this is bbc news i'm lukwesa burak. the headlines at 2pm: freezing temperatures are continuing into the weekend — after snow causes more travel chaos overnight. just a pain in the backside, not to me, but all the congestion it causes. you can't get on with yourjob. russian president vladimir putin says russia is suspending the cold war—era intermediate—range nuclear forces treaty, after a similar move by the united states. england's minister for schools says pupils should be banned from taking smartphones into school. floods in australia's north—east state of queensland reach catastrophic levels. also coming up this hour: the government proposes changes to the rules surrounding unearthed treasures. we'll be speaking to the british museum's head of treasure to find how spectacular finds like this could be saved for the nation. and in half an hour — kenneth branagh speaks to tom brook

about his new film, all is true, in talking movies. good afternoon. snow and ice have caused another night of disruption for parts of the uk. in kent, police reported answering hundreds of emergency calls, and work to re—open the m3 near basingstoke in hampshire, continued into the early hours of this morning. forecasters are warning of more severe weather over the weekend, with the possibility of temperatures dropping to —16 degrees celsius in parts of scotland overnight. caroline davies reports. stuck fast in the snow in basingstoke. after hours of disruption, cars and lorries were eventually freed

and the snow is starting to ease. yesterday's conditions didn't stop many heading out on the main roads today — including those who do it for a living. the congestion it causes, you can't get on with yourjob sometimes. you know, just deal with it and get on with it. i came down from the midlands and there was nothing at all up there. further south i've come, the roads are a little bit icy. probably about the last hour, iwould say, i've been amongst the snow. where are you onto next? down to amesbury, i will be amongst it for the next hour or so. it's not been too bad. the worst bit i've found is actually the car park here because it hasn't been gritted at all. but most of the roads seem to be ok. conditions in most parts of the uk have tended to be better today than they were yesterday. and with sunshine and clear skies, the snow is starting to melt, which has meant that some people who were stuck have been able

to start to go home. it wasn't easy for all truck drivers — in keith last night, this lorry found itself in need of help from highway services. but snow hasn't been miserable for everyone. in haslemere this morning, some strapped on their skis and enjoyed the powdery slopes. and, caroline davies is in chieveley in berkshire for us now. it looks like it's moving very nicely behind you. it is a pretty sunny in berkshire. these now has settled and it is is slowly melting, turning it into slush. the conditions, in general, has not been too bad, particularly on the main roads, see the drivers i've been talking to. some of the disruption

that we saw in that piece was in hampshire. we have heard from the police there that those roads are open, the traffic is flowing freely through those areas which is good news for a lot of people. we also know that it has been much quieter on these in front in general, across the uk. however, we are about to get a very cold night, here in berkshire it might be down to —12. the concern is that this snow will melt, turn into slush, and then freeze into ice overnight. that is a yellow weather warning out, it means if you are going out on untreated roads, you do need to be careful if you are driving. the freezing temperatures have caused widespread disruption across the south—east of england. this picture shows some damaged cars after a driver tried to take a lorry down a road in walderslade in kent. in bluebell hill, cars struggled

to move in the snow. and these pictures provided by viewers give a flavour of the weather people have been enjoying, and enduring, over the last 2a hours. looking ahead, the met office is warning that tonight will be the coldest of the winter so far. scotland could see lows of —16 overnight into sunday. russia has suspended its participation in a key nuclear arms control agreement after the united states announced yesterday that it would do the same. the us and other nato countries say russia has violated the intermediate—range nuclear forces treaty — an accusation russia refutes. olga ivshina from the bbc world service is here. just how important, to what degree

does this duty matter? it is a very important duty. we now have a system ofa important duty. we now have a system of a international duties which deal with the proliferation of nuclear weapons. the stability in this area, this duty is a key one. this was the point, the carillion crisis, the world realise how close we were to a nuclear conflict which would wipe eve ryo ne nuclear conflict which would wipe everyone from the air. this is a key one, the stability in this area is based on the principle of nuclear deterrence. each side understand that if it strikes, the answer would be so devastating that no one would ever win. the key thing is that middle range missiles are the most dangerous. their flight times are too short, the fighter pass are too

ha rd to too short, the fighter pass are too hard to spot. —— their flight pass. if anyone has those missiles, the other side are so nervous and will strike with nuclear missiles to provide this first strike. that is where the tension comes from and why this treaty is so important. if you remove that, the whole system colla pses. remove that, the whole system collapses. we had a recent announcement from president putin that he is taking development further? yes, both sides have announced that they might develop a new range of missiles. this comes from instability. since those intermediate range missiles are so harder to intercept, both sides accuse each other of developing them. they try to find countermeasures, try to make themselves secure. we should also remember that it was only the us and

