Transcripts For BBCNEWS Afternoon Live 20180227

Pressure has been ramped up on send banger. Also, golf, men and women will be playing side by side on the European Tour. There is snow out there. It is all about knowing where to look. There is more Severe Weather to come through the rest of this week. More Severe Weather warnings and more travel warnings. If you thought it was cold today, just wait until tomorrow. Also coming up, the warning that Global Warming could have a devastating impact on king penguins. Heavy snowfall is hitting parts of the uk, causing road, rail and flight disruption in many areas. Police say driving conditions are treacherous in places three people have died in lincolnshire after a crash involving a car and a lorry. Hundreds of trains are cancelled, many schools are shut and forecasters say some Rural Communities may be cut off. And theres a warning from the met office that if you havent seen snow yet by the end of the week you will have. Lets get the latest from our correspondent in North Yorkshire. First, this report. The east coast had time to prepare with the snowfall sweeping in from europe having travellers a taste of what this week has in store. Cantab declared a small emergency. The lack of traffic overnight meant that salt could not do its work. By the time the morning rush began, accidents and eyes had closed a series of routes, including m20, which became in effect a lorry park. Make sure you only making thatjourney if it is absolutely necessary. You can be sure that the motorways will be cleared and treated but that is not to say that other areas will not have snow on the ground. That may well affect traction and the way your vehicle handles. Up to ten centimetres of snow fell across kent, surrey. Farmers were put on stand by to keep minor routes open. Some towns and villages staged their own Winter Olympics. As is always the case, the greater hazards lie away from main roads where there is less traffic and the snow has had time to settle antifreeze. That has brought a series of accidents which began before dawn and it has disrupted bus services and caused the closure of dozens of schools. In norfolk, where 36 schools were closed, freezing conditions also disrupted rail services. Greater anglia trains, one of the operators say they were forced to cancel services. Trains have to go slower. The points can freeze, the signals can freeze and that means that if the points freeze them basically the train cannot go in the right direction. Amber warning also covers north east england. The problems caused by snow and ice mirrored those further south. But on tynemouth beach, the swimmers defied subzero temperatures for a dip that was rather more than just bracing. Ina was rather more than just bracing. In a moment we will speak to our correspondent in colchester. First, to North Yorkshire. What is happening . Well, simon, this weather really changes by the minute. Not long ago we were standing here talking in a blizzard, but now look at it it is absolutely beautiful. We have had a fair bit of snow here on the North Yorkshire moors, as you can see just walking in it, the North Yorkshire moors, as you can seejust walking in it, it the North Yorkshire moors, as you can see just walking in it, it shows you that it is several centimetres deep. The disruption has been kept toa minimum deep. The disruption has been kept to a minimum because the snow ploughs and gritting teams have spent the last few hours, certainly since about five oclock this morning, gritting the main a170. It is not as busy as it normally is, thatis is not as busy as it normally is, that is the main route across the north york moors. Up to whitby on the North Yorkshire coast. Elsewhere, there has been significant disruption, we have had several schools closed today as a result of the snow. Police across the region have been working extra ha rd the region have been working extra hard there are reports of a number of accidents. Lincolnshire police we re of accidents. Lincolnshire police were dealing with a number of issues this morning. On the m62, police say they had a busy morning as well. The airports across the north of england and into scotland are running, but the advices if you are heading to the advices if you are heading to the airport allow yourself plenty of time to travel. The concern tonight is that with further snow predicted, conditions are likely to get worse. That is the situation here in North Yorkshire, lets go down to essex 110w. Yorkshire, lets go down to essex now. Here, passengers have faced a reduced service all day. Probably around half the normal number of trains are running up to london. This is a busy commuter line and that will of had a serious impact. Why, given that their conditions are not as bad as expected. Network rail had to make decisions based on forecasts and they did not want to makes take the risk of people being stuck in snowdrifts in road locations that nobody could get to. It took the decision to. Trains do not cope well with really low temperatures in this country, trains have to run more slowly, meaning that you can run less of them. Going forward , that you can run less of them. Going forward, Greater Anglia who run trains from here and other Train Companies in this area are looking ahead and they are seeing forecasts of more snow and they are saying that network rail is suggesting further disruptions for services are likely. They will have to run a reduced service overnight. T mobile, it is likely there will be further disruption tonight, it is likely there will be further disruption. More now on the travel situation at london bridge. Thank you. As you have been speaking, we have had reports in from essex police where you are that they are dealing with a numberof you are that they are dealing with a number of crashes, about 30 crashes in the last hour alone. Driving conditions remain treacherous. Network trains are the worst to be affected at the moment. Lots of people decided not to take to the roads. Just as some of the updates coming through on the Train Companies, several have been hit with delays and cancellations. National rail enquiries says that Severe Weather is affecting many companies. South eastern, which comes into the london bridge. Te f l rail. Tefl rail. They are expecting to try and reduce some of those services. It is the arterial services. It is the arterial services that will be pushed through as much as possible, trying to get as much as possible, trying to get as many people in and out of the major towns. Of course, that means that it major towns. Of course, that means thatitis major towns. Of course, that means that it is real areas that are likely to see the most amount of disruption. They are not putting on extra services or necessarily replacement buses. It is those ruble roads which are not used as frequently, which are most likely to be clogged up by the snow. This is expected to continue on for at least another couple of days. If you want more information on the weather where you are, you just follow the latest forecast online at bbc. Co. Uk . We will be bringing new pictures throughout the week here on bbc news. The International Trade secretary has been delivering a speech. He claimed it is not in the interest of the uk or the eu to put in place barriers to trade. He came to explain which way brexit is heading. In front of business leaders, the International Trade secretary be stated the governments case. Arguing that staying in the Customs Union would bind the uk to eu rules and limit trade opportunities. It would be a complete sell out of Britains National interest and a betrayal of the voters in the referendum. Then there is the issue of constraints on there is the issue of constraints on the ability to negotiate independent trade agreements. A Customs Union would remove the bulk of incentives for other countries to enter into compounds of free trade agreements with the uk. Only hours earlier, this man, who was until recently the most senior Civil Servant, warned in no Uncertain Terms that leaving the Customs Union would damage the economy. Against bilateral deals with much smaller markets, it is like giving up a three course meal for britains business for the promise of a packet of crisps. The Customs Union needs a single set of tariffs, taxes are imposed from outside the eu. Good scan the move freely without tariffs from outside the block. Members cannot do their own trade deals with other countries. The government says leaving the Customs Union s means scope to strike trade deals with growing economies outside of the eu. That is not to everyones taste. Labour now says the uk should stay ina labour now says the uk should stay in a Customs Union with the eu after brexit. There is a clear difference between them and the government. Some conservative mps agree with labour. One of the questions is what happens here. The irish border. It will be the frontier between the uk and the eu and the question is how to avoid border checks. To date, the foreign secretary claimed a solution was possible, but was criticised for comparing it to londons congestion charge. When i was mayor of london, we are aesthetically took hundreds of millions of pounds from people travelling between those two borrowers without any need for border checks. For Boris Johnson to say that the irish border is similar to london boroughs is grotesque. The argument is on both sides continues. As discussions about britains future heads towards crunch time. Joining me now is henry newman. And jonathan porter. Henry, let us start with this crisp analogy. Factually, where do we stand if we keep a Customs Union and trade with the rest of the world. Is it ruled out immediately . The eu could broadly sell access to our markets without our control. It would keep some things easier but it would be paying the price of keeping things easier and minimising the cost of brexit, but giving up on the impossibility is. The think tank has been arguing that we need to set the cost of brexit and accept that this was fundamentally a political decision. Maybe we should delay that. We need to bring the economics into this because that is what people want. They want facts, they want to know if we pull out of the Customs Union with the eu which everybody agrees that the moment is our biggest trading partner, is the potential and the rest of the world. In many areas the facts are disputed. Just because we leave it does not mean that we cannot trade with the eu. We can have a partial Customs Union which turkey does. That still creates significant barriers to trade. Leaving the eu is going to have costs and we discussed all of this attitude to land in the Referendum Campaign. It is depressing that we are still discussing all of this two years on, rather than getting on with working out what to do afterwards. Jonathan, the problem is the lot a lot of people are revisiting that Referendum Campaign on a daily basis because we did necessarily have the fa cts because we did necessarily have the facts then. Have we got them now . We know more about the economics of leaving the eu than we did although there are still lots of uncertainties. Henry is absolutely right, if we are outside of the Customs Union we have more flexibility. That will make it easier for us to do our own trade deals with other countries. Equally, our costs and benefits of leaving the Customs Union would make trade with the rest of europe easier. I think the key thing in terms of numbers is, and of course liam fox knows this, that the cost of leaving the Single Market and the Customs Union together, estimated at between two, three, four and 8 of gdp. Those costs are very likely to substantially outweigh any games. In the long run. The governments economist was saying that and independent economists have also all come to the same conclusion. We could use to build all over the green belt in this country and build houses absolutely everywhere. We could use to have a completely open door immigration policy, but we decide that other things are more important to us. It is also the case that there is on untapped global potential. Liam fox this morning was going into whether we can make this with this part of the world, such as japan and the United States. We will not know until we start negotiating and we cant negotiate until we leave the eu. None of us have a crystal ball, but is this true that we have some insight into what is happening. I think that what we have seen is the economic effects of the referendum have been far less than what we thought before the referendum. They predicted a very significant downturn, but we have seen growth continuing and productivity gains. We are possibly growing less than we were predicted to grow, but were still growing. It is hard to be very definitive. You can grow on the basis of having a three course meal or a packet of crisps, both are growing. The worry is that with that analogy people are concerned that we are throwing out the baby with the bath water. Concerned that we are throwing out the baby with the bath waterlj think it is important to say that the big economic downsides come from leaving the Customs Union and the Single Market. Of course, neither liam fox nor jeremy Single Market. Of course, neither liam fox norJeremy Corbyn said anything very definitive about the Single Market yesterday. That is not is what happens with borders, but conforming to the same regulations and standards of the rest of europe. I agree with henry, there are political choices here and economic choices and there is almost certainly some negative Economic Impact of leaving the Single Market and the Customs Union. There also considerations as well. |j and the Customs Union. There also considerations as well. I watched the Television Debates and i listened to the principles on both sides. They all said that a vote to leave would entail leaving the Single Market. And out of the Customs Union, because they were talking about the possibility of trade deals. We can spend the next five years discussing this over and over again, but i do not think that isa over again, but i do not think that is a productive way for us to go forward. The question is what do we do with these freedoms once we have laughed at. Nobody is the question is what we do with these freedoms once we have left it. In terms of the rest of the world, is there that fast on untapped market. the rest of the world, is there that fast on untapped market. If you look ata fast on untapped market. If you look at a gravity model, which says that you should trade more with countries closer to you and we found that we are substantially under trading with some countries like canada, like india. We can dispute about the actual numbers we found but were talking about billions of pounds potential untapped trade. We can trade very well with the eu. The accept some costs of leaving the Customs Union, but ultimately we can build our trade with the rest of the world and also protect some of our trade with the eu. There clearly is Untapped Potential to trade with some countries outside of the eu. Most of the growth in the uk in future will come from those countries. Germany does not seem to be held back by being part of the eu at all. It is the most successful exporter in the world, including two places like india and china. How does that work . Because germany makes good products that people in china and india want. Being a productive and efficient competitive economy works, it will we find it easier to do that outside of the eu. In some respects, maybe, ince others maybe not. It is true, but we should be getting on with the future. We will be talking about this again. I am sorry but i think we will. Thank you. The ceasefire in syria is feared to have collapsed with reports of continued fighting in Eastern Ghouta, the enclave of damascus controlled by syrian rebels. The brief pause was ordered by syrias ally russia, which said it would be repeated daily to allow civilians to leave an estimated 400 thousand people are trapped in Eastern Ghouta, and in the last week more than 560 people have been killed. Martin patience is in beirut, in neighbouring lebanon. Can we be clear whether this is ceasefire is holding in any way. Can we be clear whether this is ceasefire is holding in any waym was supposed to be a temporary ceasefire lasting for five hours and that period is now over. During that period there was about an hour or so in the morning where it did appear to be holding, but then it broke down very quickly. The Syria Government has claimed the rebels fired mortar shells on an evacuation corridor. That did not happen and not a single civilian as far as we know actually left the besieged area. There were reports that the Syrian Government was continuing to carry out air strikes on rebel positions. A very brief pause during a temporary ceasefire. Now, after that temporary ceasefire has ended, yet more bombardments. Is there still hope that the un can get what it wants through, which is that 30 day period of total ceasefire. I think there are still efforts, but that was the attempt over the weekend and we had that Un Resolution, which the Security Council agreed on. That was supposed to show that there was international consensus, but simply, the terms of the ceasefire was so loose and so vague that countries and parties on the ground could do what they wanted. In fact, western diplomats have accused the Syrian Government and russia of doing just that. The russians and the syrians for their pa rt russians and the syrians for their part say that they can go after certain rebel groups. That means evenif certain rebel groups. That means even if it was implemented then the fighting could continue under the terms of the resolution. What we saw with this temporary pause was essentially the International Community swatted aside by russia. Vladimir putin came in, and he said essentially that the International Community isnt working. I am going to enforce a five hour pause in order to get civilians out and unitarian assistance in. To date, that has not happened. Martin, thank you. The Emergency Services say there are no more survivors in the ruins of a building in leicester that was destroyed by an explosion on sunday. Police have now named the five people who died in the