hello this is breakfast. the british government toughens its rhetoric over at the russian involvement in the syrian civil war. the defence secretary blames the kremlin for the civilian deaths in tuesday's chemical weapons attack and boris johnson seek support for a new initiative to end the conflict. good morning, it is sunday the 9th of april. also ahead, a rare honour for pc keith palmer who was killed in the westminster terror attack. his cough and will lie in rest at the palace of westminister ahead of his funeral tomorrow. a ceremony to mark the centenary of the first world war battle of the meat ridge, more than 20,000 people are expected to ta ke more than 20,000 people are expected to take part. in sport, england's justin rose is at the top of the leaderboard in the masters, he is six under par along with sergio

garcia going into the final day at augusta. who is the bossy one? also this morning we are going to meet the sisters with a combined age of 300 and century of stories to share. and matt has got the weather for us, good morning. after yesterday's sunshine and warmth, today will be even warmer. for some of us sunshine and warmth, today will be even warmer. for some of us but not for all of us, scotland and northern ireland turning cloudy and colour with rain at times, i will have all the details in about 15 minutes. good morning. first, our main story. there's been more tough rhetoric from the british government on russia, over its continued support for syrian president, bashar—al—assad. the defence secretary, sir michael fallon, has sharply criticised the kremlin, saying it was responsible for every civilian death in syria last week. meanwhile foreign secretary, borisjohnson, has pulled out of a planned visit to moscow and is seeking support for a new move to end the conflict. we can speak now to our political correspondent susana mendonca. good morning to you. the rhetoric is

toughening up from the british government, but it remains to be seen whether the russian government ta kes a ny seen whether the russian government takes any notice. indeed. we hear from michael fallon in the sunday times, he has written about how he thinks the russian government is effectively complicit in what has been going on in syria. he says that by proxy, they are responsible for those deaths that we saw in that gas attack, because he says that russia are not doing enough to bring bashar al—assad to heal. but he wants to see is russia really putting pressure on the syrian government andi pressure on the syrian government and i suppose, with the rest of the international community on this. britain has been supportive of the

american action and we hear that again from michael fallon today. he basically says that donald trump made the right call when he decided to ta ke made the right call when he decided to take that narrowly focused on military action. at the same time, the british foreign secretary, boris johnson was supposed to be going to russia tomorrow for a meeting with the russian foreign minister and that has been cancelled. there was some criticism of that from the liberal democrats who are basically saying that they felt that britain, certainly borisjohnson, saying that they felt that britain, certainly boris johnson, was behaving like an american poodle by not going out there and leaving it to the americans. what we understand now is that borisjohnson has been speaking to other countries and trying to coordinate some kind of response from the g—7 group of industrialised nations. they will be meeting on tuesday in italy and we understand that borisjohnson is going to try and get them to get some kind of coordinated response to the russians, plenty of rhetoric, that has been ramped up by the

british and the americans. whether or not russia will change its response and reduce its support for president assad remains to be seen. thank you. thousands of people are expected to gather at services in stockholm later, to remember those killed in friday's terror attack. four people died when a lorry was driven into them on a busy shopping street. police are still investigating whether a device later found on board was a bomb. from stockholm, maddy savage reports. thousands of people spent saturday paying their respects and, after police reopened the shopping street where the attack happened, many were quick to find new ways to make their mark. in the old town's mediaeval cathedral, there was a special service to remember the victims, attended by sweden's prime minister, stefan lofven. earlier, police revealed that when they towed away the delivery truck used in the violence they had made a disturbing discovery. we have found something in the truck, in the driver's seat. a technical device which should not be there.

i can't at this stage say whether this is a bomb. the man they think was behind the wheel has connections here, a diverse working—class suburb in the north of the city. he hasn't been named, but is 39 and originally from uzbekistan. several others have been arrested following on, but in different locations. security remains tight, but locals are expected to gather for a peaceful rally later. they've been told to leave politics at home and come together to show their love for sweden. 0ur reporter maddy savage is in stockholm — what's expected to happen today? it isa it is a bright day. it's some semblance of a return to normality today. things are starting to get back to normal, even the department store behind me that the lorry crashed into on friday is set to reopen in the next couple of hours.

as we heard earlier, there is going to be this peaceful rally when people have been encouraged to come along bringing candles and messages of love and peace here in sweden. we have spoken to police in the last couple of hours and they have promised that would remain tight here in the city centre while that event is taking place and they have confirmed to us that they are questioning a number of people brought in in a series of raids around the city on saturday. they are also still holding the man that they understand to have been the driver in the attack. the mood here is much calmer than in recent days, a lot of people still coming to write messages on the boarding on the department store and to leave flowers, gifts and cards to remember those who died in the attack. thank you. a controlled explosion has been carried out in the centre of norway's capital, 0slo, after police found a bomb—like device. the area has been sealed off while investigations continue. a suspect has been detained.

