let them say what they like. because i am the bustard child of empire. and i will have my day. the author andrea levy who's died aged 62. now could this be the fastest child in the world? this is seven—year—old rudolf ingram from florida — he's known as ‘blaze‘ and ran 100 metres in a time of 13.48 seconds. he hopes one day to beat usain bolt‘s world record 9.58 seconds. his father has been telling bbc radio 5—live how his son got into running. he was like three years old and we were watching the olympics and the next morning he woke up, sprinted out of the room. from that day on it was like a guy who's interested in track. from that day on he was one of the fastest kids around. he has a very fast drive frequency, his feet get up and down so fast, so if you're coming out slow you're in trouble.

time for a look at the weather... here's tomasz schafernaker. the scenes we are getting. it is very can't men al. a february scene here, january or february, but then, a few hours later, it could almost bea a few hours later, it could almost be a scene some time in august. that is the big the differences we are seeing between mornings and afternoons. hence the continental style weather, and what we do sometimes as well, our climate is a bit more temperate but at the moment it is the clear blue skies that are stretching from spain, portugal france, the uk into central europe and scandinavia, so a huge area of europe is under the influence of the high pressure. that means that the air is sinking from above my heads to ground. it squeezes out the clouds and causes the skies to clear and we have the blue sky, a bit of hay sometimes but the yellows indicating the rising temperature, it is round 15ees in some spots, the

high pressure is to the east, which means weather fronts are trying to push in. high pressure is like a banner, like a stop. it stops the weather fronts from moving banner, like a stop. it stops the weatherfronts from moving in, so they divert around it and they are just ant skirting scotland and northern ireland, so here a bit more cloud, the winds are from the south—west, that is where we have the mild air, so here is that weather front. here is the mild air, so here is that weatherfront. here is another one, tries to move through, it can't, because of this fella here, this high pressure, that is going to go around the high pressure and around this mild air, that is being driven by the large—scale weather systems, so by the large—scale weather systems, so that is why it feels like spring, because the air is coming from the south. staying mild through the weekend, for many it will be dry but there will be a bit of rain, particularly in the north—west of the country, because of those weather fronts, trying to sneak in. here is another one, while most of the uk stays dry on saturday, this

pushes into ireland and scotland. notice that the south—westerly winds which are often quite mild but also moist, bring in some cloud. tomorrow, if anything the skies will bea tomorrow, if anything the skies will be a bit more cloudy, a bit more hazy, as a result the temperature also be just hazy, as a result the temperature also bejust a bit hazy, as a result the temperature also be just a bit down, hazy, as a result the temperature also bejust a bit down, maybe 13 or 14, but also bejust a bit down, maybe 13 or 1a, but then on sunday, again, a few only difronts moving through, a few spots of rain in western scotland but other than that it is looking fine and the computer is suggesting as we head into next weekend it lit will stay mild. good news. that hello, i'm hugh ferris. time for some sport. the chances of leigh halfpenny making his long—awaited return for wales in the six nations match against england look slim after he was ruled out of playing club rugby this weekend. the full back has been out since

november with concussion issues. although he's returned to training and was selected in wales' initial squad for the match in cardiff next saturday. he was released back to the scarlets. but the wru say he wasn't considered for their pro1li game against benetton. so he'll carry on training instead. wales and england have both won their first two six nations matches. chelsea boss maurizio sarri wants his team to be a bit more consistent after their 2—1 victory in malmo. they'd lost 4—0 and 6—0 either side of a 5—0 win in their last three games... but 0livier giroud got what proved the crucial goal in their first leg win in sweden. i think in the mental condition, to be able to approach every match with the same level of determination and application and attention, you know very well that if you are a bad mental condition in england, in ten days, 15 days, you can lose three,

four very important matches. alexandre lacazette has apologised after being sent off during arsenal's europa league last 32 defeat in belarus. the french striker was shown a red card for elbowing one of the bate borisov players... and will miss the second leg. he said on social media, "letting the team down like that is the worst feeling. i should have stayed calm but it's not always easy. sorry. there are still 90 minutes to play and i velieve that my team—mates will make it to the next round." arsenal lost the game 1—0. the two melbourne teams will meet in australia's big bash final for the first time. after the renegades won their semi by three wickets this morning. they were set 181 to beat the sydney sixers, for whom james vince scored 28 off 2a balls. but he was dismissed by another englishman. harry gurney deceiving him with a slower delivery. the sixers looked favourites to go through before a late surge meant the renegades won with a ball to spare. they'll play the melbourne stars on sunday.

