this is bbc news. the headlines at 2pm: a suspected chemical attack in syria kills 58 people and injures more than 60 — most of the dead are civilians, including children. russia says the attack on the st petersburg underground train which killed 1a people, was carried out by a suicide bomber from kyrgyzstan. the prime minister says the government is preparing for ‘all scenarios' in its brexit negotiations, as a commons committee warns of the risk of not striking a deal. i'm confident that we can get a good deal with the european union. i'm confident not just deal with the european union. i'm confident notjust because that would be good for us, it would be good for them, as they have acknowledged. and in the next hour... held captive for eight years — in a squalid room without carpet, a light bulb, bedclothes or curtains. a man who subjected a disabled woman to horrific sexual assaults while holding her as a virtual prisoner, is given a 15 year jail sentence. they were sick people, just really

sick people. i don't now how anybody, anybody can do something like that to a mentally disabled woman. six more people have been charged over an attack on a teenage asylum seeker in croydon in south london, which left him critically ill. and — a storm in an egg cup? the row between the church, the national trust and cadbury, about the omission of the word easter from their egg hunts. good afternoon and welcome to bbc news. 58 people have been killed in a suspected chemical attack in the rebel—held province of idlib in northern syria. emergency services who arrived in the area shortly after a series

of strikes, said they found people choking in the street. the syrian government has repeatedly denied using chemical weapons. the dead are mostly civilians, and include at least 11 children. france has called for an emergency meeting of the un security council to discuss the attack. our correspondent ben james reports from beirut. this is some of the footage opposition activists posted online after the attack on the town of khan sheikhoun. medical sources told the monitoring group, the syrian observatory of human rights, that the symptoms — the difficulty breathing, the foaming at the mouth — were consistent with a gas attack. witnesses talk about people choking and fainting after the early morning air strike. other pictures too graphic to broadcast show what appear to be the seminaked bodies of the dead, many of them children. some reports describe people taking victims' clothes off and hosing them with water to try to help them. translation: the symptoms that

were witnessed are different than symptoms of chlorine gas. all the victims who arrived had neural and yellow saliva coming out of their mouths, and very soon blood started coming out of their mouths too, which means that their lungs are damaged. this area in the north—west of syria has been under heavy bombardment by pro—government forces. it's controlled by a range of opposition groups, including jihadists linked to al-anda, and free syrian army fighters. there's been no official response from the syrian government to the claim of a gas attack. they've repeatedly denied using such weapons in the past. a political opposition group has called for an un investigation into today's attack. 14 people are now known to have died in the explosion on a st petersburg

underground train. the prime suspect, who's believed to be among the dead, has been named as akbarzhonjalilov, who had russian citizenship but was born in kyrgyzstan. 49 people were injured in the explosion — three days of mourning have begun in russia. they've been bringing flowers here all morning, creating a shrine in the very heart of st petersburg. a whole city suffering, after a bomb tore through a train deep underground here. "anyone of us could have been in that carriage", this woman says. she believes 6 million people in st petersburg were in danger. these were the panicked scenes right after the blast. passengers in the mangled wreck of a train, struggling to reach safety. those on the platform hunting for survivors, desperate to help however they could. the train was between stations when the bomb went off. down the line, a man filming on his phone heard the explosion. then came the smoke

and a terrible smell. and from someone passing on the other platform, a glimpse of the carnage. the train driver kept going, to make sure rescuers could reach the injured. today, calmly, he told his story. translation: there was a bang and smoke. i contacted the dispatcher and reported the situation. at that moment, incomprehensible messages began to come in on the passenger driver link, because everyone was speaking in all the carriages. president putin was in st petersburg when the attack happened. last night he visited the scene himself. this is a blow against his hometown. earlier, in muted tones, he'd called this a tragedy, as an official investigation into a terrorist attack was opened. it's now 18 months since russia's president ordered air strikes in syria, with thousands of russian citizens fighting alongside is, this campaign was sold as a way

to stop them bringing that war back home. as the investigation into the metro attack continues, russian officials now say there's evidence this could have been the work of a suicide bomber. the security service in kyrgyzstan, in central asia, say a man born there, who has a russian passport, is now a key suspect. the metro station here has been closed again after another bomb scare. it's the latest of several since the explosion here yesterday. this is clearly a city that is very much on edge, because nothing like this has ever happened here. so, as people here mourn their dead, they wait, too, for answers, on how and why this happened and how safe they are in their city. our correspondent sarah rainsford is in st petersburg. it would appear we now have a much

clearer idea of who, do we know why? no. as you say, a clearer picture of who was behind this attack is now emerging. the investigative committee in russia, the chief body responsible for looking into what happened, has just released a statement. they say the identity of the man responsible for the explosions, very definitive statement, is akbarzhonjalilov. they say he was 22 and we understand he is from kyrgyzstan in central asia. they always say there is dna evidence on a bag left at another metro train station on the same day as the explosion. that bag contained as the explosion. that bag contained a second explosive device. the dna links akbarzhon jalilov to that second device. they are saying definitively that this one man was behind an attempted attack and the explosion that went off in the third carriage of that train yesterday, on

