this is bbc news. i'm kasia madera. our top stories: one of donald trump's former campaign aides admits to conspiring against the united states and lying to investigators. for the sixth day in a row, syrian airstrikes hit the rebel—held area of eastern ghouta, but the un security council has postponed a vote on a ceasefire until saturday. a blunt assessment from brussels of the uk's plans for a post—brexit relationship with the european union. is in media reports are correct, i am afraid that the uk position today is based on pure illogic. were you the mastermind that cheated the olympics? yes. the man who revealed russian doping, now in fear for his life, says that russia should not be allowed at the closing of the winter olympics.

hello, welcome to bbc world news. one of donald trump's former campaign aides, rick gates, has admitted to conspiring against the united states and lying to investigators. gates was a deputy campaign manager for trump during the 2016 election. special counsel robert mueller had been investigating him as part of his probe into alleged russian meddling in the election. gates was facing other more serious charges, before entering his guilty plea earlier today. i spoke to the bbc‘s laura trevelyan from washington a short time ago, and began by asking her what rick gates has pleaded guilty to.

well, he was actually pleading guilty to charges which are unrelated to the 2016 campaign and whether there was collusion with russia, it is to do with money laundering and tax evasion, but what is significant is that in return for potentially a reduced sentence on those charges, he is agreeing to co—operate with the special counsel into what the special counsel is really interested in, which is whether there was any co—ordination between the trump campaign and russia and rick gates is in a position to be able to talk about that because he was the deputy campaign manager and then he was also the deputy chair of the trump inauguration organisation, so he is inauguration organisation, so he is in a position to talk about the inner workings of the trump campaign, about whether there was more thanjust campaign, about whether there was more than just brief contact between russian officials and members of the campaign. that is why this is very significant, he has been called in

on charges unrelated to the main investigation because so much pressure has been applied to him, he is in his mid— 40s and has a young family, he does not want to spend yea rs family, he does not want to spend years and years injail, is in a position to co—operate and might be ina position to co—operate and might be in a position to further incriminate the campaign chairof in a position to further incriminate the campaign chair of formatter fought who has so far protested his innocence. so far, it seems the special counsel is reeling people m, special counsel is reeling people in, who are cooperating with him. just how close was rick gates to the campaign because he was there through to the inauguration in january. how much contact as he had with the president himself? the question is not so much the contact with the president what he would know about contact with the russians. for example, he was on the campaign during the republican national convention, when there was a change in the party's position in ukraine, which was seen as being favourable to russia. he also then

was close to the trump transition tea m was close to the trump transition team and was even part of the trump inauguration, so for example, when the national security adviser michael flynn, and by the way is also cooperating with the special counsel, was said to have contacts with the russians about potentially lifting sanctions and then lying to the fbi about it, these are all things that maybe with gates is in a position to cast more light on because the fact is that you do not get a plea deal, prosecutor unless you have got something potentially to give. that is not how it works, so to give. that is not how it works, so it is very interesting and this is now the third trump campaign aide who is cooperating with the special counsel but that said, there are no legal charges at all that had been brought showing that there was collusion between the trump campaign and russia, what we have is people who worked on the trump campaign who are cooperating with the enquiry into whether or not there was co—ordination. and so, this is a

significant development, having the deputy campaign chair in a position to divide information to the special counsel. —— provide. the un security council has postponed a vote on a ceasefire deal for syria, until saturday. the resolution would have allowed aid to reach the people of eastern ghouta — and crucially — halt the government's fierce bombing campaign there. diplomats have been in deadlock with russia since thursday, and the vote has already faced several delays. moscow, which supports president assad's forces, is demanding amendments, despite a plea from several international leaders for no more ceasefire delays. there's already been angry reaction at the un. this is what the swedish ambassador said a short time ago. iam i am trying to facilitate meaningful outcome of this security council so ican outcome of this security council so i can only protect what we are trying to do and that is to have a resolution adopted yesterday. now, we have not achieved that, ifind that extremely frustrating, given

what we are faced with on the ground, and i'mjust what we are faced with on the ground, and i'm just saying that we are working on it and we are not giving up and i hope that we will adopt something forceful, meaningful, impactful tomorrow. adopt something forceful, meaningful, impactfultomorrow. the swedish ambassador there. well, as diplomacy efforts stall at the un, bombs continue to fall on rebel—held eastern ghouta. opposition activists say that more than 460 people have now died in six days of aerial attacks. the bbc‘s middle east editor jeremy bowen reports. this is what happened in eastern ghouta as diplomacy stuttered. the enclave was pounded. 400,000 or so people spent most of the day underground. above them, russian jets, with their syrian allies, were in action. as the russians demanded guarantees that rebel fighters would respect any truce. in eastern ghouta, men from civil defence risked their lives to rescue civilians, even though the buildings could collapse and the planes could come back. in the dust and confusion,

