you're watching bbc news at 9am with me annita mcveigh. the headlines: mps put forward proposals to change theresa may's brexit plan — including a labour amendment saying parliament should decide whether to hold another referendum on its final plan. in the event of us hurtling towards no deal, to avoid that situation, all options should be put on the table before parliament, and that included a people's vote. a campaign lead by katie price to make the online abuse of disabled people a crime is backed by mps after more than 220,000 people sign a petition. zimbabwean president emmerson mnangagwa has broken off a trip to europe, after violent protests in his home country. beefeaters at the tower of london and other staff at the royal palaces are continuing their strike action today in a row over pensions. and police hunt for a builder, who drove a digger through a newly—built hotel in liverpool — leaving a trail of devastation.

theresa may meets her cabinet this morning, as mps are stepping up their efforts to influence the brexit process ahead of a vote on a modified version of her brexit withdrawal plan next tuesday. a number of amendments have been put forward, including an official labour party amendment, which says mps should be able to vote on options such as the party's preferred outcome of a closer relationship with europe, with a permanent customs union. it also asks mps to decide whether they should hold a further referendum on whatever brexit plan is approved by the house of commons. an amendment from labour politician yvette cooper aimed

at preventing a no deal brexit has the backing of remainer conservative mps. it directs the prime minister to seek a deadline extension if a brexit deal is not agreed by 26th february. yesterday, the prime minister told the commons she was focused on securing concessions from the eu on the plan to avoid a hard irish border. 0ur assistant political editor, norman smith is in westminster this morning. if you look at these various proposals, various amendments, which one has the greatest head of steam, if you like, behind it, right now? to be honest, it's really hard to say because we have so many now being put forward. i suppose the one that's got many of the headlines this morning is the move, which many people's vote campaign is, those backing a second referendum believe

isa backing a second referendum believe is a significant development. mainly, this motion put down by the labour party, which would leave open the option of parliament voting to trigger another referendum. and they think that is another significant step in labour's route to backing a further referendum. it looks a lot more nuanced than that. what the amendment suggests is that labour wa nts amendment suggests is that labour wants the government to back their idea of a customs union, strong single market relationship and then leave open space in the parliamentary timetable for mps to vote on the option of maybe having another referendum if mrs may gets a deal. it does not commit labour to support another referendum, made clear by the shadow business minister rebecca long—bailey this morning. 0ur preferred option has been set

out in line with the principles that we want to secure in a deal. a customs union, a strong single market deal and very, very strong provisions on rights, protections, environmental standards, health and safety standards and workers' rights. another element to the options available complies with our conference motion, which states all options should be on the table including a people's vote and that is to have a people's vote on any final deal of some form. and indeed it doesn't state that labour policy is to have the second referendum, it simply encourages this option to be on the table so parliament can discuss the same if it wishes to do so. but, as i mentioned, there are a whole blizzard of amendments being tabled. we have proposals to have a second referendum, we have proposals to set up so—called citizens assemblies, so that people can have assemblies, so that people can have a say on what sort of brexit they wanted. there are proposals for what's called an indicative vote, so you have a whole range of options

that mps can vote on and you have proposals to delay article 50. the response of team may has been to stick fairly rigidly to what looks like a sort of plan a revisited. this morning, as cabinet was gathering, the energy minister, claire perry, she took a body swerve from going into number ten, came right over to again urge mps to back the prime minister's deal. have a look. so, ithink so, i think what we're seeing is the people who want to avoid no deal, people who want to avoid no deal, people who want to avoid no deal, people who want to deliver brexit and people who want to avoid a people's referendum coming together to support the deal. that is where we need to get to. the only way to avoid no deal is supporting the deal. will we see ministerial resignations if there is no free vote? i don't think we have to see that. what we have to do is get

together right across the house, the party. it is a venn diagram and the magic numberof party. it is a venn diagram and the magic number of 326 is the middle number. anyone in that house who wants to avoid no deal as passionately as i do at once to deliver brexit as much as i do at once to avoid a people's referendum, which i think would be another... another extension of these are really tough conversations, needs to come together and support the deal. thank you. you asked at the beginning what was the amendment that was perhaps going to get the most traction and a lot of people are speculating it could be one, which has been tailed by leila's cooper be one, which has been tailed by leila's - cooper and has some leila's yvette cooper and has some heavyweight cross— party leila's yvette cooper and has some heavyweight cross—party backbench opinion behind it —— labour's yvette cooper. which would basically enable parliament to seize control of the agenda for one day to push through a bill, which would delay brexit day oi’ bill, which would delay brexit day or article 50, until the end of the year. and there are suggestions that if mrs may seeks to block that,

