this is bbc news, our latest headlines: a 66—year—old man and a woman thought to be in her 30s are criticially ill after apparently being poisoned in salisbury. the bbc has been told the man is sergei skripal, a russian national who was convicted of high treason in moscow before coming to britain as part of a prisoner swap in 2010. thousands of households are without water across england and wales, as the big thaw after last week's big freeze, burst pipes. jaguar landrover and cadbury have had to suspend production to maintain water levels in parts of the west midlands. sir bradley wiggins has told the bbc he's not a cheat, after mps accused him of crossing an ethical line by using drugs for non—medical purposes. three men have appeared in court in leicester in connection with an explosion that killed five people in the city. arkan ali, hawkar hassan and aram kurd are charged with manslaughter and arson. and theresa may has promised to crack down on developers who sit on land having won planning permission

instead of building homes. a russian man who was convicted of spying for britain is critically ill in hospital in wiltshire, after being exposed to an unknown substance. sergei skripal was jailed by russia in 2006 but returned to the uk four years later as part of a spy swap. police were called to a shopping centre in salisbury yesterday where it's believed mr skripal and an unknown female companion fell ill. a major incident has been declared at salisbury district hospital today and a decontamination team has been called in. the bbc understands the man in hospital this evening is sergei skripal. the 66—year—old is an ex—russian military intelligence officer. he was accused by russia of spying for britain and was jailed in russia back in 2006 four years later.

he was pardoned by russia. he then returned to the uk as part of a spy swap which took place at an airport in vienna. the swap involved agencies from the united states and russia. our security correspondent gordon corera joins me. do we know anymore about this? we still don't have any idea about the substance, there were reports initially that this was a drug that people might have heard of, but then those were discounted quite quickly, and it was clear from the reaction of the hospital authorities that weren't sure either, because there we re weren't sure either, because there were pictures of the contamination suits and equipment, and also this declaring of a major incident by the hospitalfor a period as declaring of a major incident by the hospital for a period as they try to work out what it was. the cause of the illness is unclear, we should say. these two people were found by police and conscious on a bench after a member of the public had alerted them. —— unconscious. but it

doesn't appear that we know yet what caused that, and that is obviously critical to understand as to how serious their condition is, which is critical at the moment, and what might lie behind this. so the implication is this is a man who was convicted of high treason in russia, he is a man who was a spy, and it could be his past that is related to all this that is going on now. absolutely, that is obviously where speculation will lead. it is only speculation at the moment, we should be clear about that, but given the history in the uk, in 2006 alexander litvinenko, anotherformer history in the uk, in 2006 alexander litvinenko, another former russian intelligence officer, fell ill, mysteriously initially, from symptoms no one could understand and then died, and that turned out to have been polonium, a radioactive material at ministered by two russians, it is alleged, and an inquiry into his death pointed the finger of blame at vladimir putin himself. it is much too early to go

into that detail yet, but with that history and context in mind, and given the identity of sergei skripal, the fact that he was a convicted spy in russia, certainly, there will be speculation that this was linked to his past. are notjust potentially the spy agencies here interested , potentially the spy agencies here interested, because the americans we re interested, because the americans were involved in that spy swap as well. that is right, and it came about because the fbi had arrested russian undercover spies in america. the russians wanted them back, and so the russians wanted them back, and so the deal was that those ten were swapped for four people who were serving sentences in russianjails, and legible for passing secrets. one of those four was sergei skripal. two came to the uk. —— allegedly for passing secrets. much more on that throughout the evening, but now it is time for sportsday. hello and welcome to sportsday

with me, will perry. coming up this evening — sir bradley wiggins has spoken exclusively to the bbc, stenuously denying being a drugs cheat after a watershed day for british cycling. this whole thing has been, you know, a mess of innuendo and rumour, and nothing has been substantiated, and iam nothing has been substantiated, and i am having to deal with the fallout right now. manchester city manager pep guardiola accepts his fa charge for wearing a yellow ribbon in support of imprisoned politicians in catalonia. and we hearfrom england rugby union head coach eddie jones for the first time since that train journey to forget where he claims he was physically and verbally abused. and we speak to the coach celebrating his tenth major title with the leicester riders, the

dominant force in british basketball. we'll hear more from sir bradley wiggins injust a moment after a report today by mps said wiggins and team sky "crossed an ethical line" by using drugs that are allowed under anti—doping rules to enhance performance instead of just for medical purposes. our sports correspondent david orntein is at british cycling ho. well, this report is the culmination ofa well, this report is the culmination of a two and a half year investigation by mps, with perhaps the most significant conclusion being that britain's most decorated olympian, cyclists sir bradley wiggins, and is then employers, team sky, used powerful drugs not for the legitimate medical conditions for which they are permitted, but for performance enhancing qualities. now, although no rules were broken, and both parties refuted the

