the deadline approaches for russia to explain its role in the salisbury attack — but moscow warns britain not to threaten a nuclear power. police reveal more details about sergei and yulia skripal‘s last known movements before they collapsed nine days ago. detectives appeal for anyone who saw them in this red bmw to come forward, as they warn the investigation could take weeks. as they warn the investigation the as they warn the investigation public will continue 1 great the public will continue to see a great deal of police activity around the city, including more is being erected. don't be alarmed, it is necessary as part of this major investigation. the prime minister has told russia to explain by midnight what happened as president trump gives her his support. it sounds to me like they believe it was russia and i would certainly take that finding as fact. moscow has again denied being involved and says it wants to see the evidence. also tonight: surprise as president trump fires secretary of state rex tillerson after a series of public rifts over russia, iran and north korea. an upbeat assessment of the uk economy from the chancellor in his spring statement but labour claim he's ignoring a crisis

in public services. what can i do for you, mrs whatsit? and disney's new film a wrinkle in time — why it's a bittersweet moment for the black woman who directed it. and coming up on sportsday on bbc news... we'll round—up day one of the cheltenham festival, where buveur d'air won the big race of the day, the champion hurdle. good afternoon and welcome to the bbc news at six. police have been giving more details about the last known movements of sergei skripal and his daughter before they collapsed in salisbury nine days ago. 33—year—old yulia skripal arrived in the uk the day before they were poisoned with a military grade nerve agent. time is running out for russia

to respond to the prime minister's demand for a credible explanation as to how the nerve agent ended up in salisbury. the deadline is midnight tonight. let's get the latest from daniel sandford, who's in salisbury. police describe this today as an extremely challenging investigation that unique and complex issues, and that unique and complex issues, and thatis that unique and complex issues, and that is because of the dangers to eve ryo ne that is because of the dangers to everyone involved from that russia and nerve agent used in what police call a despicable, reckless and targeted attack. this evening, there was intense police activity at the pound where sergei skripal‘s car was found after being towed away from salisbury town centre. every day, the work has thrown up a different location. counter terrorism detectives warning today that the operation in the city will last many weeks. we're sifting and assessing all evidence available

and we are exploring all investigative avenues. this includes extensive cctv footage from across the city and over 380 exhibits so far. it's vital that we gather all the evidence available to us and we leave no stone unturned in establishing the full circumstances. police believe yulia skripal arrived at heathrow airport from russia at 2.40 in the afternoon of saturday, 3rd march. the next day, the day of the attack, she and her father parked at 1.40pm on the upper deck of the sainsbury‘s car park in salisbury and then went to the mill pub. they took a short walk to zizzi's restaurant, where they were between 2.20 and 3.35. at 4.15, they were found seriously ill on a park bench. police are asking anyone who saw their car, this red bmw, between 1pm and 1.45pm that day to come forward. they said detective sergeant nick

bailey, who became seriously ill after becoming contaminated, was making good progress. the two people targeted in the attack, yulia and sergei skripal, are still in intensive care here in salisbury hospital, where staff are having to use special precautions, because of the military grade nerve agents. they're both in a critical condition, but they're both still stable, which means they're not getting significantly worse. i understand she is doing slightly better than he is. detectives said at this stage they would not be making public any suspect they have in this unique inquiry. daniel sandford, bbc news, salisbury. president trump has made his first public comments about the attack. he said as soon as the facts were straight, america would condemn russia or whoever it may be. and the european union has said it's

ready to support britain "in pursuit ofjustice". here's our diplomatic correspondent james landale. it began as a brutal attack on the streets of salisbury, the poisoning of a former russian intelligence officer and his daughter, that the uk blames on russia. but it's become a global diplomatic row, with britain looking for allies in its confrontation with moscow. british ministers meeting again to discuss the case have given the kremlin until midnight to explain how a nerve agent developed in russia ended up in britain. if the response is implausible, they are promising extensive measures against russia. this is a brazen attempt to murder innocent people on uk soil. policemen still in hospital, overwhelmingly likely or highly likely the russian state was involved, and the use of this nerve agent would represent the first use