there could be ministerial resignations. it is understood that the work and pensions secretary, amber rudd, has also urged the prime minister to allow a free vote on the issue. and when you look at the dynamics, it's likely the labour motion will probably get voted down. but if labour were to back the yvette cooper amendment, that has a pretty good chance of getting through, albeit many brexiteers are up through, albeit many brexiteers are up in arms about it. because they view it as a constitutional outrage that backbenchers should seek to shape government legislation. this was iain duncan smith on the wireless, this morning. i have a very simple formula for this, which is, if you really support this, really, i think, constitutional nonsense of allowing a backbench group to take over the business take over the business and run legislation for the government... if the labour party agrees to support that, they have to think carefully what would happen if

they were in power and they did not have a massive majority. number one, this opens the door to mayhem in the commons. there are an awful lot of hoops and hurdles to be crossed, if this amendment is to be carried through, not least of which, we've never been here before, we've never had mps in this way taking control, imposing legislation, in effect, on a relu cta nt legislation, in effect, on a reluctant government. 0n legislation, in effect, on a reluctant government. on top of which, if there was to be a move to delay article 50, you have to give the eu a reason. it's not good enoughjust to the eu a reason. it's not good enough just to turn up and say, we all terribly confused, we we have no idea what we want, you have to have a reason and it is not clear that the eu would be willing to grant the uk more time. —— we have no idea what we want. 0n the back of a backbench proposal becomes disagrees with. a lot of ground to be covered before we get to any clarity over brexit. there certainly is, thank you very much for that. a search and rescue operation

is under way for a light aircraft which has disappeared from radar over the english channel. cardiff city football club say there's "genuine concern" premier league footballer emiliano sala was on the flight. two people are believed to be onboard the plane, which was heading to cardiff when it lost contact with air traffic controllers off guernsey. a coastguard rescue helicopter and crews from alderney and guernsey rnli joined the search in the area around the lighthouse. hm coastguard said the disappearance was not in the uk search and rescue area, but it had sent two helicopters to help. there isn't confirmation that emiliano sala is on the flight. they have facts about their new signing.

this light aircraft was travelling from nantes two cardiff city. he played for nantes. to repeat, they did not know whether emiliano sala was definitely on that flight but cardiff football clu b was definitely on that flight but cardiff football club are saying there is genuine concern he may be. we will keep you up—to—date with any news on that search and rescue operation. 0nline abuse of people with disabilities should be made a criminal offence, according to a new report by mps. it follows a petition started by the television personality katie price, who has a disabled son. jon donnison reports. katie price, whose 16—year—old son, harvey, has a disability, says he's suffered a shocking level of abuse online. her petition, which was submitted in 2017, attracted more than 220,000 signatures from people who agreed that the laws on online abuse of disabled people were not fit for purpose. it called for such abuse to be made a specific criminal offence,

and for a register of offenders to be created. now, a report from the petitions committee, which is made up of cross—party mps, has backed katie price's call for the law to be changed. it isn't good enough, as we found, to simply say that what is illegal off—line is illegal online. we found that disabled people were often let down by the system when they tried to report abuse, and we recommend that, in future, targeting someone because of their disability should be put on a par with targeting someone because of their race. the committee, which took evidence from google, twitter and facebook, says self—regulation of social media has failed disabled people, and says too many have been driven off social media, while their abusers have remained unchecked. jon donnison, bbc news. easyjet says the disruption caused by drone sightings at gatwick airport last month, cost it £15 million.

it paid out £10 million in "customer welfare costs" and said it had lost £5 million of revenues, due to flight cancellations. easyjet said the incident affected around 82,000 customers and led to more than 400 flights being cancelled. four men arrested in connection with saturday night's car bombing in londonderry have been released, without charge. police say a fifth man remains in custody. detectives believe the dissident republican group, the new ira, may have been behind the attack. three security alerts imposed yesterday in the city have ended. police say they were hoaxes. after a week of turmoil in zimbabwe, president emmerson mnangagwa has cut short a foreign trip and returned home. zimbabwe has seen days of violent protests over rising fuel prices — which ministers say have been used by opponents of the government to cause unrest. 0ur correspondent andrew harding is in zimbabwe.

it's a mixed message from emmerson mnangagwa. it was inevitable he was going to condemn the protesters and insist his fuel price rise, which sparked the unrest, the real popular anger here more than a week ago, would carry on. he wasn't going to back down. he said we need to take tough, unpopular measures, to fix the economy. what i think was most surprising and interesting was quite how tough he was on his own security forces. these, of course, the men in the military, the police, who staged a coup that brought me present to power that ousted robert mcgarvey more than a year ago. he said, he basically warned them that if they we re basically warned them that if they were using indiscriminate violence, that would be a betrayal of the new zimbabwe and that heads would roll. some people are speculating that there are, i suppose, concerns behind—the—scenes of plots against

