you're watching beyond 100 days. democrats in the house launch a massive investigation into president trump's campaign, business, foreign relations — into pretty much everything. he hits back with a string of angry tweets — accusing the opposition of presidential harassment. adam schiff, the democrat in charge, has raised the prospect of russian money laundering through the trump organisation. mr trump calls him a political hack. virginia markets itself as the state for lovers. but with its politics in a real mess, the new york post has another idea. also on the programme. a un special rapporteur investigating the killing of saudi journalist jamal khashoggi says it was a premeditated murder by saudi officials, which demands the world's urgent attention. theresa may leaves brussels empty handed but will return before the months end. labour say they will lend support to her deal, on five conditions. what a creep, what a repella nt insect. so why not buy a cockroach this valentines day

and name it after the ex? hello and welcome. i'm katty kay in washington and christian fraser is in london. forget the special counsel's russia probe, that could end up being small compared to what house democrats have planned for donald trump. they've just announced a bigger than expected investigation into his relations with russia, saudi arabia and anywhere else — into issues of possible leverage and into his global business dealings. basically, into all aspects of donald trump's financial and political life. not surprisingly the president is furious. today he tweeted. quick history note — republicans in congress conducted investigations into president obama for four years. it's part of politics. now they're in power, democrats are using the same tactics. in his state of the union

address, mr trump warned them not to go too far. if there is going to be peace and legislation, there cannot be war and investigation. it just doesn't work that way. for the view from capitol hill we spoke a brief time ago with republican congressman markwayne mullin from oklahoma. house democrats have just said they're going to launch a sweeping investigation into the president's business dealings, his campaign. he's responded angrily on twitter but surely if he has nothing to hide, if he's innocent, wouldn't he welcome these investigations to clear the air? well i think at some point this becomes harassment and what we've seen since the president has been in office, two years, one investigation after the other and they haven't been able to dig up anything on him. and so at some point

when does it become enough? at this point i feel like this isn't political harassment, this is personal harassment, and the president is beginning to take it personal and i agree with him. i don't think any of us would like this. it's like the irs coming after us. and continuing to harass us. there's a path where we can call it harassment and you have to take it to the courts. at some point this is what's going to have to happen here too i guess. i guess harassment is the word of the day, the president used it as well. that would be fine but darrell issa, who was the republican in charge of the oversight committee during the obama years said "i want seven hearings a week, time is a0 weeks." republicans did this too when a democrat was president. yeah and we didn'tjust keep coming after the president. we were looking not personally at him but we were looking at aca, whether decisions he had made through executive orders, they weren't personal attacks.

what's happening with the trump administration is the democrats continue to attack him personally and it's come to the point of to the point of an infatuation because of the hatred they'd have towards him directly. senate negotiators have a week to find some sort of agreement on funding for border security. are you suggesting that the sort of investigations could undermine that effort to find a compromise? 100%, they aren't willing to compromise with the president at all. he did the state of the union and he didn't say anything that should have been divisive. even when you start talking about border security and building a wall, that's something they democrats have voted for multiple times, under president obama. even hillary clinton talked about it in her campaign.

this isn't anything we shouldn't be doing. the only thing is we've allowed politics to get in the way and as long as that happens, we are going to be at a standstill when it comes to moving forward in this country. but you tweeted the other day that congress has a responsibility to put country before party and prevent another of these shutdowns. that's right. if the democrats stand in the way of finding the wall but put money in for border security, are you saying you aren't in the mood for compromise? no, i'm all about compromise and negotiations, as i would prefer to call it but part of border security is building a wall, a physical barrier that works. we know it works. as i've said, i have a gate around my place because of security purposes. it's no different than anybody else living in a gated community or has a gate around their place. it's about security. how do you talk about border security without having a physical barrier? we know it works in san diego and we saw it work in el paso. these are examples we've seen 90% reduction in illegal

crossings when the wall was put up. thanks forjoining us. and just a quick fact check about that border crossing in el paso, texas. a recent analysis of fbi data showed that crime had been consistently dropping in el paso before the construction of a border fence began in 2008. it also revealed that crime rose during construction and in the year after completion. worth trying to get the numbers right. the democrats are walking a tight line in the investigations. they voted to subpoena matthew whitaker, the acting attorney general, suggesting which way this will go. there's no one connected with the government who can evade questions. now, and i think we are looking at nancy pelosi to see what she does with the investigations but there is such a push from her party to make sure that the president, who

they feel hasn't been held to account for two years, is held to account for two years, is held to account now the democrats control the house. what is happening in virginia? it's a mess. democrats may now have to hand over power to republicans because their top three leaders are all embroiled in scandals. two have been accused of blackening their faces to mimic african americans, one has been accused of sexual harassment. today the president weighed in, nancy pelosi weighed in and now the state's political woes are making national headlines. this is the official slogan for virginia, "it's for lovers." this is the new york post's creative headline today — virginia is for losers. here's a quick reminder of who's who in this political drama. ralph northam is the democratic governor, whose college yearbook photo has him accused of racism. justin fairfax is the democratic number two in the state, accused of sexual harassment. mark herring is the democrat's number 3, who's admitted to blackening his face in school.

