good evening. police have identified more than 200 witnesses, and are examining around 240 pieces of evidence, in the investigation into the attempted murder, of a former russian spy and his daughter. the home secretary amber rudd, chaired a meeting of the government's emergency committee cobra today, and says investigators are being given all the resources they need. sergei skripal and his daughter yulia, are still in a critical condition, and the officer who tried to help them after the nerve agent attack, nick bailey, remains in hospital. dominic casciani reports. a vehicle designed to save lives, not posing a grave risk to the public. this was the scene matt salisbury‘s andy wist station this evening, as chemical warfare specialist the gains the latest date of this involving operation, more than 180 military personnel now helping a counterterrorism population that already includes more than 250 detectives. well, this is the second major military operation in salisbury and the last

24 operation in salisbury and the last 2a hours. last night we saw them ta ke 2a hours. last night we saw them take away a police car from the hospital. today they are taking away ambulances which were potential leak contaminated last sunday. everyone in the city is watching and waiting to see when this emergency will and. and the nation is watching and waiting to find out who is behind this crime. and today the second meeting in a week of the government's emergency committee cobra to see how far the police have got. this investigation is focused on making sure that we keep people safe as a priority. that's what the cobra meeting was about. and also making sure that we collect all the evidence, so when it comes to attribution will be absolutely clear where it should lead. a pizzeria where it should lead. a pizzeria where sergei skripal and yulia. is 110w where sergei skripal and yulia. is now behind screens. detectives have so now behind screens. detectives have so far identified 200 witnesses and 240 pieces of evidence across the city. today the city's main cemetery was also closed to the public. as officers examined the graves of mr sergei skripal‘s wife and son. today

there was no change in his condition 01’ there was no change in his condition or that of his daughter, still critical, still in intensive care. wiltshire police released a statement on behalf of the third victim of the nerve agent thomas detective sergeant nick bailey. salisbury, too, is a proud city and trying to get on with normal life, shoppers are out in the market and officials drawing another plan to help businesses affected by the police operation. the whitmore berry is going on tonight at the park bench where the emergency began, it may be yet before it is all over. well, those barriers i talked about just there have actually gone away again. it looks like police found a bit of a struggle to fit them

tonight. so let's see what happens on that particular front. but that shows actually how intensive this operation is. an awful lot of activity, a lot of painstaking work. at some point this city will be free of all this investigation. at that point it will go behind the scenes as counterterrorism specialists start to pick up these evidential breath and ultimately they are going to have to provide two ministers and the public some answers as to who was behind this crime. clive? 0k, dominick, thank you for that. life in salisbury. the education secretary says he wants to resolve a recruitment crisis in england's schools, by cutting the work load of teachers. damian hinds told a conference of head teachers, that the government would "strip away" pointless tasks, so their staff can "focus on what actually matters". here's elaine dunkley. this is passmores academy in essex, and 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. the government keeps missing targets about recruitment into the profession.

we have 4,000 less teachers than we need, and especially in the shortage subjects, key subjects in the curriculum, english, maths, science, all those sorts of things. the issue isn't just about recruiting new staff, but stopping existing teachers from leaving the profession. over the next five years in england, the pupil numbers are expected to increase, along with pressures and demands on teachers. jake rusby left the profession after three years. i would work 65, 70—hour weeks, with planning, marking, the assessments you're doing. the actual teaching part probably took up the least time of everything! so that was one major factor, but for me, i got out of the education system thinking and feeling that the whole thing needed to be turned on its head. today, at a conference for headteachers, the government promised to address these issues. for the rest of this parliament, there will be no new additional statutory tests or assessments for primary schools. no further changes to the national curriculum, and no more reform of gcses and a—levels. and that's going to give me six, 0k?

