this is bbc news. i'm rachel schofield. the headlines at nine. the prime minister says it is highly likely that russia was behind the attack on a former russian spy and his daughter in salisbury. this attempted murder using a weapons grade nerve agent in a british town was notjust a crime against the skripals. it was an indiscriminate and reckless act against the united kingdom. as investigations continue — the russian ambassador is summoned to the foreign office and told to explain by the end of tomorrow how the chemical weapon found its way to salisbury. a teenager is jailed for ten—and—a—half years for attacking six moped riders with acid while trying to steal their bikes. sky's football pundit jamie carragher is suspended after he spits at a teenage girl and her family. he brought laughter to millions — we'll be remembering ken dodd. the last of the great music hall variety comedians —

who's died at the age of 90. good evening and welcome to bbc news. the prime minister has confirmed that the former russian spy sergei skripal and his daughter were poisoned by a military grade nerve agent of a type developed by russia. theresa may told the house of commons that it was ‘highly likely‘ that russia was behind the attack. now the russian ambassador has been summoned to the foreign office and told to explain by tomorrow night how a nerve agent made its way to salisbury. theresa may said if there's no credible response, the government will conclude that the attack was an unlawful use of force by the russian state against the united kingdom. with the latest

here's our diplomatic correspondent james landale. today, police continued to examine the salisbury home of sergei skripal, more than a week after the former russian intelligence officer and his daughter were attacked with a nerve agent. a week during which it has remained unclear who carried out the crime and why. so, this morning ministers gathered for a meeting of the national security council, looking for answers. an update on the investigation from the police and intelligence services that would allow them and the prime minister to decide what steps to take next. for some days ministers have been pushing theresa may for a tougher response. this afternoon she was clear who she thought was responsible, and what they should do. it is now clear that mr skripal and his daughter were poisoned with a military grade nerve agent of a type developed by russia. this is part of a group of nerve agents known as novichok. based on the positive identification

of this agent by analysis of world leading experts at porton down, our knowledge that russia has previously produced this agent and would still be capable of doing so, the government has concluded that it is highly likely that russia was responsible for the act against sergei and yulia skripal. she said the foreign secretary had summoned the russian ambassador and told him he had until the end of tomorrow to explain whether this was a direct act by the russian state or by others who now control the nerve agent. mr speaker, this attempted murder using a weapons grade nerve agent in a british town was notjust a crime against the skripals. it was an indiscriminate and reckless act against the united kingdom, putting the lives of innocent civilians at risk. and we will not tolerate such a brazen attempt to murder in innocent civilians on our soil. the labour leader criticised

the conservatives for accepting money from russian donors. he called for tougher sanctions on oligarchs living london. but... we need to continue seeking a robust dialogue with russia on all the issues currently dividing our countries, both domestic and international. rather than simply cutting off contact and letting the tensions and divisions get worse. earlier today, before the statement, president putin was visiting an agricultural centre in southern russia and dismissed a question from the bbc‘s steve rosenberg. president putin, bbc news, is russia behind the poisoning of sergei skripal? translation: we are dealing with agriculture here, as you see, to create conditions for people's lives, and you talk to me about some tragedies. first get to the bottom of it there, and then we will discuss this. but now that russia has been blamed officially for what happened in salisbury, it has 2a hours to decide how to respond. james landale, bbc news. just a line of copy coming into us

in the last few bombers. home secretary amber rudd has convened a meeting of the government's cobra emergency committee meeting in whitehall at 1130 tomorrow morning to discuss the latest developments in the nerve agent investigation. we we re in the nerve agent investigation. we were expecting some kind of meeting tomorrow. confirmation that the home secretary will chair that meeting at 1130 tomorrow morning. meanwhile the white house has made a statement condemning the incident in salisbury. while press secretary sarah sanders did not comment on the possibility of russian involvement, she said the us government stood with the uk following the "outrageous attack". luck, we have been monitoring the incident closely. taking it very seriously. the use of a highly lethal nerve agent against uk citizens on uk soil is an outrage, the attack was reckless, indiscriminate, irresponsible. we

