the headlines: french authorities say the gunman who has shot dead three people in the town of trebes was known to security services for his links to radical islam. french security forces killed him after surrounding the supermarket where he held hostages earlier. president trump has signed a huge government funding bill into law just hours before the third government shutdown of the year. he said he approved the bill even though it contained items that were not justified. in the uk, a team of enforcement officers have entered the offices of cambridge analytica after a judge issued a search warrant. the company denies gathering data from facebook on millions of people without their consent. officials in afghanistan say at least 1a people have been killed by a suicide bomber in helmand province. the teenager who planted a bomb on a london tube train that partially exploded at parsons green has been sentenced life in prison, and will have to serve a minimum of 3a years.

ahmed hassan was convicted of attempted murderfor carrying out the attack last september, in which more than 50 people were injured. our home affairs correspondent june kelly reports. ahmed hassan described today as the asylu m ahmed hassan described today as the asylum seeker who cynically exploited the generosity of a country which gave him refuge, but which he hated. his bomb set off a fireball and today the judge said ahmed hassan had been determined to create as much death and carnage as possible on the underground train at parsons green. and that it was sheer luck that the device only partially detonated. 23 people suffered burns, 28 sustained crush injuries from the stampede to get out of the station. some of hassan‘s victims were in court. he had got off the train before the explosion, the judge told

him "you wanted to save your own skin and were not prepared to martyrdom." he believed that hassan had spent time at an is training camp and was wedded to their ideology, lame in the west for his father's death in iraq. he said that hassan had lied he was 16 when he arrived in the uk so that he could be classed as a child migrant. ahmed hassan left court to begin his 3a year sentence. thejudge hassan left court to begin his 3a year sentence. the judge told hassan left court to begin his 3a year sentence. thejudge told him he would have plenty of time to study the koran and to understand that islam was a religion of peace. now on bbc news — afghanistan, fighting the forever war. high above the mountains of north—eastern afghanistan, f—i6 fighterjets north—eastern afghanistan, f—i6 fighter jets take turns north—eastern afghanistan, f—i6 fighterjets take turns to refuel. looking good, nice and stable. we are a little slow. minutes later

they are ready to get back into the fight, providing air cover to afghan forces battling insurgent fighters. i7 forces battling insurgent fighters. 17 years in, and america's longest war shows no sign of ending. when donald trump came president, it looked like he might pull that troops out of afghanistan once in thrall. —— once and for all. but instead in august he upped the anti—, increasing troop numbers and promising that america would stay and till, in his words, the war is won. thank you very much, thank you, please be seated. the men and women who serve our nation in combat deserve a plan to victory. they deserve a plan to victory. they deserve the tools they need and the trust they have earned to fight and to win. afghan commandos launched a

night raid on a taliban position. despite improvements in elite troops like these... the fact is that afghanistan still looks like a quagmire. latest figures show that last year the taliban expanded their territory. meanwhile opium production is at record levels and injanuary production is at record levels and in january insurgent launched a series of horrific terrorist attacks in kabuland series of horrific terrorist attacks in kabul and elsewhere around the country. generaljohn nicholson is one of the longest serving officers in afghanistan. he is in his third year as the commander of us and nato forces, and is reckoned to have played a pivotal role in formulating america's new policy. disk course is america's new policy. disk course is america's longest war, it is one that started because of september 11 and the attacks on our country which emanated from here, my office was in the pentagon and was struck by the plane that hit the pentagon on

september 11, certainly in many of us september 11, certainly in many of us it is personal. it wasn't clear that president trump was going to commit america to this conflict. you advocated quite hard that america should continue, why did you... the military chain of command is one voice and our policy process is as in any country, and the military assessment was that the number of terrorist groups in the region, there is a total of 21 in the region, violent extremes organisation, terrorist organisations, etc, so this threat, if we don't keep pressure on this threat, the risk is that we will suffer more attacks on our homeland from the region. we believe in the military to spec, that remaining here, albeit in a much smaller form then we once were, enables us to maintain adequate pressure on these groups and protect our homeland.- the peak of the war in 2013, 2014, there up were to 130,000 troops

here, now there will be about 16,000, how can you possibly expect to make a difference with such a tiny number of troops compared to the peak? the difference today we have 320,000 the peak? the difference today we have 320 , 000 afghans the peak? the difference today we have 320,000 afghans in uniform. so we came here and surged to 150,000 troops, this was only for about 18 months. during that period we began to grow the afghan army to its present size. as soon as we grew this army to a size approaching us, we drew down our troops sharply. at that point i say we drew down too fast and too far and the exercise we have gone through here, is rightsizing that forces so we can provide the appropriate amount of advising, training and assisting to the afghans so they can own the fight, they are the ones taking the fight, they are the ones taking the fight to the enemy. they do need our help, yes, and they need our financial support. but they are the ones who are fighting and dying for their country and by doing that they are protecting us. you have been supporting them now for almost 17 yea rs, supporting them now for almost 17 years, what are you doing now that