these children were separated from their parents. the rescuers ignored the dangers. the eu condemned what it called "brutal attacks". diplomacy is supposed to find words and deeds to stop this happening. they were rushed into underground hospitals. it is hard to end a war, or even a battle, with words. especially when one side — in syria, the regime and its allies — believes victory is close. in syria, military power, the capacity to inflict pain and death, sets the pace of events. treating the wounded is one way for humanity to push back. another is to recreate small

pockets of normality, kindness and decency. rawa is 11 years old, and like most people in eastern ghouta, she's been living in a basement. mothers and their children wait and hope. translation: it's been two months since i went to school and saw my friends. we're here in the shelter because of the bombing. the rockets and missiles never end. i hope the war will stop so we can go home. among syria's children, only teenagers remember peace. the world has failed a generation. these men waited for a lull in the bombing to try to bury a member of their family — but they ran out of time. in syria, no—one can rest in peace. jeremy bowen, bbc news. president trump has repeated his call for teachers to be armed

with guns so that they can — in his words — "shoot the hell out of any attackers." he was speaking as pressure grows for action after the shooting at a school in florida last week that left 1a students and three members of staff dead. meanwhile, the governor of florida has announced proposals to restrict the sale of guns and to raise the minimum age at which you can buy them to 21. our north america editor jon sopel reports. staff and teachers return to the marjory stoneman douglas school today, as a nation continues to grope for explanations of what happened. for some, it's all about guns. for others, it's mental health and societal breakdown. but today, a new culprit. scot peterson, a deputy sheriff who arrived outside the school 90 seconds after the shooting started, but for whatever reason didn't act. and he's taking a mighty kicking from the president. he was there for five

minutes, for five minutes, that was during the entire shooting. he heard it right from the beginning. he certainly did a poorjob. that's the case, where somebody was outside. they were trained. they didn't react properly under pressure or they were cowards. speaking to conservative activists, the president also restated his belief that some teachers should be carrying concealed weapons in school. and the beauty is it's concealed, nobody would ever see it — unless they needed it. it's concealed! so this crazy man who walked in wouldn't even know who it is that has it, that's good. that's not bad, that's good. and a teacher would have shot the hell out of him before he knew what happened. cheering and applause. and in florida, the governor has announced a range of measures to tighten security. the goal of this plan of action is to make massive changes in protecting our schools, provide significantly more resources for mental health, and to do everything we can to keep guns out of the hands of those dealing

with mental problems or threatening harm to themselves or others. the president hasjust told a news conference, "we are well on the way to solving that horrible problem of gun violence". but so far, there have only been sketchy proposals and no class of weapon is being banned. well on the way? well, that might be wishful thinking. jon sopel, bbc news, washington. now, let's take a look at some of the other stories making the news today. there have been two large explosions in the somali capital, mogadishu, killing 18 people and injuring 20. the police say a suicide bomber blew up a car near the presidential palace and a second blast was close to the national intelligence agency. both were followed by heavy gunfire. a vehicle has been rammed into a security barrier near the white house. the us secret service said the driver had been detained by security staff.

her vehicle did not breach the presidential complex and no shots were fired. but the white house was put on lockdown following the incident. human rights watch is accusing the government of myanmar of bulldozing dozens government of myanmar of bulldozing d oze ns of government of myanmar of bulldozing dozens of wrecking the villages in raqqa and state. they have released images showing it least two villages that have now been demolished. the un says that the villagers should be preserved and treated as crime scenes so preserved and treated as crime scenes so that the fact—finding mission can carry out investigations. the president of the european council has described as ‘pure illusion‘ any attempt by britain to pick and choose the terms of its future relationship with europe. donald tusk — speaking at a summit of eu leaders not attended by britain — said that he hoped to get more clarity on exactly what britain's proposals were when he meets theresa may next week. from brussels, damian grammaticas reports. france, germany, italy — europe's leaders all in brussels

today, all waiting to hear what the uk wants from its future ties. but if theresa may's plan is to seek special access to the single market for parts of the uk economy, it was immediately rebuffed. it's not an a la carte, it's not possible to be aligned with the european union when it suits and not what it doesn't. that's not possible. the eu doesn't yet know what was decided by mrs may and her ministers yesterday. but eu leaders have said before, and they said again today, she can't pick and choose only the parts of the single market she likes. i'm glad that the uk market seems to be moving towards a more detailed position. however, if the media reports are correct, i's afraid that the uk position today is based on pure illogic.