offer the fullest possible condemnation and we extend our sympathies to the victims and their families, and the uk government. we stand by our closest ally in the special relationship we have. are you saying russia was behind the attack? right now we are standing with our uk ally. they are working through the details of that and we are continuing to work with the uk and we stand with them throughout this process. if it is russia using the agent itself or giving it to a third party, the latter being highly unlikely, given the nature of the weapon,... we stand with our ally and we fully support them and are ready if we can be of any assistance to them. sarah sanders in the white house. in salisbury hundreds of police officers have been working around the clock, along with experts from the armed forces to try to establish exactly what happened on that sunday afternoon 8 days ago. our home affairs correspondent daniel sandford reports from salisbury with the latest

in the investigation. scenes of chemical warfare experts in gas masks and protective suits spread out from salisbury into the surrounding countryside today. here they were removing a van belonging to a company that runs tow trucks. vehicles recovered during operation morlop are being taken to the nearby chemical weapons laboratory at porton down. so widespread is the possible contamination of the nerve agent that these specialist troops are now working in the village more than five miles from the centre of salisbury. in the city itself counterterrorism officers, one in a balaclava, sealed off the top deck of the sainsbury‘s multistorey car park. the prime minister said the people of salisbury responded with fortitude and calmness yet there are still concerns that it took the chief medical officer seven days

to give people who were in the contaminated restaurant and pub advice to wash their clothes. the disappointment in this case is that it's taken them so long to release some information that might be of interest and might affect the individual people of salisbury. cathedral city has seen the deployment of one of the group of military grade russian nerve agents called novichok. novichoks were developed in the 1980s and 1990s by the russians because red lines on the use of chemicals had disappeared and the hundred—year taboo on the use of them had disappeared because we had done nothing about the use in syria. if it is putin he might be feeling that he can use chemical weapons and nobody will do anything about it. salisbury has had the air of a science—fiction film these last nine days, the scene of what the prime minister today called a reckless and despicable act. daniel sandford reporting from

salisbury. our political correspondent, chris mason, told me a little earlier about the mood in the house of commons after mps had been told by the prime minister that it was ‘highly likely‘ that russia was behind the poison attack in salisbury. what stood out today was the real sense of occasion, the gravity of the occasion. that was emphasised in the occasion. that was emphasised in the contributions from across the house, yes, as james mentioned there wasjeremy house, yes, as james mentioned there was jeremy corbyn house, yes, as james mentioned there wasjeremy corbyn ‘s contribution relating to the contributions from russia that the conservative party has had in donations in recent yea rs. has had in donations in recent years. that led to jeering and cheering and shouts of shame! and discussed! from backbenchers but save for that, a lot of the contributions from the front and back benches were focused on the specifics of what is going on in salisbury. yes, mr corbyn also talked about that as well. i think the most striking thing politically on all of this is that this is the

moment that the prime minister took off the pause button on the government ‘s reaction, geopolitically, internationally, to what happened in salisbury over a week ago. for a week there has been reticent swell evidence has been gathered, today that reticence ended and it was a big moment for theresa may, less than two years in the job as prime minister and starting a diplomatic ball rolling in the chamber this afternoon that we know will now continue. there‘s that deadline at the end of tomorrow night. to provide answers, and potentially as soon as wednesday the prime minister returning to the house of commons with specifics about what the uk will do in response to what has happened. chris mason there. our news correspondent duncan kennedy has been in salisbury today and says there is still a strong police presence in the city. this police operation continues all

over the place, not so much in the city centre today, the tent behind me, where the attack happened, or the restaurant of the bar nearby or sergei skripal's has or the cemetery where his wife and son are buried, the focus today was five miles outside the city where experts in biohazard uniforms were taking away a vehicle. a lot of these operations going on, sometimes we stumble on them, sometimes we don't, as we could theresa may say today in the house of commons there are still hundreds of officers working on this around the clock. she says they need to be given time because whilst on the one hand politically she can point the finger at russia, the operation is nowhere near complete, a lot going on away from the eyes of the public and that the unfolding operation taking place in the background. at the end of the development the authorities will

