releasing millions of tonnes of mining waste that engulfed nearby buildings. more than 100 people are now known to have died in the disaster, which happened in the state of minas gerais last month. russia has called america's decision to suspend its participation in a key cold war—era disarmament agreement an abrogation of its international commitments. a russian official said washington had provided no evidence of its claim that russia had for years failed to comply with the intermediate—range nuclear forces treaty. venezuela's opposition leader, juan guaido, is calling for the biggest mass protests in the nation's history this weekend, as he tries to force president nicolas maduro from power. the opposition are demanding new elections to end the political and economic chaos that has been engulfing the country. tributes have been paid to the comedianjeremy hardy, who has died at the age of 57. he had been receving treatment for cancer. he won the comedy award at the edinburgh festival in 1988, but will be best remembered

for his appearances on radio 4's sorry, i haven't a clue. lizo mzimba looks back at his life. actually, i was the youngest of five children, and for that reason i felt a bit weird. i thought i wasn't wanted, i thought i was a mistake. and i think that, having had four children, what my mother really wanted was a holiday. jeremy hardy's self—effacing style of humour was what made him a star. the finest comedy minds in britain — john oliver, rory bremner and jeremy hardy. his career began as a stand—up in the 1980s and continued for decades on shows like mock the week. in the second world war, it was just a piece of cardboard that said, "this is mr wilkins. he's not a german spy". he inspired us all. he was very unfussy, very self—deprecating. he always said he wasn't very good at that. he was principled, always principled, compassionate, kind, but just so wonderfully funny. i think it's fair to say, though, that the bbc has never practised discrimination. they've always taken on any oxbridge graduate,

regardless of talent. despite jokes at its expense, he became a regular on bbc radio 4 panel shows like the news quiz and i'm sorry i haven't a clue. was your dad a king for a day? he must have been, to make a princess like you. was your dad a pancake chef? he must have been, to make a tosser like you. you talk about lambeth, a cooperative council... a lifelong socialist, his beliefs informed much of his comedy, and he frequently campaigned too on numerous issues. i remember him as a great friend — the otherjeremy. we did lots of events together. he was always giving his time to raise money so other people could speak for them — human rights causes, justice causes. what a loss. more committed to socialism than to singing... # let me alone... ..he will be remembered for his sharp comic brain, and, as radio listeners knew, a unique way with a tune. cheering and applause now on bbc news, a special

report from finland, which has just completed a two—year trial of a so—called basic income for the unemployed. our world has followed four people throughout the experiment to see the impact on their lives. injanuary 2017, finland began a bold social experiment. the government started paying 2,000 unemployed finns a basic income. each was promised $650 a month, every month, for the next two years. with no strings attached. for two yea rs, with no strings attached. for two years , we with no strings attached. for two yea rs, we followed with no strings attached. for two years, we followed four people

chosen to receive basic income. years, we followed four people chosen to receive basic incomem isa chosen to receive basic incomem is a social security, in a way, without the stigma. it is not embarrassing any more to get benefits. basic income has changed my life. without it, i couldn't have takenajob my life. without it, i couldn't have taken a job with a little lower salary. i got my humanity back. i started to do what i want to do. with basic income, it's kind of easier, maybe, to get this kind of work life lines. the finnish experiment has attracted worldwide attention from some high—profile figures, including mark zuckerberg, elon musk and bernie sanders. but does the safety net of a basic income really encourage people to find jobs or start businesses? my

name is tanja, i am 30 years old. i live in 0ulu in the north of finland andi live in 0ulu in the north of finland and i have only worked four or five months in a factory. now that i graduated from business school, they are offering theirjobs like cafeteria worker. i don't remember the last time that i went to the store and bought food. i get food from my mum. that's so embarrassing. i want to work, and i want to be able to go to the store and buy my own food, and buy whatever i want. "i want that cheese", and i want to be able to buy the good cheese, you know? five hours' drive south of 0ulu, in

a very remote part of the country, we met another person, randomly selected from around 200,000 unemployed people in finland to receive a basic income. even in finland's capital city, helsinki, work can be hard to find. my helsinki, work can be hard to find. my name is tuomas muraja. i'm a freelance journalist and the author, but i have been without work since 2013. i was a foreign news editor in the third daily newspaper in finland, but then they decided to put down all the sections of the foreign affairs, so basically i lost myjob. it's not easy to find a job asa myjob. it's not easy to find a job as a journalist in the capital of finland. for tuomas, being chosen for the basic income pilot was a

great morale booster. it helps me as a freelancer, and it's a social security, in a way, without the stigma. for me, it is not embarrassing any more to get benefit is. work has changed, and social politics has to follow that trend 110w. politics has to follow that trend now. i think this basic income will encourage people to get back to the society, and not be at home. and he thinks finland can afford a system like this. the northern countries are more prepared for this kind of basic income system, because the same money as there already. we pay taxes. now, we spend it in a smart way. in another part of helsinki, sini is using her inclusion in the

