tonight at ten: a big step on the road to brexit, as broad agreement is reached on the uk's transition period. relief after a weekend of intensive talks as britain sees opportunities ahead, but the eu warns of major issues yet to be resolved. the deal we struck today, on top of that agreed in december, should give us confidence that a good dealfor the united kingdom and the european union is closer than ever before. translation: a decisive step remains a decisive step. but we're not at the end of the road. no one in westminster bridge tends this is the end, but in government tonight, sighs of relief that the brexit talks have cleared this hurdle. we'll have more reaction. we'll consider the unresolved question of the irish border and the dismay in britain's fishing industry. also tonight: investigators widen their search in the spy poisoning case, as international chemical weapons experts arrive in the uk. the minicab service, uber,

suspends all tests of self—driving cars after a woman in arizona is killed in a collision. doctors take a major step towards curing macular degeneration, the most common form of blindness in the uk. and, following a suspected drink—driving crash, the itv presenter, ant mcpartlin, goes back into treatment and steps down from his television work. coming up on sports day on bbc news, britain's winter pa ralympian coming up on sports day on bbc news, britain's winter paralympian ‘s have returned home having reached their pregames target of seven medals. good evening.

britain and the european union have reached broad agreement on a transition period after brexit. but there are still important issues to be resolved. in today's documents, highlighted in green is what's been agreed. in yellow, what's close to agreement. and in white, the parts still being negotiated. agreed so far is that eu citizens arriving in the uk before december 2020 will have the same rights as those here now, as will british citizens living in the eu. and the uk will be able to negotiate new trade deals during that transition period. but not agreed is the key issue of the border between northern ireland and the republic, as our europe editor katya adler reports. in the quest to resolve relations after brexit, today was a big moment between the eu and uk. a historic handshake to seal a deal, not a final brexit deal, but the long—awaited agreement

on transition to ease the uk from leaving the eu to life on the outside. the eu and uk's chief brexit negotiators were visibly relieved. they'd been under big pressure from business on both sides of the channel. businesses need not delay investment decisions or rushed through contingency plans based on guesses about the future deal. instead, they now have certainty about the terms that will apply immediately after our withdrawal. certainty? not quite. an oft repeated phrase in these brexit negotiations is... nothing is agreed until everything is agreed. the transition deal is part and parcel of the uk's complex wider withdrawal agreement from the eu as these slides show. areas highlighted in green indicate where hard —fought

agreement has been reached. but some of the most controversial issues remain unresolved. so, when it comes to the transition deal, what exactly has been agreed? it will be time limited, lasting 21 months after brexit day. during that time, the uk will continue to pay into the eu budget, and will keep full access to the european single market and customs union. the uk will have to follow all eu regulations, and though it may voice concerns, it will no longer be at the decision—making table. the uk will be allowed to sign new trade deals, but can't implement them until the transition period is over. what has not yet been agreed is what happens in ireland after brexit, how to avoid a hard border between northern ireland and the irish republic. this issue could bring the whole brexit deal, including transition, tumbling down. the uk hopes an ambitious eu and uk trade deal will solve the problem. butjust in case, ireland

and the rest of the eu insist on a backstop agreement where northern ireland stays in the customs union and parts of the single market. ireland's deputy prime minister was in brussels today to press his case. what ireland has always asked for was that we would essentially have an insurance mechanism, so that i and others can say to people in northern ireland and in ireland, look, we are not to have any border infrastructure on this island again. so, a lot done, but more to do for the eu's brexit chief. good news today? as you see, spring has sprung with the floor spreading even to these often frosty brexit negotiations. progress on transition today was hailed in there as a big step forward, but it's not all good news for the government. it's clear now, there won't be a final trade deal between the eu and uk at the end of