mr northam and mr herring have apologised for their racist incidents. but mr fairfax, the lieutenant governor and the man who'd take over if mr northam steps down, denies the accusations of harassment. for more on events in virginia let's speak to larry sabato, he's the director of the center for politics at the university of virginia. we have a problem with the line but i think he is there. thank you for joining us. what is the trouble with your state in virginia? well, we used to be known as the commonwealth of virginia and now we are the commonwealth of chaos. can you hear me? i can, go ahead. you can now, 0k. as me? i can, go ahead. you can now, 0k. as i was saying, to myself, we used to call ourselves the state of virginia and now we call ourselves the commonwealth of chaos. what's happening here is that the entire elected superstructure of the state

is now involved in various scandals and we just added one. the republican majority leader in the state senate. it's now officially a bipartisan scandal. as i understand it, if all these three democrats we re it, if all these three democrats were to stand down, the next in line to become governor would be the house speaker, who is a republican? that's right and that's why it won't happen. the people of virginia voted overwhelmingly, in landslide proportions, for democrats in 2017 and that was true for all three of them. it won't happen because it is contrary to the popular will and it would be seen as a silent coup. the people who instigated some of these charges are clearly connected to the republican party, some very conservative websites. it's just republican party, some very conservative websites. it'sjust not going to happen. they'll find some way to stagger resignations, if it

comes to resignation, so that a democrat will succeed to the governorship, one who can stay there. i want to ask about justin fairfax ina there. i want to ask about justin fairfax in a second but first of all, this issue of race and virginia. to what extent are the accusations against the two democrats who have been accused of blackening theirfaces, to democrats who have been accused of blackening their faces, to what extent is that representative of virginia's fairly recent racial past? i think it's all too representative, to be blunt. i was born in this state and grew up a decade prior to the two democrats who are in trouble, for blackface andl who are in trouble, for blackface and i hate to admit it but even at my own university there have been substantial incidence of blackface over the years. one of the democrats who is in trouble because of blackface used it as an undergraduate student at the

university of virginia. it isn't just here, it's everywhere. we are finding photos injust about just here, it's everywhere. we are finding photos in just about all the couege finding photos in just about all the college yearbooks! this is a problem that probably is generic in the south, but right now, the focus is oi'i south, but right now, the focus is on virginia and it points up the very difficult relationship we had among the races in virginia and the fa ct among the races in virginia and the fact that even though we've made progress, we've probably made less progress, we've probably made less progress than we think. 0k, progress, we've probably made less progress than we think. ok, so as if the relationships between races were not tricky enough, this story highlights the relationship between genders because one man has been accused of sexual harassment. i want to read what the accuser says, doctor vanessa tyson. she gives a graphic account of being forced to perform a sex act on justin fairfax who denies this,

saying he takes it very seriously and he believes that doctor tyson should be behaved with —— should be treated with respect but he cannot agree with events that are not true. where does this leave the number two democrat, justin fairfax? in the of metoo, where does it leave him? democrat, justin fairfax? in the of metoo, where does it leave him7m deep trouble, even if this cannot be prove n deep trouble, even if this cannot be proven one way or the other. it probably can't, it was 2004 and there were no contemporary witnesses. the senior african—american officeholder in virginia, congressman bobby scott, today said that he knew some of it was true. he had dated this woman a couple of years ago and had heard the account then. less than a week ago, this african—american number two in virginia was on the verge of taking the oath of office as

governor. and now he's going to be lucky to finish his term as lou tennant governor and i think his future is cloudy. . thanks for joining us. i'm not hearing an awful lot from the democratic presidential candidates who have already declared. they were very vocal, as you said, around the issue of christine blasey ford, the woman accused of brett kavanaugh during his nomination of the supreme court. will they do the same and protect va nessa will they do the same and protect vanessa tyson? i think the whole virginia democratic mess at the moment has highlighted two issues for the democratic party. they say that they have a zero tolerance policy on racism and a zero tolerance policy on sexual harassment. there's been a stunning silence pretty much so far on this issue ofjustin silence pretty much so far on this issue of justin fairfax, silence pretty much so far on this issue ofjustin fairfax, the number two democrat in the state of virginia. kamala harris, a presidential candidate for the

