hello, i'm ros atkins, this is outside source. every edition we bring you the biggest stories around the world. today we are going to be talking about some of these. negotiations on brexit are continuing. the eu's chief negotiator has been holding talks with his opposite number this is bbc news. i'm shaun ley. from the uk side the headlines at eight. in brussels. the uk economy grew last year president trump's having a at its slowest rate for six years and there's rally in texas in a few hours' time. more bad he will have a rally news forecast. right by the border with mexico. 2018 was a challenging year for us. as the row we have had rising raw material around immigration grows with costs a nd we have had rising raw material costs and customers have suffered a raw material increases and we have looming government suffered from a high employee shutdown. turnover this year. huge crowds have taken dinner a deux — eu negotiator to the streets in tehran michel barnier meets to mark the 40th anniversary the brexit secretary in brussels, of the islamic revolution. but says negotiation a footballer detained in thailand is off the menu. huge crowds have taken theresa may will update mps tomorrow on how her proposed to the streets in tehran deal is progressing. to mark the 40th anniversary of the islamic revolution. the labour party has received a footballer detained in thailand more than 670 complaints in less than a year, who had faced deportation to bahrain alleging acts of anti—semitism is on his way home to australia by its members. for human rights campaigners. it's decision time for horse and stark warnings that nearly half

of all species of insect racing. the industry's authorities could become extinct within the next few decades. will anounce tonight whether, after equine flu was identified at a second stables at the weekend, racing can resume. also ahead this hour — a—levels and gcses put to the test. a senior mp proposes re—writing england's exam system — to give young people a broader range of skills for their working the clock lives. and a stark warning from scientists keeps ticking. that human activity is endangering the world's insects — 46 days to go until with catastrophic consequences for the brexit. still no planet. sign ofan 46 days to go until brexit. still no sign of an arrangement between the uk and the european union which can get through the parliament. speaking of which, theresa may will be updating members of parliament tomorrow, tuesday. a day earlier than hello good evening. welcome to bbc news. welcome to bbc news. brexit uncertainty is being blamed for a sharp decline in the growth of the uk economy.

in terms of growth, last year was one of the worst performing in nine years according to official figures out today. the office for national statistics says growth in 2018 was 1.4%, that's the lowest since 2012. the ons pointed to a sharp fall in the manufacture of cars and steel products, and a decline in construction. our economics correspondent dharshini david reports. protecting metal gate posts from the weather is all in a day's work at this zinc galvanising plant. but insulating the business against outside forces has been tough. in fact, their sector has been one of the hardest hit. 2018 was a challenging year for us. we had rising zinc prices and steel prices for customers, reduced order books and a high employee turn over. anxious times means business spent less on equipment and buildings. investment has been wavering since the referendum, but over the last year it has dropped by almost 4%, squeezing growth across the economy.

lower investment affects how efficient companies can be, and so, how their profits and ourjobs and wages might fare in the future. the chancellor admits a lack of clarity over brexit is hurting. but there is no doubt that the uncertainty around brexit is taking a toll on the economy. that is why we want to get the deal done, so that we can put this issue behind us and move on, growing our economy, creating morejobs, creating higher wages. the continuing stalemate over brexit has contributed to the weakest year for growth since the financial crisis. the figures out today cover everything — from investment to income and spending. they are the best guide to our financial wellbeing, and it is notjust about brexit. even if those clouds clear, there are other factors that could impact our prosperity. the uk's biggest car maker, jaguar land rover, blamed notjust brexit but weaker demand from china and falling diesel sales,

when it recently announced job cuts. we have seen weaker growth in china, a slow down in germany, italy is in recession and it is down to a number of factors, in particular trade wars, there has been a slow down in trade and there are geopolitical concerns. those are concerns that the bank of england warned ofjust last week. the bank of england has pointed out that the world is moving into a period of slower economic growth. what they are forecasting for the uk next year will still put us ahead of germany, japan, italy, and the bank of england confirmed also that there is up side to come for the uk economy, if we get a good deal. but their central forecast is for business investment to fall by even more this year, even with a deal. talking of a dividend is unrealistic, isn't it? i don't think so. if we get the right deal, consumers will feel more confident, and as consumers recover their confidence businesses will feel more

confident. surveys suggest the start of this year hasn't been any brighterfor business. consumers are faring better, but key to all our prosperity will be the outcome of the next few weeks. darshini david, bbc news. the economist lee hopleyjoins us from our westminster studio. what do you make of these figures? i'm not totally surprised. i think the 0ns i'm not totally surprised. i think the ons data today confirmed what we suspected which is the economy did see quite a marked slow down at the end of 2018. economist preferred to look at what has happened over the average of three months and i think there was protection of replacing a and construction. in december, it was a worrying factor that all parts of the economy contracted. what is

