this is the briefing. i'm sally bundock. our top story: british chemical experts are working out what caused the injuries to a russian former spy and his daughter. the state department confirms that north korea used the nerve agent, vx, to kill the half—brother of kimjong—un, in malaysia last year. 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 white house's top economic advisor steps down. just hours after president trump stands firm on imposing tariffs on steel and aluminium. in business briefing we'll be live to brussels for the latest on europe's reaction to trumps tariff plans. a warm welcome to the programme, briefing you on all you need to know

in global news, business and sport. and you can be part of the conversation. a barbie doll, modelled on the olympic champion boxer nicola adams, has been launched to mark international women's day. the manufacturers said they chose her because of her outstanding contribution to the sport. who would you like to see being honoured 7 the british government's emergency committee, cobra, will meet later this morning to discuss the suspected poisoning

of a former russian agent and his daughter. sergei and yulia skripal are in a critical condition in hospital after being found unconscious on sunday. tests are being carried to try to find out what made them so ill. tom burridge has the latest. uncomfortable questions linger here in wilts were a former russian agent and his daughter was struck down on sunday afternoon. —— wilts. yulia lives in russia and was visiting her father sergei skripal. this cctv footage shows them half an hour before they were found unconscious ona park before they were found unconscious on a park bench. her rise were com pletely on a park bench. her rise were completely white, frothing at the mouth and the man was stiff, his

arms stopped moving and looking dead straight. sergei skripal was an officer in russian military intelligence but in 2004 was arrested and later convicted for working for mi6. in 2010 he was and that working for m16. in 2010 he was and that over to britain as part of a spy that over to britain as part of a spy swap. the russian government says suggestions it was involved are com pletely says suggestions it was involved are completely untrue but the murder in london in 2006 former russian spy litvinenko means suspicion is almost inevitable and the ramifications are huge. if russia is behind it, they are taking this to a whole new level. it is in fact the declaration of war. experts here have been trying to work out whether toxics su bsta nces were trying to work out whether toxics substances were used to try to kill former russian agent and his daughter, now in hospitalfighting to stay alive. later we will go live to moscow

talking to a journalist who has been following the story of sergei skripal since 2006. the us state department is imposing new sanctions on north korea, after formally accusing it of using a deadly nerve agent to kill kim jong—un‘s estranged brother. washington said the use of vx nerve agent to kill kim jong—nam showed contempt for universal norms against the use of chemical weapons. we can go live now to our correspondent laura bicker in seoul. just yesterday we were talking about the progress being made with regards to the diplomatic moves to bring it north and south korea together and yet here we are today discussing this. i think the idea that north korea used the chemical agent vx against kim jong—nam is

korea used the chemical agent vx against kimjong—nam is not new. the state department have officially concluded north korea is behind it and they are willing to pose further sanctions. when the state department announced that it said it should not have allowed any chemical agents of any kind. within the last 25 hours there has been a major breakthrough. 0nce talks concluded in pyongyang major announcements were made. not only did he appear willing to did you to rise but also to talk about it with the united states. as we speak, at the south korean delegation is heading to washington where it would brief the trump administration. but today there will be hearing about further sanctions in post and one wonders what affects this will have on north korea's

seemingly good wheel. it is interesting to see what donald trump has had to say about the progress, in terms of talks about north korea and he was quite — in terms of his wording— compared to what he was saying months previously, he was quite contrite? he did say that north korea appears sincere and when asked who should be given the credit he smiled and said many. he believes a strategy of maximum pressure of putting international sanctions is having an effect. it may well be that pyongyang is running out of cash but some sceptics point out that kim jong—un maehl so cash but some sceptics point out that kimjong—un maehl so be lying, a ploy to get some time while continuing to create missiles. what

they believe right now is that it is worth any risk to try and get any kind of settlement in the peninsula, the south koreans. let's brief you on some of the other stories making the news: a canadian man has admitted assisting jihadists who carried out a suicide attack in iraq in 2009 that killed five us soldiers and two iraqi police. faruq muhammad ‘isa pleaded guilty at a court in new york to providing money to the tunisian suicide bombers. france is planning to fix the legal age of sexual consent at fifteen, meaning sex with someone younger than that would be considered rape. it follows uproar over a recent case in which a man was acquitted of raping an 11 year—old girl, because the court found he hadn't forced her to have sex. the london production of the hip—hop musical, hamilton, has received 13 nominations for the 0livier theatre awards. the show is the most nominated production in the history

of the award. the prizes recognise achievement on the london stage. the white house's top economic advisor, gary cohn, has resigned. he's said to be unhappy about the president's proposed steel and aluminium tariffs and the consequences for the american economy — jobs and the threat of a trade war. cornelia meyer, ceo of mrl corporation, a business consultancy joins me now. a revolving door at the white house. gary cohn, a democrat. many like him there. they felt he was balancing out donald trump's plans to a degree. he is going and it is clearly a sign of the protectionist, wilbur ross, bravado. he did not

