poisoning of a former russian spy and his daughter in salisbury. sergei skripal and his 33—year—old daughter yulia both collapsed suddenly in the city centre on sunday afternoon. it's believed the two were captured on cctv shortly before being found on a bench nearby. her eyes were just completely white, wide—open, butjust white, and frothing at the mouth. and then the man went stiff, his arms stopped moving. but he was still looking dead straight. a restaurant and a pub remain cordoned off tonight as the foreign secretary warns there'll be consequences if russia's found to be involved. should evidence emerge that implies state responsibility, then her majesty's government will respond appropriately and robustly. we'll have the latest on the investigation. also tonight... fat britain — food companies are told to cut the number of calories in their products by 20% to deal with an obesity epidemic. six months after hurricane irma tore through the caribbean, we report from the british virgin islands where people are still homeless. and stealing the show —

the profoundly deaf six—year—old from swindon — the star of the oscar winning film the silent child — on her la debut. and coming up on sportsday on bbc news... lord coe denies misleading the dcms committee. he wants to continue the fight against doping and insists athletics is not in tatters. good evening and welcome to the bbc news at six. counterterrorism police are now leading the investigation into why a former russian agent and his daughter suddenly fell ill in salisbury on sunday afternoon. britain's chemical and biological weapons centre is testing the substance they were exposed to. sergei skripal — a double agent who was convicted in russia

of passing state secrets to mi6 — is fighting for his life in hospital along with his daughter, yulia. it's still not known what caused them to collapse. but the foreign secretary, borisjohnson, has promised a robust response if there is conclusive evidence that russia was involved. with the latest from salisbury, here's tom symonds. a father and a daughter apparently struck down in public on a sunday afternoon in salisbury. the bbc revealed today that yulia skripal had been visiting herfather sergei skripal, from russia when it happened. they were left fighting for their lives. her eyes were just completely white, wide—open, butjust white, and frothing at the mouth. and then the man went stiff, his arms stopped moving. but he was still looking dead straight. cctv images obtained by the bbc appear to show mr skripal and his

daughter walking together at 15.47 on sunday afternoon. they were heading for a small park surrounded by shops in the centre of salisbury, called the maltings. the camera that ca ptu re called the maltings. the camera that capture these pictures is yards from where they were found. police were called at 4:15pm when people reported the pair were unconscious ona park reported the pair were unconscious on a park bench. last night, the italian restaurants nearby zizzi, was sealed by police, followed by a local pub, bishop's mill. did somebody slip something into their food and drink? for the police, this isa food and drink? for the police, this is a highly sensitive and potentially hazardous investigation, not least for the officers involved. the key question of course is what was the substance that left a father and his daughter in such a terrible condition on the park bench covered by the tent behind me. there will be toxicology reports prepared, but we understand that several police officers were admitted to hospital.

one has been kept in. symptoms include breathing difficulties and itchy eyes experts at the research fertility porton down are now involved, testing for a wide range of substances. the research facility. it could be toxic su bsta nces facility. it could be toxic substances or something radiological, something that is similarto radiological, something that is similar to that used against litvinenko. people will be looking at the environment, what's on the closing, on the skin of the people and what is in the blood and urine and what is in the blood and urine and other services. so far the wiltshire police force had been coordinating the operation but in a significant development today... the metropolitan police have confirmed that because of the unusual circumstances, the counterterrorism network will be leading this investigation, as it has the specialist capability and expertise to do so. after all, as the foreign secretary made clear in parliament this afternoon, this incident could

have implications for britain's relationship with russia. should evidence emerge that implies state responsibility, then her majesty's government will respond appropriately and robustly. sergei skripal was arrested in 2004, accused of spying for m16, convicted, and in 2010 handed over to britain as part of a spy swap. sergei skripal‘s wife, elder brother and son have died in recent years. the family believe in suspicious circumstances. he has been living quietly here for some years, but under his own name. he would not have been hard to find. tom symonds, bbc news, salisbury. the russian embassy in london says the plight of sergei skripal and his daughter causes serious concern. but they also accuse the media of fuelling an anti—russian campaign by creating the impression it was a planned operation by russian special services — something they categorically deny. in moscow, a spokesman for president putin described the situation as tragic. from moscow, here's steve rosenberg. it sounds chillingly familiar.

