hello, this is bbc news. the headlines: so considers reopening investigation campaigning has officially begun into rape allegations made against for next month's european elections, wikileaks into rape allegations made against wikilea ks founder into rape allegations made against even though the uk may wikileaks founderjulian assange not take part. after his arrest over conspiracy nigel farage launches charges in the us. they could have his new brexit party, kept it going while he was inside while the chancellor philip hammond the embassy. they decided not to. if says the uk's involvement feels like a waste of time. they reopen its, then we will deal with that when it comes to us. what we will attempt to achieve is a democratic revolution in british politics, chancellor philip hammond says he because that is what we need. upsa chancellor philip hammond says he ups a brexit deal will be agreed in clearly nobody wants to fight time to prevent the uk taking part the european parliament elections. it feels like a pointless exercise. in european elections next month. former ukip leader nigel farage talks are continuing between the conservatives and labour to find a brexit deal before forms a new brexit party. the elections on may 23rd. also on the programme. prosecutors in sweden consider whether to reopen a rape inquiry against the wikileaks founderjulian assange. the scandal of thousands of excluded children forced to attend educational centres that

aren't legally schools. and a company is heavily fined for an "unprecedented" data breach involving the personal details of millions of new mothers and their children. and coming up on bbc news, can england's ian poulter keep up his good start at the masters to further play his way into contention at augusta? good evening and welcome to the bbc news at six. the chancellor philip hammond says the uk taking part in the upcoming european parliament elections feels like a "pointless exercise," and he's urged mps to pass a brexit agreement that would avoid britain having to go to the polls. talks to find a possible deal between the conservatives

and labour continued today, as nigel farage officially launched a new brexit party, saying he wants to "put the fear of god" into mps. our political correspondent alex forsyth reports now from coventry. applause look who's back. nigel farage, on the campaign trail again. good morning. now at the helm of a new party and it is pretty obvious what it stands for. we have had enough of the can been kicked down the road. someone has got to stand up for democracy in this country. this is preparation for elections to the european parliament, which might happen in may. the brexit party wa nts a happen in may. the brexit party wants a full list of candidates. you might even recognise the name of one of them. can i please welcome to the stage, annunziata rees—mogg? of them. can i please welcome to the stage, annunziata rees-mogg? yes, the sister of the tory mpjacob rees—mogg. the sister of the tory mpjacob rees-mogg. i am here in sadness,

that our democracy has been so betrayed. so the man who made you keep synonymous with brexit is now standing against his old party. what you are going to see with the brexit party is a diverse cross—section of people in this country passionate about us becoming an independent country, and i think this will become the dominant brand in the eurosceptic movement very quickly. brexit has been betrayed. we have got to replace a parliament and a government that does not know what it's doing. these people are so loyal to nigel farage they came back from benidorm to be at the launch but they have concerns. from benidorm to be at the launch but they have concernsli from benidorm to be at the launch but they have concerns. i am still torn between brexit party and you get at this moment in time, because i believe they are going to split the vote, this is my worry now, they are splitting the vote. coventry was chosen for the party's launch, no coincidence that most people here backed brexit. if these elections ta ke backed brexit. if these elections take place, people will be asked to choose a candidate to represent them in the european parliament. almost

three years after the uk voted to leave the eu. that is something the government did not want to happen. well, clearly, nobody wants to fight the european parliament elections. it feels like a pointless exercise and the only way we can avoid that is by getting a deal agreed and done quickly. if we can do that by the 22nd of may, then of course, we can avoid fighting european parliamentary elections. to that end, in westminster, talks between labour and the government continued today, as they see whether there is any chance of a brexit deal both sides can back. we are trying to be as constructive as we possibly can on all sides and as positive as we possibly can but we will see by the end of next week how far we have got. back in coventry, there is a general weariness among the staff at this local garage. dave and dane wa nted this local garage. dave and dane wanted brexit to bring change but are not hopeful. every time i turn the tv on every time i open the paper, all you have got is brexit this and that. whatever the people

