hello. this is breakfast, with naga munchetty and charlie stayt. counter—terrorism officers search for the source of the nerve agent used to in an attack in salisbury. a former russian spy, his daughter and a police officer who came to their aid are all in a serious condition in hospital. good morning. it's thursday, the 8th of march. also this morning: domestic abusers could be electronically tagged or banned from drinking alcohol under tougher new measures being proposed to tackle the problem. a warning that many councils in england will run out of money as they struggle to meet demand on social services. good morning. are you on the hunt for a new home? the number of properties on estate agents‘ books has fallen to a new low according to new figures out this morning. i'll be taking a closer look

at what that means for buyers and sellers out there just before 7am. in sport, heartbreak for tottenham in the champions league. italian champions, juventus, come from behind, to beat spurs at wembley, and end their european dreams, for another season. why the recent cold snap could cause car trouble. apparently, there are even more potholes in our roads. will that cold snap continued? —— continue. the weather. it will get more mild. disruptive snow in wales, the midlands, and northern england. that will go through quite quickly. for most of us, sunshine and showers, but they will still be wintry. i will have more in 15 minutes. see you then, carol! good morning. first, our main story. anti—terror police are trying to establish the origin of a nerve agent used in the attempted murder of a former russian spy and his daughter.

while police have now identified the type of chemical, it's not yet known where it was made or who could have carried out the attack. sergei and yulia skripal remain in a critical condition in hospital. a policeman who went to help them was also seriously injured. tom burridge reports. this was sergei skripal last month ata this was sergei skripal last month at a corner shop. now, police believe someone tried to kill the former spy and his daughter with a nerve agent. it happened here in the small cathedral city of salisbury. the police officer who attended to the pair is now also in a serious condition in hospital. what's nerve agent was used is the question experts at this military research centre are trying to answer —— what. nerve agent is essentially crippled the nervous system of the body and are not easy to manufacture. nerve agents require a non— insignificant technical backup to be manufactured.

that would lead to a likelihood of a state manufacturing it. life in salisbury right now is anything but normal. this, the restaurant where sergei and yulia skripal had lunch hours before they fell ill. a man can be seen in this cctv footage from near the crime scene. his daughter apparently had dark hair like in this photo. they are both in a critical condition in hospital. tom burridge, bbc news. later, we'll be asking a chemical weapons expert how nerve agents could have got onto britain's streets. that's at 7:10. suspected domestic abusers could be electronically tagged, or banned from drinking alcohol and taking drugs, as part of proposals to tackle the problem in england and wales. the government wants views on a set of measures, which include the first legal definition of economic abuse, and a commissioner to oversee the issue. jon donnison reports.

this woman suffered a decade of abuse at the hands of her ex—partner. emotional, but also physical. she ended up in hospital more than a dozen times. she says she used to grow her fringe long to cover the black guys. some people say why did you not get out sooner? —— eyes. do you really want to look over your shoulder if you leave a relationship, they are still after you. he threatened me and told me he would organise for someone to throw acid in my face. into dozen of 15, the man was eventuallyjailed for grievous bodily harm and assault after her sister contacted the police. —— in 2015. the government wa nts to police. —— in 2015. the government wants to make it easier to prosecute perpetrators. it is launching a consultation document before it tries to get tougher laws passed.

among the proposals, broadening the legal definition of domestic abuse to include physical, psychological, sexual, emotional, but also economic abuse. tougher sentences for cases involving children. and new protection orders to allow police in courts to intervene more quickly when abuse is suspected. the consultation period for the proposed new laws will last 12 weeks to be jon donnison, bbc news. —— weeks. britain and saudi arabia have agreed plans for a future trade and investment programme worth £65 billion. the announcement comes on the second day of a visit to the uk by the saudi crown prince, mohammed bin salman. the package includes direct investment in both countries across energy, education, healthca re, and defence. there's a warning that many councils in england will become financially unsustainable if they continue to rely on their reserve funds to pay for the increasing demands of social care. the public spending watchdog says two thirds of councils with social care responsibilities raided their reserves in the financial year ending last april. 0ur correspondent, alison holt, has more.

it is lunchtime at this date to make day centre in surrey. here, people can socialise and take part in other activitiesday centre. it is paid for by the county council. the national audit office says local authorities now spend more than half of their budgets on providing care for adults and children. this woman has multiple sclerosis. it is vital. and children. this woman has multiple sclerosis. it is vitalli come here twice a week. i would come 01’ come here twice a week. i would come or if there was funding for it. but, umm, apartfrom or if there was funding for it. but, umm, apart from that, it is amazing. the nao says since 2010, the money central authorities got from london has been cut by 50%. despite council tax rises, services like bin

collections, roads, and libraries, have had their money reduced by a third. with councils using savings to balance the books, it warns one in ten will have exhausted their reserves within three years. we are calling for a plan for a long—term sustainable plant. —— plan. we need to make funding available. alongside that, social care needs a funding solution as well. the government says a new funding settlement has an approved for councils to help pay for the services that keep communities running, and that will meana communities running, and that will mean a real terms increase in resources , mean a real terms increase in resources, allowing for greater fairness and value for money. bbc news. danish inventor, peter madsen, is due to go on trial over the death of swedish journalist, kim wall, aboard his homemade submarine. ms wall was interviewing madsen when she went missing last august. her body was later found by police.

masden denies intentionally killing the reporter. he's appearing in court in copenhagen today. 0ur reporter, maddy savage, is there. peter madsen, who is something of a minor celebrity here in scandinavia, is due at the courthouse in just a couple of hours. it dates back to a warm night in august last year, a dockyard a 15 minute drive away from here were peter madsen kept his submarine. —— minute drive. kim wall went on board to interview him but did not come back alive. peter madsen initially said he dropped her off safely. then he said she died in a tragic accident when a hatch fell on her head, and then said she died with carbon monoxide poisoning. he said he cut up her body but denies killing her. it will take 12 days over seven weeks. if convicted of

murder, it is likely he will serve a life sentence, needing 15— 20 years in prison in denmark without parole. thank you so much. reporting from copenhagen. train passengers will more easily be able to claim compensation for the knock—on costs of delays, as part of changes to ticket terms and conditions. rail operating companies are removing a clause which says they won't accept any liability for indirect effects such as commuters having to pay for taxis and hotels. the consumer group which had previously accused companies of misleading the public. lawmakers in florida have approved a bill to strengthen gun control, weeks after 17 people were killed in a shooting at a local school. the bill raises the legal age for buying rifles, imposes a three—day waiting period on all firearms sales and will also allow the arming of some school staff. it now requires the approval of the state's governor. we have all seen horrorfilms

we have all seen horror films with machines having a mind of their own. now, some people are saying their amazon alexa is creepily cackling. that sounds like my laugh. it is a p pa re ntly that sounds like my laugh. it is apparently witchlike and can happen without the device being woken up. a p pa re ntly without the device being woken up. apparently it laughs when asked to doa apparently it laughs when asked to do a different task. amazon says it is aware of the problem and is trying to fix it. that would freak me out. my phone, ifi pressed trying to fix it. that would freak me out. my phone, if i pressed the wrong button, it says what can i help you with? where did you come from! if you start talking and it sta rts from! if you start talking and it starts answering you. even alexa

would be stunned into silence from what happened to spurs last night. it has been called a moment of madness. in 169 seconds they went from celebration to absolute desperation. the defeat means they go out 11—3 on aggregate. manchester city are the second english side through to the quarter finals despite losing 2—1 at home to swiss side basel on the night. pep guardiola's side had a big advantage from the first leg, and won the tie 5—2 on aggregate. england's women miss out on winning the shebelieves cup in america. karen bardsley‘s own—goal gifts the usa a 1—0 win and the tournament. and team sky deny what they call "unsubsta ntiated allegations" of the overuse of medication to enhance performance. it comes after the head of world cycling called for an investigation into the team.

more on that later. papers in a moment. 0r more on that later. papers in a moment. or should we do it now? there are some gems. carol soon. first, your paper. you built it up. . do you know the new var system? it cannot help with this. by the way, shaun is here. the viewers can see the back of his head. they were wondering where he was. he has done this before. charlie, you are sanchez watt. i say what is your name. you say watt. i say don't be

cheeky. there's a player called sanchez watt who was booked for saying "watt" and the referee thought he was being cheeky. according to the chairman, dave boggins. .. according to the chairman, dave boggins... nothing according to the chairman, dave boggins. .. nothing funny according to the chairman, dave boggins... nothing funny about that... they had a good laugh later. stop it! i might go back. i have nothing as bonkers as that to follow up with. the business pages. another retailer, new look, laying off staff at 60 stores. these mannequins may not be there in the coming weeks and

months. they are trying to survive. many financial problems shared by many retailers. and we will talk a lot about housing this morning. the telegraph. the number on the of uk homes on sale falls to a record low. —— number of. times. fancya mansion? try before you buy. rent out your home. if you like it, you might buy it. if not, you can say "no." it makes sense if you are spending a lot of money. the real estate market might need that. a fascinating story. russia could cripple the uk, according to the daily mail. this is after two people have been poisoned in salisbury. the daily mail is saying the lethal nerve agent was used in the attack, and a top british general says

russia could cripple the uk. it has the capacity to attack with cyber—attacks. this is the chief military chief. we are speaking with amber rudd later. she has more measured language. we will try to bring you any updates available in connection with the three people we know are in a critical condition. sergei skripal, his daughter and one police officer who came to their aid. the police officer was treated as a precaution, discharged and then he deteriorated and he was readmitted into intensive care. that story dominating all the front pages this morning. more on that story of course

throughout the morning. we will be talking to amber rudd as well. let us talk to carol. this morning, we have some snow, falling at the moment not to much in scotla nd falling at the moment not to much in scotland but throughout the country. in the midlands and northern england. it could prove to be disrupted. it will be short—lived. you can see this arc here. rain the south, snow further north. leaving behind some cloud but quite quickly, it will brighten up and many of us will see some sunshine. showers around today, especially in the west. that the temperatures. —— look at. and a clear skies, is going to bea at. and a clear skies, is going to be a cold night with the risk of

ice. there will be a widespread frost. likely to be wintry. in rural areas, it will be much lower than this. a cold start to the day tomorrow. the risk of ice around. a lot of dry weather. a bit of sunshine tomorrow. a fairly nice day. it's in the shape of low pressure. that's going to introduce a bit of cloud and we will see some rain coming in and the wind will also strengthen. but it will bring some mahler conditions. 9— 11 in the south, seven, eight further north. that will change through the course of the weekend as the system moves north, taking cloud and rain. it's also going to drag this milder air and northwards. eventually getting up and northwards. eventually getting up into the far north of scotland.

if we take a look at saturday, you can see the process, a lot of cloud. you could see some snow on its leading edge. it will be fairly transient. quite a grey murky day whatever way you look at it. sixes and sevens in the north. mild around are coming ensconced. 13, 1a. six and seven will change as we had on into sunday. eventually, the low pressure pushes up to the north of the country, taking the rain with it. behind it, a lot of dry weather. we will see some showery outbreaks of rain. the cloud will break and it will brighten up as well. up to 13 degrees in england, wales and northern ireland. we are looking at eight, nine, ten. as we head into the new week beyond this, it will remain unsettled. having said that, tuesdayis

remain unsettled. having said that, tuesday is looking not too bad at this stage. we will look forward to tuesday. 0ne this stage. we will look forward to tuesday. one of the things with this cold weather, you look at wrapping up but it's what happens afterwards. when i was driving in this morning, check your tyre pressure. i had a slow puncture. that is awful. but it's something that really does like the daily commute, doesn't it? as you are saying, the freezing weather looks set to make things even worse. the rac says it will see as many daffodils as potholes and has identified the different specimens on the road. this is the great british pothole. and this is the alcatraz cluster.