russia under suspicion of planning and executing an attack 2000 miles away, in britain. in 2006, the target was former russian agent alexander litvinenko, murdered in london. the man britain believes poisoned him is andrei lugovoy. today, he dismissed claims that moscow had attacked sergei skripal as propaganda. translation: why do they say he was poisoned? perhaps he poisoned himself. or had a heart attack. you talk about propaganda, but what about alexander litvinenko. the enquiry in britain into his death found that you had poisoned him, probably on the orders of vladimir putin. translation: there was no official investigation into litvinenko's death. there was an attempt to accuse russia and a russian citizen,

me, of poisoning him in britain with polonium. as for the kremlin, well, it's been saying very little today about sergei skripal. president putin's spokesman told me earlier that, "we have no information about what happened. we cannot comment." although he did add it was a tragic situation. but catching spies has become one of vladimir putin's priorities. yesterday, he congratulated russia's security service, the fsb. it uncovered 397 spies last year. spy—mania, and now a former double agent collapsing in britain. moscow denies any connection, but it can only add to the chill in relations between the uk and russia. steve rosenberg, bbc news, moscow. sergei skripal has been living in the uk for several years now.

he came to britain as part of a high—profile spy swap involving russia and the united states in 2010. so if he has been poisoned, why would he be targeted now? our security correspondent gordon corera reports. does the long arm of the kremlin reach all the way from moscow to salisbury in wiltshire? and if the attack on sergei skripal did come from russia, why? after being released from jail, skripal had spent the last eight years living quietly in salisbury, but he still had enemies. sergei skripal had been imprisoned in russia for selling secrets to british intelligence here at m16. in russia for selling secrets to british intelligence here at mi6. it was claimed he provided the identity of hundreds of russians operating undercover in europe. even though he had been pardoned as part of a spy swa p had been pardoned as part of a spy swap his former colleagues would

still have regarded him as a traitor. the fact that he blew a whole range of russian agents, there may be personal animosity is there. the fact that he was a british spy, a former member of the russian military, in most russians‘ minds, it will categorise him as a traitor so it will categorise him as a traitor so there will be people who are delighted to see him dead. nobody confirming moscow was involved, but there have been other incidents involving russians in the uk. as we have heard, most famously alexander litvinenko, anotherformer have heard, most famously alexander litvinenko, another former russian spy litvinenko, another former russian spy poisoned in london‘s mayfair. and otherfigures spy poisoned in london‘s mayfair. and other figures have aroused suspicions. alexander died suddenly jogging suspicions. alexander died suddenly jogging in surrey. one study revealed traces of a rare toxin in his stomach and a businessman campaigning of his death said not enough has been done to deter russia. based on the reaction of the

british government to the murder in mayfair using nuclear material of alexander litvinenko, which was nothing, it basically gave the green light to vladimir putin that he can do whatever he wants here and he has been doing whatever he wants for quite awhile. it's still too early to be sure where this investigation will go, but if the trail does connect salisbury to moscow, then the pressure will be on the british government to respond gordon corera, bbc news. our deputy political editorjohn pienaar is in westminster. the question is, how seriously will the government be taking this investigation? they are taking it seriously. borisjohnson wasn‘t holding back today. the government‘s national security council discussed this earlier today in downing street. the prime minister was there and one government source told me the aim was to respond robustly and send the message that britain wanted to be seen in the front line of nations confronting russia‘s threat to international order. this is

about britain‘s place in the world as well. at one point today boris johnson also raised the question of britain‘s involvement in the football world cup in russia. although officials very quickly pointed out that was about officials and ministers, not the england football team. the russian embassy this evening has issued a derisive stadium, sarcastically mocking boris johnson forfinding russia guilty before any enquiry has even started. but tonight the government is keen to show that britain will not be a country that stands idly by if it is shown that a potentially aggressive power has carried out a murderous plot on the streets of britain. john pienaar in westminster, thank you. a woman has been found dead with stab wounds in her family home in south west london, an hour after the bodies of her husband and two boys — aged seven and ten — were discovered at the foot of cliffs in east sussex. police say the woman was discovered at the house in twickenham. they‘re not looking for anyone else in connection with the investigation. lauren moss is at birling gap this evening. this is a beauty spot on the sussex

