this is bbc news, i'm rachel schofield. the headlines at 11:00pm: on a visit to belfast, theresa may assures business leaders the government would prevent any return to a hard border between northern ireland and the republic. northern ireland does not have to rely on the irish government or the european union to prevent a return to the borders of the past. the uk government will not let that happen. 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. mr neeson, are you sorry for what you said? the actor liam neeson denies he is a racist, after recalling how he wanted kill any black man, following the rape of a friend a0 years ago. i could have said an irish, or a scot or a brit or a lithuanian, i

know it would have had the same effect. the un says persistent and illegal breaches of air pollution limits across the uk are a violation of the rights of children. and president trump puts the finishing touches to tonight's state of the union address. aides say the theme is national unity. and at 11:30pm, we will be taking another look at the papers with deputy editor of the new statesman george eaton and political strategist jo tanner. theresa may says she wants the european union to agree to changes to the so—called irish backstop in her brexit withdrawal deal, but she has suggested she might not seek to remove it altogether from the agreement. after speaking to business leaders in belfast today, the prime minister will travel to brussels for talks on thursday. the backstop is the provision that

would guarantee an open border between northern ireland and the republic until there is a comprehensive trade deal with the eu. that means there would be no checks at the border. the whole of the uk would have to continue to obey eu rules on the trade in goods, and in some respects, northern ireland would have to remain closer to the eu than the rest of the uk. but critics say the backstop could mean trade is governed by eu rules indefinitely. however, supporters argue it is a crucial insurance policy. from belfast, here is our deputy political editorjohn pienaar. it is 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, then that will slow down our business, and will make our competitors in the eu countries far more attractive. so today, mrs may came with words of reassurance. there would 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. well, 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 that 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 we will be working with others, with the irish government and with 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. her message today — get round the backstop or no dup support. most people in northern ireland voted to remain. businesses, they would support mrs may's deal. are you playing a dangerous game of who blinks first? it's not a dangerous game at all. it's a game of trying to find a long—term, sustainable 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 that if the brinkmanship goes on long enough, brexiteer rebels could fall into line for fear of losing brexit altogether. but, 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 is 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. four children aged between three and eight have died in a fire at their home in stafford, in the west midlands. their mother managed to jump from a first—floor window with a younger child and her partner. the local fire and crime commissioner paid tribute to the emergency services, and described what happened as heartbreaking. sima kotecha reports. windows shattered, the inside of the house blackened by the fire that ripped through the upstairs.

it happened close to 3:00am in the highfields area of stafford. eyewitnesses say it sounded like an explosion. four children were killed. from left to right, six—year—old keegan unitt, four—year—old tilly rose unitt, three—year—old olly unitt, and eight—year—old riley holt. well, firefighters were faced with very difficult conditions inside the property, due to the severity of the fire. our 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 ‘til now. i thought they'd all got out. the flames were intense. it just went that quick into the roof. it was coming out the roof in seconds, weren't it? four young lives gone, and a community left shaken and devastated. sima kotecha, bbc news, stafford. the hollywood actor liam neeson has denied he is 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. nick bryant reports. 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? 0h, definitely. if she'd said an irish or a scot or a brit or a lithuanian, i know i would have had the same effect. i was trying to...show honour to my — stand up for my dear friend in this terrible, medieval fashion.

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. carl's dead — tell me what happened. 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. i asked, did she know who it was? no. what colour were they? she said it was a black person. there has been outrage at those remarks, but some

have commended his honesty, and viewers saw his own personal torment written across his face. wow, i'm just shocked. i couldn't believe he would say something like that. he's a — 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. he was on a public platform... at black theatre live, in london, young actors gave us their reaction. him using that language in the interview, in light of his influence, is naive. i agree with you. i don't think we should vilify him, but the statement that he made is problematic. for liam neeson, today was supposed to be about promoting his new movie, but instead, he is 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.

