tonight at ten, instagram tells the bbc it will remove all graphic images of self—harm from its platform. it follows the case of 14—year—old molly russell, who took her own life in 2017. herfather says images on instagram had been partly responsible for her death. instagram says it's trying to balance "the need to act now, and the need to act responsibly". i think we have an immense amount of responsibility. i think that it's clear that we are not yet where we need to be on the issues of self—harm and suicide. we'll be speaking to the head of instagram about its plans and the likely timescale. also tonight. theresa may tells the eu she can get the brexit deal through parliament if she secures legally—binding changes. the bank of england expects economic growth this year to be the slowest since 2009, when the economy was in recession. we report on one of brazil's worst environmental disasters, the collapse of a big mining dam, with others now giving cause for concern. you've got this huge load

of highly toxic waste, held back by a dam that i'm standing on that literally no one is maintaining. and no horse racing until next wednesday at the earliest, after an outbreak of equine flu. we report on the impact. and coming up on sportsday on bbc news, the premier league vows to do more to combat racism, amid claims there is no coordination over the problem in football. instagram, one of the world's biggest social media platforms, has told the bbc that it will act swiftly to remove all graphic images of self—harm.

the decision follows the prominent case of 14—year—old molly russell, who took her own life in 2017. her father said that images she viewed on the platform had been partly responsible for her death. adam mosseri, the head of instagram, acknowledged today that the company was "not where it needed to be on the issues of self—harm and suicide". our correspondent angus crawford, who first highlighted molly's case, has the story. i've seen videos. i've seen pictures. nothing's blocked. no. nothing's blurred. i haven't seen anything blurred. meet grace, lucy, shani and julia. if you search for self—harm, then you are 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. yes. so suddenly, i've just 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?" so they are putting it in the newspapers that they are doing something about it. yes. 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 that we are not yet where we need to be on the issues of self—harm and suicide. because the concern from, i think, some of those mothers and others is that, in effect, instagram, in the words of molly russell's father, has been monetising misery. we are not looking

to monetise misery. we look to connect people with their friends and the interests that they love and care about. we think 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, actually, 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 share my story. that kind of content can still live on the site, but we are actually, the next change is that it won't show up in any recommendation services, so it 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 are 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 of 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 i'm in. she said, "if i get over 2000 likes, i will cut myself on live feed". any success won't be measured in the boardroom or even parliament, but in homes and by families across the uk. angus is with me now. this statement today does sound, you know, potentially significant and far—reaching but is it real? know, potentially significant and far-reaching but is it real? indeed, on the surface, this looks like a remarkable step. it will affect all of instagram'si remarkable step. it will affect all of instagram's i billion users around the globe, none of whom, the boss tells us, we'll soon be able to access the most graphic content about self—harm. but look a little closer, yes, they will remove the

worst images of people actually cutting themselves, the blood and the wounds, but they will still come as you heard, these pictures of healed scars if they are posted in an account about recovery, and what of the relentlessly bleak and miserable posts that well liked by molly russell? no word about that. in reality, instagram will in effect remain the unregulated arbiter of what is and is not suitable for its users and millions of them are children. angus, thank you very much. angus crawford, there. if you're upset about any of the issues raised in molly's story and would like details of organisations which offer advice and support, go online to bbc.co.uk/actionline, or you can call for free at any time to hear recorded information on 0800 066 066. with just 50 days to the date set for the uk's departure from the eu, the prime minister has once again insisted she'll deliver brexit on time.

theresa may was speaking in brussels, where she's seeking legally binding changes to her withdrawal agreement to deal with concerns over the irish backstop, the guarantee relating to the open border between northern ireland and the republic. the european commission president, jean—claudejuncker, has again ruled out re—openng the agreement. but they agreed to further talks before the end of the month, as our political editor laura kuenssberg reports. the prime minister is well used to unexpected obstacles being thrown in her path. hey, hey! an anti—brexit protester, bundled away from her motorcade in brussels. after mps kicked out the deal she reached with the eu, her only choice is to try to keep going. here to plead with the eu for changes, knowing already they'd say no. we must secure legally binding changes to the withdrawal agreement to deal with the concerns that parliament has over the backstop. and taking changes to the backstop

together with the other work that we're doing on workers' rights and other issues will deliver a stable majority in parliament. the european union very firmly keeps saying no. donald tusk said some of your colleagues should be "sent to hell" in the end yesterday. aren't you stuck in some kind of purgatory? i've raised with president tusk the language that he used yesterday, which was not helpful, and caused widespread dismay in the united kingdom. and the point i made to him is that we should both be working to ensure that we can deliver a close relationship between the united kingdom and the european union in the future, and that's what he should be focusing on. behind closed doors, of course, both sides hope there can be a deal. they want this to work. but look at how her expression changes, once in front of the public. as a cabinet minister said, this situation is grim. theresa may wants to change the deal they shook hands on before christmas,

