this is bbc news. i'm lukwesa burak. the headlines at 4. thousands gather in the streets of caracas in opposition to the president of venezuela, nicholas maduro. to the president of venezuela, nicolas maduro. russian president, vladimir putin, says russia is suspending the cold war—era intermediate—range nuclear forces treaty. translation: our american partners have announced they are suspending their participation in the deal. and we are also suspending our participation. freezing temperatures are continuing into the weekend after snow causes more travel chaos overnight. england's minister for schools says pupils should be banned from taking smartphones into school. scotland are leading italy 33— 8 in the six nations rugby. and in half an hour, inside out will bring you a special report following rough sleepers on the streets of newcastle. good afternoon.

thousands of opposition supporters have poured onto the streets of caracas in protest against venezuela's president nicolas maduro, in the hope of getting him to step down. the protests come as a senior air force general published a video on twitter saying he refused to recognise mr maduro as president and was instead backing the opposition leaderjuan guaido — who's declared himself interim president. the governing socialist party announced a rival protest in the city, to counter the opposition march. our correspondent james reynolds is in caracas and sent this report from the protests. tens of thousands of opposition

supporters are coming out to protest in the centre of caracas. the opposition wants to make this one of the biggest demonstrations in this country's history. they are coming through here. they will end up looking at the stage there, where they hope to see their leader, juan guaido, the 35 year head of the national assembly who has declared himself the interim president of venezuela. and for these protesters, for the first time there is a sense of optimism because they now find they have someone they can call their leader. juan guaido has been recognised by a number of countries in the west. but this movement still faces significant problems. president madeira road, their enemy,

their opponent, still controls the country —— president nicolas maduro. the high command of the armed forces is still loyal to the president and government forces are celebrating their own gatherings at the moment but nevertheless, for the opposition now, this is one of their most optimistic moments in years. james reynolds. 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. president putin insisted the door remained open for negotiations, but he instructed ministers not to initiate arms control talks. translation: our american partners have announced they are suspending their participation in the deal. and we are also suspending our participation. president putin of russia. our correspondent steve rosenberg has the latest from moscow.

the message from moscow today to the us administration is, to put it simply, anything you can do, russia can do, too. so if you want to pull out of the inf treaty, russia will pull out of the inf treaty. if you, america, wants to develop a new range of weapons, russia will develop a new range of weapons. president putin spoke of some specific weapons moscow intends to develop. this new range of short and medium—range hypersonic land—based weapons. also, a land—based version of the cruise missile, which is normally a sea—based cruise missile in russia. he did make it clear that russia would not deploy short and medium—range weapons in europe, or anywhere else in the world, unless america deployed them first. as you say, he made it clear that russia does not want to be dragged in to an expensive arms race. that is the last thing that moscow wants in difficult economic

circumstances for the country. olga ivshina from the bbc world service gave us this update. it is an important treaty. we now have a system of a international treaties which deal with the non—proliferation of nuclear weapons. with the stability in this area — for example, salti, salt2, but this inf treaty is a key one. they all appeared after the caribbean crisis, because this was the point when the whole world realised how close we are to a nuclear conflict, which would wipe everyone from the earth. this is a key one — generally, the stability in this area is based on the principle of nuclear deterrence. so each side understands 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, their launch pads

are too hard to spot. if anyone has those missiles on the border with their so—called enemy, the other side are so nervous that they have a temptation to strike back with nuclear missiles to prevent this first strike. that is where the tension comes from and why this treaty is so important. if you remove that stone, the whole system may collapse. those are the intermediate missiles, and yet, we had a recent announcement from president putin that he is actually taking development further? yes, both sides have announced that they may develop a new range of missiles. this comes due to instability. since those intermediate—range missiles are so hard to intercept, both sides accused each other of developing them. they try to find countermeasures, they try to make themselves secure. this puts the world to an even greater risk.

