you're watching bbc news at 9 with me annita mcveigh — the headlines... four children have died during the night in a house fire in stafford. three other people are injured. we will have the latest on that breaking story in a moment. theresa may will go to northern ireland to try to reassure people she can reach a brexit deal that avoids a hard border with the republic. eight peope died and more than 30 are injured in a fire in a paris apartment block — a woman has been arrested. the hmv chain is saved from administration — with 1500 people keeping theirjobs — but 27 stores will close. actor liam neeson sparks a race row after saying he once wanted to kill a random black person after someone close to him was raped. ministers warn that harmful online images are so widespread they've become normalised and threaten action against social media firms failing to protect children.

i would like them to use that artificial intelligence to identify young people who are at risk, who are looking at this material, and perhaps steer them in a more positive direction. and a bump in the road for liverpool's title challenge, after their draw against west ham united. we'll have more on that and the latest sport news at 09:40. good morning — and welcome to the bbc news at 9. we start this bulletin with some breaking news — four children have died overnight in a house fire in stafford. emergency services were called to a house in the highfield area just before 3am this morning. police say that two adults and a fifth child are being are being treated in hospital for injuries that are not believed to be life—threatening.

staffordshire fire and rescue say they're investigating the cause of what they describe as an awful, tragic incident. i've because, if we have any more news on that, we will bring it to you, and we hope to talk to our reporter on the scene shortly —— of course, if we have any more news. theresa may heads to northern ireland today to try to reassure people that she'll find a way to deliver brexit while avoiding a physical border with the irish republic. in a speech this afternoon, she will pledge to secure a deal that commands broad support. meanwhile, conservative mps from both the leave and remain campaigns will continue talks with the brexit secretary to identify alternatives to the controversial backstop, which the dup leader arlene foster has called toxic. so let's have a reminder of what that backstop is. the backstop is a position of last resort that will keep the border open on the island of ireland if the uk and the eu are unable to agree a comprehensive trade deal.

it would, in effect, keep the uk inside the eu's customs union, but with northern ireland also conforming to some rules of the single market, if there's no other solution by the end of the transition period in december 2020. 0ur political correspondent jonathan blake reports. theresa may will acknowledge that this is a concerning time in northern ireland, but pledge to find a way to deliver brexit that honours the government's commitments to people there, commands broad support across the community and secures a majority in parliament at westminster. the question of how to keep an open border between northern ireland and the republic of ireland has become the major sticking point in the brexit process. there is no agreement yet on what alternative arrangements could replace the backstop which would see the uk remain in a customs union with the eu if a trade deal couldn't be done. mrs may will meet leaders of the main political parties

in northern ireland who remain at odds on the issue. sinn fein are supportive of the backstop but the dup leader arlene foster said it was toxic and must be dealt with. the former first minister of northern ireland david trimble has said he intends to take legal action against the government over the backstop, claiming it breaches the terms of the good friday agreement. jonathan blake, bbc news, westminster. in a moment we'll talk to our ireland correspondent emma vardy, who's in belfast for us. first let's go to westminster and speak to our assistant political editor, norman smith. good morning. as theresa may prepares to travel to northern ireland later in the search for a workable alternative to the backstop, are there any signs the eu can help her out, or is indeed

willing to do so? conflicting signs is the honest answer. some people seem to talk more encouragingly, angela merkel has suggested flexibility can be found to get a way forward, but other figures like michel barnier have restated that there will be no reopening of the withdrawal agreement, so it is very ha rd to read withdrawal agreement, so it is very hard to read exactly where the eu is at at the moment. we are beginning to get a sense of how far mrs may is determined that whatever agreement she reaches there is no question of a hard body being introduced in northern ireland. —— being reintroduced. so that suggests she is leaning towards a reworking of the backstop rather than getting rid of it altogether. it was devised specifically to ensure no need for border controls, therefore if mrs may wants to meet that commitment it would seem to me she will have to retain the backstop in some form or another, suggesting that perhaps she

is beginning to lean away from this idea that it is being pushed by brexiteers of coming up with new customs and trading arrangements, relying on technology and new procedures to minimise possible border controls and instead looking to the attorney general, geoffrey cox, to come up with fresh legal assurances around a time limit for the backstop. into that mix will have to go the position of the dup, who are critical in terms of getting parliamentary support for any revised deal, and speaking this morning i thought arlene foster struck a rather ambiguous tone. she is adamantly opposed to the backstop, but that is the current backstop. whether she believes there must be no backstop or whether she can live with a reworked backstop with legal guarantees, not quite so clear. listen to her speaking this morning. the prime minister has to regard

what parliament has given her a mandate for, parliament's mandate is to replace the current backstop, as i had said all along, which is toxic to us living in northern ireland and for unionists across the uk because it would cause the break—up of the united kingdom into the medium and longer term, which i think people are concerned about, and rightly so. mrs may will be looking to clean exactly how far she can push the dup on the backstop. will they demand it is completely ripped up, or if the legal language can be found to give some sort of assurances that it will not be there forever, whether that would be sufficient. a calculation in downing street is if they can get the dup on—board behind mrs may, then many tory brexiteers will follow. they dup are absolutely critical for mrs may in terms of getting her deal

