this is bbc news. i'm vicki young. the headlines at nine... the leader of northamptonshire council, which has had to ban almost all spending, says she warned the government their finances were unsustainable. we've been in what you might call a perfect storm of huge increases in demand for our services at the same time as significant reductions in funding coming from central government. it's emerged tonight that two more women have reported harvey weinstein to the metropolitan police over allegations of sexual assault. six migrants have been injured after a gunman opened fire from a car in the central italian city of macerata. the gunman has been arrested. after getting caught in a scuffle with protesters last night, tory mp jacob rees—mogg accuses civil servants at the treasury of "fiddling the figures" on brexit. how airlines sit family and friends who haven't paid to sit together

is being looked at by the airlines regulator. it's after complaints passengers are being split up deliberately. and ireland pull off a dramatic victory with the last kick of the game in the six nations rugby as they beat france by fifteen points to thirteen in paris. good evening and welcome to bbc news. a local council has taken the highly unusual step of imposing emergency spending controls, after saying it's facing severe financial challenges. the move by northamptonshire county council means a ban on all new spending, apart from what's used to protect vulnerable people. the council's conservative leader, heather smith, says the move is a result of rising demand for services and cuts in government funding.

it follows warnings that other authorities are also struggling to remain solvent. i'm joined now by nick golding — editor of the local government chronicle. thank you forjoining us this evening. first of all, if we start with northamptonshire, what's gone on there? it must be really desperate times in northamptonshire. the council has been in really dire financial difficulties for a while. the council as you wish troubled and faces huge costs with the rising costs of social care and other costs. but a lot of people in government query northamptonshire took tough decisions simonoff and there is a sense they have been fighting a losing battle for quite some time. we have had enough a lot about austerity over the last year ‘s and it does seem as if local government has been at the forefront of that.

you talk about difficult decisions. should northamptonshire have done more or is this being replicated in other places across the country?” speak with lots of council chief executives around the country. there are huge worries in many places about the toll that asperity is having on councils. —— that austerity. it comes down to the likes of rising social care costs. lots of councils are really struggling. when i speak to senior people in the sector, there are expectations other councils could go the way of northamptonshire and leslie takes quite drastic action fairly soon. where ravi cuts falling in northamptonshire in particular? they say that they will protect services to vulnerable people but are specific areas where people are beginning to look as what is going on? —— beginning to notice. beginning to look as what is going on? -- beginning to notice. you're right, services to the most vulnerable people will be meant ten.

but when i look around councils around the country, all types of council services are being cut back. our intelligence from leading people is that errors like public health, street cleaning will be amongst the worst hit areas in coming periods. when councils have to cut money from public health, it is very short—term thinking. it is not good. if you invest money in that, it saves money and leads to greater population health in the future. presumably, the solution, everyone will say, is more money from the national government. labour leaderjeremy corbyn warned about thatjust in the last couple of days. auld enemy signs that the government nationally is prepared to give more money to local government? —— are there any signs that the government nationally. it is often the case that the government gives small bits of money to councils to get through

next crisis. but that is not an indication of a fundamental change coming in terms of reappraising how local services are funded and council tax business rates are necessarily the best way to do it in a climate when the central grant has cut back. lots of councils are struggling to raise the resources themselves and it is a great body and local government. we must leave it there. thank you very much forjoining us this evening. and we'll find out how this story — and many others — are covered in tomorrow's front pages at 10:30 and 11:30pm this evening in the papers. our guests joining me tonight are economics commentator dharshini david and journalist eve pollard. six migrants have been injured after a gunman opened fire from a car in the central italian city of macerata. police say the attack appears to be racially motivated, with the shooter targeting african migrants. one man has been arrested. italy's prime minister paolo gentiloni has condemned the attack and said hatred and violence

will not be allowed to divide the country. our rome correspondent james reynolds is following developments. as far as we can tell from the local media and police, the gunman opened fire from his car in the city of macerata. he targeted a group of people who appear to be migrants from africa. the gunman was able to continue going and firing against other groups and people. at that point, the authorities sent out tweets telling people to stay indoors. the gunman was arrested and as he was detained, there are reports he gave a gesture interpreted as a fascist salute. a lot of people are looking at what happened earlier this week near macerata. the dismembered body of an 18—year—old italian woman was found near the city. after her body was found, a nigerian migrant was

arrested. that is the backdrop of what has been happening in that city, now the shooting. it is important to look at it in the context of the election coming up. and the fact that migration has become such a big issue. and now clearly the attack against people perceived to be migrants today will only add to that. right—wing parties have begun their campaign on a very anti—migrant message, that migrants should essentially be kicked out of the country. 600,000 people in recent yea rs the country. 600,000 people in recent years have made it across the mediterranean towards italy. that has changed the political landscape year, allowing the right—wing to say, too many migrants, it's time for them to go. james reynolds in rome. a syrian rebel group says it shot down a russian fighter plane near the city of idlib on saturday. the syrian 0bservatory for human rights monitoring group said the pilot ejected from the plane and was killed, but this has not yet been confirmed. video posted on social media appeared to show the plane being hit, while other video showed burning wreckage on the ground, with a red star on a wing.