blast, including a mother and her two teenage sons. Its not yet known what caused the explosion, which some residents said sounded like an earthquake. Our correspondentjames waterhouse is at the scene. Now the enquiry can get under way because they were waiting to identify the victims when they . think that is exactly right. There has been a definite gear change in the last couple of hours. This is a very fortified police cordon, the police announced in a press conference earlier that they no longer expect to find anyone alive. The blast site is a very definite gap ina the blast site is a very definite gap in a row of victorian buildings. They are now using sniffer dogs to go about the business of finding any other human mains. We have learnt the names of those who have been known to die. Mary and teenage sons. It is thought that they lived in the flat above the polish supermarket. It is thought that she worked in the supermarket on the ground floor. Five people are still being treated in hospital and one of those is being treated for life threatening injuries. Thank you. Time for a look at the weather. The one thing that we can say for certain is that everybody is feeling very cold. Pretty much the whole of europe is freezing and it is likely to stay that way for some time. What we have here is the wind flow, our air is coming from scandinavia. That could also put a stone into the heart of europe, into italy and into remainer as well. Here in bavaria in germany, it looks like the Winter Olympics is carrying on. I thought it was supposed to have finished but we have some curling taking place in those freezing temperatures. I am looking ata freezing temperatures. I am looking at a picture from right outside, thatis at a picture from right outside, that is right outside, right now. When i got up this morning it was beautiful blue sky and i wondered what on earth we were on about. We are all going to have felt something by the end of the week and we . You dont always get snow falling everywhere at the same time. You we re everywhere at the same time. You were describing the beast from the east. Somebody said it was hysteria from siberia. When the wind is in the west, there is no need to worry vest. There is no need to wear a vest. There is no need to wear a vest. We have had pictures like this, kent was affected to day. The other area that had the amber snow warning, from the met office this morning was north east england, through yorkshire that was about eight centimetres of snow. The area is forecast to get the worst of it over the last 12 hours or so, did get the worst of it. In between, there were still some snow showers and lower level warnings but few deliberate you are not seeing the same impact. The reason we had so much snow in kent was because of the thames tickler. When i spoke to you yesterday, you were off home and you we re yesterday, you were off home and you were saying that the trains would be cancelled. Did you see any snow coming in this morning . No, but i was not expecting any. But i was still delayed and delayed. This is why i am not prepared for this inquisition this afternoon. There is more to come through the rest of this week. More Severe Weather and more met office warnings. There will be more travel disruption and a significant wind chill. Not too windy at the moment but these are the snow showers that we have had earlier run and they are getting blown towards the west. The bulk of the snow will be done in eastern side of england and scotland. Nowhere is immune from snow overnight. Coming into the cold air, last night we got down to minus eight. These are the temperatures in towns and cities, in ruble areas it will be much colder. If the focus for the heavy snow tomorrow is further north. This time a good part of scotland, including the central belt. The reason we are getting so much snow here is because the easterly wind is picking up and blowing in heavy snow shower after heavy snow shower. There will be some snow showers elsewhere but they will be interspersed with more sunshine, many southern areas and the south east becoming sunny. Temperatures tomorrow lower than they have been, if you thought it was called today it will feel like 10 was called today it will feel like 10 in the wind. And, coming into the colder, as if things werent bad enough we have this area of low pressure coming up. That is going to bring snow across southern parts of the uk. To the north, we still have those snow showers going in the north east of the uk. Then we have a slice of something a bit drier, perhaps in Northern England and east anglia. There are still two amber weather warnings in thursday. Those are the temperatures again, as we head into thursday, similar to what we have hard. Again, youll force winds and bitterly cold. All of the snow that we have towards the south west is going to start to move its way north. The question is how far north it will get before it gets a little bit less called before the weekend. This is bbc news. Our latest headlines. heavy snow in parts of the uk forces hundreds of schools to close and is causing travel disruption. Three people die in a crash in lincolnshsire where driving conditions are described as treacherous. International trade secretary liam fox says being in any form of Customs Union with the eu after brexit would be a complete sellout for the uk but his former top official criticises the governments strategy. If youre going to give that up for the promise of some bilateral deals with markets that are much less important to us, its like giving up a three course meal for a packet of crisps. Its just not equivalent. A mother and two of her sons are believed to be among five people who were killed in an explosion in leicester. A temporary ceasefire in the rebel held area of Eastern Ghouta in syria has collapsed. Airstrikes and shelling have been reported and no aid has been able to reach civilians trapped in the area. Us cable tv giant comcast has made a £22 billion pound bid for sky, challenging an existing offer from Rupert Murdochs 21st century fox. Sport now on afternoon. Live with hugh. What is going on . We will go from wembley to the road to wembley. Its another replay for premier League Swansea the first side to play replays in the third, fourth and fifth round in more than 10 years. They will once against try to get the better of championship opposition when they host Sheffield Wednesday in their fa cup fifth round replay later. Thats swansea manager carlos carvalhals former club, who ten days ago held the Top Flight Team to a goalless draw in the original tie. A place in the quarter finals, and a meeting with tottenham or third tier rochdale is whats at stake. That game is live on bbc one tonight. Kick off at 8pm. Hibernian head coach neil lennon has received two charges from the scottish fa, following saturdays 2 2 draw at kilmarnock. Lennon reacted angrily when the referee awarded kilmarnock a penalty, which led to their equaliser. He was sent to the stands and later described the standard of refereeing in scotland as mickey mouse. Hes facing charges of misconduct and criticising a match official. Tottenham are likely to request that their opening few premier league games next season are away fixtures, as they finish bulding their new ground. Spurs have been playing their home matches at wembley during the redevelopment of Tottenham Hotspur stadium, which is still on course to be finished this summer, but the club want a contingency plan, in case of any last minute hold ups. The eight time olympic gold medallist usain bolt will fulfil a life long dream injune, when he plays football at old trafford. Hes a huge Manchester United fan and has made no secret of the fact hed love to be a professional footballer, and his first step will be as captain of the world 11, in the soccer aid match, where hell take on singer Robbie Williams england side. The teams will feature a list stars and footballing legends and bolt says he has a special celebration planned, for when not if he scores. Wales prop wynjones will miss the rest of the six nations because of a hamstring injury. Hes come off the bench in the opening three matches and was injured during the defeat to ireland last weekend. Wales have chosen not to bring in a replacement. Women golfers will play in a mens European Tour team event for the first time, later this year. Ryder cup captain thomas bjorn will partner solheim cup skipper catriona matthew, in the golfsixes tournament at the Centurion Club near st albans in may. The event has a six hole match play format and will also feature mens and womens teams its aim is to be the equivalent of crickets twenty20 competition. In snooker. The welsh open continues. Its live on bbc two in wales, the red button and the sport website. Williams is currently leading. A ceremonys taken place in beijing to mark the start of the tour of the olympic flag, leading up to the citys 2022 olympic and paralympic winter games. The flag was carried on stage at the badaling section of the great wall of china in yanqing district, which will host competitions for bobsleigh and skiing. China has seen a recent boom in Winter Sports and president xijinping has pledged to get 300 million chinese on skis and skates in time for the games. Thats all the sport for now. Ill have more for you in the next hour. Thank you very much. Americas biggest cable operator is trying to buy sky television. Comcast, which owns the Us Tv Network nbc and universal pictures, has put in a bid of £22 billion. The offer challenges an existing one from 21st century fox, which already has a Minority Stake in sky. Joining me now from barcelona isjoe mayes, News Reporter at bloomberg. To bea to be a fly on the wall at Rupert Murdochs bedroom this morning when he heard this news. This really stirs things up, doesnt it . It definitely does. It looks like fox will have to come back with an improved bid for sky. Or even disney might want to make their own bid for sky. It is that the cat among the pigeons. It has. Potentially it could leave Rupert Murdoch with nothing. Exactly. This is a complete turnaround from where we were in december of 2016 when fox first announced its bid for sky. It look like then that this deal will go through. I dont do we could have expected this between disney tarmac and sky. What is in it for comcast . They have said they really value skys technology. They also want to diversify out of the us where they are seeing challenges of cord cutting with threats from net and amazon. It would also give them the ability to distribute their content more in europe. I heard you talking only last week about the concerns about the future of sky news. What would it mean for that . Comcast came out this morning and were very clear that they would want to keep sky news open. They highly valued their channel. I think that would be reassuring for some of the journalist that work there. There we re journalist that work there. There were talks that perhaps disney would close the channel if they were to acquire sky. It is a loss making channel but tarmac have said that they value it and they would keep it open. That is reassuring for journalists. The share price is inevitably soaring. How do you think Rupert Murdoch will respond will he put more money on the table . He has done that before . That is a very difficult question. Fox are a seller of sky. They said they would vote disney if they were to it. They might want to fox. What will now can be . The irony is that he does not have control over things at the moment. He does not have the control he would like. Very much so. The ball is in his court. Indeed, in disneys court. If they want, with a higher offerfor sky. The disneys court. If they want, with a higher offer for sky. The sky share price has gone up significantly today because people think disney will come in with their own data. We will come in with their own data. We will have a bidding contest here. That is good news for shareholders. What about the viewers . What will change for them . It is very difficult to say. Would not be expected to make a significant changes. I think this is more a case of who ultimately owns the asset and who gets the revenues from sky which has been a very successful business in recent years. It is good of you tojoin us. Joining us from barcelona. Thank you very much. The eus chief brexit negotiator has been giving an update on brexit negotiations warning that negotiations between the uk and the eu were not yet advanced enough to guarantee that britain would get a transition agreement. Adam fleming can join adam fleming canjoin me now. I saw you in the News Conference earlier. These are regular conferences and given the backdrop of what is going on here and the speech as we hear, what Michel Barnier is about everything is that there is no movement and things are still stalled. We need to break it down into a few things. He said that he is concerned about their disagreements as he sees it between the uk and eu on how this transition period should work the period that the uk prefers to call in fermentation face. It will one from brexit day in march 2019 to either the end of december 2023 month after that as the uks visit. Here is what Michel Barnier had to say about how the negotiations were going so far. There are significant points of disagreement with the uk as to what we understand by transition, the conditions for such and the dimensions. For example, the duration. Logically enough, we wish it to end on the 31st of december 2020. The uk would like to maintain this duration openly, which is not possible. Ijust i just bumped into ijust bumped into the senior people on the brexit negotiating team as they were walking into the European Commission to have a negotiating session. I put that comment to them and they said Michel Barnier was talking nonsense. They did not use that word but they said that their policy is that the Implementation Phase could be time limited they just disagree on that specific of when that should be. Interestingly, Michel Barnier said that he thought that the technical talks that officials were getting bogged down on this and he said david davis should get involved and direct talks with Michel Barnier straightaway to unblock the blockages. It is as clear as mud. Where the truth lies, is between the two . I think we will only know where once it is written down ina only know where once it is written down in a document that has been agreed by both sides and agreed by the eu 27. The british would like it to be sort of look like that by the end of march because that is when there is a summit of eu leaders because they think that means business gets enough certainty before Brexit States the following march. The eu says you will not get certainty on whether the transition period exists and the terms of it until everything in the whole brexit treaty is agreed. Which brings me on to what will happen tomorrow. We are going to get a first draft from the European Commission that brexit treaty, what they call the withdrawal agreement. 120 pages, 168 paragraphs of dense legal language setting out the times of the divorce and the departure times for the uk as it leaves the eu. Michel barnier says it should not come as a surprise to anybody because all it is is turning into legal treaty language the commitments that were made by both sides in theirjoint report that they signed in december. Soa report that they signed in december. So a very technical legal step this is the first draft of the treaty that theresa may will find that will make brexit happen. You heard this phrase from one of doctor foxs teams saying that any pulling out of the Customs Union will be like treading a three course meal for a packet of crisps. That must bring the odd smile in brussels. It is interesting because we put a another comment to Michel Barnier. Dealing with the irish border would be about as complicated as handling the congestion charge in london for cars driving in london. I asked Michel Barnier what he thought about that and mr barnier said that the person he really listened to and the words that really counted on theresa may, the prime minister. I would thought you again later. Very much. Thank you very much. The foreign secretary borisjohnson says the government wont fund any aid agency that allows the exploitation of women in southern syria. It follows evidence given to the bbc that some women in the south of the country have been exploited by men delivering aid on behalf of the United Nations and international charities. Heres our diplomatic correspondent, james landale. Exposure the fighting continues. Demand for six from local simians. They were withholding the aid that had been delivered and using these women for sex said this was a range of women. They were women of different ages of the group. Some had experienced at themselves, some we re very had experienced at themselves, some were very distraught. Daniel spencer is an experienced aid worker, she heard the stories from women who had fled to jordan and heard the stories from women who had fled tojordan and they told her that many refuse to go to distribution centres because people would assume they had offered their bodies for aid. Two Charities Care and International Rescue committee warned about this abuse three years ago and tightened up their procedures. But a report from the Un Population fund late last year confirmed that sex was still being traded for aid. Sexual exportation and abuse of women and girls have been ignored, it has been known about and it has been ignored for seven yea rs. About and it has been ignored for seven years. This war is seven years old. The un and the system as it currently stands have chosen for winnings bodies to be sacrificed. The department for International Development said it was not aware of any cases like this involving uk aid and if their work, the foreign secretary said the funding will be stopped. This year we have talked a great deal about this in the last few weeks since the whole business broker with oxfam and someone. And we are absolutely committed to a zero tolerance approach. Can it be stopped . We would support agencies that engage in that kind of activity. Un agencies and charity said they have zero tolerance of exploitation but were not aware of any cases of abuse by their own partner organisations. One un spokesman played down the report saying they were incomplete, fragmented and unsubstantiated. Ina in a moment we will have the business news. First a look at the headlines on afternoon live. Heavy snowfall is causing disruption across the uks leading the road disruption, cancelled trains and closed schools. Liam fox says a Customs Union will be a sell out. A temporary ceasefire of the syrian enclave of Eastern Ghouta appears to have collapsed and with more air strikes and shelling. Hello, here is your business headlines. Us cable tv giant comcast has made a £22. 