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 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 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. 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 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. the foreign secretary borisjohnson has demanded an investigation with those responsible held to account. 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 we witnessed are different than symptoms of chlorine gas. all the victims who arrived had neural stress 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. earlier the bbc‘s benjames said

it's very difficult to prove what chemical has been used. it's extremely difficult, the notion of proof in this highly complicated conflict in syria is a tricky one because whenever one side says they've proved something, often the other side will deny it. we have seen these pictures that activists have posted on facebook and elsewhere on social media, of children who appear to have difficulty breathing, some foaming at the mouth, others that are too graphic to show on tv, with dead bodies, appearing to be the victims of that attack. it is the political fallout of this, as well, being discussed. a statement from the foreign secretary borisjohnson talked of reports of horrific chemical attack. perpetrators must be held to account. emily thornberry calling it shocking and barbaric, that the use of chemical weapons by

anyone cannot be tolerated. there have been other reaction from around the world, including russia, who have 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 around this conflict in the past. you will remember the united states declared chemical weapons use as a red line in 2013. also around the time of the attack in damascus, there was a discussion in parliament, a vote that david cameron's government was defeated m, 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. 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 that response from the russian defence minister. any response from the syrian government? is no official

response as yet from the syrian government. one source, unnamed by the reuters news agency, in the syrian has been denied before, the use of chemical weapons in the past or in the present or the future. we will see what the syrian government says officially but that is the word coming via the source to the reuters news agency so far. 1a 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. sarah rainsford is in st petersburg and told me the motive behind the attack is still unclear. know, as you say, a clearer picture of who was behind this attack is now emerging. the investigative committee here 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, a very definitive statement, is akbarzhonjalilov. they say he was 22 and we understand he is from kyrgyzstan in central

asia. they also say there is dna evidence on a bag left that another metro station here, on the same day as the explosion. that bag contained as the explosion. that bag contained a second explosive device and the dna links mrjalilov to that second device. so 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 believe the meath where we are now. the motives, as you asked, the motive unclear at this point, but it 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 inside syria and iraq, haven't they? not just from central inside syria and iraq, haven't they? notjust from central asia, inside syria and iraq, haven't they? not just from central asia, from inside syria and iraq, haven't they? notjust from central asia, from the caucasus as well. there are a number

of people, russian citizens and former soviet citizens, we know, to be fighting alongside islamic state militants inside syria. certainly russia has a long history of a problem with extremist islamists, there's an 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's not clear if this is a man who had potentially been to syria to fight fair, it's not clear if he was inspired by that ideology, we don't know about that yet. but as you say, there is a known insurgency and it was a reason that president putin gave for beginning his air strike since syria 18 months ago. he said there was a terrorist threat from central asia and the north caucasus, people going to syria to fight that fight back home to

russia. he hoped that by carrying out those 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 has happened. world leaders ha¥e= has happened. werld leedere he¥e= behind russia, threedae of but i eyes on he so he fairly forget this is a man who has a don't forget this is a man who has a history of a very strong line on terror. he came to power promising to wipe out terrorism in his country in the second chechen war. he has a lwa ys in the second chechen war. he has always made very strong statements about the fight against terrorism and the need for international corporation that fight. so far he has simply referred to what happened here in st petersburg as a tragedy. this was very soon after explosion itself happened. so we would expect some further comment from him now as the full details, the full picture begins to emerge. sarah rainsford speaking to simon earlier. 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 is 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's looking beyond europe. this afternoon, arriving in saudi arabia, the pm shrugged off criticisms about human rights concerns and insisted engagement with the country was in the national interest. ellie price, bbc news, westminster. detectives investigating the attack on a young asylum seeker in south london on friday have charged a further 6 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. just to remind you, this relates to an incident on friday night, when three young asylum seekers were heading to a bus stop in a suburb of croydon. they came into 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, and that involves 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, kyran evans, who‘s 23, liam neylen, 19, ben harman, 20, ellie leite,19, and james neves, 22. 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 2nd 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. 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 the rebel held town in the north west province of idlib. investigators confirmed those who carried out —— the man who carried out the suicide attack was a man from kazakhstan. detectives investigating the attack on asylum seeker in croydon on friday have charged a further six people, including a 15—year—old boy, bringing the number of those charged to 13. in sport, sunderland have released a statement saying they still fully support david moyes in his role as manager, despite an