democrats, was cornered in a hallway in the senate today and was asked about it. she said that the accuser‘s letter sounds credible but we haven't heard the other democrat candidates and women saying they stand with doctor tyson in the way that they stood with christine blasey ford. it puts a spotlight on justin fairfax but... and kamala harris was on the committee that... thejudiciary harris was on the committee that... the judiciary committee, yes. harris was on the committee that... thejudiciary committee, yes. it has ramifications for the party and the state. there are nowjust 50 days left to brexit. eu officials close to talks in brussels today say the british prime minister did not offer any ‘concrete' proposals on a way forward and gave no clear answers on how she imagines the timeline going forward. but the two sides have pencilled in talks for later in the month. here's what theresa may had to say following the meeting. well, i have set out very clearly

the position from parliament, that we must have legally binding changes to the withdrawal agreement in order to deal with parliament's concerns about the backstop. what i see and hear from leaders is a desire for us to work together to ensure we can deliver the uk leaving the european union with a deal. what may prove important is the letter that mrs may has received from the opposition labour leader mr corbyn. he has scrapped his six tests, which many thought unachievable and instead has offered to help her secure "a sensible agreement" that can win the support of parliament. there are five conditions. we're joined now from cardiff by labour mp anna mcmorrin. great to have you with us. in this

letter, and i've read it all, there's no mention of a second referendum. well, we do know that it is labour party policy. all options are on the table, including that all—important people's vote. in fact jeremy written to all members this evening setting that out very clearly. could you support a labour party that, in the words of one labourmp, acts as party that, in the words of one labour mp, acts as the midwife for the tory brexit? look, what i think thatjeremy is the tory brexit? look, what i think that jeremy is trying to do the tory brexit? look, what i think thatjeremy is trying to do is set out how he thinks a sensible brexit, and there is no good brexit, actually, there is no brexit is going to make us any richer, there is no brexit that's going to prevent harm to businesses, to peoplesjobs and services, but a sensible brexit, now we are going down that line, that he has set out to say that this is what we are putting forward. we

are putting that forward to theresa may. if she can't accept that, then it... well, we need to prevent no deal, but it must go to a people's vote. in my view, i think any deal must be ratified by the people. i think that the people need the final say. whatever the deal is, whether it is mine's deal, whether it's an agreement between labour and herself, i think that must go back to the people. some of your collea g u es to the people. some of your colleagues are suggesting they may leave the labour party if there isn't a people's vote, a referendum on the final deal. do you feel that strongly, that you may take that course? no, i don't. i haven't spoken to my colleagues who feel that way. i'm not party to those conversations. what i think is that we've got to get on with the job now of preventing catastrophic no deal, which isjust days of preventing catastrophic no deal, which is just days away and which

he, she has failed spectacularly today. she's gone to brussels and she's failed to deliver anything and she's failed to deliver anything and she's failed to deliver anything and she's failed for the past two and a half years to deliver anything. her deal, as we see it, actually doesn't settle anything. it leaves us negotiating for months, if not years to come. can ijump in? the bank of england have downgraded the growth of the economy from 1.7, to 1.2. there is a one in four chance that the uk slips into recession and that is down to uncertainty. business needs something. absolutely. this tory government doesn't provide it. it hasn't provided it. that's why i think we absolutely now, the only course is to get a deal on the proviso that it is put back to the people. to be ratified, to be confirmed by people, to put it out

there for the final say. ok, thank you. let's look at the other news. france is recalling its ambassador in rome because of what it calls an unprecedented series of provocations from italy. paris has accused the italian populist coalition government of making outrageous statements and of interfering in french domestic politics. emergency workers in the turkish city of istanbul have rescued a five—year—old girl from the rubble of an apartment block, a day after the building collapsed. the extent of her injuries is unclear. at least three people are confirmed to have died and it's feared others may still be trapped. the cause of the collapse isn't known. officials say the building's top three storeys had been added illegally. the luxury fashion brand gucci has apologised and withdrawn a jumper from sale after criticism that its design was racist. the black "balaclava jumper" covered the lower half of the face and featured a cut—out mouth with big, cartoonish red lips. gucci said it would turn the incident into what it called a "powerful learning moment" and says it's committed to increasing diversity. jay—z has described the arrest