of nerve agents on the continent of europe since the second world war. as pa rt of europe since the second world war. as part of a huge diplomatic effort across europe, british officials told the chemicals weapon watchdog that russia was implicated in the use of chemical weapons. germany, france and other allies offered support without attributing blame but donald trump at least appeared to a cce pt but donald trump at least appeared to accept russia might be involved. theresa may is going to be speaking to me today. it sounds to me like they believe it was russia and i would certainly take that finding as fact. as soon as we get the facts straight, if we agree with them, we will condemn russia or whoever it may be. russia is already subject to sanctions. ministers insist these damage russia's economy but their impact on behaviour is doubtful. crucially these are largely eu sanctions, the uk cannot impose them

on its own. so what unilateral options is the government considering? some of russia's 58 diplomats in london could be expeued diplomats in london could be expelled but that might promote a tit for tat expulsion. russians could face travel bans, but who and how? there could be tougher laws to crack down on russian officials guilty of human rights abuses, and russian television stations like rt could be targeted. here at the foreign office, they are also investing a lot of effort and diplomacy in trying to bring international pressure to bear on russia but the bar is high. russia has a veto at the un and some eu countries are reluctant to contemplate yet more sanctions. to date, the russian embassy said accusations of involvement in the salisbury attack were groundless as diplomats promised retaliation against any new sanctions. russia is not a country to be spoken to in the

language of ultimatums. i think it is high time the uk learned that. but unless moscow gives britain a satisfactory answer by midnight, some russian diplomats here might be clearing their desks very soon. the russian government has once again denied being involved. russia's foreign minister says britain isn't letting the kremlin see the evidence of the nerve agent attack, as required under international law. sarah rainsford in moscow — and something of a diplomatic standoff? i think that's right and it's only going to escalate. britain expects some answers. the foreign ministry said he came to hear the russian protest against what russia calls the sordid attempt to discredit this country. strong language coming from

moscow, and the strongest we have heard yet coming from the minister himself, sergey lavrov. he has essentially rejected the deadline. he said britain is violating the chemical weapons convention by only giving russia 2a hours to respond to the allegation of a chemical attack. he says there should be ten days to respond so unless the uk sticks to the rules, russia has no intention of doing so either, was pretty much the message from sergey lavrov. when i asked him directly if russia was responsible for the attack, he said that was nonsense. we heard as well from his spokeswoman later today with even stronger language. she said today, "who does britain think it is issuing ultimatums to a nuclear power?" so no sign of russia even meeting the deadline or backing down on its stance over this attack. our security correspondent gordon corera is here — investigations continue and they're now widening to include

the deaths of other russians. that's right, there have been a series of questions over the deaths of other russians and people connected to russia over the last decade or so in britain. follow your question, the home secretary today said police and mi5 will review some of those cases to check effectively there was nothing suspicious about those. as if to make the point, we just learned today that the police are investigating another what they call unexplained death in new malden south of london and they are investigating the death here of a man called nikolai glushkov, who was a close ally and friend of boris berezovs ky, a close ally and friend of boris berezovsky, a critic of vladimir putin who himself died in 2013 and is likely to be the subject of one of those reviews into so—called suspicious deaths. counterterrorism command are leading this investigation in new malden, they say as a precautionary measure given

the man's contacts, no evidence yet it is suspicious, and they are saying there's no link to salisbury but you can get a sense of the change in context in the way these deaths are being viewed because of the sense of what russia might be able to do has changed, but very much the priority for police and m15 will be the investigation in salisbury at the you. president trump has sacked his top diplomat, the us secretary of state, rex tillerson — apparently without warning. the two men have had a series of public rifts over issues like russia, north korea and iran. our north america editor, jon sopel, is in washington. was this a surprise or a long time coming? i think the white house are trying to frame this as we are getting the right team in place for the challenges ahead, most notably talks on north korea, but there were differences and on russia the response to what happened in salisbury, part of those rifts.