experiment to make big changes in her life. i am sini marttinen, 35 yea rs her life. i am sini marttinen, 35 years old. i live in helsinki, capital of finland. i work for a danish company, and through that company i worked all around the world. after about six years of travelling around i moved back to finland, and the employer told me that i had to move again, which i didn't want to do, and thus i had to give up the job. didn't want to do, and thus i had to give up thejob. so i became unemployed. sini has now started working as a freelance consultant, but very flexibly. at one time i was working for a foundation, and one week i'm might work two days, five days, three days, so it's all a little bit insecure. so i have work, but my income level changes all the time. a very common comment that i get from people, you know, you are educated and open and ready to do

different kinds of work, how can you be unemployed ? and different kinds of work, how can you be unemployed? and i think that will be... it is not discussed openly, but that is the situation for a lot of educated people. you are unemployed sometimes. if the scenario of robotics and all this kind of thing, then the whole concept of work will change. more and more educated, skilled people will be unemployed. almost a year after the start of finland's asic income experiment, how are things going? has the early optimism survived? i took this job offer. speaks finnish. it's telemarketing. i actually enjoy myjob a lot. i love my co—workers, i love the office, i love the hours. and ijust love to be being independent, earning my own money, and standing on my own two feet.

speaks finnish. basic income has changed my life. without it, i couldn't have taken a job with a little lower salary. i'm going to learn to be the best telemarketing person in finland and find an advertising agency that would give me a job, my dream job. at first, i was quite sceptical about basic income. but then i realised, it is actually a genius idea. if you just paid for those people who have been at home for so long, and been unemployed for so long, that's a huge drive for them to get a job.

we are human beings, we need human contact, we need to be proud of something, and that's a huge problem when you are unemployed. i think i have turned my life around. and things have moved fast injuha's life. ten months after the start of the pilot, he has already started one business and he is planning to start a second. i still feel super happy and free and independent. i got my new business registered, and have been running that for the last few months. we're going to be calling people that know how to draw and paint,

and doing something in painting, and putting it here so that next week, you can start filming. in helsinki, unemployed journalist tuomas has recently got married to a former mp, now a green party activist. as they attend a political event together, what else is new? i'm still without a job. i can't say that the basic income has changed a lot in my life. 0k, psychologically, yes, but financially, not so much. i would be happy if i had a job,

even a part—timejob, for the routines. i have still over one year to go, so anything can happen. so i am quite optimistic. let's see. during summertime next year, i'll have a job. across town, how is sini managing? the insecurity of not having a permanent job, and actually working as self—employed, allows also to have more freedom on the way how you spend your time. my dad has alzheimer's, and me and my sister, who lives also in finland, we try to help them out a lot. so basic income helps me to make myself available to help my parents

it is kind of easy to get this work— life balance. a few weeks before this experiment ends in fenland, what effect has it had on people's lives? last time i told you, my goal was to become the best salesperson in finland. i kind of achieved that goal. i can tell you, i have been the best salesperson in this company for two months now. i can't believe it, iam for two months now. i can't believe it, i am ecstatic. but will it still

make financial sense for ta nja it, i am ecstatic. but will it still make financial sense for tanja to stay in her low—paid job in the basic income payments stop? 0h, stay in her low—paid job in the basic income payments stop? oh, my god, basic income is coming to an end. what do i do? i will not be able to pay my loans. i am so worried that my finances will colla pse worried that my finances will collapse completely. tanja, who ta nja, who has tanja, who has a lot of loans, has requested for a promotion to help make upfor requested for a promotion to help make up for the loss of the basic income. they don't give me the pay rise that i have asked, i will go to the internet and take the firstjob that i get. i will make tens and

tens of applications so that what i won't ——so that i won't have to be unemployed for even one day. tanja isa unemployed for even one day. tanja is a different person from two years ago. having a job and being good at it has boosted her confidence. but she believes the basic income experiment was actually a publicity stu nt experiment was actually a publicity stunt by politicians. i never thought they would continue that but you know, ithink thought they would continue that but you know, i think it was for publicity. the whole world is so interested about this basic income experiment, it makes fenland looks so great but no, they are not going to continue. —— finland. we don't live in a happy bubble they are, so much people who are not doing so well. butjuha,in

butjuha, in remote western finland, remains optimistic. it is great, i can stand on my own feet. today, juhais can stand on my own feet. today, juha is out in the forest to film a training exercise for moose hunting dogs. it is 600m from here. when we last met unemployed journalist tuomas, he said by the end of the trial, he will have a job. so has he managed to get one? it's very hard to say why i don't manage to get the permanentjob because i have applied over 80 times and in the once i haven't been to an interview. —— only once. sometimes they suggest, or they let me know