of rapper 21 savage as "an absolute travesty" and has hired a lawyer to help his fight against deportation. the atla nta—based rapper 21 savage, a british citizen, is being held by us officials due to an expired visa. he moved to america as a child. air accident investigators say they've successfully recovered a body from the wreckage of a plane that went down in the sea between france and britain, carrying argentine international footballer, emiliano sala and his pilot. the body has not yet been officially identified, but both families have been updated. ivestigators ended their attempts to recover the aircraft wreckage because of poor weather. that is so sad. extraordinary, though, did you see the news that the football club that emiliano sala came from, nantes, have made a

demand for payment? apparently the chairman of nantes, before the bodies have been brought up, is demanding one third of the payment, 6 million euros and he's giving them ten days to bay. amazing. you'd think he'd have a bit more sensitivity, right? the boss of instagram says all graphic images of self—harm will be removed from the social media platform — following the death of 14—year—old molly russell. the british teenager took her own life in 2017 after viewing images of suicide and self—harm. her parents say instagram was partly to blame for their daughter's death. today adam mosseri admitted that the company was ‘not where it needed to be on issues of self—harm and suicide' but he said it would take some time to remove all such material. 0ur correspondent angus crawford reports. i've seen videos, i've seen pictures. nothing's blocked, nothing's blurred. i haven't seen anything blurred. meet grace, lucy, sharmie and julia. if you're searching, you are then suddenly guided to how to commit suicide, how to hang yourself, how to tie a noose.

horrified by molly's story, and spurred into action, though their own families haven't been affected. this week, each set up a brand—new account. i suddenly started to get suggested accounts to follow. so, suddenly ijust followed one or two, and then instagram was saying, oh, you're interested in self—harm, would you like to follow these accounts that are also about self—harm? they're putting in the newspapers that they're doing something about it, and yet actually they're not. and they have a message for the head of instagram. you can still go and read how to kill yourself successfully and you need to take a stand and you need to do something now. not look at it and leave it for months. you need to do something now because our children are dying and you have a moral responsibility. so, that's what a proportion of british society now feels about your platform. i mean, it's powerful, it's heavy stuff. i think we have an immense amount of responsibility. i think that it's clear

we are not yet where we need to be on the issues of self—harm and suicide. because the concern from some of those mothers, and others, in effect, instagram, in the words of molly russell's father, has been monetising misery. we're not looking to monetise misery. we looking to connect people with their friends and their interests that they love and care about. we think that we create a lot of good in the world and we were not as focused as we should have been on the risks that came along with connecting so many people. but, moving forward, we are going to change our policy to not allow any graphic images of self— harm, whether or not it is admission or promotion. so you're going to take all self—harm images off of instagram? graphic self—harm images, yes. so i might have an image of a scar where i say i'm 30 days clean, and that's an important way for me to show my story. that sort of content can still live on the site, but actually the next change is it won't show up in any recommendation services, so will be harder to find, it won't be in search,

it won't be in hashtags, it won't be in recommendations. but graphic imagery we're going to take off instagram entirely. that's going to take some time, but we are committed to doing it. so in six months‘ time, if we go back to these mothers, get them to look again and they find similar content, will you resign? in six months' time, if it's as easy for them to find problematic content as they have, then i will have done a poorjob at living up to my responsibility. and will you resign? i will certainly have a long thought about how well i'm doing in the role that i'm in. she said if i get over 2,000 likes, i will cut myself on a live feed. any success won't be measured in the boardroom or even parliament, but in homes and by families across the uk. angus crawford, bbc news. this is such an awful story, and for every parent, this is such an awful story, and for every pa rent, we this is such an awful story, and for every parent, we are all worried about our kids on social media. my 13—year—old daughter is on it more

often than i would like. you can't monitor it all the time, you need these companies to have some sort of monitoring capacity because we cannot be looking over their shoulders 24—hour day. we know that kids are bullied and get these terrible messages and it is up to the company to step in and help make sure this doesn't happen again. absolutely. this is beyond 100 days from the bbc. coming up for viewers on the bbc news channel and bbc world news... you and officials investigating the killing of jamal khashoggi was the victim was of a premeditated murder. areas of low pressure are coming