seem this and that. whatever the people seem to say, it does not really make much difference. curtis is also disillusioned. none think more elections or new political parties are the answer. they have had two years to sort it out and they have not done anything about it, have they? i'm not going to waste my time voting for anyone. whether we are asked to vote in the european elections hinges on finding a brexit fixed soon. so far, that has proved elusive. alex forsyth, bbc news. and we'll hear from other parties as they launch their campaign for the european parliament elections. voting takes place injust under six weeks' time on the 23rd of may, and if the uk does take part, officials will have very little time to prepare. danny savage has more from york. that is a very, very dramatic map to show you. that is a map which tells the story of ukip's advance. remember this? the last european elections the uk took part in. if brexit had gone to plan, they were never to be held again. but it now looks like the ballot boxes are coming to a sports

centre near you again. in york, the local returning officer is no stranger to snap elections but admits there is a lot of work now to be done. any short notice for any election causes us problems. it is around venues, booking venues, we normally do 18 months in advance. staffing is also a problem, short notice for staffing, getting people to work in the polling stations. and the count, which is a sunday count, is also a challenge. do you think you will be able to do it? yes, we have to. if local elections are taking place where you live next month, you will have already had one of these through the post. well, stand by for more correspondence through your letterbox, this time for the european elections. and as the parties hastily make their plans, what do voters think? well, i do worry it is going to be a rehash of the referendum. but i am personally going to vote. now, due to delays and unfortunate machinations that have been going on,

we are actually saying, no, we are running a european election, to what end? do you think it is a waste of time? absolutely. i've lost the will to live, to be perfectly honest! britain was such a proud country worldwide, and look at us now. we are the laughing stock of the world. there will be around 39,000 polling stations popping up across the uk at the end of may. the cost to the government last time was around £109 million. but eu election turnout is traditionally low, just over 35% in 2014. political experts, though, say they have got to happen. the issue with the european elections is that if all member states do not take part, then the parliament essentially becomes an illegal organisation, an illegal body. so all members of the eu who will remain members of the eu after the parliament has been constituted have to take part. there is a chance the european elections still won't happen if a deal can be agreed in the next three weeks. but this latest delay to brexit has

consequences and this is one of them. danny savage, bbc news, york. well, philip hammond has been speaking in washington today, and our economics correspondent darshini david is there. the chancellor has been speaking about the possible economic impact of brexit. indeed, we are over 3000 miles away from the uk but the talk of the town here is brexit and the dampener it is putting on the world economy, a bit like the weather here right now. the risk of an imminent no deal may have gone but the concern here is that prolonged uncertainty may still have a cast, albeit a much smaller one, for the economy which could affect us on two fronts. first, many businesses are too nervous to actually invest. the chancellor tells me that level of spending is about half of what he would expect. he is confident it will bounce back if we get a deal agreed. second, he is sitting on a

war chest worth tens of billions of pounds that could be used to ease austerity, but he says he can't release the cash until he is confident he does not need it to help the economy out if there is a no deal. government departments are waiting to hear how much cash they have to spend on public services over the next three years. but the chancellor admitted to me that if a deal is not struck by the early summer, he may have to be much more limited and controlled in his spending commitments. so, clive, even uncertainty has a price tag. 0k, thank you. dharshini david in washington, there. prosecutors in sweden say they're considering whether to reopen an investigation into allegations of rape against the founder of wikileaks, julian assange. he was arrested yesterday, following ecuador‘s decision to revoke his asylum at its embassy in london after nearly seven years. the us wants him extradited to face charges of conspiracy to hack a government computer, but labour says he shouldn't be sent to america for simply exposing

evidence of us atrocities in iraq and afghanistan. our home affairs correspondent tom symonds reports. swedish prosecutors have been pursuing julian assange for years about rape, coercion and molestation allegations. he took refuge in the ecuadorian embassy,. allegations. he took refuge in the ecuadorian embassy, . eventually, allegations. he took refuge in the ecuadorian embassy,. eventually, the prosecutors stopped trying to question him. but when the metropolitan police dragged him into custody, they got a second chance. they have until next august to restart the rape investigation. assange fought not to go to sweden because he was worried sweden would extradite him to the us. now britain is considering that. he is obviously going to fight extradition and fight it hard. this case raises significant issues about free speech. we have been warning about the prospect of an extradition request from the usa since 2010. after seven yea rs request from the usa since 2010. after seven years inside the embassy, resolving the case will mean answering some fundamental

