hello, i'm ros atkins. this is 0utside source. venezuela's opposition leader makes this is bbc news. a triumphant return to the capital i'm clive myrie. the headlines at 8pm: caracas and calls for more protests the home secretary, sajid javid, against president maduro. says there's no single solution thousands turned out to see him. to tackling serious violence, after two 17—year—olds translation: they've threatened all of us, me too, with prison, are fatally stabbed in separate death, and i say to you, despite the persecution, incidents over the weekend. they will not stop us. there is no hiding from this issue, mr speaker. serious violence is on the rise. an infuential congressional committee is searching for proof of obstruction ofjustice communities are being torn apart, and families by president donald trump. are losing their children. some are saying it's part is it a brexit bung? of impeachment proceedings. labour accuses the government of bribing mps with a £1.6 billion anthony zurcher will fund to boost deprived areas, assess those claims. days before a crunch brexit vote. in alabama, rescue teams search for survivors among the rubble left at least 23 people are dead, by two massive tornadoes. after tornadoes rip through the southern us state of alabama. there are celebrations on the streets of the capital caracas, as thousands welcome home venezuela's self—declared interim leader, juan guaido. # i'm the firestarter

twisted firestarter. .. the singer keith flint, a stalwart of electronic dance music with his band the prodigy, has died at the age of 49. and the city of stoke, and players past and present, remember the goalkeeping legend gordon banks, laid to rest in his hometown. good evening. the home secretary has called for an end to the senseless violence of knife crime, that's killing young people across the country. sajid javid is to meet police chiefs this week to find ways to tackle a 93% rise in the number of under—16s stabbed in the last five years. the latest victims are two 17—year—olds who were killed in london and greater manchester over the weekend.

the prime minister has acknowledged public concern but insists there is no direct correlation between the rise in knife crime and a fall in police numbers. june kelly's report does contain some flashing images. they lived at either end of the country butjodie chesney and yousef makki were the same age on the verge of adulthood. and it was in the suburbs, not the city, that both their young lives were suddenly taken. today at harold hill in romford those who loved jodie came to the park, this playground where she died on friday night. she was with her boyfriend and some other friends when they were approached by two men. jodie was stabbed once in the back. as the hunt for evidence continues, her murderer described as black and in his late teens, remains at large. locally on the night of the murder between the hours of seven and 11pm there are many people who had the dashcam and potentially cctv.

if you have got those, please come to us with that information. meanwhile the greater manchester force is investigating yousef makki's killing. today in a statement his family said, "we are absolutely devastated and cannot believe that our son has gone." locals in altrincham described how they tried to save him. we had to lay him on the road, so he was flat. we got him into the recovery position. mike cradled his head. we just tried to do the best for him we could. unfortunately, it wasn't enough. two other 17—year—olds have been arrested and following this weekend's killings, there's been a blunt intervention from the former head of the met police. he says a knife tsar should be appointed. what i don't get a sense is that every day, somebody is leading this and somebody's managing it, pulling it all together. it's a very complex problem and it will require a big solution. but we need to get a grip on it.

but from the prime minister, an insistence that the rise in knife crime isn't linked to a fall in officer numbers. if you look at the figures, what you see is that there is no direct correlation between certain crimes and police numbers. what matters is how we ensure that the police are responding to these criminal acts when they take place, that people are brought to justice, but what also matters is, as a government, that we look at the issues that underpin, that underlie this use of knives. i can't magic officers out of thin air, but we are lucky that we've got officers who are professional, committed and want to make a difference, at the moment. and they are working incredibly hard, in difficult circumstances. as that debate goes on, jodie chesney‘s friends are mourning her. more young lives traumatised by the consequences of the knife crime epidemic. june kelly, bbc news, romford.

john apter is head of the police federation, and joins me now from leatherhead. good evening and thank you for being with us. you heard the prime minister, i think, with us. you heard the prime minister, ithink, today, no direct correlation between certain crimes and police numbers. does she have a point? she doesn't, and i am staggered that, at a time of national crisis, which is what we are in, with the epidemic of violent crime, that we have a prime minister who, under her leadership as home secretary, oversaw the destruction of british policing and is now seeing the effects. for her to say there is no direct correlation, i think, is an insult to those who know differently, and i want the prime minister to question the response “— prime minister to question the response —— for the prime minister to question the response by police isa to question the response by police is a complete insult. i am staggered

that the leader of this country has gone ahead so firmly stuck in the sand that she isn't seeing the reality in front of her. it really isa reality in front of her. it really is a very bad situation. wedge surely the prime minister is right when she says it isn'tjust about police numbers but also about the issues underlying the use of knives and crime in general. we have seen certain schemes, in scotland, for instance, which take a holistic approach to life crime, parts of the us as well for them she is there, isn't she? i've always said that, to combat the scourge of crime, it isn't just the combat the scourge of crime, it isn'tjust the police responsibility but, at the same time the prime minister has overseen the cuts to policing, we have also seen cuts to education, to youth and community groups. they are all organisations that work together to work with society, certain elements of society who need a lot of support, and that support has been pulled away by this

