this is bbc news, i'm rich preston. our top stories. the bbc�*s director general, tim davie, says he won't resign but apologises for widespread disruption to the corporation's sports output, after presenters and pundits walk out in support of the match of the day host gary lineker. success for me is gary gets back on air, and together, we are giving to the audiences that world—class sports coverage, which as i say, i'm sorry we haven't been able to deliver today. the british chancellor meets the governor of the bank of england, to discuss the collapse of silicon valley bank, which mostly financed tech start—ups. tackling tourette�*s — a leading british charity hails a life—changing device that controls the syndrome�*s symptoms.

and we'll catch up with lesley paterson — the triathlete who's in the running at sunday's oscars for her screenplay of a german first world war epic. i went up to tom cruise, i said "hi, i'm lesley paterson, writer of all quiet on the western front." he said, "i know your story. how many hours a day have you trained?" i said, "no way?!" hello. let's begin with a story that's causing a storm here in the uk, and the director general of this organisation, the bbc, tim davie, has apologised for widespread disruption to bbc sports programming but says he won't resign. a number of tv and radio programmes were taken off—air after presenters and pundits walked out in support

of gary lineker. the former footballer and presenter of match of the day was taken off the programme after the bbc deemed he'd breached the corporation's editorial guidelines on impartiality. with more, here's our sports editor, dan roan. on any normal saturday, gary lineker would have been preparing to host football's most famous show. but not today. the presenter, a guest at hometown club leicester city this afternoon, as the crisis intensified after the bbc decided to drop him from match of the day following an impartiality row over comments he made on twitter criticising the government's language over its new asylum policy. more pundits and presenters, meanwhile, confirming they'd be joining an impromptu boycott in support of their colleague, as the corporation's weekend sport output unravelled. no football focus for the build—up, instead an edition of bargain hunt. results show final score also pulled from the schedules. and only this evening it was confirmed a much reduced

match of the day would be shown, but cut to just 20 minutes, with no presentation, interviews or commentary ofany kind. i am sorry that audiences have been affected and they haven't got the programming. this has been a tough time for the bbc and we care about our audiences. we want to get the right outcome for this and we are working very hard to get that done. i would like to see gary lineker return on air on the bbc. so, amid a saga that's once again shown the extent to which football and politics now overlap, how did fans attending matches like these in leicester, feel about the lineker row? you should be allowed to have free speech. on his posts, he's not referenced match of the day or anything like that, you know what i mean? he said his opinion. the only reason the bbc are bothered is because he's got millions of viewers. i'm disappointed with some of his comments, to be honest. i think he's let himself down. i do believe in freedom of speech, you should be allowed to say what you want

to say, but i think you have to set things in context, and i don't think he's really done that. here at bbc sport headquarters in salford, with a much shortened match of the day about to be broadcast, talks are set to continue, and unless a resolution can be found, the impact of this crisis could extend into tomorrow's output and beyond, amid questions over when and indeed whether gary lineker will return here. the chaos surrounding a staple of the tv schedules for almost 60 years... welcome to match of the day! ..and one of sport's most famous brands, ensuring the most controversial episode to date. dan roan, bbc news. the bbc has been accused of caving in to political pressure by taking gary lineker off match of the day. a former director general, greg dyke, says the corporation has made a mistake and undermined its credibility. but the incumbent dg tim davie says impartiality is a founding principle of the bbc. here's our media correspondent, david sillito. as gary lineker left home

today, it was clear an issue he thought was two days ago blowing over, isn't. and a previous director general of the bbc, greg dyke, who himself left the corporation after a run—in with the government of the time, thinks the bbc has made a big mistake. there is a long established precedent in the bbc that if you are an entertainment presenter, oryou're a football presenter, then you are not bound by those same rules. and i think what the bbc has done is, actually, the real problem of today, is that the bbc has undermined its own credibility. for those running the bbc, this isjust a question of impartiality. however, the corporation's rules have some grey areas. those in news cannot express any political opinions, and caution is advised for all staff. but the guidelines say the risk is lower where an individual is expressing views publicly, or on an unrelated area,

