this is bbc news. the headlines: at least two more people have been shot dead and more than 20 injured by pro—government forces in venezuela, as opponents of president maduro tried to get aid into the country. colombia said more than 60 members of the venezuelan security forces had deserted. a chicago court has set a $1 million bail bond for r&b singer r kelly, who's been charged with ten counts of aggravated criminal sexual abuse. hello and welcome to bbc news. i'm reged ahmad. the judge asked him to surrender his passport and not to have any contact pro—government militias have used teargas and rubber bullets with anyone under the age of 18. on civilians in venezuela, as they attempt to prevent foreign aid getting into the country. votes are being counted at least two people in nigeria after presidential were killed in the clashes and parliamentary elections. at the brazilian border. in some areas, the authorities extended polling past the official closing time. on the other side of the country, the vote is the biggest lorries carrying food in african history. and medicine from colombia were set on fire. the electoral commission said reports from colombia say that 60 it was "generally satisfied" with the way polling had gone. members of the venezuelan security forces have taken advantage of confusion at the border to desert. the us vice president mike pence has confirmed he will meet the opposition leader it's about 2:30am. juan guaido on monday.

our international correspondent now on bbc news, dateline london. orla guerin reports now from cucuta, on the venezuela—colombia border. holding the line, president maduro‘s troops on the bridge between colombia and venezuela. from early morning, face to face with their own countrymen, desperate for aid to get through. this former officer in the venezuelan army addresses the young troops. hello and welcome to dateline london. i'm carrie gracie. "when the orders are unconstitutional", he tells them, this week: "you don't have to obey." five weeks to go till b day. some things fall apart, but can the centre hold? "i am venezuelan myself", says nicola gonzales. india looks to punish pakistan "think of your children." for the deadliest attack in a 30—year kashmir insurgency. "open the doors, let venezuela be free." and iran diagnoses pathological obsession, as it shrugs off the latest broadside a short distance away, the opposition leader, juan guaido, giving the aid convoy from the united states. a personal send—off. he said it would travel peacefully with me today: ashis ray of ray media, david aaronovitch, columnist for to venezuela to save lives. the london times, nazenin ansari, managing editor of kayhan life, and broadcaster, jeffrey kofman. welcome to you all. but when his supporters

converged on the bridge... chanting ..they found it wasn't going to be that easy. last week, brexit broke the mould again, when 12 mps abandoned their parties, as we filmed, we were engulfed in tear gas. soon, demonstrators were being hit with rubber bullets. a few tried to fight back. but as violence erupted at the border, this was the scene in the venezuelan capital, caracas. the embattled president, nicolas maduro, playing to the crowd, rallying his supporters. but his isolation is growing. he has broken off relations with neighbouring colombia because of its support for the opposition. back at the border, guaido‘s

aid caravan was approaching, laden with supporters and with hopes for change in venezuela. well, the convoy is on the move now. it's pushing forward towards the border. this is what the opposition has promised and it's about far more than food and medicine. if the opposition manage to push all this through the border, through president maduro‘s defences, it will be a real challenge to his authority. but on the bridge, the trucks ground to a halt, blocked by troops and clouds of tear gas. organisers plan to keep trying, here and at other crossing points. president maduro claims the aid convoy is just a cover for a us invasion. but some of his men are no longer listening, like the soldier in the black cap. we watched as he abandoned his post for the embrace of the opposition.

he's one of at least a dozen who have deserted today and are now, according to juan guaido, on the right side of history. but this could be just the start of a long battle. orla guerin, bbc news, at the colombia—venezuela border. let's look at some other stories in brief. opposition groups in sudan have called for more protests following the declaration of a year—long state of emergency by president omar al—bashir. the main organisers of the demonstrations described a tv address by the president on friday as a "miserable attempt to cling to power". the head of the roman catholic church in germany has admitted that files on priests accused of sexually abusing children were destroyed or never even drawn up. cardinal reinhart marx was speaking on the third day of a vatican summit, convened by pope francis to tackle the crisis over paedophilia within the clergy. north korea's state news agency has confirmed that kim jong—un has left the country to attend a summit with president trump in hanoi next week. it's the first public

acknowledgement that the talks are taking place. mr kim left by train on a 4000 kilometre journey that could take three days. here in the uk, the prime minister has said she will not allow the vote to leave the european union to be frustrated. in a speech to party activists in oxford, theresa may said the government's focus on delivering brexit must be absolute. her comments came after three senior ministers threatened to vote for a delay, unless a withdrawal deal can win support in the coming days. our political correspondent alex forsyth reports. they're part of theresa may's team, meant to be her closest colleagues, but today three cabinet ministers went against the government line and warned brexit might have to be delayed if there's no deal. greg clark, amber rudd and david gauke wrote in the daily mail...

