hello it‘s friday, it‘s ten o‘clock, i‘m victoria derbyshire... 0n the programme today — you're watching bbc news at 9 aged 14 and 15 years old with me, annita mcveigh. the headlines... two women were shot on the schoolbus alongside malala yousafzai six and a half years ago. kainat riazand and shazia ramzan are here to tell the government will grant formal us about that day and talk diplomatic protection to nazanin zaghari—ratcliffe — about the work they‘re doing to try the british—iranian woman who's and make sure girls around the world been injail in iran get to go to school. the british—iranian mum who‘s been for almost three years. in prison accused of spying and it also signals in tehran for two and half years, that this is intolerable. is being given diplomatic status this has gone on for nearly three years. by the uk government. this is an innocent person her husband will explain if that being used as leverage. will help secure her release. parent protests are growing over in a last attempt to get mps lessons about lgbt rights to back her brexit deal, at a school in birmingham. theresa may will urge eu leaders to agree to legally binding changes to the irish backstop. a crisis in school funding. more than 7000 headteachers from across england write to parents warning that their schools are under threat. president trump's former campaign chairman, paul manafort, has been sentenced to nearly

four years in prison for banking and tax fraud. cracks in a nuclear reactor — new pictures emerge of hunterston b power station in ayrshire. heading back to earth — america's new astronaut capsule undocks from the international space station to start its journey home. arsenal have it all to do in the home leg of their europa league tie after a humiliating night in rennes. good morning — and welcome to the bbc news at 9 the campaign to free nazanin zaghari—ratcliffe from jail in iran has been escalated by the british government. in a rare move she has been granted diplomatic status. it means her case becomes a formal legal dispute

between london and tehran. 0ur diplomatic correspondent james landale reports. nazanin zaghari—ratcliffe has been detained in tehran since 2016. the authorities accuse the 41—year—old british—iranian mother of spying, accusations she has always denied. for years her husband, richard, has campaigned for her release, but to no avail. one thing he and his supporters wanted was for the british government to give nazanin formal diplomatic protection, and now his wish has been granted. first, it recognises very clearly the violation of nazanin‘s rights. secondly, it recognises very clearly that nazanin is british. and one of the things the iranians always say is she is a dual national and, you know, you can't have access. so at the very basic level of being able to get in and see her, check she's 0k, and that a doctor goes and assesses her, that makes it a much stronger claim for the uk. and it also signals that this is intolerable. this has gone on for nearly three years. this is an innocent person being used as leverage.

the foreign secretary, jeremy hunt, said he had decided to give nazanin zaghari—ratcliffe this extremely rare status because iran had failed to give her the right medical and legal support required by international law. it would not, he said, be a magic wand that secured her release overnight, but it would turn her case into a formal legal dispute between britain and iran. mrs zaghari—ratcliffe‘s new legal status will not force iran to change the way it treats her, but it will allow britain to raise her case with greater ease at international forums like the united nations. richard ratcliffe said the decision sent a clear signal to tehran that the uk was backing his wife, and that their treatment of his wife was unacceptable. diplomats hope the move will focus minds in tehran, particularly among the hardliners who they believe will ultimately decide mrs zaghari—ratcliffe‘s fate. the question is whether it will respond positively to the pressure, or step up the confrontation.

james landale, bbc news. rupert skilbeck is the director of the human rights organisation redress — that's the legal representative for nazanin and richard ratcliffe, who have been urging the uk government to grant diplomatic protection to nazanin since november 2017. thank you very much for coming along. so, why is the government taking this step now?” along. so, why is the government taking this step now? i think the foreign office has been doing all that it can to try to resolve the situation, and diplomacy works slowly. it is often done behind the scenes. we have been engaging with lawyers and others, the consular staff at the foreign office to persuade them to do more, and this is the next step they could have taken. is at the change of personnel making the difference, compared to his predecessor boris johnson?” think mr hunt has engaged a lot with richard ratcliffe, and i think he has decided this is the important

thing to do. tell us more about what this change in status means. does it make an immediate difference in the practical sense? what it really means is that it gives nazanin hope. we represent lots of torture survivors around the world, often detained ina survivors around the world, often detained in a similar way, this psychological boost is incredibly important. more practically, the british government has accepted she is primarily a british citizen, they will assert that and enter a formal legal negotiation. it gives the foreign office and government lawyers lots more tools they can use to try to resolve the situation. key difficulty is that iran does not recognise dual nationals and the iranian ambassador to london has already said today that this contravenes international law. despite the public reaction, will this bring some serious pressure to bear on this bring some serious pressure to bearon iran? this bring some serious pressure to bear on iran? in the next few days, iam sure bear on iran? in the next few days, i am sure there will be a lot of people getting hot and bothered

about what happens. after that, the quiet diplomatic legal negotiations will begin. this will open a formal channel of negotiation between the british and iranian government and it will escalate through certain steps, much of which will happen behind closed doors, eventually leading to a formal negotiation. it gives them additional abilities to see what can be done to resolve the situation. you mentioned a second ago that this is also important, giving nazanin a psychological boost. how is she doing as far as you are aware? i think it is very difficult. about six weeks ago she went on hunger strike to try to get medical treatment. that has still not been given. that leaves her very down and the prison she is and is not a nice place to be. she hasn't seen her daughterfor not a nice place to be. she hasn't seen her daughter for some time and they have to see them in a prison, which is not the best environment to see your child. inevitably she has ups and downs, but we are sure this will give her a real boost for what can happen in future. let's wait and see what further response there is from iran. thank you very much for your time.

