jared kushner is in charge of relations with china, mid east peace and reinventing the us government. it's a huge, difficult brief for someone who has just had their security clearance downgraded. the president's son in law may find it harder to tackle those tasks now he can't even see top secret intelligence. the children of parkland return to school, two weeks to the day after a gunman walked in and killed their friends. i think eventually it will be normal again, but not the same normal it was before, it will probably be a new type of normal because those 17 people aren't going to be there. evangelist billy graham becomes only the fourth private citizen in america to lie in honour in the us capitol. also on the programme: is the uk being backed into a corner over the irish border? we've the details of the eu's controversial brexit proposal for northern ireland. rallying the royals, prince harry and meghan markle

appear with the duke and duchess of cambridge, setting out their charitable work. get in touch with us using #beyond1000ays. hello and welcome — i'm katty kay in washington and christian fraser is in london. jared kushner, the president's wunder—kid son in law, is not having a good day. his white house security clearance has been downgraded meaning he no longer has access to top secret information. and, a report in the washington post, describes how jared's business interests are seen as vulnerabilities by foreign leaders. us intelligence authorities have picked up conversations in china, mexico, the uae and israel that show officials there think they can manipulate the 37—year—old political novice. the post report was written by shane harris their national security correspondent. i spoke to him earlier. speu

spell out this story for us, according to your reporting us intelligence has overheard or somehow got information that some of america's allies are looking at jared kushner and thinking he's got vulnerabilities? the vulnerabilities the countries see our that he has a lack of experience in government and foreign policy so i naivete as one white house press and it to us. as well as his own complex business history and particularly financial issues he has in the form of large debt on a property in new york city that the company, his family real estate com pa ny owns. that the company, his family real estate company owns. there is about a $1.2 billion debt on that company which comes due and we understand people are looking that is leveraged they may able to use. we don't know precisely what these people said

about that but i think what a number of our sources have concerns about is that they may have seen that as a way to try to engage jared kushner in some kind of business related transaction separate from his official capacity but in order to try to influence him in an official way. is it your understanding that us intelligence has intercepted in some way reports from officials from china and mexico and the uae and israel discussing plans around jared kushner or a waste that plate? that is correct, in the course of intelligence gathering which we do an allies and others raised in the united states these conversations we re united states these conversations were picked up and we know there we re were picked up and we know there were conversations jared kushner had on his own while he was in the white house with officials in some foreign countries and those conversations he did not report internally through normal protocol to senior officials in the white house. my understanding

that not reporting conversations with pollen officials is something which in the normal course of events seizure security clearance denied. it would be a huge problem when you're trying to obtain security clearance and if you had clearance thatis clearance and if you had clearance that is right, it would be an issue to go outside of the normal channels and do that. we understand the national security adviser hr mcmaster find out when national security adviser hr mcmasterfind out when he national security adviser hr mcmaster find out when he came national security adviser hr mcmasterfind out when he came into office earlier in 2017 that jared kushner was having sidelined conversations are not reporting them and he was taken aback by this. there were concerns jared kushner might be freelancing foreign policy. so how big a problem is this for him? it's a big problem in terms of the foreign contacts he has had. the immediate resolution, his security clea ra nce immediate resolution, his security clearance level has been downgraded. he is now at secret and he had 1, foreign ~ ~

he could not obtain a final if if: 7 reason he could not obtain a final top—secret security clearance. reason he could not obtain a final top-secret security clearance. could this force him out of the white house? i don't know how he can continue to do the jobs in his portfolio with only this level of clea ra nce portfolio with only this level of clearance but that is up to the president. nu £5425; ,:; t--—; an) , ~~ , ,, you of course went through the security clearance procedure when you worked in the george w bush administration, do you think if jared kushner did not happen to be the son—in—law he would still be in the son—in—law he would still be in the white house given these security issues? he would have been gone a long time ago. this is an intensive process , long time ago. this is an intensive process, this is something, they look all the way back to when you are in elementary school and they go forward , are in elementary school and they go forward, they say did ryan christie tell the truth, about where he lived and worked ? tell the truth, about where he lived and worked? some of the conversations he had over the

durations of his life. what we have here is he had an interim top—secret clea ra nce, here is he had an interim top—secret clearance, one of the highest levels you can get, to have that brought down, anyone else would have been fired. what is the practical impact on him and his ability to do hisjob 110w on him and his ability to do hisjob now he has lost the top—secret clea ra nce ? now he has lost the top—secret clearance? his access to information and his access to the present. there will be several times during the day we re will be several times during the day were the white house chief of staff would say ok this is top—secret compartmentalised information, everybody if you do not have it what out. now you have an assistant to the president, he will have two w out the room all the time and will not be in the room a lot of the time. embarrassing nothing else? i get it, last night i got an e—mail from 35,000 feet, how about that? in that e—mail you said the fact that