the line just that these where we are now here in central st petersburg. the motives, as you asked, unclear at this point. there does appearfrom asked, unclear at this point. there does appear from the forensic evidence that this was a suicide attack that was carried out on the metro. several thousand fighters from central asia have gone to fight with islamic terrorists inside syria and iraq, haven't they? notjust from central asia but the caucuses. serra and number of people, russian citizens and former soviet citizens to be fighting alongside islamic state minister once inside syria. certainly russia has a long history of extremist islamists, with insurgency in the north caucasus. central asia has also been the source of fighters going to fight alongside islamic state in syria. so at the moment it is not clear if this is a man who had potentially

been to syria to fight fair. it is not clear if he was inspired by that ideology. we don't know about that. —— to fight there. there is a known insurgency and it was the reason president putin gave the —— the beginning air strikes president putin gave the —— the beginning airstrikes in president putin gave the —— the beginning air strikes in syria. he said there was a terrorist threat from syria and the northern caucasus, and people bringing that flight caucasus, and people bringing that flight back home to russia. he hoped by carrying out the air strikes he would be containing that threat and keeping it from russia's shores but this suggests potentially the opposite has happened. world leaders have rallied behind russia, three days of national mourning but all eyes on president putin to see how he responds. interestingly so far his response has been fairly muted. don't forget this is a man with a of a very long strong line on terror. he came to power promising to wipe out terrorism in this country in the second chechen war. he has always

made strong speeches about the fight against terrorism and the need for international cooperation in that fight. so far he has referred to what happened here in st petersburg asa what happened here in st petersburg as a tragedy, very soon after the explosion itself happened. so we would expect some further comment from him now as the full details begins to emerge. sarah, thank you very much. let's return to the reports from northern syria that at least 58 people have been killed in a suspected gas or chemical attack in the rebel held province of it lip. -- in idlib. the rebel held province of it lip. —— in idlib. let's get more with our correspondent ben james, who —— in idlib. let's get more with our correspondent benjames, who is in beirut. we saw his report a short while ago. how difficult will it be to prove and to prove quickly precisely what substance has caused these deaths and injuries?

it's extremely difficult. the notion of proof in syria is a tricky one because whenever one side says it's proved something, often the other side will deny it. we have seen these pictures activists have posted on facebook and elsewhere on social media of children who appear to have difficulty breathing, some foaming at the mouth. others are too graphic to show on tv with bodies appearing to show on tv with bodies appearing to be the victims of that attack. it's the political fallout of this, as well, that's being discussed. i'm reading a statement from boris johnson, talking of horrific reports of chemical weapons attack the idlib. this investigate must be investigated and people how to account. emily thornberry calling it barbaric. there have been other reaction from around the world, including from russia, who said its planes were not involved in an air

strike in this area. and the politics around chemical weapons used in syria have been a big part of the conversation about this conflict in the past. you will remember the united states declared chemical weapons used as a red line in 2013, the time after suspected chemical weapons attack in damascus. there was a vote in the uk parliament about the potential for military action in response to that. that was a vote david cameron's government was defeated in, that did not take place, and later a deal between the us and russia led to a decommissioning of the declared stockpile of syrian chemical weapons. now opponents will say there were further chemical weapons that were not declared and maybe some of those were used in today's

incident. you mentioned the response from the russian defence minister. any response from the syrian government? no official response as yet from the syrian government. one unnamed source by the reuters news agency in the syrian military denied, as has been denied before, the use of chemical weapons in the past, the present or the future. we will see what the syrian government says officially, but that is the word coming via a source to the reuters news agency so far. thank you very much. thenjames in beirut. the prime minister has insisted it is in both the uk and the eu's interest to strike a deal on brexit. theresa may — who has just arrived in saudi arabia — was responding to a report from mps that challenged the government's claim that ‘no deal is better than a bad deal‘. the parliamentary committee for exiting the eu says parliament should be consulted before ministers walk away without a deal. six pro—brexit mps on the committee voted against the report, saying it was too gloomy. our political correspondent ellie price reports. the charm offensive is on. theresa may is in the middle east, on a mission to foster new partners and new trade partnerships in a post—brexit world. here injordan, next stop saudi arabia. i want to see a truly global britain that is really outward looking. a good trade deal with the eu

but, yes, good trade deals around the world. but our relationships around the world aren't just about trade, they are about ensuring that we can maintain our security and support the security of areas like the gulf region. but as britain looks to make new deals further afield, closer to home questions over what would happen if the uk and eu failed to reach a brext trading agreement. do you think that leaving with no deal...? backbench mps have released a report warning of the risks, and called on the government to work out how much no deal would cost. without the government setting out what mitigating steps it would put in place, the assertion that no deal is better than a bad deal is, in the words of the report, "unsubstantiated". select committees are meant to hold the government to account. they are made up of mps from across the political spectrum. in the case of the brexit committee, they are also made up of pro—leave and pro—remain mps.