a second arrest has been made by police investigating the fatal stabbing of 17—year—old jodie chesney in romford. jodie was stabbed in the back while sitting on a park bench in east london last friday. scotland yard says a man was arrested in london this morning on suspicion of murder. a 20—year—old man arrested in leicester on tuesday remains in custody. theresa may will use a speech to implore eu leaders to give ground and make changes to her brexit deal. negotiators are preparing to work through the weekend in a last ditch effort to secure changes that will gain the support of mps. 0ur political correspondent nick eardley is in westminster. the fact that theresa may is making this appealjust the fact that theresa may is making this appeal just a the fact that theresa may is making this appealjust a few days before the vote on her deal, that speaks volumes? it does indeed. it is a sign that things are not going well, that the talks have not got what the uk government was hoping for, some

sort of change on the irish border issue that they think they can sell to tory mps, to give the deal a chance of getting through parliament. what the prime minister will be arguing today is that both sides want a deal, but what the eu doesin sides want a deal, but what the eu does in the next few days when those talks continue over the weekend between officials, what goes on there, and the decisions that they make, it will have a big impact on whether or not the deal passes. we we re whether or not the deal passes. we were speaking a wee while ago to the deputy chairman of the conservative party, james cleverly, about this, and he explained how closely things it could be. the nature of negotiations mean the things people said were cut and dry at the beginning of the process, for instance we were told we would have to have an off the shelf solution, we would not get a bespoke agreement, we are now finalising a bespoke agreement. we were told northern ireland would have to stay

pa rt of northern ireland would have to stay part of a customs union because of the border with the republic of ireland. we are now looking at a whole uk solution. the eu have shown themselves to be pragmatic and willing to move. we know that we are very, very close to where we need to be. a small additional movement can unlock a lot of the people who had concerns about the backstop and get this deal through on tuesday next week. 0ptimism from james cleverly. i have to say that optimism is not shared by everybody. number 10 sources admitting the talks had been rough, predicting that they will go to the wire, which potentially means we will be looking at sunday night, monday morning, if there is to be any breakthrough at all. in terms of the parliamentary arithmetic of this, just looking at a few tory mps this, just looking at a few tory mps this morning who think as things stand, unless there is a game changer, it looks highly unlikely that the prime minister is going to get a deal through parliament next week. could it really go as late as

monday morning with the vote to the next day, with the effective cut—off, would it not be sooner than that? some think it could be monday morning. we heard the other day from brussels that there had been some pencilled in potential plans for the prime minister to go over the and sign the dotted line on some changes if that happens. i must say, you are right, it is very close to the wire. i suspect there will be some tory brexiteers around the coffee table this morning saying that is too late. we know that the brexiteer european research group wanted to see this with 48 hours notice so they can look at what had been decided and decide if it is enough, put some legal tests on this. but all of it is hypothetical. there is no guarantee, as things stand, that the attorney general geoffrey cox is going to get enough to get to that

stage. there is no meeting planned at that level today. ministers will continue the talks for the rest of the day and into the weekend, but i am not sure we will get much clarity on that for potentially another 40 hours. all the while, theresa may is trying to ramp up the pressure today by saying what she says. we have also heard from the foreign secretary, jeremy hunt this morning. he was on the today programme on radio 4. he was saying if this falls apartand radio 4. he was saying if this falls apart and ends in acrimony, it could poison the relationship between the uk and the eu, and his theory is that people would blame the european union for that. i'm not sure everybody would agree. some of the opposition benches are saying it is the uk government's fold for their red lines. it is a sense of how crucial a phase we are in and how much pressure is there. thank you

very much, nick eardley in westminster. we will have full coverage on the bbc news channel, when it begins, at about 12.30. president trump's former campaign chairman, paul manafort, has been sentenced to nearly four years in prison for banking and tax fraud. the 69—year—old's downfall stems from the inquiry into suspected collusion between trump's presidential campaign and russia. 0ur north america correspondent peter bowes reports. he was once a high—flying businessman, known for his dapper appearance and lavish lifestyle. paul manafort‘s crimes were uncovered during the investigation into russia's role in the 2016 us election, led by the special counsel, robert mueller. but the charges related to the money he was paid working for politicians in ukraine, with connections to moscow. prosecutors said manafort hid more than $55 million from the us tax authorities.