the us military has ordered a navy strike group to move towards the korean peninsula, amid growing concerns about north korea's missile and nuclear weapons programme. us pacific command described the deployment as a "prudent measure to maintain readiness in the region". president trump has said the united states is prepared to act alone if necessary to deal with the nuclear threat from north korea. a man has suffered what police say are life—changing injuries, after acid was thrown at him in north london. his wife and their two year old son suffered minor burns in the attack, which happened at around i o'clock yesterday afternoon near caledonian road in islington. police say they want to hear from anyone who saw what happened. more than 20 thousand people, including princes charles, william and harry, will gather in northern france today to mark the centenary of one of the bloodiest battles of the first world war. thousands of scottish and canadian troops died in four days of fighting in the battle

of vimy ridge. our correspondent duncan kennedy reports. a battlefield then, covered with symbolism today. vimy ridge, a place of bravery, death and victory. the fighting to take the ridge only lasted four days, but this was just part of the price paid by allied troops. overall, the arras campaign saw 300,000 casualties. the battle of arras saw over 4,000 men killed and wounded on average, which gives it a higher daily casualties rate than any of the other famous battles, somme or passchendaele. so it was one of the most intense and brutal campaigns the british army fought. these are scenes from the battlefield. much of the heavy load to dislodge the germans from the ridge was shouldered by comedian and scottish troops. was shouldered by canadian and scottish troops. the canadians won three victoria

crosses on the first day alone. the scots suffered so many casualties, communities back home were shocked. today's event, here being rehearsed, will be witnessed by prince charles, prince william and prince harry, as well as 25,000 guests. all those attending will be sat here in front of this striking monument, soaring out of the top of the ridge itself and dedicated to those who died. its humbling scale a symbol of losses on both sides. every kind of weapon was used here and, although world war i would come to a close the following year, this battle showed its horrors were drawn out to the end. tributes are being paid to the former radio two presenter, brian matthew, who died yesterday aged 88.

his broadcasting career spanned almost 70 years. he's most well known for the ‘sound of the 605‘, a programme he presented for 27 years. but it was his first appearance on the ‘saturday skiffle club', that caught the ear of producers, as brian matthew explained in 2013 to tony blackburn. it was a wonderful opportunity with that one, because it covered a wide range of the arts and every month or thereabouts we did a live show from a theatre and it amazed me that a vast audience always turned up and filled that theatre, wherever we were. i mean, it was an opportunity to see a number of eminent stars, i suppose that was the attraction. but it was a great programme to be associated with. amazing career. his last programme was broadcast in february this year. those paying tribute to the radio two broadcaster include musician and lyricist sir tim rice, who said he was sad to learn brian matthew's

voice had been silenced. he went on to call him a "truly magnificent broadcaster". while brian matthew's former colleague at radio two — jeremy vine, said he'd done everything in broadcasting and met everyone in music. as that pictures seems to suggest. people caught fly—tipping will have to help councils clean up litter, under new proposals by the government. it says fly tippers cost 50 million pounds a year in england — and the number of instances of rubbish being illegally dumped by roads or in parks is on the increase. those pictures are just astonishing. monaco—style grand prix events could be hosted on roads in england, under new laws coming into force on tomorrow. they will allow motorsport promoters to apply for permission from local authorities to close public roads so they can host races. the government said the move could increase tourism. the final decision on whether a race is safe to proceed would be made by councils and police. anyone who has any interest in motor

racing knows that it —— of it is anything like the monaco grand prix, not much happens. no doubt it would look stunning in the middle of london or manchester or glasgow or wherever, but not necessarily that exciting as a race. the chinese grand prix is underway at the moment. we will mention it in our sports news. just letting you know if you want to keep an ear out for that later in the day. pc keith palmer, who was killed in the terror attack outside the houses of parliament, had served with the met police for 15 years — and today, he will be given a rare honour. the queen has given her consent for his coffin to lie in rest for 2h hours at the chapel of st mary undercroft in the palace of westminster. nick quraishi reports. a 48—year—old father and husband, pc keith palmer had been a policeman for 15 years. he was stabbed by khalid masood during the westminster terror attack, as he stood guard outside the houses of parliament. pc palmer was one of four people

killed, while a fifth, andreea cristea, died in hospital just a few days ago. later today, pc palmer's coffin will be taken to rest in a chapel of st mary undercroft in the palace of westminster. it's a rare honour and one only done with the consent of the queen. the former prime minister baroness thatcher and tony benn are the only people in recent times to have lain there too. tomorrow, pc palmer's coffin will be taken to southwark cathedral. as a mark of respect, the metropolitan police have retired pc palmer's shoulder number. a157u will not be reissued to another officer. we're joined now by christine fulton, whose husband lewis was murdered while on police duty in 1994. christine then founded a charity

called ‘care of police survivors‘. thank you very much for coming in. i mentioned lewis, just briefly explain your story and how you came to setup the charity. lewis was 28 yea rs to setup the charity. lewis was 28 years old, he was a police officer in glasgow. 0ne sunny, friday afternoon, he was stabbed to death bya afternoon, he was stabbed to death by a schizophrenic who had armed himself with a knife, with the sole intentions of murdering his brother. he was about to enter a shop full of customers and lewis did the only thing he could do which was to put himself between a man and the shop doorway. the sort of thing that police officers do every day, putting themselves in harms way for the sake of everyone else. why did you feel that as you went along your