thick and fast. wednesday night and into thursday we had strong winds across england and wales courtesy of this area of low pressure. the centre is knocking on the door of denmark now. to the west we have the next area of low pressure. this is storm eric, named by the irish forecasters. it is a bigger system meaning the strong wind will be affecting a large area of the uk. also, outbreaks of rain. the rain will arrive through this evening, initially over northern ireland and western england and wales and western england and wales and western scotland. the wind will pick up western scotland. the wind will pick up overnight but they will be coming from the south—west, meaning it is going to be a mild night. temperatures around nine or ten in the south—west, warmer than it should be during the day at this time of year. we have those strong winds to contend with and over the west of ireland and scotland that is where the wind is likely to be on

friday, up to 70 mph, we may see branches being brought down from trees and a risk of transport disruption. perhaps some speed restrictions on bridges. blustery elsewhere as the rain moves east of england and wales followed by sunshine and some blustery showers late in the day across the west. temperatures, not bad for the time of year. a mild day but feeling cool given the strength of wind. the wind will continue to be strong on friday night and will get stronger over the rest of scotland, northern england and probably the north of wales. we may get gusts up to 55 and 70 mph. very blustery conditions into saturday. further outbreaks of rain mounting up across northern scotland where a 20—30 millimetres from this system, 60 over the mountains, brings an additional concern of localised surface water flooding and we may see rain returning to the far south—west later in the day. some sunshine in between these areas of

rain. looking at the forecast on friday into saturday, strong wind bringing local disruption and heavy rain bringing a flood risk to the north of scotland. 0ver rain bringing a flood risk to the north of scotland. over the next few days, showers on sunday, turning cooler. we may see low pressure in the far south. that is uncertain. next week, dryer. this is beyond 100 days. with me — katty kay in washington, christian fraser is in london our top stories... a senate judiciary committee approves william barr as attorney general — he will inherit the justice department at one of the most politically turbulent periods in its history. as venezuela's nicolas maduro blocks a border bridge where aid is set to arrive — we take a bus ride in caracas to see how people are coping in dire circumstances. coming up in the next half hour... come off facebook and feel happier — so says a new study. we'll be hearing from one of the report's authors about what else they found when people quit the site for a month. and — how a major soft drinks brand and airline missed the mark

in a campaign, inviting passengers to give their numbers to fellow flyers. theresa may has told eu leaders she can get a brexit deal through parliament if they give her legally—binding changes to it. the british prime minister — who also vowed to deliver brexit "on time" — was speaking after a series of meetings with officials in brussels. the two sides have pencilled in talks for later in the month. let's speak to our europe editor katya adler, who's been following today's events. any clear sense tonight of whether theresa may is going to get enough to go back and get this deal through parliament in an adjusted form?|j to go back and get this deal through parliament in an adjusted form? i am sorry for shaking my head even as you are speaking. nothing has changed in terms of substance. you

basically have the two sides taking up basically have the two sides taking up their well rehearsed, entrenched positions. the prime minister on one side seeing i need legally binding changes to the backstop that guarantees to keep the irish border open after brexit and the eu saying once again, no, that withdrawal agreement you signed up to which includes the text on the backstop, we are not reopening that. one eu official said simi the prime minister did not put any concrete proposal on the table today. as to how she envisaged agreement helping over the next week. so yes, the eu and uk have agreed to another rented brexit talks to last until the end of the month but if neither side can agree how they will agree is this just more can kicking down the road. it is turning into one of those conditions where no one will blink

first. there was one interesting element to the press conference for the european parliamentary negotiator, he said he had had a meeting with theresa may and she said she did not want to take the backstop out of the agreement which is not going to go down well with the dup back here in the uk. that is to he said the visually she did not wa nt to ta ke to he said the visually she did not want to take it off the table altogether. she had indicated that in her meeting in northern ireland yesterday but she said there are changes regarding the backstop which is problematic for the uk —— for the eu. by keeping the backstop on the table she has eliminated some of that recently finds support in her own party but again, taking the line she is pursuing, she is alienating the eu. she is in a difficult position, all parties are in a

difficult position. 0ne position, all parties are in a difficult position. one thing the eu jumped on the day was a proposal by the leader of the opposition, jeremy corbyn, who said let us try and get cross— party corbyn, who said let us try and get cross—party support around a softer brexit. the eu love that idea because they want to keep the uk as close as possible after brexit for a whole host of reasons. yes, potentially split the labour party as well as the tory party. people have been saying, don't worry, at the last moment the deal will happen. how last is the last moment? given this is the middle of february. it is. this round of talks go until the end of february so on the 24th of february think sandals and hawaiian shirts, there is an eu leaders summit in egypt. it is supposed to be a focus on relations with africa. there are theories at

