hello and welcome to dateline london. i'm carrie gracie. this week: five weeks to go till b day. some things fall apart, this is bbc news. the headlines at 11. but can the centre hold? india looks to punish pakistan three cabinet ministers demand for the deadliest attack in a brexit is delayed if parliament 30—year kashmir insurgency. fails to approve a deal and iran diagnoses pathological obsession as it shrugs off in the coming days — the latest broadside some in the party say from the united states. they should go. with me today: ashis the rules on collective ray of ray media, responsibility are very clear and if david aaronovitch, columnist for the london times, nazenin ansari, ministers or cabinet ministers can't managing editor of kayhan life, support the government's position than they have to resign. and american writer and broadcaster, jeffrey kofman. voters go to the polls in nigeria's delayed presidential elections — with reports of militant attacks welcome to you all. last week brexit broke in the north east of the country. here's the scene live in lagos the mould again when 12 mps abandoned their parties, where some of the 80 million a lifechanging thing to do among people eligible to vote, the tribes of westminster. are casting their ballot. what will get broken the singer r kelly is due to appear in court in chicago after being charged with ten counts in british politics this week? of sexual abuse, some involving underage girls. david, you first, but before you first—time buyers return in greater numbers to the property market — a nswer david, you first, but before you answer the question, did we make despite the soaring anything new last week or did we cost of deposits.

in rugby — wales aim for a record just break things? i was enjoying 12th win in a row when they face the idea of french people listening, england in the six nations saying it was 50 days to go till b in cardiff this afternoon. day, thinking they might think it and coming up in half—an—hour — dateline london looks back on a week was appropriate. it is difficult to tell whether something gigantic or of mp resignations — new has happened as a result of the independent group. a lot of people and what this means for brexit. thought it felt different. there are incredible hurdles for any new party to face before it can be politically successful, but i think the feeling was that the manner in which it happened, the way in which those people did it, their savviness in not coming up with a whole set of policies immediately meant it good morning and welcome to bbc news. three cabinet ministers have broken allowed the possibility of other ranks to demand that brexit should things to happen. the other thing i be delayed if mps fail to approve the prime minister's deal in the coming days. writing in the daily mail, think it has done is it has put the work and pensions secretary, significant pressure on amber rudd, thejustice secretary, david gauke, and the business secretary, greg clark, said time was running out and leaving without a deal would be ‘disastrous'. 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 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. i've been speaking to our political correspondent, susana mendonca, about the significance of this challenge to the prime minister's authority. we have got 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 parliament for her deal, that they might support delaying that deal. we know that this week theresa may has got a very difficult time ahead. even if she doesn't have the meaningful vote, 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 oliver letwin which is all about delaying brexit if a deal is not reached by mid—march. the suggestion here 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, there has been a suggestion, certainly by andrew bridgen, who is a brexiteer in the erg group, 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, suggesting 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 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 prime minister at the moment. in a week where she also saw three of her own mps leave the party and join the independent group. the labour leaderjeremy corbyn will address a party rally in broxtowe this afternoon. it's the constituency of the former conservative mp, anna soubry, who left the party to join the independent group. mr corbyn will be joined by members of the shadow cabinet and labour s prospective parliamentary candidate for broxtowe. let's speak to bbc nottingham's political reporter hugh casswell who's in broxtowe in nottinghamshire for us. if you trying to tell us something by choosing to come here? —— is he. i think this is close to the top of labour's list of target seats since

2017 and anna soubry was elected here. a lot have changed and sent with her being one of the three conservative defectors earlier this week so i suppose it is an obvious target seat and an obvious place to come and hold a rally but also i think this will be an attempt by jeremy corbyn at show of strength. it has been a dismal week for labour, they had lost nine mps are many people are wondering will be next so i think he will want to shore up his leadership at the moment, usually with these sort of campaign visits you are lucky to get one big name politician with the local candidate, but we are expecting at least three members of the labour front bench joining jeremy corbyn today. when the line—up announced there were some scattered speculation locally that he was going to use the speech to about a second referendum. that is 110w about a second referendum. that is now muted speculation because labour

