this is bbc news. the headlines at 8pm: the prime minister, visiting belfast, pledges to secure a brexit deal that ensures no hard border between northern ireland and the republic. i know that the prospect of changing the backstop and reopening the withdrawal agreement creates real anxieties here in northern ireland and in ireland because it is here that the consequences of whatever is agreed will most be felt. four children are killed in a house fire in the middle of the night in stafford. another toddler and two adults were injured after leaping from a first—floor window to escape the flames. liam neeson denies he's racist after his comments to promote his new film provoke a media storm. a warning about the impact of pollution on our children — the un says the uk has the highest number suffering from respiratory conditions in europe. and president trump puts the finishing touches to tonight's state of the union address, aides say the theme is national unity.

theresa may has said she won't try to get the so—called "irish backstop" plan removed from her brexit withdrawal deal with the eu when she holds new talks with european officials later this week. the backstop, under which northern ireland would still follow some eu rules even after brexit, is meant to be a last resort to avoid a return to a hard border between the irish republic and northern ireland if nothing else can be agreed. speaking in belfast, the prime minister re—affirmed her commitment to keeping the border open. she said any brexit deal would have to contain a backstop, but that she would try to negotiate changes to the existing proposals. the eu says it won't

re—negotiate the agreement. here's our deputy political editorjohn pienaar. it's complicated, but you can make anything work, almost anything, if you try hard enough. search for any opportunity. so why not a brexit deal? at this electronics firm in belfast, they're saying uncertainty is bad for business, here and across the uk. and leaving with no—deal could be much worse, especially in northern ireland. we have a lot of traffic goes up and down across that border every day, we have engineers that travel up and down every day, if customs are reintroduced into that, it will slow down our business and make our competitors in the eu more attractive. so today, mrs may came with words of reassurance — there'd be no return to stops and checks on the border, deal or no deal. northern ireland does not have

to rely on the irish government or the european union to prevent a return to borders of the past. the uk government will not let that happen. i will not let that happen. and then this, the prime minister's aim was to change the backstop her dup critics see as a threat to the union, not drop it. i'm not proposing to persuade people to accept a deal that doesn't contain that insurance policy for the future. what parliament has said is they believe there should be changes made to the backstop, and it is in that vein, in that light that we are working with politicians across westminster, of course, across the house of commons, but also, will be working with others, with the irish government and the eu. that could mean trouble with brexiteers and the democratic unionists. their leader arlene foster looks affable, but talks tough. her mps can prop up or vote down a brexit deal, and her message — get round the backstop or no dup support.

most people voted to remain in northern ireland. businesses, they would support mrs may's deal. are you playing a dangerous game of who blinks first? it is not a dangerous game. it's a game of trying to find a long—term relationship with the european union, that works for the whole of the united kingdom, and of course from a northern ireland point of view, one that doesn't separate us from our main market, which is gb. could britain leave without a deal? well, many believe it could happen. the eu could offer late concessions. some close to mrs may calculate if the brinkmanship goes on long enough, brexiteer rebels could fall into line for fear of losing brexit altogether. if this is a game of who blinks first, no—one is blinking yet, and the longer it goes on, the more dangerous it gets. how to keep the border working as it does today. that's the problem blocking a brexit deal. mrs may meets northern ireland's political leaders tomorrow, then,

on to brussels the next day. no clear route to agreement, so little time to find one. john pienaar, bbc news, belfast. well, we can speak to clare rice from the school of law at queen's university belfast, who's an expert on brexit. she joins us now from our belfast studio. good evening to you. what did you make of what the prime minister had to say? nothing overly surprising. i think we we re nothing overly surprising. i think we were all very aware that she came with a very friendly audience. audience of largely business leaders here in northern ireland and they have been very supportive of the withdrawal agreement and the idea of the backstop as it is shaped currently within that agreement. so in many ways, she was speaking to a favourable audience with people that we re favourable audience with people that were already on her side and really her task today was to offer those reassu ra nces her task today was to offer those reassurances that despite the ongoing talks that are coming on at the moment with regard to try to twea k the moment with regard to try to tweak and somehow reconfigure the backstop, that actually she is still

committed to the idea that there will not be a hard border returning to the island of ireland. in many ways to make was what was expected. you mention she was talking about two weeks, alternative arrangements, how realistic do you think it is that there are still options on making changes to the backstop? realistically, i think it is fairly minimal. it has been very obvious from the eu side of things that they have said the withdrawal agreement and the deal that has been reached is what the deal is. they are not open to the idea of sitting down to renegotiate those various elements within that or to even consider a type of deal that does not contain a backstop. how open they might be to considering a reconfigured backstop, from my reading of things him as they are still very close to that notion. i suppose it really depends how theresa may then presents her ideas when she goes to brussels on thursday but certainly i am not optimistic to the potential for the eu to be open to any sort of