like the steel tariffs, he tried to go against them and i think he just had enough. last year, when they we re had enough. last year, when they were the race riots in charlotte deal and trump said there were some nice people in them which got gary cohn justifiably hot under the collar. many see him as someone who pushed through these tax reforms which he believes will help the us economy and so far they are having a good effect and he is worried with the trade rhetoric that it could reverse what he has done. these reforms have a good effect that at this point mainly on stock market at this point mainly on stock market at this point. they are investing more. . . this point. they are investing more... the recent more money in the bank and investing more. so far we have not seen the dollars invested,

only the announcement. it will make... the steel and aluminium ta riffs make... the steel and aluminium tariffs will cause more inflation and will be bad for the automotive industry, bad for sales, so it is not going to be good for the us economy. we will see you soon fall the news briefing. plenty to discuss later. also to come, how picasso celebrated the beauty of his young lover — we visit a major new exhibition at tate modern. 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? well, it worries me, yes, but i hope everything will be all right in the end, as they say. you're watching the briefing. 0ur headlines: british chemical experts are working

to identify the substance blamed for poisoning a former russian spy and his daughter. the us state department has confirmed that north korea used the nerve agent, vx, to kill the half—brother of kimjong—un, in malaysia last year. let's bring you more detail on the story about the former spy writing for his life in hospital along with his daughter. andrew 0sborn is chief russia correspondent for the reuters news agency. hejoins me from moscow. tell us about reaction in russian to this? reaction here has been very hostile indeed. particularly the speech that british foreign secretary boris johnson speech that british foreign secretary borisjohnson made yesterday, it went down very badly

here. the russians are saying these allegations will make insinuations they say they are wild, irresponsible, that the british authorities are jumping to conclusions and they should wait for the investigation to run its course before making such insinuations and they say this is part of some long—running anti— russian campaign that britain and the us have been involved in. as you would expect, a very hostile reaction in moscow. involved in. as you would expect, a very hostile reaction in moscowm terms of how people are digestive what has happened, and you were writing about sergei skripal act in 2006 - writing about sergei skripal act in 2006 — have peoples attitudes changed with regards to him? how is the per trade in russia? there is no question that in russia he is seen as an arch traitor, as somebody who

sold out the motherland, who revealed the identity of dozens if not hundreds of russian intelligence agents to the west and, in fact, many ordinary russians do not know who is because state television, which is still where most russians get the news, is not reporting the story in a big way but if you were to ask them, but are these have spent years nurturing hyper patrick is here and many would feel that if russia was behind these, he got his just deserves because he was a traitor. that would be the man in the street view here but in official circles that would be greater concerns because, of course, relations between britain, the west and russia are already at cold war low and there would be worries that if there is proof that russia really did do this, clearly, there will be

concerned that those relations could get worse and that could be a big problem for russia. thank you for your time. saudi arabia's crown prince, mohammed bin salman, begins a three—day visit to britain later— having lunch with the queen elizabeth and talks with the prime minister. the government regards suadi arabia as an important strategic ally — but protest marches are planned by campaign groups concerned about the war in yemen. here's our security correspondent, frank gardner. saudi bin sulman is a man in a hurry. a little bigger than it did this week, he is coming to britain to promote his vision of a new collar and saudi arabia. he has lifted the ban on women driving from june. a new mega— city is being built. he also imprisoned without

trial hundreds of wealthy saudis in this riyadh hotel, accusing them of corruption, something that is worrying foreign investors. defence and security contracts dominate ties with britain. the uk supplies the saudi airforce with with britain. the uk supplies the saudi air force with warplanes and munitions. in neighbouring yemen, it saudi led a stress on houthi rebels are being blamed for mounting civilian casualties. that has bothered calls by some to break off relations with saudi. a protest is scheduled for later today outside downing street. but oil—rich saudi arabia is britain's biggest trading partner. thousands of jobs arabia is britain's biggest trading partner. thousands ofjobs depend on it. in the post—brexit world, britain is looking to boost lies like this one. saudi arabia is looking forforeign like this one. saudi arabia is looking for foreign investment to find jobs for its overwhelmingly young population. when crown prince by it beats leaders today, his message will be saudi arabia is open

for business. but this will always bea for business. but this will always be a controversial one. we'll have more on that visit in a news briefing shortly. here's our briefing on some of the key events happening later. the trial of ahmed hassan begins in london — he faces two charges in relation to the parsons green terror attack last year. the european court ofjustice issues a judgement in the case ofjean—marie le pen, who contested a european parliament decision to recover more than 320,000 euros from him. and the body of italian footballer, david astori, will be taken to the italian football association in florence, where people will be able to pay their last respects. now it's time to get all the latest from the bbc sports centre. hello. i'm tulsen tollett. coming up on the sport briefing, keep champions league last 16 ties continues. serena williams is due to come back, and fever start the countdown to the world cup in

russia. the champions league matches come thick and fast at this time of year, and there are two more to you on wednesday night. all eyes will be on wednesday night. all eyes will be on london as tottenham, led by this man, harry kane, will try to reach the finals for the second time in their history. the italian champions who have reached two of the last three finals took a 2—0 lead in the first leg, but were pulled back to happen to, thanks to harry kane, and a freekick from hans chris erickson. they play well. they play well. we're going to try to compete. again, we will try to enjoy this. i think it is fantastic. but look, we need to think that we could win. manchester city should have a much easier task ahead of them in wesley's are the last 16 tie, at