government. so, yes, the one part she is right on is it isn'tjust a police matter. it is far more complex. but i am doing the best i can. there are nearly 22,000 fewer officers across england and wales, mainly fewer police stop and community support officers, and we are struggling with the demand we have but we are beyond breaking point and we need an intervention. i am reassured that the home secretary appears to get it, but it isn't what he says that matters, it's the prime minister and, if you listen to her words carefully, she again continues to have this contempt for policing and those who deliver it by having to question the response. it's an insult. let's be clear, the prime minister says there was no correlation, and she says, if you look at the figures, it is unclear what those figures are, but she says, look at the figures, there is no correlation between crime and police numbers. what exactly is the

difference that would be made if you had more officers on the streets tomorrow? the type of crime we are dealing with is changing, and many people have said that, and i agree and support that, and the way our officers respond to crime is changing pulled at the normal types of crime, and violent crime, is increasing. that is the type of crime that we would tackle by having officers on the ground, working with local communities, working with community groups, and we do that by prevention, not just community groups, and we do that by prevention, notjust responding to crime. 0ur neighbourhood teams across england and wales have been slashed to the bone. so yes, it is far more complex than just throwing lots of police officers at it, but we also need officers to have the ability to do theirjob in a professional, transparent way. all too often, my colleagues are vilified for using stop and search when in reality what we want is a safer community. we cannot do that

if we can't do ourjob. bernard hogan—howe, former nick cheap, says there should be a knife tsar, a crime tsar, looking into this issue. do you think that is a good idea? —— former metropolitan police chief. drug tsar appears to have made little difference. we need leaders in government to lead. my colleagues at chief officer level are trying to doa at chief officer level are trying to do a really difficultjob with their hands behind their back. they have been clear that we are not coping, some more than others, but to say we need a knife tsar, i am afraid, it is way beyond that and we need the prime minister to step up and accept, actually, that government policy over the last decade has failed and we need to invest in public services, and we need to have a conversation with society about how to tackle this. it has to be a joint effort. thank you.

and we'll find out how this story and many others are covered in tomorrow's front pages at 10:40 and 11:30 this evening in the papers. our guests joining me tonight are political strategist jo tanner and economics commentator at new statesman, grace blakeley. stay with us for that. towns in deprived areas in england are to get a £1.6 billion funding boost, which has immediately been dubbed a brexit bribe by labour, who say theresa may is trying to use the money to win support for her brexit deal from opposition mps in areas which strongly voted to leave the eu. the communities secretary, james brokenshire, denies that and insists the money will have a transformative impact on areas that feel left behind. 0ur political editor, laura kuenssberg, reports from stainforth in south yorkshire. just look at this, look at it, there is nothing. we've got nothing in this town. we've got this feeling that we're unimportant anymore,

it's not a gold mine, it's just a dead town, now. keith allsop wants his home to feel like something to him again. hatfield main pit shut for good four years ago. there is a plan for a heritage centre, to create new work where it's gone, if there is the cash. i'm not sure whether it's a piecrust promise. that could be broken at any time. once the vote's gone the way theresa may wanted it to go, if you like. why do you say that? history. there will be 1.6 billion up for grabs in places like this, in england, but spread over seven yea rs. and there's no question things are tight already. what was the library is now a centre for volunteers. well, ithink, generally speaking, all they worry about is major cities. we are absolutely desperate for that kind of money. this is the only public building in stainforth now. there used to be seven or eight, but the government cutbacks have closed these places down.

there are plenty of questions, too. i think there's also a complete lack of detail there about exactly what this is for. the prime minister's announced the cash in the hope of persuading labour mps to back her on brexit. but businesses, some thriving here, don't want a sympathy vote. ultimately, if there's a pot of cash there, an economy like doncaster will want to access that, so it can do great things for our businesses and great things for our communities here. but the timing of that feels a little cynical, today. and i think we would be a little bit frustrated if we were still being defined by the challenge and the deprivation. but maybe brexit is a chance to reset the scales. doncaster voted strongly for brexit, because it feels left behind. there's nojobs and people feeling that everything's being spent in london and in the south, government money. people feel as if nobody cares, which leads to a feeling of bravado, where people put on a very hard front, and it hides a lack

of confidence and a feeling that they're not worth anything. so, for me, and our charity, it's very important to say this place has got a lot of heritage, there's a lot of pride here. the embers are still there and we want to stoke that. some labour mps have dismissed this promise of extra cash as an insult or even a bribe. don't expect there to be a sudden rush of support for theresa may's brexit dealfrom them. butjust as she is crying out for votes, so, too, some parts of the country are crying out for a fairer slice of the pie. but, brexit, like all politics, is about what can get done. not always the same as what seems right or fair. laura kuenssberg, bbc news. andrew gwynne is shadow communities and local government secretary. he joins us live from our westminster studio. good evening. thank you for being with us. laura kuenssberg made the

point that, yes, theresa may is crying out for votes, she wants to get the deal over the line, but there are communities that are in trouble and they've been in trouble for a long time, and that you shouldn't be turning your nose up at more than £1 billion. look, the reality is that many of the communities across england, the left behind towns, feel like that in part because we've suffered nine years of austerity, nine years of savage cuts to local council budgets, nine years of underinvestment in our public services. and so, welcome though the crumbs on the table may be, let's not forget that these very same communities in the very same english regions are crying out for proper, sustainable funding for their local neighbourhood services going forward , neighbourhood services going forward, because, until we