this report didn't have the full support of all its members, some of whom said it was too pessimistic about brexit. and critics say a committee report without the full backing of its members lacks full credibility. it was far too obsessively focused on one side, which is the risks, and the downsides of leaving the eu, with scant real attention to the upsides and the opportunities. and actually, what we should be doing, i believe, is both. the prime minister insisted that every scenario in the brexit negotiations was being considered, but that a good dealfor the uk would benefit the eu too. in the meantime she is looking beyond europe. this morning the pm shrugged off criticisms about human rights concerns and insisted engagement with the likes of saudi arabia was in the national interest. ellie price, bbc news, westminster. the headlines on bbc news: syrian activists say 58 people

including children, have been killed ina including children, have been killed in a suspected gas attack in a rebel held town in the north—western province of idlib. russian investigators confirmed the man who carried out the st petersburg metro attack was a suicide bomber from kazakhstan. the number of people who have died has risen to 1a. detectives investigating the attack on the young asylum seeker in south london on friday have charged a further six people, including a 15—year—old boy, ringing the total number charged to 13. in sport arsenal boss arsene wenger has implored the club's fans to stick behind the team, despite the ongoing uncertainty regarding his future. there have been protests and skirmishes inside the emirates stadium in recent weeks but arsene wenger says it's about the club, not about him. the chelsea striker aluko has said it sets a dangerous message out that the england boss mark sampson has picked his players, not

picked his players on form. and players in the nhl, ice hockey‘s premier league, could miss out on the winter olympics next year after they failed to agree a deal to participate. i will be back with more on those stories just after 2:30pm. more on that story in our headlines 110w. detectives investigating the attack on a young asylum seeker in south london on friday have charged a further six people in connection with the assault, including a 15 year old boy. our home affairs correspondent, tom symonds is following the case from croydon magistrates court. this relates to an incident on friday night when three young asylum seekers are heading to a bus stop in a suburb of croydon. they came into contact with a large group of people ata pub contact with a large group of people at a pub nearby, between 20—30 and there was a confrontation and the result of that was that a 17—year—old young asylum seeker was

kicked and beaten and given quite serious head and spinal injuries. as you say, 16 people arrested, we now have eight further charges today here at croydon magistrates' court. those charged are processed by the court, bail terms considered and discussed. they have all been charged with violent disorder, including the threat of violence on the part of three or more people in a crowd, and some of them, three of them, are charged with aggravated racial offences of grievous bodily harm. to give you the names of those charged today, karin evans, liam and ben, and three people who are children and we can't name for legal reasons. they are all going to appear at croydon crown court on the second of next month, and as i say there is quite a lot of processing of the legal paperwork and the

decisions about bail to be done at this court over the course of lunchtime and this afternoon. a man who pleaded guilty to raping and indecently assaulting a woman with severe learning disabilities who he kept captive in his house has beenjailed for 15 years. keith baker's wife, caroline, who was also involved in the years of sexual abuse was sentenced to three years for a series of related offences. the judge said it was difficult to see how someone had "lost their moral compass" to such an extent that they could subject someone to such treatment. for most of a decade, this estate in craigavon housed the secret of serial abuse. inside their home and hidden from sight, keith and caroline baker kept a woman with severe learning difficulties a virtual prisoner — and for eight years, they raped and indecently assaulted her. the vulnerable woman went missing in england in 2004 and was only found here in northern ireland eight years later, and she wasn't keith baker's only victim. he was raping me for 13 years. and i couldn't tell

anybody about it. and it was hurting. mandy highfield lived with the couple and is the mother of some of keith baker's children. she says she didn't know that the bakers were sexually abusing the woman kept captive in their house, but she did eventually contact the police because of the conditions she was being kept in. she was a5, but she was like a 12—year—old. keith took the handle off her door. there was no lightbulb in her light, no carpet on the floor. no curtains up against the window. it was like a little prison. they were sick people, just really sick people. i don't know how anybody, anybody, can do something like that to a mentally disabled woman. when the police found the woman, inside an unlit bedroom in the house, she weighed just six

stone and the court was told that she only had one sound tooth. neighbours say keith baker appeared controlling of his wife, but they never imagined what was going on behind these doors. i just... ijust thought she was in a situation of domestic violence with an abusive husband that didn't let her out, that was controlling. but it was very, very quiet, never heard anything. during their search of the house, which is no longer owned by the bakers, detectives found videos taken by the couple of them abusing the vulnerable woman. the whole case is extremely upsetting, it's horrific and it's depraved and the suffering of this woman over a period of around eight years, can only are imagined. it has been an awful life that this woman has been exposed to, at the hands of baker and his wife. the dark truth of what happened at this house may now have been

