this is bbc news, i'm shaun ley. the headlines at two. work and pensions secretary amber rudd warns company bosses they could be jailed for up to seven years if they "wilfully or recklessly" mismanage their employees‘ pension scheme. theresa may will ask mps for more time to rework her brexit plan — and offer parliament another vote, but labour says the prime minister musn‘t keep running down the clock. it seems to me we are now at the point where we could have meaningful talks to get a deal between the main political party leaders, or the only way to break the impasse is a public vote, and that remains our policy. kurdish—led forces — backed by the united states — have launched a final push to defeat the so—called islamic state group in syria. the scientist who discovered the link between eating too much processed meat and bowel cancer accuses the government of not doing enough to encourage people to cut their consumption. the duke of edinburgh gives up his driving licence, weeks after he crashed his car near the queen's sandringham estate. and monkeying around at belfast zoo — visitors were surprised to find

a chimpanzee wandering outside its enclosure after it managed to make a ladder out of branches to escape its pen. coming up on the week in parliament — another one dominated by brexit — but are we really leaving next month? find out more at 14:30. good afternoon. company bosses could face longer sentences of up to seven years in prison if they mismanage employee pension schemes. that's the warning from the work and pensions secretary amber rudd. plans outlined last year for a maximum sentence of two years in prison have been toughened up after public consultation. our business correspondent rob young reports.

when the unprofitable construction giant carillion collapsed a year ago, its pension pot had a black hole of hundreds of millions of pounds, as did the bhs pension fund when the high—street retailer went into administration in 2016. bankrupt kodak's uk scheme had an even bigger deficit when photographers switched to smartphones. there are many reasons pension schemes end up in the trouble, and now the government is proposing a new law to try and make sure that poor behaviour by bosses isn't one of them. work and pensions secretary amber rudd says she will make wilful or reckless behaviour relating to a pension scheme a criminal offence, with jail terms of up to seven years and unlimited fines, but some experts are not convinced the proposed law will be effective. proving a business person sat down, put some money into investment or dividends instead of the pension fund and that was reckless and wilful is tough to prove, and to make it a criminal offence,

the standard of proof is even higher, so there is a danger that nobody ever gets convicted of the offence. plans for this offence to carry a maximum two—year prison term were outlined last year, and politicians have since examined the issue. after public consultation, the sentence has been beefed up. there is already a pensions regulator. the problems being addressed are more about the mismanagement of the companies rather than the pension schemes themselves, and we have got a system for addressing these problems in place. it is estimated more than a0 million people are members of occupational pensions. most savers needn't worry, and the regulator says the majority of companies and pension trustees do the right thing by their members. the government says it will give mps another chance to vote on brexit at the end of the month, even if theresa may has not been able to negotiate a deal by then. but the housing scretaryjames brokenshire also admitted that

that vote might not be a so—called "meaningful vote".. the one to approve or reject an eventual deal. joining me now is our political correspondent, tom barton. first of all, this will be one of those weeks we have seen plenty of over the last couple of years where ministers clock up air miles flying around europe trying to persuade eu officials to make some changes to the prime minister's deal. moving towards the deadline, 29th of march, brexit day, this thursday there is a key moment in parliament. another key moment in parliament. another key moment in parliament! mps hold a series of votes to get their say on what should happen next. the government is really worried because several ministers have indicated

they might resign in order to give their support to backbench moves to force a delay in brexit in order to allow more time to avoid no deal. the government is obviously keen to avoid that and so has offered another vote at the end of this month. this is whatjames brokenshire said. the government will commit that if the meaningful vote, in other words the deal coming back, has not happened by the 27th of february, we would allow a further motion to take place in parliament to give that sense of assurance as to the process moving forward. to be clear, there will be a meaningful vote this month or not? if the meaningful vote has not happened, so in other words, you know, things have not concluded, then parliament would have that further opportunity by no later than the 27th of february. the crucial thing there is james

