hello, i'm ross atkins. this is outside source. these are our top stories: president trump says venezuela is making a "terrible mistake" in blocking food aid entering the country. he met the president of colombia. we will play some of the press conference. also spanish politics... the government has failed to get its budget through parliament and we could be looking at a very early general election. also this gathering in poland hosted by the americans. the idea is to put pressure on iran but many americans with a senior european colleagues have not shown up to this. and in the phillipines the head of a news website is arrested and it's livestreamed on social media. lots of people pointing at this and saying it is more evidence of a crackdown on press freedoms there. and i will show you this... and a rare black panther has been caught on camera in the wild in kenya. president trump has attacked

nicolas maduro‘s decision to block us aid entering venezuela. he did so while meeting colombia's president. they have to be able to let the food in, and in many cases it's getting in. they blocked one of the bridges, but they haven't been able to block the others in, like they are trying. i think he is making a terrible mistake by not allowing that to happen, it's showing bad things. really, we are trying to get food to people that are starving. there are people starving in venezuela and itjust shows what can happen with the wrong government. with the wrong government, bad things happen. the americans are trying to get food to people and also trying to drive a president maduro out of power. colombia is central to the crisis in venezuela — hundreds of thousands of people have come over the border because of the economic crisis and political repression. trying to go the other way are us aid trucks,

but they're being blocked at the border town of cucuta by venezuelan troops. here's president duque on this. we have to give a very strong message to the dictatorship. obstructing the access of humanitarian aid is a crime against humanity, and we have to ensure that the humanitarian aid gets to the venezuelan people, and colombia is highly committed to receiving humanitarian aid from the us and other countries so that it can access venezuela and help the venezuelan people. the political context here is that the opposition leader juan guaido has declared himself interim president — and he's been recognised as such by much of the west. here he is at a rally in caracas also talking about the aid. translation: yes ah yes, humanitarian aid will come to

venezuela. yes because the usurper must leave then as well. not the first time venice weller has got rid of a tyrant, not the first time. —— not the first time venice has gotten rid ofa the first time venice has gotten rid of a tyrant. —— venezuela. president maduro is not interested in this aid. listen to this clip from his interview with the bbc‘s orla guerin. translation: venezuela is a country that has dignity, and the united states intends to create a humanitarian crisis in order to justify a military intervention, and this is part of that charade. that's why with all dignity, we tell them, we don't want their crumbs, their toxic food, their leftovers. meanwhile, a committee at the us house of reprentatives has also discussed venezuela. president trump has hinted that military intervention is one option. the committee's chair is not persuaded. i want to make clear to our witnesses and to everyone else watching, us military intervention is not an option. congress decides when, where and how the us military is used around the world, and congress would not support military intervention in venezuela. earlier i spoke to barbara plett

usher in washington. here's her analysis of the us‘s position. you wonder whether there was a miscalculation about how quickly the military might switch sides, because now they are engaged in this stand—off, and having to come up with policies to keep pressing the maduro regime. i mean, the talk from the administration is very much one of commitment to keep doing so, and to do so at the moment through this issue of humanitarian aid. so, on the one hand, it's desperately needed because of the terrible humanitarian crisis in venezuela, but, on the other hand, it's obviously also a political tool and a way to press the maduro regime, because the aid is being given to mr guaido, you know, and the parallel or alternative government. he is the one who would be distributing it. he would be the one who would be feeding the people. and it's basically set up as a challenge to the maduro regime, and especially to the military. will you actually stop this from coming in? so that is the stand—off at the moment. when you ask whether there is a plan for a longer stand—off over quite a long time, and how the united states

will continue the pressure, you don't get specifics. you get stuff like what mr trump said, we have a plan a, we have a plan b, we have a plan b, we have a plan d, we have lots of options. so we would have to see how this... what happens if we go forward. and we had that clip from the house of representatives, from one representative saying, look, we're not interested in military intervention. but is there a broader support for mr trump making a stand against maduro? yes, there is bipartisan support for backing mr guaido as the interim president, and for his plan to have a transition government call for elections, and this policy that mr maduro is illegitimate. there is very strong backing in a bipartisan way. there is criticism from the left that this is just the same old us interventionism to get an outcome that it wants, which of course it has a history of in latin america. but even people who might have some criticisms about the policy and how it is articulated — there is a certain amount

of cold war rhetoric around it — it has to be said, will still say this was a real problem. the venezuelan crisis is a regional crisis. it's spilling out into the wider area. it's a problem for us. there was no solution with mr maduro and now that there is a democratic option, as they describe mr guaido, it is the right thing to back him. so on capitol hill there is a fair bit of support they are, but there is concern from democratic lawmakers about these hints of military action. there is not support for that. spain's prime minister pedro sanchez is widely expected to call a general election soon. and it's because of this. translation: yes, 191, no, 156, plus two votes filed electronically. abstentions, one. consequently the amendments are approved and the 2019 budget proposal is rejected.

