this is bbc news. i'm lukwesa burak. the headlines at eight. home secretary amber rudd has chaired a meeting of the government's cobra committee — as the investigation continues into the poisoning of a former russian spy and his daughter. focused on making sure that we keep people safe and that we collect all of the evidence so that we will be absolutely clear where it should lead. no more changes to exams, and a reduction in teachers‘ workload — the education secretary promises to make changes, as he attempts to resolve the school recruitment crisis. talks between the eu, japan and us on president trump's tariffs on steel and aluminium have broken up with no exemption agreed. syrian government forces make gains in ghouta, encircling its main city and splitting the territory held by rebels. also in the next hour... ireland win the six nations championship. they beat scotland by 28 points to 8 — while in paris,

england lose to france 22—16. and a special oscars edition of talking movies. good evening and welcome to bbc news. 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. 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. this was the scene at salisbury ambulance station this evening as chemical warfare specialists began the latest phase of this evolving operation. more than 180 military personnel are now involved in an operation which already includes more than 250 did this. this is the second major military operation in salisbury in the last 2a hours. —— detectives. last night we saw them taking away a police car from the hospital. today is now taking away ambulances which were potentially contaminated last sunday. everybody is watching and waiting to see when this emergency will end and the nation is watching and waiting to find out who is behind this crime.

today was the second meeting in a week of the 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 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. the pizza restaurant where the two died is now behind screens. 200 witnesses have so far been identified. today the main cemetery in the city was also closed to the public as officers examined the graves of mr skripal‘s wife and son. today there was no change in his condition or that of his daughter — still critical and still in intensive care. wiltshire police released a statement on behalf of the third victim, detective sergeant nick bailey. he said he and his family are hugely grateful for all the m essa 9 es are hugely grateful for all the m essa g es of are hugely grateful for all the messages of support from the public

and colleagues from the police family. he was part of a group of all sizes and other emergency service colleagues who dealt with the incident and he does not consider himself a hero. he was merely doing hisjob, a job he loves and is immensely proud of. salisbury isa and is immensely proud of. salisbury is a proud city. trying to get on with normal life. shoppers in the market and officials drawing up a plan to help businesses affected by the police operation. a little earlier our political correspondent chris mason said that despite amber rudd's update, there are still a number of questions that remain unanswered. what we got from the home secretary was in effective the a progress report on the logistics around the investigation and it was very complex investigator reworked under

way but we do not have any answers to those questions. what kind of agent was used? who were the people involved in the delivery of it? who we re involved in the delivery of it? who were they answerable to, where was the agent created, where was it brought into the country? does it run upa brought into the country? does it run up a political chain and is that russia and does it go as far as the kremlin? massive questions, which at the moment at least in public we are no closer to hearing answers to from the government. one step back from that, people in government are considering, what do we do as and when we have a great 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 which would be useful to the british government? when you look back to 2006 and alexander litvinenko, i think many people at the moment feel the precedent was set there that nothing was done in the there is this expectation that no matter what

russia has done, britain will not respond, although boris johnson russia has done, britain will not respond, although borisjohnson is saying robustly, they're thinking nothing is going to happen? yeah, it is very tricky. 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 if, there is an evidence trail which suggests the russian state is involved, is arguably quite limited. it is not that there are not things the british government could do, it is just whether or not they would have any impact. for instance, withdrawing diplomats, ambassadors getting sent home and then the same thing happening in the other country, would that really touch the sides in russia? what about withdrawing a sports minister from a world cup game? i don't think that is going to shake president putin. it is very, very tricky, what can the uk do? somehow floated the idea that what about all of these

