this is bbc world news today. our top stories: it's a change that could revolutionise football. video assistant referees are set to be used at the world cup in russia. president trump says he will tax european car imports in the latest spat over trade. the philippines government warned her not to investigate alleged police killings but this un investigator says she will not be intimidated. the threats have been misogynist and sexualised but they will not silence me. and on the eve of the oscars — we look at how film schools are trying to cut out gender discrimination. hello and welcome to world news today.

in one of the biggest shake—ups in football for years, it looks like the world cup in russia will use video technology to assist referees. the system, known as var, lets referees review controversial incidents like disputed goals or penalties. the body which sets the rules for world football has voted to approve it after a series of top—level trials — even though some of the decisions have proved controversial. here's our sports news reporter richard conway. from diego maradona's hand of god to injustice in the biggest games. football has long opposed technology to help officials make the important decisions. but after an historic vote, all that has changed, with video assistant referees, or var, as it's known, finally given the go—ahead. var is good for football, it's good for refereeing. it brings more fairness in the game. and for these reasons

we have decided to approve. var will be used to correct errors relating to goals, penalties, straight red cards and mistaken identity. nearly 1000 games have formed part of a two—year var experiment. tottenham's match against rochdale last week was included in the trial but was criticised given lengthy delays while the referee reviewed incidents, leading to claims technology is killing the atmosphere and pace of the match. but one of the architects of the new system told me there is evidence video assistants are working. 0n clear error situations, the accuracy of the referee decisions went from, initially, 93% up to around 99%. of course there are grey areas where an incident could be a penalty, could not be a penalty, and they will always remain grey areas. var will almost certainly now be

used at the summer's world cup although some premier league clubs have opted to delay its implementation. lawmakers say there is still work to be done. how to maintain this spectacle has to be worked on but we also need the confidence to sell it to people. it isa confidence to sell it to people. it is a small change to make a big difference. football's leaders want to eliminate game—changing mistakes but as the trials have shown, anyone who thinks technology is going to stop controversy may want to think again. with us now is richard jolly, football writer for the guardian, espn, and others. hejoins me from bolton in north—west england. what do you think, good thing or a bad thing? i think on balance a good thing. in this country the trial has

not gone entirely swimmingly and there are a lot of doubters but the survey they conducted as notjust been based on england but a lot more games, it has been trialled in italy and germany and in the confederations cup and they say it is between 93% and 99% success rate using var on big decisions and i think technology has been coming for a while and once it comes, it doesn't get removed, it is just where you implement it. the data seems to point in that direction, it would remove some of those infamous injustices, you might think back tonight 1986 and diego maradona and the hand of god but doesn't take the emotion out of the game, the speed at the heart of it? it has done to

some other degree in some trials in this country and the critics include football managers, mauricio pochettino said that after the totte n ha m pochettino said that after the tottenham game last week, huddersfield manager david wagoner said that after var was used in their game against manchester united, even though it benefited their team so the crucial thing in that respect is the time it takes because we have seen games where we had about eight minutes added onto the first half in the tottenham and rochdale games and the liverpool west brom game, which is far too many, so west brom game, which is far too many, so we west brom game, which is far too many, so we need those decisions to be made quicker and referees and var officials to be clearer about what they reviewed rather than taking time out of the game where it doesn't need to be taken. would it

be better if we could hear the conversations going on? may be part of the frustration is that there is this silence while people wait while the referee puts his finger to his ear. if we could hear what is going on with that make it better?” ear. if we could hear what is going on with that make it better? i think it would. fans are looking for greater understanding. in rugby we hear referees talking and that helps understand the decisions. the other thing, which people seem to understand, is that there needs to be communication with fans in the stadium so they know quite a decision has been made because at the moment we have not had that. i'm sorry to interrupt you but we're up against a clock of our own, but we appreciate your thoughts. thank you. donald trump has stepped up his war of words over trade tariffs. he's now threatened to slap a tax on car imports from the european union.