will make a difference? the end state is reconciliation, this is what the afghans want. in a to—do that there needed to be more military pressure applied to the enemy. in order to do that there needed to be significant improvement in the afghan military. the investment in the afghan army is already well under way. one of america's top special forces officers shows me the huge training compound to commandos on the outskirts of kabul. the plan is to double the number of these elite troops to 24,000 in total. they call these guys the tip of the spear, it is theirjob to take the fight to the taliban. demand is like these and special forces make up just 10% of afg ha n and special forces make up just 10% of afghan troops, but they carry out 80% of offensive operations. the plans for the afghan air force are even more ambitious. the aim is that

it will triple in size. afghan aircraft are already starting to ta ke aircraft are already starting to take over from the us, aircraft are already starting to take overfrom the us, targeting taliban positions... and providing air support for operations by afghan troops. why the army and the air force, what can they bring... they bring offensive capability, that is what is needed to break the stalemate that existed before this time, and this enables them to move into those areas where they have either been contested or that 12% of the area that is being controlled by the area that is being controlled by the taliban, and take those areas back under control of the government. offensive capability. the combat here in afghanistan sits ina the combat here in afghanistan sits in a regional context. 150 years ago when britain was fighting wars here, they call this the great game, and that game continues to play out with new players if you like. one of the big issues brought by your president, president trump, is the role of pakistan. president trump

was absolutely clear that as far as he is concerned pakistani has been harbouring and facilitating the taliban. that is a huge problem, isn't it? yes it is, external enablement is the only way that this insurgency continues. without that it would never survive inside the country. they have bases, training facilities, they recruit outside of the country, their leadership lives outside of afghanistan. in many -- we are? you mentioned pakistan. this has been stated clearly by president trump in his august speech. president trump cut military support to pakistan, and said if you continue this policy he will continue this policy he will continue to force. are you beginning to see a difference, is beginning to change? be biggest difference is that we now have a public conversation about peace. the statement by president trump and the taliban willingness to talk about

peace, i believe there is a link. the pressure to reconciliation is multifaceted, it is military yes, but it is also diplomatic and social. all these forms of pressure are what result in a conversation about peace. it is pakistan still harbouring taliban leaders? we believe the enemies we are fighting are still living on the other side of the border. so they have pushed many of them into afghanistan and we wa nt to many of them into afghanistan and we want to give them credit for that, and through operations they have done, operations along the border, they are attending to interdict these terrorists and stop the flow back and forth. the other external act to talk about —— actor is russia. we are told by a senior release officers and military police officers within afghanistan that russia is providing weapons and —— resources for the taliban. we share

some interest and they are clearly undermining our interest as well. we are here as the us to go after those terrorist who could pose a threat to any country. there is a counterterrorism objective, there is a counter narcotics objective we share, there is an interesting piece and reconciliation. we would hope the russians would see this opportunity to work in support of common interest of the way forward. however that has not been the case. what has been happening? we have seen what has been happening? we have seen destabilising activity by the russians, we have seen a narrative that grossly exaggerates the number of ices fighters here, which has been used by the russians to legitimise the actions of the taliban... the support is difficult to quantify. but we have had stories written by the taliban that have appeared in the media about financial support provided by the enemy, we have had weapons brought

to this headquarters and given to us by afg ha n to this headquarters and given to us by afghan leaders and said "this was given by the taliban to the —— by the russians to the taliban." we know russia is involved in a misinformation campaign, which will be familiar to anyone who has observed the russian behaviour elsewhere around the world. we have also seen exercises on the border in tassie to stand. —— in tajikistan. they... the russians used the pretext of a spillover of terrorism from afghanistan as the reason to support the taliban, which of course is destabilising to the country and destabilising to the efforts of the united states and nato. this activity has picked up in parallel with the war in syria. you think this is in a way a proxy war that they are keeping pressure on america on through the activities of the taliban in afghanistan? this

activity really picked up in the last 18— 24 months. prior to that we have not seen this kind of destabilising activity by russia here, and when you look at the timing, it roughly correlates to when things started to heat up in syria. it is interesting to note the timing of the whole thing. this is what is funding afghanistan's seemingly interminable conflict. 0pium, and the heroine is used to produce. some 90% of the world's supply of heroin now comes from afghanistan. and production has been going through the roof. it almost doubled last year according to un figures. the taliban and other insurgent groups tanked production and —— tax production and use the revenue from that to fund their operations. narcotics is a hugely important issue here, because this isa important issue here, because this is a key revenue source for the taliban, as they raise money they become effectively a kind of cartel, is what we saw similarly in