through parliament. thank you very much, norman. 0ur ireland correspondent emma va rdy much, norman. 0ur ireland correspondent emma vardy is in belfast. 0n the dup, its leader, arlene foster, is she trying to open up arlene foster, is she trying to open upa new arlene foster, is she trying to open up a new front in these negotiations? she talks about the party being in the process of trying to set up direct talks with dublin over the border issue? as we get closer and closer to the brexit deadline of march 29, you will see different avenues explored. as norman said, is it a hint that the dup may compromise somewhere on the backstop? in public, they have been firm, they want the backstop out of the withdrawal agreement, their preference would be for it to be replaced with a free trade agreement. as we get closer and closer to a potential no deal where there has to be, if you like, some

compromise somewhere, people are asking where the sweet spot is and where it is going to land and the dup will be pivotal. it is very important to remind people that the dup do not speak for everyone in northern ireland, there are many businesses who supported the backstop, the withdrawal agreement, in its originalform. there is anxiety from businesses who see theresa may having done a huge u—turn on the backstop, something which many businesses saw as a guarantee to their livelihoods and to guarantee that they would be able to guarantee that they would be able to trade across—the—board, north and qatar south of this island, as they do now. northern ireland is caught ina do now. northern ireland is caught in a tension between people who voted to remain in the eu and one play for northern ireland to continue as it is, and the dup, a very ha rd continue as it is, and the dup, a very hard line opposition to that backstop and opposing anyway then turn that northern ireland may be treated differently to the rest of the uk. thank you, emma vardy and belfast.

let's talk to the professor of politics at queeen's university in belfast, he isa he is a professor of european politics. when theresa may addresses business leaders it will be eight of audience, because the business community had backed her existing backstop plan and, if you like, sided with her rather than the dup. now it seems the prime minister is listening, first and foremost, to the dup? i think parliamentary arithmetic mean she has to, but i think she will have a very tough time with business, because they supported theresa may when the withdrawal agreement was announced in november and they have been quite vocal since in supporting the idea of the ultimate backstop arrangement, what is on offer, is 0k. the backstop is something which could come into force in the future.

there is a fair amount of time chewing when it would come into force, in which you might be able to conclude the type of arrangement which could satisfy the dup. at times i think there was a sense that the backstop would come in almost immediately. it will be some time before that occurs and they could be negotiations which would alleviate some of the dup plasma concerns. this could highlight the schism in that theresa may depend so much on the dup yet they are representative of, certainly a sizeable number of people in northern ireland, but by no means the majority of people in northern ireland, which voted to remain overall? the dup represents a minority voice in northern ireland. i think they raise legitimate concerns about what might happen if the uk was not in a customs union

with the eu, and northern ireland as pa rt with the eu, and northern ireland as part of the backstop. in recent weeks we have had commitments on the pa rt weeks we have had commitments on the part of the british government which which, if the backstop came into force, minimise the differences between the northern ireland and the rest of the uk. the uk is committed to assuring their is unfettered access to the gb market for businesses in northern ireland and to maintain regulatory alignment with the eu so that the differences between britain and northern ireland would be at a minimum between britain and northern ireland would be ata minimum if between britain and northern ireland would be at a minimum if the backstop came into full. there are a number of controls on the movement of goods from outside of northern ireland into northern ireland from the rest of the uk. 0ften ireland into northern ireland from the rest of the uk. often the dup overstate the likely potential consequences of the backstop coming into forceful norman smith alluded toa into forceful norman smith alluded to a slightly ambiguous tone from arlene foster about, if not the backstop, then what? what do you

think the dup would find acceptable ina think the dup would find acceptable in a deal? an arrangement ensuring there is no major difference between there is no major difference between the rest of the united kingdom and northern ireland. that would essentially be staying in the customs union and the single market. that causes enormous problems with theresa may with many of her backbenchers, but if you want to avoid customs or regulatory controls between northern ireland and the rest of the uk, you need the uk in a customs union and single market with the eu. professor david phinnemore from queen's university, belfast, thank you very much. let's get more on that fire at a house in stafford overnight in which four children died. our reporterjenny aitken is at the scene. jenny, this is truly, truly awful news, what more can you tell us about what happened ? news, what more can you tell us about what happened? a very sad day on sycamore lane. the fire service we re on sycamore lane. the fire service

were called up to a0 am, police officers and colleagues from fire and ambulance services here. i have been speaking to neighbours who are very upset, as you can imagine. they said they were woken up by a blast, the sound of this explosion, and a couple of neighbours told me basal a manjumping out of couple of neighbours told me basal a man jumping out of the window with a baby. two adults and a child are being treated in hospital, but we heard the very sad news that four children died during this house fire. we do not yet know details about the family involved, the fire and rescue service has examined the scene, the investigation is continuing. there is lots of action here, big containers, big trucks, lots of fans as the investigation ta kes lots of fans as the investigation takes place. and staffordshire police are telling us that their thoughts are with the family. you