could be hijacked by brexit. 0ne senior eu official said that full be crunch time. i do not even by that, i think crunch time could go on into march. theresa may said today she is determined to deliver brexit on the 29th of march. there is no appetite in the eu to extend the negotiations but then again, neither the prime minister nor eu leaders want a no—deal brexit. it will be economically costly and politically costly so it all rumbles on. i cannot give you the end date. costly so it all rumbles on. i cannot give you the end datem costly so it all rumbles on. i cannot give you the end date. if we are talking about can kicking, as it can kicking down a dead—end joy?|j like the idiot idea, it is to throw a stay, get to the seaside, it is a good idea. —— i like the idea of meeting in egypt. we joke about can

kicking but we have to remember these are the livelihoods of people at risk here in the eu and the uk. eu citizens who live in the uk, uk citizens who live in the eu, communities are worried on both sides of the irish border about the future of the peace process and the eu worried about the future of the single market so there are lots of concerns amid the general public frustration and the fact we cannot seem to move forward. 0k, catch adler in brussels at the moment, thank you forjoining us. the role of us attorney general doesn't usually get a whole lot of attention — but since president trump is the subject of an investigation into whether his campaign colluded with russia — and since that investigation falls under the control of the us attorney general, the post is getting a ton of scrutiny. today the man mr trump wants for the job was approved by the senate judiciary commitee

by a straight party line vote. that'll set the stage for his expected confirmation as early as next week. william barr would take over a troubled position — his predecessor, jeff sessions, was frequently berated by mr trump and eventually forced out. what democrats want to know is whether mr barr will stand up to the president and protect the mueller probe. joining us now from new york is former federal prosecutor berit berger. good to see you, thank you for being with us. is he going to protect the miller investigation? during his confirmation hearing, he said he was committed to allowing the special counsel to complete the investigation. he had high praise for robert mueller. he said the right things about letting the special counsel finished investigation. the bigger question is whether the report ends up being

made public. that is what gave a lot of democrats oppose about the attorney general nominee, he did not quite go all the way about committing to make report public. quite go all the way about committing to make report publiclj have read today that he will be only the second person to have served in the second person to have served in the same position under two different administrations which is quite interesting, he is very experienced. given that the jeff sessions scenario was a study in workplace harassment, you wonder why he would want this role. yes, it is a question which came up during his healing. this is somebody who has a distinguished record, he has served with honour previously as an attorney general and many people have said what makes somebody want to shove themselves into this firestorm? these are incredibly turbulent times for the justice

department and the president has not been kind to the prior attorney general so it does raise questions. william barr has said he is a man committed to public service, he sees it as committed to public service, he sees itasa committed to public service, he sees it as a call to duty and this is an opportunity to do the right thing and makea opportunity to do the right thing and make a difference so i think he said the right things but many people have questioned what his men —— what his motivation is. people have questioned what his men -- what his motivation is. the other question democrats have had is whether he will stand up to the president if he thinks there is a legal situation going on which is not in the best interest of the country. william barr has said i have had my career already so i am ina have had my career already so i am in a perfect position to stand up to the president if need be. he respects the independence of the justice department, are democrats reassured by that? i think yes and no. like you said, there reassured

because he proclaimed his independence, he would not kowtow to a pleasant‘s independence, he would not kowtow to a pleasa nt‘s unreasonable independence, he would not kowtow to a pleasant‘s unreasonable demands. he also said it was not the prerogative of the attorney general to have the final say on matters such as whether the special council report would see the light of day or portions of the report would see the light of day. so on one hand he said he was very independent but secondly he was very independent but secondly he said he took the power of the office seriously and because of that independence, he is not willing to let that slip away and make promises about whether he will turn the report over yet. thank you very much for joining report over yet. thank you very much forjoining us. the democrats are in control of the house on capitol hill and therefore they can show the judiciary committee so they can get a copy of that report and sometimes

in this time there are leaks to the press. —— in this town. the un expert investigating the death of jamal khashoggi says the journalist was the victim of a brutal and premeditated killing by saudi officals. agnes callamard has been to turkey as part of the investigation and says she was given access to information including "chilling and gruesome audio material" which was obtained by turkish intelligence officials. let's speak to our correspondent imogen foulkes in geneva. we should stress that this initial statement from the united nations special investigator is our preliminary findings, nevertheless reading then they are pretty damning. she says that based on a week—long visit to turkey and the evidence she saw and heard, she was given an audio recording to listen to which apparently recorded the moment of jamal khashoggi's to which apparently recorded the moment ofjamal khashoggi's death but all of the evidence points to a brutal and premeditated killing