incident in which he told a bbc reporter that she might get a slap. chelsea forward aluko thinks england manager mark sampson is sending out a dangerous message by not picking players based on form. sampson left aluko out of his squad for 2017, despite herfinishing as aluko out of his squad for 2017, despite her finishing as a top scorer in the women‘s super league. and the best ice hockey players in the world have slammed the short—sighted decision that means they won‘t be competing at next year‘s winter olympics. the nhl won‘t allow players to go to the games because the owners of the club don‘t want it to interrupt their players season. more after 3:30pm. ken livingstone‘s future in the labour party will be decided this afternoon. the former london mayor will find out whether he faces disciplinary action over over his controversial claim that hitler supported zionism in the 1930s. a hearing into his conduct resumed a

short while ago. ken livingstone spoke to reporters on the way to the hearing. claiming i was a zionist and anti—semitic, claiming i was a nazi policies. i‘m just telling the truth. —— nazi politician. our political correspondent mark lobel is outside the hearing in central london. how do we think it‘s going? according to ken who spoke to a facial moment ago, as you said, he thinks he may get expelled from the labour party later today, although he denies he has done anything wrong. he did acknowledge that this is damaging the party and he suggested if he is expelled he will make more comments tonight, and he will wait until after the local elections before saying any more, acknowledging the existence of this row is damaging the labour party. but essentially he defined the two things he believes the three panel, 3—person panel behind me is looking

into at the moment, to decide his future and whether he can stay in the labour party or not as his defence of the labour mp, who he said lastjune on radio was not anti—semitic, after she had posted allegedly anti—semitic material on social media, for which he has since apologised. also the idea that hitler was supporting the zionist movement. it is historical, he says, he stands by those words, he says no historian has shown him any evidence to disprove it. for now, thank you. a man who pleaded guilty to raping and indecently assaulting a woman with severe learning disabilities while keeping her captive in his house, has been jailed 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, at craigavon crown court, said it was difficult to see how someone had ‘lost their moral compass‘ to such an extent. chris buckler reports. 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 in 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. chris buckler, bbc news, craigavon. that was chris buckler reporting. it is 3.20 three. an update for you now on the report

we had on the gibraltar government earlier, saying that a spanish navy patrol ship had been involved in an illegal incursion into british territorial waters. a spokesman for the gibraltar government saying royal navy patrols stationed in gibraltar have escorted that spanish ship out of british territorial waters. describing the standard procedure, there was no immediate cause for concern beyond the fact the ship was there in the first place without permission. apparently not an unprecedented event. the sort of incursion that happened three or four times a year, in his words. so that would look to be the end of that. 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 1000 degrees celsius. then one day at work, he had a heart attack. i was kind of in denial at first. you‘re hoping it‘s indigestion, or hoping it‘s something else. you‘re hoping it‘s 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 pass a standard test every year, we have a check up every three years, so it was a bit confusing, to be faced with those signs and symptoms. heart attacks are the leading cause of death for front line firefighters. studies in america have shown almost half of all firefighters who die on duty, are killed by heart problems. the new research carried out by edinburgh university, and published in thejournal‘s circulation, monitored the hearts of 19 healthy firefighters during mock rescues. it found body temperatures rose by1 degrees celsius and remained high for a up to four hours afterwards. blood vessels failed

to relax despite medication, and the blood became stickier, carrying a high risk of forming potentially harmful clots. scientists believe the reason was the extreme physical exertion and heat. they say simple measures, such as staying hydrated, and taking breaks to cool down are vital for saving firefighters‘ lives. joining us is dave green, national officer with the fire brigade union. thank you forjoining us. you have researched to explain what the profession has known for some time, about the increased risks of firefighters having heart attacks or suffering from heart disease. what are you going to do with this information? we are going to assimilate it, look at it, try and work out exactly what the implications are. we‘ve only had a read through it this morning. it‘s clearly quite disturbing. as you

