this is bbc news. the headlines at 10:003m. home secretary amber rudd will chair a second emergency meeting of the government's cobra committee later — as the investigation continues in to the poisoning of a former russian spy and his daughter. specialist troops have been deployed to salisbury, a police car is being examined and the grave of sergei skripal‘s wife has been cordoned off. he and his daughter yulia remain in a critical condition in hospital. "a deal with north korea is very much in the making" — the words of president trump on twitter, as he agrees to a meeting with leader kim jong—un. 21—year—old nephew of the actress liz hurley is in hospital after being repeatedly stabbed. and a british medal on day one of the winter paralymics... millie knight and guide brett wild take downhill silver in pyeongchang. this time last year i sustained

quite a severe concussion on this slope where i crashed into the finish line. and to now cross the line today, as paralympic silver medallists, is amazing. and in half an hour's time, the travel show goes to mauritius, marking the 50th anniversary of the end of british colonial rule. good morning and welcome to bbc news. the home secretary will chair a second meeting of the government's emergency cobra committee today, as investigations continue into the poisoning of a former russian spy. sergei skripal and his daughter yulia are both in a serious condition in hospital in salisbury after being exposed to a nerve agent. specialist troops trained in chemical warfare have been deployed to the city, as andy moore reports. driven away by the army last night, a police car possibly contaminated by traces of nerve agent.

it had been parked outside salisbury hospital. during the day, military personnel in protective gear had made it ready for transportation. this cemetery is another focus of the investigation. sergei skripal‘s wife is buried here, and there's also a memorial stone for his son. alexander's birthday was last week. yulia had flown in from russia to visit her father. did they both come here to pay their respects before they fell ill? we're told yulia is responding better than her father to medical treatment, but they are both seriously ill. detective sergeant nick bailey, who was also exposed to the nerve agent, is said to be making good progress. from the people of salisbury, there's some understandable anxiety, but no sign of widespread fear. we're concerned about public safety. we've got two young sons who often come into the centre. so, you know, we want it to be safe here.

if there have been no further cases that we have been told about — and i presume we would have been told about — then we can only trust the government and trust the local authorities that they are handling the case. i don't feel worried. i feel very safe in salisbury. i assume that everybody has got it under control. i just hope they get to the bottom of it so we can actually find out exactly what's been happening. on tuesday, the defence secretary was just one of several senior ministers to attend the first meeting of cobra dealing with this attack. this afternoon, there will be a second meeting. senior counterterrorist police officers will give an update on the progress of their investigation. but very little information is being shared with the public. andy moore, bbc news. a close friend of yulia skripal has been speaking to the bbc. irina petrova, who went to school and grew up with miss srkipal, described how she dealt with her father being arrested in russia.

translation: she never shared her problems, never. we found out about her father when they showed him on all the tv channels. everyone was shocked. i can only say good things about yulia because i know her from the best side. she hasn't done anything to deserve to die like this. i hope everything will be ok. i will go to church and pray. our correspondent sarah corker is in salisbury, what is striking about that interview, i suppose, what is striking about that interview, isuppose, is interview, i suppose, is the air of mystery that remains about yulia. she says shejoined mystery that remains about yulia. she says she joined a company and then had left it, but was still telling people she worked there. her friend said people are now quite frightened and her relatives will not speak about what happened in britain. there is a sense of so much we don't know about the family. and

that a bbc interview has helped to painta that a bbc interview has helped to paint a clearer picture about yulia and the type of girl she is. she is described as a talented girl, but we also understand nobody really had an inkling about the past of her father asa inkling about the past of her father as a spy. we know she lived in the ukfora number of as a spy. we know she lived in the uk for a number of years before returning to russia. as for what is happening here in salisbury, as you heard in andy moore's report, the military swept into the city yesterday. some are specially trained in chemical warfare. we saw some wearing protective suits and gas masks. some vehicles and objects we re gas masks. some vehicles and objects were removed by the military yesterday. today we expect the focus could move towards the ambulances the victims were brought to hospital in. they could be moved and decontaminated. investigators are trying to put together a timeline of events and the movements of sergei skripal and his daughter yulia before they became violently ill a nswer