allegations, the suggestion that an ethical line was crossed will do damage to their reputations, and that of the team sky principle, sir dave brailsford, the mastermind of so dave brailsford, the mastermind of so much of british cycling's success. so much of british cycling's success. and for british cycling, whose headquarters are behind me, and for the sport as a whole. the report also heavily criticises poor and at times nonexistent medical record—keeping, and in both areas there could yet be further repercussions, in a crisis that seems to be showing no sign of going away. our sports editor, dan roan, spoke exclusively to sir bradley wiggins this afternoon, and the 2012 tour de france winner insists he's done nothing wrong. not at any time during my career did we cross the ethical line. as i've said before, i had a medical condition, that i went to a doctor. this has been treated since back in 2003 when i was diagnosed with it, through the doctors at british cycling at that time. this was the treatment that i had been prescribed for that particular occasion,

which was seven years ago now. under specialist supervision as well. and in place of the rules of that time, you were allowed to apply for use of this medication. but it was performance enhancing. but it was performance enhancingm these sense that for me it was a case of i had this problem, i have had asthma attacks, problems with breathing that led up through pollen season, and this was a anti—inflammatory drugs that was taken in order to prevent that happening so i could compete on the same level as i had completed all year, and with my rivals. this was not a drug that... this was not a medication that was abused in order to gain an advantage. do you understand why people have doubts? i understand why the this has played at the way it has over 18 months, i have not been able to speak until this point because we

have had a legal investigation going on, ididn‘t have had a legal investigation going on, i didn't want to jeopardise that, because i was frightened for my life. i have got a malicious allegation made by an anonymous source to start with, and i have got to now somehow feed my way through and try to prove that by giving evidence. i have talked about my asthma before, i was on the front of asthma uk after the olympic games talking about the problems that i have suffered over the years with that. the timing, though - if this was a genuine illness and you have to ta ke was a genuine illness and you have to take something, why this convenience timing, just before the three major races? because of the type of grass pollen that i was allergic to, it was around this period. the grass pollen goes in seasons, and this particular strain of grass pollen i was allergic to, it was in a heightened period june june and july. in 2016, you were as to whether you ever took it out of

competition, you answered that you didn't, but in the report you acknowledge that you did take it out of competition. can you explain that? i never used it in competition without a tue. without that document that i was authorised to take it, it was never took. so very strong words there from sir bradley wiggins. onejournalist who has been following the story closely is the sunday times chief sports writer david walsh. he believes there are still questions to be answered by team sky's general manager, sir dave brailsford. he came into the sport of professional cycling saying team sky would do it differently. he came into the sport in the post lance armstrong era of cycling. we're going to do with in a better way, we're going to be whiter than white. they set themselves a very high standard, and then they didn't live up to that standard. what about the governing body, over

basic medical records, not keeping them? i would say, basic medical records, not keeping them? iwould say, like basic medical records, not keeping them? i would say, like so many people in so many other sports in this country just now, people in so many other sports in this countryjust now, we have all been seduced, you know, by success, gold medals, brilliant success, you know. the country going up in the medals table all the time, and everybody saying, this is wonderful, and the scrutiny that should apply has not applied. manchester city manager pep guardiola has accepted a football association charge over "wearing a political message, specifically a yellow ribbon." the charge is for breaching the fa's kit and advertising regulations. in november, guardiola said he wears the ribbon to support imprisoned politicians in his native catalonia. the football association chief executive, martin glenn, has apologised for causing any offence after he used the star of david and the swastika as examples when explaining the fa's charge against pep guardiola. guardiola was warned twice before christmas for wearing the ribbon, and he says he will continue to wear

it before and after matches. this is how glenn explained their rule. "things that are going to be highly divisive, and that could be strong religious symbols, it could be the star of david, it could the hammer and sickle, it could be a swastika, anything like robert mugabe on your shirt — these are the things we don't want." the leader of thejewish leadership council says that to put the star of david in the same bracket is offensive and innapropriate. they have accepted glenn's apology. the final game of the premier league weekend sees crystal palace take on manchester united at selhurst park tonight. the stakes are high for both sides — a win for united would see them move back to second in the table, while victory for palace sees them climb out of the bottom three. watching it for 5 live later will be conor mcnamara. if you ask me, second or fourth, if you ask me, second orfourth, i say by the financial point of view, it doesn't make a difference. by the prestige point of view, it doesn't

make a difference. you go to the champions league, even the fourth doesn't even have now to play the last qualification match. but by the personal point of view, second is better than third, and third is better than third, and third is better than third, and third is better than fourth. i think it gives us paul hart, with that spirit, with that determination, with that tactical discipline that the players are capable of showing, and some of the injured players will be returning soon to bolster our squad. it gives us great hope that we will be able to mount a very serious challenge to get out of the relegation zone, whilst accepting, with the quality of fixtures that we have, the quality we are playing, we might find ourselves back in the bottom three before we find ourselves closer to the middle of the table. and there will be full commentary of that match from selhurst park. conor mcnamara will be alongside danny mills providing commentary. the build—up starts at seven and kick—off is at eight o'clock.

