area of low easter monday. this area of low pressure bringing a frontal system northwards across the country and as the front runs into some pretty cold air, there is the potentialfor a speu air, there is the potentialfor a spell of snow. there is still some uncertainty about this but for part of mid wales and the midlands, northwards, we will see some snow for a time. a lot of snipers achieved for northern england and long island, there is the potential for some disruption but as milder air pushes in from the south, it is going to be mainly wet. with the risk of some snow there could be disruption on easter monday, stay tuned to the forecast. this is bbc news, our latest headlines:

moscow has ordered the uk to further cut its russian diplomatic staff — it follows a series of tit—for—tat expulsions of officials from countries that have acted in support of britain over the salisbury nerve agent attack the palestinian health ministry has said seven people have been killed and hundreds wounded by israeli gunfire as protesters and troops clash at the border between gaza and israel. tighter rules on police bail have led to thousands of suspects in violent and sexual offences being released without conditions — new regulations on pre—charge bail came into effect in england and wales last year. a group of labour mps has urged jeremy corbyn to suspend former disputes panel chair christine shawcroft from the party's national executive committee, as the row over anti—semitism continues.

now on bbc news, injanuary 2017 finland began a bold social experiment. the government started paying a basic income to 2000 unemployed finns. it's free money, with no strings attached. in this special programme we follow the stories of four recipients of the money to see if the scheme has helped them get back into work. injanuary 2017, finland began a bold social experiment. the government started paying 2,000 unemployed finns basic income. they each get a guaranteed 560 euros a month for two years. it's free money — it comes with no strings attached. you could say that basic income is money for free, because you don't have to fulfil any conditions to get it. basic income is an idea that has

gained some high profile champions, from facebook chief mark zuckerberg to elon musk to bernie sanders, and this experiment is being closely watched by policymakers around the world. we've been following four people who've been chosen to receive basic income. it was like winning a lottery. i think i am much more inspired to get a job. has it changed their lives? could it change society? i am feeling more and more free and independent. i felt more comfortable to maybe open up my business again. my name is tanja.

i am 30 years old. i live in 0ulu in the north of finland, and i have only worked four or five months in a factory. i know that 0ulu has some problems with unemployment, but i know there is also jobs in here. tanja has been in full—time education for most of her life and has never had a long—term job. now, that is not unusual for people in 0ulu, a town 100 miles south of the arctic circle, where she has spent all of her life. the unemployment rate here is 15% — twice the national average. i went to 0ulu university of applied sciences. it's always so hard to get the first realjob. you have great grade papers but then they look, you have no experience. now that i graduated from the business school, they are offering me jobs like cafeteria worker. i have big worry that i can't

any more pay my bills. i don't remember the last time that i went to the store and bought food. i get food from my mum. that's so embarrassing. i want to work and i want to be able to go to the store and buy my own food, and buy whatever i want. "i want that cheese", and i want to be able to buy the good cheese, you know? even if tanja gets a job, she will still get the full basic income every month. but she's not convinced the experiment will make any difference to her. i opened the letter and they said "you are selected to get the basic income". i was like yay, yay, yay!

then i realised — i read the paper down, and they said that "if you are not working, your benefits will be the same". i was like, ugh. the benefit from the basic income comes only when you get a job. you get thejob, like, 1,500 euros, and on top of that, you get the basic income. but the government wants to see whether the way people receive the money will change their behaviour. there is no means testing and no requirement to apply for jobs. so the government would like to find out what is the effect of basic income on the employment rate of this particular group. tanja is not convinced it will help herfind a job and she thinks it is unrealistic that the government could roll out the scheme nationally. it's just not possible to give

everyone in finland, 5 million people, 560 euros a month. i don't see it happening. the finnish government isn't going to assess the pilot until the two—year experiment is finished. so far, it's quietly optimistic about how the pilot is going but there are concerns about the cost. i think we have some data to prove that this is, well, if not a glorious success story, but it has very positive aspects. now we are making this experiment, it's very generous, and it would be too expensive to afford it for all citizens. but i am happy that we have taken the first step. five hours drive to the south from 0ulu, juha is hoping the basic income trial will help him rediscover his entrepreneurial spirit.

my name is juha jarvinen. i am 39 years old, father of six kids, and artist. i was making window frames, wooden decorative window frames, and that was my business for seven years. all of this five, six years, what i have been unemployed, i have been dreaming to start a new company, new business. so i will try to start to shoot and edit commercial videos for small companies to youtube and social media. but also, also i want to do artwork — creative work. juha is optimistic that the way basic income works will make it easierfor him to get back into employment. with the basic income, the biggest change is the bureaucracy. like before, i needed to fill out different kind of forms and i need to meet employment office people,

and i was spending quite a lot of my time to stuff what has no meaning. with basic income, i can focus on the more important things. i don't need to spend my time to something what has no meaning. and i really believe, also, that this would be super good for all of the people. so i got my humanity back. then i can start to do things what i can do, and what i want to do, and i can use my skills. five months after the start of the experiment, juha is still unemployed but he is full of enthusiasm. he is about to start his new business. we don't know yet whether there are many persons who have started their own companies but i have read from newspapers

that there are some and they have been very positive about this, this possibility to, they have two years, so to say, peaceful time, to start their own companies. but unions in finland think basic income will have the opposite effect. basic income would basically be an early retirement scheme that you can take up whenever you want. you can simply choose to stop working and live off your savings and basic income, and that means higher — lower level of employment and less taxes, so even less money to fund the social benefits and services we want. some of the people on the basic income trial were established in professional careers for many years before losing theirjobs. my name is tuomas muraja. i am a freelance journalist and an author but i have been without work since 2013.