renegotiation on that front. in d, and one of the things we keep hearing from the eu is they want to know exactly what the uk is suggesting and one wonders if theresa may is at the stage where she does not quite have the plan to put to them of alternative there is. absolutely. some think numerous leaders from across the eu have referred to in recent months and even referred to in recent months and eve n years referred to in recent months and even years with a hiss of that brexit is a uk decision, not summing the eu decided, nothing that any of the eu decided, nothing that any of the other member states decided to do. it is very much the uk decision to leave and it's up to the uk to put forward their own ideas, to put forward their suggestions and proposals and taking that as a basis the of how the eu is able to start having these negotiations. i think what has to be noted within this conversation as well is about the action of the european union has made a lot of concessions in their sta nce made a lot of concessions in their stance compared to the start of the negotiation process in order to facilitate the uk's positions and

their ideals going forward in terms of what should be contained within a withdrawal agreement. so it is very much a two—way process so far. i think you could potentially be pushing things a bit too far for the uk to go back to brussels and asking for further tweaks and changes uk to go back to brussels and asking forfurther tweaks and changes made at this stage. and yet, the pm looking at a value on february the 14th and looking back to the previous moment where her plan was rejected by over 200 votes, she is also thinking what do i need to do to get this through parliament? absolutely yes. and certainly she is more than stuck between a rock and a ha rd more than stuck between a rock and a hard place at the minute. i think whichever way she turned from a summer whichever way she turned from a summer will not be happy or some party will not be happy so i think it is the stage now where she has to tread a very fine line between reaching a satisfactory brexit deal that appeals broadly at least to a large enough number of people and counterbalancing that with trying to maintain the semblance in her own

party in particular to get it across the line. so she is in a very difficult position at the moment and i think no matter what the outcome of this will be ultimately, there will be at least one group or one faction that will be completely satisfied with the outcome. cutting the gordian knot analogy ringing true. thank you very much indeed. the hollywood actor liam neeson has denied he's a racist after finding himself at the centre of a global media storm. in an interview to promote his latest film, he described how, a0 years ago, when someone close to him had been raped by a black man, he then set out to kill any innocent black man in revenge. he says he quickly came to his senses and was appalled by his behaviour and that it was not motivated by racism. this report from our new york correspondent nick bryant contains flashing images. after his explosive comments about rape, revenge and race... mr neeson, are you sorry for what you said?

liam neeson arrived at this manhattan television studio not to make an apology, but to offer an explanation. i'm not racist. he admitted to setting out to kill an innocent black man nearly a0 years ago after someone close to him was allegedly raped by a black man. would you have had the same reaction if your friend had said it was a white man? definitely. if she had said an irish or a scot or a brit or a lithuanian, i know it would have had the same effect. i was trying to... stand up for my dear friend in this terrible medievalfashion. and i'm a fairly intelligent guy, and that's why it kind of shocked me when i came down to earth after having these horrible feelings. luckily, no violence occurred, ever, thanks be to god. what makes you think you can kill a man?

i read it in a crime novel. promoting his new movie, the theme of which is murderous revenge, the actor had given an interview, telling how he had sought retribution after hearing about the rape. what colour were they? she said it was a black person. there's been outrage at those remarks, but not universal condemnation. i'm just shocked. i couldn't believe he would say something like that. i thought he was a good guy. it makes you have a little bit of fear, but we have to push through that and find the love. for liam neeson, today was supposed to be about promoting his new movie, but instead, he's trying to salvage his reputation. the 66—year—old has been one of hollywood's more bankable stars. will he face a backlash at the box office? nick bryant, bbc news, new york. well, amongst those who've reacted to liam neeson‘s comments is the former england footballer and anti—racism campaigner john barnes, who told bbc 5live's emma barnett that the actor deserves a medalfor being ashamed of his past behaviour. he saidi

he said i was ashamed and i was horrified. that is what he is actually saying. he is not saying he is ashamed and now, he is saying he was ashamed to back them. we had to have this conversation because there are so many have this conversation because there are so many who have a perception, a wrong perception on black people, chinese people, based on what they have been wrongly told, and he felt why he did because i want the war had wrongly told him. joining me via webcam is kehinde andrews, a professor of black studies at birmingham city university, and in our bristol studio is chris mills, chair of the charity organisation bristol black men. it has created an awful amount of discussion today in that is the key thing that it is important to air

these views that are distasteful and very repellent but that somehow by opening the conversation, we have done something positive. this is the very worst way to open a distasteful conversation in a distasteful manner. the promotion of his may become a summit general conversation about revenge and he somehow thinks it is appropriate to use terms like what he used in the video to talk about horrible violence against black people that has a really strong historical precedents in terms of how black men are understood at least in the us. some kind of offhand, i have come to jesus moment. to be fair, it is completely inappropriate and offensive and nothing to be grateful for at all. what did you make of all this, chris? i tend for at all. what did you make of all this, chris? itend to for at all. what did you make of all this, chris? i tend to agree with the last speaker there. i think it is disgraceful. i believe in the same time that it may have been a bit of propaganda to actually to get people to see the movie. you are a bit cynical about what he said all of this in the first place. of

