the flame t‘ui‘e‘. fling: bmgzggfait he flue wrwrum ‘uiifi fifie flue wrwrul ‘uilfi il-‘ufie there. the flame brought into the stadium in the united hands of north and south korean athlete before lighting the cauldron in and south korean athlete before l|ght|re fog uldron in and south korean athlete before l|ght|re fog uldron ii for fté‘fl'flfifiil fifefieefee flfiile tee' fté‘fl'f'eeil fifefieefee fieele tee | begins ‘ with british if tee weather behaves, alpine skiing begins with the downhill and there will be medal hopes resting on the shoulders of athletes. they will be hoping to get back on the podium. elsewhere, scott mina will represent great britain for the first time in nordic skiing for the first time in nordic skiing for the first time in 20 years. competing in six out of the eight days. finally the curling team will hope to begin their campaign with a win. a busy day to start here. thank you. and now the weather.

weather—wise we have a mixture of conditions. turning cloudy across england and wales but further north in cumbria also cloud, contrast and good sunshine in parts of scotland. the weather is changing because further south we have low pressure and a weather front. this cloud, not and a weather front. this cloud, not a straight weather front, and one that will bring pulses of rain. the rain is beginning to arrive across parts of south west england now. we have showers moving across scotland, as well. the showers continue for the rest of the day. further south cloud will thicken up with outbreaks of rain arriving and that will turn heavier in a rush hour across central, southern england and south—east england. up to 12 celsius, not bad for the time of

year. 0vernight rain working northwards. getting into northern ireland by the end of the night. we will see a contrast in temperatures. south—westerly winds blowing in milderairand by the south—westerly winds blowing in milder air and by the end of the night, ten, 11 degrees in cardiff and london but cold in scotland and cold enough for pockets of frost. as far as the weekend goes, you will see spells of rain, turning milder as the weekend goes on. brisk winds, particularly on saturday and often a lot of cloud in the sky. saturday looks like this. rain pushing across northern england and into northern ireland and scotland. there could be snow across higher parts of scotland but as the milder air works in, snow will turn back to rain. rain across wales in south—west england, perhaps lingering into the first part of the

afternoon. it will be cloudy, but on the mild side, particularly eastern england where it could reach 15 celsius. another band of rain moving get across southern counties of england could be heavy, with under mixed in perhaps. and rain not far from the east coast. further north west, lighter winds, more from the east coast. further north west, lighterwinds, more sunshine. that is the latest weather. that is all. so it's goodbye from me — and on bbc one we nowjoin the bbc‘s news teams where you are. that afternoon, look at the sport on bbc news. the opening ceremony has taken place in pyeongchang to mark the start of the biggest winter paralympics to date. a spectacular light show and dance performance marked the start of the ceremony before snowboarder 0wen pick, a former soldier

who had his leg amputated after being injured in afghanistan, led the paralympics gb team with the union flag. a record 567 athletes from 48 countries will take part in the games, as well as the neutral paralympic athletes which include 30 russians who have proven they are clean, following the doping scandal in their country. the paralympic flame was lit by south korean wheelchair curler sir dave brailsford, after an mps' select committee enquiry. their report said the team "crossed an ethical line" by using drugs allowed under anti—doping rules for medical purposes, to enhance performance. froome himself returned an adverse drugs test result back in september

but he says the team is improving its procedures. from the conception of the team back in 2010, there have been a lot of things that have changed. there have been a lot of procedures and checks that have been put in place since then. it's like anything, anything evolves. the team started in 2010, so that's eight or nine years the team's been going. naturally, everything will evolve. do you back dave brailsford staying as team principal? yes, i do. arsenal's victory in the europa league last night helped end their worst run since 2002 and ease the pressure on manager arsene wenger. his side went to italy and they came back with a 2—0 victory over ac milan. henrik mkhitaryan scored his first goal for the club, before aaron ramsey added another at the san siro. the second leg is at

