you're watching beyond 100 days. italy's election produces only radical options for the eurozone's third—largest economy. italian voters said no to traditional parties and yes to populist groups. where that leaves the country isn't clear. both the main anti—establishment leaders say they have won the right to govern, but actually it could take weeks to sort this out. donald trump claims the us is getting ripped off by virtually every country in the world, as he begins to outline his america first trade tariffs strategy. also on the programme: a major security incident declared in salisbury in the uk, after the poisoning of a russian man who once spied for britain. and gary oldman wins his first oscar for best actor in darkest hour, with thanks to his 99—year—old mother. i say to my mother, thank you for your love and support. put the

kettle on. i am bringing oscar home. get in touch with us using the hashtag #beyondioodays. hello and welcome. i'm katty kay in washington. christian fraser is in london. it may take weeks of haggling to sort out who will lead the next italian government and which parties will be in it. but one thing seems clear — it will be difficult to form any government without the insurgent five star movement. the results show five star has become the biggest party, winning one in three of the votes cast this weekend. their leader luigi di maio says they now have a resposibility to govern. meanwhile, the right—wing lega secured 17.4% of the vote. more than forza italia, the party of the former prime minister, silvio berlusconi, on 14%. the ruling democratic party suffered its poorest showing ever in national elections with 18.7%, continuing the europe—wide collapse of the traditional centre—left. that is the poorest showing ever for

them in national elections. and there's been a high—profile resignation — late today, the democratic party leader matteo renzi resigned as leader in view of his party's poor election result. translation: it's obvious that after this i will leave my post of leader to the democratic party, and i've already asked the chairman, matteo orfini, to call a national assembly to start the procedure. this will happen at the end of the stage of the new parliament forming and the new government forming. let's cross to rome and our colleague karin giannone, who has been covering the election for us. it has been a pivotal night for five star but still a very divided country. yes, if you look at the map of the

results, it is really incredible to see the absolute divide, and just how strong the south of italy has voted for the five star movement. it seems that the south has voted along economic lines while the north are going for lega and the centre—right, thinking about immigration and italy being at the forefront of the migrant crazes, 600,000 people are riding on italian shores of the last few years. —— migrant crisis. there are parts of the south of italy where youth unemployment is above 50%. prospects for the young are very poor and there is so much disillusionment with government and with the north and the european union, and the traditional parties, with posterity, with so many things like the painfully slow growth after italy's double—dip recession, that people in the south have really been looking elsewhere. they have turned to the five star movement, promising

hope for the young people. it promises a universal basic income of $800 per month and it says it will help find young people away our starting families. add to that that huge lack of trust you find in the southin huge lack of trust you find in the south in traditional politicians. they see them as easily bought and corruptible. they use the word meaning thieves when they talk about politicians, so the freshfaced luigi di maio, only 31 years old, from near naples, he offered hope and the chance to give the traditional parties a bloody nose. another interesting development over the weekend, this is what people are voting for in the north. they had a visitor over the weekend in the form of donald trump's former chief strategist steve banning, paying a visit. i am strategist steve banning, paying a visit. lam majority strategist steve banning, paying a visit. i am majority your divinity pictures of him enjoying himself in front of the fountain. he put his support behind the successful leader

of the north. he shares the same kind of politics, radical right—wing populism, donald trump, when the other one visited him during the election campaign in 2016 said he would like to see him one day become italian prime minister. that prospect could actually now be a strong possibility. matteo renzi lega is now the biggest party in the coalition which has come first in this italian general election. amazing. steve bannon in italy. giampiero massolo is the president of fincantieri spa, the fourth—biggest ship—building company in the world. he has served in the italian government for intelligence and foreign services. hejoins us now. looking forward he joins us now. looking forward to what kind of coalition could emerge from this election result, what do they lega from the right and the five star, and i think it's hard to

define where they come from, but what other united on and what could they agree on to form a government together‘s what other united and? first of all, too early to call what kind of coalition it would be they could form because it is right into the arms of the president of the republic according to the constitutional systems, so too early. but of course there are some similarities between lega and five star, chiefly about immigration and about the controls of law and order. and about certain interventions of the state in economy. but they are not at all the same thing, actually. i was hearing somebody speaking before saying that we have here a radical right or extreme right. but this is not exactly as it is. we are still in the frame of the centre—right far as lega is concerned and stony framework of constitutional system as far as the

five star mov movement is concerned. but of course there are relevant i'ioi’itis but of course there are relevant norms from the selections. the democratic party were very low and the five star very high. the centre—right, well... but they are all within the system. there is no major changes or foreign policy in european policy. the framework is there. 0k, there. ok, thank you very much for that view from there. ifi view from there. if i may add one thing, that... sorry to interrupt, but we will cut back chore because we want to take you to salisbury where the police are holding a press conference. this is about suspected poisoning of a man who was convicted in russia of spying for britain. let's listen in.

