welcome to bbc news, broadcasting to viewers in north america and around the globe. president trump's former campaign my name is mike embley. manager has been jailed for four our top stories: years for tax fraud. paul manafort was convicted last year of hiding millions of dollars president trump's former campaign of income from his political consulting in ukraine. chair is jailed for nearly he's also been ordered four years for conspiracy, money laundering and fraud, and must repay more than $24 million to pay $24 million. to the us government. britain escalates efforts to secure britain has escalated efforts to nazanin zaghari—ratcliffe's release secure nazanin zaghari—ratcliffe's from an iranian jail, release from an iranian jail, giving the dual citizen making the rare move to grant the dual citizen diplomatic protection. it means the row over her detention diplomatic protection. becomes a formal legal dispute. el salvador‘s supreme court has freed three women jailed for a decade after being accused el salvador‘s supreme court frees of aborting their babies. three women who spent a decade the women say they suffered behind bars accused of breaking miscarriages but were convicted of aggravated homicide. the country has some of the world's strict abortion laws. we report from greenland where a rise in rainfall means strictest abortion laws. a gloomy outlook for the country's ice sheet. now on bbc news, thursday in parliament.

welcome to thursday in parliament. coming up on this programme: cabinet minister, geoffrey cox says he's still working to get legal changes to the irish backstop in the hope of persuading more mps to vote for theresa may's withdrawal deal. it's come to be called cox's codpiece, what i am concerned to ensure is what's inside the codpiece is in full working order. also on this programme mps are told the home office didn't understand the impact of its policies on the windrush generation. there's condemnation of an online game called rape day. well, he worked with me and others to launch a review and on how this game even got developed an approval stage and make sure it appears on no other platform. and: philip hammond comes underfire for saying police resources could be redeployed to help

tackle knife crime. the chancellor goes on the radio this morning, it's not a question of additional resources, it's a question of re—prioritization by the police. pathetic. absolutely pathetic. but first: the attorney general says he's had careful and detailed talks with the eu to try to find a way to ensure the irish backstop is not indefinite. the backstop is the insurance plan to make sure a physical border does not return to the island of ireland. geoffrey cox has been holding talks with officials to try to find a legally binding way to put in place some kind of end date to the backstop if it ever came into force. and he expressed surprise at eu claims that the uk had not put forward a clear plan. we have been engaging, mr speaker and focused detailed and careful discussions with the union. and we continue to seek legally binding changes to the backstop, which ensured that it cannot be indefinite. these discussions will be resumed shortly. on the 29th ofjanuary,

the prime minister told the house what i'm talking about is not a further exchange of letters, but a significant and legally binding change to the withdrawal agreement. it'll involve reopening the withdrawal agreement. given the response he has had in brussels and the remarks of the french minister on the radio this morning, can he tell us whether it is still government policy to seek a reopening of the withdrawal agreement? it's government policy to achieve the necessary change in the backstop, which will cause me to review and change my advice. that is government policy, that is the discussions we are having. i would say, mr speaker it's come to be called cox's codpiece. what i am concerned to ensure is what's inside the codpiece is in full working order. they say the definition of insanity is repeating the same thing and expecting different results. so given that the attorney general has not and will not be able to change a single word in this withdrawal agreement, what exactly, how exactly what he described the government's plans to put it on vote again and this house next week? what i am concerned to ensure

is what's inside the codpiece is in full working order. they say the definition of insanity is repeating the same thing and expecting different results. so given that the attorney general has not and will not be able to change a single word in this withdrawal agreement, what exactly, how exactly what he described the government's plans to put it on vote again and this house next week? well, the plans for next week are not mine to decide, but what i can tell the honourable gentleman is this. we are discussing detailed coherent and careful proposals, we are discussing text with the european union and i'm surprised to hear the comments that have emerged over the last 48 hours, that the proposals are not clear. they are as clear as day, and we are continuing to discuss them. how can he provide objective advice to this house, on which we rely, when he will in effect be marking his own homework? well, mr speaker, the law is the law. the question is to whether or not what ever is negotiated with the eu, affects the legal risk of indefinite duration of that backstop is a matter that i shalljudge entirely impartially and objectively because if i didn't, first i would be conscious that there are many, many lawyers, and capable of deciding, you may be right, from this position too many, but eminently capable of deciding whether i had that judgement right or wrong.