the emirates next thursday. look, we have won a game, we are not qualified so what the result could mean, it could lift the game a little bit. we have to be in the team again because if you lose three games in six days, it's always very difficult but we want to keep our focus and finish the job next week, that is what is the target. 23—time grand slam winner serena williams won her first singles match on the wta tour for nearly 1a months as she returned after the birth of her child. at 36, and having suffered what she called ‘near fatal‘ health complications after giving birth last september, she reached the second round at indian wells with a straight sets victory over kazakhstan's zarina diyas. afterwards, williams said she was ‘a little rusty‘. i was almost going to cry because i missed my daughter. but i pulled myself together and said, "you've got to do this." but i was really happy to be out

there, just to be able to play tennis again. not great news for heather watson, though, she is out at indian wells. shejust cannot though, she is out at indian wells. she just cannot beat victoria azarenka, this is the sixth time they have met and the sixth time watson have lost. rory mcilroy‘s masters preparations took a bit of a knock on the opening day of the valspar championship in florida. he started with 10 straight pars, but things then fell apart and he dropped three shots, to finish with a 7k. he's seven shots behind the leader corey conners. before the tournament, mcilroy said he was "totally ready" for the masters — the only major he's yet to win. it starts at augusta national on 5th april. that is all the sport for now, you can find more on the website and i will have more in the next hour, see

you then. thanks, hugh. back to our top story. questions are still being asked as to why the former russian double—agent sergei skripal and his daughter yulia were targeted after being exposed to a nerve agent in salisbury — they were found collapsed on a park bench on sunday afternoon. one man who met mr skripal recently in london revealed he had been working in cyber security. he also said he had been visiting the capital once a month to meet friends in the russian embassy. speaking to our correspondent richard galpin, he said he believed he may have been a target of russian criminal gangs, in an attempt to internationally discredit president putin ahead of russia's election. we were working in london. and we we re we were working in london. and we were completing a project by the end of the year. a few days before completion of the project we were coming back with my wife from london and we came to waterloo station and

near waterloo station is the russian shop where russian food is being sold, and of course as usual you can't find original russian but from former soviet republics. it is run not by a russian but by an afghan quy not by a russian but by an afghan guy who speaks russian. what became there there was a man who was buying different stuff also there, and we recognised each other because we had once met in russia but frankly speaking i recognised only that i know the face. but he had better memory maybe but also because of my articles and might story with kremlin and conflict i was the only one who accused kremlin of

corruption and started official criminal prosecution, and because of my story the head of the service lost hisjob, the my story the head of the service lost his job, the deputy lost his job, everybody in the department was fired and lost theirjobs, the head of the police as a result of this, the head of the police in russia was sentenced to 20 years imprisonment and his deputy jumped sentenced to 20 years imprisonment and his deputyjumped out of the window during interrogation and was killed. different stories like this. so people read a lot, he remembered my face. and he started speaking to me and we started discussing, maybe because i was in the army, stationed abroad in india, knewa

because i was in the army, stationed abroad in india, knew a lot of people from military intelligence, i could see that he looks like, he told me he worked for the minister forforeign affairs, told me he worked for the minister for foreign affairs, he told me he worked for the minister forforeign affairs, he is told me he worked for the minister for foreign affairs, he is from the military. then he started telling me about himself and we talked a bit about himself and we talked a bit about us, the 20 minutes we were standing there discussing with my wife, me and him and that guy was looking at us, this is rather strange. what did he say to you about himself? the main thing, he was telling a lot of things about his family, by the way, about his son, the death of his son, he was very joyful but son, the death of his son, he was veryjoyful but when he started speaking of his son and my wife asked him what had happened, whether it was cancer or asked him what had happened, whether it was cancer oi’ some asked him what had happened, whether it was cancer or some disease he said no, it was an unfortunate

