hello, you're watching afternoon live — i'm ben brown, live in chippenham in wiltshire. this is one of many counties in southern england where there has been heavy snowfall. the wintry weather has caused widespread disruption to a large parts of southern england have very cold weather and britain suffered its cold est weather and britain suffered its coldest night for seven years. the conditions brought chaos on the roads as commuters tried to get to work, hundreds of schools were closed and rail services disrupted. take extreme care, drive with caution, take everything nice and gentle, the throttle, the brakes, the steering. the road is very, very treacherous indeed. my advice, personally — stay at home. we'll have reports with the very latest conditions from our correspondents across the country i'm reeta chakrabarti — also on afternoon live... the united states announces that it is suspending compliance with a key nuclear arms control

agreement, signed with the soviet union during the cold war. downing street reacts angrily as eu documents describe gibraltar as a "colony" and calls its status "co ntroversial". coming up on afternoon live all the sport — with hugh woozencroft — and it's a big day for england's cricketers. indeed, it is. the second day of the second test is about to begin. england will need to take west indian wickets quickley to wrestle back control of the match and the series. more sport in half an hour. and the weather. i don't know if can see it but i'm showing this picture to show you its not all doom and gloom about the weather at the moment but ben is very much in the heart of an area that is causing further concern with yet more snow to come for some southern counties of england with the rest of today. i

will have all the details in the next half an hour. thank you. also coming up — tributes are paid to the comedianjeremy hardy — who has died at the age of 57. we'll be talking to his friend, jack dee. good afternoon. heavy snowfalls have brought chaos to the west country and southern england — leaving hundreds of drivers stranded. the freezing conditions across the uk saw temperatures fall in parts of scotland to minus 15 degrees celsius — the coldest night for seven years. well, ben brown is in wiltshire for us this afternoon. ben. good afternoon. the snow has slightly abated now, we are at chippenham or near chippenham

by the m4 motorway this afternoon, and there has been the heavy snowfall for hours as there has been right along the m4 corridor through the day, causing as you say a lot of travel disruption. also closing hundreds and hundreds of schools, just in wiltshire alone, something like 250 schools have been close. in wales, 500 have been closed, that's a quarter of the entire number of schools in wales. thatjust gives you an idea of the disruption, not just roads, also the rail services in many area, and flights, at heathrow, bristol airport, also disrupted as well. the heaviest labels was seen in cornwall, i2 centimetres —— heaviest snowfall. hundreds of drivers were stranded at a pub called the jamaica in. let's get the report on a day of freezing

temperatures through the uk. it may not be a polar vortex but it's pretty parky. and for millions of people, a difficult and for some impossible journey to work. if you have to go out, take extreme care. drive with caution, take everything nice and gentle, the throttle, the brakes, the steering. the road is very, very treacherous indeed. my advice personally would be, stay at home. some, though, did not follow such advice. overnight on the a30 on bodmin moor in cornwall, hundreds of drivers had to abandon their vehicles after being stuck for hours in freezing temperatures. we've been in the car since about 4pm, we left redruth. so we've gone about 30 miles in... what's that, nine hours? nine and a little bit hours. and in the last about six hours, we've probably moved about less than 100 yards or so. the famous jamaica inn opened its doors to those in need of shelter, making up beds in the restaurant and bar

when all the rooms were taken. and at callywith college in bodmin, the snow forced students to make it their home for the night because the roads were too treacherous to go home. so in the end, we had aboutjust over 300 students stay the night here at the college. everyone is absolutely fine, they've all been fed and watered, they had a good night's sleep... fora teenager, i imagine, two or three hours. and we were very grateful to asda, who donated just under £800 worth of bedding to support students and provide as cosy an environment as we could provide for them. and for many children, it's day off, with hundreds of schools closed across southern england and wales. at heathrow, they've been de—icing planes but more than 35 flights had to be cancelled. bristol airport had to close this morning and there has been disruption at cardiff, too. and spare a thought for the homeless.

in bristol, where the council has launched its emergency severe weather programme, they've been handing out hot food and drinks. i couldn't sleep last night, i was that cold. you know. i had a sleeping bag and i ain't being funny, i had to sleep in all these clothes, as well, just to keep warm. pair of gloves on, scarf on, hat on, do you know what i mean? so, yeah. that's how it is, mate. i think you kind of get used to it, you know. it's like, it's a case of having to. and the winter weather is set to continue well into the weekend, with temperatures not expected to rise significantly until tuesday. last night, temperatures plunged to their lowest in braemar in scotland, their lowest in braemar in scotland, the lowest for seven years. that was -15 the lowest for seven years. that was —15 celsius. the snow is still falling and rupture although a lot

less tha n falling and rupture although a lot less than it has been in the last few hours, it also has been snowing heavily in other counties in britain including berkshire, where our reporter reports from. somewhere out there is the a34. we are heading north into amber weather territory. the black of the a road soon gives way to the white of a b road. this is the border between hampshire and berkshire, and where we meet our first person in difficulty. what are you going to do? are you going to turn around? yeah, i'm going to turn around and go. smiling but struggling. we head on over the ma, where the snow into the hills where the snow and the hills are adding to the problems. how is it going? you have to concentrate very hard, it takes a lot of effort. i am considering turning back at this point because of the hill. wondering when i have done my work, can i get back up the hill? i am thinking, shall i turn around?

i think i will, actually. we leave him and head on down that hill. we have been driving around berkshire and north hampshire now for several hours, and wherever we have gone, we have had the snow and wind, really laying it down thick across all the countryside and erodes that we have —— the roads that we have been travelling along. in this particular area, just north of the ma, the snow is maybe 5—6 inches deep. then it was on into the village of great shepherd, where getting out could be getting difficult. tim thinks this small settlement might soon be hemmed in by the snow. you have got your big hill here, you are concerned about being cut off. we frequently do get cut off in this weather, there is a steep hill with some steep turns, quite steep drop offs, it is not worth the risk, really. you are going to stay put?

get the toboggan out, go into the hills, make some fun of it. some drivers could move and wish they had not. a few hours in the life of the snowbound south. duncan kennedy, bbc news. snowbound is exactly what it is around here in wiltshire, close to chippenham on the ma, although the roads, people are driving up and down and the m4 where we've been, most of the day, there have been snowploughs in action, just keeping all the lanes of both carriageways open. we can show you from another of our cameras, the scene around here in wiltshire. it is a winter wonderland but it is also british actress, and in motoring organisations are telling people to be extremely careful if they do venture out —— it is treacherous.

they say don't get in your car msd jenny is a central. if you do, take provisions with you. —— unless it is essential. take one clothes, food and a shovel if you get stuck in the snow. if you want to follow the latest on the weather and the travel situation, the team into your local radio station or go into the website oi’ radio station or go into the website or follow us on the bbc news channel, we will have much more throughout the afternoon —— tune into your local radio station. that's all from chippenham for now, more from me later. thank you. in the past half hour the united states has announced that it is suspending compliance with a key nuclear arms control agreement, signed with the soviet union during the cold war. the secretary of state mike pompeo said russia had violated the terms of the agreement by developing a new cruise missile. moscow has rejected the accusation and warned that the the us move would be a powerful blow to the international system of nonproliferation. here's what the us secretary

of state had to say earlier. we provided window and ample window of time to change its ways and tomorrow that time runs out. russia has refused to take any steps to ta ke has refused to take any steps to take real or verifiable compliance over the 60 days. the united states will therefore suspend its obligations under the treaty effective every second. we will provide crusher and other —— russia and other parties that the us is withdrawing pursuing to article 15 of the treaty. russia has jeopardised the united states's security interests and we can no longer be restricted by the treaty while russia shamelessly violates it. if russia does not return to verifiable compliance with the treaty within the six months period, by destroying its imf metals, and

associated equipment, the treaty will terminate. 0ur correspondentjane 0'brien is in washington. has this been brewing for some time? yes, notjust under the trump administration but the 0bama administration as well, there have been 30 complaints about these disputed weapons they get claim russian house, and russia has not addressed the treaty so effectively the treaty is out of date. it is putting america at a military disadvantage with russia and china because it is not bound by any creature of this nature, and thatis any creature of this nature, and that is one of the unspoken things hanging over this whole move to withdraw from the treaty, that the us is effectively the only country complying with its terms and therefore it is at a distinct disadvantage. there is a feeling

that president trump has been unwilling in the past to go the extra mile to secure international cooperation on a variety of subjects. is there any sense of any further reaching out that might happen here? or does this now look like a break with this agreement? it's interesting native has, in full support of the us this morning just half an hour ago, they said that unless... which they believe... this treaty unless it destroys these systems, then russia bears full responsibility for the end of this treaty. the international community is far more on board with president trump on this than russia. but yes of course president trump has a history of withdrawing from treaties, he doesn't particularly like. the big question now is with the end of this treaty, what comes next? many thanks.

the uk has objected to gibraltar being described as a "colony" and its status as "controversial" in eu documents. the phrases appeared in new european legislation that would allow british citizens to travel to the eu without a visa after brexit. 0ur correspondent adam fleming is in brussels. how has this come about? in november last year, the european commission published a draft appraisal that puts the uk on the list of countries where you didn't need to apply for a visa if you wanted to come to the eu for a business trip or short holiday. this would apply after brexit. that proposal has been going through legislative process, it is now at the stage where it has been considered by the member states and during this process, spain insisted a footnote was added on page six describing gibraltar as a crown colony and seeing its sovereignty was controversial. that language

offended the british government and this morning at a meeting of eu ambassadors, london's man in brussels said to him barrow raised an objection which will be put into the minutes. but the uk has not got a vote on this sort of stuff so the footnote stays in. now the legislation moves to the european parliament for negotiations there before presumably it will become law before presumably it will become law before brexit daisy people have these free travel to the eu. on this specific issue of gibraltar and its status, presumably once that uk had left the eu, spain can call the shots? not necessarily. this is proof that the spanish government though will be able to use any opportunity at county raise the issue of gibraltar as it has done throughout brexit negotiations. that is one reason throughout brexit negotiations. that is one reason tune throughout brexit negotiations. that is one reason tune not reopen the brexit deal because spain would be one of the countries it is feared

that could ask for tweaks of its own that could ask for tweaks of its own that could ask for tweaks of its own that could hold up the process. in terms of the future, the withdrawal agreement may be brexit treaty, has lots of stuff in there about how gibraltar will be handled as an issue and some eu diplomats say that has been defined in a way to prevent gibraltar coming up again and again. but they say the brexit deal amounts to a small change in the status of gibraltar because it gives the spanish government more influence and more say over the operation of the border and how gibraltar has a relationship with the rest of the eu. but we have to wait and see in the years ahead whether that actually helps spain outwith its claim over that disputed territory. thank you. you're watching afternoon live, these are our headlines heavy snow has swept across the west country and large parts of southern england and wales,

as the uk suffered its coldest night for seven years. the united states announces that it is suspending compliance with a key nuclear arms control agreement, signed with the soviet union during the cold war. downing street reacts angrily as eu documents describe gibraltar as a "colony" and calls its status "controversial". and in sport, england are close to an early wicket in the morning session on day two of the second test against the west indies in antigua. but it was not given on review. the hosts are now 38 without loss, replying to england's 187. warren gatland is loss, replying to england's187. warren gatland is focused on defence as they look to have an opening six nations win against france in paris tonight. manchester united's winning strea k tonight. manchester united's winning streak may have come to an end with a draw against burnley in midweek but the interim manager 0le gunnar solskjaer is still happy with their progress. i am solskjaer is still happy with their progress. iam back solskjaer is still happy with their progress. i am back with more on

this stories just after half past. none of the three main health screening programmes in england — bowel, breast or cervical — met their targets last year, according to a report by the national audit office. there were also delays in cervical screening results reaching half of women tested, with a backlog of nearly 100,000 samples. sally greenbrook, the policy manager at charity breast cancer now is here to talk to us about this. this must be very worrying. absolutely. make you for having me. it's definitely worrying. —— thank you foster there was a major incident in the screening programme and a report came out yesterday, the findings from that report was that nhs breast screening programme has an ageing and complex it system which is failing. there is a real lack of clear leadership in the programme. so it is an ageing it

programme. so it is an ageing it programme so what is happening, is it not processing the data fast enough? the programme, there are around 80 versions of the programme being used across the country, it is a complex programme with hasn't had the investment it needs and it needs the investment it needs and it needs the investment it needs and it needs the investment for the breast screening programme. and women are not getting their appointments on time? the report yesterday from the national office highlighted a lot of women are waiting longer for breast screening which is worrying, we need to see every three years for breast screening. you work with breast cancer charity, and these findings have been for bowel screening and cervical screening programme as well, just emphasise how important it is to be screened regularly for breast cancer. early diagnosis is crucial. it picks up, and breast

screening picks up an important role. it can pick up cancer at an early stage, before it can be seen or felt. that means treatment can start early and it is likely to be successful —— more likely to be successful, so it's important women are invited to screening, and have the information about whether or not they want to attend. the government rolled out its plan recently, dc any scope for change or details for change? as part of the long-term plan, a review has been announced and that will be led by professor mike richards who is a former cancer director. we are pleased to see that review, it is crucial it looks at the leadership across screening programmes, and where screening might go in the future so it can be better and more targeted to women. thank you. the comedianjeremy hardy has died from cancer at the age of 57. as well as being a stand—up, he was a stalwart of radio shows

such as the news quiz and i'm sorry i haven't a clue. in a statement his publicist said jeremy hardy had retained to the end, "the principles that guided his life, trying to make the world more humane, and to be wonderfully funny." here he is on the bbc two panel show 01. paper cut‘s the worst thing, isn't it? lemon on the paper cut. paper cut, because people say, there's nothing worse than a paper cut. not a sword, not a chainsaw. nothing! nothing worse than a summer cold. syphilis, grenade up the bum... nothing! laughter let's speak now to the comedian, jack dee. hejoins us via he joins us via facetime. hejoins us via facetime. thanks he joins us via facetime. thanks for joining us. how much did you work withjeremy? joining us. how much did you work with jeremy? well, a lot, i was lucky enough to work with him a lot especially over the last seven or eight years because we did i'm sorry i haven't a clue all the time. that

involved lots of long train journeys and car journeys involved lots of long train journeys and carjourneys withjeremy involved lots of long train journeys and car journeys with jeremy so involved lots of long train journeys and carjourneys withjeremy so i renewed the friendship which began in 1986. he is a very, will be a very familiar voice to people, he had the wonderfully sardonic world —wea ry had the wonderfully sardonic world—weary tone didn't he? had the wonderfully sardonic world-weary tone didn't he? he's brilliant. i have no doubt in my mind, he is one of the most important comic voices of his generation, frankly. he had that enviable ability, what i do would describe he spoke fluent comedy, taking any subject and making funny, he was absolutely outstanding as a comedian and a wonderful person as well, lovely person. he was political wasn't he? a lifelong socialist, a politically minded person, how much did that influences work? influences to stand up certainly a lot. but i think his great gift was he could make it funny. a lot of people try to do

politics and don't make it funny. but he could be left—wing and without being pious, and he could do satire without being a smart cars and that is what made him so special, he would engage anyone to listen to him, and he can engage all walks of life and backgrounds, so he wasn't just working in walks of life and backgrounds, so he wasn'tjust working in a bubble of left—wing people but he was passionate about is politics. what sort of person was he behind—the—scenes? behind—the—scenes, he was endlessly good fun, very funny but very caring and concerned about your life, if you're his friend he wants to know about you and what remember all the details when you pick up again and meet again. he was just a lovely, full person, that you feel privileged to have known. there will now be a gap in the shows in which

he was. how do you think you will be remembered? i think people who perhaps haven't hitherto appreciated him for his brilliance will start to see him for what he was. i think those that were fully aware worth him will miss him very sorely absolutely. —— aware of him. him will miss him very sorely absolutely. -- aware of him. if you could think of one particular moment that stands out, give it a go. i'm trying to think of one that i can repeat on television at the moment! it is the afternoon, careful! so many it is the afternoon, careful! so r it is the afternoon, careful! so many very funny moments but i remember taking him, i many very funny moments but i remembertaking him, i dropped him to the hospital for an appointment when he knew he was unwell. he said, coming with me, so i thought i would come in and went into the oncology ward. he said to the nurse, this is my friend jack, his work experience for when he gets cancer. i thought, if you can makejokes like for when he gets cancer. i thought, if you can make jokes like that when you are unwell, you are reginiussen.