both are currently in a critical condition in intensive care. because we are still at the early stages of the investigation, we are unable to ascertain whether or not a crime has taken place. a major incident, however, has been declared today, and a multi—agency response has been coordinated. alongside our partner agencies, we are conducting extensive enquiries to determine exactly what led to these two people falling unconscious, and clarify whether or not any criminal activity has taken place. this has not been declared as a counterterrorism incident and we would urge people not to speculate. however, i must emphasise though we retain an open mind and we continue to review this position, we have access to a wide range of specialist resources and services are helping us to understand what we are or are not dealing with at this time. the focus at this moment is in trying to establish what has caused these people to become critically ill and

we are working with partners to prioritise and ensured they were received the most appropriate treatment timely. we'll continue to appeal to any members of the public who may have information in relation to this incident and contact us via the 101 system or if it is urgent by 999. we will reassure the public that incidents like this are taken extremely seriously and we currently do not believe there is any risk to the wider public. we would like to ta ke the wider public. we would like to take this opportunity to thank members of the public who have assisted us so far and respected the cordons which remain in place in salisbury. thank you very much. hello, i salisbury. thank you very much. hello, lam salisbury. thank you very much. hello, i am the chief executive here at salisbury district hospital. my name is cara charles—barks. in conjunction with partners we have declared a major incident in response to the incident which took place yesterday with two individuals

concerned. i can confirm they are being treated here at salisbury district hospital and air—conditioned remains critical. in terms of impact on the hospital we have been advising people today to continue to attend to the routine operations and appointments and continue to advise them to do so. we will contact any patients if we require them not to attend. our accident and emergency department remains busy this evening and busy as it has been today. understandably this is to do with the weather conditions last week as well but we have the walk—in centre on avon avenue, avon approach, and it will remain open until10pm. avenue, avon approach, and it will remain open until 10pm. a&e is for true emergencies and you should seek normal advice via101, or the walk—in centre, rather than coming to a&e.

heard from what's your police about the suspected poisoning of a man convicted of spying for britain. a lot we do not know. and as i say, there is a lot we do not know, whether he has been poisoned or whether he has been poisoned or whether he has been poisoned or whether he may have been poisoned with something, but people's minds come back to litvinenko and everything that happened there, particularly with areas being sealed off. this looked up when it was declared a major incident and talk about an unknown substance being involved, but as soon as it became clear to us at the bbc that a man was sergei skripal, it instantly changed the complexion of this. this is a former russian intelligence officer convicted in russia for spying for m16, convicted in russia for spying for mi6, court in 2010. in 2006, alexander litvinenko, another former russian intelligence officer, was

poisoned in london, in a case by radioactive substances and ended up dying. immediately, the residents with case of alexander litvinenko. he was a double agent? no, alexander litvinenko was addressing security officer who left then came to the uk and worked in then came to the uk and worked in the uk in opposition to putin's regime. sergei skripal is different because he was more of the double agent working for mi6 while being a russian intelligence officer. he was in russian eyes a traitor to their intelligence service, supplying secrets to mi6. he was convicted of this and sentenced to 13 years but only spent four years in prison before he was swapped out in this rather dramatic spy swap. he was pardoned at that time when he was swapped out and i think he has kept a low profile and expectation on his pa rt a low profile and expectation on his part would have been that he was safe. we do not know at this moment whether he was definitely poisoned or who did it but certainly because

of this context, the suspicion will certainly be that there could've beena certainly be that there could've been a russian in this. there are links to new york, yes? i would ask you about the woman involved. what we know that her? we have had his name mentioned in her name not mentioned yet. i understand she is much younger. we don't know whether she is a relative of some type to sergei skripal and that is not clear yet. but we also know she is critically ill as well in hospital and was with him, than it appears on a park bench after members of the public saw them u nwell after members of the public saw them unwell and by the time the police got there they had lost consciousness. but american link is that the spy swap had most of the people who were swapped in 2010 being russian agents caught in america by the fbi, including one, anna chapman, who had been in london and then new york. they were caught by the fbi, accused of espionage and the deal was they were swapped out for for spies who was serving time

in russian prison. one of those was sergei skripal. there has been conversation on social media in the past hour as this story was breaking, gordon, from people who were involved, former us intelligence officer saying, the brits have been cautious about their attitude to russia so far because britain is basically ground zero when it comes to these kind of spy battles between the west and russia. is that an accurate portrayal? bigot is extraordinary... could this be an example of that? we had alexander litvinenko who was killed and i think probably on the orders of by the mere putin himself, and there were other unexplained deaths in the uk of russians which many people have believed to have been suspicious. there is one inquest due next month into someone where there is this question about whether he was poisoned or not, a russian businessman who had a lot of information about tax affairs, and

