welcome to bbc news, broadcasting to viewers in north america and around the globe. my name is mike embley. our top stories: donald trump's top economic advisor, gary cohn, resigns following disagreements over the president's threatened trade wars. the state department confirms that north korea used the nerve agent, vx, to kill the half—brother of kimjong—un, in malaysia last year. british chemical experts are working to identify the substance blamed for poisoning a former russian spy and his daughter. the kremlin is denying any involvement. the british foreign secretary says has called russia "a malign and disruptive force." and the muse behind the masterpieces. a new exhibition in london takes a close look, at the woman who inspired some of picasso's greatest work. the top white house economic advisor, gary cohn, is to resign.

his decision to leave comes just days after president trump said he could trigger a trade war by imposing tariffs on steel and aluminium imports. mr cohn‘s resignation follows a series of high—profile departures from mr trump's team. our correspondent peter bowes is following this story from los angeles. last time it was over the charlottesville march in virginia with donald trump said there were some good people in that march when there were ku klux klan members in it. the timing is significant and it is about economics. after the announcement that donald trump wants impose tariffs on the import of aluminium and steel,

mr cohn, known to be in favour of free trade as opposed to protectionism, means there is a different of opinion here. although he is not saying that in his short statement. from outside, it appears to be because of differences with the president and his inability to dissuade the president from taking this form of action. mr trump seems to be saying he is going ahead with the tariffs and saying a trade war is not such a bad thing. some in his party and the industry are worried. people are worried about it, and some close to the president. senior republicans have expressed grave doubts. bear in mind that this is not an election year and according to many analysts could backfire and result in job losses from affected industries.

industries requiring those resources, job losses would hit hard. donald trump campaign to create blue—collarjobs — they could be affected. if it happens in the next 6—8 months, perhaps people would retaliate at the ballot box. looking at the list of people who left the white house, it is unprecedented? it is only a week since the communications chief marks over the future of others remaining. this is a white house in chaos but bizarrely it seems the kind of atmosphere that the president favours. he said just a few hours ago said that he likes people who disagree and clashing within his environment, within the oval office and the white house. the president has accused the

european union of making it impossible to do business with it. he said if the eu retaliated against his proposed tariffs, his government would impose a 25% tax on european cars. in just the past few hours, the us state department has formally confirmed that it believes the north korean government used the nerve agent, vx, to assassinate the half brother of the country's leader, kim jong—un. kim jong—nam was attacked at kuala lumpur‘s main international airport in february last year by two women who rubbed a cloth in his face. our correspondent laura bicker is in seoul. when it comes to the nerve agent vx, malaysian authorities have already said they believed that was the agent used to kill kim jong—nam. the state department have decided to impose further sanctions on north korea stopped the timing

could not be worse. it comesjust as north korea has decided it is willing to and the discussions with the us and also willing to get rid of its nuclear weapons. how it reacts to more sanctions imposed on them, we will have to wait and see. we are also hearing the north korean leader kim jong—un gave the south korean delegates a letter for donald trump and it will be delivered to the trump white house in just a few days time by the south korean delegates. we are not being told what is inside the latter. at the moment that is all we know. it could signal a huge response from here in the peninsula because people here are hoping this could be a breakthrough for peace here.

let's take a look at some of the other stories making the news: east timor and australia have signed a treaty that resolves a long—running dispute over their maritime border. the deal also finalises how the neighbours will share revenue from the huge oil and gas reserves beneath the timor sea. east timor — one of the world's poorest countries — will get between 70% and 80% of the proceeds. a town in the rebel—held enclave of eastern ghouta, near damascus, has reportedly surrendered to syrian government forces. it's thought civilians in hammouriyeh put pressure on the rebels to evacuate the town. it follows reports of a chlorine gas attack in the town overnight. additional troops are being deployed to the streets in sri lanka, after reports of further tension between muslims and the buddhist sinhala majority. muslim—owned property has been attacked by buddhists in kandy and the town of ampara. earlier the government announced a state of emergency. the british foreign secretary has