nevertheless, even for those with steel reinforced jawbones, the casual brutality with which donald trump dispatched his secretary of state today has left many slack—jawed. rex tillerson was flying back to washington from a long trip to north africa when he cut loose with journalists but unknown to him the president had signed his death warrant and it would be death by tweet. mike pompeo, director of the cia, will become the new secretary of state. he will do a fantastic job. thank you to rex tillerson for his service. but rex tillerson is not on twitter so it fell to his chief of staff to ring him and inform them of his demise, only after this from the president. inform them of his demise, only after this from the presidentlj wish after this from the president.” wish rex a lot of good things, i think he will be happy, much happier now but i really appreciate his

service. rex tillerson's fate was probably sealed a long time ago when he apparently called the president a moron, a claim the secretary of state did not exactly deny. i'm not going to deal with petty stuff like that. this is what i don't understand about washington. i'm not from this place but the places i come from we don't deal with that kind of petty nonsense. then there was the public undermining of the secretary of state by the president, sending family members to do some of the work that would normally be done by america's top diplomat and public shaming on twitter like this. "i told rex tillerson that he's wasting his time trying to negotiate with little rocket man". the new man will be mike pompeo. he recently spoke to the bbc. on most things he's firmly aligned with the president but on russia he acknowledges the threat they continue to pose to us elections. i have every expectation

they will continue to try to do that but i'm confident america will have a free and fair election, and push backin a free and fair election, and push back ina a free and fair election, and push back in a way that is sufficiently robust that the impact they have on our election won't be great. tillerson and trump never gelled, it was a corporate titan but now political roadkill. surely the place with lowest life expectancy anywhere in the world, being a member of the trump administration. our top story this evening: the salisbury nerve agent attack, president trump gives theresa may his full support and says russia must provide unambiguous answers about what happened. still to come: victims of the sex offender john worboys go to the high court to challenge his release. coming up on sportsday on bbc news: can manchester united join liverpool and manchester city in the quarter finals of the champions league? they face sevilla at old trafford tonight after a goalless first leg. the chancellor, philip hammond,

has delivered an upbeat assessment of the uk economy, claiming there's "light at the end of the tunnel" and hinting at possible public spending increases in the autumn. mr hammond delivered his spring statement to mp5, saying growth and employment were up and inflation was set to fall. he's also given the clearest hint yet, to the bbc, that he's prepared to increase spending on health. but labour accused the chancellor of ignoring a public sector funding crisis. here's our political editor, laura kuennsberg. is there anybody out there? number eleven didn't want us to pay that much attention. no fuss, no frills. reporter: do you have good news today, chancellor? only the chancellor slipping off to work. the speaker: statement, the chancellor of the exchequer. but what was this, a cheery

philip hammond rushing to his place? if there are any eeyores in the chamber, they're over there. i, meanwhile, am at my most positively tigger—like today. not much has changed from the world outside. true, the economy will grow a little bit faster. the debt will start to fall, just. the day—to—day deficit, remember that, it's gone. but compared to other countries, the economy is sluggish and slow. spending will stay stay tight. i do not agree with those who argue that every available penny must be used to reduce the deficit. and nor do i agree with the fantasts opposite who argue that every available penny should be spent immediately. but a glimmer for the end of the year. if, in the autumn, the public finances continue to reflect the improvements that today's report

hints at, then, in accordance with our balanced approach, i would have capacity to enable further increases in public spending. that might have delighted his side. the speaker: john mcdonnell. but labour accused him of not being in the real world. hasn't he listened to the doctors, the nurses, the teachers, the police officers, the carers and even his own councillors, they're telling him they can't wait for the next budget. they're telling him to act now. but is he listening? this is the eighth year, the eighth year in a row when a conservative chancellor has said to the public that dealing with the accounts is more important than what they might feel they need. well, i hear what you're saying laura, but the facts speak for themselves. i've put £11 billion, this is just what i've done, since i've been chancellor,