neighbourhood services going forward, because, untilwe address the crisis in funding our local neighbourhood services in our town and county halls across england, we are never going to be able to put right the social fabric in so many of these towns across our country. sure, but the government does say that this money is not contingent on an mp voting in a certain way in the meaningful vote, when it comes in a few days. this money will be there, and it's a down payment, the beginning of something. i'll take it at face value, but the reality is that we know there have been conversations with mps from across the commons about how they can get support behind the prime minister's withdrawal agreement. look, the point is that this pot of money is going to be spread certainly, i doubt it will have anything like the transformational impact that the communities secretary today as big up. the fact that there is a sense

of at the very least, disappointment and a lot of anger, actually, on both sides of the house, from this announcement is because the fact is that these towns across england have seen a massive cut to their local public services and even with this money, this extra money, over seven yea rs, money, this extra money, over seven years, it still means that our local councils will be £5.7 billion out of pocket. so this isn't going to put right our towns and communities that are right our towns and communities that a re left right our towns and communities that are left behind. we need true vision, true transformation resources that match that. what would you see to those mps in those constituencies that may be eligible for this money will decide they are not going to vote theresa may's meaningful deal and had to go to their constituents and say, we turned down money for a community centre, money forfacilities, turned down money for a community centre, money for facilities, money to improve your livelihoods. what would you say to those people?

to improve your livelihoods. what would you say to those people ?|j said let's take at face value what theresa may has said. we know and we are drawing conclusions that the only reason this fund has been announced at this time is because a number of principally labour collea g u es number of principally labour colleagues have raised concerns about left behind communities, principally the towns on the edge of cities, which tended to vote leave. but, look, this shouldn't be incumbent on how people vote in the meaningful vote. if our towns and communities, if our public services, if our local authorities require the funding to provide those decent services and to re—engage civic society and rebuilt our communities from the grassroots up, then that funding ought to follow irrespective, and it shouldn't be the crumbs on the table, it should be properfunding the crumbs on the table, it should be proper funding so we the crumbs on the table, it should be properfunding so we can the crumbs on the table, it should be proper funding so we can start to rebuild the fabric of our towns in this country after nine years of

austerity, nine years of cuts, and nine years of the decimation of our public services. andrew gwynne, shadow communities and local garden secretary, thank you forjoining us. the headlines on bbc news... the home secretary says there is no single solution to tackling serious violence, after two 17—year—olds are fatally stabbed in separate incidents. mps accuse the government of a brexit bribe, after ministers announce a £1.6 billion fund to help deprived towns. at least 23 people are killed, some of them children, after two tornadoes hit the southern us state of alabama. sport now, and for a full round—up from the bbc sport centre, here's hugh woozencroft. hearts' are one—nil up in their scottish cup quarter final with partick thistle.

hearts captain christophe berra opened the scoring for the edinburgh side in what was a one—sided first half. celtic and inverness made it through to the semi—finals at the weekend. aberdeen and rangers will play a replay. if you are in scotland, the game is live on bbc scotland. for the rest of the uk, you can watch it live on the bbc sport website. it's derby night in sheffield tonight. a win over wednesday would take united up to second but they are away at wednesday, who are unbeaten in their last 5 league games and going for a third straight win under steve bruce. still goalless in the first half at hillsborough. manchester united striker alexis sanchez could be out for 6—8 with knee ligament damage sustained during saturday's victory over southampton. he was forced off early in the second half, following a collision with jan bednarek. it's another injury blow for 0le gunnar solskjaer, who could be without up to ten players for wednesday s champions league tie with paris saint—germain.

gareth bale's agent says the treatment by real madrid fans towards him has been "nothing short of a disgrace". the wales forward was jeered when he was substitued during real‘s la liga defeat to barcelona at the weekend. his future at the bernabeu has been a talking point in recent weeks, as the side struggle to keep pace with their catalonian rivals. but bale's agent — jonathan barnett — also says, "we re fed up of fake jonathan barnett — scotland have bounced back from defeat in their opening match at the algarve cup with a 4—1 win over iceland. lizzie arnot scored the first of her two goals after 15 minutes. chelsea striker erin cuthbert added a second, with kim little getting scotland's third. iceland did manage to pull one back, but a run of four straight defeats was definitely ended as arnot made it 4—1 late on. the win means scotland finish second in group a and make it to a playoff game on wednesday.