i can't believe i'm laughing! but i am. “— i can't believe i'm laughing! but i am. —— you are a genius. thank you, jack dee remember his friend jeremy hardy. tsb has reported a pre—tax loss of 105 million pounds last year, blaming the meltdown of its new computer system. the bank's chief executive, paul pester, stepped down after the fiasco last april, when nearly two million customers were locked out of their accounts for several weeks. the ministry of defence has been accused of a "woeful" response in dealing with a funding shortfall of between seven and £15 billion. mps on the public accounts committee say that despite promises, the mod continues to avoid making the difficult decisions over what military equipment it can and can't afford. the ministry of defence insists it is addressing its financial challenges. universities will be required to publish information on what they are doing to tackle the attainment gap between students from different ethnic backgrounds, the government has announced. official figures show that record numbers of ethnic minorities

are attending university, but only 56 % of black students achieve top grades compared with 80% of their white peers. as part of a string of measures announced today, universities will be required to publish data on admissions and attainment, broken down by ethnicity, gender and socioeconomic background. time for a look at the weather. this has been our top story all day. it's winter, it's bound to get gold, there is bound to be slow but quite why so much? we wouldn't get too far into this explanation if we didn't mention thejet into this explanation if we didn't mention the jet stream. everything would have been fine if we stayed in this sort of scenario. there's the jet stream marking the boundary between mild air in the south—west in the stage at the middle part of the week and something a good deal colder across the rest of the uk. we

we re colder across the rest of the uk. we were talking about temperatures, but then see what happens. it looks there we go away with it but we didn't. this began to fill up with mild airand there didn't. this began to fill up with mild air and there was just that glancing blow of relatively mild air which only really got into the southern parts of the british isles and in the crook of the jet stream, we place that low in the northern flank, we had the weather front which marked the boundary between the relatively mild moist area from the relatively mild moist area from the atlantic and that cold regime that was in place already. hence the amount of snow we got. are we getting more than usual? is this unusual? it all depends where you look. if we look at some of the fa cts look. if we look at some of the facts and figures of recent times, i could say look at this, braemar last night, minus 15.4 celsius, coldest night, minus 15.4 celsius, coldest night but only for seven years. this is not once—in—a—lifetime stuff by any means. if we look at the snow extent, that is comparable to february or march last year. we only

have to go back 12 months where all of us were suffering from the east of us were suffering from the east of the east. we are not talking canadian portions of snow here. the deepest i can find is some 16 centimetres lying in the area of 0xfordshire. this is not record—breaking in our lifetimes as you open with our remarks, it is a bit of what we might expect this time of yearfor what bit of what we might expect this time of year for what else can we expect with the weekend coming up? we are not out of the woods just yet. we have a concern when broadbent is, the snow had relented he said that that may not hold i have to say. fix a market where this this is sinking east, through the rest of the day and through rush—hour, lying snow and ice will bea rush—hour, lying snow and ice will be a problem with further disruption iam sure, be a problem with further disruption i am sure, there is that blob of snow across the south. elsewhere we have streams of showers coming in

off the north sea and a noticeable north—easterly wind. here is the rush—hour time, there is the snow hovering in central and southern parts of england, if you centimetres from that, come further north and if you get a streets of showers you will know all about it, north midlands up to the north—east of england, down the great glen into the grampians and a raft of showers, the grampians and a raft of showers, the north. it doesn't rule out the show in northern ireland as well. 0vernight though the skies will generally be clear across these western parts, further showers to come across northern and eastern spots, a lot of warnings, check the website from the met office because website from the met office because we have ayite problem. that is the temperature regime, someone will seek —8 or nine —— and ice problem. here are saturday, at last the front moves away. it settles things quite nicely. it's a cold start but gloriously sunny for the greater pa rt gloriously sunny for the greater part of the british isles, even eventually we will find sunshine

getting into eastern spots. but the north and ecb bulk of showers, still something about that breeze and it's not from a warm direction, north and north—westerly and still something about it in towards the east, so those temperatures you can expect and in the wind, and it will feel on the cool side followed by a very cold night. then we filled the skies in with cloud as we get through sunday, another front coming in with cloud as we get through sunday, anotherfront coming into the cold regime. so snow to lower levels, northern half of the british isles, further south more of a hill snow. there the temperature profile doesn't change until pull be the middle of next week. so -- until —— until probably the middle of next week. it's not a write—off. we have to attend with conditions underfoot and under your tires not winter showers on saturday, and then on sunday, bear in mind on the front coming in because that could cause real problems if you are on the move, just concluding your weekend.

this is bbc news our latest headlines... heavy snow has swept across the west country and large parts of southern england and way as the uk suffers its cold est england and way as the uk suffers its coldest night for seven years. the us announces it is suspending compliance with a key nuclear arms control agreement signed with the soviet union during the cold war. downing street reacts angrily as eu documents describe gibraltar as a korniienko its status controversial. the three main health screening programmes in england for a bowel, breast and cervical cancer have also failed to meet government targets. -- all failed to meet government targets. —— all failed. sport now on afternoon live with hugh. and england plasma cricketers are looking for a more impressive day out at antigua. how are they getting on? england are trying their hardest to

get a foothold on the second test. they tried hard with the bowlers after a disappointing performance from their batsmen yesterday. so far your prod has been attacking, he thought they had an early wicket but john campbell reviewed. —— michael stuart broad has been attacking. he was retrieved on review. england still probing through stuart broad and james still probing through stuart broad andjames and still probing through stuart broad and james and leading their attack at antigua. west indies are chasing england's 147, at antigua. west indies are chasing england's147, of course. you can follow proceedings on the bbc sport website. and the six nations begins this evening, but the weather could affect the chances of some trying to get to paris? this year's six nations begins this evening, with a match you can watch live on bbc one later, as france host wales. wales's women were unable to leave bristol airport and will fly from heathrow in the morning instead. they will be playing on saturday.

for those trying to get to deny‘s match, things may be very difficult due to the snowy conditions. —— tonight's match. warren gatland's welshmen have arrived, they finished second in last year's tournament, a full 11 points behind this year's favourites, ireland. but wales go to paris aiming for a tenth test win we've been pretty open about, i think we got a good chance of winning the six nations. i think if we win this game we can win the six nations. so we finished second last last year, —— we finished second, last year, —— we finished second, last year, —— we finished second, last year, which was ok. i think it would be good to win the six nations. manchester united's winning streak may have come to an end with a draw against burnley in midweek but that hasn't detered their interim manager 0le gunnar solskjaer one bit. united were 11 points away from the champions league spots when he came in but now sitjust 2 behind 4th placed arsenal.

we have risen to most of the challenges. may be, of course, the setback of the burnley that make the two goals we conceded. maybe that will make us move to the next level. i think we've given ourselves a chance, now, to get into the top for may be earlier than we thought. australia's top racehorse trainer darren weir faces suspension after being charged with possessing devices used to give electric shots to horses to make them run faster. police seized four of the taser—like devices at weir's stables, as well as a firearm and a substance believed to be cocaine. weir and two other men, face six charges from racing victoria. weir notably won the 2015 melbourne cup with jockey michelle payne aboard prince of penzance' that's all the sport for now. but a reminder of what is going on

out in antigua. stuart broad with his head in his hands moment ago, the ball in the air, jonny bairstow, the ball in the air, jonny bairstow, the wicketkeeper, unable to reach it. england still probing for that first wicket. the west indies 145 without loss, chasing 187. back out our main story this afternoon, the snow that has affected large parts the uk. the west country has been particularly badly hit. hundreds of schools are closed in that region, some roads there are impassable in places and more than a hundred flights have been cancelled at bristol airport. scott ellis reports from bristol. snow falling on the runway in bristol this morning almost as fast as they could clear it. flights from the airport were suspended late yesterday. it is still a no—fly zone. 106 flights have been cancelled with more than 15,000 passengers facing disruption. welsh rugby fans rallied amid the despair. katiejeffrey from yate was hoping for a hen—do in amsterdam. we've got to travel to london and get a flight tomorrow morning.

so, we will see if that goes ahead. also now heading for gatwick is matt willis from kingswood, who was hoping for a stag do in prague. it's a bit of a shame because i lived in finland for a while and they cope with this all the time. i'm surprised there's not haters on the runway, ——heaters on the runway, or something along those lines. for this family, a more serious delay. they were trying to get to a funeral. we never function with the snow in this country. bristol airport's the second highest in the country and had 20 centimetres of snow last night. this is a rare occurrence for us here in the uk, thankfully. as the snow continues to fall, you know, we clearly need a break in the weather for us to be able to completely clear the air field surfaces. so, the team of 17 vehicles, including localfarmers with tractors, are still hard at it. flight disruption, though, is likely to continue all day. scott ellis, bbc points west, bristol airport. hundreds of schools are shut across wales mainly in the south and travel is affected

by heavy snowfall overnight. fans travelling to paris for the opening game of the six nations rugby tonight have faced flight cancellations at cardiff airport. jordan davies reports. no school for tabatha today. instead, a trip into brecon. the best bits of a snow day for her? building a snowman and throwing it at my mum. like much of south—east wales, brecon woke up to a picturesque blanket of snow. but no major issues on main roads, they were by and large kept clear. there were, though, problems for some getting to work. you couldn't get up the road. cars couldn't get up there. normally the gritters are up there every winter back and forward, back and forward. but for some reason last night, nothing. high ground, as always, bore the brunt of the bad weather with parts of the south wales valleys hit particularly hard. dyfed—powys police urged people to only contact them with urgent weather—related problems.

so, brecon has seen some of the heaviest snowfall overnight, up to eight centimetres, and it's not been immune from the school closures. schools across the wider area are closed today. across wales more than 500 schools shut their doors, mainly in the south wales valleys. so, how is the white stuff affecting the red army due to descend on france for the rugby? cardiff airport have now cancelled their paris flight. i'm on the eurostar now so i'm going to get a car to london and then jump on the eurostar. so, if not, i might end up doing some regional work for the bbc in cardiff, or something. but, yeah, give ita go, got nothing to lose. watch it in cardiff, by the looks of things. not a bad place to watch it. no, not at all. but obviously it would be better in the stade de france, but there we go. we'll go down to west wales for a spa weekend instead. and watch the game down there. the snow is already starting to thaw. all eyes are now on the temperature gauge to see whether the

white stuff turns to ice. it's a week since a dam burst in brazil sending millions of tonnes of mining waste across an area that engulfed the mine's cafeteria, nearby houses, vehicles and roads. a hundred and ten people are now known to have died with hundreds still missing. the tragedy happened in the state of minuz zhurais and is the second dam collapse to have occured there in recent years. the government's now raised grave concerns about other dams in surrounding areas as julia carneiro reports. devastation as far as the eye can see. this is waste from iron ore mining engulfing houses, trees, trucks, and hundreds of people believed to be buried under the mud. the dam, owned by mining giant vale, collapsed in the brazilian state of minas gerais in the city of brumadinho. just over three years ago, another dam failed

in mariana, only 120km away. now attention turns to neighbouring cities like congonhas, home to one of the biggest urban dams in latin america. this is the casa de pedra dam, owned by csn. it's right next to the city and holds five times more mining waste than the dam that collapsed in brumadinho. when this neighbourhood here was built, the dam was a lot smaller but it was expanded over the years, growing closer and closer to the houses. it's just 250m from some of the constructions, and after what happened in brumadinho, residents here say it's either them or the dam — they don't feel safe here any more. translation: i'm terrified, i wake up scared, i have nightmares. ifear this could happen here too. we live right under the dam — i'm scared for everyone here. this activist says there's no dialogue with csn. the company did not want

to comment on this report. translation: the lesson comes at a huge cost, with all the lives we lost, but it has to be applied to prevent other collapses. people here want a solution — they don't want to live in doubt. structural problems were detected twice in the dam in the past six years, according to this prosecutor, and were repaired following judicial orders. at the time, csn said the demands had been followed, and the dam presented no risks for workers and residents. translation: it's a huge structure, very close to the city. if it breaks, it's going to be one of the worst accidents ever. mining workers here are concerned after the dam collapse. vale employees voted to interrupt their shift for two hours to mourn their colleagues in brumadinho. translation: if it's so safe, why don't shareholders live under a dam?

we have to change the model of mining, and governments need to pressure private companies, instead of easing licences for mining. after two disastrous collapses, brazil's mining dams are under scrutiny, and people living under their shadows don't want to be the next victims. julia carneiro, bbc news, congonhas, brazil. now, unless you're one of those who have had a new year declutter you might instead have old medicines lurking in the back of a cupboard, and those packets of tablets can soon stack up. in north yorkshire, a "medicines amnesty" is under way, to encourage people to return drugs they no longer need. patients are also being encouraged to have an annual review to make sure they are on the right medication. 0ur health correspondent dominic hughes has been to harrogate to find out more. we've probably all got them tucked away in cupboards at home — old medicines and drugs we no longer use. but they can really pile up. so, chris, what have we got here?

well, this is medicines that have been returned to us today from one patient. one patient! one patient, and it's approximately five to six months' worth of medication that the patient hasn't been taking routinely. so what are the implications of that? if patients aren't taking their medicines as has been prescribed then they're potentially not going to get the best outcomes from their medication. pharmacy staff have been busy collecting the treatments handed in at this gp surgery in harrogate, during what they're calling a "medicines amnesty". these boxes and bags filled with old or unused tablets, creams and gels. the drugs amnesty here in harrogate has only been going a few days and they've already collected all these boxes of used and out of date medicines. now here they spend around £25 million each year on drugs — that's around three million different items. if they managed to save just 1%, that's £250,000 that could go straight back into local health services. but this is notjust

about saving money. now, you're taking 14 medications, aren't you? that's right, yes. and i wonder if it would be usefulfor us to do a medication review today? it's also an opportunity forgps, like sarah, to talk to patients, like evonne, to look at all the medicines she takes every day. it is very important for patients to know that gps or pharmacists can review medications as a whole and ask the patient how they're managing. we can look at whether they're managing to remember the tablets, sometimes we can change how we prescribe the tablets, change the timings of the tablets, or the type of medication, so that the medications get used in the way that they're designed. i need to make sure i'm on the right thing and anything that can be changed to make life easier is always a good thing. it's important that my tablets are correct and that i'm taking the right thing. the medicines amnesty and the chance to review what's being prescribed also presents a big opportunity for the wider nhs. we know that 8% of hospital admissions are medicines related.