the south african government has accused the iaaf of a gross violation of caster semenya's human rights... and that their proposed rule to restrict testosterone levels in female athletes is targeting the two time olympic champion. semenya is challenging the rule at the court of arbitration for sport next week. the iaaf wants to reduce levels of the hormone through medication or compete against men and it would apply to women who compete in the 400 metres up to the mile. the south african sports minister has asked the whole country to support semenya in her fight. ferrari have unveiled the car they hope will win them the formula one title for the first time in ten years. they say it's not a revolution but a development of last year's model, which came close to matching the mercedes but fell short after a series of errors by sebastian vettel and the team. vettel is joined by charles leclerc this year

after his impressive debut season for sauber. i have always been looking at the redcar, hoping to be one day this car, so it's a very emotional day for me and i have also been part of the academy for some years now that has helped me massively to develop asa has helped me massively to develop as a driver and with the final goal to obviously have one day this seat, which is now happening. so it's a very bad day for me today. that's all the sport for now. you can find more on all those stories on the bbc sport website. that's bbc.co.uk/sport this includes the welsh open snooker and the world ski championships in sweden which has british involvement. the president of afghanistan says he believes a political breakthrough in taliban talks could be possible within a year. ashraf ghani also dismissed

fears that the us — which is now engaged in direct talks with the taliban — will pull out out its forces too quickly. he's been speaking ahead of the annual munich security conference. 0ur chief international correspondent lyse doucet is there. yes, and what a forum it's going to be. you can see all the cars behind me as the delegations arrived. this year is the biggest ever delegation from the united states since the forum was formed in 1963. notjust mike pence, the republican vice president, but nancy pelosi, speaker of the house, will also attend this year. and if they read the document behind this conference, they won't find it very pleasant because it's warning that the world is in crisis, and warns president trump's administration,

is making things worse. day in, day out here at this luxury hotel, they will discuss how the us matters in so many regions of the world including afghanistan. the us and the taliban are now engaged in direct talks about pulling out american troops. that has led to a lot of big questions including whether the taliban are looking to monopolise power again. i sat down with the afghan president ashraf ghani and said does he believe the taliban statements that they no longer want want to monopolise that power? no, because if they are genuine, let them participate in the elections. this is the beginning of a serious national conversation. we should neither be pessimistic nor so believing that everything has changed. you expressed worry about the current moment where there has been this progress between the taliban and the united states. many afghans including you are expressing concerns

that it will be sold out, that the us will have a separate peace. i don't think there will be a separate peace because i think our interests are common. so let's understand what significant progress means. what significant progress means is that the taliban are declaring, recognising that the earth is round, meaning that they have acknowledged that they have relations with al-qaeda, daesh and others and are willing to discuss this. the us special envoy zalmay khalilzad, born in afghanistan, of course, you know him well, says that they have come to an agreement on the draft framework whereby american troops would leave and the taliban would guarantees afghanistan would not be used as a platform for extremist groups like al-qaeda and islamic state to launch attacks in afghanistan and against american interest. do you believe the taliban can give guarantees? what have you been told that gives you confidence?

dr khalilzad has told the taliban it is notjust that there isjust a peace with the united states, it is part of a package of intra—afghan discussions and ceasefire. and the discussion of guarantees is something that needs to be demonstrated in practice. words are not enough, but the goal is the right goal. in ireland, did you make a peace by suddenly arriving one day and saying "we want peace" or was the good friday a product of intense discussions to make sure the fundamental issue of terrorism and violence ended? 0ur desire is to end the violence, to include, to bring the taliban into the political community of afghanistan. the question of afghanistan as well