russia that were involved in that treaty, and they were producing those missiles are for many years. meanwhile, china was producing those missiles so they do have them in sufficient amount. they can reach many targets in the us and russia. actually, at this current situation is hugely destabilising, it is also a challenging opportunity because if china is involved to those new talks, it can actually change the world to be a more stable and safe place. can president you can afford to ta ke place. can president you can afford to take this fight on? today he said that he is not interested in the arms race. we remember that the arms race was one of the key reasons why the soviet union collapsed. the russian company is struggling at the moment, with international sanctions, the oil market, and

internal problems in russia. they are not interested, on the other hand, we know that mr putin never steps back. he is very interested in those topics as he is very cautious. he always put the question of military power first. if it continues in this way, i think he will find ways to develop those missiles. but now there are both concerns and hope that the situation may change. thank you forjoining us. pupils should be banned from taking smartphones into classrooms— according england's schools minister. the government is due to publish new guidance shortly, on issues such as internet safety and social media. but some teachers say mobile phones can be "fa ntastically useful" for learning. our political correspondent, jessica parker, has more. smartphones are everywhere.

but should they be in schools? well, it's the responsibility of head teachers to decide. but the ministerfor school standards, nick gibb, says it's his own view that schools should ban their pupils from bringing smartphones into school. i do agree with that, because they have them so often in their hands that they won't be concentrating or listening properly. they can use them for other things in school, that's the only thing. like calculators and things like that on them. but they don't use them for that, do they? they are just using them personally allthe time, one imagines. they certainly shouldn't be allowed to have them on when they're at school. perhaps to and from school, yes — but certainly not in school time. the government's due to publish new guidance for schools shortly, and its expected to say children should be taught to limit the amount of time they spend on the internet. mr gibb says while there is nothing intrinsically damaging about spending time online — excessive use can leave children tired and unable to concentrate. managing our smartphone use is a challenge facing adults, as well as children. but there are those who argue that restricting access in this

way isn't the answer — because young people need to be able to fully engage with this kind of technology. if you push phone use away from school and ban it, you are just pushing it underground and you are losing an opportunity to help young people learn how to use tech for good and to use their mobile as part of their working and living life. and the trade union, the naht which represents school leaders, has also expressed scepticism — saying there isn't one policy that will work for all schools. jessica parker, bbc news. police searching for a 21—year—old student in hull, who went missing after leaving a club, say they have "significant concerns" about her safety. more than 70 officers are continuing to look for libby squire, a student at the university of hull. she was reported missing after getting into a taxi outside a nightclub.

police have asked local residents to check their gardens and outbuildings to see if she has taken shelter somewhere. elsewhere — search teams are trying to find a missing university student in reading. daniel williams, who's i9, was last seen in a student union bar at the university's whiteknights campus in the early hours of thursday. he was reported missing after he failed to return to his student accommodation. the student was last seen wearing jeans, black shoes, and a black hooded top. now, lots of household items, from electrical appliances and toys, to drinking glasses, have the letters "ce" printed on them. it's the eu safety symbol. but if there's a ‘no deal‘ brexit, it will have to change , and that could be costly for businesses. the bbc has learnt that the government is about to announce

plans for a replacement. our business correspondent rob young reports. kettles, heaters, toys, light bulbs. dozens of items in your average home are stamped with the letters "ce." the mark says a particular product meets legal requirements and has been tested to high standards. consumers have been told to buy goods with this symbol — it's been with us for more than two decades. the ce mark belongs to the european union — so if britain leaves the eu without a deal, items on sale, like these, will have to be stamped with something else to show consumers that products meet the rules. this is the new logo the government has drawn up. it stands for "uk conformity—assessed." this is what it might look like on the back of a smartphone, and on the label of a toy. so, if there's no deal, this is the mark we will have to look out for on products in the shops. a uk mark would provide confidence to consumers and to the authorities that these products placed on the market in the uk were meeting

uk regulatory requirements. so it provides flexibility for government, should there be divergence of regulations, to insist that manufacturers were committing to that uk regulatory practice in future. if the new logo is to be used, companies would have to change their packaging, advertising, and an element of the product themselves. businesses warn it will mean higher costs, at least in the short—term. that's another reason many companies want the government to do some kind of brexit deal with the eu. rob young, bbc news. the headlines on bbc news: freezing temperatures are continuing into the weekend — after snow causes more travel chaos overnight. russian president vladimir putin, says russia is suspending

the cold war—era intermediate—range nuclear forces treaty, after a similar move by the united states. england's minister for schools says pupils should be banned from taking smartphones into school. a high courtjudge has used twitter to urge a mother who vanished with her 3—year—old son to return home. the judge's plea was delivered in a tweet posted on thejudicial office twitter account, using the hashtag "come home olly." mrjustice williams appealed directly to ellie—yarrow sanders to bring missing toddler olly sheridan home, with reassurances that she will be given a voice in court. it's thought to be the first time a judge has used twitter in this way. miss yarrow—sanders disappeared with her son in july, after becoming involved in family court proceedings with her ex—partner. floods in the north—east australian state of queensland have reached what officials are calling catastrophic levels.