these brexit talks. the transition will be used to hammer out more details. and to get this far, the uk has had to make some pretty big concessions. like fishing. far from taking back control after brexit as promised by the gottman, eu quotas will continue during the transition period, allowing eu countries to fish in uk waters. _by —— by the government. but it's not all over yet. eu leaders still need to sign off on the transition deal. they're expected to do that at a summit here later this week. katya adler bbc news, brussels. the brexit secretary, david davis, said agreement on the transitional arrangements would mean that british business could now invest with confidence and that the uk would be free to negotiate new trade deals. business groups have given the agreement a broad welcome but many have called for further details on what the uk's relationship with the eu will look like, once the transitional period ends, as our business editor

simonjack explains. for businesses both big and small, today's news was just what the doctor ordered. although not a cure—all for business anxiety as we head out of the european union, it was welcomed today by the boss of glaxo smith kline as a dose of common sense. we certainly welcome this pragmatic approach to transition. it's absolutely critical to secure the supply of medicines and vaccines for the people here and in europe who need them. but we're also looking forward to more precision on the details of the end state of the relationship. and in that end state, if you like, what's the most important thing for gsk? that we get the security of supply to the people that need our medicines and our vaccines is absolutely critical, and the right kind of alignment with the regulators. harmonising rules on drugs between the uk and the eu is critical to a company that employs 16,000 people in the uk. gsk is already spending £50 million per year on its brexit planning. for business, this is a really important, really welcome moment

in the whole brexit process. a little bit of breathing room to prepare for life outside of the eu. but as big businesses like banks and pharmaceutical companies are spending hundreds of millions of pounds on their contingency plans — what could, what should, and what are smaller businesses doing to prepare? meet the boss of this brewery in suffolk. and charlie adam, who runs skateboard company shiner in bristol. for charlie, exports to the eu account for over 50% of his business. 0nce outside the eu, he fears customs paperwork could cost him £25,000 per week. he is glad of the extra preparation time, but is still worried about the future. the transitional deal really helps with us extending the time to be able to set everything up for brexit. the reality is, we still have to deal with brexit, and we don't know what the final solution is going to be, partly

because we don't know what all of the problems are. he also employs workers from the eu. any more that he hires before the end of 2020 will definitely be allowed to stay. meanwhile, at the brewery, steve thinks transition is useful, and gives him time to plan for business beyond the eu. i think it's a helpful thing for us to have, because it buys us a bit of stability for a period of time to work out what we need to do. it also gives us the opportunity to explore markets further which are outside of the eu. i think the whole business is optimistic, because actually we've got good products, we've got some interesting products, and actually the world's there to be taken. there are major sticking points ahead. big questions remain unanswered. but as the gruelling process of brexit rumbles on, now the key milestone has been met. and, for now, businesses will drink to that. simon jack, bbc news. let's speak to our political editor laura kuenssberg, who's at westminster.

what's the level of compromise? there certainly have been compromises, whether you find it an unacceptable climb—down, whether you find them sensible concessions, or inevitable compromises, it probably depends on what you felt about brexit when you went to the polls backin brexit when you went to the polls back in 2016. but there certainly has been a lot of budging, a little bit on the brussels side. significant amounts in westminster over the recent months, but two things are true. first off, looking at what has been agreed today, the fa ct at what has been agreed today, the fact that people who wanted to leave the eu will have to wait two years after brexit day for there to be any significant changes to immigration, for the fact that some tory mps furious tonight about what they see asa furious tonight about what they see as a compromise too far when it comes to fishing rights. it is the case that today feels different to what was promised back in the days

of the referendum. but what is also true is for the government these compromises are worth it. in order to get this deal moved onto next phase, they work desperately keen in recent months to get the transition signed off, and they were clear, having listened to businesses around the country, they didn't want brexit next year to come as a sudden shock to the system. certainly, there have been compromises, and certainly, there will be probably many more on there will be probably many more on the roads to this. but tonight, the government believes they have achieved a decisive step. an international team of chemical weapons experts has arrived in salisbury to examine the nerve agent used to poison the former russian spy, sergei skripal, and his daughter, yulia. the bbc understands british investigators have broadened their search to include a car that yulia skripal is believed to have travelled in as our diplomatic correspondent james landale reports. the focus today shifted