wa nt development the authorities will want enough evidence to pursue prosecution in this case. in other news. a 17—year—old has been sentenced to 10 and a half years injail for carrying out a series of acid attacks on moped riders in london lastjuly. derryckjohn, from croydon, sprayed six people with acid in the space of an hour and a half. he stole two mopeds and attempted to take another four. thejudge described his crimes as ‘despicable‘. tom burridge reports. he‘d thrown acid into the faces of six men. but here‘s derryckjohn calmly paying for petrol that night. with his visor up, he was linked to this stolen moped but the person seen here driving him around still hasn‘t been identified. later, when derryckjohn drove a stolen bike himself, this — an accident which linked him to a string of violent acid attacks. this victim says his face felt like it was on fire. attacked by derryck john while delivering ta keways,

jabed hussain is still suffering today. i have to keep my eyes everywhere. i don‘t trust in the street. if anyone shouts next to me, i get scared. if i want to go out, i always lock my car doors and windows. i used to be busy myself, i‘m a working class guy. after the incident, i am totally different. i can‘t believe myself that i am stuck and alone. today, the 17—year—old was sentenced to ten and a half years in jail. the judge said an adult would have gone to prison for much longer. we are very pleased with the sentencing mrjohn has received, we think it does send a strong message that even as a youth offender, a ten—year plus sentence still sends a strong message that this will not be tolerated. the same judge sentenced arthur collins, seen here throwing acid across a crowded dance floor, to 20 years in prison. criminals are increasingly using acid as a weapon. it is hoped sending this young man to prison for several years will deter

others from the same. tom burridge, bbc news. the trial of a teenager accused of planting a bomb on a london underground train has heard that he blamed britain for the death of his father in iraq. 18—year—old ahmed hassan denies attempted murder and causing an explosion on the tube train at parsons green last september. giving evidence today, a college lecturer said she‘d heard the student saying it was his "duty to hate britain". sky has suspended the football pundit jamie carragher after footage emerged of him spitting through a car window at a teenage girl and her father. the former liverpool and england footballer described it as a "moment of madness" after he was goaded. he said he would apologise again to the family. andy swiss‘s report contains footage of the incident. jamie carragher there, look! he is one of football‘s most famous pundits, but after being spotted by a fan on sunday, jamie carragher winds down his window and this happens. unlucky, jamie, lad.

2—1, lad. he spat on me. "he spat on me" — the voice of the driver‘s 14—year—old daughter. jamie carragher spat on my daughter, nice. carragher, who had just watched his former club liverpool lose, said he‘d been goaded and lost his rag. have you been sacked? but this morning, he arrived in london to be told he‘d been suspended from hisjob with sky sports. carragher, who has a 14—year—old daughter himself, admitted his behaviour was unacceptable. it looks awful and i accept that. it‘s not something i‘ve done before, it‘s not something i will do again. i‘m sure of that. i‘ve had a moment of madness, i made a big, huge mistake, a stain on my character.

i have to accept that. i have let my family down, but i think the family i‘ve let down more than anyone is the people in the car. well, what jamie carragher did on his way home from the match at old trafford has been strongly condemned by his employers. in a statement, sky said his behaviour fell well below the standards they expect. the question now is whether his apology will be enough to save his job. carragher was supposed to be on sky‘s coverage tonight but won‘t now take his customary place in the studio. his transition to tough—talking pundit from tough—tackling player had seemed seamless, but after retiring on the pitch, his new career could yet face an early farewell. andy swiss, bbc news. the headlines on bbc news. the prime minister says the nerve agent used to poison a former russian spy in salisbury was a type produced by russia — and it‘s highly likely moscow was responsible. a teenager has been jailed for ten—and—a—half years for his part in a string of acid attacks on moped drivers in london. and, as we‘ve just heard,

sky sports suspends tv football pundit jamie carragher — after he was seen spitting towards a 14—year—old girl. tributes have been pouring in all day for sir ken dodd, who‘s died at the age of ninety. stars from the world of entertainment have hailed him as a "professor of comedy" and an "all—time great" in a career that spanned six decades. something else set him apart. remarkably, doddy, as he was affectionately known, stayed and lived in the same house where he was born. he was an ambassador for the city of liverpool and locals admired and respected him for that. dave guest has spent the day in knotty ash with the people, who were tickled to have known him. it's it‘s the liverpool suburb that ken dodd put on the map. professor of archaeology at knotty ash university,... noel

