this is bbc news. the headlines at four. no ships and now, no contract. the government cancels a controversial agreement for extra ferries, in case of a no—deal brexit. new allegations of sexual and racial harassment by former employees of the retail tycoon, sir philip green, are published. he denies any crime or misconduct. counting the cost of knife crime. the number of young victims admitted to hospitals in england, has risen by more than 50% in five years. also coming up, an outspoken critic of president trump prepares to make her bid for the white house. the democratic senator, elizabeth warren, is expected to launch her bid to become the party's candidate for 2020. in the six nations, scotland have been fighting back against the irish, but they're still behind at murrayfield. and coming up at half four, victoria derbyshire brings together

teenagers, parents and politicians to discuss the issues surrounding harmful material being consumed on social media. a controversial ferry contract awarded to a company which had no ships has been scrapped. seaborne freight would have earned £118 million, under a deal with the department for transport, intended to provide extra capacity in the event of a no—deal brexit. the transport secretary, chris grayling, had defended the deal, saying he would make no apologies for supporting a new british business . his department says it's cancelled the contract, because the company's irish backer pulled out. our business correspondent, rob young, reports. preparations have been under way for weeks.

dredging started at ramsgate port at the beginning ofjanuary. the work was meant to ensure the port would be ready at the end of march, should britain leave the european union without a deal. the plan was for seaborne freight to run regular services to ostend in belgium once it managed to get it hands on some ships, but now the company has now been stripped of its contract. the government says seaborne freight‘s main backer has pulled out, meaning it could not mean its contractual requirements. we first flagged problems with seaborne freight in april of last year, and we have been tracking it since then, both in terms of its attempts to find vessels, which have failed without exception. largely because this port is very small. it is thought that backer, arklow shipping, has withdrawn for commercial reasons. ferry services haven't operated

from ramsgate since 2013. the government hopes the port could offer extra capacity should dover become clogged after brexit. so it is still possible ferries will once again sail from here. the department for transport says it's in advanced talks with other companies to supply freight services. with less than two months to go until brexit timing is tight. robjoined us from ransgate, to talk about the reaction from the town. well, the decision to award a £14 million contract to a shipping company that had no ships was controversial from the start. critics derided the government for doing that, some in the town say that this decision to end the contract was perhaps inevitable. the local authority is considering cutting the amount of money it gives to the port, because it says it is strapped for cash, if it does decide

do that, the decision it may take in the next month or so, that may mean at some point in the future it would be impossible for ferry services to run from ramsgate any way. 0thers are concerned about perhaps the level of traffic, extra traffic, a decision to operate a ferry service here may well mean, some though, do mourn perhapses that the missing out of extra business that might be brought to this area, but the department for transport has said it is in what it calls advanced discussions with other companies which may well mean there is some kind of no—deal brexit eferry service going to operate from ramsgate come the end of march if there is no deal. we were listening toa there is no deal. we were listening to a contributor saying that ramsgate was never going to happen, the suitability was never there in the suitability was never there in the first place. so, ramsgate has

not had a regular ferry service run from here since 2013 when the last °p from here since 2013 when the last 0p ray from here since 2013 when the last op ray decided to no longer run that service, the port has silted up, that why dredging work has taken place, people who live here say it was taking place just a few days ago, we don't know whether the work was finished or whether it is part way through, because of the end of the contract it is not clear if any dredging work would continue. locals say if the port was dredged it would be possible to again restart some kind of ferry service to offer that extra capacity which the department for transport thinks would be needed, if there is a no—deal and just a reminderfor why needed, if there is a no—deal and just a reminder for why ramsgate was chose, it is because it is further away from dover, there is a concern that if new post—brexit checks are put in place at dover and then the other side of the channel inical lay that might leads to delays at dover and it might be quickerfor some