that's the government failing to get its budget through parliament. mr sanchez leads a minority government — his socialist party — marked in red — only has 84 out of the 350 seats in the lower house of parliament. until today, he had the support of several smaller parties — including catalan separatists who want catalonia to be an independent country. they've been insisting on a dialogue over independence in exchange for supporting the budget, but agreements not been reached. so the budget was rejected. these pictures tell the story. this was at the weekend. these pictures are from sunday — thousands of demonstrators marched in madrid in a pro—unity demonstration, putting pressure on mr sanchez over his attempts to reach out to the catalan politicians. and yesterday divisions were highlighted further when 12 catalan separatist leaders and activists went on trial for rebellion and sedition. those charges relate to the independence referendum in 2017 - these pictures are from then. all leading up to today — mr sanchez left parliament

immediately after his defeat — apparently he was smiling but silent. that is certainly true. i put that to mike sanders. i think he realises that the current arrangement of getting support from the catalan separatist parties whilst not durable so we needed something more solid. having said that, the polls are not looking that brilliant for him. he isjust that, the polls are not looking that brilliant for him. he is just about ahead at the moment but you will remember back in december, a far right party got into power in andalusia in the south of spain and thatis andalusia in the south of spain and that is the first openly far right party to get power anywhere in spain for decades. there is the worry that they might do very well in an

election and it might enforce a much tougher policy on immigration, for example. ironically, it is the cata la n example. ironically, it is the catalan separatists who scuppered this budget deal, but the far right party if they get into power and get influence in coalition with the right—wing parties, they will push for a reduction of the autonomy some of the regions already have. some people watching might think, how come this government was ever formed and we had a trial starting with former catalan leaders accused ofa with former catalan leaders accused of a range of crimes relating to the independence bush on 2017 so how come separatist parties are going into a government with the prime minister of spain? get stems back to lastjune when there was a vote of confidence in there was a vote of confidence in the former conservative government, a big corruption scandal about illicit party funding for a couple of constituencies near madrid. the socialists managed to topple this government with the help of the separatists. you will remember back

in 2017 the separatists pushed very ha rd in 2017 the separatists pushed very hard for independence and they held a referendum that the government considered illegal, and they then unilaterally declared independence. they perhaps thought they would get a better dealfrom they perhaps thought they would get a better deal from the socialists than they would from the conservatives and that is probably why they backed the socialists back lastjune, to get a more amenable government. now it is all blown up on theirfaces government. now it is all blown up on their faces because you have got the trial, as you mention, of 12 separatist leaders, this week. in the uk you will know we have an opposition which would dearly love a general election. in the case of spanish politics, most political parties, are they keen for this to happen? i think the conservative party, the popular party, the people's party would like to see an election because it has managed to persuade the citizens party, which originally started out as a moderate catalan party, tojoin forces. now, started out as a moderate catalan party, tojoinforces. now, citizens has moved steadily to the right,

there was a complaint in parliament today, are vehement speech during the debate by the socialist representative, saying that citizens is supposed to be in the liberal group in the european parliament and yet it has allied with people like vox, the far right party. so what is going on because my quickly before you go, when you say it could happen soon, how soon? element the prime minister pedro sanchezis element the prime minister pedro sanchez is going to make an announcement on friday... your guess is as good as mine but i would have thought sooner than later. stay with us on outside source — still to come... a bbc africa eye investigation finds evidence that sudan is using secret hit squads to suppress protests in the capital khartoum. a man has been found guilty of killing and mugging a 100—year—old woman in derby. artur waszkiewicz stole zofija kaczan's handbag last may and severely injured her in the process. sima kotecha was at derby crown court.