that i'm perhaps too old, i'm perhaps too experienced. maybe i have too many language skills so they had to pay me more than to others but don't think that's the only explanation. tuomas may not have a job but the pilot had a positive impact on his well—being. it has been a nice two years, period. great stuff has happened. i have been able to write my new book. basic income helps me psychologically because i'm free to do what i want to do so i'm free to write, to work. two years ago, it was like winning a lottery. the end

of bureaucracies. i was free to concentrate myself to my work. now i feel a little bit sad. and i got this letter telling me that it's going to end. quite sad, but i'm not lost my hope. and how about sini? her life is taken an and how about sini? her life is ta ken an unexpected and how about sini? her life is taken an unexpected turn. last time we met, we let in one of our favourite restaurants and now we go to another restaurant. i got together with two of my friends and we started a business and it's been really busy. starting the restau ra nt, really busy. starting the restaurant, i wouldn't have started it without the basic income that enabled me to take the risk. we

wa nted enabled me to take the risk. we wanted to offer fresh food, local produce and seasonal food and we found a brilliant cook. service. as the experience is coming to an end, i feel like the experience is coming to an end, ifeel like i'm losing the the experience is coming to an end, i feel like i'm losing the sense of security because the amount of money i received every month provided just enough to pay for the bills. i was aware that it's going to end so i had limited amount of time to try to make something out of that opportunity i got and this is what happened. sini's life is changed but she believes basic income is also changing society. it is open the doorfor a conversation changing society. it is open the door for a conversation that we might be in a situation in the future where there is not enough work is work but what kind of work, for everyone in the future. it actually pushes and pulls people to come together and find better solutions for the future which i think is really good and i think

very significant. the finnish government decided not to extend the pilot. the man who planned it feels let down. when the government decided there would be no continuation, i was disappointed because i thought that we had some preliminary promises from political decision—making, that there would be new experiments, but politics is a lwa ys new experiments, but politics is always politics. the government is never really had much passion to this experiment. you really have to have passion to experiment with basic income, which is really quite a controversial idea, even though the idea has been rolling around for quite a long time. but some finnish politicians continue to support the idea. i think finland needs basic income in order to diminish poverty because i think that labour markets are not getting better. i see basic

income is the most realistic solution in the future. but trade unions in finland were never excited about basic income. they believe it's too expensive. i wasn't surprised the government wasn't extending the experiment. we've been testing a utopia and it is possible when you tested on a small scale but it's not possible to upscale to the whole nation. i certainly hope this experiment with social policy will continue in finland and elsewhere. —— hope these experiments. continue in finland and elsewhere. -- hope these experiments. an unaffordable utopia or a solution to unemployment? the jury is still out but perhaps finland's experiment will help the world get closer to answering the question. hello there.

friday was another day with severe transport disruption due to heavy snow. targeting across southern england, particularly stretches of the m3 towards the basingstoke area. problems around the m2 in kent as well. this was one of our weather watch pictures from friday, showing the scene overlooking the m3 around junction 5 which is near greywell in hampshire. we had horrendous conditions with snow covering the carriageway on the m3 and transport is likely to be affected on into saturday, snow and ice still a factor in the forecast, although snow will increasingly become confined to south—east england and kent in particular before easing away. some wintry showers for eastern scotland and eastern england

and as you can imagine, as those showers come, the risk of fairly widespread ice. as we start the day on saturday, further wintry showers down the east coast. a few more in the north—west of the uk and perhaps a band of showers still affecting western wales into the first part of saturday morning. otherwise a cold and frosty start to the day, probably quite cloudy across the south—east but things will turn brighter later. the best of the sunshine further north and west but a freezing cold start to the day and we will have wintry showers around the coasts. perhaps a bit of rain around coastal areas but a bit of rain and sleet is mixed in. a centimetre or two accumulating in spots. another cold day. temperatures of around 3 or 4 degrees celsius. through saturday night time, the clear skies with us again. the winds falling light, another cold night. towards the west, we see another weather system approaching and cloud spilling into northern ireland. that will start to lift temperatures late in the night. that weather system here coming in from the atlantic will be running into cold air so again on sunday, we will likely see snow. high ground in northern ireland but maybe lower level in the far

north of england and scotland where we could see 3—6cm of snow which will tend to transition back to rain particularly at lower levels as milder air works in. 6 degrees in belfast through the afternoon. next week, it changes and turns milder but it will be pretty wet and pretty windy. ye with this is bbc world news, i'm reged ahmad. our top stories: a wave of toxic destruction — dramatic new footage shows the moment a dam collapsed in brazil. at least 110 people are dead and more than 200 still missing. the question that everyone here isjust stunned by is how,

in a big, modern, growing economy, this could ever have been allowed to happen. we have a special report from venezuela, where opponents of nicholas maduro say they've been detained and tortured in the past few days. russia condemns america's decision to pull out of a nuclear disarmament treaty signed during the cold war. the us says moscow's new cruise missile violates the terms. and, want to feel better? a new study suggests that staying off social media use will do you a world of good.