well, mr speaker, the law is the law. the question is to whether or not what ever is negotiated with the eu, affects the legal risk of indefinite duration of that backstop is a matter that i shalljudge entirely impartially and objectively because if i didn't, first i would be conscious that there are many, many lawyers, and capable of deciding, you may be right, from this position too many, but eminently capable of deciding whether i had that judgement right or wrong. should the attorney general had a more successful trip to brussels tomorrow and then he's managed so far this week? it's widely reported that he'll be putting a concessions he receives on the backstop to a star chamber of euro sceptic lawyers, one in qc, 6 tory and one dup, and one dup. why are there no mp5 from other parties in the star chamber? i assure the honourable gentleman, i shall be putting it to the star chamber of this house.

will he now can make, first of all, to publish any advice he gives to the prime minister and any concessions he receives and secondly, will he record what is said by hand in this star chamber and said that all mp5 can make a decision on tuesday on exactly that same information? the honourable gentleman is labouring under a misconception. i'm not appearing before any star chamber, either on this side or the other. i assure her hand, be completely open about my advice. he asked me when i commit to publishing, i commit now to saying to this house that i shall publish by legal opinion on any document that is produced and negotiated with the union. later mps pressed ministers to confirm that a series of votes they'd been promised next week would go ahead. mps are due to vote on theresa may's

deal on tuesday, if that's not approved then on wednesday, mps will vote on whether or not to leave the eu with a no—deal brexit and if that's also rejected the next day they will vote on extending the timetable for the uk leaving the eu. we've been here before, which has had to be categorically that the last meaningful vote would go i had only for it to be pulled a couple of days later, while we are grateful for all the assurances, that this going next week, will she write to party leaders today with a cast iron commitment that the sequence of events as put forward by the prime minister will be written down. the leader of the commons, andrea leadsom, repeated the timetable and said she'd given mps as much clarity as she could. the culture secretary has condemned the release of a computer game that contains graphic sexual violence against women. jeremy wright said the "rape day" game was "profoundly unacceptable". it has now been withdrawn

from an online gaming platform. is he aware that there are gaming platforms, similar to social media platforms, which are circulating material such as the rather horribly named rape day game, and will he extend any legislation he's planning for social media to gain platforms? well, mr speaker, i believe that it is not what a company calls itself that matters, but what it does and what we will seek to do in the white paper and anything that follows it is make sure with the harms we defined as in scope of that white paper, we can tackle those harms wherever they may lie on the internet in relation to a particular game she mentions, i understand that game has been withdrawn, quite right as well, i think we all had been horrified had any other course had been taken. it was created by developer, and just so the benefit of the chamber and is watching,

the game enables players to verbally harass, kill and rape of women. its content includes a viole nt sexual assault, non—consensual sex, obscene language, necrophilia and incest. mr speaker, a game of this nature has no place in our society. i'm glad it's been pulled by that gaming site steam, but that statement was awful, it did not even accept or acknowledge the risk it could pose. a time where one in five women will experience sexual violence in their lives, and on a week when its international women's day, will he work with me and others to launch a review into how the game even got to development and approval stage and make sure it appears on no other platforms. yes, mr speaker, ithink the honourable lady makes a good point and we should ask questions about this, it's profoundly unacceptable that the materials such as this should be available to young people and older people and we must worry about that since it creates

of proper relationships and the way in which these types of activity should be regarded by any fundamentally decent society. the secretary of state agree with that report where harmful content is hosted by social media platforms, if they failed to act against it, then they should have liability for it. again, mr speaker, my honourable friend will have to wait for the detail of the white paper, but i hope that i had made it very clear and i will make it clear again that i believe social media companies have responsibilities in this space and should take this responsibility seriously and if they do not, there should be consequences. labour's tom watson raised the online presence of right wing activist tommy robinson, who's real name is stephen yaxley lennon. every major social media platform, other than youtube, has been banned his profile because of his hateful conduct. late on monday night, he turned up at a journalist home banging on the doors and windows demanding to be let in. and after being escorted away