1 billion bid for sky, challenging an existing offer from Rupert Murdochs 21st century fox. It had already agreed to buy the 61 of sky it does not already own. Comcast boss Brian Roberts says hes confident the offer would be cleared by regulators. More on this in a moment. Ryanair is to close its base at glasgow airport, and cut the number of routes out of glasgow from 23 to just three. Its warned that 300 jobs could go as a result. The low cost airline has blamed the change on the cost of air Passenger Duty and said glasgow simply could not bear the burden. Provident financial shares rocketed over 80 this morning after its results were warmly welcomed by investors who clearly feared much worse. The rally comes despite providents vanquis bank arm being slapped with a £2 million fine and ordered to pay £168. 8 million in compensation to customers lumbered with its pricey repayment option plan. The performance of House Builders often seen as an indicator of the wider economy. It is really interesting. We have had a lot of data showing a slowdown in house prices. A report has been released as saying that london is now a buyers might though if you speak to anyone from to buy a house in london they might disagree. The results show an increase in sales and profits so it is quite surprising for some housing analyst. Joining us now is Ashley Hamilton klaxon. Thank you forjoining us. These are quite interesting results, arent they . Because we are seeing this pick up yet data shows a slowdown in growth and likei yet data shows a slowdown in growth and like i said, a lot of people calling london a buyers market. They are interesting results. The company is facing a lot of tailwinds around helped by which has helped bolster that. Do you think this is sustainable . It is hard to say really. The company has produced fairly good returns for shareholders. There has been a lot of government policy to help support House Builders over the last few years and we have seen pretty big executive pay outs as a result of that. Executive payouts certainly cost a few Percentage Points in december. It was revealed that the boss was paid £99 million in terms of bonus. Which of the share price dipa of bonus. Which of the share price dip a little. How is that going on at the moment . Is a lot of resentment was that without we have not spoken to management about that. Shareholders have been raising concerns about executive pay over a numberof concerns about executive pay over a number of years. The pay scheme was uncapped so the risk was that with government policy and help to buy that there was a large upward potential for pay outs to executives. We raised concerns about that over the last year. Thank you very much forjoining us. And then well all be familiar with Jerome Powell soon. He is making a testimony today. He is the new chair of the federal reserves. There he is not looking very happy. It is basically his hopes and dreams for the us economy. We are hoping joe miller will be able to interpret for us. Hejoins us now from the new york stock exchange. He is very pro interest rise, any clue of surprise that . Not really. When i got here around 8 30am everyone was prowling their computer screens in order to scrutinise these remarks to look for surprises. What they were looking for was any indication whatsoever that he might be more aggressive than his predecessor when it comes to raising Interest Rates. As one trader told me before, he played it straight on the middle. There was very neutral language in his prepared remarks and that is why you have seen the markets relatively stable. They were also looking for one other thing, they were looking for what his assessment of the big Market Correction we saw here just a few weeks ago is, if he spooked by it . And the answer really is no. Based on the preprepared remarks. In about ten minutes he will get questioned by politicians in washington and then we will see what he has to say further on this issue, but at the moment, the markets arent spooked at all. Ok. Investors probably already priced that in. I had better let you go and listen to that speech. Ok, we should perhaps have a quick look at the markets. And particularly sky. Sky holders rubbing their hands this morning. They seem pretty confident, the boss of comcast being confident that their offer is going to be passed by regulators. A little bit more luck than Rupert Murdoch had with his bed. Investors probably a little surprised at the extent of the simian the success. It is a bit flat today. It seems to be turning green so some big share price is doing quite well. I will talk to you again later. Thank you very much. Research suggests students from poorer backgrounds are more likely to live at home whilst at university than their richer counterparts, and it could be limiting their life chances. The sutton trust says moving to a bigger city to study is often what it calls an escalator for social mobility. Elaine dunkley reports. They are the commuter students studying for degrees, while living at home. The independence and freedom of living away comes at too high a cost. I cant work as much as i can when im studying full time. I wouldnt be able to afford the fees and it would cost me opportunities when i leave university and i dont want to leave with too much debt. I live at home six days a week and i sometimes stay in london for one night to sort of break up the commute a little bit. According to a report published today, the likelihood of moving out of the family home to study at university is linked to social class. Disadvantaged students across the uk are three times more likely to live at home than those from wealthier families. Pupils who attend state school are more than twice as likely to stay at home than those who were privately educated. Ethnicitys also an important factor. British pakistani and British Bangladeshi students are over six times more likely than white students to stay living at home. One of the issues we think is finance and of course the government is reviewing in england the Higher Education funding at the moment, student financing, and we believe that there should be means tested grants, maintenance grants, for students from poorer backgrounds, and actually, we would say, means tested fees. The government is currently carrying out a review into different ways of studying for a degree, but todays reprt suggests not but todays report suggests not being able to move away from home is restricting choice, preventing young people from picking up life skills and ultimately hindering social mobility. Elaine dunkley, bbc news. Must have a look at that weather forecast. Hello there. The amber snow warnings for the south east of england and Northern England have now expired. Weve had a lot of snow earlier on today in those same area. This was sevenoaks in kent. It has been very snowy around maidstone and here in the north east of england, in northumberland. A lot of snow has fallen earlier on. It has been whipping around in the wind and particularly heavy snow over the Higher Ground. Through the rest of this week, theres more to come. There are more met office snow warnings, more travel disruption and with the wind picking up, there will be a significant wind chill. If you thought it was cold already, wait until tomorrow. This siberian air coming our way on a strengthening easterly wind and that easterly wind will blow in more snow showers through the rest of the overnight. It is going to be the eastern side of the uk that sees the bulk of those, although there could be if you getting through to the west. We will have some clearer skies here as well. The snow showers through the Channel Islands leaving here living in the southern part of devon and cornwall later in the night. Another cold one, were down to 8 in one or two places last night, similar numbers tonight. Our focus for the heaviest snow in the wednesday and into thursday, actually, its going to be further north. We have got snow warnings from the met office for northern and eastern scotland through the central belt and north east england. 15 centimetres, maybe even more than that in some areas. It is just going to be snow shower after snow shower he had driven on by those strong to gale force easterly winds. Further south, there will be some snow showers as well although southern parts of england and do tend to be to be somewhat drier and sunnier. Those temperatures, maximum temperatures, a little bit lower than today, but add on the strength of the wind and it really will feel bitterly cold. 11, 10 celsius. Those snow showers in the north will continue overnight but there is a big area of low pressure here that is moving northwards from iberia. That is moving into the cold air and it is going to bring with it some wetter weather. That is obviously going to be snow and the main focus of that will be across more southern areas of the uk with the heaviest snow were likely to be in the south west of england and south wales. Then we have got a slice of something a little bit dryer before we are back into those snow showers that continue especially across northern and eastern scotland. Another cold day, perhaps not getting above freezing in many places but we have still got that bitterly cold easterly wind, so again it will feel more like 9, 10. Hello, youre watching afternoon live. These are the headlines at 3pm. Freezing temperatures and heavy snow cause disruption across many parts of the country. Make sure you are only making that journey if it is absolutely necessary. You can be sure that the motorways are going to be cleared and treated but that is not to say that other areas will not have snow on the ground. As International Trade secretary liam fox defends plans to leave the Customs Union his former top official says it should stay on the brexit menu if youre going to give that up for the promise of some bilateral deals with markets that are much less important to us, its like giving up a three course meal for a packet of crisps. Its just not equivalent. A temporary ceasefire in the syrian enclave of Eastern Ghouta appears to have collapsed with more airstrikes and shelling. Coming up on afternoon live all the sport news. The fa cup returning this evening. Elsewhere men and women will play side by side on the golf. My word, there is plenty of weather. Simon, not everywhere is seeing heavy snow at the same time, but there are more met office snow warnings for the week ahead. That means more travel disruption and on top of that, the easterly wind, the beast from the eastis easterly wind, the beast from the east is going to be strengthening. Thank you, darren. Also coming up, it is in black and white. The warning that Global Warming could have a devastating impact on king penguins. Heavy snowfall is hitting parts of the uk, causing road, rail and flight disruption in many areas. Police say driving conditions are treacherous in places there were 20 collisions within three hours on lincolnshires roads. Three people died there. There has been another death in temperature. And theres a warning from the met office that if you havent seen snow yet by the end of the week there has been another death in temperature. There has been another death in cambridgeshire. The lack of traffic overnight, meant that snow could not do its work. Accidents and ice had closed a series of routes including the m20 which became in effect a lorry park. Elsewhere, conditions added time tojourney lorry park. Elsewhere, conditions added time to journey times. You can be assured that the motorways and major trunk roads will have been cleared and treated, but that is not to say that other areas are not going to have snow on the ground. That may affect traction and the way that your vehicle handles. Up to ten centimetres of snow fell across kent. Farmers were put on stand by to keep minor routes open. Many families heeded advice to stay at home until conditions improve and sometimes at villagers staged their own Winter Olympics. The greater hazards lie away from main roads, where there is less traffic than. That brought a series of accidents which began before dawn. It has caused the closure of dozens of schools. In norfolk, where 36 schools. In norfolk, where 36 schools were closed, the freezing conditions disrupted rail services. Greater anglia trains said they were forced to cancel services. Trains have to go slower. The points can freeze and the signals can freeze and that means if the points freeze then basically the claim cannot go in the right direction. The amber warning also covers north east england, where problems caused by snow and ice mirrored those further south. Crawling traffic, pedestrians slithering through their daily routines. But, on tynemouth beach, these swimmers defied subzero temperatures. Earlier, i got the latest from our correspondents in essex and at london bridge. First, we are in North Yorkshire. Simon, this weather changes by the minute. Not long ago we we re changes by the minute. Not long ago we were standing here talking in a blizzard, but now look at it. It is beautiful. We have had a fair bit of snow appear on the north york moors. As you can see just looking at it, it is several centimetres deep. I think the fear is that i think the feeling is that disruption has been kept to a minimum because of the snowploughs and gritters. They have been gritting the main a170. You will see cars going past occasionally. It is not as busy as it normally is. This is the view up to whitby on the yorkshire coast. Elsewhere, there has been significant disruption and we have had several schools closed as a result of the snow. Police in the region have been working extra hard. There have been a number of accidents. We know about Lincolnshire Police and they were dealing with a number of issues this morning. Merseyside police were dealing with similar issues. On the m62 police say they had a busy morning. The advice is that if you are heading to the airport, allow yourself plenty of time to travel. The concern is that with ice on the roads and further snow predicted, conditions are likely to get worse. That is the situation here in North Yorkshire, lets go down to ethics. Lets go down to sx. Probably around half the normal numberof trains running probably around half the normal number of trains running down to london. That will of had a serious impact, why giving that conditions are not as bad as expected. That is because network rail had to make decisions based on forecast. They did not want to run the risk of trains full of people becoming stuck in snowdrifts, for example, in the moat locations that no one could get to. They took the decision to offer the service they felt the infrastructure could cope with. Trains do not cope well with low temperatures as points can freeze and signals can fail and trains need to run more slowly. Going forward, Greater Anglia who won trains from here and othertrain Greater Anglia who won trains from here and other Train Companies are looking ahead and theyll sing forecasts with more problems. And they are seeing that network rail is suggesting further disruption to services are likely that they will have to run a reduced service overnight. The finishing earlier tonight here certainly than normally would and tomorrow it is likely that there will be further disruption, of course, there will be further disruption, of course , passengers are there will be further disruption, of course, passengers are urged to check online to see what the latest information is. More now on the travel situation. Lets talk to my league who was at london bridge. We have had reports in from essex police, where you are that they are dealing with a number of crashes in the last few hours alone. Driving conditions rain treacherous and the claims here are the worst affected at the moment. Lots of people have decided not to take to the roads if they can. Some of the updates coming through from the Train Companies, several have been hit with delays and cancellations and the remaining services are running very busy. Severe weather is suggesting a numberof Severe Weather is suggesting a number of companies. South eastern, which comes into here and the stansted express and tefl rail. This is expected to continue today and into weapons say on thursday as well. They are expecting to reduce some of those services. This is expected to continue today and into wednesday. It is real areas that are likely to see the most amount of disruption, they are not putting on extra services and not necessarily putting on replacement buses. The ruble roads that are used less frequently more likely to be clogged up frequently more likely to be clogged up by frequently more likely to be clogged up by the snow. This is expected to continue on for at least another couple of days. Just to bring you an update, the number of closed schools in kent has risen to more than 339. We arejust sharing in kent has risen to more than 339. We are just sharing from someone at the county council. It is down to individual headteachers to decide whether it is necessary to close their school or not. 339 is the latest figure. That is from kent, alone. Its fine where you are at the moment, it is coming your way. What advice you to motorists . Be prepared. We have had some serious weather coming through and we are expecting it around midday tomorrow onwards. We are ready as a team down here and hopefully motorists are getting prepared for some travel chaos, which is well on its way. What advice do you give to people, what do they need to check on their cars . Easiest way to describe it as a thing called flower. Which is easy way to describe it as a thing called