they are difficult to avoid due to their size. this is the sniper, lurking just out of sight and will get you when you least expect it. then, this is extreme. the unwired ‘s clerk, first appearing as a little crack in an otherwise smooth road surface and it could be of something worse. i giggle at these names but it's annoying. chief engineer at the rac david brisley and mark purnell, pothole expert. they are enormous and the damage is going to be immense. it's a bit of fun that there is a serious problem sitting behind this. it is going to get worse because we've had some really cold weather, some snow and what happens is that water gets into cracks in the road,

it freezes. maybe not for a month or two. potholes will fall. we track the breakdowns that are attributable to potholes. like springs, cracked wheels, suspension problems. we track those over time and they are a pretty good measure of how good the roads are. they were at their worst in around 2013, 200014. a slow improvement but over the last six months, we've seen a further deterioration and i suspect that when we look at the index at the end of this quarter and the end of the following quarter, we will see significant upturns. we will get onto just how to avoid potholes as well. mark, let's talk to you. you

call yourself mr pothole. why is that? that's what the media dubbed me. it sticks about my campaign. tell us about that. i started five years ago campaigning about dangerous potholes. thing for storing the police as a waste of time. the last five years, studying what is wrong with the roads. that guide is getting attention from people. 400 cyclists dead or maimed over the last ten years. this is a really serious issue. i was mentioning about the problems drivers had. just avoiding these potholes. you can see drivers behind you travelling at some speed and swerving to avoid. there was one just behind you, quite significant. it can cause a lot of problems. that is the classic pothole but it's a rather large classic. i mean, the

serious side is the death of cyclists, injury, but it's costing road users hundreds of pounds and there is a massive backlog and david mentioned about potholes coming out. i estimate you will see a tenfold increase in potholes after this winter because whether what has got into the surface, it could to break up. it really needs massive investment. authorities haven't got the money to do the work. authorities are coming out to say they have not got the funds to maintain the network and some of those get the stage where they are not actually meeting their legal obligations and i found freedom of information requests and it's a serious issue, it's not going to go away. they've actually cut £11 billion from outsourcing. some councils are spending 50% less than they were in 2010. there is quite a

big pothole where you are. if you can point out that one and see whether traffic is going past. david, just pick on that financial issue for us. pothole like that, for example, how much is that going to cost to fix at a time when councils are without money? it will cost several hundred thousand pounds to fix, depending on whether that is a one—off fault on the road or whether there are a series of them. in many insta nces, there are a series of them. in many instances, these potholes arise because routine resurfacing hasn't been done. we see a lot of patching of potholes. if we go back to that shot, what you can see is, from that point were the one we saw is, there area point were the one we saw is, there are a series of potholes. that's right. councils can't afford to do thejob properly, right. councils can't afford to do the job properly, resurface right. councils can't afford to do thejob properly, resurface the road. what they tend to do is patch up road. what they tend to do is patch up what's there and then of course

you get further potholes developing 01’ you get further potholes developing or indeed the same pothole developing again. what is the advice to drivers in terms of avoiding them? first of all, it's really important that they don't swerve around into the path of other vehicles. if you see a pothole, slow down and try and avoid going into it. the very aware of the presence of other vehicles around you. it is easy to report a pothole. you don't have to know who is responsible for the road. you can report it on our website, the rac, mr pothole has a website. mark, when you've reported potholes, how quickly are they repaired. it's got worse over the la st repaired. it's got worse over the last three years. it's getting

worse. that pothole behind me is down for a four—month repair. worse. that pothole behind me is down for a four-month repair. four months to repair it? for months, the tickets raised. it first raised in january and didn't meet their intervention criteria. now it's got larger. they would do an infill. they come out again shortly after. they've actually given themselves for months which anyone using this road, they are deathtraps. its taken in some cases, 5—7 days to check the potholes and there has been an appeal court case where the judge said potholes should be repaired because someone was said potholes should be repaired because someone was injured on a deep pothole reported on friday. it needs to get serious. and people are

taking their lives in their hands. some of the roads are legal, some of the drain covers, but every road user is paying tens of billions of pounds through taxation and the government has put in £1 billion but they taken so much from council. i am critical of councils but i do feel sorry for them. thank you for showing us around where you are. david, thank you. we'll be speaking live to zoe ball on the latest leg of her epic blackpool to brighton bike ride in aid of sport relief. time now to get the news, travel and weather where you are. good morning from bbc london news. i'm victoria hollins.

detectives investigating the fatal stabbing of a 20—year—old man in croydon on monday have charged a man with his murder. the victim — who has not yet been named was found injured in albert road and died at the scene. but it 19 year old tyrone farquharson from south norwood will appear before croydon magistrates court this morning. the number of homes available for sale has fallen, according to the royal institution of chartered surveyors. they say fresh properties coming onto the market are at their lowest recorded level since may of last year. and there have been declining inquiries from new buyers in london and across the south east. to mark international women's day today, all this week bbc london has been speaking to some of the senior women running london. today we hearfrom cressida dick — the country's most senior police officer and the met‘s first female commissioner. she told riz lateef about some of the helpful advice she received early on in her career. i remember one of my boss is taking

the into an office very early on and saving, cressida, if you fight every battle of the parapet, you will get shot down and that will be the end of you, so i think i learnt that you can't take on absolutely every battle had on but you should stand up battle had on but you should stand up to yourself. and you can see the full interview tonight on bbc london news at 6.30. there's a good service on the tube this morning. 0n the m25, clockwise traffic remains slow heading out of j29, a127, following an earlier accident good morning. plenty of rain

overnight switch was damp underfoot to start the day instils an early rain to clear which will push its way eastwards and after that it should tend to brighten up but it will feel quite windy today. there will feel quite windy today. there will be some showers a bit later on through the afternoon so similar to how it was yesterday severely rain clearing its way out to the east and it will brighten up. some sunny skies behind it. it will turn wind it with middle part of the morning. gusts of up to 35 miles an hour. watch out for the hail, out towards weston harriers. temperatures lower than they were yesterday. 0vernight tonight, it set to turn quite chilly. the wins will drop out. and we are likely to start at the morning. temperatures dipping below freezing. tomorrow, a chilly but bright start to the day. rain by the

timing ata bright start to the day. rain by the timing at a friday evening. it will turn milder over the course of the weekend but it will be rather wet at times. i'm back with the latest from the bbc london newsroom in half an hour. plenty more on our website at the usual address. hello. this is breakfast, with naga munchetty and charlie stayt. we'll bring you all the latest news and sport in a moment, but also on breakfast this morning. as police confirm a former russian spy was targeted with a nerve agent, we'll be asking a chemical weapons expert how the deadly poison could have ended up on the streets of britain. we'll be talking to the women behind the podcast "you, me, and the big c," who say they're too busy living to worry about dying of cancer. and mary beard will be here tell us about her encounters with some of the most incredible treasures of the ancient world. she's a historian. good morning. here's a summary of today's main stories from bbc news. anti—terror police are trying to establish the origin of a nerve agent used in the attempted murder of a former russian spy

and his daughter. while police have now identified the type of chemical, it's not yet known where it was made or who could have carried out the attack. sergei and yulia skripal remain in a critical condition in hospital. a policeman who went to help them was also seriously injured. suspected domestic abusers could be electronically tagged. economic abuse will also be included in the definition. they are suggesting tougher sentences for cases involving children. and possible court orders including alcohol bans. britain and saudi arabia have agreed plans for a future trade and investment programme worth £65 billion. the announcement comes on the second day of a visit to the uk by the saudi crown prince, mohammed bin salman.

the package includes direct investment in both countries across energy, education, healthca re, and defence. there's a warning that many councils in england will become financially unsustainable if they continue to rely on their reserve funds to pay for the increasing demands of social care. the public spending watchdog says two thirds of councils with social care responsibilities raided their reserves in the financial year ending last april. the government says a new funding settlement has been approved for councils to help pay for the services that keep communities running. four people have been seriously injured in two knife attacks in austria. three members of the same family were taken to hospital after being wounded in a park in vienna. the suspected knifeman escaped the scene before a second incident on a man from chechnya. police have arrested an afghan citizen, but it isn't clear if he's suspected of both attacks. danish inventor, peter madsen, goes on trial this morning over the death of swedish journalist kim wall aboard his homemade submarine. ms wall was working on a story about madsen when she went missing last august. he denies intentionally killing the reporter.

train passengers will be able to claim compensation more easily for the knock—on costs of delays, as part of changes to ticket terms and conditions. rail companies are removing a clause which says they won't accept any liability for indirect effects, such as commuters having to pay for taxis and hotels. the consumer group which had previously accused firms of misleading the public. lawmakers in florida have approved a bill to strengthen gun control, three weeks after 17 people were killed in a shooting at a local school. the bill raises the legal age for buying rifles, imposes a three—day waiting period on all firearms sales and will also allow the arming of some school staff. it now requires the approval of the state's governor. we've all seen the horror films where machines get a mind of their own. well, now some people say their amazon "alexa" has been been letting out an unprompted, creepy cackle. take a listen.

the laugh, described by some as "witch like," is reported to happen even without the device being "woken" up. i don't think it is that creepy. perhaps in the middle of the night when you are sleeping. you do not wa nt when you are sleeping. you do not want it to be too robotic either. the middle of the night would be strange. i am thinking about richard pochettino. —— mauricio. iwonder strange. i am thinking about richard pochettino. —— mauricio. i wonder if he is laughing.

in169 in 169 seconds, afterjuventus had no shot on goal, it turned around, and spurs went out. from hopes to despair. tottenham have become the first english team to be knocked out of this season's champions league. they lost 4—3 on aggregate to italian championsjuventus after going down 2—1 at wembley last night. the match had begun brightly for spurs who took the lead in the first half thanks to son heung—min. but despite failing to manage a shot on target in the opening hour juventus came back, scoring twice in less than three minutes to turn the tie around. no lack of experience, no lack of concentration. how many chances we conceded in the first leg in the

second leg today? three chances and they scored twice. and we created a lot of chances but we only scored once. despite basel inflicting a first home defeat of the season on manchester city, pep guardiola's side are through to the last eight. city were 4—0 up from the first leg in swizterland and went ahead after seven minutes through gabrieljesus. but basel soon equalised through mohamed elyou, and in the second half michael lang secured a 2—1 victory for the swiss champions. city won the tie 5—2 on aggregate. phil neville has suffered his first defeat in charge of england's women. after a win and a draw in their opening two fixtures, england needed only a draw against the usa, to win the shebelieves cup, but karen bardsley‘s own goal in the second half gifted the match, and the tournament to the hosts. no shame though, they are the highest ranked team in the world. defeat hurts. that is why i kept the

players on the pitch at the end of the game. sometimes you have to feel that pain and hurt and see the opposition take the trophy. it sticks with you. you remember it next time and it pushes you even more. he said he would take them to disneyland if they won. should he still take them ? is disneyland if they won. should he still take them? is that the wrong message? we will find out. to cycling, and team sky have said they strongly deny allegations about the use of medication to enhance performance, as does their former rider sir bradley wiggins. it comes as the head of world cycling's governing body, the uci, called for an investigation into the team following a damning report by mps this week. david lappartient told our sports editor dan roan, that the use of any substance, even if it's not on the banned list, that enhances performance, is cheating. it seems that there is no breach of

the anti— doping rules, no violation. if it is not breaking the rules, can it be cheating? if you are using, you do, substances to increase your performance, i think this is exactly what is cheating. edinburgh wing, blair kinghorn, will make his first start for scotland in place of injured winger tommy seymour when they face ireland in dublin in the six nations on saturday. kinghorn came on as a replacement during the win over england and he's the only change as coach gregor townsend sticks with 14 of the 15 who've recorded back—to—back wins in the championship. back row taulupe faletau returns at number eight to captain wales against italy in cardiff on sunday.