planned and prepared, carried out by saudi arabian officials. she says that subsequent to the death of jamal khashoggi, the actions of saudi arabia did not help the turkish investigation. it appeared there actively hindering it. she has asked to go to saudi arabia herself to investigate. as far as we know there's been no positive response to that request and in the meantime she has expressed doubt that the trial currently under way in saudi arabia of 11 individuals were actually beefier under the reflection of actually what happened here. this investigation is not actually over yet. —— would actually be the air. she will return to turkey to look at forensic and police records. this is an investigation which will go on for several months but what we expect is a final report to the

united nations human rights act council engine and as i said at the beginning, the initialfindings are very, very damning towards saudi arabia's alleged involvement in this crime. —— injune. —— injune. the military leaders in venezuela who continue to support nicolas maduro have ordered the blockade of a bridge on the colombian venezuelan border, to prevent aid getting into the country. some 20 countries who support the interim presidentjuan guaido are trying to get food and medicine into the country by whatever means they can. yesterday mike pompeo tweeted a photo of the military barricade, saying "the maduro regime must let the aid reach the starving people". it has fast become one of the worst humanitarian crises in the western hemisphere and it's abundantly clear now the people are in dire need of help. the bbc‘s james reynolds took a bus ride through the capital caracas to see how they are coping. we are a week away

from valentines day. how does it come round so quickly? what to buy for a partner — or if you're single — what to buy for yourself? you might be taken by an offer from the hemseley conservation centre in kent. for a small fee they will name a cockroach after your ex—lover. and post it on a public noticeboard. el paso zoo in texas are offering a similar servive. but if you request they will also feed your named cockroach to a meerkat, live on camera for your viewing pleasure. isn't that amazing? what happened to champagne and chocolates. isn't that amazing? what happened to champagne and chocolateslj isn't that amazing? what happened to champagne and chocolates. i spent a lot of time on their notice board today reading about cockroaches. i have some money in facts. you have

too much time. do you know how long a cockroach can live? without its head. 0ne a cockroach can live? without its head. one week. without its head. it can hold its breath for 40 minutes. they will eat anything, through it, theses and even each other. some cockroaches only meet once and then spend the rest of their life pregnant. that is why they will survive armageddon. is that not amazing? i do not even think the meerkats can kill cockroaches. get on the website if you fancy that. it is only about £1 50. happy valentine's day for next week. happy valentine's day for next week. this is beyond 100 days.

still to come. flirting on flights — how two giant us firms are forced to apologise for trying to get plane passengers to hook up by passing on their phone numbers on a napkin. an 80 year old man with motor neurone disease, who took his own life at the swiss clinic dignitas this morning, has left an open letter to mps calling for a change in the law. in his final days, geoff whaley spoke of his devastation after his wife ann was questioned by police and told she could be prosecuted. assisting the suicide of another person is a crime, punishable by up to 14 years in prison. 80—year—old geoff whaley‘s advanced motor neurone disease made it impossible for him to make the final arrangements for his long planned journey to the swiss clinic dignitaries. and so his wife ann has helped him take his own life. if he said, wring this hotel, wring this airline, which is what he did,

of course i did it for him. because you are assisting geoff, obviously the police have taken an interest. i believe you had a visit from them. yes, literally they said they'd had the notification at 12 o'clock and by four o'clock they were knocking on our door. i became completely terrified the control was going to be taken away from me. i've never seen geoff cry in 52 years of married life. but i found him with his head in his hand and he wasjust sobbing. the 1961 suicide act needs urgent revision. geoff and ann say there were so shocked at being treated like criminals that they've devoted the last few weeks of geoff's life to try to get the law changed, taking their campaign to parliament. the police have said they're not considering charges at the moment but have warned ann that if further evidence of assistance comes to light, the case may be reopened.

this morning, in his wife's arms, geoffrey whaley took his life. mark easton, bbc news. social media has changed our lives but has it been for the better or worse? that's what a team of economists set out to answer by having participants in a study kick their facebook habit. after a few weeks those who had deactivated their facebook accounts seemed happier, spent more time interacting with people and were even less politically polarised. for more on the results i'm joined now by dr hunt allcot who was part of the research team. how did you conduct the study? we

recruited 2000 people online, actually via facebook adverts. 0nce they agreed to participate, we randomly assigned a subset of them to be paid to deactivate facebook and then we watched and measured what happened. what kind of questions where you asking them to see how happily where after a month? mostly it was self—reported questions based on a baseline survey and on an end line survey to see how it had affected that group so we asked standard questions regarding well—being. basically, how happy are you? do you feel satisfied with your life? are you depressed or anxious? and they came back and said yes, we area and they came back and said yes, we are a lot better off. i would not