archaeology at knotty ash university, . .. noel greenwood was one of his knotty ash neighbours are more than a0 years. one of his knotty ash neighbours are more than 40 years. he wasjust very pleasa nt more than 40 years. he wasjust very pleasant and easy going. no real side to him. he really put knotty ash on the map although people elsewhere in the country thought it was a joke. elsewhere in the country thought it was ajoke. i've known people elsewhere in the country thought it was a joke. i've known people who have had to give directions to and i say when you come on the m 62, come off at the sign that says knotty ash and they didn‘t believe me. they thought i was pulling their legs. they thought it didn‘t exist. thought i was pulling their legs. they thought it didn't exist. but it does exist and the people here today mourning one of their own who always stayed true to roots. you'd regularly see him walking around like a businessman, nothing like his stage persona. he was a really nice man, we will miss him, he was good for the community. this is knotty ash primary school. when ofsted inspectors came here they said the

place positively exudes happiness, hardly surprising because this is ken dodd‘s old school. and he was keen to maintain his links with the place. he was always very interested in what was happening at knotty ash and very much part of the children‘s lives. he was very old but entertaining at the same time. he was very good. i went to his 90th birthday party and he sent the cake over to us. that was kind, sent a ca ke to over to us. that was kind, sent a cake to school? yes. the school has hearing impaired pupils, sign language is taught and when the place was reopened doddy did the honours. when you think of him, what do you think. funnyman. he's a funny man. he's got wild hair. he's got sticky and teeth. ken dodd's christian faith was important to him. stjohn the evangelist church is just across the road from his

home. i think all his life he's seen the church as the centre of the community here. a very humble man. hejust community here. a very humble man. he just wanted to use the gifts he had. but we'll leave the last word with the children of knotty ash school. happiness, happiness, the greatest gift that i possess. i thank the lord but i‘ve been blessed with more than my share of happiness. a brilliant tribute to sir tribute to ken dodd who‘s died at the age of 90. earlier i asked jimmy tarbuck about his memories of the veteran entertainer. i met him in a club in liverpool, a jacobs entertainer. i met him in a club in liverpool, ajacobs biscuit entertainer. i met him in a club in liverpool, a jacobs biscuit factory club. they have a gala night and all the liverpool comics were on, johnny hackett, and yours truly, and the

great ken dodd turned up. and eve ryo ne great ken dodd turned up. and everyone was, you know, he was revered, because without a shadow of he was the greatest stage comedian that this country has ever seen. he didn‘t get laughs, he got roars of laughter. and he did so long. he just went on and on and on. the rumour is in liverpool at his funeral will take a monday, tuesday and wednesday! rather like his shows. i gather he could go for three orfour shows. i gather he could go for three or four hours at a time. there was many a grandmother who went to see him and was reported missing! the police would say, no, he‘s gone to see doddy comedies still on. he was a glorious comedian, in full flow on stage she was just brilliant. you say on stage he really had this presence, whether roars of laughterfrom really had this presence, whether roars of laughter from the material from his personality, that rather crazy that he had? wonderful

delivery, slightly rude but never swore, or anything. would drop innuendos and that but he was a glorious, that‘s the word, comedian. jimmy tarbuck remembering his friend sir ken dodd. the veteran fashion designer hubert de givenchy, has died. he was ninety—one years old. he dressed numerous celebrities, including the us first lady, jackie kennedy, and film star, audrey hepburn. you‘re watching bbc news. next month a tax on sugary drinks will be introduced for the first time in the uk in a bid to tackle obesity. you‘ll be paying between 18 and 24 pence extra per litre for many drinks — depending on how much extra sugar has been added. our health editor hugh pym has been to norway where a sugar tax has been in place for years. and recently the tax was almost doubled — with some unintended consequences. there are sweets and lots of them in this shop favoured by some norwegians, but it is not in their own country, it is just

over the border in sweden. the store owner is offering all of this at half the prices as norwegians pay at home. in january the sugar tax levied in norway went up more than 80%. some have driven long distances to cross the border for their shopping. i am coming every once a month to buy food, so it is worth it. it is not only because of the price, but we like to have a treat and we buy a lot when we come here. the company says trade has picked up since the norwegian tax rise, equivalent to about 10p on a chocolate bar. it is hard to imagine anything else quite like it. the swedish owner says this is one of the biggest sweet shops in the world. it has 20 of them all a short distance from the border. 95% of customers come over from norway. norwegians are used to the sugar tax which was introduced some time ago. locals here in oslo