flour. Make sure that your normal levels are topped up. There is no point in filling the car with water as apple freeze inside of the bottle. We would advise around three mill of rubber on those tyres. It may be worth popping down to the garage. You may be in their best for by four on earth, but youre only able to go as fast as the car in of you. You can have the best tyres and the best vehicle in the world but you if you are stuck behind another motorist who has not got a capability than the best advice i can give you is to leave them a bit of room. Likewise, pack a few things in the car, so if you are stuck in a tailback, you have plenty of surprise of warm drinks. What advice do you give to younger drivers who have maybe not driven in snow before, what is the advice and the safest way to drive in those conditions . Everything is planning. Look at the roads around and check the local council s website to see which roads have been gritted. Stick to those roads as best as you can and if you do have two venture off them slow right down, nice gentle acceleration and braking and steering and if you are on those gritted roads do not take it for at granted that lateral work. And see and be seen. Check your lights and make sure they are wiped before you leave the house. Check all of your lights, you do not want to get a few milestone the road and find that they are not working. How are your arms . Very well thank you. You watching afternoon life. You can keep up to date with all of the weather disruption, just go to the bbc website. And if you are out and about, bbc local radio across england will keep you up to date. If you are elsewhere in the uk, bbc scotland, wales and ulster will give you all the latest. The International Trade secretary liam fox has been delivering a speech about brexit. He talked about future trade opportunities and restated the governments intention to leave the Customs Union. He also claimed its not in the interests of the uk or the eu to put in place barriers to trade. Our Political Correspondent alex forsyth reports from westminster. He came to explain which way brexit is heading. In front of business leaders, the International Trade secretary restated the governments case. Arguing that staying in the Customs Union would bind the uk to eu rules and limit trade opportunities. It would be a compleat salad of Britains National interests and a betrayal of the voters in the referendum. Then there is the ability of constraints on the uk to organise trade deals. Only hours earlier, this man who was until recently the most senior Civil Servant in the department for trade, warned in no Uncertain Terms that leaving the Single Market and the Customs Union would damage the economy. Against bilateral deals with much smaller markets, it is like giving up a three course meal for britains business for the promise of a packet of crisps. Single set of tariffs is imposed on gods from outside the eu. Then they can move freely without tariffs around the block. Members cannot do their own trade deals with other countries. The government, whose cabinet members gathered for a meeting this morning. That is not to everyones test. Labour now says that the uk should stay in a Customs Union with the eu after brack said. There is a clear difference between them and the government and some conservative mps agree with labour. Making the politics of this as tricky as the practicalities. One of the questions is what happens here, the questions is what happens here, the irish border, what will be the frontier between the uk and eu. To date, the foreign secretary lamed a solution was possible. But was criticised for comparing it to londons congestion charge. When i was mayor of london, we invisibly took hundreds of millions of pounds from the accounts of people travelling between those two borrowers without any need for border checks whatever. This is grotesque. The arguments on both sides continue as the complex negotiations on britains future heads towards crunch time. In brussels, the eus chief the gusher of Michel Barnier s warned the uk that they could not pick and choose what they wanted. We are responsible for guaranteeing the integrity of the Single Market. The uk knows what laws underpin that integrity because they have been helping us put them together for the last a0 years. They have been helping us put them together for the last 40 years. That was Michel Barnier. The headlines this afternoon. Heavy snowfall is causing disruption across the uk leading to hazardous Road Conditions and hundreds of closed schools. The International Trade secretary, liam fox, says that the uk must be free to make its own trade deals after brexit. Air strikes and shelling resume in Eastern Ghouta as a temporary ceasefire lapses. And in sport, hibernian head coach has been handed to charges by the scottish fa after criticising the referee during their premiership draw with kilmarnock at the weekend. And women and men will play together at a European Tour golf event for the first time later this year as the new golf sixers is launched. I will be back with more of those stories just after half past. The ceasefire in syria is feared to have collapsed the brief pause was ordered by syrias ally russia, which said it would be repeated daily to allow civilians to leave. An estimated 400 thousand people are trapped in Eastern Ghouta, and in the last week more than 560 people have been killed. Our correspondent martin patience is following developments from neighbouring lebanon. It was supposed to be a temporary ceasefire lasting for five hours. That period is now over and during that period there was about an hour or so that period there was about an hour orso in the that period there was about an hour or so in the morning where it did appear to be holding, but then it broke down very quickly. The Syrian Government has claimed the rebels fired mortar shells on an evacuation corridor. The civilians were supposed to flee out of it. That did not happen. Not a single civilian as far as we know actually left the besieged area. Then there were reports that the Syrian Government was continuing to carry out air strikes on rebel positions. A very brief pause during a temporary ceasefire. Now, after that has ended, yet more bombardment. Ceasefire. Now, after that has ended, yet more bombardmentm there still hope that the un can get what it once through, which is of course a 30 day period of a total ceasefire. I think there are still efforts, but that was their attempt over the weekend. We have that Un Resolution which the Security Council agreed on and that is supposed to show that there was international consensus. Simply, the terms of the ceasefire was so loose and so vague that countries, parties on the ground could do what they wanted. In fact, western diplomats have accused the Syrian Government and roger of doing just that. The russians and the syrians for their pa rt russians and the syrians for their part say that they can go after certain rebel groups because they are affiliated to alanda. That means even if it was implemented, the fighting could continue under the fighting could continue under the terms of the resolution. What we saw with his temporary pause was essentially the International Community swatted aside by russia. Putin came in and said that the International Community wasnt working and i am going to enforce a five hour pause in order to get civilians out and she managed a ring assistance in. Humanitarian assistance in. Humanitarian assistance in. Humanitarian assistance in. This follows evidence given to the bbc that some women in the south of the country have been exploited by men delivering aid on behalf of the United Nations and international charities. He resorted to manic correspondent. Here is our diplomatic correspondent. Here in rebel held Eastern Ghouta and elsewhere, the fighting continues. It has now emerged that some refugees fleeing the continent have faced demands for sex from officials delivering aid on behalf of international charities. They were both holding the age that had been delivered they were withholding the aid that had been delivered and using these women for sex. This was a range of women, the women of different ages in the group and some had experienced at themselves and some were very had experienced at themselves and some were very distraught. Daniel spencer Danielle Spencer is an experienced aid worker. Many women told her that they refused to go to aid centres because people would assume they had offered their bodies foraid. Assume they had offered their bodies for aid. Two charities warned about this abuse years ago and tightened up this abuse years ago and tightened up their procedures. Airport last confirmed that sex was still being traded for aid. Sexual exploitation and abuse of women and girls has been ignored. For seven years it has been ignored. For seven years it has been ignored. For seven years it has been ignored. This war is seven yea rs old been ignored. This war is seven years old and the system as it currently stands have chosen for womens bodies to be sacrificed. The department for International Development said it was not aware of any cases like this involving uk aid. If there were, the foreign secretary said the funding would be stopped. We have talked about this a lot in the last few weeks since the whole business broke with oxfam and so on. We are absolutely committed toa so on. We are absolutely committed to a zero tolerance approach. Can be stoppeds we will not support agencies which engage in that kind of activity. One un spokesman played down the report saying that they we re down the report saying that they were incomplete, fragmented and unsubstantiated. The Emergency Services say there are no more survivors in the ruins of a building in leicester that was destroyed by an explosion on sunday. Police have now named the five people who died in the blast, including a mother and her two teenage sons. Its not yet known what caused the explosion, which some residents said sounded like an earthquake. Our correspondentjames waterhouse is at the scene. There has been a definite gear change in the last couple of hours. This is a very fortified police cordon, the police announced in a press conference earlier that they no longer expect to find anyone alive. The blast site is a very definite gap in a row of victorian buildings. They are now using sniffer dogs to go about the business of finding any other human remains. We have learnt the names of those who have been known to die. They were Mary Ragoobar and her teenage sons, shane and sean. It is thought that they lived in the flat above the polish supermarket. Also killed was leah beth reek. Another of the victims was viktorija ljevleva. It is thought that she worked in the supermarket on the ground floor. Five people are still being treated in hospital and one of those is being treated for life threatening injuries. Police in Northern Ireland say at least three people have died in a house fire in county fermanagh. Emergency Services Remain at the scene at the property in derrylin. Police have arrested a 27 year old man on suspicion of murder. The number of people in britain living with diabetes has doubled over the past twenty years, according to a leading charity. Diabetes uk say nearly 3 point 7 Million People have the condition, and a million more could be living with it undiagnosed. Theyve described the illness as the Fastest Growing Health Crisis of our time. Hello, the early amber snow warnings for england have expired. We have had a lot of snow earlier on today in those same areas. This was kent being very snowy and share in the north east of england, in northumberland are a lot of snow has fallen earlier one. It has been whipping around in the wind. Through the rest of this week there is more to come. There are more metalfirst snow warnings and more travel disruption. With the wind picking up. If you thought it was called wait until tomorrow, that is to lead wind will blow in more snow showers through the rest of today and overnight. It will be the east of the uk that sees the bulk of those hello there could be a few getting through to the west. We will have some clear skies here as well. Another called one, we are down to 8 another called one, we are down to 8 and similar numbers tonight. Similar focus 8 and similar numbers tonight. Similarfocus for 8 and similar numbers tonight. Similar focus for heavier snow. 15 centimetres, eat maybe even more than that in some areas. It will be snow shower after snow shower here. Driven on by those strong to gale force easterly winds. In the south, there will be some snow showers as well. Those temperatures, maximum temperature is a little bit lower than today, but add on the strength of the wind and it will feel bitterly cold. More like 9 or minus ten. Those snow showers in the north will continue overnight, but there isa will continue overnight, but there is a big area of pressure that is moving north from iberia. The main focus of the snow will be across southern areas of the uk. Then we have a slice of something a little bit drier before were back into those snow showers. Another cold day, perhaps not getting above freezing in many places, but we still have that bit bitterly cold easterly wind. It will feel more like 9 easterly wind. It will feel more like 9 or minus ten. This is bbc news. Our latest headlines Train Services have been cancelled and hundreds of schools have been closed because of heavy snow. In lincolnshire, three people have died ina in lincolnshire, three people have died in a crash. Police say there we re died in a crash. Police say there were 20 accidents in three hours. International trade secretary liam fox says being in any form of Customs Union with the eu after brexit would be a complete sellout for the uk, but his former top official criticises the governments strategy. If youre going to give that up for the promise of some bilateral deals with markets that are much less important to us, its like giving up a three course meal for a packet of crisps. Its just not equivalent. A mother and two of her sons are believed to be among five people who were killed in an explosion in leicester. A temporary ceasefire in the rebel held area of Eastern Ghouta in syria has collapsed airstrikes and shelling have been reported and no aid has been able to reach civilians trapped in the area. Us cable tv giant comcast makes a £22 billion bid for sky, challenging an existing offer from Rupert Murdochs 21st century fox. Sport now on afternoon live, with hugh. Hugh, from the league cup, we are back to the fa cup this evening. Of course, yes, we switch from the league cup back to another competition, the fa cup. Its another replay for premier League Swansea the first side to play replays in the third, fourth and fifth round in more than ten years in fact. Not n ot exa ctly not exactly what swansea would have wanted. They will once again try to get the better of championship opposition when they host Sheffield Wednesday in their fa cup fifth round replay later. Thats swansea manager carlos carvalhals former club, who ten days ago held the Top Flight Team to a goalless draw in the original tie. A place in the quarter finals, and a meeting with tottenham or third tier rochdale is whats at stake. That game is live on bbc one tonight. Kick off is at five past eight. Theres commentary and coverage on five live and the bbc sport website as well. Tottenham are likely to request that their opening few premier league games next season are away fixtures, as they finish bulding their new ground. Spurs have been playing their home matches at wembley during the redevelopment of Tottenham Hotspur stadium, which is still on course to be finished this summer but the club want a contingency plan, in case of any last minute hold ups. Hibernian head coach neil lennon has received two charges from the scottish fa, following saturdays 2 all draw at kilmarnock. Lennon reacted angrily when the referee awarded kilmarnock a penalty, which led to their equaliser. He was sent to the stands and later described the standard of refereeing in scotland as mickey mouse. Hes facing charges of misconduct and criticising a match official. The eight time olympic gold medallist usain bolt will fulfil a life long dream injune, when he plays football at old trafford. Hes a huge Manchester United fan and has made no secret of the fact hed love to be a professional footballer and his first step will be as captain of the world eleven, in the soccer aid match, where hell take on singer Robbie Williams england side. The teams will feature a list stars and footballing legends, and bolt says he has a special celebration planned, for when he scores. Wales prop wynjones will miss the rest of the six nations because of a hamstring injury. Hes come off the bench in the opening three matches and was injured during the defeat to ireland last weekend. Wales have chosen not to bring in a replacement. Women golfers will play in a mens European Tour team event for the first time, later this year. Ryder cup captain thomas bjorn will partner solheim cup skipper catriona matthew, in the golfsixes tournament at the Centurion Club, near st albans, in may. The event has a six hole match play format and will also feature mens and womens teams its aim is to be the equivalent of crickets twenty20 competition. Wales Mark Williams has beaten englands mark king by four frames to two to move into the second round of the welsh open. Williams opened up a 3 0 lead and although king managed to rally, the two time World Champion held on to reach the next round. Williams is going for a third welsh open title, having last won the trophy back in 1999. Ken doherty and Matthew Stevens at the table right now. Ken doherty and Matthew Stevens at the table right now. A ceremonys taken place in beijing to mark the start of the tour of the olympic flag, leading up to the citys 2022 olympic and paralympic winter games. The flag was carried on stage at the badaling section of the great wall of china, in yanqing district, which will host competitions for bobsleigh and skiing. China has seen a recent boom in Winter Sports, and president xijinping has pledged to get 300 million chinese on skis and skates in time for the games. Thats all the sport for now. There will be more sport in the next hour. But all at once, presumably . Not the 300 million all at once a big pairof not the 300 million all at once a big pair of skis i dont know how that will go, but not well thank you very much. You were watching afternoon live on bbc news. The ceasefire in syria is feared to have collapsed with reports of continued fighting in Eastern Ghouta, the brief pause was ordered by syrias ally, russia, which said it would be repeated daily to allow civilians to leave. An estimated 400,000 people are trapped in Eastern Ghouta and, in the last week, more than 560 people have been killed. Our middle east editor, jeremy bowen, is with me. Are we surprised, it has not happened, never mind lasted. Not really. There have been reports that while there was shooting and shelling and air strikes, it was not as intense as other days. But yes, it hasnt gone that well and that is very much the kind of thing one has come to expect. Except that when Vladimir Putin says this is going to happen, in the past, it sort of has. Yes, there are a lot of humanitarian hopes for today and i think it has become instead an exercise in a demonstration in russian power. It was putin who decided they would have this humanitarian pause. It was a p pa re ntly have this humanitarian pause. It was apparently russian engineers who cleared this humanitarian route. Russian military police are run patrolling the area. So they are getting increasingly unapologetic about the power they have in the country. But the thing is, the people, and there are thousands of armed men inside Eastern Ghouta, a large area, and they dont necessarily want to do what mr putin would like them to do. It is a war, it is difficult. What is significant is it looks as though president putin has set aside that Un Resolution. That calls for a 30 day ceasefire across the country. Is that still the civilians best hope ofa that still the civilians best hope of a ceasefire . Because at the weekend, that fell apart. The seven yea rs of weekend, that fell apart. The seven years of war in syria, there have been loads of attempts at ceasefires and they have not stuck, they have all been weak. Some have given a bit of respite of a couple of weeks. In the end, it goes back to the war. The only respite people will have is when the war is over. But any kind of break in the agony must be good for individuals. Are we getting a clear picture of what life is like every hour there is not a ceasefire . 