this is bbc news. our top stories: underfire: president trump's plan to impose tariffs on imports of steel and aluminium is condemned by trading partners, including canada. the integrated nature of our supply chains means that there will be significant disruption. in canada, obviously, but also in the united states. war crimes are being committed on syrian civilians in eastern ghouta, says the un. it calls for those responsible to be prosecuted. final campaign rallies take place before sunday's vote in an italian election campaign marred by clashes between anti—fascist and far—right groups. and snow blizzards bring chaos across europe. at least 60 people have died in sub—zero temperatures. hello and welcome to the programme.

the international monetary fund has joined international condemnation of president trump's plan to impose tariffs on imports of steel and aluminium. it says such a move will not only hurt other countries, but also those of the united states. stock markets have fallen since the announcement. our washington correspondent chris buckler reports. steel is essential to america's economy, but inside the us, for many years, it has been an industry in decline. donald trump blames cheap imports. however, his solution of new tariffs has sparked fears of a trade war. and led to increasingly heated language from many of america's trading partners, including china, canada, and mexico. we are pressing upon the american

government. the unacceptable nature of these proposals will hurt them as much as us. and we are confident that we will continue to be up to defend canadian industry. the president announced his plan for 35% tariffs for steel and 10% for aluminium, but it came surprise to many, including some inside the white house, where details of the policy are still being worked out. many who rely on imported metal, including some of the president's own supporters, are worried about the impact on the us economy, particularly with the growing threat of international retaliation. european leaders made a point of singling out the most american of products. translation: we will impose tariffs on harley—davidson, on bourbon, and bluejeans — levi's blue jeans. this is, well, highly regrettable. we are not en route to start trade wars. we would like to have a reasonable

relationship with the united states of america, but we cannot simply bury our head in the sand. these were from donald trump were probably not intended for the international community, but more for the industrial heartland of the us, where old steel mills lie derelict. it was here that donald trump found support with his america first message. however, it is the modern supply of steel that worries many businesses here as well is abroad. they are concerned. their costs will rise will tariffs. and they could prove to be the hard truth of this protectionist policy. chris buckler, bbc news, washington. the world's biggest investment company, blackrock, in the united states, says it's stepping up pressure on companies that make and sell guns in response to the florida school shooting. it's considering excluding them from some of its portfolios — and is also questioning them

about how they monitor the safe use of their weapons. earlier this week the retail giant walmart and the chain dick's sporting goods announced restrictions on gun sales. the united nations‘ top human rights official says it's very likely that war crimes are being committed in the syrian region of eastern ghouta and there must be prosecutions. hundreds of people have been killed in the rebel—held enclave just outside the capital damascus in the past 12 days. and despite the un calling for a ceasefire nearly a week ago, the violence has not stopped. our middle east editorjeremy bowen is in damascus. so far the united nations security council resolution, calling for a humanitarian ceasefire for 30 days right across syria, that exist on paper — it does not exist in reality. here in eastern ghouta, not far from where i am in damascus there are great humanitarian needs and the un is ready to send in 45 trucks with food for 90,000 people. however, that has not happened and it may not happen for a few days more.

right across the country there were hopes among some people towards the end of last year that the war may ratchet down. however, i think the evidence of this year is that the war may have changed its shape but it has also escalated. italians are preparing to head to the polling booths this weekend as the country elects a new government. candidates have held final rallies to secure votes after a campaign marred by clashes between anti—fascist and far—right groups. immigration, a sluggish economy and high unemployment are all issues whoever wins will need to tackle. andrew plant has more. supporters of a far right party in

italy at a rally in milan. rival parties across the country are making a final bid for votes ahead of sunday's general election, after a campaign where migration and unemployment have been by far the biggest themes. translation: migration is a way to have new slaves to use instead of young italians. it is no use for anything else. it is also disses battle the migrants themselves. the former prime minister, silvio berlusconi, at 81 years old, and has led an energetic campaign. he has promised to expel 600,000 illegal immigrants. his centre—right forza italia is allied with parties that could form a coalition, although he is banned from holding office. in rome, the five star movement also held a rally on friday. it is likely to do well, promising to tackle

poverty, positioned as antiestablishment, and appealing to huge numbers of young, unemployed italians. translation: from what a scene in the last few weeks, the five star movement can win in every electoral couege movement can win in every electoral college of the south, and many of the north, and can reach a majority, to form a government. the harsh anti—immigration tone of parts of the campaign has led to frequent protests a nd the campaign has led to frequent protests and clashes, involving both antifascist and far—right activists. this is an election difficult to predict, with several possible permutations for what the next government would look like. its youth unemployment amongst the highest in the eurozone, its debt burden is second only to greece. nevertheless, it will become the eu's third largest economy after

britain's brexit, and the world will be watching as the polls open on sunday. across europe the sub—zero temperatures have claimed at least 60 lives in the past week. the latest victims are at least four skiers who have died in an avalanche in the french alps. the severe weather has also wreaked havoc for transport, countless schools have been closed and tens of thousands of people are without power. janey mitchell reports. the southern alps near france's border with italy — a frozen wilderness popular with off—piste skiers but now after heavy snowfall, the location of the deadliest avalanche of the european winter so far. translation: six people were involved in this accident, all six have been found. but unfortunately four of them are dead. our thoughts are with the victims and their families. the brutal weather has claimed the highest number of victims in poland, where temperatures plunged as low as —27 celsius.