russian fighters have been bombing positions south of the city of aleppo in support of a syrian government offensive. viewers on bbc one willjoin us shortly for a full round up of the day's news with jane hill. before that... the civil aviation authority has announced a review into airlines' seating policies. it follows concerns that some operators have deliberately been splitting up groups of passengers in order to force them to pay extra for allocated seating. some people have complained that they've been victims of the policy and the caa says it won't hesitate to take action if necessary. our business correspondent vishala sri—pathma explained more about the review. if you book a flight on a budget airline, for example, you will be made to pay, sometimes, to sit with your family and friends when you go on holiday. so they are looking into whether the seating algorithms are deliberately done to make people pay extra. today, yougov, the pollsters, have released the results of a survey saying that,

actually, rya nair passengers are more likely to complain of being separated. they have come out and said that their seating policy is very clear and they are happy to participate in a review. it costs two euros to allocate the seat that you want on ryanair. they have actually had quite a few complaints on social media, though. lots of people have been tweeting them. you can go on their twitter feed to find that out. they have dealt with a lot of complaints over the last six months. easyjet, again, very happy to participate. they say they do their best to try and allocate family and friends together and that is in their algorithm. but what is key, though, is that algorithm, and that is what the caa will be investigating. six people are injured in a series of drive—by shootings in italy which targeted immigrants. 0ne victim is critically ill — the authorities say a right—wing extremist carried out the attacks. police arrested a supporter

of the far—right northern league movement at the scene. italy's prime minister has called on his nation to unite against extremism. also tonight... no new spending on services — northamptonshire county council imposes emergency financial controls. more sexual assault allegations against harvey weinstein. police say another two women have made complaints about him in the uk. and wales thrash scotland in the opening match of this year's six nations championship. while ireland secure victory with the last kick of the game in their match against france. good evening.

italy's prime minister has insisted that hate and violence will not divide his country after a series of drive—by shootings which the police say were motivated by racism. six people, all of african descent, were injured in the town of macerata in central italy. police have arrested a 28—year—old man who is a supporter of the far—right, anti—immigrant northern league. from italy, james reynolds reports. one man, a young italian armed with a pistol, turned the italian city of macerata into a terrifying place. the gunman fired from his car at anyone who appeared to be a migrant from africa. there was no time for his targets to hide. i was passing by this morning to go and buy cigarettes. when they shot me on my leg this morning, you know. so the person inside the car

was shooting, you know. during the attack, the authorities posted warnings instructing the city's residents to stay inside. the gunman was arrested when he got out of his car. he was draped in an italian flag. witnesses say that they saw him give a fascist salute. he is identified as 28—year—old luca graini. italian media reports he had been a candidate for the anti—immigrant northern league party in local elections held in 2017. this does not have any ad illogical motivation. criminals are criminals. the state will be severe to anyone who feeds a spiral of violence.

this attack comes at a time of high anxiety in the city of macerata. earlier in the week, the dimembered body of a young italian woman was found, a nigerian migrant arrested in connection with her death. now migrants have been injured in this drive—by shooting. the country now heads into next month's general election with all this on its mind. james reynolds, bbc news, rome. and james reynolds joins us from rome. these attacks today, james, coming ata time these attacks today, james, coming at a time when the country is very much divided over the whole issue of immigration. and immigration has now become the central issue in the italian general election campaign. remember, voters will have to pick a government on march the 4th. the right—wing opposition, a coalition of forces including the anti—immigrant northern league, has decided to make migration its main issue. it reminds people that over

the last four years, and in 600,000 migrants, most of them from africa, made it across the mediterranean on to italian shores. not all of those migrants have stayed. many of them have left. but the cumulative effect of so many years of the of arrivals has been powerful here in italy. and the attack today takes place amid the attack today takes place amid the backdrop of that angry debate. james, thank you. james reynolds in rome. a local council has taken the highly unusual step of imposing emergency spending controls after saying it's facing severe financial challenges. the move by northamptonshire county council means a ban on all new spending, apart from what's used to protect vulnerable people. the council's conservative leader, heather smith, says the move is a result of rising demand for services, and cuts in government funding. 0ur political correspondent matt cole reports. like so many others across britain, people in northamptonshire have watched their council manage

multi—million pound budget cuts since 2010, and now they've run out of cash, meaning a host of services from subsidised buses to libraries are threatened. i'll be absolutely devastated if it closes. we've been here forjust over a year and i was delighted that this is kind of ten minutes down the road from us. we just feel, i suppose, let down, and why wasn't anything in place to prevent this situation happening? there will now be no new spending save on services to safeguard the vulnerable until the next financial year. we've been in what you might call a perfect storm of huge increases in demand for our services, at the same time, significant reductions in funding coming from central government. but is this a one—off? english councils say by the end of the decade, they will have seen £16 billion cut from their core central government funding. they say by 2020 there will be a £5.8 billion annual shortfall.