home to basel with a four point buffer. after more than a year than await from the game for the birth of await from the game for the birth of a child, serena williams returns to tell us. the 23 time grand slam champion will face serena diaz. williams says she is getting back to the bass. it has been really, really difficult. but i keep going and know that i might not be by best yet, but iam that i might not be by best yet, but i am getting there. and every day is a new day and every day should be getting better. and so as long as am moving forward, even if it is at a turtle pace, i am fine. lebron james in the cleveland cavaliers are back in action later in the nba. they are in need of a win, withjust in action later in the nba. they are in need of a win, with just three wins from their last seven. they are travelling to denver to take on the nuggets, 18 they lost to three days ago. the milwaukee bucks had to step up ago. the milwaukee bucks had to step up if they are to be the houston

rockets. last time out, the bath we re rockets. last time out, the bath were taken out 18— nine on the road. real madrid along with liverpool are the first teams through to the finals after wins against paris saint—germain and porto. prasanna rinaldo has scored a point in every journey is played this year. —— cristiano ronaldo. liverpool also go through to the last day, despite neither them nor porto scoring their night on anfield. the match ended without a goal. 0ne

night on anfield. the match ended without a goal. one video in particular has caught our eye on certain media. 100 days until the start of the world cup in russia. and some of the biggest since the start of the countdown. fifa posted this video with some former greats featured. that our personal favourite was defeated president having a kick around with vladimir putin. you can get all the latest sports news at our website. but from me, tulsen tollett, that is your wednesday sport briefing. thank you to tulsen tollett for that. 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 pounds 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. and that year is 1932. this is picasso and this is his wife, 0lga. 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. and here she is again — the same hair, the same profile. we're not looking at picasso's wife here, though. this is marie—therese walter. and this is marie—therese'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 new testimony of 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. indeed, a marie—therese picasso can go now for more than £100 million. but that's 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. two—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 0bama, 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 0bama 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." today, we have been asking you to your nominations for a barbie doll to mark international women's day, which is officially tomorrow. we're celebrating it throughout week. mattel has launched a range of new barbie dolls. michelle adams is proudly holding her barbie doll, saying she is absolutely honoured to be in this set. so we asked you for your views. some of the nominations included laura peacock, labour mp. but i wanted to show you at harriett about, will which is one of your nominations. —— tubman. she is an american humanitarian who was against the slavery movement in the us. that is wanted in operations.

season. —— that is one of your nominations. see you soon. 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. you can see the blue colours on the charts here and temperatures struggled to get much above freezing. contrast that with temperatures in the south where we got up to 11 degrees. with a bit of sunshine and light winds, didn't feel too bad at all. but of course, we didn't have that kind of weather in scotland. instead, over the hills of scotland, yesterday brought another slow day with transport disruption and big queues on the central belt motorways across higher parts. now, the last of that snow is stilljust about hanging on across higher parts of the highland, but otherwise, it's cleared out of the way. there are a few showers across the north—west for the early risers, but for many of us, it's a cold start to the day. some pockets of frost, particularly in rural areas,

so quite a chilly one and a risk of a few icy stretches out and about. then all eyes to the south—east because we've got an area of low pressure that's coming up from the channel. a bit of uncertainty about this rain, but it could be really quite extensive and perhaps more extensive than this across wales and south—east england and potentially slower to clear as well. either way, it should get out of the way by the time we get to the afternoon with the cloud then thinning and braeking, a bit of sunshine coming through. there will be some showers across north—western areas. some of those wintry over high ground, then showers late in the day, arriving across south—west england. but for many of us, cloud will tend to break up and we'll see some sunny spells at times through the afternoon. temperatures — well, coming up in scotland, highs of 6 degrees in aberdeen and also edinburgh, so not as cold as it has been. now, we've got a big jump in the weather forecast. thursday was meant to be a dry day, but not anymore. this band of rain across england and wales. if the precipitation is heavy enough, it might even turn wintry for a time in the midlands, but that kind of detail is very uncertain.

wintry showers across the north—west of the uk. sunny spells inbetween. and those temperatures for you ranging from around 6 to 10 degrees celsius. now, looking at the charts as we the end the week — most of us will have a quiet day on friday, a lot of dry weather with some sunshine. however, an area of low pressure will approach from the south—west. the cloud will thicken here, and through the afternoon, we'll start to see outbreaks of rain arrive here, moving on into wales and central southern england towards the very end of the day. well, there could be a bit of hill snow across northern areas, but for most, it's turning milder. this is business briefing. i'm sally bundock. let's ta ke

let's take a look at what is leaving in business news... the white house's top economic advisor steps down just hours after president trump stands firm on imposing tariffs on steel and aluminium. and join us in our time machine as we take a closer look at the cars of the future, at the geneva motor show. and on the markets the departure of gary cohn from the white house have renewed fears that trumps tariff plans could be more than just bluster.