welcome to bbc news. i'm lewis vaughan jones. our top stories: us intelligence officials say saudi arabia's crown prince personally approved an operation that killed the journalist jamal khashoggi. another abduction of schoolchildren in nigeria — more than 300 girls have been taken. president biden visits texas to see how it's recovering from the freezing weather that left millions without power or clean water. an iceberg the size of greater london breaks off from the antarctic ice shelf. scientists say the split is due to natural processes, rather than climate change.

this is the first time i have ever been on an open top bus. really? ever been on an open top bus. reall ? �* ., ., ., ., and, prince harry gets on a tourist bus in california to talk about his new life in the us and why he left the uk. it was destroying my mental health. really? i was like this is toxic. yeah. so i did what any husband and what any father would do. it's like, i need to get my family out of here. hello and welcome. we start with that us intelligence report on the killing ofjamal khashoggi. it accuses saudi arabia's crown prince, mohammed bin salman, of personally approving the operation which led to the murder of the journalist in 2018. it's the first time the us has officially and openly accused the crown prince, who is a key american ally in the middle east. saudi arabia has dismissed the american claims as false and unacceptable. here's nick bryant.

it was at the saudi consulate in istanbul that jamal khashoggi met his brutal end. he had been lured there to discuss paperwork for his upcoming wedding but he was strangled as soon as he entered the building by a team of saudi assassins, who then dismembered his body. a saudi dissident who wrote a column for the washington post, often criticising his country's authoritarian leadership — the motive was to silence him. the damning conclusion of the declassified intelligence report is that saudi arabia's crown prince mohammed bin salman, the country's de facto leader, approved an operation in istanbul to capture or kill the saudi journalist. the assessment was based on the crown prince's control of decision—making in the kingdom, the direct involvement of a key adviser and members of his protective detail in the operation. these aren't new findings. the trump administration had suppressed this report. ahead of its release, presidentjoe biden spoke

by phone to king salman of saudi arabia, the crown prince's father — all part of a deliberate move by the new administration to alter the relationship with the saudis, to be tougher on this oil—rich kingdom. we have significant ongoing interests. we remain committed to the defence of the kingdom. but we also want to make sure — and this is what the president has said from the outset — that the relationship better reflects our interests and our values. and so what we have done by the actions that we have taken is really not to rupture the relationship but to recalibrate it. already, mr biden has ordered an end to arms sales and other us support to the saudis in their war in yemen. as a candidate, he referred to saudi arabia as a "pariah state" but he's stopped short of imposing sanctions on mohammed bin salman, the future king, who is known as mbs. this new, tougher approach has drawn support from both democrats and leading republicans.

look, this is a journalist working on american soil, working for an american publication, and he was murdered and dismembered. this is something we can'tjust look beyond. there has to be a consequence of that. donald trump was very much in step with the saudis. significantly, it was the first foreign country he visited as president. and as well as turning a blind eye to the country's human rights record, he had a warm relationship with mohammed bin salman. when they met at a 620 summit injapan, he was asked about the murder of the saudi journalist, but clearly did not want it to sour their personal rapport. mr president, have you addressed the murder of jamal khashoggi, sir? er... thank you very much, i appreciate it. under donald trump, the saudis almost had a blank cheque. those days are over. nick bryant, bbc news, new york.

president biden hasjust been speaking with a reporter from univision and was asked how far he would press saudi arabia to comply with human rights laws. i spoke yesterday with the king, not the printer medically that the rules are changing and we will announce significant changes today and on monday. we will hold them accountable for human rights abuses and we will make sure that they in fact, you know, if they want to do with us, they have to deal with us in a way that human rights abuses are dealt with and we're trying to do this across the world but particularly here. ambassador dennis ross is a veteran us diplomat in middle eastern affairs. he's a fellow at the washington institute for near east policy and before that he served as special assistant to president 0bama and a national security council senior director. he told me his reaction to the intelligence report.

i think one of the things i was struck by is that there was nothing new there. most of what appeared in there has certainly been released publicly, if not formally, well over the last couple of years. once again, what you see is a conclusion drawn by the intelligence community based upon the fact that mohammed bin salman controls all of the instrumentalities of power, those who carried this out were people who were close to him, and so there is an inference drawn that it would seem impossible that it could have taken place without him knowing about it, without him having approved it. but all that has, as i said, has been out there really since shortly after a lot of the news about khashoggi's murder began to had emerge, so i think what is interesting about this is it is a formal release, a response of the congress asked for a couple of years ago, but there really is not anything new that's there.