emmerson mnangagwa and perhaps a new coup is in the offing. but i think it is an indication of the unpredictable nature of politics here right now. emmerson mnangagwa is taking a bit of a risk, threatening them so publicly, the security forces. ten people have died in a fire involving two ships in the black sea, according to russian authorities. so far, 14 people have been rescued in a operation off the coast of ukraine. russia's maritime agency say the fate of the other sailors on board is still unknown. 0ne ship is a gas tanker and it's thought the blaze started when fuel was being transferred between the boats. cristiano ronaldo is expected to plead guilty to tax evasion in a madrid court today. ronaldo will be in the spanish capital on tax charges related to his time at real madrid. the juventus forward is expected to plead guilty and accept a suspended 23—month jail sentence and a fine of 5.7 million euros plus interest, which is part of an overall settlement worth 18.8 million euros. the headlines on bbc news:

theresa may will meet her cabinet today, as mps put forward alternative brexit plans, including a labour amendment, giving parliament the option to vote on another referendum on its final proposal. mps have backed a campaign lead by katie price to make the online abuse of disabled people a crime. cardiff city football club say there is genuine concern that their new signing, emiliano sala, was on a light aircraft that disappeared, last night, over the english channel. the argentine strikerjoined the clu b the argentine strikerjoined the club on saturday from nantes and the clu b club on saturday from nantes and the club say they are seeking clarification over what might have happened. men's tennis has a new star with 20—year—old stefanos tsitsipas

beating roger federer at the australian open two days ago — the greek has followed that win up by reaching the semi—finals in melbeumg this morning he defeated spain's roberto bautista agoot — the man who beat andy murray in that epic match last week. or american francia tiafoe next. and an incredible story in the women's singles where unseeded american danielle collins is into the semi—finals — before this tournament she had never won a single match at any grand slam tournament before. more on those stories including that very worrying news coming from cardiff city in the last few moments in the next half an hour. tech companies should use their own software to identify people at risk of suicide, block them from seeing harmful content and offer help and advice. that call comes from the government's suicide prevention minister who says social media companies are exposing users, especially children, to graphic material about self harm. angus crawford reports. each year, more than 5,000 people take their own lives across the uk. among them, more than 200 children.

though the total number of suicides is falling, some groups remain especially at risk. today, the government is setting out what it calls its first ever suicide prevention work plan. it aims to better understand the underlying causes of suicide, examine the effects of debt and gambling, focus on the role of social media. there's growing concern about harmful online content. powerful algorithms promote adverts or suggest new friends, but can also lead users to increasingly graphic content about self—harm and suicide. the government wants tech companies to alter their software. if there's evidence that some users are accessing material, which is about self—harm and how they can damage themselves, they have the ability of push them in a different direction, they can push them in a direction of support, they can push them

to where they can actually seek help. but forcing tech companies to change won't be easy. after all, those same algorithms also drive profits. angus crawford, bbc news. i'm joined in the studio by dr david crepaz—keay, head of empowerment and social inclusion at the mental health foundation. it's very good to have you with us. how significant is this announcement going to be this afternoon from the minister for going to be this afternoon from the ministerfor mental going to be this afternoon from the minister for mental health? particularly with regard to using, you know, predictive analytics, artificial intelligence, etc, to try to spot those most at risk of taking their own lives? the mental health foundation is very keen for anything that encourages people to talk more about suicide, any conversation about suicide, any conversation about suicide, any conversation about suicide is the first step towards helping to stop it, stop people thinking about it becoming a

reality. we welcome the strategy and we welcome this as a focus, using contemporary tools to try to do anything we can to reduce the risk of suicide. vertically amongst younger people. suicide is the leading cause of death in men under 50. it is. absolutely. and certainly amongst a younger age group said that as well. the age group who will be using social media. indeed. how significant will it be to get the backing of social media companies for this? it is important to say the technology being talked about is still in its infancy. we had seen successful use of natural language processing to help us understand the risk of depression, the risk of suicide and so on. when you talk about natural language processing, what do you mean? we mean machines and artificial intelligence reading through text either on social media settings or even in people's notes,

people's medical notes, people's postings on support boards and so on. so, it's very clear that artificial intelligence is an important tool. but it is still in its infancy. and the risk is only half of the challenge that people face. so, one of the things that is important is, on the one hand, identifying people who are at risk of suicide, that is very useful. but that in itself doesn't prevent suicide. the mental health foundation has done a lot of work around suicide prevention, and understanding risk is part of it. but then you have to do something about the risks that have been identified. and that is where we do need more of a focus. yes, we can identify people at risk. and if we can do that, the more accurate we can do that, the more accurate we can do that, the more accurate we can do that, the better but then we have to do something about that risk. as you understand it, the plan that's going to be announced this afternoon, which includes plans to track very carefully, hopefully, a

