this is bbc news. the headlines: new stop and search powers are being given to police in england and wales to try and tackle rising knife crime. thejustice secretary, david gauke, this is bbc news, i'm shaun ley. has suggested the government should the headlines at two: support a softer brexit, if mps rally behind it this week. police in england and wales are being given greater stop there's been a sharp rise and search powers to tackle in the number of adults calling rising knife crime. a national helpline for the children of alcoholic parents, it is a very important tool. according to figures seen by the bbc. it is a vital tool in the founder of facebook, mark zuckerberg, calls fighting serious violence. for governments to play a more active role in regulating i want police officers to feel more comfortable, the internet. to use it so they can the husband of the jailed protect all communities. british—iranian charity worker nazanin zaghari—ratcliffe delivers theresa may considers her next a giant mother's day card move to break the brexit deadlock to the iranian embassy in london. following the latest defeat of her withdrawal plan. there's been a sharp rise in the number of adults calling a national helpline for the children next on bbc news, of alcoholic parents, according to figures seen by the bbc. the week in parliament. the founder of facebook, mark zuckerberg, calls for governments to play a more active role in regulating the internet.

and in the week in parliament david cornock, looks back at a dramatic 7 days in westminster — that's in half an hour's time here on bbc news. hello and welcome to the week in parliament. new stop and search powers are being given to police in england and wales to try and tackle rising knife crime. the home secretary sajid javid is making it easierfor officers to intervene where they think serious violence may occur. but critics say it's intrusive and could increase tensions between the police and local communities. meanwhile, police in north london are searching for a knifeman after four people were stabbed in a spate of "random" attacks over the weekend. a woman and three men were all approached from behind and knifed in the back as they walked alone in edmonton and walthamstow.

our home affairs correspondent, danny shaw reports. another knife off the streets. this three—and—a—half inch blade was found when a young man was stopped and searched in north london. now police in the seven areas worst affected by knife crime will be able to carry out more searches because the government is relaxing rules brought in when theresa may was home secretary. the whole government agree that stop and search is a vital power. we still of course want it to be targeted and focused and intelligence—led, which it will be, but with these new powers and increased powers, we all agree, including the prime minister, this is exactly what is needed to help fight the rise in serious violence. under the changes, police will be able to search anyone in areas where they believe serious violence may occur. police inspectors can approve the powers rather than more senior officers. police say stop and search acts as a deterrent,

helping to prevent violence and keep weapons off the streets but it is an intrusive tactic and highly controversial. too many of my experiences and stories i've heard have been very unpleasant, which leads to building a lot of tension between the police and young people to the point where you have young, innocent civilians running away from police just to avoid being stopped and searched. but for the vast bulk of knife searches police conduct, they need reasonable suspicion that someone is carrying a weapon and those powers remain the same. danny shaw, bbc news. i'm joined now by dr erin sanders—mcdonagh, a senior lecturer and critical criminologist at the university of kent. she is currently writing up findings on gang and serious youth violence in london. thank you for being with us. let me ask you about the intention of these powers because the home secretary in the course of the interviews he gave today said he believed they could be effective in trying to tackle this

sort of crime. what is the evidence. and search? there is little evidence it works. the college of policing carried out a review of met police data and there is little evidence that stop and search works. we know it antagonises particular immunities and it's not going to tackle the knife crime problem. he said it is a hugely effective power when it comes to stopping crime and taking weapons of the streets. i've not seen any evidence that suggests it would work. what impact would it have? you say it aggravates communities but self—evidently if you are taking a life of someone you are reducing the number of knives which is why a lot of people would be attracted to it. it makes a great headline but what are you going to do when you take a knife off them? we know young people are being put into prison for carrying knives and knife crime