i was a foreign news editor in the third daily newspaper in finland. but then, they decided to put down all the section of the foreign affairs, so basically i lost myjob. it's not easy to find a job as a journalist in the capital of finland. so for tuomas, being chosen for a basic income pilot was a dream come true. it helps me as a freelancer and it is social security in a way, without the stigma. for me, it is not embarrassing any more to get benefits. work has changed and social politics has to follow that trend now. i think this basic income will encourage people to get back to the society and not be at home. and he thinks finland can afford

a system like this one. the northern countries are more prepared for this kind of basic income system because the same money is there already. we pay taxes. now we spend it in a smart way. the budget for the basic incomes experiment is 20 million euros. this is an experiment, not a full model. the problem is that it will be paid by the tax money from hard—working people, and is hard tojustify it to employees, that you have to pay a higher level of tax to provide benefits for those who simply choose not to work. it may be expensive, but the truth is that policymakers have to start thinking radically about new ways to make the labour market work in the future. studies indicate that in the next 20 years,

between 30% and 47% ofjobs in developed economies could be at risk of automation. that means robots doing jobs that humans currently do. all this is preying on the mind of our fourth basic income recipient. i am sini marttinen. i am 35 years old. i live in helsinki, capital of finland. i worked for a danish company and through that company, i worked all around the world. and after about six years of travelling around, i moved back to finland, and the employer told me that i have to move again, which i didn't want to do, and thus, i had to give up thejob, so i became unemployed. sini now works for herself, and very flexibly. so now, i am still working, so i have one customer — i am working for a foundation. and one week, i might work two days, five days, three days, so it's all a little bit insecure.

so i have work, but my income level changes all the time. sini is convinced that more and more people like her will be pursuing flexible careers like this in the future. a very common comment that i get from people, you know, "you're educated, and open and ready to do different kind of work. how can you be unemployed?" and i think that will be — it's not discussed openly, but it is the situation for educated people, you are unemployed sometimes. and if the scenario of robotics and all these kind of, the whole work, concept of work will change, more and more educated and skilled people will be unemployed. it's now ten months into the pilot and things have changed

radically for tanja. when we first met her, she thought basic income would make no difference to her prospects of finding a job. i took this job offer. speaks finnish. it is telemarketing. i actually enjoy myjob a lot. i love my co—workers, i love the office, i love the hours. and ijust love to be being independent, earning my own money, and standing on my own two feet. speaks finnish. now i actually can go to the store and buy food and not be so worried when i am going to eat the next day. basic income has changed my life. without it, i couldn't have taken a job with a little lower salary. i really have dreamed a long time

to work in an advertising agency and do something with marketing. i am going to learn to be the best telemarketing person in finland and find an advertising agency that would give me a job, my dream job. so, has she changed her mind about the basic income experiment? at first i was quite sceptical about basic income. it is obvious that we can't afford to pay it to every citizen. but then i realised, it is actually a genius idea. if you just pay it for those people who have been at home for so long, and been unemployed for so long, that is a huge drive for them to get a job. we are human beings,

we need human contact, we need to be proud of something, and that's a huge problem when you are unemployed. i think i have turned my life around. when we metjuha five months ago, he was hoping he would be able to start a small business after going bankrupt. ten months after starting in the experiment, i still feel super happy and free and independent. juha has set up one business already, but he wants to expand. i got my new business registered and have been running that for the last few months. the easiest money is making those drums, and selling. it's hand—craft, it's not super good for business, it takes time to make, but i love it.

good to see you. then one very big thing i am planning with a couple of my friends, is to start, like, a b&b. like aianb with breakfast, but with art. we are going to be calling people that know how to draw and paint, and doing something in painting, and putting it here so that next week, you can start filming. we have some studios, so people would stay here and spend here one week, two weeks, or one year making their own art. do you want me to help you with the drums? and juha and his friend mika have other plans too. today, they've come to meet the mayor, to talk about transforming an old art school

and turning it into workshops for artists. juha is optimistic that he will still be on a firm financial footing after the basic income experiment ends. i think, for me, it's enough. i believe that after one year, my business is running and it's quite a struggle and i don't need other help. i very much believe that basic income would be super good for finances, and economy of the government. i feel that it should be given for others, also. when we first met unemployed journalist tuomas, he was optimistic that the basic income trial would help them find a newjob. he is now married to a former mp and green party activist.