because it can't get past mps. that's down to the so—called backstop, that guarantee against a hard border in ireland. brussels' top brass say no breakthrough. the eu 27 will not reopen the withdrawal agreement. the discussion was robust but constructive. despite the challenges, the two leaders agreed that their teams should hold talks. so, negotiations are back on. there'll be many more handshakes and hellos. but if brexiteers at home believe there'll be a farewell to the backstop, well... mrs may today in the meeting assured us that there will be a backstop. but is the way out of the hole back at home? labour has infuriated many of its own side by showing willing, publishing five demands for the deal. legal promises on security,

the single market, free trade area, customs and workers' rights. jeremy corbyn‘s not about to sign up for the deal. but he, too, wants to talk. a lot of our manufacturing industries are very frightened and very worried at the moment that on 29th march, there'll be a cliff edge. there cannot be a cliff edge. we will do everything we can in parliament to prevent this cliff edge exit. so, now, laboursays it wants to compromise, the eu wants to keep talking. but the truth is, theresa may at the moment won't budge to meet the opposition. the eu shows little sign of moving to meet her. so, as the clock goes down, the pressure on the prime minister goes up and up. and although just keeping going doesn't sound a cunning strategy, right now, perhaps, it's the only one she's got. all along, this has been a process of small, tricky, forward moves. a grand finale could be a long wait yet. laura kuenssberg, bbc news, brussels.

0ur europe editor katya adler is in brussels. how significant was today, in your view? well, although substance why is nothing really changed, in terms of political choreography, today was important. a week ago, the prime minister promised parliament that she would come to brussels to push for legally binding changes to the backstop for legally binding changes to the ba cksto p of for legally binding changes to the backstop of that guarantee to keep the irish border open after brexit. so she had to come, even though the eu protested loudly in advance that their answer would definitely be no. for the eu, too, today was significant, eu leaders still hope a brexit agreement can be reached even though there was little sign of it today. they want to be able to show their vote as they tried their best, they kept the door open to theresa may and that if there is a no deal brea ks may and that if there is a no deal breaks it, it is not theirfault in the inevitable blame game that would follow. but we are not there yet, as

you say. 50 days to go until brexit day, and a brand—new round of eu and uk talks about to start. the suspicion in brussels is that the prime minister will now aim to run down the clock, hoping for last—minute concessions. but guess what? more or less, that is the eu's plan, too. katya adler with the latest in brussels, thank you. the bank of england expects economic growth this year to be the slowest since 2009, when the economy was in recession. it's now forecasting growth of 1.2% this year, down from its previous forecast of i.7%, published in november. the bank said it had seen further evidence that businesses were being cautious in the run—up to brexit, and it kept interest rates unchanged at 0.75%. the warning comes at a time when consumer confidence is already at its lowest level for five years, as our economics correspondent dharshini david has been finding out. tell us why you came back to birmingham, then, because...? erm, i have a lot of history here, to be honest. family...

lizzie is one of the record 32.5 million people in work. but like many, she's not having an easy time. i don't even make 12 grand a year. i do have tips which obviously helps, but it's. .. without sounding dramatic, it's exhausting, it is. constantly counting out my pennies, constantly trying to work out if i... yeah, it's really, really hard work. she's hoping for a betterfuture. but the governor of the bank of england doesn't have good news. the outlook for growth and inflation also depends heavily on the extent to which brexit uncertainties evolve. uncertainty about the outcome of negotiations obviously has intensified since november, and it's now weighing more heavily on activity, predominantly through lower business investment and tighter financial conditions. when you look at the heightened uncertainty, it does suggest potentially quite a big knock on growth this year and next. how could that impact on households, too?

that uncertainty is affecting the economy at present. we see it across—the—board in businesses, we're starting to see it creep into the housing market, we're seeing it in household spending. the economy has been expanding at a pretty decent rate after that big dip during the financial crisis. but now, the bank says even if a brexit deal is struck, 2019 could see the weakest growth in a decade, before a pickup. ten years ago this week, the bank of england cut interest rates to just i% to deal with the financial crisis. the fact they haven't been back above that level since is a sign of how fragile prosperity has been. now, the bank says that growth could be slowing even further, thanks to prolonged uncertainty over brexit and weaker demand from places like europe. in fact, it thinks there's a one in four chance the economy could actually shrink by the autumn. brexit is only part of the story, so we're operating in a global

economic environment, where china is slowing down, where the us has been softer on interest rate policies, so has australia, so has canada, so has india. and there are a lot of uncertainties out there and a lot of those are driven by the politics of the situation around the world at the moment. but a disruptive brexit could be the biggest headache for business and the bank of england. it may have to choose between raising interest rates to keep a lid on prices or cutting them to protect spending and jobs. dharshini david, bbc news. the british horseracing authority has announced that racing will not restart until next wednesday at the earliest an at the earliest after an outbreak of equine flu. all of today's fixtures were called off after three vaccinated horses

