with the eu after brexit. we will get you all of the details and a few minutes. killyman.

—— good evening. it has been rather dreary, but it looks like we will see more in a way of sunshine as we head towards the weekend. this was the story further north and west. you can see these pictures of the scottish borders. after a dreary start in the south—east the cloud broke up from the south—east coast and we will have some beautiful spells of sunshine. we continue to see clear skies through the evening, with the exception being further west. clear skies at this time of year leads to a widespread hard frost, particularly through the spine of the country. the cloud prevents the blue tones arriving in northern ireland, said temperatures here holding up above freezing. a cloudy, great start through northern ireland and parts of scotland. we will also see a bit of cloud coming in of the north sea coast. if we look at the afternoon in more detail, you can see where the cloud will tend to linger of the north sea coast, and also through the western isles and into northern ireland. for much of wales, central and southern england, just a little bit of fair

weather cloud across cornwall. elsewhere, more sunshine coming through. not a particularly warm day, four or 7 degrees. don't start moaning yet, it is going to get even colder as this high—pressure across scandinavia is really in the driving seat with the weather patterns at the moment. it means quite a quiet story with the wind coming in off the cold, european coastline. as we move into saturday, there will be more of a breeze, particularly on the exposed east coast. that will feel quite fresh. hopefully some lovely spells of sunshine to compensate. perhaps into northern ireland we will have more in the way of cloud. it will be a chilly day on saturday. into sunday it is almost a repeat performance. a bit of cloud coming from the north sea to the north and east. a stronger breeze down into east anglia and the south—east, and it will feel much colder than these temperatures suggest, highs of about five to 7 degrees. you have probably heard that it degrees. you have probably heard thatitis degrees. you have probably heard that it is going to get even colder still, with the air originating from

siberia, and over the next few days it looks like temperatures are set to fall. you can see that in the city outlook through monday and tuesday, temperatures really struggling to climb above freezing. you have been warned! hello, i'm ros atkins, this is outside source, and these are the main stories here in the bbc newsroom: the us gun lobby launches an angry defence of weapons ownership amid calls for stricter controls following the florida shooting. to stop a bad guy with a gun, it takes a good guy with a gun. amid more terrible suffering in eastern ghouta, the un is trying to agree a humanitarian ceasefire. every day outside source features bbc journalists working in over 30 languages. your questions are always welcome. #bbcos is the hashtag. we'll get into brexit a moment. theresa may and a group of senior

british ministers have spent the day trying to find agreement on what relationship they want the uk to have with the eu after brexit. this is happening at prime minister's country retreat, chequers. here it is — it's about 50km miles north—west of london. here are the ministerial cars arriving earlier. it takes quite a while to get done belonged either. the key issue is the degree to which uk should seek to align with the eu — and what terms the uk should accept in exchange for access to eu's market. foreign secretary borisjohnson is on one side of the debate — seeking the ability to diverge from eu rules and regulations. chancellor philip hammond is on the other — wanting britain to be aligned as closely as possible. theresa may's job is to find some common ground.

let's hear the closest she's come to stating a clear position on managing the future relationship. this was in florence glastir. there will be areas of policy and regulation that are outside the scope of our relations. there will be areas where are we and our european friends may have different goals or may have the desire to share the same goals, but by the different means. and there will be areas where we want to achieve the same goals in the same way is because it makes sense for our economies. the outcome where britain opts to diverge a bit in some areas, a lot in others, and not at all in others, has been described at the "three baskets approach." not a great title but it's what we've got to work with. but even if theresa may gets agreement among her colleagues on the three baskets — of course that doesn't mean the eu will also agree.

here's the bbc‘s reality check correspondent chris morris. we already know, in fact, that they are not that keen on this approach. last night, they released a series of slides which had been shown by the european commission to member states. so you can see a little bit of one of the slides there. this is the key one. basically, what it says is, in summary, the three basket approach is not compatible with the principles of the european union's guidelines. basically, it says it would undermine the integrity of the single market. that gets back to the age—old argument about are we just trying to cherry pick the best bits? it would also, they fear, allow other third world countries, switzerland, norway, to say, "well, hang on, if the uk has this great, special relationship, we want some of that. we want to make it better." —— other third countries. it also says it would mean that it would be more difficult for the you to make decisions after brexit, because it would be hamstrung by this strange new relationship with the uk. there's pressure coming from all angles on this issue. around 60 brexit—supporting mps are crucial to her ability to get things through parliament.