properties, very expensive properties, very expensive properties, often in london which are owned by rich russians, is there something that can be done about that? that is an active consideration in the eyes of some but there are no easy answers. the other lesson we can learn from the precedent of those years ago is that the investigation could take a very long time to get to the point where there is a sufficient evidence trial such that the government can act decisively and with a sense that it is justified in decisively and with a sense that it isjustified in doing decisively and with a sense that it is justified in doing what it is doing. and we'll find out how this story — and many others — are covered in tomorrow's front pages at 10:30 and 11:30pm this evening in the papers — our guests joining me tonight are nigel nelson, political editor of the sunday mirror, and the political commentatorjo phillips. 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've got 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. syrian government forces have advanced further in the rebel held enclave of eastern ghouta. the main city of douma is reportedly surrounded. as bombardments continue, the casualties keep rising, at least 1,000 civilians have now been killed since the regime began its offensive there nearly three weeks ago — that includes 200 children. our arab affairs editor, sebastian usher, has more. syrian tanks have continued to

spearhead the army's remorseless advance into eastern goutah, which has gathered further momentum. a military commander said that rebel fighters, all of whom the government sees *, were on the run. translation: after syrian army forces took control of this village, we are currently on our way to another place and our advance is going towards the town. we have noticed the escape of several members of the terrorist groups. several sources say the troops have moved in even deeper and have managed to cut off the two biggest towns in the region, including douma. the heavy bombardment of douma. the heavy bombardment of douma by land and air has continued. residents assay casualties are mounting again in a town where just 24 hours ago a convoy of aid was finally being delivered. syrian

state media has shown troops in side a small town in the centre of eastern goutah. the biggest rebel group denies that it has fallen and says it has beaten back army units, but if this place is in government hands than the on clive wood in effect be divided in half, following a trident tested pattern which pro—government forces have used across syria to force the surrender of verbal holdouts. both of the main rebel forces have vowed to continue fighting, but the battle may have reached a turning point. japanese officials have issued warnings after a series of eruptions from a volcano in southern japan. experts say that the violent eruptions at mount shin—moe—dake, onjapan‘s kyushu island, will probably continue for several months. the vibrations have caused buildings to shake over a wide area. 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. well a little earlier today our brussels reporter adam fleming gave us this update. the european commission has published a statement after this meeting between the trader presented its. it says that talks between brussels and washington are going to continue next week because there is a lack of clarity over how this process for potentially granting europe and exemption from these tariffs might work. and cecilia malmstrom says that the eu is due and exemption because there are closer security and trading links with the us so these tariffs should not apply to them. europe is worried about the effect of this on their

steel and aluminium industry, what it means for jobs. steel and aluminium industry, what it means forjobs. they are also worried about the knock—on effect of exports which 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're also preparing measures which they could apply to the us for example, new tariffs on iconic moderates 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 may be the us, japan and the eu could collaborate. those measures have been agreed. eu sources say it is proof that the two sides can still get along, despite all of, maybe just maybe sides can still get along, despite all of, maybejust maybe it sides can still get along, despite all of, maybe just maybe it shows that the us rhetoric is much tougher than its actual actions are in the real world. the headlines on bbc news.

home secretary amber rudd has chaired a meeting of the government's cobra committee — and says police have identified more than 200 witnesses — in the investigation into the poisoning of a former russian spy and his daughter. no more changes to exams and a reduction in teachers‘ workload — the promise of the education secretary as he attempts to resolve the school recruitment crisis. talks between the eu, japan and us on president trump's tariffs on steel and aluminium have broken up with no exemption agreed. the eu trade commissioner had called for the eu to be excluded from the tariffs. sport now, and time for a full round—up from the bbc sport centre. hello, jessica jeff crowe evening to you. ireland have won rugby union's six nations championship with a game to spare. they beat scotland 28—8 in

dublin. that put extra pressure on the reigning champions england. they had to match the ireland results to keep the championship alive but they came up short against france, losing 22-16. came up short against france, losing 22—16. joe wilson reports from dublin. this afternoon we didn't know how it would stop, only where it would start. aviva stadium, dublin, scotland waiting. scotland's style, fast and loose. when it fails it can hand tries to the opposition. in this case jacob stockdale. few players have ever made a try scoring start to a career like stockdale, this was his sixth of the tournament. early in the second half, a scotland move finally worked, completed by the young star in the corner. but sean cronin's dive over the line for ireland was more significant, their fourth try which ensured victory and also a bonus point. 28—8 in dublin and off