essentially a period of political turbulence. we could do with a bit more phase at the time of uncertainty. if you add in the uncertainty. if you add in the uncertainty. but certainly that would suggest that it is going to be that much more of a struggle to grow ata that much more of a struggle to grow at a steady and reliable rate in the year that we transition out of the european union. i think that is absolutely correct. we have talked about some of the global headwinds out there. the things that companies have been navigating over the past 12 months. we have seen a slowdown in care about —— we have seen a slowdown in europe. i think layered on top of that and something that is largely specific to the uk is uncertainty around when we leave the european union and how we are going to do that. when we transition to some new form of trading relationships. the key send out information in the ons

data is the week business investment. companies are sitting on their hands or having to deploy resources into other areas. it has said that business investment is collapsing. essentially it has. the forecasts area essentially it has. the forecasts are a considerably weaker than what we saw at the start of 2018. when we think about the things that industry need to look at going forward, improving productivity, bringing new products to market, that is not happening at that pace we would like and that will have longer—term implications for that economy. and that will have longer—term implications for that economym underlines the interconnectedness of the economy as it exists now. we worry about what happens in china and in the united states never mind what is happening in the euro zone and the negotiations over brexit. can we be confident in the fundamentals of our

economy? can we be confident in the fundamentals of our economy7m terms of companies having the wherewithal to navigate some of these challenges, we have been through periods of weakness and... this has been the feature of the uk economy since the end of the financial crisis. it is how we cope with something like that shift in our biggest trading partner which is the biggest unknown. it makes forecasting, where we might see a rebound, it makes it very uncertain. thank you very much for being with us on thank you very much for being with us on bbc news this evening. and we'll find out how this story — and others are covered in tomorrow's front pages at 10:40 and 11:30 this evening in the papers. our guests joining me tonight are political commentator, jane merrick and the brexit editor of the telegraph, asa bennett. do stay with us for that. senior cabinet ministers have sought to reassure brexit supporters that there'll be no back—tracking by the prime minister after the government offered to hold fresh talks with labour on the uk's

departure from the eu. one cabinet minister described labour's proposals for a permanent customs union with the eu after the uk has left as a "dangerous delusion". our political editor laura kuenssberg reports. he does not look that enthusiastic about a compromise. has the pm met your demands? but are jeremy corbyn and the government moving any closer together? with huge numbers of tory mps disgruntled at the prime minister's deal, any sign from labour that they are willing to talk counts. which direction is the prime minister heading in? is she firstly simply trying to get her own team back on board to put her deal yet again with some suppose it changes and that is to put her deal yet again with some supposed changes — and that is what it looks like she is doing. or is she genuinely looking to see whether there is a majority for labour's proposal. remember, theresa may's deal was comprehensively booted out by parliament last month so she is desperate for votes. last weekjeremy corbyn wrote to theresa may, outlining what could get his party over the line.

and last night she wrote back to him, dangling some labour—friendly promises. of protections for workers and the environments, cash for labour constituencies. she is one million miles from getting the opposition officially on board, even though some labour mps are tempted to move. after months of the whispers, this deal—making is out in the open now. i think there would be a number of labourmps, we estimate there is somewhere between a0 and 60 who are actively looking for ways to support this at the moment. there is one particularly sticky point. the trade secretary signed today to keep us trading with switzerland like we do now in future. even though similar talks with other countries are behind schedule, he and the prime minister are adamant we must have the power to sign our own trade deals. but labour wants to be in a customs union — closer ties for business, but more rules. it is very clear from the european union that non—eu

members do not have a say in eu trade policy, so to pretend that you could do so is a dangerous delusion. and brexiteer anger lurks. being part of a customs union would be unacceptable to plenty on the tory side. so if the prime minister's really serious about budging to win some labour votes, she'd do so potentially driving more of her own ranks away. corbyn‘s proposal would keep us locked in the customs union, locked in much of the single market forever, and therefore brexit, the promise that was made to the british people of coming out of the eu institutions would be broken. pleasing all of the people all of the time was never going to happen. the prime minister's challenge is to satisfy enough mps in parliament, to save her deal. laura kuenssberg, bbc news, westminster. and this evening, the brexit secretary stephen barclay is in brussels having talks

with the eu's chief negotiator, michel barnier. our europe correspondent, damian grammaticas sent us this update from brussels. the meeting here is now under way. this is the residence of the british permanent representative of the eu, the british ambassador if you like. michel barnier arrived a little earlier, walked up the street, straight through the door into his dinner engagement with stephen barclay, the brexit secretary. we also know that in there this evening there are some otherfigures. there is the uk negotiator, olly robbins who has been conducting most of the negotiations. david liddington, the minister who has come over from london for this too. who we believe may be meeting herman van rompuy. he is the foreman, president of the european council, the role is now filled by donald tusk. they are apparently having a discussion as well.

earlier today, before he went in or came here, michel barnier had said that he would be listening to what the british side had to say tonight, their ideas about alternative arrangements for the irish border, but he was very clear that the eu side do not believe that there is anything today in terms of technology or the like that exist, that could replace border controls. so that is not up for discussion, he said. equally not up for discussion is any changes to the withdrawal agreement on the table, the eu side, michel barnier said no changes to that. instead, he said, what does have to change is there has to be movement on the uk side. he said the uk asked for brexit and agreed to the withdrawal agreement on the table and now, it had to resolve the issues that are left. the labour party has revealed that it received 673 complaints about anti—semitism amongst members since april last year, with 96 people immediately suspended from the party and 12 expulsions. more than 200 further complaints were marked for investigation.