we should also remember that it was only the us and russia which were involved in that treaty, and they were producing those intermediate—range missiles for many years. which were involved in that treaty, and they weren't producing those intermediate—range missiles for many years. meanwhile, china was producing those missiles, so they do have them in sufficient amounts. they can reach many targets in the us and in russia. actually, everyone in the world talks about it. this current situation is a challenge and opportunity, because if china is included in those new talks, it can actually change the world to be a more stable and safer place. 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 minus 16 degrees 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, butjust 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 on to, next? down to amesbury, so i will be amongst it for the next hour or so. it's not been too bad, actually.

the worst bit i 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. freezing temperatures have caused damage, this picture shows damage cars. idid damage, this picture shows damage cars. i did bluebell hill, cars

struggling to make any movement forward in the snow. these pictures we re forward in the snow. these pictures were provided by viewers, thank you. it gives a flavour of the weather people have been enjoying and enduring over the last 2a hours. and the met office warning tonight is going to be the coldest of winter so far. scotland could see lows of —16 overnight into sunday. 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 ‘fantastically 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 have to 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 it's 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 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. i'm joined now by mark hadley, ceo of tomorrow's student. this is a technology company that can provide schools with a tool that aims to reduce the dangers of social media. you must have been reading the article and going, yes, i recognise that. is it really possible? an outright ban? i think... well, that. is it really possible? an outright ban? ithink... well, we are working with a parliamentary group the royal society of public health to address these problems and ido health to address these problems and i do not think an outright ban is

the best solution. there are technologies that can limit cell phone use and we are here to help. before we get onto the solution, in developing the software and providing the solution you have been in consultation with teachers and students, so what are the main problems? what our teachers fighting against? teachers struggle with focus in the classroom and kids sharing message groups, whatsapp for example, playing games, updating their profile and so there are big problems in the classroom. it is more the addiction that goes on outside the classroom, the anxiety, depression, bullying that happens, and even suicide. there have been spiked since 2007. it is more about

education, regulation and moderation, to teach kids how to best use this. you are using technology to fight technology? give us technology to fight technology? give usa technology to fight technology? give us a flavour of how this works. we have heard of signal blockers the military use. the way our technology works is when you are in a restricted area at a school, your child's device would only access traditional telephone calls and m essa 9 es traditional telephone calls and messages and so apps and games and social media activities would be blocked during specific times. when the child leaves school, everything comes back. would the child have to install software ? comes back. would the child have to install software? it would be done from an administrator's level within the school. some children have full access to unlimited data and some do not have any. through the ban, it would go underground, and we have seen that with other addictive substances, you might say. we are

trying to regulate that in a responsible manner. what led you to do this? our holding company is for businesses so security, productivity within the workspace. it is notjust children born after 2000, we have millennials, generation xs, like myself. and we need employees focused work. we found executives at big organisations asked as if they installed our technology if they could install it at their house. we thought it was quite funny at the time and doing more research, we found there was a larger problem with kids rather than millennials, older people. as adults we recognise the problems. i do not know if you have spoken to children this would affect. do they say they would

rather not have access to their phone, but they are addicted to it, what have they been saying? phone, but they are addicted to it, what have they been saying ?m varies. some want to take the device away so they can be focused in class. others do not recognise it is an addiction. the feel—good drug that goes in your brain, dopamine, when you give your 11, 12—year—old your old smartphone, they get access to unlimited dopamine and the same dopamine you get from gambling, through alcohol and drugs. you have trials going on with schools. but there are schools who do not really wa nt there are schools who do not really wantan there are schools who do not really want an outright ban because they use the phones. they are losing the budgets. this access to technology, the kids are walking in with, you do not want an outright ban.|j the kids are walking in with, you do not want an outright ban. i do not think that is the solution. as i said, it is regulation, moderation,