anyway. once they are in prison we know they do not have good outcomes. so they tend to reoffend? yes. not sure what the point of it is. i think it makes a fantastic headline and it looks like we are doing something but ultimately it is not going to be effective. to do this the home secretary is lowering the level at which senior officers have to be involved which means a lot more police officers have the power to do it. but presumably it has to be in to do it. but presumably it has to beina to do it. but presumably it has to be in a decimated area. if you take a city like london, that must be difficult because the stabbings have been scattered all over the 32 boroughs. i do not think there is any evidence this will work. i'm not sure what the point of doing it is. if we want to tackle knife crime we have to look at the root causes. poverty is a huge issue and i do not understand why it is not top of the agenda. what about the response you will get from people saying a lot of

poor people do not carry knives. that is true but we know a lot of people carrying knives come from deprived areas and communities most affected by austerity is where we have the highest rise in knife crime. it seems important we look at this issue rather than just crime. it seems important we look at this issue rather thanjust stop crime. it seems important we look at this issue rather than just stop and search. i have no problem with increasing policing but it has to be community orientated policing. you are talking about a regular day to day and weekly contact between offices on the beat and the community? absolutely and officers interested and trying to understand what is happening in local areas rather than just stop and search.|j have heard academics saying, well look, numbers of boots on the ground does not necessarily equate to a reduction in crime. it is a mixed picture, isn't it? it is difficult. it isa picture, isn't it? it is difficult. it is a complicated issue. i do think having police interested in

working with communities and community engagement are more likely to have an impact on stopping young people carrying knives but stop and search in itself is not going to work and we know that. thank you very much for coming in to talk to us. a senior government minister says theresa may has to look closely at pursuing a customs union with the eu if parliament votes for it this week. thejustice secretary, david gauke, said that it wouldn't be sustainable for ministers to ignore the house of commons' views. tomorrow mps will once again discuss the options other than accepting mrs may's deal — which has now been rejected three times — and vote to see if they can find a consensus on the way forward. here's our political correspondent, jonathan blake. shame on you! a week of protest at parliament when people came to westminster demanding decisions. the government suffered

another defeat now needs to make its next move. tomorrow mps will try again to agree on an alternative to the prime minister's deal. and one cabinet minister has made clear the government must listen. if parliament is voting overwhelmingly against leaving the european union without a deal but is voting in favour of a softer brexit then i don't think it is sustainable to say, well, we will ignore parliament's position and therefore, leave without a deal. i don't think that is a sustainable position. time for reflection at church this morning. the prime minister knows a customs union with the eu would be a huge shift and a promise broken. it is still her ambition, we are told, to get her deal through. this weekend she will be weighing up when, if, to put it to a fourth and final vote. too late, say labour who want to break the deadlock with a general election. but what would be their promise on another public vote? obviously i don't write labour's manifesto. i am one vote around the table but it seems to me, inconceivable that if there was a general election tomorrow and we hope there will be,

we have been calling for one for months that a people's vote will be in that manifesto. he knows what it is like to fight and lose an election, and today warned that's the last thing his party or the country needs. but as another senior conservative said the tories were planning sensibly and pragmatically, this former prime minister said the parties coming together to govern may be the only way out. in the interests of the nation, in the interest of decisions being taken, and the interest of ending the chaos we have now, and that could continue, we must have a government that has a working majority and that is the only reason for a time limited unity government. parliament and the government have long been divided about the best way to deliver brexit and now with a new deadline looming, pressure is building on the prime minister and time and her options are running out. jonathan blake, bbc news, westminster. our political correspondent jonathan blakejoins me now.

let's talk a bit about this customs union. i was talking to the conservative party chairman who was saying a customs union would go against what they said in their ma nifesto against what they said in their manifesto but they have to listen to what the house of commons has to say. the implication is it may not be what we want but it may be a way out. why did they think that a why do others violently disagree? there isa do others violently disagree? there is a divide in cabinet as we know and have reported for some time about the best way forward for brexit and what it should mean. the conservatives in their manifesto at the last election promised to deliver brexit by taking the uk out of the single market and out of the customs union and the prime minister has repeatedly said to do anything different would be a betrayal of that promise. but there are those in government who believe that sort of brexit where you keep it relatively close economic relationship and you apply the same import and export