journey in terms of coming to terms with what happens, that they help you provide is needed? the police we re you provide is needed? the police were wonderful in the beginning, i really cannot fault them, but the time quickly came when there was nothing more that they could do for me and they stepped back and left me to grieve. it was several years later that i went to america and i came across a group called concerns of police survivors who look after the families of officers who have died on duty. for the first time i met another police widow and i spoke to them and i told them things i had never told anybody before and weight lifted from my shoulders that i had not even don was there and i thought, if this is helping me so much now, how much would it have helped in the beginning? i came home determined to start a similar organisation. can you tell us a little bit more about that, the kind of sharing that takes place between the people who have been through this without encroaching on your privacy? we provide peer support, so

we would put a spouse in touch with a spouse, and mother with a mother and try to match up the incidents as closely as we can as well. because you go through so many different emotions and you don‘t know whether what you are feeling is normal or whether you have completely lost the plot. it is talking to somebody who can truly look you in the eye and say, i understand and that is normal. i have been there, you will get through this and sometimes that is all it takes to get you through your darkest hour, just knowing that there is someone who truly understands. for you, because your husband was killed in a stabbing, the killing of pc palmer must have been particularly personal?m brought back an awful lot of feelings, i felt physically sick watching the television, just what mrs palmer would be going through,

or what was about to happen to her. she was about to get that knock on the door, the total disbelief, she would be comforting the police rather than them comforting her because it would be so unreal to her. in terms of, obviously it is unimaginable that place that they are now in, on the evil piece —— keith palmer‘s funeral. i know you have written to the family and you will reach out to them with support if needed, what would be your message to them? just to get through tomorrow and thereafter, your life, you develop what you call a new normal. at the moment everything will be quite surreal to the family, tomorrow will be the start of the realisation that he isn‘t coming back. you‘re so used to them working

shifts and not been in the house that it does take a while for that to register that they are not coming home. you had a seven-month-old son at the time so how important was it for you to be able to tell him and maintain your communication, your ties to the police so that he had an understanding of what his father was? iam understanding of what his father was? i am thinking about keeping that connection going through the yea rs. that connection going through the years. very much so, it is very important to the families that they remaina part important to the families that they remain a part of the police family. they are the people that you have socialised with, their children go to the christmas parties, it is so important that that connection is maintained. luke has no memories of his father, so all his memories are ones that people have told him about. it was so important for him to maintain that contact with the police and have them tell him things about his father that i could not. i could tell him what a wonderful husband and father he was, but not

the type of policemen he was. as we said at the very beginning, it is the thing that police officers do day in and day out, they walked towards danger while others run away and we heard just this week, gareth browning who was injured in a hit and run with a vehicle several years ago, passed away in reading, a police officer. yes, with thames valley police. we have actually lost five police officers in 2017 already. either on duty or from injuries received on duty. the public tend not to realise that because most of them do not get as much media attention obviously as pc palmer has. we are small group, but we are very supportive group. christine, thank you for coming in. we are very grateful to you. you‘re watching breakfast from bbc news.

the main stories this morning. the defence secretary sir michel fallon blames the kremlin for the civilian deaths in tuesday‘s chemical weapons attack. the coffin of pc keith palmer, who was killed in the westminster attack, will lie in rest in the palace of westminster today ahead of this funeral on monday. also coming up in the programme.... it was tense overnight as england‘sjustin rose tookjoint lead at the masters. we‘ll ask a professional golf coach about rose‘s chances in the final day. if you out of the window is of a sunny day in one part of the world. we have had some photographs. that is beautiful. this is northumberland. this was sent to us by mark whittaker. he was on a walk with his children

and labrador yesterday on a beach in northumbria. he‘s hoping for the same today. this is the view i was expecting to show you. there was a spider on the lens but he has moved away. the rowers a re lens but he has moved away. the rowers are out and about. bright and cheery, but will it last. good morning. it is going to last for some of us. the difference today is that most of us yesterday got to enjoy that fine weather, it was quite widespread. today, it becomes increasingly confined to the south and east. in those southern and eastern areas, it will be warmer than yesterday. here is a shock from one of our weather watchers in the scottish highlands, things are turning cloudier and that is the story of your day across the north and west, increasing cloud and outbreaks of rain later courtesy of

this weather front, really spoiling the party as the clouds over across the party as the clouds over across the north—west later. further south and east, a lot of sunshine, any early mist burning of and for east wales and the central and east of a and the east of scotland, quite a lot of sunshine. the west coasts turning cloudy and by this afternoon for northern ireland and the west of scotland, a lot of cloud and outbreaks of rain, temperatures dropping away. from aberdeen to edinburgh, we should get away with a cloudy day. if you‘re tempted to head to the coast in wales or the south west, bear in mind as the cloud rolls in from the sea, the temperatures might drop to ten or 11 degrees. where you keep the sunshine further ease, we could get to 25 or even 26 degrees. going into the evening, our cold front continues to move south and eastwards and behind that we are getting into cooler air. the front will tend to fizzle away

as we go through the night, some very patchy rain and a band of cloud as it sinks across england and wales. not a desperately cold start to the day tomorrow, but just about all of us in single figures and tomorrow is not a bad day for many, there will still be spells of sunshine around, some showers as well and these may be wintry across the far north of scotland. a few showers for the east of england. there will be sunshine and it will not feel too bad, those temperatures taking a tumble compared to where they have been over the week. 15 or 16 is the best we can hope for and for tuesday, we stick with the slightly cooler feel, some rain in scotland, elsewhere are plenty of dry weather, between ten and 16 degrees and we keep that cooler feel to the weather as we go through the rest of the week. make the most of the real warmth today where we have it, because it is not going to last. it never lasts long.

