the balance of power, following the italian general election. no political grouping is thought to have won an outright majority but five star, which was established less than ten years ago, has emerged as the single biggest party. the united states has issued its strongest condemnation yet of the syrian government assault on the rebel—held enclave of eastern ghouta. president bashar al assad said the offensive would continue and dismissed assessments of the humanitarian situation in the enclave as ridiculous lies. the annual session of china's parliament, the national people's congress, has opened in the capital beijing. the parliament is set to endorse the constitutional amendments that will remove the two—term limit for the presidency. this will allow president xi jinping to stay in power indefinitely. now on bbc news, the week in parliament. now on bbc maia the week in p theresa t. now on bbc maia the week in p theresa may is urged to lalz‘azé-a-zi-zséa- 15555552 u: h: -—;j +-

set up 2125925? 15555552 u: h: -—;j 5- set up more 5.42.5925? tits-aria: u: h: -—;j 5- set up more details of her brexit strategy. we will bring back control of our borders, law and money. but labour says the government is in chaos. when is she going to put the country 's chaos. when is she going to put the country '5 interest if chaos. when is she going to put the country 's interest if all the outsize egos of her cabinet? and the pressure on ministers to make sure they get control of some of the powers coming back to the uk after brexit. there is a call from a ban on live animal exports and is a facial recognition technology of big brother threat? the chinese alabart the site has introduced a system whereby you can smile to pay. but first, the acceptance of the uk cannot have its cake and eat it was just one of the messages from theresa may as she set out the details of what that uk wants for

brea kfast. details of what that uk wants for breakfast. on friday she laid down i've tests are a future agreement with the european union, including whether any deal respects the results of the referendum of 2017, protects jobs and strengthens the ties of the four nations of the uk. she will make a statement on monday afternoon. another chance for mps to question her over where she sees wrecks it going. on wednesday, jeremy corbyn taunted theresa may over a recent ministerial get—together at her country retreat which aim to thrash out her government strategies. mr speaker the prime minister a merged to promise a brexit of ambitious diversions. what on earth ambitious divergence will mean and practise? we will bring back control our borders and our money. that is in direct contrast

with the labour party is positioned, that is in direct contrast with the labour party's positioned, want to be in a, and do whatever it takes that would mean giving away control of our laws, our borders, and our money. and that would be a betrayal of the british people! the government is so divided that the prime minister is incapable of delivering a coherent and decisive plan for brexit! so when is she going to put the countries interests before the outsized egos of her own cabinet? jeremy corbyn, well one problem that's proving particularly tricky in the brexit talks is how to take the uk out of the eu's customs union while still avoiding checks on the irish border.

in the week the eu put forward a plan for a common regulatory area for the whole island of ireland, which would avoid what's known as a hard border with checkpoints between the north and south. but at prime minister's questions, theresa may made it clear that proposal wasn't acceptable to her. if implemented it undermines, the integrity of uk, and no uk prime minister could ever agree to it. the snp's westminster leader picked up on the irish border issue, and a leaked letter from the foreign secretary boris johnson to theresa may. in it he said the government should prevent the borderfrom becoming "significa ntly" harder, a comment that came hot on the heels of a bbc interview where he'd compared the issue to crossing between london boroughs and the use of the congestion charge! the foreign secretaries letter, says he cannot get to grips with the most fundamental issues of brexit. the foreign secretary, compared crossing the irish

border to going between camden and westminster! frankly, you could not make this stuff up! this iss a uk government, that is prepared to put in jeopardy a good five—year agreement! does the prime minister agree with the foreign secretary who is making the united kingdom a laughing stock? theresa may didn't mention boris johnson specifically in her reply but insisted the government was committed to the good friday agreement. but mps wanted the foreign secretary to explain himself directly to them. so, straight after pmqs, labour put down what's known as an urgent question asking him to come to the despatch box. but as you might be able to see mrjohnson left the chamber, provoking much shouting from the opposition side. the dup's westminster leader used the opportunity to speak up and back theresa may in rejecting the deal proposed by the eu. it is ironic is it not,

that those who complain hardest about a hard border between the irish republican army island, have today welcomed proposals from the eu which would create a hard border between them. to use the belfast agreement or most specifically, to thwart exit in shape it in the way, it is outrageous and disgraceful! we are not going to rip our nation further apart. we not only to have a pragmatic approach, but in honest approach. and the only solution to a hard border is, membership of the custom union, mr speaker they will get there in the end. anna soubry. of course the irish border isn't the only big unresolved issue. the governments in wales and scotland have real concerns too. for example, what might brexit mean for regulating welsh farming or the scottish fishing industry?

