a very warm welcome to bbc news — broadcasting to our viewers in north america and around the globe. my name's mike embley. our top stories: instagram says it's removing all graphic images of self—harm, after an outcry over the suicide of a british teenager. 50 days to go. theresa may meets the leaders of the european union in brussels, but there's no breakthrough on brexit. jeff bezos, owner of amazon and the washington post, says the parent company of the national enquirer tried to blackmail him with intimate photos. the body recovered from the wreckage of the plane that went down in the sea between france and britain is identified as footballer emiliano sala. ansett to search for life on the red planet, the naming ceremony for the new british built mars rover. —— and set.

instagram has told the bbc it will act swiftly to remove all graphic images of self—harm. it's a response to the suicide of 14—year—old molly russell. she'd been viewing such images on the site, before she took her own life. her father has suggested instagram "helped kill" her. adam mosseri, head of the company, has acknowledged it is "not where it needs 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, 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. 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, 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're not looking to monetise misery. we look to connect people with their friends and the 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, actually, we're going to change our policy to not allow any graphic images of self—harm, whether or not it's

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're actually, the next change is that it won't show up in any recommendation services, so it'll 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're committed to doing it. 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 crawford, bbc news. a day of meetings with the british prime minister has produced no breakthrough on the brexit impasse, according to the president of the european council, donald tusk. theresa may is trying to get legally binding changes to her withdrawal

agreement to help it get through the parliament in london. this from our political editor, laura kuenssberg. the prime minister is well used to unexpected obstacles being thrown in her path. 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‘s rights and other issues, will deliver a stable majority in parliament. the european union very firmly keeps saying no. now, donald tusk said some of your colleagues should be "sent to hell" in the end yesterday.

aren't you stuck in some sort 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. 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‘s 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's 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‘s 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 the 29th of 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 labour says 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. let's round up some more of the day's news. president cyril ramaphosa

of south africa has announced that elections will take place in may — the first since he took over from jacob zuma a year ago. he says a probe into corruption during his predecessor's term in office had revealed wrongdoing that challenged the foundations of the state. australian authorities are investigating the apparent hacking of the national pa rliament‘s computer network. officials say there's no evidence yet of any data being accessed or stolen. but everyone in the building has been told to reset their passwords as a precaution. the national broadcaster, abc, reports intelligence agencies are looking into whether foreign governments are behind the attack. the un expert investigating the death of jamal khashoggi has said the journalist and saudi government critic was the victim of a brutal and premeditated killing by saudi arabian officials.

agnes callamard has just returned from a fact—finding mission to turkey, she said she was given access to information including "chilling and gruesome audio" obtained by turkish intelligence. imogen foulkes has the latest from geneva. we should stress that this initial statement from the united nations special investigator on extra judicial killings, these are preliminary findings. nevertheless, reading them, they‘ re pretty damning. agnes callamard 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 moments ofjamal khashoggi's death, that all of this evidence points to a brutal and premeditated killing, planned and prepared, carried out by saudi arabian officials. let's speak to dr courtney radge in new york, she's the director of advocacy for the committee to protect journalists. good to talk to you, thank you for

your time. it is a strong report, do your time. it is a strong report, do you think it will actually change anything? i think it is very important that turkey allowed agnes callamard to enter turkey and facilitate the investigation and it is an important first step it is not a replacement for a high—level un criminal investigation and it does not let the trump administration off the hook for responding to congress as required under the magnitsky act act. the trump administration is not shown much keenness to respond, has it? any action would require cooperation from the turks and the saudis. yes, this is not an easy case the result that the fact is there are now several reports and intelligence agencies, the un special rapporteur, that is pointing directly at saudi arabia's

responsibility and complicity for this murder and it is important that we hold not only those who carried out the murder but also those who ordered it and according to intelligence, it is looking like thatis intelligence, it is looking like that is crown prince rama can summon. that is crown prince rama can summon. now, we need an investigation and that does require both turkey and saudi arabia to comply. saudi arabia's idea they are somehow distributing justice to some secret trial of ii somehow distributing justice to some secret trial of 11 people who we do not know who they are and they are —— the child is not appear to be open to the press, is not a substitute for a full and fair investigation. it has a chance to set the record straight and tell what it leaves happened and whether the complaints was involved. as you know, the saudis have put out several versions of what happened at the most up—to—date is that it was

roped rogue team of agents who have nothing to do with the crown prince, who were not backed in on the conference's orders, as you say they have 11 people on trial, they are seeking the death penalty for five of them. do you have no faith in that process? well, i have to say the fact that we do not know who is on trial, we have asked the saudi missions in yemen and new york information, that trial is not open to either the pressel international observers, and we have not received any information from that. —— in new york. backing saudi arabia has consistently misrepresented the fa cts , consistently misrepresented the facts, it denied what happened, and every time new information comes, it changes its story. so we can't have any faith changes its story. so we can't have anyfaith in changes its story. so we can't have any faith in the saudi—led investigation. good to talk to you, thank you. thank you. stay with us on bbc news, still to come: woody allen launches legal action against amazon studios,