30%—50% of medicines are not taken the way they're intended. these things are all designed to help you as the patient get the best from your medicine. the nhs spends around £20 billion each year on prescribed medicines, so even a small reduction in what's wasted would save a significant amount of cash while also improving care. dominic hughes, bbc news, harrogate. in a moment, what's hot and what's not in the business news. first a look at the headlines on afternoon live. heavy snow has swept across the west country and large parts of southern england and wales as the uk suffers its cold est england and wales as the uk suffers its coldest night for seven use. the us announces it is suspending compliance with a key nuclear arms control agreement, signed with the soviet union during the cold war.

downing street reacts angrily as eu documents describe gibraltar as a colony status controversial. —— call its status controversial. —— call its status controversial. the business headlines. good news for donald trump, the us economy appears to have whether the government shutdown. the economy added almost double the number of jobs expected by most economists, 304,000 in january. unsurprising news from bank tsb, the computer meltdown push the bank into a loss in 2018 compared to a profit in 2017. more on that in a second. and uk manufacturers prepare for brexit by stockpiling raw materials. the fastest pace on record. the research found that employment in the sector has fallen. it found that

export orders were near stagnant. so tell us more about this stockpiling. for 27 years, this research has been done, and in all that time there's not been the kind of stockpiling we have seen the moment. and despite the weak pound, it doesn't seem to be giving a continuing boost to exports in the way that it has done. and it also says that employment is not exactly looking great. we can talk to the corresponding to you. —— the bbc‘seconomic correspondence here. can we quantify the degree to which people are stockpiling? we talk about ted mike stockpiling —— about

stockpiling, what we are talking about here is manufacturers buying in components to make things like cars, raw materials, one company that manufactures steel and aluminium doors and windows. and they are saying they get enough of those metals in for the next six months. so those warehouses are getting very full indeed. some of them are even having to put up their own warehouses to fit all the extra stop. so that is rising as you say at the fastest rate for the last 27 yea rs. we at the fastest rate for the last 27 years. we also know manufacturers are making their conveyor belts go a little more quickly, as well, pushing out finished goods, everything from cosmetics to nonperishable foods to stationery at a faster rate to ensure there are not gaps in shelves in shops or indeedin not gaps in shelves in shops or indeed in warehouses, in the event that we do see a disruptive brexit. so that is what is going on on one level. but if we strip all that away, as you say, it's a very weak

underlying picture. if you look at export orders, they have ground to a halt in some areas. if you hear, for example, from the morton bar by the industry, they say eu orders have practically tied up after 29th of march. —— micro malted barley industry. for that particular crop, there could be very high tariffs and their concerns about costs and getting deliveries, anyway. ? their concerns about costs and getting deliveries, anyway.? what will this due to the economy? if you have companies does make buying large amounts of stuff, manufacturing stuff like crazy, and then after the 20, presumably, they will stop buying. it's one of those things economists love to talk about, the impact of stock building on our national output, the gdp. most of the time the rest of us ignore them and think

it's one for the gig, but it can have a very big impact indeed. you have a very big impact indeed. you have that this activity, stocks building up, and that sort of distorts the picture somewhat because it's temporary. 0nce distorts the picture somewhat because it's temporary. once that is out of the way, what we are looking at is an underlying picture of role, the people behind today's reports are warning we could see the manufacturing sector here on the brink of a recession. what does that mean? we are looking at a pretty fragile backdrop here but a lot of this is caused by the underlying certainty of the outlook. when you talk to businesses, they say, if that lifts, we could see the picture changed dramatically. we could see what the chancellor likes to call a deal in that case they could start spending again, don't have to worry about those contingency plans that they may not have to use, and start thinking about the future and planning for that. thanks for that.

and we've also got some figures from tsb? tsb's computer meltdown pushed the bank into a loss of more than £105 million pounds loss last year. that is down from a profit ofjust under 163 million pounds in 2017. i asked frances coppola earlier whether the bank had done enough to attact customers back. they do seem to have worked very hard on repairing their reputation, and there is some evidence that people actually have been quite forgiving, that they have had people coming back to them. they lost a lot of people, obviously, when the meltdown was happening and just afterwards. but they have been attracting people back again, so i think that people do seem to think, well, it was a huge disaster but they can put this behind them and move on. tells what the markets are doing. we have these strong figures from the us, double what was expected by most

people, a bit of a bus, but not as much as one would expect. —— a bit ofa much as one would expect. —— a bit of a boost. in the background, however, you've got to remember these american markets are also thinking about what the federal reserve we re thinking about what the federal reserve were saying a couple days ago, that there probably is less of ago, that there probably is less of a reason now to raise interest rates, which point several in the direction of thinking the economy is not that strong. even though we have had amazing figures, the fed was saying a couple of days ago, not perhaps as strong as we thought it was. 0k. was. ok. more from you in an hour, thanks very much. the snow leopard is an animal in serious danger. native to central and southern asia there are estimated to be fewer than ten thousand of them still alive.

i think we're going in fact to a story about the snow bringing misery for some, but for others including animals, they are actually enjoying the wintry these pictures are from a zoo the wintry these pictures are from a zoo in bedfordshire, and they show one of their tigers enjoying a stroll in the cold conditions. the tiger is used to these conditions, they are normally found in siberia, but this one has had a bit of difficulty trying to negotiate a slippery wooden ramp. we can speak now to the animal operations manager at the zoo in bedfordshire. matthew, thank you forjoining us. tell us which animals enjoy this weather and which animals enjoy this weather and which don't? we have a number of different animals which enjoy the weather. this cold weather. those tigers are one of them, as you have mentioned. we have also got species such as yak and wolverine, all of which come from very cold climates. climates that can be very extreme, so they are well adapted to life in this cold weather. and what about

the visitors? are they still come in? the zoo is open. we are open today. we try to ensure we can open where possible. we are on top of the chiltern so we get a lot of extreme weather but we will open as much as weather but we will open as much as we can, especially during these cold days. and what sort of help do you have to give to the animals who aren't used to this sort of weather, you don't like it? what measures are you don't like it? what measures are you having to bring in? even the animals that are adapted to this weather will have nice, cozy warm housing. where required, we will give them extra bedding or heating if needed. but every animal has got nice, warm housing. we do have some more exotic species, who come from warmer climates, and they all have nice housing. and they have the opportunity, we will always give them access to outside so they have them access to outside so they have the opportunity to go out and be outside in the code if they want to. and you will tend to find most of these animals, even if they are from

very these animals, even if they are from very warm these animals, even if they are from very warm climates, will go out in the snow and enjoy it. you can't see this, mattis, but our reviewers were just looking at adorable pictures of some penguins having a great time. we are now seeing a rhino which looks a little less in its element! yes, the rhino will go out in the snow and like i said, they have a choice whether to go or not, and we tend to find a lot of the animals, even like eurasian elephants which come from —— are asian elephants which come from a very warm environment, will go out and enjoy it. obviously we don't get it as much here, so it's it. obviously we don't get it as much here, so its seasonal, like something animals with experience in the world. but especially the young animals, like the amer tiger cubs which were born that you hear, this would be the first time they've actually experienced snow. —— they we re actually experienced snow. —— they were born last year. does mike 0k, we've got to leave it there, men --

many thanks. let's see whether the weekend weather has in store. the weather in no great rush to change at the moment, it will stay on the cold side, so if you're travelling you will have to contend with the lying snow and formation of ice. disruption is likely. stay up—to—date with the forecast, bbc radio always a good source for local information. there is the feature that brought all that disruption and snow across the southern half of the british isles, still lurking with intent across the south—eastern quarter. for to the north and west, a quieter spell of weather, to finish off the day, but we could well see another 1—3 centimetres of snowfall from the weather front somewhere across the greater london area, stretching towards the downs and into hampshire. at worst, quieter, clearer skies, temperatures falling rapidly but further accumulation couldn't be rolled out across the pennines and north york

moors, and coming up to the line of the great glen, a raft of showers affecting the northern isles and the eastern side of mainland scotland. further west, skies will be pretty clear, temperatures really falling away. widespread problems with ice, away. widespread problems with ice, a lot of warnings out from the weight of this —— met office, and it could reach —10 degrees or so in places. we start off saturday with that weather front eventually quitting the scene, taking its sleet and snow away from the south—western quarter, and we are left with the nice day for the most part. you have to contend with the cold and lying snow with ice but there will be some decent, wintry sunshine. a speckling of showers across northern and eastern parts, breeze and still quite noticeable coming from a co—direction, particularly across eastern counties of england. temperatures still locked into single figures. that saturday. this sunday. a cold start to the day but

a bright one, then we fill in the skies with more rain and snow. set in the snow to low levels across northern parts of england and up into the heart of scotland to northern ireland. i think it's more ofa northern ireland. i think it's more of a hill features as we get into the southern part, and another cold day. into the weekend, staying cold but some sunshine around and for the wintry showers, and the band of rain or snow coming in later on sunday. you're watching afternoon live — i'm ben brown, in wiltshire. we are on the m4 where it has been like it has across much of the united kingdom —— where it has been snowing. britain has had its coldest night for seven years. freezing conditions have brought chaos across the roads as commuters tried to get to work. hundreds of schools are closed all day and rail services have been disrupted. take extreme care, drive

with caution, take everything nice and gentle, the throttle, the brakes, the steering. the road is very, very treacherous indeed. my advice, personally — stay at home. we'll have reports with the very latest conditions from our correspondents across the country. i'm reeta chakrabarti — also on afternoon live... in sport, a positive start from england in the heat of antigua. the opening wicket goes to ben stokes, 18—1, more later in the hour. —— 80—1. we will have the full sport update just after half past. bill has the weather. the snow across the british isles isn't quite done. ben is in the heart of an area still causing

us the heart of an area still causing us quite concerned. way will have the details for the whole british ales coming up in half an hour. —— i will have the whole details. also coming up... ‘ground—breakingly brilliant‘ and ‘off the registerfunny‘ — tributes are paid to the comedianjeremy hardy — who has died at the age of 57. good afternoon. hundreds of schools across wales and southern parts of england remain closed due to snow and icy conditions. road, rail and air travel have also been disrupted after heavy snow falls overnight. a yellow warning for snow and ice is in place across much of the uk. temperatures also fell in parts of scotland to minus 15 degrees celsius — the coldest night for seven years. well, ben brown is in wiltshire for us this afternoon.

ben. it's been snowing heavily all day, it's actually relented now, but it is snowing but not as heavily. it is pouring out, the roads are much more passa ble pouring out, the roads are much more passable than they were. but motoring organisations still warn drivers not to go out unless they have to. in rock show alone, 250 schools are closed —— in wiltshire. hundreds more are closed across the uk. our reporter has this report. it may not be a polar vortex but it's pretty parky. and for millions of people, a difficult and for some impossible journey to work. if you have to go out, take extreme care. drive with caution, take everything nice and gentle, the throttle, the brakes, the steering. the road is very, very treacherous indeed. my advice personally would be stay at home. some, though, did not follow such advice. 0vernight on the a30 on bodmin moor in cornwall, hundreds of drivers had to abandon their vehicles

after being stuck for hours in freezing temperatures. we've been in the car since about 4pm, we left redruth. so we've gone about 30 miles in... what's that, nine hours? nine and a little bit hours. and in the last about six hours, we've probably moved about less than 100 yards or so. the famous jamaica inn opened its doors to those in need of shelter, making up beds in the restaurant and bar when all the rooms were taken. and at callywith college in bodmin, the snow forced students to make it their home for the night because the roads were too treacherous to go home. so in the end, we had aboutjust over 300 students stay the night here at the college. everyone is absolutely fine, they've all been fed and watered, they had a good night's sleep... fora teenager, i imagine, two or three hours. and we were very grateful to asda, who donated just under £800 worth of bedding to support students and provide as cosy an environment

as we could provide for them. and for many children, it's a day off, with hundreds of schools closed across southern england and wales. at heathrow, they've been de—icing planes but more than 35 flights had to be cancelled. bristol airport had to close this morning and there has been disruption at cardiff, too. and spare a thought for the homeless. in bristol, where the council has launched its emergency severe weather programme, they've been handing out hot food and drinks. i couldn't sleep last night, i was that cold. you know. i had a sleeping bag and i ain't being funny, i had to sleep in all these clothes, as well, just to keep warm. pair of gloves on, scarf on, hat on, do you know what i mean? so, yeah. that's how it is, mate. i think you kind of get used to it, you know. it's like, it's a case of having to. and the winter weather is set

to continue well into the weekend, with temperatures not expected to rise significantly until tuesday. well, there are still yellow weather warnings in many parts of the uk, warnings in many parts of the uk, warnings for snow and ice, there we re warnings for snow and ice, there were amber alerts and more snow! which is a more snake this morning, they expire at 11 a:m., they were in buckinghamshire, berkshire, and hampshire. amber alerts for possible threat to life and property. but those have now passed. let's show you the scene where we are in the wiltshire countryside just off the m4 motorway. you can see how much snow has fallen. the roads are beginning to thaw out now, a lot of them have been gritted. drivers are using the small uploads as well as the m4 motorway itself. as i was

saying, schools are being closed, but there has been particular disruption down in cornwall and south—west of england. this is where we saw the heaviest snowfalls, up to 12 centimetres of snow, and motorists trapped on the a 30, some of those stranded made their way to the jamaica inn pablo —— pub in bodmin. 0ur reporter reports from there. jamaica inn, a traveller's haven for three centuries, last night once again the right place at the right time. sweeping snow across the bleak hilltops of bodmin moor had brought the busy a30 to a standstill, the lights of the inn a beacon to drivers with nowhere to go. the only way i can describe it is like armageddon. i have lived in norway for three months of the year for the last nine years, and i haven't seen anything like this, there were lorries jackknifed all up this road, vehicles everywhere. digging their cars out this morning, workmates richard and david, richard had set off to the inn on foot.

