hello. this is the briefing. i'm david eades. our top story: the us backs britain as it condemns last week's nerve agent attack in the uk as "a russian crime". at the united nations, its ambassador demands action. the credibility of this council will not survive if we fail to hold russia accountable. plastic bottles, plastic drinks. ten plastic particles found per litre amid growing concerns over many brands of bottled water. and a moment of truth for uk schoolchildren. how the bbc‘s helping them discern fake news from fact. and in business, thejourney from pundit to policymaker. trump picks cnbc‘s larry kudlow as his new economic adviser. but will the president tune in to his free market views, or switch off? also coming up, britain talks tough over the poison spy, but with russia

pumping so much of europe's fuel and gas, to economics talk louder? and a very walk into the programme, as we preview on all you need to know in global news, business, and sport. —— a warm welcome. —— global news. now the results of this year's happiness index are out today and finland is officially the happiest place to live. in fact, four of the top five places to live are nordic countries. but what makes you happy with where you live? come and be part of the conversation — just use the #bbcthebriefing.

the white house has backed the uk's decision to expel russian diplomats in retaliation for the nerve agent attack in england on sergei skripal and his daughter. the us said it was a "just response" and america stood in solidarity with its closest ally. 23 staff at the russian embassy in london have been given a week to get out of the country. but the kremlin continues to deny any involvement in the attempted murder. lebo diseko has more. britain called this urgent meeting of the un security council to state its case against russia and ask for support will stop and, for the most part, it got it, with the us calling for immediate and concrete action. time and time again, members say they are opposed to chemical weapons under any circumstance. now one member stands accused of using chemical weapons on the sovereign soil of another member. the credibility of this council will not

survive if we fail to hold russia accountable. but predictably there was one permanent member of the security council that disagreed. translation: we do not speak the language of all the makins, nor do we allow to be spoken to in this kind of glenwood. —— ultimatums. —— kind of glenwood. —— ultimatums. —— kind of glenwood. —— ultimatums. —— kind of language. russia spoke out against the measures announced by theresa may. 23 did might have been expelled. they are suspected of being spies. all high—level contact between the countries has been suspended. no minister or member of the royal family will go to the world cup. and some russian assets in the uk could be frozen. with russia turning to retaliate, neither looks like they want to give ground.

and those who were victims of the event that cause all this are still fighting for their lives. lebo diseko, bbc news. researchers in the united states say they've found particles of plastic in some of the most popular brands of bottled water. in the largest study of its kind, more than 200 bottles were put through a screening process. food safety experts say the levels of plastic found does not make the water unsafe to drink. but they're calling for more research — as david shukman reports. bottles of water are feature of everyday life around the world. new tests commissioned byjournalists at orb media have discovered something unexpected, tiny particles of plastic in the water. at this laboratory in new york state, tests were carried out on over 250 bottles. a special kind of dye was added that's known to stick to pieces of plastic. under certain wavelengths of light they sparkle like stars in the night sky. on an average per litre there were ten large particles, each larger than the width of a typical human hair and confirmed as being plastic. smaller particles were also found.

on average, 314 per litre. they weren't confirmed but were probably plastic. at the moment there are no rules covering these microplastics or any agreed way of checking for them. it's an indication that we should be concerned. it's not catastrophic, these numbers we're seeing, but it is concerning. especially if you look at them, if you're drinking only bottled water and do this every day over a year, you know, you are literally talking thousands of pieces of plastic that you are ingesting just from the water you were drinking. we contacted all the companies involved. nestle told us that today they have not found microplastic compounds beyond the trace level in their product. danone, which owns evian, said of the study that the methodology is unclear. and that there were no rules on microplastics. coca—cola, that makes dasani, said the micro plastics seem to be