brokenshire accepting the realistic possibility that the meaningful vote, this vote on approving or rejecting the prime minister's too, may well not have happened by the 27th of february, in other words four weeks from brexit, they may not yet reach a deal with the eu to take to parliament. the phrase meaningful vote. a lot of the votes we have had so vote. a lot of the votes we have had so far have looked meaningless because they have not actually change the dynamic in the house of commons or between the uk and brussels. my understanding is that steve barclay goes back to brussels this week, what does he expect to get, the brexit secretary? no one knows. the eu have been pretty clear they have been very reluctant to do anything that will stay re—opening the withdrawal agreement, the document that is the deal that

theresa may has agreed with the european union. there has really only been one within the platter of votes we have had in the last couple of months, one minute fearful —— matt won a meaningful vote. that is the one theresa may lost by a historic margin. after that, she saidi historic margin. after that, she said i hearyour historic margin. after that, she said i hear your concerns about the backstop, i am going back to the eu, we will see changes. now, weeks away, the european union making it clear they want except changes to the backstop. mps saying we want the backstop gone, the dup. james brokenshire, he knows of what he speaks, former northern ireland secretary, he said that insurance policy must be in place. andrew moore put it to him, saying the

backstop is saying, james brokenshire saying there needs to be a backstop, insurance policy. —— andrew marr. from a the hardline brexiteer two have said backstop or we are not in. kurdish—led forces, backed by the united states, have launched a new push in syria to defeat the group that calls itself islamic state group. more than 20,000 civilians have been evacuated from land still held by is near the iraqi border. 0ur arab affairs editor sebastian usher reports. the us—backed sdf has played a key role in the war against is in syria. its biggest victory was to drive the jihadists

out of their de—facto capital, raqqa. in the past few months, it's picked off one town, village or hamlet after another in the corner of north—eastern syria to which is fighters have been driven. all that's left for the jihadists there are a few square miles next to the iraqi border — a far cry from the caliphate the group once declared across huge swathes of syria and iraq. the sdf delayed its final attack until thousands of civilians in the area had been able to get out. now they say the decisive battle is under way. the united states military, our coalition partners, and the syrian democratic forces have liberated virtually all of the territory previously held by isis in syria and iraq. last week, president trump said the total defeat of is could be announced within days. that certainly suits his agenda of withdrawing all us troops from syria.

but he's been criticised before for declaring final victory over is prematurely. caution is still needed. is holds another sliver of territory in syria further west, while its sleeper cells remain active, and it's the same story in iraq. the group's ability to continue a guerrilla insurgency persists. the fate of his hostages, such as the british journalist john cantlie, remains unclear, as does that of its leader, abu bakr al—baghdadi. its most effective foe, the sdf, faces an uncertain future, if and when its us backers leave. sebastian usher, bbc news. firefighters in new zealand are continuing to battle wild fires that have been burning for almost a week. 3000 people have been evacuted from their homes on the south island, as strong winds push the fires closer to the town of wakefield. a state of emergency has been declared. it's thought the blaze is the worst forest fire in the country since 1955.

tens of thousands of spanish nationalists are staging a rally in madrid, to demand new elections and a tougher stance against catalan separatism. the rally is being organised by spain's two main centre—right parties, and the much smallerfar right vox party. they oppose the minority socialist government of prime minister pedro sanchez, and his attempts to negotiate with the pro—independence regional government in catalonia. the scientist who discovered the link between eating too much processed meat and bowel cancer has accused the government of not doing enough to encourage people to cut their consumption. the department of health says it's committed to ensuring that all food products are as safe as possible. ben ando reports. the cancer risks in eating too much processed meat, like bacon and ham, were first exposed four years ago, but since then, says the man who discovered the link, nothing has been done to warn people or reduce consumption. four macro

foui’ macro years ago when four macro years ago when i was in the who committee, deciding this was carcinogenic, we were not sure. now firms in france and the uk are making good bacon, ham without any nitrate. this is safe and we know it can be done. the government should really work with industry, the meat industry. what and how much is safe? deli meats, bacon, ham, processed meats. we know the link between processed meat and cancer is not well—known, especially compared to link with smoking, but it is putting it into context — that smoking is inherently much more risky when it comes to cancer.

