this is bbc news. i'm carrie gracie. the headlines at 9:00: traces of the nerve agent used to poison a former russian and his daughter are found in a restaurant they visited in salisbury, according to bbc sources. sergei and yulia skripal remain in a critical condition in hospital, a week after they were first taken ill. china approves the removal of term limits for its leader — the move effectively allows president xi to remain in powerfor life. after thousands of homes and businesses suffered water loss in the recent cold weather, a review will look into whether suppliers had proper plans in place. and coming up in half an hour, we'll be taking a look at what's making the sunday papers. theindependenfs the independent‘s james rampton will be here along with political commentatorjames miller. many take a look at the ongoing reaction to events in salisbury, including the the sunday times, which claims the prime minister

is under pressure to return conservative party donations which is says have come from "russian oligarchs and their associates". good morning, welcome to bbc news. traces of a nerve agent that was used to attack a former russian spy and his daughter in salisbury have been found in the italian restaurant where they had eaten. sergei and yulia skripal were found collapsed on a bench nearby and remain critically ill in hospital. the substance was found in one part of the city's zizzi restaurant during a continuing forensic examination. no—one who was in the restaurant at the same time is thought to be in danger. andy moore has the latest. a week after the attack with a nerve agent, the police investigation continues behind a barrier at the pizzeria where sergei and yulia skripal ate.

cctv filmed them leaving the restaurant. shortly after that, they were found on a park bench, fighting for their lives. one of the vehicles which took them to hospital was removed by specialist military teams, for fear it might also contain traces of the nerve agent. sergei skripal and yulia are both critically ill. russia has denied any involvement in their attempted murder. after chairing a second meeting of the cobra emergency committee, the home secretary said the investigation was proceeding at speed, with 200 pieces of evidence, and more than 240 witnesses. it's a really painstaking, detailed investigation, as the police go through over 200 pieces of evidence, huge amounts of cctv. but they are absolutely committed to making sure that we do that in a completely professional way. the third victim of this attack, detective sergeant nick bailey, is seriously ill, though able to talk to his family. he released a statement saying he didn't consider himself a hero and was merely doing hisjob.

kathryn stanczyszyn is in salisbury. various new lines this morning. let's look at that question of traces in the zizzi restaurant, where does that take us? this afternoon marks exactly seven days since sergei and yulia skripal were found slumped on the bench behind me in the centre of salisbury. this is one of the five locations that the charities have been focusing on. but some of that activity intensified at the zizzi restaurant not far from here, a couple of streets away, last night. there is a large barrier in place over the entire frontage of that restaurant while that work has been going on, but the bbc understands that now small traces of a nerve agent used in the attack against the skripals has been found

in that restaurant. there is no indication that anyone else there has been affected the moment, that anyone there was necessarily involved. but it is a key development in this crucial fact of the timeline, that is what the authorities are desperate to establish. when exactly the skripals we re establish. when exactly the skripals were exposed to this nerve agent, that will help them hopefully find out who did it. and this certainly suggests that they were exposed to it at some point possibly during that meal. i talked about some of the other locations as well as this park bench where it worked last night as though the military personnel that had been brought in to help with this, almost 200 of them, were going to write some more barriers around this, as a precursor probably to extend state friends at work. —— extensive forensic work. that has not happened today but another tent has been erected. the

mill pub, which is where the skripals visited, has two uniformed officers outside, and the cemetery on london road, two police vans and a car earlier. they also have barriers and a forensics tent over the grave of the wife of mr skripal and his son. and his house as well. certain items have been removed from some of these locations as well. we believe they have been taken to a special unit for decontamination, including an ambulance yesterday. it isa including an ambulance yesterday. it is a complex, wide—ranging investigation. amber rudd, the home secretary, saying this yesterday, 200 counterterrorism officers involved. and identified now, possibly 240 eyewitnesses here in salisbury who may well have heard or seen something. just underlining quite how public this investigation is. and the people of salisbury,

still businesses around this area stillbuslnesses aroundthts area-— the shopping centre mic ii they there l the if? they there l the at if they there l the at this they are thererfar—the communityrat'this thanks so much. in the last hour, china's people's congress has voted to approve a constitutional amendment, abolishing two—term limits for the country's president. the move will allow xi jinping to stay in office beyond the end of his second term in 2023, and possibly rule indefinitely. among the nearly three thousand delegates, just two voted against the change and three abstained. 0ur correspondent, stephen mcdonnell, is in beijing. no big surprise. no, the result was emphatic and the way that china is to be governed

will be different from today. we all expected xijinping to be will be different from today. we all expected xi jinping to be successful in this vote, but of 2964 ballot papers, to have only two people stand up and say no and three abstain is absolutely overwhelming. almost embarrassingly so. people should also get used to seeing xi jinping as china's leader because there is no way they would have gone to the trouble of changing this constitution unless he definitely intended to stay on as china's president beyond the second term. he could have hung on to powerjust as the head of the central military commission or as chairman of the communist party, but he obviously wa nts communist party, but he obviously wants that title as well president of china and that is why this vote has happened today. and a lot of viewers may be asking themselves, so what? is one chinese communist boss

