you're watching bbc news at nine with me, annita mcveigh. the headlines... the home secretary says he will do everything in his power to prevent the return of shamima begum, the british teenager who fled to syria to join the islamic state group. another commons defeat for theresa may as mps vote down her approach to brexit talks. president trump says he'll declare a national emergency to secure funding for his border wall with mexico. but the democrats say they could take legal action. did i say i was filing a legal challenge? you said democrats... i may. that's an option — we'll review our options. it's important to note that when the president declares this emergency, first of all, it's not an emergency. the state—rescued royal bank of scotland reports profits of £1.6 billion for 2018, more than double what it made the year before. an upgrade for the machines which first detected gravitational waves — the new instruments will be able to sense collisions of black holes

nearly twice as far away. and in sport, arsenal striker alexandre lacazette loses his cool and the team loses their match in their europa league game against bate borisov. good morning and welcome to the bbc news at 9. the home secretary has said he will do everything in his power to prevent the return of a teenage girl from east london who ran away to join the group calling itself islamic state. sajid javid says if 19—year—old shamima begum does comes back to the uk, she could be prosecuted. her family has appealed for compassion, saying she was very young when she made the decision to leave four years ago. ben ando reports.

there are nearly 40,000 in this camp. more arrive each day, as their dreams of an islamic state caliphate crumble. among them, shamima begum from bethnal green. now 19, and nine months pregnant with her third child, she says she has no regrets about what she did and what she saw. shamima and two friends left the uk in 2015. one is now dead, the other missing, but the home secretary doesn't want her back. he told the times newspaper... shamima is not alone. the government estimates that 900

people travelled from the uk to engage in conflict in syria and iraq. around 180, or one in five, are known to have been killed, while twice that number 360, have already returned to the uk, with the same number still unaccounted for. and if shamima is one of those who makes it back, she can expect to be questioned and possibly prosecuted. but will she lose her british citizenship? her family are asking for compassion, but some are urging the authorities to take a harder line, saying that actions should have consequences. ben ando, bbc news, at the home office. the photojournalist james foley was kidnapped by the islamic state group in syria seven years ago, and was the first of their hostages to be murdered. we've been hearing from his mother diane foley a little earlier. here she is speaking on the today programme.

i feel every person needs to be dealt with individually, and, you know, set to our best ability. however i feel very strongly that isis continues to be a threat and it's very difficult to discern how much of a threat they continue to be when they want to return home. sol think we have to be very careful and very vigilant with any of these folks have been involved in so many human rights act atrocities. we have to be very careful, because otherwise, they willjust hide and come back again. should they be treated as criminals? not necessarily. but i think they need to be watched very carefully. and monitored for any further radicalisation, or infiltration in terms of causing more problems within our own country. but, you

know, i think everyone deserves a trial, and that's what i feel so strongly about to... i feel they must be brought to the united states toa must be brought to the united states to a federal criminal court, where they can be tried so that the world can know about what they did and be brought tojustice. donald trump is expected to declare a national emergency in order to secure funding for his border wall with mexico, after months of failed negotiations with democrats. by declaring a national emergency, the president can bypass congress to access billions of dollars in funding for the project. critics say the move is unlawful and an abuse of presidential power. 0ur washington correspondent chris buckler has more. the long border that divides the us and mexico is at the centre of america's own political divide. building a huge barrier here has become more than a priority for president trump,

it's become a point of principle. yet after all his threats that he wouldn't accept any funding bill that didn't include more than $5 billion for his long promised wall, he's had to accept a congressional compromise. i've just had an opportunity to speak with president trump and he, i would say to all my colleagues, has indicated he's prepared to sign the bill. he will also be issuing a national emergency declaration at the same time. this week, president trump held a rally beside the border in texas, where he again made a pledge to supporters that he would build the wall. declaring a national emergency could allow him to use money from other funds, but his plan is likely to face challenges in court. did i say i was filing a legal challenge? reporter: you said democrats... i may, that's an option, and we'll review our options, but it's important to note that when the president declares this emergency, first of all, it's not an emergency. mr trump once promised mexico would pay for the wall, then he turned to congress.