our political correspondent iain watson is at westminster this evening. the timing of these figures are interesting given that last week we had this fairly tense meeting with the general secretary who was accused of not doing enough about anti—semitism and it continues to grow this route. it does. it continues on. some mps who emerge from the meeting were not at all please with the general secretary, she did not go to the meeting to talk about the numbers that she produced. statistics themselves, she said that she was not allowed to release the data and that some mps could see

the data. in the end she got permission to release the data, but that still did not satisfy some. for question the credibility of the data that they had been given. one person had suffered anti—semitic abuse online and in person and another person told me that they had put into hundred complaints. so the idea that there was only the figure in the data that was on the low side. another mp said that she was concerned that so many people were given written warnings about their behaviour rather than proper investigations. there was also concern expressed that amount of attention has been focused on this that only 12 people have been expeued that only 12 people have been expelled from the party. in addition, the figures that we were handed out, our dating back

from last april untiljanuary this year and again, there is concern expressed by some mps about what happened prior to that. why there was no comparable data. and whether there were some high numbers not being investigated. as i say, it was a pretty fractious meeting. there was nobody there to take the flak from the party leadership. 1—party member said this is not over, and i thatis member said this is not over, and i that is quite accurate summing this up that is quite accurate summing this up here on the other person i spoke to said they saw something else afoot here. they said given the amount of discontent with this and other issues, this is someone who is a frontbencher, a veteran, not someone a frontbencher, a veteran, not someone who is close tojeremy corbyn and he said there was a whiff ofa corbyn and he said there was a whiff of a breakaway in the air. 0h, corbyn and he said there was a whiff of a breakaway in the air. oh, that isa of a breakaway in the air. oh, that is a intriguing prospect. thank you

very much. a man arrested in connection with the disappearance of a university student in hull has been charged with five unrelated offences. pahvel relovitch has been detained in relation to the search for libby squire, who went missing 11 days ago. the charges aren't connected to her disappearance. police say he remains a person of interest in the investigation into miss squire's disappearance. the headlines on bbc news... a fall in factory output and car production are blamed as figures show the uk economy last year grew at its slowest rate since 2012. eu negotiator michel barnier is meeting the brexit secretary in brussels, as theresa may prepares to update mps tomorrow on how her proposed deal is progressing. the labour party has received more than 670 complaints in less than a year, alleging acts of anti—semitism by its members.

sport now and for a full round up, from the bbc sport centre, here's hugh woozencroft. evening to you. england's batsmen have strengthened their grip on the third day of the third and final test against the west indies in st lucia they began the day with a lead of 142, and got off to an indifferent start with rory burns out to the first ball of the day and keatonjennings failing again — out for 23. but joe denly played nicely at number three, scoring a maiden test half century. denly eventually went for 69 but captain joe root and jos buttler have built on his efforts both also passing 50. buttler was out for 56, but root has 100 in his sights and england's lead is approaching 400. newcastle can pull themselves three points clear of the premier league relegation zone with a win at in—form wolves this evening they're about a quarter of an hour

into the match at molineaux. there are still no goals, but newcastle is on top. and there's one match in the fifth round of the scottish cup this evening. inverness caledonian thistle are currently leading 1—0 at ross county, doran cogan with the goal arsenal midfielder aaron ramsey has agreed tojoin italian giantsjuventus this summer. the wales international has signed a four—year deal to move to the serie a champions as a free agent, after 11 years in london. ramsey passed a medical last month, and it's understood he'll become of more than £400,000 per week. paul scholes is the new manager at old ham atheltic, the club he supported as a boy. the former manchester united and england midfielder has signed a deal until the end of next season. the former premier league club are currently mid—table in league two, the fourth tier. it's his first managerial appointment but he is a co—owner of national league salford city. scholes will have plenty of old contacts to help

him on his way. i will do, when there are things that come up that i don't know how to deal with, i will be the first one on the phone. i'm sure there will be advice happily given. there area will be advice happily given. there are a lot of people i can call. the leinster and ireland forward sean o'brien is going tojoin london irish after this years rugby world cup. o'brien won the most recent of his 54 ireland caps in the six nations win over scotland at the weekend. he's also toured twice with the british and irish lions tours. he will link up again with declan kidney, the exiles director of rugby, who gave himn his first irleand cap back in 2009. more injury news for scotland — ryan wilson will miss the remainder of the six nations. the glasgow forward suffered knee ligament damage in saturday's loss

to ireland at murrayfield. the welsh open snooker is underway in cardiff. john higgins is the defending champion and he's looking in good form. he beat fellow scot graham dott by 4 frames to nil in the first round. higgins became the first player to win the welsh open five times last year. three times world champion mark williams has made it into the second round. he beat fellow welshman kishan hirani 4 frames to three. the irish horseracing board say that they are liftinbg the ban on british runners in ireland with immediate effect. we'll find out this evening whether the bha will allow racing to resume on wednesday. four more cases of equine flu have been identified at a second yard, this one in newmarket. six horses were found to be infected in cheshire last week. national hunts showpiece meeting the cheltenham festival is a month away. here are the thoughts of retired gold cup winning trainer henrietta knight.