to the village of durrington, ten miles north of salisbury, where investigators removed a car that was used to pick up yulia skripal from the airport the day before she and her father sergei were attacked with a nerve agent. nearby, at the military research complex at porton down, inspectors from the global chemical weapons watchdog, the 0pcw, were due to start analysing the nerve agent that british experts believe came from russia. in brussels, the foreign secretary and to brief eu counterparts, saying russian denials were increasingly absurd. this is a classic russian strategy of trying to conceal the needle of truth in a haystack of lies and obfuscation. there is scarcely a country round the table here in brussels that has not been affected in recent years by some kind of malign or disruptive russian behaviour. eu foreign ministers

issued a statement expressing their unqualified solidarity with the uk, and taking its assessment that russia was to blame extremely seriously. the eu and nato speaking as one. what is absolutely clear is our full solidarity with the united kingdom, and our extreme concern about what has happened. it is really unacceptable. all 29 nato allies stand united. we stand in solidarity with the united kingdom. and the uk is not alone. but in moscow, as president putin began his fourth term, the defiance continued. his foreign ministry dismissing the eu statement as an anti—russian reflex. as for russia's diplomats in london, well, some of these officials and their families will be heading home tomorrow, 23 in all. with a similar number of british diplomats leaving moscow shortly.

tomorrow, the national security council will meet to decide geek. in. 53355553; the 53555. 12:5:3557’32357177 .— ; 1. 4; s; s; examining 4,000 hours of cctv, 800 exhibits and 400 witness statements. detectives said this could last many months. james landale, bbc news. one of the biggest inquiries into the alleged abuse of teenage recruits in the british army has collapsed after a judge stopped the first of three court martials. it had been alleged that 16 instructors, all sergeants or corporals, mistreated 28 school leavers

at the army foundation college in harrogate in north yorkshire. but the judge said a 3—year investigation by the royal military police had been seriously flawed. uber, the minicab service, has suspended all tests of self—driving cars, after a woman in arizona was killed in a collision. at the time of the accident, the vehicle was running in autonomous mode, with an ‘operator‘ at the wheel. uber described what happened as ‘incredibly sad', and said it was ‘fully co—operating' with local authorities. our technology correspondent dave lee reports from san francisco. it was late sunday night when, according to police, elaine herzberg was struck by uber‘s self—driving car. the 49—year—old was crossing the road, but not using the pedestrian zone. there was a driver behind the wheel, but uber said the vehicle was in full autonomous mode, meaning it was handling all aspects of the driving. miss herzberg was taken to hospital, but died from her injuries. taking to twitter, uber‘s chief executive, dara khosrowshahi, said the news from arizona was "incredibly sad".

adding... as part of its licensing agreement, uber must keep detailed logs in case of an incident like this. although miss herzberg is the first pedestrian to be killed by an autonomous vehicle, her death comes one year after uber temporarily took its self—driving cars off the road following an accident that left a volvo suv on its side in arizona. the programme was later reinstated. there are so many motor vehicle deaths in the united states, and generally every year. and the ultimate goal of self—driving cars is to eliminate those entirely. but these are complex systems that are just sort of starting to navigate the roads. arizona has positioned itself as a testing ground for this new technology. but incidents like this will no doubt concerned those who do not believe these systems are yet safe enough to be on our roads. experts in this technology will tell

you that the bigger picture is that this technology is making our roads safer and has the potential to greatly reduce the number of accidents, but that will be little comfort to the family of a woman who was essentially killed by a computer that perhaps was not working in the way it was designed. thank you. our technology correspondent there in san francisco. doctors have restored the sight of two patients with the most common form of blindness in the uk. more than 600,000 people in the uk suffer from age—related macular degeneration and doctors hope the treatment could be widely available within a few years. the team at moorfields eye hospital in london used surgery to insert stem cells at the back of the eye. 0ur medical correspondent fergus walsh has the story. i will occlude now the left—eyed...