said, we are well aware of the nature of the job we do. we are well aware of the dangers and we are well aware of the dangers and we are well aware of the after—effects of it. i think this explains quite graphically what actually it means in reality. what it means is every timea in reality. what it means is every time a firefighter goes into a burning build, is exposed to huge amounts of heat, they are putting their lives at risk. i think it‘s something everyone is aware of, but the longer term issues need to be explored. i spoke to the lead researcher on this report a little while ago. one of the key pieces of advice she was talking about with making sure firefighters are well re hyd rated making sure firefighters are well rehyd rated after making sure firefighters are well rehydrated after tackling a blaze but she is not sure what extent that could mitigate against these risks of heart attacks. in terms of what the situation is now when firefighters are going out tackling a blaze, do they have this sort of advice, to make sure they drink lots

of water? firefighters are taught about all the danger zone and extremes about all the danger zone and extre m es of about all the danger zone and extremes of temperature, and yes, rehydration is one of those, one of the ways of mitigating that. one of the ways of mitigating that. one of the biggest issues has to be about how long you are exposed to it. a firefighter‘s career can be 30 yea rs, firefighter‘s career can be 30 years, and even longer now that the pension age has risen to 60, which again raises some questions. but it‘s about the length of exposure at each incident and a cumulative number of incidents that needs to be addressed. we have examples where firefighters have been taken quite seriously ill as a result of what we call multiple wares, that‘s been committed into a burning building more than once with a separate apparatus set on. this has to have a really debilitating effect on firefighters. our call is for majors

and senior chief officers to look at theissue and senior chief officers to look at the issue of how many times they are committing men into fires. this is helped by the fact there are 10,000 less firefighters than there were in 2010, cuts to the fire service have meant firefighters are deployed to incidents, to fires with far fewer resources than they were, and those resources than they were, and those resources include fewer firefighters. at major incidents they are working a lot harder. this needs to be addressed and we need more firefighters to give those who are actually fighting the fire a chance to recover. are actually fighting the fire a chance to recover. so are actually fighting the fire a chance to recover. so if you have a major incident are you saying there simply isn‘t the capacity to refresh crews ? simply isn‘t the capacity to refresh crews? without having to ask any of those crews to repeatedly go back into that situation? i think that's the real problem. we have numerous exa m ples the real problem. we have numerous examples where by our members have

been committed into fires on a number of occasions, not once, not twice, sometimes three times. breathing apparatus where can only last about 15 minutes, but if you‘re working at extreme temperatures, many hundreds of degrees, and are extremely stressful situations, that isa extremely stressful situations, that is a really bad effect on a person‘s body. your recovery time is many hours, not minutes. if people have been committed into many fires that‘s having not just been committed into many fires that‘s having notjust a short—term effect but a long—term effect as well. david breen, national officer at the fire brigade union, thank you for your thoughts. theresa may has described the decision to drop the word "easter" from the title of cadbury and national trust egg hunts as "absolutely ridiculous". her comments come after the archbishop of york said calling the event the cadbury egg hunt

was like "spitting on the grave" of the firm‘s christian founder, john cadbury, whose faith he said influenced his business philosophy. in an interview with the daily telegraph drjohn sentamu said, "it is obvious that for him jesus and justice were two sides of the one coin. to drop easter from cadbury‘s easter egg hunt in my book is tantamount to spitting on the grave of cadbury". and the labour leaderjeremy corbyn has also weighed in on the issue. but keith porteous wood, executive director of

the national secular society said the row was just a pr stunt. has been drawn into this and what i think is a manufactured pr stunt. that was keith porteous wood from the national secular society. tell us who is doing the weather? ben rich. good afternoon. plenty of dry

weather to come. it doesn‘t mean it will always be sunny. there will be afairamount of will always be sunny. there will be a fair amount of cloud at times. some of us enjoying the sunshine. this was the scene in aviemore. as you can see from the satellite picture, many of us have been enjoying the sunshine. more generally cloudy skies across the south east. the cloud has been produce the odd burst of showery rain. most of the showers should ease away. the showers will continue across scotland and for the north of scotla nd across scotland and for the north of scotland we will see gales and maybe severe gales. in between, plenty of clear spells and maybe the odd mist patch and it could get cold enough in the south for a touch of frost. soa in the south for a touch of frost. so a chilly start in southern areas tomorrow, but that‘s where we will hold on to the best of the sunshine. more cloud rolling its way in through northern ireland, and southern scotland and northern england and into wales, the midlands and east anglia and maybe the south east by the end of the day. increasingly grey skies for many. temperatures ten to 1a celsius and it stays dry as we head to the end of the week. more details in half an