before they became violently ill answer and they. we have seen police activity at his home and at the cemetery where his wife was buried. earlier this morning i saw at least three police vans parked up at that vicinity and police officers on guard. at the zizzi restaurant around the corner, there are screens in front of it. a police guard is stationed. we are at the park, the penge behind me is where the pair we re penge behind me is where the pair were found ill and where the effects of the nerve agent first became apparent. —— the bench behind me. later this afternoon, at around 3pm, home secretary amber rudd will chair an emergency cobra meeting, an emergency briefing with the intelligence and security officials, civil servants and ministers. they will look at the progress of the investigation. it's not clear at this stage whether there will be any public comments made by the home secretary after that meeting, but the major questions remain. when and

where was the chemical agent administered, who administered and why. the government today has been saying, what it has been saying all along, we need to know more before we know how to respond. but ben wallace, the minister, said today that somebody has come on to british soil and brazenly and recklessly committed a nasty crime. the methodical work to gather the evidence, is that what this is really about, or is it fear of further threat, but actually getting the evidence that might prove what the evidence that might prove what the nerve agent is, and from that, you might have been responsible. the nerve agent is, and from that, you might have been responsiblelj think you might have been responsible.” think what's been quite interesting is that he authorities have been very tight lipped. we haven't got any more confirmed information about what is likely to happen later today. i think what we can read from that, as you suggest, behind closed doors they are busy gathering

evidence with scientists trying to determine where this chemical agent, this nerve agent, came from. can they trace it back to a particular country or laboratory? the home secretary amber rudd has declined to comment on speculation that russia could be behind this. moscow have denied any involvement. i think we will have to wait and see what comes out from the cobra meeting later this afternoon. president trump has posted a message on twitter saying a deal with north korea is very much in the making — and if completed, would be very good for the world. mr trump said the time and place of the deal were still to be determined. earlier, his white house press secretary said the summit with kim jong—un would not happen unless washington saw concrete steps or actions by pyongyang. let's speak now to our correspondent in seoul, robin brant. there is a sense in the united

states at least that the white house might be slightly rolling back from having committed to a summit almost without any preconditions, apparently. how will that go down in south korea, given it was the south koreans who delivered the message saying that pyongyang is open for talks? there is no doubt that is a mixed message emanating from washington, dc in the last 12 hours oi’ washington, dc in the last 12 hours or $0. washington, dc in the last 12 hours or so. first we had that startling revelation that the president was ready to accept the meeting with kim jong—un with no conditions, with no preparatory talks, that we know of. and then sarah sanders, the press secretary, said there was the need for concrete steps and it looks like they were rowing back. also some reporting from the wall street journal in washington overnight saying the white house is clear the meeting will happen. there are no preconditions. it will happen before the end of may. we don't know where oi’ the end of may. we don't know where or when but it is on. in terms of

the reaction in seoul to any possibility that perhaps things were being toned down, perhaps it might not happen, we haven't heard anything today, but looking to the words of president moonjae—in yesterday, the south korean leader who has managed to engineer the meeting, he was frankly euphoric and described the prospect of kim jong—un and donald trump sitting down opposite each other as a miracle. he described the meeting, even before it has happened, even before when and where we know it will happen, he described it as a milestone on the road to realising a long lasting peace. so he is hugely optimistic just about the meeting itself, let alone the prospect of some substantive agreement between the two men. we always thought of china as being the key player in terms of the prospect of getting north korea to change tack. the chinese state media today saying that they had played a role and it's all down to both whether there is

denuclearise asian and the americans stop military action with the south koreans. is any of that realistically on the table?” koreans. is any of that realistically on the table? i think the chinese role in getting to where we are now, there is no doubt their willingness after much reticence to finally ensure those un sanctions were properly enforced and restricting severely the flow of coal and also oil to north korea in the last few months, there is no doubt that has put even more pressure on north korea and its economy and there is a widespread feeling that may be one of the things that has brought the north koreans to the table. one problem i think i have with the chinese claim is what is known as their suspension for suspension the strategy has brought about this meeting, is we are told kim jong—un is willing to accept that south korea, the united