ta riffs apply the same import and export tariffs to goods coming in and out of the eu, which is what being in a customs union would mean, is the best course of action. it is also what labour advocate as part of their vision for brexit. as we have seen, it is something which could perhaps has almost commanded a majority in the house of commons, it might this time at the second time of asking in this indicative of votes. this is in tomorrow's session of parliament? yes. but it is controversial and there are those that will not like it because it would be strict for the uk doing independent trade deals with other countries around the world even though it is outside of the european union. there is a definition about what we meant the referendum was being out of the european union. are we out of every aspect of our engagement with europe in terms of formal mechanisms? it would and that

is the problem politicians have faced, it was a binary choice, it was in or out. people did not vote for a certain type of brexit and did not vote necessarily to leave the customs union and single market, and it is down to government and parliament to decide what leaving the european union means and that is why we have face difficult decisions. parliament has felt paralysed because everyone wants to do in ina paralysed because everyone wants to do in in a different way. david got acknowledged in the interview earlier on, you heard a clip in the report, we cannot get our first choice in parliament so we have to look at another way which may look at doing things we promised we wouldn't. whether theresa may is willing to do that herself is a different matter. is it still your impression that the government wants to try once more for prime minister's deal or at least the prime minister was to try once more? i think she would but you could know

what theresa may's mind is at or what theresa may's mind is at or what she is being advised. we know there are different opinions in downing street about the best course of action from here on. it remains we are told the ambition of the prime minister to get a deal through parliament still have those three defeats and number ten were spinning on friday votes were going in the right direction but it is still a huge task and toll order. that is what you have got government ministers and others saying if we twea k ministers and others saying if we tweak things and take the idea of a customs union that parliament can get behind an attack that on to the political declaration of the deal that looks at our future relationship at the eu, maybe that would fly. but there would be a lot of conservatives who were not like to swallow that. thank you. ukraine goes to the polls today in the first round of a presidential election. the frontrunner to win is a television comedian — volodymyr zelenskiy who is expected to beat

the incumbent president, petro poroshenko. it's ukraine's first presidential election since russia seized part of its territory in 2014. the main candidates are all largely pro—european. but the results may go to a run—off election later in the month. here, the government has pledged another £200 million pounds for councils in england to improve roads. £50 million pounds will be available to fix pot holes, the rest being used to fund and reward improvements in road repair techniques such as developing new, more durable road surfaces. the husband of a british—iranian woman who is currently in prison in iran has delivered a mother's day card to her on the steps of the iranian embassy, as part of his campaign for her release. nazanin zaghari—ratcliffe was jailed for five years in 2016 on spying charges which she denies. with more here's our correspondent, sangita myska. almost three years ago nazanin zaghari—ratcliffe was stopped by iranian police at tehran airport.

she was about to fly home with her child but was instead arrested and accused of spying. seen here with her daughter gabriella, just before being jailed for five years, the british government and her family have repeatedly called for nazanin‘s release. today on mother's day her husband who has tirelessly campaigned on behalf of his wife, delivered a card and dozens of flowers to the iranian embassy. this is a message that this is the third mother's day that nazanin is away. this year we are back in front of the iranian embassy saying this iranian government needs to solve this message. it is a message of flowers, it is a soft one. the reason for flowers is because that's what prisoners are given when they are released so it is a mother's day link, it is also linking to the fact that hopefully she will be home soon. the foreign secretary, jeremy hunt, was in iran late last year to push for her release. he recently took the

unusual step of granting nazanin diplomatic protection in the hope the iranians would be compelled to release her. yet, ao—year—old nazanin remains injail, separated from her daughter for yet another year. the headlines on bbc news: new stop and search powers are being given to police in england and wales to try and tackle rising knife crime. the justice secretary thejustice secretary has suggested the government should support a softer brexit if mps rally behind it this week. there's been a sharp rise in the number of adults calling a national helpline for the children of alcoholic parents, according to figures seen by the bbc.. there's been a sharp rise in the number of adults calling a national helpline for the children of alcoholic parents, according