course. it happened someone ago, why bring it to the table only before your showcase the world. and yet he risks damaging his reputation quite seriously by doing this. there is not much in it for him to say this. ido not much in it for him to say this. i do not tend to agree with that viewpoint. i believe there is life and began because there is no such thing as bad publicity. any publicity is good publicity when you are trying to reach the masses. let me bring you in on that one, he risked damaging his career does he not? you would hope so but hollywood has a terrible history of racism and it mayjust has a terrible history of racism and it may just serve has a terrible history of racism and it mayjust serve to make a buzz around the film. the problem is the way he has come out and defended it is almost like he is saying i had these thoughts, they were racist and i have changed. that is the work for the thing about racism. the fact that these comments were aired and he thinks they were 0k in his defence is making it worse for him is very rude —— ludicrous. i am just a cynical in terms of how this will

be dealt with by hollywood. just follow through on that thought for a moment in terms of his own reflection on this. he said it shocked me and hurt me. i did seek help. he said he was ashamed and he realised he was seeking revenge and what he described as a terribly mediaevalfashion. do you not what he described as a terribly mediaeval fashion. do you not think that he has taken on board the impact of his own thoughts and how wrong they were? no because he says very clear that these thoughts were not racist. whether it was an irish person or a white person it will be the same. the idea that this verse in the blackness were the black man isa in the blackness were the black man is a hypersexual beast goes around raping women is so embedded into american and british culture wasn't to pin it was not racist is ludicrous. and to pretend that 40 years later, it somehow makes rid of them disappear is worse. to be fair, his further comments have dug the hole even deeper as far as i'm concerned. we spoke of the fact that hollywood has had a problem with the

race and a lot of condemnation of award ceremonies for example in the lack of representation. do you think this will feed into that debate? definitely. i think there is a chance for people to look at what comes out of the situation and i agree with the professor when he says that i do not believe hollywood will take this on board. i believe there is some propaganda for boosting sales and awareness of what is going on but not to correct the issue which is racism. if we touch back on the time period and look back on the time period and look backin back on the time period and look back in the 1970s and early 80s, there was a of segregation, and a of racist views. so i believe he would have agreed with that thinking i do not believe he would've gone against him as he so clearly states now that he went for help and tried to counteract it. i find that very hard to believe. let me bring you in on the wider thought about hollywood and how it is dealing with the whole issue of race. hollywood has a terrible reputation in terms of what

kind of movies get made and i think this whole revenge plot story, we have seen that with a death wish in the past and has its undertone of the past and has its undertone of the dull people we should be afraid of in the cities. i quite like some of in the cities. i quite like some of his films, but his whole thing present in a different context. look at the what he has dealt with in the media response, it doesn't to be absolving him as a way we can move past the conversation. but it should be about how deep he said of the ideas still are. a final thought if ican, you ideas still are. a final thought if i can, you said use of like his films, are you going to see this latest one? or any more of his films was meant i think the term people use is cancelled. that is howl am here. definitely not seeing this film. good to have both of your thoughts. thank you very much. and we'll find out how this story and many others are covered in tomorrow's front pages at 10:40pm and 11:30pm this evening in the papers.

joining me tonight are the deputy editor of the new statesman george eaton and political strategist jo tanner. the headlines on bbc news: the prime minister pledges to secure a brexit deal which ensures no hard border between northern ireland and the republic. four children have died in a house fire in stafford, with tributes to the young victims posted on social media. police describe the scene as heartbreaking. actor liam neeson denies being a racist after telling a journalist he once wanted to kill a black person because someone close to him was raped by a black man. sport now, and for a full round—up from the bbc

sport centre, here's holly. another night of football for you as eight sides battle it out for four places in the fifth round of the fa cup. all must be decided tonight with extra time and penalties if needed. barnet, the last non—league side left in the competition are currently behind against london rivals brentford who lead 2—0. the winner of that game will face swa nsea. it's 1—1 in wolverhampton after shrewbury pulled on back after matt doherty scored for wolves in the second minute of the game. and it's still goaless between qpr and portsmouth and in newport with the winner of that game set to face manchester city in the fifth round. elsewhere in football, jose mourinho has accepted a one—year prison sentence for tax fraud in spain. the former manchester united manger will not serve any time in jail after exchanging the sentence for a fine ofjust over £2 million. spanish prosecutors, who have also brought similar charges against cristiano ronaldo and lionel messi, say mourinho failed to declare revenues from image rights from 2011 and 2012 when he was coach of real madrid. the manchester city boss

pep guardiola says he is not ruling chelsea and manchester united out of premier league title contention. the pair are 12 and 14 points behind leaders liverpool respectively. however, guardiola, whose side take on everton tomorrow, says the title battle is notjust between liverpool, city and tottenham. we will be the champion and we have seen we will be the champion and we have seenin we will be the champion and we have seen in the table and see the first two or three are there and they are the champion. we did not look further than that. the teams like chelsea are able to win games in a row, they will continue —— continue to co nte nt. row, they will continue —— continue to content. everybody is there. we are that 59 points in play and we haven't nine or ten points behind, it is not too much. seeing what happening right now in the lee, everybody is ready to take points. there's a big blow for

the england rugby union side, maro itoje has been ruled out of the next two six nations matches with a knee problem. the saracens lock suffered the medial ligament injury during their impressive win over ireland on saturday. he's expected to be out for 2—4 weeks, but will stay with the squad and could return for the final two matches of the championship. fellow saracen nick izikwe has been called into the squad as cover but it's courtney laws who is most likely to benfit and take itoje's place in the fifteen he isa he is a quality player and he is a big leader in the group. he is massive quality. but we have guys in the squad who have got other qualities it will come in and have a big impact. so it is important to focus on thejob big impact. so it is important to focus on the job at hand and i'm sure he will root us on. the great lindsey vonn has been competing at her last alpine skiing world championships.