it took thejuryjust it took the jury just over two hours to reach the verdict. they found artur waszkiewicz guilty of killing 100—year—old woman in derby and mugging her last may. to explain what happened back then, on may the 28th, she was off to the church and walking along the road. he came up from behind her and pushed out of the ground, snatched a handbag from her. in the process he ripped the handle of the handbag and left her bleeding on the floor. her name was zofija kaczan. now, she has quite an eventful story. she spent time in the nazi prison camps during the second world war, and today there has been an outpouring of support from the polish community here, saying that what has happened to her is incredibly sad. this is outside source live

from the bbc newsroom. our lead story is... donald trump has met with the president of colombia at the white house — and says venezuela is making a "terrible mistake" by refusing to let in food aid sent to the oppposition there. president maduro says he does not wa nt president maduro says he does not want the aid. more stories from the bbc world service... the government in sri lanka is adverstising for executioners, after deciding to bring back hanging. the last execution there was more than a0 years ago but the president decided last summer to bring back the death penalty for drug offenders. the adverts says applicants must be male, of good moral character and with very good mental strength. that's from bbc tamil. the former yugoslav republic of macedonia has begun using its new name of north macedonia, ending three decades of dispute with its southern neighbour greece. the name is now in use inside the country, other countries will have to decide when they start using it because the united nations has not yet been formally notified of the change. the man in charge of india's

railways has been mocked, for sharing a video of what he called a "high—speed" train. the government minister tweeted: "it's a bird...it‘s a plane...watch india's first semi—high speed train zooming past at lightning speed". it came to light that the video was actually significantly sped up, after the train spotter who originally filmed it, saw it. we've been covering the protests in sudan quite a lot on outside source and they've been happening in major cities and particularly the capital khartoum. now a bbc africa eye investigation has found evidence sudan is using secret hit squads to suppress the protests. sudanese citizens began taking to the streets in december 2018 over a hike in food prices, but this later evolved into anger over the 30—year rule of the president omar al—bashir. the resulting clashes have led to the deaths of at least 30 people. our africa security correspondent tomi oladipo has this report. a warning, viewers may find

some images disturbing. an uprising in the streets of khartoum. weeks of protest met with deadly force. the government has kept television cameras away from the protests but ordinary citizens have recorded the demonstrations and the crackdown on their mobile phones. bbc africa eye has closely studied hundreds of these videos, uploaded to social media or received directly from protesters. squads of police, soldiers and plainclothes security agents have been filmed swooping in with their trademark white pick—up trucks. these crews don't just disperse the protests — they target one person on the streets or at home. victims are dragged into the car and disappear. —— victims are beaten, dragged into the car and disappear.

witnesses say the protesters end up in secret detention centres, where they receive further beatings and sometimes face torture. some former detainees told bbc africa eye of this facility near the shendi bus terminal in khartoum. multiple witnesses told us that one building consists of a series of chilled holding cells, in which the cold is used as an instrument of torture. it is known to local activists as the fridge. i was so scared, scared of dying. the place is cold and lonely. i thought those were my last moments alive. they had beaten me so badly, i thought that was it. i have never felt cold like that. if i had stayed there until the morning, i would have died. the fridge is not new. we spoke with one dissident who said he was held in a cold cell as far back as 2009. activists who have been detained here also described being beaten, sleep deprived and held

in stress positions. a spokesperson for the government denied the existence of secret detention centres and said that sudanese law prohibits the beating or torture of detainees. he added that the demonstrations were illegal and claimed that some protesters had used firearms, prompting the police to defend themselves. the protests have spread across the country, posing a major threat to president bashir‘s rule. the authorities have resorted to traditional methods of suppression which have worked in the past, but sudan has not seen public anger on this scale for decades, and it's not clear if these same tactics will silence the new uprising. tomi oladipo, bbc news. and you can watch the full 11—minute video on the investigation on our website. that's bbc.com/news.

if you are watching and thinking, how come we have not spoken about brexit yet? there will be a full update on it where we have got to with it in 12 minutes' time. we will have a life correspondent from westminster. —— a live correspondent. more detail on the tragedy that struck nigerian's election on tuesday. it's been confirmed that 15 people died in port harcourt in a stampede at a campaign rally for president buhari. the event was in stadium in the omagwa neighbourhood. and these were the tens of thousands who turned out. the stampede happened as the president left — and some of the crowd tried to follow him by forcing a locked gate. well, despite the loss of life, the campaign goes on. in the capital, abuja, the president and his main rival atiku abuba kar

have signed a pledge to follow the established legal process if there is a dispute over the result. here's president buhari speaking after signing the pledge. we are hopeful that this is evidence that we are all maturing in our disposition towards electoral outcomes. . we see this as an opportunity to grow ourselves in culture in nigeria. nigeria's population is around 200 million. over 60% percent of those people are below 30, and many of them won't be voting on saturday. is'haq khalid in abuja has been finding out why. the last leg of nigeria's presidential campaign. 76—year—old incumbent president president buhari is vying for a second term. his main challenger is the