as interior and other places is what is president's trumps policy. resident ghani refused to say that afghanistan would plunge again into the insecurity and chaos that has wracked it for so many years without end. that's how the munich security conference is beginning, many questions to answer, hopefully some a nswe rs questions to answer, hopefully some answers will be forthcoming. spain's prime minister, pedro sanchez, has announced snap elections in april. the move had been expected, after his minority socialist administration failed to get its budget through parliament on wednesday. it will be spain's third general election in five years. 0ur reporter, guy hedgecoe, in madrid, has been following developments the calling of this election reflects how turbulent the political situation is at the moment, and how difficult it has been for pedro sanchez and his socialists to govern with a minority government. they have needed the support of several parties, parties on the left but also

pro—independence catalan parties, and it was withdrawal of support by those pro—independence catalan yesterday and the vote on the budget that eventually led to the end of the sanchez government and he had to call these elections. the trial of 12 catalan pro—independence leaders began in the supreme court this week, on tuesday. a trial that is expected to last three months or thereabouts. that has only added an extra element of tension to the political situation at the moment. and tension to relations between madrid and catalonia. that didn't help when it came to mr sanchez trying to get his budget through congress. it made it that much more difficult for him to get the support of pro—independence parties. therefore we have arrived at this situation. where he had to call these elections. it is only the second time in modern spanish history that a budget bill

has not managed to get through congress and has led to the calling of elections. 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. for 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 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. the headlines on bbc news. democrats and republicans have sharply criticised president trump's plan to use emergency powers to pay for a border wall with mexico. 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. the prisons minister says there are early signs that violence in ten of england's worst prisons is reducing. i'm jamie robertson, in the business news — royal bank of scotland

has more than doubled its profits from 2017 to 2018. last year it made £1.62 billion. however, the future is not quite so bright — its boss ross mcewan has warned the uk economy faced a heightened level of uncertainty over the brexit negotiations. british shoppers cast aside that uncertainty though in january and took to the shops. retail sales figures jumped during the month according to the office for national statistics. the amount of goods sold rose by 1%, afterfalling by 0.7% in december. discounts in clothing helping to boost sales. no movement in beijing. a top us trade negotiator has told chinese president xi jinping that "very difficult issues" remained after two days of us—china trade talks wrapped up in the capital. the world's two biggest economies are in last minute talks to prevent an escalation of their trade war next month. good afternoon, welcome to the business news, the royal bank of scotland

has reported profits of £1.62 billion for 2018, more than double the £752 million it made a year earlier. however rbs boss ross mcewan warned about the heightened level of uncertainty over brexit and that it could have a bigger impact on the uk economy that the bank of england initally suggested. earlier today he spoke to the bbc‘s rob young who asked him whether the bank was prepared for a no—deal brexit. we have the customers in the uk that sell goods into europe and vice versa, large corporates in europe who operate in the uk. we need to be there to provide all banking services to them and that's what we've been planning for.

it has been an expensive exercise, it has been very distracting, but are ready for customers. we also have a growth fund for those businesses concerned that they have to go and pre—buy a number of raw materials for their production. we have put aside three billion for what we call a growth fund to help those businesses with their supply chain. so you're giving money to companies to stockpile? yes, if they need to. 0ur relationship managers have been out talking to businesses about what their requirements will be and letting them know we will be there to support them, should things change for them. if the beginning of london fashion week. it is regarded as being one of the event. you got london, milan paris, new york, what makes you better? let's talk to caroline rush, chief executive, british fashion council london has the best talent globally.

internationally it's recognise that london is the global fashion capital, the centre of creativity which is why the next five days will see everyone hundred different businesses showing their collections to an audience of notjust domestic media and retailers but to media and retailers from 49 different countries that are coming to the uk to write about our businesses, report our businesses and hopefully bye their collections. report our businesses and hopefully bye their collectionslj report our businesses and hopefully bye their collections. i have deep talk —— i have to talk about brexit. this has tentacles going around the world, how will it affect you? let's talk about no—deal brexit. world, how will it affect you? let's talk about no-deal brexit. the immediate challenge for a no—deal brexit as everybody is thinking immediately about what happens on the 30th of march, because businesses trade globally, they know that they can deal with paperwork, they don't necessarily want to deal with the additional paperwork or the