exposed, but authorities on both sides of the irish sea face serious questions about how she ended up in the hands of a couple who abused her under the pretence of offering her a home. the church of england has accused the national trust of airbrushing faith after the word easter was dropped from the title of its egg hunt, sponsored by cadbury. as easter approaches chocolate eggs are being hidden at national trust properties up and down the uk, but the name of the event has attracted furious comments from the archbishop of york, who is annoyed that the word easter has been dropped from

its title. for christians, easter eggs are symbolic of the resurrection ofjesus christ. and now the prime minister, theresa may, a vicar‘s daughter, has weighed in on the row. it's very important as a festival for christians, for millions across the world. i think what the national trust is doing is franklyjust ridiculous. but is this all a storm in an egg cup? i do think it isjust a big fuss over nothing. we know it is easter. a bit of both sides i guess. in one way, it is a very traditional thing, but i guess on the other hand everyone is entitled to either want to have an easter or not. cadbury point out that their website, advertising and many of their seasonal products feature the word easter prominently. this morning the national trust updated their website following the uproar to feature easter in its title.

they say it is nonsense to suggest the national trust is downplaying the significance of easter. you have to wonder what cadbury‘s founder, john cadbury, would have made of this. as a quaker, he did not celebrate easter sunday. instead the group says it remembers jesus all year. anisa kadri, bbc news. with me is the executive director of the national secular society. what you think mr cadbury would have thought, the founder of the company? well, cadbury has been sold on i don't think that it's any more releva nt what don't think that it's any more relevant what he would have thought about it, as we are very happy to ignore when christian entrepreneurs we re very ignore when christian entrepreneurs were very keen on slavery. so yes, i accept that cadbury and terry ‘s

we re very accept that cadbury and terry ‘s were very good business people and very good to their employees but it's not really relevant now. isn't it? you could argue they have been rather good at their pr this time round? this church has certainly been, i think it is a victory for the church as far as pr is concerned. their burgeoning pr department and the archbishop of york have really made some wonderful sales through another brand. i feel rather sorry for the national trust, on which easter appears numerous times on their website, to have been drawn into this in this row, in this rather in elegant way. and even more astonished that the prime minister, with so much and so important business on her plate, has been drawn into this, in what i think is really a manufactured pr stunt.

are we not losing our sense of humour debate over all of this? if it isa humour debate over all of this? if it is a stunt, we have all fallen for it and are having a chat about it? i don't think the church of england thinks it's at all funny. it has gone into huge theological detail about all of this, rather conveniently forgetting i don't think eggs have got anything to do with christianity whatsoever. it's obviously a rather... a symbol of three new all and rebirth. which was very convenient for the christians to ta ke very convenient for the christians to take over, and good luck to them! it isi-o to take over, and good luck to them! it is1—0 to to take over, and good luck to them! it is 1—0 to the church in this battle. the group who go on about political correctness, at the heart of this... doesn't that touch a nerve? people are very conscious of what they see as a tax on traditions —— attacks on traditions, whether

they are part of the church of england or not they will think this is the political correctness brigade out of control. i think it is quite the opposite. i think the vast majority of people in this country, according to social attitude surveys , according to social attitude surveys, are nonreligious. it's perfectly reasonable for cadbury or the national trust, if they wish to, to be as inclusive as possible and to be as inclusive as possible and to make it open, this exercise of hunting, open to as many people as possible, whether they are of faith 01’ possible, whether they are of faith or not. i'm not against them using the word easter, but if they choose not to do so, i think it's only reasonable for them to admit it and not be bullied by the church. so the message to the church is back in your box? i think so. keith porteous wood, thank you for coming in. working in high temperatures increases the risk of heart attack, according to new research. scientists have been investigating why the most common cause of death for serving firefighters is heart attack or heart disease. our health correspondent, sophie hutchinson, reports.

experienced firefighter simon mcnally used to train new recruits. it meant several times a day he was exposed to fires of almost a thousand celsius. then one day at work, he had a heart attack. i was in denial. you are hoping it indegestion or something else. you are hoping it is not going to be as sinister as a heart attack. it came as a bit of a shock. we keep ourselves reasonably fit in the fire service. we have to take part in a standard test every year. it was a bit confusing to be faced with those symptoms. heart attacks are the leading cause of death for front line firefighters. studies in america show almost half of all firefighters who died on duty, are killed by heart problems. the new research carried out by edinburgh university monitored the hearts of 19 healthy firefighters during mock rescues.