former vice president. abubakar. many young nigerians will not vote, asi many young nigerians will not vote, as i found out touring through the capital. this 26—year—old tells me he voted in 2015 but feels disappointed and decided not to vote this time. we have insecurity and maybe we can join the line to vote... armed robbers can fire on us. that is why we avoid the election. across town, a hairdresser will not ta ke across town, a hairdresser will not take part in the elections as well. the 35—year—old says she has no confidence in the political process. if you vote... they will give it to the person they want to give it and it will not come out. for me and it is my decision, i will not vote. i will not vote. 60% of nigeria's population of 200

million are below the age of 30, a significant number of them did not register to vote. here in nigeria a lot of young people are suffering from poverty. a lack ofjobs and an underfunded education sector. they feel neglected by politicians, which has led to widespread disillusionment among the youth. i'm heading to the university of abuja, which should be full of students but it is deserted. many people have not attended classes due to a strike by university lecturers for three months whichjust ended. university lecturers for three months which just ended. they are deeply frustrated but determined to vote. we are tired... we want to exercise our franchise. the youth we are tired... we want to exercise ourfranchise. the youth need we are tired... we want to exercise our franchise. the youth need to come out and just do something, make a difference. that is why i want to vote. despite the widespread disenchantment, more than 42 million

people under the age of 35 have registered to vote, hoping those to be elected might address the chronic problems affecting nigeria's youth. bbc news, abuja. election day is saturday and we will have full coverage across the weekend. us—china trade talks are cranking up. we turn to them frequently on outside source. donald trump says he's prepared to extend a march the 1st deadline to reach a trade deal with china. also, south china morning post is reporting that the chinese president will meet top us delegates on friday. we must get help from our correspondent in new york. here we we re correspondent in new york. here we were thinking we had a deadline but it seems we did not. the white house officials have been at pains to say this was a hard and fast deadline but one word from the boss donald trump on tuesday night saying that he would let it slide if talks were going well... i think now it is on the chinese to come up with

enough to perhaps persuade donald trump that they are close enough to deal to let things slide. probably the goalfor them is deal to let things slide. probably the goal for them is to avoid this increase in tariffs that are due to go into effect on march the 2nd, with tariffs on $200 billion of chinese imports to the us would go from 10% to 25% increase. that is what the chinese wish to avoid but what do they need to offer the americans for to happen? this is what is not clear. who will give? if you look at the laundry list of demands from the americans they want structural changes to the chinese economy and they want the trade deficit between the two countries to be reduced. they would like china to scale back some of its ambitions when it comes to areas of expertise like technology.

so there is plenty to discuss. the question is which side will give to get them to deal? certainly we have already seen the chinese saying they would buy more american products but will that be enough? we will talk again about this i am sure. thank you. report now on how drones are being used to make sure people are not working too hard. this is in japan. this is injapan. one of our most watched things on the app. inafew in a few minutes i will give you a full update on brexit. hello and we have got to winter storms to talk about across north america and there is no mistaking where they are on the chart, easy to see. across the eastern side of canada, northeastern us states, the isobars are close together. blizzard isobars are close together. blizzard is likely with strong winds as it works eastwards. then keeping an eye on the pacific northwest, and the

system being enhanced by some tropical moisture pushing out of hawaii. some torrential rain for a time across the california coast. inland, further snow across parts of washington, oregon, and the cascades and sierra nevada and the rocky mountains. meanwhile cold air across much of canada particularly through manitoba and alberta, sinking southwards into the upper midwest. com pletely southwards into the upper midwest. completely different now... a dust storm in australia, huge dust storm, in new south wales affected over the last 2a to 48 in new south wales affected over the last 24 to 48 hours. foot pulling away eastwards but quite dramatic red sunrises and sunsets. down to strong and gusty winds associated with thunderstorms starting to pull away now. warming up across parts of victoria and southern australia come cool conditions recently. meanwhile a deep area of low pressure, this tropical cyclone, bringing strong winds and heavy rain to some places and new caledonia over the next few

days. then rain working northwards across new zealand, bringing some respite to the wildfires in the nelson region. behind the cold front, as the name implies, temperatures dipping dramatically by ten or 12 celsius across the south island, and heaviest rain will be here. across north—eastern states of india over the next days, red and amber warnings. snow across kashmir and some really torrential thunderstorm is potentially bringing big hill across some north—eastern states. further south and west are com pletely states. further south and west are completely different story, dry as you might expect. blue colours developing with indications of some heavy and thundery showers. across to europe where high pressure is the theme for many over the next days. look at what is happening across the mediterranean, more strong winds and thunderstorms across parts of greece, cyprus, into turkey. some snow over higher ground but com pletely snow over higher ground but completely different story further west with the area of high pressure settling things down. also allowing