coast line and it is very popular with walkers. it was a member of public who called the police here yesterday afternoon around five o‘clock, and they found three bodies at the bottom of the cliffs on the beach. a man who was 57 and two boys aged just seven and ten years old. a vehicle was also found nearby. the bodies have not been formally identified yet, but they believed to bea identified yet, but they believed to be a father and his two sons. at the family home in twickenham yesterday afternoon, police also discovered the body of a woman in her 405. she had been stabbed. neighbours spoke there today of their 5hock had been stabbed. neighbours spoke there today of their shock and said they were a normal family and they had regularly seen the children playing outside in the garden. a murder investigation has been launched but no arre5ts have been made. detectives say they are not looking for anyone else at this stage in connection with what has happened here. studio: lauren moss, thank you. one of the two lorry drivers who were involved

in a crash on the m1, in which eight people died, has been convicted of causing death by dangerous driving. ry5zard masierak was two times over the drink—drive limit and had been stationary in the slow lane for 12 minutes before the accident, in august last year. he was found guilty of eight counts of causing death by dangerous driving. a 17—year—old girl and a man have been arrested after sustaining injuries during an incident in a police vehicle in perth. 45—year—old stuart lymer and the teenager — who can‘t be named — had been missing since last friday. the pair are being treated in hospital after the incident, which is understood to have involved a bladed weapon. their injuries are not thought to be life—threatening. britain needs to go on a diet — that‘s the stark message from leading public health officials. they say too many people eat too many calories every day and it‘s led to an obesity epidemic. now public health england is calling on food companies to cut portion sizes for things like pizzas, ready meals, processed meat and takeaways to try to reduce calories by 20% over the next few years.

our health editor, hugh pym, reports. it's it‘s time for action, and food companies must cut calories. that‘5 the demand from public health chiefs who want to see new recipes, smaller portions, or more efforts to move customers to healthy options. here‘s the obesity problem. a child‘s diet might include breakfast with nearly 500 calories, a packed lunch with more than 1000, an after—school snack at around 250, and pasta and a pudding later with more than 800 calories. but that is well above the recommended limit for children. in fa ct, recommended limit for children. in fact, it‘s as much as eating an extra meal a day. but with an ice cream van parked outside this school in salford today, parent5 told us it wa5n‘t in salford today, parent5 told us it wasn‘t easy keeping their children‘s diet is under control. there's an ice cream van right there outside the school. there is something everywhere, so it‘s hard, but i do

try. if the children want ice cream cove red a try. if the children want ice cream covered a distant ice cream, don't they. kids go in mcdonald's and eat burgers and stuff and even i don't know what calories are in them to be fair. mcdonald's, in fact, is one of the big companies that has agreed to a calorie cutting plan for its meals. and it has backed a campaign telling customers what they can get if they want to stick to a 600 calorie limit. subway i5 if they want to stick to a 600 calorie limit. subway is another peppa pig company publishing nutritional information and it says all its individual items are under 600 calories. do you acknowledge your company and others have prohibited to this problem? with choice customers are today, there is so choice customers are today, there is so much choice on the high street and four out of ten subway5 prejudicing good is from our low—fat range. there is still a lot of detail to be worked out on how the calorie reduction plan will work in practice, but fast—food change and supermarkets have until 2024 to deliver the 20% cut. the question

arises, what happens if things are not on track. what we need to see is regular transparent reporting so we see which parts of the industries are playing their role and who is lagging behind. if change does not happen fast enough we need the government to introduce legislation to make it mandatory. there is already a sugar reduction plan for ca kes already a sugar reduction plan for cakes and other sweet items that has to deliver by 2020. but the new calorie initiative for other food i’u ns calorie initiative for other food runs four years beyond that. some say that isn‘t fast enough to tackle what is being called an obesity epidemic. hugh pym, bbc news. our top story this evening. counter—terrorism police take over the investigation into the suspected poisoning of a former russian spy and his daughter in salisbury. still to come... a late—night for a little star. family celebrations for six—year—old star maisie sly, star of an oscar—winning film. coming up on sportsday on bbc news... liverpool are set to reach the quarter—finals of the champions league for the first