you‘re watching breakfast from bbc news, it‘s time now for a look at the newspapers. (pause for sting) (pres) anne longfield, children‘s commissioner for england is here to tell us what‘s caught her eye. we‘ll speak to anne in a minute. we will return to the story about pc palmer‘s funeral. we will return to the story about pc palmer's funeral. you were there. yes. i was locked down for the afternoon. really moving contribution there and discussion there. the thing that caught my eye was that it says there is an estimated a0 — 50,000 members of the public expected to go to line the route between parliament and southwark cathedral. there is this huge sense that people are very saddened by it but want to do something to show their respect and i think there is something people can gainfrom i think there is something people can gain from that but i think they wa nt to can gain from that but i think they want to show their solidarity with pc palmer and his family. the article points out changing cubicles

have been provided for the officers who have been advised not to wear their uniforms travelling to the funeral. it is quite sad because so many people will want to go and say thank you. in the sunday times, we will not focus on the slightly disturbing series of pictures of ed miliband, that was from the last leg. the government, the conversational tone around addressing climate change. conversational tone around addressing climate changelj conversational tone around addressing climate change. i picked that out, you have got a brexit lull at the moment because parliament is not sitting and we have had so much of it over the last few weeks, but that really caught my eye because that really caught my eye because thatis that really caught my eye because that is around a policy around climate change and i think what we will see over coming months is an increasing move towards a domestic policy discussion around brexit, what does it mean internally and for me, i will be really keen that

children will be coming out of that really quite well. there is a sense that while all of this goes on, the rest of the country does not get put on hold for two or three years. we need to focus internally and ensure that communities get the support they need. the headline i suppose says it all, this is in the mail on sunday talking about swapping lamb for roast goat this easter. you have got to be kidding, it is a gift to the headline writer. apologies to my largely vegetarian family, sunday lunch is coming up, everyone is going to be looking at their spring lamb, but we are being told that goat is the thing that is healthier, leaner, probably cheaper as well. chewier. .. yes. we leaner, probably cheaper as well. chewier... yes. we should embrace that. jamie oliver has been talking about it a lot. i kept goat stew once. it was an experience. i think

we should slightly get over it. it is interesting. all the foodies tell us is interesting. all the foodies tell us it is the next thing. hard to think about eating lamb at the moment when you see them all about. this is sustainability in the clothing industry. at times you get various fashion ranges that are launched around eco—clothing, this goes slightly beyond that and says it is 100% sustainable and has no impact on the climate in terms of making it, from the world wildlife foundation. the thing about this is that they look quite stylish. in my earlier days, when i looked at 80s and 90s sustainable fashion, it was not always of a stylish nature but they do look quite stylish. good on that charity. our director is

remarking on how he would like to wear one of these! i will wait for you to model that one. let's have a look, we mentioned that story, it was pictured during our news summary, of some fly—tipped rubbish, which isjust summary, of some fly—tipped rubbish, which is just unbelievable and i drive past a lay—by every day where people tend to fly—tip and someone has fixed up a couple of cameras to try and deter people. this is a story about this. there are going to be new rules introduced where fly—tippers will be forced to clean up fly—tippers will be forced to clean up litter which does seem a fair response there. i think, when you see what is dumped, which is what it is, it is unbelievable the things that people do discard. 3—piece suites? mattresses as well, whole homes. there are things that local authorities can do about this but as individuals, wejust authorities can do about this but as individuals, we just have to show

more respect. it is tracking down the culprits who are responsible and getting them to clean up and that is a whole different thing. different councils have different approaches, liverpool council has a scheme, if you report a fly—tip you get money off your council tax or something similar. it is so horrendous to see and it is such a blight for other people, but i think however it takes its toll, it has got to be a good move. interesting. brilliant to have you with us. thank you so much for your time. coming up in the next half hour... we‘re celebrating three incredible sisters this morning. we‘ll hear from joan as she turns 100, and from her sisters who are 98 and 102. we‘ll be back with a summary of the morning‘s main news injust a moment. stay with us. hello, this is breakfast with rogerjohnson and rachel burden. coming up before nine ben will have the weather for you. but first a summary of this

morning‘s main news. the uk government is increasing pressure on russia over its continued support for the syrian president, bashar—al—assad. sir michael fallon, the defence secretary, has claimed the kremlin is responsible for the 80 civilian deaths in a chemical weapons attack in syria on tuesday. last night russian television showed jets taking off from an air base hit with us cruise missiles after the attack. thousands of people are expected to gather at services in stockholm later, to remember those killed in friday‘s terror attack. five people died when a lorry was driven into them on a busy shopping street. police are still investigating whether a device later found on board was a bomb. a 39—year—old man, thought to be the driver, remains in custody. a controlled explosion has been carried out in the centre of norway‘s capital, 0slo, after police found a bomb—like device. the area has been sealed off while investigations continue. a suspect has been detained. the us military has ordered a navy strike group to move towards the korean peninsula,

