this is bbc news. i'm shaun ley. the headlines. great britain celebrates its most successful winter olympics ever — as billy morgan bags a big air bronze in the men's snowboarding. a number of us companies cut ties with the all—powerful national rifle association, following last week's school shooting in florida. one of the uk's biggest children's aid charities — plan international, reveals six cases of child sexual abuse by staff and volunteers in the last two years. also in the next hour: britain is set for the coldest february week in five years as freezing air arrives from russia. good afternoon and welcome to bbc news.

team gb is celebrating its best ever performance at a winter olympics, after winning a fifth medal. billy morgan claimed bronze in the men's "big air" snowboard event, with a jump he'd never previously completed. the medal takes them past the four won in 2014 as paul frostrick reports. the penultimate day of action in pyeongchang and a chance for the big jumpers to show off their skills. an imposing 49 metre ramp for british hope billy morgan in the big airfinals. complex tricks and a clean landing required to impress the judges. morgan onlyjust qualified for the final. but on his second of three attempts he looked every bit the part. and he holds it up, yes! it was huge! and he put the nose grab on it. the hardest grab. yes, billy! that left one last chance to secure a spot in the medal positions. billy morgan, yes!

yes! billy morgan with the double grab triple 1a. that is massive! that is absolutely huge. what a wild ride that was. what are you thinking write the second? it was just wild. you thinking write the second? it wasjust wild. i had a you thinking write the second? it was just wild. i had a that's training and a foul on thatjump. i was hoping i would not fall over three times and everyone would be devastated at him. all my mates are ina barat devastated at him. all my mates are in a bar at home watching and i thought i would fall over three times. an injury in december nearly ruled him out of these games. but the oldest man in the final helped great britain come home with a fifth medal to ensure their best performance at a winter olympics. so the uk‘s fifth medal makes this

our most successful winter olympics, but as david ornstein explained to me earlier, optimism within team gb has always been high for these games. well, that was in line with the target set by uk sport. the government funding body who doubled theirfunding for the last olympic cycle. some may say that was expected, that they would step up and win the record fifth medal. and it could even get better tonight with a possible sixth for the women's curlers who play a bronze medal match. some will say that is a fantastic achievement for a country that does not have a great deal of snow or ice, or pedigree in those sorts of events. of course, billy morgan becoming the first british man to win a medal on snow. jennyjones became the first british snowboarder to win a medal at the last olympics. so it is a fantastic achievement. it puts britain 18th in the medal table. so some context there because norway are way ahead on a record of 38 medals. if we look down the list of athletes who have won medals at the games for great britain,

don parsons started it off. izzy atkin in the freestyle skiing. lizzie arnold in the skeleton taking britain's only gold of the games have already used in the same event. those were on super saturday last week. this is on saturday game this week so it is proving a happy hunting ground for great britain. it will fill them with confidence going to the next winter games in beijing in four years‘ time. but for now it is a moment to savour for billy morgan especially and team gb. let's ta ke let's take a look at the curling right now. team gb are playing for the bronze against japan.

right now. team gb are playing for the bronze againstjapan. let'sjust have a listen. it is 3—2 in gb‘s favour. the big swing is so difficult. that isa the big swing is so difficult. that is a good result for great britain. one more goes on the scoreboard. it has been tit—for—tat, one to you, one to me. three all after eight ends. great britain now will have a hammer. they had to wait a little while for this to happen. two ends to go. they want at this stage have a hammer but they themselves could think about blanking the ninth, carried hammer into the tent because it is level. and then they don't need to score once in the thames to win. it goes ten rounds unless it is still tied at the end of the terror which case they'll have to carry on for bit longer. tied for the moment