before his pioneering stem cell treatment, douglas waters was completely blind in his right eye. now he can see. "everyone wanted to go outside when the rain finally stopped." that's perfect. so this is an amazing improvement, mr waters. ijust couldn't believe it. each morning, i picked things out in the bedroom to look at out in the garden. i'd do this... it's unbelievable. i'm completely chuffed, i suppose you could say! and so is his surgeon. two patients with age—related macular degeneration had the sight restorming treatment at moorfields eye hospital in london. we're able to show that we've taken someone who could not read at all, they couldn't, in fact, see the book they were reading from, and taken them to reading around 60 to 80 words per minute with their normal reading glasses. for us, this is a fantastic breakthrough. and it could help other patients with age—related macular degeneration, who can lose all their central vision. so what causes amd?

so if we open the eye, the macula is at the back. it's the part of the retina responsible for central vision. if we pull out a section, here are the light—sensitive cells, the rods and cones. amd is triggered when a crucial layer of support cells, seen here in green, die. as a result, patients gradually lose the validity to read or to recognise faces. scientists use stem cells from a human embryo and turn them into the support cells needed. they were put onto a tiny patch like this, which was placed at the back of douglas's eye. you can see it here. the stem cells were paired his vision. the stem cells repaired his vision. regenerative medicine's goal was to restore a person's help. i think this is one of the first indications from generative medicine that that can be achieved. it can stop people from going blind.

douglas, who is 86, says the stem cell therapy has given him renewed independence. moorfields says it should be no more expensive than other amd treatments, and potentially could help save the sight of thousands of patients. fergus walsh, bbc news. the uk's information commissioner elizabeth denham says she will seek a warrant to look at the databases and servers used by the data mining company cambridge analytica. a former employee at the firm claims they were handed the personal data of 50 million facebook users which was then used to influence the 2016 us presidential election. facebook‘s shares finished nearly seven percent down after a turbulent day on the new york stock exchange. both cambridge analytica and facebook deny any wrongdoing. the itv presenter, ant mcpartlin, says he will seek further treatment

after he was arrested on suspicion of drink driving. he was detained yesterday afternoon following a collision involving three cars in south west london. itv says his saturday night programme with partner declan donnelly will not be broadcast this weekend, as our entertainment correspondent lizo mzimba reports. moments after the mini he was driving was involved in a collision with two other cars, ant mcpartlin at the scene of the crash. when police arrived, he was taken away under arrest after failing a breath test. a number of people were treated for minor injuries, and a child passenger in one car taken to hospitalfor a precautionary checkup. i think it's time for me to say hello... the evening before, ant mcpartlin had been presenting itv‘s saturday night takeaway. he returned to television last year after going into rehab to treat an addiction to alcohol and prescription painkillers.

this afternoon, the broadcaster said: "itv have taken a joint session with ant and dec‘s team not to broadcast saturday night takeaway this weekend. we will be reviewing options for the last two episodes of the series which would not feature ant who is taking time off to seek treatment. 0ver more than 20 years. ant, together with dec, has become one of tv‘s most successful presenters. the pair have won dozens of awards and earned millions, thanks to their popularity with viewers. itv said they hoped the presenter would get the help he needs. the police say enquiries into the collision are continuing. it is not just it is notjust about it is not just about a it is notjust about a pretty big hole in itv‘s saturday night schedule, from britain's got talent through to i'm a celebrity, so much of itv‘s prime time entertainment is built on the popularity of the double act. 0ver built on the popularity of the double act. over the coming days and weeks at itv, they will be assessing