£11 billion additionally into public spending in 2018—19 and have promised to put more into the national health service this year if we get a deal on pay. many of your colleagues now believe that the evidence is overwhelming for more money to go into the nhs in the longer term? population is getting older. that technology is developing in a way that makes more and more interventions possible, and indeed desirable in the health service. that does represent a continuous upward pressure. is the cabinet at the moment discussing how to find more money for the health service, as some of your colleagues have told me? this is my responsibility to look at these things, but of course we look at all these issues. as we approach the budget in the autumn and then the spending review in 2019, of course we will look at all these pressures across the piece. not good enough for these opponents this is a chancellor asleep at the wheel. he had to show he was

prepared to take action. in nothing in that statement creates confidence. the only solution is for us confidence. the only solution is for us to get the full portfolio of economic powers, devolved to wales. what the chancellor should have done i think is to be much more open and honest with the public and say there is no more p public money for public services, which is badly needed, we will have to have an increase in taxation to pay for it. not admissions the government is ready to make. hard choices that will linger long after today. along with the brexit bill, revealed to be hanging around until 2064. spring has not yet really sprung. laura kuenssberg, bbc news, westminster. well, the chancellor described himself as positively tigger like about the economy today. how much reason does he have to be cheerful? our economics editor, kamal ahmed, has been looking at the figures. the verdict? yes, he was at his tiggerish best. the data, there is

evidence for the eeyores around him. the reasons for that are multitude. some of the better news is that borrowing is better and growth is better. inflation is coming down. wages are starting to go up. there could be a reversal of that living squeeze that so many people have been suffering over recent years. that is the better news. for the eeyores there is this big challenge. it's a big challenge for the chancellor. the new normalfor growth in the uk is 1.5%. that is well below the 2% to 2.5% we used to enjoy. the oecd brought it into sharp relief. it said britain's growth next year would be at the bottom of the g20 leading industrialised nations. we used to be at the top. that is the big challenge for philip hammond, growth thatis challenge for philip hammond, growth that is not as strong as it used to be. less income for the government. less ability to spend money on those big challenges of health, defence

and the police. thank you. a teenager accused of planting a bomb on a tube train at parsons green in london has said it became a fantasy for him when he was bored during the school holidays. ahmed hassan admitted building the device that partially detonated last september, but denies attempted murder. he told the court the idea of being chased by police was "very attractive" and he wanted attention. two victims of the serial sex attackerjohn worboys have taken their case to the high court. they're challenging a decision by the parole board to release the former taxi driverfrom prison. worboys has served 10 years in jail for attacks on 12 women in london. tom burridge was in court. john worboys tricked and drugged young women. just eight years ago, he was jailed indefinitely for one rape and several assaults in the back of his taxi. when the parole board announced earlier this year he was to be released, it caused

outrage especially among his victims. now, two women he attacked are hoping to overturn that decision. one of them was in the high court today with war boys appearing via videolink as we learnt why the parole board thought he was fit for release. it believed war boys had become "open and honest." that he had taken "full responsibility for his offences" and he had, the parole board thought, "shown insight into factors could cause him to re—offend." the case put forward by the victims' barrister painted a very devon different picture. he said that he had still only admitted the attacks on 12 women for which he was convicted. she presented graphic evidence to back up the police's assertion he actually raped and assaulted more than 100 women. according to these court documents, as recent as september, prison officials decided to keep worboys in

a category a prison because he was deemed of sufficient risk. that was just three months before the parole board decided he should be released. those campaigning on behalf of worboys' victims say vital evidence was ignored. we heard in court today that the parole board didn't listen to the women who had been raped by john worboys or look at any evidence from the trial or the judge's finding that hes with a risk to empiano. it looks like the parole board's decision was completely irrational to releasejohn worboys and it's good we are able it review that decision now. the parole board will present its case over why this conle convicted rapist was ready for release. the reasoning behind such decisions is normally kept secret. this case has raised questions over whether that should change. tom burridge, bbc news, at the high court. disney's new film, a wrinkle in time, premieres in london tonight. the film, which stars oprah winfrey and reese witherspoon, is already topping the box

office in america. and what makes this film different is that it's the first time a black woman has directed such a big budget film, costing more than $100 million. but ava duvernay says for her it's a bittersweet moment. our reporter, chi chi izundu, went to meet her. your father has accomplished something extraordinary. based on the 1962 fantasy novel, a wrinkle in time tells the story of a young teenage girl whose scientist father goes missing and it's down to her to find him and save the universe. and the only one who can stop it — is you. wrinkle currently holds the number two spot at the us box office. start over, and we'll burn it all. in at number one is the marvel epic black panther, which has also just surpassed the $1 billion mark worldwide. to the rest of the world.