they are demanding "full regulatory autonomy" — in other words complete freedom to do as it wants — they argue this will help with trade deals with places like china. their leader is jacob rees mogg. pro—eu mp chuka ummana says... of course, it was sold in many different forms, and that's one of the issues here. the vote to leave wasn't a vote for one type of brexit or another. it was simply a vote to get out. here's the bbc‘s political corresponent alex forsyth, outside the chequers meeting, on what we can expect from it. i think what we will get is some sort of broad statement, perhaps not necessarily today, but in the next week or so when we are expecting theresa may to give a speech with a bit more detail, fleshing out the

endgame that the uk hopes to achieve, but of course it is worth mentioning this... this is the senior level ministers trying to work out what they want from brexit the long term. that is just a starting position. that then has to be negotiated with brussels, and once again we are hearing from the eu that there can be no cherry picking. the uk can't have all the benefits of the eu without the rights and obligations. so i think theresa may's balancing act, that she is probably conducting round the dinner table right now, well, that is going to continue for some time. an interesting subtext to all this. since the vote for brexit, the number of eu citizens leaving the uk has risen to its highest level for a decade. 130,000 emigrated in the year to september. though 220,000 eu nationals moved to the uk in the same period. that means net eu migration was 90,000, that's the lowest for five years. this is the uk's immigration minister on the impact of brexit. our first

ourfirst priority was our first priority was for those eu citizens already living here and are living here prior to the 29th of march next year. people who come here after it will have different expectations. they will come here knowing we have left the eu, so what we must do now is negotiate very cosy with our european partners as to what the position of those people will be going forward. now we turn to the scandals involving charities — two days ago we were telling you about the complaints of inappropriate behaviour levelled againstjustin forsyth while he was chief executive there at save the children. now he's resigned from unicef. here's what he said... nada tawfik is in new york for us.

this was looking more and more untenable, wasn't it? absolutely. i spoke to a fewer employees at unicef and one of them told me this was becoming a distraction for them to becoming a distraction for them to be able to do their important work, and so! be able to do their important work, and so i think we clearly saw that with justin forsyth‘s and so i think we clearly saw that withjustin forsyth‘s decision today to hand in his resignation this morning. he said point—blank wasn't doing this because of the complaints from his role in his former employer at the charity save the children. those were of course the fact that he was accused of texting young female staffers inappropriately, commenting on how they worked. he said he had apologised and the proper process had been taking care ofa proper process had been taking care of a few years back, but he said the reason he was doing this was because he didn't want to do any more damage

to oxfam and save the children, and soi to oxfam and save the children, and so i think a lot of people at unicef would agree with him that it was time to take this step to have him resign. i also wanted you to get us to fill us in on oxfam in haiti, because there has been a development there. the government has now said they are not going to authorise oxfa m they are not going to authorise oxfam britain to work in haiti for the next two months. they want to do an internal investigation into whether any of the staff members sexually abused miners in the country. they said was a serious error that oxfam didn't come to them immediately when they had allegations of misconduct, and they said that this was a violation of the dignity of the haitian people. that investigation they say will ta ke that investigation they say will take about two months, and in the meantime, oxfam has said that they are concerned that this could affect their work in the country. in the

last couple of weeks, oxfam and save the children have been in the spotlight, but either broader indications for other organisations in terms of sexually inappropriate behaviour? this is one of the issues the secretary—general has taken on. he want the un to be seen as transparent when it comes to allegations of sexual abuse, and so it is picked out as public record the number of sexual assaults or harassment allegations that different parts of the un family get. we know it has affected un peacekeeping, the u in refugee agency, and the secretary—general himself has acknowledged this is a problem in need charity and ngo sector. it underscores what we have known from this past year that the ruby is no point, industry, sector, walk of life that is immune from sexual assault. thank you very much.