had been in some cases under suspicion for that. sol had been in some cases under suspicion for that. so i think certainly there will be questions. ifa certainly there will be questions. if a russian link is proved and that is what it turns out to have been, about whether britain has done enough to deter such activity. did it do enough after the alexander litvinenko case to deter the activity? as i said, still too early to know what because of the poisoning is, but the questions are already being asked. yes, plenty more to come on that story, no doubt. and even now. those pictures we saw, the latest pictures we have got in, of people in the green suits, the hazardous materials suits, those were the people who. .. this materials suits, those were the people who... this is why we think it may have been poisoning because you don't wear those suits unless there is a substance you yourself don't want on your skin. let's move on. wars have unintended consequences — that's as true of trade wars as military battles. this week the european commission will discuss raising taxes on american imports in retaliation for president trump's threat to slap tariffs on foreign steel and aluminium. the eu trade commissioner told the bbc that levi jeans and bourbon —

both products made in trump supporting states — were on a draft list of goods that could be hit. in a tweet, president trump appeared to suggest that canada and mexico could win exemptions from his planned tariffs in exchange for concessions of their own. it's a point he reiterated in the oval office, and, while saying there wouldn't be a trade war, he pressed why he made this decision. people have to understand our country, on trade, has been ripped off by virtually every country in the world, whether it's friend or enemy. everybody, china, russia and people we think are wonderful, the european union, we can't do business with them — they have trade barriers that are worse than tariffs. and joining us now from seattle is gary locke, who served as us commerce secretary under president obama and then us ambassador to china. thank you forjoining us,

ambassador. a lot of people have complained about china's trade practices particularly when it comes to steal and unfair trade practices, but to what extent will america or the current administration should itself in the foot if it imposes these tariffs on allies? the european union, mentioned there, the canadians as well... actually in a trade war nobody wins and everyone loses. both the workers of the affected industries up and down the economic spectrum, as well as the consumers, who ultimately will pay more for those goods and services. this means they have less money in their pockets for vacations and medical care, and children's couege and medical care, and children's college education. nobody wins in a trade war. president trump seems to be trying to protect the steel and aluminium industries in the united states, old industries, at the same time as we

had the spectacle of china moving rapidly ahead in new industries. is there a disconnect between what the president is trying to do and the realities of the global economy is going? the is trying to get back at china it will not work because china now in port—au—prince into the us not as much aluminium and steel —— china now imports into the us not as much aluminium and steel as before. it will raise the cost of production for so many other industries and goodsin for so many other industries and goods in america that rely on these imports from europe and from canada and elsewhere. it will make the cost of producing those things much more expensive, which might lead to lower sales and therefore cutbacks in employment. the jobs that might be gained to benefit the industries, the metal industries in america, could be outweighed by the job losses in so many other sectors. ultimately the consumer as well. at

the same time, china is really trying to focus on innovation and the new industries of the future, such as artificial intelligence and robotics, that is where america needs to spend more time and energy. certainly we need to address some of the inequalities and some bombs without trade agreements or a lack of trade agreements. —— we need to address some of the inequalities and problems with our trade agreements or lack thereof. we must understand that everybody loses in a trade war and we must really focus on the industries of the future. on this side of the pond the europeans are trying to work out whether this is policy or not. of course, a lot is policy by tweet. i will show you what the commerce secretary said yesterday. listen to this. whatever his final decision is is what will happen. what he has said, if he says a bit different, it will be something different. you see the point. if he says something different, it will be

something different, it will be something different. is it policy or not policy? we just never know what to expect from this particular president. he says one thing about restricting guns and chastising members of congress and saying they are afraid of the nra and the next day he will meet with the nra and completely backed down himself. i think this statement or the policy on imposing tariffs on steel and aluminium caught many people off guard, and the administration is not ready to roll out the new policy. there was a lot of debate within the white house exactly what our policies should be and what the details of the tariffs might be, and as to who they would apply to and in what amount, whether there would be some exemptions. so his announcement caught everybody off—guard and he is also saying that there will be no exemptions, no exemptions. and many of our allies who would be most affected will not be exempted from these tariffs. so we must wait and see where the

policy is ruled out. 0k, policy is ruled out. ok, thank you very much, ambassador. i heard it this weekend from people in the administration, even they we re in the administration, even they were taken by surprise by this announcement. the academy awards held its 90th ceremony last night, with the event dominated by calls for greater equality in the film industry, for minorities and for women. the winner of best actress, frances mcdormand, used her acceptance speech to call on every female nominee to stand up as a showcase of the female talent in hollywood. fantasy romance the shape of water took four awards, including best film and best director for the mexican film—maker guillermo del toro. gary oldman won best actor for his performance as winston churchill in darkest hour — and another notable british win, the silent child, starring six—year—old deaf girl maisie sly — won best live—action short. we have talked about it on the programme last week and we will talk about it this week. well done to her. congratulations to maisie. and joining us now from new york is larry hackett, former