the team talk was about putting players under pressure today, and we said to them, we expect you to win the game because, in the world cup, you need to win one game if you want to get out of the group, so we put them under pressure, which we don't usually do, and they responded brilliantly. we worked on attacking play at training. there are five or six key things, and i think i saw all of them today. england lock maro itoje has been included in their training squad ahead of their six nations match against italy on saturday. he's been out of action since injuring his knee during the win over ireland a month ago, but is expected to return at twickenham. itoje is part of an initial 31—man squad which also incluces chris robshaw and jonathan joseph. head coach eddiejones will cut six of those players tomorrow evening, before naming the matchday 23 on thursday. fly—half finn russell is among a number of scottish players who returned to trainning this morning ahead of their game against leaders wales on saturday. russell missed their defeat by

france last round with concussion. frank bruno's agent has revealed that the former world heavyweight boxing champion has been suffering from pneumonia. dave davies used bruno's twitter account to thank the hospital staff who'd cared for him. he said he now needs a few weeks' rest. bruno famously beat 0liver mccall to win the wbc heavyweight title at wembley in 1995. tiger woods has withdrawn from this week's arnold palmer invitational at bay hill after suffering from a neck strain. the 14—time major champion says his previously troublesome lower back is unaffected and he has no long—term concerns. he hopes to play in next week's players' championship at sawgrass. that's all the sport for now. i'll have more for you in sportsday at 10:30pm. we will be back with more later.

thousands of people have lined the streets of stoke for the funeral of world cup winning goalkeeper gordon banks. fellow england goalkeepers peter shilton and david seaman were among the mourners. also there were sir geoff hurst and sir bobby and jack charlton, all whom played alongside banks in the 1966 world cup—winning squad. 0ur sports editor, dan roan, reports. for one final time, they'd come to honour the greatest goalkeeper this club, this country has ever had. fitting that the final journey of gordon banks began here at stoke city, where he went from legendary player to life president. the funeral procession pausing at the statue — which, since his death last month, has become a focal point for fans' tributes. some of the game's most famous faces, both past and present, among the mourners here at stoke minster, including team—mates from england's iconic 1966 world cup winning side.

describe what kind of man gordon banks was. well, he was a superstar on the field, but the beauty about him was, off the field, he was an ordinary guy. he was down to earth and we were very fortunate in ‘66 to have some superstar players, like banksy who off the field werejust ordinary guys. in a poignant tribute, banks' coffin was then carried into the service by goalkeepers from the teams he graced. we remember gordon as someone who gave so much to this city, this nation, and the world. as well as being in goal for england's finest hour, banks will be remembered for that save, one of the greatest the game has seen, miraculously denying pele the 1970 world cup. what a save! but, for all his footballing achievements, banks was also a family man. we shared gordon banks, a great goalkeeper, with the world, but gordon banks, the great dad, grandad, great grandad and all

around amazing man, was ours. dad made our world a happy, wonderful, magical place. # i did what i had to do... to the sound of frank sinatra's my way, a moving service then came to an end. undeniably english football's safest pair of hands banks's sporting immortality is just as secure. dan roan, bbc news, stoke. the actor luke perry has died aged 52. he found international fame in the 1990s through the us teen drama beverly hills 90210. he'd been in hospital since wednesday after suffering a stroke at his home in california. at least 23 people have died after devastating tornadoes ripped through alabama in the united states. 0fficals say they're dealing with a catastrophic situation and that more victims could be found as teams search through the debris. thousands of people have spent the night without heating

in near—freezing temperatures. a state of emergency has been declared, and there's a warning that more storms could be on the way. in the past hour, the governor of alabama, kay ivey, has paid tribute to those who died. we lost children, mothers, fathers, neighbours and friends. to know alabama is to know that we are a tight—knit community of people, and today each of us mourns the loss of life of our fellow alabamans. lee county is one of the areas badly hit. mike brown of the american red cross is there. he is currently on the ground in charge of the aid teams

who are providing shelter, food and blankets to people affected by the tornadoes. painta paint a picture of how bad it's been on the ground. we had a top wind speed of 165 mph, so the tornado was on the ground for about a mile and a half and was about half a mile wide, so the destruction was catastrophic. we have 23 fatalities. local red cross volunteers immediately responded with food, water, blankets, mental health counselling. we have emergency response vehicles doing mobile snacks and water in the area. we will have dozens of other volu nteers area. we will have dozens of other volunteers coming in. what we are doing today is gathering trained volu nteers doing today is gathering trained volunteers from all over the state and the country. we think we will have about 200 trained volunteers. have you got enough people to get all the affected areas? we do, and we are doing a damage assessment, a separate team from feeding and

sheltering they mainly rely on the red cross to do feeding and sheltering, but we have damage assessment teams who find major damage, completely destroyed, and that's how we figure out how many volu nteers that's how we figure out how many volunteers we need, how much food we need, how many folks need shelter and all the things we need to know to get services to these folks. around this time every year, there is bad weather, their tornadoes and so on. how does this situation compare with what you had to deal with in the past? it's really a mix. sometimes we have widespread damage across the tornado season, and it tends to pinpoint particular spots. this one is really located primarily in one county, which is unusual, but the damage is so catastrophic and there are so many fatalities that it will take us and partner agencies and wild to help the community food last year is apples and oranges.