wearing a green prisonjumpsuit and seated in a wheelchair, he addressed the court and asked the judge for compassion. he said the last two years had been the most difficult of his life. "to say i am humiliated and shamed would be a gross understatement." the judge said he was surprised that manafort did not express regret for engaging in wrongful conduct. "you should have remorse for that." manafort could have been jailed for up to 25 years, but the judge said he thought that would be excessive. other than these very serious crimes, he said manafort had lived an otherwise blameless life. the crimes are not related to donald trump's 2016 election campaign. i think, most importantly, what you saw today is the same thing that we had said from day one. there is absolutely no evidence that paul manafort was involved with any collusion with any government official from russia. paul manafort will be back in court next week to face sentencing

in another case related to illegal lobbying. it could bring an extra ten years injail. peter bowes, bbc news. head teachers in more than 60 areas of england are sending a joint letter to millions of parents warning that their schools are facing a funding crisis. the grassroots campaign accuses the education secretary, damian hinds, of not taking the problem seriously enough. 0ur education correspondent, sean coughlan reports. head teachers are writing to 3.5 million parents, in areas from cornwall to cumbria, to warn them that schools are not receiving adequate levels of funding. they say that it means fewer teachers, bigger class sizes, cutting out some subjects and having less support for children with mental health problems. some schools have said they might have to close early on fridays to save money. and parents have been

asked to make donations. head teachers are quoting the institute for fiscal studies which says per—pupilfunding has fallen by 8% since 2010. the letter to parents also accuses the education secretary damian hinds of refusing a request to talk to them about budget shortages. the head teachers are angry at a response from officials, saying that the education secretary didn't have time to meet. but the department for education says that this is unfair and that mr hinds readily meets teachers and unions and it is completely untrue to say that funding is not a priority. the department says schools are receiving record levels of funding and mr hinds is putting a strong case to the treasury, ahead of the next spending review. sean coughlan, bbc news. the funding debate certainly isn't a new one... there have been repeated complaints from schools about funding shortages. they often quote figures from the institute for fiscal studies showing that per pupil spending has fallen by 8% since 2010, after inflation was taken into account.

earlier this year, data from the education policy institute showed almost a third of local authority secondary schools in england were unable to cover their costs, with the proportion of these schools in deficit almost quadrupling in four years. in response, a spokesman for the department for education said he had negotiated an extra £750m for schools and was "putting a strong case to the treasury ahead of the next spending review". siobhan lowe is a headteacher of tolworth girls' school in south west london, from where shejoins us now. good morning, thanks forjoining us at the beginning of a busy school day. you are one of the signatories to this letter, talking about a funding crisis. how does that look in your school? what impact has it had? if i in your school? what impact has it had? ifi can in your school? what impact has it had? if i can just talk to you about the kind of basic need in terms of classrooms and facilities, we suffered greatly from classrooms that were not fit for purpose. as a

result of that, we are talking about roofs that didn't leak and were not infested with rats and squirrels, and asa infested with rats and squirrels, and as a result we got no funding to rebuild that and had to sell part of land that was not school playing fields to provide a new build. we have now gotten really good facilities. the other facilities are woefully inadequate in some places. that is a basic need. the other basic need is the equipment with which to our students. i worked out that we had £10 per student, per year, to buy textbooks, to provide science equipment, to provide mathematical equipment. to provide the laptop i am speaking to you on. that is all i have. i have had to make serious cuts to my senior leadership team. i am down a deputy head. i had to make cuts to my support staff. i have restructured three times and i have lost vital people that work to look after the school and make sure it runs. that

is my senior leadership team to do that. i also had to cut staff who work with our students, who are incredibly needy. we have seen an increase in the need of students. we have more students with educational health care plans. but i have a reduction in the number of students that work with them, sorry, staff that work with them, sorry, staff that work with them. £10 per pupil, per year? presumably, you are having to send letters to parents asking for money? i am embarrassed by my begging, to be honest with you. my stu d e nts begging, to be honest with you. my students have to pay for their own printing. they have to pay for their own... sorry. can you still hear me? you said that your students had to pay for their own printing? if they are doing gcse and a—level, they have to buy their own textbooks. as you know, gcses and a—levels have changed so that we have new specifications and can't afford to buy the books that i needed. i am writing to parents and saying we need your money. it is not

just for the little extras anymore. it is for the basic requirement to educate your daughter, your son, at oui’ educate your daughter, your son, at our school. we just don't have any loose change in our pockets, even down the back of the settee, it is bare. how would you describe the relationship between head teachers on the education secretary at the moment? we have asked on a number of occasions, it said clearly in our letter, for him to come and speak to us. letter, for him to come and speak to us. we are getting thejunior writing back and saying he is incredibly busy. well, i am incredibly busy. well, i am incredibly busy. well, i am incredibly busy. i have taken time out of my schedule today to speak to you, because i think we need to have a voice. there are occasions, i was joking with a senior member of staff this morning, i have cleaned the to i lets, this morning, i have cleaned the toilets, we have dusted the foyer, we have hoovered, i have been working on the school canteen. my girls look at me and say, should you be doing that, miss? but then they say, there isn't any money, is

there? and that they pick up the money. they say, if my mum saw me with this, she wouldn't believe it. i liken it to a piece of elastic, it is stretched so far now that it is going to twang. and if damian hinds is watching this interview?” going to twang. and if damian hinds is watching this interview? i would love to meet him, come in, i will provide the coffee out of my own pocket, the biscuits, and i will ta ke pocket, the biscuits, and i will take you on a tour and you can speak to the students. because the stu d e nts to the students. because the students are the future of this country and they are worth more than £10. please come and have a chat, i would love to meet you. i've got the time. you talk about a piece of elastic stretching, how long have you got before some more serious cuts have to be made to provision of the school? i have one year left. i have some reserves. we sold some land, we are lucky in that we have some reserves. if land, we are lucky in that we have some reserves. if we land, we are lucky in that we have some reserves. if we do not get a boost, this time next year i will be looking at another massive cut in terms of staff. then it will be