services to go from here. that was rob young in ramsgate. 0ur political correspondent, matt cole, told me more about the fallout politically. there was a wave of criticism when seaborne freight was announced as bun of the company, 10% of the extra capacity, two other firms, bun of the company, 10% of the extra capacity, two otherfirms, they bun of the company, 10% of the extra capacity, two other firms, they will continue to offer this, we understand, mostly out of plymouth and portsmouth, so a long way from dover. this was about relieving the pressure on dove. the government said we were criticised at the time, they say it has plenty because it is backed by this huge big irish firm which would have been the 60% own e arklow of see born, it has plenty of boat, it says the due diligence therefore was done, but it is clear, what they hadn't done is ensured that arklow as seaborne had set up a route to 0stend on which this could

be piggy backed, so a credible firm was underpinning this, but the contracts hadn't been fully signed for a brand—new service without which this extra capacity couldn't be guaranteed which is why politically labour are on attack today after chris grayling for being at the heart of something they see asafailing. at the heart of something they see as a failing. it follows criticism from when help was minister for justice. chaos when droves were flying in and round the christmas time period, so he has been under fire as a minister, he is again today. what is the likely fall out going to be for the government and specifically for chris grayling, but in the meantime, alternatives need to be found, and there was a deadline, wasn't there, at the beginning of march for a contract to beginning of march for a contract to be signed. look march 29th is at the moment brexit day, unless things change. admittedly with negotiations

somewhat stuck, theresa may of course yesterday in dublin, speaking to the irish taoiseach prime minister, both leaders have been in both belfast, in brussels this week trying to find accommodation, not release over the thorny issue of what happens to the northern ireland border post—brexit and be able to cross back and forwards with the republic, it doesn't look like any time soon that will be resolved. theresa may says no ex—brexit day is going to be then, but that begs the question, if a deal doesn't get done and brexit day remains march 29th, what happens this extra capacity won't be there? will the roads log jam up round dover? i have been told signs are starting to go up on the m20 directing traffic for part of the process, so no—deal brexit plans are physically being put in place,

the question is if it happens will there be enough places for other the owner of topshop paid a female employee more than £1 million to keep quiet, after she accused him of kissing and groping her. the daily telegraph says the senior female employee, who it hasn't named for legal reasons, was one of five members of staff, who signed "gagging orders", after being bullied or harassed, by sir philip green. chi chi izundu has more. aggressive and intimidating. sexual harassment and racism. those are the accusations making headline news on the front of today's telegraph newspaper. details of the allegations against sir philip green, one of britain's best known businessmen involving five employees were published in the paper after a judge allowed him to drop action against it, which lasted six months. the allegations include one senior female executive at the arcadia group, which owns shops including, topshop who was allegedly called "a naughty girl" by sir philip. he's accused of slapping her bottom and kissing her face.

the telegraph reports how sir philip allegedly drew attention to the dreadlocks of a black employee, in front of other staff, and referred to him as "still throwing spears in the jungle". both are said to have received payments of around £1 million. the telegraph says the payments were dependent on the employee signing a non—disclosure agreement, which means they weren't allowed to talk about what happened or the money, and now sir philip is threatening legal action against them. in general, confidentiality agreements can be legally binding, there are some circumstances in which they will not bite. for exxample, they can't prevent reporting a crime to the police, and in some cases they can't report other reports to other individuals, the media and regulators, but on the whole they may still be binding. sir philip says the newspaper has pursued a vendetta against him and his employees, and denies any wrongdoing. he told the paper he categorically denies any unlawful sexual behaviour and any unlawful racist behaviour.

thousands of bus routes in england are under threat, because councils say they can't afford to pay for them. they say they're having to fill a gap of over £650 million in funding, for the scheme which provides free bus passes for elderly people, and that the situation is "unsustainable". councils in england subsidise 44% of all bus routes, and say without extra funding, some could be cut. the home office says it's concerned about the large increase in young people who are becoming victims of knife crime. figures from nhs england show the number of people aged between ten and 19, who've been admitted to hospital with stab wounds, has gone up by more than 50 % over the past five years. our home affairs correspondent, danny shaw, reports. the youngest victim to die in a knife attack this year.

