hello, you're watching afternoon live — i'm simon mccoy. today at 2. the home secretary describes the attempted murder of a former double—agent and his daughter in salisbury as an outrageous crime. the use of a nerve agent on uk soil is a brazen and reckless act. this was attempted murder in the most cruel and public way. a woman who got on a tube train moments before an explosion describes to a jury the moment she saw a "wall of glass" coming towards her — we'll have the latest from the old bailey. domestic abusers could be electronically tagged or banned from drinking alcohol, in a new crackdown proposed by the government coming up on afternoon live all the sport. it is all arsenal. it is. the north londoners haven't lost five straight matches since 1977 — so they will hope to avoid defeat at ac milan in the europa league last 16 later, especially as boss arsene wenger thinks they'll need to go all the way in the competition this season. all that to come.

we thought we had seen the back of the snow? i thought so, but there was this option in northern england this morning but it is set to turn milder. i will also be talking about the snowstorm that has hit the north east of the united states. also coming up. laughter ask amazon — about alexa: the company promises a fix after complaints that the best—selling voice assistant has been letting out an unprompted, creepy cackle — startling users who find it no laughing matter. hello everyone — this is afternoon live. the home secretary has described the attempted murder of a former russian spy and his daughter

as an ‘outrageous crime'. speaking in the house of commons, amber rudd said the use of a nerve agent on uk soil was a brazen and reckless act. she also said it was highly likely that the police officer taken ill at the scene, in salisbury, was exposed to the same nerve agent as sergei and yulia skripal. so we're a lot closer to knowing what it was. we don't yet know who did it. and why now? richard galpin reports. much of the investigation now is focusing on who carried out the attempted murder here in salisbury last sunday, in which the russian double agent sergei skripal and his daughter yulia somehow ingested a deadly nerve agent. but at the local hospital, it's now clear that the policeman, who was also contaminated after rushing to help them when they collapsed, is recovering. the police are working closely... in parliament this morning the government promised a robust response once it's clear

who was behind the attack. the use of a nerve agent on uk soil is a brazen and reckless act. this was attempted murder in the most cruel and public way. people are right to want to know who to hold to account. but if we are to be rigorous in this investigation, we must avoid speculation and allow the police to carry on their investigation. the horrifying effects of nerve agents have been seen in several parts of the world in recent years, even though their use is banned. hundreds suffocated to death in this sarin gas attack in the rebel—held area of syria in 2013. last year another nerve agent, vx, was used by the north korean regime to kill the half brother of the leader, kim jong—un. generally it is only governments which develop and store nerve agents. making nerve agents is not the sort

of stuff you can knock up in your back shed, it needs a very sophisticated laboratory, highly trained and experienced scientists that only really we find in state—run institutions. so for those investigating the attack in salisbury, the range of likely culprits has narrowed significantly, with russia probably now the prime suspect. the british authorities will be looking for more substantive proof of a link between the use of this agent and the russians in particular. it's worth noting that it's not only governments who use this sort of thing, sarin was used on the tokyo metro a few years ago. nevertheless, the high probability is it's the russians and the fact it's a nerve agent has raised that probability. there's much still to be uncovered in the investigation, but for the skripal family, there's already been much tragedy. mr skripal‘s wife and son are buried here in this cemetery in salisbury. his brother died in russia and the family believe the deaths are suspicious.

richard galpin, bbc news. our political correspondent jonathan blake is at westminster for us now. the home secretary very careful not to apportion blame because we still need to find the facts. that is why, she had strong words, as you heard, calling it a brazen and reckless act and saying it was attempted murder ina very and saying it was attempted murder in a very cool and public way, and she said was right that people wa nted she said was right that people wanted to know who to hold to account —— attempted murder in a very cruel public way. the government is not in the position to point the finger of blame, but that did not stop mps asking secretaries of the home secretary, along the lines of, if this isn't russia, who? one mp put it in strong terms, calling this a brazen act of war and