are announcing a new policy. they're on their way to telford for the labour's women's conference. this plan that has been floated for flexible working since day one, had they given and the indication of how they given and the indication of how they would deal with businesses saying this is not possible for us to do it for day one for every new worker? as ever the devil is in the detail. some of that detail will become clearer later on at the women's conference whichjeremy corbyn will be hotfooting it to from here. essentially it is putting the obligation on employers to offer employees the right to flexible working from the get go, from the first day in the job rather than asking about it after 26 weeks as is currently the case. it is intended to open up morejobs to currently the case. it is intended to open up more jobs to women who are maybe caring for loved ones and help to close the gender pay gap so yes, a big policy but not quite be big one some people are still waiting for. i will be interested to

see what happens. we look forward to talking to you a little later. 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. 0ur nigeria correspondent mayeni jones is in the city of yola and sent this update. here in the north—eastern town of yola voters are eager to cast their vote after last week's delay. it is a predominantly muslim state so the queues are separated by genders, women on one side and men on the other. they all have their voter cards with them and will be presenting them to the electronic card readers that have been reconfigured. after that then they head to the polling booths to cast their votes and put them in one of these three boxes. even though this is the home state of the main opposition candidate atiku abubakar

candidate it is still expected to be a pretty close race between himself and the incumbent president muhammadu buhari. this will be reflected in much else of the country. 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 "driven 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 office 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. i'm joined now via webcam by documentary ben zand. he has made a documentary on bbc three about r kelly called "r kelly: sex, girls, and video tapes".

thank you for being with us, this has been a story long in the development. can you give us the background to this, where have the claims first surfaced ? background to this, where have the claims first surfaced? it has been decades of claims. it started really when he was thought to have married a 15—year—old singer when he was 27. there have been numerous allegations around him but he is only been charged once before and this is significant. he has been charged with ten counts of aggravated criminal sexual abuse, not be based around for allegedly picked, three who i thought to be between 13 to 16. 13 a lot of who i thought to be between 13 to 16.13 a lot of rumours and allegations for a time and this is the second time he has been taken to court and could actually face jail time so it is a big moment. for

yea rs time so it is a big moment. for years and years he was one of the most famous r&b singers of all times but he has never been able to shake these allegations and over the last three years more and more women have been coming out and saying similar things, that he has been mistreating them, locking them in rooms, there was allegations around sex cults and beyond that there have been allegations of sexual interaction with underage women. it is thought, the original case in 2002 was based ona the original case in 2002 was based on a sex video that allegedly showed r kelly having sex with a woman who was claimed to be 1a years old. he was claimed to be 1a years old. he was acquitted because they could not identify he was in the video. it is thought now there may be another sex video that is even clearer, but people in the video are seeing specifically the edges of the people involved, which could change everything really. he denies all of

this, as he always has and it is going to be a long court case. your documentary went into a lot of detail looking at the background, not just at detail looking at the background, notjust at him as an artist but the music genre he works and, and some of the cultural things that apply. what did you find? it is kind of the world in general is questionable i suppose. r kelly is a man with a lot of power, he was influential at the time and it is shocking whether these allegations turn out to be true or not, whatever happens in the court case, it seems that the music industry has failed in these allegations have been going on for a long time. he is being taken to court once and i have spoken to so many people who work with him over the years and they thought something was up but did not say anything. for a long time these women were ignored and now they are being listened to. r kelly denies all of this but it

seems like the music industry has a bit ofan seems like the music industry has a bit of an awakening to do in response to when people have allegations around them to adequately investigate. especially things like his record label and people around him, and they feel something is up it probably should have said earlier. this feels like ten to 15 years late. his music has been enormously and globally successful, thank you very much for talking to us about r kelly this morning. people buying their first home accounted for just over 50% of the properties bought with a mortgage in the uk last year — the first time that has happened since 1995. according to the halifax, pendle in lancashire is the most affordable place forfirst time buyers. the average home there costs two—point—six times average earnings in the area. the least affordable place is brent in london, where the average home costs more than 13 times what people earn. lynda clark is the editor of first time buyer magazine.