it looks like the cake philosophy is still alive. but the uk's exit poses problems for the eu too. today, its leaders were tackling perhaps the thorniest issue of all — the eu's looming budget problem. when uk payments to the eu cease, the eu will face a shortfall of more than ten billion euros a year — that's at least 10% of its annual spending. is your government prepared to accept less and see cuts to spending? well, if you listen to politicians that are holding the budget, usually things are financed. if we want to finance more, we have to pay more. it's very simple. is your country prepared to pay more after brexit? no. if i would keep my answer short, i would say no.

sowing divisions between the eu countries that mightjust give the uk some leverage in negotiations to come. damian grammaticas, bbc news, brussels. stay with us on bbc news. lots more still to come... prince charles has chosen his bride. the prince proposed to lady diana spencer three weeks ago. she accepted, she says, without hesitation. as revolutions go, this had its fair share of bullets. a climax in the night outside the gates of mr marcos's sanctuary, malacanang, the name itself symbolising one of the cruellest regimes of modern asia. scientists in scotland have produced a sheep called dolly using a cell from another sheep. citizens are trying to come to grips with their new freedom. though there is joy and relief today, the scars are everywhere. not for 20 years have locusts been seen in such numbers in this part of africa.

some of the swarms have been ten miles long. very seen. fer the sake, ' 77 "w of the next pope, the latest headlines: against the united states and lying to investigators. for the sixth day in a row, syrian airstrikes hit the rebel area of eastern ghouta, but the un security council has postponed a vote on a ceasefire until saturday. saturday is day 15 at the winter olympics with eight gold medals to be won. friday brought us one of the biggest upsets in olympic ice hockey history as well as a shock result in figure skating. with all the latest from pyeongchang, here's sanjeev

shetty. a first goalfor the a first goal for the olympic athletes of russia but not when they expected. their double world champion was favourite and with a new record in the short programme, the gold look nailed on. seconds later, the record was a better again, this time by her 15—year—old training programme at alina zagitova. and that small margin proved to be too much to make up. women's ski cross is one of the winter olympic‘s most disruptive sports. it is also canada's event. they have taken gold in both games that since it was added to the programme. kelsey led from start to finish with her compatriot britney taking the silver. and while canada was sumptuous on the slope they were

the men electric on the ice. the dutchman finished fastest to take gold, but only just. staying with the winter games, the international olympic committee is due to decide whether russian athletes will be allowed to march under their national flag at the closing ceremony. in the last couple of days, a curler and a bobsledder from russia have tested positive for banned substances and the man who exposed the russian doping scandal told the bbc that the ioc is facing the most important moment in its history. he's been speaking exclusively to our sports editor, dan roan. it's one of sport's greatest scandals. russian cheating reached its height at the last winter games in sochi. the mastermind, dr grigory rodchenkov. in 2015, the former head of moscow's anti—doping lab turned whistle—blower, fleeing to the west. ever since, he's been in fbi witness protection. and we are on the way to meet him. for more than two years now,

the man at the very heart of russia's doping scandal has been living in hiding, here somewhere in the united states. finally, he's agreed to speak to us, but such are the security concerns surrounding him, we've not even been told where we have to go. after hours on the road, we are taken to a location that we are told has to remain a secret, along with his new identity. if you had not left russia, where would you be now? you'd be dead? rodchenkov‘s role in russia's remarkable doping programme became the subject of an oscar—nominated film. were you the mastermind that cheated the olympics? he said the conspiracy went right to the top, and that london 2012 was also targeted. so what does he say to british athletes whose games were tainted? the russian government

says you are lying. you were cheating. it wasn't them, it was you. does british sport have a problem with cheating, do you think? rodchenkov says he may soon be prepared to name names, and has vowed to reveal more information. despite russian claims he is part of a western conspiracy, his information led to a ban from the winter olympics. 168 of the country's athletes competed as neutrals, but they may now be allowed to march under their national flag at the closing ceremony.

the olympic athletes of the russian team... only clean russians were meant to be in pyeongchang, but today a second of its athletes at these games, nadezhda sergeeva, failed a drugs test. moving forward from sport's biggest crisis is proving no easy task. dan roan, bbc news. this time next week — hollywood will be rolling out the red carpet for the oscars. ballots are being cast right now — and one of the contenders in the foreign language category is a film starring a transgender actress. a fantastic woman comes from chile — and is being hailed as a landmark film. from new york, tom brook reports. set in santiago, marina is that the centre of a fantastic woman to beat