wales' women have earned a creditable 0—0 draw with switzerland in the cyprus cup. the swiss are ranked 17 places above wales in the fifa rankings and put some real pressure on at times, but their efforts went unrewarded. wales' best chance of the game came in the 69th minute when tash harding's strike hit the crossbar. neither side could break the deadlock, though. the result still means that wales progress to finals day. let's round up some of the day's other sports news now, and brazil and paris st germain forward neymar has been seen boarding a private jet on crutches following surgery on a broken foot. he's on his way to rio to recover and isn't expected to return to training for at least six weeks. there is a new british tennis number one in the men's game for the first time in almost 12 years. kyle edmund has knocked the injured andy murray off the top and is also up to a career high 2a in the world after reaching the australian open semifinals. and john hardie has been called

into scotland's six nations squad for the first time since he received a three0match ban for alleged cocaine use. scotland face ireland this weekend, and hardie is one of ten players brought in by gregor townsend. well, england are preparing to take on france in the six nations after losing only their second match under head coach eddiejones. the loss to scotland means england's chances of winning the six nations are now out of their hands, with ireland heading into their match against the scots knowing a bonus—point win could secure the championship with a game to spare. sara ochard has been at england's training base pennyhill park today. the england squad are back together here, they got together on sunday night, there was a training session at twickenham on saturday, but with

all the players with bumps and niggles, this is them back together and head of that match against liberals in paris on saturday. whilst that is the main focus of training, much of the talk is still about what happened to eddiejones when he travelled from scotland to manchester on the train, where he was physically and verbally abused. he did speak to the media about it today, saying it was an unfortunate point of his job. ijust got on with it, it was an incident that happened, it was done and dusted, i have had once before, it is not uncommon as a coach have had once before, it is not uncommon 3s a coach to have had once before, it is not uncommon as a coach to get abused. you either get abused or get advice oi’ you either get abused or get advice or you get slaps on the back. so you are expecting one of the three. so it is just part of your life. are expecting one of the three. so it isjust part of your life. it wouldn't stop you doing anything similar in the future, you have said he would take public transport.|j would probably have to be careful when i travel on public transport, yeah. he was more keen to talk about

by yeah. he was more keen to talk about rugby head of the weekend, saying the focus of training has been particularly around the breakdown and defence, two area is widely picked up by many who watched that scotla nd picked up by many who watched that scotland game where england were really exposed. and when it comes to those areas, many have focused on the back row. not one to shy away from criticism, i spoke to england flanker chris robshaw, who was happy to hold up his hand. there is always pressure for england, you always wa nt to pressure for england, you always want to play as well as you can. you never know if the next game will be your last game, it could potentially be. whatever happens, you have to go out and there. the breakdown was a massive aspect at the weekend, i ta ke massive aspect at the weekend, i take that on the chin, it is me. as a team, we need to fix that up as well. england could be travelling to france at one of the most difficult times to be taking on a french side. they have finally got their first win after a run of eight matches

without tasting victory. under their new coach in the six nations, that could give them a bounce in their step. but as the head coach, eddie jones, told us today, it is yet another rivalry reignited. now, if you were tuned into the bbc red button and the bbc sport streaming services yesterday, you'd have seen the leicester riders win their third straight british basketball league trophy in glasgow. they beat sheffield by 90—85 at the emirates arena in what was a thrilling match where the riders still trailed with just 30 seconds to go and survived a late scare with one second left on the clock that would've taken the match to overtime. they're now hoping to make it a double of titles this season, with the team sitting top of the league as well. this weekend's trophy was the tenth won by their coach, rob patternostro, in his ten years at the club. earlier, we caught up with him about his team's dramatic win. yeah, it was an incredible game, we had the lead most of the way, but they came fighting back and took the lead. we made some timely plays, and

thatis lead. we made some timely plays, and that is what the big games are all about, making the tea plays at both ends of the floor late. it was a little nerve—racking at the end, when they took the last shot. you can't take too long, oh, oh, oh! how did it not go in?! how did it not go in?! they had a chance to send the game to overtime, but when we saw it come off the rim, the trophy was oui’s. come off the rim, the trophy was ours. ten trophies since 2008, i bet it seems like yesterday, but ten yea rs, it seems like yesterday, but ten years, and this is the third year successively, you guys are