reduction in suicides, is that focused purely on identifying the risk? rather than what you have been talking about? absolutely not, no. a lot of work has been done over recent yea rs, lot of work has been done over recent years, particularly by local authorities, since they have had responsibility for suicide prevention strategy. to put in place mechanisms and support that actually help people who are at risk of suicide. to prevent those risks becoming reality. in terms of harmful content online that people might be looking at, has any work being done to show how much of an impact that has on people who eventually go on to, unfortunately, commit suicide or who attempt to ta ke commit suicide or who attempt to take their own life? i think our understanding on this is still developing. it took a lot of time for us to develop media guidelines for us to develop media guidelines for broadcast and print media, around how suicide should be reported. there is very, very good

research and evidence that responsible reporting of suicide on television and in newspapers can stop suicides becoming contagious, if you like. stop a single suicide event leading to further suicides or stop the ideas of suicides becoming suicides. we are much less sure about how to apply that learning in an age of social media, where things happen a lot quicker. where it is not simply a case of talking to editors and journalists about how we talk about suicide, it's actually about how all of us talk about suicide. 0r risk of suicide, presenting... dealing with people's understanding of suicide in an online environment. we have a lot of work to do, just to understand how that might affect people. but the problem remains the same. you identify people who are at risk of suicide and you need to do something constructive to support them. thank you very much for your time this

morning. from the mental health foundation. and if you've been affected by anything you've heard in that story, you can get in touch with the bbc actionline, bbc.co.uk/actionline, or you can call 08000 934 999 — lines are open 2a hours a day and free of charge. let me bring you right up—to—date with the latest on the search for a missing light aircraft, which has disappeared from radar over the english channel. cardiff city football clu b english channel. cardiff city football club are saying that there is genuine concern that their new signing, emiliano sala, was on the flight. signing, emiliano sala, was on the flight. guernsey police have been tweeting. they are involved in this operation. they are searching for the light aircraft. it resumed at 8am this morning. they give you more details of where the

searches focused on. it is off the north of alderney after a light aircraft disappeared from radar several hours ago. two helicopters alongside the guernsey and alderney lifeboats are searching. they will provide more information as it becomes available. there is no trace of that aircraft at the moment. we know it was en route from nantes to cardiff, with two people on board. emiliano sala had been playing for na ntes emiliano sala had been playing for nantes before he was signed by cardiff city. french media reporting that emiliano sala was driven to the airport by a nantes defender. you may well know that cardiff played a record fee —— paid a record fee of around £50 million for emiliano sala, one of the leading scorers in the french ligue one. cardiff city football clu b the french ligue one. cardiff city football club saying there is genuine concern, although not

absolutely confirmed, that emiliano sala was on the flight. i know there will be more with saleh in sport on this. and, of course, if there are any updates we will bring those to you —— with sally. the leaders of france and germany will sign a treaty this morning pledging closer cooperation, in areas including defence and economic development. emmanuel macron and angela merkel are aiming to strengthen their countries' ties in a post—brexit eu — but critics say the plan risks alienating member states in eastern europe. that will be happening in aachen. these are live pictures of angela merkel. it will take place on the anniversary on this day in 1963, when charles de gaulle signed the

lease a treaty in paris. with me now is our berlin correspondentjenny hill — who's in aachen for us this morning. good morning. to what! good morning. to what extent would you say - treaty is good morning. to what extent would you say- treaty is a response to elltesceptie euresceptic we the eurosceptic forces we mentioned in the introduction? i think it's very clearly a response both to euro verygclearly a resgonse both to euro and populism that. are verygclearly a resgonse both to euro sweeping )pulism that. are verygclearly a resgonse both to euro sweeping “l“,‘f’n th eu. j are verygclearly a resgonse both to euro sweeping ‘l‘i‘f‘i th eu. but verygclearly a resgonse both to euro sweepingzezaszfa th elfffit ' 7 of noise, just outside the historic toasts of noise, just outside the historic town in of noise, just outside the historic toad". in there for yellow vest protesters, waiting for president macron to arrive. angela merkel is already inside. the two lea d e rs angela merkel is already inside. the two leaders are, i think, under considerable pressure. not only because mrs merkel‘s power is mr macron is having a great deal of domestic trouble but also because they know eu elections are coming up

and the eu faces multiple challenges, not least from the eurosceptic populist parties ijust mentioned. but they have to try and shore up a post brexit eu. interference the eu is losing an important ally and partner. today is heavy with symbolism. there's not a great deal of solid detail in it. critics say it is short on substance. jenny, we're having quite a lot of break withjenny‘s sound. for that. that is the scene live in aachen where the franco german treaty is due to be signed this morning. now some astonishing pictures from merseyside where police are appealing for information after a builder drover a mini digger throught the doors of a brand new travelodge in liverpool yesterday evening. 0nlookers shouted at the driver to stop as the machine mounted the hotel steps, sending debris flying as it crashed through the doors. it's been reported that the driver was involved in a pay

