this is bbc news, i'm shaun ley. the headlines at 103m: three cabinet ministers demand brexit is delayed if parliament fails to approve a deal in the coming days. voting gets underway in nigeria's delayed presidential elections — with reports of militant attacks in the north east of the country. here's the scene live in lagos where some of the 80 million people eligible to vote, are casting their ballot. the singer r kelly is due to appear in court in chicago after being charged with ten counts of sexual abuse, some involving underage girls. first—time buyers return in greater numbers to the property market — despite the soaring cost of deposits. in rugby — wales aim for a record 12th win in a row when they face england in the six nations in cardiff this afternoon. and coming up — the travel show

heads to los angeles for oscars weekend. good morning and welcome to bbc news. three cabinet ministers have broken ranks to demand that brexit should be delayed if mps fail to approve the prime minister's deal in the coming days. writing in the daily mail the work and pensions secretary, amber rudd, the justice secretary, david guake and the business secretary, greg clark said time was running out and leaving without a deal would be ‘disasterous'. downing street insists theresa may is working hard to secure a deal as our political correspondent nick eardley reports. three ministers who have long had concerns about leaving without a deal, but their latest intervention is significant — upping the stakes ahead of

the latest big week in parliament. amber rudd, david gauke, and greg clark write in the daily mail: the government hasn't even confirmed there will be the government hasn't even confirmed there will be a new deal to vote on next week. theresa may still needs to secure changes to her original plan. but this ups the pressure. it's also a warning to brexiteers in parliament — vote a deal through or brexit might be delayed — and that, these ministers say, would be their fault. downing street says the cabinet should be focused on getting a deal delivered, but this latest intervention sets the scene for a massive few days at westminster, and it suggests cabinet ministers may be prepared to walk to prevent no deal. nick eardley, bbc news, westminster. with me is our political

correspondent, susana mendonca. this is a kind of pretty direct challenge to the prime minister's authority. yes, quite extraordinary to see cabinet ministers saying something completely different to the prime minister. she has been saying we will be leading on the 29th of march and she is working on this deal, but we have these cabinet ministers who behind closed doors, we know they have been concerned about this issue but here they are vocally coming out and giving an interview to a newspaper where they are outlining their concerns. basically suggesting that if the prime minister doesn't get agreement from parliaments for her deal, but they might support delaying that deal. we know that this week theresa may has a very difficult time ahead. evenif may has a very difficult time ahead. even if she doesn't have the meaningful votes, there is no clarity from downing street on whether they will have a vote on the deal itself, but she will have amendments put forward, attempts to try and change the direction. we

have an amendment being put forward again by yvette cooper and another mp which is about delaying brexit if a deal is not reached by mid—march. the suggestion seems to be that these three cabinet ministers might support that. what has been the reaction from downing street? they have said the prime minister is still working towards a deal and it is no secret that these ministers held these types of views. another thing is that today is that brexiteers feel as though they are being bullied by downing street's —— by downing street, there has been a suggestion that downing street are trying to coordinate this in some way to pressure them into supporting theresa may's deal. so the hidden hand of downing street is behind this? yes, a kind of conspiracy theory that they are behind this. downing street have not commented on this and point to the fact that theresa may is continuing to discuss theissue theresa may is continuing to discuss the issue with the eu and try to get

some tweaks that could get support for her deal. certainly this idea that you have got mps on all sides concerned about what's going to happen, this idea of conspiracy theories, shows just how fractious things are for the by minister. in a week where she also saw three of her own mps leave the party and joined the independent group. thanks very much. we will be talking again about this during the course of this morning. let's speak now to the conservative mp and prominent brexiteer, andrew bridgen. he's in our westminster studio. good morning to you. good morning. what do you make of this? the rules and collective responsibility are very clear. if ministers are cabinet ministers can't support the government because my position, then they have to resign. the government was my position is very clear that we are living on the 29th of march, something the prime minister has said around hundred and eight times at the chamber of the house of commons. with or without a deal we are leaving on the 29th of march. it