jayden moodie was stabbed to death after being knocked off a moped. an 18—year—old man has been charged with murder. jayden was just 14. doctors say they're treating increasing numbers of people for knife wounds, and the victims are getting younger. what has changed is we are seeing a lot more adolescents and young people who have severe injuries. and that used to be an occasional occurrencem and that's now the norm. i expect to admit somebody of school age under the care of our service this week, as a matter of course. the figures for hospital admissions for injuries from knives or sharp objects show there were almost 5,000 people treated for stab wounds last year. over 1,000 of them were aged 10—19 — that's a rise of 54%, compared with five years earlier. another trend doctors have observed is that more girls are involved in knife crime. some victims face threats that footage of their stabbing will be posted online. there's a shift

in what we're seeing. in that i'm seeing young women who've come in having had their mobile phones taken off them in an attack, and having their attack filmed, as part of a humiliation. "this is what's going to happen to you if you say anything, we'll put it on the internet." doctors say the rise in knife crime is putting extra pressure on emergency services. the home office has set up a serious violence strategy to tackle the problem and has launched a review of the links between violent crime and the trade in illegal drugs. danny shaw, bbc news. with me is rachael box — founder of london village network, which has been setup to tackle knife crime and to create community cohesion. thank you for speaking to us, first off, the age, the use of social media, ten years old, you surprised by that? no, i'm not. one of the listens i started the charity was because my children who were eight

at time were coming home from school and telling me who has been stabbed in the playground, not in the playground but the conversation in the playground four years ago of what was going on round the community with knife crime. it has become so normalfor this community with knife crime. it has become so normal for this generation to speak about knife crime i felt i had to get involved and do something about it. so what are the reasons you are hearing and seeing as to why children, as young as ten, are victims or rather feel they have to carry a knife? because there has been a problem that has been escalating for well over 20 year, that hasn't been addressed. there is a lot of social economic factors that lead to young people feeling they don't have enough worth, and it's been ignored and it needs to be addressed. we can't continue to pretend this problem isn't happening, it is our believe the root cause of knife crime is network

poverty, and that young people need to have access to better role model, better people round them to tell them more about their life chance, and their life pathways. ok, so your charity has, i was looking online with people holding up posters and donating an hour of their day. yes. how on earth do you support a young person within these disadvantaged communities within an hour? how do you target that? so the hour is very important. it might not feel you might think what can an hire do, how cani might think what can an hire do, how can i help with that? the truth is these young people need to get used to speaking to people, so when it comes to going for interviews in different area, if they were to have the opportunity to meet people they will meet in interview, in a non—intimidated environment, it will help them feel more part of mainstream society, and it is about giving a resource that young people

from middle class families take for granted. if they need help with their homework, if they get stuck on a particular subject there is known there within their pool of cork contacts there within their pool of cork co nta cts to there within their pool of cork contacts to help them. we are asking people to give an hour, we know people to give an hour, we know people are busy with their own mortgages, children and work and business, everyone has an hour to give. so it is this idea of it takes a village to raise a child. yes. earlier this month there was an announcement, some saying it was on the quiet about a cut in funding by sang end javied to fund knife crime. i don't know if your charity is one that would have been affected, but what i am keen to now how do you go about creating a sphere of positive influence and the children go home and it is a completely different environment, they are back to you know, the heritage and the

background, really influencing their path through life. we are at a stage with knife crime where it is infecting young people that may not come from deep entrenched families that might be considered more normal. there is hundreds of young people across london, that have done everything right in terms of getting university degrees, finishing their course and college but they still don't feel part of mainstream society. that has a knock on effect. they feel that street life is the only way to go. so it is not a one—size—fits—all but thaw is if every person gave an hour we can start doing something. ok, it is a small step. thank you can the government has cancelled a controversial agreement to provide extra ferries in case of a no—deal brexit. new allegations of sexual and racial harassment by former employees of the retail tycoon, sir philip green have been