for example a sports or science presenter expressing views on politics or the arts. however, the rules on social media were recently tightened, and the corporation's top talent were told there is now an additional responsibility to the bbc because of their profile on the bbc. so, is there some wiggle room in all of this to find a compromise? i think we are in an evolving situation where there is always somejudgment, and what i want to do is listen and find a balanced and reasonable solution where, we've said people want to be able to express opinions — i understand that. i have only one objective, which is to make sure the bbc is truly impartial, that we are doing that in a balanced way, and i think we need to listen and reflect on the guidelines. however, over the years, other presenters have also expressed opinions. where exactly are the

boundaries for a corporation whose own chairman is the subject of an ongoing inquiry into what he may or may not have disclosed about a loan guarantee made to boris johnson? the prime minister said today it is up to the bbc to resolve this, but some conservative mps want gary lineker sacked, so, is this about impartiality or political pressure? the bbc is not acting impartially by caving in to tory mps who are complaining about gary lineker. they've got this one badly wrong. but how do you resolve it? the bbc wants the politics to stop. gary lineker�*s shown no sign he's going to be silenced. there are warnings that the collapse of a large american bank and its british arm could have a significant impact on tech start—up businesses. the british chancellor, the finance minister, jeremy hunt, has met the governor

of the bank of england, andrew bailey, to discuss the collapse of silicon valley bank, which mostly financed tech start—ups. more than 200 companies in the uk had asked ministers to intervene. it's the biggest failure of a us bank since the 2008 financial crisis. earlier, i spoke to fintech influencerjim marous, host of the banking transformed podcast. i asked him whether we should worry that other similar banks may be trouble. it depends on how you look at it. if you are looking at financial institutions possibly failing, it mayjust be a one—off at this point. the real ripple effect is going to be felt in the impact not just on fintechs but on all start—ups in the technology field. silicon valley bank in the health care field and financial field, but if we look at venture capital money, money needed by start—ups to fund their innovation, i think

that's where you are really going to find the ripple effect. what is going to happen is funding's going to become even more difficult than it had already become in the last nine months and this will have an overall impact. overall, consumers, businesses and the federal government will have to look and say, what else is underneath the covers of what's going on right now? in terms of the global picture, this had a hit on asian markets on friday, and we heard 200 british companies concerned about the impact it'll have on them. what are the global implications of this? it's rather significant, silicon valley bank was not just serving california or the states, it's many organisations in many places. it was a primary funding organisation for a great number of innovative start—up companies. so i think it will be a global impact, but i think overall you are going to see investors re—analyse their risk tolerance. right now, all of a sudden, the risks have got significantly higher.

organisations that may not have access to funds for payroll and to meet current cashflow needs. so the impact, the ripple effect in our whole financial system, is global in nature. is the government doing enough to reassure companies? i guess we will find out on monday, but they took an unprecedented move. they stepped in midday friday, traditionally in the past when this happened in 2008 and other times, the federal government stepped in at the end of the day on friday and let the market cool down over the weekend. they thought it important to step in at midday and make an impact. interesting to see what happens on monday, if they have a suitor that will come in and possibly grab the entire bank and invest in it, or if they will simply reassure organisations that have more than the $250,000 limit that they will be supported. obviously the government

being very vocal come monday before the markets open, in terms of reassuring the marketplace that right now at least this is just a one—off thing. svb has been around for years but did particularly well in the pandemic when fintech companies saw business booming. how does this type of bank, svb, compare with the older and more traditional banks and how they deal with these types of storms? svb was a unique organisation. most of their funding and debt were both covered by innovative companies, fintech start—ups, health care start—ups, and by the venture capital firms. so a very narrow marketplace. in fact, i think it was 90—97% of all deposits were greater than the $250,000 limit. that is not like any other financial institution that i'm aware of, and i think it's