is only the fact of keeping no deal on the table that gives us any leveraged in the —— in the negotiations and is keeping the eu willing to renegotiate, the fear that we will leave with no deal which would be less than ideal. but we will get real concessions. they say something stronger than a less than ideal, they say the damage will be palpable from a no—deal brexit. do you mind if ijust quote because a lot of people won't have seen it, in your own words, they say our economy would be damaged severely in the short and long term. they also say to you and your colleagues, fellow conservative mps, some people in the party seem complacent about the consequences of leaving the eu without a deal. when we joined the european union, food prices went up by 10%, european union, food prices went up by io%, we separate historic trading links with the commonwealth countries and our allies such as

australia and new zealand. i don't see anyone saying that we crashed into the eu but now we are suddenly crashing out. we want to be crashing out, we will be cashing in. it took us more out, we will be cashing in. it took us more than a decade to get into the then european economic community. what about the future in the coming days? this presumably is not just three cabinet the coming days? this presumably is notjust three cabinet ministers, it is others in government as well who have the same opinion. you are under no illusion presumably that there is a wider group no illusion presumably that there is a widergroup in no illusion presumably that there is a wider group in the party who think this. the big problem is there is probably only 150 mps out of 650 campaigns for leading the eu. that really believe in the project. we have a parliament that is completely out of step with the sentiment of the british electorate is expressed at the referendum and since. this is leading to parliament versus the people. i just can't leading to parliament versus the people. ijust can't help but feel this is going to end very badly for

this is going to end very badly for this parliament. was about the essence of the argument that it is possible to delay brexit without preventing brexit, if you like, because after all the date which the prime minister holds two is a date of her own choosing because she chose to trigger article 50, which has a two—year timetable, that took us has a two—year timetable, that took us to the 29th of march? wouldn't it be possible to say, actually, by mutual consent, because it is not doing the eu any favours to have a no—deal brexit any more than us, to say, let's delay it for six months and spend more time on getting the thing done properly because we want it done once and done well. that would have huge financial consequences to the uk, —— to the uk taxpayer that we would be remaining in the eu, continuing to pay contributions, potentially getting into a new spending round of commitments which could alter the already huge so—called divorce bill. how is that going to change, how is

delaying six months going to change the make—up of the house of commons and the decisions that mps might vote for or might not? i don't see how that gets us anywhere. the old adage is very true, those who fight and run away only live to run away another day. there is a bullet to be bitten, these negotiations will go down to the wire, that's the last week. we had to hold our nerve, keep no deal on the table so we can get meaningful concessions. and not run away. and if we don't get those concessions? it is a game of chicken, almost. to mix my metaphors, who blinks first? what if they don't blink? these cabinet ministers are saying the consequences would be disastrous. look at the economic figures. despite all the naysayers about the effect of brexit, we have the highest economic growth in the g7 in europe. germany has 0% growth, italy is in recession, france is in civil

unrest, i think they want to have a deal. i think the eu will blink first. we have promised the british people we are leaving. if we sign up to the withdrawal agreement, we have given away the ability to leave. we are then leaving only with the agreement of the eu. at least in the article 50 process we are in now, we can leave the eu. and you still believe ultimately that a no—deal brexit is better than extending the process ? brexit is better than extending the process? if we extend, and then we do pass the withdrawal agreement, i can see a situation where eight yea rs can see a situation where eight years after the referendum we still haven't left the eu. that is unacceptable. for the conservative party, our voters and our democracy. thank you very much for coming into the studio on a saturday morning for us. the studio on a saturday morning for us. thank you. the government has awarded contracts —

worth more than £100—million — to external consultants for work on brexit. according to analysis for the bbc, companies have been hired in areas such as recruitment, research and it. the government said it was standard practice to draw on the advice of specialists — but the civil servants' union described the money spent as "eye—watering". the biggest election in african history is taking place in nigeria with more than eighty million people eligible to vote for a president. the ballot was due to take place a week ago, but was postponed only a few hours before polling stations were to open. poor weather conditions, security concerns and allegations of corruption were to blame. our africa correspondent, tomi oladipo, is in the nigerian capital, abuja. good morning to you. you were standing there and i was sitting here exactly a week ago saying it is not happening. it is finally going ahead. yes, it is finally going ahead. yes, it is finally going ahead. we have heard from across the country and our correspondent and other staff across the country reporting that yes, the vote has kicked off. there were delays in some parts but largely in most