mentioned neighbours reported hearing an explosion, a ban, a loud noise. are the emergency services saying anything at this very early stage about what the cause might have been? we do not yet know the cause. fire service and staffordshi re cause. fire service and staffordshire police will wait until they have more detail to explain what has happened but they had said they are investigating. thank you, jenny aiken, at the scene of that awful house fire in stafford. eight people have died and almost 30 others have been injured in a fire in an eight storey apartment block in paris. the police believe it was arson. a woman has been arrested. let's turn to our paris correspondent hugh schofield to update us on the situation. terrifying images from this fire. until relatively recently firefighters were still trying to put the flames out. has it been

brought under control yet? yes, a couple of hours ago now. the firefighters are standing down. of course work it's still going on to make the place safe and forensic teams going into find out exactly what happened. it is about 100 metres behind me on the right—hand side, you cannot see anything from the street because the building is in an inner courtyard. firefighters say that made it much harder for them to get access, vehicles could not drive up and put ladders up straight from the roads, they had to carry the ladders in and extend them upwards. it meant there was a physical effect of being in the courtyard , physical effect of being in the courtyard, a funnel drawing the fla mes courtyard, a funnel drawing the flames up from the lower stories, where it apparently began, up to the upper stories. so we saw these very dramatic pictures where people were clinging to window ledges in front of the voyage, waiting to be rescued

by firefighters. people escaping from these flames which had a p pa re ntly from these flames which had apparently spread up from the bottom and were ravaging the top two floors of the building. can you tell us more about the arrest that has been made? a girl yes, it is a woman who lived in the building. neighbours we have spoken to have told a story which will have to be confirmed, it seems pretty consistent, that there was a rival ferry late last night, in the early others, between midnightand1am. in the early others, between midnight and 1am. a woman who they knew was a problem, who had had psychiatric problems with drink and drugs, she was playing music very loudly. there was a row with another neighbour who said, can you turn it down. it turns out this neighbour was a fireman and the woman psychiatric problems shouted at him, as you are a fireman, i will set this place on fire, which is what

she then proceeded to do. this remains to be confirms but it seems to be arson. the woman perspective during the night but is now in police custody. thank you, hugh in paris. the headlines on bbc news... four children had died in the night ina four children had died in the night in a house fire in stafford. four others have been injured. theresa may will go to northern ireland to try to reassure people she can achieve a brexit deal avoiding a ha rd achieve a brexit deal avoiding a hard body with the republic. eight people had died and more than 30 have been injured in a fire in a paris apartment block. a woman has been arrested. the hammers threw a spanner in liverpool plasma title charge. west ham hold the league leaders to a draw, liverpool are three points clear at the top of the league. we will get a repeat of last's final in

the fifth round of the women's fa cup. holders chelsea take on 1a time winners arsenal. until english rugby drop the drop? premiership clubs are meeting today to discuss whether to end relegation. more on those stories and about 20 minutes. the actor liam neeson is pictured on the front pages of newspapers this morning, after he told a journalist that he'd thought about killing a black man when a friend told him she'd been raped. he said that, in the days that followed, he'd walked the streets with a cosh, hoping to be challenged, before realising that what he was doing was "horrible". he was speaking to the independent to promote his latest film. let's talk to colin patterson our enterntainment correspondent, he's in salford. there has been, understandably, a huge reaction to this? we should explain the context. he was in new

york during a day of interviews for his new film which opens in the us this week and the uk later this month, it is about a father whose son is murdered by a drugs gang and he goes on a revenge killing spree. it was a 20 minute slot the indepent journalist had in a hotel room, liam neeson was paired with his english co—star tom bateman and 12 minutes in the interview she has the 30 innocuous question, why does your character decide to go on a killing spree rather than just greed ? character decide to go on a killing spree rather thanjust greed? liam neeson said, i'll tell you a story, then told a story which has made front—page news around the world. he explained that... the implication was 15 or 20 years ago, someone very close to him was raped. he was out of the country at the time, when he came back he asked and said do you know who raped you? they said no.

his next question was, what colour we re his next question was, what colour were they? when they replied black, he said he spent the next week, we walking with a cosh in his hand in the streets outside bars, hoping a black man would come out and have a go at him so he would have the excuse to kill him. those are the words he used and he used racist language while telling the story. his co—star tom bateman was shocked by what he said, but interestingly liam neeson putted further into context, in the interview he says i know what i was thinking was awful and tolerable and have learned from this. he explains that he grew up in northern ireland, he knew many people involved in the troubles, people involved in the troubles, people who did hunger strikes, he knew a couple of people who died and he knew people who had taken their experiences and sought revenge. he says he knows it does not work, violence does not work, it is awful.