accusing it of breaching their contract by refusing to distribute his latest film. there's mr mandela. mr nelson mandela, a free man, taking his first steps into a new south africa. iran's spiritual leader ayatollah khomeini has said he's passed a death sentence on salman rushdie, the british author of a book which many muslims say is blasphemous. the people of haiti have flocked to church to give thanks for the ousting of their former president, 'baby doc' duvalier. because of his considerable value as a stallion, shergar was kept in a special secure box in the stud farm's central block. shergar was driven away in a horse box the thieves had brought with them. there stepped down from the plane a figure in mourning. elizabeth ii, queen of this realm and of all her other realms and territories,

head of the commonwealth, defender of the faith. this is bbc news, the latest headlines: instagram says it's removing all graphic images of self—harm — after an outcry over the suicide of a british teenager. 50 days to go. theresa may meets the leaders of the european union in brussels, but there's no breakthrough on brexit. north american tech reporter has

more on this. not a d would expect from any ceo, let alone the world's richest man, jeff bezos. median, the popular blog is dealer telling it. he says it an attempt from the publisher of the national enquirer to blackmail him into stopping an investigation. in that story, several messages between the couple that were private messages and investigation thatjeff bezos had paid for privately was looking into how those messages ended up in the possession with the national enquirer. the national inquirer was

threatening to release more intimate details and photographs about the pair unless he stopped that investigation. quite an extraordinary claim. a couple of hours, it's gone incredibly viral. jeff bezos, not only the founder of amazon, the national enquirer very much allied with mr trump. when it comes to the national enquirer, the magazine recently admitted it co—ordinated with a trump campaign for what is a catch and kill. in this case, about mr trump orfour he was elected. rather than run that story, keep it secret instead and remove the ability of that person to talk about what happens more widely. since he's become the owner of the

washington post newspaper which has become incredibly critical of the president, he says he has become a political target because of that, he may be under increased scrutiny and potential attacks like the one we have seen. we haven't heard any response yet from the publisher of the national enquirer, amr, so we haven't yet heard their side of this remarkable story but jeff haven't yet heard their side of this remarkable story butjeff bezos certainly believing that his personal life is becoming entwined with a reputation of the paper he is associated with, the washington post. the family of a merely unassailable though this moment was coming but it's been could officially confirmed he is dead.

after being recovered from the wreckage of a small plane on wednesday, police say his body has been formally identified. the 28—year—old argentinian's family, who visited the channel islands to assist in the search, have been informed and are being supported by specially trained police officers. the body of the file pilot, 58 your old david ibbotson from lincolnshire, has not been recovered but the air accident branch says it has taken the difficult decision to enter the search. cardiff city fans have continued to pay tribute to emiliano sala who is only recently signed. ina emiliano sala who is only recently signed. in a statement posted on social media, the club said. as fans, family and friends have to come to terms with emiliano sala's

death, investigators will now be focusing on what caused his plane to crash. the actor and film director woody allen has launched legal action against amazon studios, accusing it of having breached their contract by refusing to distribute his latest film. kim gittleson has more. every year for the past four decades, the director woody allen has released a movie but that run sft and after amazon studios declined to distribute his most recent film, a rainy day in new york, which was shot in 2017 scheduled to come out later this yet. now he is suing the company for more than $68 billion in damages. in a suit, mr allen says amazon abandoned the agreement after an accusation surfaced that he molested his daughter, dylan farrow, in 1992. the suit says amazon has tried to

excuse its action by referencing a 25 of baseless action against mr allen at that allegation was already known to the public before amazon entered the deals. mr allen has long design. —— mr allen has long denied the claims. that prompted some of the claims. that prompted some of the stars of the film to distance themselves from the project, like timothee chalamet, who said he would donate his salary from the film to charity. amazon has not yet commented on the suit which was anticipated by mr allen in 2016 when heissued anticipated by mr allen in 2016 when he issued a statement after a deal was inked, saying, there is much hope, mutual affection and genuine goodwill. the lawsuits will come later. high rates of smoking continue to damage australia's indigenous communities. experts say smoking does more damage than alcohol and illicit drugs combined.

australia has led the world in combatting smoking, but this group has been left behind. so in sydney, a new programme is trying to help aboriginal australians turn away from tobacco. phil mercer reports. smoke is sacred to australia's indigenous people. the ceremonial burning of leaves and bark wards off evil spirits and is a sign of respect to elders. smoking tobacco was introduced by european settlers. it's left a terrible legacy. today, about a third of aboriginal adults smoke. tobacco use is one of the, probably the biggest health issues for our community. a lot of our mob smoke so our programme really is about trying to stop the young ones from ever picking up a cigarette, so they don't have to go through a lifelong battle of trying to quit. crash—tackling the desire to smoke is part of a course for high school students at the national centre of indigenous excellence in sydney. but many aboriginal australians

