this is bbc news. i'm martine croxall. the headlines at 11. a fifth day of intense bombardment by syrian government forces in rebel held eastern ghouta, with no agreement by the un security council on a humanitarian ceasefire. 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. haiti suspends oxfam operations, as it investigates claims of sexual misconduct by charity aid workers in the aftermath of the 2010 earthquake. and on newsnight, one of the most powerful men in the charity sector has quit. we hearfrom a powerful men in the charity sector has quit. we hear from a former colleague who says he got what he deserved. good evening and welcome to bbc news.

theresa may and her senior ministers met for eight hours at the prime minister's country retreat in the latest attempt to settle the government's approach to brexit. the group of 11 were at chequers to decide how closely the eu and uk should align after exit day in march 2019. our political editor laura kuenssberg reports. birdsong what could break the calm of the country? birdsong twittering across the home counties valley? spring's plucky early buds bravely making their way? the zooming arrival of the cabinet's cars — that's what. darting into chequers, hoping perhaps the rural peace for more than a year, this group have been attempting to hammer out a compromise. but for decades, arguably, the tory party has been trying and not always succeeding.

so, can they find one today? they were at it for eight hours. the prime minister, surrounded by her close colleagues and advisers — some who were pitted against each other during the referendum. next week she wants to tell the rest of the world more of her brexit plan. but the inner cabinet has struggled to agree how closely we should stick to the eu after brexit. some compromise perhaps today, but not a dramatic breakthrough. if you look at what happened back before the december european summit there was a lot of speculation that the cabinet would not reach agreement. we all agreed a position that the prime minster took to brussels, and got a successful outcome. and all of us in the cabinet are determined to get the best possible deal for every part of the united kingdom. every modern tory prime minister who has had the run of this country pile has had to deal with splits over europe. yet government insiders suggest it was only borisjohnson who was likely to dig in furiously.

one minister told me the brexiteers would be reminded firmly of the consequences of failing to agree. but there are nerves and suspicion on both sides in the tory party and their outside rivals are sceptical. it won't last and what our problem is, is that in trying to deal with the government and be responsible as an opposition, work with them as necessary, we never know from day to day who is in charge and what the policy is. but theresa may's brexit plans have always emerged gradually, rather than sudden changes. and next she must persuade the eu, too. any negotiation is compromise. the choice for the prime minister is who will take and who must give. our political reporter emma vardy joins me from westminster. eight hours of talking. how much progress had they made let's elope that is right. it was talking. and months and months and months of

talking before that. there was no big reveal moment tonight, no public statement at the gates of checkers. but we never expected that. there was never expected to be great detail revealed at the end of this. the ministerial cars sped away into the night. we were told from downing street in a short statement that the prime minister will be setting out the way forward in a speech next week. i can tell you that there are some snippets from sources inside the meeting that are reaching us at westminster. we are told, from one person around that table in checkers, that the prime minister played a blinder. that's the —— she persuaded brexiteers to change their minds. we can take some guess at that. another called it a breakthrough of unity finau. what we understand is that there is some agreement that the uk will broadly

maintain standards with the eu while keeping the right to diverged in other areas. it is important to remind everybody this is the agreed position that the cabinet is setting out in terms of what they are aiming to get out of the brexit hawks. this will need to be agreed by the other 27 countries in the eu —— talks. another snippet from people around that table, telling us it was a breakthrough of unity for now. it says everybody was happy who left the chequers meeting tonight. it is likely we will get a little more detail when it theresa may gives that speech that downing street were leading to a earlier. that will be the end of the road to brexit. there was one small extra piece of detail we re was one small extra piece of detail were given about what went on inside that room, it was the menu. it looked tasty. we were told the prime

minister did not have begin all the main course or the starter, she just had the desert, a strawberries saute and raspberries. that is what we ca re and raspberries. that is what we care about. what they ate. the united nations has warned of a massacre in the rebel enclave of eastern ghouta, on the outskirts of damascus. syrian government forces have been pounding the suburb for a fifth consecutive day, amid reports that more than 350 people have been killed since sunday night — including 150 children. this report by our middle east editorjeremy bowen contains some distressing images. more air strikes, more bombs and more casualties. it is not letting up. across eastern ghouta, rescue workers sprint into broken and burning buildings before the dust of their destruction settles. this was another attack a few miles away.

a temporary ceasefire is under negotiation, brokered by russia, egypt and turkey. even if it happens, the horror of these days will stay with the survivors for a lifetime. two sisters, alaa, aged eight and moor, ii, were in their home when it was hit. warplanes bombed our building. now...ghouta. look at home. this was sent to us by their mother. please help us. please save our children here in east ghouta. where is the humanity? i ask you in the name of motherhood, please help us. getting on for 400,000 people,

terrified by the sight and sound of aircraft, are thought to be in eastern ghouta, which is the size of manchester. the syrian regime insists it's targeting terrorists. but it's clear many children are among the wounded and the dead. improvised hospitals have been set up in cellars and basements during the years of war. now, though, the medics are at full stretch. dr amani ballur wanted to send a message to the people of britain. translation: we never wanted the war and we don't want to live under it. for the sake of our children who've been blown to pieces, for the sake of our children who died of hunger, what we're seeing every day has caused us to collapse, both humanely and psychologically.