the festival, the biggest festival is coming up in a very short time in march. these horses have got to be a back on a race course and so have all the other horses in the stables. maybe if they have identified it in certain yards, those particular guards should keep their horses at home for the sake of the other horses. if there is a completely clear ya rd , horses. if there is a completely clear yard, i see no reason why we shouldn't send the horses to the races. that's all the sport for now. i'll have more for you in sportsday at 10.30pm. let's stay with that last story. talking about horse racing. let's get more now on that decision expected tonight on whether british horse racing can resume again this week after an outbreak of the highly infectious equine flu. as we've just been hearing, there's been no racing for five days

after six horses were found to be infected. we will find out later joining me now from berkshire is the trainer, harry dunlop. . you can't really settle to do anything while you wait for this decision. it is a worrying time for a lot of people and to be honest with you, it is something that will be resolved very quickly i hope. only two stables. do you take comfort from the fact that so far none of the other tas have come back positive? i think it is great comfort. i will say that the ruling body are doing a greatjob and i think it is understandable for everyone's confidence to try and get everything back on track. there

are a lot of people, a lot of testing and these things take time and i think as you say, hopefully it is isolated. is vaccination mandatory for racing horses? absolutely, for racing horses. ithink for racing horses? absolutely, for racing horses. i think the main key that might come out of this is that a lot of sporting horses or riding horses are not vaccinated and perhaps this might push people or society to ensure that horses are vaccinated because it is so important. it is difficult, i suppose, when you have stables where on the one hand you have some involvement in the racing industry and other horses in the area may be in that family or others just use for pleasure and may not be thought of as an obvious target for vaccination. presumably that is going to put more cost on individual owners. absolutely, there is

no point of snack saying there is cost. it can be £25 and up for vaccination, but ultimately you do not want your horse to get this flu. for a normal sporting horse, they are not asked to do any strenuous exercise. it is a difficult argument to ask people to pay this money. the sta bles to ask people to pay this money. the stables where the outbreak was confirmed over the weekend, it is a new market —— mike it is at newmarket. he said he saw no signs of the horses having any of the clinical signs. i suppose the other worrying sign is that this could be a different strain. it does not give the detection option that we are used to having. i

think you are absolutely right. it is one of those things we all have to be vigilant, but ultimately, if there aren't the signs there, it is very hard to detect. what about jockeys? because i understand that we get paid when they are writing. —— make when they ride. everyone is affected by racing not happening, trainers, riding horses aren't being paid, absolutely jockeys, who very much are paid for the rides. it can affect everyone. and racecourses as well and the general betting public and the money coming back into the system by the bookmakers is not happening. coming back into the system by the bookmakers is not happeninglj coming back into the system by the bookmakers is not happening. i know you are hoping for good news tonight, if you do not get it, how worried will people be for cheltenham next month?” worried will people be for cheltenham next month? i think it is very important for the jumping industry. but i think we

mustjust focus on cheltenham. i think racing goes on every single day and there are lesser horses that may not be attending that festival and those are the horses that we must be looking at as well. naturally we wa nt looking at as well. naturally we want cheltenham, it is the pinnacle ofjump want cheltenham, it is the pinnacle of jump racing want cheltenham, it is the pinnacle ofjump racing and simply moving forward. you don't want this still going on into springtime and april. hopefully tonight, there are a lot of bodies tonight working together and fingers crossed that they can. harry, thank you very much i hope he will be able to bring you good news on that later at about 1030 pm. thank you very much forjoining us on bbc news this evening. human activity could drive the earth's entire insect population to extinction within a century. insects have played a pivotal role in the development of the earth's ecosystems for hundreds of millions of years but a major new scientific study has warned that 40 % of insect species could be gone within just a few decades. insects are vital pollinators so any decline threatens food production. pesticides, agriculture and climate

change are being blamed. here's our environment correspondent, victoria gill. they are the planet's smallest and most essential workers, producing our food, cleaning up our waste. but changes we are making to the environment threaten the very existence of the earth's insect population. that is according to scientists, who analyzed dozen of insects surveys, carried out all over the world, over the last 13 years. it revealed that many species are now sliding towards extinction at a dramatic rate. overall, 41% of the world's insect species are in decline. that include some very familiar creatures. 49% of beetles are declining, 37% of mayflies and 53% of butterflies and moths. that's one of the groups that are troubled ? absolutely, moths and bees and beetles are all massively in trouble right