donald trump elected not to keep jared kushner at that level because it was a decision for the chief of staff, should tell you something?” have to be careful about what i is injured and where i send it because you will call me on it. but this is significant, it is significant that the president was briefed by his chief of staff who in turn had been briefed by the white house counsel and said here is what we find out. in my opinion there is something substantial to have here and they said mr president this is why we have made this recommendation for jared kushner to be demoted and the fa ct jared kushner to be demoted and the fact that the president did not overrule his white house counsel and chief of staff tells you there is something there. the fact that donald trump brought his children into the white house and they were seen by foreign governments as the weak link tells you a little bit about how this white house is being i’ufi. about how this white house is being run. it does and this is why you do not bring your children into the

family business if the family business is politics. you need to have close and candid advice from your advisers but you have to be in a position, the pleasure of you in the white house could end long before you like it to be. if this was not the president's son—in—law we would be talking about him being shown the door a long time ago. lets see how much longer he lasts, thank you for coming in. if he is shown the door what difference will it make, what has he achieved? this reminds me of a story in 1960, eisenhower was asked what has richard nixon achieved in your administration, eisenhower thought for a moment and then said give me a week and i might be able to think of one. it's hard to think of some solid contribution, china, mexico, the mexican president has just cancelled a visit to the naked state which is highly embarrassing, which

jared kushner has achieved. tame impala promise. what effectively he has access to is stuff that will be lea ked has access to is stuff that will be leaked to the front page of newspapers. you cannot do the jobs on his plate with the intelligence he has access to. 0rganically when you look at the problem, this is a problem of the president's on making because they did not hand the rob porter thing properly so they had to look at background clearance and this is what you get when you bring your children in. maybe it's worth reminding ourselves that this is not normal. having your son—in—law and daughter as an adviser, this has not happened before in american politics and maybe there is a reason for it and maybe there is a reason for it and perhaps jared kushner came in full of confidence and said he could do all these things but you do not bring your kids into the white house when you are the president particularly when they have various financial dealings and shadows

hanging over them. as the us congress dithers, american companies are taking action to restrict guns. today dick's sporting goods, one of the largest sporting retailers in the country, announced these steps in the wake of the florida school shooting. the chain will no longer sell assault—style rifles. nor sell firearms to anyone under 21. and it will no longer sell high capacity magazines. this corporate crackdown was announced on the morning that students in parkland returned to class for the first time since the shooting at their high school — in which 17 people were killed. we followed one teenager who talked about what it was like going back. they don't want us to bring backpacks today, we are not going to really be using them because we are not going to be doing much, it's all about healing. going back to school for the first time in about two weeks it feels really weird. not

that one. i will bring this one. i get nervous because i am frightened it will happen again. i know the chances are that it will not but i am going to have that feeling for maybe the first week or two. is it going to fit in the small and tiny bag, that is the question? i think eventually it will be normal but not the same normal it was before, it will be a new type of normal because those 17 people are not going to be there. it's going to be reared, going on and not seeing the coach at all the sports events, it's going to be the building where the incident occurred is currently shut down. there is a huge fence around it and it has a police presence so we cannot go in there. so we are going to be squished together in certain

rooms, to be squished together in certain i’ooitis, some to be squished together in certain rooms, some of to be squished together in certain i’oottis, some of our foottis to be squished together in certain rooms, some of our rooms have been relocated. welcome back. thank you. it's not going to be the same but it's going to be ok. let's get more from our north america correspondent nada tawfik in parkland. these children have been so eloquent and have campaigned hard on the issue of gun control, but two weeks on this is the moment where they have to walk through the door of the classrooms and face up to the awful things they went through? yeah, absolutely. this has been an emotionally draining day for many of those students. behind me they walked this long stretch to the school entrance and were greeted by teachers and police officers who gave them high fives to raise their

spirits and welcome them back. i spoke to one student after school and she said she had a very hard time, crying, having to be led into the class with the help of her peers and seeing her teachers cracking with emotion while they tried to remain strong. 0ne with emotion while they tried to remain strong. one student wears a red ribbon and he said that, to him, symbolises that the students here have been empowered and have a voice in this national and state debate here about gun control. they say they do feel they have made a difference. you see it with companies abandoning the nra, today a major retailer saying they will no longer sell assault rifles, dick's sporting goods. there is a new approach and how they speak to these children, they are a force to be reckoned with because they do not shy away from being blunt about how they feel. that was the main