are philosophical about it, even after the tax increase. people are not happy with the tax increasing, but i think it is good. there are a lot of other taxes that i would react on, but this one is ok. the government says the tax has helped control child obesity rates which are below sweden‘s. we managed now to stabilise the obesity of the children and young people and i am happy about that. it means what we have done until now has been functioning in the right way. the uk is now going down the same track with attacks the same track with a tax on sugary soft drinks. the aim is to move shoppers towards lower sugar options. groups like this have already done that. this cookery class with healthy recipes for parents and children is run by a charity made in hackney, putting some juices with fruit but no added sugar are on the menu. the peas are in there.

when you are on a tree you won‘t have a fizzy drink, but i want to stop, so i am here learning about this. the norwegian example shows people can learn to live with the sugar tax, even though when it comes to their behaviour, the message is, expect the unexpected. hugh pym, bbc news, oslo. meghan markle has attended her first official event with the queen at a service to mark commonwealth day. ms markle who is due to marry prince harry in may was joined by other senior royals at westminster abbey. our royal correspondent nicholas witchell reports. it‘s a place she will come to know well. today, though was a first visit to westminster abbey and a first state occasion for meghan markle. not yet a member of the royal family, but to all intents and purposes being treated as though she was. joining the royal party for this celebration of commonwealth day

in the presence of the queen. fanfare plays. for one person there was so much to take in, for another there were so many memories to recall. the national anthem had been learnt and a few moments later there was the queen taking her seat at the head of the congregation. and in her place almost directly behind her, the american who very soon will become the queen‘s newest granddaughter—in—law. the commonwealth matters to the queen. it‘s been one of the themes of her reign. in post—brexit britain, commonwealth links will have renewed importance. there‘s a role there for the younger royals, promoting the commonwealth and encouraging closer ties. and as meghan markle left the abbey, alongside the other senior members of the royalfamily, it would appear that they have a keen and capable new recruit. nicholas witchell, bbc news. world news america next.

time for a look at the weather with darren bett. tomorrow will be drier, it has been a poor date, this picture from east sussex sent by a weather watch is typical. bands of cloud wrapped around an area of low pressure moving slowly eased across england and wales and as it pushes away into the near continent we should see much drier weather returning overnight. those downpours lasting longest across east anglia and the south—east. towards the west will see a finger of cloud producing rain here and there, clearer skies coming into northern ireland, temperatures down to a three degrees, also it could turn misty and murky with patches of fog which will lift in the morning. and we will see sunshine developing in more areas, not necessarily across northern ireland but also western scotland, wales, as our cloudier air drifts

towards the east of the uk and that maybe some light showers, for the most pa rt maybe some light showers, for the most part it will be much drier than today, temperatures perhaps a degree higher, ten or 11 degrees fairly typical. milder air on the way in the middle of the week. a big of of 7:11: 1717 *' " of of 7:11: if rain if? *' ” but at the - time, § that rain we are drawing in head of that rain we are drawing in airfrom iberia head of that rain we are drawing in air from iberia and head of that rain we are drawing in airfrom iberia and this is milder air. to achieve decent temperatures we need to sunshine and towards the west it will be cloudy and windy, gales around the coast and we could see this area of rain coming into western areas later. for many it may bea dry western areas later. for many it may be a dry day, still windy with a little sunshine coming through so temperatures could reach 13 or 14. some sunshine in the south—east where we import drier air, 15 degrees not out of the question and it will feel a bit more like spring. a few days towards the weekend it will feel very different. five

maximum temperature and it will feel more like winter. what is happening. these bands of rain coming in around that area of low pressure, weakening as they move across the uk, high pressure will become more dominant, that will mean that we draw in an easterly wind by the time we get to the weekend. that is to be wind will bea the weekend. that is to be wind will be a strong one and it will feel colder and they will be snow showers chiefly in the east —— that easterly wind will be a strong one. pointing the finger at moscow, the prime minister says a nerve agent was used to poison a former russian spy in the uk. white house backs away from raising the age limit for buying guns, democrats accuse the president of caving in to the nra. his clothes we re caving in to the nra. his clothes were the stuff of movie magic and fashion show fantasies, french designer givenchy has died at the age of 91.