control over agriculture and fisheries is technically devolved. but these powers are currently exercised from brussels. once the uk leaves the eu these powers will be heading to the uk. but where will they go? the welsh and scottish governments claim that westminster might try to grab them. the cabinet office minister david lidington tried to reassure the doubters. the vast majority of power is returning, will start off in edinburgh, cardiff and belfast, and led there be no doubt this will be a very big change to the eu withdrawal bill that is before parliament and a significant step forward in these negotiations. but both the welsh and scottish governments think that's not good enough and responded by introducing continuity bills, in effect making sure those responsibilities go directly to them, not westminster.

bad weather cancelled the st david's day debate in the commons. but we thought we'd stage our own. first i asked plaid cymru's westminster leader, liz saville roberts, why she thought westminster would hold on to the powers and not pass them on. why would the government does not allow these powers to go straight to cardiff for edinburgh? if we are equals, with the nations of the uk, we should be owed to discuss that within the parliament so we can come into an agreement together. according to our needs. i am joined by steven doughty and joined by a webcam by david davis. these powers are going to affect people for years to come.

shouldn't they have a say on them from day one? they will have a say from day one and they will have. those powers are currently in brussels and they are going to come back to london where they will be decided upon by a british government made up of mps from england but also wales, scotland and northern ireland so those powers are already coming back to the united kingdom. it will already have a much greater say to how these laws are made. and in the short term, maybe not immediately but in the period of the next two years, many of the powers will be divulged straight down towards cardiff bay or scotland and northern ireland. everyone is going to mark powers as a result. but that's the majors ticking point, eventually those powers will go to scotland and wales, why can't they go straightaway? there is not one single thing that they can do at the moment that it won't be going to do after brexit.

at the moment that it won't be going to do after brexit. we are not taking any powers away from belfast, scotland, nowhere else. mo powers have been taken away and more powers will be going to them. we need to ensure that we don't have, if you like, four different nations all doing their own thing and that would undermine the single market in the uk and it is such an irony that all of these people, i respect steven doughty and other mps who say we need to be a part of this equal market. if we have a situation where they have different agricultural policies we will lose the single market in the uk. it sounds unreasonable. —— it sounds reasonable. the uk government had plenty of time during this process to resolve the issues with the welsh and scottish governments. and the discussions have come to a stalemate at this time. the welsh government has had to set out a continuity bill to try to keep things going because they haven't come to this agreement and that is not the situation we want to be in.

we don't want to end up back in the supreme court arguing about these powers. the powers that have been given to scotland and wales have been in place since 1999 and it is established they have powers in those areas and that they would get stuck in westminster and grab back by some ministers is not an acceptable situation. you talked there about these continuity bills, wouldn't everyone be better off trying to sort out and negotiate with the government at westminster rather than going for this nuclear option of having a continuity bill and making more confusion and as you say, more potential to turn up in the courts? we have raised this problem since day one and i work closely with my colleagues and national assembly and from snp and elsewhere. we agree that this is about respecting devolution and the different powers that the government and united kingdom have in keeping the constitutional stability here in the uk in the uk government has not responded adequately to that. using conservative scottish mps agreeing that this is not

an adequate situation. and they have not come forward. the chaos seeing or whether they are grabbing back the powers and hold them in westminster, neither of those are acceptable. isn't there a problem for the government that it is going to look like it is walking roughshod over devolution, if it hangs onto the powers it is in trouble. at the continuity bill goes through it is also in trouble. whatever the government does, and no matter how far is it traced to support the welsh assembly and scottish parliament, leaders of those institutions are not going to support brexit, we are not taking any powers away, we are taking powers from brussels. but that is a wonderful thing, we're taking this powers from brussels and back to the uk parliament were welsh mps will have a say over it in the welsh mps will bring it down to cardiff. that is respecting the result of the brexit referendum in wales. that is respecting the result of the brexit referendum in wales.