now he's relying on his own presidential powers, but in building physical barriers, he knows he faces political ones. chris buckler, bbc news, washington. cbs correspondent mark liverman is in new york. we're going to be talking to him about this story in a few minutes. theresa may is pushing ahead with her brexit strategy, despite another commons defeat and signs of worsening rifts within the conservative party. last night, a vote on the government's plan to secure a better dealfrom the eu was defeated by 303 to 258 — a majority of 45 against the government. 0ur political correspondent iain watson is in westminster this morning. so, another defeat for the prime minister but it has no legal force and downing street says it won't

change theresa may's approach to talks, which to many people, and increasingly to more mps, seems like a proposition that can't continue? well, certainly as far as the prime minister is concerned, it's a strategy to try to get changes to the northern irish backstop, and that strategy continues and i'm told she will be going back to brussels in the next few days, she believes she can get some of the changes that she can get some of the changes that she once and then she can come back here and start to win over some of here and start to win over some of her own mps who voted against her yesterday, many of whom, some of whom backed remain in the referendum but the vast majority of whom are the long—standing leave campaigners, people like jacob rees—mogg in the european research group. she had the option of pivoting away from them perhaps, finding cross—party support for a customs union, she's not going to do that, she is going to come look, try to meet their key demands. but it is another government defeat, as that strengthened or weakened her hand in brussels when she is asking

for these concessions? the assumption is that it will have weakened her hand, and i put that question to andrea leadsom, the leader of the and initially at least, she denied it. what was very clear from the devout yesterday was that the abstentions on our side we re that the abstentions on our side were because colleagues felt that in supporting the motion, it might imply that they agreed with taking i'io imply that they agreed with taking no deal off the table and they were not prepared to do that for understandable reasons. has this strengthened her hand in brussels? no, i don't think it has strengthened it but parliament indicated to weeks ago what it would support and that is legally binding changes to the backstop which enable us changes to the backstop which enable us to get the prime minister '5 deal passed in parliament. so, it hasn't strengthened the prime minister ‘s hand in brussels, the defeat yesterday, but what it has done is create a bit of a backlash against the european research group. iam against the european research group. i am told some ministers may resign by the end of the month in order to

vote for a motion which could delay a departure from the european union but certainly in the short—term, there's some choice phrases doing there's some choice phrases doing the rounds at the moment, for example, the prisons minister suggesting that some of the people in the european research group, collea g u es in the european research group, colleagues of andrea leadsom ‘s, we re colleagues of andrea leadsom ‘s, were traitors for what they did yesterday and that they should join nigel farage's new brexit party. another government minister is considering what to do at the end of the month, defence minister tobias ellwood, said that the conservative party used to be a broad church but 110w party used to be a broad church but now the arg have taken over the choir. and so there is actually i would suggest perhaps a sense of irritation amongst some conservatives and certainly those who backed remain in the referendum, feeling that perhaps the time is now right for them to reassert themselves and try to push the prime minister ina themselves and try to push the prime minister in a different direction. iain, thank you very much for that. back now to the news that president

trump is to take the controversial step of declaring a national emergency in order to get funding for a border war with mexico. cbs corresponded mark little and is in new york for us. good morning to you. the democrats say president trump is trying to go around his opponents because his other attempts to get this wall built haven't worked, so correctly if i'm wrong, this isn't an unprecedented move but it is extremely unusual? there is no question about that. it is getting some pushback, other people are praising the move, it depends on who you ask. democrats are expected to challenge the order up, some republicans are concerned that it sets a precedent for a future democratic president. some democrats say they may go to court to block any declaration of a national emergency on the southern border by the president. the attorney—general of california wrote on twitter on thursday that any border crisis is

of the president ‘s own making and we will, quote, do what we must to hold him accountable. his counterpart said that if president trump ‘s declaration... appropriate steps to block this unlawful action. 0n twitter, the puerto rico governor told the president, we will see you in court, if he goes through with the declaration. so in less than a day since the president has made this declaration, there is already a lot of pushback. but even if this gets tied up for a very long time in legal challenges, this is about president trump being able to say to the people who voted for him last time, when and if he runs for 2020, that he has done what he can do to try to get this wall built? yeah, thatis try to get this wall built? yeah, that is something which was a campaign promise, something he stands by. but again there is still a long way to go, no question. there's going to be legal challenges to this. congress approved this new spending package yesterday and that avoids another partial government

shutdown, the last one went on 35 days. it includes $1.1; billion for border fencing, that is far short of the $5.7 billion president trump wa nted the $5.7 billion president trump wanted for his wall. so this emergency declaration now gives him the authority to redirect funds from other projects without congressional support. in terms of legal challenges to us there president might be able to find ways around it. he might find some support from several laws passed in the 1980s, one says that in a declared national emergency requiring the use of the armed forces, the defence secretary can shuffle military funds which have been approved by congress to construction projects that were not specifically listed. annita. .. thank you very much for that. royal bank of scotland has reported profits of £1.62 billion for 2018,

more than double what it made the year before. the bank is 62 % owned by the taxpayer. the bank is 62% owned by the taxpayer. its chief executive says brexit is impacting on business investment and wants politicians to act. this is good news for us as taxpayers? yes, very good news and it shows what a different bank it is now, really casting off the problems from the past, what was referred to as its legacy issues. it has paid down debts and it has become a lot smaller than it was but with that shrinking down from being a big international bank to a uk focused one comes its own problems. one thing which has been interesting and the results today was this idea that brexit is going to be such a big problem for the bank. because it is so problem for the bank. because it is so exposed to the uk economy, what happens in the next few months is going to be critical for the happens in the next few months is going to be criticalfor the bank ‘s future. earlier on the today programme i spoke to the chief executive ross mcewan who gave a pretty stark warning about what a no