takeaway today, the students trying to get back to some sense of normality but also feeling hopeful because her voice has made a small difference but the difference nonetheless. kill mcafee have moved a lot of people and a lot of emotion to deal with, thank you. if a solution to the irish border question cannot be found during the brexit negotiations the eu says the border with the uk should effectively be placed in the irish sea, annexing northern ireland from the rest of the uk. a legal text published today, which seeks to spell out the terms of a divorce agreement, proposes a "common regulatory area" between northern ireland and the republic. it also demands the uk makes europe's highest court the ultimate arbiter in future brexit disputes. theresa may told parliament they were "demands no uk prime minister could ever accept". 0ur europe editor, katya adler reports. in the historic process in which the uk leaves the eu, this is a big moment — the first legal draft of the uk's exit treaty. so how is it possible,

you might ask, to have a draft withdrawal agreement already when brexit negotiations are still ongoing? well, this 120—page document is the european commission's understanding of what has been agreed to date with the uk and of what it still wants to be agreed. so in here, we see that divorce issues which were discussed, but not finalised, before christmas. the rights of eu citizens within the uk and uk citizens in the eu after brexit. also, the financial settlement, the so—called brexit bill. and to the irish border. also in here, the transition agreement, but no details of a future eu—uk trade deal, because those talks haven't even started yet. the document's paragraphs on northern ireland are particularly controversial. the eu's chief brexit negotiator came out today to defend them. we have applied imagination and creativity, to find a specific

solution to the unique challenge that brexit poses for the protection of the good friday agreement. mr barnier said three options had been agreed with the uk to avoid the reintroduction of a hard border between northern ireland and the irish republic, but he said the uk hadn't yet come forward with details. so his backstop solution involves northern ireland remaining in a customs agreement with the eu and in parts of the single market. you must also be aware of the potentially explosive effect in the uk of this northern ireland protocol. is this perhaps intentional, on your part? translation: i'm not trying to provoke or create shock waves. i want these negotiations to be a success. but let me remind you that it was the uk's decision to leave and, as i've said from the beginning, nobody should underestimate the consequences of this action.

but the prime minister was having none of it. the draft legal text the commission have published would, if implemented, undermine the uk common market and threaten the constitutional integrity of the uk by creating a customs and regulatory border down the irish sea, and no uk prime minister could ever agree to it. the prime minister and the eu do agree a hard border between northern ireland and the irish republic must be avoided, but the prime minister's negotiating position is complicated by the government's reliance for parliamentary support on northern ireland's democratic unionist party. if we didn't leave the eu to oversee the break—up of the united kingdom, it would be catastrophic economically, never mind politically, for northern ireland to cut off from its biggest market. but this is not where the story ends. this document is a first draft, to be amended by eu member states, then negotiated with the government — which has plenty to say about it. katya adler, bbc news, brussels. is politicians spend a lot of time

talking about this and they came to some kind of agreement, is this a case of when you come to an agreement which is basically a fudge and they called it regulatory alignment, when you put the details on at the fudge falls apart? at some point you have to put it into legal text. we were at the summit in december and they said they had found an agreement on full alignment, no border between north and south. what michel barnier is saying is this is the logical extension, that if you reach no deal you have to put the border somewhere and although they don't spell it out it would have to go in the irish sea. its highly provocative to suggest you are going to effectively annexed part of the united kingdom,

mess with the internal market of the uk and the constitutional arrangement between the uk and northern ireland and that is hardening attitudes on both sides. so is there a sense amongst brexiteers in the uk today, watching on social media for example, that this was deliberately provocative on the part of michel barnier?” this was deliberately provocative on the part of michel barnier? i think so, if you look at the social media feeds of people who voted remain thenit feeds of people who voted remain then it says surely this is what the government expected, and indeed john major set out today that the question was always the there. david davis with some justification has said if you put the cart before the horrors and talk about the ireland issue as part of the divorce proceedings rather than part of the solution and trade agreement then you will always arrive at this point. both sides feel they have fa cts o n point. both sides feel they have facts on their side if you will but

it's something i think has hardened positions today in both camps. theresa may left in no easy position at all. he is often he's often described as america's pastor and today a ceremony was held the us capitol to honor billy graham — who is now lying there in honour. graham died last week at the age of 99 but since then he has been remembered for his impact around the globe. he preached the gospel in 185 countries and territories and he prayed with every us president from harry truman to barack 0bama. today president trump was among those paying his respects and delivering remarks. an ambassador for christ who reminded the world of the power of prayer and the gift of god ‘s grace. today we say a prayer for our country, that all across this land the lord will raise up men and women like billy graham to spread a message of love and hope to every