editor of people magazine. it was a very long oscars ceremony this time around and did the best films win? i think so. it was long but what is new? it is always long. it gets longer every year. i think so. they had a tricky time this year. obviously whatever the pictures or the performances were it was all overshadowed by the harvey weinstein news and the me too movement. they also had several award shows leading up also had several award shows leading up to this where they had people wearing black at the golden globes and other events at the sag awards. i think the issue would be how they will treat this issue and how will be compelling television having seen them already, and by the way, the films and performances. they managed to do films and performances. they managed todoa films and performances. they managed to do a decentjob i think. interesting that a lot of the films have not been the big blockbusters the mass audience films of the year. is that increasingly the way the oscars are going, to niche films not

many people see? it is an surprisingly, i was surprised by this statistic as well, that the shape of water is the best box office performing film in the past five years since our goal which made a lot of money. but after the miramax and weinstein 's era, when you had artistic in the best picture, like the artist, it has beena picture, like the artist, it has been a trend for a long time. despite the fact that many people had seen the shape of water, it was a reversal of the trend. in the case of three billboards outside ebbing, missouri, again, a movie not very much seen, and darkest hour with gary oldman, pictures which i think we re gary oldman, pictures which i think were more popular. did i read right that the shape of water is the first science fiction film to win the best picture? is that right? i can't say that the show but i would not be surprised. science—fiction and comedy in particular are not what the academy

like to recognise and they don't seem like to recognise and they don't seem oscar worthy. as much as things change, they stay the same. even small arthouse pictures, that wine stain and miramax had championed, things like the king '5 speech, very dramatic things with a capital d and thatis dramatic things with a capital d and that is what wins. everything released in the last year... this particular year there was a movie like get out which was arguably the most inventive film of year but released last category, and i would defy you to find oscar winner the least before september of any given year. that is not how the system works. it might change because of the demise of weinstein and miramax and the kind of people who make these movies but science—fiction and comedy are not the kind of pictures the academy likes to recognise and never have been. to talk to you and thank you very much indeed for bringing us up to speed with the oscars. did you watch it? yes, i managed to make about an hour

01’ so yes, i managed to make about an hour orso and it yes, i managed to make about an hour or so and it is long and even by our standards, the middle of the night, iam standards, the middle of the night, i am surprised you're calling the shape of water a science—fiction movie because i thought there was a love story. you were not at the oscars but at the grid iron on saturday night. yes, the washington equivalent is not quite as glamorous, although it was a white stripe fancy dinner with the president not as glamorous as the president not as glamorous as the oscars. how did he get on with the jokes? did he like them? i thought he went well and went off script after five minutes and went into a script after five minutes and went intoa campaign script after five minutes and went into a campaign speech. the first five minutes of his speech were good. this is beyond 100 days from the bbc. coming up for viewers on the bbc news channel and bbc world news... eight has finally been delivered to syria's eastern ghouta. bbc was there as the convoy began its journey. passports, some are more valuable than others with visa free travel. could it be yours?

more to come. good evening and obviously nowhere near as cold as it was last week. milder conditions have spread to most parts of the uk. still called across northern areas and particularly in scotland where we have had more snow falling today. wintry looking seen here and contrast that with something that looked much more like spring, with some sunshine today at walton on thames in surrey. we have lost the beast from the east, the colts leathery and wind, and our error is tending to come the south. drawing in milderair tending to come the south. drawing in milder air across most of the uk, clearly seeing where it is still cold. low—pressure dominates our weather at the moment and within that area of low pressure this weather system here, tracking its way northwards, and that is producing the rain. that rain is still quite happy and it is moving northwards into the colder air, so we will get some snow over the tops of the pennines and cumbrian fells, but more especially later in the night back into scotland over the

hills. as it turns drier to the south, with no wind, it will turn misty but a lot of low cloud and typical temperatures overnight around to celsius or three celsius. a risk of frost perhaps. in the morning the wettest weather across the northern half of the uk, becoming confined more to scotland. a mix of rain, sleet and snow of health should brighten up northern england and northern ireland. sunshine in the south—west and extreme south—east, with one or two showers. through the middle it might be cloudy and a range of temperature is, three orfour be cloudy and a range of temperature is, three or four celsius, be cloudy and a range of temperature is, three orfour celsius, central and northern scotland and wet weather, ten or 12 celsius in southern part of england and wales. low— pressure southern part of england and wales. low—pressure in charge as we had into the middle part of the week. nothing much is moving at all, really. that weather front bringing showers and that one in the north keeps the wetter weather going. more towards the highlands and islands and again there will be snow over the hills. this across england and wales, a breeze picking up that will help to break up the cloud a bit more. the chance of a bit more

sunshine but there could be some showers around, one or two sharp ones as well. still lighter winds across central and southern scotland, and rain in northern ireland with average is no better than seven celsius. disciplining averages on wednesday and sing on thursday but at least some sunshine round and that wet weather clinging to the far north—west of scotland, with showers coming into england and wales. that be heavy. —— those could be heavy. this is beyond 100 days, with me, katty kay, in washington. christian fraser's in london. our top stories: what next for italy? matteo renzi resigns as leader of the governing democratic party amid the political deadlock. a major security incident declared in salisbury in the uk, after the suspected poisoning of a russian man who once spied for britain. coming up in the next half hour — syrian government forces continue their onslaught against the rebel enclave of eastern ghouta, even as an aid convoy is allowed in. let us know your thoughts