deal brexit could hold. what we are seeing already in the marketplace is larger businesses have been pausing on their investments in the uk. 0ver time, that does trickle down into small businesses who support those larger businesses and therefore into jobs and money that comes into this economy and we have certainly seen that, i called that out in the last quarter. it is time i think we got a result from this, we've got a very small period of time left to the end of march and it's time that our politicians got to the conclusion so that we can get some certainty going forward. the longer this drags on, the harder it is for businesses to invest, and it does impact on everyday people in this economy. so resolution is required. so, katie, some positives and some concerns in the news from rbs today, in terms of those brexit concerns, did ross mcewan say anymore about what the bank can possibly do to mitigate

against any potential brexit risks? we know that they plan to move the staff and assets from their investment banking operations to amsterdam so that they have still got a ccess amsterdam so that they have still got access to european markets. and i think that was a stark call to the government, actually, to try and come up with a solution, like many business leaders, he was really asking for some sort of certainty beyond the investment banking site, for his customers. katie, thank you very much. i think you're staying around to talk to us about retail figures. yep, 9.30. the headlines on bbc news... the home secretary says he will do everything in his power to prevent the return of shamima begum, the british teenager who fled to syria to join the islamic state group. another commons defeat for theresa may as mps vote down her approach to brexit talks. president trump says he will declare a national emergency to secure funding for his border wall with mexico. in the sports headlines today,

alexandra lacazette was sent off for arsenal in their europa league defeat. celtic also lost. but chelsea had a good night in sweden, beating malmo 2—1. so they are the only british side taking advantage into the return leg next week. ronnie 0'sullivan suffered a surprise early exit in the welsh open snooker, beaten by the world number71. open snooker, beaten by the world number 71. and back on two wheels again, the story of speedway star ricky ashworth, was left in a coma for three months after a crash six yea rs for three months after a crash six years ago. i will have his full story for you and the rest of the sport at around 9.4 zero. the prisons minister says there are early signs of reduced violence in ten of england's worst—affected prisons. last year, rory stewart promised to resign if he was unable to tackle the problem. but mr stewart has also warned some prisons — such as nottingham — continue to cause serious concern.

our home affairs correspondent danny shaw has been to visit. 0k, guys, we're going to do a routine cell search this afternoon... the value of experience. these senior prison officers have been brought in to hmp nottingham to guide newer members of staff. more than half of those working here have less than two years' service. they need help to carry out basic duties, like searching cells for drugs and weapons. pay attention to things like that. yeah, i've just had a look in the slit. you can't prepare forjob like this — the noise, the smell. when you come into contact with somebody that is threatening to take their own life or attempting to take their own life, that's probably the scariest, most daunting situation i have found myself in. and to have that experience there to reassure me and the prisoner was really beneficial. but drugs are still being smuggled in. this harry potter book had been sprayed with a psychoactive substance similar to the synthetic cannabis spice.

new scanning equipment will help detect drugs. they remain a cause of instability and violence. the prison is fundamentally still unsafe and that remains a challenge for us. every day there's an assault on my colleagues and on other prisoners, that's regretful, but it is getting safer. nottingham is one of ten prisons that are getting investment and support to cut violence. i wouldn't have committed to going into those ten prisons and committed to reducing violence and drugs and i wouldn't have put myjob on the line unless i was confident we can do it, but it is worth putting in context that, in those ten prisons, violence has been rising steadily month on month for five years, so turning that around and bringing it down is going to be a challenge. that's certainly the case here, despite the commitment and dedication of the staff. flights have resumed at dubai international airport after they were grounded due to suspected drone activity this morning. the airport is the world's busiest

for international travellers. the flight suspension lasted half an hour. over the last few months, suspected drone sightings have caused disruption at other airports, including at heathrow and gatwick, as well as in the us. flying can be stressful for many people, but if you have a hidden disability, there may be extra challenges. the civil aviation authority has told the bbc it's introducing a new rating for airlines, gauging how well they assist passengers with conditions like autism. 0ur reporter tim muffet has been to visit one airline which is already making changes. come inside and you'll see what your aeroplane is going to look like... flying was something tabitha and her family avoided. tabitha has got a diagnosis of autism. as soon as she gets anxious, the sensory issues go crazy so she's hypersensitive to sound, smell, noise, touch, anything. it does, to the untrained eye, look like a spoilt child having a tantrum. this mock—up aircraft is mainly

used for staff training. but virgin atlantic are also making it available for people with hidden disabilities. somebody could have autism, dementia, or it could be a hidden pain condition and a lot of them, they may not fly because it is too stressful, they're worried it's too stressful. following a familiarisation visit last year, tabitha and herfamily were finally able to fly away on holiday. i think it is really, really important because before, like, if you don't have it, i wouldn't be able to go on holiday and i'll remember my holiday forever. in 2016, the civil aviation authority issued guidance to airports on how they should treat passengers with hidden disabilities. but from this summer, the caa's attention will focus on airlines themselves, rating them on how well they treat those passengers. if an airline is rated poorly, what will happen then?