but let's see where we are in just a couple more runs left on the women's curling. we will bring you more as soon as curling. we will bring you more as soon as we curling. we will bring you more as soon as we get it. we will bring you more as soon as we get it. senior officials of the international olympic committee are discussing whether to lift the suspension of russia. the russians were told they could regain their olympic status if their athletes competing in pyeongchang as neutrals stuck to a set of rules governing their behaviour. but russian athletes have accounted for two of the four failed drug tests so far, and the ioc‘s executive board has come under increasing pressure to maintain the suspension. here's the ioc spokesman, mark adams. one of the toughest, if not the toughest sanction that the ioc can impose is not to allow them to compete. many people believed the ioc would not stop the flag, would not stop the uniform, would not stop the anthem, would allow them to come. we did not. they're not taking part in these games. it is a pretty strong sanction. a number of us companies have cut ties with the national

rifle association — as consumers call for a boycott of firms linked to the powerful gun lobby. they include the car rental companies hertz and enterprise holdings, both of which have stopped offering discounts for members of the association, in the wake of the florida school shooting. our north america correspondent peter bowes reports. the aftermath to a school shooting that could prompt change in america. it the grieving, the mood has been different this time. within hours of the gunman killing 17 people, anger overflowed onto the streets. now it is social media where pressure is being exerted on the hugely powerful gun lobby. under the hashtag boycott nra, activists are targeting firms that offer special benefits to members of the national rifle association. and they include some of the most familiar corporate names. the car rental companies hertz and enterprise, which also owns alamo international. they're ending discounts offered to members of the gun lobby group from next month. met life insurance and the software

company symantec are taking similar action. there has been no word in response from the nra. it is unclear whether these actions will hurt an organisation that boasts 5 million members. during the week its chief executive hit out at the protesters. their goal is to eliminate the second amendment and our firearms freedoms. so they can eradicate all individual freedoms. donald trump says he is open to new ideas but the one he seems to like best is giving guns to teachers. 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. the debate over what to do next will be highly charged and intensely political. a former senior adviser to donald trump has admitted charges of conspiracy and lying

to investigators, who are examining russian political interference in the 2016 presidential election. in a plea deal, rick gates admitted conspiracy to defraud the government and making false statements. he's become the third associate of the president to agree to co—operate with a special investigation. two people have been charged with causing death by dangerous driving, after two brothers, aged six and two, were killed in a collision in coventry on thursday. corey platt—may, and his brother casper, were killed in the incident. 53—year—old robert brown and 41—year—old gwendoline harrison are both due to appear at coventry magistrates court today. the aid charity, plan international, has revealed there have been six recent cases of sexual abuse and exploitation of children involving its staff, volunteers or partner organisations. it says five of the cases were reported to the authorities in the countries involved. plan international says it's tightened its procedures to prevent abuse, as adina campbell reports another charity mired in sexual

misconduct making the front pages. this time, plan international uk, which works in more than 50 countries to improve children's rights and promote equality for girls. in its latest online blog it has confirmed six cases of sexual abuse and exploitation of children between july 2016 and june last year. one involved a member of staff. the others were by volunteers or associates. plan international says the staff member was not from the uk and was dismissed without a reference. and it ended the contracts with the other volunteers and organisations involved. the charity also says there were nine cases of sexual misconduct and harassment by staff against other adults which led to seven dismissals. in the past plan international uk has received millions of pounds

of funding from the government. it is the latest major charity to admit cases of sexual misconduct and follows investigations into aid organisations including oxfam and save the children. in an open letter the three charities and many others have now promised a series of urgent and immediate measures to protect the vulnerable. there have been further delays to a vote on a un security council resolution calling for a humanitarian ceasefire in syria. it's now due to be held this evening. russia — one of the main backers of the assad regime — has been demanding amendments. and syrian government forces have been continuing their bombardment of the rebel—held area of eastern ghouta, where more than 460 people have been killed in the past week. all britain is set for its coldest

february week in five years, as freezing air, dubbed the beast from the east, arrives from russia. the cold snap will affect the whole of the uk from sunday night, with temperatures expected to drop to minus—eight in some areas. simonjones reports. the gritters are gearing up as britain braces itself for a big freeze. the so—called beast from the east is sweeping in from siberia. the met office, in conjunction with nhs england, has issued a level three cold weather alert for the whole of the country, the second most serious level. that means there is a 99% chance of severe weather, icy conditions or heavy snow, between now and thursday. there are additional yellow severe warnings for snow early next week covering most of eastern britain. that could cause travel problems and power cuts. it is certainly not the first snow we will have this winter. but what makes this cold snap different is it is expected to affect the whole of the uk. temperatures could fall as low as —8, but it will feel much chillier because of the wind. there could be increased pressure on already stretched nhs services and councils are providing extra