teaching staff. we have already made teaching staff. we have already made teaching staff. we have already made teaching staff redundant. the government says it is giving more money to the school budget. is that true? but also true that perhaps pupil numbers are going up, and therefore that money is spread thinner and thinner? yes, i liken it toa thinner and thinner? yes, i liken it to a pat of butter, i used to be able to put it on one piece of bread, i now have to use it for a whole loaf of bread. you have to remember that you've also got cuts in the local authority as well. in terms of who we go to to support students, especially for students who have mental health, it is like a roundabout. you put the child on the roundabout. you put the child on the roundabout and they are keeping going round and round, because there is no money out there for anybody to come and work with them. anybody in education from the mental health workers, to the social workers, they have not got the money to provide for students. i walk out of my office and look at these vibrant, intelligent, amazing young people andi intelligent, amazing young people

and ijust intelligent, amazing young people and i just think we are intelligent, amazing young people and ijust think we are doing them such a disservice. they are the future surgeons. nasa scientists have come from us. we have 0lympians that have come from our school. i am really, really worried that we are doing them down and not giving them what they deserve, and they deserve so what they deserve, and they deserve so much. they are amazing people. thank you very much for talking to us thank you very much for talking to us this morning. the headlines on bbc news... the government promises diplomatic immunity to nazanin zaghari—ratcliffe — who is serving a five yearjail sentence for spying in iran. theresa may will urge eu leaders to give ground on brexit when she delivers a speech in lincolnshire later today. parents are being urged to lobby the government for an increase in education funding after more than 7000 headteachers write a joint letter to parents. in sport, red faces for arsenal in

rennes for arsenal, but no such problems for chelsea, who are in touching distance of the quarterfinals. manchester city face allegations of breaking financial fair play rules. an investigation is under way, but the club denies any wrongdoing. and venus is bright again. through to the second round in indian wells. more on those stories and we're also talking women's cricket at about 9.40. the operators of one of the uk's oldest nuclear power stations say they still hope to restart it despite finding hundreds of cracks in the bricks which make up its core. it's a year since a reactor at the hunterston b power station in north ayrshire last generated electricity. 0ur environment correspondent kevin keane reports.

these are the first images of some of the 370 cracks found on the graphite bricks which make up the reactor‘s core. the one at hunterston hasn't generated electricity for a year now. underneath here is a graphite core. they know that, once it restarts, the problem will get worse, but are convinced they can operate well within safe limits. we have demonstrated operational allowance. our safety allowa nce. this cliff edge is still to be demonstrated. it has a huge safety margin before we're anywhere near a cliff edge. so this is a life—size model of one of the graphite bricks. this is it here — the nuclearfuel sits inside this wider chamber. the control rods that allow you to shut down the reactor slide in and out of here. the cracks have appeared inside this small section that locks them all together. the big fear is an earthquake distorting the fuel channels.

this simulated reactor at bristol university is examining the response to being shaken. the structural integrity of the graphite core has always been known to be the ultimate limiting factor to the lifetime of these reactors. so, ultimately, there may come a point in time where those reactors have to come offline, and they're not able to restart. edf still doesn't know when it would like to restart hunterston b. it says safety will always be its priority. sports direct boss mike ashley is attempting to take total control of struggling department store debenhams. rob's here to explain what this is all about. sports direct, or mike ashley, it already has 30% of debenhams, so this is an attempt to get a total boardroom takeover? mike ashley says he wants to see all but one of the

directors of debenhams removed. in a statement to the stock market, a pretty dramatic announcement, sports direct would carry out an executive role, mike ashley, he wants to be the boss of debenhams, the company he already controls almost 30% off, and clearly he already controls almost 30% off, a nd clearly wa nts he already controls almost 30% off, and clearly wants to try to reshape debenhams in his image. the statement said he wants to build a strong board and management team. now, given that he does own almost a third of it, he clearly has a strong financial interest in keeping debenhams in its current form, the company which issued a profits warning just a few days ago... which we reported on... he wanted to survive, and given he bought into the business, he clearly things it can do well. given the profit warning, from debenhams, given that more and more of us are doing a lot of shopping online, it is interesting what mike ashley is doing. what is his grand plan? the high street has had a terrible few yea rs. we high street has had a terrible few years. we had data today which suggested that sales on the high

street fell by 3.5% in february. stores did not have a great christmas either. but you are right, mike ashley has shown faith in high street brick and mortar stores, when more and more of us are doing an increasing amount of shopping online. when various bargains have come up, online. when various bargains have come up, a online. when various bargains have come up, a quarter of french connection, house of fraser, which he rescued last year, mike ashley has not been shy in buying stakes in whole businesses on the high street. that has left people wondering, what is his grand plan for his growing empire of high street stores? is there a grand plan? and why does he think he can make these companies a goen think he can make these companies a goer, when others have not? when you look at sports direct, you see that it started off as one store, it is now an empire of hundreds of stores in the uk and around the world. perhaps he think he can do that with

house of fraser, debenhams and others. that is why some people have called him the saviour of the high street. lets see. thank you very much. america's unmanned spacex capsule has undocked from the international space station, and is on its way back to earth. if its re—entry is successful, the capsule could be used to carry people later this year. well the dragon capsule undocked about 90 minutes ago. here's the moment it began its journey back to earth. and we have motion. you see dragon physically separating from the international space station. 1:32am central time. the international space station, 253 statute miles over sudan. cheering and applause. houston, the station has iss thrusters enabled.