coach warren gatland has made ten changes to the side that lost the last match against ireland. scarlets flanker james davies will win his first cap. gareth anscombe is named at fly half with northampton's george north back on the wing. and finally, footballers can often get labelled selfish. but that tag can't be thrown at liverpool defender andrew robertson. the scotland international has thanked a young anfield fan who donated his pocket money to a local foodbank by sending him a signed shirt, but not his own because "no—one wants the left—back‘s shirt." robertson sent him a shirt signed by forward roberto firmino instead. robertson read of seven—year—old alfie radford's gesture on twitter and posted him a letter of thanks. robertson also wrote that foodbanks are a "cause close to my heart." before his 21st birthday in 2015, the former queen's park and dundee united left—back asked friends and family to donate to a foodbank rather than buy him a present. not selfish and no ego. my goodness. beautiful, isn't it?

our next guest's story is sadly not unusual. nearly two million adults are thought to have suffered some form of domestic abuse in the past year. the majority of survivors still don't feel able to report what thay have experienced to police, and today the government has proposed ways to tackle the problem. samantha billingham left her partner after three years of abuse. she reported it and now she campaigns to help others. shejoins us now. i wonder if you could give us a brief version of what happened to you. i suffered domestic abuse for three years. i could not know why was a victim at the time and the relationship. it was very controlling and physical. it was only when i left the relationship in 2006 i realised it was domestic abuse. i went through an awareness group. 0nly afterwards did i learn about domestic abuse. one of the problems the government... we introduced this item. people do not

feel able to report this to police, or anyone, really. you said you did not even feel you where a victim, yet you survived abuse. some feel there is no point because it will not be followed through, followed up, there is no light at the end of the tunnel. absolutely. that is our project. our project is actually light at the end of the tunnel. people have no faith in the system. it is not taken seriously. 0ne people have no faith in the system. it is not taken seriously. one in four women and one in six men experience domestic abuse. who is not taking it seriously? the sentencing procedure? police all of it, society, absolutely. it is not taken seriously with men as victims as well. not at all. they have no

faith in reporting it to the police. some do not even get phone calls back. the sentencing afterwards, there is no sentencing, really. tell us more there is no sentencing, really. tell us more about your experience. you talk about controlling behaviour but there was physical violence as well. yeah. during that time, when it was ongoing, did you think about going to the police? was it not something you thought about? not at all. it started off with isolation at the beginning of the relationship which you confuse with care because you think that person wants to spend all of that time with the but they are taking you away from your support network. you have no one to speak to. they just tell you network. you have no one to speak to. theyjust tell you that if you leave they will kill you, no one will believe you. you do not report it because no one will believe you. you keep it to yourself and you go through the process on autopilot, just accepting it as normal. you

kind of lived in silence through fear. so, when you look at some of these ideas, statutory definition of domestic abuse, a domestic abuse commissioner to be set up, new domestic abuse protection orders which will allow police to act earlier, i mean, what do you think when you read that? it all sounds wonderful on paper. if anything does come of this it will be amazing for those who have experienced domestic abuse. awareness is key, it is vital. we have many people, especially young people, who do not know they are in abusive relationships. with more awareness, they could leave a lot sooner. without too much detail about your abuser‘s habits, one other idea is banning them from drinking alcohol and taking them electronically. abusers often used excuses, not all

of them drink. many are professionals, some are doctors. you cannot label every abuser as a drink us. cannot label every abuser as a drink us. they will find a way around it. they are clever and manipulative. they are clever and manipulative. they will find a way around that. as for tagging, that is a difficult one, i think. for tagging, that is a difficult one, ithink. ijust for tagging, that is a difficult one, i think. ijust do not think it is strong enough to tag them and think it would change their behaviour. we are talking to amber rudd later. you say it will look good on paper. what would you say to her if you were trying to make things better for people living in it? they might be watching right now. what would you say to her? they need to be believed and heard more than anything and they need things to be put in place. they have heard words over the years. these actions have got to be put in place. i think the commissioner would be a fantastic idea. they need someone to

speak up for them because they have lost all faith in the system. so, this would be great. the cuts to the state houses is ludicrous. it's not that easy. they've not got a safe place to go to. we already see two women killed each week in england. they need something safe to go to. if they haven't got any options, they have no alternative but to say —— but to stay. domestic abuse -- abuse survivor samantha and we are talking to amber rudd about this later. carol has the weather for us. if you are out and about this morning across parts of wales in the north midlands and northern england, you will already know it's been snowing and is currently snowing. some heavy snow falling at the moment in leeds.

if you are travelling, to bear that in mind. it is transient. it will pull away quite quickly. you got this line of rain producing snow. we can see how it progresses away from england and wales and heads off into the north sea, leaving behind it. but most of the uk, a fair bit of sunshine. a few showers around, especially in the west. some of it falling snow on the hills. 5— 70. around 7— 11 in the south. as we head on through the evening in overnight, clear skies. temperatures will drop quickly. wintry showers coming across scotland. 0ne will drop quickly. wintry showers coming across scotland. one of two in the west. temperatures wise, in towns and cities, a roundabout freezing. a cold start of the day

tomorrow. the risk of ice untreated surfaces but a lot of dry weather. a lot of around tomorrow. the many of us, quitea lot of around tomorrow. the many of us, quite a pleasant day. however, low pressure is coming from the south—west. filling a fair bit of cloud and some rain and strengthening wind. with this will come milder conditions so we've got seven in the north, heiser ten and 11 is as you push out towards the south and through the weekend, that low pressure moves steadily north, taking cloud and rain with it and its milder air. eventually, taking cloud and rain with it and its milderair. eventually, by taking cloud and rain with it and its milder air. eventually, by the end of the weekend, its northern scotland. forecast this weekend is that rain pushing northwards, turning milder but at times it will be fairly cloudy. it's 6:48. people looking to buy a new home might be finding it a bit tougher at the moment. sean has more.

there are loads of figures coming out. what is happening? this one todayis out. what is happening? this one today is about how many properties on the market and how many new buyers are going to estate agents. the snow melting, people might start to think planning to this year because if you be looking to houses in the last few weeks, skater be hard. we get lots of different figures about the housing market — these come from the estate agent and chartered surveryor industry themselves. the reason is might be getting tougher for wanna—be buyers is that the number of properties on estate agents books is at a new low. it's the with an average ofjust over 40 properties per agent. that's its lowest level since may 2017. (ani 2) despite that shortage, house price growth has been slowing. —— despite that shortage, house price growth has been slowing.

according the uks largest lender the halifax. house prices are growing at their slowest rate since march 2013. so what's going on? kate faulkner is a property expert shejoins me now. what is driving this? new buyer enquiries, as they call it. low stock at estate agents. what is wrong? we tend to often report year—on—year where is this goes back to the recession that started in 2007. we lost 57% of buyers during that time. a number of buyers felt through. around 2013, what we saw was the market starting to recover. we imagine five years of a 50% fall in demand. that is washed through the system now and we're coming back

toa the system now and we're coming back to a normal demand moving forward. it's more over the last sort a few yea rs, it's more over the last sort a few years, we've had exceptional demand from the recession before. 40 properties per estate agent might not have been that bad historically. as far as the supply side is concerned, one of the issues we have got is purely economic. worse people would have moved a lot sooner, but got more people staying in properties a lot longer. i'm in my 50s now. my parents were trading up to another property worth to me, the priority is to pay down the mortgage and stay where we are and enjoy life so priorities really as far as housing goes are changing and that is restricting the number coming onto the market. really, what forgot to do, we are desperate to change.

if they are not trying to get as many properties to sell, is further potential for many properties to sell, is further potentialforjob many properties to sell, is further potential for job losses? many properties to sell, is further potential forjob losses? it is quite likely. there are a lot of things happening in the estate agency market. agents willjust not look anything like they are today because there is a lot happening so again, ten years ago, you would have had an estate agent doing one job and a letting agent doing other. there is less stock on the market. you have a tenancy band coming in. that does take a lot of turnover out of the market and it can stop quickly and stagnate in which case there may be some job losses but what we are tending to find is that rather than closing agents, there is a lot more consolidation. kate, thank you very much. i'm sure we'll talking about housing many more

times in the coming months. it was the most successful winter olympics ever for great britain, now the pressure is on for the british athletes heading out to pyeongchang for the paralympics. the aim is to win six medals — one of those in wheelchair curling. 0ur disability news corresondent, nikki fox has been to meet the team in training. it's been a long four years of training to get to this moment. we've been the best prepared that we can be to go out to pyeongchang. when it gets really, really close, like it is now, how do you feel? is that excitement, do you feel sick? the needs excitement and looking forward to get out there. we've been watching the men and the wound and that really ex— fashion spies is and we wa nt that really ex— fashion spies is and we want to get out on the ice ourselves. i will watch on the tv, i am so excited. so are we. my name is

aileen neilson. greater un. greater un. greater un. angie malone. i'm really looking forward to it. cani i'm really looking forward to it. can i have a go? will you watch the brush? we will catch some floss maybe. at what age did you get into this? i was diagnosed and i was 24. has this sport helped you in a way? it's helped me greatly. and i get diagnosed with ms and you stop losing your functions and abilities, your confidence goes. i became more or less housebound. and in my confidence just grew and it's a case of being fearless. 0h,

confidence just grew and it's a case of being fearless. oh, my goodness. had he actually directed? how do you get it in the right position? the delivery stick but also the head that's on the skewed. that's what affected. we don't have the use of sweetness and once we let the stone 90, sweetness and once we let the stone go, there is nothing we can do to influence it. it's going off again to the right. it's so difficult. this is so difficult. i should have gone to the gym. can i have one more go? i've got it. a going to snatch it? we are definitely going to get out there to get to that stage first. 0h, out there to get to that stage first. oh, my goodness. wow. just

sign me up now. it's more about inclusion. definitely feel proud to be part of the british squad. you put a stop on it, it's something special. well, we wish them all the best, they are going to start tomorrow. nicky can turn her hand to pretty much anything. she did tried 500 times. it's time to get the news, travel and weather where you are. good morning from bbc london news. i'm victoria hollins. detectives investigating the fatal stabbing of a 20—year—old man in croydon on monday have charged a man with his murder. the victim — who has not yet been named — was found injured in albert road and died at the scene. 19—year—old tyrone fa rquha rson

from south norwood will appear before croydon magistrates court this morning. jewish schools, synagogues and community buildings in london will be eligible for a share of £13 million pounds in government funding to spend on security. to mark international women's day today, all this week bbc london has been speaking to some of the senior women running london. today we hearfrom cressida dick — the country's most senior police officer and the met‘s first female commissioner. she told riz lateef about some of the helpful advice she received early on in her career. i remember one of my bosses taking the into an office very early on and saying, "cressida, if you fight every battle on the parapet, you will get shot down and that will be the end

of you," so i think i learnt that you can't take on absolutely every let's have a look at the travel situation now. there's a good service on the tube this morning. 0nto the the trains now and south—eastern trains are running with some cancellations and fewer carriages following damage caused by last week's snow and ice. 0n the m25, clockwise traffic remains slow heading out of j29, a127, following an earlier accident. northbound traffic on the blackwall tunnel southern approach is slow from the woolwich rd flyover. now the weather. hello, good morning. there was plenty of rain overnight so it's rather damp underfoot to start the day. also, still some early rain to clear which will push its way eastwards and after that it should tend to brighten up but will feel really quite windy today.