560 have died in the last two weeks. Eastern ghouta is a large area, a mixture of concrete buildings and pasture, auctions and fans, it was an agricultural area which has been expanded. Orchards. Clearly, there is an awful lot of explosive material directed at that particular place. Elsewhere in damascus, and the Syrian Government have said mortars are being fired out of the enclave and they are killing people, but it is quite strange because you could walk down to the centre of damascus and it really looks pretty normal. And then you can go to the edge of Eastern Ghouta and eastern and into it if you could, but as a journalist, to the edge of it, and you can see awful devastation. And one of the areas in Eastern Ghouta comes right up into, almost the centre of damascus. And you can look over that and it is a front line area and there is not one building standing. Without loads and loads of damage. Anybody pulled from the rubble alive, half life, however they are, when they talk to journalists, they say, we have been forgotten. Is there a real sense that the world is just saying, this war now just takes that the world is just saying, this war nowjust takes its course . dont think so much they have forgotten, but people have not been able to do a great deal about it. Over seven yea rs, able to do a great deal about it. Over seven years, International Diplomacy has failed. The aspirations of some very well intentioned people have not come to pass. I think the difficulty syrians have right now is that it is not about them any more, it is about the big countries that have become involved in the war who have their own issues and their own agendas. The russians, for example, they are rebuilding their position as a world power, in their heads. So for your average guy and his wife and his family in Eastern Ghouta, they are in the grip of difficult, powerful forces, which they dont have any influence over at all. It doesnt matter if they have been forgotten or not, the effect is the same, isnt it . I guess it probably is, yes. It is incredibly sad after so many years to see all of this talk going on and people dying. Children who were not even born when the war started been killed. Our middle east editor, thank you very much. The International Trade secretary, liam fox, says any form of Customs Union with the eu after brexit would be a complete sellout for the uk. In a speech, he said britain would find itself in a worse position than it is now. Earlier, i spoke tojonathan portes, professor of economics at Kings College london and henry newman, director at open europe a think tank that calls for reform of the eu. It would keep some things easier, but it would be paying the price of keeping things easier and minimising the cost of brexit but giving up on the cost of brexit but giving up on the long term possibilities and flexibility. My think tank has been arguing that we need to accept the costs of brexit, accept this was fundamentally a political decision rather than economic decision and we should leave the Customs Union, maybe we should delay that exit. But we need to bring the economics into this because people want facts, they wa nt to this because people want facts, they want to know, if we put out of the Customs Union with the eu which everybody agrees is our biggest trading partner, is the potential in the rest of the world that we could. It is not an either or choice. The facts are disputed. There will be a cost of leaving, but leaving the Customs Union does not mean we cannot trade with the eu. There are no countries outside the eu in the Customs Union. We could have a partial Customs Union which turkey does, but that still creates significant barriers to trade. You cross the border between turkey and the eu and you have substantial tailbacks. Leaving the eu will have substantial costs, we discussed this during the Referendum Campaign and it is this depressing we are still discussing this rather than getting on with the job of working out what we do afterwards. The problem is, a lot of people are revisiting that Referendum Campaign and a daily basis as we did not necessarily have the facts then, have we got them now . necessarily have the facts then, have we got them now . I think we know rather more about the economics of leaving the union than we did although there are still lots of uncertainties. In terms of the costs, henry is right, if we were outside the Customs Union, we would certainly have more flexibility and that would make it easier to do our own trade deals with other countries. We would not have the tag on with the eu and there would be benefits for that. Equally, there are costs and benefits of leaving the Customs Union which makes trade with the rest of europe harder. It will not end the trade with europe. The key thinking in terms of numbers is that we know and liam fox knows this because he is. The treasury economist has done this. The cost is estimated at between two, three, four, 8 of gdp, those costs will be very substantially, they will outweigh any net gains from new deals with china for example. In the long run. Government economists are saying that and independent economists who have looked less have also come to this conclusion. That although the policy decisions that are not necessarily in domestic and interests of the country. We could build all of the green belt in this country and build houses everywhere and have an open door immigration policy, but we dont, because those are political decisions that are more important than a simple economic calculation. It is the case there will be a cost of brexit, they said that from the beginning, but there is also on global potential. It is words like and hacked that skews this argument. Liam fox said, we can make this in this part of the world, from japan and the United States, but we will not know until we start negotiating and we cannot negotiate until we leave the eu, we just dont know. None of us have a crystal ball, i dont know all the future. But we have some more insight into what is happening in economic terms. And what we have seen is the economic effects of the referendum have been far less than predicted by many people including by the treasurys prediction which predicted a significant downturn and we have seen growth continuing and unemployment continued to fall and employment continued to rise, and productivity gains. We possibly growing less than we were predicted to grow were still growing and is ha rd to to grow were still growing and is hard to be definitive about the possibilities. You can grow on the basis of having a three course meal ora basis of having a three course meal or a packet of crisps, they are both growing. The worry is with that analogy people are going to be concerned that we are throwing out the baby from the bath water if this Customs Union is a no go. the baby from the bath water if this Customs Union is a nogo. I think thatis Customs Union is a nogo. I think that is right. It is also important to say the big economic downside comes from leaving the Customs Union and the Single Market. Neither liam fox more Jeremy Corbyn said anything very definitive about the Single Market yesterday. So that is not just what happens to the borders, but conforming to the same regulations and standards the rest of europe does. And i think, i agree with henry, there are political choices here and economic choices and almost certainly some negative Economic Impact of leaving the Single Market and Customs Union, but also Political Considerations as well. German cities will be allowed to ban older diesel vehicles from some areas, following a Landmark Court ruling. The court said the cities of stuttgart and dusseldorf could legally ban particularly dirty diesel cars from zones worst if . 5. 3 feerizeff§ffft zfv~f~ cancel trains and Road Conditions, cancel trains and close schools. International trade secretary reebok says the uk must make its own trade deals after brexit and any form of union with the eu would be a sell out. Air strikes and shelling continued in Eastern Ghouta as the temporary ceasefire collapses. Heres your business headlines on afternoon live. German cities will be able to ban alldirt german cities will be able to ban all dirt diesel vehicles from some areas following a Landmark Court ruling. The ruling is set to set a precedent for other cities and it could lead to similar action across europe. Us cable tv giant comcast has made a £22. 1 billion bid for sky, challenging an existing offer from Rupert Murdochs 21st century fox. It had already agreed to buy the 61 of sky it does not already own. Comcast boss Brian Roberts says hes confident the offer would be cleared by regulators. Ryanair is to close its base at glasgow airport, and cut the number of routes out of glasgow from 23 to just three its warned that 300 jobs could go as a result. The low cost airline has blamed the change on the cost of air Passenger Duty and said glasgow simply could not bear the burden. More on that comcast bid for sky which has come out of the blue. Yes, comcast is a big Us Tv Network and why are they interested in sky. The technology is attractive and they wa nt to technology is attractive and they want to diversify outside the us, they have connotation from netflix, amazon, the streaming markets. They wa nt to amazon, the streaming markets. They want to perhaps go outside that market and stream to europe. But we have three companies here. Fox, sky, disney. Comcast the fourth member of that club. What does disney do now . They put in an offer and is taking over fox in the us, do they counter that which is interesting. In fact, the endgame of the fox and sky deal is ahead of us because 61 of the float is available and were just getting through the regulatory clearance of fox and sky in the uk. Bearing in mind that in december, fox sold itself in a swap to disney. So we have a potential owner in disney of sky and we have a potential bidding war, we think, with disney also entering the fray to try and acquire sky from the independent shareholders. New credit card rules have been introduced by the fca. Yes, people in persistent debt which is surging at the moment because we have an era of cheap debt, that is somebody who has minimal repayments being outweighed by interest and charges for a period of 18 months. The fca has announced rules to help those people get out of that cycle. Other than paying them off for you, what can they do . There is a warning saying if you only pay the minimum, it costs you more in the long run. They are urging lenders to take more action to phone customers and is to say, you are spending too much money, why dont you suspend your ca rd money, why dont you suspend your card for a period and give it a rest and hopefully try and get them back onto better financial habits . And hopefully try and get them back onto betterfinancial habits . But also, they are proposing to suspend Interest Rates and charges after 36 months. That is a number of years. If they feel somebody is persistently in that cycle, they wa nt to persistently in that cycle, they want to help by cancelling those charges they are paying. Joining us now is peter tutton, head of policy at the debt charity stepchange. Thanks forjoining us. How significant is this move . It is a very important move. Credit card debt has been a big problem for a long time and the fca found around 4 Million People are stuck in persistent credit card debt, that is people paying what is supposed to be a short term credit product which is expensive long term and for many, it pushes them further into problem debt. The idea that firms have to ta ke debt. The idea that firms have to take action earlier so people do not get left stranded for years and yea rs get left stranded for years and years is very good. What is the biggest driver at the moment for debt . Is it the era of cheap Interest Rates that people are buying and is bending more than they would do usually, or the cost of living . A number of drivers. Unsecured credit like credit cards, many people we see have had to pay very high cost credit and sometimes just to pay essential bills like fuel and rent. The cost of living is really important and the squeeze on household incomes, and all the time about 60 of clients save the triggerfor about 60 of clients save the trigger for their problems is a change in circumstances like losing ajob, change in circumstances like losing a job, relationship breakdown and illness. So a combination of households that cannot survive shocks, managing and a low income, using credit to manage, often high cost that puts them in a spiral of more debt and more hardship. Cost that puts them in a spiral of more debt and more hardshipm people find themselves in a situation where they have lots of different loa ns situation where they have lots of different loans and different rates and credit, what is the best thing they can do to solve that situation . Certainly, there are charities to give people debt advice. We say to people to talk to your lender is. Lenders can be very helpful, but not a lwa ys lenders can be very helpful, but not always very helpful, that is one reason why the fca brought in this role. People can get advice. But in the longer term, we need to make sure credit markets are safer so where people get into signs of difficulty, lenders act earlier to give people safer ways out. That and getting advice some of the things that people can do. Peter, thank you very much. Lets have a look at the markets. Sky shares doing very well today, up about 20 . Doing very well on the news of that data. And persimmon, the house builder, they got positive sales today and profits and that has increased their share price by 8 . That was a bit of surprise because the house market took a downturn. Guest, a dip in the share price of House Builders after brexit, people we re House Builders after brexit, people were worried about for an investment in london and the uk in terms of property, but they have reversed that the trend. So shareholders doing well today. 0k, doing well today. Ok, thank you very much. Research suggests students from poorer backgrounds are more likely to live at home whilst at university than their richer counterparts, and it could be limiting their life chances. The sutton trust says moving to a bigger city to study is often what it calls an escalator for social mobility. Elaine dunkley reports. They are the commuter students studying for degrees, while living at home. The independence and freedom of living away comes at too high a cost. I cant work as much as i can when im studying full time. I wouldnt be able to afford the fees and it would cost me opportunities when i leave university, and i dont want to leave with too much debt. I live at home six days a week and i sometimes stay in london for one night to sort of break up the commute a little bit. According to a report published today, the likelihood of moving out of the family home to study at university is linked to social class. Disadvantaged students across the uk are three times more likely to live at home than those from wealthier families. Pupils who attend state school are more than twice as likely to stay at home than those who were privately educated. Ethnicitys also an important factor. British pakistani and British Bangladeshi students are over six times more likely than white students to stay living at home. One of the issues we think is finance and, of course, the government is reviewing in england the Higher Education funding at the moment, student financing, and we believe that there should be means tested grants, maintenance grants, for students from poorer backgrounds. And actually, we would say, means tested fees. The government is currently carrying out a review into different ways of studying for a degree, but todays report suggests not being able to move away from home is restricting choice, preventing young people from picking up life skills and ultimately hindering social mobility. Elaine dunkley, bbc news. Scientists are warning that Global Warming could have a devastating impact on king penguins. Researchers say Climate Change is shifting the ocean currents the penguins depend on forfood. 