it's infuriated brexiteers. one suggested they should quit, claiming it was a plot to force them to back a deal, rather than delay brexit. if ministers or cabinet ministers cannot support publicly government policy and vote with it, then they have to resign, and government policy is very clear. the prime minister's said on over 100 occasions that we're leaving the european union on the 29th of march, with or without a deal. most mps, though, don't want to leave without a deal. this week, they'll vote on a plan to give parliament the chance to delay brexit if there's no agreement, and some ministers have said they could resign to back that move. downing street says the prime minister is working hard to try to get the eu to change the current brexit deal so she can bring it back to parliament, in the hope of getting mps to support it. but it's not clear when that will happen. and in the meantime, these three cabinet ministers have publicly added to the pressure she's already under from so many of her backbench mps.

we've had a democratic vote. i understand the chaos it's caused... one of them, who left the tory party this week, was out campaigning for another brexit vote, still critical. itjust says the complete chaos that's now existing at the top of government, that you have three cabinet ministers who go out into the press because they can't win the argument in the deeply divided cabinet, and i'm afraid to say a prime minister who is just not listening. but here, there was a very different message from grassroots tories today. theresa may addressed their national convention, where members voted not to delay or thwart brexit. for the prime minister, protestations on every corner. alex forsyth, bbc news. the labour leaderjeremy corbyn has said that anti—semitism within his party, and in society, is unacceptable. nine labourmps quit the party this week, with some complaining of a culture of anti—semitism within the ranks. mr corbyn‘s comments came at a rally in beeston — a town in the constituency

of the former conservative mp anna soubry in nottinghamshire. the bbc‘s hugh casswell was there. i'm sure it is no coincidence that mr corbyn was here campaigning in what is a very marginal seat, no coincidence it's the seat of a recent tory defector, no coincidence that he had three members of the labour front bench with him. because, of course, there was a pretty huge elephant in the room, in the shape of those nine labour defections in the course of this week. an elephant that didn't go on for long, mind, mr corbyn said he was very sad at what he seems keen to emphasise as a very small number of mps leaving the party. so, a definite attempt at a show of strength, a show of solidarity, a shoring up of his leadership. he seemed particularly keen to emphasise addressing the comments

of the dudley north mp, ian austen, the most recent of those defectors, who was yesterday citing what he calls the leadership‘s complete failure to tackle anti—semitism within the party. when people, as i said it, are racist towards each other, then we oppose it in any way whatsoever. if anyone is racist towards anyone else in our party, wrong, out of order, totally and absolutely unacceptable, anti—semitism is not acceptable in any form, any way, whatsoever, anywhere within our society. i'm proud to lead a party that was the first ever to introduce race relation legislation and also to pass the equality act and the human rights act into the statute book, and we are going to take all these issues further forward. well, believe it or not, there was a second elephant in the room here today.

there were several eu flags, several labour against brexit banner here to create mr corbyn during the speeches. there were a few shouts of what about a people's vote, and when are you going to back a people's vote? at one point, it even seemed like people in the crowd were arguing between each other about it. a bit of a sign about some people's frustration withjeremy corbyn not until now having backed the people's campaign for a second referendum. where was anna soubry during all this? she was across town campaigning for a people's vote. a court in chicago has set a $1 million bail bond for the r&b star r kelly, who's been charged with ten counts of aggravated criminal sexual abuse. the singer handed himself to police on friday, and was asked to surrender his passport. he's faced decades of claims of sexual abuse against women and teenagers below the age of consent, but has always denied the allegations. his lawyer, steve greenberg, says the bail amount

is fair and reasonable. this is what he had to say earlier. you know, right now, he's presumed innocent. we haven't seen anything, any reason to believe that these allegations are credible. i heard about them, i heard about sort of the narrative of them for the first time today, the same time all of you did. and i can tell you that in listening to it, there certainly are problems with the cases. one lady coming forward a decade plus later claiming she had nonconsensual sex. no outcry, nothing like that, the things we look for in these cases. earlier, we spoke to our correspondent aleem maqbool, who's in chicago, about the details of the charges r kelly is facing. as was indicated there by the lawyer, this court hearing today was not just to set the terms of r kelly's bond, it was to, for the first time, hear details of these ten counts against r kelly, relating to four different women,

and we heard one case where — which relates to a video in which r kelly purportedly is shown having sex with a 14—year—old girl, there were details about another case relating to another woman who was a girl at the time she was allegedly abused by r kelly and met him actually as she was celebrating her 16th birthday, and the details that were given suggest that r kelly even knew that. another one of the victims, apparently r kelly met as she asked for his autograph as he left court during a 2008 trial on child pornography charges. very disturbing details as the judge himself described, and in the courthouse were actually relatives of some of the alleged victims, who had to sit through and listen to those. this is bbc news. the headlines: at least two people have been shot dead and more than 20