but with ham a staple of many school lunch boxes, professor corpet says parents in particular need to think about how much processed meat their children are eating. ben ando, bbc news. a woman who was injured in the car crash involving the duke of edinburgh has welcomed the news that he's giving up his driving licence. buckingham palace said prince philip, who's 97, made the decision voluntarily after the collision with a car carrying two women and a baby. the crown prosecution service will take his decision into account when considering whether to bring any charges against him. andy moore reports. it was an accident everyone was lucky to walk away from. the duke of edinburgh's land rover freelander was turned over by the force of the impact and landed on its side. a baby was unhurt in the other car, a kia, two women were taken to hospital. one of them, emma fairweather, has told the sunday mirror that the duke was right to take the decision to surrender his licence but he could

have done it sooner. she said... just days after the accident, the duke was seen driving on public roads near sandringham without a seat belt. norfolk police said they had spoken to him about that. he also sent a letter to mrs fairweather saying sorry for his part in the accident and said he had been dazzled by the low winter sun and was very contrite about the consequences. the police say they have now finished their investigation into the accident and the file has been passed to the crown prosecution service. the duke could be charged for driving without due care and attention. the cps said the file will be reviewed carefully before a decision was made. but they also said the duke's decision to surrender his licence would be taken into account. andy moore, bbc news. police investigating the disappearance of the missing hull university student libby squire have been given more

time to question a man. 21—year—old libby hasn't been seen for over a week. the 24—year—old man, who was arrested on suspicion of abduction, will remain in custody until nine o'clock this evening. two people arrested in connection with a house fire in stafford which killed four children have been released on bail. the 24—year—old woman and 28—year—old man were arrested on suspicion of manslaughter by gross negligence. the children, aged between three and eight, died in the fire on tuesday. work has begun to enable the m20 motorway in kent to be turned into a car park, in the event of possible disruption caused by a no—deal brexit. steel barriers are being installed that would allow traffic to keep moving in a contraflow system on one side of the motorway, while lorries would be parked up on the other. the road between ashford and maidstone will be closed overnight, until the work's completed in mid—march. the headlines on bbc news... 2:16pm.

work and pensions secretary amber rudd warns company bosses they could be jailed for up to seven years if they "wilfully or recklessly" mismanage their employees' pension scheme. theresa may will ask mps for more time to rework her brexit plan — but labour accuses the prime minister of trying to run down the clock. kurdish—led forces — backed by the united states — have launched a final push to defeat the so—called islamic state group in syria. five paintings said to be by adolf hilter have gone under the hammer in nuremberg — but have failed to sell. 26 pieces of art were pulled from the sale because suspicions were raised they could be fakes. the auction sparked outrage with the city's mayor calling it in "bad taste". tim allman has more. five entirely unremarkable watercolours. that is until you take a look at the signature. these paintings are claimed to be the works of adolf hitler, aspiring artist and one of history's greatest villains. but a planned auction failed

to find a single buyer. they were frightened away by the police, security forces, and because of all the news that these watercolours and oil paintings would be fakes. this is not the first time doubts have been cast over art attributed to the former nazi dictator. last month, three other watercolours were seized by police before a planned auction in berlin. hitler was a prolific artist in his youth, and in his book mein kampf, he claimed to have produced as many as three paintings a day. most were destroyed — so how many fakes are we talking about? somewhere between 500 and couple of thousand, which is ridiculous, especially as you know after the second world war only 13 survived. only