don't forget you can get much more detail on our top stories on our website. i want to update you on a story we have covered through the week on outside source. girls are missing in nigeria. we know the president has sent eight team to this town. it is next ought to another state where over a 200 girls were taken in 2014. the sky is the state governor and he said some girls had been rescued, but strangely that story is now changing. —— this guide. look at this copy. our colleagues have been helping us. our correspondent discovered this

story as well. we have met almost a wall of silence from authorities today. whether it is the army, the state government or federal government. the only information we have had today as con from the pa rents have had today as con from the parents who has told us what the governor said to them. very little information coming out, almost nothing today, about the whereabouts of these girls. we heard from the army over the past few weeks, they have been recording significant su ccesses have been recording significant successes against bogel her ram since december, but they have reclaim to a lot of hardware, munitions and trucks. we saw an attack of this size. we haven't seen attacks quite as co—ordinated as

this in quite some time, so this flies in the face of ever being that the army, the authorities and the government are trying to tell is about the capacity and the government's operation against them stands. we tried to bring you the biggest global stories every day. let's bring you to north africa now. egyptians will vote in presidential elections next month. the former army chief abdel fattah al sisi is almost certainly going to get re—elected. human rights groups say the election will be a farce — and you can see where they're coming from. serious challengers have been disqualified, arrested or have been pressured to drop out. orla guerin is our correspondent in cairo. welcome to egypt. enticing images of timeless hospitality and ancient attractions. the - postcard attractions. the picture postcard view the authorities are keen to promote. but there is another egypt,

a military backed regime. where dreams of freedom have been crushed. and human rights groups say at least 1500 people have vanished from the streets in the last four years. egypt's disappeared. this is one of them. she is 23 and wants to open her own business. her mother says she and her daughter were jailed in 2014 after being arrested near a protest. she says they were in the wrong place at the wrong time, and we re wrong place at the wrong time, and were later acquitted. then in 2016, her daughter was detained at a police checkpoint, she tells me. she was dumped by the roadside after 28 days. a change to girl. but her legal papers show the

anguished and not end there. as her daughter were struggling to recover, she disappeared for the second time last april. her mother says neighbours saw her being taken by armed and masked police. her treasured keepsakes are just as she left them. her mother refuses to

give up hope. she says herfamily has done nothing wrong and she will speak out for her daughter even if she hangs fred. —— hangs for it. we wa nted she hangs fred. —— hangs for it. we wanted to ask the authorities about her daughter's case, but they wouldn't give us an interview. in the past, they have denied there are enforced disappearances and widespread human rights abuses. most who are taking turn up in custody facing terrorism charges. human rights groups say anyone who opposes the regime is at risk. they say abdel fattah al sisi is waging war on dissent and this is a dark hour for egypt. the study led by oxford university has found anti—depressants work. it's published in the lancet — 21 drugs were considered via the data from over 500 trials. sima kotecha has more. there were times, you know, ifelt

really low, to the point i didn't want to be around anyone or anybody or have any interaction with family or friends. there were times when i didn't understand my position in life. jon needed help. he was struggling to cope. his doctor prescribed antidepressants. i still think there's a lot of stigma around it, as to, you know, are you weak because you take them? are you are a nutnut because you take them. i had an image ofjack nicholson in one flew over the cuckoo's nest at the end when he's a complete and utter zombie and you lose something about yourself, something that makes you you. and that's what i was concerned about, you'd turn into zombie without any feeling.

but the only way i can describe it is that it gives you a kind of buffer around some of the negative thoughts and your mind racing. today's report found that 21 of some of the most common antidepressants were more effective at treating anxiety and depression than dummy pills. those behind the report as well as other gps say the results show that these tablets could help more people cope with low moods. for too long, healthcare professionals have been denigrated and slated for prescribing drugs that they know will work. so many patients tell us they work. we only want to do this for the best of our patients. it is not about fobbing people off, it is genuinely trying to help them. in 2016, 65 million prescriptions for antidepressants were issued and the numbers are rising. but some critics say depression can be solved through positive mental attitude. you say you've been on them for five years... the research also outlines which pills work best. however, the authors are urging people not to switch medication before getting advice.