questions. is julian assange mean answering some fundamental questions. isjulian assange a global campaigner who worked up a conspiracy to hack secret computer systems, or is he a journalist, publishing leaked information in the public interest, something the courts might be more lenient about? in these modern times, he may well bea in these modern times, he may well be a bit of both but this is how he described himself to the bbc in 2010. we are a publisher. we accept information. we vet it, we analyse it and publish it. that is what we do. but the american chargesheet against him suggest he did more than just accept and publish. it accuses him of requesting information from chelsea manning, the us intelligence a nalyst, chelsea manning, the us intelligence analyst, and of trying to crack a password himself. he is not accused of spying or treason, and the maximum sentence of spying or treason, and the maximum sentence for these charges is less than the time he spent in the embassy. but labour believes he is being pursued for political

reasons. i think there may be human rights issues in relation to assange. at the very least, he is a whistle—blower, and much of the information that he brought into the public domain, it could be argued, was very much in the public interest. but wikileaks leaked hillary clinton's e—mails and she wa nts hillary clinton's e—mails and she wants him charged. it is not about punishing journalism. wants him charged. it is not about punishingjournalism. it wants him charged. it is not about punishing journalism. it is about assisting the hacking of the military computer to steal information from the united states government. but the bottom line is, he has to answer for what he has done, at least as it has been charged. he has nine weeks to prepare his case against extradition. tom symons, bbc news. the schools watchdog, 0fsted, says councils in england have spent tens of thousands of pounds putting excluded children in centres that are not legally registered as schools.

up to 6,000 pupils have been found attending establishments suspected of operating outside the law, including some religious centres. the government has promised to give 0fsted stronger powers to tackle the problem. here's our education editor bra nwen jeffreys. classrooms... two years ago, the inspectors arrived here. i went with them as they investigated, finding children excluded from mainstream schools. we agreed not to name it, to protect vulnerable children. we have cause to suspect that an unregistered school is being run at the premises here. 0k. crumbling buildings, no facilities, no teachers, but still, the local council sent children here. that just means that children won't be having their learning they need. it means they won't be preparing for exams, which will affect their life chances, then and also throughout

their life. in some religious tuition centres, even worse. not fit for any child. 0ut tuition centres, even worse. not fit for any child. out of sight, and outside the law. alstead has spent three years looking into suspected illegal schools —— 0fsted has spent. 259 have been visited by inspectors. 71 were given warning notices. 15 have closed down as a result. 0ne 71 were given warning notices. 15 have closed down as a result. one of the places that closed is not far from here in birmingham. i've found it and so did 0fsted. it was charging parents £140 per month. not much for a child's education, but thenit much for a child's education, but then it didn't have any qualified teachers. it was advertising 17 hours a week, just below the legal level where it needed to register as a school. these photos by inspectors led to the only court case so far. the learning centre in west london

closed, those responsible find and put under curfew. some religious centres look like schools, but 0fsted says it is hard to prove. and what about excluded children? councils are sending pupils to places not registered or inspected. that is a very different situation from the kind of environment where we have concerns about fire safety, where we have concerns about the structure of the building, concerns about whether children are being ke pt about whether children are being kept safe and educated by people who know what they are doing. the centre i visited is now running legally, but inspectors fear there are many more, where children's welfare and education is at risk. branwen jeffreys, bbc news. campaigning officially begins for next month's european elections, with the chancellor saying the uk's involvement would "feel like a waste of time".