hour from jay wynne. hello. this is bbc news with simon mccoy and annita mcveigh. the headlines at 3.34pm; 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 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. it will 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 prisoner is given a 15 yearjail sentence. now the sport with hugh. good afternoon. sunderland have released a statement saying they still fully support david moyes as manager despite an incident in which he told a bbc reporter that she "might get a slap". sunderland have released a statement saying they still fully support david moyes as manager despite an incident the football association have asked for moyes observations following his comments. he‘ll 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.

sunderland have said that: "the exchange between the manager and a bbc reporter was wholly unacceptable and such actions are not condoned or excused in any way. david recognised this immediately, proactively bringing the matter to the attention of the ceo and apologising to the reporter. the club also spoke with both a senior figure at the bbc and the reporter personally, expressing its profound regret over what had occurred". liverpool‘s sadio mane could miss the rest of the season after picking up a knee injury in last saturday‘s merseyside derby. the senagalese international was forced off after scoring the opener in the win over everton. managerjurgen klopp sais the outlook is "not positive", but the club‘s medical staff will wait for swelling in his knee to reduce before making a final assessment. we have to wait a little bit until the knee is not that swollen anymore. he will not be available for tomorrow. tomorrow. and the rest we have to see. not very positive, but i cannot say.

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. mark sampson has publicly said he doesn‘t pick on forment the other criteria is clearly based on popularity, he has spoken about dynamics and character. the message and the values that the england team represent should be about hard work and putting your best foot forward in order to perform and get the rewards for it. the message that it is sending out if you‘re popular with the manager, you get into the team. you don‘t have to perform to get into the team and that‘s a dangerous message to send out to young people who are looking at the england squad and trying to aspire

to be in it. the best ice hockey will be missing from the olympics after the national hockey league said it would not allow the players to go to the games. the nhl is regarded as the world‘s top ice hockey league. here are the thoughts of the bbc‘s ice hockey commentator, seth bennett. the nhl wanted there to be a bigger concession from the ioc in terms of the amount of money they would be come opinion sated for having to call off three weeks of figures tu res call off three weeks of figures tures and place them earlier or later in the year. they felt that over the last two months there haven‘t been any change. there was a stalemate, a stagnation in the talks and they have said we have had enough, we‘re going to call a halt and shut the door and our players will not be in south korea for the

winter games. that's it. olly foster will have more in the next hour. police have made an appeal for a mother to make contact. she was reported missing with her sons eight days and ago and is suspect of abduging her sons. in days and ago and is suspect of abduging hersons. in the days and ago and is suspect of abduging her sons. in the last hour nottinghamshire police made this appeal. it has been eight days since we have had direct contact with sam. we need to know that she and president boys are safe. the investigation is on—going and will continue until we find the boys. we are following a number lines of inquiry both regionally and nationally and we have a large number of officers directed by on this inquiry. sam, we need to speak to you directly. i know that this is very difficult time for you. i cannot imagine what you‘re going

through and what you‘re thinking at this time. and as a mother of a child of a similar age, i cannot begin to imagine what‘s happening in your mind. i can only emphasise with you. we desperately need to know that the boys are safe, that they‘re in good health and where they are. sam, we need you to contact us, but if you can‘t for whatever reason, please get somebody else to contact us on your please get somebody else to contact us on your behalf. you will have the opportunity to speak to us and the family court and explain the reasons behind what you‘ve done. the boys are away from their home and their friends and must be unsure about what is happening to them. i‘m sure people that you know and that the boys know will be worried and want to hear from you. boys know will be worried and want to hearfrom you. sam, if you hear this message, please contact us urgently. anyone else out there who knows where sam or the boys are, please contact us. please help us to find sam, dillon and lucy. we would