incident, he was in russia and he died, and the tears appeared in his eyes and we could see that it was a tragedy, real tragedy for him because i understand his son was also military. and he said his son had died in an accident and there was no. . . had died in an accident and there was no... question of it being suspicious? no question or suspicion, nothing about this, he was very relaxed. what specifically did he say about people he had been meeting in london? he said there was somebody he has very good connections to in the russian embassy, and he was meeting his collea g u es embassy, and he was meeting his colleagues and friends, he said, i have friends in the embassy and i am coming to london once in the months and meeting them, ijust met them and meeting them, ijust met them and i'm coming back to salisbury. and he said about his business, he said doing business, different kinds

but close down my business in spain and i'm working mainly in cyber—security. and those he has given me his telephone number, mobile, all those things, but then i decided it can create maybe some problems for me, former military intelligence, retired, living in the uk, meeting in the embassies and working in cyber—security with all this stuff which is going on about russian involvement, i thought that maybe it was not worth contacting him later because it may create some questions from british authorities, i don't want to create such questions so i decided not to call him. when he talked about, did he say what he was doing in cyber—security? say what he was doing in cyber-security? know, and i was not asking because it is a sensitive

question. but i understand that he was working for some russian groups. working with people in the embassy on this or something completely separate? no, no, i had the feeling he was not... this meeting with friends was one and cyber—security and his business was another. so he wasn't, when you said he met with friends in the embassy, who do you think they were? i understood, i know how russian military people speak, i understand these were officers of military intelligence. so he was meeting with other military intelligence officers who work at the russian embassy? he was absolutely relaxed about it. more than this he was joyful. he liked this meeting. so he had a good relationship, it appeared? one more thing, i had a feeling he was not

afraid of speaking about it, say for example m15 ormi6 afraid of speaking about it, say for example m15 or mi6 will know about it. that was my opinion, impression. did he say anything about why he had gone to meet them? no, he was simply saying, i have good relations, i have good contacts, we meeting regularly, i come especially once a month to london to meet. so he didn't have any particular purpose other than just meeting colleagues oi’ other than just meeting colleagues or ex—colleagues? other than just meeting colleagues or ex-colleagues? he was speaking as if it was a meeting of friends. like military intelligence, retired, but meeting friends. and it wasn't something he had to do, he had to come every month and report to the russian embassy? if it was like this, i don't think you would speak to me like this. i can't imagine a

kernel of military intelligence i have met people, colonels working the embassies, i cannot imagine a man like this speaking to me, say, for example, he went once but, you know, if it was service meetings. but nevertheless, you know, contact could be used so that is why i was relu cta nt to could be used so that is why i was reluctant to call him because with all this cyber—security and meetings can be used by somebodyjust... probably it is not possible to a nswer probably it is not possible to answer this, but did he give any indication of the cyber—security work, who that was for? no, there we re work, who that was for? no, there were no details, and i didn't want, because they think is that

cyber—security is such a sensitive matter now and i'm also working as an analytical, political analyst, closely watching what is going on, cyber interference, accusation of russians and especially trump this year, there is also a lot of fake information there, so it is a very tricky subject and i didn't want, you know, to be in contact with the former military intelligence just to be on the safe side. in a moment, a summary of the business news this hour but first the headlines on bbc news —

180 military personnel are being deployed to help with the investigation into the nerve agent attack on a former russian spy and his daughter. donald trump agrees to face to face talks with kim jong—un, in a move brokered by south korea — it's expected to take place in may. nhs chiefs and health unions in england are understood to be close to agreeing a three—year pay deal. good afternoon, the business news 110w. restaurant chains wagamama, tgi fridays and marriot hotels are among 179 employers named and shamed by the government for failing to pay staff the national minimum wage. as president trump signs off new tariffs on steel and aluminium imports, major trading partners condemn the move, calling it a "serious attack" on international trade. the uk's trade secretary liam fox says he will go to washington to seek an exemption. the chair of the institute of