he knew how explosive this was, at the end of the interview he spoke to the end of the interview he spoke to the journalist and said, if you use this, use it very carefully. it is front—page news across the world. he is having a preplanned interview on good morning america, live on us tv and the next few hours. this will develop today. the vice thank you, colin paterson. the air accidents investigation branch is working at the site in the english channel where wreckage has been found of the plane which was carrying footballer emiliano sala. it's understood efforts are ongoing to determine how the aaib will attempt a recovery operation. a body has been seen inside the wreckage. 0ur correspondentjohn fernandez joins us now from guernsey. good morning. is there any updates this morning on how the recovery operation might pan out? at the moment we know from the air accident they ship —— investigation branch that they're working with families

and police to see whether they will bring this aircraft up. this decision needs to be made. we had spoken to a salvage experts in guernsey, somebody who advised the man who found the missing paper malibu on sunday. he has said any recovery operation would be incredibly difficult, the plane is very much intact. whilst they were expecting to find a debris field they have found a plane which has held together and the man we spoke to this morning said the damage to the plane already, the air pockets, water inside it and the body, will make it incredibly difficult to bring up. it will be a difficult procedure and we do not know at the moment whether it will happen. thank you, john fernandez in guernsey. mps will vote today on the amount of money councils in england receive from central government. the total is going down by a billion pounds but ministers insist councils' spending power will increase, as they keep more of the money they raise through taxes.

jessica parker reports. buses, children's centres, libraries, lollipop men and women — some of the services that local councils have cut across england as their funding has fallen. and again this year, the lump sum that comes from government goes down by around £1 billion, but ministers say councils will have more money to spend overall. there's some one off cash for social care, higher council tax takings, and a push to see some areas keep more of the money they raise through business rates. we said at the conservative conference last year that austerity is now coming to an end because of some of those really tough calls that councils have had to make, and i think we should look more positively towards the new spending review. that government spending review, starting later this year, could see the rules around council cash funding rewritten. ministers hint at providing a longer term plan, that could put council finances on a more stable long—term footing, but the local government association says

certainty is needed now, claiming councils are being pushed to the brink. jessica parker, bbc news. well, councillorjohn fuller is vice—chairman of the local government association's resources board — hejoins me now from norwich. good morning. are you feeling more positive? the government which clearly like local councils to feel that way, what is your thoughts? there are reasons to think it could be positive but the government gave usa be positive but the government gave us a four year settlement which we did not like that at least we knew where we stood. as we come to the end of that period, half of all councils including my own in south norfolk will receive no support whatsoever from central government. we are living entirely on our writs, and council tax as a proportion of

business rates generated in our area. looking forward we have no idea what the new formula will look like, we can't really plan for next year, like, we can't really plan for next yea r, let like, we can't really plan for next year, let alone the year after, and local people need councils with financial certainty. the base uncertainty is the watchword from what you are saying, what impact will it have on local services? it is not just will it have on local services? it is notjust that will it have on local services? it is not just that we are will it have on local services? it is notjust that we are keeping the lights on doing what we have always done, so often the local authority picks up the pieces when other parts of the state failed to do theirjob correctly and there are social changes we need to reflect. some councils in this country have seen a a0% increase in children diagnosed with special educational needs. that could never have been foreseen. no michael gove wants us to do food collecting. a weekly food collection would add a% on council tax alone in my local authority, and that is

before we see other cost pressures like wages, pensions and so forth. the best placed to deliver services locally, we don't mind giving them but the government needs to give us the resources. we cannot keep on picking up other pieces of the state well the uncertainty of our money, whether it be from council tax or another source, it's not clear. someone will have to pay and it is not fair that the local taxpayer is subsidising the central government party. i hadn't so many interviews with the local government association over the last few years with various council leaders talking about this particular aspect, clearly that takes a good chunk of your budget. will you get many specifically for that, tell us? let's hope so. at the end of the four year settlement i referred to, demand for social care has really increased and not just demand for social care has really increased and notjust for the demand for social care has really

increased and not just for the frail and elderly, sometimes people of working h had very complex needs and costs are rising much faster. the government has given us money to get to the final year of this four year settlement, we need to take the fight to treasury to recognise that the changing demographics, older people and also working age people in need, many care home leaders and also young people who do not have a nest egg behind them like many older people have, those needs need to be fully funded and to fail to do so is a false economy. looking after people in their homes and keeping them independent for longer is the best way to save money in the health service. prevention is better thank you. professorjohn, thank you. the centre for cities is an independent think tank dedicated to helping british cities thrive. it said last week that northern councils had been worst hit by austerity. in cheshire, some councils are discussing how to save millions more from their budget. let's speak to phil mccann,

our political reporter for the north— west of england. it doesn't really look as if the sums are adding up at the moment, and as we heard from our guest, councils face a further period of uncertainty. how are local areas in your —— local authorities in your area going to deal with that? the coalition government in 2010 started these kinds of cuts, it is the ninth year of age. and all of the local government in this region have requested the kinds of certainty we just heard the local government association requesting. councils will make savings by cutting free parking, getting rid of funding for christmas lights, making big changes to funding social care. it has been repeated year—on—year, so the low hanging fruit, as it is sometimes called, the easier savings, they had