amid growing concerns about north korea‘s missile and nuclear weapons programme. us pacific command described the deployment as a "prudent measure to maintain readiness in the region". president trump has said the united states is prepared to act alone, if necessary, to deal with the nuclear threat from north korea. pc keith palmer, who was killed in the westminster attack last month, will today receive a rare honour. the queen has given her consent for his coffin to lie in rest at the chapel of st mary undercroft in the palace of westminster. his funeral will be held tomorrow afternoon at southwark cathedral. more than 20,000 people will gather in northern france today to commemorate the 100th anniversary of one of the bloodiest battles of the first world war. princes charles, william and harry will be among those attending the event to mark the battle of vimy ridge, near the city of arras. it was a hugely significant battle for scottish and canadian troops, who suffered particularly heavy losses. people caught fly—tipping will have to help councils clean up litter,

under new proposals by the government. it says fly tippers cost £50 million a year in england — and the number of instances of rubbish being illegally dumped by roads or in parks is on the increase. just before richard brings us the sports news, the crew on board a turkish airlines flight ended up having to look ended up having to look after one more passenger than they bargained for,after a woman gave birth on board. look at this! she is so sweet. cabin crew helped to deliver the baby girl after the mother went into labour shortly after take off. the journey from guinea to burkina faso was only just over 2 hours long, so as you can see, things happened rather quickly! there is the baby wrapped in bla nkets there is the baby wrapped in blankets and looking very content. i wonder ifjustin rose will look similarly content by the end of the final round at augusta today? he is in pole position. we‘ll be talking

about the chinese grand prix in a moment. it is drawn to a close. justin rose is tied for the lead six under par at the masters with sergio garcia. the final round at augusta. rose and garcia joint leaders and plenty of big names behind them. tim hague can bring you the story of the overnight action. the third round of the masters is known as "moving day" and justin rose moved right to the front of the queue at augusta. after a slow and steady start for the olympic champion, five birdies on the back nine helped him to a super 67 and he now sits joint top, at six under par. the key for me was staying patient early in the round. this is a golf course where you have to pick your moments and that‘s what worked well for me today and i‘m sure that will be somewhat the game plan tomorrow. perhaps the englishman can discuss the game plan

with his playing partner, sergio garcia, who‘s still looking for his first major. but a little luck won‘t harm his chances. in the creek! not so, the water somehow avoided and look how the spaniard profited. a beautiful shot and, like rose, he too is on six under. but they have quite a crowd chasing them, including rickie fowler and former champion jordan spieth. he hit nine shots on the 15th in the first round. but not this time. commentator: he really is a remarkable young man and an amazing golfer. and it was an equally successful day for lee westwood. he‘s one under in total and still has an outside chance. as does world number two rory mcilroy. six shots back, but it could have been much better. a double bogey at the seventh damaging what had been an otherwise good round. no moving day for rory, but perhaps he‘ll come tim hague, bbc news.

one for arthur, ridden by derek fox, won yesterday‘s grand national at aintree. it was the first winner trained in scotland for 38 years. the 1a—1 shot finished well clear of the favourite blaklion who came home in fourth place. fox, thejockey, had looked set to miss the race, only returning to the saddle this week following injury. all forty horses who started the four and half mile race came home unharmed. it's it‘s unbelievable. i could not believe it when i came to the line, to be out in front, it‘s hard to put it into words, that it is the best feeling you will ever get. just as any jockey who wants to feeling you will ever get. just as anyjockey who wants to win the grand national i feel very lucky that i won one so early in my career, the first time riding it, it‘s unbelievable. jebb chelsea maintained their lead at the top of the premier league after they won 3—1 at bournemouth.

marcos alonso rounded off the scoring following an own goal and a strike from eden hazard. the blues are seven points clear with seven games left to play. in england it‘s not easy, in this period because there is a lot of pressure! but i am pleased for my players, because they have shown me a lwa ys players, because they have shown me always great commitment, great concentration, great will to fight, to try, to have a fantastic season. tottenham remain in second place, trying to keep the pressure on chelsea. dele alli scored the pick of the goals at white hart lane as spurs beat watford a—0. it was a sixth win in a row for mauricio pochettino‘s men. the most important is to get us the message and say that is the way we must play to round of the season and try to be there, if chelsea fail.

liverpool had to come from behind at stoke to keep alive their hopes of qualifying for the champions league and remain in 3rd place in the table. philippe coutinho and roberto firmino weren‘t fit to start, but both scored to turn the match around after coming on after half—time. the whole game was no chance at half—time was a risk but they did fantastic. roberto did fantastic. we played much better football, fantastic. roberto did fantastic. we played much betterfootball, we used the spaces between the lines, everything was better, ifeel we deserved to win. celtic kept up their hopes of going a whole scottish premiership season unbeaten with a 3—1win at home to kilmarnock. hearts ended a run of three straight defeats with a one nil win over dundee. this finish from tavares cruz da silva settled it. it was a sixth straight loss for dundee. saracens kept up the pressure on premiership leaders wasps with a a0—19 victory against london rivals harlequins at wembley.