places there is noting going ahead. 84 million people registered, only 72 million of those picked up their voters cards. we are expecting a larger number of those to be going ahead with the votes today. what is this a fight over? some might argue that the two candidates are not so dissimilar. no, these are two men who come from about the same part of the country, the north, they are both muslims, both over 70, both have been in government before it. many will see them as part of the old guard. those are the two men who are the leading candidates for this election. they are two men who have faced a lot of criticism for their times in government. but a lot of nigerians looking at this and saying, well, you don't have a choice, you have to go ahead and

vote. the main issues, survival, putting food on the table for a lot of nigerians, providing jobs, dealing with infrastructure, electricity and security, those are the major concerns. 20 years of democracy in nigeria after a long period after independence of military rule. how much has been achieved in those 20 years? is this an election in which people think they are validating a system that has delivered for them? or is this, we are going to the polls in the hope that something better will happen? i think it is probably more of the latter. while looking at nigeria injust 1999 when of the latter. while looking at nigeria in just 1999 when the first elections of this latter stage began, it is a shorter period than many other african countries, and a lot of nigerians will say let's look at that context and give nigeria some slack. but at the same time a lot of people thinking there should be much more done in the electoral

process , be much more done in the electoral process, in governments which they feel they are not getting. but they are still putting their faith in the process , are still putting their faith in the process, still going out to vote and hoping that something will happen, something will improve. because there is so much at stake in this country, so much potential but also so many problems. was about the security threat? presumably everyone is pretty nervous on polling day. but some of those groups, particularly the north to have caused so much trouble, things like boko haram but other groups as well, it could try to disrupt the election? yes, indeed, boko haram and its offshoots, the so—called islamic state west africa province, have been carrying out an insurgency for close to a decade, more than a decade now, in the north—east of the country. even this morning we have heard of attacks in the main north—eastern city. the security agency is trying to downplay a lot of this and saying everything is

going well, but this threat still remains. 2 million people have been displaced by that insurgency. there is also insecurity in the centre of the country where there has been a conflict between harder and farming communities, but has also been deadly for the past few years. major issues for whoever wins to sort out. thank you very much for being with us thank you very much for being with us this morning. a man and woman in their 70s have died, after a car they were in was hit by a van, being pursued by police in south—east london. officers say a van was being "drive erratically at speed" in eltham and failed to stop — before colliding with a car just after midnight. the driver of the van has been arrested on suspicion of causing death by dangerous driving. the incident has been referred to the independent 0ffice for police conduct. the musician r kelly has surrendered himself to police and been charged with a series of abuse and assault allegations. the singer, whose real name is robert sylvester kelly, denies all of the charges and is due to appear in court in chicago today.

at one point he was the biggest name in r&b, but here r kelly is being is escorted by security as he handed himself into chicago police. # i believe i can fly... he has had massive crossover hits globally, through it all allegations and rumours of sexual abuse against underage girls were never far away. and in 2008 he went to trial on charges of child pornography, after a tape surfaced allegedly showed him having sex with a 13—year—old. but he was acquitted when the jury decided the tape wasn't clear enough. some women were paid not to talk and others started to come forward to say what had gone on. i did realise that he had a problem and i couldn't fix it. now prosecutors feel they have enough evidence to press charges relating to four victims. earlier today, robert kelly was indicted before a cook county grand jury on ten counts

of aggravated criminal sexual abuse. it appears a recent tv series speaking to alleged victims gave others the confidence to come forward, too, to try and getjustice against one of the biggest selling us stars — for abuse allegations going back more than two decades. monika plaha, bbc news. the labour leaderjeremy corbyn will address a party rally in broxtowe this afternoon — the constituency of the former conservative mp anna soubry who's resigned to join the independent group. mr corbyn will be joined by members of the shadow cabinet and labour s prospective parliamentary candidate for broxtowe. earlier this week, nine labour mps resigned from the party. the headlines on bbc news... it is 10:17am. three senior cabinet ministers threaten to defy the prime minister and vote for a delay to brexit,