challenges that might come with wto tariffs, the atm arrangements with 27 member states. but what will happen and the customs on both sides understanding what is and isn't required —— vat arrangements. understanding what is and isn't required -- vat arrangements. the other issue that has come up is the environmental audit committee. she has discussed the lack in the industry and has been damning about the environmental impact, something that few hundred thousand tonnes of clothes going to landfill every year. your industry is not doing very well? i think it is in the context of london fashion week is this are the designer businesses, they source more sustainably and actually the narrative around sustainability is something that not only we are focusing on over london fashion week but actually this year, is that it's certainly something

that many businesses are looking at. looking at is not very good. it's gotta be a bit more than that, hasn't it? there are tangible things that are happening, we have a fashion committee which is there to help develop resources to help particularly the smaller businesses understand what they can do to make a difference. and some other business stories in the news today. mr kipling cake firm premier foods has scrapped plans to sell off its ambrosia custard brand, blaming the current business climate. the firm was planning to use the sale proceeds to cut debt of over £500 million. ambrosia, accounts for under 10% of its total revenue. one of the world's oldest accountancy textbooks is being put up for auction. it's the first printed example of double—entry book—keeping from 1494, the system of debits and credits that is still used today. it doesn't look like anything you or

i would recognise but it's the real mccoy. its expected to sell for more than $1 million. amazon has said it will not build a new headquarters in new york, citing fierce opposition from state and local politicians. the dramatic turnaround comes just months after the firm named new york city one of two sites selected for major expansion over the next decades. we will catch up with the markets in an hour's time but that's all from me. now could this be the fastest child in the world? a seven—year—old boy is aiming to one day smash usain bolt‘s 9.58 seconds 100 metre world record. rudolph ingram from florida, known as blaze, shocked onlookers when he tookjust 13.48 seconds to complete a 100 metre sprint. now it's time for a look at the weather with tomas. it's looking pretty wonderful out there. yes, it is. it's beautiful.

this scene could be like something from the summer but not quite. slight exaggeration, it's still the middle of february. it sounds nice out there, 15—16d. it looks like for a week or so it will be relatively mild for the time of year, notjust in the uk but across europe. this clear area of whether across europe you can see is the high pressure weather front in the atlantic. they are bypassing us because of the high pressure extended across the alp, beautiful weather foot there but not great for the skiers, as the snow sta rts great for the skiers, as the snow starts to melt. the yellow and peach and orange colours indicate how the temperatures are suiting up today, so 15 already, we could reach 16. weather fronts tried to sneak in on the north—west, bringing rain to scotla nd the north—west, bringing rain to scotland and overnight it could turn wet across northern parts of highland. but south of that, it

looks fine promised and murk and western coasts in quite a moist south—westerly wind but eastern area should be clear and pretty nippy. very continental out there, the mornings are cold with a touch of frost and the afternoon, very mild indeed. 0n frost and the afternoon, very mild indeed. on saturday, notice a weather front across the uk, it has just not in, sometimes that happens, you get high pressure but the weather systems start to move in and what's left over of them is tends to bring a bit of cloud and spots of rain. that's what we are expecting on saturday, it will be mild for sure, for most of us it will be dry but just a sure, for most of us it will be dry butjust a bit of rain sneaking in, nothing more than that. it was the forecast for saturday morning. the south—westerly wind bringing layers of cloud to the north—west, where the weather front moves through, there could be some rain there but again 13—15d. a shared load tomorrow because of the layer of cloud, and the sun is not so strong and it

feels a bit cooler. sunday's forecast, another weather front bringing in cloud and rain spots, heavy for a time in the western isles but the vast majority of the country, another fine day and sunday actually will probably be brighter than saturday. notoriously difficult to forecast though. but you will not notice the difference been 14 and 16. the fine weather continues, mist an fog 16. the fine weather continues, mist anfog in 16. the fine weather continues, mist an fog in the morning, at least a little bit and then beautiful by day. hello, you're watching afternoon live — i'm martine croxall. today at 2pm: donald trump threatens to invoke emergency powers to pay for his border wall with mexico. we'll have a special report from our correspondent on the border between california and mexico. after spending time here, it would be easy to question the president's rhetoric, his talk of a crisis, and the threat these people pose, how simple he makes a wall sound as a solution, but it's clear there is a complex game of cat—and—mouse being played here.

schools out! thousands of pupils strike in protest over climate change. award—winning author, andrea levy, whose works chronicled the windrush generation, has died aged 62.