it's more widespread. thousands of volu nteers it's more widespread. thousands of volunteers came to those operations. this one is more isolated, but we will make sure that the families and those who survived get the help of the red cross. have you got enough resources , the red cross. have you got enough resources, enough medicine and equipment and blankets to help those people who have been badly hit? people prepare for these storms, the things which strike the area, but we a lwa ys things which strike the area, but we always need monetary donations for the red cross, and we can't rely on congress to provide this. we rely on the generosity of our donors to do that, and that's the best way to help. good luck to you, and all the other volunteers out there. thank you forjoining us. an nhs regulator has abandoned plans to appoint a panel overseeing the inquiry into maternity failures at the shrewsbury and telford nhs trust. more than 200 families have come forward alleging poor care at the trust had led to mothers

and babies dying or suffering harm. some families had threatened to withdraw their consent from the inquiry if nhs improvement had proceeded with the panel, arguing it would undermine its independence. the owner of giraffe and ed's easy diner is to close 27 restaurants, putting hundreds ofjobs at risk. boparan restaurant group says the brands will enter a company voluntary arrangement and close almost a third of their 87 restaurants. the founder and chief executive of the fashion chain ted baker has resigned following allegations of misconduct, including "forced hugging". ray kelvin had been on a voluntary leave of absence since december last year, following the misconduct allegations. mr kelvin denies any wrongdoing. the singerfrom the prodigy, keith flint, has died at the age of 49. the prodigy were one of the uk's biggest bands in the 1990s and brought electronic music

into the mainstream, becoming the first dance band to headline glastonbury. there are flashing images coming up. # i'm the trouble starter, punkin' instigator # i'm the fear addicted, a danger illustrated # i'm a firestarter, twisted firestarter. ..# nothing is as blatant as "i'm going to start fires". it's a little delve within myself and a sort of a bit about me and what goes on inside. # i'm a firestarter, twisted firestarter # twisted, yeah i'm twisted # you're the firestarter, twisted firestarter. . . # when you're in front of 5,000 people and you can go out there just with the aid of the music and a visual performance, you can stir all them people up into a frenzy, and that's

almost like starting a massive fire or a riot. keith flint who's died aged 49. with me is musicjournalist and broadcaster jonathan wingate. good to see you, thanks for coming in. when you think of performers on the stage with the presence this guy had... he really did. he was a very idiosyncratic performer with so much charisma and energy, as well as stage presence. you don't think of him asa stage presence. you don't think of him as a classic front man, but in a way he sort of brought a johnny rotten sensibility, a swagger, a punk rock attitude into the rave culture. and that completely turned

on its head in musical terms. they would've been a completely different band, and much more one—dimensional band, and much more one—dimensional band musically without him. in no way he was the perfect front man, he was the brand of the band, if you think about it —— in a way. nobody sounded like them, he had a huge influence on the musical climate, but nobody could copy them. it's an interesting thing from a cultural perspective. he was the x factor of the band, very much the front man. he was what sold the music, he wasn't exactly the brains behind it, but he was the brand of the band, the face and the voice of the band. and if you think about the music, they were very left field. it was cou ntercultu ral, they were very left field. it was countercultural, in a way. yet they took that into the mainstream and made it a pole position on both sides of the atlantic. and it is

also extremely quintessentially british, the sound, it is interesting... it's not an american accent, he sings it. it says english is chaz and dave or the sex pistols. he brought that into the mainstream, and yet it was a very underground sound. they started off as a pure rave band, their early records like charlie were strange, effects twin underground records, yet they made it into the charts. they were selling rave culture to people who knew nothing about rave culture. this guy was instrumental in making rave culture and its music popular. does that mean the end of the prodigy? i cannot see how they would go on without him, because he was the face and the voice of the band. and without him, the prodigy would

have been a completely different entity. and i cannot think of anyone who would replace him or anyone who's come before or after him who's anything like him. he was an absolutely unique singular talent. we have to leave it there, thank you for joining we have to leave it there, thank you forjoining us. now it's time for a look at the weather with sarah keith lucas. hello there. we have sunshine not make this picture was taken in norwich by one of our weather watchers. as we had to do this evening and overnight, many of the showers will tend to ease away, so the wind is easing, meaning a colder night to come. still some rain continuing through parts of the southwest of england, wales and northern ireland in western england. there could be a bit of snow on the highest ground, but under those clear skies, colder than we've seen recently, touch of

frost early tuesday morning. a subzero start to the day across the northeast of scotland. through the day we will see that rain pushing out of northern ireland through to southern scotland, increasingly turning to snow over the higher round of scotland. sunday in the east, clattering over with rain arriving in the west. cooler temperatures around 7—13dc. goodbye. hello, this is bbc news with clive myrie. the headlines. the prime minister says there is "no direct correlation" between the rise in knife crime and the fall in police numbers, after two 17—year—olds are fatally stabbed, in separate incidents over the weekend. the police federation described her comments as "an insult". i really am staggered beyond belief that the leader of this country has her head so firmly stuck in the sand that she's not seeing reality as it

is. the government insists a £1.6 billion fund to help deprived towns isn't a bribe, just days before a crunch brexit vote. at least 23 people are dead, after tornadoes rip through the southern us state of alabama. thousands of people line the streets of venezuela's capital, caracas, to welcome home the country's self—declared interim leader, juan guaido. and the city of stoke, along players past and present, remember the goalkeeping legend gordon banks, as he's laid to rest, in his hometown. also coming up, the "spirit of the people" of salisbury is praised by the prime minister, one year on from the devastating novichok attacks which rocked the city. let's return to our top story. the home secretary has called for an end to the senseless violence of knife crime that is killing young people across the country. sajid javid is to meet police chiefs this week to find ways to tackle a 93% rise in the number