here in cracow, the emergency services searching for a man who fell into the icy river. in croatia, it was not the snow causing problems, but freezing rain. leading to multiple road accidents. even switzerland, an old hand in dealing with snow, struggled. geneva feeling the strain of another ten centimetres on friday, on top of the 15 which blanketed the city the previous day. almost 350 flights were cancelled on friday from dublin airport, which will remain closed into saturday. not quite sure how i am going to feed these two. irish racing stable owners battled to feed their horses. tens of thousands of people in ireland are without electricity, with a red alert snow and ice warning extended for eastern parts of the country into the weekend. as always, there are those making best use of the conditions, and capturing the magic of the late winter idyll. theresa may has outlined her vision

of britain's future relationship with the european union. she warned that both sides would have to accept ‘hard facts' and that no one would get everything they wanted. she said the uk would have to pay money into some eu agencies to maintain access to them. and she repeated her commitment that that the britain's would not be part of the eu's single market or customs union. rob watson has more. applause. what a challenge she faced. to set out britain's future relationship with the eu, amid deep political divisions at home and profound scepticism abroad. acknowledging possible downsides to brexit for the first time, she said britain had to face up to hard facts. in certain ways, our access to each other‘s markets will be less than it is now. how could the eu's structure of rights and obligations be sustained if the uk or any country were allowed to enjoy all the benefits without all the obligations? mrs may is still

proposing a profound separation from europe, the so—called hard brexit of leaving the customs union and single market. but she says that should not stop there being a deep partnership in the future. we should not think of our leaving the eu as marking an ending, as much as a new beginning for the united kingdom and our relationship with our european allies. change is not to be feared, so long as we face it with a clear—sighted determination to act for the common good. as to domestic reaction, her speech has prompted calls for more detailfrom business, which remains anxious about brexit, and drawn cautious praise from both the anti— and pro—european wings of her governing conservative party. the eu's chief negotiator said that mrs may was at last facing reality that there would be trade—offs from brexit. others were harsher. it has been a tumultuous week in the long—running drama that is brexit. with the opposition labour party

coming out in favour of closer ties with the eu, and two former prime ministers warning of the dangers of leaving europe and pleading with politicians and voters alike to think again. the politician left with carrying out the results of a referendum that has divided britain like no other issue in decades, said the country was facing a crucial moment. thank you. stay with us on bbc news. still to come: as hollywood prepares for the oscars this weekend, one of its top stars on sexism in the movie business.

first the plates slipped gently off the restaurant tables, then suddenly the tables, the chairs and people crashed sideways and downwards, and it was just a matter of seconds as the ferry lurched on her side. the hydrogen bomb. on a remote pacific atoll, the americans have successfully tested a weapon whose explosive force dwarfed that of the bomb dropped on hiroshima. i heard the news earlier and so my heart went bang, bang! the constitutional rights of these marchers are their rights as citizens of the united states, and they should be protected, even in the right to test them out, so they don't get their heads broken and are sent to hospital. this religious controversy, i know you don't want to say too much about it, but does it worry you that it's going to boil up when you get to the states? well, it worries me, yes, but i hope everything will be all right in the end, as they say. this is bbc news.

the latest headlines: president trump tweets that trade wars can be good, because america is losing billions of dollars in existing deals. he's announced a plan to impose tariffs on imports of steel and aluminium. let's stay with that story. tori whiting is from the heritage foundation, a conservative policy think tank based in washington — and i asked her why she thought the tariff proposals kavner were a bad idea. the simple story is that a tariff is a tax and tax must be paid by americans and you will be paid whenever they purchase anything made of steel or aluminium. no matter if it is domestic oral imported from

abroad. it will allow producers to raise their prices which will result in higher cost for things like cars, lawnmowers, grills, anything that is a basic consumer product. raised prices also means that there will be more of an incentive or the industry to grow and for investors to enter. not necessarily. right now what we are looking at is the president proposing to impose a tariff on imports that are produced by industries here in the us. we import... —— the industries here in the us who use of those goods employs 17 million. ten million and construction, 7 million in manufacture. we see the government