dispute with contractors. wreaking havoc, as you can see. after about 20 minutes, the diggerfinally drove out of the building, before the driver was seen leaving the cab. one man was treated for eye irritation from exposure to diesel, but no—one else was injured. in a moment, the weather, but first let's join victoria derbyshire to find out what she's got coming up in her programme at 10am. good morning. good morning. katie price got mps to look into the abuse of disabled people on social media as she revealed the kind of things people were saying about her own son, harvey. today we speak of the —— we speak to the chair of the committee who agreed with katie price that such abuse should be classed as a hate crime. let us know if you have been trolled because of your disability. join us at 10am. thank you, see you soon. now it's time for a look

at the weather with carol kirkwood. what have you got for us this morning? almost everything. and i see start to the day with frost, wintry showers and rain but now a fair bit of sunshine, especially in the east. a lot of wintry showers in the east. a lot of wintry showers in the west interspersed with bright sunny skies. today, they will tra nsfer towards sunny skies. today, they will transfer towards the east. quite a tricky rush hour anywhere from northumberland to kent and all points east. showers, not all of us will catch them and buy wintry, a mixture of rain, snow, sleet, hail and thunder and lightning. nothing to write home about, it will feel cold wherever you are with temperatures in the southwest and channel islands a bit higher. this evening, we carry on with a lot of wintry showers. clear skies, a cold night and the wintry showers gathering across wales, north west midlands, cheshire and merseyside. tomorrow, you could wake up with a covering of snow and freezing fog patches to get rid of. especially

across southern scotland and north—west england. these temperatures are indicative of towns and cities in rural areas it will be lower than that. tomorrow, drier and brighter but still some wintry showers. hello, this is bbc news with annitta mcveigh. the headlines: mps put forward proposals to change theresa may's brexit deal — including a labour amendment saying parliament should decide whether to hold another referendum on its final plan in the event of us hurtling towards no deal, to avoid that situation, all options should be put on the table before parliament, and that included a people's vote. a campaign lead by katie price — to make the online abuse of disabled people a crime — is backed by mps after more than 220,000 people sign a petition... cardiff city football club say there is genuine concern that their new signing, emiliano sala, was on a light aircraft that disappeared last night over the english channel... zimbabwean president emmerson

mnangagwa has broken off a trip to europe after violent protests in his home country. time now for the morning briefing, where we bring you up to speed on the stories people are watching, reading and sharing. can the prime minister renegotiate the backstop arrangement — the "insurance policy" designed to avoid a hard border on the island of ireland? theresa may said on monday that altering the backstop arrangment was her focus, and both the uk and the eu believe that bringing back border checks could put the peace process at risk. mrs may hopes mps will back the arrangement. we heard more about how much of a renegotiation is needed to get the support from conservative mps. here's the former conservative leader and brexit supporter iain duncan smith on the today programme. the prime minister started yesterday, in her announcement, with a significant statement, for the first time the government

is prepared now to go back and negotiate. that has not been the case for some time, they said it was all stitched up, there was nothing they could do. that means, really, two or three areas. in fact, a group of us published a thing called a better deal and a better future, which was, essentially, about how the government gets itself over the line. number one, we have to have an absolute commitment with the eu, from the start of this, that we are both heading to a full free trade deal, that is the purpose of all of this. it's not a 2—stage process, it's really a one stage process. the second thing, i think the prime minister herself, now, needs to have, first and foremost, really, really good team, led by a politician, now. and they've got a man called crawford faulkner, sitting there, who has negotiated god knows how many trade deals in new zealand. he should now be part of this team. right, so, hang on, on that, you think you should be sent you think he should be sent to brussels to do this deal over the next couple of years? my view, as you would

if you were in business or any kind of project you were doing, you always get the expert and they do the negotiations. what we now need is absolutely 100% daily, political leadership under the prime minister, reporting back to her, so when she goes over she knows it. and alongside that individual, you have already sitting in the trade department are probably the world's expert on trade arrangements. right. and i would like to see that individual in. and replacing 0lly robins is doing the job at the moment? no, i have no problem with 0lly robins if he was still there but they would support that process. but what you need is a strong team but politically led, that's my personal view. and on the withdrawal agreement, what should they be saying? well, on the withdrawal agreement, we have to sort out... 0bviously, everything comes back to the backstop. why the backstop? the backstop unlocks just about everything else. the backstop isn'tjust a kind of no hard border process for northern ireland. the problem with the backstop is that it makes it almost impossible for us to negotiate a proper trade deal later. because, as macron said, you just wait until you're about to crash in and then you have

to give away everything. and the second part of it, we forget that in the backstop, there are a whole set of provisions that basically say, look, the backstop pretty much defines your trade relationship, which therefore means we have very little wiggle room. eighty—two—year—old tony foulds spent much of his life quietly tending to the memorial of ten american air crew. he witnesed their plane crash in a park in sheffield during the second world war, when he was just eight years old. since a memorial was erected in the 1970s, tony has regularly kept plants watered and the area clean to remember the men who died. here he is with woodyjohnson, the us ambassador to the united kingdom. i love them to pieces. i feel a little bit because i've missed seeing them today. i never miss, it doesn't matter where i am. if i go on holiday i always make sure my son goes up to visit them and tells them where i am because i talk to them.