joining me via webcam from la is magazine editor vas morgan. thank you very much for being with us. thank you very much for being with us. to pick up on a point in that report, should we be outraged or should we commend the honesty of liam neeson? i think we should be outraged. i thinkjust because you do something on your honest about it, it doesn't make it right. i don't think it matters whether it was yesterday, a0 years ago, tomorrow, he is showing absolutely no remorse for the racial content of his statement, is really concerning. he said he has apologised for, you know, the murderous revenge that he went after, but the use words like that and to vilify a whole race of people because of the actions of one is completely unacceptable. i think a lot of people who are rushing to his defence are finding it really difficult to separate the man from

the talent, which is something we've seen the talent, which is something we've seen a the talent, which is something we've seen a lot of recently. but what you need to think yourself is if this was someone else, need to think yourself is if this was someone else, how would you respond? if you are the mother of a black child that was innocently killed because another black person did something wrong, how would you feel? you know, the whole black lives matter think is people being pulled over and shot because of something another black person has done. you can't vilify a whole race of people because one has done something, and if you reverse the roles and if a black actor had said he went around looking for any white bastard to kill because a white person raped his friend, what would the reaction has been? because i feel that the reaction would have been very different, they would have been very different, they would have been outrage. do you think if he had said within the context of this that he felt his actions were racist, and he felt his actions were racist, and he had owned that is the source of his feelings, that this would have been a different kind of debate? yes, it would have been completely different. because if someone had...

you know, everyone comes from different breeds, you can't really blame somebody‘s actions a0 years ago if they acknowledge it today, but is not acknowledging the race is a minute, which is what is so scary. i have had experiences where people have come to meet with dramatic events at the last thing i think to say as what colour were they. because if someone is telling me they have been raped, are you 0k, who were they, do you know the person, these are the questions that come into your head, not what colour are they? the colour of someone who isa criminal are they? the colour of someone who is a criminal is irrelevant, so why he even felt the need to ask the colour and go around and look the innocent black people is, like, crazy for me. do you think this will damage his career, and you think it ought to? i think, you know, we have seen a ought to? i think, you know, we have seen a lot of careers go down with the #metoo movement and with so many things happening right now, and this for me isjust things happening right now, and this for me is just as things happening right now, and this for me isjust as harmful. what things happening right now, and this for me is just as harmful. what he has done essentially is normalised the racism. he has so many fans, he

is influential, to say that it's ok to go and look for black lasted so killed, and not even apologise for that, is normalised it. so there needs to be some action taken. his career can't just run smoothly needs to be some action taken. his career can'tjust run smoothly after saying something like this, and not even thinking he should apologise. do you think there is anything positive that has come out of this furore, even the fact it has opened a debate and got people thinking and got people talking about the way they respond to people who are different to them? yes, i think what has come out of it is that now we can see someone who has come out of it is that now we can see someone who has the power and influence of liam neeson, and the audience that he has, if he has these views, like itjust shows you that many other people out there problem we have the same views, and maybe, hopefully, iam hoping the debates that are happening will challenge those people's views, and make them see we can't look at people through colours of skin, through sexuality, through anything but who they are as a person. if someone's a criminal, that one, a person deserves to be treated as a criminal, not his whole race of

people. whether he be indian, asian, white, it doesn't matter. you can't penalise a whole race of people based on the actions of one. thank you for making time to speak to us on bbc news, thank you. police in paris believe a fire that engulfed a block of flats, killing ten people and injuring at least 30 others, was started deliberately. a woman who lives in the apartments, in the south—west of the city, has been arrested. 200 firefighters spent more than five hours trying to bring the blaze under control. police officers searching for the 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. while the body hasn't been formally identified, mr williams's family has been informed of the discovery. it's 11:15pm. here are our 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. and as we've just been discussing, 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. now, the un says persistent and illegal breaches of air pollution limits across the uk are a violation of the rights of children to grow up in a clean and safe environment. the united nation's children's agency, unicef, together with the royal college of paediatrics, have investigated the effects of air pollution on children across the country, and believe the government needs a specific strategy to protect the most vulnerable. 0ur environment correspondent claire marshall reports from bristol. oh, no, there's two of our buses! this is the school run for ella and her children, through the centre of bristol.