copy. so there you can see on your screen visual confirmation. what a gorgeous shot. dragon has undocked from the international space station and we are beginning the departure. libbyjackson is the human exploration programme manager at the uk space agency and joins me now. thank you very much for your time this morning. so, the start of the return to earth for the capsule appears to have gone really smoothly? so far, so good. we will be monitoring everything closely. there should be a final dealjust before lunchtime, and if all goes well we will see the capsule splashed down in the atlantic ocean. it will show that the spacecraft is ready to heck humans to the international space station later this year. assuming every thing goes

well down to the splashdown, how quickly could we see crewed flights? could it be as soon asjuly, would it give everybody time to analyse the data from this trip? all the engineers and technicians on earth will be looking at these closely. it is scheduled forjuly. i would not be surprised if it slips a little bit. we will see when it goes. hopefully before christmas. in the broader business of space exploration, what does this mean? there has been a reliance on russia since the end of the shuttle programme, to this point. could we see a huge change now? it isa it is a very important moment because of this. we never like to have just one way to get to and from the international space station. it isa the international space station. it is a unique scientific laboratory. to only have the russian way of

getting there when there is a problem, as there were no was before christmas, it can be injeopardy. it is great to have the space capsule coming down the line, there is another one coming from boeing. it is also the start of commercial transport to and from there, which in time will perhaps allow other countries to put astronauts into space, perhaps private paying individuals, and these companies will play a part as the world moves to explore further. the uk wants to bea to explore further. the uk wants to be a part as we send humans back to the moon and to mars, we will be pa rt the moon and to mars, we will be part of that. will this be a less expensive alternative to what we have had so far? marketplace competition is good, spacex and boeing are looking at making spacecraft reusable, spacex is driving rocket prices down. that is good because we all rely on spacecraft everywhere for the

weather, gps, finances etc. if we can make it cheaper and more sustainable to get rocket into space, we can sustainable to get rocket into space, we can ensure good sustainable to get rocket into space, we can ensure good technology for its all in the coming years. libby jackson from the for its all in the coming years. libbyjackson from the uk space agency, thank you, and we will keep an ion how that capsule is getting on ahead of splashdown which is due at around on ahead of splashdown which is due ataround 1:45pm. in a moment the weather but first let's join victoria derbyshire to find out what she's got coming up in her programme at ten: good morning. this morning we will be speaking to two people who, six yea rs be speaking to two people who, six years ago, alongside malala yousafzai, were shot by gunmen on board the school bus they were travelling on. as you know, malala has gone on to worldwide recognition. this is the other two girls‘ first interview. they are going to talk about their campaign to make sure all girls get to go to school. thank you very much, victoria. matt

has the weather. sunshine across eastern areas is disappearing. rain already in northern ireland, scotland, western wales. pushing northwards and eastwards erratically through the rest of the day. staying driest for longest in the eastern half of the country, brightening up towards northern ireland by the end of the afternoon. temperatures around seven to 11 degrees. some heavier bursts for the evening rush—hour through the uk and some snow over the scottish hills and mountains, clear skies for a time replaced by showers in scotland, northern ireland, northern england and north wales. some frosting to saturday more, early sunshine to southern and eastern areas but plenty of showers to start the weekend across the northern half of the uk. some further south but longer dry spells here. just have to hope that they do not emerge into longer spells of

sleet until snow. temperatures getting colder through the weekend, as the wind strengthens. this is bbc news that nine with me, annita mcveigh. the government will grant formal diplomatic protection to nazanin zaghari—ratcliffe — the british—iranian woman who‘s been injail in iran for almost three years i have considered the unacceptable treatment nazanin has received over three years, including notjust lack of access to but lack of due process in the proceedings against her. in a speech in lincolnshire — the prime minister will urge the eu to help get her brexit deal through the commons by agreeing legally binding changes to the irish backstop more than 7000 headteachers from across england have written to parents, warning that their schools are threatened by a funding crisis. new pictures emerge showing cracks in the core

of a nuclear reactor at hunterston b power station in ayrshire. and coming up... find out why experts believe a fungus that‘s deadly to ash trees is having a greater impact in britain than originally predicted. time now for the morning briefing, where we bring you up to speed on the stories people are watching, reading and sharing. more now on the news that president trump‘s former campaign chairman, paul manafort, has been sentenced tojust underfour years in prison for banking and tax fraud. he was convicted last year of hiding millions of dollars of income, earned by his political consulting in ukraine. joseph moreno is a former us department ofjustice prosecutor, and he gave his reaction to the news a little earlier, on bbc world service radio. paul manafort was convicted of a