there will be some showers too a bit later on through the afternoon so similar to how it was yesterday. so that early rain clearing its way out to the east and it will brighten up. we'll see some sunny skies behind it. it will turn quite windy, particuarly through the middle part of the morning. gusts of up to 35 miles an hour. watch out for one or two afternoon showers, they could have a bit of hail in them, particularly out towards western areas. temperatures just that little bit lower than they were yesterday, between 8 and 11 degrees celsius. 0vernight tonight, it's set to turn really quite chilly. there'll be lots of clear skies, the winds will die away. the winds will drop out. watch out for a few early mist patches. and we're likely to start off the morning with a touch of frost. temperatures away from the towns possibly dipping below freezing. so tomorrow, a chilly a bright start to the day. the cloud amounts will increase and we will get some rain by the time we hit friday evening. it will turn milder over the course of the weekend but it is going to be really rather wet at times. hello.

this is breakfast, with naga munchetty and charlie stayt. counter—terrorism officers search for the source of the nerve agent used in a chemical attack in salisbury. a former russian spy, his daughter and a police officer who came to their aid are all in a serious condition in hospital. we will hear from the home secretary injust over an we will hear from the home secretary in just over an hour. good morning. it's thursday, the 8th of march. also this morning: domestic abusers could be electronically tagged or banned from drinking alcohol under tougher new measures being proposed to tackle the problem. a warning that many councils in england will run out of money as they struggle to meet demand on social services. good morning. shoplifting cost retailers half a billion pounds last year, and there's been a worrying spike in violence against staff too. i'll have more on that just before 8am. in sport, heartbreak for tottenham

in the champions league. italian champions, juventus, come from behind, to beat spurs at wembley, and end their european dreams, for another season. why the recent cold snap could cause car trouble. apparently, there are even more potholes in our roads. will that cold snap continue? this morning we had snow in wales, the north midlands, and northern england, and at low levels at that. it will push away through this morning. for many, sunshine injust a few showers in the hills in the north. more details in 15 minutes. good morning. first, our main story. anti—terror police are trying to establish the origin of a nerve agent used in the attempted murder of a former russian spy and his daughter. while police have now identified the type of chemical, it's not yet known where it was made or who could have carried out the attack. sergei and yulia skripal remain in a critical condition in hospital. a policeman who went to help them was also seriously injured. tom burridge reports.

this was sergei skripal last month at a corner shop. now, police believe someone tried to kill the former spy and his daughter with a nerve agent. it happened here in the small cathedral city of salisbury. a police officer who attended to the pair, now also in a serious condition in hospital. what nerve agent was used is the question experts at this military research centre are trying to answer. nerve agents essentially cripple the nervous system of the body and are not easy to manufacture. nerve agents require a non—insignificant financial, logistical, and technical backup to actually be manufactured. and so that would lead to a more likelihood of a state manufacturing it.

life in salisbury right now is anything but normal. this, the restaurant where mr skripal and his daughter had lunch hours before they fell ill. a blonde man could be of interest, seen in this cctv footage from near the crime scene. his daughter apparently had dark hair, like in this photo. they are both in a critical condition in hospital. tom burridge, bbc news. are there any developments? as police try to figure out exactly how this nerve agent was brought into the country, who administered it, how it was administered, how did sergei and his daughter get exposed, we understand it was a rare wine. the police know the exact nature of the substance and are not revealing

it for now. it does narrow down the source of that substance, because nerve agents are very difficult to manufacture. we know police are treating this as attempted murder. they say the two were specifically targeted. we also know now a police officer, one of the first on the scene, is also in a critical condition in hospital. this is now a whole new level of investigation. we heard strong language earlier from the government promising, boris johnson, promising a robust response should it be proved the russian state was involved. russia, of course, denies responsibility. there are course, denies responsibility. there a re clearly course, denies responsibility. there are clearly many more questions to a nswer are clearly many more questions to answer in salisbury as police try to piece together the last movements of the couple as they came to the salisbury city centre in the afternoon. a police cordon is still in place. there is also another

cordon at a nearby pub and restau ra nt, cordon at a nearby pub and restaurant, zizi, we understand that's where they had their lunch on sunday afternoon. eyewitnesses say he was behaving strangely, shouting in the restaurant, leaving abruptly. police are still trying to piece together that timeline. they are appealing for witnesses, anyone in the city centre from one o'clock on sunday afternoon, to contact them if they saw anything out of the ordinary is quite thank you very much for that. -- ordinary. we will be speaking to amber rudd, the home secretary, asking for further information in half an hour. suspected domestic abusers could be electronically tagged, or banned from drinking alcohol and taking drugs, as part of proposals to tackle the problem in england and wales. the government wants views on a set of measures, which include the first legal definition of economic abuse, and a commissioner to oversee the issue. jon donnison reports. yuleen hope suffered a decade

of abuse at the hands of her ex—partner. emotional, but also physical, she ended up in hospital more than a dozen times. she says she used to grow her fringe long to cover the black guys. some people say to me why did you not get out sooner? do you really want to look over your shoulder if you leave a relationship, they could still be after you. he said "i'll tell you when it's over." he threatened me and told me he would organise for someone to throw acid in my face. in 2015, the man was eventually jailed for grievous bodily harm and assault after her euleen's sister contacted the police. almost two million people in wales, most of them women, suffered domestic abuse last year.

the government wants to make it easier to prosecute perpetrators. it is launching a consultation document before it tries to get tougher laws passed. among the proposals, broadening the legal definition of domestic abuse to include physical, psychological, sexual, emotional, but also economic abuse. tougher sentences for cases involving children. and new protection orders to allow police in courts to intervene more quickly when abuse is suspected. the consultation period for the proposed new laws will last will last 12 weeks. jon donnison, bbc news. britain and saudi arabia have agreed plans for a future trade and investment programme worth £65 billion. the announcement comes on the second day of a visit to the uk by the saudi crown prince,

mohammed bin salman. the package includes direct investment in both countries across energy, education, healthca re, and defence. there's a warning that many councils in england will become financially unsustainable if they continue to rely on their reserve funds to pay for the increasing demands of social care. the public spending watchdog says two thirds of councils with social care responsibilities raided their reserves in the financial year ending last april. 0ur correspondent, alison holt, has more. it's lunchtime at the nexus day centre in surrey. here, people can socialise and take part in other activities. it is paid for by the county council. the national audit office says local authorities now spend more than half of their budgets on providing care for adults and children. for sue, who has multiple sclerosis, the help is vital. i come here one twice a week.

i would come more if there was the funding for it. but, umm, apart from that, it is amazing. the nao says since 2010, the money local authorities in england have got from government has been cut by 50%. despite council tax rises, services like bin collections, roads, and libraries, have had their money reduced by nearly a third over the same time. and with councils using savings to balance the books, it warns one in ten will have exhausted their reserves within three years. we are calling for a plan for long—term sustainability. we need to make funding available. alongside that, social care needs a funding solution as well. the government says a new funding settlement has an approved the government says a new funding settlement has been approved for councils to help pay for the services that keep communities running, and that will mean a real—terms increase in resources,

allowing for greater freedom, fairness and value for money. alison holt, bbc news. danish inventor, peter madsen, is due to go on trial over the death of swedish journalist, kim wall, aboard his homemade submarine. ms wall was interviewing madsen when she went missing last august. her body was later found by police. masden denies intentionally killing the reporter. he's appearing in court in copenhagen today. 0ur reporter, maddy savage, is there. peter madsen with a well—known figure week you are. something of a celebrity in scandinavia. you can see behind me crowds ofjournalists are already gathering to witness his court case getting under way today. he described himself as an inventor and entrepreneur. he had a 33 ton

submarine he invented he invited kim wall onto. kim went on to his submarine to interview him but did not come back alive. parts of her body were found on a beach and at the bottom of the sea by police divers. peter madsen changed his story many times. wine, that she left early and safely, then that a hatch phelan killed her, and then carbon monoxide poisoning. —— fell and. then he admitted he cut her up, but not killed her. if convicted, he could face life in prison. lawmakers in florida have approved a bill to strengthen gun control, weeks after 17 people were killed in a shooting at a local school. the bill raises the legal age for buying rifles, imposes a three—day waiting period on all firearms sales and will also allow the arming

of some school staff. it now requires the approval of the state's governor. train passengers will more easily be able to claim compensation for the knock—on costs of delays as part of changes to ticket terms and conditions. rail operating companies are removing a clause which says they won't accept any liability for indirect effects such as commuters having to pay for taxis and hotels. the consumer group which had previously accused companies of misleading the public. more now on our top story. the investigation into the attempted murder of a former russian spy and his daughter in salisbury. police have confirmed they were targeted with a nerve agent. so, what are nerve agents? they're highly toxic chemicals that are manufactured, rather than naturally occurring. they were first created specifically for use in war. they normally enter the body through the mouth or nose, but can also be absorbed through the eyes or skin. the chemical attacks the body's nervous system, shutting down normal functions. even in small doses, this all happens incredibly fast. unless treated urgently,

they're potentially deadly to anybody exposed. let's speak now to richard guthrie, who has worked as a consultant advising governments on chemical weapons. thank you for your time this morning. ijust wonder, first of all, with your expertise, can you just tell us what you understand that this toxin was. well, it sounds like it was one of the phosphate groups of nerve agents. there are some other chemicals that are included in nerve agents. but phosphates are the most well—known, including sarin and vx. but the range of chemistry you can include in that is quite broad. you get many subspecies of these types of nerve agents. and so they would be a

specific wind in this case. the details have not been revealed. —— one. police and counterterrorism police are not at this stage defining exactly what it is. bbc understands they understand it is rare. what does that mean to you? people are familiar with some of the nerve agents used in other incidents like this. well, when you select a nerve agent for production, if we ta ke nerve agent for production, if we take the example of sarin, used during the war in syria, one of the reasons it was chosen is because it is easy to manufacture. it has long—term storage problems. the ease of manufacturing means it was selected by many countries. if you are selecting an assassination weapon, you might want another characteristic, ease of storing,

ease of pushing it out of an injector, to spray on skin. so the selection of this particular nerve agent may be dependent on the design of how they got it into the people and fortunately affected. we will look at that particular issue, the practicalities of what may or may not have happened. we know for example that the father and daughter met ina example that the father and daughter met in a local restaurant, which is closed now pending the investigation. how could this have been administered to them? we have some practical examples. if you look back last year to the assassination of kim jong—nam at kuala lumpur for our port, kuala lumpurfor our port, that was carried out by two separate young females swabbing the begin with different chemicals that they combined on the skin to form the nerve agent vx is a direct

application is one way. having something that produces a liquid that falls on the skin from the device. is a possibility. at the moment, it's probably unwise to speculate too far. when people put the resources into an assassination programme, they can often get very creative. one only has to think of the assassination of kielty mark of 40 yea rs the assassination of kielty mark of 40 years ago, 90 —— 1978, the assassination of kielty mark of 40 years ago, 90 ——1978,where he had a device made to look like an umbrella which injected ricin into his leg. it was possible to put this into markov‘s leg. there could be some innovative method to get the nerve agent onto the target in this case. we will speak to the home secretary later on but it is a huge

concern that whoever carried out this attack, they had this agent and there haven't been —— they haven't been caught, they haven't been apprehended. it must be concern about whether there is more of it. and how it is contained. where it is. these materials are very difficult to manufacture. i suspect it would have been brought into the country rather than discreetly manufactured into a laboratory here. in theory, under international law, and the particular facilities can make small quantities of these agents. the international convention that deals with chemical weapons, it allows each country to have a single small scale facility to produce a very small quantity of nerve agent for doing things such as testing, detection equipment. very few laboratories with any experience of handling this sort of material. i suspect this has been brought in