if passengers have a poor experience, they should complain. complain to the airline, complain to the airport. if after all of that we find that there are more systemic failures in the performance of an airline or airport, then we'll take action. we've got powers to enforce the regulations and to make sure that people provide a really good service to everybody, including passengers with disabilities. stay here for as long as you want... airports are already rated. gatwick opened its sensory room last year, the first of its kind. it's to help passengers like paul, who is living with dementia. how hard is it to travel if you are living with dementia as you are? i get quite anxious — i'm anxious today. since this has been introduced, it has obviously made life a lot easier. adults might think, it's not for me — but it is. it's all about regulating anxieties. like many airports, gatwick offers passengers with hidden disabilities and their families this lanyard so staff know they might need extra help.

steps welcomed by maria, whose son has autism. she helped design this room. it's so wonderful to see the transformation from a child that's pretty anxious to then come in here and immediately, there's such a calming atmosphere in here. many believe hidden disabilities have been ignored by the aviation industry — but expectations are rising. tim muffet, bbc news. a new report says five times more babies die as a result of conflicts around the world, than do soldiers. the study by the charity, save the children, says in the past five years, half a million infants have been killed through starvation, disease and lack of medical care arising from war. that's more than 300 a day on average. short bursts of high intensity exercise are better for weight loss than longer sessions in the gym, according to new research. a study by the britishjournal of sports medicine suggests interval training — which involves alternating high—intensity and low—intensity effort — can result in more weight

loss than a workout with moderate intensity throughout. the hillforts that dot the landscape of dorset and wiltshire were once home to iron age settlers. but today, they provide shelter to a variety of wildlife living there. the monuments will now receive funding to ensure the archaeological sites can carry on protecting the fragile habitats that have grown up there. 0ur reporterjohn maguire has been to find out more. as first happened here thousands of yea rs as first happened here thousands of years ago, the hill is being cleared by hand, some of the wood is burned, some of it reused to. some people might wonder, it seems order to be cutting trees down, what is the point of it? this is growing on quite significant remains, as you can see. and if you look at some of the older scrub down there, you'll

see it's quite bare underneath. and that's a bit of a problem as far as archaeology is concerned because it's lots of loose soil like this and that washes down, causes erosion problems, that sort of thing. the latest research has identified more than 4000 hillfort across the british isles, most built in the iron age and home to hundreds of people. big, big statement in the landscape, they were very important, they were high areas where communities lived and obviously it was a time of uncertainty so they went to all this trouble to make these fortified settlements. this one is so unique because of the roman military engineers and what they did? yes. it is one where you have a roman encampment within an iron age hillfort. it's amazing to think that these vast ramparts were hewn from the dorset chalk not with machines but with hand tools made from deer antlers and cows shoulder

blades of. today's volunteers armed with sharpened steel and powered by tea and cake. it's physical but enjoyable. i love being outdoors gather it's working with a sore here ora gather it's working with a sore here or a bonfire or a survey, whatever you're doing. you feel that your contributing to the work that the trust is trying to do. quite hard work to date? well, i think i've got the lightjob work to date? well, i think i've got the light job down work to date? well, i think i've got the lightjob down here — or one of them! but it certainly keeps you warm! £100,000 from the people's postcode lottery will be spent on works at 13 of these scheduled monuments, and it's a delicate balancing act, conserving the past, enabling access for the present and encouraging wildlife to populate these areas into the future. john maguire, bbc news, dorset now it's time for a look at the weather. we can cross the newsroom now. matt taylor, i hope you have some lovely news for us for the weekend?!

i have indeed, not bad this weekend for many of us for a lot of dry weather to come and it stays on the mild side — as it will be today. bit ofa mild side — as it will be today. bit of a wardrobe dilemma today, frosty started with temperatures shooting up started with temperatures shooting up later. we have got some fog around at the moment in the southern counties but that will shift in the next hour or two and then for much of england and wales and a good part of england and wales and a good part of eastern scotland it is a blue sky friday with lots of sunshine around. the reason strongest to the north and west. western scotland and northern ireland are seeing a bit more cloud in the afternoon with some outbreaks of rain possible, most persistent in the hebrides later. double figures almost uk—wide, like yesterday, up to 16 degrees as possible. probably warmest spot somewhere around north wales. 0utbreaks warmest spot somewhere around north wales. 0utbrea ks of warmest spot somewhere around north wales. outbreaks of rain across northern scotland especially, one or two showers elsewhere but a lot of dry weather to take us into saturday morning. whilst it will still be a little chilly in eastern areas we should be frost free as we go into tomorrow. for the weekend we stick