iam here i am here at augusta as rory michael roy hopes for a second round surge in the masters golf. coming up in sportsday on bbc news... the rfu and saracens both distance themselves from billy vunipola's views, after the england forward appeared to defend israel folau's social media post claiming "hell awaits" gay people. in algeria, tens of thousands of people are again protesting on the streets, demanding a new government that's free of members of the old ruling elite. security has been stepped up in the capital, as the demonstrators, many of them young, marched for the eighth friday in a row. they're angry at the appointment of abdelkader bensalah as interim leader, saying he's too close to the former president, who was forced out of office 10 days ago after years of repressive rule. mr bensalah has promised free elections, but opponents say it's

a ploy by the ruling elite to cling onto power. 0ur correspondent 0rla guerin reports from the capital algiers, on another day of mass protests. they chant "the country is ours," they chant. "and we will do what we want." even the youngest are brought along. mass protest, now the friday routine. just a few months ago, this seemed impossible. you could go to jail for posting on facebook. after decades of repression by a hated regime, it's just too much for some. "what do they want from us?" he says. "we ask god for revenge." well, more police are moving into position, the crowd is building here, and so is the anger. this is the eighth friday in a row that

the demonstrators have gathered. and they say they will keep coming until all of their demands are met. they want a complete break with the past, a clean sweep. that means the new interim president, abdelkader bensalah, must go. protesters don't trust him to organise free elections. and some worry the powerful military is playing a double game, expressing support for the protests while trying to limit any change. in the main square today, police could not hold back the crowds, and didn't try too hard. the protesters believe the march of history is on their side. so, i came from abroad and i'm very happy to be here with my family in order to march for democracy and in order to stop this corrupt government and to try to give the youth chance for tomorrow. do you believe you succeed? i think we will succeed, definitely,

we're far too many not to succeed. many here now are standing up to the regime, like nisa imad, who confronted the police all alone. "i told them this is my country," she said. "we want the whole system to go. there's nothing for the young generation. i have five kids with nojobs and no homes of their own." small wonder there is fury against the familiar faces of the old regime. they denied the young freedom and hope and left many without work. the gallows await the thieves, they say. here's what the protesters were up against today. the police stop to water canon. no—one is sure where all this is headed, but algerians

hope their uprising will be an exception in the arab world, a push for change that does not end in bloodshed. 0rla guerin, bbc news, algiers. the military in sudan has offered talks with protestors who are demanding a return to civilian rule. the demonstrations follow the military seizing power after removing the president yesterday, whom protestors blamed for rising living costs. last night, thousands of people defied a curfew called by the army. the liverpool football manager jurgen klopp says anyone involved in racist abuse should be banned from football for life. it comes after offcials at chelsea prevented three people from entering the stadium for their europa league quarterfinal match in the czech republic last night, after a video appeared on social media, apparently showing the men singing an abusive song about the liverpool striker mohamed salah. david 0rnstein has the story.

the latest high—profile incident of racist abuse to bring shame on football. this video appeared on social media yesterday ahead of chelsea's's europa league tie in prague, a small group of supporters targeting liverpool's egyptian player mohamed salah with islamophobic abuse. three of those in the video were identified by chelsea and barred from last night's match. chelsea travel to liverpool this weekend. it is an example of something which should absolutely not happen and we should not see it asa not happen and we should not see it as a chelsea thing or a livable thing, it's another sign that something is going wrong a little bit, if you do something like that, you should not be allowed to enter a stadium again. from my point of view, in your life. here on sunday

it is hoped the focus will be on football as liverpool look to take a giant step towards ending their long wait to be league champions. 30 miles down the road, titleholders manchester city will have something to say about that. city are two points behind liverpool but they have a game in hand and if pep guardiola's men win of their remaining matches matches, the trophy will be there is. to finish the premier league, that is what we are playing for and we are going to do our best. 29 years since liverpool's last triumph, city desperate to retain their crown, the authorities will want their season to be remembered for sporting glory, not prejudice and bigotry. in what's been described as an "unprecedented" level of unauthorised sharing of personal data, a uk pregnancy and parenting club has been fined £400,000. the information commissioner ruled that the club, called bounty, which offers samples of baby