it came to a standstill, decided to ditch it, went to the jamaica inn a mile away, it was busy, they were setting up beds, getting lots of phone calls from people stuck, being really helpful. through the night, cold, hungry travellers trudged up the hill to find warmth. staff gathered mattresses and bedding as chefs dug into their reserves of food. the staff have been amazing, jamaica inn, can't praise them highly enough. the roads are open, surprise guests on the way, but staff at the old smugglers' hideaway know they may be needed again before winter leaves us. this afternoon with blue skies overhead, gritters and snow ploughs are continuing to work their way off the main roads to clear the remaining side roads blocked by snow and ice. the temperatures here are only just above freezing. there is a biting wind blowing across bodmin moor. so, it is very easy to imaginejust how appreciative those drivers were for the welcome they received. robert hall, bbc news, at jamaica inn. let's get an update on how

the roads are coping particularly with the rush—hour coming death evening. we can talk to andrew page—dove, regional 0peration director for highways england. he's talking to us from bristol. thanks forjoining us. what is the state of the ways that you are responsible for? considerably better than they have been overnight. responsible for the motorways across the southwest and things like the a33 and the a30 where there were problems last night. all those modes are operating, all have been treated. we have one small problem on the a303 where we have had a collision and we are dealing with that without police colleagues but it isa that without police colleagues but it is a better picture than yesterday. and how do you decide

which roads to salt and to grit and try and get ready for this wintry conditions? 0bviously try and get ready for this wintry conditions? obviously you can't do every single road. for our network, that's exactly what we do, we treat every single bit of the motorway and the trunk road network. in total across highways england's responsibility since midnight last night and turning on this morning, 1300 trips were made to grit our roads, over 80,000 miles covered. we will continue to treat those raids during the rest of the afternoon and through the evening. —— those roads. we might be clearand might be clear and the roads open but we want to make sure there is no risk of ice. where we are we were watching snowploughs go up and down the m4 this morning. 0bviously that isa the m4 this morning. 0bviously that is a key artery, the m4 motorway, and he managed to keep that flowing pretty well through the day? absolutely. the m4 and m5 ran well

through the day, we lost eight lane three on both those motorways during the early hours of this morning with the early hours of this morning with the immense no —— a lane. although we treat all of those modes, it's actually the action of the cars driving over the salt and grit, that helps and prevents people from making the trip. its difficult decision about whether you advise travellers not to travel or to take care. at the moment my advice with the weather front moving through wiltshire, people should really check their journeys, make wiltshire, people should really check theirjourneys, make sure they can make it from where ever they are going from going to —— to the places they are going to —— to the places they are going to. the local roads will be any going to. the local roads will be a ny less going to. the local roads will be any less favourable condition and we wouldn't want any of our road users to get stuck. thank you, that was on

the work being done to keep the roads open. we have the rush—hour coming up so we will see how people get on. advice from motoring organisations is only to travel where there has been heavy snowfalls, if there journey is absolutely essential. you can follow the latest forecast and travel bulletins on your local radio stations, and of course the bbc news website as well. we will have more updates here on the bbc news channel throughout the afternoon and evening. from now, here in wiltshire, back to the studio. a woman has been found guilty in what is the first conviction for female genital mutilation in britain. 0ur correspondent, adina campbell is at the old bailey. yes, an important day here at the

0ld yes, an important day here at the old bailey. the uk now has its first conviction forfemale old bailey. the uk now has its first conviction for female genital mutilation, a crime that has been illegal since 1985. in the last few minutes with the mother of a three—year—old girl has been found guilty of cutting her daughter back in 2017. the girl's father was also on trial and has been found not guilty and cleared of all the charges against him. as the guilty verdict was read out against the mother, she was heard quivering as the news was announced in front of the news was announced in front of the court. this is the case dating back to 2017, the girl was just three years old. she was taken to hospital in london with serious genital injuries and had been cut in three separate places stop when she got to be hospital, head the towel she was lying on was completely soiled with blood. this trial has been going on for three weeks and we have had extraordinary evidence

relating to witchcraft what we had about the mother's interest in witchcraft. to cowl tongues and ingredients used for silencing spells was found in her home freezer during the police at —— two towel tongue. the names of police officers, social workers and carers we re officers, social workers and carers were next to those ingredients aiming to silence those people involved in the case. we are told the mother is facing up to 14 years in prison for this offence and this is seen as a breakthrough moment here at the old bailey. this is a crime that has been illegal in the uk's 1985 crime that has been illegal in the uk's1985 and today we have the very first conviction for female genital mutilation. thank you. the united states has announced that it is suspending compliance with a key nuclear arms control agreement, signed with the soviet union during the cold war. the secretary of state mike pompeo said russia had violated the terms of the agreement by developing a new cruise missile. moscow has rejected the accusation and warned that the the us move

would be a powerful blow to the international system of nonproliferation. here's what the us secretary of state had to say earlier. we provided russia an ample window of time to change its ways and for russia to honour its commitment. tomorrow that time runs out. russia has refused to take any steps to return real and verifiable compliance over the 60 days. the united states will therefore suspend its obligations under the inf treaty effective february 2nd. we will provide russia and the other treaty parties with formal notice that the united states is withdrawing from the inf treaty effective in six months, pursuing to article 15 of the treaty. russia has jeopardised the united states' security interests and we can no longer be restricted by the treaty while russia shamelessly violates it. if russia does not return to full and verifiable compliance with the treaty within the six month period,

by verifiably destroying its inf—violating missiles, their launchers and other associated equipment, the treaty will terminate. 0ur correspondent jane 0'brien is following the story in washington. there have been 30 complaints about these disputed weapons they get claim russian house, and russia has not addressed the treaty so effectively the treaty is out of date. it is putting america at a military disadvantage with russia and china because china it is not bound by any creature of this nature, and that is one of the unspoken things hanging over this whole move to withdraw from the treaty, that the us is effectively the only country complying with its terms and therefore it is at a distinct disadvantage. there is a feeling that president trump has been unwilling

in the past to go the extra mile to secure international cooperation on a variety of subjects. is there any sense of any further reaching out that might happen here? or does this now look like a break with this agreement? it's interesting nato has come out in full support of the us this morning. just half an hour ago, they said that u nless unless it destroys these systems, that it will bear full responsibility for the end of this treaty. the international community is far more on board with president trump on this than russia. but yes of course, president trump has a history of withdrawing from treaties, he doesn't particularly like. the big question now is with the end of this treaty, what comes next?

you're watching afternoon live, these are our headlines. heavy snow has swept across the west country and large parts of southern england and wales, as hundreds of schools to close across the area. the united states announces that it is suspending compliance with a key nuclear arms control agreement, signed with the soviet union during the cold war. downing street reacts angrily as eu documents describe gibraltar as a ‘colony‘and calls its status ‘controversial‘. and in sport, england are finally struck on the second day of the second test against west indies. ben stokes second test against west indies. ben sto kes too k second test against west indies. ben stokes took the only wicket so far for england, where the hosts now 95-1 in for england, where the hosts now 95—1 in antigua wales head coach warren gatland is focused on his defence as they look to earn an opening six nations win against france in paris tonight. a manchester united winning streak may have come to an end in midweek, but

their interim manager at 0le gunnar solskjaer is still happy with the club's progress. more on those stories just after half past. a newborn baby girl has been found abandoned in a park on one of the coldest nights of winter. named roman by nurses, she was found in newham, east london, just after 10 o'clock last night and taken to hospital. the police say her condition is now stable but are appealing to the mother to come forward. we've heard from one of those who found the child last night. my mum, at ten o'clock in the evening, she was walking the dog, and she heard a noise coming out from the bag. she rang me up because she was too scared to approach the bag, and i came, ijust found a baby in a bag. and we phoned the ambulances and police. do you have a message to the mum? no, we don't, there's no words for it. you must hope she's 0k. of course, this is terrible, it's unreal. tsb has reported a pre—tax loss of 105 million pounds last year,

blaming the meltdown of its new computer system. the bank's chief executive, paul pester, stepped down after the fiasco last april, when nearly two million customers were locked out of their accounts for several weeks. the ministry of defence has been accused of a "woeful" response in dealing with a funding shortfall of between 7 and £15 billion. mps on the public accounts committee say that despite promises, the mod continues to avoid making the difficult decisions over what military equipment it can and can't afford. the ministry of defence insists it is addressing its financial challenges. comedy stars have paid tribute to the "ground—breakingly brilliant" comedian, jeremy hardy, who has died at the age of 57 from cancer. as well as being a stand—up, he was a stalwart of radio shows such as the news quiz and i'm sorry i haven't a clue. here he is on the bbc two panel show 01. paper cut‘s the worst thing, isn't it? lemon on the paper cut.

paper cut, because people say, there's nothing worse than a paper cut. not a sword, not a chainsaw. nothing! nothing worse than a summer cold. syphilis, grenade up the bum... nothing! laughter jeremy hardy even presented an episode of top of the pops back in 1996, together with his friend and fellow comedianjack dee. let's take a look at that now. they wear jewelry but strangely they're not ladies. clap your hands and jig about to metal—licka! i have to correct you there, the actual pronunciation is "metta—licka"! and a little earlier i spoke to jack dee about his friends death. i started by asking him how much he had worked withjeremy. a lot, i was lucky enough to work with him a lot especially over the last seven or eight years because we did i'm sorry i haven't a clue all the time. that involved lots of long train journeys and carjourneys journeys with jeremy

so i renewed my friendship which began in 1986. he will be a very familiar voice to people, he had the wonderfully sardonic, world—weary tone, didn't he? he's brilliant. i have no doubt in my mind, he is one of the most important comic voices of his generation, frankly. he had that enviable ability, what i would describe, he spoke fluent comedy, taking any subject and making funny, taking any subject and making it funny, he was an absolutely outstanding as a comedian and a wonderful person as well, a lovely person. he was political, wasn't he? a lifelong socialist, a committed, politically—minded person, how much did that influence his work? it certainly influenced to stand up certainly a lot. but i think his great gift was he could make it funny. a lot of people try to do politics and don't make it funny. but he could be left—wing

without being pious and he could do satire without being a smart—arse, frankly, and that is what made him so special, he would engage anyone anyone to listen to him, and he had friends from all walks of life and backgrounds, so he wasn'tjust working in a bubble of left—wing people but he was passionate about his politics. what sort of person was he behind—the—scenes? behind—the—scenes, he was endlessly good fun, very funny but very caring and concerned about your life, if you're his friend he wants to know everything about you and would remember all the details when you pick up again and meet again. he was just a lovely, full person that you feel privileged to have known. universities will be required to publish information on what they are doing to tackle the attainment gap between students from different ethnic backgrounds —

the government has announced. official figures show that record numbers of ethnic minorities are attending university, but only 56% of black students achieve top grades compared with 80% of their white peers. as part of a string of measures announced today universities will be required to publish data on admissions and attainment, broken down by ethnicity, gender and socio—economic background. it's a week since a dam burst in brazil, sending millions of tons of mining waste across an area that engulfed the mine's cafeteria, nearby houses, vehicles and roads. 110 people are now known to have died with hundreds still missing. the tragedy happened in the state of minuz zhurais and is the second dam collapse to have occured there in recent years. the government's now raised grave concerns about other dams in surrounding areas as julia carneiro reports. devastation as far as the eye can see.