tested positive for the disease. the authority said they'd taken a precautionary approach to avoid any unnecessary risk. live to our correspondent andy swiss in north yorkshire. welcome to highfield stables here in north yorkshire. they have about a0 horses here and like many stables around the country, some of these horses were supposed to be raising this weekend. but not anymore, because the entire sport is on hold as it tries to tackle a new and very difficult challenge. it was supposed to be race day here at doncaster, but not a horse, not a punter, in sight. all fixtures off after it emerged three horses trained by donald mccain had tested positive for equine flu, despite all being vaccinated. yesterday, mccain had runners at ayr and ludlow, potentially exposing other horses to this highly contagious disease. today's cancellations, though, are just the start. the authorities say there will be no racing until at least wednesday next week, one of britain's biggest sports forced into shutdown.

the very best way to help commercially is to help our horses, is to help them be free of disease as quickly as possible. and we could play russian roulette with the information we have or we could do what's right, which is to lock things down. i obviously can't say definitively that there won't be an impact that stretches as far as cheltenham. the cheltenham festival, of course, is worth millions to the industry, and it's next month, so containing this disease is also a race against time. the coughing makes it very infectious, so it's going to spread rapidly between horses. so we're looking for that combination of signs, high temperature, coughing, runny noses. much like the human flu vaccine, it's helpful but it's not 100% effective, unfortunately. for now, then, this most unpredictable of sports is facing its own uncertain future. andy swiss, bbc news, doncaster. police investigating the disappearance of the hull university student

libby squire have arrested a 2a—year—old man on suspicion of abduction. libby, who's 21, was reported missing in the early hours of last friday after a night out. officers have been examining the banks of the river hull and specialist teams have been trawling a nearby pond. millions of households will see a 10% rise in energy bills from april, after the energy regulator 0fgem raised the cap on what suppliers are allowed to charge customers on their standard variable tariffs. the increase comes only a month after the cap on their most expensive rates was brought in. the typical customer will pay an extra £117 a year, with the blame being put on rising wholesale prices. a body seen in the wreckage of the plane carrying the footballer emiliano sala and the pilot david ibbotson has been recovered. it hasn't yet been formally identified. the boat carrying the body arrived at portland in dorset this morning. the light aircraft was found on the sea bed

in the english channel on sunday, two weeks after it disappeared during a flight from nantes to cardiff. an 80—year—old man suffering from motor neurone disease, who decided to end his life at the swiss clinic dignitas this morning, has left an open letter to mps calling for a change in the law. geoff whaley spoke of his devastation after his wife ann was questioned by police and told she could be prosecuted for helping him travel to switzerland. the couple had been married for more than 50 years. before they set off yesterday morning, they spoke to our home editor mark easton. mind your head, sweetheart. assisting the suicide of another person is a crime, punishable by up to ia 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 dignitas. and so his wife, ann, has helped him take his own life. and scroll down...

if he said, "ring this hotel, ring this airline", which is what he did, of course i did it for him. because you assisted 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 that my 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 they were so shocked at being treated like criminals that they've devoted the last few weeks of geoff's life to trying to get the law changed, taking their campaign to parliament. in 2015, mps voted decisively against legalising assisted dying,

as demonstrators on both sides of the argument protested outside. among the crowd that day was nikki kenwood, a christian campaigner, who was once completely paralysed. the bottom line is, it's too dangerous. they know from experience in other countries how badly it's going to affect other vulnerable people, because it does. shortly before losing control of his legs, geoff marched in the armistice parade in whitehall. he had always been active, in control of his life. for the whaleys, the issue was about helping him keep control of his death. i mean, when you've got a husband as brave as mine, you have to, you have to support him. hold it together. he's the one who is being strong for me. hold it together. he really is. yes, i will. i wouldn't put an animal through what he would go through if he went to the end.

ijust wish the law would allow me to have him for a little longer, i really do. 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. the diplomatic and political tension between france and italy has deepened, with france recalling its ambassador, accusing the italian government of making "unfounded attacks and outlandish claims". relations between the two countries, both founding members of the european union, have been tense since italy's populist 5—star movement and its right—wing league party formed a coalition government last summer. the french and italian governments have argued over a range of issues, including immigration. 0ur correspondent lucy williamson is in paris.