from overseas. this raises questions over whether stuff can be moved around the planet which is worrying for law—enforcement. around the planet which is worrying for law-enforcement. doctor richard guthrie, thank you very much for your time. here's carol with a look at this morning's weather. snow on the way but you are going to bring sunshine, as always. bless you. some of us already have snow. snow falling across parts of wales and the midlands and northern england. we have a lot of snow in leeds, stowing around liverpool bay. if you are travelling, do bear that in mind. it will be fairly transient. it will push away over the next couple of hours. its rain falling across east anglia and the south—east and as this system pulls away, taking snow with it, we see the tail end of the rain coming through and it will be bite and upset many of us, it will be drier. a bit of around. bits and pieces of

cloud. in the north—west, we are prone to showers and some of those could be wintry with height. nine, ten, 11 as we push further south. through this evening in overnight, a lot of clear sky. the wind will drop, lost around in the risk of ice. still some wintry showers across scotland and whether wind drops across northern england, north wales as well, we could see some freezing fog patches. some thing to bearin freezing fog patches. some thing to bear in mind first thing tomorrow morning. by the end of the night the clouds starting to build. this is an area of low pressure coming our way tomorrow. the rain will come in and the wind will start to pick up as well. the much of the day to the rest of the uk, dry. afair well. the much of the day to the rest of the uk, dry. a fair bit of sunshine. just a few showers here and there. 7mate in the north, ten and there. 7mate in the north, ten

and 11 further south. we are also pulling in some miles aware. the pressure will take cloud, rain and windy conditions with it and dragon that mild airand windy conditions with it and dragon that mild air and by the time it to the far north of scotland on sunday, some high temperatures than we have been used to. the rain will continue to push northwards but behind it, fairly cloudy. there it goes. all the cloud and rain, maybe some hill snow ahead of it. and still, you will notice there is going to be a bit of breeze but temperature—wise, 12,13, bit of breeze but temperature—wise, 12, 13, 14 for southern areas. ten as we move northwards. however by the time to sunday, the low pressure goes the way to the north of scotland, taking the rain with it and some snow across parts of shetland, for example. a lot of dry weather behind. the cloud will break here and there. some sunshine coming

through and showers across southern england. 11— 13 in the south. look at this. ten, nine in aberdeen. it's been a wee while since we have seen temperatures like that. it's really hard to say mild air with a scottish accent. mild air. easy view an english accent. you know what, it serve at we are talking about the weather. i don't think many will forget the beast from the east are quite awhile. it brought freezing temperatures. we sought heavy snow and ice across the whole of the uk and lots of disruption. most people pretty much back to normal after the severe weather but it's causing disruption in some places. 0ur reporter fiona trott is in the market town of alston in cumbria to see how people are coping. there are still some pretty big piles of snow. and it's what are the highest towns

in england and that is why people here last week, they were cut the days. there were 12 feet drifts over the top of the cars here. no other days. the helicopter had to come here to drop supplies for people because they started to burn their own furniture. let's chat to a few people to find out how things are one week on. richard, you have a farm locally. how bad was it? regard to 700 feet. the conditions were pretty atrocious. two losses which is minimal, especially on the side ofa is minimal, especially on the side of a near penrith. the sheep were fine at the moment. a bit of digging to do. not that bad. we had fuel. really prepared. the roads were cut

off in some places. the walls all around are full of smoke. richard was out helping people? you did a sterling job. dig drives, was out helping people? you did a sterlingjob. dig drives, did roads. the council who are excellent doing this, they clean their roads. the farmers had to clear some of the minor roads. on a scale of 1- ten, ten being back to normal, what scale are you one of the moment? about eight. let me introduce you to rachel from the local supermarket. you were involved in getting bags of food ready. what we are putting in them? bread, milk, beans. the essentials. firelighters. nappies and baby milk the people who have young kids. a lot of them were regular customers and we knew roughly what they needed. how did you get those bags to them? we have

some volunteers and they came with spirits and sledges and we were literally wading through the snow. before we knocked on the door, we had to physically dig the doors out. and when we got the doors open, people said they didn't want will open the door look as they were worried about the snowfall. thank you very much but chatting to us. there are people in outer areas like nenthead. debbie tells us she was still snowed in. thanks to the lady in the supermarket, she has some food supplies. down to one meal a day. the drifts were really high outside her house. she is hoping to get out the backdoor today. i want to introduce you to claire driver, the local councillor. if it wasn't even a co—ordinated effort, people wouldn't have had these shopping supplies. making sure engineers get

to the house to get heat and that kind of thing. how did you do it? we have a really strong social media network which is grown exponentially. we co—ordinated a lot that information. lots of phone calls. we were able to talk straight through the incident room. eventually we were set up in the fire and safety hq. brilliant, stirling work. how are people now? back to normal? getting there slowly. we still had people cut off there. we got through to them. we know that everyone is safe now. they keep spending the time with us. we ta ke keep spending the time with us. we take a look around. things are gradually getting back to normal. may be down to the volunteers we have spoken to this morning. —— mainly down. we still see a bit of snow. we are

reeling from that picture on the doorway. it takes a moment to try and work out what you are looking at. tell us again, how tall was that snowdrift? the pictures that you have seen, people telling us in the outer areas, they are about 12 feet high. hoping to get out the backdoor, that she can get into the town. it is a 40— minute walkjust so she can get some supplies. well, there you go. still to come, we will talk to silly ball. —— zoe ball. she is on her epic blackpool to brighton bike ride in aid of sport relief. time now to get the news, travel and weather where you are. good morning from bbc london news.

i'm victoria hollins. detectives investigating the fatal stabbing of a 20—year—old man in croydon on monday have charged a man with his murder. the victim — who has not yet been named — was found injured in albert road and died at the scene. 19—year—old tyrone fa rquha rson from south norwood will appear before croydon magistrates court this morning. a 15—year old boy has been bailed in connection with the offence. jewish schools, synagogues and community buildings in london will be eligible for a share of £13 million pounds in government funding to spend on security. it's following rising concerns over anti—semitic hate crime and terrorist threats. last year there were 773 recorded incidents in greater london compared to 835 the year before — a decrease of 7%. to mark international women's day today, all this week bbc london has been speaking to some of the senior women running london. today we hearfrom cressida dick — the country's most senior police officer and the met‘s first female commissioner. she told riz lateef about some of the helpful advice she received early on in her career. i remember one of my bosses taking the into an office very early on and saying, "cressida,

if you fight every battle on the parapet, you will get shot down and that will be the end of you," so i think i learnt that you can't take on absolutely every battle head—on, but you should stand up to yourself. and you can see the full interview tonight on bbc london news at 6.30. let's have a look at the travel situation now. there's a good service on the tube this morning apart from minor delays on tfl rail. 0nto the the trains now and south—eastern trains are running with some cancellations and fewer carriages following damage caused by last week's snow and ice. 0n the roads, in finchley, there are eastbound delays on the a406 north circular at henlys cornerjct a1, following an collision, with congestion back to golders green road 0n the m25, clockwise traffic remains slow heading out of j29, a127, following an earlier accident. now the weather. hello, good morning. there was plenty of rain overnight so it's rather damp underfoot to start the day. also, still some early rain to clear

which will push its way eastwards and after that it should tend to brighten up but will feel really quite windy today. there will be some showers too a bit later on through the afternoon so similar to how it was yesterday. so that early rain clearing its way out to the east and it will brighten up. we'll see some sunny skies behind it. it will turn quite windy, particuarly through the middle part of the morning. gusts of up to 35 miles an hour. watch out for one or two afternoon showers, they could have a bit of hail in them, particularly out towards western areas. temperatures just that little bit lower than they were yesterday, between 8 and 11 degrees celsius. 0vernight tonight, it's set to turn really quite chilly. there'll be lots of clear skies, the winds will die away. the winds will drop out. watch out for a few early mist patches. and we're likely to start off the morning with a touch of frost. temperatures away from the towns possibly dipping below freezing. so tomorrow, a chilly but bright start to the day. the cloud amounts will increase and we will get some rain by the time we hit friday evening. it will turn milder over the course of the weekend but it is going to be really rather wet at times.

i'm back with the latest from the bbc london newsroom in half an hour. plenty more on our website at the usual address. now though it's back to charlie and naga. hello. this is breakfast, with naga munchetty and charlie stayt. we'll bring you all the latest news and sport in a moment, but also on breakfast this morning. anti—terror police are trying to establish the origin of a nerve agent used in the attempted murder of a former russian spy and his daughter. while police have now identified the type of chemical, it's not yet known where it was made or who could have carried out the attack. sergei and yulia skripal remain in a critical condition in hospital. a policeman who went to help them was also seriously injured. and experts said they are hard to make an difficult to obtain.|j

suspect this material has been brought in from overseas. it raises questions about moving it around the planet. it is worrying for law enforcement in the future. suspected domestic abusers could be electronically tagged. economic abuse will also be included in the definition. they are suggesting tougher sentences for cases involving children. and possible court orders including alcohol bans. britain and saudi arabia have agreed plans for a future trade and investment programme worth £65 billion. the announcement comes on the second day of a visit to the uk by the saudi crown prince, mohammed bin salman. the package includes direct investment in both countries across energy, education, healthcare and defence. there's a warning that many councils in england will become financially unsustainable if they continue to rely on their reserve funds to pay for the increasing demands of social care. the public spending watchdog says

two thirds of councils with social care responsibilities raided their reserves in the financial year ending last april. the government says a new funding settlement has been approved for councils to help pay for the services that keep communities running. four people have been seriously injured in two knife attacks in austria. three members of the same family were taken to hospital after being wounded in a park in vienna. the suspected knifeman escaped the scene before a second incident on a man from chechnya. police have arrested an afghan citizen, but it isn't clear if he's suspected of both attacks. danish inventor, peter madsen, goes on trial this morning over the death of swedish journalist kim wall aboard his homemade submarine. ms wall was working on a story about madsen when she went missing last august. he denies intentionally killing the reporter. train passengers will be able to claim compensation more easily for the knock—on costs of delays,

as part of changes to ticket terms and conditions. rail companies are removing a clause which says they won't accept any liability for indirect effects, such as commuters having to pay for taxis and hotels. the consumer group which had previously accused firms of misleading the public. lawmakers in florida have approved a bill to strengthen gun control, three weeks after 17 people were killed in a shooting at a local school. the bill raises the legal age for buying rifles, imposes a three—day waiting period on all firearms sales and will also allow the arming of some school staff. it now requires the approval of the state's governor. we've all seen the horror films where machines get a mind of their own. well, now some people say their amazon "alexa" has been been letting out an unprompted, creepy cackle. take a listen. the laugh, described by some as "witch like," is reported to happen even without the device being "woken" up. i don't think it sounds like a

witch. i am i don't think it sounds like a witch. iam not i don't think it sounds like a witch. i am not so sure. it sounds like those creepy movies where you have the creepy child laugh. 0r like those creepy movies where you have the creepy child laugh. or a doll. thematic and, a puppet coming to life. a ventriloquist dummy. --a puppet. i don't think it is that bad. it sounds a bit mocking. that is whatjuventus have done to totte n ha m. is whatjuventus have done to tottenham. three minutes of madness is all it took to turn it around. a juventus player afterwards said it is the history of tottenham, so many chances but always missing something to ta ke chances but always missing something to take their chance. i spoke to a

few and they would not disagree. it is painful being a tottenham fan. tottenham have become the first english team to be knocked out of this season's champions league. they lost 4—3 on aggregate to italian championsjuventus after going down 2—1 at wembley last night. the match had begun brightly for spurs who took the lead in the first half thanks to son heung—min. but despite failing to manage a shot on target in the opening hour juventus came back, scoring twice in less than three minutes to turn the tie around. no lack of experience, no lack of concentration. how many chances we conceded in the first leg and the second leg today? three chances and they scored twice. and we created a lot of chances but we only scored once. sometimes there is nojustice in

football. despite basel inflicting a first home defeat of the season on manchester city, pep guardiola's side are through to the last eight. city were 4—0 up from the first leg in swizterland and went ahead after seven minutes through gabrieljesus. but basel soon equalised through mohamed elyou, and in the second half michael lang secured a 2—1 victory for the swiss champions. city won the tie 5—2 on aggregate. phil neville has suffered his first defeat in charge of england's women. after a win and a draw in their opening two fixtures, england needed only a draw against the usa, to win the shebelieves cup, but karen bardsley‘s own goal in the second half gifted the match, and the tournament to the hosts. no shame though, they are the highest ranked team in the world. defeat hurts. that is why i kept the players on the pitch at the end of the game. sometimes you have to feel that pain and hurt and see the opposition take the trophy. it sticks with you. you remember it next time and it pushes you even more.