by the police, he returned at 5am and continued his intimidation. the incident was livestreamed. he later warned journalists in a youtube video to expect a knock at the door. doesn't the secretary of state think that it's right that youtube and the parent company alphabet continuess to give man a platform ? well, mr speaker we all believe in this house and freedom of speech, but we all believe as well but that freedom of speech has limits. and we believe that those who seek to intimidate others to potentially of course break the law because of the description he has given the house this morning is potentially a description of criminal behaviour, and that is unacceptable, and that is beyond the reach of the type of freedom of speech that we believe should be protected and as i had said, i think that all internet companies and all platforms for this kind of speech and need to take the responsibility seriously and i hope youtube will consider

this carefully and what he has said and what i had said and reconsider theirjudgement. labour has attacked the chancellor, philip hammond, for saying that police forces in england and wales must use their existing budgets to tackle knife crime. senior officers and police and crime commissioners have called for more money to pay for additional officers following a spate of fatal stabbings. does the minister accept that many people will find that the fact that the chancellor of the exchequer is suggesting that all the police have to do is to move resources from other areas to fight knife crime and its monstrous, and insult to grieving families. the police are under pressure in nearly every area. we all recognise the very great fear and worries and concerns that parents have in particular parts of the country that had been suffering from these crimes, for some time and that's precisely why we issued the serious violence strategy last year. if i may, sorry, the honourable lady

is chattering at me, i'm trying to answer her questions. this fear is absolutely why we are putting so much effort and support into local charities on the ground through our anti—knife crime community fund but also the early intervention youth fund it to help support young people and children but also families. the home secretary faces a massive crisis on his doorstep and we heard repeatedly in recent weeks about how the public health approach to knife crime has worked not only in glasgow but across scotland

where the incidents has greatly reduced and crimes at handling offensive weapons have decreased by 64% over the last ten years. so the evidence speaks for itself and the world health organisation have commended this approach, so i want to know why there's not more of a sense of urgency on the part of this government about following the public health approach. yesterday a chancellor told the home office that they would need to find extra emergency policing resources within the department. will she not be fighting those resources from roll forces because knife crime is affecting communities everywhere? we had a crisis meeting yesterday where the police chief demand emergency funding. the home secretary supports that and says we want £15 million emergency funding. the chancellor goes on the radio this morning and says it's not a question of additional resources, it's a question of a re—prioritization by the police. pathetic. absolutely pathetic. so it's about time the government listens to what police chiefs are saying, it shouldn't be a matter of debate, they want emergency funding so they can surge police numbers into those areas where there are real problems, and in the short term, that's what works.

of course we need a public health approach in the long term, but surge police numbers into those areas, that requires emergency funding. he said the chancellor should be told "where to go". i may not share with him some of the language he has used. but if i mayjust say, the meeting yesterday wasn't a crisis meeting. it's part of a programme of meetings that the home secretary has regularly with the chief constables, precisely as one would hope that home secretaries do. the minister said the government wanted to listen to what police chiefs needed so that, as she put it, "we can take that forward". you're watching thursday in parliament, with me, alicia mccarthy. the health secretary, matt hancock, is to meet officials from a drug firm in

the hope of breaking the deadlock on the pricing of cystic fibrosis medicines. talks between vertex pharmaceuticals and england's nhs on the cost of orkambi, have gone on for months with no breakthrough. campaigners gathered in westminster to demand access to the drug for people with the condition in england. mps on the health committee heard from sufferers, senior nhs officials and vertex about the impasse. we do our treatments every day, i think, almost in the hope that we will be around for it when there is a better drug that actually helps and opens up a better life, so it's very difficult to deal with, and for three years, it's been as well as unnecessary irreversible damage, there's the psychological impact. cystic fibrosis causes sticky mucus to build up, leading to digestive problems and recurring chest infections. lung function gets slowly worse, until infection sets in and only a transplant can extend life. if you don't get a transplant,