be grateful if you share this message as widely as possible and urge the wider public to be as vigilant as possible bearing in mind that the appearances of the three may have changed since you last seen photographs of them. detective superintendent helen chamberlain. a man who held four people hostage during an armed siege injanuary this year has been jailed for four years. alistair gallow targeted the carol bookmakers injarrow, south tyneside. the incident sparked a stand—off with police lasting several hours. our news correspondent fiona trott is outside newcastle crown court. what was said? well, we were going over those dramatic scenes in january this year with the armed police storming the bookmakers. inside was alistair gallow, he had a sawn—off shotgun and knives around his waist and he was holding four people hostage for several hours. what we didn‘t know until today was

why he did it and what we found out in court was that his marriage had broken down. his mental health had deteriorated as a result. he told friends and his estranged wife, "i‘m going to do something stupid." on one sunday in january, going to do something stupid." on one sunday injanuary, he went into that bookmakers. he pulled out this gun from his coat, what we learned in court today, was that it was a replica sawn—off shotgun, but one witness told the police that they thought they were going to die. we saw cctv pictures in court and you could see a member of staff taking a couple of steps back and putting his hands in the arm in surrender. he told staff to trigger the panic alarm. he wanted the police there. he apologised and he said he messed. . his wife had left and he lost his job. while this was going on, he continued to drink alcohol inside the bookmakers, he was getting increasingly intoxicated and he hold

the hostages he would let them go once he got bored and he was pacing around. eventually, armed police arrived. he asked them to shoot him. he sent texts to people saying, "death by cop. it‘s too late." over a period of three hours, the hostages were released one by one. eventually the police fired a baton round and that‘s when alistair gallow was arrested. a psychiatric report found him to be suffering from severe alcoholism and depressive episodes too. he had a personality disorder so the judge took this into account which is why he has been sentenced to four years in prison. fiona, thank you very much. 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 two 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. time may have passed but his quest for justice continues. today, he announced a reward to help catch his wife‘s killers. he is offering more than £110,000.

if 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 harte, 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 of which we know. but 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 michaela mcareavey was killed still exists and is still busy. six years on, it has 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 until justice is done. in a moment a summary of the business news this hour but first the headlines on bbc news: syrian activists say 58 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 1a.

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. good afternoon. in the business news: bank of england policy—makers 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 it is 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. more than half of us bought a "free from" product during the last three months, according to a new survey. younger people are leading a trend towards buying products without dairy and gluten in particular. uk supermarkets are increasingly stocking aisles with wide ranges of the products, from biscuits to bolognaise. india is notjust an emerging market but an emerging opportunity that at least is the big hope for the united kingdom as it contemplates life outside the european union. chancellor philip hammond and bank of england governor mark carney are among the big hitters heading up a trade delegation representing the uk‘s financial services industry in india today. shilpa kannan, has been finding out

from the president of the european bank for reconstruction and development. if it is brexit which leads to the uk leaving the single market if you take that extreme that does have significant and potentially negative impacts on some of our countries operations. particularly bull gar c and greece. if it is a milder brexit, if it makes some contributions to the eu budget then the impact is actually marginal actually. chancellor hammond is bringing a large delegation of british businesses here to drum up the trade in india. do you think india can fill in that gap asa do you think india can fill in that gap as a strong business partner for the uk? it can. they used to depend

10 or 15 years ago as western europe as their economic locomotive. you saw a lot of supply industries growing up, serving the german, french, italian and british markets. that‘s changing as these countries look to asia, including india and to the gulf and to the far east for new sources of investment. india was seen as a large recipient of international aid, do you think that could change and india could become a significant donor? india needs to bea a significant donor? india needs to be a modern aid donor. that‘s really most countries have mod away from tied aid to a much more open market procurement and india should move in the same direction, but i think who are than that, india is a major shareholder of all the international institutions, of the major ones and i think it should use that leverage to ask questions about how does the international multilateral system really need to reform, to change, in order to help these countries? india