to cycling, and team sky have said they strongly deny allegations about the use of medication to enhance performance, as does their former rider sir bradley wiggins. it comes as the head of world cycling's governing body, the uci, called for an investigation into the team following a damning report by mps this week. david lappartient told our sports editor dan roan, that the use of any substance, even if it's not on the banned list, that enhances performance, is cheating. it seems that there is no breach of the anti—doping rules, no violation. if it is not breaking the rules, can it be cheating? if you are using, you do, substances to increase your performance, i think this is exactly what is cheating.

now, if you've just eaten breakfast, hold onto your stomachs. how about this for a view? this is a helmet camera of professional sky—diver, jeff provenzano. he, along with 163 others, holds the world record, in sky diving for the most head down skydivers at the same time. that means upside down, head first, so much faster, and an average speed of 160 miles per hour. it looks like they are flat at this angle. when it comes to opening the parachute at the end, they can go the right way up. extraordinary images. just think about the forces. you could be thrown off course easily. thank you very much.

the home secretary, amber rudd, joins us live from westminster now with two stories dominating our headlines. one, new proposals for domestic abuse, and two, the investigation into the nerve agent poisoning of a former russian spy in salisbury. good morning. good morning. may i start with this nerve agent attack which is being investigated at the moment. bbc understands this is a rare nerve agent being used. can you tell us more? i can tell you they have confirmed it was in nerve agent. they are now down in salisbury around the area where this incident took place, collecting evidence and going piece by piece to make sure they collect all the evidence they can. my view is we have to leave the police to get on with that and collect what they can so they form a proper trail and they

can protect the people around it and contain the scene to make sure those affected get all the support they need. do you think the russians were behind this? i will not be drawn on that at the moment because the most important thing is the safety of the people around the scene. if we move to attribution, we need all the details of what happened along the way so we can be absolutely clear about it. we spoke to someone very familiar with chemical agent, studies chemical agents, and his assessment, without knowing the details, is whatever it is, the fact it has been transported to this country, it is a worry. can you assure people they are safe in this country? it happened in salisbury. everyday people could have been around, regardless of who was attacked, the history of the person attacked, anyone could have been affected. 0ne attacked, anyone could have been affected. one of our police force is now in hospital as a result. this

was a very serious now in hospital as a result. this was a very serious incident, which is why we have the police down there in full force conducting the investigation, which is why we are giving all of the medical support we can to those affected. i am very concerned. i would say the risk is low, so take comfort from that. we have been ready for a while for a number of different types of terrorist activity and we're sure we give the public the support they need, contained the incident, and get the evidence we need, so when it comes time for attribution, we do it correctly. another story is domestic abuse, the government making an announcement about stronger laws and powers and funding to tackle domestic abuse. what difference will it make? well, victims, sufferers of

domestic abuse, they are seeing results. in the past few years we have seen a significant improvement in the support they are getting. since 2010, we have had a 33% increase in convictions of perpetrators of domestic violence. i wa nt perpetrators of domestic violence. i want more for people. in the last year we have seen 83 women and 12 men killed by their partners, 2 million people, mostly women, affected a year by domestic abuse and violence, which means we are proposing the day a really ambitious sea change in the approach, bringing it out from where it is hidden. this is not just about the it out from where it is hidden. this is notjust about the nasty it out from where it is hidden. this is not just about the nasty attacks that take place, but it is about building on the work we have already donein building on the work we have already done in the west of control and introducing new forms of abuse to be considered. this is about legislative measures and nonlegislative measures. it is about

protecting children, and it is about early intervention. there is so much more we could do. it is a consultation because i want everybody who is concerned about is to get involved and participate and make sure we have a country that protects women and children and men. we spoke to a survivor who suffered abuse for three years. she campaigns on domestic abuse. she says all of this sounds good on paper. she had high praise for the position being created, domestic abuse commissioner. she said one of the problems, this is something you have heard before, we have discussed before, the issue of safe places for women in the funding for these refuges being cut, women's aid could bea refuges being cut, women's aid could be a matter of life and death, so do you have any inclination to change the way you are finding them, making sure they have money for safe

places. —— funding. sure they have money for safe places. -- funding. there is no question of this government overseeing any reduction in a number of safe places. we are just changing the funding. i know that some have concerns, that is why we have a consultation. i want to make sure victims of the best access to refuges. we need to look at the best way to find them. —— fund. we need to make sure there are always sufficient beds for them to go to, asa sufficient beds for them to go to, as a government, we are just looking at the best funding proposal in place. home secretary, amber rudd, thank you for talking to us this morning. it's a warm good morning to carol. that was a lovely introduction. good

morning to you. we are starting up this morning with snow. smoke through wales parts of the midlands and northern england. some of us are seeing quite a bit. especially the higher you are. we have low pressure moving from the west towards the east. further south, with the temperature is higher, it is falling as rain. it all banishes moving a lot of dry weather behind it and a fair bit of sunshine. bits and pieces of cloud around as well and in the north—western scotland, some of that will be thick enough produce some showers and on the hills here, it will be wintry. a better wise, 5-7 it will be wintry. a better wise, 5—7 in the north. through this evening and overnight, there will be clear skies. we are looking at a widespread frost, the risk of ice on untreated surfaces and some patchy fog forming, some freezing fog at

that. the showers and these are the temperatures in towns and cities. they will be lower than that in rural areas. a cold start the day tomorrow and a frosty one but of dry weather, a fair bit of sunshine around, still of two showers in the north and west and in the low pressure comes along and spoils it. 0ne pressure comes along and spoils it. one thing you will notice with this area of low pressure, it is going to be bringing in milder conditions. notjust on friday to the south to be had through the weekend, it moves to the north and takes the milder with it and by sunday, the low pressure will be across the north of scotla nd pressure will be across the north of scotland and by then, the north of scotla nd scotland and by then, the north of scotland will see higher temperatures than you have been used to. this weekend, that is it in summary. it will be fairly cloudy behind. you'll see what they mean when you see the charts. a lot of cloud, some rain and you could see some snow in scotland. the picture

wise, pretty good shape. we are looking at 11, 12, maybe even up to 14. will have the cloud in the rain. the temperatures pining further north as well. but the time get a sunday, this is what i was alluding to, the whole lot moves to the final of scotland. a lot of dry weather including afair of scotland. a lot of dry weather including a fair bit of cloud. some showery outbreaks of rain. at times you will find some cloud will break. temperature again into the low teens. 11, 12, 13. that milder air moving further north. that leads us into an unsettled week but i can tell you tuesday is not looking too bad at the moment. carol, what is the stuff in the atmosphere when not cold and not hot. ——? atmosphere when not cold and not hot. "7 mild. atmosphere when not cold and not hot. -—? mild. mild

atmosphere when not cold and not hot. ——? mild. mild air, isn't it? i'm not saying it. i will try. hot. ——? mild. mild air, isn't it? i'm not saying it. iwill try. mild air. it sounds hard, it is like swallowing aplomb. itjust amused me, sorry, carol. shoplifting is on the rise and so is violence against staff according to a new report out this morning. sean has more. we often talk about how much we are spending when it comes to retail but what the staff have to cope with day by day can be a bit of an issue. these are the figures out from the british retail consortium which represents the uk's shopkeepers. every year it pulls together figures from its members on retail crime... it says the total cost to its members of all types of crime was £700 million. the biggest element of that is shoplifting. according to the brc, customer theft cost its members just

over half a billion pounds last year. that's up 15%. more worryingly it also reports a doubling in violence against staff resulting in injury — let's not forget there are 4.6 million people working in retail across the uk. we can talk about this to edward woodall from the association of convenience stores which represents over 30,000 small retailers. you've got 30,000— odd smaller convenience stores that people have the bottom of the road. have you seen those kind of stores be affected by these kinds of figures? imy affected by these kinds of figures? i my members will be reading the british retail consortium's report this morning and it will confirm their view that retail crime is on their view that retail crime is on the rise, in particular shop theft and also violence and i think the two are very much linked. we know

from talking to our members that shop theft is the number one trigger for violence and abuse and that's what's important to have a robust response so doesn't escalate to cover things like violence and abuse of staff. is that because staff are confronting people who are stealing things from their shops? staff feel ownership on their store. if they do confront staff, that can lead to confrontation. it's also very much linked. that's why we need a robust response from police and the consistence about how they respond to shop theft and notjust the monetary value but also the impact of people in stores. do you think the police are not doing enough to stop shoplifters or is itjust a trend that you are starting to see increase? the police could do more, in terms of consistency of response. different police forces respond in different ways. some of them have a

monetary threshold. if you think about £100 worth of goods from the local shop or a supermarket, you would be pushing at a trolley worth of goods so it's frustrating. you think criminals are playing that game? they know what the threshold is surveyor picking on convenience stores because they can get a lot out of it? there is an issue with repeat offenders. those might have alcohol and drug dependencies are coming back again and again, targeting convenience stores and what needs to happen is the justice system needs to respond to them. help them overcome these issues of alcohol and drug dependencies seven and keep repeating these crimes was also in the wider community. and he thinks staff i tried to do too much to resolve that situation? should they just leave them to resolve that situation? should theyjust leave them to it and let

police deal with it? people come first, not property, not pocket. we invest something like £4000 per convenience store across the uk. most importantly, staff training. you might train staff and invest in security but we know in competitive business retailing, particularly at retail stores, margins get squeezed. if staff are left on the road and more often or there are fewer staff, they are more vulnerable than before. there is the full commitment from my members. protecting people comes before protecting any type of staff. and, thanks very much. a big issue in retail. we often talk about

the big issues in retail but the staff in store are feeling more threatened. it was the most successful winter olympics ever for great britain, now the pressure is on for the british athletes heading out to pyeongchang for the paralympics. the aim is to win six medals — one of those in wheelchair curling. 0ur disability news corresondent, nikki fox has been to meet the team in training. it's been a long four years of training to get to this moment. we've been the best prepared that we can be to go out to pyeongchang. when it gets really, really close, like it is now, how do you feel? is it like excitement, butdo you feel sick? for me it's excitement and looking forward to get out there. inspires us and we want to get out on the ice ourselves.