then at that point you're looking at maybe not very long left on the planet. and we know that's going to happen. i think from a certain age. people watching and young children may be upset, but essentially you know your destiny is going to be and even if you have the treatments, it can feel feel futile at times, but you have to accept and... buy into the idea that if you don't get treatments, it'll be worse. the chief executive of the national institute of health and care excellence said they were clear about the benefits of the vertex treatment. we were pretty clear from the published evidence

from listening to poeple living with the illness and carers, of those with condition, what it offers. we are also very clear about what the company wanted in terms of a return. for making that treatment available, and that's where the problem lies. there is no question at all in your mind how effective it is, it works. but the cost, the price the nhs was being asked to pay for that effect was ten times the upper limit of what the nhs pays for other benefits either in cystic fibrosis or other conditions. vertex strongly rejects claims its inflexibility was to blame for withholding treatment. its chief executive told mps it was the nhs and national institute for health and care excellence who were refusing to engage. as a treating physician, believe me, ifeel their anguish. believe me, i know how much they want the medicine. but i have also seen so many patients to get the medicine and have benefitted from it. like mr rainer. so i had a sense of

incredible urgency. so if we have been accused of being outlier in behaviourist because i had a sense in getting drugs to patients, but the prices that keep us as a viable entity and allow us to develop my medicine — and, by the way we are willing to meet with them anytime and any place to further the discussion. i did think it was a bit of a mischaracterisation this morning to say we had not been flexible and they have, because i think when an organisation publicly that says "we are asking for 90% discount and is the last and best offer," that's a very loud public statement walking away from negotiating table. drjeff leiden. the chair of an influential commons committee says the home office "failed to understand the real—life impacts" of policies it was implementing when it came to the windrush generation. the windrush generation arrived in the uk between 19118 and 1971 from caribbean countries to help fill worker shortages in the uk. changes to immigration law in 2012 meant people without documents, such as those who'd arrived as children, were asked for evidence to continue working, accessing services or even remain in the uk.

some were held in detention or removed, despite living in the country for decades, resulting in a furious backlash over their treatment. meg hillier, who chairs the public accounts committee outlined some of the problems they'd faced. what we discovered was that the home office failed to understand the real—life impacts of policies it was implementing and there were a group of people with citizenship and residency rights who would be badly affected. some of those affected lostjobs and housing. some went on holiday to their country they had been born in, or their parents were born in, and refused readmission to the uk and others that were departed. as yet, there was no compensation scheme. and she was worried that up to 160 thousand cases from other commonwealth countries had not been reviewed. as well as commonwealth citizens, there are, we think, lessons here that potentially that hopefully government can stave off

a similar crisis for those going through the eu register rating scheme. so at the moment, our eu citizens are having to register as residents in this country by the end of this month — that's a fast—paced programme — and it's after that date, it's important to anyone who has not got the right paperwork is caught by the home office that they are protected and their existing rights guaranteed are protected and they don't hit the problems with employment and other services when they had to provide certain information, if they don't have that at that point. now, while other mps welcomed the report, no minister responded to it in the commons. the royal college of radiologists has told doctors to prepare for possible delays for some drugs used to detect and treat cancer if there is a no—deal brexit. the 5—page guidance to doctors, according to the bbc‘s newsnight, times," particularly in radioisotopes. the guidance was raised in an urgent question in the house of lords. the royal college of radiologists

and medicine society and other groups have all stated categorically that brexit and particularly a no—deal brexit will cause delays in the supply of imported radioisotopes, which are so vital in the diagnosis and treatment of cancer patients. all these authorities are not convinced anti—brexiteers trying to sensationalize the position. they are experienced and skilled in prolonging and saving lives of cancer patients and they are clear that a no—brexit deal will put already vulnerable patients at risk. the minister said plans were being put in place to bring radioisotopes into the country by plane. but she accepted there could be a small impact. we do not expect any patient

harm to arise from this, and the changes in clinical pathways and practice are expected to be minor and short—lived. we are not expecting any delays or increased waiting time to arise for this. this is straightforward and practical advice to support clinics and adapting to changes in delivery times. consultants are feeling the need to reduce their treatment list next month because they don't trust the prime minister to avoid a no—deal brexit. and the reason for that is because she adamantly refuses to take it off the table, despite the fact that as a negotiating tool, it's about as much use as a chocolate fire god, because the other side knows that she can't use it. when will she take off the blinkers? many services will not be affected and for other services, the nhs is working with suppliers to minimise impact of changes to medical radioisotope delivery times, which are expected to be in the matter of hours. mps spent the afternoon