unique in that sense. however, many other organisations have funded tremendously innovative start—ups and partnered with them and are also buying services from innovative start—ups, that will be impacted by this. let's get some of the day's other news. the authorities in the us state of texas have advised american citizens against travel to mexico during the spring break for security reasons. the texas department of public safety said that drug cartel violence represented a significant threat for anyone crossing into mexico. hundreds of thousands of israelis have taken part in the latest protest against government plans to overhaul the judicial system. opponents of the reforms say they're a threat to israel's democracy. supporters of the laws say they will make the supreme court more accountable. french senators in the upper house of parliament have overwhelmingly passed a bill that will raise the pension age from 62 to 64. it brings the bill one step closer to becoming law. a final vote is expected on thursday. the proposal has caused huge

protests across france with hundreds of thousands of people taking to the streets. the italian coastguard says it has rescued more than 1,200 migrants in three separate operations from boats in the mediterranean sea. the operations come almost two weeks after a deadly shipwreck involving migrants off the calabrian coast. stephanie prentice is following the story. one of three boats just a wave away from disaster, overloaded with people and pitching out of control in rough seas. the italian coastguard responded to calls from other boats in the waters off the south coast, saying it was challenging but it managed to get 1,300 people to safety using smaller vessels to ferry people to shore. giorgia meloni's conservative government came into power with promises of crackdowns

on arrivals to italian shores, but there has been a sharp increase in people trying to arrive in small boats from north africa and turkey. when you have people dying literally a0 metres off your coast, i think the focus cannot be anything else than saving the people. the focus has been on preventing departures, and of course we don't argue against... the problem is you don't find traffickers on board those ships. two weeks ago, at least 7a people died when their boat hit rocks near the south coast. 500 people marched in their memory on saturday, under the banner stop the massacre now. they accuse the government of moving too slowly in rescuing traffickers' boats. in light of recent issues, the government has announced a crackdown on people smugglers, including harshjail terms, but alongside that

a crackdown on charity rescue boats, calling them a taxi service for migrants. the united nations estimates 300 people have died in the central mediterranean so far this year, and some in italy describe their country as the gateway for migrants arriving in europe, and say the international community need to step up to help get the death tolls down. you are watching bbc news, the headlines. the bbc�*s director general, tim davie, says he won't resign but apologises for widespread disruption to the corporation's sports output, after presenters and pundits walked out in support of the match of the day host gary lineker. the british chancellor meets the governor of the bank of england to discuss the collapse of silicon valley bank, which mostly financed tech start—ups. in israel, hundreds of thousands of people have been taking part in the latest protests against government

plans to radically overhaul thejudicial system. emily brown reports. this is the tenth week of protests, some of the biggest israel has ever seen. the demonstrations are about a series ofjudicial reforms the new nationalist israeli government is trying to push through. the government says the supreme court is left—leaning, and it wants more say in appointing judges. but critics say the measures would strip israel's supreme court of its independence. protesters here are worried that if these plans go ahead, israel will no longer be seen as a democracy by the west. i want israel to stay a democracy, for my kids, my grandson, because israel is a democracy country and it must stay as one. we are here against the reforms in the law.

and to protest against our prime minister... at the main protests in tel aviv, reports suggest 200,000 people attended. meanwhile, the prime minister benjamin netanyahu has left the country for rome. he's been accused of trying to escape a legal case against him. he is on trial for corruption charges, which he denies. a journalist has been detained in tel aviv over a tweet in which they referred to the prime minister as a dictator. opposition continues to escalate, with protesters promising to ramp up demonstrations if the government doesn't shelve the legislation. there is no indication when these rallies will end. the anti—corruption watchdog in south africa says there's no evidence of wrongdoing by president cyril ramaphosa. in a preliminary report,

