it is now clear that mr skripal and his daughter were poisoned with a military grade nerve agent of a type developed by russia. the prime minister points the finger at moscow saying it's highly likely it was behind the attack in salisbury. tonight a supermarket car park in salisbury is sealed off as hundreds of police continue to investigate the attack eight days ago. sergei and yulia skripal are still critically ill — the russian ambassador has been told to explain by tomorrow what happened. president putin, bbc news... in russia, president putin brushes off questions about the attack — as moscow accuses the british of making up fairy tales. we will have the latest on the investigation and... we'll be looking at what happens next. also tonight.... a teenager is jailed for carrying out a string of acid attacks on moped riders — to steal their scooters. tributes to ken dodd — the last of the great music hall variety comedians — who has died at the age of 90.

this river in greater manchester found to have the highest levels of microplastic pollution so far recorded anywhere in the world. sky's football pundit jamie carragher is suspended after he spits at a teenage girl and her family. and a "master of elegance" — hubert de givenchy — the man who dressed audrey hepburn and jackie kenedy — has died. coming up on sportsday later in the hour on bbc news, will it be another step closer to the premier league title for manchester city? they made a good start against stoke. good evening. the prime minister has pointed the finger at russia tonight, saying it's highly likely it was behind the attack in salisbury on a former russian spy and his daughter.

in a dramatic statement, theresa may revealed that sergei and yulia skripal were poisoned by a military grade nerve agent of a type developed by russia. russia's ambassador has been summoned and told to explain — by tomorrow night — what happened. the prime minister said if there's no credible response, the government will conclude it was an unlawful use of force by the russian state against the uk. and she said there would be consequences. here's our political editor laura kuenssberg. who was responsible? who brought a chemical attack to quite british soil? the prime minister was ready to lay the blame. it is now clear that mr skripal and his daughter we re 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. either this was a direct act by the russian state against our country or the russian government lost control of its potentially catastrophically damaging nerve agent and allowed it to get into the hands of others. but what would she be ready to do? should there be no credible response, we will conclude that this action amounts to an unlawful use of force by the russian state against the united kingdom. mr speaker, this attempted murder using weapons grade nerve agent in a british town was not just a 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 innocent civilians oui’ attempt to murder innocent civilians our soil. the russian ambassador summoned to the foreign office for an explanation and handed an ultimatum to respond by midnight

tomorrow. not much chance of consensus between red and blue at home. we need to continue seeking a robust dialogue with russia on all theissues 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 divisions get worse and potentially, even more dangerous. a serious moment on both sides though. even more dangerous. a serious moment on both sides thoughlj even more dangerous. a serious moment on both sides though. i hope the whole house will be able to come together behind a firm response form the government in the interests of our national security and public safety. this, if not an act of war, was certainly a wa rt not an act of war, was certainly a wart like act by the russian federation. can downing street push the powerful kremlin? there will be more expulsions. she has taught this about being an unlawful act about

should bring in nato and we should be consulting nato allies and i hope thatis be consulting nato allies and i hope that is going on now, because anything we do will be more effective if there can be a broader solidarity behind us. the skripals still in critical condition, their personal plight now a grave diplomatic fight. in the last hour, theresa may has spoken to emmanuel macron. amber rudd will share another meeting of the emergency committee at 11:30am tomorrow. the prime minister's response today was strong in its tone and strong in its words. if by midnight tomorrow, the russians have not come back with a credible answer to what really went on in salisbury, the test will not be the strength or nature of the pro—minister's words, but the strength and credibility of the actions she actually decides to take. —— prime minister. sergei and yulia skripal were poisoned with a rare kind of nerve agent called novichok.

but what is it and where has it come from? our security correspondent gordon corera joins us now. gordon. the prime minister was remarkably specific about the identity of that nerve agent that had been discovered in salisbury. what do we know about it? why was she so specific and why is it thought that it points to russia? samples from the scene in salisbury we re samples from the scene in salisbury were analysed at the porton down laboratory. the tests determined that it came from a rare class of nerve agents known as novichok. novichok are identifiable and new and deadly poison. the use of them in the uk is sending a strong message and it is therefore very surprising that they are being used. novichoks are a class of agents developed during the cold war in the 19705 and 19805, they can be eight times more toxic than other agents