70 of them may be forced to move from their current nesting sites or die. Heres our science correspondent, jonathan amos. Splashing ashore after another successful outing to find food in the southern ocean. These are king penguins, one of the biggest of the 17 penguin species. The animals are currently doing well, but their notoriously fussy habits could soon get them into trouble, say scientists. The birds will only nest on smooth sandy or pebble beaches, away from sea ice. That restricts king penguin colonies. At the moment, their nesting sites are limited to a specific series of islands that surround the antarctic. Thats fine, for the moment, because these islands are close to nutrient rich upwelling waters that support lots of fish and squid. The problem is that as the climate warms, these foraging waters are moving southward and away from current nesting sites. In a few decades, the penguins could have to swim too far to feed themselves and their chicks. French scientists are warning that unless the birds can adapt and find new homes, their numbers will see a dramatic fall by the centurys end. Jonathan amos, bbc news. Well, temperatures penguins would love at the moment. Time for a look at the weather with darren bett. Hello there. The amber snow warnings for the south east of england and Northern England have now expired. Weve had a lot of snow earlier on today in those same areas. This was sevenoaks in kent. It has been very snowy around maidstone and here in the north east of england, in northumberland. A lot of snow has fallen earlier on. It has been whipping around in the wind and particularly heavy snow over the Higher Ground. Through the rest of this week, theres more to come. There are more met office snow warnings, more travel disruption. And with the wind picking up, there will be a significant wind chill. If you thought it was cold already, wait until tomorrow. This siberian air coming our way on a strengthening easterly wind and that easterly wind will blow in more snow showers through the rest of the overnight. It is going to be the eastern side of the uk that sees the bulk of those, although there could be a few getting through to the west. We will have some clearer skies here as well. The snow showers through the Channel Islands leaving here living in the southern part of devon and cornwall later in the night. Another cold one, were down to 8 in one or two places last night, similar numbers tonight. Our focus for the heaviest snow into wednesday and into thursday, actually, is going to be further north. We have got snow warnings from the met office for northern and eastern scotland, through the central belt and north east england. 15 centimetres, maybe even more than that in some areas. It is just going to be snow shower after snow shower, driven on by those strong to gale force easterly winds. Further south, there will be some snow showers as well, although southern parts of england do tend to be to be somewhat drier and sunnier. Those temperatures, maximum temperatures, a little bit lower than today, but add on the strength of the wind and it really will feel bitterly cold. 9, 10 celsius. Those snow showers in the north will continue overnight, but there is a big area of low pressure here that is moving northwards from iberia. That is moving into the cold air and it is going to bring with it some wetter weather. That is obviously going to be snow, and the main focus of that will be across more southern areas of the uk, with the heaviest snow likely to be in the south west of england and south wales. Then we have got a slice of something a little bit dryer before were back into those snow showers that continue especially across northern and eastern scotland. Another cold day, perhaps not getting above freezing in many places, but we have still got that bitterly cold easterly wind, so again, it will feel more like 9, 10. Hello, youre watching afternoon live. Im simon mccoy. Today at 4. Freezing temperatures and heavy snow cause travel disruption across many parts of the country. Make sure youre only taking that journey if its absolutely necessary. You can be assured that the motorways and major trunk roads are going to have been cleared and treated. But thats not to say that other areas arent going to have snow on the ground. As International Trade secretary liam fox defends plans to leave the Customs Union his former top official says it should stay on the brexit menu. If youre going to give that up for the promise of some bilateral deals with markets that are much less important to us, its like giving up a three course meal for a packet of crisps. Its just not equivalent. A temporary ceasefire in the syrian enclave of Eastern Ghouta collapses, with more airstrikes and shelling. Coming up on afternoon live, all the sport. The fa cup is back later with a third replay on the trot for swa nsea. Third replay on the trot for swansea. And usain bolt about to make his football dream come true. Women and men will play together at a European Tour golf event for the first time later this year as the new golfsixes event is launched. Also coming up. More travel disruption because of the snow, more on that in the next half an hour. Its in black and white the warning from scientists that Global Warming could have a devastating impact on king penguins. They either move from their current environment or die. Hello everyone this is afternoon live. Heavy snowfall is hitting parts of the uk, causing road, rail and flight disruption in many areas. Police say driving conditions are treacherous in places. There were 20 collisions within three hours on lincolnshires roads, three people died in a crash there, and there has been another death in cambridgeshire. Hundreds of trains have been cancelled, many schools are shut and forecasters say some Rural Communities may be cut off. And theres a warning from the met office that if you havent seen snow yet by the end of the week you will have. Robert hall reports. The east coast had time to prepare, but the snowfall sweeping in from europe gave travellers a taste of what this week has in store. Kent had declared a snow emergency with gritting shifts working flat out. But the lack of traffic overnight meant that salt couldnt do its work and by the time the morning rush began, accidents and ice had closed a series of routes, including the m20 motorway which became, in effect, a lorry park. Elsewhere, conditions added hours to journey times. Make sure you are only taking the journey if it is absolutely necessary. You can be assured that the motorways and major trunk roads are going to have been cleared and treated but other areas are going to have snow on the ground and it may affect traction and the way your vehicle handles. Up to 10cms of snow fell across kent, surrey and east sussex. Farmers were on stand by to keep minor routes open. Many families heeded advice to stay at home until conditions improved, as some towns and villages staged their own Winter Olympics. As is always the case, the greater hazards lie away from main roads where there is less traffic and the snow has had time to settle and to freeze. Thats brought a series of accidents which began before dawn and disrupted bus services and caused the closure of dozens of schools. In norfolk, where 36 schools were closed, the freezing conditions also disrupted rail services. Greater anglia trains, one of the operators, who say they were forced to cancel services. Our trains have to go slower. The points can freeze, the signals can freeze. That means that if the points freeze, the train cant go in the right direction. The amber warning also covers north east england where the problems caused by snow and ice mirrored those further south. Crawling traffic, pedestrians slithering through their daily routines. But on tynemouth beach, these swimmers defied subzero temperatures for a dip that was rather more thanjust bracing. Joining me now is balbir chatrik, director of policy and communication at Youth Homelessness charity centrepoint. Young people are particularly vulnerable at this time of year, they do not know where to go . They do not know where to go. The information is not out there. Centrepoint set up a helpline for young people so they know where they can go and what their entitlements are. But at the moment it is not being publicised so we have called on the government to help us publicise that. We will put the numberup on publicise that. We will put the number up on screen. Publicise that. We will put the number up on screen. But in terms of the pressures, how many young people are we talking about and what stories are you hearing as to why theyre there . Most of it is family breakdown. One teenager living at home, arguments at home, overcrowding, Mental Health problems. And he had to leave home. Lived with his grandmother for a while and it did not work out then he had to leave. And he was sleeping ona park he had to leave. And he was sleeping on a park bench, on a night bus, he did not know where to go. Then he came to us at centrepoint. We helped him, a bed for the right is the first thing and then we helped him with education, he went to college, and also his Mental Health support he needed. But what is really interesting, he came to us and had a sleeping bag with him all the time. We as to why he carried it and it was because he did not know when he would become homeless and he needed it. So he was not cold sleeping rough. Well we all know local authorities are feeling the financial pinch but what about the provision, they have a statutory right to provide shelter . They do and some are getting them into shelters because it has been freezing but young people say to us ido freezing but young people say to us i do not want to go to the hospital because they are vulnerable there. They do not feel safe, their belongings are not safer than they would rather sleep on a night bus because there is a driver at the front. So local authorities are doing their best, cuts have been made at actually they have not enough funding to give that tailored support young people need. When temperatures fall as they are now, as low as 15 over the next few days, what advice would you give to young people because many of us are guilty of ignoring people in the streets, saying theyre there because they want to be. But life is never like that. If you see someone on the street sleeping rough you can contact straight link, and let someone know. Dashed straight link. But young people need the number of our helpline so they can contact us. Were putting that up now. We will keep that up for a while. Because that really is important. It is absolutely important because young people will end up on the streets and rough sleeping has gone up by 2596 in and rough sleeping has gone up by 25 in the last couple of years. Amongst young people. They do not know where to go. So we want to help them. Help them before they go out on the streets, pick them up early and prevent street homelessness. Then at centrepoint they come to us and what happens is we helped them to get a job, help with Mental Health support and kind of things we do is budgeting workshops, cooking because often they come from families where they have never learnt to do that. We give them those independent skills and then they can go on to have a productive life. Is it mostly boys or girls, what is the break up . Life. Is it mostly boys or girls, what is the breakup . About half and half, to be honest. And throughout the country. What were finding is it is that lack of family support. That is a major problem as well as Mental Health problems. And is the case that youngsters head for the city when in this sort of trouble, they have no home as home as far as they have no home as home as far as they see it, where do they initially had to . What they do is they head to where they think they might not get any trouble if they are sleeping rough on the street. So they tend not to be on the streets but in a stairwell, because it is not safe on the streets, young people are very vulnerable. Maybe a stairwell, on the night bus or a park away from the night bus or a park away from the main centres. Because they know thatis the main centres. Because they know that is unsafe for them there. But we need to pick them up early before they hit the streets. And there are cold and scared. Very scared because our research has shown that in order not to be on the streets, 12 of young people would go home with a stranger. Some would commit a crime so they get a police cell and some would hurt themselves to actually go to hospital. They take Desperate Measures not to be on the streets. And now when it is so cold no one wants that for anyone. Very good of you to come in and talk about it. That is the number on screen. And you would just say if you need help, call that number. Absolutely. You can keep up to date with all the weather disruption by visiting the bbc news live page. If youre out and about, bbc local radio across england will keep you up to date on disruptions to traffic and travel in your area. And if you are elsewhere in the uk, radio scotland, wales and ulster will give you all the latest. Were just hearing that the world renowned harpist Daniel Perrett has been jailed at Ipswich Crown Court forfour been jailed at Ipswich Crown Court for four years been jailed at Ipswich Crown Court forfour years and been jailed at Ipswich Crown Court for four years and nine been jailed at Ipswich Crown Court forfour years and nine months been jailed at Ipswich Crown Court for four years and nine months after she was found unity of six counts of indecently assaulting a teenage schoolboy in the 1980s. That is danielle perrett, jailed at Ipswich Crown Court for four years and nine months. The International Trade secretary liam fox has been delivering a speech about brexit. He talked about future trade opportunities and restated the governments intention to leave the Customs Union. He also claimed its not in the interests of the uk or the eu to put in place barriers to trade. Our Political Correspondent alex forsyth reports from westminster. He came to explain which way brexit is heading. Applause. Thanks very much. In front of business leaders, the International Trade secretary restated the governments case, arguing that staying in the Customs Union would bind the uk to eu rules and limit trade opportunities. It would be a complete sell out of Britains National interest and a betrayal of the voters in the referendum. Then there is the issue of constraints on the ability to negotiate independent trade arrangements. A Customs Union would remove the bulk of incentives for other countries to enter into comprehensive free trade agreements with the uk. But only hours earlier, this man, who was until recently the most senior Civil Servant in the department for trade, warned in no Uncertain Terms that leaving the Customs Union and the Single Market would damage the economy. With the Market Access we have now through europe and the preferential trade deals, against bilateral deals with much smaller markets, its like giving up a three course meal for britains business for the promise of a packet of crisps. The Customs Union means a single set of tariffs is imposed on goods imported from outside the eu. Then they can move freely, without tariffs, around the bloc, but members cant do their own trade deals with other countries. The government, whose ministers gathered for a Cabinet Meeting this morning, says leaving the Customs Union means scope to strike trade deals with growing economies outside the eu. Reporter are we negotiating for a packet of crips . Hello. Salt and vinegar. But thats not to everyones taste. Labour now says the uk should stay in a Customs Union with the eu after brexit, so theres a clear difference between them and the government, and some conservative mps agree with labour, making the politics of this as tricky as the practicalities. One of the questions is what happens here, the irish border, what will be the frontier between the uk and the eu. The question, how to avoid border checks . Today, the foreign secretary claimed a solution was possible, but was criticised for comparing it to londons congestion charge. Theres no border between camden and westminster, but when i was mayor of london, we anaesthetically and invisibly took hundreds of millions of pounds from the accounts of people travelling between those two boroughs without any need for border checks whatever. For Boris Johnson today to say that the irish border is similar to two london boroughs is grotesque. So the protests, the arguments, on both sides continue, as this complex negotiation about britains future heads towards crunch time. Alex forsyth, bbc news, westminster. Guy platten is the chief executive of the uk chamber of shipping thats the trade association for the uks shipping industry. Weve heard from a lot of people about what is best. But the clock is ticking. It is, we have one year to go before the brexit, were outside of the eu and the time for political showboating is over. We need to get down to the hard and fast and preserve our means of doing business as far as possible as we do now. What is it you think is that showboating aspect because the government says it is still in negotiations. I accept that and of course any other trade elsewhere around the world is to be welcomed but we need to sort out first what is going on in our own backyard, ensuring that trade can flow and businesses can operate. That is what politicians should focus on now rather than perhaps longer term. We do now to preserve that use of trade. I suspect you would prefer things to be as they were before, that there would be no change. Indeed we would like to see exactly the same situation, goods entering the same situation, goods entering the network easily. But if we are to be outside the Customs Union, any customs procedure must be as light