everywhere and may be found at minute levels, even in highly treated products. this is the first time that bottled water has been tested for plastic on this scale. 11 different brands bought in 19 countries. and in almost every case, researchers have found plastic. what does this mean for our health? the food standards agency says it is unlikely the microplastics could cause harm. but the world health organization now wants to review the evidence and scientists say more research is needed. as we become more aware of the prevalence of microplastics, and the potential harm that they might cause, i think we need to start thinking now about how we can reduce those imputs so we're not stoking up a huge problem for the future. the advice, where water supplies are dirty, is that bottled water is far safer. but this study does raise questions about where plastic can end up, and whether the tiniest pieces can affect our health. david shukman, bbc news,

in new york state. let's brief you on some of the other stories making the news. britain's brexit secretary says he's prepared to accept the eu's offer of a shortened transition period of under two years after the uk leaves the european union in march 2019. david davis said he would agree to a call for the transition to end in december 2020 if that helped to secure a deal at next week's eu summit. tens of thousands of students across america have been staging a series of classroom walkouts to demand tighter gun safety laws. the protests were led by survivors of last month's florida school shooting in which seventeen people were killed. a court in hungary has sentenced a syrian asylum seeker to seven years in prison, after

convicting him of complicity in an act of terror. ahmed h was involved in scuffles with the police at a border crossing, and was later arrested. amnesty international described the verdict as ‘a mockery ofjustice.‘ the italian authorities have evacuated more than 20,000 people from the historic city of fano on the adriatic coast, after an unexploded bomb was found. the 200 kilogram british—made bomb from the second world war was discovered during building work. it's three weeks before the hungarian general election — and supporters and opponents of prime minister, viktor 0rban, are due to hold separate marches today. mr 0rban is known for his fierce anti—migrant, populist rhetoric, and is seeking a third consecutive term. live now to our correspondent nick thorpe in budapest. i guess this day offers a vivid

representation of the two sides of the political argument, here? that is right. the 15th of march is traditionally the day when hungarians mark the outbreak of the 1848 hungarians mark the outbreak of the 18118 war of liberation and independence from the habsburg empire. it is an emotional day anyway. as you said, we are just three weeks ahead of this group will election, in which viktor 0rban is hoping to be elected for a third term. lots of rellies are taking place today. probably the biggest, certainly the biggest, i think, will be the pro—government rally. they call it a peace march. this will be the seventh of these. the government supporters, the supporters of the governing party, fidesz, at first they thought they were going to win very easily, given the economic achievements setting for themselves,

and theiranti—immigrant achievements setting for themselves, and their anti—immigrant rhetoric, but the opposition for this time feel that they could topple the government. there was an event a few weeks ago in which the fidesz bastian, they lost that, and the opposition parties are not tackling them on migration — migration is not popular in hungary, but they said that the government is using it to shield itself from corruption enquiries and its own problems with the european union. the way that has brought back the rule of law in hungry over the last few years. all these rallies taking place today, these rallies taking place today, the government supporters are trying to defend the government's record, and other parties are rally on this. —— hungary. they are challenging the government ahead of this important election. thank you very much for joining us, and nick. let's turn to our top business story, because president trump has appointed a new economic adviser.

he's larry kudlow, a tv pundit with financial channel cnbc — and former investment banker. his predecessor, gary cohn, resigned last week over mr trump's plans for new steel and aluminium tariffs. mr kudlow is an outspoken advocate of free trade — and has also been very critical of the latest moves by the white house. iain anderson is founder of the international communications agency, cicero group. good to see you. very interesting appointment. 0n good to see you. very interesting appointment. on that basis, the free market advocate coming in as he is trying to laydown carus. he is a pugilist. he was a pundit. and remember that donald trump is to be a pundit. he is a big believer in free trade. donald trump has just enacted a set of policies on steel

and aluminium. the big debate is whether he is going to temper trumpet anyway. -- temper donald trump anyway. we know what the message will be from donald trump on the tax hikes. and i suppose the word advisor comes in. he does not rule the roost over decision—making. so why would donald trump want in there? there are other areas where they dovetail neatly... they are in lockstep agreement on tax reform. he is basically in agreement with donald trump as a supply sider. so they will be in agreement there. what he might do is temper donald trump's unbridled move towards sanctions. he is talking a lot about targeting trade sanctions on china, so targeting trade sanctions on china, so far, so we might see him get donald trump to refocus on the