injured by pro—government forces in venezuela, as opponents of president maduro tried to get trucks loaded with aid into the country. three senior ministers have threatened to defy the prime minister and vote to delay brexit, unless a deal‘s approved by mps. theresa may warned the brexit vote must not be frustrated. let's get more now on our top story — the deteriorating security situation in venezuela, where president maduro‘s forces have been trying to prevent humanitarian supplies getting into the country. let's speak now to brian fonseca, director of the jack d gordon institute for public policy at florida international university. to the two—time. this all that and, the opposition leader's plant has been to try and get the military to side with him, but we have only seen

a few defections so far, why is that? yeah, i mean that so again, you're right. the opposition had been working really hard to try to break the allegiance of the military institution, the allegiance of the military institution to nicolas maduro. they've been unable to do that in any real significant wave. we have seen a number of defections today, we have had estimates as high as 60 to have defected out of a military institution that is well over 32,000. the problem is that the military has been tied intentionally to the survival of the regime by the nicolas maduro regime. similarly, military officers up and down the ra nks military officers up and down the ranks have been afforded opportunities to participate in widespread corruption, providing sizeable lots for their respective families. they've been able to participate in illicit opportunities and so, that has essentially tied the institution to the survival of the institution to the survival of the regime. given what you are

saying, given today was meant to be a big day for the opposition, an attempt to get 80 and, as the opposition really fail to change anything in venezuela ? opposition really fail to change anything in venezuela? well, again, it is hard for us to say at this stage. -- to get humanitarian aid in. this is to some degree about attrition, how long can the opposition maintained its intensity and sustain its efforts to apply pressure? how much can it sustain the support of the international community? and how long can the international community continue to imply an international diplomatic and economic effort to pressure the regime? those things i think we are still waiting to see whether or not they are going to yield the current change the is looking for. certainly, on the other side, maduro is looking to try to weather the storm. it has some allies in the international community, it is attempting to weather the storm and again, it all day was down to a military institution. the military

right now remains key to the possibility of a change in venezuela. and so for the opposition going forward, it has to continue to wa nt to going forward, it has to continue to want to effect change, if it wants to continue to try to exacerbate fractures within the military institution, it has two continue to apply pressure and leverage international community to support its efforts for democracy. given that international reaction that you are talking about, we have seen president maduro basically say that the us is trying to attempt some sort of invasion, it is this very much a us led endeavour in this? is maduro right? no, i mean i think the united states is the name that has been propagated the most, but this is very much an international effort, this is certainly a hemispheric effort. in fact, the united states launched its claim thatjuan guaidio was the legitimate president, immediately following we re president, immediately following were canada and columbia, and then

much of the rest of the hennessy jumped in and certainly, much of the international community. the impact of the crisis that venezuela is having is not just of the crisis that venezuela is having is notjust on the us national interest and is certainly on hemispheric interest, you had more than 3 million refugees spill over into neighbouring countries. that is having economic, social, lee nicol, security impacts on those countries, there are kids starving, there are people dying because they can't seem to get the access to the medical support that they need. —— political. this is much bigger than just sort of the united states, this is an international effort, it sits squarely on the issue of the humanitarian crisis going on within the country right now thank you very much for that. thank you. -- thank you very much. more now on nigeria, where votes are being counted

after delayed presidential and parliamentary elections. president muhammadu buhari is being challenged by the main opposition leader, atiku abu bakar. our africa editor fergal keane reports from the capital, abuja. many have been waiting since well before dawn, voting in the open air, each individual part of the biggest democratic exercise in african history. do you think it will change things here? hopefully. hopefully, it will. but you're not sure? i'm sure it will. with the number of people that are here, i'm sure, in every other voting centre. i'm just... i have the feeling it will change things. gone are the days where people felt that our votes don't count. this time around, as you can see, the people all came out en masse to ensure that they exercise their civic right. and we believe after the vote, we are not leaving here — we are going to stay here until the vote is counted. you can't be but heartened to see people's patience and their faith still in the democratic process here. but the big question is whoever they elect, will they bring to an end the corruption

that has disfigured public life here? when several voting machines broke down, some assumed corruption was the cause. billions of naira for this thing, and you are telling me that is not corruption. there were 73 million eligible voters, 120,000 polling stations, and in some places, there was violence. this was a polling station in lagos, allegedly attacked by ruling party supporters. far to the north in maiduguri, displaced people came out to vote despite an attack on the city by islamic extremists. there are nearly 2 million displaced people in this region. the election isn't just about machine politics and the power of two big parties. these are young civil society activists recording reports of incidents around the country. they're working to create