now. those losses, scientitsts say, could jeopardise our way of life. so much of our atmospheric carbon which is linked to climate change, that is stored in the soil, and that is cycled through the soil by insects. ourfood is grown in the soil — that is made by insects and then our food is then pollinated by insects. every single step along that has an insect associated with it that is doing an importantjob, and without that, we would lose the ability to produce food, wouldn't we? but as much as we rely on insects it is primarily our activities and ourfood production practices that have been driving these declines. there are three key things that this study highlights as threats to our planet's insect diversity — climate change, invasive species and critically how we use our land. the increasing intensification of agriculture. around the world, suitable habitat is being consumed

by farming and urbanisation. and the study says widespread use of synthetic pesticides is a major driver of insect loss. bug lovers can help by making gardens more pollinator friendly, but researchers say food production will have to change to stop our most important pollinators becoming collateral damage in the battle against pests. now it's time for a look at the weather with darren bett. hello there. it has been a very promising start to the week. tomorrow will be quite a bit milder, but there will be more cloud around and we are starting to see that cloud thickening up in the northwest of the uk to bring a bit of rain and drizzle overnight to scotland and northern ireland. some cloud heading into western parts of england and wales. clearer spells further east. those temperatures will be very close to freezing. a touch of ground frost at the very least. milder for western scotland and northern

ireland with the southwestly wind picking up and dragging in all that cloud and a bit of rain and drizzle. some of which can topple down as far sounds as england and north wales. some sunshine for a while across the southeast of the uk, but even here, it will cloud up. it may well brighten up later. with northern scotland and northern ireland where we have got the strongest south—westerly winds. a mile today with temperatures of 11 or 12 degrees, maybe even 13 degrees. and really, over the week ahead, it is very quiet whether dominated by a high—pressure. a lot of dry weather around, some sunshine, pretty mild by day, some chilliness overnight. hello, this is bbc news with shaun ley. the headlines: the uk economy expanded at its slowest annual rate

since 2012 — after a sharp contraction in december. eu negotiator michel barnier is meeting the brexit secretary in brussels, as theresa may prepares to update mps on how her proposed deal is progressing. the labour party has received more than 670 complaints in less than a year, alleging acts of anti—semitism by its members. a decision will be made tonight about whether british horse racing can resume again this week after an outbreak of equine flu. scientists have warned that human activity is endangering the world's insects, with catastrophic consequences for the planet. the transport secretary, chris grayling, has faced criticism over his handling of the government's planning for ensuring goods can be imported in the event that the uk leaves the eu without a deal. mr grayling today defended the decision to award a contract

to seaborne freight, a company with no ships, only to terminate it when the firm lost the backing of the irish shipping giant, arklow. mr grayling faced mps in the commons — and was questioned by shadow transport secretary, andy mcdonald. late last week despite previous assurances arklow chipping suddenly and unexpectedly withdrew their backing from seabourn. in the light of this and after a careful assessment, i took the decision to terminate this contract. my department concluded there were too many major commercial issues to be resolved enabled to allow seabourn to bring varies in time. not a penny of tax is money has gone or will go to seabourn. the contracts we have agreed essentially a commitment to block booked tickets on additional ceilings after the uk to leave the european union so actually we have taken irresponsible decision to make

sure taxpayers money is properly protected. —— we are taking a responsible decision. what began as a to ba cco responsible decision. what began as a tobacco has descended into a whitehall farce. this minister is rewriting the textbook for ministerial incompetence in office. i repeatedly warned the secretary of state this was the wrong decision at the time as dead industry yet he chose to ignore these warnings. he told the house last month this procurement was done properly. it is since emerged that eft take short cuts on the seabourn freight procurement. the deal was signed off bya procurement. the deal was signed off by a subgroup of a subgroup and the main form of oversight, the agreement insurance board never looked at it. he points the finger is at arklow for the contract, mr speaker, is it really is the time to further insult the irish? the defence secretary gavin williamson has announced plans to modernise the armed forces so britain can redefine its role in the world after brexit.

he said a bolder and stronger military was needed, ready to use its power — or risk being seen as a paper tiger. a teenager has gone on trial accused of abducting, raping and murdering six—year—old alesha macphail on the isle of bute. her body was discovered in woodland last july. a 16—year—old boy — who can't be named because of his age — denies the charges at glasgow high court. president trump will travel to el paso in texas today, to hold his first rally of the new year. he has controversially claimed that the city's 78—mile border fence with mexico is the reason why crime rates have fallen in the city. it's just four days before the us government is due to shut down again, if there is no agreement on funding for a wall that extends right across the border. our correspondent gary o'donoghue reports. this is the fence that transformed el paso from one of the most violent cities in america to one of the safest or at least that is according to donald

trump. i want to welcome everyone here... but when he arrives here he is likely to find a lot of people who do not believe that and they are prepared to tell him so. it is an absolute lie, it is an outright lie. el paso is a community full of families, we have mixed documentation, we have people who cross every day to come to take care of our children, who come to take care of our families and we have been a community united by the border. we are not divided here in el paso. with a powerful barrier, in place, el paso is one of the safest cities in our country. there is no doubt there is a huge difference in the crime rate between el paso here in texas and juarez over there across the highway in mexico. here, there were 23 murders last year, over there a town admittedly twice the size, there was 1200. that is a 50