if a deal is not voted through the commons in the coming days. voters go to the polls in nigeria's delayed presidential elections — with more than 80 million people eligable to vote. american r & b singer r kelly is due in court in chicago after handing himself in to police to face sexual abuse charges. sport and for a full round up, from the bbc sport centre... we can look forward to it seems like this in the principality stadium. the roof will remain open at england's request. a win for wales would be their 12th in a row. a national record. yes, we are on a good run. we have done well over the

last 12 months. but let's not get ahead of ourselves. we'rejust trying to keep our feet on the ground and know that this is another game, a big game for us. but we are pretty excited about it. everyone wants to play in these games. when it comes to then, when it comes to the weekend, i don't see any reason why you enjoy it. you shouldn't love the occasion, you shouldn't love being part of it. you should allow it to bring the best to you. scotla nd it to bring the best to you. scotland are in paris to take on france, who are yet to win in this yea r‘s france, who are yet to win in this year's competition. france, who are yet to win in this yea r‘s competition. if france, who are yet to win in this year's competition. if anyone knows how difficult it is to win on french soil, it is scotland. their last victory came in 1999. their head coach was instrumental that day at fly— half coach was instrumental that day at fly—half and scotland went on to win the championship that year. the players tend not to look at the big picture too much. coming to paris, incredible stadium. we have played some good stuff over the first two

games but there has been some inconsistencies in there as well. it isa inconsistencies in there as well. it is a big opportunity for us to, and the guys are desperate to get going. both matches are live on bbc one this afternoon. first it is france again scotland and wales against england just before five o'clock. another england batting collapse in the west indies. england elected to bowl but it was hard going. i have century helped the hosts get to a target of 290. the tourists looked set to reach that total for a time until they went and lost six wickets, their last six, 435 runs. the west indies in the series 1— all. in football, the women's league cup final between manchester city and arsenal ahead of the men's tomorrow which is city against chelsea. full‘s hopes of staying in the premier league have been dealt another big blow, they lost at west ham 3—1. scoring his first goal since joining ham 3—1. scoring his first goal sincejoining the ham 3—1. scoring his first goal since joining the club last month. that was after just 2.5 minutes.

controversy over western's equaliser, replace appearing to show the ball coming off the hands of hernandez. i got the goals that leave full on eight points from safety. watford a re leave full on eight points from safety. watford are up to seventh after they thrashed struggling cardiff 5—1. first senior hat—trick and watford's first in the flight since 1986. captain troy deeney got the other two goals. in the scottish premiership contender for goal of the month coming up. ebony and's stevie mallon as they won a 4—2 at dundee. the power of the shot was unstoppable. two wins out of two for the new boss. a big match for teenager emma parker who was trying to become the first woman to win a match in a men's world ranking snooker event on tv. she was on a break of 16. must have thought this could be her chance against india's

at the snooker shoot out and watford. but then this red just missed the middle pocket. it cost her as she went on to lose 61 points to 17. the 11 times women's world champion also lost her match. that was on thursday. that's all the sport for now. don't forget, plenty more on our website. the super league triathlon, the singapore men's eliminator is currently live on the website. you can also watch the women's race which was one by usa's katie earlier on. that's all for now. i'll see you later on. thank you. i look forward to it. venezuela has said that its border with colombia has been partially closed, shortly after opposition leaderjuan defied a travel ban to cross it. tensions have been rising over a row about the delivery of humanitarian aid. from venezuela, our correspondent katy watson explains what's likely to happen to aid stockpiled on the frontier.

if you speak to nicolas maduro he says it won't be coming in. he has told his armed forces to be on high alert. not to let any unauthorised vehicles cross the border. he has also closed the border with brazil, he closed that late on thursday night. he has said he will evaluate what he does with the colombian border. if you speak to him and his supporters, they say no matter what they say it will come through. there are smaller routes. it is a porous and big border, that they will get their aid and big border, that they will get theiraid in no and big border, that they will get their aid in no matter what. the question will be, on saturday morning when the trucks start moving, how the relationship with the armed forces will be. he has been calling on the armed forces to let this aid in, saying the most important thing is to look at your family, look at the fact that they need medicines and foods, everybody

