welcome to bbc news, broadcasting to viewers in north america and around the globe. my name is lewis vaughanjones. our top stories: a test for colombia's historic peace deal — former guerillas face a tough contest in national parliamentary elections. myanmar‘s military is accused of building bases in villages where rohingya muslims were forced off their land. syrian government forces say they've recaptured more than half the rebel enclave of eastern ghouta outside damascus. and the veteran british entertainer, sir ken dodd, dies at the age of 90. two—thirds of votes have now been counted in colombia's congressional elections, seen as a test of a peace deal between the government

and fa rc rebels. presidentjuan manuel santos said the participation of candidates from the former rebel group marked a historic moment for colombian democracy. our correspondent katy watson is following the election in bogota. nearly all of the results are in and the farc has done pretty poorly, in fa ct. the farc has done pretty poorly, in fact. they haven't even got 1% of the vote either in the lower house or the upper house. this isn't a surprise, they were never going to bea surprise, they were never going to be a strong party after more than 50 yea rs of be a strong party after more than 50 years of conflict. there is a very mixed feeling here in colombia as to whether they should be standing for office at all. certainly, these political newcomers are just shown to be political nobody is at the moment. but hugely significant in the country, 50 years of fighting.

what's the feeling that these elections have taken place in this way? the feeling is for many that it was too soon. their role in politics was too soon. their role in politics was part of the peace deal that was agreed with the government in 2016 and people here feel they should have faced their crimes before standing for office. the transitional justice system standing for office. the transitionaljustice system is something that will be starting in the next few weeks but a lot of people feel they should have a nswered people feel they should have answered for the crimes before and then stood for office. that's been then stood for office. that's been the biggest criticism of the peace deal that was struck between the fa rc deal that was struck between the farc and the government. that end in any risk for such poor showing? the right has done very well in these elections and as you have said, is seen as elections and as you have said, is seen as a elections and as you have said, is seen as a bit of a test for the government. the right has criticised the peace deal, a lot of the right voted against the peace deal and thought it was too lenient. there

was a risk they could roll back on some of the agreements made but as president santos has said, there is no going back. it is now going forward. it will be a rough ride, certainly, especially if the right become more powerful and certainly the next few months, there will be presidential elections. the right has got a much stronger hand now and that might change things in the future. the myanmar military is building on razed rohingya villages in rakhine state — according to a new report from amnesty international. ‘a military land grab‘ is how amnesty describes the new structures — which include fences, roads and military bases being built where villages stood. matthew wells is a senior crisis advisor at amnesty international. he spentjanuary and february this year at the refugee camps in bangladesh gathering the testimony and materials upon which amnesty is basing its report. what a new report today shows is that, as the rohingya shelter

in refugee camps there in bangladesh, the myanmar authorities are in effect remaking rakhine state. that areas that used to be rohingya homes, markets and mosques have been bulldozed. farmland has been cleared away. and, in their place, the myanmar authorities have built new infrastructure, including security force spaces, roads, at times villages for non—rohingya ethnic groups. and all of this shows that, as the authorities say that they are ready to start returning rohingya, that in fact every day they are making that far more difficult, by remaking rakhine state. take, for example, there is a village in one township — and our evidence comes not just from testimonies, but what we see on satellite imagery, from photos and videos that have been taken by people still in northern rakhine state. and all that together shows that in this particular village the myanmar military, the security forces, are building an enormous new base that has in effect driven off many of the rohingya

people in that village. they had stayed during the worst period of violence, they stayed as surrounding villages were burnt. but what happened then is the military put flags down marking off an enormous amount of space that used to be farmland for this village. they forcibly evicted people from a particular part of this village, and that has led to hundreds of people from the village going to bangladesh in the last couple of months. and so, as the government says it is preparing for returns, in fact its action show something very different — that it is remaking rakhine state, including new security bases, which makes any form of safe and voluntary return incredibly difficult. legendary british comedian — sir ken dodd — has died at the age of 90. born in liverpool — he was famous for his tickling sticks and his sidekicks — the diddy men. he died just days after being released from hospital — where he was being treated for a chest infection. his publicist described him as one

of the last music hall greats. nick higham looks back at his life and career. he was an old—fashioned variety performer with a unique dash of surrealism to his act. the hair and teeth were a gift but few comedians had of physical or vocal technique to compare with ken dodd. jeronimo! thank you very much. what of beautiful day for going up to count von zeppelin and saying, you will never sell a sausage that size. a merchant's son became a ventriloquist, charttopping singer, tv star and a man of campus catchphrases. how tickled i am, how tickle i am by all this goodwill! what about you, mrs? have you been tickled by good will?