but on the first day of competition in sweden, the american, a former 0lympic champion hasn't made the greatest of starts. she failed to make it to the bottom in the super g, crashing quite spectacularly hitting one of the gates and careering into the safety netting. the race was halted while medics checked her out. she managed to make her own way down, but we now wait to see if she will race in the downhill on sunday in what will be herfinal race. i felt i had been hit by an 18 wheeler but other than that, i am great. my knees are the same as they we re great. my knees are the same as they were before the race, so that is good. i were before the race, so that is good. lam were before the race, so that is good. i am going to be really sore, i think good. i am going to be really sore, ithink i'm good. i am going to be really sore, i think i'm on my neck will be sore. i got the wind knocked out of me so my ribs are oddly sore. but i will be fine, sunday will be great. there's been some big shocks at snooker‘s world grand prix in cheltenham. defending champion ronnie 0'sullivan has been knocked out in the first round, losing 4—2 against marco fu.

it's the first time in ten years that fu has beaten 0'sullivan. world number two mark williams is also out. that's all the sport for now. i'll have more for you in sportsday at half past ten. holly, thank you very much indeed. four children aged between three and eight have died in a house fire overnight in stafford. their motherjumped from a first floor window with her baby and her partner. their injuries are not life—threatening. the local fire and crime commissioner paid tribute to the emergency services and described what's happened as heartbreaking. sima kotecha reports from stafford. windows shattered, the inside of the house blackened by the fire that ripped through the upstairs. it happened close to 3am in the highfields area of stafford. eyewitnesses say it sounded like an explosion. four children were killed. eight—year—old riley holt, six—year—old keegan unitt,

four—year—old tilly rose unitt and three—year—old 0lly unitt. firefighters were faced with very difficult conditions inside the property due to the severity of the fire. 0ur fire investigation team are currently working with colleagues from west midlands fire service and staffordshire police in order to find out how the fire started and spread throughout the property. three people managed to survive the blaze — the children's brother, two—year—old jack, their mother, 24—year—old natalie unitt, and her partner, 28—year—old chris moulton. firefighters say they managed to escape byjumping out of an upstairs window. their injuries are not believed to be life—threatening. more than 15 firefighters scrambled to the house to put out the flames. neighbours described the loss of young lives as absolutely heartbreaking. i didn't know until now. i thought they'd all got out.

the flames were intense, theyjust went that quick, into the roof. it was coming out the roof in seconds, weren't it. went to the children's school, across the road. it's devastating. can't begin to imagine. family members have been laying flowers at the scene, desperately trying to hold back tears in front of the heavy media presence. four young lives gone, and a community left shaken and devastated. sima kotecha, bbc news, stafford. police officers searching for missing student daniel williams say they've found a body in a lake on the campus of reading university. 19—year—old daniel was last seen leaving a student union bar in the early hours of thursday morning. police say the death is being treated as unexplained, but not suspicious. the home secretary has apologised to a woman who told the bbc she was denied the right to work despite having lived

in the uk for 35 years. willow sims, who's originally from the united states, said she was wrongly turned away from the windrush scheme, which is supposed to help people prove their status. sajid javid says she is now getting the help she needs. the suicide prevention minister says online content that normalises self—harm or suicide poses a similar risk to children as grooming. the warning follows the case of 14—year—old molly russell, whose family found she'd viewed content on social media linked to self—harm and suicide before taking her own life in november 2017. speaking today, designated safer internet day, the culture minister margot james warned the government was planning new legislation to ensure social media sites protect their users. the white paper, which my department dcms are producing with the home office, will be followed by a consultation over the summer, and it will set out new legislative measures to ensure

that the platforms remove illegal content and prioritise the protection of users, especially children, young people and vulnerable adults. and it will also include ambitious measures to support a continued education and awareness for all users and to promote the development of new safety technologies. we want to get to a place where we can all enjoy the huge benefits that technology has to offer without children and other vulnerable individuals being put at risk of serious harm. the music chain hmv, which collapsed in december, has been saved by a canadian record company. sunrise records says hmv has a bright future and will buy 100 stores, but 27 will close, including the flagship store in london's oxford street. the new owners say they'll be listening to what their customers