i mean, i kiss the plate every time i come. and ijust tell them where i am, what i am doing, what the weather is like. we know there is an anniversary coming up soon and you've got dreams about what might happen on that anniversary. i should say, when we spoke, you had no idea i worked on bbc breakfast. in your own words you thought i was a bloke with a dog. i came back to talk to you again and you never asked for any money, anything personally, you said what you wanted was to remember these men and the ideal way of doing that for you, you said, was on the 70th anniversary, you wanted a flyover and i said to you, leave it with me. well, i know you are here to meet the ambassador today, we've got a bit of a surprise to you. good morning, tony, on behalf of my team—mates, here at the 48th fighter wing it gives me great pleasure to see look to the skies on the 22nd of february

for a very special flyby. you've got your flyby, tony! i know it's probably hard for you to speak now, can you put into words what that means to you? that's everything, isn't it, that's everything i wanted. so emotional and a lovely thing to hear this morning, tony spending much of his life tending to the memorial of the american aircrew who he witnessed crashing when he was just eight years old. just coming into is now, figures unemployment, 75 pointed percent of 16—64 —year—olds in paid work, the highest employment rate since records began

in1971. employment rate since records began in 1971. the number of people and work reaching a record high of 82 and a half million according to official figures released and a half million according to officialfigures released in the last few months. if you've got a dog, i'm sure they've got a favourite toy they can't bear to be apart from. now researchers at the university of bristol are trying to find out whether our pets have the same emotional attachment to objects as a young child has with their teddy. earlier we heard from the professor behind the study, professor bruce hood and also by lola, the bichon frise — and her owner stewart miller. i've been doing research on infant attachment to blankets and teddy bears for 20 years and i was really surprised by this behaviour and i wondered why we did this. and so we looked into this normal developmental phase and discovered some fascinating facts. it's more common in the west than in japanese children. we think it's something to do with security and emotional attachment. i was talking about this, saying this is just a human preoccupation, at a dinner party, last year, when someone from the vet

school said, well, no, actually dogs do this as well, and i was really surprised. i'm not a dog owner, so i didn't know about it. so we thought wouldn't it be fascinating to discover how common this is? which is why we have launched this international survey to try to establish if breeds have specific... it's specific to breeds. so, tell us a little bit about lola. well, lola is a bichon frise we've had about three years, she's three and a half. yeah. she's a really good—natured dog. a little bit yappy, as a typical bichon frise is. she's just got an attachment, she has three or four toys that she absolutely loves. they're a bit dirty and smelly but one like this me mum bought her for christmas. it'sjust a little innocuous little elf. it's got a squeak in it, it rustles. she drags it everywhere. as you can see, it's pretty filthy, but she absolutely loves it. if you try and take it away, she chases you. and this particular... you say there's three or four she has a particular attachment to? yeah. and these particular toys, they're not ones my wife or i have bought her ourselves,

they're ones she's picked up from other places. this is from my mum. she goes to a daycare place called dogs and divas. she pinches them and brings them back. she generally likes toys that have smells from other places. they do love their toys. 0n the morning briefing let's take a look at what you are reading and watching on the bbc news app. the most red, number one, news of that missing plane, the search for a missing light aircraft and the concern that on board could be the cardiff city latest signing emiliano salop. the plane travelling to cardiff from france, two people on board, no sign of the missing aircraft at the moment. —— sala. further down. on

the most red, number nine, key antarctic food source moves south, this is about the crustaceans krill and scientists say they are retreating from the southern ocean which is warming up towards the antarctic because of climate change. and they are a major food source for a lot of creatures from wales and seals to penguins and sea birds and fish. scientists really concerned about the impact that might have on ecosystems. let's look at the most watched. number one, therefore a little time, bouncer nurse cuts a&e waiting times. you know about the weights in accident and emergency and concerns over those, the royal bournemouth hospital is cutting waiting times by having a nurse, senior nurse at the door am even before anyone gets to reception to decide whether a patient actually needs to be seen at accident and

emergency and they are being redirected if necessary to doctors or two pharmacists but if you look at that story on most watched you can get at that story on most watched you ca n get lots at that story on most watched you can get lots more detail about how at royal hospital they are managing to cut waiting times in accident and emergency through the adoption of the so—called bouncer nurses. i'm not sure whether the nurses like that title but you get the picture. that is it for the morning briefing. sport now...and for a full round up, from the bbc sport centre, here's sally nugent sally, beginning with that story over the missing are craft and emiliano sala. no confirmation yet that he is on board. we must stress. good morning... cardiff city say they have genuine concern over the whereabouts of their new striker emiliano sala who is feared to be among