published in the telegraph — he denies any crime or misconduct. the number of young victims admitted to hospitals in england, has risen by more than 50% in 5 years. gnd airland beat gnd air land beat scotland 22 listen 13 at murrayfield, later wales face italy in rome. paul being ga sparkles for manchester united with two goals in their win over fulham. it takes them into the premier league's top four. —— pogba. and after being recalled to open for england keatonjennings is dismissed forjust eight, england now 44 for one in saint lucia. and there is a full sport bulletin on there is a full sport bulletin on the way at 5.30. see you then. the democrat elizabeth warren is expected to formally

launch her presidential bid for the 2020 election in massachusetts in the next few minutes. she has been a senator for the state since 2013 and one of president trump's most vocal critics. so what more do we know about elizabeth warren? the 69—year—old democratic senator has always positioned herself on the left of the party. she s a former professor at harvard law school — where she taught bankruptcy law. she first emerged as a consumer activist during the financial crisis and she's a critic of big banks and unregulated capitalism. let's cross to washington and to our correspondent, chris buckler. iamjust i am just looking at the venue, in lawrence mags chew sets but the important thing is here elizabeth warren she hasjoined important thing is here elizabeth warren she has joined an increasingly crowded pool of

contenders how is she branding herself in the battle to become the democratic candidate for 2020 has begun. begun. we have kamala harris, cory bewicker, there is a suggestion thatjoe biden the former vice—president is considering a run but litvinenko beth warren gets headlines because of that animosity there is between her and president trump. you might remember that president trump has called her pocahontas, mocking what she says is her native american heritageship although she has got in trouble claiming it in the past, and she has to apologise to the cherokee nation for taking a dna test as donald trump's suggestion she should. that was not the appropriate way to work out tribal citizenship. she is someone who is trying to set herself aside from president trump, by pushing this idea of social

inequality in the united states. she wa nts to inequality in the united states. she wants to try and push forward ideas of having higher tax for the rich and trying to help the poor nations, poorer parts of this nation, which is why we are seeing her make this launch in lawrence massachusetts. this is a working class town. if you look at the song she picked, give you a sense of what she is trying to do. the song was every day people. she is trying to say she's with the people, hot with the elite and that is how she is different to donald trump. she started her campaigning over a month ago, she has been quite busy, just how popular is she? i am thinking of what her chances are. yeah, ithink thinking of what her chances are. yeah, i think if you look at it it was the end of last year we started to get videos on her social media accou nts to get videos on her social media accounts which were making clear she was considering a run for 2020. if you look at the polling, it is the

case that some of her policies are popular, that this idea of trying to tackle inequality is something that does chime but at the same time it is going to depend who runs and also, the there are other people who have done well in the time they have made their announcements. kamala harris has had a prime time special in which she is taking questions, cory bewicker has a fair amount of attention as well and it is going to become a crowded field. there will become a crowded field. there will be another democrat announcing her candidate attempt tomorrow, and it gives you a sense that really the democrats are lining up to try and get their names in the frame as quickly as possible. it has to be said, though, in some ways you could argue that the animosity with donald trump is something that will garner elizabeth warren headline, already, eve ryo ne elizabeth warren headline, already, everyone before she has made that official announcement she is going

to run for the candidate chur in 2020, we have had a response from the trump campaign, they say her campaign will raise tax, killjob, crush the middle class if he was to win and that is all bad for america as far as they are concerned. they say she is pushing socialist ideas that are not appropriate in the united states. you almost want the say let the games begin but from washington thank you very much. tens of thousands of people are demonstrating in paris — for the thirteenth consecutive saturday of the so—called "yellow vests" protests. security is tight and riot police have again fired tear gas in the champs elysees area. footage shows police baton charges, and some injured protesters, while others threw missiles at officers. the demonstrators are angry about the cost of living and the policies of president macron's government and are demanding more direct democracy. there are also demonstrations taking place in other towns and cities across france. we heard from some of