there were more than 70,000 fans there to witness mike rhodes sealing it with this run and score for sarries‘ third try of the game. the win secures their place in the play—offs. quins are sixth. bath kept up their hopes of claiming the fourth play—off spot, that‘s the last one up for grabs now. they beat leicester in a dramatic game at twickenham, two tries from anthony watson helping them come from behind to win 27—21. exeter beat bristol 38—3a in yesterday‘s other game. a drop goal in the final minute of the match helped leinster strengthen their grip on the top of the pro 12. they beat 0spreys at the liberty stadium. leinster‘s replacement fly half ross byrne found space for a shot at goal to put the irish side ahead with overtime approaching. 0spreys then missed a kick of their own. 20—18 was how it finished to leinster. in cricket, england‘s ben stokes hit his first 50 in the indian premier league but his team — rising pune supergiant —

lost by six wickets to king‘s xi punjab. the 25—year—old all—rounder hit three sixes on the way to getting his half—century. this was the first. stokes is the most expensive overseas player in the ipl, but he was unable to help his side avoid defeat. pune have a win and a defeat from their first two matches. great britain have failed to reach the semi—finals of the davis cup for the first time in three years. jamie murray and dom inglot had to win their doubles match against france to stand a chance, but lost. nicolas mahut and julien benneteau took the first set before murray and inglot responded. but it proved to be the only set britain won with the french taking the crucial points — and the next two sets. terry flanagan is eyeing the biggest fight after a successful defence of his title, you won on a unanimous points decision in front of hometown fa ns points decision in front of hometown fans at the majesty arena. british olympic hero nicola adams won by a unanimous points decision in herfirst

professional boxing fight. the two—time 0lympic champion beat the argentine fighter virginia carcamo at the manchester arena, winning all four rounds with the judges. having dominated in the amateur ranks, she turned professional earlier this year, signing with promoter frank warren. oh, it was really good. really enjoyed myself, loved the crowd. like entertaining. yeah, it was an amazing experience for the first time. i think i tried a little bit too hard to get the stoppage, but virgil says it will come with experience. the more times i box and the more rounds i get in, i‘ll get a bit more used to settling down and placing my punches a bit more. the chinese grand prix is under way in shanghai. lewis hamilton started on pole for mercedes with sebastian vettel, who won the first race of the season, starting just behind in his ferrari.

there‘s been a lot of bad weather in shanghai this week and the course is slippery and causing a few problems, but they got off to a clean start. lewis hamilton is our most nine seconds ahead of sebastian vettel in second. if you don‘t want to know how it finished, close your ears!m has just finished now and hamilton has just finished now and hamilton has won. so there we are. set off in pole position and finished in first, well done to him. now back to the masters and the battle for the green jacket intensified overnight. england‘s justin rose tookjoint lead with spain‘s sergio garcia. professional golf coach, richie marsden, joins us. good morning, richie, thank you for joining us, it is perfectly poised, what will make a difference? joining us, it is perfectly poised, what will make a difference ?|j joining us, it is perfectly poised, what will make a difference? i can see it happening on the greens, if both justin rose see it happening on the greens, if bothjustin rose and sergio garcia do well in the putting they could claim victory. it could come right

to the wire. they will all be watching to see whatjordan spieth is doing like some other players who are in good form, charl schwartzel, adam scott, both previous masters winners. it looks benign but the weather has played a part. yes, on thursday and friday, i have not seen it affect the course as strongly as it affect the course as strongly as it did on those days and for a course as treacherous as this for the wind to blow is strongly it was not just challenging in the wind to blow is strongly it was notjust challenging in the terms of play from tee to green, it was tough on the greens as well with the balls getting moved by the winds are some players have struggled to cope with that. it‘s a fine line between success and at augusta. a few people struggled. sergio garcia would be a very popular winner because he has never won a major. justin rose house. in the mental battle will

that be crucial? i think it is. everyone wants to see sergio getting over the line and claiming a victory. he‘s played in 75 majors and he has come close so many times. can he get that winning mentality in a major championship? we saw him in the ryder cup last year putting on a barrage of birdies. can he do the same again? it would be great to see. from the point of view the organiser to have so many people in contention bunched up together makes itan contention bunched up together makes it an exciting spectacle for the final round. definitely because we do not know what is going to happen. 0n do not know what is going to happen. on any golf course you don‘t know but on augusta it could be down to the last few holes and any number of players the chance to win. is rory out of it? it would take something very special for out of it? it would take something very specialfor him out of it? it would take something very special for him to post a charge. he is level par. six shots behind. if he was only a couple of shots behind the others i could see

him having a chance but his putter did not quite via up for them yesterday, —— fire up for him, it is possible that he could have a chance in the last few holes but it will be tough for him to post a low round and for the top players at the top of the leaderboard not to go a few under themselves so he has to get a few things right. there seemed to be so many top british players now, compared to a few years ago, co nsta ntly compared to a few years ago, constantly challenging for the majors. as a coach, that must be inspirational to the younger players. absolutely. i remember growing up and we might not have had an english player in the your top hundred for a while, westwood might have been in there, there was a period of time when british golf was really struggling. and we are now in