this is waste from iron ore mining engulfing houses, trees, trucks, and hundreds of people believed to be buried under the mud. the dam, owned by mining giant vale, collapsed in the brazilian state of minas gerais in the city of brumadinho. just over three years ago, another dam failed in mariana, only 120km away. now attention turns to neighbouring cities like congonhas, home to one of the biggest urban dams in latin america. this is the casa de pedra dam, owned by csn. it's right next to the city and holds five times more mining waste than the dam that collapsed in brumadinho. when this neighbourhood here was built, the dam was a lot smaller but it was expanded over the years, growing closer and closer to the houses. it's just 250m from some of the constructions, and after what happened in brumadinho, residents here say it's either them or the dam — they don't feel safe here any more. translation: i'm terrified,

i wake up scared, i have nightmares. ifear this could happen here too. we live right under the dam — i'm scared for everyone here. this activist says there's no dialogue with csn. the company did not want to comment on this report. translation: the lesson comes at a huge cost, with all the lives we lost, but it has to be applied to prevent other collapses. people here want a solution — they don't want to live in doubt. structural problems were detected twice in the dam in the past six years, according to this prosecutor, and were repaired following judicial orders. at the time, csn said the demands had been followed, and the dam presented no risks for workers and residents. translation: it's a huge structure, very close to the city. if it breaks, it's going to be one of the worst accidents ever. mining workers here are concerned

after the dam collapse. vale employees voted to interrupt their shift for two hours to mourn their colleagues in brumadinho. translation: if it's so safe, why don't shareholders live under a dam? we have to change the model of mining, and governments need to pressure private companies, instead of easing licences for mining. after two disastrous collapses, brazil's mining dams are under scrutiny, and people living under their shadows don't want to be the next victims. julia carneiro, bbc news, congonhas, brazil. now it's time for a look at the weather with phil. the weather is in no rush to really change just at the moment so with it staying on the cold side, you are going to have to content to the rest of the day on into the evening

rush—hour with the lying snow, further snow to come perhaps and some ice forming too, so disruption is distantly possible. we keep an onshore flow to the eastern side of the british isles, further showers getting into northern and used in scotla nd getting into northern and used in scotland through the eastern counties of england, another 1—3 centimetres distantly possible, where you see the white on the charts. who is saturday, exporting showers running down past pembrokeshire towards the far rest of cornwall, a decent day for many but more showers across northern and used in parts of the british isles and temperatures resolutely down into single feathers. cold night on saturday into sunday, picking up on the theme of staying cold, rain and snow in the west to finish the day. this is bbc news — our latest headlines. hundreds of schools are closed across wales and southern parts of the uk after heavy snow and ice overnight. road, rail and air travel are also affected. the mother of a three—year—old girl

has become the first person in the uk to be found guilty of female genital mutilation. the united states says it is to suspend compliance with a key nuclear arms control agreement, signed with the soviet union during the cold war. downing street reacts angrily as eu documents describe gibraltar as a ‘colony‘and calls its status ‘controversial‘. the three main health screening programmes in england — for bowel, breast and cervical cancer — have all failed to meet government targets. sport now on afternoon live with hugh. and finally a breakthrough for england's bowlers, but it's been hard work for them in antigua? indeed it has toiling out in the sunshine, trying to get a foothold

in that second test against the west indies. it disappointing performance from the batsmen yesterday but so far, i guess it's been positive in terms of performance. may be wickets haven't come, though for england. brathwaite still out there on a disappointing performance from the batsmen yesterday but so far, i guess it's been positive in terms of performance. maybe wickets haven't come, though for england. brathwaite still out there on 34. west indies now pass 100, 100 3—1. they, of course, responding to england's 187 course, responding to england's187 all out in the first innings. you can all out in the first innings. you ca n follow all out in the first innings. you can follow an important second day on the bbc sport website, and of course you can follow us. the six nations begins this evening — but the weather may be affecting some of those trying to get to paris tonight? indeed, we have seen the effects of the weather up and down the country. if you're flying out of wales today, it will have been quite difficult for you to make the journey over to paris. france, hosting wales later on. you can watch that match on bbc 0ne later. the former wales captain was delayed on his way over. wales's

women play on saturday, they were unable to leave bristol airport and will fly from heathrow tomorrow instead. luckily warren gatland's welshmen have already arrived before that match. they finished second in last yea r‘s that match. they finished second in last year's tournament, behind last yea r‘s last year's tournament, behind last year's —— last year's tournament, behind last yea r‘s —— this last year's tournament, behind last year's —— this europe is my favourite island. but they are hoping for a tenth test in a row and it has left him with confidence. i've been pretty open about the fact i think we have a good chance of winning the six nations, win this first game and win the six nations. given we have a home game. we finished second last year, which was ok, and it would be great for us to win the six nations building into the world cup warm up games and obviously the world cup. manchester united's winning streak may have come to an end with a draw against burnley in midweek but that hasn't detered their interim manager 0le gunnar solskjaer one bit. united were 11 points away from the champions league spots when he came in but now sitjust 2 behind 4th placed arsenal. we have risen to most of the challenges. maybe, of course,

the setback of the burnley... the two goals we conceded, maybe that will make us move to the next level. i think we've given ourselves a chance, now, to get into the top four maybe earlier than we thought. australia's top racehorse trainer darren weir faces suspension after being charged with possessing devices used to give electric shots to horses to make them run faster. police seized four of the taser—like devices at weir's stables, as well as a firearm and a substance believed to be cocaine. weir and two other men, face six charges from racing victoria. weir notably won the 2015 melbourne cup with jockey michelle payne aboard prince of penzance' that's all the sport for now. but a reminder, you can listen to

england in that second test against the west indies on the bbc sport website, west indies at 108—1 now, responding to england's187. plenty of work for england's bowlers to do. back now to our top story this afternoon — the snowfall across parts of the uk. the met office has issued a weather alert for many southern counties of england — with a warning that some rural areas could be cut off. 0ur correspondent steve humphrey reports from hampshire. slippy, snow—covered roads contributed to a series of accidents this morning. in some places in north hampshire, several inches of snow fell during the night. here in village near alton, it was still snowing steadily at six o'clock this morning. driving has been challenging in many places, including here in the a31. not so bad so far, apart from hills. it's not as heavy as what i thought it would be, which is nice. i've got the four wheel drive, so i will go anywhere. we kind of half expected it to be quite deep. but the kids are happy they are not

going to school today. plenty of gritting and a fleet of snowploughs, including many driven by farmers, soon had most of the main routes moving. and there was plenty of shovelling and sweeping going on as shops are prepared to open. it's been fine, the roads are clear. just a bit of snow and then get on with it. with lots of schools closed, it has become a snow—covered family friday for many people. i didn't expect that much snow. and the cars were covered, like this here. and what did you think when you woke up? it was really fun to get to play in the snow. where we are, it's probably a little bit worse. i mean, it's sort of six inches where we are. the two big questions now are how long will the snow last, and will there be any more? hundreds of schools are shut across

wales and traffic has been affected by heavy snowfall overnight. fans travelling to paris ahead of the opening games of the six nations by opening games of the six nations rugby tonight have faced flight cancellation there. no school for tabatha today. instead, a trip into brecon. the best bits of a snow day for her? building a snowman and throwing it at my mum. like much of south—east wales, brecon woke up to a picturesque blanket of snow. but no major issues on main roads, they were by and large kept clear. there were, though, problems for some getting to work. you couldn't get up the road. cars couldn't get up there. normally the gritters are up there every high ground, as always, bore the brunt of the bad weather with parts of the south wales valleys hit particularly hard.

dyfed—powys police urged people to only contact them with urgent weather—related problems. so, brecon has seen some of the heaviest snowfall overnight, and up to eight centimetres, and it's not been immune from the school closures. schools across the wider area are closed today. across wales more than 500 schools shut their doors, mainly in the south wales valleys. so, how is the white stuff affecting the red army due to descend on france for the rugby? cardiff airport have now cancelled their paris flight. i'm on the eurostar now so i'm going to get a car to london and then jump on the eurostar. so, if not, i might end up doing some regional work for the bbc in cardiff, or something. but, yeah, give ita go, got nothing to lose. watch it in cardiff, by the looks of things. not a bad place to watch it. no, not at all. but obviously it would be better in the stade de france, but there we go. we'll go down to west wales for a spa weekend instead. and watch the game down there. the snow is already starting to thaw. all eyes are now on the temperature gauge to see whether the white stuff turns to ice. when the temperatures plunge,

there's even more concern for rough sleepers up and down the uk. before the snow came last night, john maguire, went to speak to volunteers in bristol as they prepared for the bad weather. every thursday, volunteers gather in bristol to feed, clothe and help the homeless no matter what the weather. they give me a lovely pair of boots where. these people are brilliant. without them, i wouldn't live where i live. everything i need, they bring itjust to keep me alive.

normally, the street independent tea m normally, the street independent team would expect to see around 80 people. tonight there are only 50. they'd helped many who normally sleep rough have been given shelter as bristol council has launched its severe weather emergency programme. i think it's vital tonight, obviously, the temperature dropping, it is imperative that someone helps these people and gives them a chance. many utilise tell me this is a life—saver. what's it like? terrible. i couldn't even sleep last night, i was that code. i had a sleeping bag and i ain't been funny, i had to sleep in all these clothes just to keep warm. gloves, scarf, hat, you know what i mean? so, yes, that's how it is. but i think you can finally get used to it, you know. it's a case of having to. is the temperature falls below freezing, those living out on the

streets that michael living out on the streets becomes more hazardous. —— michael living on the streets becomes even more hazardous. more now on the news that the uk has objected to gibraltar being described as a "colony" and its status as "controversial" in eu documents. the phrases appeared in new european legislation that would allow british citizens to travel to the eu without a visa after brexit. e can speak now to gibraltar‘s chief minister, fabian picardo. thank you forjoining us. i assume you share downing street pose my annoyance at this vocabulary? of course, and i'm very pleased that the prime minister has immediately made clear that uk and gibraltar consider this language to be unnecessarily provocative. i don't know what spain is playing it, how they think this enables us to build a strong relationship going forward. the spanish repeatedly say they want gibraltar to become spanish, here is good evidence of legible trade—ins

—— why gibraltarians don't want to countenance that. it takes every opportunity to stick its finger in our eyes. i suppose one might say this is just our eyes. i suppose one might say this isjust a use our eyes. i suppose one might say this is just a use of our eyes. i suppose one might say this isjust a use of language rather than anything else. point scoring, may be, and that's annoying, but it doesn't amount to anything? it's pejorative and provocative language. we go out of our way to avoid using pejorative and provocative language unless we are having to defend ourselves. as we look to build a future outside of the european union and we are going to have a relationship with their countries and with the eu, diplomacy is important, and part of the is avoid being unnecessarily provocative. it seems to me that those who represent spain in brussels are trying to be as provocative as possible in order to try to score points for themselves in the context of gibraltar and the united kingdom because my exit from the eu. unhelpful, unedifying and it's not going to change the reality on the ground, which is that

gibraltar will not countenance becoming spanish, whatever language they might want to use to persuade they might want to use to persuade the remaining 26 member states to use with them. do you feel that after brexit, spain in a sense will have ca rte blanche after brexit, spain in a sense will have carte blanche to use the sort of language in the uk will not be able to have any influence? because the uk will be outside the eu and spain will be in it. could make the people of gibraltar don't pay me to fear, they pay me to act and to ensure that we counter this nonsense whether it emerges. whether it's in the context of spain are more widely the context of spain are more widely the united nations and i appear before the committee of the united nations that maintains the list of non—self—governing territories. but what is important even beyond today is that whatever spain does, in the eu, in that club of which they will stay a member but other 26, the reality will not change on the ground. gibraltar will not change

its sovereignty and we will not allow one grain of sand or one drop of our water to be taken by spain. thus are we absolutely clear that it was the spanish government that had had this language inserted in these documents? it would appear that as a result of language they wanted to incite earlier, which was even more pejorative. the french had objected to what the spanish wanted to say and the spanish seem to have settled on this language instead. and it's the language they appear not to want to push forward in future european documentation, which will change nothing but it demonstrates to the whole united kingdom that this is what brexit will mean, whether in relation to gibraltar and this clause, or in respect of other matters, we will not be at the top of the european negotiating table. but in the issue of gibraltar there will be no change on the ground in spain had better wake up to that. she may be able to exploit her position as the remaining member state in the european union to play all sorts of many games at the european table negotiation, but that

will not change things on the ground one iota. can i ask another question? there has been a huge focus, of course, on the border on the island of ireland between northern ireland and the republic after brexit. gibraltar, of course, will have the other border between the uk, uk territory, and the eu. how do you see that in the future? are they going to be problems? are theissues are they going to be problems? are the issues that that raises? there will be a third border on cyprus. there is not just will be a third border on cyprus. there is notjust a border of northern ireland, though it is the biggest, and the one with the united kingdom proper. and here on gibraltar, we will have the only border with schengen, because spain is part of schengen wealth of the republic of ireland is not. we expect no changes, continued fluidity in terms of the people and goods, that is what the spanish government have repeatedly said and what we want to achieve. so i hope the 30th of march will find no

difference in terms of the experience of the 20th and 29th of march this year have been. but it will take goodwill and effort. and steps like this from spain do nothing to encourage goodwill. schengen, i would say for the viewers, allows travellers to cross borders without documentation. many thanks to you, thanks for talking to us. thank you. now, you may have old medicines lurking in the back of a cupboard — and those packets of tablets have a way of accumulating. in north yorkshire, a "medicines amnesty" is under way, to encourage people to return drugs they no longer need. patients are also being encouraged to have an annual review — to make sure they are on the right medication. 0ur health correspondent dominic hughes has been to harrogate to find out more. we've probably all got them tucked away in cupboards at home — old medicines and drugs we no longer use. but they can really pile up. so, chris, what have we got here? well, this is medicines that have been returned to us

today from one patient. one patient! one patient, and it's approximately five to six months' worth of medication that the patient hasn't been taking routinely. so what are the implications of that? if patients aren't taking their medicines as has been prescribed then they're potentially not going to get the best outcomes from their medication. pharmacy staff have been busy collecting the treatments handed in at this gp surgery in harrogate, during what they're calling a "medicines amnesty". these boxes and bags filled with old or unused tablets, creams and gels. the drugs amnesty here in harrogate has only been going a few days and they've already collected all these boxes of used and out of date medicines. now here they spend around £25 million each year on drugs — that's around three million different items. if they managed to save just 1%, that's £250,000 that could go straight back into local health services. but this is notjust about saving money. now, you're taking 14 medications, aren't you?

that's right, yes. and i wonder if it would be usefulfor us to do a medication review today? it's also an opportunity forgps, like sarah, to talk to patients, like yvonne, to look at all the medicines she takes every day. it is very important for patients to know that gps or pharmacists can review medications as a whole and ask the patient how they're managing. we can look at whether they're managing to remember the tablets, sometimes we can change how we prescribe the tablets, change the timings of the tablets, or the type of medication, so that the medications get used in the way that they're designed. i need to make sure i'm on the right thing and anything that can be changed to make life easier is always a good thing. it's important that my tablets are correct and that i'm taking the right thing. the medicines amnesty and the chance to review what's being prescribed also presents a big opportunity for the wider nhs. we know that 8% of hospital admissions are medicines related. 30%—50% of medicines are not taken the way they're intended. these things are all designed

to help you as the patient get the best from your medicine. the nhs spends around £20 billion each year on prescribed medicines, so even a small reduction in what's wasted would save a significant amount of cash while also improving care. dominic hughes, bbc news, harrogate. jamie robertson is here — in a moment, he will be telling us the latest in the business news. first a look at the headlines on afternoon live. there are fresh warnings of snow and ice in many parts of the uk after heavy snow overnight. the mother of a three—year—old girl has become the first person in the uk to be found guilty of female genital mutilation. the united states says it is to suspend compliance with a key nuclear arms control agreement, signed with the soviet union during the cold war. here's your business headlines on afternoon live.