is one of the biggest importers of coal and as you increasingly engage with the government here, how can you use your expertise in green energy to change that? we have been helping them build up their renewa bles helping them build up their renewables industry through projects that we have financed and i think it‘s very interesting to see the indian companies here also pushing on renewables, but also working with indian companies now in the power sector, renewable sector, outside india in our countries of operations. there is plenty of opportunity for india to really move on this front. verizon has announced plans to combine aol and yahoo into a new company called oath, after completing the acquisition of yahoo. aol boss tim armstrong confirmed the move on his personal twitter account ahead of a planned publicity campaign. however, the new name is already being ridiculed online. 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 it‘s more lucrative than some might imagine. uk online business—to—business market was worth £96.5 billion in 2015, only slightly lower than the £119 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. 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! south africa‘s credit rating has been cut to junk status by the ratings agency s&p global. a junk status means that the agency has labelled the country‘s debt as an non—investable. now if you cast your

mind back to friday, south africa‘s president sacked his finance minister pravin gordhan. mr gordhan was considered a safe pair of hands — investors liked him. now stocks exposed to south african trade like the insurers old mutual are feeling the effects of that downgrade. old mutual down this morning. supermarket sainsbury shares fell further to lose 2% after that survey we were talking about earlier showed its share of the market lowering. that‘s all the business news for now. this weekend some extraordinary acts by young people are being celebrated at the rotary young citizen awards in manchester. there are seven winners from across great britain and the republic of ireland, one of whom is a mohamed khalil from leeds. mohamed grew up in syria. he was forced to flee the country with his family when he was ten, having been shot during an attack on his school. he watched his friends die and had to play dead to survive. having moved to england, mohamed

started going to leeds city academy. ian bucknell has been to meet him. 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 get 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 and each other you feel happy. all this week, the bbc news channel will be featuring the stories of past and present award winners. on saturday, we‘ll be broadcasting the ten year anniversary ceremony live from manchester. that‘s at 10.30am this saturday morning. it‘s time for a look at the weather.

it's it‘s looking good over the next few days. we have got a lot of dry weather in the forecast. very little rain to speak of because we‘ve got this big area of high pressure drifting it. it is pushing this weak weather front away from the south east towards the near continent. most east towards the near continent. m ost pla ces east towards the near continent. most places will be fine and dry. we have seen a good slice of sunshine today. it has not been sunny everywhere. underneath the weak weather front in the south east it has been grey, but in spite of that, there has not been very much rainfallment here is that slice of sun sheurpks southern scotla nd slice of sun sheurpks southern scotland and northern england and into parts of wales, but into the north and the west of scotland, more cloud and some showers and also gusty winds. gusts of 60mph and 70mph in the northern isles overnight. further south, it

70mph in the northern isles overnight. furthersouth, it is lighter winds and clearer skies, and it will turn chilly, five or six celsius in the south—west. rural spots will go the bottom end of single figures so maybe a touch of frost for a few. it is still windy into the morning across northern scotland. still showers around. into the morning across northern scotland. stillshowers around. it will stay blustery here, not too many showers towards the eastern side of scotland. there will be spells of sunshine too. there will be more cloud for northern ireland and the north—west of england, but most and the north—west of england, but m ost pla ces and the north—west of england, but most places getting off to a dry start and there will be sunshine for the mid—land and east anglia and southern counties england. we will see things clouding over as we go on through the day. after that bright start in east anglia there will be more in the way of cloud developing and the cloud will get its way down to the south—east, but the south—west should stay dry and bright and spells of sunshine as the afternoon, light winds too. a pleasa nt afternoon, light winds too. a pleasant afternoon here. underneath the cloud very little rain to speak of. most plausz will be foon and dry with temperatures in the range of ten celsius to 13 celsius or 1a celsius. through the evening, it

stays fine and dry for most places. maybe a spit or spot of rain coming into the eastern side of england. showers into the north and the west. through thursday, and friday, a fair bit of cloud at times, yes, but logical be breaks in the cloud so there will be spells of sunshine and still a breeze coming down from the north and the west. as you get on into the weekend, high pressure slips away towards the near continent, low pressure brings a weather front towards the north and the west, but for many places the winds will be coming up from the south. that‘s going to import warm air. we will see temperatures getting into the upper teens and maybe the low 20s for a few. so some warm weather on the way, but how long will that last? this is bbc news. the headlines at four. 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 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 we can get a good deal with the european union. i‘m confident not just with the european union. i‘m confident notjust because that would be good for us, but it would be good for them. 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.