last ten seconds, would you make of that? he is incorrect. we voted for the wales act and this is an intent to claw back the powers and ukip in the welsh assembly are backing the welsh government on this and it is this silly route that we don't need to have. it is not about walking brexit and it is respecting the powers of the governments in the uk government should do that. david tc davies and stephen doughty there. david davies and stephen doughty there. now, i hear you ask, what's been happening in the wider world of politics this week? duncan smith with our countdown. a wintry week at westminster and the heating failed

at a late—night sitting in the house of lords, prompting peers to wrap up warm. four. welsh nationalist mps are backing manchester city boss, pep guardiola, for wearing a pro—catalan ribbon at the cup final. he was charged by the fa for promoting a political message. plaid cymru mps tabled an early motion praising his stance. three. back in the lords, a the quick thinking doorkeeper saved the day on wednesday. business can't end if the mace is in place. two. most fashionable subject for a speech this week, brexit, as seen on monday, tuesday, wednesday, thursday, and friday. one. we return to the weather for our top story. and the snow at westminster inspired these images on social media. # five, four, three, two, one. duncan smith with our countdown. now let's take a look at some other westminster news in brief: the international development

secretary is considering stopping uk aid for a number of charities, after they failed to provide assurances over safeguarding to her department. penny mordaunt had set a deadline for the information, following the scandal surrounding sexual misconduct by aid agency workers. a number of organisations unbelievably, mr speaker, have not replied. we are following up. but without compelling justification, they will have lost our confidence and we will consider whether it is right to continue their funding. the government's announced it's abandoning the next stage of the leveson inquiry into press intrusion, set up in the wake of the phone hacking scandal. the culture secretary argued the industry had changed and he reminded mps that the first phase had cost £48 million. i have informed sir brian that we are formally closing the inquiry. but we will take action to safeguard the lifeblood of our democratic discourse and tackle the challenges our media face today,

not a decade ago. hear, hear. this announcement conveniently timed to be buried under a flurry of snow is a disappointment. a breach of trust and a bitter blow to the victims of press intrusion. but it is not in any way a surprise. uk millennials are on track to be the most overweight generation since records began, health experts say. based on population trends, more than seven in every ten people born between the early 1980s and the mid—90s will be too fat by the time they reach middle age. five—year—olds are now eating their own body weight in sugar every year, obesity is the second largest cause of cancer and it reduces life expectancy up to ten years. what's needed are mandatory reformulation targets for reduction in added sugar, fat, and calories across all products, as well as common—sense policies directed at early years.

we have seen action, what we will see in the spring is evidence of whether or not it has had the desired affect and if it hasn't, we have left all options open to take more if required. the electricals retailer maplin collapsed in the week, putting two and half thousand jobs at risk and on the same day a further 3000 jobs were under threat when the uk's biggest toys retailer toys—r—us went into administration. in the lords, there was a dire warning that trading in britain's shops could decline by nearly a quarter in the next year. there is a crisis on the high street. can the minister tell us what the government is doing to recognise the pressure the internet is putting on physical shops? we found some {2.3 billion and cutting business rates and found a degree of fairness to the system.

there are limits to how far one can go and one has to accept that a lot of what is happening is a result of what the consumers want. mps debated a call to ban live farm animal exports after more than 90,000 people signed an online petition. ministers are said to be considering the change. currently, live animal exports from britain are controlled by eu regulation. in 2012, a0 sheep had to be euthanized after being crammed into a shrub. —— truck. just last week, sheep spent four days without having access to food or water are being transported to turkey. let this be one of the great steps as britain takes back control from the european union, because as gandhi once said, "the greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated." we should not be banning live exports because if we do that, we will lose control

through the irish border and potentially, the animals that we're seeking to improve the welfare of will end up travelling from southern ireland to spain or france, journeys that are considerably longer than they need to be. mps have been increasingly concerned about the plight of the rohingya people fleeing myanmar, formerly known as burma. now the chairman of the international development committee says it's been blocked from making a fact—finding trip to the country after publishing a report on the crisis. yesterday our passports were returned to us without visas and clearly, the failure of the burmese government to grant these visas simply prevents us from doing ourjob as a select committee, which is to oversee how overseas development assistance is spent in country. i understand, mr speaker, that it was aung san suu kyi herself

who blocked the approval of our visas. they ave indicated three reasons for that refusal, first that there is an extended public holiday in burma and secondly that access to rakhine state remains restricted for security reasons, and finally, and i think this was something that was brought up in the rest release yesterday evening, finally, they were unhappy that individual members had signed a letter calling for the senior general of the burmese army to be held to account for the military behaviour in rakhine. in the lords, there was a call for better regulation of facial recognition technology by the security services and police. biometric software can identify someone by comparing a photo or video to a stored face—print. it's used for security, but also increasingly by private companies. one peer, who said she'd been arrested but not charged while attending peaceful protests, raised concerns. this technology is being used with a database full of illegal images of innocent people,