with the miles storey, most places dry. a little bit breezy and i will have all the details in half an hour. hello this is bbc news. the headlines: the home secretary says he will do everything in his power to prevent the return of shamima begum, the british teenager who fled to syria to join the islamic state group. president trump says he'll declare a national emergency to secure funding for his border wall with mexico — the democrats accuse him of an abuse of power. another commons defeat for theresa may as mps vote down her approach to brexit talks. the state—rescued royal bank of scotland reports profits of £1.6 billion for 2018 — more than double what it made the year before. and an upgrade for the machines which first detected gravitational waves — the new instruments will be able to sense collisions of black holes nearly twice as far away. time now for the morning briefing,

where we bring you up to speed on the stories people are watching, reading and sharing. 0ne story dominating many of the front pages of today's newspapers is the story of the pregnant east london teenager shamima begum, one of three schoolgirls to leave britain to join the islamic state group in syria in 2015, and who has told a reporter for the times that she wants to return. her family have made a plea for her to be allowed back to the uk, with the teenager's brother—in—law pleaing for "compassion and understanding." however the home secretary, sajid javid, has said he will use all his powers to prevent the teenager from returning, saying those who went to syria were full of hate for britain. earlier bbc breakfast spoke to afshin shahi, a lecturer in middle eastern politics. there is no doubt that actually she

joined the so—called islamic state when she was only a child so she was probably a victim of grooming and of course that should not be forgotten. but in 2019 she is already 19 years old, no longer a child and is an aduu old, no longer a child and is an adult and she doesn't express any regret, she doesn't express any remorse for her involvement with the islamic state. the other factor you need to bear in mind, the vast majority of the foot soldiers of the so—called islamic state left the organisation by early 2018. so those people who stayed committed to the organisation until now, must have been absolutely devoted to the cause and to the idea of the caliphate. that is why the specific case proves to be extremely difficult. that is why the specific case proves to be extremely difficultlj that is why the specific case proves to be extremely difficult. i am not surprised there is an ongoing debate about it. i have seen a couple of thoughts, it may be not what people

wa nt to thoughts, it may be not what people want to hear now, but the context of where she is talking, where this interview took place may well have a bearing on the message that came out. she is still in a detention camp and she may have been cautious all camp and she may have been cautious a ll careful camp and she may have been cautious all careful about how she was talking about how she feels about so—called islamic state. the other thing i would like to ask, the home secretary again is saying what people want to hear, i will do everything in my power to keep her out of this country. it might be what people want to hear, but he doesn't have the power to keep her out of this country, does he? as far asi out of this country, does he? as far as i know there isn't anything legal to prevent her to return to the united kingdom. so it is meaningless? it is illegal to make anybody stateless under international law. to prove she had done anything wrong she would have

to have a trial in this country, presumably? absolutely. i don't think there is any legal mechanism in place to physically present —— prevent her from returning. downing street has insisted that theresa may will continue to pursue changes to the brexit withdrawal deal, despite her heavy commons defeat yesterday. it says legally—binding changes to the irish backstop remain the aim of the renegotiations with brussels. labourmp, hillary benn, has been speaking to radio 4's today programme. i think the first thing we have to do is protect the national interest by prevent us from living on the 29th of march. so delay brexit? you would have to apply for an extension andi would have to apply for an extension and i think the european union would give as an extension. how long? that depends, the question they will ask,

what is this extension for? there are three options i think as to how this can be resolved. the prime minister can finally realise if a deal cannot win the support of the house of commons, she needs to move to find a consensus. i will bring back a couple of weeks' time, my amendment on indicative votes. we know what we don't like, we're not having no deal, we don't like the prime minister's deal, so here is a range options. the second one, she might decide i will put my deal to the british people. another referendum? yes, if her deal remains deadlocked, and i am talking is someone who has never advocated another referendum, but this cannot go on for ever. the third option, you can go to europe and say look, why is parliament deadlocked? nobody knows what brexit is because we have not negotiated a future

relationship. in a sensible world, we would extend article 50, negotiate a future relationship and then everybody would know what might happen because we have in front of us, the future with the european union as it will leave and then parliament, all the people could make that decision. in any other than negotiation that would be the sensible way to proceed. at the moment we are deadlocked because the erg moment we are deadlocked because the er g says we will be stuck in the backstop for ever. and on our side, we say the prime minister has asked us we say the prime minister has asked us to take a giant leap into the unknown wear for businesses in my constituency when they ask me how it is going to work in five or ten yea rs' is going to work in five or ten years' time, the honest answer we have to give is, we haven't got a clue. and that is just not good enough. a number of pupils in the uk are expected to walk out of school