emergency beds for rough sleepers. in ipswich it is being done in partnership with the local housing association. the main aim is always to get people off the street and to stop people from dying in the cold weather. and to date we have been pretty successful. next thursday is the meteorological start of spring. but that appears to be on hold as winter continues to bite. joining us via webcam is jane vass, who is head of public policy at age uk. thank you for being with us. let me ask you something first of all. to older people sometimes underestimate the additional vulnerability to cold? yes, i think people often don't realise just how dangerous the cold

weather can be as you get older. it raises the blood pressure, predisposing due to the risk of heart attacks and strokes. it is also really miserable because we know that there will probably be somebody sitting in their own in one room in their house trying to keep warm, worrying about the heating bills and anxious about going out. what sort of advice do you issue when you know that a cold snap like this, and it could be quite an extensive cold snap, is coming? we put out alerts on our website and we also have leaflets and advice to people or our advice line. the practical things people can do is of course wrapping up but remembering to heat their rooms to 2! degrees is what we recommend. all to heat their rooms to 21 degrees is what we recommend. all 18 degrees in your bedroom. the issue in a winter wrapped up leaflet we've got a free thermometer so that you can test

that you've got the heating set correctly. but other things people can do ourwarm correctly. but other things people can do our warm drinks are really important, getting up every now and then just to important, getting up every now and thenjust to get important, getting up every now and then just to get the body moving. and if you do have to grow out putting a scarf across your mouth that it warms up the air before you breathe in. you are talking about trying to keep rooms warm. presumably the advice you would give the energy companies would give is don't worry about the bill now, worry about it later. worry about your body temperature up. absolutely. it's really important to make sure you are warm enough and that's really what cheating is for. there are benefits you can claim and if you get in touch with eight uk we will do our best to help you check your benefits to perhaps check that you've got your room as energy efficient as possible. excluding drafts, when the

warm weather warms up but you might wa nt to warm weather warms up but you might want to think about replacing boilers. there are schemes that can actually help you do all that sort of that we don't have another cold and miserable experience next time the weather is cold. you mentioned the helpline. the website for those who have access to the internet or a comfortable using the internet or a comfortable using the internet. but what is the phone number people should be aware of. the phone number is... and! should be aware of. the phone number is... and i would say that if you have older friends and relatives now isa have older friends and relatives now is a good time to give them a ring of dropping because people often resist going out when they're worried about slipping so it can be a lonely time. is that a local rate call or a freephone number? that is 0800169

6565. the headlines on bbc news: great britain celebrates its most successful winter olympics ever — as billy morgan bags a big air bronze in the men's snowboarding. a number of us companies cut ties with the all—powerful national rifle association, following last week's school shooting in florida. one of the uk's biggest children's aid charities — plan international, reveals six cases of child sexual abuse by staff and volunteers in the last two years. it is just possible that all the glory will pass to mike at the bbc sports centre. we're in the nail—biting closing stages of the women's curling. in the next 20 minutes we could see the record—breaking tally for great britain rise to six of the women's

curling team can beatjapan in the bronze medal play—off. that would match the achievement of four years ago but it has been touch and go with great britain to bounce back from the disappointment of not reaching the final. they took an early lead but it has remained a tight and tense affair ever since. japan have drawn level at three all in the eighth and. the penultimate end is now close to finishing. we can cut life to the match. currently showing on bbc one, great britain have a hammer so they get the final throw. this is the penultimate japanese stone here. as the final japanese stone here. as the final japanese stone here. as the final japanese stone of that ultimate end. as you can see they take pole position inside the house by great britain have now got the all important last stone. it will not be easy because they have one of their own bed stands in the way, as it well. so it has got to live up to them and they've got to do a bit curling, i suppose you would say. it is three all. it is meant to be ten and so only one more to this and you