hopefully it made me an easier person to be around for my family. yeah, the plan is, in regular consultation with my gp, to wean myself off of them. but that's got to be when the time is right. saudi arabia has announced it will spend 64 billion dollars to develop its entertainment industry. its general entertainment authority has said over 220,000 jobs in entertainment will be created by 2030. bear in mind that figure was 17,000 a year ago. this all part of what's called vision 2030 — it's the grand plan of prince mohammed bin salman or mbs as everyone refers to him. he's the son of king salman — and leading the drive to diversify the saudi economy. here's bbc arabic‘s hadya al—alawi.

he is trying to shepherd the businesses in his country from the oil to the entertainment to encourage little to spend more money on that sector. anyway, a lot of saudi arabians travel to nearby golf country such as emirates to buy or abu dhabi bahrain do—gooder concerts or have fun. they are trying to get money out of the entertainment business in a reserved way, keeping the balance between keeping saudi arabia as a reserved state, but at the same time giving people that kind of way of having fun in their own country without having to go across the borders are else to do it every weekend. how do you do it in a reserved way, though? i saw a report saying ricky martin might be coming, and openly gay man with a very

sexualised routine when he performs, had that fit in with saudi arabia and its way of doing things? that will be the main challenge, because the problem is notjust that there are laws in the state that restrict people from going to concerts, there are no concerts in the country, but also that is a social restriction of rounded, so families who actually wa nt rounded, so families who actually want their kids or daughters to go to concerts might face some kind of backlash from the society around them that they allowed their daughters to do that. also because of sharia laws in the country there is going to be religious backlash as well. they are going to be mixing females and males in the same environment and we saw women attending football matches in a stadium, that is a largely dominated environment by males. there will be a lot of restrictions and challenges around that. to allow people to enjoy doesn't go against their% actually as sgslfijt their religigfifi.

attaallg aa aaalfijt taait faliaigafi. attaallg aa aaalfijt taait faliaigafi. at the same time opens the but at the same time opens the society... . 7 7 but at the same time opens the % slightlyi but at the same time opens the society slightly and slowly towards that change. it has happened in some forms. behind me as a picture of a greek artist has already performed. had that goal and how are the dealing with these issues already? asi dealing with these issues already? as i mentioned? they are trying to encourage people to open the society a little, so when they allow artists like that, who is not a sexy performer... he is not ricky martin. they are slowly introducing out into the country in that way they are hoping they can bring that change, but let's not be completely optimistic about it. we have to accept this will be a difficult mission, whatever the government at the family. there are so many reservations around at that it's going to be very, very difficult to bring that change into the country. within that period of ten years, maybe we will see it slowly moving,

but we cant expect it to happen overnight. we've been talking a lot black panther the film because of its extraordinary success. we've a report now on the black panther movement of the 1960s and 70s in the us. it fought an armed struggle for racial justice and black empowerment. a new exhibit in new york focuses on 20 former members who remain in prison. here's nada tawfik. it's been a the black panther marched through the to ‘ black berets and jackets. i nationalists nationalists was 535: 3? {ta blazk 25f325'525 a; — —— — — w— figures remain controversial figures remain imprisoned today. they are the subjects of artist sylvia dawson ‘s subjects of artist—sylvia dawson—s if exhibition, , —— sofia dawson. but correspondence. —— sofia dawson. but i think it's important to have people whose stories have been

forgotten, to have them on the outside for people who may be experiencing their stories free press time. sophia this is about passion. she has visited black panther activist still incarcerated. even her technique is a nod to black empowerment. i start on all black, it is an act of protest, a political statement, and also solidarity with the black panther movement and embracing the fact that the colour black is beautiful. i think it is will it run to have to pool b collins out of black service. crowd chant they were black revolutionaries who openly carried weapons. they said it was to protect against police brutality. to the fbi, they were militants, to others, they were freedom fighters. i didn't know that freehold clinics and exist before the black panther movement, i didn't