this mild error to flood in from the south—west. temperatures on the rise over the next days with these yellow colours extending across the british isles and iberia, france into germany. eventually some colder conditions pushing into parts of scotla nd conditions pushing into parts of scotland and northern ireland. over the next few days, things will be very mild, and all the details in the weather for the week ahead coming up in the next half an hour. hello. i'm ros atkins. this is outside source. donald trump has met with the president of colombia and warned venezuela's leader he's making a "terrible mistake" by refusing to let in foreign humanitarian aid. spain appears to be on the brink of its third election in five years, as the government's budget is defeated. police in the philippines have arrested the head of a news website which is highly critical of president duterte. and we have rare pictures of the world's most—trafficked mammal, the pangolin. theresa may is constantly

being accused of running down the clock on brexit negotiations in order to pressure mps to support her deal. well, itv‘s angus walker got a substantial scoop that appeared to confirm these theories. sitting in a bar in brussels, he overheard the uk's chief brexit negotiator olly robbins saying the plan is to hold a vote in march, weeks from the brexit deadline. so, mps have two options — a substantial delay to brexit or accepting the prime minister's deal. mrs may was asked about this in parliament today. it's very clear the government's

position is the same. we triggered article 50. this house voted to trigger article 50. that had a two—year timeline — that ends on the 29th of march but we want to leave with a deal and that is what we are working for. it's 44 days to go — and mps can't vote on a deal right now as they've rejected the existing one — and nothing has replaced it. all of which means having no deal at all remains possible. the british chambers of commerce today has says it has 20 questions that haven't been answered and that business is being hung out to dry. also, ford has responded to this times newspaper report that it's told theresa may it's preparing to move its auto manufacturing abroad after brexit. it said simply it will do whatever necessary to protect its business. you'll also find no cheerfrom the president of the european council. donald tusk says "no news

is not always good news. eu27 still waiting for concrete, realistic proposals from london on how to break #brexit impasse." remember over two weeks ago, parliament demanded that the withdrawal deal is revised. but the uk government has not made public any detailed plans of how it will do that. you'll find more optimism from the uk foreign secretary. now we do have a vote in parliament, which shows that there is a majority for the withdrawal agreement that has been negotiated with some important changes to the backstop and, i think, if we have a good discussion with our friends in the eu, we can make those changes. we need to reassure them that our commitment to the northern ireland peace process is unconditional, which it is, and we need to reassure them we're not looking for a back door way into the single market but if we can square those two issues, i think we every chance of getting an agreement. the irish border backstop is a mechanism

in the withdrawal deal designed to avoid customs check on the border between the republic of ireland and northern ireland in the event the uk and the eu fail to cut a new trade deal by the end of next year. it's deeply unpopular with many supporters of brexit and it also places northern ireland's political divide into the equation. sinn fein is a republican party which fields candidates on both sides of the border. today its leader, mary lou mcdonald, travelled to london to meet with the leader of the opposition, jeremy corbyn. she also spoke to the bbc. time is very short now. mrs may continues to dither and she is, by our estimation, acting with a studied hostility to irish interests. she is playing a game of chicken with us. i met her before christmas and she could understand fully and advocate the necessity for the backstop and the protections for ireland and now she has done a complete about turn in a most unacceptable and i believe a very dishonourable way.

on thursday, mps will vote, but not on the main brexit deal. but even the government may be defeated because some brexiteers refuse to back anything that objects to a no deal brexit. here's one of them explaining why. i cannot vote for this as it is currently configured because it rules out no deal and removes our negotiating leverage in brussels. the prime minister, if she went through the lobbies for this tomorrow night, would be voting against the guarantees she has given in the commons for months. it is madness. this is laura kuenssberg's latest on brexit. exploring that issue of whether theresa may will leave the final vote on brexit very late indeed. the next date in the brexit diary is 26th february when we're told theresa may update parliament. alec forsyth is in westminster.

i think we're all getting thoroughly confused. have a vote tomorrow, a statement in a couple of weeks. where do these all fit in? we have a series of votes and statements. to paint it in the broadest possible terms, theresa may is trying to keep parliament updated at regular intervals. she is trying to save to them, bear with me, intervals. she is trying to save to them, bearwith me, iam intervals. she is trying to save to them, bear with me, i am trying to get my brexit deal renegotiated with brussels so i can bring back to a meaningful vote on the brexit deal. i'm going to keep coming back to the house of commons, putting down these motions were making these statements. each time she does that there is a chance or mps to try and change things the way they want them to go when that is why we have a series of mini votes happening. the