of under—16s stabbed over five years. the latest victims in a spate of stabbings are two 17—year—olds who were killed in london and greater manchester over the weekend. so, is knife crime getting worse? our home editor mark easton has been finding out. we're talking about a subset of a subset of a crime, but there are some troubling signs. two—thirds of police forces in england and wales recently responded to a freedom of information request that showed in those areas, the number of teenagers recorded as having been killed with a knife has risen from 26 in 2016 to 46 last year. if we look at victims, patient records from hospitals in england show that seven years ago, 1111 teenagers were admitted after assaults with a sharp implement like a knife. last year, it was 267 with a clear rising trend. these are still thankfully relatively rare crimes, but they are also devastating for those affected. and today in the commons, the home secretary defendant

government policy, arguing money and effort were being applied to the problem, and notjust from the home office. we must all acknowledge that this is an issue which transcends party lines. politics can be divisive, but if there was ever an issue to unite our efforts and aspire us to stand together, then surely this is it. mr speaker, this country is facing a crisis. it is time for leadership from our prime minister and home secretary for clear action and a united vision from all arms of government, and for emergency funding for the police and prevention programmes to keep our children safe. warm words are no longer enough. something is going horribly wrong, and particularly in some communities. in london, where knife crime incidents are higher than any other part of the country, victims and perpetrators are disproportionately young, black men from poor neighbourhoods. in other cities, the profile might be different.

it is a crime that feeds on itself. if one person gets stabbed, similar youngsters locally are more likely to carry a knife for their own action. —— protection. so the infection spreads, and that idea of an infection is also prompting home—office proposals to deal with knife crime in the same way you might deal with public health emergency. it's increasingly argued that solutions to young people being stabbed do not lie exclusively with the criminaljustice system. we are joined now in the studio by dr simon harding, a criminologist who specialises in youth crime and gang culture. good to see you, thanks for being with us. i was talking to a senior officer in the metro top —— metropolitan police who says there's been an over emphasis on getting culture in relation to all this, when in fact a lot of these crimes have nothing to do with gangs at all. are we overemphasizing the gang

aspect of this? i think the gang element is certainly there. it is pa rt element is certainly there. it is part of it, but we know that knife crime or knife enabled crime is much wider. it includes domestic violence, night—time violence that might be alcohol related after the pubs and clubs close. it can be a range of things, drug supply is also very key. gang related crime is also in there. the prime minister made this point very forcefully, saying according to the statistics, she didn't elucidate what the statistics were, there was no correlation between the rise in knife crime and the cut in police numbers. do you agree with that? there is perhaps no direct 1—1 correlation. what i most concerned about is the impoverishment of policing. and i do feel as if we are asking the police to tackle this very serious issue

with one hand behind their back. i think it is something that must be coordinated better. that idea of a more holistic approach to this, you have to get involved in the social services, the education system, that kind of thing. treating this as a public health issue, which is what certain parts of the world have done, in america in scotland, for instance. does that make sense to you? is at the way forward for london or manchester, or any other places where this happens? london or manchester, or any other places where this happens7m london or manchester, or any other places where this happens? it does indeed make sense to me. one of the reasons why it is en vogue is because crime itself very quickly becomes a political football. because crime itself very quickly becomes a politicalfootball. public health and addressing it as a public health and addressing it as a public health issue becomes a banner behind which people can gathered without

the politics. that is important. i think it emphasises the multi agency approach, which is so absolutely crucial here if we are going to tackle this. this is notjust an issue for the police and notjust an issue for the police and notjust an issue for the political justice service. why is knife crime on the increase? and it is, mark easton made the point that it is still relatively rare as a crime, but why is it going up? there are 2-3 underpinning things. there is a shift in getting culture, and evolution, if you like. younger people joining, evolution, if you like. younger peoplejoining, older people evolution, if you like. younger people joining, older people getting stuck, so it is more competitive. if it is more competitive, it is difficult to rise to the top. so thatis difficult to rise to the top. so that is an issue for some people. social media's perhaps an accelerant here, and of course you have a range of other issues which pertain to knife crime, so it is a very complex issue. county lines, drug supply, it issue. county lines, drug supply, it isa issue. county lines, drug supply, it is a highly complex issue. but my

concern is there's been a can demo agricultural shift in terms of young people viewing knives as a credible action. that's a worry. indeed for everyone. thanks for joining action. that's a worry. indeed for everyone. thanks forjoining us, simon. five people have been arrested following an incident involving a group of men armed with knives on the campus of a lancashire college. police were called to runshaw college in leyland this afternoon following reports of a gang of men entering the college grounds. a 17—year—old boy was injured during the incident and is receiving treatment in hospital. a major inquiry into allegations of past child sexual abuse linked to westminster will consider whether political parties "turned a blind eye" to it. the latest phase of the independent inquiry into child sexual abuse will examine whether there were any attempted cover—ups, including how what was then the liberal party responded to allegations made against the late mp cyril smith. our home affairs correspondent,