by using #beyond100days. an aid convoy has delivered supplies to people inside syria's eastern ghouta — for the first time since a major bombardment by pro—government forces began two weeks ago. the united nations said it hoped the 46 lorries would provide food to around 27,000 people. shelling and artillery fire have continued in the region, despite a un—backed ceasefire. our middle east editor, jeremy bowen, was with the convoy as it set off for eastern ghouta and sent this report. 46 lorries moved through some of the most dangerous territory around damascus to get into eastern ghouta. the syrians refused to let them take in some surgical and trauma kits, but they carried food and medical supplies for 27,500 people. it was a start.

we need to be sending convoys at least three times a week to a besieged area such as eastern ghouta, where there are serious shortages of medical equipment, medical supplies, food and nutrition for nearly 400,000 people trapped on the inside. the lorries moved through the final syrian army checkpoint at the edge of eastern ghouta. the fact this convoy has moved shows assad's confidence. syrian armed forces are pressing into eastern ghouta that way, of course, with their russian allies. and if they win, and at the moment that's the way it appears to be, president assad will have scored a significant victory, because, for the first time since the war started, he will have secured his capital. the enclave has been controlled by islamist militias since 2012. some militias are negotiating,

and there is talk of a deal — but not yet. the un's call for a ceasefire has been ignored. syria's president says the west is lying about the humanitarian crisis. the un secretary—general calls eastern ghouta "hell on earth". allahu akbar! casualties go to a network of underground clinics. a doctor working in one of them didn't think the convoy would change anything. what can a small convoy help us? what can it benefit us? it's including some food and some limited materials. it doesn't have enough for a few people for a few days. it's a densely populated area

where there's no escape from the grown—ups‘ war. jeremy bowen, bbc news, damascus. terrible pictures from eastern ghouta. counter—terrorism experts from around the world will be gathering here in london tomorrow to discuss, among other things, the threat posed by the islamic state group. much of the focus at the counter terror congress will be on policing, but it is in syria where the recent progress against is has been undermined. thousands of kurdish fighters that made up the backbone of the syrian democratic forces, have diverted to the battle in afrin where kurdish militia have been facing attacks from turkey. the sdf is the most effective force on the ground in syria. and the allies need the kurds to finish the fight. joining us now is jennifer cafarella, a senior intelligence planner at the institute for the study of war. thanks very much for coming in, i

know you have been studying what is happening in syria. to what extent has the coalition campaign against islamic state been halted because the kurds have effectively left the fight to defend their brothers in arms? the offensive has been halted, and for the kind of relocation of forces that you indicated. this post isa very forces that you indicated. this post is a very real challenge not only to the coalition's ability to finish anti—isis operations, which have not concluded, but to hold the territory taken from isis thus far. there is a real risk that isis will exploit thinning defensive lines in eastern syria in order to re—surge. thinning defensive lines in eastern syria in order to re-surge. how much pressure can the white house put on turkey to make sure they go back into the fight against islamic state ? into the fight against islamic state? the key will be to de—escalate the wider confrontation between turkey and kurdish insurgents inside of turkey and the wider region. turkey regards the american and coalition local partner, the ypg, as a branch of the

wider pkk kurdish insurgency, which is of course fighting inside turkey. until or unless the us is able to broker a deal with respect to that wider conflict, i expect that we will actually not be able to de—escalated tactically between turkey and the local partner inside syria. these issues cannot be fully separated. donald trump said last week that ice is ground has largely been recaptured, 100%, he said, but they are on the run. how many are on they are on the run. how many are on the run, and where might they be going? sure, so of course assessing the actual fighting strength of isis has always been one of the most difficult things to do, certainly from unclassified information. we know that isis remnants in iraq and syria are still fighting. they are conducting low—level assassinations, suicide bombings in both countries, and in syria they actually have been taking some terrain from pro—regime forces so definitely still a threat there, despite the fact that most of

there, despite the fact that most of the major urban centres have been retaken. globally, we are also witnessing isis resurgence. what happened is that so many of the foreign fighter flows that had been going to iraq and syria have redirected, and we have resurgent isis presents across—the—board — from libya to somalia, yemen, and increasingly indication that foreign fighters are flowing into southeast asia, places like the philippines. when it comes back to the kurds, why are they so crucial to the fight? why can't they be replaced by syrian arab fighters, for instance? the kurds have been much more combat capable, in part because they have stricter discipline and a more efficient command structure that makes them a much more reliable partner in the near—term than the arab forces that have not been meaningfully mobilised. that is until the us started providing support, so the kerdasa be more battle hardened and more effective