first one is tomorrow and the next junction when theresa may has promised a comeback before parliament and update them and there will be more votes is on the 26th of this month. she is trying to get some sort of to her brexit deal to bring that back then that would be the really big meaningful vote on the really big meaningful vote on the deal itself. i was playing a clip earlier of one high profile brexiteer. so long as there is no cross— party brexiteer. so long as there is no cross—party deal, theresa may needs brexiteers on her side to make it happen. she does not have a majority in parliament with their own party. she relies on all of her mps to back and she relies on from the northern ireland's democratic unionist party to get everything through the issue cannot find a way forward with labour, so she can rely on the labour, so she can rely on the labour opposition votes where she will need all of her conservative

mps, including those brexiteers that do not like the deal currently on offer as well as northern ireland's democratic unionists if she is going to get something through parliament in terms of the brexit deal. right now they are. really happy about the way things are going. where does the cabinet sit with this? the cabinet isa cabinet sit with this? the cabinet is a split as every other layer of the party. from the top to the conservative party there there are deep divisions. some had wanted the uk to remain in the eu but they now accept the result of the referendum but they want to maintain as close ties as possible with the eu. some brexiteers advocate the idea of getting on with it and not delaying the process. there is division. some are saying to theresa may privately, if you take us towards the end of march and there is no deal we might leave without one, we're not going to support that, we're not going to stay in your government. there are

private threats around what will happen doesn't she is trying to keep out cabinet together, trying to keep a party together, trying to reach out to labour deceives you can get support from labour mps and trying to renegotiate with ee you to try get her brexit deal changed. she is desperate for support where she can get it back at the moment there is no clear signal of what is the way through or when the real meaningful moment might come in parliament when the brexit deal comes back. appreciate that. a couple of other things to emphasise all the talk of renegotiating your changing the withdrawal deal, the eu says most daily that it will not reopen. if you want the background you can have it whenever you need it on the bbc news website. us secreatary of state mike pompeo and vice president mike pence are both in poland today. the us is hosting a conference in warsaw focused on security in the middle east — with iran a constant on the agenda.

mr pompeo spoke earlier. we're going to gather up to talk about the future of middle east stability and prosperity. we talk about how these countries can work together. we will have 60 countries over 30 foreign ministers there. from every continent from antarctica this is a global coalition that has been built. america looking to crank up been built. america looking to crank up pressure on iran. and so predictably, iran has not been invited to this meeting. however its foreign minister has commented from afar. on commented from afar. the warsaw conference, i b it on the warsaw conference, i believe it is dead before arrival. i do not think it will do anything. another attempt by united states to pursue an obsession with iran that is not well founded.

iran's supreme leader has also spoken out. well, the israeli prime minister benjamin neta nyahu is there. so are senior figures from gulf states and european countries. but america's aim of piling the pressure on is complicated by sharp disagreements with its allies. particularly because of this — donald trump's decision to pull out of the 2015 iran nuclear agreement — something european signaturies didn't agree with. this is the british foreign secretary in warsaw. it is no secret we have a different view to president trump on the iran nuclear deal of the america is our closest ally but we do not always agree with them. we'll see do worry about the destabilising impact of iranian activities on the rest of the middle east. and another notable

person who's not there. the eu's foreign policy chief, federica mogherini — she was a key player in negotiating the iran deal. her special advisor nathalie tocci spoke to us from rome about what the americans are hoping to achieve. the lead up to the iraq war in 2003, it was exactly the same attempt by the us administration to divide old europe from new europe. in effect, what you are seeing today is the sort of similar attempt, essentially a driving a wedge within the european union. i think when it comes to iran itself, indeed there are different positions. when it comes specifically to the question of thejoint comes specifically to the question of the joint comprehensive plan of action, as of today, the european union remains absolutely delighted. stories from poland, nigeria,

venezuela. next we turn to australia. australia says it will re—open its controversial detention centre on christmas island. it's about 2000 km from the mainland — right there — close to indonesia. it's less than 20 kilometres from end to end and, until it closed last year, there was this centre there for migrants who were caught trying to reach australia by boat. at its peak, it held thousands. now it will re—open because of this. australia's parliament inflicted a historic defeat on the government and approved a measure, which allows migrants in other offshore centres to go to mainland australia if they need medical treatment. the prime minister says that will inevitably lead to more arrivals. this parliament has already tipped its hand enough to the people smugglers. i won't be doing and compromising our operations and how we now address the consequences of what this parliament is doing to our borders.