30—something survived. whether these were his or not, the sale of hitler's paintings is hugely controversial. his shadow looms large when it comes to art. the baftas take place at the royal albert hall tonight. the favourite, starring 0livia colman as queen anne, has 12 nominations. here's our entertainment correspondent lizo mzimba. as has become traditional, the duke and duchess of cambridge will be the guests of honour at this year's ceremony, and it's a royal drama, the favourite, which many expect to live up to its title and win the prestigious best film award, while its star, 0livia colman, who plays queen anne, is the favourite for best actress. look at me! how dare you close your eyes! she has tough competition from the wife star glenn close, after she won at the screen actors guild for her portrayal of the wife of an award—winning author. you were seducing the luscious linnea 7 nothing happened. don't you dare insult my intelligence! four years out of the last five,

best actor has been won by someone playing a real—life character. now the vice presidency is mostly a symbolicjob. this year, christian bale, who plays former us vice president dick cheney in vice... # so you think you can stone me and spit in my eye... and rami malek, who plays freddie mercury in the queen biopic bohemian rhapsody look to be in a close race for that award. dear dolores... d—e—a—r — this is an animal. similarly, for best supporting actor, mahershala ali, who plays a jazz musician touring america's deep south in green book... i'vejust come from having my teeth bleached. and richard e grant, who plays the best friend of a struggling author in can you ever forgive me are thought to be neck and neck. while best supporting actress looks to be the night's most open race, with emma stone and rachel weisz both in contention for the favourite alongside amy adams for vice, claire foy‘s portrayal of janet armstrong,

the wife of astronaut neil armstrong, in first man, and margot robbie's queen elizabeth i in mary queen of scots. lizo mzimba, bbc news. and you canjoin us at the baftas starting with our live red carpet show from 5.15 on the bbc news channel. we'll be looking at the films and fashion as well as talking to the stars as they arrive at the albert hall for britain's biggest night in film and television. all cub scouts promise to do their best — but one from lancashire has done better than most. ten—year—old matthew has just completed every challenge to earn every badge on offer. he's believed to be one of only a dozen or so youngsters who manage it every year. dave guest has been to meet him. this is matthew. he is much like any

other schoolboy of ten. he's also a cub scout. but matthew's no run—of—the—mill cub scout. he's very confident child. he's very adventurous and very committed, and he did tell me that he wanted to try and get as many badges as he could. and he's done it. amassing over 60 badges, every single one that cub scouts can try for. at the adlington scout hut, they are swelling with pride at matthew's achievement. it is a massive achievement. it takes a lot of commitment and a lot of time and a lot of hard work to get that many badges. there's been a few badges that we have had to sort of do a bit kicking and screaming, but most... which ones? go on, tell. reading, when he had to use an atlas and a dictionary and find lots of words, and that took a little bit of extra time and persuasion. but behind this avid badge collector is his nana, debbie. she deserves a needle and thread badge for sewing each and every one onto his overloaded jumper.

so it must be a bit like painting the forth bridge, this, it's never—ending. it is, and i've other grandchildren as well, and adopted grandchildren, that i sew their badges on, too. one of the badges matthew did was his chef's badge, so now you're a better chef. what was your favourite badge to do? the sailor's badge. because when me and lynne, my cub leader, got on it, we nearly capsized. oh, dear. did you panic? no. did she? yes. you wanted to go for every badge? were you determined? did you think you'd do it? no. but you have. yes. and what you think about that? it's amazing. and you now know how to cook as well, don't you? in fact, you're making the tea, aren't you? we'd better hurry up, because tea—time is looming, and the family is starving. matthew will be going up to the scouts soon, and has his eye set on trying to do every scout badge, too. dave guest, bbc news, adlington. scientists at newcastle university have started some unusual research —