good news for president trump — the us economy appears to have weathered the government shutdown with figures showing another bumper month forjob—creation. the economy added almost double the number of jobs expected by economists — 304,000 in january. unsurprising news from bank tsb, as a computer meltdown pushed the bank into a loss in 2018, compared to a profit in 2017. uk manufacturers prepared for brexit by stockpiling raw materials at the fastest pace on record. the research by ihs markit found also that employment in the sector has fallen and warned that export orders were "near—stagna nt". there a commons report out on car

washes. it's a rather unexpected story, i was rather blindsided, because a report on car washes is not something that leaps to your mind when you are thinking about environmental problems or about exploitation of migrant workers. but it turns out, according to the environmental audit committee, but this is where these things happen regularly. and there is a problem with environmental problems of disposal of waste water, and there isa disposal of waste water, and there is a problem about the exploitation of migrant workers, effectively slavery. the environmental audit committee has made a number of recommendations. the government has said it will write to major supermarkets reminding them of what they should be doing with waste water and upgrading its pollution guidelines, pollution prevention guidelines. which some people are fairly disappointed with. we can talk now to the managing director

for car wash advisory services. give me an idea of what the nature of the problem is that the committee has reported on. the problem has been there for numerous use and it covers all of the things you have just mentioned, environmental impact, modern slavery in vehicle washes, and also issues with money being laundered, and gat not being paid, etc. there are numerous problems there. and it's a very disappointing that the government have decided not to take up the recommendation to license car washes. so licensing is your objective. can you give me an idea of how big this industry is?“ you're looking at the unregulated side of it, which is the problem site, you're looking at approximately 19,000 sites across

the uk. 19,000 sites. and they employ people, or are these just one man bands? how does it work? this unlicensed side of it? as they are a mixture. you tend to find there are some that are just single people but the majority of them are at two, three, four, we have seen as many as 20 people working on a site. clearly, where you are seeing car washes being sold at £3 to £5, those sort of figures simply wouldn't sustain the people who are actually working there. run by organisations, by individuals, how does it work? same again, a mixture of the two. you get somewhere there are people who actually aspire to be really good car washers but for the last 15 years, they have just been allowed to do exactly what they wanted, no one has told them, this isn't the

way you run a business in the uk. and they've basically done exactly what they wanted. you've had an element of organised crime, also, come into that now. and that is getting bigger. and the longer we leave it, the worse it will get. is a slavery where they can be used in connection with this? absolutely. there was a death in 2015, a modern slave. he was a bonded slave to a car wash and he and a group of other gentlemen were made to live on the, at the back of the car wash. and he died when he was electrocuted because the guy who actually owns the site bypassed all the safety. just from an ordinary person'spoint of view, if you see a cheap car wash from the side of the road, should you use it? i personally would not. if it's under £5, absolutely not. but the problem you now have is that

these guys are really clever, if they are causing problems on the sites, and they are having modern slavery and are causing environmental damage, they are being told what they should look like. and they are really smart guys. and so they are really smart guys. and so they cover it up. so you can't necessarily say that. thank you very much indeed. extraordinary, unexpected story, but when you start to think about it, it does all make sense. it is unlicensed, and regulated environment in which these kinds of practices can thrive. lets look at the markets, shall we? it seems that the government shutdown, 800,000 people not being paid, as faras shutdown, 800,000 people not being paid, as far as we can tell had very little effect on jobs. and it seems, not much effect on the economy. the ftse 500 is almost five back a

percent up. —— half a percent up. there's just over a week to go until the annual british academy of film and television art awards — and while this year's nominees may be busy rehearsing their acceptance speeches, craftspeople at a west london foundry have been hard at work creating the iconic mask awards. take a look. how are they made? the first step is to make the cause and the moulds. once they are made, they are then sprayed up with a prefatory coating, fired, and then the parts are put together and prepared with weights and cuts. and then we pour the metal in. and once the metal‘s been poured, we give it a while to make it all solid, and then we knock them out, remove the sand, and then we shock blast them

to remove the excess sand. we cut off the rudders and riders, and then we fettle them, ready to go polishing. this is an honest piece of work, because what you see made is exactly what you get. something like the oscars are not the same. they are a diecast product made out of britannia metal, which are then gold—plated, so they are not, you can't trace it directly to what you get. but you can, but, you know, it's not the same. i haven't got a clue. i really don't know who the nominations are. i don't know. it'll be whoever gets nominated, or whoever wins it. i'm sure they'll deserve it. time for a look at the weather.

here's phil avery. the weather in no great rush to change at the moment. it will stay on the cold side, so if you're thinking of travelling for the rest of the day you will have to contend with the lying snow and formation of ice. disruption is likely. stay up—to—date with the forecast, bbc local radio always a good source for local information. there is the feature that brought all that disruption and snow across the southern half of the british isles, still lurking with intent across the south—eastern quarter. further to the north and west, a quieter spell of weather, perhaps, to finish off the day, but we could well see another 1—3 centimetres of snowfall from the weather front somewhere across the greater london area, stretching towards the downs and into hampshire. 0ut west, quieter, clearerskies, temperatures falling rapidly but further accumulation couldn't be ruled out across the pennines and north york moors, and coming up through northern ireland to the line of the great glen, and a raft of showers affecting the northern isles

and the eastern side of mainland scotland. further west, skies will be pretty clear, less breeze here, temperatures really falling away. widespread problems with ice, a lot of warnings out from the met office, and it will be cold. perhaps in the heart of scotland, around —10 degrees or so. we start off saturday with that weather front eventually quitting the scene, taking its sleet and snow away from the south—western quarter, and we are left with a decent day for the most part. you have to contend with the cold and lying snow and ice but there will be some decent, wintry sunshine. still a speckling of showers across northern and eastern parts, breeze still quite noticeable coming from a cold direction, particularly across eastern counties of england. temperatures still locked into single figures. that's saturday. this is sunday. a cold start to the day but a bright one, then we fill in the skies with more rain and snow.

certainly snow to low levels across northern parts of england and up into the heart of scotland to northern ireland. i think it's more of a hill features as we get into the southern half, and another cold day. themes for the weekend, staying cold but some sunshine around, further wintry showers, and the band of rain or snow coming in later on sunday. hello, you're watching afternoon live — i'm ben brown, live in chippenham in wiltshire. they have been heavy snowfalls here on the m4. the winter weather came in overnight hitting large parts of southern england as britain suffered its cold est southern england as britain suffered its coldest night for seven years. the conditions brought chaos on the roads as commuters tried to get to work this morning, hundreds of schools were closed and rail services disrupted. take extreme care, drive with caution, take everything nice and gentle, the throttle, the brakes, the steering.

the road is very, very treacherous indeed. my advice, personally — stay at home. with the evening rush—hour approaching, we will have the latest in our correspondence across the country. i'm reeta chakrabarti — also on afternoon live. the mother of a three—year—old girl has become the first person in the uk to be found guilty of female genital mutilation. the united states announces that it is suspending compliance with a key nuclear arms control agreement, signed with the soviet union during the cold war. coming up on afternoon live — all the sport with hugh. england are struggling to take wickets with just one so far on day two of their second test against

west indies in antigua. their hosts are now well beyond the 100 mark for the loss of just are now well beyond the 100 mark for the loss ofjust one batsmen, warned about later in the hour. phil has all the weather. disappointing news from sport and here in bath has looked here in its history, these conditions are still there to be had as we start the evening commute. i will have all the details for you in the next half an hour. also coming up — crowds of people brave the snow and freezing temperature to see the duke and duchess of sussex on a visit to the bristol old vic theatre, which is undergoing a £26m restoration. good afternoon. there are fresh warnings of snow and ice in many parts of the uk after heavy snow overnight.

hundreds of schools across wales and southern england have been closed today. road, rail and air travel have also been disrupted. temperatures also fell in parts of scotland to minus 15 degrees celsius — the coldest night for seven years. well, ben brown is in wiltshire for us this afternoon. ben. we are close to the m4 motorway. it has been stowing most of the day but the snow is finally stopping i'm glad, it is they brutally cold at the moment. if there is a concern about the evening rush—hour and whether people can get home 0k. there have been warnings that many roads are still pretty treacherous, and motoring organisations have been advising people in the areas where there have been heavy snowfall, only to go out if they absolutely have to do. there has been disruption all day not only on the roads but also on many rails, services, and flights

as well, particularly heathrow airport, bristol airport, bournemouth and cardiff airports. they have all seen disruption. some of the worst travel chaos has been in cornwall where up to 12 centimetres of snow fell. the a30 was blocked for a while last night and hundreds of motorists were stranded there, some of had to take refuge for the night in a nearby pub as this report reports. 0s well as we know the west country was hit hard overnight by snow — many people were unable to make it home. well our correspondent robert hall has sent this report it may not be a polar vortex but it's pretty parky. and for millions of people, a difficult and for some impossible journey to work. if you have to go out, take extreme care. drive with caution, take everything nice

and gentle, the throttle, the brakes, the steering. the road is very, very treacherous indeed. my advice personally would be stay at home. some, though, did not follow such advice. 0vernight on the a30 on bodmin moor in cornwall, hundreds of drivers had to abandon their vehicles after being stuck for hours in freezing temperatures. we've been in the car since about 4pm, we left redruth. so we've gone about 30 miles in... what's that, nine hours? nine and a little bit hours. and in the last about six hours, we've probably moved about less than 100 yards or so. the famous jamaica inn opened its doors to those in need of shelter, making up beds in the restaurant and bar when all the rooms were taken. and at callywith college in bodmin, the snow forced students to make it their home for the night because the roads were too treacherous to go home. so in the end, we had aboutjust over 300 students stay the night here at the college. everyone is absolutely fine, they've all been fed and watered, they had a good night's sleep... fora teenager, i imagine, two or three hours. and we were very grateful to asda, who donated just under £800 worth of bedding to support students and provide as cosy an environment as we could provide for them. and for many children, it's a day off, with hundreds of schools closed across southern england and wales.

at heathrow, they've been de—icing planes but more than 35 flights had to be cancelled. bristol airport had to close this morning and there has been disruption at cardiff, too. and spare a thought for the homeless. in bristol, where the council has launched its emergency severe weather programme, they've been handing out hot food and drinks. i couldn't sleep last night, i was that cold. you know. i had a sleeping bag and i ain't being funny, i had to sleep in all these clothes, as well, just to keep warm. pair of gloves on, scarf on, hat on, do you know what i mean? so, yeah. that's how it is, mate. i think you kind of get used to it, you know. it's like, it's a case of having to. and the winter weather is set to continue well into the weekend, with temperatures not expected to rise significantly until tuesday. as you rejoin us here at live in

wiltshire, lecture you the scene on one of our other cameras. the countryside here heavy with snow as you can see, it has been falling for many hours, it has now finally stopped but here in wiltshire alone there are some 250 schools closed, hundreds more in other counties in southern england and in wales, 500 schools have been closed all day. that's about a quarter of the total number of schools in wales, shut for the day. let's tally a bit more about that remarkable story in cornwall where so many people were trapped in their cars and had to spend the night in the jamaica inn pub. well our correspondent robert hall has sent this report jamaica inn, a traveller's haven for three centuries, last night once again the right

place at the right time. sweeping snow across the bleak hilltops of bodmin moor had brought the busy a30 to a standstill, the lights of the inn a beacon to drivers with nowhere to go. the only way i can describe it as like armageddon. i have lived in norway for three months of the year for the last nine years, and i haven't seen anything like this, lorries jackknifed all up this road, vehicles everywhere. digging their cars out this morning, workmates richard and david, richard had set off to the inn on foot. it came to a standstill, decided to ditch it, went to the jamaica inn a mile away, it was busy, they were setting up beds, getting lots of phone calls from people stuck, being really helpful. through the night, cold, hungry travellers trudged up the hill to find warmth. staff gathered mattresses and bedding as chefs dug into their reserves of food. the staff have been amazing, jamaica inn, can't praise them highly enough. the roads are open, surprise guests on the way, but staff at the old smugglers'

hideaway know they may be needed again before winter leaves us. this afternoon with blue skies overhead, gritters and snow ploughs are continuing to work their way off the main roads to clear the remaining side roads blocked by snow and ice. the temperatures here are only just above freezing. there is a biting wind blowing across bodmin moor. so, it is very easy to imaginejust how appreciative those drivers were for the welcome they received. robert hall, bbc news, at jamaica inn. great story there, of endurance and camaraderie as people got stranded in cornwall. the snow has finally stopped falling which is good, ahead of the rush—hour this evening, which is coming up. i've been talking to highways england about the state of the roads and how they have been

gritting them in preparation for the snowfall today. andrew page—dove, south west operations director for highways england based in bristol. for our network, that's exactly what we do, we treat every single bit of the motorway and the trunk road network. in total across highways england's responsibility since midnight last night and 10am this morning, 1,300 trips were made to grit our roads, over 80,000 miles covered. we will continue to treat those raids during the rest roads during the rest of the afternoon and through the evening. as we anticipate cold temperatures. the snow might be clear and the roads open but we want to make sure there is no risk of ice forming as well. we watch snowploughs go up and down the m4 this morning, a key artery. 0bviously that is a key artery, the m4 motorway, and you managed

to keep that flowing pretty well through the day? absolutely. the m4 and m5 ran well through the day, we lost a lane three on both those motorways during the early hours of this morning with the immense snow. it's imortant to recognise, although we treat all of those roads, it's actually the action of the cars driving over the salt and grit, that helps the snow to melt and not form something preventing people from making the trip. its a difficult decision about whether you advise travellers not to travel or to take care. at the moment my advice with the weather front moving through wiltshire towards dorset, people should really check their journeys, make sure they can make it from whereever they are coming from to the places they are going to. there are still yellow warnings from the met office of snow and ice in

many parts of the united kingdom so it won't be an easyjourney home for many commuters this evening, but if you want to follow all the latest travel details and indeed the weather details, go to our bbc news website or tune into your bbc local radio station, always a good source of the very latest information. and stay watching us here on the bbc news channel as well. that sits in wiltshire, back to the studio. the mother of a three—year—old girl has become the first person in the uk to be found guilty of female genital mutilation. the woman was convicted following a trial at the old bailey. her partner was acquitted by the jury. 0ur correspondent adina campbell has been following the case and spoke to me a little earlier. it's an important day here at the old bailey. the uk now has its first conviction for female genital mutilation, a crime that has been illegal since 1985. in the last few minutes, the mother of a three—year—old girl has been found guilty

of cutting her daughter back in 2017. the girl's father was also on trial. he has been found not guilty and cleared of all the charges against him. as the guilty verdict was read out against the mother, she was heard quivering as the news was announced in front of the court. this is a case that dates back to 2017, the girl was just three years old. she was taken to hospital in london with serious genital injuries and had been cut in three separate places. when she got to the hospital, the towel she was lying on was completely soiled with blood. this trial has been going on here for the last three weeks and we have had extraordinary evidence relating to witchcraft. we heard about the mother's interest in witchcraft. two cow tongues and ingredients used for silencing spells was found in her home freezer during a police search and the names