jay has seizures — his first one was three months after he began school, when he started making this journey. he's been to hospital seven times over the last three years. ella told me he mostly has seizures after he's been breathing polluted air. does it make you worried? yeah, 'cause you could suffocate from the fumes. lily's repeated chest infections are now so bad she's having to have chest x—rays. you need to get on the bus now. ella fears they'll have to move out of the city. my two children are reacting seriously to this. this is like not a messing about matter. literally, our children are suffocating. and i can't cope with it much longer. in today's unicef report, leading health professionals urge the government to put children's health at the heart of its anti—pollution strategy.

we're very concerned. i mean, air pollution for these young children is a public health disaster. it affects their lung growth, it causes new—onset asthma, it makes them more vulnerable to pneumonia. all of these things have implications in childhood but also implications going right through to adult life. ella kissi—debrah's death has brought a face to the horrors of pollution. she lived beside one of the busiest roads in london, suffering years of seizures and asthma attacks. she could be the first person to have pollution put on her death certificate. it's still very hard to make a direct link between exhaust fumes and a specific health problem. there's a disconnect, and according to today's report, the public aren't being told enough about the dangers. some city schools are doing what they can. ambler primary school is on a busy north london road, but step through the gates — they've won a grant to plant trees

and put up ivy screens to shield the playground from pollution. they also run anti—idling schemes. if we don't do something about the air pollution soon, people are going to start getting asthma, they're going to get lung diseases, they're going to eventually get really sick. if everyone in the countryjust used the public transport more, then it would actually have a big impact on the amount of air pollution going into schools's playgrounds. we just need to find as many ways as we can to mitigate, so that we can still use the playground and not feel that coming out isn't about fresh air, it is about being able to run around in the outside. the government says it's doing all it can, while bristol city council has set itself ambitious targets and says more funding is needed. claire marshall, bbc news, bristol. a man has died after he was stabbed in south london. police were called to an address in battersea, where they found the man, believed to be 19 years old, with stab injuries.

he died at the scene. in a few hours's 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. 0ur north america correspondent katty kay sent us this update. while, at the white house says that president trump sharpie pen in hand has spent the day putting his final edit to this speech, something like a0 million americans are expected to

tune in and he knows that he is not going to get this big television audience until this turned next year, by wendy 2020 election campaign will be well under way. —— this time. so the challenge of president trump is to reach out to voters in the middle of the unifying, uplifting time that but at the same time keep his base happy, and we can expect some tough language on immigration and of course that water wall. i did speak to somebody from the president trump re—election campaign who did say to me that she prefers that unifying tone, that will help his chances. of course, it is notjust about what he says, it is also about the spectacle of any state of the union on the night, sitting right behind president trump will be the democratic speaker of nancy pelosi. she of course is the woman who forced into cable and the government shut down and she will be in almost every shot, it is almost a visual reminder of the fact that this is a new, much tougher political landscape of donald trump here in

washington. —— who forced him to back down on the government shutdown. and you canjoin katty for live coverage and analysis of the state of the union speech here on the bbc news channel from 2am. make yourself another coffee, i think it will be worth watching. mps have approved the amount of money councils in england will receive from central government for the next financial year. ministers have announced an extra £1.3 billion will be available to spend on social care and roads. but the local government association says there's now a funding gap of almost £3 billion. in the last decade, council spending on services has reduced significantly, with the institute for fiscal studies estimating a fall of around 18% in real terms, between 2009 and 2016. now some councils say cuts will have to continue — among them surrey county council — as our political correspondent alex forsyth reports. kian, i'll get your bag out foryou in a minute, 0k? and i'll do yourjuice. first thing in farnham, and it's almost school time for kian.