it follows mr trump's call for heavy tariffs on foreign steel — a move that's been criticised by world leaders. chris buckler reports from washington. steel is essential to america's economy. but inside the us for many years, it has been an industry in decline. president trump blames cheap imports. our trade deficit essentially equals the cumulative trade surplus of the rest of the world and that is no longer acceptable. 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, mexico and canada. we are impressing upon the american administration, the unacceptable nature of these proposals that are going to hurt them every bit as much as they will hurt us and we are confident the president announced his plan for 25% tariffs for steel and 10% for aluminium at a meeting

with industry executives but it came as a surprise to many. apparently, including some inside the white house where details of the policy are still being worked out. european leaders made a point of singling out the most american of products. translation: we will impose tariffs on harley—davidson, on bourbon, on bluejeans, levis 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. president trump himself doesn't seem worried, tweeting, trade wars are good and easy to win. words probably not intended for the international community, but instead communities in the former industrial heartland of the us where some old steel mills lie derelict. it was here president trump found huge support with his america first message.

however, it's the modern supply steel that worries many businesses here as well as abroad. after some time, given the plaintiffs will exert on the us economy, he will have to back down. is it tomorrow or six months or a year from now? is it tomorrow or six months or a yearfrom now? i don't know. they are concerned. their costs will rise with tariffs and that could prove to be the hard truth of this protectionist policy. let's take a look at some of the other stories making the news. thousands of uk homes are still without electricity, and motorists and rail passengers face continuing disruption, as the uk struggles with the bitter weather. snow drifts are blocking some major roads and many rural communities remain cut off. the us secret service says a man is reported to have shot himself outside the white house in washington. no—one else was injured in the incident.

president trump is currently away, at his mar—a—lago estate in florida. the funeral has taken place in slovakia of the murdered investigative journalist jan kuciak. hundreds of mourners attended the ceremony in the village of stiavnik, a day after the burial of his fiancee who was shot dead at the same time. mr kuciak‘s last article focused on alleged ties between the italian mafia and officials. the government of the philippines has warned the united nations‘ special rapporteur on human rights not to try to investigate alleged abuses. a presidential spokesman claimed agnes callamard was biased. activists say president rodrigo duterte's war on drugs has killed as many as 12,000 people. a little earlier i spoke to agnes callamard who gave me her reaction to the government's comments. they have made those comments for a

while now. it has become more threatening in recent days, probably asa threatening in recent days, probably as a reaction to the human rights council happening in geneva now. the threats have included throwing me into a river with fish and threats have been very sexist, misogynist, sexualised, the unacceptable and we should not normalise this kind of language but one thing is for sure, they will not silence me. the government in manila say they don't wa nt to government in manila say they don't want to be prejudged and in reference to that they are talking about your comments about extrajudicial killings that you have made in the past. you accept that you have to some extent made your mind up on what is going on in the

philippines? absolutely not, i a lwa ys philippines? absolutely not, i always referred to as alleged executions. i have spoken about the numerous allegations i have received, including here in geneva through numerous communications from the philippines. i have not shown any bias, i have responded to my mandate which is to call on the government to provide information about how they deal with those allegations, what investigations they have undertaken. as far as i know there has been no impartial official investigation into the 12,000 killings that they have admitted, they have admitted about 4000 killings. i have not received any investment —— any information about investigations they have taken. all my questions have been

based on the un human rights standard. they are not about bias is but about asking the government to provide me with the information that iam provide me with the information that i am entitled to ask them. if you are not allowed to go in your official capacity, where does that leave the investigation? what can you do? beside me there are a number of other mechanisms. we need to highlight the fact that the international criminal court announced it would take a preliminary investigation into those killings on the basis that they may amount to crimes against humanity. a number of member states have called on the un to undertake an investigation into those extrajudicial alleged killings. the un investigator determined to probe

killings in the philippines. still to come... the results of the top matches as liverpool take on newcastle. first the plate slid gently off restau ra nt ta bles, first the plate slid gently off restaurant tables, then the tables chairs and people crashed sideways and downwards. it wasjust chairs and people crashed sideways and downwards. it was just a chairs and people crashed sideways and downwards. it wasjust a matter of seconds as the ferry lurched onto its side. on the remote pacific atoll, the americans have successfully tested a weapon whose explosive force dwarfed that of the bomb dropped on hiroshima. explosive force dwarfed that of the bomb dropped on hiroshimalj explosive force dwarfed that of the bomb dropped on hiroshima. i had heard the news earlier, it went bang. the constitutional rights of

the citizens of the united states should be tested, so they don't get their heads broken. does it bother you? it does bother me but i think we will be all right. welcome back. this is bbc world news today. a change that could revolutionise football. video assistant referees are set to be used at the world cup in russia. president trump says he will tax european car imports in the latest spat over trade. the world's biggest investment management firm is stepping up pressure on companies that make and sell guns after the florida school shooting. blackrock says it may offer investors the choice of not investing in gun firms. it follows the decision by a number of companies to reduce their links to the arms industry.