like vx. they were designed to be ha rd to detect like vx. they were designed to be hard to detect and to get through defences like chemical protection suits. the crucial thing is that these agents were only developed by russia. novichoks were top—secret, but an insider revealed details of the programme at the end of the cold war. now, living in america, he told the bbc tonight why he spoke out. war. now, living in america, he told the bbc tonight why he spoke outlj thought that i was involved in a criminal enterprise. i came to the conclusion that chemical weapons are not normal weapons against the armies, the troops of enemies. the identification of novichoks meant the prime minister could say that either the russian state itself deployed that nerve agent in salisbury, or it somehow lost control of its stocks. i would have

thought it was highly unlikely and i am sure there are other super weapons and some of them we have seen weapons and some of them we have seen recently, vladimir putin has demonstrated his tactical missile and others and i would have thought these are under very strict control andl these are under very strict control and i am sure no rogue elements in russia are making a fast buck by selling them. tonight, police searches by traces of nerve agent are still ongoing. russia should have declared its secret programme and the prime minister today said it must now disclose its lead to the international community. some questions were answered today, but we still do not know exactly how the nerve agent was delivered to the skripals and there is another question, why did russia use a nerve agent which could so easily be traced back

to its own programme? thank you. let's go to salisbury now, where hundreds of police officers and army experts who've been drafted in are continuing to investigate what happened and deal with the aftermath of the attack. our correspondent daniel sandford is there — and there's still a big police operation in place? yes, there is no sign of letting up. this is an enormous operation involving chemical warfare trips, counter—terrorism officers and specialist ambulance crews who have been working at a sainsbury‘s car park. a lot of what is visible to the public is painstaking decontamination work and removal of vehicles for further decontamination at that chemical warfare establishment at porton down. there isa establishment at porton down. there is a lot of forensic work going on, particularly at the home of sergei skripal. it remains a focus of the investigation but counter—terrorism officers have made no appeal to the public for information since wednesday, they have released no images of suspects and in fact they have given very few details about

how much progress they have made towards identifying the individuals involved in attacking sergei and yulia skripal. they have been going about their business stalker here, the residence, but there is a sense that they should have been given better public health information following the attack. thank you. moscow was quick to respond to the prime minister's speech, with the russian foreign ministry calling her statement "a fairy tale" and a "circus show in the british parliament". our moscow correspondent steve rosenberg is in krasnodar in southern russia, where president putin is on a visit. steve. before today, vladimir putin had not commented publicly on events in salisbury. he came here today to do some election campaigning and we came as well to see if he would say anything at all about the attack that britain is blaming on russia. getting close enough to vladimir putin to ask a question isn't easy. but we were with the kremlin leader when you visited russia's national when he visited russia's national

grain centre. he wanted to talk about record harvests but we wanted to know if moscow had targeted britain. president putin, bbc news. is russia behind the poisoning of sergei skripal? translation: we're busy with agriculture here. to create good conditions for people's lives. and you talk to me about some tragedies? first work out what actually happened there and then we'll talk about it. but when the british government announced it had worked out which country had attacked the skripals, moscow was in no mood to listen. tonight russia described theresa may's commons statement asa circus show and it dismissed accusations against moscow as an informational political campaign based on provocation, a fairy tale. meanwhile, russian state tv has been pointing the finger back at britain. the news bulletins suggested that the uk had poisoned the former

double agent. only the british stood to benefit, he says. it feeds the russa phobia. security experts, though, believe the trail leads to moscow and to the kremlin. i haven't got the sense, frankly, that operations of this magnitude, something that you know it's going to have a major geopolitical impact, can go ahead without being signed off from the very top. now whether that actively means a plan being spelt out to putin, and him saying, yes, go for it, or something a little bit more lightweight. nonetheless this is not something that came from anything other than the top of the system. this weekend russians are expected to re—elect vladimir putin as their president. a new term that is set to be marked by a new confrontation with the west. steve rosenberg, bbc news, krasnodar. and our diplomatic correspondent

james landale joins me. russia's ambassador was told that he had until tomorrow night to explain what happened and if he doesn't, what happened and if he doesn't, what then? if there is no satisfactory answer, i would expect the expulsion of some diplomats, four were kicked out after the case of alexander litvinenko. we should expect a lot more than that. we should see the government is cracking down on wealthy russians in london, travel bans, financial restrictions and also tougher laws potentially that would seize the assets of those russians guilty of human rights abuses. other responses, targeting the russian state broadcaster, potentially do playing more troops to the eastern flank in nato, conducting even offensive cyber operations against russia. none of this has been ruled out. the interesting question is the international site, a lot of