to figures seen by the bbc. in 2013 the majority of calls to the national association of children of alcoholics were from children but now more than 80% of calls are from people over the age of 18. the department of health said it was investing six million pounds to tackle the issue. amelia, who grew up with an alcoholic father, joined ben brown earlier — she sought help after his death two years ago. i was about five when my dad, alcoholism took over, so that was a lot of, you know, drunken pick—ups from school, things like that. it was really difficult but you grow up and you realise as you get older that that is not normal, it is not 0k. and what were the symptoms of his alcoholism? he used to get pretty angry? very aggressive. a lot of drunkenly passing out. luckily i am the youngest of four. i had older siblings

who were able to help me deal with that. it was a lot of really difficult times, and unfortunately, my dad passed away from alcoholism about three years ago now. how old were you then, and what were your feelings then when he died? i was 21. i was at university. to be perfectly honest, ifelt this massive relief, because when you have an alcoholic parent from a really young age, you are grieving for that person from when they become an alcoholic, you lose your parent anyway. when that person actually dies, i felt this horrible relief, and then a lot of shame associated

with feeling that relief as well. at the time, when you were a child and he was still alive and an alcoholic, did you try to talk to people about it, did you try to get help? not really. i had a good family, a good support system. we had our mam and my siblings and a big extended family and we used to talk about it a lot within the family but it was not something i sought help for externally until i became an adult. do you think that it is important that children who have alcoholic parents do try to get help? definitely. when i was younger, we did not have the internet the way that we do now. we were not aware of those things as much, so charities like the national association for children of alcoholics, the rise of the internet and social media, it brings awareness of those things and means children can contact those places if they need to. if you, or someone you know.... has been affected by any

of the issues raised you can find details of where you can find support at www. bbc. co. uk/actionline or there is a telephone number you can call. lines are open 2a hours a day with recorded information and calls are free of charge. the founder of facebook mark zuckerberg says he wants governments to play more of a role in policing internet content. writing in the washington post newspaper he said the responsibility is too great for companies like his to tackle alone. for more on the significance of this i'm joined by catherine miller— she's the director of policy at doteveryone— an independent think tank that champions responsible technology what sort of regulation is he calling for and what kind of areas is saying he is concerned about? calling for and what kind of areas is saying he is concerned abounm

is saying he is concerned abounm is not the first time mark zuckerberg has called for regulation, when he faced questioning in congress he said we need regulation but the right one andi need regulation but the right one and i suppose this article is an indication of what facebook thinks the right regulation is. it is focusing on content moderation, the integrity of elections, on privacy and data portability. on the integrity of elections that has been raised by what happened in the united states, concerns they may have been attempts to try and influence the online coverage and advertisements people receive during the election. presumably that is not hugely contentious but there is a bit about moderating content. for a lot of internet users that is contentious and has proved for facebook especially to be highly controversial, not least what happened with the live streaming of the terrible massacre in christchurch. this article deals in response to that moment and the

sense of unbelievable outrage you could have someone streaming a mass murderfor could have someone streaming a mass murder for over a could have someone streaming a mass murderfor over a quarter could have someone streaming a mass murder for over a quarter of an could have someone streaming a mass murderfor over a quarter of an hour without any intervention at all. the interesting thing with this is that it may seem incredible there is no regulation of this in the first place and that this is news worthy to be asking governments to regulate, but you have to remember at companies like facebook come from the west coast of the united states where freedom of speech is a constitutional right. so nobody even raises concern about it because it is essential to the character of the american system? absolutely but you see in the united kingdom it is not an absolute right and you see the problems of taking this absolutist approach to freedom of speech. what occu i’s approach to freedom of speech. what occurs if you have people streaming a mass murderer? what about the other side in which he is talking about a regulator? the government is