what's more, they say they need an additional £1.3 billion now for social care. ministers will point to much—needed efficiency savings made in the same period, but labour says it's time for change. after nearly eight years of conservative government, councils have lost 50% of their funding from central government. and yesterday, we found that tory run northamptonshire council is effectively bankrupt. in northamptonshire, government inspectors are now investigating the council's financial management, but the conservatives have responded tojeremy corbyn‘s proposals, saying they would deliver less money to people's pockets and hit communities with higher council tax and worse public services. the government has plans for a new funding system for local authorities to come in at the start of the next decade. alongside that, proposals for councils to be allowed to keep more of the business

rates raised locally. but with this year's finance settlement for authorities due to be announced in the coming week, the local government association is calling on the ministry here to provide new funding for all councils now. matt cole, bbc news, westminster. thousands of people have taken part in a march on downing street, calling for an end to what they described as the crisis in the nhs. health workers and unions were among the demonstrators demanding more government funding to help ease pressures in the health service. the government has announced a package of financial support for small companies affected by the collapse of the construction company, carillion. the state—backed british business bank will provide up to £100 million in loans. customers worried about repaying mortgages will also be offered help. thousands of suppliers were left unpaid, after the firm went into liquidation last month. scotland yard have confirmed that two further women in the uk

have made allegations of sexual assault against the hollywood film producer harvey weinstein. 0ur correspondent ben ando is at new scotland yard. what more do we know about this? well, these latest accusations were made late last year but have only just come to light. in one, a woman alleges she was attacked by harvey weinstein in the republic of ireland in1991. in weinstein in the republic of ireland in 1991. in another, a different woman alleges that she was attacked in london in 2011. and in an unnamed foreign country. this comes after uma thurman gave an interview native states that says after the release of pulp fiction, produced by harvey weinstein, she alleges he tried to attack" albums in london and paris but she managed to wriggle away. a spokesman for harvey weinstein says that any incident that happened was

asa that any incident that happened was as a result of him misreading her signals and that harvey weinstein unequivocally denies any accusations of nonconsensual six. thank you. president trump says a classified memo released yesterday vindicates him of any charges of collusion with russia. the memo, written by republican members of congress, accused the fbi of bias against the president, and abuse of power. in a tweet, donald trump said the investigation into his ties to russia was an "american disgrace". david willis sent this report. his supporters believe he struck a blow for justice. but his supporters believe he struck a blow forjustice. but by releasing a secret memo alleging bias on the pa rt secret memo alleging bias on the part of officials who are currently investigating him, others believe the president is undermining a vital branch of government. this memo totally vindicates trump in probe, she tweeted today. —— trump tweeted

today. the memo, written by republicans, describes the only declared biased justice department and fbi, which was determined to ensure donald trump lost the presidential election. they got a one time someone election. they got a one time someone in the trump campaign using opposition research, paid for by the democratic party and the hillary clinton campaign. the man the president appointed to lead the fbi was fiercely opposed to the memo's release, having questioned its accuracy. in an e—mail to the legal staff, christopher ray wrote... —— to his beleaguered staff. democrats accused the president of recklessness in releasing the memo. it's appalling. it's a misrepresentation. it isn't even the

release of intelligence material. it isa release of intelligence material. it is a release of a distortion of it. what is its purpose? its purpose is of course to thwart the investigation, the robert mueller investigation. special counsel robert mueller the spot to be nearing the end of his investigation into allegations of collusion between the trump campaign and russia. and there have been reports here that he might soon be looking to interview the president himself. the white house, for its part, has consistently denied suggestions that the president might be about to sack robert mueller. democrats have one that such a move could prompt a constitutional crisis. a very exciting day for a rugby fans. let's catch up with all the sport news. with all the sport, here's karthi gna nasegaram at the bbc sport centre. wales and ireland displayed their potential title credentials on the opening day of robbie keane in's six