today to protest on the streets amid growing concern about climate change. 0rganisers of the youth strike for climate campaign say demonstrations are being held across british towns and cities against what they see as government inaction on global warming. this morning 13—year—old environmental campaigner george joined charlie and naga on bbc breakfast to explain why he is taking action and put his questions to the government's energy minister. it is about all the young people gathering together and speaking up for what we think is right and what we believe in, to take action on what is one of the biggest problems. you are a very passionate campaigner, is it shared by young people? yes, a lot of people are coming today and a lot of people sometimes doubt the views of young people. we know what we believe in and we will show that today. george, you have done a lot of research on this stuff. would you like to ask the energy manager a question? what action will you be taking to reassure our generation about climate change because it is us that

we'll have to live with your decision? it is great to see you, if i was 40 years younger i would be out with you today. but we don't wa nt out with you today. but we don't want to create any extra workload for teachers. we want people who are passionate like you to be learning the skills we need to solve this problem and you will probably learn them best in the classroom. but you should be proud that the uk is the first country in the world to wake up first country in the world to wake up to this. ten years ago we passed a piece of legislation in parliament, the climate change act, andl parliament, the climate change act, and i am one of the only ministers who can sit here today and say i have energy climate budget where we have energy climate budget where we have to cut our carbon by a certain amount overa certain have to cut our carbon by a certain amount over a certain amount of time. but we have to act together, i am the minister for energy and also climate change and you have heard about the paris agreement in 2015 where 196 about the paris agreement in 2015

where196 countries came together and agreed we couldn't have no more than2 and agreed we couldn't have no more than 2 degrees warming. i am pitching for the uk to be the place where we hold those global climate change talks next year, because that will be the crucial year when the countries get together and show what our plans are. george is very polite. ministers sometimes talk for a long time. sorry, george. you are nodding as you are going along but the fact you are so worked up about this and you want to be out of school to make a point, is what you are hearing reassuring you? what sort of numbers are we trying to aspire to be in the future? our current plans are for us to cut our carbon emissions by 80%. we base that of a 1990 number but we need to get to net zero, we need to be in a place where all the emissions we

might be creating in some parts of the economy are taken away by other things we are doing. we have the committee on climate change, an independent body, i am throwing lots of words are you but i am excited about this too. i have asked them advice on how we get to a net zero economy. sorry, we have left the energy minister frozen sorry, we have left the energy ministerfrozen on your sorry, we have left the energy minister frozen on your screen is talking earlier to environmental campaigner, george. and despite putting on weight since his last medical check president trump is in "very good health" according to his latest medical examination. the us president has put on four pounds in the last year, weighing in now at just over 17 stone,

according to the memo. other doctors have noted that the 72 year old's body mass is now in excess of 30 — making him clinically obese that's it for today's morning briefing. democrats are saying they could challenge that. the great barrier reef. explaining how water which is full of sediment from flooding in queensland is flooding parts of the barrier reef and blocking out the light and effectively, scientists fear, smothering the delicate ecosystem. it does illustrate just how delicate the balance is to preserve the good health of the great barrier reef. let's look down

to our most watched and number one. meet rudolf ingram, also known as blaze. he is incredibly fast. he hopes to smash usain bolt‘s record for the hundred metres. his dad says his feet just seem to move for the hundred metres. his dad says his feetjust seem to move really, really quickly. they certainly do. if you bear with us for a second, it will show he is pretty fast on the football field. still showing him on the track, but if you continue watching you will see that he plays american football as well. he is certainly fast. so a seven—year—old, rudolf ingram from florida. definitely one to watch. there he

is. playing american football. 0ut running all his opponents. he is weaving and running, he isjust incredible, that child. definitely watch out for him just seven years old. that is it for today's morning briefing. in the last few minutes — figures from the office for national statistics have shown strong retail sales injanuary — with sales up 4.2% compared to the same period last year. our business presenter katie prescott is here again with more. i guess january sales, if the shops and retail were not doing well in january, when will they? they are good, as they say but they are off a low base. december was the worst in a decade and we are seeing now we spent about 4% more on goods and we bought about 4% more. so it is

reflecting the january sales and how sensitive consumers are to prices. we saw a spike in november around black friday, and a dip in december. and then a rise injanuary. black friday, and a dip in december. and then a rise in january. that is an important piece of context, these figures are off a relatively low base. so, retailers concerned about brexit, concerned about the uncertainty around brexit, as are all of us spending our money in the shops. we could be watching very closely over the next couple of months to see what impact it has? consumers are worried about spending on the high street and retailers are dealing with all sorts of operational issues. they have got to pay their staff higher because, they worry about the amount of money they spent on buildings and business rates, which is like the council tax shops have to pay. there are a whole load of things going on that retailers will be watching very