time since 2009. jurgen klopp‘s side have a 5—0 lead ahead of tonight‘s second leg agsaint porto. six months after hurricane irma tore through parts of the caribbean, killing dozens of people and destroying thousands of homes, many of the survivors are still living in shelters. one of the worst hit places was the island of tortola, in the british virgin islands. more than 80% of the buildings there were either damaged or completely destroyed. aleem maqbool has been to the island to find out how the community there is recovering. hejoins us now. we know that the british government is carrying out a review looking at whether it was prepared enough, whether its response was good enough here after the storm we know after the last few days speaking to people that many are till traumatised by what they went through and in many senses are still living with the

consequences of hurricane irma every day. it is shocking that, so long after the storm, there are still those living in shelters. they are among the thousands whose homes were torn apart by irma. we‘ve been here, like, five, six months and nothing. it seems to me that everybody just gave up on us. we‘re just here. irma was the most devastating hurricane ever to be recorded in this region, barely a building on this island was left untouched, boats were lifted clean into the air and dumped on the land. tortola now still has the signs everywhere you look that a massive storm came this way. well, even though it is desperately needed, tourism here has suffered immensely over the last six months and they‘ve suffered a huge below —— blowjust in recent weeks, with two of the biggest cruise

companies serving this area saying, for this season, they won‘t be bringing their ships to the british virgin islands. peak season a couple of years ago, sometimes it looks like there‘s more boats than water. you can‘t see the water for the yachts. it‘s not a good feeling, you know, back then to compare it now. it‘s not a good feeling. the window went in. the window went in and went out. but light has been hard to come by in the last six months here, just ask rita, whose home was badly damaged by irma and who says, in this uk territory, that she saw little aid from the uk. we have no aid, apart from the six bottles of water i get. that was it. i don‘t have no aid. it was a common perception we heard here, that apart from the work done by british troops immediately after the storm, more could have been done. when we did need them to show that we are truly a child of the united kingdom, i think they disappointed us. so it changed our view, in terms of the relationship. the governor of these islands says

he‘s proud of the uk‘s contribution. we‘ve got the electricity back on. we‘ve got businesses back open. we‘ve got all children getting educated. so we won‘t under estimate the scale of the challenge still ahead of us, but we‘ve made good progress after the last six months. it‘s been a massive effort by people here just to get this far, but they‘re worried again, the next hurricane season is less than 100 days away. aleem maqbool, bbc news, on tortola, in the british virgin islands. president trump says the world is watching and waiting after reports that north korea is willing to discuss giving up its nuclear weapons, in return for security guarantees. north and south korea are due to hold direct talks at a summit next month. our north america correspondent, nick bryant, is at the white house. tell us more about the reaction there then? it's the first time the

north koreans raised the possibility of abandoning their nuclear weapons in return for security guarantees from washington. previously pyongyang says they are unnegotiatable it has been made with cautious optimism. the president said possible progress, "a serious effort is being made by all parties concerned. maybe false hope, but the us is ready to go hard in either direction." the white house believes its hard line stands against north korea is,ing. the tough sanctions, the tough talk, the threats of fire and fury the threats of totally destroying north korea and its leader kim jong—un or little rocket man as donald trump insists on calling him. there is a sense in washington that they have seen this movie before. the north koreans have been engaged in talks and all the time they have been developing a nuclear capability which could soon

target east coast cities like new york and like washington. a statement from the white house tonight says this, "that they will keep on applying maximum pressure with all options on the table, including the military option until they see credible, verifiable and concrete steps towards denuclearisation." concrete steps towards denuclearisation. " nick concrete steps towards denuclearisation." nick bryant, in washington, thank you. thousands of people in parts of the uk have spent a fourth day without water after pipes that froze last week burst as temperatures rose at the weekend. water companies have continued work to restore supplies to homes and businesses in london, kent, sussex and parts of wales. the industry regulator, ofwat, said suppliers had "fallen well short" on forward planning. emma simpson reports. a sussex country pub with lots of beer, but no running water. not today. i'm really sorry. that‘s all right. they‘ve been saying sorry to customers since saturday., 200 lost bookings and counting.

how much is this all going to cost you? probably £6,000, £7,000 so far. it‘s devastation. we can‘t open and we‘ve lost food. we‘ve lost our revenue, you know. down the road, yet more emergency supplies for households in need. oh, we‘re managing. you know, we‘re british, aren‘t we! they were helping themselves in west wales, and there are still thousands without water in london. here‘s the problem, just one of many burst pipes still being repaired. no quick—fix, but progress is being made. the big freeze has put an enormous strain on the water network, but critics say the water companies should be investing much more in improving ageing infrastructure and making the system more resilient. south east water will invest £450 million into its infrastructure from 2015 to 2020.