number of charges related to tax on bank fraud, he earned income for which he never paid taxes and fly to banks in terms of getting additional loa n banks in terms of getting additional loan money to which he was not entitled. specifically in relation to his political consultancy in ukraine? exactly right. there were a number of similar charges in which he was also charged in virginia but thejury did not he was also charged in virginia but the jury did not conflict, it was a split verdict, he was convicted on seven charges and turn on several others. provides the prosecution had hoped for somewhere around 20 years in prison, thejudge went hoped for somewhere around 20 years in prison, the judge went forjust underfour years. were in prison, the judge went forjust under four years. were you surprised? yes, under four years. were you surprised ? yes, this under four years. were you surprised? yes, this was a surprise. in the united states we have something called sentencing guidelines, they are advisory, a judge is not bound by them, but they area judge is not bound by them, but they are a formula using a number of different factors, including the number of crimes, the dollar value

of the crimes charged and convicted, and a number of other different factors. when you put the crimes of ma nafort to factors. when you put the crimes of manafort to this, it came to about 20 years, but the judge can manafort to this, it came to about 20 years, but thejudge can go higher or lower. the judge went significantly lower in this case, just underfour years. significantly lower in this case, just under four years. it was a surprise, the reason we have those guidelines is for some degree of consistency so that when different people in differentjurisdictions are convicted of crimes of similar nature, they get sentences of a similar time. this is a bit of a surprise to lots of us watching this case very closely. one law professor at harvard university says i have rarely been more disgusted by a

judge‘s transparently preferential treatment to a rich white guy who betrayed the law and the nation. that man is very well—known and is certainly a very, very well respected legal mind. i think he is tapping into a frustration that you have this perception that if you are convicted of, let‘s say, a violent crime and you are a person without significant means, you could face quite a long prison sentence, but if you are a person of means convicted of white—collar crime, as was mr manafort, you can get a very low sentence, a discrepancy we clearly had to deal within the united states. i think there will be some degree of political backlash as a result of the sentence we learnt of today. covers and some suggestions mr manifold could benefit from the presidential pardon. is that feasible? it is a possibility, the

president has virtually unlimited pardon power and can use it as he sees fit and there are really no appeals or any kinds of process to stop that. that being said, from a political perspective, people are watching very closely what president trump does with the likes of paul manafort, michael flynn, michael cohen and others in his circle, and i think if he ultimately used his pardon power he would face a very significant pushback, both politically and from congress, because i think it would be seen as potentially improper. now, it‘s international women‘s day — and that is the top trend on twitter this morning, in the uk as well as worldwide. the hashtag "international womens day" has been used in more than one—hundred—thousand tweets so far today. other popular hashtags include "iwd2019" and "womensday". we can see some of the tweets now. downing street tweeted that to celebrate #internationalwomensday,

the prime minister met with a number of female entrepreneurs, and also spoke about female genital mutilation at a panel discussion. the natural history museum tweeted a picture of some of their female scientists, curators, developers, archivists and other staff, who, it says, make the museum such a special place. and the actress emma watson said that "whether you re marching, dancing, rising, resisting, uniting or celebrating, she wishes everyone a wonderful international women‘s day." let‘s look at what you are reading and looking out on the bbc news app. the number one story is concern about cracks in the nuclear reactor in the hunterston b nuclear power plant in scotland. pictures emerging of those cracks. number three is the story about nazanin

zaghari—ratcliffe being given diplomatic protection by the uk government. the story of number four is police in colorado detaining a black man who was picking up rubbish outside his home. the film shows the officer saying he has drawn his gun and the man asking him why. he said, ijust had a bucket and a clamp to pick up rubbish. an officer has been placed on leave while this is investigated. have been demonstrations about this incident, demonstrators holding placards saying black lives matter. at the list of most watched, number one security issues being found in smart caravans. warnings it is possible to ta ke caravans. warnings it is possible to take control of some cars because of what they say are flaws in the smartphone apps linked to them.

researchers have been showing bbc click dancing and how this floor works and how it can be used. —— have been showing bbc click‘s dan. mike bushell has the sport. good morning. arsenal‘s manager unai emery is saying don‘t panic — he is still confident they can come back from 3—1 down, when they are at home for the second leg against rennes. alex iwobi had put them ahead, in france, but then they had sokratis sent off, and the home side equalised. it got worse. an own goal from nacho monreal made it 2—1. and a late header consigned arsenal to their first away defeat to a french side, leaving them with plenty to do if they‘re to make the quarter—finals. chelsea fared better against dinamo kiev at stamford bridge. goals from pedro, willian, and callum hudson—0doi helped them to a comfortable 3—0 first leg victory.

you have to feel they have one foot in the quarterfinals already. uefa have opened investigations into manchester city for alleged breaches of the financial fair play rules. the probe will focus on city‘s financial conduct, after a number of claims were made in several media outlets. manchester city say the accusation is false and they welcome the opportunity to end the speculation which they say results from "the illegal hacking and out of context publication of city emails." manchester city captain vincent kompany, insists they‘re not thinking about winning an unprecedented quadruple. city are top of the premier league table, have already won the efl cup and are still involved in the champions league and fa cup. kompany believes the next seven days could be crucial. it is a defining week for us because we have three different — i‘m sure the manager will have spoken about it — but we have three competitions to play for next week and everything hangs on these results. i mean, every game will be a final.