diplomacy is going on to trying get support for this and the problem is that the bar is high. the russians have a bto at the united nations and the europeans are reluctant to toughen sanctions and the us is saying, we are supporting new but refusing to criticise the russians. there are a lot of options, the test will be whether it is enough to have an impact on the kremlin. james landale, thank you. a 17—year—old has been sentenced to ten and a half years in jail 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 face of six men. but here's derryckjohn calmly paying for petrol that night. he was linked to the stolen moped, but the person seen here driving him around still hasn't been identified. when derryckjohn drove a stolen bike himself later on, this —

an accident which linked him to a string of violent acid attacks. where's it hurting, mate, you all right? 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. even 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're 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. it was one of 400 acid attacks in england and wales in the first six months of last year. even those under 18 who are caught, like derryckjohn, are likely to spend several years in prison. tom burridge, bbc news. the leader of the house of commons has recommended a "short, independently led" inquiry into claims of bullying of parliamentary staff. it follows allegations against the commons speakerjohn bercow and two mps after an investigation by the bbc‘s newsnight programme. all three strongly deny the allegations. tributes have been paid to sir ken dodd, one of the most popular entertainers of our time, who has died at the age of 90. during a

career which spanned more than 60 yea rs, career which spanned more than 60 years, he brought laughter to millions of fans. sir ken died yesterday in liverpool in the house where he was born. his partner of a0 yea rs where he was born. his partner of a0 years was where he was born. his partner of a0 yea rs was by where he was born. his partner of a0 years was by his side. they got married last friday. david sillito looks back at his life. i always say writing jokes for ken dodd was almost like being asked to mix the paints for van gogh. it was that big an honour. geronimo! a little old lady went to the doctor. she said, "doctor! can i have some more sleeping pills for my husband?" "why? " she said, "he's woke up." # happiness... ken dodd. his shows could last into the early hours. he was a joke machine, and there were thousands. i haven't spoken to my mother—in—law for 18 months. i don't like to interrupt her. did you hear about the shrimp that went to the prawn cocktail party? he pulled a mussel! it turns out that if you bang two halves of a horse together,

it doesn't make the sound of a coconut! intensely private, but in public, unstoppable. i think there's a show business ken dodd and there is a thinking ken dodd. and hopefully, there's an amusing ken dodd. i hope so, anyway. she said, do you know what an erogenous zone is? i said, i know you can't park there. ladies and gentlemen, please welcome ken dodd! when he walked on, the place used to go up and he hadn't even said anything yet. now, that doesn't happen very often. how tickled we were. how tickled we are. he would fire the gags out at you like a machine—gun. in 1955, he was at the top of the charts. only the beatles outsold him. we call it "hur" in liverpool,

judy with the "fur hur". # tears for souvenirs... and home was the house he was born in in knotty ash in liverpool, and where he finally married his partner ann just three days ago. i have been overwhelmed by love and affection which i have already received from dear friends and the public. i thank you all for being here. he also famously had his troubles with the inland revenue. he was eventually acquitted. the job i fancy is chancellor of the exchequer — at least i'd be reunited with my money! ken dodd — one of our last links to the world of music hall. an era really has come to an end. sir ken dodd, who's died at the age of 90. plastic and the problems it causes in oceans and rivers around the world are already well known. but what's not so clear is how much damage microplastics are doing —

the tiny particles of plastic less than five millimetres in size. they can be found in all kinds of things from industrial pollution to cosmetics. and now researchers have discovered that a river in greater manchester has the highest levels of microplastic pollution so far recorded anywhere in the world. our science correspondent victoria gill reports. all along this river bank you can see evidence of plastic litter, plastic bags, plastic bottles, food containers. but it's when things like this break down into much smallerfragments that they're just one source of the microplastics that end up in the riverbed. to find outjust how much microplastic flows into our rivers from litter, waste water and industry, scientists need to take a piece of the riverbed back to the lab. all the mud and silt and clay and the microplastic particles will come into the water.