the older boyfriend has died suddenly. as a transgender woman she faces hostility from doctors and the police. her partner's family reject. didn't want her at the funeral. she retains her dignity. shithole to ground and does not give an. marina it is portrayed by the chilean transgender actress it is portrayed by the chilean tra nsgender actress danny l it is portrayed by the chilean transgender actress danny l vago. it is portrayed by the chilean transgender actress danny l vagom course i am transgender but my life is completely different. i have the opportunity to study. my family support me, my friend support me and i have a lot of love around me. not only does a fantastic woman earn excellent reviews but this oscar—nominated picture has brought inspiration to the transgender community. the response has been quite positive. this new york activist was impressed. to see a trend identified woman portraying a trans— identified trend identified woman portraying a tra ns— identified character trend identified woman portraying a

trans— identified character in a movie that took the stories line seriously, its groundbreaking. to be able to sit in the middle of the theatre and watch a movie with a trans— woman theatre and watch a movie with a tra ns— woman about theatre and watch a movie with a trans— woman about a trans— woman and be able to connect with it right away... having a transgender actress play a transgender character, as in a fantastic woman can bring authenticity. but the film was made temperature certainly doesn't believe that a trans— character a lwa ys believe that a trans— character always has to be played by transact. i think we are free. i think there are no rules in at. that being said, for me, having done this film with a non— transgender back to or actress would have been like in anachronism. like in the old dayss of cinema when black people were forbidden so why

people would paint their face. for me, it felt like that. this oscar—nominated movie is a portent of one woman but it is also a worker poses a lot of questions. who is normal and what is normal? what kind of body can you inhabit and what kind of love you can leave. that is the question. the movie is a big question. at the oscars in the film race, a fantastic woman faces strong competition. had a clear majority of prognosticators expected to wind. the foreign language film category can be very difficult to predict. we will have a lot of coverage of the oscars next weekend. just time to bring you one more story. president trump decided to go off—script on several occasions when addressing supporters at the conservative political action conference. he even made a joke about his own hair by admitting he suffers from a bald spot.

what a nice picture. i would love to watch that guys speak. is so nice. 0h...| watch that guys speak. is so nice. oh... itry like watch that guys speak. is so nice. oh... i try like hell to hide bad old spot. iwork card. it doesn't look bad. hey, we are hanging in. well, who knew. lots more on our website and you can get in touch with me and the team on social media. as always, thank you very much for watching bbc news. hello there. the weekend is upon us

and it should be a lovely one to get out and about is you are appropriately dressed. the skies will often be blue however underneath those blue skies it will feel chilly, particularly when we add in the strength of a biting cold easterly wind. we start saturday morning on a very chilly note and you can see the blue colour on the chart here. widespread frost with temperatures below freezing for many. perhaps not so bad for northern ireland, added more in the way of cloud here. we use it is white shimmer effect on the map that shows where we have a touch of frost to start the day. that will slowly melt away to reveal a lot of dry weather and spells of sunshine. with that reason down towards the sounds it will feel quite cold despite the fa ct it will feel quite cold despite the fact that the temperatures on the thermometer will reach around six, possibly seven degrees in place of. always more cloud across parts of south devon and cornwall but sunny

skies for much of wales in the north of england. brighton brightening up after a cloudy start and the same again in western scotland. eastern scotla nd again in western scotland. eastern scotland up towards the northern isles should see then we isles should see sunshine. then we go through saturday night we do it all again underneath these larger good clear skies. it will turn cold. perhaps at this stage a little more cloud feeding in towards parts of eastern scotland and north—east england. ngaio does some green shading on the map here. not as cold underneath the cloud chilly as weather will be underneath the clear sky. again, the frost to start sunday. that frost only slowly lifting as temperatures rise of. slowly, on sunday morning. again, a lot of sunshine. that extra cloud the eastern scotland and parts of north—east england could start to produce the odd snow flurry. still with the chilly feel, still a cold easterly wind particularly noticeable in the south. when we add the strength of the wind, this is what it will feel like. subzero for the likes of birmingham and norwich.

that is because we will bring the airall the that is because we will bring the air all the way from siberia. we really start to tap into that very cold airoras we really start to tap into that very cold air or as we head into the new working week. not only will it be cold with temperatures struggling to reach above freezing even by day, there is an increasing chance of snow showers, particularly in eastern areas. perhaps some areas are more persistent at times but even so the west, not completely exempt. perhaps not quite as many showers are just about anywhere we will have the potential for a little bit of snow. decides things the next week, it will be very cold with bitter wind. some snow at times and widespread frost. this is bbc news.

our top stories: one of donald trump's former campaign aides admits to conspiring against the united states, and lying to investigators. for the sixth day in a row, syrian airstrikes hit the rebel—held area of eastern ghouta, but the un security council has postponed a vote on a ceasefire until saturday. a blunt assessment from brussels of the uk's plans for a post—brexit relationship with the european union. the man who revealed russian doping, now in fear for his life, says russia should not be allowed at the closing of the winter olympics. now it