and to win three finals in a row is difficult so we will see. at the moment it is not on our minds yet. let‘s have a look at some of this morning‘s back pages. plenty of variety. the daily telegraph goes with salt scale certain to be the united manager, almost everybody agrees that will happen. — goes happen. —— goes with 0le gunnar solskjaer certain to be the united manager. the sun quotes the spurs boss richard pochettino, we all agree he is joking, richard pochettino, we all agree he isjoking, i think, richard pochettino, we all agree he isjoking, ithink, saying he will have a jemmy of him on pace while he serves his dugout ban. we are looking ahead to the cheltenham festival and the guardian and the return of one of the best female jockeys, bryony frost, aiming to make a successful return next week after injury. it starts on tuesday. the former world number one venus williams beat germany‘s andrea petkovic to reach

the second round at indian wells. looking back to her best. playing just her seventh match of the year, williams took just under two hours, to advance in three sets. williams‘ sister, serena, received a first—round bye, and will play victoria azarenka overnight and britain‘s dan evans and johanna konta both play later today. it‘s international women‘s day and the children‘s sports charity chance to shine is marking a major milestone. nine—year—old keira mcdermott from staffordshire has become the two millionth girl to pick up a cricket bat and ball, through the chance to shine programme, that has been going since 2005. the former england captain charlotte edwards awarded keira, with a certificate to celebrate the achievement at a special school assembly, and charlottejoins us from our london studio. what a moment that must have been. why is the milestone so important? it was such a special moment, going

to keira‘s school. a huge thanks to the england and wales cricket board for their support for chance to shine, very lucky to have been involved. we can see some lovely pictures of you with keira at the school. no doubt these youngsters are inspired by the england team, who sealed the women‘s 2020 series with a game to spare. such a big summer with a game to spare. such a big summer coming with a game to spare. such a big summer coming up, with a game to spare. such a big summer coming up, what sort of shape are england in? the youngerfans seem are england in? the youngerfans seem to relate to the shorter format? i think they would have been disappointed with the loss in india in the 0di is, this summer will be massive for the team with the ashes and the australian team coming over. they narrowly lost to australia in the t20 final, i can‘t wait for it to get under way. covers in the

women‘s ashes, all the points from the different formats county. an exciting development potentially, an mcc meeting in india will discuss the possibility of women‘s t20 cricket being played at the birmingham commonwealth games in 2022? how exciting, it can only be good for the game. to be part of the commonwealth games in birmingham would be fantastic, the global game is growing massively and i think this would only help it grow. hugely exciting times ahead. covers banking for joining exciting times ahead. covers banking forjoining us, charlotte. congratulations to those on the chance to shine programme after the 2 million scale, keira, picked up a bat and ball. coming up later today... you can watch the elite men‘s triathlon race in abu dhabi live on the bbc red button and online from 9:50 this morning.... the women‘s race is at 11:50am. that‘s all the sport for now.

more from the bbc sport centre at 11:15. one thousand new train services a week are to be added across the uk from the middle of may to help alleviate overcrowding. it follows the disastrous implantation of a new timetable at the same time last year. in the initial period hundreds of trains were cancelled each day in both northern and southern england. the rail delivery group said the industry had learned lessons and is confident the services will be ready. a woman from teeside — whose disabled daughter took her own life days after her benefits were stopped — says she‘s determined to bring about major reform to the benefits system. jodey whiting, who was 42, died two years ago. now the department for work and pensions has admitted making mistakes in her case, has apologised and paid compensation. bbc look north‘s stuart whincup reports. joy believes her daughter was hounded to death by benefit officials. there was a flagship on jodey‘s case. it was like a red mark, saying, right, treat her with care.

and they didn‘t. jodey suffered from multiple physical and mental health problems, and took 27 tablets a day. but she was still judged fit to work. jodey killed herselfjust days after her benefits were stopped. they had so many chances to go visitjodey, phone her, go through the doctor. theyjust ignored everything to get another one off the benefits. and it‘s so cruel. the department for work and pensions has now offered a full apology. it offered its sincere condolences to the family, accepting it didn‘t follow its own guidelines designed to safeguard customers. it said staff should have attempted to contactjodey first, before closing down her claim. and it apologised for writing letters, making telephone calls and even leaving a voicemail message on jodey‘s phone, three months after staff had been told that she had died.

joy has been supported by her local mp and she now wants the people who handled her daughter‘s case to be sacked or prosecuted. i believe thatjoy is right. she should be pressing for somebody to be held responsible, or at least a group to be held responsible for this, because somebody is responsible. almost 7000 people have added their name to a petition injodey‘s name, demanding changes to the whole benefit system. jodey‘s death shouldn‘t be in vain. i want her name to be remembered for what she went through. she didn‘t need to go through that. and i miss her so much. stuart whincup, bbc look north, thorna by. a group of takeaway owners in bristol and north somerset have come together to try to find ways to reduce the amount of plastic they use. the consumption of takeaway food is increasing in the uk — but single use containers are a significant source of waste, and have a major environmental impact due

to their low recyclability. sarah—jane bungay reports. jalfrezi is always a choice at chutney‘s takeaway in weston—super—mare. but much of the food here goes out on single use plastic. i‘d love to find an alternative. and the other thing is we‘d have to look at the pricing as well. if they‘re going to cost 50, 60p a container, are my customers going to pay for it? that‘s the other thing we need to look at as well. and it was his daughter who encouraged her dad to think about alternatives after watching blue planet. he is trying really, really hard, but it can... it's a struggle. he's used it for a very, very long time. over 2 million tonnes of plastic packaging is used in the uk every year. the vast majority is new, rather than recycled. 0ne takeaway can use between 600 and 800 plastic containers a weak. the containers at chutney‘s cost around 8p each for the owner.