stability in schools was the message. the government accepting it needed to work harder to relieve pressures in the classroom. elaine dunkley, bbc news. monitoring groups in syria say more than 1,000 people have been killed, since government forces stepped up their bombardment of eastern ghouta, three weeks ago. soldiers loyal to president assad, are reported to have made significant advances, and are believed to have cut off the biggest town in the area, douma, and isolated another. talks have been taking place in brussels, between european union and us trade representatives, over president trump's plans to impose higher tariffs on steel and aluminium imports. the eu described the discussions as ‘frank,’ but said it wasn't clear whether europe would be exempt from the proposals. further talks are planned next week. with news of ireland being crowned six nations championship

and all of today's sport, here's 0lly foster at the bbc sport centre. many thanks indeed. ireland have won the championship with a game to spare as well. that is after the 28-8 spare as well. that is after the 28—8 bonus victory against scotland. england had to match that to keep the championship alive, but they lost 22—16 to france. from dublin, here's our sports correspondent joe wilson. this afternoon we didn't know how it would stop. 0nly where it would start. aviva stadium dublin, scotla nd start. aviva stadium dublin, scotland waiting. this way. collins style, fast and loose. when he fails, it can hammer tries to the opposition. jacob stockdale for i would and the gift was safety delivered. few players have ever made a try scoring started a career like stockdale. here came his sixth of this six nations. earlier in the second half, a scotland move finally works. completed in the corner by blair, a young star, a fine finish. but a dive over the line for ireland was more significant. therefore the

try which not only ensured victory am ireland had a bonus point, too. 28-8 in am ireland had a bonus point, too. 28—8 in dublin and off to paris. elliott's monster penalty was impressive, but england needed more, needed to match ireland's result. they needed four tries. in fact england were defending desperately. i tackle from anthony watson, senden for him and france awarded eight penalty to leave. things weren't going to plan. understatement. h i can, but what england produced in the 74th minute is what they needed in the first. not enough. france w011. in the first. not enough. france won. so did ireland. so just to confirm, and sojust to confirm, and quinton cat island, nobody can get ireland. so as the aviva gleams behind me, there is intense satisfaction in dublin this evening. but also anticipation because next weekend they could win the grand slam by beating england at twickenham. so i think some hasty travel lens are being made all around me right now. i imagine there

will be. joe wilson, our sports correspondent in dublin. many thanks indeed. in today's football with them are investigating the pitch invasions and ground disturbance is that marred their defeat to kurtley, elsewhere in the prayer really marcus rashford or both manchester united goals as they beat liverpool 2-1 at united goals as they beat liverpool 2—1 at old trafford. they remain second at a mere 13 points behind the leaders manchester city who don't play until monday night. patrick reports. from the age of industry to be a to b selfie, manchester and liverpool have quarrelled. the row started about trade. these days these teams rely on imports, butjose mourinho, united's manager, opted for some local birders. marcus rashford of northern, look what it meant for him to score. rashford is england's great hope but haven't started a lead game for his club this year. he can consider this a chance taken 2-0. can consider this a chance taken 2—0. after the break, liverpool starting to fight back and felt they should have been given a hand. no penalty though. they did get a bit of luck. at eric's expense. 0n goal,

a mix to set up a big finish. the pressure mounted, liverpool corner, 13 minutes, 96. their top scorer, mosehle. united no heading across town to city this evening, and this was a day for their bit of manchester. great britain had their first medal at the winter paralympics in south korea. teenager milly knight took silver on the opening day of the competition. visually impaired downhill skiing. so won gold, but described in second place at the best feeling in the world. there is lots more on the winter powers of the bbc sport website including all the bbc sport website including all the results, also details of the one—day series win for england's cricketers against the new zealand. but that is all for now. thanks for that. all foster there. that's it. there's more throughout the evening on the bbc news channel, and i'll be back with the late news at ten. now on bbc one, it's time for the news where you are. bye for now. hello there. this is a bbc news.

let's return to our top story now. more than 240 witnesses have been identified as police investigate the russian skype poisoning at speed. —— spy russian skype poisoning at speed. —— spy poisoning. the had secretaries have set amber rudd promised or rather praised the professionalism of the police who are now looking more than 200 pieces of evidence. speaking of little earlier, she said the police investigation was serious and substantial. the two victims remain in hospital and they are critical, but stable. detective sergeant bailey who is also a victim, was also effective, is also seriously ill, but i am least to say that he is engaging with his family and he is talking. this is a serious substantial investigation. there we re over substantial investigation. there were over 250 counterterrorism police from a out of our 11 counterterrorism units involved. there's over 200 witnesses involved.