we don't have anything more to offer, we're being bled out. dr amani was treating 12—year—old mohammed, who was dying. his mother had been cooking breakfast for her family when three airstrikes came in. translation: i am here, waiting for my son to die. at least he'll be free of pain. i pray to god to end his suffering. but where are the arabs, where are the muslims? do we have to appeal to israel? when my boy dies, he will go to heaven, where at least he'll be able to eat. i'd like to die with him so i can look after him. syrians have cried so many tears in the seven years of war. the killing is escalating, not ending. and once again, the world is watching from a safe distance. jeremy bowen, bbc news. america's all—powerful gun lobby,

the national rifle association, has backed the president's call to provide teachers with guns after they've been trained to carry concealed weapons. the head of the nra, wayne la pierre, also accused politicians of exploiting the school shooting in florida, in which 17 were killed, to try to impose tighter gun restrictions — as our north america editorjon sopel reports. will the florida school shooting come to be seen as a landmark moment, when impotence gave way to rage, and rage led to action? never again! the vociferous students who have taken to the streets are bringing change. but not always in the way they wanted. the president, making clear that he thinks the way to make schools more secure is to train and arm more teachers. tweeting today, "if a potential sicko shooter knows that a school has a large number of very weapon—talented teachers and others who will be instantly shooting, the sicko will never attack at school. cowards won't go there. problem solved." he first floated the idea

at an emotional white house meeting last night, with victims‘ families. one of those in attendance was a pupil at the parklands school, sam zeif. how is it that easy to buy this type of weapon? afterwards, he was dismissive about the president's plan. arming teachers is just not what we need. you know? this is a problem because guns were brought into our school. why would it make sense to bring more guns into school? and the president has held another white house meeting today to discuss the issue, promising action that will win the support of many of the students. i think we are making a lot of progress, and i can tell you it is a tremendous feeling that we want to get something done. he wants increased background checks on those seeking to purchase weapons. to ban bump stocks — this is the device that turns a semiautomatic rifle into a machine—gun.

and he backs raising the minimum age for buying a rifle to 21. to those arguing for comprehensive gun control measures, what donald trump is proposing might seem like teeny—weeny baby steps. but any measure will have to get congressional approval, and doing that is never achieved without a fight. and no—one fights for gun rights like the national rifle association. today, in a rare public appearance, the leader of the nra spoke out, and he was in no mood for compromise. lean in, listen to me now, and never forget these words. to stop a bad guy with a gun, it takes a good guy with a gun. applause thank you very much. in other words, what america needs is more guns, not fewer. the president is being pulled in one direction by the nra, another by the students. if past form as a guide,

there will only be one winner — and it won't be the students. jon sopel, bbc news, washington. justin forsyth, a prominent figure in the world of international aid, has resigned as deputy executive director of the charity unicef. mr forsyth had apologised after allegations of inappropriate conduct surfaced while in his previous job at the charity, save the children. however he insisted his decision to resign is not because of his past mistakes. haiti has suspended oxfam's operations in the country for two months, while it investigates allegations of sexual misconduct by some of the charity's staff. seven oxfam workers in haiti were dismissed or resigned in 2011, while working in the country following the earthquake. haiti's government said the charity had made a "serious error" in failing to inform them at the time. a letter reportedly addressed to prince harry and his fiancee meghan markle is being treated by police as a racist hate crime. scotland yard say it was delivered along with a package containing

a substance, which they tested and found not to be harmful. now on bbc news, newsnight with emily maitlis. the scandal in the charity sector claims its biggest scalp yet. unicef‘sjustin forsyth steps down. quitting not because of past mistakes but because, he says, he didn't want to damage the organisation further. but is too late? we hearfrom a colleague of his from save the children who thinks he got what he deserved. also tonight: thank you very much a. i don't think i will go thank you very much a. i don't think iwill go up thank you very much a. i don't think i will go up against them, i think the nra wants to do what is right. president trump calls for an age restriction on buying guns — but will he still think the same tomorrow? students demand tighter gun laws, the head of the national rifle association weighs in.

if these so—called european socialists take over the house and the senate and, god forbid, they get the white house again, our american freedoms could be lost and our country will be changed for ever. sorry, we have got a problem with newsnight. good thing i didn't leave. while we decide what we are going to do, i am going to do a quick old sku —— old school impromptu paper review. how about that? let's start slightly randomly. there you go. there is the daily express. just making this up as we go along. it says eu migrants says daily express. talking about the fa ct daily express. talking about the fact that on september last year that saw 130,000 eu migrants