with me for more on this is catherine howarth. catherine is the ceo of share action, that promotes responsible investment to serve communities. is this actually new? blackrock and many other companies offer are screened protected funds, ethical funds. it is new baker's blackrock are saying that in addition to providing consumers of its investment product with a chance to investment product with a chance to invest without buying gun companies, it will use its large shareholder power to push those companies to adopt more responsible practices and thatis adopt more responsible practices and that is fantastic because blackrock is the biggest fund manager in the world, probably the most powerful company because it holds the shares

in every other company in every sector, and earlier this year the ceo, larry fink, wrote to all the companies in their portfolio saying, we expect you to show how you make a positive contribution to society, then along comes this latest shocking event in february, 17 children mown down, and bc blackrock saying, we will be an active shareholder and will have a dialogue with these companies and we have the voting power to back that up, so thatis voting power to back that up, so that is a very positive development. a huge wall street company, does it affect that muscle? blackrock has been very cautious about using its power but it recognises that consumers want that. especially in the case of gun control, but many

social issues, we are seeing deadlocked politically and we realise we can vote with our money and in so far as our pension funds and in so far as our pension funds and investment funds have holdings in the company is doing things we're not happy about, there is a chance to make a positive difference. do you think it is time for activist investors to try to invest in gun companies and affect change internally? that would be an interesting development. if there are shareholder resolutions, then blackrock will have an interesting question on how they cast their votes at those resolutions. it has been good talking to you. let's get the sport now. mo salah scored for a seventh game in a row to help liverpool go second in the premier league. they beat newcastle and their former

boss rafa benitez 2—0 at anfield. liverpool had to wait until the 40th minute to make a breakthrough thanks to salah's 31st goal of the season. —— 32nd. sadio mane doubled the scoreline early in the second half. the defeat and other results see newcastle slip to 16th in the table, two points above the relegation zone. you always try to improve things when you see them but you have to score in the right moment and keep a clean sheet, so 2—0 is a fantastic result, if you asked me two weeks ago what i wished for against west ham and newcastle i would say twice 1—0 so i will buy it immediately. so now it is even better, completely happy. burnley had their first win since december, beating everton. adelaide riyad mahrez equaliser gave leicester a win at bournemouth. —— a draw. swansea are up to 13th, rising

four places because of their win against west ham. west brom at the bottom off the table, they lost at watford. juventus have reduced the gap to leaders napoli to just one points. napoli lost 3—1 at home to third placed roma. juventus will have a game in hand once napoli finished so just have a game in hand once napoli finished sojust a have a game in hand once napoli finished so just a point against the top two. real madrid are hoping to bounce back from their latest defeat inla bounce back from their latest defeat in la liga. sevilla beat atletico bilbao 2—0, one of the highlights from spain. and plenty of eyes on brooklyn for the fight between dion tape welder and luis ortiz of cuba.

one of them will be british fighter anthonyjoshua, who one of them will be british fighter anthony joshua, who if one of them will be british fighter anthonyjoshua, who if he wins his own boat later in the month will face the winner. nobody that he has faced has been like me, ready to knock his head off and do all the things i am ready to do and he knows that and when you're knocking eve ryo ne that and when you're knocking everyone off like that, you will have concerns as a fighter. australia have taken control of the first test against south africa in durban. the visitors have taken a substantial lead. a half century from opener cameron bancroft helped the tourists take that lead beyond the 400 mark. captain steve smith also chipping in south africa with a mountain to climb, australia finishing the day on 213—9, a lead of 402 runs. england have taken a 2—1 lead in their best of five odi series with new zealand after a thrilling match in wellington. the hosts set just 235 for victory and despite a century

from their captain kane williamson, the black caps struggled to get on top of the run rate after a middle order collapse. game three is in dunedin on wednesday. marcel hirscher has won the men's world cup giant slalom title with a race to spare at kranjska gora in slovenia. the olympic giant slalom champion from austria dominated the penultimate event of the season giving him an unbeatable 125—point in the standings over norwegian rival henrik kristoffersen. it was hirscher‘s fourth successive giant slalom title and fifth in total. only ingemar stenmark won the trophy more times — eight. and that's all the sport for now. thank you, hugh. whoever is victorious at the oscars in sunday, there's no doubt the ceremony will very different to previous years. the exposure of harvey weinstein and the metoo campaign have seen to that. will gompertz has been to talk to young artists and technicians to find out how they view the future.