know that free breakfast programmes didn't exist before the black and moment. this exhibition weaves personal stories with larger societal issues that the black panther movement was fighting. since severe dawson started this, a number of them have been released. they say the same injustices they saw a number of years ago are still present. this was the leader of the black panther in new york. he served his time for charges of attempted murder after gun battle with the police. he was given a hefty sentence for activism. the media are a lwa ys sentence for activism. the media are always presented as is being terrorists and wales and of ireland. unprovoked attacks on police. they never talked about hamley black men and women and children were dying at the hands of the police every day.

—— the media always presented us as terrorists and wild and violent. sophia believes understanding how past generations fought will help today's activists pave the way ford. thank you for watching this edition. if you want any extra information, download our app and you will find it. if you're watching on the bbc news channel, next is the bbc news at10pm. if news channel, next is the bbc news at 10pm. if you're watching on world news today, we will see next week. goodbye. for well over one week, we have been warning you about an arctic blast set to descend across the uk. it is still on its way, but it may not

have escaped your attention that next week is the beginning of march. we are thinking about sunshine and flowers. sometimes we can see temperatures into double figures in march. for us, temperatures will struggle to climb above freezing. we are likely to see widespread frost and some significant snow. more on that at the end of the forecast. friday will be straightforward. under the influence of high pressure in scandinavia, things remain quiet, some clouds around, particularly in northern ireland, there will also be some sunshine on friday, temperatures cold but nothing in comparison to what we are going to see. saturday spurts of quite promising, in fact the weekend is shaping up to be very nice indeed. lots of sunshine around, a nagging easterly wind, particularly across essex and kent, meaning on that exposed east coast feeling quite raw. lots of sunshine hopefully to

compensate. similarstory raw. lots of sunshine hopefully to compensate. similar story on sunday. under the influence of high pressure from scandinavia. wind starting to come all the way from the arctic now, equal direction, sunshine around, but starting to feel pretty cold indeed. a little more in the way of clouds spilling off the north sea. looking likely to stay there for sunday, but changing on monday. looking as though on monday we could see some of the cloud pushing further inland and wintry showers developing. the showers will be snowy and it is monday that with certainty signs of really cold air fishing across the country. tempered as in some places struggling to climb above freezing. widespread ha rd climb above freezing. widespread hard frost bright across the country on monday morning. boy who owns denoting temperatures well below freezing. temperatures moving into freezing. temperatures moving into

freezing showing a bump in the highs of buyers meaning we could have more share is coming in from the ninth seed. the showers will be had and mist. some of them willjust wish a little bit further inland as we go through the day, and again still utterly cold. into next week, looking as though the high pressure is going to be the main talking point. wind coming from the arctic across the continent and housing the potential of some snow showers. the reason being that it will stay bitterly cold by day and night. it is going to be a wintry theme of weather, but we will start to see a change. as we go into next week, no signs of a fall. cold and frosty with a chance of snow. potentially more significant snow through the middle of the week. this is subject to change, but take a look at this area of low pressure moving up

through spain, bumping into the cold air. potential for through spain, bumping into the cold air. potentialfor more through spain, bumping into the cold air. potential for more significant snow through england and wales, that will be subject to change and where that area of low pressure sitting will move, but i am sure you will be keeping a clouds eye on the won't you? tonight at ten — no agreement in the un security council on establishing a humanitarian ceasefire in syria. for a fifth consecutive day in the rebel enclave of eastern ghouta, the intense bombardment by syrian government forces has continued, as the un warns of a massacre. a number of hospitals and medical centres have been hit, making it almost impossible to treat the many wounded. translation: what we're seeing everyday has caused us to collapse, both humanely and psychologically. we don't have anything more to offer. we're being bled out. we'll have the latest on the diplomatic efforts to establish a ceasefire so that aid supplies can be delivered. also tonight. an away day at chequers for

theresa may and senior ministers — as they try to agree a collective position on britain's future relationship with the eu.