directors, lady barbara judge, has been suspended following accusations of racist, sexist and bullying behaviour. the business body said it's decision was "pending further investigation". ladyjudge is contesting the allegations. the list goes on and on — retailers hitting hard times. last week it was toys r us and the electronics retailer maplin, byron, carluccio's, jamie's italian and prezzo. this week it's fashion chain new look, house of fraser, claire's accessories. not all have gone under, some are restructuring their finances, cutting staff, retrenching. but even though the news would suggest something close to a high street recession, the last report on retail "the underlying pattern in retail sales one of slow growth". joining us now to give us a run down is natalie berg, the founder of nbk retail. from the overall figures it does not

look too bad, you would not imagine there was a crisis but if you look at the number of companies hit, it looks awful, what is going on?” think the retail sector is facing unprecedented changes. not only are retailers having to adapt to a huge structural shifts as more and more people buy online instead beanstalk, also we have this dangerous combination of rising costs and subdued demand, putting considerable pressure on retailers. as we saw last week it is exposing those with underlying issues, like toys r us and maplin. is it not to do with shifts in shopping habits, because we are all shopping online, or is that not a big enough factor gets? it is certainly a factor in categories like a electronics and toys, evidenced by the collapse of those retailers just mentioned, toys, evidenced by the collapse of those retailersjust mentioned, but it is more conjugated than just online grooming, retail apocalypse for the high street. i think in the future, high street stores,

particularly department stores, will have to reinvent themselves and create more of an experience for shoppers, so lots of innovation, debenhams is trailing gyms and some of their stores, john lewis is providing theatrical training for some of its staff, so it will be about service and experience in the future. theatrical training sounds rather fun, future. theatrical training sounds ratherfun, iam not future. theatrical training sounds ratherfun, i am not sure future. theatrical training sounds rather fun, i am not sure whether we will all welcome that! what about cost, what are the big costs making it so hard? is it the red, the property, or the wages? it is a bit of everything, it is a perfect storm. we cannot forget inflation. since the eu referendum, the pound has been weak and that has particularly been a challenge, for all retailers but particularly for the grocers, as we saw in the waitrose numbers yesterday. around half of the food we consume in the uk is imported, and even higher in categories like fruit and vegetables, so it is costing retailers more to get products on the shelves and they have to make that very difficult decision whether

to pass on the cost of the customer oi’ to pass on the cost of the customer or had it impact the bottom line. 0k, thank you very much indeed. a quick look at some other business stories around today... foxy bingo owner gvc has reported higher annual revenues as it gears up to complete its £4 billion takeover of rival ladbrokes coral. the deal follows two previous such attempts, and now has shareholder approval. the accessories retailer claire's stores is set to go into bankruptcy protection in the coming weeks — that's according to bloomberg. the retailer, which has over 4000 stores in 45 countries, has $2 billion in debt and was bought by private equity firm apollo in 2007 for $3.1 billion. former us president barack 0bama and his wife michelle are in talks to produce shows for netflix, that's according to the new york times and cnn.

the couple are apparently set to make exclusive content for the us streaming site focused on uplifting stories. a quick look at the markets... the news we have had in the last ten minutes is very strong employment figures coming out of the united states. 313,000 newjobs created in the us, unemployment rate down at 4.196 the us, unemployment rate down at 4.1% which effectively from an economist to' point of view is full employment there. seeing a strong dollar, slightly weaker pound, because people are worried about the inflationary impact of all those jobs being created effectively as i said full employment in the united states. that is the business. thank you,jamie, see states. that is the business. thank you, jamie, see you later on. bones discovered on a pacific island

in 19110 are "likely" to be those of famed pilot amelia earhart. earhart, her plane, and her navigator vanished without a trace in 1937 over the pacific ocean. many theories have sought to explain her disappearance. but a new study published in forensic anthropology claims these bones prove she died as an island castaway. cordelia hemming reports. these are the very last pictures of amelia earhart. the american aviator famous for flying solo across the atlantic. her tough character and high profile advocating for aviation and other women, particularly women pilots, made her a legendary figure. the flight is one that has never been accomplished from around the world by the equator. in 1937 she set off in an attempt to fly across the globe, but she vanished over the pacific ocean during the first leg of that trip. a disappearance that would lead to multiple theories. three years later, a british party