tom symonds has more. "we will continue to examine whether the british establishment harboured paedophiles", the promise today from a public inquiry, regularly derided as a witch hunt. its most senior lawyer asked, "were there cover—ups to protect the status quo, rather than children?" we shall investigate and attempt to answer these questions, which have given rise to considerable public concern. concern dating back to 2012, the savile scandal. but also, a senior labour politician, who told the commons there was... clear intelligence suggesting a powerful paedophile network linked to parliament and number ten. it turned out that the evidence was not clear, and, in some some cases, not there at all. this morning, the inquiry‘s gone through all the main allegations, but it said it won't be investigating whether they're true. instead, its job will be to assess whether the establishment responded properly, when the allegations

came to light. for critics like danieljanner, the son of the late lord janner, who was accused, it's still a witchhunt. if you're going to have an investigation, do it in relation to people who were convicted, or people who are alive and can answer back. but there will be evidence that m15 warns that the conservative mp peter morrison had a "penchant for small boys". evidence in a 1995 interview that party whips helped members in trouble. might be scandal involving small boys, or any kind of scandal. and evidence that prosecutors and the liberal democrats turned a blind eye to the activities of cyril smith, never charged. tom symonds, bbc news, at the child abuse inquiry. prince harry has officially dedicated a memorial in birmingham to the british victims of the 2015 tunisia terrorist attacks. the memorial will be a focus

of remembrance for those killed in two separate attacks, on the bardo museum in tunis and a hotel beach resort in sousse. a number of the british victims were from the midlands. mountain rescue teams in the lake district say they are being repeatedly called out unnecessarily, because of people relying on their smartphones to navigate. 0ne team is also calling for signposts on england s highest mountain to prevent walkers from heading down a dangerous gully. danny savage sent this report from cumbria. off we go. a mountain rescue team on england's highest peak, but they say they are getting called out too often. we have so many avoidable resces that we really want to get the message across to try to reduce them. what do you mean by avoidable, though? people who haven't prepared, they haven't got the right kit, they get benighted, no torch. you know, if they'd thought just that little bit, they would have prevented the team having to deal with the incident. it's not a case of a few sprained

ankles or getting lost in the mist. people are dying up here, or thinking they might do, when it all goes wrong. i thought i was goner on that. you thought you were going to die? yeah, i really did, it was so scary, like...yeah. when we were walking down, mountain rescue, one of them was talking to me, he said, "google where you were." all it was was a steep cliff face, and there was nothing, no trees, no vegetation, no moss, just rocks. if they'd not got a signal and got hold of the mountain rescue, they could have been stuck there for the night, got colder and colder, you know, hypothermia could have set in. who knows what could have happened after that, really? mountain rescue have two main concerns. number one is people relying on mobile phones. this mountain isn't like many others, it's quite dangerous. we had mobile phones with maps, but of course it uses mobile signal to communicate, and that doesn't work very well when you're in storms and on the mountain.

shortly after this picture was taken, the compass on his phone stopped working, so they contacted mountain rescue for help. and obviously that's something we have to live with on our conscience, is that we called them out when, in theory, we really shouldn't have. the other main concern is a lack of signposts. so many problems happen here, particularly in bad weather. they want to go to wasdale to the left, but they look at the junction, they're not sure, they go right. it's a big problem. scafell pike, thousands of people come up here ill—prepared, they get lost, they get into difficulty. too many rescues, too many fatalities, too many tragedies. we just have to do something. but the national trust, who own the land, says lots of people don't want to see signs on the fells. all that these mountain rescue teams want to see is for people to enjoy these beautiful dramatic landscape safely. but they also want to see people use these a lot better — rather than one of these.

danny savage, bbc news, on scafell pike. the venezuelan opposition leader, juan gauido, has returned to caracas to a superstar welcome. he addressed huge crowds thronging the main avenues of central caracas. in a rousing speech, mr guaido said that the whole world was waiting for venezuela. but, he said it was venezuelans themselves who must remain strong and achieve regime change. juan gauido is recognised by more than 50 countries as the nation's legitimate leader, but it's not clear whether he will be arrested following his week long tour of latin america. 0ur correspondent will grant sent this from caracas. he came back to the market in caracas that he'd supported demo here called for. the supporters here will not just be here called for. the supporters here will notjust be pleased that he came back, but the way he came back. not in the dead of night or in the

cover of darkness, but through the front door at the main airport in caracas. by doing so, he's done two things. he's thumbed is known to like her nose at the supreme court's travel ban, and president maduro. he's weak in his position by showing he has regional support in places like colombia, brazil, ecuador, and washington. as for president maduro, he now faces him dilemma. does he send his agents out to arrest him at some point, or does he simply accept that he's returned in and on his own terms? what comes next? the main point that was delivered at this rally was streets, more streets. he wa nts rally was streets, more streets. he wants people to return to the street in the coming days and continue to push this message home that president maduro's days are numbered. it's often said that social media is one of the primary causes of social divisions today, but many argue it's also a force for good.