if one was looking for the so—called smoking gun, it really was not there. 0k, what about what the president should do now? joe biden obviously in a difficult position, wants to maintain relations, of course, with saudi arabia but also, there has to be a desire amongst the administration, amongst the worldwide public that someone is held accountable — or, more specifically, mbs is held accountable. i think, look, the point is interesting because there is a need to establish clear limits, there is a need to say these are — there are lines that should not be crossed so there is a need, i think, to focus on how you create accountability. i mean, one thing that the administration could do beyond what it has done, it has basically designated and created a visa ban for 76 saudis who they feel, in one way or the other, is connected to this or to other efforts to deal with, to impose a price on those who are living outside of saudi arabia. there is also the designation of asiri, who will not be able to have any property here, any assets here, and so forth.

so there is a attempt to create accountability from that standpoint. the issue you're raising is what about something more direct with mohammed bin salman, and i would simply say one thing that could be done is to get mohammed bin salman to outline the kind of structural changes that are being taken in the decision—making process within saudi arabia to ensure that nothing like this can ever happen again. i think that's not only important for saudi arabia but it's also important to make it clear that there will be a spotlight shone on all of these kinds of actions — but not only by the saudis, we are seeing the iranians do this, repeatedly, there are indications that turkey has done this, so i think it is important notjust for saudi arabia but for others that there really is a continuing spotlight on this and getting some kind of assurance that the saudis, in fact, are taking specific steps to make ensure nothing

like this could happen again. there are many who think that thatis there are many who think that that is not enough. but there are many who think that that is not enough.— that is not enough. but you're effectively _ that is not enough. but you're effectively dealing _ that is not enough. but you're effectively dealing with - effectively dealing with someone who is a day to day leader in saudi arabia and we are not being able to, we cannot dictate who will lead saudi arabia but it's pretty clear it is unlikely that he will be travelling here at any time in the foreseeable future. there is not a decision made by the biden administration to, they are trying to strike some kind of balance, balance that reflects our commitment to a set of values, and a recognition that there is almost no interest in the united states in the middle east today where we would not need some kind of saudis support or acquiescence. whether we are dealing

with iran, trying to promote normalisation of the arab states in israel or whether we are dealing with counter—terror or non—proliferation or whether we are trying to resolve the conflicts in yemen or elsewhere, whether we're trying to seed the social and economic changes that make modernisation the source of legitimacy and identity, as opposed to wahhabism in saudi arabia. all of these things are in america's interests and it is pretty hard to achieve any of them if you basically create a breach with to the saudis and somehow break relations. to nigeria now, and another abduction of hundreds of school children. president muhammadu buhari says the government will not succumb to blackmail by criminals who target innocent children following the abduction this time of 317 schoolgirls from a boarding school. the kidnapping occurred in the north—west state of zamfara. the governor has ordered all schools to close in response. mayenijones reports. the lucky few. these students were amongst

those who are not kidnapped on friday morning. over 100 gunmen stormed this all—girls secondary school in the town ofjangebe, taking 317 students with them. security forces have been deployed to the area. we are on the trail of the kidnappers — that's why you find us on the fringes of the forest here as part of our locational efforts, and as part of our cordoning efforts. anxious parents gathered outside the school all day, waiting for news of their loved ones. abductions of this type have become increasingly common in northern nigeria. just last week, 42 people, including 27 students, were kidnapped in the central state of niger. they are yet to be released. in december, more than 300 boys were kidnapped by gunmen and later released after negotiations. it's not clear who carried out that attack. but it was a 2014 kidnapping of 276 girls in the town of chibok by islamist militants

that brought global attention to mounting insecurity in the country. that kidnapping was carried out by the extremist group boko haram. although they have not been active in north—western nigeria, there is evidence their area of activity could be expanding. we know that one of the major institutions objected by boko haram, that has been operating in nigeria for over ten years, is secular education, and we know that boko haram has been infuriating the criminal guns boko haram has been infiltrating the criminal gangs in the north—west and they have succeeded in the past 18 months or so, so i would not be surprised if these people are doing it for some ideological reasons or at least this indicates to us the pathological hatred they have for school, possibly because they did not have the opportunity