of police officers, social workers and foster carers were all next to those ingredients, aiming to silence those people involved in the case. we are told the mother is facing up to 14 years in prison for this offence and this is seen as a breakthrough moment here at the old bailey. this is a crime that has been illegal in the uk's1985 and today we have the very first conviction for female genital mutilation. we can speak now to aneeta prem who is the founder of the freedom charity which supports victims of fgm. good to talk to you. thank you for your time. as our correspondent was expelling, fgm has been a criminal offence for many years but it has been very hard to get a successful prosecution. why has this been the case? it's a very historic day. it

has taken over three generations to get a conviction in this country because basically, it is hidden in secrecy and people are scared to come forward. professionals are scared to come forward. the fact we have a conviction today is a really historic moment. what it will mean hopefully is that more people will come forward, professionals will come forward, professionals will come forward, professionals will come forward as they see this and report it because they are duty—bound to, and fgm female genital mutilation, is child abuse and must be stopped. you say professionals up and worried about going forward, why would they be? for many professionals over the yea rs we have for many professionals over the years we have spoken to, they asked good to be called racist, scared to bring this topic up when they are speaking to parents. but actually, if we view this is child abuse which it is, there should be no fear involved in that whatsoever. we have to protect the most vulnerable in society and this conviction where a

mum could face up to 14 years in person, will be a deterrent, will people come forward and feel they can report and know the uk government will do about this. you have works with victims of fgm over the years, do use sense any change in people, girls, women, coming forward. 0ur in people, girls, women, coming forward. our people become more confident? people are far more confident? people are far more confident now in coming forward. girls are more happy to talk about this and when they do talk about this, they are happy to say what happened to them. that is really important. you say that this is by its nature a hidden crime. do we have any idea how prevalent it is? worldwide, they say 200 million women and girls have suffered fgm in this country, up to 144,000. women

and girls are supposed to have gone through this. we are going to schools talking to thousands of young girls and boys everyday throughout the course of the work that we do and many of those people are infearof that we do and many of those people are in fear of fgm. so it's really important to come to part of the conversation that people realise it's conversation that people realise its child abuse, teachers, social workers, midwives, medical professionals, feel they can do something about it. we almost lost you there but we have got you back. just one more question which is that the vast majority of people watching this will find it completely incomprehensible that this can be done to young girls. is there any sense that within the communities where fgm might be practised that there is any sort of cultural change going on there as well? there is cultural change but one of the things freedom charity does is speak to young boys. throughout the country boys say they do not want to happen in their name because many

mums say fgm is practised on their daughters because men demand it. men and boys don't want this to happen to their sisters, to their cousins. actually by having an open conversation, by wowing the national symbol against fgm which is a red triangle, we are making a positive message we are against fgm. sooner we see this as child abuse, the more convictions and the more safer our young girls will be. very good to talk to you, thank you for your time. you're watching afternoon live, these are our headlines there are fresh warnings of snow and ice in many parts of the uk after heavy snow overnight. the mother of a three—year—old girl has become the first person in the uk to be found guilty of female genital mutilation. the united states is to suspend compliance with a key nuclear arms control agreement, signed with the soviet union during the cold war. and in sport, england struggled for

wickets in the morning session on the second day of the second test against west indies. their hosts are now 126—1, trailing by 61 in the first innings in antigua. wales head coach warren gatland is focused on defence as they look to earn an opening six nations win against france in paris tonight. and after five and a half years at manchester united midfielder now fixing marrow -- fellaini —— fellaini has left the club for china, playing a little under his new boss. more injust after our past. in the last few minutes it's been announced that the tv actor, clive swift, who started in keeping up appearances has died aged 82. he played hyacinth bucket‘s husband richard. his agent said he died at home

after a short illness, surrounded by his family. there he is to patricia routledge, the actress. the united states has announced that it is suspending compliance with a key nuclear arms control agreement, signed with the soviet union during the cold war. the secretary of state mike pompeo said russia had violated the terms of the agreement by developing a new cruise missile. moscow has rejected the accusation and warned that the the us move would be a powerful blow to the international system of nonproliferation. here's what the us secretary of state had to say earlier. we provided russia an ample window of time to mend its ways and for russia to honour its commitment. tomorrow that time runs out. russia has refused to take any steps to return real and verifiable compliance over the 60 days. the united states will therefore suspend its obligations under the inf treaty effective february 2nd. we will provide russia and the other

treaty parties with formal notice that the united states is withdrawing from the inf treaty effective in six months, pursuing to article 15 of the treaty. russia has jeopardised the united states' security interests and we can no longer be restricted by the treaty while russia shamelessly violates it. if russia does not return to full and verifiable compliance with the treaty within the six month period, by verifiably destroying its inf—violating missiles, their launchers and other associated equipment, the treaty will terminate. 0ur correspondentjane 0'brien is in washington. jane, listening to mike pompeo their one got the impression this noncompliance has been brewing for some time. yes to at least the last

five years because this is a complaint not just made five years because this is a complaint notjust made by the trump administration but under the 0bama administration but under the 0bama administration as well. they say they have made more than 30 complaints about noncompliance and have now had enough. it is notjust america saying this. nato also issued a statement today saying u nless issued a statement today saying unless moscow destroys these disputed weapons, then rush it will bear sole responsibility for the end of this treaty. —— russia. it's not a surprise the us is withdrawing and they still have six months to come into compliance with this treaty, but at the moment it has to say that doesn't look very likely. interesting you say this was developing under the 0bama administration because of course over time, we understand president trump is fairly frustrated by international agreements on cooperation and won't necessarily continue with them if he thinks that

they are not in america's interest. yes, he does have a penchant for withdrawing from treaties you doesn't particularly like, he has a track record of doing that for the last two years. but this has the backing of the international community and a consensus that russia is in noncompliance with the terms of this treaty, but there's also a new reality and that is china. china isn't bound by any treaty and the us is becoming increasingly concerned with chinese aggression and it feels that it can't now stick by the terms of a bilateral treaty with just russia, when russia isn't paying any attention and china has nothing holding it back at all. it puts the us ata holding it back at all. it puts the us at a distinct military advantage. in many respects, it is nowjust simply out of date. jane o'brien, in washington, thank you. sarah is in

moscow for us. what reaction has there been? the kremlin spokesman has said russia regret this decision by the us. of course it was no surprise, this is something that has been some time coming. in recent months since donald trump in october announced the us was threatening to pull out of the treaty, there have been true talks to try to save it. —— there have been talks. america have been saying russia has been denying it is in violation, but saying america doesn't want to hear that, the decision to pull out of the treaty was a political one and anything russia said was just ignored. —— russia said. the suggestion here that plenty in the military top brass were not particular wedded to the inf treaty a nyway particular wedded to the inf treaty anyway & having it scrapped, suspended for now, is in russia's

interest if indeed it would like to go interest if indeed it would like to 9° up interest if indeed it would like to go up and develop these missiles and forget the treaty altogether. again there are some who argue that was america's desire all along, the treaty is not fit for purpose either for america or russia in the new reality you were just hearing jane their talk about. thank you. our correspondence in moscow. comedy stars have paid tribute to the ‘ground—breakingly brilliant‘ comedian, jeremy hardy, who has died at the age of 57 from cancer. as well as being a stand—up, he was a stalwart of radio shows such as the news quiz and i'm sorry i haven't a clue. here he is on the bbc 2 panelshow qi. paper cut‘s the worst thing, isn't it? lemon on the paper cut. paper cut, because people say, there's nothing worse than a paper cut. not a sword, not a chainsaw. nothing! nothing worse than a summer cold. syphilis, grenade up the bum... nothing! laughter let's speak now to the comedian, tony hawks. thanks forjoining us. you went back

a long way withjeremy, didn't you? yes, we met in the 80s whenjeremy had first started. i was comparing a comedy club called jongleurs in london and then when that started as well it was all very new, the new alternative comedy if you like. germany was immediately standing out as one of the best. —— jeremy was. i had seen them all as i was comparing, i'd bring them on and he was streets ahead of me and everybody else. just a huge talent. streets ahead because he was sharp, he was quick? he was sharp and quick and intelligent, he was really clever. used to quotejeremy‘s lines from his act. i remember them and they were relevant and he was a great writer. as well as obviously

you could hear from great writer. as well as obviously you could hearfrom that great writer. as well as obviously you could hear from that clip, great writer. as well as obviously you could hearfrom that clip, he had this wonderful dry comic style, but that was an example of him. just a brilliant observation. i worked with him a lot on i'm sorry i haven't a clue, he was funny in real life, he was fun to be around. he will be sadly missed. i'm sure. he was a very will be sadly missed. i'm sure. he was a very political person, wasn't he? a lot of politics came out in his humour. yes and to some extent, i'm not sure that helped him that much as a comedian. i think that boxed him a little bit into a corner. but he couldn't help it, he was so passionate about what he believed and he didn'tjust past year, he got out there and did things, he got involved. and almost suffered for it to some extent. you could never accuse him of not being

absolutely genuine and authentic. but yes, i think to some... if you had a different set of political views to him, he could be quite offensive to you! that obviously wound people up and narrowed his audience somewhat. i'm going to ask you a question i asked jack dee, a friend of his earlier, about the funniest moment that he remembers from jeremy hardy ‘s career. black humour takes he remembered a black humourjoke black humour takes he remembered a black humour joke about black humour takes he remembered a black humourjoke about cancer.“ wasn't onstage, when we do i'm sorry i haven't a clue, way very often get together just before i haven't a clue, way very often get togetherjust before with a clipboard in a hotel room and jeremy a lwa ys clipboard in a hotel room and jeremy always used you draw rude pictures on it. it was so silly and walked

out and there we were, this bbc team who had taken this conference room and then we just leave all these silly pictures! but there are tonnes of stories, they are probably a bit too long. but one thing i would say is, because obviously jack's story was about cancer and jeremy has died of cancer, the only sort of good thing i can think of about cancer is that you get to say goodbye to people. jeremy did. he did everything he wanted to do with all the close people, i spoke to him just before christmas, we had a long chat. and i know that was a blessing to him and he was very at peace, in a bizarre kind of way, the most peaceful and never known him in the last month of his life. so it's not all bleak. that's a very nice story, thank you for talking to us. remembering jeremy hardy. time for a look at the weather...

here's phil avery thank you, hello, those of a nervous disposition, you have to look away. bath have looked cheerier than this. very much on the fringes now of an area of snow causing great concern. people still having to work in these conditions, farmers in cornwall, widely across southern britain, are struggling with these elements as are many who are just having to work out of doors because that is the nature of the tasking. just that little bit further north, a bit of leisure time, walking the dog, it almost looks picture perfect. provided you don't have to get down that lane in your car. let's move on. we still have concerns about the conditions that could prevail through the course of this evening, lying snow and ice, it isn't going to get warmer now so disruption is likely. to bbc radio are all over it. the concerns largely centred around this weather front, a feature

that brought the snow in recent hours. it is not quite done yet. notice how this area here initially down across the west country now showing signs drifting further south and is, it is there quite obviously over the afternoon and is likely to cause concern for those heading down the m4, the m3 ad a303. tricky traditions with lying snow and more snow to come. a couple of centimetres at least. further north, a scattering of showers, no great organisation but they tend to come in streaks so if you miss those then you wonder what all the fuss is about further accumulations in the north—east at the heart of scotland up north—east at the heart of scotland up to the northern isles, with the odd one is up to northern ireland. west, it's been a decent afternoon, scotla nd west, it's been a decent afternoon, scotland for example. those clearer skies will allow tablature to plummet which is why there are so warnings about ice from the met office. we show —5 in the heart of

edinburgh, somewhere in the scottish glens it will be —10. that feature pulls away into the continent and we look at a much more settled day. still some wintry showers and a breeze across the east, but towards the west, central parts dry, fine, sunny, still cold and there is still the direction of the breeze from the north—west. but at least there is some sunshine to be had. but as i say, it isn't doing much for temperatures, and quickly into sunday, a weather front after a bitterly cold night into the cold regime so something of a repeat with the heavier snowfall across northern britain. further south, the heavier snowfall across northern britain. furthersouth, ithink the heavier snowfall across northern britain. further south, i think the snow largely, not exclusively, but largely confined to hills and again it is another pretty chilly day. this is bbc news — our latest headlines... there are fresh warnings of snow and ice in many parts of the uk after heavy snow overnight.

the mother of a three—year—old girl has become the first person in the uk to be found guilty of female genital mutilation. the united states says it is to suspend compliance with a key nuclear arms control agreement, signed with the soviet union during the cold war. downing street reacts angrily as eu documents describe gibraltar as a ‘colony‘ and calls its status ‘controversial‘. the three main health screening programmes in england — for bowel, breast and cervical cancer — have all failed to meet government targets. sport now on afternoon live. and it's lunchtime on day two of the second test between west indies and england. and the hosts on top in antigua? indeed, much like the series so far,

west indies on top. england and their bowlers have not really had their bowlers have not really had the impact they would help for going into day two of the second test. the pitch has been quite unpredictable. but the west indian batsmen have coped far better than england did yesterday. as you say, its lunch, ben stokes taking the only wicket of the day so far for england. brathwaite has edged his way towards a half century, he is now on 48 at the moment. that leaves west indies ina the moment. that leaves west indies in a comfortable position and favourites at this point to take the match, and with it the series. there are currently 126—1, trailing by 61 in the first innings. you can follow proceedings on the bbc sport website and app, and follow it with rather entertaining cricket social team. and the six nations gets under way this evening. wales will be looking to continue their recent good run of form? inde, well coming into this

attempting to win ten matches in a row, their best since 1999. the captain says they will not be hanging their hat on any record, if they win the next two games, they will surpass a record winning two lasting the last hundred years. that's a match that you can watch live on bbc one as wales travelled to paris to take on france. warren gatland's men finished last year second, but they were way back from the winners last year and this yea r‘s the winners last year and this year's favourite, ireland. they are in good form, though. and in a confident mood. i've been pretty open about the fact i think we have a good chance of winning the six nations, win this first game and win the six nations. given we have a home game. we finished second last year, which was ok, and it would be great for us to win the six nations building into the world cup warm up games and obviously the world cup. defending champions ireland take

on england in dublin. ireland are currently ranked the second best team in the world, and their new zealand—born coach joe schmidt is the man who's led the transformation. what england are going to bring at us, we can't control. you cannot control what they do. for us, it's about making sure we get consistency in everything we do and that we aim to go out tomorrow to play the best game of rugby that this group has ever played. maren slaney has left manchester united to join a chinese team. the international joined manchester united to join a chinese team. the internationaljoined the tea m team. the internationaljoined the team in 2013 and scored 22 times. he won three trophies but ijust three minutes of premier league action under the new interim boss. despite manchester city's surprise

defeat on tuesday the manager says it's too late to count them out. city face a difficult match against arsenal this weekend. after the result, it's focusing on the plate. pay and play and play. and you need the mentality to say, ok, we are in the mentality to say, ok, we are in the 1st of february, a lot of points to play. and there are many things to play. and there are many things to happen that is not going to happen, regarding the last game, that's all. chelsea have slipped to fifth in the premier league table after back—to—back defeats, with the manager questioning his sight‘s motivation. they will host huddersfield tomorrow and at the end of that game he is asked for patients —— ahead of that game he is asked for patients. now we have the mentality for doing the match. but

we need to improve in the reaction. we need to improve the offensive phase. because we have a lot of individual players, so it is not easy to change in four or five months. goes like that is all the sport for now. we will have more for you in the next hour. —— sport for now. we will have more for you in the next hour. -- that is all the sport for now. now on afternoon live, let's go nationwide and see what's happening around the country in our daily visit to the bbc newsrooms around the uk. let's go to harriet bradshaw, who's been out with a nurse doing her rounds in a very snowy dartmoor national park. and amanda parr is in bristol — where harry and meghan paid a visit to the theatre and a boxing charity. afternoon tea both.