a position where i think this is a record—breaking year with 11 english players in the field of the masters. and a good proportion of those are young, in their20s, mid—20s. so for younger players looking to progress into the game just starting... younger players looking to progress into the game just starting. .. it's come a long way from slacks and dodgy sweaters. that‘s not your style! it certainly has come a long way! tonight is when it generally gets exciting, it will be live on bbc two later. you can listen to it on radio five live as well. how can you get someone into it who shows no interest before? augusta is the best stage to see what golf is all about. it is so beautiful and spectacular. you can watch golf even if you don‘t enjoy golf at the masters because the cause is so scenic and then you‘ll have the excitement and drama of what could happen in the sport. if that can grab the attention so that somebody thinks i wouldn‘t mind having a go, that is certainly what drew my attention when i saw nick

faldo winning in 1996, i was ten then! i kind of became aware of golf and that was the thing for me, i saw it and and that was the thing for me, i saw itandi and that was the thing for me, i saw it and i thought, i‘m getting into golf. i want to compete, i want to have a go at it. it worked out all right! richie, thank you very much. i feel i right! richie, thank you very much. ifeel i am right! richie, thank you very much. i feel i am still stuck in the 19805 and slacks i feel i am still stuck in the 19805 and 5lacks and dodgy sweaters! you‘ve seen me! it‘s and 5lacks and dodgy sweaters! you‘ve seen me! it‘5ju5t and 5lacks and dodgy sweaters! you‘ve seen me! it‘s just after quarter to nine. thi5 you‘ve seen me! it‘s just after quarter to nine. this is breakfast from bbc news. the main stories this morning. the defence secretary sir michel fallon blames the kremlin for the civilian deaths in tuesday‘s chemical weapons attack. the coffin of pc keith palmer, who was killed in the westminster attack, will lie in rest in the palace of westminster today ahead of his funeral on monday. this is where we say goodbye to roger. and his dodgy sweaters! he‘s going to read the news for andrew marr on bbc one.

i promise not to wear a dodgy sweater, i‘ll be wearing the same suit. let‘5 sweater, i‘ll be wearing the same suit. let‘s get the weather with ben. it looks like a good day. good morning, how is this for a review for one of our weather watchers? it mu5t for one of our weather watchers? it must give you hope and for many it will stay that way. this picture comes from ke5wick in cumbria, part5 of cumbria are likely to cloud over later because the 5unnie5t and best weather through today will become confined to southern and eastern areas. further north and west we will seek more clout, already creeping in acro55 northern and we5tern scotland, things will increasingly cloud over northern and we5tern areas with some rain later, courtesy of this weather front which will 5poil courtesy of this weather front which will spoil the party acro55 we5tern scotla nd will spoil the party acro55 we5tern scotland and northern ireland, ahead of it it will cloud over on other we5tern coa5t5. yet for east wales, central and eastern england and much of the west country and north—east england and cities in scotland for

some time we will continue to bask in 5un5hine. and really will push the temperatures up. this pe5ky weather front this afternoon will bring rain of a good part of both ireland, certainly we5tern scotland, some quite heavy rain for the north—west highlands, temperatures dropping away, 10 degrees in inverne55, from adam brat to aberdeen it should be dried although a little cloudy this afternoon. if you are tempted to head to the coa5t, bear in mind if the cloud lap5e in from the sea temperatures will take a tumble, 11 in aberystwyth, compare that with 25 or 26 in the sunshine further east. a fine end to the day for many, we do have this weather front continuing to sink south and east, the rain along it tending to fizzle away as it pushes down acro55 along it tending to fizzle away as it pushes down across england and wale5 overnight, we do get into some cooler air, temperatures not dropping too far overnight, we will

see a few showers pushing in particularly acro55 northern areas as well. tomorrow not a bad day, on the face of it, given that it is april, we should cea5e pul5e the face of it, given that it is april, we should cea5e pulse of sunshine, patchy cloud, some shower5, sunshine, patchy cloud, some showers, and across the far north of scotla nd showers, and across the far north of scotland some of those showers could be wintry at times. not a bad feeling day for the time of year but goodbye to 25 or 26, i think 15 or 16 i5 goodbye to 25 or 26, i think 15 or 16 is the best i can promise you, 5ingle digits in northern scotland and the rest of the week that cooler feel, drier weather with outbrea ks of showers at times. back to you, rachel. go out and enjoy it today. this morning we‘re celebrating three incredible sisters who have been marking a special milestone — a 100th birthday. what makes this even more remarkable i5joan massey‘s sisters were there too — 98—year—old mercia, and ail5a, who‘5102. 0ur reporter david allard was invited along to the party. do we get on? we do have our arguments.

why not? nobody is the same. you cannot say yes all the time, can you? three 5ister5, 300 years of history. there‘s a lot to reminisce about at joan‘s 100th birthday party. i don‘t feel my age. i have to... remember. do the counting. joan was born on the day after america entered the first world war and she had a vital role in the second. drawing maps for the boys up there and stationed at newmarket, with bomber command harris. i enjoyed it. atjust 98, mercia i5 the youngest sister. do you still see yourself as the baby sister really? certainly not! do they treat you as the baby sister? no. we have all had a very

good relationship. one needs the other. we help each other out. 0ldest 5i5ter el5a has travelled from scotland for the party. she finally gave up a favourite activity last week at the age of 102. i gave up driving. i am very sad about it. i feel as if i have lost my legs. ailsa has always had a zest for adventure. in her 905, 5he backpacked through chile. on my last trip i went back to berlin, where i had been in 1938 to see hitler. when you saw him did you have any inkling of what was to come? yes. it was very, very strict. i think they are role models. they are something to look up to. they are so inspirational to me. who is the bossy one? laughter. david allard, bbc news.