want, including a greater selection of vinyl records. lizo mzimba has the details. newsreel: lunch-time, a quick stampede to the record shop. for decades, hmv stores have been a huge part of life for music fans and for some of music's biggest artists. now, while100 stores have been saved, 27 are being shut down, including the one where it all started almost 100 years ago on london's oxford street. a perhaps inevitable consequence of a music—loving public who still enjoy shopping in person, but who also embrace consumer music online. i do occasionally look online. and if something's way, way cheaper, i'll probably get it there, but i prefer to go into a shop. people are ordering online, they're streaming. and really, there's still a crowd of people

who want to come and browse. we rely on so many other things now, streaming music, we stream tv, we stream films, and they've got to find a business model so they can survive. enter doug putman, owner of canadian retailer sunrise records, hmv‘s new owners. we took over, you know, 80 some odd stores in canada almost two and a half years ago. and they're doing strong, doing well, profitable. we see hmv continuing on in the uk for a long time. the challenges are significant. hmv once made its money from huge sales of cds and games, all of which have been plummeting year—on—year. at the same time, like so many high street stores, they say they've been hit by unsustainable rent levels. but even though many stores — including perhaps this one, theirflagship — are closing, they are still confident that hmv can exist up and down the country through to its centenary in 2021 and beyond.

lizo mzimba, bbc news. now it's time for a look at the weather with chris fawkes. hello there. it's been a cloudy and murky kind of day today across southern england with extensive hill fog patches, and those patches of hill fog will continue to loiter overnight tonight as well. that was the scene earlier on in west sussex over some of the hills in southern england. elsewhere, we've got rain pushing its way eastwards at the moment. the rain turning heavier across northern ireland into western scotland, and another pulse of heavy rain will spread into wales and northern england for a time. and all this will push its way further eastwards overnight. notice how the skies clear. some showers following to western scotland and perhaps parts of northern ireland overnight. temperatures will start to dip away in the north and west of the uk, but staying milder and cloudier south and east. 0n into wednesday morning, and it's probably going to stay quite cloudy across southeast england. we may well see another pulse of rain working along our wriggling weather front across southeast

england and perhaps east anglia as well. further north and west, we've got some showers for western scotland and perhaps rain returning to northern ireland. a mild day for most with temperatures around to 8—11 degrees. that's your weather. hello, this is bbc news. the headlines... the prime minister pledges to secure a brexit deal, which ensures no hard border between northern ireland and the republic. i know that the prospect of changing the backstop and reopening the withdrawal agreement creates anxieties because it is here the consequences of whatever is agreed will be most felt. four children have died in a house fire in stafford, with tributes to the young victims posted on social media. police describe the scene, as heartbreaking. actor liam neeson denies being a racist, after telling a journalist he once wanted to kill a black person because someone close to him was raped by a black man.

the un is warning about the impact of pollution on children, it says the uk has the highest number suffering from respiratory conditions in europe. and president trump is putting the finishing touches to tonight's state of the union address, aides say the theme is national unity. and coming up, why this man chose to leave the ultra—orthodoxjewish community he was brought up in. mps are tonight debating the amount of money councils in england receive from central government. the govenment is proposing to provide local authorities with an extra £1.3 billion to spend on social care and roads, but the local government association says there is a funding gap of almost £3 billion. many councils say they are having to cut key services as a result. 0ur political correspondent

alex forsyth has been to see the impact in surrey. kian, i'll get your bag out for you in a minute, and i'll do yourjuice. first thing in farnham and it's school time for kian. he has autism and adhd, so isn't in mainstream education. he attends a special school. kian, can you get your shoes on please? getting enough support has been a battle for his mother eliseu, and now she is part of a group of pa rents involved in a legal challenge over surrey county council's plan to cut millions from its budget for special educational needs. it's not asking for violin lessons, this is asking for speech and language to enable them to communicate and that is fundamental. if a child cannot communicate they are not part of society. not far away, in reigate, another group of mothers is fighting for a different service. 31 children centres in surrey are due to close — places these parents have relied on. we've recently had a bereavement, and it was her twin brother that died, and it was very difficult

for us, and because it was such an inclusive and warm and comfortable environment, and the staff was so amazing, they made me feel comfortable and i could start getting out and about more, which meant i was a better mother. it's really isolating as a first timm mum, but having somewhere you can go and talk to other people who are going through the same struggles as you. i don't know what i would have done without it. in surrey, the county council says it has to make hard choices. like authorities across england, the grant it gets from government has reduced in recent years, but demand for crucial services has grown. the government has given councils some extra money, particularly to help with social care, and some are allowed to keep more of what they collect in business rates, and many are putting up council tax by as much as they are allowed. but most say a long—term funding solution is needed. it is something the government is looking at.