precious child of god. it's an enormous honourfor a private citizen to be placed in capitol hill, only four before. yeah, boot capitol hill police officers who we re capitol hill police officers who were shot in attack were placed there in honour and rosa parks, the civil rights leader who defied the bus segregation ban. we should clarify, we are saying he is lying in honourand clarify, we are saying he is lying in honour and not lying clarify, we are saying he is lying in honourand not lying in clarify, we are saying he is lying in honour and not lying in state because he was not a political or military figure but he was someone who united the country at a different time when, he was somebody who republican and democratic presidents went to and prayed with and you wonder in this very divided time who could fill that kind of role? extraordinary man. severe weather is causing problems

across the united kingdom and scotland's first ever red snow warning has come in to place. it urges people to take action now to keep safe. amber warnings are in place for other parts of scotland and northern and eastern england. it's been revealed that a murdered slovakian journalist was probing alleged political corruption with points to the italian mafia. he was shot dead at home. the slovakian prime minister has appealed for information and is offering a 1 million euros reward. the world championship surfer mike fanning who vigorously fought off a great white shark during competition retires next month. the 36—year—old nicknamed white lightning, he won three world titles and will hang up his surfboard in march saying he has lost his drive to compete on a day—to—day basis. meghan markle has joined prince harry and the duke and duchess of cambridge

for their first official engagement together. they were setting out their vision for the future work of their personal charitable organisation. it's called the royal foundation which ms markle will officially join after her wedding to prince harry in may. 0ur royal correspondent nicholas witchell reports. they are the foursome who will take the royal family forward for decades to come. and on stage together for the first time, they talked about their mission. william said it was to build on what his parents and grandparents had achieved. hold on to the values that have always guided our family, but seek to engage in public life in a way that was updated and relevant for our generation. attention inevitably focused on the newcomer, meghan markle underlined the relevance of her agenda talking about female empowerment. you'll often hear people say, "you're helping women find their voices." and i fundamentally disagree with that, because women don't need to find a voice. they have a voice, they need to feel empowered to use it, and people need to be encouraged to listen.

and i think, right now, in the climate that we're seeing with so many campaigns, i mean, me too and time's up, there is no better time than to really continue to shine a light on women feeling empowered, and people really helping to support them, men included in that. meghan said she was looking forward to hitting the ground running after her wedding. sitting next to her, her future sister—in—law. so how is it working as a foursome? working as family does have its challenges, of course it does. the fact that everyone's laughing means that everybody knows exactly what it's like. laughter but, look, you know, we're stuck together for the rest of our lives, so... laughter this is true. togetherness at its finest. togetherness, yeah, yeah. together and seeking to make a difference. nicholas witchell, bbc news. imagine if we had to say that, stuck

together for the rest of our lives. initially it said just 100 days and now we are beyond 100 days! who knows? how many more hundreds and hundreds but congratulations to them, they look happy. the royal family in good hands by all counts. this is beyond 100 days from the bbc. coming up for viewers on the bbc news channel and bbc world news: same party, different politics — the brexit warning from a former british prime minister to theresa may, but is sirjohn major's intervention too little, too late? and white out — we've more on the wild wintry weather that's freezing over the uk and europe. the ‘beast from the east‘ is going nowhere fast. that's still to come. this week has got ever colder,

everson neuer and parts of scotland bearing the brunt of the heaviest snow. met office warnings, this red area covering much of the central belt, the highest level of warning, snow piling up, dangerous situation particularly for anyone still travelling but the advice is not to. this amber area through the rest of north—east scotland and east of england, further snow showers will add to the accumulations we've got. elsewhere scattered snow showers, there will be clear spells but as we ta ke there will be clear spells but as we take a closer look at this snow running, we have put totals, some spots will get even more than nasa by the time it's all said and done. this very serious situation considers into the morning. increasing cloud, tempters maybe not as low as they were last night but it's bitterly cold overnight,

another severe frost and it fields colder in the wind. into tomorrow those showers continue to affect scotland, a few elsewhere but starting to see outbreaks of snow rather than just snow showers across parts of southern england during thursday then reaching parts of wales as well. the wind picks up with this as well. look at that in cardiff, feeling like —11 at times. and things could get quite dangerous as we run through thursday evening and night into south—west england and night into south—west england and wales, an area of low pressure, this wind pushing moisture and north, the snow turning heavier, drifting in the wind as well, the amber warning on through thursday evening and night, the situation could go downhill quite quickly, quite icy as well, some spots into friday, further south less cold starting to move in but that brings a risk of freezing rain. 0n through