the pasengers on a plane which has gone missing off the channel island of guernsey. to warn you, there is a little bit of flash photography coming up in these pictures. sala signed for cardiff for around £15 million from french side nantes on saturday and was due to start his new career at the premier league club from today. a helicopter and lifeboat crews have joined a search for the plane which disappeared last night. the club say they are seeking clarification over what happened — cardiff airport confirmed that a flight was due in from nantes but gave no further details 0nly yesterday sala posted this tweet, writing the "last goodbye" to his nantes team—mates in this poignant picture we will bring you any updates we

have on this story throughout the programme. around three or four thousand bolton fans were involved in a protest march against the club's owner ken anderson ahead of last night's championship match against west brom. the fans are angry at anderson's handling of the club and thousands voiced their disapproval before kick—off. those are the images you can see before the match started. and the protests continued even when the match got under way with tennis balls raining down from the stands — bolton lost the match 2—0 and stay second from bottom in the table. a tricky few years. men's tennis has a new star with 20—year—old stefanos tsitsipas beating roger federer at the australian open two days ago — the greek has followed that win up by reaching the semi—finals in melbourne. this morning he defeated spain's roberto bautista agoot — the man who beat andy murray in that epic match last week. tsitsipas won in four sets and now faces either rafa nadal or american francia tiafoe next.

i knew that the win against veteran was important and played a huge role in my image and who i am. but i knew the biggest challenge was the match today, i can prove herself once again. —— federer. today, i can prove herself once again. -- federer. he seems to be quite a character. and here we havejudy murray winning twitter response of the day so far — with tsitsipas in the tsemi finals !! get it? and an incredible story in the women's singles where unseeded american danielle collins is into the semi—finals — before this tournament she had never won a single match at any grand slam tournament before. she beat russian anastasio public

chink over. you can see how delighted she was. let's look at some of the back pages. first up the daily mirror — they have a story about the chelsea boss maurizio sarri fearing the sack after his extraordinary interview about the players and their lack of motivation in traning. sun goes with manchester citys attempts to protect sterling on the pitch telegraph has a story about the dangers drones could pose at big sporting events — and how some events have protection under the law and some dont. the picture you can see is the one and only serena williams at the australian open. just before i go, a pointer to live sport on the bbc this afternoon and you can see) the mixed pairs final at the world at 1pm this afternoon.

and don't forget you can catch up with all the day‘ sports news in sportsday here on bbc news at 6.30 that's all the sport for now. just a reminder of the top story, genuine concern from cardiff city, thatis genuine concern from cardiff city, that is the phrase here using, genuine concern over at the whereabouts of the new striker emiliano sala who is feared to have been on board a plane which is correctly missing off the coast of albany. he was flying from france to the uk last night. more from us here at the sports centre at 11:15am. back to you. thank you. theresa may will meet her cabinet today as mps put forward alternative brexit plans ,including a labour amendment giving parliament the option to vote on another referendum on its final proposal. that cabinet meeting under way now. mps have backed a campaign lead by katie price to make

the online abuse of disabled people a crime. as you've just heard from sally... i'm sorry, these are not the right pictures for this story. cardiff city football club say there is genuine concern that their new signing, emiliano sala, was on a light aircraft that disappeared last night over the english channel... there's a new warning about the impact of climate change in one of the areas worst affected by global warming — the sahel — a region of africa that covers the gateways into the sahara desert. the international committee of the red cross believes that a changing climate, combined with islamic extremism and tribal conflict — is creating an explosive combination there. and it's a problem that could lead to more migration to the shores of europe — creating another humanitarian catastrophe. 0ur chief international correspondent, lyse doucet travelled to mali — she begins in the town of menaka — rarely visited byjournalists — to see how climate change

is impacting on daily life. the sahel, locked in a long war to hold back the desert. it is losing. and now, a new enemy. climate change threatening the world's most vulnerable lands. mali fights on many fronts. un forces are on the ground here. the world's most dangerous peacekeeping mission. often under attack by extremist groups including al qaeda and islamic state. this 63—year—old farmer has seen it all. a country of extremes now lurches from drought to floods. last summer there was more rain than anyone can remember. all his crops were washed away. his home, flooded with water. a mud home full of cracks after an explosion nearby. so what is the biggest enemy now?

the conflict or the climate? translation: the conflict and the climate. everything is a problem here. mali has all the problems. and some families don't even have anything to eat. and for him, ten children to feed. life lived on the very edge. every generation more fragile than the last. these boys forced to join armed groups. now the centre provides a refuge. translation: my family fled the violence. i stayed behind to take care of our animals but there was no rain then. nothing for them to eat. the animals died one after the other. i had no choice tojoin a group with guns. the desert has always dominated life here.