to paris. elliot daly‘s monster penalty was impressive but england needed more. they needed to match ireland's result, they needed four tries. in fact england were defending desperately. high tackle from anthony watson, sin—bin. and france got a penalty try. things weren't going to plan. understatement. a try came but england had needed it sooner. not enough. france over to. england had needed it sooner. not enough. france overto. so england had needed it sooner. not enough. france over to. so did ireland. —— france won. in the premier league manchester united beat their great rivals liverpool 2-1. beat their great rivals liverpool 2—1. marcus rashford scored both united goals in his first league start since late december. united are 13 points behind now to city, who play on monday. are 13 points behind now to city, who play on mondaylj are 13 points behind now to city, who play on monday. i think we deserved the victory, but of course, a big match, i don't know, because i don't have binoculars, but my feeling is that the referee was also

very good. and i think a big game where nobody goes home disappointed with the emotion, the quality, the lovell and the intensity. at the london stadium, west ham lost to burnley by 3—0. the game was marred by ugly burnley by 3—0. the game was marred by ugly scenes during the second—half, when a number of west ham fans took to the pitch to protest against the owners. the fa and the premier league have condemned the disturbances and say they will be seeking observations from a west ham and the club has launched an inquiry. west ham are three points above the relegation zone. we want the supporters behind us zone. we want the supporters behind us and since i've been here they've been really good. but you can't ci’oss been really good. but you can't cross the line had come on the pitch. the players had gone one down and we want them to keep their focus and we want them to keep their focus and overall a lot of them did a really good job. not football—wise at times in the second half but certainly in the way they behaved. west brom's problems continue as

they were thrashed 4—1 at home by leicester city. they had gone ahead early on but goals from jamie vardy, mahrez and others saw them sink further into trouble. and in the evening kick—off chelsea have closed the gap on tottenham to just two points after beating crystal palace. the blues opened the scoring through willian and doubled their lead in fortu nate ci rcu msta nces willian and doubled their lead in fortunate circumstances when it went in off the goalkeeper. palace got one back through patrick van aanholt. but they remain in the relegation zone, one point from safety. here is a rundown of the premier league results. there were also good wins for everton and newcastle. in the scottish premiership, celtic and rangers play each other tomorrow. aberdeen have

closed the gap on second placed rangers but only by a point after a 0-0 rangers but only by a point after a 0—0 draw with partick thistle. elsewhere, stjohnstone were co mforta ble elsewhere, stjohnstone were comfortable winners over dundee, hamilton beat motherwell 2—0 and bottom hamilton beat motherwell 2—0 and botto m clu b hamilton beat motherwell 2—0 and bottom club bascoe were defeated by kilmarnock. —— ross county. geraint thomas has lost the overall lead of the cycling race in italy after problems on the fourth stage. his hopes of keeping hold of the leaders jersey evaporated half a mile from the finish when the chain came off his bike. he has slipped to fourth in the overall standings, 26 seconds off the new leader. better luck for the british, though, in the paris—nice race, with simon yates winning the seventh stage to take the overall lead. that is the sport for now. more on the bbc news channel throughout the evening. more now on the investigation into the poisoning of the former russian spy and his daughter in salisbury.

a little earlier we heard from the home secretary, amber rudd, in the report by dominic casciani — let's hear some more from her update to journalists earlier. the two victims remain in hospital, and they are critical but stable. detective sergeant bailey, who was also a victim, was also affected, is also seriously ill, but i am pleased to say that he is engaging with his family and he is talking. this is a serious, substantial investigation. there are over 250 counterterrorism police, from eight out of our 11 counterterrorism units involved. there's over 200 witnesses involved and 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. but i want to stress that they are proceeding with speed, with professionalism, and we are putting in enormous resources to ensure that they have all the support that they need

to do so. this is a painstaking, detailed investigation and the police need to be given the space and the time to get on with it. this investigation is focused on making sure that we keep people safe as a priority, that's what the cobra eating was about, and also making sure that we collect all the evidence so that when it comes to attribution and we will be absolutely clear where it should lead. the row over america's gun laws has resurfaced after the state of florida signed new gun control measures into law. president trump has called for the ban of devices known as "bump