touch as possible, the sharing of data between ourselves and the eu for example so we do not have intrusive customs checks. Presumably the technology is already there to do that. It can be there, it is in development and we are looking at that and that is why it is important to have this transition period so any new system can be implemented before the transition period finishes. Presumably you having to work on the basis of possible worst case scenario, crashing out. What would that mean for you. We ta ke what would that mean for you. We take some comfort that both sides are saying there needs to be a transition period saw i think that is good but we need clarity on that as much as possible. And in the meantime we need to work on technological solutions, make sure if we are not able to enjoy exactly the same as we have now that anything is a very light touch and it isa anything is a very light touch and it is a very solvable solution if eve ryo ne it is a very solvable solution if everyone comes to it with goodwill. You could be on the front line of this, what are you hearing back from the people that you deal with within the people that you deal with within the eu . Probably saying, they may express the eu . Probably saying, they may ex press a the eu . Probably saying, they may express a personal view and say if you are going out we do not want to be sickly make life tougher than it is . I think what we see is business wa nts to is . I think what we see is business wants to trade, they want clarity on that and how the process is going to work. It is in no one s interest to have intrusive customs controls and checks. That would just be negative on both sides. So it is in no one s interest. So people want to carry on trading pulled top and the message to theresa may . Lets get down to negotiating and get some clarity on this issue. Thank you. The first five hour ceasefire in the syrian enclave of Eastern Ghouta has ended in failure. The brief pause was ordered by syrias ally russia, which said it would be repeated daily to allow civilians to leave. An estimated 400,000 people are trapped in Eastern Ghouta which is held by syrian rebels, and in the last week more than 560 people have been killed. Our correspondent martin patience is following developments from neighbouring lebanon. It did not last for long. It did not last for long at all, for about an hour and there was relative calm in that part of syria close to the capital. But then there was continued violence. We had claims from the Syrian Government of rebels firing mortars on humanitarian corridor is close to a checkpoint we re corridor is close to a checkpoint were civilians were supposed to be leaving Eastern Ghouta. The rebels denied that. And we also had reports of Syrian Government air strikes, they denied that as well but what is clear speaking to people on the ground, there has been violence, at least two people have been killed inside the area of Eastern Ghouta aplenty from government rocket fire. And there was supposed to be this humanitarian pause for people to leave if they wanted, into government controlled areas, and humanitarian assistance could get into Eastern Ghouta. None of that happened and we have the resumption of violence. The interesting aspect, it was Vladimir Putin who said this had to happen but yet it is not. Simon, iappearto had to happen but yet it is not. Simon, i appear to have lost you. Can you hear me now . I think we have lost martin. Sorry about that. We will try to re establish contact later. Youre watching afternoon live, these are our headlines. Heavy snowfall is causing disruption across the uk leading to hazardous Road Conditions, cancelled trains and hundreds of closed schools. The International Trade secretary, liam fox, says the uk must be free to make its own trade deals after brexit and that any form of Customs Union with the eu would be a sell out. Airstrikes and shelling resume in the the syrian enclave of Eastern Ghouta as a temporary ceasefire collapses. And hibernian head coach neil lennon has been handed to charges by the scottish fa after criticising referee and being sent to the stands in the premiership at the weekend. Prop wynjones will miss the rest of the welsh 6 nation matches because ofa the welsh 6 nation matches because of a hamstring injury. And women and men will play together as a European Tour golf event later this year as the new golf sixes event is launched. More on those stories that have passed. Join me then. Half past. Lets get more now on the speech by the International Trade secretary liam fox on brexit. Dr fox stated that remaining in any form of Customs Union for the uk would be a complete sellout. Meanwhile his former top officials at the department for International Trade has attacked the government approach to brexit. Sir Martin Donnelly describe brexit as giving up a three course meal for a packet of crisps. If you look at where we are now with fair and equal access to the very large rich eu market which is nearly half of our service and goods exports plus preferential markets which gets us up to three fifths of our trade if youre going to give that up for the promise of some bilateral deals with markets that are far less important to us well its like giving up a three course mealfor a packet of crisps its just not equivalent and we have to recognise that reality before we take that decision. Our economics correspondent Andrew Walker has been working the bbcs Reality Check Team on what the true value of the uks trade with the eu is worth. Starting with the figures from the foreign secretary and he said the share of uk trade with the eu has declined to 44 . That is about the right figure for the percentage of uk exports of goods and Services Going to the eu, that has declined. And if he had the most up to date figures it would be even slightly lower. The value in pounds and pence of those exports has risen but exports to the rest of the world had increased more rapidly and of course that means the eu share has declined. Worth mentioning that in this period we had the Global Financial crisis, and another wave of turmoil hitting the eurozone so inevitably that hit demand for goods and services from the uk and everywhere else. The eurozone is recovering now more strongly so the trend in british exports is likely to show the impact of that. The foreign secretary has also given up some figures for the increase in newark uk experts to specific countries since 2010. A figure of 40 in the case of the United States and 100 for south korea. He also gave some pretty strong figures from saudi arabia and japan and the figures were correct in the round number terms. They do indicate there are important markets outside the eu Customs Union and Single Market that have become increasingly important to british business. But important to british business. But important to note in the case of south korea specifically there is a trade agreement already in force and has been since 2011. Negotiated by the eu and so uk business is already getting the benefit of that. Now sir Martin Donnelly says almost half of trade is with the eu and 12 with other countries with trade agreements with the eu. Is that true . It is. Sir martin i think was talking about trade to include both exports and imports were as the foreign secretary was just talking about exports. But nearly half in the case of the eu and adding that m, the case of the eu and adding that in, eu trade agreements that are currently in force, you get a figure of about three fifths as he said of our trade being covered. So to sum it up all of these figures we have heard are defensible but they arent a slightly different questions. Sir martin looking at the level of trade now, the foreign secretary talking more about trend in exports over the last decade or so. Of course the question as to what extent those trends may continue in the future. The Emergency Services say there are no more survivors in the ruins of a building in leicester that was destroyed by an explosion on sunday. Police have now named the five people who died in the blast, including a mother and her two teenage sons. Its not yet known what caused the explosion, which some residents said sounded like an earthquake. Our correspondentjames waterhouse is at the scene and described the latest. That investigation now underway . Yes, we have large diggers associated with demolition clearing up associated with demolition clearing up debris but the investigation has taken a bit of a different direction to the police said this morning there no longer. Theyre going to use specialist camera equipment and sniffer dogs to go about the work of trying to find human remains. We have learned the names of those thought to have lost their lives on sunday night. 46 year old Mary Ragoobar and her sons 18 and 17 year old shane and sean. It is thought they lived in a flat above a polish supermarket. Then the girlfriend of shane and another 22 year old woman who worked in the supermarket below. Police say because of the devastating nature of the blast it will be some time before they can be identified. As for the cause, police have been trying to find survivors and now theyre looking for human remains and the calls will soon follow. Of course the weather is making work here that bit more difficult. Thank you, apologies for the sound problems. Scientists have warned that Climate Change could have a devastating impact on king penguins. 70 could be forced to move from current nesting sites or die. Here isjohn amos. Splashing ashore after another successful outing to find food in the southern ocean. These are king penguins, one of the biggest of the 17 penguin species. The animals are currently doing well, but their notoriously fussy habits could soon get them into trouble, say scientists. The birds will only nest on smooth sandy or pebble beaches, away from sea ice. That restricts king penguin colonies. At the moment, their nesting sites are limited to a specific series of islands that surround the antarctic. That is fine, for the moment, because these islands are close to nutrient rich upswelling waters that support lots of fish and squid. The problem is that as the climate warms, these foraging waters are moving southward and away from current nesting sites. In a few decades, the penguins could have to swim too far to feed themselves and their chicks. French scientists are warning that unless the birds can adapt and find new homes, their numbers will see a dramatic fall by the centurys end. Jonathan amos, bbc news. Time for a look at the weather. Heres darren bett. Many of us have had the feel of the beast from the east. Well i went for a walk outside earlier today and i almost fell over twice. Maybe i was not wearing the right shoes but it was treacherous out there. Very icy and snowy. That was just out there. Very icy and snowy. That wasjust in out there. Very icy and snowy. That was just in the centre of london. This is kent where we had some very heavy snowfall earlier today, and amber snow warning covering kent. Around 20 centimetres of snow falling around the maidstone area. Also a warning around yorkshire, those amber warnings have now expired. The heavier snow from ballyro na n expired. The heavier snow from ballyronan has gone away but more warnings to come. When i was expecting to see snow when i woke up this morning. But we are going to see it later . And of course europe is also experiencing that snow. This is also experiencing that snow. This isa is also experiencing that snow. This is a massive issue all around europe because we have this beast from the east with the wind coming from siberia. Cold air is covering much of europe and the wind sweeping down into the heart of europe. Some heavy snowfall around. Earlier in the year not much snow for the ski resorts in eastern europe. And this was the adriatic coast in italy where we had some unusually snowy weather. As you would expect in the alps but not further south in the country so this is a bit unusual. So this is the beast from the east. But not the hysteria from siberia as someone messaged me earlier. I like that if you got away with it today, the a nswer you got away with it today, the answer is anyone who did not see snow today will see snow. There are snow today will see snow. There are snow showers that come along and few places will not see any snow for. It is just how places will not see any snow for. It isjust how much places will not see any snow for. It is just how much and how much of it will settle. This is why we have the warnings and why we target the amber warnings and why we target the amber Warnings Issued of course by the met office. And more of those to come over the next few days. Just sit back and take note maybe later on you can figure out if you are in one of those areas that will get heavy snowfall. That winter really picking up. Blowing in all of these snow showers are all the way across the country so very few places havent seen snow falling today. Most of the snow falling today. Most of the snow falling overnight will be the eastern side of both england and scotland. A few showers further west that some snow actually running through the English Channel and away towards devon and cornwall. A cold night with widespread frost. Maybe even 10. Tomorrow the amber warning from the met office is further north so the main threat to tomorrow and into thursday will be across these areas of scotland and east england. Particularly over the hills because there will be frequent snow showers running into Gale Force Winds over the north sea. Some sunshine to, becoming sunny across various parts of england and wales but those temperatures are lower than recently and add on the wind and this is what it will feel like. This is the really cold weather will arrive because the wind is stronger and it will feel much colder. This area of low pressure will push northwards, bringing wetter weather with it and it will be snow that forms. That will focus itself more on the south west of the uk and across south west of the uk and across South West England and intimate in south wales. A slice of something drier over much of Northern England and ireland and into east anglia and then we have that other amber warning still in place from the met office across scotland and north east england. Two main areas of snow likely to develop on thursday and it is still cold. This template is very similarto is still cold. This template is very similar to what will see tomorrow. Still that biting easterly wind that will make it feel more like 10 celsius. May well be some more of the snow heading northwards across the snow heading northwards across the uk during friday. This is bbc news. Our latest headlines. Train services have been cancelled and hundreds of schools have been closed because of heavy snow across the eastern uk. Roads conditions are also hazardous. In lincolnshire, three people have died in a crash and police say there were 20 accidents in three hours. International trade secretary liam fox says being in any form of Customs Union with the eu after brexit would be a complete sell out for the uk but his former top official criticises the governments strategy. If youre going to give that up for the promise of some bilateral deals with markets that are much less important to us, its like giving up a three course meal for a packet of crisps. Its just not equivalent. A mother and two of her sons are believed to be among five people who were killed in an explosion in leicester. A temporary ceasefire in the rebel held area of Eastern Ghouta in syria has collapsed. Air strikes and shelling have been reported and no aid has been able to reach civilians trapped in the area. Us cable tv giant comcast makes a £22 billion bid for sky, challenging an existing offer from Rupert Murdochs 21st century fox. Sport is now with damien. Plenty of big hitters left. Another replay for premier League Swansea tonight. They will try once more to get the better of championship opposition when they host Sheffield Wednesday in their fifth round replay later. Thats swansea manager carlos carvalhals former club, who ten days ago held the Top Flight Team to a goalless draw in the original tie. A place in the quarterfinals against either tottenham or third tier rochdale is the prize for tonights winners. That game is live on bbc one tonight. Kick off is 8 05pm. Theres commentary and coverage on five live and the bbc sport website as well. Tottenham are likely to request that some of their Opening Premier League matches next season are away fixtures, as they finish bulding their new ground. Spurs have been playing their home matches at wembley during the redevelopment of Tottenham Hotspur stadium, which is still on course to be finished this summer last minute hold ups. But the club want a contingency plan, in case of any last minute hold ups. Hibernian head coach neil lennon has received two charges from the scottish fa, following saturdays 2 2 draw at kilmarnock. Lennon reacted angrily when the referee awarded kilmarnock a penalty, which led to their equaliser. He was sent to the stands and later described the standard of refereeing in scotland as mickey mouse. Hes facing charges of misconduct and criticising a match official. The eight time olympic gold medallist usain bolt will fulfil a life long dream injune, when he plays football at old trafford. Hes a huge Manchester United fan and has made no secret of the fact hed love to be a professional footballer and his first step will be as captain of the world xi, in the soccer aid match, where hell take on singer Robbie Williams england side. The teams will feature a list stars and footballing legends and bolt says he has a special celebration planned, for when, not if, he scores. Wales prop wynjones will miss the rest of the six nations because of a hamstring injury. Hes come off the bench in the opening three matches and was injured during the defeat to ireland last weekend. Wales have chosen not to bring in a replacement. Women golfers will play in a mens European Tour team event for the first time, later this year. Ryder cup captain thomas bjorn will partner solheim cup skipper catriona matthew, in the golfsixes tournament at the Centurion Club near st albans in may. The event has a six hole match play