plus, it's the first time in history that two black directors with budgets over $100 million have ever taken the top two spots at the box office. an achievement the wrinkle director, ava duvernay, has described as bitter sweet. there are amazing women throughout history of cinema who were black women, women of colour, who should have had these opportunities, but hollywood and the industry didn't give them the opportunities. so because hollywood has decided to give me the opportunity, it doesn't really have to do anything with me, it has to do with the time. so it's bittersweet when we hear about some of these firsts happening in 2018. do you think hollywood's changed towards people of colour being forefront and centre of film? changing, not changed. changed means it's done and it's happened. that's certainly not the case. but changing, i hope so. that hope is turning into a reality. since the start of her career, ava has insisted on a diverse cast and crew, something other production houses and actors are now actively including in their contracts in hollywood.

here we're here trying to make something that loves a wider audience and we say, we love you back — if you're a girl, if you're a person of colour, if you're a caucasian boy, if you're a south east asian woman, if you're a filipino boy. we have everybody in this film because we want the film to love everyone so they can see a bit of themselves in it. chi chi izundu, bbc news. time for a look at the weather. here's ben rich. more snow on the way? yeah not until the weekend and not for everyone. will firm up on the details of where the snow will fall. today many of us got to enjoy sunshine across western parts of the uk. this picture came to us from a weather watcher from helensburgh, blue skies overhead. you can see from the satellite picture the eastern side of scotland and eastern side of england had more cloud. it produced the odd shower.

for most places the cloud has been breaking up. so, as we go through tonight, for central and eastern areas where we keep clear skies temperatures will dip away, close to freezing. some spots just below. a touch of frost and mist patches as well. out west the beginnings of a change. thickening cloud, outbreaks of rain and strengthening winds as well. this area of low pressure will be working its way in from the west as we go into tomorrow morning. strong winds, which could touch gale force in western areas, but those winds coming from a mild place. very mild air moving across the country. whereas today the western areas had the best of the brightness it will be eastern areas with the best of the brightingness. eastern scotland and eastern england holding on to sunshine which will turn hazy. further west a different story. for the south—west of england persistent rain that could cause flooding and travel issues. that will fringe into

wales and northern ireland could see disruption from that persistent rain. across western areas there will be strong winds, touching gale force in the most exposed spots. all the while those pars parts of northern and eastern scotland, central and eastern england holding on to the hazy sunshine. with the mild airfrom the on to the hazy sunshine. with the mild air from the south 12 degrees in edinburgh and 14 in london. don't get used to temperatures like those. as we head through the coming days the temperatures slowly dipping away. the north you see on thursday and friday temperatures in edinburgh down to eight, seven, six degrees. by down to eight, seven, six degrees. by the weekend significantly colder wherever you are. there is the potential for some snow. as wherever you are. there is the potentialfor some snow. as i i said at the start we have to keep a close eye on the exact details of where. our main story. president trump gives theresa may his full support and says russia must provide unambiguous answers about what happened. that's it from us. none

now on bbc one we can join the bbc‘s news teams where you are. goodbye. this is bbc news — our latest headlines. moscow is refusing to co—operate with the investigation into the poisoning of a former spy and his daughter — as police give an update on the investigation. the public are going to continue to see great deal of police activity in and around the city — including potentially more cordons being erected. please don't be alarmed — it is necessary as part of this major investigation by the counter terrorism policing networks — he'll be replaced by the head of the cia, mike pompeo. i received a call today from the president of the united states in the afternoon time from air force

one. i have also spoken