alternatives will cost substantially more. pressure‘s really been rising on takeaway companies and food companies more generally to reduce the amount of plastic they use. that‘s coming mainly from consumer pressure. the more you reuse those plastic takeaway container pots, the lower the carbon footprint and the plastic pollution is. so really if there‘s one message it‘s to reuse those takeaway containers as lunch containers or for other uses, rather than just throw them straightaway. that‘s the most environmentally efficient thing to do. this man is leading the way in trying to get takeaways to put sustainable packaging on the menu. nobody really looked into this industry to see to see what kind of innovations we can bring, and obviously plastic being the cheapest and most available product, they always go for that. then you‘ve got the bags, then you‘ve got the salad bags, then you‘ve got the wrapping that with it. they alljust go to landfill. i think with education,

with teaching, we can change that. the government is currently consulting about a plastics tax. it would apply to plastic packaging with less than 30% recycled content. just like the jalfrezi, this is a hot topic, with many watching the outcome closely. in a moment we‘ll catch up on the weather. first, though, on international women‘s day, we spoke to three activists about their campaigns and what challenges they face — around this year‘s theme of of better balance . i think that now is the time, more than ever, that we really need to step up and raise our voices and make sure that we are heard. you can drive change, you can be part of that movement, you can mobilise and engage others. there were pretty horrifying first hand accounts of being unable

to access those products, and having to use makeshift items — newspaper, rags — or otherwise just staying at home, unable to go to school at all because they had their periods. i was completely appalled that that could be the everyday experience of girls in modern britain. at the moment, we're not doing enough to tackle the causes of the pay gap. so we have to address the unequal impact of caring roles in society. at the moment we don't support and enable those to take leave. we don't have flexibility by default. those sorts of changes will help to drive that change. we have a very segregated education system which then becomes a segregated labour markets, so we have to enable women to move into nontraditional subjects such as science, technology and mathematics, for example. ultimately, it was my experience

of fgm as a seven—year—old, and the decades of really being dismissed and talked at that never necessarily talked to that really made me want to take a stand a stand against female genital mutilation. fgm is a very british problem, it's a global problem. so at the moment there are 70 million girls at risk between now and 2030, and some of those girls are living here in england. some of the key challenges as an activist working to end fgm has been the misconceptions. for a long time everybody assumed that fgm was some sort of cultural thing that happened through ignorance, as opposed to an organised crime against women. i would say to the next generation of female activists, be brave, use your voice, never underestimate what you can achieve. women always have to reinvent their activism and had to reinvent equality, the fight for themselves, and that's true. but don't disconnect yourself from the women gone before. there is a really beautiful african

proverb that i love, and it's like, if you want to go fast, go alone. if you want to go far, go together. and i do think connected working is really key to achieving your goal and also to ensure that you take care of yourself and don't burn out. the moment an endangered rothchid‘s giraffe gave birth to her calf has been caught on cctv at chester zoo. experts monitored the labour live on camera as mum dagmar dropped her new calf six foot onto a bed of straw. the new arrival, who hasn‘t yet been named, was born yesterday morning — he was taking his first steps an hour later. now it‘s time for a look at the weather with simon king. well, we had a lovely start to the day with sunshine across most

central and eastern parts of england through this morning, it was quite chilly, a bit of a frost across scotla nd chilly, a bit of a frost across scotland and northern england. but look at that lovely scene in north tyneside this morning. further west, a rather different story. you can see from the satellite imagery the bright lights of the uk disappearing as we have clouds moving on from the west, the cloud is moving across all areas and giving us this sunday halo, the higher cloud in the sky moving through the serious cloud, giving that optical reflection. some rain across northern ireland continues into scotland, north—west england, wales, the southwest, summerhill snowe in western scotland. eventually the rain moves into east anglia and the south—east, it has been quite catchy and polite and there will be brighter skies in northern ireland. maximum temperatures up to around eight or 11 celsius. —— sam hill snow in western scotland. quite a few

showers later wintry in places. clear spells but not as cold as last night. temperatures staying up to around four or night. temperatures staying up to around fouror8 night. temperatures staying up to around four or 8 degrees. the weather coming in straight from the atlantic, the isoba rs, weather coming in straight from the atlantic, the isobars, the white lines, the pressure chart shows air coming from the atlantic, keeping fairly and settled over the weekend. quite windy conditions, feeling cold at times, rain, showers until snow. 0n at times, rain, showers until snow. on saturday, most of the showers will be across scotland, northern ireland, into the north and north—west of england. snow over the higher ground. towards the south—east it should be dry and brighter, but quite a blustery day with maximum temperatures of about eight to 14 degrees. by sunday, showers become more frequent across north—western areas, a cold day, very windy conditions but some of that snow will come down to lower

levels. quite windy conditions again, the best of the sunshine towards the south—east, feeling cold.