secondly, we have approved putting in place the reopening of the christmas island detention facilities and a series of compounds, both to deal with the prospect of arrivals as well as dealing with the prospect of tra nsfers. when he says transfers, he's talking about migrants being moved from two other centres — one on manus island which belongs to papua new guinea, the other on the tiny island of nauru. conditions in these camps are routinely condemned. the un says the whole system of offshore detention is "cruel, inhuman and degrading." well, this bill passed by parliament covers an estimated 1,000 people who are already in those camps. that's a point those supporting the move have repeatedly emphasised. it will not provide any kind of attraction to people to leave where they are and try to make the journey to australia because they will not be considered as part of this legislation. this is designed to

solve a medical problem with a medical solution. prime minister scott morrison argues this vote will encourage more migrants to try and reach australia by boat. critics argue, so might re—opening the centre on christmas island. the cartoonist on the canberra times tweeted... "open for business" and the prime minister saying "hopefully this sends a message to the people smugglers." melbourne—based blogger @theuncledaily. .. it's the old australia tourist board slogan, this time addressed to people smugglers, "so where the bloody hell are you?" go back five years and scott morrison became very well

known as the minister responsible for australia's so called "zero tolerance" immigration policy. he's long been aware of the political potency of the issue. here's the analysis of one abc news reporter. christmas island in some ways is not as bad as some of the places where asylum seekers are at the moment. you mentioned manus island and nairu and they can be pretty terrible as well. essentially there are two ways to look at this. one of them is that the government is genuinely concerned that the legislation, or the amendments that went through parliament over the last 24 hours, will trigger a new wave of boats coming particularly from indonesia and want to make sure that they've got the facilities in place to deal with that. i think they also want to make sure that the signal goes out to people in indonesia that they are very serious about stopping them. on another level, this issue is very fraught politically in australia and i think there is a lot of cynicism around about the extent to which the government is ramping

up the potential threat of new vote arrivals to maximise the pressure on the opposition labour party. stay with us on outside source. still to come... a big protest in the philippines after police arrest the head of a news website that's critical of the government. a man has been arrested on suspicion of murder after the bodies of three men in their 80s were found in exeter. jon kay reports. this is the large detached house in the exeter suburb of cowick where the 84—year—old twins were found dead. the brothers have been described by neighbours as private and eccentric. they've been named locally as dick and roger carter. they were such nice, quiet men. sylvia told me she'd lived near the twins for nearly 60 years.

she said they once ran a grocery shop and were always kind. they were so nice. you just... i just can't understand why somebody would do that to them. no, i can't understand it at all. police found the twins' bodies at the house yesterday afternoon. we did think it was unusual for the gates to be open. moments earlier, colin summers had noticed the property was unlocked. my wife and i, we sort of walked past it. we came back and thought, it's a bit unusual, because the gates were open, and you'd never see them open. it's the first time we've actually seen inside that garden for the 30 odd years i've been here. a mile away, another house, another crime scene. 24 hours earlier, on monday afternoon, police were called to this terraced property, where they've now erected an investigation tent at the front. here, they found the body of an 80—year—old man. police say, at the moment, the only thing linking the men

at the two addresses is the level of violence used against them. i know that this news will cause significant and understandable concern, given what is an unprecedented event in our city, which has shocked us all. i know that everyone's immediate concerns will be for the family and friends of the gentlemen involved in this incident. tonight, officers are reassuring the community in this cathedral city, and also appealing for information. this is outside source live from the bbc newsroom. our lead story is... donald trump has met with the president of colombia at the white house,and says venezuela is making a "terrible mistake" in blocking food aid from entering the country. a suicide bomber has killed at least 27 members of iran's elite

revolutionary guards force in the south—east of the country. the attacker used a car packed with explosives, and targeted the soldiers while they were travelling in a bus. a sunni muslim miliant group, called jaish al—adl, said it carried out the bombing. nasa has declared that the opportunity rover it sent to mars is dead, eight months after its last contact with ground control on earth. opportunity landed on mars in 2004 and was only designed to last 90 days. the robotic vehicle transformed our understanding of the red planet by confirming that water once flowed there. it was a dust storm that eventually shut it down. in the philippines, the head of a news website, critical of the government, has been arrested. her colleagues live—streamed it on social media. maria ressa — the ceo of rappler — was last year named a time magazine person of the year for her journalistic work.

she says the accusation of "cyber—libel" is an attempt by president rodrigo duterte's government to silence the publication. the charge stems from a 2012 report about a businessman's alleged ties to a then—judge in the nation's top court. the cyber libel law, however, came into effect after the report was published. it's the latest in a string of allegations against ressa. here she is speaking earlier. it is the sixth time i will be posting bail in less than two months. it is the first time that i am technically injail. there is always a first so, i'm trying to find the glass half full point of view that there is always a first. i think, thank you to the people who were on social media who came out, friends, we are ok. iam fine.