and i include myself in that number. it seems that the facial recognition technology is using the police national database, which contains tens of thousands of people who were never charged, nor convicted of an offence. it's six years since the high court ruled that the policy of retaining the mugshots of innocent people was unlawful. but the police still do it, and they still upload them onto the police national database. the government's solution in 2017 was to allow individuals to write to the police asking to be deleted. thatjust isn't good enough. although it's still at a very early stage of development as far as its use in the criminaljustice system is concerned, i have no doubt that it will eventually be accepted by the police and the courts as a quick and reliable method of eliminating the innocent from suspicion, as much as for identifying and convicting the guilty. but he added there were no national

or international standards for how to implement its use. these techniques are extremely powerful, but they are out of the bag. the train has left the station, or whichever metaphor you want to use on this concern. the chinese alibaba site has introduced a system whereby you can smile to pay. as far as i know, it's china, different of course, i am not aware than any similar system is being adopted in the uk or in other western countries, but the point is that the technique is there and it is actually only a matter of time before non—state actors start to use these techniques far more widely than is currently the case. one peer and former m15 chief stressed the benefits in counter terrorism and was impressed with a system he'd experienced. i was going into a building

the other day and there was a facial recognition system at the door, and it immediately and accurately identified me as myself and was able to do it on the basis of a 12—year—old photograph taken from the internet. so this is notjust about police custody records, you can do it without any of that stuff and a lot of people are doing so in the private sector. so for example, the durham police force are now using image camera to make a troublemaker database, which is totally against the principles of data protection and against the spirit of not using this type of technology for intelligence gathering tools. but as there are is no legal status and no oversight, they are getting away with it. the home office minister said biometric data was critically important in law enforcement. my lords, maintaining public trust and public confidence is absolutely

key, achieving this needs a more open approach to deployment and development of new technologies. we reremain committed to nesuring our use of biometrics including provided to block enforcement is legal, transparent and robust. she also said the government was committed to creating a framework so that organisations could innovate with biometric data in an ethical and transparent way. finally, march the first is the meteorological start of spring, which might have been a little hard to believe over the last few days, but it's also st david's day, and a chance for a few non—welsh speakers to have a go at the traditional greeting. can i wish all members... i am told that's happy saint david's day for all welsh speakers. and how about the scottish accent?

and here is how it should be done. speaks welsh. but there was some bad news for those wanting more talk of st david's day. when the best from the east takes meets storm emma, one of the victims of the victims of the house will be the welsh members, the debate on saint david's day has been cancelled so they can travel home safely. the weather intruding on commons business once more. something pete wishart was keen to explore, sort of. there are two items of business, the beast from the east, and the foreign secretary, one is a white out that causes damage wherever it goes

and the other is the beast from the east. pete wishart. and that's it from me for now. but do join lucy grey on bbc parliament, on monday night at 11pm, for a full round up of the day at westminster. but for now from me, alicia mccarthy, good bye. hello. thankfully, conditions are slowly going to improve across all portions of the british isles in the coming week. things turning a little milder. it will be an unsettled weak weather but there will be some further snow mostly but not exclusively on the hills of northern

britain. it will be an unsettled week thanks to that area of low pressure but around it, we have already seen relatively mild air trying to get into the southern counties of england and wales. as that moves up over the snowfields to the north, mr fogg will be a problem over the first part of monday. longer spells of brain for southern england and wales. then we will bring moisture in from the north sea, to turn to snow across the high ground of scotland. with that area of pressure, it will be an unsettled week but at least the weather for many parts of the british isles is going to be a good deal kinder. welcome to bbc news, broadcasting to viewers in north america and around the globe. my name is nkem ifejika. our top stories: mo outright winner in italy's general election — but the anti—establishment five star movement says it holds the balance of power. as syrian government forces advance into eastern ghouta, president assad insists the offensive will go on.

delegates at china's annual parliamentary session are expected to rubber stamp a proposal allowing president xijinping to rule for life. and — lights — cameras — action — the oscars are under way — sam rockwell and alisonjanney among the early winners.