said the government will take whatever measures necessary if it's found the suspected poisoning of a russian former spy in salisbury was ordered by moscow. the kremlin has dismissed the accusations as groundless. sergei skirpal and his daughter yulia are in a critical condition in hospital, whilst the uk's weapons research facility is working to identify the substance used. tom symonds reports. 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 her father sergei from russia when it happened. they were left fighting for their lives. her eyes were just completely white, they were wide open butjust white and frothing at the mouth. and the man went stiff, his arms stopped moving, but he was still looking dead straight. cctv images obtained by the bbc appeared 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 which captured these pictures is yards from where they were found. police were called at 4:15pm when people reported the pair were unconscious on a park bench. last night zizzi, an italian restaurant nearby, was sealed by police, followed today by a local pub, bishop's mill. did someone slip something into theirfood or 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

facility porton down are now involved, testing for a wide range of substances. from things that are chemically toxic to things that are radiological such as was used against litvinenko. i think people will have an open mind, they will be looking at what is in the environment, what is on the clothing, on the skin of the people and also what is in blood and urine and any other samples. so far the tiny wiltshire police force has led the investigation but that changed today in a significant department. this afternoon the metropolitan police have confirmed that, due to 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 mi6, convicted, but in 2010 handed over to britain as part of a spy swap. sergei skripal‘s wife, older brother and son have died in recent years — the family believe in suspicious circumstances. he has been living quietly here, vigilant and fearful of russian intelligence, his relatives said, but under his own name. he would not have been hard to find. tom symonds, bbc news, salisbury. the russian government has vehemently denied any suggestion of involvement and promised to cooperate with the inquiry if asked. a foreign ministry spokesman accused boris johnson of making "wild" and "preposterous" statements and the russian ambassador in london accused the british media of trying to demonise russia. 0ur correspondent steve rosenberg

reports from moscow. it sounds chillingly familiar. russia under suspicion of planning and executing an attack, 2,000 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 inquiry 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, "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, the former kgb officer praised russia's security service for uncovering 397 spies last year. the kremlin leader has never hidden his contempt for those who betray the motherland for money. translatiopn: traitors will kick the bucket, trust me. these people betrayed their friends, their brothers in arms.

whatever they got in exchange for it, those 30 pieces of silver they were given, they will choke on them. yet sergei skripal wasn't an obvious target for the kremlin. translation: there are certain rules that the secret services keep to. when there's an exchange of spies, the matter is considered closed. skripal had been exchanged, russia had no problem with him. moscow denies any connection, but a former double agent, collapsing in britain, it can only add to the chill in relations between the uk and russia. steve rosenberg, bbc news, moscow. stay with us on bbc news, still to come: the woman who inspired some of picasso bass most famous works. at the centre of an exhibition inlondon. first, the plates slipped gently off the restaurant tables,

then suddenly the tables, the chairs and people crashed sideways and downwards, and it was just a matter of seconds as the ferry lurched on to her side. the hydrogen bomb. on a remote pacific atoll, the americans have successfully tested a weapon whose explosive force dwarfed that of the bomb dropped on hiroshima. i had heard the news earlier and so my heart went bang, bang, bang! the constitutional rights of these marchers are their rights as citizens of the united states, and they should be protected, even in the right to test them out, so they don't get their heads broken and are sent to hospital. this religious controversy, i know you don't want to say too much about it, but does it worry you that it's going to boil up when you get to the states? it worries me, yes, but i hope everything will be alright in the end, as they say. this is bbc news.

the latest headlines — donald trump's top economic advisor has resigned in a dispute with the president over his threats of steep import tariffs and a trade war. the us state department has confirmed that north korea used the nerve agent vx to kill the half—brother of kim jong—un in malaysia last year. more now on another of our top stories — the suspected poisoning of a former russian spy and his daughter in southern england. earlier, i spoke to scott stewart, vice—president of tactical analysis for the geopolitical intelligence firm, stratfor. he was a special agent with the us state department for a decade and involved in many, many terror investigations. i asked him what he made of it. it is too early to know for sure. it is very strange for someone to have

this kind of reaction in a public place. and not just this kind of reaction in a public place. and notjust a single man, but his daughter as well. it really does went to some sort of a poisoning rather than a heart attack oi’ poisoning rather than a heart attack or some other natural cause. by by what state and why? certainly, the russians have motive. but only the russians have motive. but only the revenge motive, but by going after these former spies, they are also sending messages to future would be spies that if you do betray russia, we will track you down, we will kill you, we will kill your family, which is even taken a step further as a deterrent for would be spies. we have been reporting on catching spies. he once referred —— referred to a double agent as tutors. but you don't think this is revenge? i think that is part of it but there is always a deterrent