i will watch on the tv, i am so excited. so are we. my name is aileen neilson. robert mcpherson. gregor ewan. angie malone. i'm really looking forward to it. my name is hugh nibloe. can i have a go? will you watch the brush? we will catch some floss maybe. at what age did you get into this? has this sport helped you in a way? it's helped me greatly. when you get diagnosed with ms and you stop losing your functions and abilities, your confidence goes. i became more or less housebound. and with curling, my confidence just

grew and it's a case of being fearless and just going for it. oh, my goodness. skidding on the ice. how do you actually direct it? how do you get it in the right position? the delivery stick but also the head that's on the cue. that's what affects it. we don't have the use of sweepers so once we let the stone go, there is nothing we can do to influence it. it's going off again to the right. it's so difficult. this is so difficult. i should have gone to the gym. can i have one more go? yeah. i've got it. how well do you think you're going to do? are you going to snatch it? get to the round robin first, get to that stage first.

oh, my goodness. 0h! wow! just sign me up now. curling is more about inclusion. do you feel like ambassadors? definitely feel proud to be part of the british squad. you put a stop on it, it's something special. is it? yeah. nicky is always willing to you that ago. we are going to be talking to three women who have cancer to say they are too busy living life to have cancer. good morning from bbc london news.

i'm victoria hollins. the family of an 11 month baby boy who was the subject of a battle to keep alive died last night. they say he fought bravely. it was brain—damaged. specialists at king ‘s college hospital say giving him further treatment was futile and not in his best interests but his pa rents in his best interests but his parents wanted the treatments to continue in the hope they could carefully to his son at home. detectives investigating the fatal stabbing of a 20—year—old man in croydon on monday have charged a man with his murder. the victim — who has not yet been named — was found injured in albert road and died at the scene. 19—year—old tyrone fa rquha rson from south norwood will appear before croydon magistrates court this morning. to mark international women's day today, all this week bbc london has been speaking to some of the senior women running london. today we hearfrom cressida dick — the country's most senior police officer and the met‘s first female commissioner. she told riz lateef about some of the helpful advice she received early on in her career.

i remember one of my bosses taking the into an office very early on and saying, "cressida, if you fight every battle on the parapet, you will get shot down and that will be the end of you," so i think i learnt that you can't take on absolutely every battle head—on, but you should stand up to yourself. and you can see the full interview tonight on bbc london news at 6.30. let's have a look at the travel situation now. there's a good service on the tube this morning apart from minor delays on tfl rail. 0nto the the trains now and south—eastern trains are running with some cancellations and fewer carriages following damage caused by last week's snow and ice. northbound traffic on the blackwall tunnel southern approach is slow from the woolwich rd flyover. now the weather. hello, good morning. there was plenty of rain overnight so it's rather damp underfoot to start the day.

also, still some early rain to clear which will push its way eastwards and after that it should tend to brighten up but will feel really quite windy today. there will be some showers too a bit later on through the afternoon so similar to how it was yesterday. so that early rain clearing its way out to the east and it will brighten up. we'll see some sunny skies behind it. it will turn quite windy, particuarly through the middle part of the morning. gusts of up to 35 miles an hour. watch out for one or two afternoon showers, they could have a bit of hail in them, particularly out towards western areas. temperatures just that little bit lower than they were yesterday, between 8 and 11 degrees celsius. 0vernight tonight, it's set to turn really quite chilly. there'll be lots of clear skies, the winds will die away. the winds will drop out. watch out for a few early mist patches. and we're likely to start off the morning with a touch of frost. temperatures away from the towns possibly dipping below freezing. so tomorrow, a chilly but bright start to the day. the cloud amounts will increase and we will get some rain by the time we hit friday evening.

it will turn milder over the course of the weekend but it is going to be really rather wet at times. i'm back with the latest from the bbc london newsroom in half an hour. plenty more on our website at the usual address. bye for now. in full force conducting the investigation and giving all the support we can hello, this is breakfast, with naga munchetty and charlie stayt. counterterrorism officers search for the source of the nerve agent used in a chemical attack in salisbury. a former russian spy, his daughter and a police officer who came to their aid are all in a serious condition in hospital. this was a very serious incident which is why we have got the police in full force conducting the investigation and

giving all the support. good morning, it's thursday, 8th march. also this morning... domestic abusers could be electronically tagged or banned from drinking alcohol under tougher new measures being proposed to tackle the problem. profits at countrywide, the uk's biggest estate agent, were down by over 20% last year. i'll have more in a moment. in sport, heartbreak for tottenham in the champions league. italian champions juventus come from behind to beat spurs at wembley and end their european dreams for another season. and mary beard will be telling us why she's been travelling the world to uncover the secrets of civilisation. and carol has the weather. good morning. some of us starting off with snow, particularly across parts of wales, the north midlands and northern england, but it is transient, it will clear this morning, and behind it, for most of the uk, dry, sunshine, showers in the uk, dry, sunshine, showers in the west, some of it wintry on the hills. more in 15 minutes. good morning. first, our main story. the home secretary has told this programme that the chemical attack

in salisbury is being treated very seriously and has reassured people that there is no cause for concern about public health. a former russian spy, his daughter and a police officer who tried to help them remain very seriously ill in hospital. while police have now identified the type of chemical, it's not yet known where it was made or who could have carried out the attack. sergei and yulia skripal remain in a critical condition. tom burridge reports. the police officer is awake and talking but still in a very serious condition. this was sergei skripal last month at a corner shop. now police believe someone tried to kill the former spy and his daughter with a nerve agent. it happened here in the small cathedral city of salisbury. a police officer who attended to the pair now also in a serious condition in hospital. what nerve agent was used is the question experts at this military research centre

are trying to answer. nerve agents essentially cripple the nervous system of the body and are not easy to manufacture. nerve agents require a non—insignificant financial, logistical and technical back—up to actually be manufactured. and so that would lead to more likelihood of a state manufacturing it. life in salisbury right now is anything but normal, this, the restaurant where mr skripal and his daughter had lunch hours before they fell ill. a blond woman and a man could be of interest, seen in this cctv footage from near the crime scene. his daughter apparently had dark hair, like in this photo. they are both in a critical condition in hospital. tom burridge, bbc news. earlier, the home secretary amber rudd spoke to us. she said there was no cause for the

public to panic. this was a very serious incident, which is why we've got the police down there in full force, conducting the investigation, which is why we're giving all the support we can, medical support necessary. let's speak to our home affairs correspondent, leila nathoo, who's in salisbury this morning. we have also heard the policeman in hospital is now talking although in a very serious condition. police still investigating. yeah, police are still trying to piece together the movements of sergei and yulia skripal on the sunday afternoon when they came into salisbury city centre and ended up unconscious on that bench behind me that is under the police tent. the police are appealing for anyone in salisbury city centre on sunday afternoon from 1pm to get in touch. they believe sergei and yulia skripal went to zizzi restaurant, the restaurant remains cordoned off. they also

believe they went to a nearby pub, the mill. they want to speak to anyone in those locations. they are key sites of interest as people tee police tried to work out why sergei and yulia skripal came into contact with the nerve agent, a crucial detail of how the investigation proceeds. we had the home secretary, amber rudd, saying the police are treating this very seriously. a policeman, one of the first to respond on the scene, also affected. he is now believed to be talking and engaging, as you say, but his condition is still serious. a lot of u na nswered condition is still serious. a lot of unanswered questions here on the scene. we do not have a clear picture of exactly how sergei and yulia skripal ended up on this bench as yet but that is what the police here are trying to figure out. thank you very much. suspected domestic abusers could be electronically tagged, or banned from drinking alcohol and taking drugs, as part of proposals to tackle the problem in england and wales.

the government wants views on a set of measures, which includes the first legal definition of economic abuse, and a commissioner to oversee the issue. jon donnison reports. euleen hope suffered a decade of abuse at the hands of her ex—partner. emotional, but also physical. she ended up in hospital more than a dozen times. she says she used to grow her fringe long to cover the black eyes. some people say to me, why did you not get out sooner? do you really want to look over your shoulder if you leave a relationship, they could still be after you. he said, "i'll tell you when it's over." he threatened me and told me he would organise for someone to throw acid in my face. in 2015, the man was eventually jailed for grievous bodily harm and assault after euleen's sister contacted the police. almost two million people in england and wales, most of them women, suffered

domestic abuse last year. the government wants to make it easier to prosecute perpetrators. it is launching a consultation document before it tries to get tougher laws passed. among the proposals, broadening the legal definition of domestic abuse to include physical, psychological, sexual, emotional, but also economic abuse. tougher sentences for cases involving children. and new protection orders to allow police and courts to intervene more quickly when abuse is suspected. the consultation period for the proposed new laws will last 12 weeks. jon donnison, bbc news. two teenagers have died and two children are among the injured after a three—car crash in north yorkshire. the boys, who are believed to be 17, died at the scene of the accident on the a61 near thirsk last night. five adults and two children were taken to hospital. police have appealed for anyone who saw what happened to get in touch. britain and saudi arabia have agreed plans for a future trade and investment programme worth £65 billion.

the announcement comes on the second day of a visit to the uk by the saudi crown prince, mohammed bin salman. the package includes direct investment in both countries across energy, education, healthcare and defence. there's a warning that many councils in england will become financially unstable if they continue to rely on their reserve funds to pay for the increasing demands of social care. the public spending watchdog says two thirds of councils with social care responsibilities raided their reserves in the financial year ending last april. 0ur correspondent, alison holt, has more. it's lunchtime at the nexus day centre in surrey. here, people with brain injuries, learning disabilities, and other conditions can socialise and take part in other activities. for many, it is paid for by the county council. the national audit office says local authorities now spend more than half of their budgets on providing care for adults and children. for sue, who has multiple sclerosis, the help is vital.

i come here only twice a week. i would come more if there was the funding for it. but apart from that, it is amazing. the nao says, since 2010, the money local authorities in england have got from central government has been cut by 50%. despite council tax rises, services like bin collections, roads, and libraries, have had their money reduced by nearly a third over the same time. and with councils using savings to balance the books, it warns one in ten will have exhausted their reserves within three years. what we are calling for is a plan for the long—term sustainability of the sector. what is it they want local government to do, and then make funding available. alongside that, social care needs a funding solution as well. the government says a new funding settlement has been approved for councils to help pay for the services that keep

communities running, and that will mean a real—terms increase in resources, allowing for greater freedom, fairness and value for money. alison holt, bbc news. you we have been talking about the housing market this morning, what is the data today? we were talking earlier about the industry of estate agents, saying we're not seeing as many buyers coming to estate agents, people who want to buy houses, and also not the number of properties on market. but in the last hour, we have heard from the country's biggest estate agent, countrywide, they own a lot of the more local estate agent brands you would be familiar with, they have had profits wiped out, they made a profit last year of £17 million, but when you look at the most recent year, the loss on one level of a couple of

hundred million pounds because of various things they have had to write off. they have had to make big changes to their business which has meant they have had to write off a lot of money and they have not had the business coming in to make off up the business coming in to make off up the shortfall. they say their pipeline is significantly lower for 2018, what that means is they are not expecting the buyers to come in, they are not expecting the number of properties on their portfolio, lettings, sales, than previously. the biggest provider of estate agents, the biggest estate agent company, suffering like this, the implication is, there are not any houses coming online and demand is going down, prices will go down, thatis going down, prices will go down, that is the assumption, isn't it? going down, prices will go down, that is the assumption, isn't mm is. when you look at the number of sales happening, that is still holding out a fairly decent level across the country, but look at someone like countrywide, almost entirely physical estate agents,

they have had competition from online only estate agents, they say brexit uncertainty has hit them, they have a big presence in london, where the property market has been predictably under pressure. that is like looking at countrywide, they are perhaps struggling more than others, but it is tough for everyone. shares have been down 50% over the last year, down another 20% this morning. wow. thank you very much. paul. idon't this morning. wow. thank you very much. paul. i don't know why i called you pull spokesman —— i don't know why i called you paul. train passengers will be able to claim compensation more easily for the knock—on costs of delays, as part of changes to ticket terms and conditions.