the tropical nmonsoon rains have already destroyed buildings, forced evacuations, and swept away cars and livestock in a large area centred on the coastal city of townsville. saturday alone is expected to see up to 20 centimetres of rain — equivalent to about a month's average rainfall. phil mercer reports. for four days, parts of northern queensland have been battered by the heaviest monsoon rains in memory. the main reservoir in townsville is so full that vast amounts of water have had to be released, causing majorflooding. the city has been declared a disaster zone. many homes are submerged and streets turned into rivers. dozens of people have been rescued and thousands more moved to higher ground. when we use the words "unprecedented" and "uncharted , "

we use this for a reason. we have not been in this scenario before. there has been a lot of rain that has been falling, especially over the townsville catchment, and some of these levels are unprecedented. there is a warning that the worst may yet be to come. the heavy rain is expected to continue until at least monday. there is though some good news — the tropical monsoonal conditions are likely to bring much—needed relief to drought—affected parts of queensland to the west of townsville. phil mercer, bbc news. let's go back to the message from england's schools minister — who says pupils should be banned from taking smartphones into classrooms. i'm joined now by katie ivens from the campaign for real education. thank the campaign for real education. you forjoining us schools the campaign for real education. already have the ban schools already have the power to ban sound in schools, why are they

doing it? i don't know why they aren't using it. i do understand why you might want to ban children from bringing the phones to school. their pa rents bringing the phones to school. their parents may say, my child and said, there might be gangs around, my child might be a victim. i think they should be a system where it goes to reception. all right, they can bring it to schools but not in the classrooms. there is also an issue of the way that children are taught. if you teach them in a way that it focuses on the subject and knowledge that brings up their critical sense, there will be times... as they grow up, they are going to need a critical sense, if they are seen if something is good, bad, right, wrong. you could really impart knowledge to make those judgments, which they will need in

their lifetimes. what would you make of what the schools minister said? it obvious that he really does care about children. yes, i think he is right. i wouldn't say a children should not be allowed to bring the phone to the school because that is this issue of some children from neighbourhoods which are very dangerous. one of his friends might have been flung out of school and he is running a gang now and he goes for the child, or something like that. i think there are reasons to have your mobile phone on your way to school but not in the classroom. some might say that managing a system like that, particularly middle school, would just be horrific for them. it would be a management nightmare. may be. but what's even more important is that children have their phones in classes. it something we have to

live with. this means of communication we have is a lifeline, . communication we have is a lifeline,. i think this issue, not in the classroom, let the teachers focus on teaching the children to exercisejudgment, to focus on teaching the children to exercise judgment, to think critically, to be well informed so that as they grow up, they will be able to do before this. we have heard from teachers that say that they are now facing the reality is that smartphones are part of modern life. in trying to embrace, the use of the phones as part of lessons. are you going to have to meet teachers and students will be a meeting of the two halfway?” teachers and students will be a meeting of the two halfway? i wooded than trying to do that. by saying ok to that, it doesn'tjust mean that children should be bringing them into the classroom. if they want to

address it as a particular project to do with, ok. but notjust the children bring them in. thank you for joining children bring them in. thank you forjoining us. the president of venezuela, nicholas maduro, is facing another wave of protests in the coming hours. supporters of opposition leaderjuan guaido, who's declared himself interim president, have already started gathering for a nationwide day of demonstrations. the governing socialist party announced a rival protest in the capital, caracas, to counter the opposition march. juan guaido has been speaking ahead of the protests. translation: i don't fear clashes at all. it happened already onjanuary 23rd — there were massive marches in 53 different points of the country. there were unprecedented marches in venezuela and the counter—march that the regime convened was a small meeting in miraflores. there are no counter—marches. there is a great majority of the country that asks for change and a small group that refuses to lose their privileges

at the expense of hunger, the need, and death of venezuelans. dramatic footage has emerged of the moment a dam burst in brazil, releasing millions of tonnes of mining waste that engulfed nearby buildings. at least 110 people are now known to have died in the disaster — hundreds are missing. our science editor david shukman reports from the site of the dam, in the state of minas gerais. this is pretty well as close as we are allowed to get to the disaster site. you've got some local people here just trying to come to terms with what on earth happened — so let me try to explain to you how this disaster unfolded. up in the hills beyond, that's where the dam itself was, holding back a great lake of sludge. it broke, as we know, and a torrent of heavy cement—like mud tore its way down one of these valleys just in the distance there,

overwhelmed the cafeteria, where miners were having lunch, overwhelmed the offices of the mining company itself. then it swept into this area where we are now. right in the middle of this little area was a posada, a kind of small hotel with holiday chalets. that was all swamped by the mud. just closeby here — this was basically a farming area, a little farmhouse, just absolutely wrecked by the power of the deluge of mud. what happened next is that the mud didn't just stay here, it was moving incredibly rapidly. you can still hear the search and rescue helicopters buzzing around and, occasionally, we see rescue teams still at work. i say rescue — they are now in the business ofjust searching for bodies.