fold disparity. the question is, is the president right to say it is the wall that makes all the difference? on the other side of that fence is mexico. el paso's republican mayor was one of those taken aback by the president's use of his town to make a bigger political point. i am not saying the fence should not be part of a border strategy, i mean we are a sovereign nation and we need to control our borders, but as far as el paso's crime rate, no. it was low before the fence came up and it has remained, it has gotten even lower since. in reality, violent crime has fluctuated in both el paso and juarez. for two years after the fence went up in 2009 it actually rose on the texas side of the border as territorial wars between the drug cartels intensified. but there are those here who believe a fence or a wall has played an important part. but what about those who accuse the president of using misleading facts?

i do not agree that he lies. the number of violent crimes went up after the wall went up? well, but how much have they dropped before then and why did they go up? did they go up because of the wall or did they go up because of other crimes that were occurring? linking immigration and crime have been constants for president trump but it has antagonized democrats and that has made a deal in congress all the harder. is the current exam system in england fit for purpose? not so, claims robert halfon — who chairs the education select committee. he says gcses are pointless and should be scrapped, and that young people in the uk need a wider range of skills more suitable for today's competitive job market. well some of you have been getting in touch with your views:

johnny from hastings says: duncan thinks: but claire says: discover my passion lay in the technical and bespoke social work of hairdressing! i wish i had more choices available. scrap the ivory tower and make it real for our children! i can now talk to james allen, headmaster at beech hall school in macclesfield. you're a teacher but also a recently successful gcse applicant. how did you do it? i made a rather foolish decision to take a couple of gcses

last summer, partly because i thought might be a good idea to myself amongst the children and actually do what they were doing. it was a really good exercise because frankly it wasn't a very pleasant one. it was rather stressful and anxiety inducing, it really was. anxiety for a professional teacher with years of experience, what you deduce from that for the young people? i think there is some merit to looking at the system. i think people will throw their hands up and say dme, not another change. we've only just say dme, not another change. we've onlyjust had large scale change in the moves from grades to numbers but i think the moves from grades to numbers but ithink in the moves from grades to numbers but i think in essence, we have to maintain some sort of academic rigour. we have to have something that our children are aiming for. i would like to see us look at gcses and make them increasingly more meaningful and more relevant to our children. if i could have a minute i wouldn't mind talking about the english—language gcse because i

think that is particularly relevant. currently there is a speaking and listening assessment, it is it with a good part of the gcse. children have to prepare a two or three minute debate, talk about a topic they feel strongly about and convince other people of their views. it is a really valuable part of the gcse, itjust doesn't carry any marks. it is a compulsory part of the exam with no value whatsoever. many worlds where we have to be incredibly articulate and eloquent and convincing to other people in so many of ourjobs, why not make that a really important pa rt not make that a really important part of the gcse and make it count? it isa part of the gcse and make it count? it is a good example because i suppose in lots of higher education settings, like medical degrees, people would be expected to undertake a verbal testing of that knowledge. in terms of the other point that robert health and was making, he was talking about 20 broaden and i know it is very difficult when you have a national curriculum in england that mandates certain things you have to do and

time is always an issue for schools and teachers. but what about this question that he is raised but actually it might be better to have one set of exams at 18 and then maybe at 16 what you want is continuous assessment? that the exam matters at the point in which people are considering post—school education matters less at 16 where all it is going to do is determine where they go next because they have to remain in education after 16. where they go next because they have to remain in education after16. he has a valid point, do i worry a little bit about the expectation of children if there is no formal examination or assessment until 18? what is the message to our children? what is the message to our children? what we have to be doing is making sure they are moving through the education system from beginning to end, whatever that may be, as literate and numerate as they possibly can be and in that respect, ido possibly can be and in that respect, i do agree with them. i do not think we have quite got it right in terms of gcse but what i like to see a

system that ends at 18 and doesn't formulate text at 16? no, i wouldn't, i think it is a poor message. a lot of people watching this will be academic, forgive the use of the word, but the practical thing is whether they have children or grandchildren or friends children going to gcses at the moment. what they can do to help the kids get to them? that is a really huge question because it is tough and we know that children's anxiety and we know that children's anxiety and stress levels are growing. the biggest debate at the moment around children's mental health and well—being. i would like us to move away from an obsession with nine or ten gcses, it is simply not important. it is about what is releva nt to important. it is about what is relevant to the individual child so if that means reducing the number of gcses they and focusing on what is really important for them, that's what's important. unfortunately i have a small school and were able to