closely. katie prescott, thank you for the update. sport now and a full round up, from the bbc sport centre. good morning. we start with football. it's a good job for arsenal fans, that their team gets a chance next week in london, to turn their europa league tie around, after one of their poorest performances of the season, in the first leg away in belarus. they went behind against bartay borisoffjust before barte borisoffjust before half—time in the belarussian city. and they'll be without alexandre lacazette for the return game next thursay, after he was sent off for elbowing an opponent. they're trying to reach the last 16 of the competition. i didn't see the action but we spoke about the frustration is we need to control. and it is bad news, this red card, the next week we were going to play with him but the chances are a quality other player and we are going to think with the player they are looking for the next week. chelsea looked nothing like the side that was thrashed 6—0 by manchester city at the weekend.

they won at malmo in sweden — ross barkley and 0livier giroud scoring in a 2—1victory. and celtic have their work cut out if they're to make the next stage — they went down 2—0 to valencia, at home in glasgow. alexandre lacazette features on most of the back pages this morning... the daily telegraph describes arsenal's defeat to barte borisoff as a "humiliation". the mirror focus on the sum manchester united, had to pay jose mourinho when they sacked him — they put it at £15 million. and the guardian, choses to go with, the one positive result, from last night's europa league games, showing chelsea's goalscorers. we have a colourful tie in store on fa cup fifth round weekend, when afc wimbledon take on millwall. wimbledon's scott wagstaff, promised to die his beard blue and yellow, if they beat west ham in the last round.

that they did and wagstaff was true to his word. it does look rather blue and white though, which are millwall's colours. and the fa cup fifth round action starts tonight, with commentary from qpr against watford on radio 5live. and you can also listen to the premiership rugby union game between gloucester and exeter on 5live sports extra. ronnie 0'sullivan was in philosophical mood, after his surprise exit from the welsh 0pen snoooker. the rocket was knocked out by the world number 71, alexander ursen—bacher, of switzerland, who made three 50 breaks, in one of the biggest victories of his career. and here's how 0'sullivan saw it. sadly ursenbacher‘s luck ran out and he lost in the next round. it's one of the great

sporting comebacks. ricky ashworth was a british champion speedway rider, one of the best, until a devastating crash in 2013. his family feared the worst. but incredibly, after learning to walk and talk again, ricky has got back on two wheels again. i went to meet him for the latest stage of his recovery. there have been many heroic moments at the national cycling centre, but few could match the emotion and the significance of ricky ashworth‘s visit here. a decade ago, he was one of the best speedway riders. a premier league champion and riding for the british team. like others at the top, he was riding on the edge and seemingly invincible. undeterred by pile—ups like this one in 2008. but after another crash, five years later, ricky wasn't so lucky.

he spent three months in a coma, before finally his family's prayers were answered and he awoke. but the toughest journey of his life was about to begin. looking cool, rick. his sister filmed the journey as ricky defied the odds and medical prognosis. can you wave? brilliant. look at that balance. ricky ashworth, eh? and then this year, what many thought impossible, the chance for ricky to get back on a bike. to begin with, a tandem cycle, but a chance to feel the wheels turning beneath him once more. it's amazing. it absolutely is. to be here, to be sitting here. once a biker, always a biker. it's good to be back on a bike.

i didn't think he would be able to do it, to tell the truth. i thought there'd be no way. it's like when you first let your child go on a pushbike with no stabilisers on for the first time. you're a bit nervous. it is still a huge effort for ricky to co—ordinate his brain and muscles to just get onto the bike, let alone soon be peddling. ricky can't remember anything about the crash, just the wobble before and then nothing for three months. and yet here on the track where world championships have been decided, ricky won his battle, back to the feel of racing, passing opponents in wheel to wheel manoeuvres around the extreme banked curves of the velodrome. and on bikes with no brakes — just like in speedway. step by step, it's been a long road just to get here. still a long way to go.

my speech is terrible. but other than that, just fantastic. i really can't believe it. it was so good. he next wants to ride solo. that's all the sport for now. more from the bbc sport centre at 11:15. the british and us governments have announced an upgrade of more than £20 million to the machine which detected gravitational waves — the ripples in spacetime caused by major cosmic events. the improved device will be more sensitive and able to see almost twice as far into space. 0ur science correspondent, pallab ghosh, reports. it is one of the biggest discoveries in the history of science, the detection of the gravitational waves caused by two black holes colliding in a distant galaxy. we have detected gravitational waves.