states, and the military exercises they have planned for the coming months, is that he has said that can go ahead. so that is not suspension for suspension. these events are the most in century in the eyes of the north koreans, presumably. they fear a us—led south korean invasion of the north so they don't like to see these military exercises, so the chinese sage suspension for suspension has worked but apparently kim jong—un has accepted there will not be a suspension of the next due military exercise. i find that a little confusing. mixed signals all over the place. robin brant in seoul, thank you very much. teachers in england could see their workloads cut, under proposals being set out today by the education secretary, dominic hinds. secretary, damian hinds. he will tell a headteachers‘ conference in birmingham this morning that he wants to end what he calls "pointless tasks" so teachers can "focus on what really matters". it comes after research shows headteachers have increased spending on supply teachers. here's more from our education correspondent, elaine dunkley. this is passmores academy in essex.

like so many schools, it's struggling to recruit teachers. classrooms around the country are now relying on agency supply teachers to cover permanent vacancies. we employ supply staff within our school, a long—term supply, so they get to know the students. but when we have to use short—term supply, they don't know the systems or the students. the trust that often comes when you build up a relationship, isn't there. it is quite erosive of standards, potentially. in a survey by the association of school and college leaders, 71% of head teachers who responded said they had had to increase the amount they spend on agency supply teachers over the past three years. nearly one fifth spent between 6% and 10% of their budget on supply teachers. according to the most recent government figures, schools are spending £835 million per year on supply agencies. the issue isn't just recruitment, but stopping existing teachers leaving. for me it was a multitude of factors.

i found the workload and the job itself consuming. i would work 65 or 70 hour weeks. with planning, marking, the assessments you're doing. the actual teaching part probably took up the least time of anything! today, the government will announce a strategy drive to improve teachers‘ workloads, which includes no changes to the national curriculum for gcses and a—levels, and no new tests for primary schools — measures which the government says will attract new teachers and stop experienced ones leaving. elaine dunkley, bbc news. an 85—year—old man has died while waiting in an accident and emergency unit because of "dangerous overcrowding", according to a hospital boss. the man suffered a cardiac arrest while waiting to see a senior consultant at northampton general hospital. a leaked email from the trust's medical director describes his death as "due entirely to dangerous overcrowding in the department". in a statement the hospital said the long wait for

treatment was unacceptable. the row over america's gun laws has resurfaced after the state of florida signed new gun control measures into law. it raised the age limit for buying a gun from 18 to 21, following the school shooting at parkland, in which seventeen students and staff were killed. but the lobby group the national rifle association, has mounted a legal challenge, saying the new law goes against the constitutional right to bear arms. our washington correspondent chris buckler reports. standing side—by—side with the families of some of those killed inside a school, florida's governor signed new laws, legislation designed to try to prevent such shootings by restricting access to guns. the commonsense things as a father, as a grandfather, as a governor, is we need to have law enforcement in our schools, we need to harden our schools. we need more mental health counselling, we need to make sure people that are going to do harm think about it.

we know these people are talking. the legislation is named after the marjory stoneman douglas high school in parkland. last month 17 people, both staff and students, were shot dead here, as others fled from classrooms in search of safety. former pupil nikolas cruz is accused of carrying out the killings with an assault rifle he had bought when he was just 18. the new law raises the age at which somebody can buy a firearm in florida from 18 to 21, and imposes a three—day waiting period for all sales. it allows some staff to be armed subject to training and school district approval, but it doesn't ban the type of semiautomatic weapons that were used in the parkland shooting. in florida grief has been coupled with anger, and the pupils who lost friends and teachers have led a campaign for tighter laws. chanting:

what do we want? gun control! when do we want it? now! notjust in this state but across america. there are some signs that president trump is listening but many americans believe in their right to bear arms and the gun lobby has huge political sway in the us. we are done with your agenda to undermine voters' will and individual liberty in america. alongside their adverts arguing that their members' voices are not being heard, the national rifle association is now bringing legal action to try to overturn the new legislation in florida. the nra claims that raising the age at which someone can buy a gun breaches both the second and 14th amendments of the us constitution. it's an argument that may end up being fought out in florida's courts, but it's only one part of a wider debate, and before the end of the month students will march in washington to demand new countrywide