this week the bbc‘s launched a new series of crossing divides, examining the causes of polarisation and fragmentation in the 21st century. 0ur media editor amol rajan has been looking at the link between digital media and social divides in the uk today. a common assumption about modern media is that it has created filter bubbles. 0nline experiences that confirm our prejudices, rather than challenge them. whether they are racist themselves or not, doesn't matter, the effect is the same... 0ne collective of students intent on breaking out of echo chambers is called the cabinet, it started as a facebook group but now has 21,000 members, many of them whom meet up in real life. this is an arena for civilised debate. especially on facebook you have things called echo chambers, these big groups where everyone will be only left wing or only right wing or only this or that. and the fact that we have got this big giant group where everyone has different views but we can all still be friends and have like 30—110 people turn up and all drink together, and not a fight break out, like, i think it is great, honestly, i love it. not for them, the toxicity and trolling that is the daily bread

of much social media. if we only see people as the ideas they represent then how are we ever going to be civil and friendly with them if they oppose us? these clever students make social media live up to its name. none of them are particularly rich or knew each other before, they're from very different places, geographically, culturally and politically. but social media allowed them to cross those divides, establishing exciting, if tenuous, digital relationships, before getting to know each other properly in real life. what do you say to those critics, and there are many, who say that social media platforms like facebook don't bring people together, they drive them apart? across the whole of europe, a0 million people are part of groups on facebook and those groups are set up around a passion. then we find they start to talk about other things, they start to talk about politics and things that matter to them and that discourse, it is called crosscutting political discourse, studied by academics, actually means that they start to talk about those things anyway

that is very civil. because they respect the people that come together, and it means they see views from lots of different places, because it's not their normal set of friends. for millions of users, social media is a cesspit of anger, yet the latest research shows there is more to it than that. you can find a relationship between social media and political polarisation if you look only at social media. but in a complex multimedia environment, you find people interacting with others, who have varying points of view, changing their minds, encountering contradictory information. 0nline relationships will never match the depth of trust and reciprocity of off—line relationships, but by allowing disparate factions to connect with one another, social media can cross divides, as well as create them. amol rajan, bbc news. theresa may, has praised the "spirit of the people" of salisbury, one year after the novichok poisonings. the former russian spy sergei skripal, and his daughter yulia, were targeted

with the nerve agent. questions remain about how the authorities handled the incident, and matters weren't helped today when mrs may's visit didn't go entirely to plan, as peter henley reports from salisbury. the prime minister sweeping into salisbury‘s historical cathedral after a difficult year, theresa may came to boost morale. taking that tour of the cathedral that the russian agents used as a cover story for the nerve agent attack. the russians said they came here only as tourists to see the magnificat and spire here in salisbury cathedral. the prime minister came here today, too, and found fun being poked at her, as well, after her office tweeted a supportive quote over a picture of beth. you would think someone had noticed. this is an area that has now been rectified. what i've seen here in salisbury is tremendous spirit and resolve of the people of salisbury. it's been a difficult yearfor them. people of salisbury. it's been a difficult year for them. perhaps to make amends, the pm spent some time

on the high street and in local shops who have received government support. between all those awful photographs of police cordons, we did have lots of shots of historical buildings in the cathedral. salisbury has a lot to offer. but questions remain about the way the nerve attack was handled locally. wiltshire police today admitting mixed messages went down. the public are seeing in their community people walking around in these very strange suits. yet in terms of the rest of the public, we determined that was alone. and just trying to translate that into what people were seeing or hearing. novichok had the potential to kill thousands, a leading expert in health says waiting eight days to give advice was wrong. who can remember what clothes they were wearing days previously or whether they were wearing sunglasses are not? this was an inadequate and slow public health response, and even when they gave advice, it was not

particularly competent advice. public health england said today it would have been foolish to put out information before the nerve agent was identified for sure. there were also no standing guidelines for this sort of attack. the prime minister stood by the emergency response today, showing by coming to salisbury that even if some in london have lost track of where it is, it is very much on the radar of government. peter henley, bbc south today, salisbury. before we go to the weather, a father and son have captured the moment an avalanche came down over a highway in the united states. there he goes. jacob easton and his father were on a skiing trip in colorado when they filmed the images. it was one of several avalanches which blocked roads in the state. drivers had to be dug out of their cars after becoming trapped, but no injuries have been reported. there are now avalanche warnings across colorado, after days of heavy snowfall.

now it's time for a look at the weather, with sarah keith lucas. a little quieter, one hopes? much less dramatic this side of the atlantic. we've had ourfair share of stormy weather over the past couple of days. today was a day of sunshine and heavy, blustery showers. there have been fairly dramatic pictures as this sunset, this was the picture in wheatfield of the earlier on. heading through the rest of this evening and tonight, a few showers in the west, southwest of england, and through the english channel. later in the night, more rain and a bit of hill snow in northwest england. but elsewhere we have clear skies tonight and the wind is falling later, so a cold night ahead with a touch of frost first thing tomorrow morning, cold across northern and eastern parts of scotland. through the day tomorrow, we start with some

rain across northern ireland and england. hill snow for scotland will linger through the day. england and wales having some sunshine before more cloud and rain arrives when the wind picks up from the west. a chilly day in the north but milder with temperatures around 13 celsius in london.