the public protector concludes mr ramaphosa did not violate an ethics code or abuse his role as head of state. cyclone freddy has been battering the coast of central mozambique, bringing heavy rain and damaging buildings. one man was reported killed when his house collapsed. cyclone freddy, one of the strongest cyclones ever recorded in the southern hemisphere, is also one of the longest—lasting. the weather system arose near indonesia over a month ago. it first hit the coast of mozambique two weeks ago, killing 27 people. more than 300,000 people in the uk are said to be living with tourette�*s syndrome, a neurological condition which causes physical and verbal tics. there's no cure but a new device, which looks like a smartwatch, has been described as a game—changer when it comes to reducing those symptoms. navtej johal went to find out more. these people all have tourette syndrome. they're trying out a device

at home which they hope will help them control the tics or involuntary movements caused by the condition. it looks like a wristwatch. once they turn it on, their tics stop almost completely. these videos were filmed as part of a clinical trial, and it's because of these sorts of results that the device is being called a game changer. tourette�*s is a neurological condition, which usually starts in childhood. it's disturbing that by stimulating it, we're reducing the... professor stephen jackson from the university of nottingham has led the research into the gadget. it works by delivering electrical pulses, which send signals to the brain, reducing the amount and severity of tics. we only gave people 10 minutes of active stimulation each day. that 10 minutes a day was sufficient to bring about a very large effect. the effect was that nearly 60% of those using the gadget experienced at least a 25%

reduction in their tics while receiving active stimulation. and that's not all. what it also shows is if you have repeated stimulation daily over a four—week period, there's greater than a 35% reduction in your tic severity, even when you're not wearing the device. we're very pleased with the results, thatjust 10 minutes a day is sufficient to give you a clinically meaningful result. 121 people took part in the trial. one of them was 13—year—old milo, who was diagnosed with tourette�*s more than four years ago. we spoke to him last summer before the trial began. are you trying to suppress a tic right now? ithink, yeah, lam, to be honest, because when you're talking about it, this is certainly worse. he says the device made a big difference to his tics. i would not tic almost at all. i mean, obviously i'd still tic with it, but no, nowhere near as much like it's got, i mean, sometimes it's quite severe, especially if i'm tired, but if i've got

the device on, then no, really, it's so much better, so helpful. i think the thing with - tourette's is that we don't know how, as milo gets older, how it's going to progress. - it could stay the same. | it could get a bit better. it could get worse. but to know that you've got i that safety net there that can help him, it's fantastic. one person who wasn't part of the trial but did try the device was singer—songwriter lewis capaldi. the musician has spoken openly about living with tourette's and contacted the team in nottingham. at the time, he had really bad tics, so he had head tics and shoulder tics and he tried the device on and it was very effective. his tics went away and he said it made him feel calmer and more relaxed. i think it's really important to recognise that someone like lewis capaldi saying, "i have tourette's and this is how it affects me and this is how i cope with it," is inspirational for other

people with tourette's. the charity tourette's action says the device could be life changing. and professorjackson says the success of the clinical trial means it's now cleared a big hurdle. we've demonstrated that it works. we've demonstrated it in a properly controlled, double—blind trial against a proper placebo, sham control. we've demonstrated its effectiveness, that will give people confidence to invest in this approach. it will now need regulatory approval. the university is hoping to have it available to the public within two years, with the ultimate aim of it eventually being available via a prescription on the nhs. it's a big weekend for film fans, with the ocars taking place in less than 2a hours. all quiet on the western front is nominated for no fewer than nine awards. lesley paterson, who wrote the film, was once a waitress at the oscars. we've been following the former

scottish triathlete, because her story is a remarkable one. colin paterson, no relation to lesley, put on his running shoes to catch up with her in hollywood. got the hollywood sign behind us! how does that make you feel, when you see that? oh, it's so iconic, it'sjust amazing. it's very weird to think i'm here and sort of going for the oscars. like, what? lesley paterson, the scottish triathlete in the running at the oscars. hello! good to see you, man. and she is loving los angeles. oh, my gosh, this is amazing, isn't it? this is pretty much beverly hills. cheering. for 16 years, the five—time off—road triathlete world champion used her prize money from races to keep alive her dream of a new film version of all quiet on the western front. shouting finally, in 2022, it was made, with her script