format and will also feature mens and womens teams. Its aim is to be the equivalent of crickets twenty20 competition. Wales Mark Williams has beaten englands mark king by four frames to two to move into the second round of the welsh open williams opened up a 3 lead and although king managed to rally, the two time World Champion held on to reach the next round. Williams is going for a third welsh open title having last won the trophy back in 1999. Elsewhere in the first round you can follow that match on the bbc sport website or on bbc two wales. England fast bowler mark wood has trained today before the Second One Day International against new zealand, which gets underway in the early hours of tomorrow morning. The 28 year old missed the defeat in the first odi on sunday because of an ankle injury, but could be available for the one dayer in tauranga. England are one nil down in the five match series. Test match special has Live Commentary of the Second One Day International. Tune into five live sports extra from 12 45am for build up and ball by ball commentary. The match starts at 1am. Thats all the sport for now. Ill have more for you in the next hour. Now on afternoon live lets go nationwide and see whats happening around the country in our daily visit to the bbc newsrooms around the uk. In salford, Annabel Tiffin is here to tell us more about a move to give transport for Greater Manchester greater powers to prevent anti social behaviour on the regions transport network. And Keeley Donovan is in leeds and can tell us about the growing uk cat population, which is particularly bad in South Yorkshire and at a crisis point according to leading charities. Annabel, we are talking in particular about the tram network in manchester arent we . Particular about the tram network in manchester arent we . Yes the problem has got quite bad over the past few months. There have been reports of gangs of so called feral teenagers but also organised criminals plaguing parts of the tram system in Greater Manchester. Attacking drivers and breaking ticket machines, quite a long period, 86 of results were recorded on metrolink, 46 of which were upon staff. Hundreds 65 reports of threatening or abusive behaviour for all so reported and there was a serious incident and the driver being injured when a brick was thrown through the window of his cab. All this adding up to commuters feeling unsafe and demanding that something is done about it. Bear in mind, there is Something Like 240 million journeys mind, there is Something Like 240 millionjourneys made on mind, there is Something Like 240 million journeys made on the mind, there is Something Like 240 millionjourneys made on the region boss mike buses and trams each year so the chances of you coming across one of these incidents are slight but nevertheless transporter Greater Manchester wants to come down heavily on what they say is the troublesome few the sake of the many. The mayor of Greater Manchester has decided to take things into his own hands and he wa nts to things into his own hands and he wants to ask the government for powers to put civil injunctions to troublemakers. In other words, giving Greater Manchester transport the power to ban people from the network. How likely is that . It is not often that you hear that they are in agreement but andy burnham asked the home secretary for this power. Amber rudd said that it is unacceptable that people feel threatens on their commute so subject to parliamentary approval it looks like it will go ahead under the anti social behaviour crime and policing act which i feel commuters who use that metrolink system every day were very pleased about. Who use that metrolink system every day were very pleased about. Thank you annabel. In leeds, lots of cat lovers out there, i know you are one yourself but you can have too many and that is now a problem . Absolutely. The cat population is set to be at crisis point over here in South Yorkshire. That is according to leading charities and nationwide the problem is getting out of control. Here are some statistics. Nine out of ten cat owners have already needed their pets but with the growing population of more than 10 million cats in the uk there is potentially million that are still a neutered. An alarming figure if you that want an spayed female over five years can be responsible for 20,000 descendants. Hang on . How on earth did you come up hang on . How on earth did you come up with that figure . hang on . How on earth did you come up with that figure . I didnt come up up with that figure . I didnt come up for it myself but i think one cat having 25 kittens, that would be one very busy mummy cat but 20,000 kittens on the street is a bit too many. What are the charity suggesting can be done . The rspca in sheffield are piloting a scheme where owners can neutered for free and they assure pet owners it is free and quick and lets say that it can benefit the cats health and the long term. Can benefit the cats health and the longterm. It is amazing how quickly these animals bounce back from surgery. It is often a lot more Health Issues if we dont get the neutered so they are much more prone to getting cancers and womb infections if they are not spayed. We are recommending neutering these cats at four months of age or so before they hit puberty. Now i am the mother of two little boy cats andl the mother of two little boy cats and i can assure any worried parents out there that my rascals were back making mischief in just out there that my rascals were back making mischief injust a few out there that my rascals were back making mischief in just a few hours of the operation. Views are those three . I dont know but of the operation. Views are those three . I dont know but i think this one is cold simon. You have made that up. I have actually. Just as cute though. Thank you both. If you would like to see more on any of those stories, you can access them via i player and we go nationwide every weekday afternoon at 430 here on afternoon live. Police in Northern Ireland say at least three people have died in a house fire in county fermanagh. Emergency Services Remain at the scene at the property in derrylin. Police have arrested a 27 year old man on suspicion of murder. Our 0ur correspondence our correspondence is at the scene. What is the picture that has emerged here . This was a truly horrific fire. We are in the small town of derrylin. The release of that according in place and we cannot get any closer but this truly was a horrific fire that broke out around 7am. We do know that three people had died in that fire and as we can see from these pictures, the building was completely gutted. The police are saying that, confirming that three people have died and what we understand locally is that these are three generations of the same family. What we have been told locally is that they have been living here for a little over a year and that they originally lived in the republic of ireland that came from doncaster in england. The police not confirming any of those details but what the police have said is that they believed the fire that claimed the lives of its lease to three people was started deliberately and a 27 year old man has been arrested on suspicion of murder. That man was arrested at the scene and was also treated in hospital. So what happens now . The investigation is going on. The police say this is an ongoing investigation. The reaction here just lately has been truly astounding. The local mp describes this as an unimaginable scene up at that property and the leader of the dup who is the local mla member here, she said this was horrific news. And that the thoughts and prayers go out to the family. This is an Ongoing Police investigation and the rescue services are still investigating in the building behind us on the hillside. They are saying that at least three people have died in this and this is an ongoing investigation. Thank you, keith. The foreign secretary borisjohnson says the government wont fund any aid agency that allows the exploitation of women in southern syria. It follows evidence given to the bbc that some women in the south of the country have been exploited by men delivering aid on behalf of the United Nations and international charities. Heres our diplomatic correspondent, james landale. Explosions the fighting in syria continues. Here, in rebel held Eastern Ghouta and elsewhere. And its now emerged that some refugees fleeing the conflict have faced demands for sex from local syrian officials delivering aid on behalf of international charities. They were withholding the aid that had been delivered and then using these women for sex. So, this was a range of women. There were women of different ages in the group. Some had experienced it themselves. Some were very distraught. Danielle spencers an experienced aid worker. She heard these stories from women whod fled tojordan and they told her that many refused to go to distribution centres because people would assume theyd offered their bodies for aid. Two charities, care and the International Rescue committee, warned about this abuse three years ago and tightened up their procedures. But a report from the Un Population fund, late last year, confirmed that sex was still being traded for aid. Sexual exploitation and abuse of women and girls has been ignored. Its been known about and its been ignored for seven years. This war is seven years old. The un and the system, as it currently stands, have chosen for womens bodies to be sacrificed. The department for International Development said it was not aware of any cases like this involving uk aid and, if there were, the foreign secretary said the funding would be stopped. Obviously, weve talked a great deal about this in the last couple of weeks since the whole business broke with oxfam and so on, and Penny Mordaunt and i are absolutely committed to a zero tolerance approach. Can it be stopped . Well, we wont support agencies that engage in that kind of activity. Un agencies and charities said they had zero tolerance of exploitation, but were not aware of any cases of abuse by their own partner organisations. And one un spokesman played down the reports, saying they were incomplete, fragmented and unsubstantiated. James landale, bbc news. In a moment, the business news. First a look at the headlines on afternoon live. Drivers are warned of Hazardous Conditions on roads as heavy snowfall hits parts of the uk. The International Trade secretary, liam fox, says any form of Customs Union with the eu after brexit would be a complete sell out for the uk. Air strikes and shelling resume in the syrian enclave of Eastern Ghouta as a temporary ceasefire collapses. Heres your business headlines on afternoon live. German cities will be allowed to ban older diesel vehicles from some areas following a Landmark Court ruling by the federal Administrative Court in leipzig. The ruling sets a precedent for other cities and analysts said it could lead to similar action across europe. Us cable tv giant comcast has made a £22. 1bn bid for sky, challenging an existing offer from Rupert Murdochs 21st century fox. It had already agreed to buy the 61 of sky it does not already own. Comcast boss Brian Roberts says hes confident the offer would be cleared by regulators. More on this in a moment. Ryanair is to close its base at glasgow airport, and cut the number of routes out of glasgow from 23 to just three. Its warned that 300 jobs could go as a result. The low cost airline has blamed the change on the cost of air Passenger Duty and said glasgow simply could not bear the burden. Now another reason why ijust dont understand the city sometimes because Provident Financial have just been slapped with a huge fine from the Financial Conduct Authority but their share prices up 80 . Significant isnt that . They have had a bit of a problem. Theyve had lots of troubles. They had this investigation into mis selling. Its resulted in fine. They went to investors to raise that money but todays results about how theyre going to agree pay that fine. That clarity has removed uncertainty and so investors are a bit more confident, however if you are chart geek like myself and you look at the share price. Your chart geek . Thats what they call me. Chart geek. Its remarkable, actually. Thats what they call me. Chart geek. Its remarkable, actually. think you should talk to someone else. It has not recovered as much as it shouldve done. The senior a nalyst as it shouldve done. The Senior Analyst at hargreaves layjoins me now. Save the chart geek it hasnt gone to levels pre investigation. That is right. Theres lots of things had been going on with Provident Financial. Some of it is subsidiaries and theres also been problems in terms of the business itself. It moved across from a syste m itself. It moved across from a system where it had lots of self employed agents out on the road doing medal stock lending and they changed it across to an employee, a full Employment Model and that went quite badly wrong and led to a problem last year. The key takeaway from today as there was a lot of bad news but it wasnt anywhere near as bad as the city was expecting and thatis bad as the city was expecting and that is why you have seen the Share Price Rise so much. Another big prize is sky shares because of this bid from comcast. Is that all so to do with the anticipating another offer from disney upping their current offer . That is right. It is a tangled web this one but the share price at the moment is actually above what comcast have offered today and as you said it is completely right because there is an expectation that another bid will come to the table so initially the deal was tended by 21st century fox, which came in and offered £10. 75 a share. A. Since that happened, a lot of water has passed under the bridge. First of all, 2 st of water has passed under the bridge. First of all, 21st century fox but also weve had a very successful premiership rights auction the sky and that has led some cause for 21st century fox and disney to up their offer but it seems that comcast has now come and flushed that particular game out with a much higher offer and so the board is very much now in disneys court and see they are going to go the top of or actually say you can haveit the top of or actually say you can have it or even there is a possibility of a partnership between the two companies. Thank you. Lets fulfil your wish and get more market figures. Yellow mac version have done well today and direct line were up done well today and direct line were up this morning but they slipped in afternoon trading. Virgin announced an increase in dividends and positive profits so clearly investors have done quite well and they are happy. Direct line slightly flat there and not as high as virgin surprise that sort we are seeing there. Looking like its ending in negative territory. We shall call you chart geek from now on. Thank you. Lets show you some pictures of fun in the snow today. It was filmed today. This man is cold lawrence and he is snowboarding in the south downs just outside brighton. He is snowboarding in the south downsjust outside brighton. I think thatis downsjust outside brighton. I think that is probably it but there you are it is the fact that it is just outside brighton. That is it. That is it from your afternoon live team from today. Next the five oclock news with hugh edwards but first the weather. Hello there. The early amber snow warnings have now expired. Very snowy around maidstone and here in the north east of england and northumberland a lot of snow has fallen. Earlier on it has been bugging around in the wind and vertically heavy snow across the Higher Ground at the rest of this week there is more to come. More met office snow warnings and more travel disruption and with the wind picking up disruption and with the wind picking up there is significant wind chill. If you thought it was cold already, wait until tomorrow. The siberian air is coming on a strong easterly wind. It will blow in more snow showers today and overnight and the easterly of the uk will see the bulk of those. Through the west we will hasnt clear skies here as well but through the Channel Islands and moving into southern parts of devon and cornwall later in the night. Another cold one, were down to 8 in one or two places last night and similar numbers tonight. Ourfocus for the heaviest snow into wednesday and thursday is going to be further north. The northern and eastern scotla nd north. The northern and eastern scotland through the central belt and Northern England may be even more than 15 centimetres in some areas. Snow shower after snow showers driven on by their strong gale force easterly winds. Some parts of england and wales tend to become drier and sunnier. Those of the maximum temperatures, and on the strength of the wind and it will feel bitterly cold, more like 9 or minus ten. Those snow showers in the north will continue overnight. A big area of low pressure here is moving northwards and that is moving into the cold air and its going to bring with it some wetter weather. That will become snow and the main focus of that will be the southern areas of that will be the southern areas of the uk. Likely to be in the south west of england and south wales and then we have got a slice of something a little bit dryer before were back into the snow showers that continue especially across northern and eastern scotland. Another cold day, not getting above freezing and places but weve still got that bitterly cold easterly wind so it will feel more like 9 or 10 celsius. Today at 5 the snow and freezing conditions bring disruption for travellers across the uk. Hundreds of trains are cancelled, many schools are closed and drivers are warned of treacherous conditions on the roads. Make sure youre only taking that journey if its absolutely necessary. You can be assured that the motorways and major trunk roads are going to be cleared and treated, but thats not to say other areas wont have snow on the ground. Iam in i am in North Yorkshire. Snowfall here and disruption and there could be another 20 centimetres is no falling in the next 24 hours. We will have the latest from harry and other colleagues on those weather conditions and what is the forecast