friday we have an area of snow affecting england and wales into northern ireland so quite widely we will be seeing centimetres in places with an impact on travel and we still have snow showers running into eastern scotland. it's still bitterly cold and colder in the wind. this is beyond 100 days, with me, katty kay, in washington. christian fraser's in london. our top stories. one of president trump's top advisers and son—in—law, jared kushner, has his white house security clearance downgraded — thought to be linked to his business dealings. a warning on brexit from a former uk prime minister who urges theresa may to put country before party and not rule out a second referendum. no—one can truly know what the will of the people may then be, so let parliament decide or put the issue back to the people. also coming up in the next half hour. three years of fighting, millions are starving and a civil war that threatens to get worse —

we've a special report from inside yemen. the capital sa naa is the prize in this war — the houthis want to keep it, the ousted government wants it back. but to take the fight into this historic, densely—populated city would be a bloody urban battle. let us know your thoughts by using the hashtag #beyond100days. there's nothing unusual about splits in the conservative party, but it is highly unusual for a former prime minister to criticise his successor. today sirjohn major said theresa may was guilty of "bad politics" over brexit. and he accused his fellow conservatives of putting party politics above the national interest. sirjohn wants theresa may to guarantee a free vote for conservative mps when the final brexit deal is eventually

put to parliament. his interjection comes ahead of the prime minister's speech on friday in which she will set out her opening, negotiating position. there was a majority for brexit. but there was no overwhelming mandate to ignore the reservations of 16 million voters who believe it will bea million voters who believe it will be a harmful change of direction for our country. brexit has been the most divisive issue of my political lifetime. it has divided not only the four nations of the uk but regions within those nations. it has divided political parties, colleagues, families, friends and the young from the old. as the ballot box showed us very clearly on referendum day. i believe the government should take a further, very brave and bold decision. i believe they should invite

parliament to accept or reject the final outcome on a free vote. i know the instinct historically of every government is to oppose free votes. but the government should we the advantages of having one very carefully. they may find it is in their own interest to do so. there are some very practical reasons in favour of a free vote. brexit is a unique decision. it will affect the lives of the british nation for generations to come. and if it flops, there will be the most terrible backlash. a short while ago we spoke to former conservative leader, and leading brexit campaigner, iain duncan smith. and i put it to him that sirjohn major, a former uk prime minister, attacking a sitting prime ministerfrom his own party is quite unprecedented. it is always advisable for people

who have left the job they are in to keep their own council as much as possible and they haven't got anything to say that is helpful. what he does say is brexit is such a fundamental change in direction for the uk that it makes sense to offer a free vote to conservative mps, it is smart politics because it puts the onus on parliament rather than the conservative party if it goes wrong? i do find this surprising, this is a prime minister, who during the maastricht debates insisted on a very strict whip and we were not given any free votes and a bunch of conservative mps had the whip taken off them and were kicked out of the party for a period for disobeying the whip and voting against and then people were dragged in on ambulances and all sorts to various votes in a very strict three line whip. i do find this a little bit strange, the prime minister, john major when he

was prime minister, was less than kind or helpful over those who a p pa re ntly kind or helpful over those who apparently had issues of conscience. i don't agree with them and i think the government policy is to deliver on the vote of the british people, they had a vote and he and others may not like it but the british people voted and they said they wa nted people voted and they said they wanted to leave and we have to deliver on that. it was made clear at the time by all of those including him that you must leave the customs union and single market and therefore they all knew what they were voting on. theresa may said no uk prime minister could accept what the eu has set out today on ireland and the border issue. they question why they are surprised, we talked about the agreement in december and there seems to have been movement together in december it towards a solution. we seem to be back where we were last summer. no because the view of the european union commission and ireland is playing political games with an important issue. the reality is there is a report from the

european union in parliament that says there is no need to go down this road, no need for a hard border with border posts and everything else, in that report they make it clear that technology is there for us to make this very relaxed and straightforward and if we manage to control and get after illegal arms and illegal drugs crossing the border by dealing with the irish gardai and police service away from the border, it is even easier to deal with legitimate products crossing the border. there is no need and this has been conjured up for one reason only, the idea is to use this as a stick to beat a dog to tell the british government they have to leave ireland in the customs union and get us to change our mind. it will not happen and there is no need for a hard border. you mention social media earlier, that was iain duncan—smith and we have been getting some tweets from people who

say, this is making ireland suffer because of decisions were taken in england, in the rest of the uk, and they will have a country divided because of brexit? that is a feeling thatis because of brexit? that is a feeling that is felt acutely in ireland but then you have to go back to the good friday agreement, and effectively, symbolically, there was a triple—lock because he had three parties involved, you had the irish government, you have the people of northern ireland, both protestant and catholic, and the uk government. 0nly because of that triple—lock, ireland, in the end, removed its claim to northern ireland and catholics play their rightful place within the uk. and i think both sides, the irish and british side, are sensitive to that issue. last night, the european affairs spokesman for fine gael in ireland was asked 3a times on the bbc when the border was going to go and he