oh, its doddy. hiya doddy, how are you diddling? # tears are all you've left me. # knick knocky knick knock. # knicky knocky knick knack. # ifeel full gertitude! behind the boardy in the banter, he was a private man and a serious student of comic theory. freud said that laugh is a sudden explosion of psychic energy. of course, the trouble with freud was he never played second house friday night at glasgow empire. in 1989, he faced charges of massive tax evasion. he had 20 offshore bank accounts and more than £300,000 hidden around his house. he was acquitted and kept on performing. he helped us laugh for more than a0 years though few people know if he was ever truly happy himself. # happiness! sir ken dodd — who's

died at the age of 90. let's take a look at some of the other stories making the news. te mr trump. whe zergflsefihmfld to a meeting. the venue for this meeting still remains a mystery. politicians in hong kong's pro—democracy camp have won back just two seats in the territory's legislative council at by—elections held on sunday. the result means the pro—democracy bloc has failed to regain the one—third of seats in the council's chamber required to veto legislation proposed by pro—beijing deputies. two people have died after a helicopter carrying six people crashed into

the east river in new york. the fire department said the pilot had managed to free himself. three passengers are in a critical condition in hospital. the aircraft — a eurocopter as 350 — was understood to be carrying people involved in a photo shoot. syrian rebels say they won't surrender. it comes as government forces have captured more than half of a rebel enclave outside the capital damascus. more than 1000 people are believed to have been killed since the area of eastern ghouta came under bombardment on the 18th january. thousands of civilians have been caught up in the violence, as andrew plant reports. syrian army tanks moving into rebel land on the outskirts of the capital. rebel soldiers driven out and their trenches and camps have been left abandoned. in january this year, syrian forces began pounding eastern ghouta.

with towns destroyed, hundreds have been trapped. these people, discovered on sunday morning. translation: we were 200 families. many have fled, but we remained here. the armed groups told us to flee but we refused and we told them that we would stay here. hiding in a basement, sheltering from the bombs above. translation: we waited for you to arrive, now we are safe. the onslaught of airstrikes, barrel bombs and rockets have split the rebels and taken strategic towns, isolating duma and mesraba. but 400,000 civilians liver here too. more than 1,100 killed in the last four weeks, including 200 children. hospitals have been damaged. makeshift medical facilities, overwhelmed. and doctors say they are desperate for supplies. some aid has been delivered —

food to feed a few thousand. so far, no medicine has been allowed to go through to stop injured rebel fighters being treated. the syrian forces state say eastern ghouta must be recaptured, defying global calls for a ceasefire, but a statement issued by the free syrian army so they have taken a decision not to accept their surrender, rebel groups vowing that they will fight on. andrew plant, bbc news. stay with us on bbc news, still to come: grab your dog and your trophy. crufts — the climax of the dog—owners' year — is disrupted by a pair of animal rights protestors. the numbers of dead and wounded defied belief. this, the worst terrorist atrocity

on european soil in modern times. in less than 2a hours then, the soviet union lost an elderly sick leader and replaced him with a dynamic figure 20 years his junior. we heard these gunshots in the gym. then he came out through a fire exit and started firing at our huts. god, we were all petrified. james earl ray, aged 41, sentenced to 99 years and due for parole when he's 90, travelled from memphis jail to nashville state prison in an 8—car convoy. paul, what's it feel like to be married at last? it feels fine, thank you. what are you going to do now? is it going to change your life much, do you think? i don't know really. i've never been married before. this is bbc news.

the latest headlines this hour: votes are being counted in the first elections in colombia since a peace deal was agreed between the government and former farc rebels. hundreds of people in the english city of salisbury, who went to the same restaurant and pub visited by a poisoned former russian spy, have been advised to wash their clothes and possessions. england's chief medical officer says anyone who spent time at the locations should take precautions, but she stressed the risk was extremely low. daniel sandford reports. more surreal and extraordinary scenes in salisbury this afternoon. wearing gas masks and protective clothing, military personnel loading potentially contaminated cars onto trucks. the vehicles, some but not all of them with police markings, were being recovered from a pay—and—display car park behind a church not far from the city centre. it was the attack on yulia

and sergei skripal, with a with a rare and lethal nerve agent last sunday, that led to this huge operation, called 0peration morlop. today, police confirmed that traces of the nerve agent were found in the mill pub, as well as the zizzi restaurant, where the bbc understands the table used by the skripals was so contaminated it had to be destroyed. today, the chief medical officer gave this advice to people who were in the pub and restaurant on sunday afternoon and monday. wash clothing you haven't already, ideally in the washing machine. any items which cannot be washed, and would normally be dry—cleaned, should be double—bagged in plastic until further information is available. wipe personal items such as phones, handbags, and other electronic items with baby wipes, and dispose of them in plastic bags in the bin. wash hard items such as jewellery and spectacles, which cannot go in the washing machine, with warm water and detergent.