we said at the conservative conference last year that austerity is coming to an end because of some of those really tough calls councils have had to make, and i think we should look more positively towards the new spending review. we provide support, advice, parenting. back in surrey, any future spending sees far off for services struggling now. the council says it's targeting support where it is most needed, but even this children's centre where it is staying open says it will face pressures. we are bursting at the seams in this one building. if we have more families to look after, we are really struggling to know how we will meet the need. meeting need and balancing budgets has been a challenge for councils across the country. many are hoping the extra funding they have got from government this year signals a change of tune. alex forsyth, bbc news, surrey. in a few hours time, president donald trump will give his delayed state of the union address

to america, marking his presidency‘s midway point. he won't have a television audience this big again until voting is underway in the 2020 election. sitting behind the president will be nancy pelosi, the democratic speaker who hasjust caused mr trump the biggest political upset of his time in office. he's expected to tout a strong economy and labour market as among his greatest successes. other areas mr trump is likely to address are: the border wall, infrastructure spending plans, plans to tackle the hiv epidemic, and what next with north korea and trade. joining me now is professor capri cafaro. professor cafaro is a former democratic member of the ohio senate and is from the politics & public affairs school at the american university in washington. thank you very much for being with us thank you very much for being with us professor and we had to wait to

hear from the us professor and we had to wait to hearfrom the president us professor and we had to wait to hear from the president and will it be worth waiting for? the state of the union is always a big ticket items so to speak and every year it gets the commander in chief the president of the united states and international audience to lay out his priorities, his vision for the future and it is always high—stakes, no matter who is president. this time in particular because of the longest government shut and american history, 35 days and a looming shut down coming and about ten or 12 days in the future here, i think there is certainly a lot more at stake than maybe a previous state of the unions. that shut down and part very much due to his proposals for a wall among the mexican border and we can expect to hear more about that?|j would expect to hear more about that?” would think so. he has taken to the airways a number of times including doing when it is only if not his

only, oval office address to the national audience a few weeks back to talk about what he is now calling a borderfence, border security so we will hear him talk about the wall and talk about the risks of not having a wall or fortified fence at the southern border of the united states but i think what we will see is him probably not calling it a wall and calling it something like a borderfence or a barrier wall and calling it something like a border fence or a barrier because theissue border fence or a barrier because the issue of the wall where it has been a matter of semantics and a sticking point politically between democrats and republicans. we hear that he hopes to strike a more bipartisan and move it and it will be about national unity so do you expect the town will be a little more conciliatory. may be consolatory is a little too far but i think what he is trying to do is frame himself and brand himself and

he stated the union as someone who is willing to bargain and come to the table and compromise with democrats. i think that is a political calculus to put the ball backin political calculus to put the ball back in the democrat's court to say iam back in the democrat's court to say i am willing to come to the table and if you are not then you are an obstructionist democrat party and there is a political calculus behind there is a political calculus behind the set up. but you have to look at future efforts, whether it is tweets oi’ future efforts, whether it is tweets or actual negotiations to see whether or not the bipartisan tenor and tone goes beyond the state of the union and into actual practise. a thought on the choreography, the camera will be trained on him and he will have and i lie in the form of the vice president and you will have nancy pelosi, a powerful woman in the house of representatives. a lot

of people watch the vice president and speaker of the house closer than they did the president of the united states, even if it is just for fun but there is a lot to be said sometimes, actions speak louder than words and i am sure that the american public will be looking particularly to nancy pelosi and how she presents herself and whether she stands, sits, claps and etc, as a sign, dt reeves on where she stands on some of the policy issues that he will bring up tonight. thank you very much for making time to speak to us tonight. and you canjoin katty for live coverage and analysis of the state of the union speech here on the bbc news channel from 2am. stay up late that you will get to watch all of those faces and the reactions. the uk is home to more children suffering from respiratory conditions than anywhere else in europe. the impact of toxic air is undeniable. the verdict of un children's agency who together with the royal college of paediatrics have investigated the effect of air pollution on children in the uk.

they've found agreed air pollution limits are persistently breached and that's left children in the grip of what they're calling a public health emergency. 0ur environment correspondent claire marshall has the details. can you put this over your mouth because i am worried about the fumes. we are right next to a busy bus. this is the school run for her and her children. his it began three months after he started school and had to stop making this journey, he has been to a hospital seven times over the last few years. joining them on the walk, she says it happens most often after he has been breathing polluted air. are you worried? he could suffocate. she is

having to have chest x—rays and feels like the situation has to change. my children are reacting seriously to this, this is not a nothing about matters. ijust thought it out, like our children are propagating and don't go with it much longer. in today's unicef report, leading health professionals urged government to put children's health at the heart of the antipollution strategy. we are concerned that the air pollution for the young children as a public health disaster, it affects their young black lung growth and all these things have implications —— affects their lung growth. this has brought a face to the worries of

pollution and she lived beside one of the busiest roads and went in and died after a spike in illegal levels ofair died after a spike in illegal levels of air pollution and she could be the first person with pollution listed as a cause of death. it is ha rd to listed as a cause of death. it is hard to make a link between exhaust vm and health problems and according to the report, the public is not told enough of the dangerous. this is on told enough of the dangerous. this isona told enough of the dangerous. this is on a busy london road and puts up iv screams. you need to get outside and get fresh air however if pollution is around you, where are you going to get the fresh air?“ everyone in the countryjust used public transport more, i would have a big impact on the amount of air pollution going into school's playgrounds. the government says it is doing all it can, while the

bristol city council has set itself ambitious targets and says more funding is needed. more than a week since the collapse of a dam in brazil, the death toll stands at 134 with 199 people still missing. those who survived are trying to piece together what happened to their loved ones. 0ur south america correspondent katy watson has been to the site of the disaster in brumadinho, south—eastern brazil to talk to one woman who's lost six members of her family and another who had the narrowest of escapes. when the dam broke there was little hope for those in the path of the deluge that followed. panic, as drivers struggle to save themselves. elias was driving one of the trucks that day. it sounded like an explosion, but he soon realised what had happened. translation: we saw the mud coming, told my friend sebastian "run, the dam has burst." you can see on video my truck moving from one side to the other.