i hope they all had a terrific party. the stars of the stage will be out the 0livier awards tonight in london but there are questions over whether the separate categorie5 london but there are questions over whether the separate categories for actors and actresses should be scrapped. call5 actors and actresses should be scrapped. calls for non—gendered prizes and ceremonies like the emmys and the oscars are growing and this weekend the mtv movie and tv awards have announced they will ditch the separate prizes for men and women at the event next month. in a minute i will ask how it could work and whether it is a good idea. this is what people in the west end of london make of it. at the end of the day, how you look at it is — there shouldn‘t be a division between an actor and an actress. i think it always seems to be, like, actors are made a bigger deal of than an actress and i think you put everyone together then it‘s more equalfor them. i think there's less chance of... well, obviously, half the amount of people are going to be winning, so if i was an actress i would be

a bit annoyed. i'd be, like, i've got half the chance of winning. whoever's talented should get the award, male, female, whatever you are. we are trying to live in a diverse, multicultural, equal world and by separating genders we‘re still showing that there are differences between men and women, when there aren‘t. so, yeah, why not? fair game for everyone. as long as it's the talent recognition — that's the main thing, the talent recognition. as long as the right person wins, i don't see any issue with it. we have our own 5tar studded cast, ki r5ty we have our own 5tar studded cast, kir5ty and joel with me on the sofa and joining as kir5ty and joel with me on the sofa and joining a5 is theatre 5pecialist kate ba55ett. thank you all for joining us. kir5ty fairclough, can

you see us moving into the world of com pletely you see us moving into the world of completely gender free award ceremonies across all media ultimately? it seems archaic in some re5pects ultimately? it seems archaic in some respects to be talking about a gender specific awards category in 2017. if we think about hollywood there‘s a particular problem, and to remove those categories would make things worse, i feel. a being? if you think of the best director category there‘s only been one female winner since the beginning, kathryn bigelow. that highlights the i55ues kathryn bigelow. that highlights the issues in the industry. we have a long way to go before we can do away with those categories. let me read you some comments on this because people have strong feelings on it. julie wrote in to facebook to say that it julie wrote in to facebook to say thatiti5 julie wrote in to facebook to say that it is logical but would mean fewer awards, awards are promotional to the industry and genderle55 awards probably would not serve the function. another from kent awards probably would not serve the function. anotherfrom kent says, in a furious time there will be arguments because they‘re not enough

women not enough men winning. why not leave it alone. is there an i55ue, kate, that we would be upset if we took away the gender and it went one way or the other? think general it is a good idea because i think there is no difference in the skill no hierarchy for me between actor and actress but i agree that there is still room for wards for women in particular area but i wonder if the solution is to have the very big awards being gender free and then special awards that recognise people in particular categories? how would that work for example in the oscars?|j categories? how would that work for example in the oscars? i would quite like the oscars to be gender free but i think there would be another award at another time of year for babs best female director or female playwright which in the theatre is an area where that still needs to be encouraged and promoted. potentially

more awards, not fewer. joel, would you prefer to be known as best performer and given that awards and be5t performer and given that awards and best actor? to have the recognition of being nominated for any award would be a lovely feeling. but i can see why it is a positive thing to move towards having non—gender biased awards being given, the national television awards has done it for some time, this year, it was a female winner, for happy valley, sarah lancashire. i don't know how they draw up their short list but it did feel quite balanced for each of the non—gender specific awards. did feel quite balanced for each of the non—gender specific awardslj wonder if it is more balanced in tv. ye5, wonder if it is more balanced in tv. yes, i think hollywood is a particular type of industry. television might be different in that regard. tho5e gendered categorie5 give women a platform in

hollywood so it‘s important to retain them. people nominated for 0livier awards include ed harris, glenda jackson, billie piper, kate bassett, it would be a shame to see any of those names lost from the li5t. any of those names lost from the list. i think one thing is that there are so many excellent actors that it would be a shame to halve the numberof that it would be a shame to halve the number of people nominated so that half the people are not recognised because it is so useful for them to be recognised. and historically drama has been male dominated because historically all troops were males of the warm paz ferments the odds are still waited, at the moment because historically there have been more paz for men. —— historically all troops were male performers, so the odds are still weighted. we must deal with what is

going on in the industry before we deal with the glamorous side of it. thank you so much. that‘s it from us today. dan and lou will be on bbc one from 6 o‘clock tomorrow morning. have a lovely weekend. enjoy the weather. goodbye. this is bbc news. the headlines at nine. the british government toughen5 its rhetoric over russia‘s involvement in the syrian civil war. defence secretary michael fallon blames the kremlin for the civilian deaths in tuesday‘s chemical weapons attack — borisjohnson 5eeks support for a new initiative to end the conflict. swedi5h police confirm a number of people are in custody and being questioned following raid5 at addresses around stockholm. the body of the police officer, keith palmer — who was stabbed to death last month — is to be taken to the palace of westminster before his funeral tomorrow. also in the next hour — commemorating the fallen of the first world war. a ceremony to mark the centenary of the battle of vimy ridge — more than twenty thousand people

are expected to take part.