looking into the british love of fish and chips. they want to find the healthiest portion size as megan patterson reports. with salt and vinegar, sauce or mushy peas, fish and chips remains one of the country's favourite takeaways but like all treats we're warned off having too much, newcastle university researchers think they've found a solution. we're looking for options and opportunities to provide customers with the food they love in a portion that's more manageable. packaging plays a crucial role in limiting. role in limiting how much food is there. we asked take away owners and said hey, can you provide your customers with smaller portions and then seeing the response from the customers themselves. a standard box of fish and chips has around 1600 calories and the smaller is 600. the boxes were made by gateshead based firm henry colbeck and are now being used in more than 250 shops including this one. a lot of people now don't

like a big portion of food. you find they take it home, might not eat it, they throw it away, it's a waste. when people come with a smaller box, they enjoyed it, i would rather. got exactly what they wanted and came back for the same again. some people might say it's just common sense, just have a smaller portion. of course, you are totally right, but the thing is, you give people a big portion of food, they will eat until they can't consume any more. if you have big bucket of popcorn in the cinema, you will keep digging away. if you give them a smaller one, they will eat it and be perfectly happy. an extra choice for customers but is it one they really want to have? my mother only has the small bit so i'll get the...you understand? we share it between. so you share it between the two of you? yeah, yeah, yeah. if it was just you, would you take a smaller box? no, i'll still take a big box. laughs.

i probably would, maybe like a lunchtime, then on tea—time i might sort of get one box and share. so an option for the more calorie conscious and more good news, mushy peas count as one of your five a day. and before we go, visitors got more than they bargained for at belfast zoo earlier today. several chimpanzees made an improvised ladder from a large tree branch — propped up against a wall — to escape. the council — which runs the zoo — said the apes were now back in their enclosure. but this is the second escape attempt by animals at the zoo in as many months. injanuary, a red panda went missing overnight before being discovered in a nearby garden. now it's time for a look at the weather with alina. cheer us up. sunshine and showers

here. mixed picture. wet and windy in places. elsewhere sunshine and showers. messy picture. frontal system working eastwards. heavy rain across 0rkney and northern highlands and stretching round to northern ireland. bringing wintry conditions over higher ground. squally wins for western and southern coasts. the wind reaching 40—50 mph. still some showers and western areas but in between spells of sunshine to end the day. colder feelings a particularly were exposed to the wind. temperatures not much higher than six or seven. sleet and snow parts of scotland down into wales, south—west england. transient... by

the end of the net, clear skies, icy stretches for scotla nd the end of the net, clear skies, icy stretches for scotland and northern ireland, temperatures whiteley at or below freezing. my mystery or 444 rural parts of scotland. this is the dominant feature for the week ahead, at times strengthening the wind particularly across northern and western scotland and northern ireland. mainly dry in the week ahead and some spells of sunshine. chilly start on monday, one or two showers across eastern coasts at first. for most, a dry day with some sunshine, lighter wind, cold building in western areas, western isles, northern ireland, could see some patchy drizzle. 0therwise isles, northern ireland, could see some patchy drizzle. otherwise a dry day, temperatures up to 7—11, slightly higher than today. tuesday, high pressure, south and east words, the south—westerly wind to flood

some mild air across the uk. through tuesday wednesday, for much of the week, on the mild side. frontal system pushing in from the north—west on tuesday raining more coronaries, outbreaks of rain across northern and western scotland, northern ireland, far north of england by the afternoon. for most, dry, best of the sunshine in central, southern, eastern england temperatures up to 10—12. mainly dry, mild, not too windy, the theme continues through thursday and friday for their increasing amounts of sunshine. you are watching bbc news. the headlines: work and pensions secretary amber rudd or lawrence company bosses they could be jailed forup to company bosses they could be jailed for up to seven years if they wilfully or recklessly mismanage their employee pension scheme. theresa may will ask mps for more time to work on her brexit plan but labour accused the prime minister of trying to run down the clock. kurdish led forces backed by the us have launched a final push to defeat the group that calls itself islamic

state in syria. scientists have discovered a link between eating too much processed meat and bowel cancer and have accused the government of not doing enough to encourage people to cut their consumption. the duke of edinburgh has given up his drivers license weeks after he crashed his car near