been made, so councils are looking at mature difficult options. as we heard from the lga, the costs of some of the most expensive services that councils provide have been skyrocketing at a time when local government funding from central government funding from central government has been going down and down. the focus is local councils raising money locally, through business rates which they are now allowed to keep far more of rather than enhancing to the government, and through council tax. that gets us into one of the main issues raised by the centre for cities last week which warned that northern cities were being hardest hit by council austerity. 0ne cities were being hardest hit by council austerity. one of their main point was that raising extra funds to business rates and council taxes more difficult for cities and

councils representing poorer and more deprived areas. two main reasons, the economy is in those areas may not be as strong, raising money through business rates is not as easy as in areas where the economy is stronger, and raising money through council tax depends on the value of local housing, you pay more council tax any more valuable house and more deprived areas have less higher band council housing. the mayor of liverpool this week said a recent rate rising to and was —— in liverpool raised about £1 million, if that was instituted in surrey it would have raised around 7 million p. thank you. this we will talk to other reporters throughout the country in a moment to assess the situation. in a moment the weather but first let's join victoria derbyshire to find out what she's got coming up in her programme at ten: cou ntless countless deaths have linked to the

misuse of the medication xanax. 0ne viewer tells us how this affected her son. these are open to every single child. theyjust go on the web. and then you left with the death. please get in touch if you have any thoughts on that. joanna, thank you. the actor liam neeson has sparked a race row after making comments about once wanting to kill a black person when a friend told him she'd been raped. here is a clip from his interview with the independent, while promoting his new film. i will tell you a story, this is true, iam i will tell you a story, this is true, i am not going to use any names. i was away and i came back and she told me she had been

sexually assaulted and how she handled the situation was extraordinary but right immediate reaction was... i asked did she know who it was? no. what colour were they? she said it was a black person. i went up and down the areas with a cosh hoping i would be approached by somebody, i am ashamed to say that. and i did it for maybe a week, hoping someone... black bleeper would come out of a pub and have a go at me about something so i could kill him. and it took me a week, maybe a week and a half to go from that. and she said me, or are you going, i said from that. and she said me, or are you going, isaid i from that. and she said me, or are you going, i said i am going out for a walk. she said, what is wrong, i

said nothing, i am fine. a walk. she said, what is wrong, i said nothing, iam fine. it a walk. she said, what is wrong, i said nothing, i am fine. it was horrible, horrible when i think back, but i did that, i have never admitted that, i said it to a journalist, god forbid. bleep. its offer, but i did learn a lesson from that, when i eventually thought, bleep, what are you doing? and i come from a society, i grew up in northern ireland, in the troubles, i knew a couple of terrorists who died on hunger strikers and i have had acquaintances who were very caught up acquaintances who were very caught up in the troubles and i understand that need for revenge but itjust leads to more revenge and more killing and more killing and you know, northern ireland is proof of that, you know. all the stuff that's happening in the world, at the manor, is proof of that, you know? that was liam neeson's interview with the independent and we can speak to the journalist who carried

out that interview. thejournalist clemence michallon who interviewed liam neeson now via webcam were you surprised that he was so candid about what he did? yes, he himself says that, he says he's ashamed to think of the way he used to think and he says it is full, so of course, that shock settled in really quickly. there was also the fa ct really quickly. there was also the fact that he assured the storage ring a press junket which fact that he assured the storage ring a pressjunket which is fact that he assured the storage ring a press junket which is a format of interview that is renowned to be difficult and that tends to lend itself to more fluff uses than hard—hitting lend itself to more fluff uses than ha rd—hitting news stories. lend itself to more fluff uses than hard-hitting news stories. he himself tried to contextualise what

he said to you, he said that he was now horrified that he thought that way once and he said if you use this, of course you are going to do, to be careful with it. what did you make of those comments? you know, when he said that, i thought, of course, iam when he said that, i thought, of course, i am always very careful, especially when i do my work as a journalist. and obviously this is a piece i worked on, extensively with my editors and with our advisers. all i know, truly, is what he said. and how, the manner in which he said it and that's what you can hear on the tape and that's why we've published it for a full transparency. did you expect the reaction that we are now seeing because of those comments? yes, you

know, most of the reaction i have seen so far is people who are shocked and surprised and appalled. but, we were expecting because how else could you react, right, when you hear that? what we were not expecting so much was the proportions it has taken, it was a trending story in the us and in the uk throughout the day. so that was, yes, the sheer magnitude of it has been a bit more of a surprise. thank you very much for talking to us this morning. thejournalist you very much for talking to us this morning. the journalist who did the interview with liam neeson for the independent. now it's time for a look at the weather with carol good morning, carol. good morning. a cold and frosty

start the day, some dense patches of fog. it won't last terribly much this cloud coming from the west, preceded by drizzle and followed by heavy rain and an increasing breeze. the brightest conditions in the north—east of scotland and the northern isles, highs of five and six. staying dry until later in the south—east. the rain moving north eastwards through this evening and overnight, moving south—east words also, leaving clear skies behind with showers in the north and west, some of those wintry in north—west scotland. these are the temperature values he can expect tonight. we could see the odd pocket of frost across western scotland and northern ireland. tomorrow morning looks like this weather front will clear but it will not, hanging around the south—east and channel islands, show is packing into the north and west, in between dry weather and sunshine, temperatures getting up as high as 10-11d. hello.