and there's over 240 pieces of evidence. so we need to give the police and all the investigative parts around them the space to get on with that. what i want to stress that they are proceeding with speed down with professionalism, and we are putting an inordinate resources to ensure that they have all the support that they need to do so. the police have said that if anybody else thinks they have any additional information, they would welcome them coming forward. there is also a substantial amounts of cctv for them to go for. this is a painstaking, detailed investigation. and the police need to be given the space and the time to get on with that. this investigation is focused on making sure that we keep you both say for as a priority. that is what the cobra meeting was about. and also making sure that we collect all the evidence so when it comes to attribution, we will be absolutely clear where it should lead. 0ur political correspondent chris

mason trust me now. we have answers to how or when or why? no. they are the key questions and the questions to which we all want answers. what we got from the home secretary was effectively a progress report on the logistics around the investigation. as we're hearing now, about the number of counterterrorism police involved him in 250. 200 witnesses being spoken to. 240 pieces of evidence. in other words very complex investigatory work that is under way right now. but we don't have any under way right now. but we don't have a ny a nswe rs under way right now. but we don't have any answers to those questions, as you say what kind of agents was used, who was be personal ibo who we re used, who was be personal ibo who were involved in the delivery of that? who were the answerable to? where was this agent created? was it brought into the country? does it run upa brought into the country? does it run up a political chain? is that chamber is that, and if it does does it run as far as the kremlin? 0ff these massive, massive questions which at the moment at least in public, we are no closer to hearing

a nswe rs public, we are no closer to hearing a nswers to. public, we are no closer to hearing answers to. from the government. and them one step back from that, people and government are considering well, what do we do as and when we have a greater idea of who is responsible? how do you calibrate some sort of diplomatic response, if indeed that is what is deemed necessary? and what response might actually have some sort of impact that will be useful to the british government was not when you look back to 2006 and alexander litvinenko, i think many people and many conversations, the dow at the moment was the president was that there that nothing was done. and there is this expectation that no matter what russia has done, britain will not respond, although borisjohnson is saying robustly, they are thinking nothing is going to happen. it is very tricky this. when you speak to people privately in government and in parliament, there is an awareness that the diplomatic tool box that is available to the uk, if and we should keep saying is, there is an evidence trail that suggests that

russia and the russian state is somehow involved, is obviously quite limited. it is not that there aren't things that the british government can do, it is whether or not they will have any impact. for instance a withdrawal of diplomats, you often hear of ambassadors being packed off home and there is a tit—for—tat in the same thing happens in the of the country. what that really touch the sides in russia? what about withdrawing a sports minister from a world cup game? that is going to shake president putin in terms of the diplomat results. it is very tricky. what can the uk do? some have floated for instance the idea of what about all of these properties? very expensive properties, often in mind and that are owned by very rich russians. the assumption they can be done around that. that isn't active consideration in the eyes of some. but there aren't any easy answers. the other lesson we can learn from the president of all of those years ago is that the investigation could ta ke ago is that the investigation could take a very long time. to get to the point where there is a sufficient

evidence trail that the bridges government can act decisively and with a sense that it is justified. and doing what it is doing. 0ff with a sense that it is justified. and doing what it is doing. off we have seen an incredible intensity of news coverage over the last week, as reported a couple minutes ago, it is entirely possible that that could dial down in terms of how visible it is in the coming weeks and months, but we would still be short of the a nswe rs but we would still be short of the a nswers to but we would still be short of the answers to the questions that you are posing to me at the beginning of oui’ conversation. are posing to me at the beginning of our conversation. chris mason, thank you very much. 0ur correspondent sarah corker is in the city covering the care for removal of ambulances in the situation. there's been a flurry of activity here this afternoon. we're about ten minutes or so from the city centre and these really are some quite extraordinary scenes. you see behind me military recovery vehicles moving that ambulance for

decontamination. ambulances thought to have transported the victims of this chemical attack to hospital on sunday. we know that 180 soldiers have been drafted in to help recover evidence, some with specialist training in chemical warfare. and we saw them moving cards last night, but today you can see soldiers in full protective suits, gas masks and purple gloves, really quite an unnerving sight. but the government have again reiterated that there is no wider risk to public health. and investigators are trying to piece together a timeline of events, but this operation really is going to take some time. and we will be following exactly what happened here and where else this team may be moving throughout this evening. the two sides have been trying to