put it out strongly. we did see that deactivating the spot —— they spoke made people less politically polarised and meet people somewhat happier. to put it in context, deactivating facebook is about one third as good as going to psychotherapy or group therapy. these people are curious, they read news and politics, after the study we re news and politics, after the study were they more informed or less informed? we know that people get news on facebook and thus you might expect that when we asked people to deactivate, they would be less informed about current events and thatis informed about current events and that is exactly what we saw. they we re that is exactly what we saw. they were somewhat less informed. which also plays to the fact they were less politically polarised. did you find when people deactivated it,

they replaced it with another form of social media? some people did. however, many people did not. on average those who deactivated used other social media little bit less. pa rt other social media little bit less. part of this is because you log into other social media such as spotify or others using facebook. as part of our study they could not use their facebook logins. we also suspect that once you have stopped using facebook you are not picking up your phone as much. you had also not clicking on other social media apps. interesting. thank you very much. i find this fascinating. but mirrors me because i need twitter to keep up to date with the news and then i and measurable when i read it. i put it away and i feel happier but i feel anxious because i do not know what is going on. if i am on holiday, i

put it away and do not think about it. the more you put it away, the less addicted you are. the more you use it, the more you want it. if you do not use it, you want less, i love that. just put it away, it is than therapy. —— it is cheaper than therapy. flying for the most part is long and tedious. even after some food... a movie... a nap — it can feel like time is passing very slowly. i know, said one diet coke executive. how about we create napkins, on which passengers can write their phone number to pass onto someone they fancy on the plane. what a great way to spice up your life, at 35,000 feet. yes, this actually happened on board delta flights. it reads, "because you're on a plane full of interesting people and hey — you never know. be a little old school.

write down your number and give it to your plane crush. you never know... well people did know. seriously, is that what you're asking me? you have got to try. back on the plane. back on the plane. they knew that they weren't into the idea of creeping out strangers — and both the airline and coke have sinced apologised. 0n live television, here is my reply. 0n live television, here is my reply. and while we are on marketing disasters of our time. today have had gucci, we have had delta, can i just say to the people at marks and spencer. no. no, no, no. and we will leave it there. for once we actually agree, the next

week. hello there. 0ur areas of low pressure coming in thick and fast. wednesday night and into thursday, strong winds across england and wales, courtesy of this low—pressure, the centre of which is now knocking on the door of denmark. in the west, we have the next area of low pressure, this is storm erik, named by the irish forecasters. it is a big system which means strong winds will be affecting a larger area of the united kingdom. outbreaks of rain as well. that rain will arrive this evening, initially across northern ireland, western scotland and western wales. the winds will pick up overnight, coming from the south—west which means it will be a mild night. temperatures around nine or 10 degrees in south—west england, warmer than it should be for the time of year. with the strong winds, across northern ireland and west scotland, that is where the

strongest ones will be with gusts of 50—70 miles an hour and we could see branches being brought down from trees. there is the risk of transport disruption and speed restriction on scottish bridges. blustery as the rain sweeps eastwards across england and wales, followed by sunshine and blustery showers in the west. temperature wise, it will be another mild day. feeling cold — given the strength of the winds. the winds continued to be strong on friday night. across northern england and northern wales. we could get gusts of 30 mph. very blustery conditions continue into saturday. further outbreaks of rain mounting up across northern scotland where 20 to 30 millimetres from the system and 60 over the mountains brings concern for localised flooding. we may see rain returning

to the south—west as well. there will be sunshine in between the rain. strong winds through friday and into saturday. there is the risk of local disruption and flood risk for the far north of scotland. showery for the next few days. turning colder, low pressure in the far south but that is uncertain and next week will be dry. this is bbc news. the headlines... deadlock in brussels — theresa may holds talks with eu leaders and says she'll deliver brexit on time — but they say there's been no breakthrough. the head of instagram pledges to "remove all graphic images of self harm" from the social media platform. i think we have an immense amount of responsibility. i think that it is clear

that we are not yet where we need to be in the issues of self—harm and suicide. slowest economic growth for a decade — the bank of england downgrades its forecast and blames brexit uncertainty police investigating the disappearance of university student libby squire arrest a 24—year—old man. a 10% rise in energy bills is on the way — after the cap on what suppliers are allowed to charge was lifted. and a p—p—p—p—p—p pick—up for residents at a care home in windsor — from these two surprise visitors.