restrictions on gun sales. the campaigners say they no longer want just sympathy, they want change. chris buckler, bbc news, washington. let's ta ke let's take a look at the headlines. home secretary amber rudd will chair a second emergency meeting of the government's cobra committee later as the investigation continues in to the poisoning of a former russian spy and his daughter. i deal with ideal with north i deal with north korea is very ideal with north korea is very much in the making, those are the words of president trump as he agrees to a meeting with leader kim jong—un. the nephew of actress liz hurley is in hospital after being stabbed repeatedly in london. sport now and a full round—up from the bbc sport centre with mike bushell. it may be the winter olympics, but mike bushell is in his summer suit. inafew mike bushell is in his summer suit. in a few weeks' time i greater still

your mac for the commonwealth games to cover for the bbc. your mac for the commonwealth games to coverfor the bbc. i am getting prepared. it is slightly warmer. great news for paralympics gb on the first day of competition. millie knight said it was "the best feeling in the world" after winning great britain's first medal at the winter paralympics in pyeongchang. she took silver in the visually impaired downhill, with her guide, brett wild. only a year ago, knight thought she may not make the games after suffering a serious concussion when she crashed just after winning the world championship title. it's absolutely fantastic. this time last year i sustained quite a severe concussion on this slope, where i crashed into the finish line. to now cross the line today as paralympic silver medallists is amazing. the paralympics gb curling team have won their opening match against the world champions norway. it all came down to the final stone of the eighth end, with norwegian skip needing a perfect shot to pull it

back but it finished 5—2 to great britain. the six nations championship could be decided today if results go their way, ireland will take the title. they're the only side that can do the grand slam winning every match and if they beat scotland, and take a bonus point, england must do the same in france, to take the championship to the final weekend. we just need to make sure we play from the first minute. and that we do not let any distractions or any little things, or even a dropped ball in the warm up, or the bus breaking down, or anything left field like that, that that does not catch is, because this game is all about experience and bringing together and using it. they're up against a scotland team full of confidence after beating england. the scots are third in the table, and victory for them would mean a whole new set of permutations. if we are serious about challenging for the title we need to win this game. clearly ireland are unbeaten and going well. there are very side.

it will be a massive test for us. we will need head—on. england will know what they need to do by the time they kick off in paris. they might have to score four tries and pick up a bonus point but their boss won't be rolling the dice. iam i am not a gambler, iam nota gambler, i i am not a gambler, i am iam nota gambler, iam nota speculator. the only thing i have got to worry about is england against france, it is all we can control. if we play well we will get a bonus point, if we do not play well, we will get beaten, if we play above—average, we will win the game. they'll hope for better conditions than we saw in bath last night. in torrential rain, they beat northampton to reach the anglo—welsh cup final. fortunately levi douglas wasn't afraid of the mud — his try helped bath to win by 13 points to 12. manchester city may be flying ahead, in the premier league title race, but the fight for second place is warming up nicely. two of the contenders meet at lunchtime, with manchester united

facing liverpool at old trafford. their last meeting back in october ended in a goalless draw, with united playing a defensive game and jurgen klopp won't be afraid to do likewise. it is not a battle of systems or philosophies. it's two very good football teams who face each other. when united will attack, i hope all my players are involved in defending, to be honest. if somebody says we are parking the bus in that moment, then we park the bus, i have no problem with that. in the scottish premiership, we have rangers against celtic in the old firm derby tomorrow. last night, hibernian moved 12 points clear of neighbours hearts with a 2—0 win at easter road. hibs are nowjust a point behind third—placed aberdeen. jonny bairstow hit a century as england beat new zealand by 7 wickets in christchurch to win the one—day series, 3—2. chris woakes bowled brilliantly, taking 3—32. adil rashid also claimed three

wickets as the black caps were bowled out for 223 and england reached their target with the loss ofjust three wickets. they've won the last six odi series. our short—term plans to learn as much as we can in the interim with important series, and in the summer with australia. home conditions and australia will come with full firepower, with one eye on the world cup in europe's time. that will be another tough series and hopefully a series we can go close and if not win. only five games in but already it looks like st helens are going to take some stopping in super league. they've won every game, last night beating warrington wolves 30—12, mark percival scoring three tries. british number one johanna konta said defeat in the second round at indian wells was one of the tougher losses of her career. she was beaten in straight