there was no way out. we asked god to protect us, even though it was staring us in the face. they survived. this was the aftermath. his pick—up, he says, was like a grain of sand tossed about in the chaos. i meet this man, searching for the bodies of his brother and cousin in the sludge. this is their overturned truck. translation: my world has ended. i know i won't find them alive here, but if we are not on top of the search the authorities will stop looking. but in this sludge the recovery effort is slow. there has been lots of rain in the last 24 hours and these firefighters are returning to areas, hoping with the extra water it might have displaced the mud and they can recover more bodies. every so often they find something. a body bag is flown back to waiting families. the events of this past

week are still hard to process for this woman. she was to become a grandmother. when the dam collapsed, that dream ended. her daughter, son and pregnant daughter—in—law were killed when a wall of sludge slammed into the hotel they were staying in. her ex—husband and his wife died with them. she spells out the initials of her children, relatives and unborn baby, lorenzo. translation: and they were thrown, i don't know where. they died from cranial trauma and asphyxia. that was the coroner's verdict. i do not know if it was a slow or quick death. the family's mourning is made all the harder because they have not found all of the bodies yet. in the distance, the search goes on. katie watson, bbc news, brumadinho.

it is 8:47pm. the headlines on bbc news... the prime minister pledges to secure a brexit deal, which ensures no hard border between northern ireland and the republic. four children have died in a house fire in stafford, with tributes to the young victims posted on social media. police describe the scene, as heartbreaking. actor liam neeson denies being a racist, after telling a journalist he once wanted to kill a black person because someone close to him was raped by a black man. today's impact on air pollution has shown that uk greenhouse gas emissions fell by 2.7% in the uk

between 2016 in 2017 partly because of the closure of cold fire power stations. the office for national statistics says it's the continuation of a long—term trend, which has seen uk emissions come down by more than 40 % since 1990. but environmental campaigners say much of today's pollution comes from transport, and huge challenges remain. they warn government policies — such as increasing aviation, will only increase pollution. corinne le quere is a professor on climate change a the university of east anglia, shejoins me now from norwich. thank you so much for being with us this evening. it let's talk first of all about the headline, that co2 emissions have fallen again and on the face of it is good news. indeed, very good news. however, the fall is caused by or do to living out of coal as you are just saying and power plants and replacing it by

biomass and wind power for generating electricity. that is very good but it is very narrow. it is only one sector of the economy and then we have all the other sectors of the economy particularly transport where the emissions have stagnated especially in the last five years. let's unpack some of those more challenging areas where difficulties remain, you mentioned transport and the feeling seems to be that some government policy is at odds with trying to bring the figures down even lower. we are missing a vision on transport and the emissions from transport have increased in the last five years and we are driving bigger cars, less efficient cars and more miles. there is really a lack there of an incentive to move away from the car oi’ incentive to move away from the car or transportation so walking and cycling and taking public transport and cities for example. to also moving to smaller cars, more efficient cars and electric

vehicles. one of the other areas and in fact some of the areas get mentioned as needing attention our agriculture and some sectors of industry, talk to us about those if you wait. in agriculture, the incentives are voluntary at the moment and so there is really very little regulation for reducing regulations in agriculture and the amount is really driven by what we eat. so the food we eat, particularly if we eat lots of meat and lots of red meat, this causes a lot of emissions and agriculture and there is rule here for the customer to think about the food we eat and if we were to eatjust aligning with nhs guidelines for good health, it would make a huge difference in the emissions for agriculture in the uk and not as depressing as it may seem. and not as depressing as it may seem. said there is a rule for

government, legislation and individual, so we are looking at a target of 80% reduction in carbon dioxide emissions and does not look realistic? it will be hard for sure andi realistic? it will be hard for sure and i would say the next few years are and i would say the next few years a re really and i would say the next few years are really critical years because we almost moved entirely away from coal and power generation and it is really the sector is now where people matter, and people have to make a choice whether we are going to reduce our emissions as a society oi’ to reduce our emissions as a society or not. and fisher government has a huge role to play there, to set the direction of travel and people need to be on board as well. there are almost 60,000 ultra—orthodox jews living in the uk, they maintain a very traditional way of life and the majority live here in london. but one man has spoken out about his experience as a hasidicjew, and why he chose to leave the community. alice porter reports. there has been a jewish population in london for almost a thousand years.