it found body temperatures rose by1 dgree celsius and remained high for a up to four hours afterwards. blood vessels failed to relax and the blood became stickier, forming potentially harmful clots. scientists believe the reason was the extreme physical exertion and heat. they say simple measures like staying hydrated and breaks are vital for saving the lives of firefighters. joining me is doctor amanda hunter, lead researcher on the reporter at edinburgh university. good afternoon. what led you to investigate this possible link in the first instance, between heat and the first instance, between heat and the levels of physical activity firefighters are exposed to and their risk of having a heart attack? an occupational therapist in the

fire service asked us to look into this. there was a lot of observational evidence from the united states saying firefighters we re united states saying firefighters were at in recent —— increased risk of suffering a heart attack. we wa nted of suffering a heart attack. we wanted to understand why that may be the case, so together with the british heart foundation, we funded this study and design studies to look at individual risk factors that are wholly unique to firefighters, such as exposure to high temperatures and intense physical exertion and in other studies we looked at air pollution and psychological aspects of rescues. on the face of it it is sort of counter intuitive, that firefighters in particular should be dying from heart disease, heart attacks, when you think they have very physically jobs on how to pass physical exams ona jobs on how to pass physical exams on a regular basis to continue doing

thejob? on a regular basis to continue doing the job? absolutely. if we can do something to protect them and keep them safe, then that's obviously something that would be advantageous. how, specifically, does the body, heart and blood react to these high temperatures, combined with high levels of physical exertion? as you said before, we saw an increase in the stickiness, the blood clotting, and the impairment of blood vessels. those two processes a re key of blood vessels. those two processes are key at triggering a heart attack in somebody that is susceptible. we think those two processes a re susceptible. we think those two processes are caused by dehydration that we see in firefighters, they lose half a kilogram, on average, in body weight, that is all fluid, sweat and breathing. they also increased their core body temperature, on average by one celsius. over a 20 minute period, thatis celsius. over a 20 minute period, that is a high temperature indeed. did you look specifically at how

measures like getting more water on board can reduce the risks to firefighters' health? no, that would be another study we would need to undertake to look at that specifically. from what we have ascertained from this study, we think that, we feel that going forward , think that, we feel that going forward, even simple measures such as adequately rehydrating to regain the fluid loss, and also to cool the body temperature down to normal as soon as possible, would probably mitigate the risk. ok, dr amanda hunterfrom the mitigate the risk. ok, dr amanda hunter from the university of edinburgh, thank you very much for your time. headlines coming up, but first let's get the weather. the weather is in pretty good shape to the next two days. relatively sunny, but some cloud around. this

isa sunny, but some cloud around. this is a picture from aviemore, in the scottish highlands. as you can see, many of us are cloud free. these speckled clouds are bringing some showers into northern and western scotland. pretty windy here. it is more generally cloudy towards the south—east. brighter glimpses at times, one two showers. in between, a slice of sunshine. temperatures 1116 degrees. during this evening and overnight, very windy weather across the far north of scotland. we could see 60 or 70 gusts. in the northern isles, the showers continue across scotland. where we see clear spells, particularly in southern areas, it could get cold enough for areas, it could get cold enough for a patch of grass frost. a chilly start for tomorrow. southern areas will see a decent amount of sunshine. things will gradually cloud over from the sunshine. things will gradually cloud overfrom the north. most of us cloud overfrom the north. most of us dry, highs of 1a degrees. hello. this is bbc news. the headlines...

a suspected chemical attack in syria kills 58 people and injures more than 60 — most of the dead are civilians, including children. reports say a rocket has also hit a hospital where victims are being treated. russia says the attack on the st petersburg underground train which killed 1a people was carried out by a suicide bomber from kyrgyzstan, in central asia. the number of people who died has risen to 1a. the prime minister says the government is preparing for all scenarios in its brexit negotiations — as a commons committee warns of the risk of not striking a deal. iam i am confident we can get a good deal with the european union. not just because that would be good for us, it would be good for them, as they have acknowledged. held captive for eight years in a squalid room without carpet or light bulb. a man who subjected a disabled woman to horrific sexual assaults while holding her as a virtual prisoner is given a 15 year jail sentence.

for the sport, we can go to the bbc sports centre. arsene wenger has called on arsenal's fans to stand behind the team, despite the ongoing uncertainty at the club. there were protests before and during their draw with manchester city last weekend and reports of skirmishes both inside and outside the emirates stadium. wenger has reminded fans the focus should be on the performance of the team and not whether he will sign a new contract to stay at the club beyond this summer. it is not about a majority or minority. just what you want from the fans is to stand behind the team and the club, that is what they did. i have said many times, it is not about me, what i care about, arsenal, the club, what we have achieved and what we want to achieve. that'll want to do. i will support arsenal when i am not here

any more, exactly the same, you know? i think what you want for the fa ns know? i think what you want for the fans was to stand behind the team. liverpool managerjurgen klopp says it's possible that their leading scorer sadio mane could miss the rest of the season. he picked up a knee injury in the merseyside derby. he was forced off after scoring the opener in the win over everton. jurgen klopp says the outlook is not positive, but the clu b outlook is not positive, but the club medical staff will wait for swelling in his knee to reduce before they make a final assessment. there will be further questions for the sunderland manager david moyes to answer today. the football association will ask for his observations of an incident in which he told a female reporter she "might get a slap". moyes will be in the dugout for sunderland's trip to leicester in the premier league this evening but he could face sanctions as a result of the fa inquiries. he told media yesterday he deeply regrets his comments — which have stirred debate over his future. he should certainly think about his