steve cooper was in the pub on sunday at exactly the same time as the skripals, and told me that he is now getting worried. certainly, because they haven't revealed what the nerve agent was, and actually what the effect, long—term, on anyone's health could be. so i'd like to know more about that, i'd like to know what precautions i personally can take, rather than just washing my clothes. having potentially already been exposed, what long—term effects for me and my wife, and then using baby wipes to wash my phone and my watch... i don't really think it's going to get rid of a nerve agent. so did the police and other emergency services respond fast enough to last sunday's events? are you satisfied that you escalated this incident quickly enough at the beginning of last week? the machinery, the support, the national advice, the capability and expertise of both national and local partners, was mobilised by monday.

for this ancient, mediaeval city, it has been a bizarre and at times frightening seven days. the bishop of salisbury said this afternoon that what he called the shocking attack had violated their community. but if suspicions prove right, what happened here, the use of a chemical weapon, a nerve agent, to attack two people, is likely to have huge implications for britain's relationship with russia. well, let's get more on our main story. votes are being counted in colombia in an election seen as a test of the peace deal between the government and farc rebels. joining me live via webcam is monica pachon, a professor of politics at the rosario university in bogota. this is hugely significant day. we have former rebels standing as candidates for elections. we know so

far they haven't done particularly well. what do you make of the results so far? i think that the results so far? i think that the results show that the country is highly polarised in the election is showing that the referendum result from 2016 which was trying to validate the process with the people, is still going on. it's the right wing which did really well in the selection in the interparty primary where they got more than 6 million votes. the senator got 6% of the national vote while farc only got 0.4% of the national vote for the senate. so not very many votes asa the senate. so not very many votes as a percentage but of course, as pa rt as a percentage but of course, as part of the deal, they are

guaranteed representation. how will that go down? they have ten reserved seats which are worth votes the people who participated today in elections regularly. i think what is going on is a discussion on what is next. the legislature has waited on a lot of bills that have not been able to pass because of this polarisation and i think the polarisation and i think the polarisation is going to keep going while we see presidential elections come up. very quickly and unfairly, i will put on the spot. how do you think these elections will play out? what is going to happen?” think these elections will play out? what is going to happen? i think the right—wing parties that were the main posters to the peace agreement are doing very well and they were

able to unite behind the central democratic candidate. i think what it looks like it is, the centre—left are very fragmented, but they have to start making some agreements. thank you very much. melanoma is the fourth most common form of cancer in australia and kills five people a day. medical research as there have launched on line test for people, developed from the world's largest study of skin is reported to be highly accurate. to be highly accurate. the annual crufts dog show has been taking place in the city of birmingham.

but the climax of this year's event was temporarily halted after two protesters stormed the venue. they were from an animal rights group that has condemned crufts for the way it encourages certain types of dog breeding. the bbc‘s tim allman reports. chances are, if you love dogs, you almost certainly love crufts. stretching back more than a century, canines of all breeds and sizes compete to be best in show. this year's winner was a 2—and—a—half—year—old whippet named tease. but as she approached the podium, this happened. two protesters emerged from the audience at the national exhibition centre in birmingham. they were quickly chased down and subdued by security staff. no animals or owners were harmed. it is believed they were demonstrating on behalf of the animal rights group peta. it condemns crufts for what it calls "extreme dog breeding". crufts issued a statement

of its own, saying... the response on social media was almost instantaneous. as for the winner, tease, she seemed unfazed by the whole

event — best and calmest in show. tim allman, bbc news. next, it's been a symbol of pride and empowerment. well, now more black people are choosing to wear afro hairstyles. a photo exhibition of young girls in atlanta, in the united states, has attracted lots of attention, and the creative team behind the pictures, is now looking for children in the uk, to be part of their next project. elaine dunkley has the story. it's a celebration of the beauty of black girls, the afro, a symbol of pride. the collection is called afro art, but it's more than that, it's about the acceptance of who you are. awesome. chin up, there we go, perfect. little girls who don't need to use chemical relaxers or have straightened hair to feel that they too are naturally beautiful. in this time i think it is very important when you see beautiful african—american kids with natural