not looking a policy that will help all americans but really just not looking a policy that will help all americans but reallyjust a select few. can you understand where president trump is coming from? he did promise that he would try to repair the tax deficit with many —— trade deficit with many countries around the world. the president promised this and he is trying to deliver. i think that the trump administration has already been developing a progrowth economic message here in the us when it came to tax reform and the amazing push to tax reform and the amazing push to deregulate the australian —— american economy. this will act in the opposite direction of those efforts. they have done a greatjob, and this will have negative consequences that could even outweigh the benefits of the reforms that already happened. considering the backlash that has happened over the backlash that has happened over the last 2a hours, and especially as the last 2a hours, and especially as the policy is yet to be fully

formed, do you think there is a chance that next week when this is meant to be implemented that it is all pushed to one side?|j meant to be implemented that it is all pushed to one side? i don't know about being put aside but i can say that with the amount of change and announcements that have happened over the last 2a hours or so, i would not be surprised to see things change in the next week. that could bea change in the next week. that could be a change in tariff rate, a change, potentially, exempting some countries. some countries that are the largest importers of steel are places like canada, one of our long—standing allies in about 16% of all imports of steel. i think the administration needs to take into consideration the impact of these ta riffs consideration the impact of these tariffs and i am looking forward to having the next week to try and change their minds. to having the next week to try and change their minds. there have been protests across slovakia after the killing of an investigative journalist and his fiancee. jan kuciak‘s work alleged links between the italian mafia and figures close to

prime minister robert fico. he denies any wrongdoing. the biggest demonstration was in the capital brati—slava, from where our correspondent rob cameron sent this report. they came in their thousands, braving subzero temperatures, united in grief at the killing of a journalist. this was the largest protest here for many years. a sign that what began as a local tragedy has become a national crisis of leadership. the moral responsibility for the deaths is the government, for sure. they should have resigned straight after as it happened, but they haven't so far. i think that shows us that something is not right. i am mostly afraid of what will become of my country, because it is turning into something i do not want it to turn into. that is also why i'm here.

the authorities are still working to find out who pulled the trigger on the gun that killed jan kuciak and his fiancee. the young journalist had begun to untangle a complex web of business and personal connections that led from the calabrian mafia right to the prime minister's door. this week, a number of slovak newspapers published jan's unfinished final article, still missing its ending, in a show of solidarity and defiance. after these murders, i think it is a completely new situation and a completely new country. slovakia is a different country than it used to be years ago. the most serious question is if this country is a mafia state and it is up to the prime minister to prove it is not. prime minister fico denies his government is in any way connected to organised crime. he is trying hard to control the political fallout from the scandal

but there are signs that the public mood is turning. the people who have been filling squares across slovakia today were motivated by two emotions. there was sorrow at the death of a young journalist, murdered in his prime at the age ofjust 27 along with his fiancee. but there is also anger here. fury at the slovak authorities at their failure to protect him. this weekend the voters in switzerland will decide whether to keep or abolish the country's licence fee. the ‘billag' is the annual payment which partly funds television and radio. if the referendum is successful — switzerland could become the first european country to abolish direct funding for public broadcasting. the bbc‘s tim allman has more. licence dodgers at watch out. the minister is on the war path! nearly

1 million and a quarter householders do not purchase a license. the licence fee is almost as old as broadcasting. popular in europe although not always popular with the people who pay themselves, it is a way to fund the television watch and the radio we listen to. so if you switch on, be prepared to pay up. however, now in switzerland, that may change. with a referendum that could see the end of the licence fee. translation: today, with the internet, there is no need to state intervention. we can manage without it. we would rather have independent media and abolish this tax. after all, to have a tv tax is like telling a citizen that they are old enough to vote, old enough to pay taxes, but not old enough to choose the funding of media. last year, the

country ‘s licence fee, or billag, ways to 1.3 billion swiss francs, equivalent to nearly $1.5 billion. it accounts for around 75% of the budget of the national broadcaster. it also pays for regional and local broadcasting across the country in the four national languages. translation: if we are not in a position to properly cover political and citizens issues, the country will not be doing well. the challenge here is the capacity to reinvest in an equal way and in solidarity with all the regions. the market will never do that. and that if the debate in a nutshell. should roll casting be purely a commercial enterprise or is there a role for public funding? if switzerland does decide to do away with the billag, will it set a precedent for other

nations? could the days of the licence fee be numbered? its been a tumultuous year for the film industry following the accusations against producer harvey weinsteen. —— weinstein. the actress, heather graham is one of a number of women who accused him of inappropriate sexual behaviour. she's just written and directed her first film about sexism in hollywood. 0ur arts editor will gompertz has been speaking with her. why are we sitting around talking about how sad our lives are? we should be talking about how great we are. half magic is a romcom, in which three women decide to start asserting themselves, to take a stand against the men who are undermining them. i am so relieved that you find me attractive, but when can you read the script that we wrote? heather graham plays a junior film executive whose career is being frustrated by a mean, sexist boss. your boobs are too big. whose interest is focused on her body, not her mind. i wrote this movie because years before that i worked on developing movies that i wanted to get made, women's stories that i wanted to act in and produce and i couldn't get them made. so this movie was my reaction to that.