lousi, let's talk about what prompted this latest outburst...? well, it seems to have been sparked bya well, it seems to have been sparked by a visit to france by the italian deputy prime minister luigi di maio, came to speak to some members of the yellow vests protest movement who are planning to run in the european parliamentary elections later this year. the french government is very unhappy with this visit saying, coming as it says, after months of repeated accusations and baseless attacks, unprecedented, it says, since the end of world war ii, and as you said, huw, this argument has been going on ever since italy got its new populist government, mr macron has been described as a hypocrite over the migration issue, he has described the spread of populism through europe as a kind of leprosy and there's no doubt the european elections this year have given a kind of turbo boost to that

row, pitting two very different governments and two very different political visions against each other. thank you very much. one of brazil's worst environmental disasters was the collapse of a mining dam last month, which flooded homes with around 12 million cubic metres of mud and sludge. at least 150 people are known to have died, with many more still missing. much of the focus has turned to the company which owns the mine, vale, and whether it's to blame for poor safety standards. the town of itabirito, not far from where the disaster took place, has another mining dam, one of nearly 800 in brazil. from there, our science editor david shukman sent this report. we travel to the heart of brazil's iron country to investigate a dark side of the mines that the industry prefers to keep hidden. we come across a luridly—coloured stream, a first clue about the pollution created in these hills. and suddenly, we get this rare

glimpse of one of the largest mining dumps in brazil. it's full of the same kind of sludge that flooded out and killed so many people. a byproduct that accumulates day after day from a massive business. the reason these places exist is because when you dig ore out of the ground, you only want a tiny fraction of the rock, the metal that you're after, in this case iron. the rest, you've just got to get rid of. and the cheapest way to do that is to build places like this. the problem is, they're not temporary, they're meant to last forever. and this towering structure holds the sludge back, a dam made of layers of mining waste. there are nearly 800 of these in brazil, and many say they're far too weak. people living in the shadow of the barrier have created this computer simulation of how their homes could be overwhelmed. and when the dam at brumadinho

disintegrated last month, it left them more scared than ever. translation: i don't sleep anymore since what happened in brumadinho. it was a warning. if the same were to happen here, in three years, less than three years, tomorrow, later...? i don't know. the fear is constant. no camera, no video, no monitoring... not far away, campaigners lead me to another source of fear, an old goldmine that's been abandoned. the machinery is rusting. there are pools of liquid. you get arsenic and cyanide with gold mining. it's much more toxic than mining iron ore, and the waste is far more dangerous. the last owners of the mine left a legacy that's poisonous, a small mountain of contaminated dust and rock. and the impact of all of this being released would be devastating.

what's truly shocking about this place is that you've got this huge load of highly toxic waste held back by a dam that i'm standing on that literally no—one is maintaining. right beside it, this lake of highly toxic liquid, also held back by a dam no—one's looking after. and if the whole lot breaks, all these toxins could enter the water supply for millions of people. the mine is in an area that's a vital source of water. the major city of belo horizonte horizontally depends on it. translation: if a very heavy rain falls, who is going to guarantee this dam won't collapse and destroy the river das velhas, which is the main supply for belo horizonte? so it's really serious. so, downstream, there's a risk of the water becoming toxic. and eliane elias, a scientist, says the broken dam at brumadinho

highlighted what can go wrong. it was really sad because it was a disaster and i know the importance of the water in this place for all the people. all the cities around the mine. back at the goldmine, a pitiful sight, emaciated horses, surviving despite the poison. and like the darn, it seems no—one cares for them. there are ideas for making these places safe. but there are so many of them, which means that more disasters are waiting to happen. david shukman, bbc news, in brazil. children should be stopped from using mobile phones and tablets at meal times, and devices should be kept out of their bedrooms at night. that's the basis of the first—ever guidelines on screen use from the uk's most senior medical advisers. the uk's four chief medical officers also recommend that children do no

more than two hours without taking a break from screen—based activities. hugh pym reports on the recommendations. on average, i spend around three hours a day online, looking at a mixture of social media, entertainment, and watching tv or tv series and also using it for my homework. about two hours that i spend on snapchat, instagram, and other social media, looking at my friends' photos. i use maybe half an hour each day, may be looked up sites maybe looked up sites or watching youtubes. school kids tell us what they think about social media and using their screens. gosh, it's good. here, they're taking part in workshops on internet safety, including storytelling. she started looking at everything that popped up on her screen, hoping for an upgrade, till it came to the point where she never read anything, just clicked 0k. we took two of the pupils at the conference to meet england's chief medical officer to talk about the new guidelines. how do you advise families to put

these recommendations into use? not taking your phone or smart device to the meal table is not a bad thing, because then you've either got to talk about the food or something else. so it's a way of kind of improving interaction that helps development. no phones at bedtime and regular screen breaks are also part of the new advice. the boy was curious and bored and decided to create a social media account. he lied about his age, as he was only nine. however, he kept this a secret. ensuring that children don't lie about their age when they sign up for social media sites is essential, according to the chief medical officer.