can and so only one more to this and you ca n follow and so only one more to this and you can follow that much on bbc one. scotla nd can follow that much on bbc one. scotland is where curling is said to have started the 16th century of scotla nd have started the 16th century of scotland is whether having to rent. england's grand slam ambitions. our man in place at murrayfield already is only faster. i can hear the bagpipes rising behind your ready. the home fans arrive with much hope than they have had in the last ten yea rs. yes, they had a fantastic year last year and they were guilty somewhat, scotland, believing their own hype. they have admitted that because they got absolutely thrashed by the welsh in that opening fixture but they beat the french and they've just been playing god save the queen, this band here. we have heard the pipes playing flower of scotland as well. always optimistic but england have been so dominant in this one. they have won the last eight of the scots have not won since 2008. this is going to be the 136th meeting

between the two. they have a playing for the calcutta cup since 1879. it isa for the calcutta cup since 1879. it is a very, very special rugby fixture indeed. but england, strong strong favourites again. their unbeaten after that opening two wins. wales and ireland before that. a huge game there because ireland is still chasing the grand slam. they are the only other team who are unbeaten. they run top of the table, actually, head of england on points difference because they absolutely thumped the italians. they go first. it isa thumped the italians. they go first. it is a classic double—header. all the home nations going head—to—head. if ireland can put some daylight between themselves and england at the top of the table that would put the top of the table that would put the pressure on the english or if wales managed to get a win they can jump wales managed to get a win they can jump to the top of the table as well. so tight and it's going to be

a gripping few hours in the six nations as we hit the halfway stage of this year's championship. you are made of hard stuff. no coat, no gloves, very impressive. i bet many footballers will have their gloves on in the early kick—off. stoke city, the visitors to leicester, not many clear—cut chancesin leicester, not many clear—cut chances in the first half. it was stoke who were in the relegation zone but they've taken the lead just before half—time. a great finish so 1- before half—time. a great finish so 1— the visitors at half—time. that is all a sport for now. i will have more for you including that curling result where japan have now taken a 4-3 result where japan have now taken a 11—3 lead. we will have the final score for you in the next hour. we're here with you until two o'clock and the national news bulletin at two. we will be able to bring you that. we have that live coverage of what happens in the

curling is there to the last round. the last gasp of the competition for bronze medal betweenjapan and team gb. campaigners in london are urging authorities to improve knife crime prevention measures, after two more men were stabbed to death in the capital this week. it takes the number of people fatally wounded by knives so far this year to 16. caroline davies reports. four knife attacks, two deaths in seven hours in one area of london. knife crime is nothing new, but after years of dropping, it is going up across the uk. the highest rise was here n london, recorded by the met police. in the run—up to january for the last 12 months, they recorded 14,521 knife crime offences, nearly a0 every single day. so far in 2018, 16 people have been stabbed to death in the capital. on tuesday, it was 17—year—old abdikarim hassan and 20—year—old sadiq adan mohamed. london needs me alive.

the mayor of london launched a campaign last year to stop young londoners carrying knives. he has promised £15 million for the police to tackle knife crime. my thoughts and prayers are with their families. i'm afraid it's not the first time where i have sent condolences to the victims of knife crime. my worry is that it won't be the last time either. i have asked the prime minister and the home secretary to meet with the commissioner and myself to discuss a way forward, not to name blame, but to see if we can work together to grapple with this issue that is causing huge misery to londoners. yesterday, the head of the met cressida dick was in glasgow speaking to police there. scotland's murder rate has nearly halved in the last 13 years. could their model work in london? some are sceptical. meanwhile, campaigners in london say action needs to be taken now. violence isn't inevitable. we've had knife crime falling before and we need to start taking action quickly to have that happen again. this isn't a quick fix.