ijust i just have to figure ijust have to figure out how i see this... we are on set with a group of postgraduate students from the usc school of cinematic arts in los angeles. they are making a film for the post harvey weinstein iraq, exploring how an encounter between an aspiring actress and a milk producer results in lines being crossed. i have plenty of stories of my own work in hollywood that are in line with the me to movement and i wa nted line with the me to movement and i wanted to, that's the area i know most about so i wanted to put a story in the business i know most about. do you think things are changing? i'm cautiously optimistic. i think the pendulum has swung in the other direction and needs to

find its way to the middle where we can make some significant change because right now it's sort of, you know... it's a bit of a panic situation. at this point what worries me is still people being judged for speaking out because it's such a grey area and because you don't want to build a bad reputation when you're starting your career, especially because it's such a financially risky industry to go into. if you say the wrong thing or paint something in the wrong light, that jeopardises paint something in the wrong light, thatjeopardises your paint something in the wrong light, that jeopardises your well—being paint something in the wrong light, that jeopardises your well— being and that jeopardises your well— being and thatis that jeopardises your well— being and that is scary. how do you change that? we're trying to figure that out. all this stuff is happening as

we speak. how long will it take to turnit we speak. how long will it take to turn it around? probably a while. i would hope that by the time my career is ending that it would be maybe a little more equal but i'm not sure if that's realistic. so you think it's at least a 40 year turnaround. i think so. the times up campaigners will not be happy with that. they are lobbying for equal male and female representation on film sets within two years and that will require some serious action. and we are at the oscars on sunday, so and we are at the oscars on sunday, so tune in for full coverage. you've been watching bbc world news today. thanks forjoining me.

welcome to our latest look on what is left for the rest of the weekend weather prospects. you will be relieved to hear that the cold snap is showing signs of freezing, —— easing. at least, given the dominance of that area of low pressure, rather than the scandinavian high—pressure and fed in that cold air over the past week or so, temperatures slowly will gradually rise across all parts of the british isles. these scenes will become but a memory, at least some people have had the opportunity of rather than slogging through the still drifts but enjoying what that snow can bring. overnight, we will find more snow gradually easing its way out

of the midlands and the heart of wales, further north, this is an area of continuous snow. not particularly heavy but it will add to those accumulation and further snow showers ahead of that on a cold night across northern parts. the first signs of that milder air already tucking into the southern counties of england and wales. you should be aware that if you are on the move first up on sunday morning, there could be a problem on untreated surfaces with ice. especially across the northern part of britain. through the morning and into the afternoon, the showers will be watery rather than wintry across the south—west, transferring east, and further north, a matter of snow for the most part but slowly through the course of the day, with temperatures picking up already, you will find the snow levels rising. the sporting fixtures, such as they are, man city versus chelsea, there shouldn't be a massive issue, temperatures

around 6 degrees or so. we will find those temperatures lifting during the course of the week, that unsettled look, feeling less cold and the risk of snow will become confined to the hills and there you will see eventually double figures prevailing across the southern half of britain, temperatures on the up even further north. this is bbc world news. the headlines. world football's world rule—making body has approved the use of var, letting officials use tv pictures if foul play or a mistaken decision. it is set to be used in the world cup in russia. donald trump has stepped up his war of words over trade tariffs. he has threatened to slap a tax on car imports from the eu. his call for ta riffs imports from the eu. his call for tariffs on foreign steel has been criticised by world leaders. a senior un human rights official says she will not be intimidated by the philippine government in her attem pts philippine government in her atte m pts to

philippine government in her attempts to investigate thousands of killings in the president's or on drawers. she has been denied an official visit. the funeral has taken place in slovakia ephemeral investigative journalist yonkers yak. hundreds of