militarily. -- the kurds are more battle hardened. it is fascinating, the extent to which washington cannot just the extent to which washington cannotjust pick the extent to which washington cannot just pick up the extent to which washington cannotjust pick up the phone to ankara and say, listen, we need those kurdish fighters or we will see a resurgence, as in the past, of extremist groups like islamic state in the region, and they don't have the pressure over erdogan to do that. it is fascinating, because it has happened before, in 2001, when they were fighting al-qaeda in afghanistan, they had them cornered and let them escape, and we know what happened next. tomorrow in london, you have got about 300 of the world's most eminent security experts gathering to swap, you know, ways to defeat terrorists in europe and around the world, and we will hear from and around the world, and we will hearfrom some of and around the world, and we will hear from some of the best counterterrorism experts on the planet, but they can only do so much, and if what they are looking to is the people on the battlefield to is the people on the battlefield to round these people up there they don't have to deal with them once they come back to europe. it will be

interesting to watch what they say tomorrow, we will cover that. one of vladimir putin's first moves and coming to power 18 years ago was to bring tv channels under state control. since then, russia has been accused of taking the information war abroad, using charlton and it relates public opinion on social media. -- trolls. our moscow correspondent sarah rainsford reports. this was viktor‘s life for over 20 years. here in siberia, he created a popular independent tv channel, but three years ago, tv2 was taken off air. officially, it was a license dispute, but viktor is sure it was political. the channel annoyed

everyone in power locally. the team saw that as theirjob. but reining in the free press was one of vladimir putin's first moves as president. farfrom moscow, tv2 was one of the last survivors. translation: it's obvious we were no threat here in tomsk. but the authorities are constantly afraid. afraid of revolution or losing control, they want to control everything, but that's impossible. and they don't trust anyone. now russia's information war has moved onto the internet, so we travel to one of the key battle grounds. from st petersburg, the kremlin's been accused of using the internet to manipulative opinion notjust at home but abroad. this place has become notorious as russia's troll factory. it's mostly empty now, up for rent, but a criminal indictment in the united states claims staff here were deployed as an online army to sow discord and influence voters in america. ludmila shows me the blog of one of the fake characters she helped to create. she leaked information

from inside the troll factory that exposed how it worked. her focus was russian language content, and she tells me the trolls operated in shifts, ordered to produce up to 80 posts on social media every single day. translation: it's a huge machine. i'd see thousands of posts appearing under every news story right before my eyes. if a troll spoke about america or ukraine, it had to be negative. if it was putin or russia's military, it was positive. bloggers got written instructions what to present and the conclusions that people should draw. and it seems the trolls are still operating. we've been told that the troll factory has moved here to this premises, so i'm just going to see if any of these people in the smoking shelter opposite actually work there and what they can tell me. this man tells me he's seen them here

and he doesn't like what they do. inside, we met a representative of one firm named in the us indictment, but he wouldn't comment on camera about its work. back in siberia, viktor and his wife show me how easily the traditional media have been tamed. when there were mass protests against closing tv2, state—run channels ignored them completely. information is being controlled now, even weaponised, and under vladimir putin, this couple see no chance of that changing. sarah rainsford, bbc news, tomsk. news from around the world now. the german chancellor, angela merkel, says it's important for the newly agreed coalition to get to work quickly. she promised to maintain prosperity at home and said the new government would work towards a strong europe, along with france. the new coalition will be comprised of mrs merkel‘s cdu party and the social democrats.

china has announced it's raising its military budget to 1.11 trillion yuan or $175 billion dollars for the coming year. the figure, an 8% increase on last year, was announced as the annual meeting of parliament got under way in beijing. it comes as delegates are expected to vote on a proposal to remove the two—term limit for the presidency later this week. slovakia's president has called for a radical government reshuffle or new elections to rebuild public trust after the murder of a journalist and his fiancee. andrej kiska said the murder of jan kuciak had created "enormous mistrust" in the state and that the government of prime minister robert fico had done nothing to reassure the people. british cyclist bradley wiggins and team sky have strongly rejected claims that they used drugs to enhance performance — rather than just for medical reasons. a report by british mps has concluded that the rules were not broken, but that they were in effect abused, to help sir bradley become the first british rider to win the tour de france in 2012.

back now to the trade war which is brewing after president trump announced he would be introducing stiff tariffs on imports of steel and aluminium. it's notjust the usual critics but members of mr trump's own party who are speaking out against the decision. here was republican senator lindsey graham yesterday. china is winning, and we are losing with this tariff regime. we are letting china off the hook, punishing the american consumer and our allies. go after china, punishing the american consumer and ourallies. go after china, not punishing the american consumer and our allies. go after china, not the rest of the world. we are joined by bbc‘s north america correspondent nick bryant, is this the thing that will divide the republican party finally from donald trump? they have stuck with him so far. there was a lot of talk earlier in the about how the republican party had become the trump party in the aftermath of the