shejoins us now. what do you make of these figures?” am not really surprised, it is definitely the time for the first time buyer and the opportunities out there are amazing at the moment. there are lots of reasons why, bank interest rates are very good at the moment and have been for a while so thatis moment and have been for a while so that is really great for anyone who wa nts to that is really great for anyone who wants to get a mortgage. they have got good deals out there. also i think a lot of people who have bought a home already are not actually moving at the moment, they are holding fast, maybe improving their own home but not moving so the choice for first—time buyers their own home but not moving so the choice forfirst—time buyers is fantastic. the choice for first-time buyers might be good, a lot of young people say they think they worry about is being able to scrape a deposit together, not least when they are still paying rents, the

event some youngsters are paying properties are astonishing. absolutely, landlords are raking in the money and it is difficult, i know, to be able to save up any sort of money for a deposit or anything else in life at this moment. but there are some schemes out there, government schemes where you only need a 5% deposit which makes a massive amount of difference. a lot of first—time buyers are going for these schemes. one is shared ownership and one is help to buy and both of these only need a 5% deposit to the far more affordable. you have watched the property industry over a long period, and may be a strange question to ask given what you do now, but do you worry about that we area bit now, but do you worry about that we are a bit too obsessed with owning property and not more flexible in this country, that there is not more ofan as this country, that there is not more of an as there is any a lot of other countries? yes, europe has a com pletely

countries? yes, europe has a completely different outlook on it. it is not a big deal in europe to wa nt to it is not a big deal in europe to want to buy your home like we do. british people tend to really want to have that security of owning their own home. there is not quite anything like it than actually having the keys to your front door and opening something that is yours and opening something that is yours and it is security, and investment, but there are still lots of people out there that love ranting and that is great if that is what people want to do. freedom of choice, as far as iam to do. freedom of choice, as far as i am concerned. it is very nice to have your own home but it doesn't a lwa ys have your own home but it doesn't always suit everybody. thank you very much. the headlines on bbc news... 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. more now on brexit. three cabinet ministers have demanded the prime minister delays brexit if mps don't back her deal next week. i've been speaking to the conservative mp and prominent brexiteer, andrew bridgen, about the move by his party colleagues. i think the rules on collective responsibility are very clear and if ministers or cabinet ministers cannot support the government's position than they have to resign. the government position is very clear, we are living on the 29th of march, i think something the prime minister has said hundreds of times. we are living on the 29th of march with or without a deal. it is only keeping no deal on the table which gives us any leveraged in

negotiations and is keeping the european union willing to renegotiate, the fear of leaving with no deal which would be less than ideal but we would get real concessions. they say something stronger than last ideal. they say the damage will be palpable from no—deal brexit. do you mind if i just caught? in your own words, they say the economy will be damaged severely both in the short and long—term and they say to you and your colleagues, fellow conservative mps, but some people in the party scene complacent about the consequences of leaving the eu without a deal. when we joined the european union, the prices went up by 10%. we severed historic trading links with the commonwealth countries and our allies such as a stereo and new zealand. i do not see anyone saying we crashed into the european union but suddenly we are going to be crashing out. we will

not be crashing out, we will be cashing in. venezuela has said that its border with colombia has been partially closed, shortly after opposition leader juan guaido 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. well if you speak to nicolas maduro he says it won't be coming in. he told his armed forces to be on high alert and not to let any unauthorised vehicles cross the border. he has also closed the border with brazil, he closed that late on thursday night. and he said he would evaluate what he does with the colombian border. if you speak tojuan guaido and his supporters they say no matter what this aid will come through. there are informal routes, there are smaller routes. it is a porous border and it is a really big border and they will get their aid in no

matter what, so i think the question will be, on saturday morning when the trucks start moving, how the relationship with the armed forces will be. juan guaido has been calling on the armed forces to let this aid in, saying that the most important thing is to look at your family, look at the fact they need medicines, food, everyone in venezuela needs these things to come into the country so that is what they are calling on, it is pulling on the hearts and minds of the officers but nicolas maduro remains firm, so it will be interesting to see exactly what happens on saturday. 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. that is what they call one of those fascinating but irrelevant facts but

interesting when you are doing a public way is. sport and for a full round up, from the bbc sport centre. i have plenty bits of useful information like that. it's a huge weekend ahead in the six nations championship with this afternoon's match in cardiff between wales and england being billed as the tournament decider. our sports correspondent joe wilson is there. with wales having won 11 on the trot, how confident would you say the fans are around the city as they gathered there this morning? there isa gathered there this morning? there is a hope, it is a beautiful sunny morning in cardiff and with the roof open at england's insistence, the sunshine is streaming in and if you are —— in such a morning i think you have to be optimistic whether you area have to be optimistic whether you are a welsh or english fan. they will have taken confidence through