effort when you track down spies living in the west and kill them and theirfamilies. living in the west and kill them and their families. we had our foreign soccer “— their families. we had our foreign soccer —— secretary saying britain will respond robustly if evidence of state responsibility emerges. in fa ct, state responsibility emerges. in fact, what can the uk or anyone else do? one of the things i think they need to do is something strong this time. unfortunately, not much was donein time. unfortunately, not much was done in the other case and i think, not something like a diplomatic letter. i think you need to go after them, whether it is expelling agents, seizing assets, something thatis agents, seizing assets, something that is more than just a statement. you think russia will respond to that, how difficult could this get internationally? it certainly will have some repercussions, but until something is done to curb the russians, they will continue to act.

basically at this point, from their perspective, the benefits far outweigh the costs of doing these sort of operations. how important was sergei skripal, you say? i think if we look at the career he had working for the british basically as their agent within the gru, i've seen reports that he may have been a personnel officer and had a good grasp of their network across europe and perhaps beyond, and that allowed the british and their nato allies to keep tabs on the gru and certainly did impact their operations in a very deep way. he was a colonel in the service, so he wasn't a low—ranking guy. the courts may have blocked president trump's deadline to decide the fate of young undocumented immigrants known as dreamers, but for the 700,000 in the us, their fate is still uncertain. francisco cantu witnessed firsthand the realities of immigration to the us.

he was a border patrol agent before quitting. now, he's written a book called, the line becomes a river: dispatches from the border. thejob of being a border the job of being a border patrol agent, the certain that is that to me andi agent, the certain that is that to me and i enjoy being outdoors, learning to read the landscape. there is always this knowledge in the back of my mind that all of these things that i was learning to do were really to hunt down and catch other people. after leaving thejob, what i carried catch other people. after leaving the job, what i carried with catch other people. after leaving thejob, what i carried with me catch other people. after leaving the job, what i carried with me the most of what i still carry with me today weren't the car chases or drug lasts. what really sticks with me are the personal encounters and

conversations that i had. when i read about deaths in the desert, i remember the face of a man whose body i found in the desert. some of the discussion around the book is really about who gets to speak, who do we listen to, whose stories are being told and by whom? and i think that it being told and by whom? and i think thatitis being told and by whom? and i think that it is important to listen to the voices of migrants because they are the ones who are the most affected by border policy. migrants are the ones who are dehumanised at every single step in theirjourney. those are the voices that have more to tell us about border policy than any border agent like me than any policy maker, than any politicians. there is people who have been

brought here, dreamers, who are now living in fear, and so now i think we need to recognise that here as something real and visceral and something real and visceral and something that we are creating through policy. there were all these parts of myself and my identity that i had to sort of give over to this institution and that's question that is thought that the centre of the book. coming to terms with participating in a violent system, enforcing policies that when i looked at them now, feel inherently flawed and violent. and trying to come to terms with that. a woman from western australia has found the world's oldest known message in a bottle almost 132 years after it was thrown into the sea. tonya illman picked up the bottle while going for a walk around sand

dunes on a remote beach. experts have confirmed it is an authentic message from a german ship. the note in the bottle, which was dated 12thjune 1886, was thrown from the german ship paula as part of an experiment into ocean and shipping routes by the german naval observatory. picasso's young lover, marie—therese walter, inspired some of his most celebrated works of art. a new exhibition at london's tate modern focuses on picasso's work from the year 1932 and includes the dream, and nude in a black armchair. one of picasso's portraits of walter sold recently for nearly £50 million as our arts correspondent david sillito reports from tate modern. there's a lot of emotion in this exhibition. it's kind of into lust and into life. there's also drama. normally, a tate show would be

a retrospective of a life's work, but this is just one year of picasso's. that year is 1932. this is picasso and this is his wife, olga. but when you look at the paintings, it's another face. wherever you look, you see the same shock of blonde hair, the same profile. here she is again. the same hair, the same profile. we're not looking at picasso's wife here, though. this is marie—theres walter. this is marie—theres's granddaughter, diana. two generations may have passed, but i think you can probably see a certain family likeness. what i think of, it as a granddaughter, when i walk in an exhibition like this, is that it's not a great artist it's a great testimony of an accounter.