reach a deal following the two sides have been trying to reach a dealfollowing president trump's lands to impose tariffs. britain said it will seek an extension. july and has a report. the meeting between the us trade representative robert lighthizer and his eu counterpart cecilia malmstrom had long been in the diary for saturday, but following the formal imposition of tariffs on steel and aluminium by the us this week, the meeting took on some urgency. the eu is not one of the biggest steel exporters to america, but it does not want its producers to pay a 25% tariff either. to complicate matters, britain is quitting the eu next year but cannot get an exemption to the tariffs until then. but its international trade minister, liam fox, travels to washington next week to seek exactly that. we will, of course, be looking to see how we can maximise the uk's case for exemption under these particular circumstances, but we will want, over the next few days, to look at them

in great detail. if europe gets a carve out from the american tariffs they willjoin an ever—growing list of nations that will not be paying. the australian prime minister, malcolm turnbull, met donald trump on friday and removed his country from the list. canada and mexico have already been exempted. i was very pleased the president was able to confirm that he would not have to impose tariffs on australian steel and aluminium, and of course, now the legal paperwork, the proclamation process under the executive order, will take its course to put that direction into effect, so that was a very good and productive discussion with the president. america's other key allies, including japan and south korea, will also want to be spared. in the end it might only be russia and china paying the us tariffs. that, though, might be enough to start a trade war between two of the world's biggest exporters. joe lynam, bbc news. a little earlier today our brussels

reporter alan fleming gave us this update. it looks like canada and mexico and australia are still the people who are definitely getting an exception. there is a lack of clarity about how this process might work. cecilia malmstrom says that the eu is to an exemption because they were close security and trading partner of the us, so these tariffs should not apply to them. europe is worried about the effect of this on their steel and aluminium industry, of course. what does it mean forjobs? they're also worried about the knock on effect of exports that were destined for the us, arriving in europe, forcing down the price and making the situation even worse.

they're preparing measures to deal with that. they are also preparing measures that they could apply to the us, for example new tariffs on my tonic nel iconic products like florida orangejuice my tonic nel iconic products like florida orange juice and harley—davidson motorbikes. european sources are pointing to some good news. this meeting today was long planned to discuss other trade measures, where the us, japan and the eu could collaborate. those measures have been agreed. sources say it is proof that the two sides can't do that alone despite all of this. and maybe, just maybe, it shows that the us rhetoric is much tougher than its actual actions are in the real word. adam tougher than its actual actions are in the realword. adam fleming there. next a 15—year—old boy and three men in their early 20s are being questioned by police after a man was stabbed to death in broad daylight and hold them. the man in his 20s died in hospital after he was stabbed multiple times in your jewelers on waterloo street i'm a just after the clock yesterday afternoon. the teenager and the

three men have been arrested on suspicion of murder. police have been doing extra patrols, appealing for witnesses. the nephew of the actress liz hurley has been stabbed repeatedly in a street in south london by a group of men. miles, a 21—year—old mother was one of two men injured in a knife attack on thursday. he remains in hospital. and they say his condition is not life—threatening. 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.

0ur 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 common—sense 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. be strong. be kind. 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. military veterans home and northern california has ended with four people being founded. will he say the bodies of three women and a man believed to be the 36 euros, and were discovered in a room in the complex. tim allman, reports. and the sprawling hills of the napa valley, a standoff 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 investigaters 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's 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 posttraumatic 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 who were trying to help him. tim allman, bbc news. time for the weather now. very mild out there. is it going to get better and better? in terms of sunshine tummy is. i think it will do. there will be a lot of rain around and the mountaineer has become behind this bout of friends breading northwards. it has been quite a sunday morning for many and in afternoon for some because the rain is becoming more confined towards northern ireland and scotland as we speak. a few showers running into southern parts of england. bring to east anglia by

the time we reach the end of the night and sunday morning. 0ver the time we reach the end of the night and sunday morning. over the night and sunday morning. over the night the rain becomes confined to the far north of scotland, a bit of snow in the hills. further south is a dryer story. the skies, light winds and a cooler, fresher night that last night. we could see a touch of frost, some mist and fog, too. there is the future i was talking about moving into the southeast. don't be surprised if you wa ke southeast. don't be surprised if you wake up to something like this on sunday morning. mist and fog should clearly. the rain as well should begin to ease away from southeast england and east anglia as well. it is through the afternoon, england and wales will start to see showers developing quite widespread. some of them heavy in the south, maybe a rumble of thunder, best and sunshine will be across scotland and northern ireland where it will be much milder. so celsius is not