nations tournament. wells had a co mforta ble nations tournament. wells had a comfortable 34—7 victory over scotla nd comfortable 34—7 victory over scotland while dramatic last—minute drop goal and paris gave ireland a 15-13 drop goal and paris gave ireland a 15 — 13 win against france. the six nations is designed to store a year. but doesn't inspire or overwhelmed? josh a year. but doesn't inspire or overwhelmed ? josh adams a year. but doesn't inspire or overwhelmed? josh adams was making his debut for wales. steady now. if you get the chans, snatch it. —— get a chance. scotland could see their optimism disappearing after just a chance. scotland could see their optimism disappearing afterjust six minutes as gareth davies reached the line. wales led 14—0 at half—time. scotla nd line. wales led 14—0 at half—time. scotland tried a fancy stuff and field, will today be 6 billion live. leigh halfpenny scored two tries. who saw this coming? not the scotla nd who saw this coming? not the scotland coach. now the welsh flourished to finish. four tries

means a bonus point. at its best, by means a bonus point. at its best, rugby is power, pace and agility. in other words, this man. remember, so many welsh players were injured before this match. then they produce a performance like that. wells made everything about home advantage count. —— wales made everything. here, ireland's defence had been dominant. then the breakthrough. 0ne sprint to lift the nation. france led by one point and they still lead when the clock had gone red. time up. ireland had one chance to win one kick. get the ball tojohnny sexton. drop goal. watch and wait. it was there. what a moment. what a day. great britain trail spain— one in their davis cup world group tie after losing today's doubles match. jamie murray and dominic inglot

were beaten in straight sets by pablo carreno and feliciano lopez — which means britain have to win both singles matches tomorrow to be victorious. several of the new signings in the premier league made an impact in today's matches. but if you do want another result, look away, because much of the day follow soon. man united commemorated the 60s anniversary of the munich air disaster with a minute's silence. majesty magazine tavis field — zero. arsenal had a 5—1victory over everton. pierre—emerick aubameyang scored for his new club but it was a familiarface, aaron scored for his new club but it was a familiar face, aaron ramsey, scored for his new club but it was a familiarface, aaron ramsey, with his first hat—trick in his tenth year at arsenal. manchester city's laid at the top of the premier league has been cut to 13 points after the 1—1 draw with burnley.

important wins for bournemouth, brighton and southampton while leicester city and swansea drew 1—1. celtic were beaten 1—0 by, and, only the second mistake defeats is rendon rogersjoined the the second mistake defeats is rendon rogers joined the club the second mistake defeats is rendon rogersjoined the club in the second mistake defeats is rendon rogers joined the club in may 2000 16. -- rogers joined the club in may 2000 16. —— brendan rodgersjoined the club. kilmarnock move up to sixth place while celtic are eight points clear at the top of the scottish premiership. there were also wins for aberdeen, ross county, premiership. there were also wins foraberdeen, ross county, carts premiership. there were also wins for aberdeen, ross county, carts and hibernian. all the sports news on the bbc website, including the latest from the women's six nations. ireland currently trialling france 17-0. thank you very much. that is it from both of us tonight. you can see more on all of today's stories on the bbc news channel. that's all from me. goodnight. in most parts of the country today,

the weather was horrendous. grey, cold, dark, really awful day with some outbreaks of rain. sunday is looking a lot better. you can see this very slow—moving weather front. what does slow—moving weather front mean? well, it means that once it's over us, it just stays there and it is cloudy, drizzly and horrible. and the reason why it's slow—moving is because it's kind of stuck between the wind coming out of the east and also this win from a different direction across western areas. so it stalled across the uk. but what is going to happen over the next 2a hours is that easterly wind is actually going to win, so we'll see predominantly east, north—easterly winds developing across the uk. and when the winds come from that direction at this time of the year, it tends to stay critical because the mild air‘s pushed

out into the atlantic. so, this is what it looks like first thing on sunday morning. temperatures will be hovering around two, three celsius. freezing in some spots. actually, a lot of sunshine for many of us. basically, the further west and south you are, the better it'll be first thing. but notice they are showers there are across south—eastern england, east anglia into lincolnshire as well. and through sunday into monday, some of the showers coming out of the east or north—east on that increasing north wind. it will turn increasingly wintry. so, first some rain and then possibly some hail, sleet, and then eventually snow. so i will feel cold weather you are in the south. barely above freezing, i think, for most of us on sunday. and here's a closer look. so it will feel cold weather you are in the north or south. barely above freezing, i think, for most of us on sunday. and here's a closer look. this is what i'm talking about. sunday night and monday. doesn't look like an awful lot but some of these snow showers could be quite substantial, so there could be a nice sort of covering in some areas they are across the south—east and into east anglia. but i think, overall, the message is that for most of us, on monday, the weather is actually looking bright and cold. so, snow not for everybody, that's for sure. then, as we head into tuesday,

another weather front pushes out of the atlantic. so, this time, the winds one to push on from the north—west. and this weather front could bump into the cold air sitting across the uk. so there could be some snow across northern and north—western areas of the uk. so, really, i think the basic message over the next few days is it is going to stay cold. cold enough for some snow. not everywhere. so just stay tuned to the weather forecast because there could be quite a few snow showers on the way.