tax cuts that were passed before christmas, but there is a definite difference, a definite divergences between the republican party establishment, for a long time now has been free trade, determine and leak free trade. if you look at the origins of nafta, the trade agreement that donald trump eights, you find it in ronald reagan's campaign for the presidency. you find it in ronald reagan's campaign forthe presidency. george hw bush pushed nafta as well, put into effect by bill clinton, but it was a republican idea, and you are getting pushed back from not only to be like lindsey graham, a golf partner of the president, but people like the house speaker, paul ryan. his office today was circulating an article to journalists pointing his office today was circulating an article tojournalists pointing out the damage that tariffs could do to the damage that tariffs could do to the american economy. the interesting thing, nick, is that the republicans were saying, we will be able to use trade and the strong performance in the market and the good job figures, and the tax reform, we will be able to use all

of that when we go to the midterms later in the year, and that will ove rco m e later in the year, and that will overcome some of the low approval ratings that the president has. but if you start to undermine the economy, doesn't that take away something that has been a real usp for them at the ballot box? that is exactly right, and that is one of the concerns being voiced by senior senators like orrin hatch, for instance, of utah, a staunch trump ally who says this is a tax on the american people which will lead to increased prices at supermarkets. and who will be damaged by that? the american economy and us in the mid—term elections. the europeans have been very careful about what they will target in retaliation. jean—claude juncker of the european commission saying, levi jeans, harley— davidson motorbikes, and also, what was the other one? bourbon, i thought you would remember that, nick! - got bourbon!

clearly drinking too much of it already! carefully selected! that is the whole point, why is it important? it is made in kentucky, the home of mitch mcconnell, the senate majority leader. harley— davidson are built senate majority leader. harley—davidson are built in wisconsin, the home of paul ryan, and that is a key battle ground state, one of the rust belt states that donald trump won. harley— davidsons are also manufactured in pennsylvania, and battle ground state. the europeans also digesting them and suggest in game may go after orange juice, florida, and other key battle ground. —— the europeans also suggesting they may go after orange juice. not stupid, those european trade negotiators! christian, i spoke to some of the over the weekend from the white house is said, basically, all the chaos you have read about in the papers over

this tariff announcement, it is true and also. this has caused a lot of friction and the white house. chaos works, that is the whole point. how valuable is your passport? we will be ranking the highest, that is still to come. the prime minister is urging developers to up their game and build more homes in england. she said penalising developers who delay building on their land should help to deal with the shortage of properties. labour described the measures as feeble. here's our home editor, mark easton. the prime minister donned the hi—vis today, determined to show she's tackling what she describes as a housing crisis. but theresa may's not the first senior tory to get her shoes muddy on a building site. remember him? and him? today, the pm had the big builders and developers in her sights, blaming some of them for putting

profit before their patriotic duty to restore the dream of home ownership. the bonuses paid to the heads of some of our biggest developers are based not on the number of homes they build, but on their profits or share price. i expect developers to do their duty. among possible planning reforms is the idea that developers with a reputation for not building homes fast enough might be denied planning permission by councils. not only do house—builders make returns to their shareholders, we are also cross—subsidising almost half of the affordable housing in this country every single year. for conservatives, home ownership is central to their vision for housing. the prime minister today said she met young voters at the last election angry to get on the ladder. but 24—year—old tessa says focusing on ownership is missing the point. i don't even think about affording something like that, because the price is so high anyway,

so i don't know how i would get the deposit together in order to buy one, even if it was available. some conservatives want the treasury to relax borrowing rules so councils and housing associations can build many more genuinely affordable homes. others see the priority as protecting england's precious green landscape. it is a surprise perhaps the prime minister didn't think it wise to wear a hard hat today. mark easton, bbc news. you're watching beyond 100 days. what kind of trade deals might the uk strike, free of the restrictions of european union? of course, a lot of depends on where the brexit negotiations end up. but it's good to know that potential future trading partners outside the eu are eyeing up the uk and ready to do business. australia is one such country. the high commissioner to the uk says australia would never cede its sovereignty over trade to another group of countries. and he believes that britain should take heart from australia's example. they have already secured trade deals with china

and the united states. the high commissioner, alexander downer, joined us a short time ago. i asked him what the impact might be of the uk staying in a customs union. well, i'm not sure what people mean by a as distinct from the, that is probablyjust a political difference without a big difference of substance, but if the uk was in the customs union, remained in the customs union, and obviously would not be able to negotiate trade arrangements with other countries, so all of our focus would be on negotiations with the european union. i mean, we would put our effortsjust into brussels, we wouldn't bother with london, because london would have contract and out its trade policy to the eu, that would be the consequence. at the moment, australia represents, let's face it, a small portion of britain's total trading relationship, something like around