that one of 11 consecutive victories but i think everyone in wales is aware that the welsh victories have come from the team doing enough but the english victories have come through some outstanding rugby and i think there is a wariness and awareness that england have clicked back into place. we're predicting a building up to this match for the fortnight now. i wanted to show you the cover of a welsh newspaper. they have discovered that the key factor is 2019 and wonder at 89 at the end of the year wales prevailed. they have decided that is a decisive factor. that is fascinating. i love things like that. scotland are in paris to take on france, who are yet to win in this year's competition. but if anyone knows how hard, it is to win there, it's scotland. their last victory there came in 1999.

their head coach gregor townsend, was instrumental that day, at flyhalf — and scotland actually went on to win that championship that year. the players tend not to look at the bigger picture too much. coming to paris, an incredible stadium, we have played some good stuff over the first two games, but there have been some inconsistencies in there as well. so it is a big opportunity for us to put 80 minutes together, and the guys are desperate to get going. scotland's women are also playing in france — and you can watch it live on the bbc red button tonight. before that ireland play italy with the build up starting at 20 past six ahead of kick off at a quarter to seven. there's a familiar line up, for the women's league cup final, in sheffield this afternoon. either arsenal or manchester city have won the cup, in every season since it began, and it's a repeat of last year's final at bramall lane, which arsenal won. city will start as favourites, partly as they have a fully fit squad while arsenal

have several injuries. we have great respect for them and in the same finals we played them and they will want to come and put a stamp on us and to put that right. we will want to retain the trophy so it will be a great game against two of the top teams in this country. chris eubank says he's petrified of his son losing his big fight tonight, against james degale. it's a crucial career fight, for 33—year—old degale, who is a two—time world champion and olympic gold medallist, at super middleweight, while chris eubankjunior has yet to break into the sport's elite. de gale, says the loser, will have to retire. for me i do not let the occasion, the trash talk, the hype, i do not letter to effect my main site. —— i

do not let it affect my mindset. i thinkjames does and it is a get closer he will get edgy and rattled. for me, stay focused and professional, state dangerous. that's all the sport for now. now for the weather with chris faulks hello, it is been a mixed picture to start the day today. many of us having a bright start, for example, early on today we saw a beautiful sunrise in argyll and bute, the amazing sun illuminating the cloud but to the west the week weather front has been working its way across northern ireland into western scotland. in the south we have had some dense patches of fog for southern parts and eastern england as well. causing a couple of problems out on the road, for travelling conditions and some cancellations forflights in london city airports. that murky weather taking a time to clear and lift across eastern england. sunshine coming out for most of us. the weather front clears through northern ireland so brightening up but a bit of rain for scotland, western parts of england and wales. for most of us a dry bright day

with some sunshine and warm for the time of year. temperatures could reach 18 celsius across parts of the south and to put that in context, that is around nine or 10 degrees above normal for this time of year. it is the kind of temperatures we would normally expect in late may, not late february. we have got a couple of rugby matches taking place this afternoon. the six nations rugby, france hosting scotland at the stade de france, wales hosting england in cardiff. for both matches the weather looks similar, should be dry with sunshine and temperatures around about 1k degrees at time of kick—off. overnight tonight it may start off clear but we will see some patches of low cloud reforming, perhaps turning cloudier further northwards with some mist and fog patches around. generally a colder kind of night with temperatures between two and five celsius in towns and cities. in the countryside it will be a bit colder than that with a few patches of frost and although it starts off cold, with the wind is coming from a long way south it is going to be another very mild day for a time of year.

all this lifts quite quickly during the morning and we will see plenty of sunshine for scotland, england and wales and for many of us clear blue skies through the afternoon. northern ireland, perhaps holding onto a little bit more in the way of cloud and the temperatures are still mild, 11 to 16 degrees, perhaps just a shade down on this afternoon. into monday we will see high pressure staying in place for most of the uk. this weak weather front bringing some rain across parts of the hebrides, highland scotland, orkney and shetland but away from the far north it is another fine and sunny day. we will stay mostly dry for the weekend as well, staying on the mild side, temperatures drifting down a little. that is your weather.