position as manager because he has a big response ability. not only to the football club, but to football in general. we are always being told that everybody involved in football is an ambassador. if he is an ambassador, that's not very good. all that i know is that he has apologised, and vicki, to her enormous credit, is prepare to turn around and accept that apology. where it goes from here is if others wa nt where it goes from here is if others want to pressurise vicki and others feel they have to do something about that, to me, that would be a great shame. that, ithink that, to me, that would be a great shame. that, i think is wrong. a witchhunt and all of this sort of stuff, i feel, witchhunt and all of this sort of stuff, ifeel, there's witchhunt and all of this sort of stuff, i feel, there's no need for that right now. chelsea forward eni aluko says england coach mark sampson is sending a dangerous message by not selecting players based on form. aluko was left out of sampson's squad for euro 2017 despite ending the season as the top scorer in the women's super league. she believes it shows young players that popularity is the most important factor in team selection.

the national ice hockey league in the united states have been criticised for refusing to agree to a deal which would allow its player to take part in next year's winter olympics. the nhl claims the owners of its 30 clubs don't want to interrupt the season. however it seems to be about the amount of compensation they want. the international olympic committee say in a statement that it cannot treat a national commercial league better than not—for—profit international sports federation which are developing sport globally. that's all sport for now. i'll have more in the next hour. lets get more on the reports from northern syria that at least 50 people have been killed in a suspected gas attack in a glib. the british—based syrian observatory for human rights said most

of the dead in the air raid were civilians and either the syrian government or russian planes carried out the bombing. earlier neil davison, who is a weapons adviser for the international committee for the red cross, who gave his reaction to the reports. the use of chemical weapons is absolutely prohibited in all circumstances under international humanitarian law, the law of armed conflicts. we have been appalled about repeated allegations and some confirmed use of chemical weapons. there have been confirmed reports of nerve agents, chlorine and mustard gas. some investigations have been carried out by the united nations, with the organisation for the prohibition of chemical weapons over the last several years, to verify the last several years, to verify the use of chemical weapons and also come in some cases, to determine responsibility. the icrc, we do not ta ke responsibility. the icrc, we do not take part in such investigations, because of our working methods. but

where we have first hand information about the use of chemical weapons, we do raise it with those parties to the conflict concerned. sometimes we do issue public statements, like we did last month, about a chemical attack in mosul. in this particular incident, it seems to be a much more large—scale incident on if reports are correct. ican i canjust i can just point out that icrc is not present in a —— idlib, so we do not present in a —— idlib, so we do not have first—hand accounts of this, only what is being reported. if confirmed, it would be the second largest chemical weapons attack in the conflict over the last few yea rs, the conflict over the last few years, second only to the large—scale use of nerve agents in august 20 13. our view is quite clear, that these weapons are prohibited in all circumstances.

states that are party to the chemical weapons convention need to make sure that this prohibition is upheld. they need to ensure that they take the right measures to uphold this prohibition. theresa may has defended cuts to bereaved family payments as fairer to taxpayers. until now, families have received regular payments for up to 20 years. but under the new system, the government will pay a larger initial lump sum, but regular payment will stop after 18 months. campaigners have called the move callous and brutal. the victoria derbyshire programme has been hearing from alan, who is terminally ill and says the changes will cost his family tens of thousands of pounds. i was shocked that a system of benefits that has been in place, as i understand, for 70 years, since 1916, although it has been renamed.

the essence of this support is that when somebody is widowed, there is financial support available for young children up to the age of 19—20. the fact that's been taken away seems utterly callous and savage. why do you think this decision has been made? i understand that this is a policy that was not at all mentioned in the conservative manifesto, as put together by george osborne as chancellor of the time. this policy appears to have no mandate whatsoever. i can only think that some relatively junior minister advised

the chancellor of the time. the amount of money that i have already built up in my state pension, through national insurance contributions, is approaching £130,000. so, even if the existing policy was paid out, it would only represent half of the money that i have put into my state pension. of course, i won't have access to the state pension. so whilst this is continually referred to as a saving, actually, it's just depriving people of money that they've legitimately earned. i'm going to explain to our audience on your behalf,

if it's all right, alan, that the reason it's difficult for you to talk is because you have cancer which, as i understand, started in your tonsils before spreading to your lungs and chest. last december, you were given between one and five months to live. that's correct. it essentially means, therefore, if i had died, or still do, in the next couple of days, my family will benefit from the current support system. two days later, we lose £50,000. that was alan, talking to the victoria derbyshire programme. the husband of a woman who was murdered on their honeymoon in mauritius has returned to the island for the first time since her death six years ago,

and put up a reward for information about her killing. john mcareavey has offered 2 million mauritian rupees, almost twice the average annual salary. michaela mcareavey was found strangled in her hotel room in january 2011, just 12 days after her wedding. two hotel workers stood trial for murder, but were found not guilty. mark simpson reports from mauritius. back on the island where his wife was murdered. this is a returnjourney most people thought john mcareavey would never make. he first came to mauritius six years ago. it was his honeymoon. but, 12 days after getting married, michaela mcareavey was murdered. today, he announced a reward to help catch his wife's colours. his offering more than £110,000.