the humiliation of the country. the home secretary came back with the response that it was too early to point the finger of blame and the police and intelligence services should be allowed to get on with their fast moving and complex investigation as she described it. fast moving is the phrase, and there is huge pressure on this investigation. there is. we saw in parliament this afternoon mps on all sides putting pressure on the home secretary to reassure them that the government was going to take action in response and as we have heard the condition of those people involved is critical, and in the case of the police officer serious. time is potentially short to use whatever means the security services and the police have at their disposal to gather the facts and build a case. we will see the pressure kept up on the government on the shore in the

coming days as to outline in more detail as to what their response will be. thanks forjoining us. jurors in the trial of a teenager — accused of planting a bomb on the london underground — have been shown images of the moment a fireball ripped through the train carriage. the blast forced commuters to scramble to escape the blaze. our correspondent richard lister is at the old bailey. pretty powerful testament from those on the train at the time. that is why, we have heard from a succession of commuters who were on the carriage —— that is right. the carriage —— that is right. the carriage was filled with a bright orange fireball, very dramatic footage that the jury have been watching, and we heard from a series of commuters. one witness gave evidence from a height screen and she talked about hearing people screaming and she estimated she was only a metre away from where the device went off. she jumped from the

carriage but she had burns on her knees were bad and her face was burnt and she was pausing frequently to compose herself and this was clearly very emotional for her, she said her coat had burnt and her tights had melted. amy colville had a similar story, she said she heard a similar story, she said she heard a loud bang and then there was a shudder and a wall of glass came across her. and also flames, she felt a going over her head, and when the flames came over her her hair caught fire. we heard from a man, alex bevan, he said he's away rolling fireball coming over the ceiling. and lucinda glazebrook, she was very emotional and she said she had just got on the train at parsons green when the device exploded. she said she felt the heat from the fireball and she kept touching her face and feeding the back of her hairand it was face and feeding the back of her hair and it was coming out in chunks. —— feeling. she was scared of the damage it had done to her

face and so you get a sense of the trauma that many of the commuters went through that day in september. earlier we saw a lot of cctv footage which the prosecution played as part of their case. showing the suspect carrying a bag which do prosecution claims had the bomb inside it —— the prosecution. we saw more cctv of him walking from his house in surrey to wimbledon station, we saw him going to the station and towards the underground and getting off one stop before parsons green without that bag that the persecution alleges have the bomb, but he denies attempted murder and causing an explosion likely to in danger life —— in danger. explosion likely to in danger life -- in danger. thanks forjoining us. thanks forjoining us. suspected domestic abusers could be electronically tagged or banned

from drinking alcohol, under new government proposals for england and wales. draft legislation has been put out for public consultation, as lucinda adam 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 her black eyes. some people say to me, "why didn't you get out sooner?" if you leave a relationship, do you really want to be looking over your shoulder? that person could be still after you. because he already told me, he will say when it is over. then 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 called the police. today the prime minister and home secretary metjust a few of the 2 million people, mostly women, who suffer domestic abuse each year. they heard the survivors‘ views on plans for stronger laws and quicker intervention.

what we are proposing today is a really ambitious sea change in people's approach to domestic abuse, really bringing it out from where it has been hidden. this is notjust about the really nasty attacks that take place, but it's about building on the work we have already done on coercive control and introducing new forms of abuse to be considered by thejudges. among the proposals, broadening the legal definition of domestic abuse to include physical, psychological, sexual and emotional but also economic abuse. tougher sentences for cases involving children, and protection orders that could see abuses electronically tagged or banned from drinking alcohol. we are pleased to see the spotlight on financial and economic abuse, this can be anything from having your wages taken away from you by your partner to committing benefit fraud in your name. it's a horrible aspect of domestic abuse. the consultation period for the proposed new laws will last 12 weeks. lucinda adam, bbc news.

two 18—year—old men have been arrested after a student at nottingham trent university said she was subjected to racist abuse through the door of her room. rufaro chisango said there were chants of "we hate the blacks" and she posted a video of what happened on social media. we have bleeped some of the words. inaudible. leave her alone! what was that, sorry?