education. a perfect example, we have schools who would like students to have access to science experiments and filming those experiments. in music, they want to record the choir or the guitarist, for example. there are times and places for access to smart devices, but, on the whole, kids need to stay focused. it is working with technology rather than fighting it? yes. fascinating. the headlines on bbc news. thousands gather in the streets of caracas in opposition to the president of venezuela, nicolas maduro. russian president vladimir putin says russia is suspending the cold war—era intermediate—range nuclear forces treaty. freezing temperatures are continuing into the weekend, after snow causes more travel chaos overnight. in sport, the six nations continues

her and in sport, the six nations continues herand a in sport, the six nations continues her and a hat—trick in the match with scotland and italy. england cricketers are trying to stay in contention in the second test. england just starting their second innings on mine without loss. west indies have a first—innings lead of 110. indies have a first—innings lead of iio. tottenham beat newcastle 1—0. spurs move up to second place in the table. i will have details on the sport around 5:30pm. 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 the 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. 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. humberside police have asked local residents to check their gardens and outbuildings to see if she has taken shelter somewhere. in the last hour, they've given an update on the search. we are supporting libby's family, who have described her as a very thoughtful and caring young woman, who always puts other people before herself. they have said this is very out of character for libby. clearly that raises our concerns about her significantly. i once again urge anyone with information about libby to come forward and pass that information to the police as soon as they are able. 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.

floods in the northeast australian state of queensland, floods in the northeast australian state of queensland have reached what officials are calling "catastrophic levels". the tropical monsoon 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, which os 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. a high courtjudge has used twitter to urge a mother who vanished with her three—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 proceediungs with her ex—partner. plans to prevent censorship during debates at universities have been drawn up, following a number of incidents where speakers were banned from campuses. the guidelines, which are designed to encourage open debate unless there's been a breach of the law, have been drawn up by the equality and human rights commission together with students and universities. 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 the 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 close by here — this was basically a farming area, 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 wherever 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 was allowed to happen, caused so many deaths and so much destruction. just going to bring you breaking news from the business world concerning the japanese car—maker nissan. we believe come monday they will make an announcement that they will make an announcement that they will cancel plans initially announced in 2016 to manufacture a new model of its compact suv in britain. they are cancelling plans. they had originally received assurances from the government surrounding brexit and now confirming that the suv that would

have been put together in sunderland will be cancelled. we expect more details from our business correspondent through the day, so stay with us for that. norway is on a drive to cut down on the amount of food that is left uneaten on plates in hotels and restaurants. and, as our environment analyst roger harrabin reports from tromso, they are also hitting on some cunning ruses to persuade us to take less, and eat less. in a restaurant, there's always food thrown away. this hotel in tromso is trying to halve its food waste, but how? let's start with these smoothie shots. these are made from yesterday's leftover fruit. then crafty tricks to nudge people into taking less, like skinny tweezers to stop you piling up the salmon, or little spoons to serve the herring. and look at this — a micro muesli. how cute is that? another idea — instead of guests taking a big melon

slice and leaving some, the staff dice it so you take precisely what you want. and in case you missed the message... many people load onto their plates, so they don't have to go multiple times. we were able to make people think about how they put food on their plate and how much they bring to the table to make sure they eat it all. another trick is to keep food looking fresh. as a serving dish empties, guests assume the remains are stale, so why not switch the food into a smaller dish? then again — so it still looks fresh and all gets eaten. ideas like this have cut food waste almost 10% in a yearfor this chain. the target is 20% by 2020 and then 50% by 2030, the same as the un target. the chef weighs the daily waste. so far, the policy has saved the hotel chain 26 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions.

and there's a bonus. we're also making money out of it, which is a really positive side—effect by reducing food waste. so how do guests respond to this culinary nanny state? if i have tools given to me that i take less, then it helps me. i don't put on as much weight when i travel. i think it's a good thing. i feel it helps the environment, but it also helps myself to not gain, what do you call it, weight that i don't need. there is no ban on loading up your plate here. take as much as you want. but you'd better not leave it. roger harrabin, bbc news, norway. 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