this is bbc news with annitta chveigh. the headlines... four children have died during the night in a house fire in stafford. three other people are injured. theresa may will go to northern ireland to try to reassure people she can reach a brexit deal that avoids a hard border with the republic actor liam neeson sparks a race row after saying he once wanted to kill a random black person after someone close to him was raped time now for the morning briefing, where we bring you up to speed on the stories people are watching, reading and sharing. as we've been hearing, theresa may will try to re—assure the people of northern ireland that the government will find a way to deliver a brexit that honours its commitment to avoid a hard border with the republic of ireland. in a speech in belfast, she'll pledge to secure a deal that commands broad support. this morning on the bbc radio

four‘s today programme, the leader of the democratic unionist party arlene foster told martha kearney that she would continue to raise her party's opposition to the backstop when she meets the prime minister tomorrow. we will be reiterating our opposition to the current backstop and the fact that parliament has now backed that position means she has a clear mandate to go back to brussels. how do you see the way ahead, wilbur backstop have to be removed in its entirety or cooed a legally binding assurance about its temporary nature, could that work, the idea that there will be something in legal terms meaning the uk could leave? i think it's the prime minister, obviously, to negotiate in relation to these matters, i'm not going to get caught up matters, i'm not going to get caught up in the semantics about this morning. i think russells had been asking for a clear ask the united kingdom government, they now they

have that, they have known the backstop cause great difficulties particularly for those of us who are unionists in northern ireland. as you have spelt out but that's interesting, you say it would not have to be removed in its entirety, it could be a legally binding assurance because that the something product by the eu's top civil servant product by the eu's top civil serva nt yesterday product by the eu's top civil servant yesterday with mps on the brexit committee. i think what i've said is the fact that the prime minister has two regard what parliament has given her a mandate for and the parliament mandate is to replace the backstop, the current backstop, as i've said all along, it is toxic to those of us living in northern ireland and for unionists right across the united kingdom because it would cause the break—up of the united kingdom into the medium and longer term and i think that's something that people are very concerned about and rightly so. there are fears which have been expressed in the european unions which is that if concessions are made on this, then people who support brexit and people like the

dup will come back asking for more and enough will never be enough. well, i don't know where they get that from. we've been very clear on all occasions at the withdrawal agreement, if the backs is dealt with and the withdrawal agreement then despite the fact that we may have misgivings around other parts of the withdrawal agreement, we will support the prime minister because we wa nt support the prime minister because we want brexit to happen in an orderly and sustained fashion. we have said on many occasions we do not want to see a hard border in northern ireland but likewise, we do not want to see a hard border between northern ireland and great britain either. there is no point in trading hard border is because at present, the backstop very much puts a hard border between northern ireland and great britain. so what are the possibilities for movement here? are you prepared to talk to the government in dublin? yes, of course and we are in the process of setting up conversations with our neighbours in the republic of ireland, we recognise that a no deal brexit will be very difficult for

the republic of ireland and we do not want to see that happening, we wa nt to not want to see that happening, we want to see a deal that works for the whole of the united kingdom and one that works for the european union as well. you know the view in dublin and that is the point of the backstop as an insurance policy, is that it cannot be temporary otherwise it is not an insurance. i've listened very carefully to the words of both leo varadkar and simon cold me over this past period of time andi cold me over this past period of time and i was interested to hear simon say that regardless of what happens we will all have to work together to ensure that we avoid a ha rd together to ensure that we avoid a hard border on the island of ireland andi hard border on the island of ireland and i welcome that. i think that is the right way to move forward, no body wants to seek a hard border on the island of ireland but as i say it cannot be at the expense of a ha rd it cannot be at the expense of a hard border internally in the united kingdom. the dup leader arlene foster. mps will debate how much councils will get in the coming coming financial year.