i alternate between raging and also being professional. we will continue to do what's right. she was due to give a speech on press freedom to university students when she was arrested. here they arejoining calls for her release. president duterte, who calls the rappler site "fake news", has previously denied the charges against ressa are politically motivated. here's james zarsadiaz, who runs the philippine studies programme at the university of san francisco. rappler does pretty strong investigative journalism. oftentimes, this being an online source, is quick to report and circulate widely controversial

policies in the philippines, particularly critical of the current administration of president rodrigo duterte. in the last few years, rapp;er has generated a bit of controversy from supporters of the philippine government and the current administration, particularly when it comes to issues of the extrajudicial killings that have been taking place across the philippines. just before we go — a rare animal sighting to tell you about. first this magnificent black panther — caught on camera in kenya — in a wildlife reserve move in the centre of the country. there's a brief video too. here are some more of the photos.

they were taken by a conservation team using camera traps. i learned today that what we call a panther is a leopard with melanism — that's a genetic mutation like albinism — but in this case it makes the fur black. in fact, this leopard was pictured by the same camera trap — researchers think it might be related to the black one. and just to emphasise how rare this is — these pictures are the first scientific documentation of a black leopard in africa in nearly a century. impressive. so is this. in neighbouring uganda — rare footage has been captured of a pangolin. if you're not sure what that is, you're not alone. @wwf—uk — says only 8% of people in the uk do. here you go. this is some litigious provided by

chester zoo. it is the world's is trafficked animal. this highlights the plight of the animals you can find this online as well. thank you for watching. we'll be back tomorrow with more brexit and everything else thatis with more brexit and everything else that is going on. the mild theme is continuing this week. temperatures are rising day by day. we saw a temperature of 14 in scotland, considerably higher than the february average, which should be around six celsius. the highest temperature we have ever seen in february was back on the 18th of february was back on the 18th of february 1998 at greenwich in london. over the next few days do not be surprised if one or two

places could touch 15 celsius. not a february record but not that far off. on thursday we are importing drierairupfrom the off. on thursday we are importing drier air up from the near continent to break up the crowds clarence across scotland and northern ireland. —— the clouds. temperatures in the low teens. into friday a big area of high pressure over the near continent influencing our weather generally keeping the weather fronts at bay. for most diverse after the cool start it looks like we will see lots of sunshine. but their role breeze coming in from the south west. turning cloudy across western scotla nd west. turning cloudy across western scotland later but temperatures will be up again, widespread 13, scotland later but temperatures will be up again, widespread13, 14. we could see 15 or 16 in some places.

in the weekend the weather fronts across the atlantic could spoil things a little bit. more cloud at times. the best of the sunshine will be across southern and eastern parts the uk closer to the area of high pressure in the near continent. the winds will continue to feed in from the south—west. a mild day for england and wales, a degree lower across scotland and northern ireland. on sunday this weather front will move in. more energy to it bringing outbreaks of rain but it will fizzle out as it bumps into the area of high pressure. it will bring thicker cloud to northern ireland and western scotland where there will be our breaks of rain from the east of scotland and the rest of england and wales should stay dry. very mild with temperatures in the low teens. into monday the weather front will clear through. it will diea front will clear through. it will die a death that introduced something a little fresher from the

west. there will be a few showers in the west of scotland and northern ireland with one or two across western england and wales. majority of the country is dry with sunshine. temperatures will be down the degree orso, temperatures will be down the degree or so, maybe nine or ten scotland and northern ireland. 11 to 13th in england and wales. further ahead in the week we will see a weekjet strea m the week we will see a weekjet stream which will be meandering deeply. another area of high pressure coming in across the western side of europe importing mild and try from the continent meaning we will see some sunshine. into next week it will stay fairly mild but particularly after monday. with the high pressure building in we will see a lot of dry weather with good spells of sunshine. the knights will remain fairly cool with the chance of mist and fog. tonight at ten. inflation at a two—year low. delivering a boost

for household finances. lower energy and fuel bills have been major factors in driving inflation down, with wages now rising faster than prices. just don't like spending willy—nilly. you know, still spend carefully but i'm living a comfortable life. but the news comes as many councils in england are set to increase their council tax bills. we'll have more details. also tonight. in exeter, a man is arrested on suspicion of murder after three pensioners are found dead. the victims were all in their 80s. a schoolgirl from london who travelled to syria to join the islamic state group says she now wants to return to the uk because she's pregnant. a bbc investigation finds dogs trained for illegal fighting,