street sanctions. that will have an impact on the markets, no doubt. we will talk a little bit more about that in the news review. thank you for that. stay with us on the briefing. also on the programme, lionel messi's 100th champions league goal puts barcelona into the quarter finals — at the expense of chelsea. that — and more — in the sport briefing. today we have closed the book on apartheid and that chapter. more than 3,000 subway passengers were affected. nausea, fainting, headaches and the dimming of vision, all of this caused by an apparently organised attack. the trophy itself was on the pedestal in the middle of the cabinet here. it was an international trophy and we understand now that the search for it has become an international search. above all, this was

a triumph for the christian democrats of the west, offering reunification as quickly as possible, and that's what the voters wanted. you're watching the briefing. 0ur headlines: the us has condemned last week's nerve agent attack in the uk as "a russian crime". moscow again has denied any involvement and pointed to retaliatory measures. researchers in the us say they have found particles of plastic in some of the most popular brands of bottled water. islamist militants are in a persistent battle with the un—backed government in somalia.

they may have been pushed out of most of the main towns, but they are still a potent threat. those people living on remote islands near the kenyan—somali border depend on safari doctors to provide healthcare and save lives — they travel long distances by boat, by road and by air, to bring free medical aid to the islands‘ increasingly isolated people. david wafula reports from lamu. this is an isolated village. the people here are isolated from basic entities including healthcare. help is available but it is an overnight sale. the volunteers known here as safari doctors make their way here to the village. the last box with medicine has been put down and it is leaving our. how long is it going to take? about eight hours a. will go

along and see how it goes, right? —— we will. as the dawn breaks, the tide in the dow on the shores of the island. the medics are now closer. this man only has time for a quick brea kfast this man only has time for a quick breakfast before getting on with the job. 0n the island, this woman is waiting for the return of the medics. she recently had a miscarriage but thanks to the volunteers, she survived. translation: the whole night i was in agony, my lower back was in pain. i was screaming and bleeding throughout the night. people were just waiting to be today. that is when they called the volunteer doctors. they came and gave the

injections, they cleaned me and they took me to hospital for further treatment. i feel much took me to hospital for further treatment. ifeel much better took me to hospital for further treatment. i feel much better now. it is cost effective because it has enough room for all volunteers and supplies. we trek to the village, where a temporary medical centre is set up in a school building. two women are already waiting, they come with a wide range of needs. we are doing immunisation, we are doing also mothercare. and then we are treating the minorities. we are also doing screening of hiv, we are also screening for malaria. in any case we get any of them would put them on treatment and do the call up —— follow—up next. treatment and do the call up —— follow-up next. with one island already done, it will be leaving for five more islands, journey taking three days to deliver much—needed medical services to hundreds of villagers who have been desperately

waiting for weeks. now it's time to get all the latest from the bbc sports centre. hello i'm azi farni and welcome to your sports briefing for thursday — including a look ahead to the big match in the europa league. and looking back on another milestone for lionel messi in the champions league. the champions league may be overfor this round, but the european football action doesn't stop there. on thursday there are eight matches in the europa league, including the second leg between arsenal and ac milan. after their troubles in the premier league, arsene wenger‘s side caused an upset by beating milan 2—0 at the san siro. the seven—time european champions had been in great form before the game, but were second best on the night and now have it all to do in london. sometimes when you have a negative spiral it is difficult to get out.

that is why it was important for us to turn the corner, especially when you have big games in one week of three games in one week. if you lose the one then it is a massive game, like we faced in the cup. more chancesin like we faced in the cup. more chances in the next one, so it was important to get out of that. atletico madrid are also in action on thursday and they look set for the quarter—finals. the spaniards are taking a 3—0 lead to russia, after a comfortable win over lokamotiv moscow in the first leg. now to golf and after barely playing for the past three years, tiger woods will start the bay hill championship as one of the favourites, later on thursday. in his prime, the 14—time major winner won the tournament eight times, but it's now nearly five years since he last picked up any silverware.