the local government association say england's town halls face a £3.2 billion shortfall. ministers say councils have more power to raise money themselves. a six percent cut is expected. andrew carter is from the centre for cities explains the areas he thinks are most likely to be affected: when we look at the date of which we put out last week, its places like ba rnsley put out last week, its places like barnsley and liverpool, doncaster, wakefield, back burner, those towns and cities that are mainly in the country that have had the biggest reductions in expenditure over the period since the recession. so 2009— essentially the latest year before we get the settlement. what kind of services have been most effective? interestingly when you look at it, because of the way the cuts have fallen, social care is relatively protected so councils have been able to hold onto the bits of budget and

reallocate but when you look at them is like street cleaning or arts and culture or planning, libraries, all of those are down by more than a0% and you know that, if you walk around some of these towns, street cleaning is no longer every day or every week, libraries are closing, bin collections are fortnightly in many places if not longer. you see this erosion of services. many people will argue it's a false economy because if we see everything around us looking good, the parks, the streets, libraries, we feel better about our lives. we do and i think we do miss the symbolism of some of these reductions. actually i was talking to someone about the problems we are having on the high streets and that's a retail problem on the one hand but when you talk to people there is a symbolic element to that, they see things not working, dosing, boarded up or streets that aren't clean and that has a wider civic affect rather than just a narrow, the service is not

being delivered. the government argues councils can retain more money through business rates, need to be less reliant on the part of government on, the emphasis is shifting, it has shifted a fair bit already, hasn't it? it has shifted over that period, councils are more dependent, i suppose, over that period, councils are more dependent, isuppose, on over that period, councils are more dependent, i suppose, on the money that they can raise locally which is obviously great for some places, but if you are in barnsley or burnley, the council tax is not great, if you are raising 3% council tax it is not as much as doing it in other places. growing the business days is more challenging, they are by definition more dependent on government grants and it's partly the reason we have seen these places that have struggled the most. andrew carter for the centre cities. time to take a lid that what you are looking at and reading. the most red, the tragic story of four children who

have died overnight in stafford, currently the most read on the bbc news app. we heard from our reporter on the scene saint neighbours had described hearing a loud explosion in the middle of the night, they saw a manjumped out of a window holding a manjumped out of a window holding a baby, two adults and a child in hospital and tragically four children have died as the result of that fire. a little further down we have hmv chain being said but some stores will close. the canadian firm sunrise records is the buyer of the music chain hmv. it's buying 100 of the stores and that will save almost 1500 jobs, of course they had gone into administration of 100 of those stores now being said, 27 stores will close with around a55 redundancies as a result. and then going down to the most watched on a

very popular one at two, women caught putting hair in sunderland pub pizza for refund. this was a pub in sunderland come at the moment complained there was here in their pizza, if you watch closely you can see them pulling out their own hair and putting it in the pizza, they got a refund, some free drinks but then the staff realised the hair did not match the herald anyone who worked there, that's when they turned to the cctv and saw the women putting their own care in the pizza. big brother coppin in the end. —— big brother caught them in the end. that's it for today's morning briefing. sport now and time for a full round up from the bbc sport centre. sally nugentjoins us. what's in the news today? no bizarro care stories, thankfully. are liverpool losing their nerve their draw last night at west ham follows another draw against leicester — so they now lead manchester city

byjust three points but there is still 13 matches to go. let's have a look at how social media is reacting to last night's events. jamie carragher has tweeted about liverpool's poor performance last night, questioning whether it is title nerves or a bad patch. he says "march/april will decide the title not now." another ex—liverpool man, luis garcia, has tweeted "no one said that it would be easy !! long season still ahead. every point counts i!" rio ferdinand thinks liverpool looked "nervy" and questioned "where s the locksmith in the midfield area?!" let's explain what the result means for the title race and have a look at those goals. here is patrick gearey. liverpool are finding it's lonely at the top. just as well they have a tag is capable of evading

attention. stadio monigo who the keeper. james milner boyd the offside flag. you cannot blink in the premier league, out of the corner of liverpool is antonio was escaping, stable door open and the horse had bolted. the division's thai disturbance was an open house, rice might have made more of the hospitality, west ham had more chances but none as good as the one that failed to develop a wiki in the final seconds. top ending to a tough evening but the boss says his team i'm scared. i know probably what all the reports are written about the game and without my saying, that's clear. we have to show that we deal with that, i did not see what ever you could ask in the next few questions about pressure or stuff like that, we did not enjoy the game enough. enjoyment is difficult in so little space. liverpool only three points ahead of manchester city and five ahead of top, 18 defying

injuries and theories to stay in the title race. they must still go away to the top two, games that could be key. but the holders the favourites? manchester city know this road, accelerating clear this time last year, on wednesday they play aberdeen, when and until saturday they will be top and things look different. just onjurgen klopp the fa say they are aware of comments made by liverpool manager jurgen klopp about referee kevin friend after last night s game. so klopp's had his say...this is how defender virgil van dijk assesses the title race..... we should embrace it. we have 13 games left, everyone would have signed for it and we should enjoy it. no one wants to drop points, we must be frustrated but you could also play for nothing all season

like other teams and we are still in the title race and it's going to be a big one. two of the biggest teams in women's football will face each other in the fifth round of the women's fa cup. holders chelsea were paired with the fourteen time winners arsenal who they beat in the final last year. elsewhere tottenham face women's super league leaders manchester city. today is a big day for the future of english rugby union. the bosses of all the leading clubs are meeting to discuss whether to get rid of promotion and relegation from the top division, the premiership. currently one team a year drops out of the league to be replaced by a club from the second tier championship. supporters say that makes english club rugby competitive but some want to shake things up. we have a three—year window, take relegation and promotion out of the equation and after the three—year window, a club should play off the