people have learned to live with that. but the power of climate change is changing everything and making it much worse. poverty, extremism and the conflict over land and water, the need just to survive. today, a call for help from the desert in mali. tuareg musicians belt out a welcome to a visiting delegation. the president of the icrc here to focus on this fight. it has not been on our radar screen. 0ur natural genetics say we look at arms, armed actorsd, conflict, perhaps under development that we did not look at the natural environment.

now we see that climate change is changing weather patterns and livelihoods of people and is leading to conflict amongst communities. so much has been lost. this is the grand mosque of timbuktu. the fabled city in the sand. centuries ago, a city of gold. a cultural capital. seven years ago, islamist fighters smashed many of its shrines. and this magnificent mud mosque is still imperilled. translation: this mosque was built in an arid area. it was not built to drain so much water. now there is more and more rain and wind threatening the site. so much to do. almost all malians live off this land. livestock as well. as temperatures rise, resources shrink and conflict grows as time runs out in this largely forgotten corner of our world. some of the ceremonial guardians of the tower of london,

the beefeaters, will go on strike for the first time in more than half a century today, in a dispute over pensions. the industrial action comes after a new proposal for changes to their pension schemes was rejected by the gmb union. historic royal palaces say they do not expect the strike to have a significant impact on operations. with me now is our news correspondent kathryn stanczyszyn — who's at the tower of london. good morning. tell us more about this dispute. good morning, the beef eaters, to give them their rubber title, the yeoman warders, the ceremonial guardians of her majesty's palaces are a very familiar emblem, one of the top tourist attractions in the capital.

outside the tower of london some of them are on a picket line, there is a picket line here and at hampton court palace as well, between 9am and 4pm today in the row over pensions. many other staff employed by historic royal palaces involved in this strike. it's been rumbling on for some months, gmb union members were balloted in november and they voted overwhelmingly to ta ke and they voted overwhelmingly to take industrial action. was due to be some strike action earlier this month that was called off for your talks to happen but they haven't been successful. i'm joined by nick ainsley, the regional organiser of the gmb. tell us firstly white you are doing this, many people have had to a cce pt are doing this, many people have had to accept changes to their pensions, why should these members be different? because historic royal palaces can afford these pensions, we have to be realistic with lots of members across the country whose

employers cannot afford that. you will have seen in many press releases responses from the store at royal palaces, they do say they cannot afford it, but they say it's unsustainable, whatever that means. we are looking after the people who look after those buildings. and if they are suggesting those buildings are more important than people than there is something very wrong with our society. pension poverty is a growing problem and it's something that everyone should be interested m, that everyone should be interested in, notjusta that everyone should be interested in, notjust a small group of people in one workplace or another. this is going to come back and bite all of us going to come back and bite all of us at some point in the future. the pensioners can not afford their rent, they cannot afford groceries and utility bills, it's going to come back to the taxpayer to help. as we said, these people are very angry, they do not do this lightly, they were made promises when they we re they were made promises when they were transferred from the civil service and those promises have been ripped up. what are they worth, what is paperwork? you give someone a

promise and you rip it up, what is it worth? historic royal palaces saying making this change in a dozen to give everyone a better pension option, all the people who have joined since, you talk about the change in the 90s, everyone since then hasn't had a final salary pension and this change will allow eve ryo ne pension and this change will allow everyone to to be better off. we would agree we want everyone to have a good pension, it was historic royal palaces because the unfairness in the first place by stopping new entrants coming into a decent pension scheme but it doesn't get away from the problem. giving someone a money purchase scheme at a french —— fraction of what it's costing for a defined benefit pension doesn't make that a good pension, it's money that you buy foot every you can afford at the time you retire, that is not a good pension. they said they want to change their mind, will you keep going? we will, as long as our members keep wanting us to do that, we will keep going. axe so much, historic royal palaces have told us

today only around 10% of staff taking part in the strike action and crucially the day—to—day running of the site will continue as normal. thanks very much. time for a look at the weather. here's simon thank you. sting to change in the weather today concurred to yesterday. overnight we saw rain moving south and east leading to a fairly as start for some. this band of cloud associated with the rain moving away. this speckled cloud towards northern and western areas, shower clouds, moving in on a rather prisk north—westerly wind and because it's a cold wind direction, the showers turning wintry as you can see. some snow present already this morning, as side huddersfield this morning, as side huddersfield this morning, a good covering of snow, some snow showers across wales, through north—west england, northern ireland. the showers moving eastwards, there will be a wintry

mix, at low levels, mostly rain but there will be sleet and in heavy showers that could be snow even down at low levels. much of the snow will be falling over higher ground, maximum temperatures 4—6d. the key things for the rush—hour