interchangeable for another, they all wear the same hair dye and the same suit, what is different about xijinping, what same suit, what is different about xi jinping, what difference does same suit, what is different about xijinping, what difference does it make if he rules forever? well, it isa make if he rules forever? well, it is a very good question. i mean, the obvious response to that is that should any leaderjust obvious response to that is that should any leader just have obvious response to that is that should any leaderjust have that much power? it doesn't matter how good you are. and this was china's one form of checks and balances type system. we all thought that every ten years, there would be a new leader, but then you people in, and so one person cannot amass leader, but then you people in, and so one person cannot amass that much power around them. that is why in the 1980s they brought this in in the 1980s they brought this in in the first place to stop another chairman mao, and along. well, now we have xijinping we have xi jinping who was already so we have xi jinping who was already so powerful. 0ne we have xi jinping who was already so powerful. one and a half million communist party members have been punished in his anti—corruption crackdown and there was the belief that he could not actually afford to stand down as leader because he has made so many enemies in the party.

well, certainly, after this vote today, there is no questioning that it would be so difficult for anyone to challenge him. and the old system we had of elected leadership in china with discussions, that has all gone. he is an checkable, powerful leader who is going to be around probably for decades to come. and i know there has been a lot of censorship of comment, or negative comment, about this in the media and social media. what is going to happen to those two people who voted against, or those who abstained, and what is going to happen to all those people who might want on social media to say they don't want a president for life? well, we are told that the vote is a secret one and you would have to hope for their sake that nobody finds out who they are. of course, some cynics would suggest that maybe it was a 100% vote a nyway suggest that maybe it was a 100% vote anyway and they just suggest that maybe it was a 100% vote anyway and theyjust diddled the numbers to suggest it was not

absolutely 100% because that would seem absolutely 100% because that would seem to ridiculous. but as for comment from the general public, anything on social media, people have been to china will note the platforms, you cannot talk about it. there is no possibility that anything said along those lines, even aldus commentary, is being censored. there is no debate in the press about this, you would expect there to be panel discussions on television in any country, should a leader be able to stay on forever? we have seen none of that. the chinese press has kind of downplayed this, just making out there are a few constitutional changes going on at the great hall of the people, nothing to see here, everyone move along! so there has not really been along! so there has not really been a debate about this and certainly, ordinary people will not be able to express their views either. thanks so express their views either. thanks so much. missing you all, give my love to the team! no worries, will do! the water regulator is to investigate why thousands

of homes in england and wales suffered shortages or a total loss of supply after the recent cold weather. 0fwat says its review will determine whether companies had proper contingency plans in place. simonjones reports. emergency water handouts on the streets. tens of thousands of customers, particularly in south—east england and parts of wales, forced to endure days of inconvenience, as the taps ran dry. they sent me a message, the water's fixed. nothing was fixed! i think this is absolutely appalling. it's shocking that there's such poor communication. well, zero communication. as pipes burst in the thaw that followed the cold spell, the water company said they were facing an unprecedented situation. the government ordered a review into what went wrong. launching it today... 0fwat said today it understood how distressing it had been for people to be left without a vital public service. the review will examine... southern water, for example,

is giving households who were cut off for more than a day £75 — condemned as "derisory" by some of those affected. 0fwat wants to hear from businesses, households and local authorities. it wants proof that lessons will be learnt. otherwise, it says, it may be forced to act. and comment from south east water this morning. they havejust announced how much compensation customers who lost water will get. they are saying they are sorry to their customers, blaming a surge in weeks and bursts after the weather. large in scale, technically complex, we recognise the frustration and inconvenience of being without water. many have asked about

compensation so below are the plans. and they have said, we will compensate affected customers over and above the statutory minimum. the amount will depend how long customers will —— were affected, so the time interrupted will be 3—24 hours is £25, up to two days £50 and more than two days, £100. customers don't have to do anything to make a claim. to receive compensation. everyone who was impacted, they say, should receive a letter this week. also, they have a note about schools, saying some local schools had to be closed as a result of water problems and in recognition, they will donate 2,500 each affected school and offer an education package of visits to southeast water sites and talks by staff on science subjects. so if you are a customer of south east water, you will be receiving a letter about that this

coming weekend. more measures to cut the use of plastics will be announced by the chancellor in the coming days. philip hammond will use his spring statement on tuesday to announce plans for a public consultation into taxing plastic waste. the government's target is to eliminate avoidable plastic waste, by 2042. 0ur political correspondent, jonathan blake, has more details. the chancellor is asking for ideas from the public, from businesses, from the public, from businesses, from green groups, as to how the government can or should use the tax system to cut the amount of plastic waste we use. so it could be a tax on your takeaway box or a bigger bill for bottled water. but we will see what the government comes up with, when the responses to this call for evidence, in. we have had some words from the chancellor, setting out how he thinks about this. he has called him amount of plastic waste a scourge to the environment and said that he wants britain to lead the world in