of attending any. criminals have been encouraged by the publicity that followed the abduction of the chibok girls. they know it is an effective way of pressuring the government. and with no clear strategy to stop them, northern nigeria remains one of the most unsafe places in the world for children. mayenijones, bbc news, lagos. to the us, and the latest on that extreme winter storm in texas. us presidentjoe biden visited the state to see how it's recovering from the freezing weather that left millions without power or clean water. the president and first lady went to a food bank in houston, where they helped put together supplies for distribution. they also met staff at a coronavirus vaccination centre and had this message for texans. jill and i wanted to visit texas today for a couple of reasons. first and foremost, to let the people of texas know our prayers are with you in this aftermath of this winter storm. and, secondly, to let you know what i told governor abbott and mayor turner and judge hidalgo and the congressional delegation — that we will be true partners to help

you recover and rebuild from the storms and this pandemic and the economic crisis. we're in for the long haul. reggie young works at the houston food bank that the president and the first lady toured. he told me what mr biden said to him. we showed him everything. we showed him ourfleet, our trucks, we showed him our warehouse but we also introduced him to some of the clients of the families that have been impacted by the freeze. so he got a chance to hear their stories first—hand as well as meet the volunteers who have been helping us to respond. and what was his thoughts, what did he say to you? yes, so he was very concerned about what was going on. we talked a lot about the people who were impacted by this struggle and how we were responding to it. he really said that he supported our work and said that our operation was amazing, but he was really touched by the families that

were there and the work that they were doing to bounce back, based on all the things that happen to them. and what are some of the stress points right now, what are some of the things that people need? yes, absolutely the number one thing people absolutely need is water. even though water is back and running in most of our region, the challenges that a lot of people have broken pipes and they can't run water, they can't cook their food with this water — they can't do a lot of things. one of the main things we're trying to do is really source a lot more water into the region so we can get it to in need. but beyond that, there is the economic impact. for that week that people were in their home, they were losing income. so there are people now coming back to their homes with either high electric bills, no running water because of the plumbing, and they have low incomes. so, what they have to do is really try to make really tough decisions around how they are going to

utilise their money. so the thing that we try to do is provide enough food so that can at least offset some of those costs they are going to have to make in trying to pay the rent, trying to make sure they can pay their medicine, as well as keep themselves warm. reggie, it is humbling that the richest country on the planet and people need water and those basic supplies. it is pretty sober reminder of the fragility of things. and on top of that of course, covid—19. right, yes. covid—19 has been a challenge because the way i look at it is this has been a disaster on top of a disaster. we've already seen an increase in the number of people that are coming to our pantries that need food, based upon covid—19 because of the loss of employment. and now we're seeing not only that, but also for people based upon the fact that they have

been struggling for at this time. and so the response has to be really strong and our partners, along with feeding america and the global foodbanking network, helping us response about so we can assure these people have what they need to move on. you are watching bbc news. the headlines: a declassified us intelligence report says that the saudi crown prince approved and likely ordered the murder of the journalist jamal khashoggi. the crown prince denies the accusation. security forces in nigeria are searching for more than 300 girls who were abducted from a school. the second kidnapping injust over a week. an iceberg the size of greater london has broken away from the antarctic. the split was detected just 20 kilometres from britain's halley research station on the brunt ice shelf. scientists who've been predicting such a event for months say they'll use satellite images to track the iceberg, and to monitor instabilities on the remaining ice shelf platform.

helen fricker is a glaciologist and professor at the scripps institution of oceanography in san diego, and shejoins me now. thank you very much for coming on the programme. 0h, thank you very much for coming on the programme. oh, you are very welcome. thank you for having me. rights i don't know a great deal about his huge icebergs breaking up. this will be fascinating. first of all, it sounds pretty big, a piece of both the size of london breaking, how large is that in the scheme of things?- breaking, how large is that in the scheme of things? yes, so, it's about _ the scheme of things? yes, so, it's about 1300 _ the scheme of things? yes, so, it's about 1300 square - it's about 1300 square kilometres, about the size of manhattan or greater london, as you said. and is that a big, medium, small...? it is, we do get very large icebergs coming from antarctica, i would call it a medium one. there have been larger icebergs. also, there are very small events as