sets, by 18—year old ranked 54th in the world. konta has won only eight matches since she reached the semi—finals at wimbledon last summer. rory mcilroy‘s masters preparations are not going to plan. he's missed the cut at the valspar championship in florida after another over—par round. canada's corey conners, still leads, with tiger woods only two shots behind. that's all the sport for now. you can find more on all those stories on the bbc sport website. we also have the latest from the winter paralympic games in pyeongchang. i will have more for you in my summer suit in the next hour. thank you. we will miss you when you go to australia. an eight—hour siege at a veterans‘ home in northern california has ended with four people being found dead. police said the bodies of three women and a man, believed to be the gunman, were discovered in a room

in the complex at yountville. tim allman reports. in the sprawling hills of the napa valley, a stand—off that ultimately ended in tragedy. holed away in a single room in this veterans‘ home, a man armed with a rifle and three women being held hostage. for hour after hour, police officers, investigators from the fbi, and specialised hostage negotiators all tried in vain to talk to the suspect and convince him to let the women go free. but there was to be no peaceful resolution to this story, the siege ending in the saddest way imaginable. i come before the public with some tragic news. shortly before 6pm this evening, law enforcement personnel made entry into the room where we felt the hostages were being held by the suspect, and unfortunately made the discovery of three deceased females and one deceased male suspect. it is believed that suspect had until recently been

a resident at the home, the biggest of its kind in the united states, which provides mental health services for veterans. he was reportedly a 36—year—old former soldier who had been suffering from post—traumatic stress. his hostages were thought to be a clinical worker, a psychiatrist, and an executive director at the centre. an investigation is under way as to how and why this tragedy happened, and how a veteran was driven to kill the people who were trying to help him. a former us drug company executive, who became known as the most hated man in america for inflating the price of a life saving medicine, has been sentenced to seven years in prison. martin shkreli was convicted last year of defrauding investors in two hedge funds he ran. in 2015 he increased the price of the anti—parasitic drug daraprim, used to treat aids patients, by 5,000%. more often than not,

after a baby‘s born, the umbilical cord is thrown away, and along with it a vital source of blood stem cells. this blood can be a lifeline for people with genetic disorders and cancers like leukaemia, but there‘s been a steady decline in donations since 2014. steph has been finding out more. now, when it comes to having a baby, donating the placenta is probably not something you have given much thought. but it is exactly what actress and my mate kellie shirley did. so why did you decide to donate cord blood? i found out that lots of places end up just chucking the cord away. and these people actually keep the cord blood, and they can harvest it for stem cells for use with blood cancer. so i had a boy and a girl, and the two placentas, and we think that louie was a match for somebody, which was really, really amazing. he‘s a little legend, louie, and pearl is. only ten hospitals in the uk,

like this one, have a dedicated team of cord collectors like zoe, who is on hand to help mothers willing to donate. so zoe, this is where you collect the cord blood, isn‘t it? it is a bit much to show on telly, but explain what happens. so once we have got the placenta, we bring the placenta up here and carry out a collection. we insert the needle into the cord and drain as much blood from the placenta. the placenta is rich in stem cells, so the blood that we do collect from it can be used to transplant. so if you don‘t collect these placentas, they just get chucked away? it does, it only gets thrown in the bin. so we have a cord collection from what we have just collected. that is the blood we had just collected, and that is the cord we take from the placenta. so it it has literallyjust come from the woman‘s body. it has. so what happens now? it gets tested to see if there is enough stem cells in, and once that is done, we determine if it's good enough for translate.

—— for transplant. of course, it is a decision every family has to make for themselves. we popped in to see sophie just before her caesarean, to ask why she is going to donate. so with my first, i didn't even know about it. i didn't see any posters and wasn't told about it. and then with the second, the midwife mentioned it at one of my community midwife chats, and then a lot of my friends who were pregnant in sunderland were like, oh, that is amazing, how have you done that? we want to do it, but then they couldn't, because they don't do it in newcastle or sunderland. it is a no—brainer for me. it‘s something i keep saying, as well. it‘s become a catchphrase. it‘s a no—brainer. yes, totally. but having dedicated collectors on call 24/7 is costly. nhs blood and transplant say they deliberately target hospitals