the protesters a little earlier. for decades our elected representatives have not been working in the interest of the people. they have been working for lobbies with and other interest, now they want to transfer sovereignty to brussels, i don't want brussels to have to decide the things the french have to decide the things the french have to decide the things the french have to do. it is not a referendum story, what does it mean? like the big debate, what does that mean? everyone is talking, but what is the point. it is useless, the institutions are bad at the moment. justice is borderline and the way institutions behave, we have to change the institution, but that is a big job. when i see poverty in france, when i see the peek abandoned by our government and not

just this one, for decades whether it be sark skip and others i say to myself we must act. i don't believe in the polls much any more. —— sa rkozy. work has begun in the italian city of genoa, to dismantle what's left of the motorway bridge, which collapsed in august of last year, killing 43 people and injuring dozens more. the structure will be replaced by a new bridge of a different design. caroline rigby has more. it is the project described as the image of the country's revival. thousands of tonnes of steel and concrete were removed from genoa's bridge in order to make it lighter, before a huge crane began to carefully lower the first section to the ground. decked out in a red hard hat the italian prime minister looked on. translation: it is an important day,

because this is the first step of a path i hope will be the quickest possible. what we can say today, and i spoke with all the demolition company, is that the new bridge will be up by the end of the year. the deconstruction process is expected to last around six months, and engineers will draw on heavy machinery previously used on the concorde cruise liner. a new bridge will be built in place of the existing structure designed for his home town by the famed italian architect. it is likely to be one of the most expensive in europe, at a cost of more than 200 marina litvinenko euro, it will fee -- 200 marina litvinenko euro, it will fee —— 200 million euros. it is expected to be opened to traffic by april of next year. almost six months on from the partial collapse of the viaduct,

many in the city are still reel, but as investigations continue into the cause and accountability, the authorities hope demolition of the old bridge and construction of the new will help residents to move on from what happened. a woman fined for driving through a bus gate has won her appeal after arguing there were too many signs for the brain to process. bernadine king's penalty charge notice was quashed. but in the last 18 months, thousands of drivers were fined for using the chelmsford ‘bus gate' — generating 1.5 million pounds. essex county council says, the penalty has reduced the number of people using the gate. now it's time for a look at the weather with alina jenkins. showers further west, some more rain in 0rkney and for a time strong winds, particularly across scotland,

and northern england, touching 40—50mph for a time. but they will ease down. we see outbreaks of rain arriving in central southern england, parts of wales, further north a scattering of shower, wintry over the hills of scotland, still rainfor over the hills of scotland, still rain for northern scotland and 0rkney, the clearer skies in scotla nd 0rkney, the clearer skies in scotland and north east england. mielter further south but a wet start to the day. that rain my lainger in east anglia for a time, a few showers following as the rain sta rts few showers following as the rain starts to clear, rain for a time, northern ireland and south—west scotla nd northern ireland and south—west scotland with strong and gusty winds, so it will be a colder feeling day tomorrow, temperatures not much higher than six or seven. but for the week ahead things are looking dry, away from north—west scotland, milder day, chilly night, patchy mist and fog. bye. hello, this is bbc news. the headlines... the government has cancelled a controversial agreement to provide extra ferries in case of a no—deal brexit.

new allegations of sexual and racial harassment by former employees of the retail tycoon sir philip green are published in the telegraph — he denies any crime or misconduct. the number of young victims of knife crime admitted to hospitals in england has risen by more than 50% in the past five years. the democratic senator elizabeth warren is about to launch her bid to become the party's candidate for 2020 with a speech in massachusetts — this is the scene live. the rapper blaine cameronjohnson — who was known as cadet — has died in a car crash on the way