well. this is quite a large one. we will see it for a long time in the ocean in satellite imagery. time in the ocean in satellite imaue . ~ . , time in the ocean in satellite imaue .~ . , ., ., time in the ocean in satellite - imagery-— why imagery. what is going on? why has it happened? _ imagery. what is going on? why has it happened? antarctica - imagery. what is going on? why has it happened? antarctica has| has it happened? antarctica has to lose mass when it gains through snowfall. snowfalls on this massive ice sheet, down at the bottom of the planet, and it very slowly accumulates over a large area and has to lose it as well. so, iceberg carving, you can think of it like housekeeping or, it ok checks and balances for the ice sheets to be the ice sheet needs to stay around about the same size. because of all of the snow that is being added slowly over time over that large area, it needs to lose it as well. very infrequently we get these very large calving events like this one. and because they are infrequent, they take us a little bit by surprise because they do not happen very often is the pic. they do not happen very often is the pic-— is the pic. that is very interesting. _

is the pic. that is very interesting. this - is the pic. that is very interesting. this isn'tl is the pic. that is very i interesting. this isn't the result of climate change? filo. result of climate change? no, this one in — this one in particular, you couldn't put this one down to climate change, we have been looking at this region for a long time. there is no significant thinning of the ice sheh significant thinning of the ice shelf or anything like that. the whole thing is closing on ocean, this part of antarctica. 0k. where is this iceberg of two, then, and how are you going to track it?— going to track it? satellite ima . e going to track it? satellite imagery will _ going to track it? satellite imagery will be _ going to track it? satellite imagery will be used - going to track it? satellite imagery will be used to i going to track it? satellite i imagery will be used to track it and the most likely path will be — it gets dragged in ocean currents about nine tenths of the iceberg is below the ocean's surface because it is floating. and the ocean currents will drag it very slowly. it will probably go in the sea, clockwise in the wet lc gyre, it will be off the continental shelf break, and when it gets to the antarctic peninsula, the arm that sticks up peninsula, the arm that sticks up towards south america, it will follow the east coast of the antarctic peninsula, and

thatis the antarctic peninsula, and that is what we call iceberg alley, where money icebergs go up. —— it will go clockwise through the helen fricker. —— through the helen fricker. —— through the helen fricker. —— through the weddell sea. through the helen fricker. -- through the weddell sea. helen fricker. through the weddell sea. helen fricker- very — through the weddell sea. helen fricker. very interesting - fricker. very interesting stuff. ., ~ fricker. very interesting stuff. . ~ fricker. very interesting stuff. . . ., stuff. thank you so much for havin: stuff. thank you so much for having me — stuff. thank you so much for having me again. _ there's further evidence vaccines may help prevent the spread of coronavirus as well as protecting against getting ill. a study of healthcare workers in cambridge here in the uk, found a single dose of the pfizer vaccine dramatically cuts the risk of getting the virus without symptoms. 0ur medical editor, fergus walsh, reports. like thousands of healthcare workers in cambridge, daniela does a weekly swab test for coronavirus before she goes to work at addenbrooke's hospital. it will show whether she could be carrying the virus about displaying symptoms.

that swab is analysed at these university labs, where they compare the results from staff like daniela who'd received the pfizer vaccine with those yet to be immunised. in early data, they found that two weeks after the first dose the risk of asymptomatic infection — carrying the virus without knowing it — was reduced by 75%. an england—wide study of health workers found a similar protective effect. this is a genuine good news story. people should be really pleased that the vaccine will protect them, and they should have the vaccine in order to prevent themselves and others from getting infected. but i think it will help us get out of lockdown, help other countries get out of lockdown and it will allow us to eventually get back to normal. hi, laura. hi. can i check your blood pressure? daniela is a nursing apprentice at addenbrooke's. nearly nine in 10 staff here have had their first dose

of vaccine — important, as it reduces the chance of getting infected and may protect patients. it makes me feel very happy knowing that i will not pass the virus to anyone around me. it's very reassuring, very reassuring. it was one of the big unknowns, can vaccines help slow transmission of coronavirus? the study here adds to growing evidence that they do. that has huge implications. it suggests vaccination benefits notjust the individual but the wider community. it's vital people have both doses of vaccine. but while highly effective, they don't offer 100% protection from catching coronavirus or passing it on. so while infection rates remain high, social distancing will continue to be important. fergus walsh, bbc news. britain's prince harry says