focus on individuals that is what it is about for me. —— fortunately i have a small school. how did it got on? i got a nine in my english language but i am an english teacher so there was extra pressure on that. can you translate that nine for us? it is ana can you translate that nine for us? it is an a star. congratulations. that is reassuring for all those childrenjames that is reassuring for all those children james teachers and that is reassuring for all those childrenjames teachers and their pa rents, childrenjames teachers and their parents, he childrenjames teachers and their pa rents, he really childrenjames teachers and their parents, he really is good at english. the headlines on bbc news... a fall in factory output and car production are blamed — as figures show the uk economy last year grew at its slowest rate since 2012. eu negotiator michel barnier is meeting the brexit secretary in brussels, as theresa may prepares to update mps tomorrow on how her proposed deal is progressing. the labour party has received more than 670 complaints in less than a year, alleging acts of anti—semitism by its

members. an update on the market numbers for you — here's how london's and frankfurt ended the day. and in the the united states this is how the dow and the nasdaq are getting on. it is worth pointing out that sterling has had another tough day ticket on the back of the gdp figures as its value fell. it is been hit by the strengthening of the dollar. more than 300,000 babies under the age of one are living below the poverty line — according to analysis carried out for the bbc by the joseph rowntree foundation. the organisation defines relative poverty as living substantially below the average income. for a single parent family with one child, that amounts to £198 per week after housing costs. for a family of two parents with two children it's £360 per week. the government says there are now 1 million fewer people living in absolute poverty since

2010. danny savage has been to castleford to meet one working mother. morning charlie. ready? the start of another day for vicky miller and her son charlie, in their rented home in castleford. going to get ready for nursery, aren't we. another day worrying about money. get some milk, you want to come up? things were so desperate a few months ago, she was referred to a baby bank. you get the toiletries and nappies. it supplies everything for a newborn that a growing number of people can't afford. and it's just received another message asking for help. they might ring us up and say, i don't get paid while friday, but we've run out of nappies, or milk, or theyjust need topping up on clothes. you know, when winter came we had a lot of referrals from mums who wanted just winter coats and things like that. although vicky works two days a week, it's not enough for some of the basics.

when she was on maternity leave, things were even tighter. even recovering from a c—section, nothing unusual for me to walk six miles a day. so like, into town, around town to look at the prices on the market, look at the price on the supermarket, and have to go back to one because i could save 25 pence on a bag of potatoes on the market. vicky now has to make her food budget of £20 a week go as far as possible. call it £5 for cash. oh, grand. thank you very much. thank you ever so much. have you ever had a week when you've literally run out of cash when there's two or three days to go? yes. it was like not long after i took my house over, i went two weeks with just living on baked beans. he wasn't feeding, he was breast fed at the time, so of course that wasn't good, i wasn't getting enough nutrients in, so i had to go to food banks. what sort of things do you have to send home to people? nappies, wipes.

and at charlie's nursery, the daily struggle of working families is a familiar story to ownerjodie. so they come in on a morning absolutely starving. so we're providing breakfast when realistically they should be fed at home, before they come. fair enough, them that's coming in at half seven, that's the breakfast club, they're coming in for that, but there's children that come in here, at 9.00, and they're starving. at the baby bank, more donations are being dropped off. researchers say 300,000 children in the uk under the age of one are living in relative poverty. this is clearly needed. danny savage, bbc news, west yorkshire. frequent callers to emergency services are "putting other lives at risk" — according to south western ambulance trust. the trust, which covers the south—west of england, says people who make regular emergency calls are putting strain on the service. it's warning that some users are blocking lines and taking up valuable paramedics time, as tamsin melville reports.

ambulance services, is the patient breathing? is the patient conscious? tell me exactly what's happened. they're taking 999 calls that can be a matter of life or death. up to 3000 a day in this exeter control room. but one in ten will be from a frequent callar. we can see the calls stacking up on the screen. if we're tied up with these calls then we can't answer the life—threatening emergencies. emergency medical dispatchers like sian have training to deal with the around 2000 active frequent callers there are in the south—west. in lunchtimes, evening, we would get a lot of frequent callers giving us a call and they do take a lot of our time up. just wanted to double—check you are all happy with how you are assessing frequent callers for their various needs? there is a dedicated group to work with the callers and other health care services, and it is estimated it takes up 200 hours a day

of the emergency team's time. where are you going boy? with that number of hours it equates approximately to an extra 35 paramedics across the south—west that we could have available to provide care. however, the resources being spent on answering calls and responding to incidents relating to frequent callers. not everyone is abusing the system. most fall into the more vulnerable groups such as mental health and drug and alcohol issues, but the trust will prosecute if necessary. in the past year across the south—west area there have been 15 court convictions of people who have been abusing the 999 emergency system. one was a court order against a lady from devon who made 129 calls over a three—month period. none was for a life—threatening emergency. excessive 999 use isjust a symptom that health care needs aren't being met so please link in with your health care professionals to understand how you can get on top of your medical condition.