did not want to say that it was going to go in the irish sea. at all costs! he understands that if it is seen that northern ireland starts to drift back towards ireland, that undermines the good friday agreement. he sees that as controversial, you made the point that thejohn controversial, you made the point that the john major controversial, you made the point that thejohn major intervention was not welcomed by many entries theresa may's circle but we should put this in context becausejohn major chooses his words carefully and has moments —— his moments to intervene. he would say, i felt i had to say something that this crisis point? he is not the only former prime minister, tony blair has his own initiative which he is trying to push for the government, to put brexit to one side, ultimately. but a soft brexit if it has to be. people like iain duncan smith would say, he did not allow a free vote on my street and he warned us about these things back in the 1990s and

many decisions that he took, on the exchange rate etc, proved to be folly so he does not have a very good record on the sort of things. john major is no stranger to have —— having ourformer prime minister intervened on his watch. 0n tuesday's programme we spoke about the catastrophic conditions in yemen, one of the arab world's poorest countries, devastated by civil war. now we have a special report from inside the country, almost three years since the saudi—led coalition launched its first air strikes against the houthi rebels in yemen, sparking an all—out armed conflict. the situation is so bad, the un now says it's become the world's worst man—made humanitarian disaster and right now, more than eight million people across yemen are at risk of starvation. the bbc‘s chief international correspondent lyse doucet sent us this report. high above the arabian peninsula, just off the coast of yemen. saudi arabia and its allies have ruled these skies since the war began. and they control the seas below.

these shipping lanes are a vital gateway for the world's energy supplies. and a smuggling route for illicit goods. among them, the saudis say, weapons that iran supplies to yemen's houthi fighters. we land on board a saudi warship. inspecting vessels bound for the port. most of yemen's imports flow through there but it is in houthi hands. saudis are on the look out for suspicious vessels. we meet the captain, whose mission is a crucial front line in this war. 0perational rules are to treat all vessels as suspicious? yes. even humanitarian. a naval blockade has been lifted for now. it had obstructed vital medicine, food and fuel from reaching yemenis in desperate need.

but this war grinds on. and on the ground, it is yemen's army who are battling houthi fighters. advancing slowly on hostile terrain. mountain by mountain. seizing strategic heights of the approach to the capital. the capital, sanaa, is the prize in this war. the houthis want to keep it and the ousted government wants it back. to take the fight into the heart of this historic, densely populated city, it would be a bloody urban battle. all roads in this war lead to this capital. yemeni forces and their allies have an ambitious plan. surround sanaa and force the houthis to surrender. but their enemy is well entrenched. supported by iran, the houthis are well trained and well supplied.

ballistic missiles have reached the heart of the saudi kingdom. and fear is part of their arsenal also. hundreds of journalists and political opponents have been detained arbitrarily. many have fled. in a government—controlled area, we meet 27—year—old abbas. his crime? posting comments on social media. he tells us, they hung me up, tortured me until i fell unconscious. when he woke up he couldn't move. imagine, he says, in a second you cannot walk. what can i be now? but yemenis live with other fears. this is the impact of the saudi air strike in a neighbourhood close to the defence ministry. the saudi—led coalition has been pounding enemy positions. armed with the most sophisticated weaponry from allies like britain, the us and france.

the saudis insist civilians are not a target. but they are being hit. this family, like many others, lost their home in a coalition bombing. they had taken refuge here. we are begging for help, cries this woman. yesterday my three children did not eat. i am ill, always ill. neither dead nor alive. it is hard to escape from this war. it has pushed these families from place to place. at this temporary settlement they are digging in. trying to make a new home from the little they now have. the arab world's poorest nation now a battle ground for regional powers in a middle east which grows ever more combustible. saudi arabia and iran know they are playing with fire. great reporting.