bottom window, a club should play off the botto m tea m window, a club should play off the bottom team in the premiership. allow the premier league to play moringa fares and develop more players and that's got to be good for the game. let's have a look at some of this morning's back pages. first up the daily mirror. they are talking about last nights football and saying that liverpool had a major wobble with that one all draw. sticking with the same theme — the daily mail ask has the bubble burst for the reds as manchester city have a great chance of going top tomorrow. and the guardian have a picture of a frustrated looking mo salah last night. but their main story is about cheltenham — race organisers have moved one of the fences — the second last — to try and make the course safer coming up later in sportsday on the news channel at 6:30 this evening we'll have the latest on that big rugby meeting this afternoon — will we see an end to promotion and relegation in the premiership? and we'll look ahead to the fa cup ath round replays taking place tonight.

plenty to look forward to, more from the sports desk at 11:15am. a painting by the anonymous street artist banksy that was shredded during an auction in october in an act of self—sabotage by the artist is back on display in germany in its new form. banksy has suggested that the entire canvas was supposed to shred notjust two thirds of it so the museum has been taking extra steps to make sure the rest of the piece is preserved. kathryn armstrong has more. this was the moment that sent shock waves through the artworld, in october. a painting by the mysterious british artist, known as banksy, suddenly self—shreds in its frame, after being sold for more than $1.3 million. the transformed piece, which was originally called girl with a balloon, was then given a new game, love is in the bin. banksy has admitted that he was behind the stunt or was it a statement? now the artwork is going on display in germany, but this time it has been thoroughly

checked for batteries and live wires to try and ensure there are no more surprises. translation: banksy has a particular sense of humour. we are definitely wanting to avoid a situation where a certain visitor would show up and, as happened in london, press a hidden button and set the shredder going again. however, the museum says it is keen to display the work in a way that is in keeping with the spirit of the artist. translation: at the end of the day banksy is a street artist which means people can see his art on the street without having to pay entry, so we wanted to display his art forfree. love is in the bin will be on display for four weeks, before being moved to another museum in stuttgart, where it will also be free to view. kathryn armstrong, bbc news. when sportspeople are doing well

you often hear them say they're ‘walking on air‘. in the wind games they really mean it. it's the annual tournament for indoor skydiving a wind machine cancels out gravity. fourteen year—old kayleigh wittenberg is pretty good at it— she won an individual gold and another with her brother noah in the ‘two flier event'. that looks like so much fun. now it's time for a look at the weather with simon king good morning. a cold start for some of us this morning, some fog. was the scene first thing in norfolk, frost on the ground. clear skies towards the east but looking at the bigger picture towards the atlantic, this swirl of cloud moving its way m, this swirl of cloud moving its way in, spilling this cloud ahead of it and some outbreaks of rain. the rain

quite patchy at the moment, heavier across northern ireland and on to western scotland, heavy rain moving its way through northern ireland, wales and the south—west of england. ahead of that, there could be spots of rain, bright skies, that cloud tending to increase along with the wind in the west. that's where you have the highest temperatures today, reaching 10—11 or 12 degrees. further east, 6—8d. this evening and tonight the rain pushing further north and east and south and east, staying quite cloudy in the south—east. some showers in the north—west, not as cold as last night, temperatures for many above freezing, have 7—8d in the south—east, more cloud and some outbreaks of rain. the rain, quite patchy on wednesday, turning heavier as the day progresses. elsewhere, plenty of dry and bright weather, some showers in northern ireland and

scotland, turning wintry over higher ground, accident temperature about 7-11d. the ground, accident temperature about 7—11d. the rain turning heavy in the south—east, another weather system coming into the west into thursday, could wail bring snow over the higher ground of scotland and through the pennines. it will tend to clear and for many on thursday, a dry day, fairly bright, sunny spells and some showers coming into the west as the afternoon goes on. temperatures, roughly 7—10d, round about the average for this time of year. it's set to get more stormy as we go to the end of the wii, this area of low pressure ramping up in the atlantic moving its weight and, increasingly windy as we get to the end of the week into the weekend. the risk of gales for some of us, with that rain, staying quite mild. that's all from me. have a good day. goodbye. hello, it's tuesday, it's ten

o'clock, i'm joanna gosling. more than 200 deaths in the uk have been linked to misuse of the drug xanax, this programme has discovered. this woman's son bought counterfeit versions of the drug on the so—called dark web — and those drugs killed him. all the love in the world didn't save him. xanax killed him. 3a0,000 counterfeit xanax bars were seized at uk ports and airports last year. police in northern ireland, counterfeit xanax is the third most seized drug and it's widely used on the streets. —— police in northern ireland had said. i was on iwas ona i was on a life—support machine. by sunday, they were turning off the machine, but i woke up