explored an island in the pacific 0cean south—west of hawaii. they found items including a human skull and a bottle of liqueur which the pilot was known to carry. the investigation at the time believed that the remains belonged to a man. but doubt has been passed on that conclusion. a study has used historical photographs to determine that her body proportions matched the skeletal remains. scientists say that when the remains were found, the study of bones was in its early stages so their results may not have been accurate. gasoline is more valuable than you are in a long flight! earhart once said of her solar activities, it is far easier to start something than to finish it. now, more than 80 years since her disappearance, it seems as though this mystery may be nearing its end. fascinating story, that. let's check

the latest weather prospects with chris fawkes. how was it looking? the weather is on the change, a band of rain working up over the next few hours into southern areas of england. it has been cloudy at times in cumbria today but generally across northern england, northern ireland and scotla nd england, northern ireland and scotland at least you have seen sunshine poking through. this is how things started off in cumbria earlier on today. sunny skies in scotland, a few clouds over the mountains, this picture sent in from the argyll and bute area, but changes are afoot. an area of low pressure to the south and notices wiggly strip of cloud, one of those weather front that is not coming in ina nice weather front that is not coming in in a nice neat line but will bring pulses of heavy rain. the rain is beginning to make inroads across wales and south—west england and notice we have a number of showers working across scotland, indeed those will continue across western parts of scotland through the rest of the afternoon. 0utbreaks

rest of the afternoon. outbreaks of rain will continue to working across southern england and will turn have yet across central southern england and the south—east in time for rush hour so things turning soggy and overnight rain continues to drift further northwards. south—westerly wind will drag in pretty mild air so temperatures by the end of the night ten or 11 for london and cardiff but further north still with clear skies across parts of scotland it will be cold enough for some pockets of frost. quite a contrast across different parts of the country but the weekend weather looks something like this. we will have spells of rain working in, it will be turning milder, quite windy at times particularly on saturday, and often the weather looks to be pretty cloudy as well. with more detail, here is saturday's weather chart. a couple of weather front is coming our way, the most

active across northern ireland and scotland, a band of rain here, and for a time across higher parts of scotla nd for a time across higher parts of scotland in the mountains we will see a bit of snow. as the milder air works in, any snow here will turn back to when. but the south and west, rain lingering across wales and south—west england through the morning and perhaps into the early afternoon, staying cloudy, a few brighter stars in the east where temperatures could reach 50 degrees oi’ temperatures could reach 50 degrees or so around the norwich carrier. by the second half of the weekend, sunday, we will see another band of rain reaching through southern counties of england and parts of wales and the midlands, the rain will not just be wales and the midlands, the rain will notjust be happy but a risk of a few rumbles of thunder mixed in. temperatures continue to rise in scotla nd temperatures continue to rise in scotland so 10 degrees in aberdeen and edinburgh, further south 13 or so in london so things are turning that bit milder. you can catch the full forecast for where you live on your bbc weather website and also on your bbc weather website and also on your smartphone app or your iphone as well. hello, you're watching afternoon live. today at 2pm. military personnel are deployed to salisbury — to help in the investigation into the attempted murder of an ex—russian double—agent and his daughter. after months of exchanging insults, president trump and the north korean

leader kim jong un agree to meet. a week after the severe weather — we hear from the surgeon who walked eight miles in blizzard conditions so she could perform a crucial operation. i got igot up, i got up, had a look out the door, got the snow shoes, and headed off. and the biggest winter paralympics ever are under way — with a record number of athletes taking part. coming up on afternoon live all the sport — with hugh. and there's been a first for the premier league. the brighton and hove albion boss chris hughton has been named