why couldn't you get them made? people would say that i wasn't a big enough star, that no—one cares about women's stories, that women's movies don't make money. they would say if you want to get a movie made, write about a man. let's make a pact to be with good guys only, guys who treat us great like we deserve. if you think about how many levels that a woman has to get through to get a movie made and seen, you have to go through so many levels of male—dominated businesses. first of all you have to have the idea that you can ever do this, which there's not a lot of role models out there. then you've got to get someone to finance it, which is usually a man. then you have to get someone to distribute it, which is usually a man. then when it comes out, you have to get a bunch of male journalists to not say that the movie sucks. so that you can get to your audience, which is women. so all the different steps that you need to get through to get to women, which hopefully men will watch it too, but you are

mainly going for women. you have to go through like walls and walls of men to get your project out in the world. why did you break up with me? all i wanted to do was love you and mentor you and help you achieve your true potential. i'm sorry, i don't know what to say. i had a business meeting with a guy. i sent in the script. i said, "i want to get this movie made, i want to empower women". we had this business meeting, he doesn't finance the movie. i run into him ata party and he said, "oh, that was so fun when we had that date the other day." the lunch meeting where i asked him to finance my movie. i said, "that wasn't a date, that was a business meeting." how long ago was this? this was like two years ago. and do you think if that happened today it would be different? i think today men are starting to think about their behaviour and they are starting to question if, you know, how they should treat women in the workplace, which is a good thing. will gompertz, bbc news, hollywood. it is good to have her back on our

screens. and you can get in touch with me and most of the team on twitter, i'm @nkemifejika hello again. there is not as much snow falling now and attention turns to the icy conditions. it is still quite treacherous out there for many of us. gradually over the weekend we should slowly see it turn milder, less cold from the south. there will still be a wintry mix of rain, sleet and some snow. that really cold air with high pressure across scandinavia and siberian winds, that has moved away. instead, our weather will be coming in from areas of low pressure spinning to the south of the uk. ahead of that we still have the cold easterly wind for a while across scotland but gradually we will replace it with something a little less cold from the south or south—west. but still bring a wintry mix nevertheless. that is what we have at the moment. it is still cold out there, still frosty at the moment with a widespread frost and given the snow cover and some snow falling in places as well as that earlier freezing rain it will be very icy indeed. as we move through saturday there is still snow falling for awhile across northern england and northern ireland. that peters out.

north of that, snow showers in scotland on that cold easterly wind. the winds are lighter to the south with some sunshine and wet weather developing in the south. focused towards the south—west and into wales, mostly rain but some snow over the hills of wales. at least those temperatures are just getting above freezing. still cold but possibly six or seven across southern parts of england. this is where we have the focus of the wettest weather on saturday evening. rain for the most part but there will be snow over the hills of wales, developing through the midlands over the peak district and onto the pennines as that wetter weather moves north. we still have some cold air around, maybe some frost and some icy patches are quite likely as well. that wintry mix of rain, sleet and mostly hill snow across northern england will move slowly northwards into southern scotland, still some snow showers in the far north of the country. to the south, a bit of sunshine perhaps but not lasting long because we will get these areas of heavy rain developing across parts of wales and then a little snow over the high ground. it is mostly rain. quite heavy in fact.

temperatures are about eight or nine degrees. the northern half of the uk reaching for five, not warm but better than it has been. these weather fronts continue to push their way northwards. everything spinning around areas of low pressure to the south and south—west of the uk. the wind, we lose that easterly and the wind will be lighter. there will be sunshine in the outlook. temperatures will be better than they have been. not warm yet, those numbers are below average for this time of year. sunshine, but also some showers. this is bbc news. the headlines: the eu and canada have pledged counter—measures after donald trump announced tariffs on imports of steel and aluminium. mr trump said trade wars can be good, because the us is losing billions of dollars from existing deals. the international monetary fund has joined global condemnation of the plan. the united nations top human rights official says it's likely war crimes are being committed in the syrian region of eastern ghouta and there must be prosecutions.

hundreds have been killed in the rebel—held enclave in the past 12 days. despite the un calling for a ceasefire, the violence hasn't stopped. severe weather is bringing chaos to large parts of europe. at least 60 people have died in sub—zero temperatures. let's return to the snow that's brought chaos to much of the uk. amid the misery this week for many — stuck in cars,