in venezuela needs these things. they need to come into the country. that is what they are calling on, the hearts and minds of the officers that nicholas —— might but nicolas maduro remains firm. speaking to us a little earlier from caracas. i'm joined now via webcam by celia szusterman . she's the director for the latin america programme at the institute of statecraft. thank you for being with us on bbc news. potentially this is a critical moment in the conflict between the regime. but how risky a moment is it for the strategy that he has adopted? this is a very unprecedented situation where being prepared for the mother of all concerts, the battle of the concerts. while richard branson is organising his venezuelan live aid on the colombian side of the border, nicolas maduro said he will organise

a three—day concert. the problem is that nicolas maduro said there is no need for humanitarian aid because there is no crisis. but he has requested russian aid and said he has received it. the problem also is that he —— the humanitarian aid has become a single and political tool. the aid available, coming from the united states, would only solve the problems for 25,000 families. the kits available would only provide them with essential needs for one month. that's not going to solve the humanitarian crisis. the only thing that will solve the humanitarian crisis is if nicolas maduro and his friends realise, finally, that they have to go. for this to happen, it will be very much a —— very much mr

putin puts my decision, because that's the only real support nicolas maduro has at this time since the chinese have been much more pragmatic and talking to the opposition. he has crossed the border, we are told, one of the reasons the nicolas maduro government has shut the frontier in response. get out of the country, we will see if he can get in and out easily. is that a signal that the regime really doesn't have the grip on the bed as well that it might appear to have from outside?” on the bed as well that it might appear to have from outside? i am afraid i have to guess at what you we re afraid i have to guess at what you were saying because i heard you only very faintly. i saw the video clip. they were running across the border and all with big smiles and are very happy. to make a point, i suppose. the border is still closed. the army is guarding it. it is notjust as

your correspondent said the border with colombia, it is also the border with colombia, it is also the border with brazil. now that is an enormous border. how on earth are they going to guard that? of course the problem is that once you have so many people immobilised —— mobilised, and the military in the streets, the potential for a disaster and violence is there, especially because there are so many people who have got weapons in venezuela. because there are so many people who have got weapons in venezuelam there any possibility of international mediation? all sorts of international mediations have been tried for at least three years. from the pope to the european union, to the organisation of american states, to latin american countries. nicolas maduro will not budge. because he feels that he is supported and backed by russia. and that this now, venezuela has become

a battle ground for a new cold war. therefore he cannot get in. the problem with nicolas maduro is that he clings to a rigid ideology. and i suppose a conspiracy of the united states because he is, he has very little intelligence to really work out what the situation is. and to find a strategy for the future. people don't understand we are dealing with a man of very limited intelligence. great pleasure to speak to you, thank you. a 16—year—old boy stabbed to death in a park in birmingham has been named. abdullah muhammad was found in sara park in the small heath area on wednesday evening. he is the second teenager to be stabbed to death in the city in a week. a murder investigation is under way but no arrests have been made. pagers are to be phased out from from the nhs within the next three years. the health secretary, matt hancock,

has announced that staff will instead be asked to use mobile phones and apps — in a bid to cut costs and improve communication. more than one in 10 of the world's pagers are used in the nhs. they are also big users of faxes. first—time buyers now make up the majority of home purchases bought with a mortgage in the uk, according to new figures. the last time that happened was 1995. according to the halifax, pendle in lancashire and copeland in cumbria are the most affordable areas for first time buyers. here's colin campbell. the number of first—time buyers has nearly doubled over the past decade, but with surging property prices it remains an uphill struggle for those trying to get on the property ladder. according to the halifax, the average price paid for a typical first home hasjumped by 39%, from £153,000 in 2008 to more than £212,000 in 2018. first—time buyers are putting down an average deposit of more than £32,000, rising to more than

£110,000 in london. the figures show a london first—time buyer's deposit could almost buy a home outright in the north—east of england or northern ireland. but it is in wales where first—time buyers are paying the lowest average deposit ofjust over £16,000. while there has been an increase in first—time buyers year on year across the uk, in scotland and wales numbers have fallen. terraced houses closely followed by semidetached properties continue to be the first time buyers' home of choice. despite a shortage of homes and challenges of raising a deposit, the halifax say the figures show healthy movement in the first buyer property market. colin campbell, bbc news. the luxury apartment block, which belonged to colombia's infamous drug lord, pablo escobar at the height of his power and fame,