colombia. the danger for that is that it creates momentum for this insurgency continue. are you worried about narcotics and the role of opium in this conflict? absolutely. the dynamic you outlined is exactly what we are concerned about, despite their original religious roots, this organisation is morphing into a narcotics insurgency that now is a moneymaking enterprise and is making lots of money in areas, so there is an interest in maintaining instability in keeping the government out in order to profit from the drugs trade. these drugs of course find their way around the world, so yes, we are concerned about that, that this behaviour is now more about making money and sustaining the insurgency for the fort —— purpose of profit than it is about their religious —— original religious and political leanings. how has this changed your tactics? we have to go after the sources of taliban revenue, though the

authorities granted to me under the us south asia policy, new authorities granted by president trump enable us to target sources of taliban revenue, and narcotics is a major source of that. we are now going after narcotics. 90% of the opium that is produced in this country, are —— in areas that are under taliban control or contested. we see a clear convergent —— convergence between criminal activity and the areas that are under control. figures produced by an american organisation suggest the taliban is expanding this area of influence, or elisa did last year. this must be dispiriting as the commander of forces to see the taliban effectively advancing? this number came from us and we disagree, the way... the way they interpreted?

the way they were interpreted. we look at population control and that government controlled 60 to 64% of the population. the bigger they have chosen to use instead of population is the figure of actual space on the ground, area on the ground. are you saying that is not a legitimate way to describe the territory controlled? we think the population is much more relevant than the empty desert. but regardless, the offensive capability of the afghans is going to expand that control, to drive the enemy to more right areas of the country, even more open they already are in order to eventually forced them to either reconcile all live in irrelevance. you sound confident that the capability of the taliban army will increase significantly. you use the word yourself, we are in a stalemate. that stalemate was done... we have moved on... it was a

case when was here two years ago but it is no longer the case with the us asia policy and the momentum we are gaining with that and this is because of his army, this afghan army, is getting better, it is proving itself on the battlefield, the f or is ran almost as many strikes as the us air force. —— air force. the commander is that you visited, they are doubling in size so, with 30 companies of commandos, they control two thirds of the population, with twice that many they will be able to expand. we can see the taliban can project into the heart of kabul because it did so with the awful bombs and other attacks in late december and january. we sought terrible attacks. what does that tell us? suicide

bombers are on a 1—way trip, they just have to make it in. they only have to be good ones. these are horrendous attacks and the death of any civilian is something we want to avoid. this is exposing the hypocrisy of the taliban. if they are theoretically here for the good of the afghan people, to replace a government, why are they killing the citizens they are trying to protect? these bombs are measure of success, is that what you are saying? no, i am not. it shows a lowering of ambition. they tried a times to take cities and each time they were defeated. in 2017 they focused more on districts and this is where you sort mode is gains. we ended up at about the same place. in september of 2017, following the announcement

by it president trump of the asia strategy, they made a deliberate decision to no longer try to seize cities or districts or other resort to suicide attacks as a way to maintain their relevance and so they are still present. this is an lowering of ambition from season to rain and controlling population to conducting terrorist attack. had you react to that is mac i view it as a lowering of ambition which means our pressure is working. the casualties they suffer from trying to seize cities and carve out a space in afghanistan they can call their own is not working and we will in the soup at this year, more suicide attacks and an assassination campaign to go after specific leaders. from conventional law to terrorism they are moving down at

the spectrum, closer to terrorism. in the weeks after those horrific attacks, the president made a peace offer, a very generous one. we will not pursue criminal action, we will free leaders, we will lift sanctions, we will let you set up a party... translation: it is the most comprehensive peace offer since the afg ha n comprehensive peace offer since the afghan war started in 2001 but president ghani's government is deeply divided on these as it is on most other issues. the taliban is not a coherent organisation either, its divisions have made it a tough enemy to fight and it will also hamperany enemy to fight and it will also hamper any peace negotiations even if some taliban do wish to make peace, there are likely to be others who will resist any agreement with the afghan government. this is an

enemy to have been fighting for 16 yea rs. we enemy to have been fighting for 16 years. we are surprised how generous the president offer was? we support the president offer was? we support the offer. we want to see a peaceful negotiation in afghanistan. what you do not see necessarily in the public domain is at the back channel communications. many taliban ‘s are tired of the sport and many who disagree with these tactics. they fundamentally disagree with attacks on universities, doing up civilians, blowing up a hospital. they disagree with this approach. this outraged thatis with this approach. this outraged that is occurring on multiple levels is what the president was addressing here cause we think there are many in the taliban, just like there are many afghans here who want to lay down their arms and see peace and stability in the country. he put a