hair and their real selves in that art, it's very inspiring to see for young kids these days, to see that they are beautiful and their natural hair is beautiful and their culture is beautiful, and they don't have to put any extra effort into being who they are. what's the look you are going for? today we are going for harlem renaissance. i love the harlem renaissance period, i think it was a period where african—americans were really powerful. the portraits have gone viral, young black girls in classical poses, regal, elegant, depicted in the way that history often didn't allow. 0thers show the afro as futuristic, a promise of things to come. to see them with their hairstyle this way, with this type of clothing in these types of periods, it's something that hasn't been seen before, it's been a journey for society to see us as beautiful, a lot of girls in the past, they have been sent home for wearing braids or wearing their hair in an afro, and over time,

we have wanted to wear our own hair that grows out of our head. the politics of black hair is deeply rooted in history. the reason for it, you might say, is like a new awareness among black people that their own natural appearances, physical appearance, is beautiful, for so many years, we were told that only white people were beautiful. in the 1960s, the afro emerged during the civil rights movement as a symbol of rebellion, pride and empowerment. once again, the natural hair movement is growing. but there has been controversy, with black stars like solange having their natural hair airbrushed from the covers of magazines. the portraits have stirred conversations around the world. in this salon, in lewisham, in london, the need for positive images in childhood resonates. where i grew up i was always the odd one out because everyone around me was white,

i never saw anyone who had similar hair to mind, it was quite hard. and i really hated my hair. it took such a long time just to have a black disney princess, so i've never grown up seeing images like that when i was a child. once you start seeing positive images of yourself, it will help you as you grow up to love yourself more. 0n social media, these youngsters have become stars, icons of the afro. doing what they do best, being themselves. plenty more on that story and the rest of the day ‘s news on the website. don't forget you can get in touch with me and some of the team on twitter — i'm @lvaughanjones. this is bbc news. well, southern parts of the uk

were fairly unsettled for the second part of the weekend. the best of the dry and brighter weather was further north. but even across the south—west, despite the showers and increasing rain, there were spells of sunshine which broke through. as we head into monday, this area of low pressure will be in control of the weather across england and wales. further north, it should be drier with clear spells. as we head through the course of the night into the early hours of monday, the rain will pep up to become quite heavy across much of england and wales. just nudging into southern parts of scotland. although for northern ireland and scotland, it should be a dry start to monday. quite chilly with mist and fog around but less cold because of the cloud and rain and the wind across england and wales. it looks like a messy morning

commute for england and wales, outbreaks of rain, some quite heavy and turning windy across the south—west of england, towards the channel islands in the afternoon. we will see a line of showers pushing in to western parts of northern ireland. a cooler feel to things across the board. temperatures ranging from 7—11. 0n into tuesday, a ridge of high pressure builds in before this area of low pressure makes inroads for wednesday and thursday to bring a succession of fronts with outbreaks of rain. for tuesday, we will start to lose the low pressure system from the south—east through the morning. and then conditions brighten up. the winds fall lighter and the sun is strong this time of year so it should feel quite decent in the sunny spells although temperatures will still be in single figures for a few. we could see 10 or 11 degrees in a few spots, maybe the odd shower. a ridge of high—pressure breaks down as we head towards wednesday. notice the squeeze isobars become tightly packed together. winds coming up from the south, always a mild direction.

we start off on a cool note across the eastern side of the country with the best of the sunshine. further west, wind will be picking up, cloud, outbreaks of rain for northern ireland around irish sea coasts. further east, it should stay largely dry and given some sunshine, and a mild feel, temperatures into the low teens celsius, even ten degrees for glasgow and belfast. for the week ahead, fairly unsettled with a lot of cloud and quite windy. a bit of rain at times and then turning a bit colder, particularly towards the weekend as colder air moves in off the near continent. this is bbc news — the headlines. votes are being counted in congressional elections in colombia. it's being seen as a test of a peace deal between the government and the former guerrillas of the farc — now a left—wing political party. conservative parties — bitterly opposed to the peace agreement — hope to win an absolute majority. satellite photographs released by the human rights group amnesty international suggest the myanmar military has been

building bases in villages where rohingya muslims have been forced off their land. amnesty called it a ‘massive land grab‘. myanmar‘s government has not yet responded to the report. the veteran british entertainer sir ken dodd has died at the age of 90. his stage debut was in 1954 and he continued to perform until last year. he was famous for his ability to reel offjokes for shows regularly lasting as long as four hours. he had been ill and married his long—term partner on friday. now on bbc news, here's shaun ley with dateline london.