what else is new? what has changed in my life since june? i got married. but financially, not so much. i'm still without a job. i can say that the basic income has changed a lot in my life. 0k, psychologically, yes, but financially, not so much. tuomas is craving the structure that a job would bring. i would be happy if i had ajob, even a part—time job, for the routines. in that sense, you can call me lazy, because i need a producer, i need somebody to tell me what to do, and i enjoy doing that. now, afterfive years — almost five years as a freelancer, maybe i'm not the right person to be like that. my wife can do that.

she has always done that. but for me, it's more secure if you have a job. as tuomas attends a political event with his new wife, how does he feel now about job prospects? i have still over one year to go, so anything can happen. so i am quite optimistic. i'm not worried, when this pilot is ending, because then i got back for the old system, and get those benefits other way. let's see. during summertime next year, i'll have a job. and what about sini?

she wanted a career structure that will allow her to work for multiple employers, and still find time for herself and her family. the insecurity of not having a permanent job, and actually working as self—employed, allows also to have more freedom on the way how you spend your time. my dad has alzheimer's, and me and my sister, who lives also in finland, we try to help them out a lot. sini has found that basic income gives her more time with family and also to pursue charity work. with basic income, it's kind of easier, maybe, to get this work—life balance. so basic income helps me to make myself available to help my parents or do volunteer work. of course, i understand not everybody is motivated to do those

things, but i'm the type of person that i want to do something that makes me happy, and i would want more people to have the courage to say, ok, maybe money's not everything. what would you like to study? language. i think basic income, as an idea, for everybody to receive it, is a very nice idea. on an individual level, it has been very, very life—changing for me. so i would see a package more or less in a way that, if your income drops to a certain level, then you become part of kind of the basic income, or the benefit system. four people, four very different experiences of basic income. tanja has found a job she would never have considered before. and is loving it.

juha has rediscovered his entrepreneurial spirit. and is setting up a business. tuomas is still unemployed. and sini has found a way to pursue a portfolio career, see her family and do charity work. there's a year to go before the trial ends. is there a chance the government will extend the scheme to all of finland's unemployed? finland is quite modern in this way. we have a culture of experimentation and where we want to see these kind of social innovations in practice. so, whether this basic income is the solution to poverty or labour market problems, i can still be proud that finland has taken this sort of bold way of testing, and hopefully, our experience can benefit other nations. we'll have to wait and see if finland's experiment becomes

a model for the future. hello there. it isn't cloudy everywhere this good friday afternoon but it is grey in quite a few places. this is a case in point, lowestoft with dark skies overhead but a different story in argyll and bute. this is one of the favoured spots where we have seen some sunshine today, but things are mixed. rain at times and snow on monday, a cool feel but amidst all of that, there will be some spells of sunshine. low pressure driving the weather at the moment, spinning these areas of cloud in across the british isles. outbreaks of rain across southern areas, particularly as we head

into the evening and this wet weather drifting northwards. wintry showers further north across scotland and a cold, brisk breeze here. for the far north of scotland and parts of northern ireland there will be some clear spells overnight that could allow a touch of frost. we have the extra cloud further south, it won't be as cold. saturday will be breezy and chilly and the damp day for many. and a damp day for many. these are areas of rain with sleet and hill snow continuing to drift northwards, but fizzling away all the while. staying mostly dry across the north of scotland, some sunshine here and perhaps brightening up towards the far south—west. generally quite cloudy and cool as well. easter day does look dry for most and the odd shower up towards the north. quite a lot of cloud around but spells of sunshine here and there. rain into the far south—west later on and heavy rain at that. strengthening winds and that is a sign of what is to

come on easter monday. this area of low pressure bringing this frontal system north across the country and, as the front runs into some pretty cold air, there is the potential for a spell of snow. there is still some uncertainty about this but it looks from parts from parts of mid wales, midlands, northwards will see some snow for a time. quite a lot of snow for northern england and northern ireland and then it drifting into southern scotland. there is the potential for some disruption. as milder air pushes into the south, it is likely to be wet weather here. the far south—west is up to 11 degrees. there could be some travel disruption on easter monday. stay tuned to the forecast. this is bbc news. i'm carrie gracie. the headlines at apm. russia summons western ambassadors. london is told to cut its diplomatic contingent in moscow in the escalating row

following the salisbury nerve agent attack. it's important to bear in mind why this crisis has arisen in the first place. it's the use of a chemical weapon on the streets of the united kingdom that has threatened the lives of a number of people in my country. at least six palestinians have been killed by israeli gun fire as thousands mass on the border ahead of a major protest. new bail rules are leading to thousands of crime suspects, some involving murder and rape, being released without any conditions. nearly a0 labour mps and peers call onjeremy corbyn to suspend a senior official at the centre of the latest row about anti—semitism. also in the next hour.