generous offer out there, they wrote an open letter to the people of america. these these to be an afghan led process, a process between afg ha ns led process, a process between afghans and we are hopeful that the taliban will respond to this and engage in a peaceful reconciliation. president trump's wallasey ‘s conditions base. how long do you think this will last? i encourage that six—month after president trump announce the policy, we have peace has been discussed by both the government and the taliban. i do not think this is any coincidence. it is the pressure that this represents. we say to say condition based policy, fundamental change from the past and it demonstrates we have the wheel and the ball is a contest of wills and we have demonstrated the wills and we have demonstrated the will to see this through and i think that demonstration has contributed to getting these two parties where

they are both talking about peace in their own way. when president trump spoke about his commitment to afghanistan, he talked about winning, about victory. what would victory looked like? it is a reconceived the asian monks the warring parties where they lay down their arms and bring stability and that stability will allow pressure to be kept on terrorist groups. we know from working alongside these brave afghan soldiers that they are ready to keep pressure on those terrorists that it is a reconciliation that brings us to that point. victory could mean a government including the taliban? we in the international community are here to help the afghans and prevent terrorist attacks emanating from the region. whatever path the afghans take... president laid out some conditions for human rights, women

rights, we announcement of violence and terrorism serve these elements have been laid on the table not as preconditions. what would your message be to the taliban? i hope they bring this will to a conclusion and they have been offered very generous terms. what happens if they do not? we will maintain our pressure on the enemy. military, diplomatic pressure and they will experience social pressure. continued rejection by the afghan people. all that 17 years into this conflict, how confident are you do can bea conflict, how confident are you do can be a resolution? i think we are the moment, now, with these offers on the table. again, much work to be done but we are in a moment now that we have not been on for. this discussion of peace and offer by the

government, consideration by the taliban, the form of an offer to the american people. it is a moment we have not been at before and so i am hopeful that this moment will deliver the piece that all the afg ha ns deserve deliver the piece that all the afghans deserve and we want which will enable us to protect our homelands in a more secure way. and eventually leave this to the afghans to live in stability and peace. —— leave instability. —— live in stability. hello there. this weekend is looking better than last weekend. certainly much warmer and on sunday we should see good spells of sunshine, a bit cloudy on saturday and the reason for the cloud through saturday is because of this feature, this deep area of low pressure running into the south of the uk. further north though it should be clearer and as a result it's going to be a colder start to saturday. the cloud will be thick enough, outbreaks of rain

and across england and wales. the odd heavier bursts across wales, central, southern parts of england, with quite a breeze blowing there for cornwall and devon. so where we have the cloud, t ostart saturday morning, it should be milder — 5—7 degrees but cold. scotland, northern ireland with clear skies and a touch of frost. so for the weekend, then, we should see some good spells of sunshine on the weekend, especially on sunday. there will be some showers around and temperatures wil lbe around the seasonal average. this is the picture then through saturday morning, a grey start for england and wales as that area of low pressure continues to move south—eastwards. for scotland and northern ireland though will have the best of the sunshine. a few showers, pushing into the northwest of scotland. these will be wintry over the high ground and the cloud will be thick enough crossing wales for the odd spot of light rain or drizzle, and some mist and murk too. temperature—wise 9—11 celsius across the south. during saturday night, as that area of low pressure starts to pull away it will take the cloud with it too. it'll become confines to the south—east corner of england. here where we have the cloud,

by the end of the night, it should still be fairly mild, temperatures above freezing. elsewhere, it's gonig to be a chilly night with a touch of frost around. we start sunday then on a really chilly note for many. a touch of frost around but bright, crisp sunshine across many central and northern areas. eventually the cloud will clear away from east wanglia, and the south—east, so the sunshine will make an appearance here later in the morning and into the afternoon. so a better looking day across the board. again, a few showers for the north and the west of scotland, these will be wintry over the hills. but with more sunshine around, and light winds too, temperatures a bit higher there 12 or 13 celsius. a ridge of high pressure which brings the fine weather on sunday moves away eastwards then we look at this feature running in off the atlantic into western areas, it will bring stronger winds too as the day wears on. monday starts off again cold but bright. plenty of sunshine. central and eastern areas stay dry all day but then the cloud begins to increase and outbreaks of rain pushing through to northern ireland and into western parts of britain, along with the strengthening breeze as well.

the rain could be quite heavy. temperature wise, again, 9—12 degrees celsius. again fairly mild where we have some sunshine. things are set to change as we move deep on into the week. colder air moves down from the north and the run—up to easter looks like we could see a little bit of sleet and snow. this is bbc news. i'm duncan golestani. our top stories: the french president describes a police officer who swapped himself for a hostage during a supermarket siege as a ‘hero'. 3 people die — the attacker is shot dead, and the policeman remains in hospital fighting for his life. british officials search the london headquarters of the firm at the centre of the privacy row involving facebook data. the head of porton down military research centre dismisses russian suggestions it might have leaked the salisbury nerve agent. and it's back to school for prince harry and meghan markle on a visit to northern ireland.