in the next half hour president trump will be hosting democratic and republican lawmakers at the white house to discuss the issue of gun control. in the wake of the parkland shooting there have been a number of proposals but will congress take action or simply hit gridlock? back with us is ron christie. president trump has called singer republicans, some who have proposals, to come to the white house to see if anything can be done. where would you put your fortune? i think you will find an initiative to extend the age of long guns, from 18 to 21. will republicans agree to that? possibly, the president seems very inclined to wa nt to the president seems very inclined to want to do this, i think he can get enough moderate republicans, over a third of republicans are retiring from office and if you can get them

ina from office and if you can get them in a coalition with democrats, that could pass. christian nra has made it clear they don't like that. republicans don't really know where the president is, he has put forward a lot of proposals but they are facing in the primaries, the second amendment supporters, energy on the left, do they want a fight over the second amendment? they don't and this is perilous for republicans, as you have identified, on one hand they are strong proponents of the second amendment, the right to bear arms, but there is a new atmosphere here, that these school shootings, something has to be done and politically we are looking at this from the prism of politics and republicans don't want to be seen as standing on the sidelines when the president and democrats are trying to do something. the story that came out from the sports chain, how significant is that? removed from

the corporate sector? that is significant, this organisation said we will no longer sell high—capacity magazines, this type of armament, we in the private sector are taking an affirmative step because we don't wa nt affirmative step because we don't want these guns were people who should not have them. thank you very much. this is beyond 100 days. still to come — ‘snowverload'. we've some of the best pictures from around europe and the uk — as the arctic blast of weather really bites. here in the uk, they've been big high street names for more than 30 years — but now toys "r" us and the electrical chain maplin have both collapsed. emma simpson reports. # with toys in their millions # all under one roof # it's called toys‘r'us!...# it was a force to be reckoned with, pulling in shoppers with its american—style megastores. today, the magic‘s long gone. some stores were already closing to cut costs.

but it wasn't enough. it's a shame, but it's not probably a great surprise. it's been on the cards for a while. because i've four children, grown up now, but we always used to come here for their toys, so it's a shame. so what went wrong for toys‘r'us? they are too reliant on these large out—of—town stores. but a lot of the problems are actually self—inflicted. they overlooked the importance of online, where about 40% of toy sales take place. and perhaps more importantly, they've neglected their stores. toys'r'us has been struggling for years, a business way down by huge amounts of debt. its american owners filed for bankruptcy protection in the states last autumn. and today, this toy story ended with the uk chain effectively running out of cash. and tonight, the man tasked with rescuing it told me that wouldn't be easy. whilst we're going to make every

effort to sell the business, i think realistically there is a small chance that someone will come through. and if they do, it will be for parts of the business, and certainly not for the business as a whole, and certainly not in its existing format. maplin also collapsed today with more than 200 stores. it blamed a slowdown in consumer spending and higher costs. it's been a bleak winter for many retailers. today, two big casualties, and thousands ofjobs on the line. the shops are still trading, but for how much longer? emma simpson, bbc news. you're watching beyond 100 days and we're watching italy because voters there will be going to the polls on sunday to elect their next government. a new voting system means a coalition on the right is highly likely led by silvio berlusconi's forza italia. that said, polls suggest the eurosceptic, anti—establishment five star movement will be

the single most popular party among voters. immigration is the key issue in the election. i have been speaking to one of their mp‘s manlio di stefano, about where his party currently stands on the issue? we wa nt we want to take care of all those who have the right to stay, asylum seekers, persecuted people, all of this, and to do that we need to fix the internal problems so we are asking ina the internal problems so we are asking in a strong way, 12 mandatory quotas around the 27 countries and internally intently, all around the 8000 cities we have. how european are you because in the past you said you wanted to hold a referendum on the single currency? we never said that the european union has to be destroyed, this was storytelling that was made to attack us. we are

a lwa ys that was made to attack us. we are always saying that we think to be european, we want to be european but with this currency and the way that all economic system is managed, the european union will collapse. can you imagine that were under the same currency but we don't have the same taxation between countries? can you remember that every month there is a big italian enterprise that moves to slovakia and poland, to hungary, because they find better taxation, maybe 15 or 20 points under the italian one. if we don't have the same rules we cannot be the same family. either reform or do away with that? to reform the economic system is the only way to keep the european union alive. we are sceptic that the eurozone, but with the eu.

we can fix one of them to save the other. it is true that the new electoral rules that have come in a few months ago. you going into government. the other parties will prevent that? the day that mr renzi and mr berlusconi draft of this law, it was ten points higher than right now, therefore to be in want to create a coalition like they did in 2014 and a second government together, but now everything has changed so in any way, you will have the numbers, they will have to consider as as fundamental. i don't know if we will have the numbers to create our own government alone. but surely they will not do at the same. it will be like... our proposal to

create a coalition on a specific programme will be the only decision for this country. i was reading a piece in the washington post looking at germany and young voters who are fed up with the establishment coalition politics. they don't want people making big copper misers. they are moving towards populist parties on both ends of the spectrum. particularly the far right. i wonder if you could see parallels between what has happened in germany recently and this election in italy? absolutely, to illustrate the parties, you have got five star movement at the top and these will be coalitions after the weekend, the one at the bottom, forza italia, silvio berlusconi cannot be the prime minister because he was banned after his things in the court and he is a kingmaker potentially with brothers of italy