he has autism and adhd, so isn't in mainstream education. he attends a special school. kian? can you come and get your shoes on, please? getting enough support has been a battle for his mum, alicia. now she's part of a group of parents involved in a legal challenge over surrey county council's plan to cut millions from its budget for special educational needs, worried about the possible impact. i rightfully feel cross that thse children — that we have to fight to get the support that our children actually need, you know? this is not asking for violin lessons, this is asking for speech and language to enable them to communicate. that's fundamental. if a child can't communicate, then they're not part of society. not far away, in reigate, another group of mothers is fighting for a different service. 31 children's centres in surrey are due to close, places these parents have all relied on. we've recently had a bereavement. it was actually eileen's twin brother that died, so it was a very difficult time for us, and because it was such

an inclusive and warm, comfortable environment, and the staff there were so amazing, they made me feel comfortable, i could start getting out and about more, which meant i was a better mum, i think. it's really isolating when you're a first—time mum, but having somewhere that you can go and talk to other people that are going through the same struggles as you, ijust don't know what i would have done without it. in surrey, the county council says it's having 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. some are allowed to keep more of what they collect in business rates. many are putting up council tax by as much as they're allowed. but most say a long—term funding solution is needed. it's something the government is looking at. 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. we provide support, advice, parenting... back in surrey, any future spending seems far off for services struggling now. the council says it's targeting support where it's most needed, but even this children's centre, which is staying open, says it will face pressures. we feel we're bursting at the seams in this one building. if we've got more families to look after, we really are struggling to know how we're going to meet that need. meeting need and balancing budgets has been a challenge for councils across the country. many hoping the extra funding they've got from government this year signals a change of tune. alex forsyth, bbc news, surrey. the music and entertainment chain, hmv, has been bought out of administration by the canadian retailer, sunrise records. the move safeguards 1500 jobs and 100 shops, but 27 stores will close, including the flagship on oxford street, in central london.

others in bath, glasgow, manchester and bristol will also shut. the new owners say they'll focus on giving customers more of what they want, including a greater selection of vinyl records. here's lizo mzimba. lunchtime — 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, while 100 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. today's would—be shoppers perhaps an illustration of hmv‘s falling relevance to younger, online heavy consumers, and its continuing value to others. people are ordering online, they're streaming, and really there is 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 putnam, 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're being 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 the weather with chris fawkes. hello there. january was very dry for the hello there. january was very dry forthe uk, hello there. january was very dry for the uk, but mother nature will be doing its best to make amends with a lot of rain coming away over the next coming days. the satellite picture shows an area of low pressure to the west of the uk that this area of card is worth keeping an eye on because this could develop into quite a windy system as we go through wednesday night and into the first part of thursday. we will keep a close eye on that. the time being on wednesday, essentially we have got a weather front across the far south—east, so he will have a lot of clu bs start south—east, so he will have a lot of clubs start of the day, perhaps a little bit of rain working in especially as we go to the afternoon, we could see another cold swing along that front. some uncertainty without detail. showers along western scotland northern ireland, may well get a lengthy speu ireland, may well get a lengthy spell of rain in the afternoon. it should be largely dry and bright

with some hazy spells of sunshine and it will stay mild. the uncertainty comes really the wednesday night and just how close this to whether funds get. if they stay apart, will be looking at fairly brisk winds, bells rang pushing eastwards across the country, little bit of snow the highest ground in scotland and nothing significant, and as the rain flows through, some showers coming in the western areas through the afternoon with some showers and sunshine interspersed. 67 degrees across the north, it is getting a bit cooler here, into 10 degrees across much of england and wales. however, if those two funds get a bit closer together and interact a bit closer together and interact a bit more, we could actually get quite a deep area of low pressure. in that scenario, we could get in strong winds across england on sunday night and first thing thursday morning, strong winds affecting eastern counties of england. it is just something to bearin england. it is just something to bear in mind at this stage. friday, we have some area of low pressure

moving in and that is going to bring a spell of wet and windy weather across the whole of the uk. this deepening area of low pressure and outbreaks of rain spilling into all areas as well. gay was developing around that low, so it will be blustery everywhere but notice that the vast majority, the winds are coming in from a south—westerly direction, mild direction as those temperatures are ten to 12 degrees widely across the uk, is a very mild february day. into the weekend, the low pressure moves out into the northern north sea, we do have some showers working in across the north of scotla nd showers working in across the north of scotland otherwise winds coming into the north—westerly direction, still relatively mild. 18 degrees across england, perhaps a little bit of snow over the very highest ground in scotland. heading into sunday, we could see another area of low pressure, this time targeting the south of the country.