the team analysed silt at a0 different locations, from remote rural streams to city centre waterways. they found microplastic everywhere. where lots of people live, we found extraordinarily high levels of microplastic contamination. just a few kilometres upstream from here, we found microplastic concentrations that are the highest so far recorded anywhere in the world, over 500,000 microplastic particles per metre square of riverbed, enormously high levels of contamination. and that is just a few miles upstream from where we're standing in greater manchester? yes. this is a jar of sediment from the bed of this river, a typical suburban stretch of the river mersey. and in this 250g jar, there will be 5,000 individual pieces of microplastic. aquatic insects, birds and fish can ingest these microscopic pieces of plastic. and this is where the problem becomes visible. this is all plastic? yes, indeed.

how many fragments would you have in this? so in this sample just from a few grams, about 100 microplastic pieces. over here, we've got a couple of microbeads, a bright pink one and a yellow one. finding the source of this problem will be scientists' next step to stop our riverbeds becoming an invisible dumping ground for billions of pieces of plastic. victoria gill, bbc news. the bbc has accused iran of collectively punishing its persian service journalists for reporting on the country's affairs. in an unprecedented move, the bbc has launched an appeal to the un human rights council, demanding that its employees' rights be protected. more than 20 persian service staff and theirfamilies have had death threats and some of their relatives have been harassed. james robbins is at the un in geneva. james, what's the bbc hoping to achieve by this?

this is happening because the iranian authorities have been hostile to the bbc persian television service ever since it was launched in 2009. they accuse it of spreading false propaganda in iran, designed to encourage those who want to bring down the entire iranian government system. we only know that because the iranians, provoked, i think, by the bbc going to the un today, have come out for the first time with a detailed response to the bbc‘s complaints about the treatment of its staff. the fact is that tony hall, the director—general, thought he was making no progress with the iranians in trying to write to them and geta iranians in trying to write to them and get a response. they were not coming back to him with anything and he said it was necessary to bring this all out into the open in the hope that perhaps the iranians would now take serious note now that the un is involved. james robbins, thank you. sky has suspended the football

pundit, jamie carragher, after footage emerged of him spitting through a car at a teenage girl and her father. the former england and liverpool footballer described it as a "moment of madness" after he was goaded. andy swiss‘s report contains some flashing images. 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 1a—year—old daughter. jamie carragher spat on my daughter, nice. carragher, who'd 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 1a—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, a really 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 here 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. before this, carragher had proved a success in the sky studios. 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 cost of getting the civil

service ready for brexit is running into billions of pounds. thousands of extra civil servants are being employed to cope with the challenges. new research suggests that in some key government departments, six years of austerity cuts have been reversed, less than two years since the brexit referendum took place. the cost of getting the civil service ready for brexit runs into billions of pounds. chris morris from our reality check team explains. at the time of the eu referendum after years of austerity, the size of the civil service here in westminster was at its smallest since the second world war, and 20% smaller than it was when the coalition government took office in 2010. but now, in key departments dealing with brexit, those staff reductions have largely been reversed. two new departments have been created since the referendum, the department for international trade and the department for exiting the eu here in downing street. between them, they have about 1,500 staff devoted exclusively to brexit. the numbers are most striking, though, here at defra. the institute for government says its headcount will have increased by 65% since the referendum.

by the end of this month, it's due to have taken on an extra 1,200 people dealing exclusively with brexit, including replacing the eu's common agriculture and fisheries policies. elsewhere, the home office is planning to have hired an extra 1,500 brexit staff by september and her majesty's revenue and customs between 3,000 and 5,000 extra staff by this time next year. so, more people, and the government has said it is committed to ensuring that the right skills and resources are available to deliver a successful brexit. so how much is it all going to cost? well, the institute for government thinks getting the civil service ready for brexit could cost as much as £2 billion by the time we're due to leave the eu next year. and that's on top of the divorce bill with the eu, which the government says will be 39 billion and could be even higher. chris morris, 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 2a 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. 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 norwegians pay at home. injanuary, the sugar tax levied in norway went up more than 80%. some have driven long distances to cross the border for their shopping. i'm coming every once a month to buy food, so it's worth it. it's 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's 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's good. there are a lot of other taxes that i would react on, but this one is ok for me. 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 that what we have done until now has been functioning in the right way. the uk is now going down 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, puddings and juices with fruit, but no added sugar on the menu. occasionally, you would 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. one of the great names of fashion, the french designer hubert de givenchy, has died