on their annual debate to mark international women's day. the conservative who chairs the women and equalities committee said blatant discrimination still pervaded women's lives. too many women's confidence is sapped and careers even destroyed for bullying and sexual harassment at work. 40% of women in this country suffer sexual harassment and millions of more around the world. women bring a different approach to business and organisations and there is sound evidence that a company long—term profitability rises with a more gender balanced management. collectively, we are failing ourselves and generations to come by perpetuating discrimination, even if it is subtle. a labour mp said as a disabled woman, she had faced many barriers in her life, education and workplace. but unfortunately, obtaining the support and additional support i need in this place to operate and function as mp has been challenging.

i am having to continuously fight for additional support when i'm being told by ipsa "we know you have any additional needs but we will not support that". it has been very difficult for me, and i should be here. the people of battersea sent me here to represent the end my constituency. i shouldn't be fighting the authorities here to get the additional support that i need. several women focused on the violence women faced. globally one in three women will experience sexual violence or partner violence in their lifetime. in 2017, 137 women across the world were murdered bya number of their family every single day. labour'sjess philips uses the debate every year to read out the names of women killed by men since the last international women's day. mps had seven minutes to make their speeches in the debate and it took her more than four to read out all the women's names. the fear and tension that we felt through our bodies that i didn't

get through the list, and i'd be made to sit down, is what victims of domestic violence feel every minute that they walk around their houses, the second day they wake up in the morning, they feel frightened. and that they will have to walk on awkward egg shells all day long. geoff phillips. —— jess phillips. and that's it from me for now, but dojoin me on bbc parliament on friday night at 11:00 for a round up of the week at westminster including a campaigner who want‘s women to be eligible for hereditary titles. but for now from me, alicia maccarthy, goodbye. —— wants. hello. if you thought thursday was windy, get used to it. very blustery weather on the way all the way through the weekend into next week. unsettled too, wet at times. a bit of a lull as we begin friday.

frosty, but sunny for many of us, clouding over with rain later. here's the satellite picture. this area of low pressure has brought the windy weather, the wet weather in places on thursday. a bit of a gap between weather systems. we are in that gap as friday begins, but it's a cold gap. you can see the blue showing up where temperatures will be at their lowest as friday starts. widespread frost around, scraping the ice off the car. misty in places. lots of sunshine for most of us at the start of the day. already a bit of wet weather into the western isles. we can see more cloud pushing across the uk during the morning and then further outbreaks of rain spreading from west to east as the day goes on. increasingly light and patchy as it does so. notjust rain, the hills of scotland north of the central belt will see a bit of snow as well. it will not be as windy thursday, though it is still breezy out there. temperatures mostly around 7—11 degrees. a bit of snowfall also into shetland before that system begins to clear away, and as we go into friday night, still showers pushing into the north—west of the uk on that breeze. wintry on the hills.

not going to be as cold as friday morning, by the time we're all up and about on saturday for the start of the weekend, but it is going to be an unsettled one, with low pressure close by all the time. the atlantic is in charge of the weather, pushing in disturbances occasionally. at the very least that means we will be getting some showers, carried on strong to gale—force winds, so that will make it feel quite cold, even though temperatures will not be too far from average. some wet weather at times, notjust rain but snow, especially on hills, but also some sunshine occasionally too. the best of the sunshine will be across the east and south—east of the country on saturday. showers already to the north—west will push further east during the day and it'll be a windy day once again. we can expect gusts fairly widely around 40—50 miles an hour, which will make it feel colder than these temperatures might suggest. some of these showers might merge to give longer spells of wet weather at times. plenty of showers coming in during sunday and there is a more

wintry component to these showers, so we could well see sleet or hail to lower levels out of these as well. again, it's going to be windy. these are average speeds, but gusts will be around 40—50 miles an hour once again. temperatures a little lower on sunday, so it will feel even colder in that wind. that's your forecast.