catch his wife's colours. his offering more than £40,000. anyone can provide information that can subsequently be used and lead to a successful conviction in court for the people responsible for michaela's murder, then they are fully entitled to that reward. john and michaela were a well—known couple back home in northern ireland. herfather, mickey hart, is one of ireland's most successful gaelic football managers. michaela was killed at this hotel. she disturbed intruders who broke into her room. they panicked and killed her. two hotel workers later went on trialfor murder, but both were found not guilty. since then, john mcareavey has not spoken about the case but this week he has decided notjust to speak out but to act. nothing can ever bring michaela back. that we know. the next best

thing is that the people responsible for this heinous crime, a crime which resulted in a 27—year—old woman losing her life on her honeymoon, that would bring us a lot of satisfaction. the hotel where our michaela mcareavey was killed still exists and is still busy. six years on, it's been renamed but what happened here has not been forgotten in mauritius, especially now thatjohn mcareavey is back on the island. he says he is prepared to return again and again untiljustice is done. mark simpson, bbc news, mauritius. in a moment a summary of the business news this hour. but first the headlines on bbc news. syrian activists say 58 people — including children — have been killed in a suspected gas attack in a rebel—held town in the north—western province of idlib. russian investigators confirm that the man who carried out the st petersburg metro attack

was a suicide bomberfrom kyrgystan. the number of people who died has risen to 14. detectives investigating the attack on a young asylum seeker in south london on friday have charged a further six people — including a 15—year—old boy — bringing the number charged to 13. in the business news... bank of england policymakers have warned that the rapid growth in unsecured lending to consumers could endanger banks. borrowing grew at its fastest rate in a decade towards the end of last year. the central bank said that its planning to take a closer look at the risks and assess if credit standards are slipping. deal—hunting in delhi and on a mission in mumbai — that's the agenda for a team led by the chancellor phillip hammond and the bank of england governor mark carney over the next couple of days as they attempt to sell our financial services. during the two—day visit,

a series of commercial deals are expected to be announced including investment into india's rapidly growing energy and renewables market. and clicking their way into profit growth — online fashion retailer asos increased sales by 38% in the 6 months to the end of february — thanks to a boost in international sales. a weak pound since the eu referendum result has meant clothes on asos are cheaper to foreign buyers. us internet providers could eventually be allowed to sell information about their customers' browsing history. that's because president trump has signed a controversial order that scraps an internet privacy regulation. the law was introduced by president obama and limited the types of data internet providers can pass on without permission. the information includes location data as well as financial and medical information. joining me now is samira hussein from the new york stock exchange. there has been a lot of criticism of this decision to repeal this bill,

hasn't there? yes, absolutely. so, the internet companies are saying, or rather what the consumer advocates are saying, is that the internet companies should not be able to just get all of our information without even letting us know that they are going to be getting that information. that means they will have access to all kinds of browsing history, there will have access to medical records, access to so much. of course, what is behind this is advertising and what internet companies want to be able to do is do targeted advertising. consumer groups are not happy about this at all. consumers should not be happy about this at all. what is president trump's motivation? what is his reasoning? so, he says, well, we should really be able to create a level playing field. right now, internet companies, or other social media companies like google and facebook, they have access to a lot of our browsing history. they are

saying internet companies want to be able to have access to the same thing. by eliminating this rule, what we are establishing is a more level playing field for internet companies. is going to be easy for him to push this through? sorry, i didn't catch that. is it going to be easy for him to push this through? you know, that is really going to be a bit ofa you know, that is really going to be a bit of a challenge. we will have to see. there are a lot of companies that are speaking against this, especially consumer advocate companies. i am sure we will be hearing about this a lot more. thanks very much forjoining us. let's look at some of the other stories we are following today. verizon has announced plans to combine aol and yahoo into a new company, called oath. it was

announced ahead of a planned publicity campaign. the new name is already being ridiculed online. one site criticised it. amazon is targeting businesses with a new service selling office supplies, such as laptops, power tools and cleaning products, with a new venture called amazon business. the online marketplace offers firms vat—free pricing, vat invoices, and software to track and limit spending. and the market is more lucrative than some might imagine. uk online business—to—business market was worth £96.5 billion in 2015, only slightly lower than the £11 billion spent by consumers. and the face of billionaire investor warren buffett‘s can now be found on promotional packs of cherry coca—cola in mainland china. he is frequently pictured in public guzzling the drink, and his investment firm berkshire hathaway is coca—cola's biggest shareholder,

with nearly 10% of the shares. the drinks group has admitted it was surprised when mr buffett agreed to let it use his image. and for those of you wondering, no, he is not being paid for his appearance. the south african credit rating has been cut to junk status. that means the agency has labelled the country's debt as being non—investable. if you cast your mind back to friday, the south african resident sacked his finance minister. he had been considered a safe pair of hands by investors. investors quite liked. stocks like old mutual are feeling the effects ofa old mutual are feeling the effects of a downgrade. their shares are down about 0.5%. also, sainsbury‘s, they have suffered a fall in shares of about 2% after a survey today showed that its market share was lowering. i will be back in an hour