nobody can flick a switch and knife crime falls straightaway. it will take a little bit of time, but at the moment, we seem to be in an impasse and that is most frustrating, particularly when we see so many young people being stabbed and murdered. the race is now on to find some way to stop knife crime before even more young lives are lost. caroline davies, bbc news. i spoke to former metropolitan police chief superintendent dal babu earlier, and asked him how the knife crime should be tackled. we need to think wider than the police. unfortunately the police resources have been reduced. we've had a 20% reduction. when i was a borough commander for four years, we had six people on each ward. a sergeant, two pcs and three community support officers. there has been significant reduction in policing. it has clearly had an impact. the idea that reducing these numbers

would not have an impact sounds quite bizarre, so it would have and it has. theresa may... that has been an effect on things like stop and search which requires physical intervention. absolutely. you've got an increasing workload for police officers with fewer resources and notjust pcs on the street but also pcos and police staff. all of those have been reduced quite significantly. we need to be looking at a much wider approach. cressida dick, the commissioner, was in scotland yesterday, she's a very, very capable and very able individual who actually has good a track dealing with issues. and she was the architect of trident in terms of working with communities and making sure we reduce gun crime. in cressida dick we've got a very able and a very sort of talented individual. it was working very closely with london's black community. this gang question,

is there a particular gang problem in that part of london? there is. i mean when i was there in camden we had a significant gang problem there. what i tried to do when i was an inspector there was think outside the box, think differently. we had quentin blake, he came along. the children's book illustrator. all the children knew his illustrations and for generations quentin was an icon. quentin agreed to, long and he was phenomenal. because we had groups of young people who were on the periphery of gangs, with some individuals who were involved gangs and quentin spoke, did some drawings, had a chat with them and we had a massive reduction in those young people who were on the fringes of gangs being involved in gangs. police in calais have told the bbc they fear there'll be another camp in the region within 6 months, because of the rate at which migrants are returning to the area.

french authorities cleared the so—called jungle camp in 2016, where up to 8 thousand migrants were living, trying to smuggle themselves onto lorries bound for the uk. at the moment, it's estimated that around 800 migrants are there, 200 having arrived injust the past two weeks. the bbc‘s europe reporter, gavin lee, has visited the area again. the calaisjungle migrant camp, as it was. population 8,000. until it was closed by french authorities in 2016. this is thejungle now. empty, closed off with police watching on nearby. there are migrants still in the area. a few hundred metres from the old jungle a group of ethiopians show us where they've set up the latest camp, living amongst the rubble. ali is 20 and has been here for six months. in the morning when we wake up all the blankets are wet because of, the

water is in, you know. and also the top is white ice we wake up in the and also the top is white ice when we wake up in the morning. how many people are sleeping in here with you? with me, three. but most of the people are sleeping with four. in the morning we hide from the police. maybe if you come later you will see there is a lot of houses here. a lot of... i mean, a lot of tenseis here. a lot of... i mean, a lot of tense is here. do you end up fighting for your space? are people arguing about who has got the best space? there is no best space in here. on the street below charity groups hand out food. police officers look on. they are tolerating the migrants gathered but under orders to break up any camps the sheer size of permanence. they are monitoring the situation carefully after a recent fight broke out when four people

were shot and injured. this is my place here. in a forest clearing nearby, the cameroon quarter. one of these men has been in hiding for a year. some of these people are from english—speaking countries. that is why every body is here. you don't want to apply for salomon my friend entered the uk last week. from cameroon? no, from ethiopia. how did he do it? two lorries. it is blocked now but we will create another strategy.

they cannot stop immigration. the french president has promised to stop another camp appearing by speeding up processing of asylum claims and illegal migrants faster. the british element is spending £40 million to improve security at the border. numbers are slowly growing again. attempts to stow away on lorries bound for the uk continue with authority suggesting that every week at least one migrant managers, undetected, to make it across the water. a uk ticket holder has won nearly 78—million in the euromillions draw after sharing the jackpot with a winner from spain. the jackpot has been growing since the turn of the year and was the third biggest in the draw‘s history. hello, thomas. did you wind?