we did it. cheering and applause. that was three years ago. now, the pair of four kilometre long instruments in the us that made the discoveries are to be given an upgrade. they are already the most sensitive instruments in the world. inside are lasers and mirrors that measure the tiny shifts caused by these mysterious waves from outer space. gravitational waves are ripples that are sent across the universe. when the gravity at a certain point in space suddenly changes, triggered by huge events like distant stars exploding. over the past three years, the instrument has detected the collision of ten black holes. with the upgrade, scientists will be able to detect many more. maybe three each day. harder to detect are the collision of giant suns that have collapsed, called neutron stars. just one spotted so far.

the new machine will be able to detect 13 each month, and astronomers should also be able to see much deeper into the universe, further back in time, even to when it all began, with the big bang. the upgrade will be carried out here, at the institute for gravitational research at glasgow university. they have the expertise to build the high precision instruments needed to measure the minuscule distortions gravitational waves create. ultrathin glass fibres are being drawn. these will be used to suspend these mirrors. they have to be kept absolutely motionless and to be the stillest objects on the planet. we measure the motion of these mirrors — almost none at all — but the tiny motion caused by gravitational waves, we measure that, and we have to extract that information without losing anything. that means improving the efficiency of the optics, avoiding any light going where we don't want it to go,

and actually a fairly complicated set of little improvements that altogether will roughly double the performance of the detector. the new upgrades will come on line in five years' time, a development that scientists say will enable them to answer some of the universe's biggest mysteries. pallab ghosh, bbc news, washington. sheila rowan is professor of physics and astronomy at glasgow university. thank you forjoining us this morning professor. you have got a miniature of this machine, which i am going to ask you to show us and tell us more about how it works. thank you for letting me talk this morning. i have brought a miniature version of one of the mirrors in the observatories. it really is all done with mirrors. the real mirrors we use our 40 kilograms, so you can

imagine, quite large. but we do many of our tests on smaller samples, samples like this one. you can see a beautiful pink colour on the front of this piece of glass, which is a special coating. we, unlike normal telescopes, don't catch the light with mirrors, instead what we use is these mirrors as markers in space and we measure the distance between them and how that distance is changed by gravitational signals coming in from far out in space, from colliding stars or stars exploding. stars exploding, colliding stars, these are some of the examples measuring the distance between these mirrors can tell you about events happening in space? that is correct. as a violent event happen, did stars far out in the

cosmos collide? they cause space itself to ripple, a bit like dropping a stone in a pond. the sudden disturbance travels out through space itself and when it arrives on earth, vibrates the instruments, causes the mirrors to move. that signal, when it comes, brings with it, information about what produced it by detecting the signals we can understand the properties of the object that collided. some of these events give out more light. we couldn't see them if we try to look without any telescopes. instead we feel the vibrations, we pick up the vibrations, we pick up the vibrations of space itself. those ripples you talk about are the gravitational waves. this investment allowing you to do more and better exploration is massively exciting for all of you in the science community. in terms of applications here on earth, those mirrors we saw in the report and which you have

shown, which have to be kept absolutely still, i understand they could have some applications in the world of medicine? that is correct. researchers who work in this field in the coating technology at the university of strathclyde, have been collaborating with colleagues elsewhere in glasgow who work in the cell biology area in understanding how some of the techniques were used to hold these mirrors almost motionless, can be applied instead to vibrating stem cells, which have the possibility of turning into any kind of cell in the body and encouraging them to turn into bone, to help people who are recovering from orthopaedic surgery. so real—life applications. from orthopaedic surgery. so real-life applications. professor, good to talk to you today. time for

a look at the weather. frosty day on the cards but a warm day. sunshine overhead for much of england, wales and eastern scotland. sunshine turning hazy over western scotla nd sunshine turning hazy over western scotland and then thickening the cloud this afternoon. maybe by the end of the day a splash of rain in north—western ireland. this is where the breezes conditions are today. slightly lighter winds elsewhere and when the sunshine is on your back, feeling pleasant. 15, 16 and may 17 degrees. tonight, not quite as cold as it has been, outbreaks of rain across northern scotland. showers elsewhere but dry weather for many to ta ke elsewhere but dry weather for many to take you into saturday morning. temperatures won't be as low as they have been. not a frost tomorrow but a mild weekend in store with many places staying dry and increasingly

breezy. goodbye for now. hello, it's friday, it's 10 o'clock, i'm victoria derbyshire. good morning. shamima begum, the teenage girl who went to syria to join is, should not be allowed to return to the uk, says the home secretary sajid javid. he says he won't hesitate to prevent her coming here. but a former chief crown prosecutor tells this programme that the government needs a strategy to manage the return of shamima begum, and potentially hundreds of others of is fighters. facebook is under pressure to remove postings containing false information about the so—called dangers of vaccinating children, like this one, which suggests it's like giving your child a poisoned cupcake. we'll speak to a mum who didn't vaccinate her daughter, who was left severely disabled after getting measles. you don't bring your children into the world for this. i feel as if i've cheated her, because i should have known more