in consultation at the moment which is looking at the possibility of a regulatory but these are international companies operating in a way that gives them a tremendous independence from government. you could argue that is a valuable thing in lots of ways but how difficult is it to get, even if the companies say they will accept regulation, to get all the potential countries who would want to regulate to agree on the terms of that regulation?” would want to regulate to agree on the terms of that regulation? i do not believe it is necessary to get global agreement particularly around content moderation. different countries have different cultural norms and what we're seeing at the moment in the united kingdom with the development of the government's white paper on online harms as a statement of what we in this country find acceptable or not acceptable and the regulation that will go with it. a sense mark zuckerberg pointing to the need for a global regulation isa to the need for a global regulation is a perfect way to make sure no regulation ever happens because the idea that all countries will agree on what they find acceptable or

unacceptable is impossible. i think it is really important for individual national governments to start to make strides and saying we will set the terms of this debate, set the terms under which you operate in our country and here is the way we're going to run things. the will always exist, won't it? —— the tension will always exist. it will try to protect the most vulnerable believe most people alone, but then you have a country like china that regulates the internet aggressively. this is an argument that is always brought forward. we cannot regulate in a democratic country because that gives a green light to other states to clamp down on freedom of speech. they are doing it anyway. standing by and letting content which is absolutely outrageous flow freely around is not a hindrance to countries like russia and china in the way they regulate the internet.

thank you very much for coming in this afternoon. now for some of today's other stories. an anti—stall system has been blamed for the fatal crash of a boeing 737 max aircraft in ethiopia earlier this month. sources involved in the investigation say the black box shows the nose of the plane was pushed down by the system, before it crashed killing all 157 people on board. authorities in mozambique say the number of cases of cholera in the port of beira has doubled over the past forty—eight hours. 271 people have now been infected with the disease since cyclone idai struck beira two weeks ago. hollywood actor george clooney is calling for a boycott of nine luxury hotels with links to brunei, after the country said gay sex and adultery would soon be punishable by death. from the 3rd of april, homosexuals could face being whipped or stoned in the south east asian state.

all across the world — famous landmarks have descended into darkness — albeit only for sixty minutes — as part of a global call for action on climate change. ‘earth hour‘ takes place every year — and nearly two—hundred countries and territories take part. tim allman reports. hong kong is renowned for its iconic skyline. but even here they sometimes have to turn out the lights. victoria harbour suddenly a lot less illuminated than normal. and the fight against climate change was the inspiration. we need to find a balance with this planet. it has finite resources and we believe that there are things that people can do, that cities can do, to help us achieve a sustainable future. earth hour began over ten years ago in australia. so it was no surprise to see sydney taking part. both the city's famous harbour bridge and the opera house cast into darkness. the big switch off always

taking place at 8:30 in the evening, local time. dozens of countries, thousands of cities. this is mumbai's main railway terminus. or here in moscow. the kremlin, for an hour at least, becoming a place of shadows. in greece, the acropolis, which long predated electric light, an island of darkness in the centre of athens. and in paris, the eiffel tower celebrating its 130th birthday was briefly extinguished like a candle. so many places, one special hour. but as the swedish teenage activist greta thunberg tweeted, earth hour is every hour of every day. it does get plunged into darkness

but for a few hours it has been glorious, how is it looking for the rest of the week? it is sunny you should say that because we have lacked forward into spring with the clock change but as beautiful as it was yesterday nobody told the weather so it is going to feel more like winter by monday. we have got the rest of the day, temperatures are lower today and it is quite grey outside. there will be sunshine before the sun is down but we pay for that overnight with a widespread frost. it is april almost. but it is going to be a chili at night and we will wake up with a shock to the system tomorrow morning. not for northern ireland but the high pressure which will be with us for so long is slipping away for this week and we are getting showers into the north and west. for most of us it is a lovely day and they will probably feel warmer in they will probably feel warmer in the south because we have had cloud and lower temperature there after it

gets colder. colder weather april showers but april showers with hail, sleet and snow over the hills and thunder and gusty winds. temperatures barely reaching double figures. i will have more on that in half an hour if you can bear it.