a genuine culture of accountability. people are hopeful that with every effort that is made, the process will improve, and if it improves for young people, of course, it means that the country improves and their hope and expectations of a better future will come. we count together, please. by evening, the sorting of votes. the official counts each unused ballot. the voters call back. seven... they want an honest result. nobody can say they don't deserve it. fergal keane, bbc news, abuja. the duke and duchess of sussex have arrived in morocco for a three—day tour that will see meghan‘s promotion of gender equality at the fore. harry and meghan are making their first official visit to north africa to strengthen britain's links with one of the few stable countries in the region. the couple are making only their third official overseas trip together, following visits to dublin and a tour of australia, new zealand and the south

pacific last year. the veteran hollywood musicals director stanley donen has died aged 94. he was best known for the 1952 musical singin‘ in the rain, which he co—directed with its star gene kelly. his other films included on the town, seven brides for seven brothers and funny face. kj matthews is an entertainment journalist based in los angeles. why was stanley donen known for bringing musicals to the screen? what was his special magic? you know, he really is the father of musicals. before he came aboard, we had really never seen anything like singin‘ in the rain, on the town, as you mentioned. he really had a way

of adding that extra magic to the musicals. a lot of that we have seen today, if you think of all the musicals over the decade even up in sue la la land, most recently, are taking their influences from stanley donen. he wasjust taking their influences from stanley donen. he was just that magical, he really had an impact on the musical world and the musical genre. we are having a little bit of trouble hearing you but we do want to keep talking to you. he definitely seemed like a very humble man in terms of his personality. there was that famous acceptance speech for the lifetime achievement oscar? yes, he received an honorary oscar in 1998. martin scorsese presented him with that honorary oscar and he was just so that honorary oscar and he was just so humble, you know? even did a little song and dance as he recited his acceptance speech, and we loved him for that. you have to understand

this man had a career spanning 60 yea rs. this man had a career spanning 60 years. that is really not normal here in hollywood, to be able to last that long. yet he was just the most humble guy. he always acted like his last film was his first film. he wasjust like his last film was his first film. he was just great and his impact is still being felt today, even after his death. certainly an incredibly versatile director. kj matthews, entertainmentjournalist in los angeles, thank you for your time. and apologies for the quality of the line. first—time buyers now make up the majority of purchases of homes bought in the uk. the last time that happened was 1985. lancashire and cumbria are the most affordable areas for first—time buyers. with surging property prices it remains an uphill struggle for those

trying to get on the property ladder. according to halifax, the average price paid free typical first—time has jumped 35 cent from £153,000 in 2008 to more than £212,000 in 2018. first-time £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 deposits of just are paying the lowest average deposits 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 semi—detached properties, continue to be the first—time buyer's home of choice. despite a shortage of homes and challenges of raising a deposit, the halifax say figures show healthy movement in the first—time buyer property market.

hello there. part one of the weekend was a bit disappointing across the north and the west of the country, thanks to a weak weather front that introduced more cloud and spots of light rain and drizzle. the best of the sunshine across central and eastern england. today i am hopeful we will see more widespread sunshine in the north and west. another chilly start to the day. a touch of frost across parts of the south—east and the north—east of scotland. like saturday morning, we will have some patches of mist and fog. some of the fog could be quite dense, further north this time into parts of the midlands and into northern, north—eastern england. it could take quite a while to clear across parts of east of the pennines. if it does linger, maybe into east of scotland, it could stay quite chilly and grey throughout the day. elsewhere, we should see widespread sunshine developing, more across the north and the west. after that chilly start the temperatures will respond. looking at highs of around 15 celsius, perhaps 16.

a couple of degrees down on what we saw on saturday and friday. as we had through sunday night it looks like we could see something a bit bolder move off the near continent, particularly the south—east quadrant of the country, with a blue hue showing it is not as cold further north and west. don't be surprised if you wake and see this across the south—east and into the midlands first thing on monday. a chilly start to the new working week. a little mist and fog around. it could be quite slow to clear. eventually it will. this weather front will bring thicker cloud, outbreaks of rain the far north of scotland, elsewhere, across the bulk of the uk, a glorious afternoon with widespread sunshine. temperatures 16 or 17 celsius. high pressure in the driving seat as we head into tuesday. this weak weather front bringing more cloud to the far north—west corner of the uk. a little bit of light rain for the north—west scotland. elsewhere, after a chilly start, maybe mist and fog, which again should quit through the morning. it is looking like being another glorious day with lots of sunshine and temperatures well above where they should be for the time of year. it will be warmer, 17—18 celsius, perhaps, in the south—east. further into the week, the temperatures fall away,

closer to the seasonal norm. as we head into the weekend we will pick up atlantic weather 00:27:04,411 --> 4294966103:13:29,430 systems, so a bit more unsettled.