he felt forced to step back from his duties with the royal family because press coverage was damaging his mental health. he's been speaking with the chat show host james corden on a us television show — and our royal correspondent, daniela relph, was watching. here we are. this is very nice. yeah. it's the first time i've been on an open—top bus. is it really?! yeah. no! not really allowed to. in the la sunshine, from the top deck of a tourist bus, prince harry opened up to his friend james corden about leaving the uk and, ultimately, royal duty. it was never walking away, it was... it was stepping back rather than stepping down. right. you know, it was a really difficult environment, as i think a lot of people saw. we all know what the british press can be like and it was destroying my mental health. really? i was like, this is toxic. yeah. so, i did what any husband and what any father would do, i was like, i need to get my family out of here. there were lighter moments, too, including a call to his wife.

haz, how's your tour of la going? - haz? i didn't know we were calling you �*haz�* now! no, you're not my wife, so...! �*how dare you'? james corden offered a sympathetic ear and harry was clearly at ease. he revealed that he had watched the tv series the crown, his son archie's first word was �*crocodile' and there'd been a special gift from the queen. interestingly, my grandmother asked us what archie wanted for christmas and meg said a waffle maker. sorry, you're glossing over the fact that i cannot for the life of me imagine the queen ordering a waffle maker! for two brits living in california, there were some memories of home. there you go, a little slice of home, huh? next weekend, it will be meghan�*s turn, with the broadcast of her interview with oprah winfrey. daniela relph, bbc news. that is it from me. you can get me online on social media. you can reach me on twitter, i'm @lvaughanjones.

iam i am lewis vaughanjones and this is bbc news. bye—bye. hello, i haven't got the best weather memory but i would hazard a guess that this is going to be one of the quieter weather weekends of the year so far. that's no bad thing. barely any rain out there, some occasional sunshine, fairly chilly at night. frost, fog a possibility, but it is all very quiet with high pressure right across us, just one weak weather front moving into that area of high pressure and that just lingers with a bit of cloud as we go through the weekend, barely any rain left with it by saturday morning but the cloud will have kept temperatures up overnight and into the morning through parts of scotland and northern ireland. it's eastern scotland, more especially in england and wales with the frost, maybe down to “i! or —5 in the coldest parts

of southern england in the countryside, a few fog patches, parts of wales, west midlands and south—west england gradually clearing. and still maybe a bit of light rain to parts of northern ireland and southern scotland but that will tend to fizzle out and bring just a bit more cloud further south into parts of northern england during the day. elsewhere, well, there will be some areas of cloud around but there will be sunny spells, too and temperatures to several degrees above the average for the end of february. still, that strip of thicker cloud across parts of northern england and northern ireland, the odd spot of drizzle perhaps overnight and into sunday. away from that will be some areas of cloud, some clear spells, a few fog patches around, but not widely as clear as friday night and into saturday morning, so that means the frost isn't going to be as widespread. so, just pockets of frost on sunday morning, some fog patches gradually clearing. still from that decaying weather front, that strip of thicker cloud from northern england into northern ireland, there could be a stray shower. though the vast majority will have a dry day.

again, with some cloud but also some sunny spells. and for the most part winds are light, quite breezy in north—west scotland and windier towards the south coast of england into south—west england and south wales on sunday, where it's likely to feel a little bit cooler and generally temperatures are just a degree or two down on sunday. now, there's a greater chance of more widespread mist and fog as monday begins. it will make for a colder day, especially on monday where that fails to clear. but high pressure's still around for much if not all of next week. just a little weather disturbance running up across western parts on tuesday may bring a few showers, but that'll be the extent of it. and after briefly colder at the start of the week, temperatures head up again before it turns a bit colder again later in the week.

this is bbc news, the headlines: a us intelligence report says the saudi crown prince approved a plan to capture or kill the dissident journalist, jamal khashoggi, in 2018. the report said the conclusion was based on the crown prince's willingness to use violence to silence critics. saudi arabia has dismissed the american claims. the nigerian president says his government won't give in to blackmail after more than 300 schoolgirls were kidnapped. he described those behind the latest abductions, in zamfara state, as bandits and said they should not interpret the government's restraint as a sign of weakness. the us president, joe biden, has traveled to texas to see how the state is recovering from the freezing weather that left millions without power or clean water. mr and mrs biden worked with volunteers at a houston food bank and toured a covid—19 vaccines centre.

coming up in a quarter of an hourfrom now,