with more business news. this weekend, extraordinary achievements by young people are being celebrated by the rotary club. mohammed khaliel from leeds grew up in syria. he was forced to flee the country when he was ten, having been shot during an attack on his school. when he arrived in england, he went to the city academy. mohamed khalil is a 16—year—old growing up in leeds, getting ready for his gcse in food technology. nothing remarkable about that. but how he got here, well, that's another story. mohamed was growing up in syria when his school was attacked. he saw his friends being killed and was himself shot in the leg. to survive, he pretended to be dead until the attackers had gone. i cry when i sleep, because i can remember my friends. it's not going from my head.

i close the room i sit in. i cry, when i sit in, because every time i think about the bad thing that happened to me. mohamed's family fled syria and he eventually made a home in leeds. his mum has had surgery for cancer and his dad injured his back at work. so, mohamed looks after them both and helps support the family with money that he makes from working a restaurant. his teachers are astonished at the progress mohammed has made. in school, as at home, he's made it hisjob to help others. his story is what pushes him. his story is what makes him want to change things. seeing the war, at such a young age, he speaks about helping people that have been through that, that aren't managing as well as him. mohamed plans to dedicate the rest of his life to helping other people. sometimes, ifeel like if i have a lot of money i want

to help the charity. like, if i have money, i want to give it to the charities. if you help people, you feel happy. we arejust we are just hearing from the government in gibraltar. it is saying that there has been an illegal incursion into gibraltar territorial waters by a spanish navy patrol ship this afternoon. on their twitter account, there is a video which we cannot verify, i could not even identify the ship for you, but they are saying there has been an incursion by the spanish navy. i don't know how often this happens. we are having a look at that story and once we have a clearer picture we will bring that to you. time for a look at the weather forecast. good afternoon, lots of dry weather

on the way for the rest of this week. i can't promise it will always be completely sunny. there will be some sunshine around, areas of cloud as well. it is this area of high pressure that is building its way in from the south—west. it is that which will give the mainly fine and dry conditions. how are things looking at the moment? well, a blue sky day in gwyneth. this is from one of our weather watchers patchy cloud around. as you can see from the satellite picture, many of us get to see some sunshine. speckled cloud into northern and western scotland, delivering some showers. more generally cloudy skies across the south—east of england. that was the scene earlier this afternoon in chatham, kent. as you can see, this is 5pm in east anglia. the south—east is likely to hold onto cloud for the rest of the day. a few glimmers of brightness. the odd shower here and there. for the rush—hour commute across south east england, wales, the west midlands, northern england and eastern scotland, fine dry. temperatures around 13 or 14 degrees. a pretty

decent afternoon for northern ireland. for western and northern parts of scotland, a few showers, some heavy and possibly thundery. across the far north of the mainland and the northern isles, very windy weather as well. through this evening and overnight we could see wind gusts of 60 or 70 mph across the northern isles. the showers continue across western and northern scotland. the rain will clearfrom the south—east and most other places will be dry. where we see clear spells towards the south there will be the odd patch of mist, and it could get pulled in for a patch of frost in the countryside. we start of chilly on wednesday in the south. cloud will be coming down from scotla nd cloud will be coming down from scotland to the midlands. skies turning increasingly cloudy. there could be the odd drizzly shower across the north—west. i disguise for north—eastern scotland. the wind easing down compared to how they have been today. —— the skies. it

looks from this graphic that there will be a lot of cloud, but it will break up at times to give some spells of sunshine. 11—15. into the weekend, high pressure just spells of sunshine. 11—15. into the weekend, high pressurejust about in charge. it begins to retreat eastwards, a line weather fronts to try to push from the atlantic. they won't have much luck. most will stay dry into the weekend. the south—east, warm air will start to come in. that could well bring temperatures back up to where they we re temperatures back up to where they were at the end of last week. to keep an eye on that averages over the next few days where you are, as well as the rest of the weather details, you can log onto the bbc weather website. plenty more weather on the bbc news channel throughout the rest of the day. this is bbc news, i'm simon mccoy. the headlines at 3pm: an alleged chemical attack

in syria kills 58 people and injures more than 60 — most of the dead are civilians, including children. russia says the attack on the st petersburg underground train, which killed 14 people, was carried out by a suicide bomber from kyrgyzstan. the prime minister says the government is preparing for ‘all scenarios' in its brexit negotiations, as a commons committee warns of the risk of not striking a deal: i'm confident that we can get a good deal with the european union. i'm confident notjust because that would be good for us, it would be good for them, as they have acknowledged. i'm annita mcveigh, and in the next hour: held captive for eight years — in a squalid room without carpet, a light bulb, bedclothes or curtains. a man who subjected a disabled woman to horrific sexual assaults, while holding her as a virtual prisoner, is given a 15 year jail sentence.