exactly what the long—term probabilities will be for ant‘s long—term future. thank you for the update. president trump has outlined plans to combat america's opioid epidemic, including introducing the death penalty for drug dealers in certain circumstances. 0ver—prescription of opioid painkillers, such as morphine and codeine, has created a nationwide addiction crisis with patients turning to heroin and other street drugs when their prescriptions stop. 0ur north america editor jon sopel reports. during the election campaign, donald trump called new hampshire a drug—infested den. today, he has gone back to the granite state to show his rock solid determination to deal with america's appalling opioid crisis and by using the most draconian measures possible. if we do not get tough on the drug

dealers, we're wasting our time. remember that, we are wasting our time. that toughness includes the death penalty. applause. but it is notjust about the criminaljustice system. he wants opioid prescriptions cut by a third and the drugs companies held more accountable. this crisis is hitting every community, rich and poor, black and white, young and old, urban and rural. the biggest cause of death is drug overdose amongst the under 50s in america. and two thirds of those deaths are caused by opioid abuse. that is $110 right there. america for decades has had a war on drugs and, yes, it has resulted in hundreds of thousands of mainly black and latinos men being incarcerated, but it has had zero success in reducing dependency or use of illegal drugs or prescription drugs. thank you, please be seated. this court in buffalo,

new york state, looks unremarkable, but has become the first in america to deal with only one type of case, opioid addiction. i will release you today and i need you to report here tomorrow... the judge, himself once an addict, is determined to rethink the way america handles opioid abuse. i think we made a tremendous mistake in the 1960s and 70s and 80s and 90s of locking people up and we are not going to make that same mistake now, because we have the research and data to show that you cannot lock up an addiction. carly mayor had to be resuscitated three times in one week at the height of her addiction to opioids. when someone when someone ca res when someone cares about you, what your problems are, how we can help you, it remind you that deep inside there is a person, that needs and deserves love. much has been made of how polarised politics has become in the us. on this, though, there is broad agreement that simply locking people up is not enough, but finding the correct

policy prescription, to deal with the abuse of prescription drugs is proving elusive. jon sopel, bbc news, washington. it's three years since the start of the war in yemen. houthi rebels, supported by iran remain in control of large parts of the country, including the capital sana'a. 0pposing them are forces loyal to the former president, who are being backed by an arab coalition, led by the saudis supported by western powers including the uk. the bbc‘s chief international correspondent lyse doucet has been to yemen to meet some of the children affected by the conflict. her report starts in the government controlled town of marib. we travelled into yemen with the saudis. they wanted us to see the suffering being inflicted by their enemy. they took us to meet these boys, robbed of their childhood, forced to fight alongside grown men.

children in yemen are recruited by all sides, but especially the houthis. pasha was 13 when his best friend was shot dead in front of him. so many children so young have been dragged into this destructive war. but even in war, there are rules. and in yemen, they're being broken time and again by all sides. these children live in sana, the capital controlled by houthis.

their families sought refuge here after their home was bombed by the saudis. coalition air strikes have reportedly caused the greatest number of child casualties. six—year—old lamees wants them to stop. there was no place to hide for yaya's family. five children killed, only 17—year—old yaya and a brother left. back in government—held marib, these men will always live

with the cost of this conflict. so often, it's the youngest to lose the most. these little boys are being fitted with prosthetics at this saudi funded clinic. 11—year—old abdullah mistook a landmine for a toy. nine—year—old ali youssef wants to be a goalkeeper when he grows up, believing this point hold him back. won't hold him back. yemen's conflict has had a crippling effect on all its people.

the youngest growing up knowing nothing but war. lyse doucet, bbc news, yemen. britain's paralympic team arrived home today after their most successful winter games. menna fitzpatrick and her guide jen kehoe became britain's most decorated winter pa ralympians with 1 gold, 2 silver and a bronze in south korea. 0ur sports correspondent andy swiss reports. cheering and applause. they left as hopefuls, they have returned as history makers. jen kehoe, menna fitzpatrick, plus extra luggage. four medals including the best they saved until last. fitzpatrick, who has less than 5% vision, following her guide to gold in the slalom, now britain's most decorated winter paralympians, they told me it is barely sinking in. it means everything to me. i have always had a dream since i was little,