296- relationship, something like around 2% — are you suggesting that after brexit that number will increase significantly in a way that could help the british economy perhaps replace some of the trade deals with the eu? british trade has been diverted away from countries like australia, so i suspect, on leaving the european union, britain's trade patterns would change a little as it negotiated notjust a patterns would change a little as it negotiated not just a free—trade agreement with the eu so it could go from 2% up to something like 7%?ij am not going to predict at all, it is not the diktat of a politician or diplomat to say what the trade would be, but it was once 7%, it is now about 2%. i am not sure, 1—2%, be, but it was once 7%, it is now about 2%. lam not sure, 1—2%, and obviously there is potential to grow that very substantially. you said that very substantially. you said that australia would never contract out its trade policy, the regulations under of its internal economy. “—

regulations under of its internal economy. —— the regulation and management of its internal economy. you already have deals with china and the us, even though the european union doesn't. but how do you balance the interests of those two massive partners when they diverged? it is not a problem at all. we export into, say, china, we have to meet chinese standards. when we export to the united states, we meet american standards. whether we have agreements with them or not. if the united kingdom is outside of the customs union, it can do that. if it is inside, it will have no say at all over the agreements that are negotiated on its behalf by the european union. i mean, that is not a matter for us, that isjust what will happen. to finish, are you optimistic about the chances of a trade deal with the eu, knowing what you know about these negotiations? it is difficult to negotiate with

the eu, but i'm optimistic that we will get a trade agreement with the eu, and we have begun that process in any case. from our point of view, we would be happy to negotiate a bilateral agreement with the uk if the uk genuinely leaves the european union. if you remain in the customs union and the single market, you are basically remaining in the european union but without any say in the decision—making processes. it is up to you if you want to do that. we would never do that. high commissioner, thank you very much. pleasure. ask many people what their most prized positions are — wife, children, home perhaps — certainly one of mine, besides my family of course is my passport. in fact, i have two. it's an essential tool of our trade and when you travel so much, you come to realise just how valuable these maroon, navy or green books are. and some are more valuable than others when it comes to visa—free travel,

according to a new global ranking. japanese and singaporean passport holders offer the greatest travel freedom. if you hold one of these passports, you're now able to travel to 180 countries without a visa. the latest is uzbekistan. it's interesting, katty, because last month uzbekistan lifted visa requirements for japanese and singaporean nationals, which puts them ahead of germany. before the shift it was number one, now it's number two. and they tied for third — denmark, finland, france, italy, sweden, spain and south korea with visa —free travel to 178 countries. at the other end of the end of the scale, syria, iraq and afghanistan. i suppose it is not surprising.

which nationalities have you got? they are both british!” which nationalities have you got? they are both british! i have a british passport, and i'm applying for a swiss passport, i was hoping that would be on the list. how many japanese people go to uzbekistan on holiday? not easy to get a japanese passport either! my son was born there, he doesn't have one, and not allowed! we will see you tomorrow. see you then! nowhere near as cold as last week, milder conditions have spread to most parts of the uk, still cold across northern areas, particularly scotland, more snow falling today. very wintry looking scene here, contrast that with something that much more like spring, some sunshine today in surrey. we have lost the

beast from the east, air tending to come more from the south, and in milderair come more from the south, and in milder air across much of the uk, but you can see where it is still cold. low pressure dominating the weather at the moment. within that area of low pressure, this weather system tracking northwards, that is producing the rain. that rain is still quite heavy, moving northwards into the colder air, so a bit of snow over the tops of the pennines, the cumbrian fells, and more especially back into scotland, over the hills. as it turns drier to the south, with no wind, turning misty, low cloud, typical temperatures overnight of 2—3 degrees, a risk of frost bats. in the morning, though, the wettest weather across the northern half of the uk, can find more to scotland, a mixture of rain, sleet and snow over the hills. brightening up across northern england and northern ireland. sunshine in the south—west and the

extreme south—east, one or two showers. through the middle rather cloudy, 3—4 in central and northern scotla nd cloudy, 3—4 in central and northern scotland in the wet weather, 10—12 across southern parts of england and wales. low pressure still in charge into the middle part of the week, nothing much moving at all, that weather fronts bringing showers, that one in the north keeps the wetter weather going. more towards the highlands and islands, snow over the highlands and islands, snow over the hills. further south across england and wales, a breeze picking up, that will break up the cloud a bit more, a chance of sunshine, but one or two sharp showers around. lighter winds across central and southern scotland, northern england and northern ireland, temperatures no better than 7 degrees. disappointing on wednesday, same on thursday, but at least a bit more sunshine around, the wet weather clinging to the far north—west of scotland, showers coming into england and wales could be a little heavier. this is bbc news. the headlines at 8:00: a russian national convicted

of treason is one of two people critically ill after being poisoned in salisbury, the bbc understands. police declare a major incident but say it is not terror—related. because we are still at the very early stages of the investigation, we are unable to say if a crime has taken place. a major incident, however, has been declared today and a multi—agency response has been coordinated. first it's the big freeze, now the big thaw brings disruption as thousands are left without water due to burst pipes in england and wales. sir bradley wiggins tells the bbc he is not a drugs cheat, after mps accused him of crossing an ethical line. theresa may pledges to crack down on developers who sit on land having won planning permission, instead of building homes.