translated into german. shouting now it's up for nine oscars and she's nominated for best adapted screenplay. what's the best photo you've taken this season? tom cruise. you got cruise? no, no, so, check this out. so i went up to tom cruise and i said, "hi, tom, my name's lesley paterson, writer of all quiet on the western front". and he said "i know your story". he said, "how many hours a day do you train?" iwas like... you are... no way! to be honest, just trying to soak it in, you know, it's so bizarre. i'm at the four seasons trying on dresses for the oscars. like, who would've thought that? should we try this one, see if it fits? just to make a statement. i think this is ok. so, how are you finding all this, then? yeah, it's all very strange, all very strange. custom—made this, custom—made that, getting dressed, getting pampered, getting makeup and hair and this and that.

so, a long way away from the mud. i'd like to see you do a triathlon in one of those. could you imagine it? on the bike, as well, that'd be pretty hilarious. but it's not actually the first time lesley�*s been to the oscars. i waited tables at the governer�*s ball in 2005. so, i had judi dench and jennifer lopez on my table. so let's see who's going to be waiting me. i'll have a wee chat with them. they'll be like, "you'll never guess! i waited tables, lesley paterson was at mine!" lesley paterson, not for the first time in her life, is going for gold. colin paterson, bbc news, hollywood. i'm back tomorrow with the hollywood action. more on the website.

bbc.com/news. you can reach me on twitter — i'm @richpreston. hello there. the remaining snow will be melting on sunday as we get much milder air. but more snow over the week ahead, and the weather front has been bringing snow to northern england and scotland. should be out of the way by sunday morning. following that, we see the milder air coming in as the winds change direction to more of a south—westerly. still some cold air to start the day in the far north and in scotland, but otherwise temperatures 5—8 degrees as we start the second half of the weekend. with that milder air, could be a lot of cloud but we should see sunshine here and there, especially across eastern england. could see more rain back in scotland and northern ireland, and later in the day some rain into south—west england and wales, as the south—westerly winds pick up.

it's still chilly in the far north of scotland, but otherwise temperatures generally in double figures, likely to make 14 in the south—east of england. with that milder air coming in, we see the snow melting, turning misty and murky in the hills, continued melting overnight as we have rain falling in many areas. but it will turn colder in scotland. the rain turning to snow in scotland, especially in the hills. the winds in the north—west bringing the colder air, rain clearing from northern ireland, continues in northern england, wales and to the south, where we have the sunshine and a few showers, but it will be windy pretty much everywhere. winds could be touching gale force in southern england and wales, and we could have some gales later in the north—west of scotland, which will make it feel colder. temperatures dropping through the day in scotland and northern ireland, but still double figures across england and wales for one more day. overnight, the rain sweeps south—east across the uk and the wind direction

changes, and we all get this north—westerly wind piling in on tuesday, making it feel much colder, bringing with it a mixture of sunshine but also quite a few wintry showers, sleet and snow sweeping across scotland, northern ireland, into england and wales through the day. temperatures in the south could reach 6—7 degrees, northern scotland struggling with 2—3. windy, with the strongest winds on the north sea coast. when you factor in the strength of the wind, the temperatures will feel more like closer to freezing.

this is bbc news. the headlines: the bbc�*s director—general, tim davie, has apologised for the disruption to the sports output — caused by a row about gary lineker, and the decision to suspend him from match of the day. the former footballer—turned—tv—presenter tweeted, criticising the government's new migration policy. the british chancellor, jeremy hunt, has spoken to the governor of the bank of england about silicon valley bank — which mostly financed tech start—ups. the bank is heading for insolvency, after the failure of its parent company in the united states. with less than 2a hours until the 2023 oscars ceremony, the final touches are being added to the venue for hollywood's biggest awards. the field of best picture contenders features many

of last year's biggest box—office hits, including