harriet — the snowy weather can be worrying for more vulnerable people in their homes. what's been happening where you are? as you can see, the snow has hit dartmoor pretty heavily. it is beautiful looking but as you are saying, are vulnerable people, these conditions can be frightening and isolating. —— for vulnerable people. that's why here in dartmoor, they have contingency plans in place where the park rangers help health ca re where the park rangers help health care professionals and also the emergency services to make sure that people are not stranded or isolated without medical care. today we were doing one of the essentialjourneys because we've been advised not to go off on the moor unless absolutely essential. we've been following one of the nurses as they've been taking two ta ke n of the nurses as they've been taking two taken up by one of the rangers to get to one of their patients. ——

taken out to get to one of their patients. —— ta ken out by. to get to one of their patients. —— taken out by. the patient has complex needs and it's really vital to get to her. they were saying to me, though the roads were not as treacherous as expected, it's really important to have a plan in place. here is angela, the community matron. it would be life threatening for her so we do have to, you know, worst scenario, we would walk. we have done that in the past. you do have done that in the past. you do have to get to these patients by whatever means, even if that was air ambulance, you cannot let her not have any. and you've been hearing of a real sense of community spirit? yes, it's not just yes, it's notjust the national park rangers here in dartmoor who has been helping people out. the national park rangers on exmoor have also been helping tenders there in the community to get to their clients. and also, devon county council has been praising carers in the community in devon who have gone

beyond their normal daily hours to make sure that patients and people they care for are ok. we've also been seeing these beautiful scenes of the area in devon and it looks stunning, but those roads are really treacherous. people have got stranded out and about because they've got stuck in the cold wintry weather here. and people have been helping those who got stranded. we heard about a chap and his brother and his tractor going round in the community of 0kehampton making sure that people there were not left, ferrying people around. we have also been hearing about a lady in 0kehampton who is giving people cups of tea. so there is a real community spirit here in devon but we are still expecting the temperatures to drop and it to carry on being treacherous. it looks very cold! thank you, harriet. more on that story tonight on bbc spotlight.

amanda — there was some concern they d call off the visit because of the snow today in bristol? yes, we did have a fair amount full of right here in the city and that was a bit of a worry. —— mike a fair amount full overnight. but they are made of sterner stuff. they arrived a bit late, no doubt the journey presented some challenges, but arrive they did in the late morning on the historic king street, which is the home of the bristol old vic. hundreds turned out to greet them. they were lining the streets, not at all deterred by the code, some had been out for hours in the snow. the duke and duchess appeared very grateful for the purpose mac fortitude and spent a good, long time chatting and shaking hands, allowing photos to be taken. they allowed a long chat with some nursery school children as well. they looked in pretty good spirits, megan wearing a thick coat to keep

her and her bum form. she chose boots with heels in defiance of the cold weather. —— to keep her and her bump warm. it was smiles all round, especially from the crowd, where they had quite a few stories.|j especially from the crowd, where they had quite a few stories. i said i had they had quite a few stories. i said ihada they had quite a few stories. i said i had a picture of his mum 25 years ago during a visit, and my mum was so ago during a visit, and my mum was so excited to meet her, she would not let go of the fire she had for herand diana not let go of the fire she had for her and diana had not let go of the fire she had for herand diana had to not let go of the fire she had for her and diana had to actually wrench them out of your hands! —— the flowers. i stayed here in the bars and they came in! that's my hand. flowers. i stayed here in the bars and they came in! that's my handlj can and they came in! that's my hand.” can believe they came. i think they're can believe they came. i think they‘ re really can believe they came. i think they‘re really good for this generation, the work she does for the community, she is amazing, and so was he. his mother would be proud. does max and hardy royal watchers there! and just remind us of the visit. just remind us of the purchase of the visit. because make —— some hardy royal watchers.

they were visiting the old vic, the place has been fully refurbished, has a unique history, they were learning about that. they had a workshop with local children, part of the theatre‘s outreach programme. they visited a programme that would make charity helping women break free from street six work and addiction and start new lives. megan was quite taken with the ideas of writing messages of love and support for them to find when they wrapped parcels. —— meghan. she wrote on bananas messages like, you are strong, you are special, you‘re a brave, your loved. and finally they dropped in on a boxing gym and bind about a project there which works to help young people reach their full potential. so a busy day, lots of pit and lots of grateful people but the visit did not have to be called off and they had a chance to meet

the royal couple. thank you amanda — more on that story tonight on bbc points west. and if you would like to see more on any of those stories, access them via the bbc iplayer. we go live at every weekday afternoon at 4:30pm here and often in life. not one of the three main health screening programmes in england — bowel, breast or cervical — met their targets last year, according to a report by the national audit office. there were also delays in cervical screening results reaching half of women tested, with a backlog of nearly 100,000 samples. 0ur health correspondent catherine burns explains. last year, there are more than 150,000 samples piled up waiting to

be tested. but there was a slight improvement. by the end of the year it had gone down the closer to 100,000. but the delay means there are delays in women getting their results through. the government expects the majority to find out within two weeks, that is not happening and has not since 2015. if you look at march last year, only a third of women got results within the fortnight. there were some slight improvements and now it‘s closer to half, but still way off the target. so there‘s the question of why this is happening and that has been linked to changes in how the samples are analysed. in the long run it means we will not need as many laboratories doing this kind of work. what is actually happening is that stuff on those labs are starting to leave so there is extra pressure on the system. and that‘s not the only problem with cervical screening. it has targets for the percentage of women eligible for straining her getting it, and not hitting those targets. the national

audit office also found problems with breast and bowel, neither is meeting the accepted standard. so the chair of the public accounts committee spoke about this, saying it is unacceptable and worrying and she says the powers that be need to get this fixed. the government, though, says, our screening programmes are among the best in the world and its working to resolve any issues. tsb has reported a pre—tax loss of 105 million pounds last year, blaming the meltdown of its new computer system. the bank‘s chief executive, paul pester, stepped down after the fiasco last april, when nearly two million customers were locked out of their accounts for several weeks. ramzan karmali is here — he will telling us all about the business news. first a look at the headlines on afternoon live. there are fresh warnings of snow and ice in many parts of the uk after heavy snow overnight. the mother of a three—year—old girl has become the first person in the uk to be found guilty of female genital mutilation.

the united states is to suspend compliance with a key nuclear arms control agreement, signed with the soviet union during the cold war. here‘s your business headlines on afternoon live. the latest us jobs data appears to show that the world‘s largest economy appears to have weathered the government shutdown. 304,000 jobs were created injanuary — almost doubling expectations! sports direct owner mike asley has his eye on yet another retail business — this time sofa dot com. the mainly online store was put up for sale last month and today rival furniture business, scs said it was no longer in take over talks. talktalk said it‘s not going to make the kind of profits it originally expected. the broadband provider also said that the cost of getting new customers and switching existing customers to superfast fibre would cost an extra £15m. let‘s start with talktalk —

they‘ve got more customers yet they don‘t think they‘ll make as much money — how? you think you have more customers, more money, but it costs money to get them on—board, 50 millionjust to them to switch or come to them. and it‘s a very competitive market. margins are very tight. but there are still making money, we should not forget that. but it is a competitive arena therein. mike ashley is on the news again, with his eyes on another retailer? does mikey seems to be buying all the bargain basement retailers! ! he has been linked with hmv, patisserie valerie. and only in december, he was saying to mps at the select committee he thought the high street

was on its knees! he clearly does not believe that or he would not be buying all these retailers.” not believe that or he would not be buying all these retailers. i was talking to your colleague earlier about the us jobs talking to your colleague earlier about the usjobs market, which seems to be fine, the shutdown does not seem to have had much of an impact? it might seem that way on first glance, 300,000 jobs, almost double what economists were expecting. but you have to remember december‘s figure was also downgraded, to 222,000. and on top of that, employment rate is notched up of that, employment rate is notched up —— unemployment rate is nonstop. and that that was due to the shutdown apparently. we have a guest, from cmc markets. thank you for joining guest, from cmc markets. thank you forjoining us. let‘s start with as job numbers, they look brilliant, but should we be cautious about this? i think we should be a bit cautious. they are good numbers, the usjobs market has been adding jobs consistently on a month by month

basis since september 2011. so 100 months on and the labour market is still adding jobs. but i think the 304,000 number, we should be suspicious of because of the government shutdown. a lot of it for laid off us government workers took up laid off us government workers took up part—time jobs to supplement income. and that is reflected in that number. i think there's a chance that number could get revised down in the same way the december numberwas, and down in the same way the december number was, and wages growth also provides a little lower as well. although not a good number, i think it will keep the federal reserve on hold for the foreseeable future, despite the decent numbers we have seen this afternoon. they pretty much said that on wednesday, that they were not in a position to putting rates up, which is a brilliant situation for the us consumer, isn‘t it? morejobs, slightly better pay, and no rates going up? inde, but also you have to beat it in the context of the

government shutdown comedy set is flying blind in respect to some of the data coming out of the consumer sector. we have not seen retail sales for the us economy and we are not seen the latest gdp numbers. there will be coming out in the next two we e ks there will be coming out in the next two weeks and the fed will have a better idea of what consumer spending, hit consumer spending has taken asa spending, hit consumer spending has taken as a result of the shutdown. mike ashley is back in the news again, with his eyes on the south side outcome. he doesn‘t seem to be waning in trying to buy these struggling retailers! so know, but! think he‘s got an eye on the fact that ultimately he will get a whole host of cheap stock for debenhams and house of fraser, won't get any of the debts or liabilities, and will be able to drive a hard bargain on this as if he takes on a hmv or patisserie valerie. ultimately he is taking a chance that he will be able to get some cheap stock and use it in his other franchises. and very

quickly on total, their shares have been hit today, they say they will not make so much money, but there are still making money. —— on talktalk. 0ur markets are reacting? they are, if you look at the numbers compared to a year ago, talked up profits are likely to come in up from the numbers last year, they're going to come in at about 250 million. they are spending a little extra to add clients, they have added clients, so all in all, i don't think it's as bad as the markets would suggest. thank you, as always. as thank you. markets, now. the dow come up again, and infact markets, now. the dow come up again, and in fact donald trump is treated in the last hour the tao, saying it‘s a record, january, best in 30

yea rs. it‘s a record, january, best in 30 years. —— tweeted about the dow. sports direct don‘t seem to be affected by the fact that they are trying to diversify even more! talktalk are down but we still think they‘re going to make £250 million next year, so what do we know? very good to talk to, many thanks. the snow leopard is an animal in serious danger. native to central and southern asia, there are estimated to be fewer than ten—thousand of them still alive. and that figure‘s expected to go down in the coming years. but conservationists are trying to do something about it — as tim allman reports. there is a bleak splendour to the altai mountains. cold and unforgiving, you have to be tough to survive here. mergen markov has lived here all his life. he is on the hunt for snow leopards — not to kill, but to photograph, these automatic cameras helping to monitor the snow

leopard population. translation: i am really happy i have this job which allows me to spend all this time outside and admire all the animals i‘ve managed to photograph. is it better than killing them? yes, they are so beautiful in the photographs. this is the village of argut. after the collapse of the soviet union, the collective farms went bankrupt. many people took to hunting the local wildlife. the fur of a snow leopard could sell for more than $500. so the world wildlife fund pays former poachers, mergen included, to try to protect them instead. translation: he quickly understood that if he kept on poaching and selling furs, he would earn money only once with each animal he‘d killed. whereas with us, he

earns money regularly. local volunteers are also paid to go on patrol and monitor this vast area of land. over time, the hope is the number of snow leopards will rise. these animals will return home. tim allman, bbc news. the lunar new year is approaching, and in china, 11 panda cubs born last year have been celebrating with gifts and toys to mark the occasion. why soft toy pigs? well, tuesday, february 5 marks the start of the year of the pig. that‘s it from your afternoon live team for today, next the bbc news at five with carrie gracie. time for a look at the weather. the weather in no great rush

to change at the moment. it will stay on the cold side, so if you‘re thinking of travelling for the rest of the day you will have to contend with the lying snow and formation of ice. disruption and formation of ice. distinctly possible. further disruption distinctly possible. further wintry showers getting into scotland, down into the eastern counties of england, 1—3 centimetres of snow distantly possible where you see white on the charts. on saturday, showers down towards cornwall, a decent day for many but still further wintry showers to be had across some northern and eastern parts of the british isles and temperatures resolutely down into single figures. a pulled night from saturday into sunday, sunday picking up saturday into sunday, sunday picking up on the theme of staying cold with some sunshine, further wintry showers, rain and snow in the west to finish the day. you‘re watching bbc news

at five, i‘m ben brown live from chippenham in wiltshire. heavy snow causes hundreds of schools to close across wales and southern england, after the uk suffered its coldest night for seven years. millions of commuters face nightmare journeys as some places are hit with several inches of snow — drivers are told not to travel. take extreme care, drive with caution. take everything nice and gentle. my personal advice, stay at home. i‘m carrie gracie. the other main stories on bbc news at 5. in a landmark ruling, the mother of a three—year—old girl has become the first person in the uk to be found guilty