with fascist roots, and we also have lega and this smaller group, and the question is whether silvio berlusconi can rein in the hard right sentiments are some of those parties, particularly when it comes to migration and security. he maybe sta rts to migration and security. he maybe starts to look to the party on the ce ntre—left, starts to look to the party on the centre—left, the democrats, for a grand coalition or whether it is our supply arrangement on different issues. but certainly, five star movement are big force and the problems are not going away. now, we've been talking about it enough — and as we've been seeing, the beast from the east is hitting the uk in a big way. there's a very serious side to this storm, but we've been getting some incredible pictures of the arctic blast. here's a time—lapse of the snow falling over london — you can see the dome of st paul's cathedral disappearing as the weather system moves through. this is the view of our building, new broadcasting house, and a special camera fixed

across the road — it even has wipers to clean the lens. and of course, the view of the houses of parliament, just down the road. cold enough for you, katty? we should ban the phrase, based from the east! but this is serious. children have got farms in the country and people are vulnerable, losing livestock. we have a family in scotland who are farmers and they have been scotland —— have been suffering. and young people around the country. it is a very serious storm. and it is not going anywhere quickly. i've had a look through some of those pictures too and i particularly like these ones from cornwall. a smooth way to travel here — no travel disruption on a snowboard, or a quad bike, for that matter. in norfolk, here's a couple whojust hopped on their skis. you should have tried that this

morning! what did you do? i'm going to go one better in the bravery stakes, katty — and the irish are a hardy bunch. take these brave swimmers taking a dip. certifiable definition! this is galway bay on the west coast. very popular with the locals. this was me walking in this morning. there is an unhealthy interest in whether i am wearing my leggings. iam unhealthy interest in whether i am wearing my leggings. i am wearing unhealthy interest in whether i am wearing my leggings. iam wearing my long johns. this was out of my window this morning. your office has never looked quite so romantic! i am working on double shift tonight. i will be here right through the night. i will not get home! because

people could not make it in. i am hard—core. i will be with you through the night. back same time tomorrow. mr woolley leggings! this week has got ever colder and snowy and parts of scotland are bearing the brunt and the heaviest snow and as we go through the night, the met office warnings, the red area here covering much of the central belt, the highest level of warning to the snow is piling up and very dangerous here, particularly for anybody still travelling and the advice is not to. the amber area to the rest of northern and eastern scotla nd the rest of northern and eastern scotland and north east england were further snow showers will add to the accumulations. elsewhere, scattered snow showers, a further few centimetres in places through the night but some clear spells also and

if we take a closer look at this snow running into scotland and north—east england, if we put some totals, some spots getting even more than this by the time it is said and done. that dangerous situation continues into the morning. across the south, increasing cloud, temperatures not as low as they were last night but it is bitterly cold overnight and another severe frost and it feels colder in the wind. tomorrow, showers continue to affect scotla nd tomorrow, showers continue to affect scotland and north—east england and northern ireland but we start to see outbreaks of snow rather than snow showers reaching across parts of southern england initially during thursday and reaching parts of wales as well. the wind picks up with this as well. the wind picks up with this as well, the wind chill becomes even more of a factor across england and wales on thursday and look at cardiff, feeling like —11 at times. things could get dangerous through thursday evening into south—west england and wales, we have an area

of low pressure to the south, this swirl of wind pushing maestro northwards, and we see the snow turning heavier, drifting in the wind as well across south—west england into wales and we have the amber warning through thursday evening and night so the situation could go downhill quickly here. quite icy, sunspots further south with cold air and that brings the risk of freezing rain. through friday, an area of snow affecting parts of england and wales and perhaps northern ireland so quite widely we will have a few centimetres in places with an impact on travel and we still have snow showers running into eastern in scotland. it is still bitterly cold and colder in the wind. this is bbc news. i'm christian fraser. the headlines at 8.00. a red alert in scotland — as heavy snow and freezing conditions mean lives could be put at risk. people are told not to travel in the affected parts of scotland. we wouldn't be advocating people going out in this kind of weather. stay safe, stay warm and we'll come to you. and further disruption

expected tomorrow. train operator southeastern say they are closing 50 railway stations across kent and sussex tomorrow. police investigating a fatal explosion in leicester on sunday have arrested three men on suspicion of manslaughter. the prime minister rejects the eu's proposals on northern ireland, saying it would threaten the uk's constitutional integrity. a warning on brexit — former conservative prime minister sirjohn major urges theresa may to put country before party and not rule out a second referendum.