she is everywhere. an obsession. picasso was approaching 50 when the affair began. and marie—therese was a teenager. she was very young when she met picasso. 17? she was 17.5! and she's accepting the idea to see him again the following day. so she was young, but she was also adventurous. if a relationship can bring you to an extraordinary level of life experience, i could neverjudge that. london's tate gallery honours picasso... these days we've grown used to this new way of seeing. a marie—therese picasso can go for £100 million. but that is the art market. this is the story of the man and the women behind the paintings. david sillito, bbc news. now before we go, we had to show you this. 2—year—old parker curry took over the internet recently when this

photo was posted of her staring in awe at the new portrait of michelle obama at the national portrait gallery in washington, dc. the picture was captured by a bystander also waiting to see the painting. well, if things couldn't get any more exciting for the toddler, today, the two met in person and even had a dance party. michelle obama posted the video on twitter and told parker: "keep on dreaming big for yourself, and maybe one day, i'll proudly look up at a portrait of you." just briefly, the main news again. donald trump's top adviser has advised —— retire. he disagrees with the resident on tariffs on steel and aluminium imports. it is the latest ina aluminium imports. it is the latest in a series of high—profile departures from this white house. thank you very much for watching. more on the website. hello again.

it felt like we had two different seasons across the uk yesterday, north to south. across northern areas in scotland, we had heavy snow causing transport disruption again. and temperatures struggled to get much above freezing. whereas further south, 11 degrees celsius indeed, we had some cloud breaks. and with the light winds around, it didn't feel too bad at all where the sunshine bothered breaking through. further north in scotland, though, it was another snow day, particularly over the high ground, and that snow again caused problems through those higher central belt motorways. now, looking at the weather picture at the moment, the last of the snow clearing away from the north highlands, but aside from that, we've got some clearer slots around. so a colder start to the day with a few frost patches around. a little bit of ice is a possibility first thing in the morning. certainly, a chilly start to the day for most of us. and then all eyes down towards the south—east, really. you've got a little area of low pressure that's moving in. now, there's a bit of uncertainty with this rain. but it could end up being much more extensive across south—east england

and east anglia, and slower to move away as well. so that's a possibility. but either way, by the time we get to the the afternoon, the cloud should be breaking up. further north and west, we've got a few showers, they'll be wintry over the high ground, but the weather not causing too many problems. a few showers later in the day, arriving across the south—west, but for many areas, cloud will break at times to give some sunny spells. temperatures coming up in scotland. we're looking at highs of 6 in edinburgh and aberdeen. further south, temperatures again just about reaching double figures in the afternoon brightness. you might remember thursday was going to be a dry day, but there's been a big jump in the weather forecast, and now, we've got a band of rain and perhaps even a bit of hill snow working across wales and england first thing in the morning. if the precipitation is heavy, might even get something wintry for a time over the midlands. but that is uncertain kind of detailjust at the moment. there will be some further wintry showers coming in across the north—west of the uk and temperatures ranging from 6 to 10 degrees, many areas brightening up as we go on through the afternoon.

for friday, a fairly quiet weather day coming up. north—westerly breeze for many areas and after a cold start to the day, we should see some sunny spells coming through. it will cloud over towards the south—west as a band of rain approaches here, and clouding over in london as well. temperatures, though, not doing too badly — highs of 11 or so. looking ahead to the weekend weather prospects, this area of low pressure is going to push a band of rain northwards across england and wales, and the cold air is still there, so we could just about see a spell of snow over some of the higher hills, the northern pennines and perhaps into parts of scotland as well. but it will be turning milder all the while. that's your weather. this is bbc news — the headlines: donald trump's top economic advisor has resigned — it's understood gary cohn disagrees with the president about his plan to impose steep tariffs on steel and aluminium imports. mr trump has also welcomed the possibility of a global trade war. it is the latest in a series of high profile departures from the white house. the us state department has formally confirmed that it believes

the north korean government used the nerve agent, vx, to assassinate the half brother of north korea's leader, kim jong—un. kim jong—nam was attacked at malaysia's main international airport in february last year. british chemical experts are working to identify the substance blamed for poisoning a former russian spy and his daughter. the kremlin has denied any involvement — and accused the media of trying to demonise russians. the british foreign secretary has called russia "a malign she was one of the youngest stars in an oscar winning movie