one team we sawjust now had a dog with them. they were trying to respond to whatever the dog was sniffing. the wall of mud destroyed this whole area and then carried on over the ridge you can see in the distance, and into a valley beyond, where it then tore through a village down below, causing yet more destruction. the question that everybody is just bewildered by, stunned by here, is how brazil, which is a rapidly industrialising, modern economy, how here, this kind of disaster, whatever failings there were in safeguarding the dam were allowed to happen, caused so many deaths and so much destruction. ministers have announced plans to widen the definition of treasure, so that more ancient objects unearthed in the uk can be preserved for the nation — rather than sold to private collectors. in recent years, there's been an increase in the number of archaeological finds —

many of them made by amateur enthusiasts using metal detectors. dr michael lewis is the head of treasure at the british museum. what a title, that every child was like a what a title, that every child was likea dream what a title, that every child was like a dream — head of treasure. when is a treasure nod treasure, according to the treasure out, in its current form? basically, mainly gold and silver objects are sober. that —— our treasure. there was an addition made some time ago were prehistoric vice images are pressured. in essence, its gold and silver things but it can be other things as well. in its current form, there have been issues. i think it was kicked off by the crosby garrett helmet, why the need to change and reform? in this consultation looks

at the definition of treasure, to see whether they can be more categories of treasure added to the criteria. whether the process could bea criteria. whether the process could be a bit more normalised, things have changed since the act came into force, in terms of the landscape. also, give the police some powers in terms of law enforcement as well. there are different aspects to it. from an archaeological aspect, we are more interested in that the most important archaeological objects end up important archaeological objects end up in museums and collections— that isn't always what happens. for example, the crosby garrett helmet didn't fit the legal definition of treasure so it was sold privately. what was it formed of? what was made of? it was made of copper alloy and it was found in parts. it was retracted by an auction house and then sold. that didn't fit the

criteria. the idea here with this consultation is that can you capture objects like that? archaeologists and historians think is very important people see in collections. the record had been broke for treasure finds. i'm interested to know, since 1996, there was an increase of 15 is in the 500% increase of 15 is in the 500% increase in treasure vans. —— increase of 15 is in the 500% increase in treasure vans. “1500%. only some of those were classified treasure? in a given year, about 1000 objects also are classified as treasured by the act. i work for a scheme which records find found by metal detector is across the country. last year, we recorded

about 80,000 archaeological objects. there is a big difference what is legally required to report and those that don't. so this scheme allows detectors to approach specials like yourself without the risk of losing the fight? yes. they want to keep hold of it, they have gone through the trouble of finding it. however, with these new changes, is there a risk that you lose that goodwill and working with detectors? those fines go online and it goes against everything that you are trying to achieve in getting these pieces out to the public. that is an important point, how do you strike that balance? we work with metal detectorists users across the country all the time. the vast majority of them are very responsible and will show us what they found. however, there are

individuals who are fine objects and because the law gives them no requirement to show us, they would show them at all, they will find them. that is a loss to our heritage. one of the things we looked at is should it be the case that people who do metal detecting, should they be given some sort of further advice on how they should do those things? maybe some training courses or something like that could be offered. also, should they be a requirement for anyone who does archaeology go to have some sort of licensing scheme for them to be able to do that. at the moment, in think there and excavate a piece of land, dig, if you like, and find archaeological material but that isn't in any way controlled whatsoever. it may be a light touch but the idea is that kindly provide further guidance to people in terms of what they should and shouldn't do when looking for archaeological material? obviously the consultation

ends in april. doctor michael lewis, head of treasure at the british museum! . thank you. a scheme to monitor the impact of light pollution has been launched by the campaign for rural england. we're being asked to count the number of stars we can spot with the naked eye on a clear night. john maguire has been to northumberland — home to one of the uk s "dark sky parks." we're heading out into the freezing night with the saunders family for some stargazing. david gets off to a strong start, identifying the plough and subsequently the northstar. find the right—hand side of the saucepan, and the two stars there, draw an imaginary line and continue along, and the next brightest star that you see... and with a little help from a smartphone, lola and maisie find orion's belt. the three in a line, the belt. no, there.