creating an environment that for future generations. butjust how would you do it? we have seen in recent days the recent latte levy suggested by a group of mps who have been looking into this rejected by the governed. so the will is there to cut the amount of plastic, but when it comes to paying for it, well, that might be a difficult sell. a charity has apologised after claims of abuse against in south africa. the one organisation has promised to reform its systems. 0ne allegation involves a female worker being demoted after refusing to become intimate with a foreign government official. the headlines on bbc news: traces of the nerve agent used to poison a former russian spy and his daughter are found in a restaurant they visited in salisbury, according to bbc sources. china approves the removal of term limits for its leader — the move effectively allows president xi to remain in powerfor life. after thousands of homes and

businesses suffered water loss of the recent cold weather, it review is to look into whether this applies had proper supplies in place. president trump has told crowds at an election rally in the state of pennsylvania that he believes north korea wants to make peace. he said, of a proposed meeting with the north korean leader kim jong—un, that it could lead to the ‘greatest dealfor the world'. the president was at the rally to endorse his fellow republican, rick saconey, who is facing a close contest with the democrat conor lamb, in a special election on tuesday. from washington, chris buckler reports. # and i'm proud to be an american where at least i know i'm free #. president trump went to pittsburgh to campaign ahead of an election for a single seat in congress, but the packed—out rally looked and sounded much more like the start of a presidential campaign. he even unveiled the slogan for his 2020 run for the white house. but our new slogan when

we start running in — can you believe it — two years from now, is going to be keep america great! keep america great! but another country was very clearly on donald trump's mind. he has now accepted the invitation to meet the north korean leader kim jong—un. and while, in recent days, it has appeared that the white house has been dampening down some of the expectations for that encounter, the president seemed to talk up the potential of some kind of peace deal. hey, who knows? if it happens, if it doesn't happen. i may leave fast, or we may sit down and make the greatest deal for the world and for all of these countries, including, frankly, north korea — and that's what i hope happens. this was a speech intended for his core base. trump raised the possibility of the death penalty for drug dealers and talked tough on trade,

describing tariffs as his baby, and he again threatened to tax cars imported from the eu. f‘flfiélé “um? "s “55755545t7 7 7” 7777” the conversation going. 17:22;;j .: . .:. “7.7. these supporters may have a new slogan, but with his protectionist policies, this was a president determined to show that he isn't changing. chris buckler, bbc news, washington. people living near a volcano injapan have been urged to wear hard—hats as its eruptions get more violent.

mount shinmoedake is ejecting rocks and smoke several kilometres into the air. it's the volcano's fourth eruption this century. andrew plant reports. night—time in south—western japan. high above these houses, the red glow of one of the country's most active volcanoes. this is mount shinmoedake — awake again after seven years. in 2011, locals were evacuated. it's now being watched very closely. smoke is rising more than 3,000 metres into the air. high winds blowing ash across the towns nearby. these schoolchildren now wearing protective hard hats, with authorities warning of the risk of flying rocks up to four kilometres around the volcano. deep in the south of japan, it's part of a long volcanic range, in a country with more than 100 active volcanoes. in 1967, it was made famous on the big screen,

$35.5“. gages! he’l'?“ ares mflsafibfl days before it collapsed.

mps say carillion paid out £6.4 million to professional advisers on the same day that it sought financial aid. the firm was wound up with debts of almost £1 billion. more and our main story, traces of a nerve agent used to poison former russian spy sergei skripal and his daughter yulia have been found at a restau ra nt daughter yulia have been found at a restaurant where they had eaten. marina, the widow of alexander

litvinenko, has been speaking to the. ,, tfie.. .. i my e‘f théifiéfh e‘f 3“? rf??? 52:5 has e‘f the’eeeeh e‘f 3“? reeeehe bee has happened and unfortunately, it has happened and now i am living everyday with news from peach macro and try to understand what actually happened and who might be behind this —— with news from salisbury. your husband was murdered 12 years ago and he fought very hard for a public inquiry and after that public inquiry and after that public inquiry reported and suggested there was probably a kremlin rink, you got a letter i think from theresa may, then the home secretary. yes, we had a meeting. and we had discussions about what we might achieve after this public inquiry verdict. and after this meeting, i received a letter. and actually, i would like to notice what was saying in this

letter at the end. i am this government and clear that we must continue to pursue justice for your husband's killing and that we will ta ke husband's killing and that we will take every step to protect the uk and its people from such a crime ever being repeated. but u nfortu nately, ever being repeated. but unfortunately, it has happened again against —— again, something was not done and a lesson was received after the murder of my husband. the widow that of alexander litvinenko, who was poisoned in a restaurant in london 12 years ago by polonium poisoning. in a further sign of the rise in artificial intelligence technology, researchers in texas are now trying to develop robots with a mind of their own. they want to build systems that can operate in the home, the workplace, and even on the sports field. 0ur science correspondent, pallab ghosh, reports. science—fiction films have predicted in the future we would have intelligent robots.

in the day the earth stood still, we had the sinister gort. in forbidden planet, there was robby.