around 2% of londoners arejewish. he grew up in stamford hill and his life as a hasidicjew within the orthodox community was cut off from the rest of london. our life was devoted to service of god and the way that is understood by hasidic texts. we did not have access to media or internet or like that. because of his isolated childhood, he was brought up only speaking yiddish but a routine checkup at the dentist prompted him to learn english in secret. the dentist asked me where in my mouth it was hurting but i cannot respond to them because i did not know english. and i was like i am 18 and i cannot go to the dentist on my own. that is not ok. growing up, he felt he did not fit into this community and was unhappy at the unregistered schools he attended. i'd come running out after being hit by teachers, heading home,

it was not a pleasant experience. eventually he made the difficult decision to leave the hasidic community. most of my former friends and family cut me off, mainly following the directions of their rabbis who said i am a spiritual danger to them. so i am not in contact with the majority of people i knew back then. we spoke to someone who is closely linked to thejewish community and asked him whether his experience was typical. hasidicjudaism is one strand ofjudaism which is actually quite diverse. there are many other people who would have had a different experience. who would have learned english from a young age, would have experienced secular studies. i am in stamford hill where he grew up and nobody from his old community wanted to talk to us on camera for religious reasons but they deny any wrongdoing and say members are free to leave when they choose. but for people like him who do decide to leave,

establishing a new way of life can be an incredibly challenging but there are organisations which provide supports. when they decide to leave or connect with the wider community, are having to reinvent themselves and i think the process of reinventing yourself can take many months and years. despite leaving school with no qualifications, he is now happy at university but he does miss parts of his old life. people in this community care very much for each other and look after each other, and in my new life it is different and there is not the type of community feeling that comes with more freedom, but you can feel a little lonely. london's ultra—orthodox jewish population is growing but as people choose to leave, continuing to maintain this traditional way of life may prove challenging. alice porter, bbc, london news. more than a billion people around the world have begun celebrating the chinese new year, and the year of the pig.

at beijing's lama temple, people burned the first joss sticks of the year, in the hope of good luck. the pig is one of the 12 signs of the chinese zodiac and symbolises good fortune and wealth. let's take a look at some of the history and the traditions behind the chinese new year celebrations with the help of some children from manchester's chinese cultural centre. so a long time ago there was a monster who every year would come to the village, eat live—stocks, destroy all the crops. he would not be seen until next year of chinese new year. there was an old man, he scared the monster away and the monster was scared of three things, the colour red, fire and fire crackers. my favourite thing about chinese new year is that we get red envelope that have money inside. i would like £1 million. i really do not care. i will spend my money on candy. cheering.

different foods in chinese new year mean different things. for example, a tangerine means good luck. these pastries represent gold and fortune because they are both golden brown. this is a watermelon seed, which represent growth and long life. my favourite thing about chinese new year is playing games with my friends. happy chinese new year! lovely staff. now it's time for a look at the weather. air has been quite a marquee into the day across southern counties of england, with fog shrouding some of the buildings in london as well and one of the early weather watch pictures showing the extent of the fog but now attention is turning to

rain and wet weather pushing its way eastwards with some heavy rain at the moment and spreading into parts of northern england but on the satellite picture, that is the rain bearing cloud but we are keeping an eye on this cloud in the atlantic because this could bring some strong winds and we head into the first pa rt winds and we head into the first part of the morning and we will take a look at the 19 forecast before we get there. across the southeast with some spots of rain but that is where the mildest air will be overnight with lows of 11 in london and clear skies elsewhere allowing temperatures to drop away and those showers continue on into wednesday as well. having the best of the day's weather, parts of the midlands and northeast areas of scotland where we have some hazy sunshine though the rain may well pull us back to the southeast of england and showers perhaps emerging together to get plenty of spells of rain and now

some uncertainty with the forecast through wednesday night and the uncertainty is how close these weather fronts get. if they stay apart will they are looking at for thursday as we will have a spell of wet weather pushing its way eastwards a ci’oss wet weather pushing its way eastwards across the country and it will be quite windy but it will clear it followed by sunshine and showers more frequent to across western areas. areas of six or 7 degrees in the north and eight to 10 degrees in the north and eight to 10 degrees and miles. we might get a zone of stronger winds across southwest england wednesday night but then the low pressure will deepen out towards the north sea and will get a swathe of strong winds and that is just something to bear in mind as something that could happen. the system will be out of the way as we look at the picture for friday and we replace it with an area of low pressure and it will bring wet and windy weather with gales, even severe gales. it will be

mild along with windy weather and also some heavy rain sweeping its ways eastwards and quite unsettled heading into the weekend as well. and that is the weather. hello, i'm ros atkins, this is outside source. the riddle of the irish border contrinues to overshadow the uk's brexit dealings. today, the prime minister went to northern ireland to promise she's taking the issue seriously. i'm determined to work towards a solution that can command broader support across the community in northern ireland. donald trump prepares to give his second state of the union speech. we're expecting news of a new summit with kimjong—un and an improbable bipartisan message. liam neeson insists he's not a racist after this

recording from an interview promoting his latest film is released. i'm ashamed to say that, and i did it for maybe a week, hoping some "black bleep" would come out of a pub and have a go at me