we‘re dealing with an unprecedented event here due to the weather, where we‘ve seen a 25% increase in burst and water demand over a couple of days. back at the pub, the chef‘s cleaning, not cooking. they just want to know when they can re—open. this ale won‘t keep if it‘s not soon, yet more money being poured away. emma simpson, bbc news, wardhurst. there‘s been increasing concern recently over plastic waste in the environment, but rarely has the problem been illustrated so starkly as this. it was filmed by british diver rich horner off the coast of the indonesian island of bali. it shows the water strewn with plastic waste, bags, bottles and wrappers. she swapped swindon

for los angeles and became one of the stars of the oscars. six—year—old maisie sly, who‘s profoundly deaf, played the lead role in the silent child, and the short film won an oscar on sunday. maisie was there with her family, watching on with all the stars. colin patterson went to see her as she soaks up the glory. a star is born. six years old and profoundly deaf, maisie sly has now played the main role in an oscar—winning film, and seems to be pretty unfazed by all the attention. just tell me about your day at the oscars? i feel happy, i felt really happy. i want her to speak... the silent child is about a deaf girl struggling to communicate as her family don‘t want her to learn sign language. it was made by two former stars of the show hollyoaks. the silent child, chris overton and rachel shenton. it won best live action short.

maisie was up on the balcony at the oscars with her mum, while her dad watched nearby with family and friends, and this was their reaction. the silent child... screaming. after midnight, the winner made her entrance. and as for what‘s next — well, maisie could return to the role, there are plans to adapt the silent child into a full length feature. absolutely extending the film‘s what we would like to do next. we asked maisie what she wants to do next and she said she wants to do some colouring. which i think is a much better answer. yeah. gold, gold colouring? probably. she'll be drawing a lot of pictures of oscars, i think. i bet she will. colin patterson, bbc news, los angeles. time for a look at the weather. here‘s matt taylor. battle of the seasons at the moment across the uk. spring has arrived to

parts of england and wales and northern ireland adding to the thaw with sunshine there earlier in carmarthenshire. different story in scotland, though. winter has been in place throughout the day and pretty heavy snowfall around the grampians and the highlands and some of the sheep have been fighting that as well as us mere humans. the snow more confined to the highlands and will fizzle out through tonight. elsewhere showers to the west. wet weather close to the channel islands at the moment. that may fringe in towards the far south—east by the end of the night and dawn on wednesday morning. in between clear skies around. it will be a colder night than last night. temperatures low enough anywhere for a touch of frost. ice on the ground into the morning. for many it will be a brighter start than today. we have cloud, outbreaks of rain across the far north of scotland, auckney and shetland. wetter weather into east

anglia, showers to the west. hail mixed in with showers in south—west england. the thaw will continue elsewhere with temperatures in high single figures if not double figures. low pressure still in charge as we go into thursday morning. watching the development of weather fronts close to the south. that will bring a wet day in the channel islands. it could be further north. south—east england watch the forecast. the rain will not be too far away. showers on thursday, wintry over the hills. rain to lower levels. in between those plenty of dry, reasonably bright and sunny weather. temperatures still getting into double figures for one or two. frosty start to friday. some more snow to come in the highlands, but after a mild day elsewhere, after a frosty start, rain will arrive from the south—west and that will bring a wet start to the weekend across parts of england and wales with snow for scotland and northern ireland. a reminder of our main story: counter—terrorism police take over

the investigation into thement sped poisoning of a were foer russian spy and his daughter in salisbury. that‘s all from the bbc news at six, so it‘s goodbye from me and on bbc one we nowjoin the bbc‘s news teams where you are. this is bbc news — our latest headlines. counter—terror officers take the lead on the investigation into the suspected poisoning of a former russian spy and his daughter in wiltshire. both are in a critical condition in hospital. russia describes foreign secretary borisjohnson‘s remarks alluding to russian involvement as ‘groundless‘. donald trump says the world is watching and waiting, after reports that north korea is willing to discuss giving up its nuclear weapons, in return for security guarantees. a murder investigation‘s underway, after a woman was found dead at her home in twickenham. and it‘s time for britain to go on a diet. public health england says producers,