stocks". it comes as the nra begins a challenge against the state of florida, who have brought in new legislation to raise the age at which people are allowed to buy rifles. 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 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. 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. we can speak to chris live from washington now. just going back to that latest

development from the us justice department, just take us through the details of that, it concerns the "bump stocks", and in the same way as we've seen in florida, is there likely to be a legal challenge on this as well? yes, i think you cannot rule that out. although we're very much at the first stage of a proposed change to the law. and we should explain what "bump stocks" are. basically they can be used to modify semiautomatic weapons, is essentially they increased the rate at which bullets can be fired and turn them effectively into fully automatic machine guns. and they we re automatic machine guns. and they were used to horrendous effect, of course, in las vegas last october, when a gunman used them to kill 58 people and injure hundreds close to the las vegas strip. at that stage there was a lot of concern about "bump stocks" and their use. and president trump himself has said that he wants to do something to try to ensure that "bump stocks" can't

be sold in future. and what we are seeing here from the department of justice is an attempt to do that i changing existing legislation, by widening what a machine gun is defined as, basically putting "bump stocks" into that same category, effectively making them illegal for sale. but as you say i think we are in the position where first of all this has to go through a lot of hoops before it is made law and there is the chance of legal challenge. thank you very much. the cathedral of notre dame in paris attracts around 13 million visitors every year — and is one of paris's leading landmarks. but for how much longer? parts of the 850—year—old gothic masterpiece are starting to crumble, because of pollution eating away at the stone. hugh schofield reports from paris. because actually parts of the pinnacle have fallen down... outside on the roof above the back of the cathedral, this is the part

of notre dame that visitors do not get to see — fallen chunks of stoneware, a flying buttress held together with metal staples. this jewel of gothic architecture is becoming unstable. so, i think if there is no repairs, the risk is that the stone begins to fall down, and the risk is also that the structure itself of the walls, of the nave of the cathedral, for instance, will be in danger. parts of the cathedral could fall, and this is a big risk, yes. you get a real sense of the dilapidation of notre—dame cathedral when you come here, a private garden just behind the cathedral, off limits to the public, and this section is what they call the cemetery. these pieces are all bits of gothic masonry which are in such bad repair they simply fell off. some examples of stones that have been recently damaged...

the problem is pollution, combined with the cold and rain, which together are eating into the limestone — eventually it crumbles away. the only solution is to replace the masonry block by block, but that is a massive job, and the french state can't afford it. that's why the cathedral has launched an international plea for private funds aimed principally at the us. on this very roof, after all, once cavorted the hunchback of disney fame — oh, yes, and the book. it's a unique jewel at the worldwide level, so i think not begging, but asking for help is the best thing to do, because it's not a french monument, it's not a paris monument, it's a worldwide monument. time, the elements and the petrol engine have exacted a heavy toll on notre—dame cathedral. today, the imaginative genius of its medieval craftsmen is being eroded into annihilation.

without urgent help, much more will be lost. hugh schofield, bbc news, paris. let's have a look at the weather. train continued northwards today, introducing milder air, train continued northwards today, introducing milderair, not train continued northwards today, introducing milder air, not so for the southern half of the country. that rain band continues northwards across scotland overnight, becoming confined to the far north and the northern isles, with some snow on the high ground. a few showers in the high ground. a few showers in the southern counties of england overnight but elsewhere clear spells and light wind, quite a cool night to come. we will see some mist and fog in some areas and don't be surprised if you wake up to scenes like this on sunday morning. some of it could be stubborn to clear but it should do and after some sunny spells, the cloud will be bubbling up, with some showers forming. some

of them could be quite heavy and thundery, particularly across the south—west. scotland and northern ireland should have a fine day. milder here as well. slightly cooler for england and wales. hello, this is bbc news, the headlines: the home secretary says almost 250 witnesses have been identified as part of the investigation into the nerve agent attack in salisbury, former russian spy attack in salisbury, former russian spy sergei skripal and his daughter remain ina spy sergei skripal and his daughter remain in a critical condition in