still find it hard to quit. i've got asthma, so i've already had pneumonia twicem and smoking doesn't make it any easier so i do stop and think it's about time. one day i probably will get so sick where will have to give up smoking, but not just yet. i still enjoy it. i'm around people who haven't been educated and our health is poor and education is poor. that has a lot to do with it. it's will. it's like in sport — if you've got the will to win, do you have the will to give this up? do you? i must admit i haven't got the will. in 2012, australia led the world by introducing plain packaging for cigarettes. bans on tobacco in many public places and graphic health campaigns mean that now only about 12% of australians smoke. rates in indigenous communities are falling, but they remain much higher than the national average. smoking is part of what the community actually does. everybody does it — mum, dad, the kids, little kids — so it's part of the culture of what people do,

so to break that is extremely difficult. indigenous australians die on average 10 years earlier than their non—aboriginal counterparts. poverty and poor housing as well as alcohol and drug abuse all play a part, but experts say the undisputed wrecking ball to indigenous health is smoking. phil mercer, bbc news, sydney. she was a pioneer scientist who didn't get all the recognition she deserved, in her lifetime. but now the rover that will go to mars next year will bear the name of rosalind franklin. at least 30,000 people across europe took part in a competition to name the vehicle, which was build in the uk. the announcement was hosted by astronaut tim peake and our science correspondent rebecca morelle was there. i am here at a mock—up mars where the prototype rover has been put through its paces. it's designed to roam across the rocky martian terrain. this mission is nearly complete.

everything is almost ready but one vital element has been missing and that is the name, and today it's been unveiled as the rosalind franklin rover. to explain why, i'm joined by a british astronaut tim peake. tim, why is this rosalind the rover, why the name? rosalind franklin, a great british scientist who did so much to unlock the secrets of human life, the dna and double helix so it's only fitting that the mars rover is named after her because it will be searching for signs of past life on mars. you got the public involved with this naming process. absolutely. the competition was opened up to the public, 36,000 entries to a huge response and it shows that there is so much appetite and public appetite for these exploration missions. this really is a big mission for the european space agency. why is it so vital to get out there to mars? it's a really exciting mission. this rover is going to drill 2m under the surface of mars which is where we stand the best chance of understanding organic molecules

which could have resided on mars so it's going to a very special ancient landing site where there was once a liquid ocean and we know that 3.7billion years ago, earth and mars were very similar so life could have evolved on mars as well. thank you very much, tim peake. this is obviously a robotic mission heading to mars in the real thing is being assembled together at the moment, scientists working round the clock and it really will be a fitting honour for the woman who truly was an unsung hero of science to have this legacy that will now live on mars. and you can get in touch with me and most of the team on twitter — i'm @bbcmikeembley. hello there.

well, we're ending this week on a very unsettled note, something we haven't seen in quite a while, deep areas of low pressure. we had one on wednesday—thursday and this one on friday, today to saturday is looking particularly vicious. a very wild day friday with plenty rain around. this is the culprit, this deep low moving in off the atlantic has been named storm erik by met eireann, into northern and western parts of the uk, also a very active weather front pushing in some heavy rains, so we are starting friday morning off extremely wet across many western areas, an atrocious morning commute and the wind will be a feature, picking up through the day, certainly in through the morning through to the first part of the afternoon, looking very windy. gust of a5—55mph widely across the country, 60—70 in exposure across western areas, so there's potentially going to be some disruption from this. the rain will be heavier, a squally band of rain reaching central and eastern areas. and it will stay very wet across much of scotland too. could see a litttle bit of wintriness over the higher ground.

0n the plus side, temperatures will be quite high. 8—12 degrees but with the wind and rain, it might not feel quite a smile. storm erik could be moving slowly eastwards. a swathe of strong winds through northern ireland and northern england and southern scotland during the course of friday night into saturday morning so this could also cause some issues, gusts in excess maybe of 70mph miles per hour in some places. saturday is blustery day on saturday, bright for many. heavy rain through the northern half of scotland. perhaps some localised flooding. milder in the south. further rain pushing into the south—west later on today. through today and into saturday, likely to be some disruption from the very strong winds. and heavy rain in places to some extent. you could see disruption like i mentioned, stay tuned to the forecast.

this saturday night and sunday, someone blustery weather across the southern portions of england. eventually it should eventually move away, slowly through the morning. should see skies brightening into the afternoon as winds turn the north—west. a cooler direction, and a band of shower a moving across scotland and northern ireland and england with some snow on the hills. those temperatures will be dropping back into single figures across the board. this is bbc news. the headlines: instagram 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 images she viewed on the platform were partly responsible for her death. the president of the european council, donald tusk, has said there has been no breakthrough on the impasse over brexit following meetings with theresa may. the prime minister spent thursday in brussels attempting to get legally binding changes to her withdrawal agreement in an attempt to get it through parliament. amazon founderjeff bezos has accused american media incorporated, owner of controversial celebrity

magazine the national enquirer, of extortion and blackmail. the billionaire posted a message online showing what he said were e—mailed threats from the publisher's legal team to publish intimate photographs of him. you are up—to—date on the headlines. now on bbc news — panorama. back in 2016 britain began going round in circles. we are taking back control. the referendum result was clear enough. the british people have spoken and the answer is we are out. if only it were that simple. 53 days until we leave and we are no clearer how it will happen. the ayes to the right, 202, the noes to the left, 432. the government and opposition promised to deliver brexit,

so far without conspicuous success. it is clear the house does not support this deal,