a pilot scheme to try and take the pressure off the ambulance service is under way in cornwall which hopes to reduce isolation and help people access the right care. the key message remains. use 999 only in a genuine emergency. tamsin melville, bbc spotlight. family members of the late south african president nelson mandela have visited toxteth in liverpool — where a site for a memorial to the anti—apartheid campaigner has been blessed. his daughter — dr makaziwe mandela — called for world unity as she addressed community members and school children. the event was held on the 29th anniversary of nelson mandela's release from prison in south africa. andy gill reports. nelson mandela's daughter and granddaughter arrive in toxteth park this morning. permanent memorial will be built. today's visits of the site of the memorial being blessed. we are

site of the memorial being blessed. we a re really site of the memorial being blessed. we are really humble that i've years after his death the world still honours him. nelson mandela was sentenced to life in jail in 1964 for opposing south africa's apartheid regime. under it the black majority of the population were second—class citizens and had no rights. on his release mandela promoted the ideals of and forgiveness. he believed in a strong sense of community and compassion of our fellow human beings. sense of community and compassion of ourfellow human beings. he believed in kindness. mandela became president of south africa in 1994, in the same year liverpool made him a freeman of the city are now plans a freeman of the city are now plans a permanent memorial to him. a freeman of the city are now plans a permanent memorialto him. five years after his passing away liverpool is remembering this great son of africa and his impact to

people notjust in south son of africa and his impact to people not just in south africa son of africa and his impact to people notjust in south africa but around the world. the site will feature a bridge to an island on a la ke feature a bridge to an island on a lake and sculptures representing oil drums. a lot of values around equality and social rights and justice is a lot of things that people here in liverpool fight for and stand up for. work is expected to start on the memorial and the new feature —— in the nearfuture. women dominated the grammy‘s in los angeles for the first time last night — making history as they won five of the top album awards. a year ago women were almost ignored in the major categories — this time there were some big winners — among them lady gaga, dolly parton and british singer dua lipa. there was also an appearance from former first lady michelle obama. our correspondent dan johnson reports from los angeles can i bring some of my sisters out here tonight? cheering.

so male is so last year. alicia keys opened the show with a line—up of leading ladies from music, film, and the white house. from the motown records i wore out on the south side... cheering. michelle obama got a standing ovation, having barely spoken. cheering. music shows us that all of it matters. every story, within every voice. every note within every song. is that right, ladies? yes! cardi b became the first solo woman to win best rap album. british singer dua lipa — who started out singing covers on youtube — was named best new artist. she took aim at the recording academy president, who suggested last year that women needed to step up. how honoured i am to be nominated alongside so many incredible female artists this year,

because i guess this year we've really stepped up? this is america is childish gambino's brutally dark commentary on violence and injustice in the united states. the song made grammys history winning both the top performance and writing awards. childish gambino! but he let his co—writer pick up the prizes — he was one of the notable missing men who chose not to attend this year's awards. lady gaga was there to pick up two prizes for shallow, the song from the film a star is born. thank you. thank you so much. # working nine to five #. and the grammys showed it does span genres and bridge generations. there was a special award for dolly parton after putting in all those hours. this was a celebration of many different, strong female voices. music's biggest evening felt very much like ladies night.

danjohnson, bbc news, los angeles. now it's time for a look at the weather. good evening, we have if you changes in the weather. it has been a good start to the week with sunshine around. tomorrow we will see more cloud across the uk but they will be a bit milder as well and the biggest change in temperatures probably going to be across scotland and northern england. those were the temperatures today. neither the temperatures today. neither the temperatures tomorrow, so ease away double figures across the board. the wind direction is changing we started with a gentle northerly today, we will pick up a south to wind tomorrow. we willjoin more cloud and that has started already, toppling into the north—west of the uk and that cloud is thick enough to give us a bit of rain and drizzle across the north and west of scotla nd across the north and west of scotland and into northern ireland as well. so other cloud pushing

its way into england and wales, clear skies more likely to be south and east and in rural areas we have temperatures close to freezing. it will be a chilly night, not desperately cold, it will be mild over scotla nd desperately cold, it will be mild over scotland and northern ireland where we cloudy skies and a bit of rain and drizzle. we could see a bit of that toppling into north—western england and perhaps wales. increasing cloud across england and wales, with some light sunshine perhaps coming into scotland. we had strong south—westerly winds arriving and that wind direction is significant because it is a much milder went direction and those are the temperatures, may be getting 13, possibly 14 celsius on tuesday. that weather front is coming across uk bringing rain and drizzle. it will only get so far and then get pushed northwards by strengthening south to southwest winds. we will see a bit more cloud across scotland northern ireland. more especially across

scotland. the cloud break—up over england and wales, eastern areas of scotla nd england and wales, eastern areas of scotland and the north—east of scotla nd scotland and the north—east of scotland could be unusually mild. those are the temperatures, 11 to 13 degrees on wednesday. we are getting mild air because it is coming from a long way south, this persistent area of high pressure. sitting to the south—east of the uk, it is keeping those weather front at bayes for a time being. on thursday we are drawing in drierairon time being. on thursday we are drawing in drier air on the south to south—westerly wind which means it is going to be dry and sunnier as well. those temperatures not really changing too much, 11 to 13 degrees which is quite a bit above normal for this time of the year. that is it, i will see you later.