rail companies are removing a clause which says they won't accept any liability for indirect effects, such as commuters having to pay for taxis and hotels. the consumer group "which?" had previously accused firms of misleading the public. those are the main stories this morning. let us move onto another issue. have talked a lot about it on brea kfast. there can't be many people watching today who haven't experienced cancer in some way, either first hand or through someone they love. it's something rachael bland, deborahjames and lauren mahon all had to come to terms with after being diagnosed in their 30s. they've now started a podcast called you, me and the big c to debunk the myths around cancer and give an honest portrayal of how they've learnt to live with it. let's take a look. i have stage four cancer. that doesn't mean i'm going to die, i pray i'm not. my statistics, i'm just going to throw them out there, are hideous, to be perfectly honest with you. so i know what i'm faced against,

but i'm currently living through my diagnosis, as we all are, right? music plays. i thought a mouse filter, why not? it kind of works with the cold cap, doesn't it? i was like, "will it be much longer?" and she said, "oh, no, the thing is, towards the end of the day, the wait can be longer because, unfortunately, the consultant has to tell people bad news." and the wait got longer, i was still there! rachael bland, deborah james and lauren mahonjoin us now. for

and lauren mahonjoin us now. people not familiar you for people not familiar with what you are trying to do, give us a sense of what you are doing, you three have something in common, but you are trying to send out a different message. we have all been diagnosed with cancer, i have got through mine, the others are still in treatment, and we found, as young women, as young people, really really struggled to find people to connect with, who spoke our language, to talk about cancer in a different way. we all talked about it online, met each other, and we thought, we could do a podcast about this, because it needs to be spoken about. we wanted to change the way cancer is looked that, there is a real image when you are told about it, that it will be dark, depressing, there are difficult and low times, but it is not all that kind of dark, depressing image that you get, you are not always going to be able in bed, lose your hair. actually, life goes on around having cancer treatment, and we wanted to bust that myth and all the others

around cancer and show people that there is life after being diagnosed. i was going to zayed is probably helpful, as you go through, and mind telling us what your condition is?|j was telling us what your condition is?” was diagnosed with breast cancer in november 2016, i have was diagnosed with breast cancer in november2016, i have had was diagnosed with breast cancer in november 2016, i have had long and congregated treatment, so i had the standard chemotherapy, surgery, three surgeries. —— complicated treatment. then i was told i needed more chemotherapy, my cancer returned in some other lymph nodes, soi returned in some other lymph nodes, so i have had more surgery, i have beenin so i have had more surgery, i have been in treatment for a year and a bit, it is kind of ongoing. are you well? i feel great, if bit, it is kind of ongoing. are you well? ifeel great, if they bit, it is kind of ongoing. are you well? i feel great, if they stop all the treatments, i would feel great, it is not the cancer making me feel ill, it is all the other bits! it was similar for me, stage four bowel cancer, so i have the brown, rather than the pink cancer! i had an operation last week, but i'm here

today. she is a hero! so your lung collapsed last week... it sounds more dramatic. i have just finished 21 cycles of chemo, a year and a bit of treatment by a great team at the royal marsden. i willjust carry on going through treatment and living with it, i am living with stage four cancer, and that is what the podcast is about. yes, i have highs and lows, last week i was crying in hospital, and excuse me if i start going again with coughing fits, but thatis going again with coughing fits, but that is my lunch immers. what comes across straightaway, seeing you together, you bounce off each other, what are some of the more unlikely areas that you have touched on? some people are familiar about the difference dialogues around cancers, what are the more unlikely areas that you have touched on she -- you

have touched on? i have talked about the finance side of things, i am 31, i had the finance side of things, i am 31, ihada the finance side of things, i am 31, i had a job that i loved, and i only thought i would be supported by the government if i got ill, and that wasn't the case. people don't realise that when you get ill, there isn't really like any safety net for you, so that has been a big topic, that has really related with me. yesterday we recorded a podcast on the positives of cancer, a hour—long podcast about the positive things coming out of cancer, everyone thinks it is the end of the world, but certain things come out of it, like the friends that we have made, we have become friends through our cancer treatment and through blogging about it. you can use the cancer card. not a physical card, but an emotional car that you can

slide into conversation. so you can misbehave? if you say, i have cancer, people don't have a come back to that. can i say, i am not advocating drinking champagne whilst you are having chemo, because i get told off for that! but when you are in treatment so often, you have to find a way to get through that, and for me, occasionally dressing up in whatever. .. for me, occasionally dressing up in whatever. . . that for me, occasionally dressing up in whatever... that was catwoman? the orange thing was a catsuit for stand up orange thing was a catsuit for stand up to cancer, actually, a podcast that i was doing then. it was raising awareness that you can still have fun. what have your said about this? it is often families who are the in the background, do you be sympathetic, or just let you the in the background, do you be sympathetic, orjust let you do what you want to do, or are they allowed

to feel bad? we have had this discussion, and it was a big positive that our families have been incredibly supportive, they are incredibly supportive, they are incredibly proud of us using our platforms to do something good from a really dark, scary place that cancer can a really dark, scary place that cancercan be, using a really dark, scary place that cancer can be, using our platforms to talk about a positive way, to raise awareness and support people that might needed.” raise awareness and support people that might needed. i have two children, so the way that i debug what cancer looks like my family is just to be open about it, i let them see everything i am doing, so they don't need to fill in the blanks and assume what is going to happen to me. a lot of people will be inspired by what you are doing. in stark contrast to the pictures from hospital, you are all wearing black today, so contrary to the message you are trying to send out! we are all on message together!” you are trying to send out! we are all on message together! i do have a leather miniskirt on! thank you very much, lovely to see you. you, me and the big c is available to download from the bbc radio 5 live website.

here's carol with a look at this morning's weather. some lovely pictures of snow that has fallen in the last few hours, this is one of them from west yorkshire, lovely snowfall if you don't have to travel in it, it looks so pretty. but these are the areas affected, wales, midlands and northern england. it will clear through this morning and brighten up behind it. you can see this big curl and the direction it is taking, rain in the south, snow pushing across the midlands and northern england, before it moves away, then a lot of dry weather, fed it of sunshine, variable amounts of cloud, some a bit thick enough to produce showers in the hills in north—west. temperatures, 6—7 in the north, 8— maybe 11 as we push further south,

windy as we push on. temperatures will did quite quickly overnight, looking at a widespread frost, the risk of ice, some wintry showers in the hills of scotland, and in the lighter winds across northern england, we could also see freezing fog, as we could across northern wales. this is what you can expect in towns and cities, in rural areas the temperatures will be that bit lower. i want to draw your attention to be southwest, by the end of the night more cloud gathering. this is another area of low pressure coming our way tomorrow, and you can see the cloud as bills from the south, eventually bringing in rain. —— spills. with this, there will be milder air. after the cold and frosty start, a lot of sunshine around, lengthy spells of sunshine, around, lengthy spells of sunshine, a few showers across the north and west, and 10—11 in the south, 6—9

that bit further north. so the mild aircoming into the that bit further north. so the mild air coming into the south—west will continue through this weekend to push northwards, as indeed will be cloud and rain, and a noticeable wind. by the time we get to sunday, most of the uk will have higher temperatures than we have seen of late. the other thing is it will be fairly cloudy, and at times there will be some rain. a quick look at what is happening on saturday, a grey day, wednesday, snow on the leading edge of this system heading northwards, quite breezy, temperatures in the south could well get up to 13 or 14, 6—7 in the north, and then on sunday, up into shetland, the far north of scotland eventually clearing. 0ne shetland, the far north of scotland eventually clearing. one or two brighter brakes and cloud, samsung further south. we can go to one of those places still affected by the weather, alston on camera, we can see little

bits of snow behind you, some places are still really badly affected, aren't they? —— alston in cumbria. social media for school closures, thatis social media for school closures, that is the picture in west yorkshire. here in alston in cumbria, you will remember during the storm this place was that off for a good few days, no power, people were really struggling to get food, and raf chinook had to drop supplies, people were starting to burn their own furniture. snow was up to about here on the shot window. when you take a look around now, it seems to be so much better, you get the impression things are starting to get back to normal again. i want to get back to normal again. i want to introduce you to one of the volu nteers to introduce you to one of the volunteers that was helping people, you run a local activity centre, you are used to being outdoors, you got

your wet weather gear, you got sledges, a lot of people involved in getting supplies from the local supermarket to people's doors. tell us supermarket to people's doors. tell us what you did. we started by helping of the local ambulance, which was stuck, the plough could not get a clear road to it, and there was a call on social media for people to help, and lots of our staff were off for the day because of cancellations, and they are all energetic, hard—working of cancellations, and they are all energetic, ha rd—working people of cancellations, and they are all energetic, hard—working people so we set to helping them out, we cleared a path for the ambulance and followed people's calls for help since then. all on social media, so people still had power, which still able to get on facebook and say, look, i need food, i need fuel, and you all got together and had this coordinated response and went out in waist deep snow? in some cases, yeah. and you are smiling! that was

quite an effort. it is fun to be pa rt quite an effort. it is fun to be part of the community, even though it is such a serious thing, it is nice to see people coming together, and alston is unique in that way. when we look at pictures of what it looked like, there were drifts 12 feet high, it looked like something from a movie, but when you are out in itand from a movie, but when you are out in it and going to people's doors, actually, they were quite anxious, what was their reaction when you turned up? some people are very nervous, some people are surprised to see you, some people asking, how much do i owe you? a range of responses, but generally people glad to see you. on a scale of one to ten, how is the town now, do you think, getting back to normal? nine or ten, pretty much back to where we were. thank you very much for that, more tractors and traffic going up and down the street, they couldn't do that a few days ago. we are being

told that a local community get—together is planned for the next few weeks to say thank you to eve ryo ne few weeks to say thank you to everyone involved. fiona, thank you very much. let's hope it is not as chilly where you are this morning, time for an update on the news, weather and travel. some snow falling this morning up into northern areas of england, much of it is falling over higher ground, but still some down to lower levels which could cause problems. it will clear today and for many of us it will be dry with bright spells. the last of the rain, sleet and snow

clearing from north—eastern parts of england. plenty of dry weather for england. plenty of dry weather for england and wales into the afternoon. after the chilly start, wintry showers in the north and west, lots of dry weather this afternoon. temperatures eventually up afternoon. temperatures eventually up to six, eight, and 10 degrees further south. lots of clear spells tonight, turning cold quite quickly. some showers in scotland again turning wintry even down to low levels. a cold night, temperatures at or below freezing. a little bit less cold in the south where temperatures will hold up at three, 4 degrees. friday, plenty of dry weather with sunshine expected on friday, the cloud will thicken in southern areas, green colours starting to disappear, showers moving their way in, temperatures on friday up to eight, nine, ten degrees across southern areas,

milder into the weekend. friday into saturday, area of low pressure which will bring this weather front, bringing heavy rain north, interacting with colder air, snow across northern parts of the uk, but behind the weather front, turning milder. sunny spells later on saturday and especially into sunday. the outlook... temperatures particularly in the london area, 13, 14. plenty of dry weather to come on sunday after rain on saturday. bye— bye. this is business live from bbc news with sally bundock and tim willcox.

a new deal, but without the united states. the trans—pacific partnership will be formally signed in chile today. live from london, that's our top story on thursday, 8th march. 11 countries are expected to sign a landmark trade deal — as an antidote to the increasingly protectionist direction of the united states — we talk you through what's at stake. also in the programme, a new report reveals china has more self—made woman billionaires than any other country —