products to new parents, illegally passed on the data of 14 million people, to other businesses. our technology correspondent rory cellan—jones is here. how did all this take place and who received the data ? how did all this take place and who received the data? bounty uk will be afamiliar received the data? bounty uk will be a familiar presence in hospitals up and down the land, it offers things like free nappies, photos of new babies. the information commissioner says it is collecting lots of personal information notjust from its website an app but at the bedside of new mothers and that data belonged to potentially vulnerable people, those new mothers, and their babies, date of birth, gender and so on. that data was then being shared with a range of outside companies, from marketing organisations to credit agencies, and that was happening illegally, without the mother is being properly informed that it was going to happen in that

way. the data watchdog said the number of people affected was unprecedented in the history of its investigations into the data industry. bounty uk said it had not taken a broad enough view of its responsibilities but has since made significant changes to its processes , significant changes to its processes, the company said its priority was to continue providing a valuable service for parents that was both helpful and trusted. rory kockott and jones, thank you. the england and saracens rugby player, billy vunipola, has been sharply criticised for liking a social media post, in which the australian rugby star israel folau, claims "hell awaits" gay people. vunipola's club, and english rugby's governing body, the rfu, both say they don't support the comment, and that rugby is an inclusive sport. the authorities in australia intend to terminate folau's contract with the national side, over the comments. the second round of the masters is under way at augusta, in georgia, with england's ian poulter leading the european charge.

for the latest here's andy swiss. a decidedly soggy start to day two. 0vernight rain meant the early fans at augusta had to watch their step. take care, was the message — something rory mcilory would also have to do. his first round was a tale of frustration, a bad start followed by flashes of his familiar brilliance... this has a chance...! but then things rather fizzled away. he'll start his second round shortly, and he knows there's room for improvement. too many mistakes, i made six bogeys out there, which... you know, i made enough birdies, i made five birdies, ijust made too many mistakes. also about to start his second round is tiger woods, after what was a far more encouraging opening day. he's got it! woods hasn't won a major title for more than a decade, but on this form, anything is possible. the british challenge hasn't quite sparked yet. ian poulter, the pick of the bunch,

europe's ryder cup talisman with some dazzling moments. peter alliss: good result. well done, poulter. but the prize for shot of the opening round surely went to bryson dechambeau. how's this for pinpoint precision? after a first day dominated by american players, the rest will now be hoping for that masters magic. most of the players have now started their second rounds and the latest i can tell you is that bryson dechambeau leads the way. ian poulter is still going very nicely indeed, just two shots off the pace. rory mcilroy and tiger woods are due to start their second round shot in the next half an hour or so. on a different note, there is concern about the weather, we had that rain earlier on today and on sunday, when the tournament is supposed to finish, there are thunderstorms are

forecast to, so for the first time in 36 years, we just forecast to, so for the first time in 36 years, wejust might forecast to, so for the first time in 36 years, we just might see the masters going into the monday. time for a look at the weather. here's mel coles. there are subtle changes in the weather from day to day at the moment but the overall feel is that it is quite chilly. high pressure is in charge, hence it is settled, but around that we are drawing in the cold airon an around that we are drawing in the cold air on an easterly wind. milder, wetter weather is lurking in the atlantic. this morning we had a bit of a frosty start, giving way to increasing amounts of cloud coming in from the east, working westwards. heading into this evening, that cloud will tend to dissipate, the winds will strengthen for northern ireland and the west coast of scotland. here, the temperatures won't drop away so far. elsewhere, under clear skies, with lighter

winds, we are expecting a touch of frost, particularly in the countryside, where those temperatures for many places will be below freezing. heading into the weekend, it is more of the same, spot the difference. there will be some sunshine on offer but it remains quite chilly and drying. 0n saturday first thing we have got some showers coming in from east anglia which could have a bit of a wintry flavour to them. there could be some sleet mixed in there. and they could be gusty for northern ireland and western scotland and west wales and the south—west of england. there will be some sunshine around but it will still feel cold. many spots remaining in single figures. sunday, generally, there will be more cloud, here is our area of rain and it looks like it will make some progress into western parts of northern ireland, so some showers here perhaps. elsewhere, more cloud and without the sunshine i think many spots will feel cooler.

improving temperature—wise as we head towards the easter weekend. now on bbc one it is time for the news where you are.