iam learning i am learning how i can swing it and not swing it. these are all things i am learning and i am learning on getting a lot better at it, which is nice. i think you can sort of see the fruits of that now, with the twea ks the fruits of that now, with the tweaks i have made and i am excited about it. venus williams continues to go from strength to strength at indian wells in california. she's taking on spain's carla suarez navarro in the quarter—finals later on thursday. venus, of course, had that emotional win over sister serena on her return to the tour in the second round, before the seven—time grand slam champion stormed past latvia's anastasija sevastova in straight sets. in case you missed it, barcelona and bayern munich completed the champions league quarter—final line up on wednesday. barca did it with a 3—0 win over chelsea at cam nou. lionel messi scored his quickest ever goal to put the catalans1—0 up after two minutes and eight seconds.

he then played in 0usmane dembele for the frenchman's first goal for the club, before netting barca's third for his 100th champions league goal. barcelona winning 4—1 on aggregate. bayern's match against besiktas was more of a formality, given that the germans were 5—0 up from the first leg. thiago alcantara put them ahead in turkey and a gokhan gonul own goal immediately after half—time doubled bayern's lead. vagner love pulled one back for besiktas, but sandro wagner wrapped up a comfortable 3—1 win for bayern. now, how about this for the best of social media? andrew henderson is the current and five—time keepy—uppies world champion, here's a video he's shared of what was a relaxing night with friends ten—pin bowling. but of course he still couldn't put the football down. how about this for a strike?

and if that wasn't enough — there's a big finish to add too! you can get all the latest sports news at our website — that's bbc.com/sport. but from me and the rest of the sport team, goodbye. now for any budding reporter the hot topic of the moment is the rise of ‘fake news‘ and how to combat it. made famous by president trump the term has spread into everyday language and has changed how people look at the news. so to help, the bbc has launched a new online game that challenges young people what fake news is and how to spot it. john maguire has been to a school in coventry to see what it's all about. sometimes it is difficult to tell what is real and what is not. fake news is a major issue in this internet age, especially to

children. these students at this school have been helping to create an online game could help —— to teach youngsters how to detect when usedis teach youngsters how to detect when used is being made up. like i said, what i can say, it is too early to say but that doesn't mean we don't know, it is just that we don't know yet. the scenario involves a major problem with a social media company. iam problem with a social media company. i am dealing with a major incident here. the students act as journalists tom trying to find out what is happening and deciding how and when to publish their story. always keep on asking because at one point you might get to the bottom of it. the dark secrets that the ceo wa nts to it. the dark secrets that the ceo wants to keep from the users.|j think it teach you how to make the right decisions at about what is happening andl right decisions at about what is happening and i think that really helps because now in social media and stuff, they give out what of fa ke and stuff, they give out what of fake news on the internet and some

people believe a lot of it and that can get them in a lot of trouble. the game is being released online by the bbc on school report day, created in partnership with animators and filmmakers. here at their headquarters in bristol, stu d e nts their headquarters in bristol, students from the sixth form college have also been involved in the process. what do you think of the characters put in there?|j process. what do you think of the characters put in there? i really like them, my personal favourite is sly fox. before this i didn't know about fake news, this has brought to attention to encourage younger kids if they hear anything on the news to research it and see if it is true or false. part of this game is about trying to find the sources, finding out if it is safe to share it and if other people are open to finding out about it as well. 30,000 students ta ke about it as well. 30,000 students take part in school report each year, helping them to find out what

is going on in the world and this game is designed to inform and protect them from malicious fake news, teaching them to question, to ask what, how and crucially, why? you made it. will come to the social media team. joe maguire, bbc news. we asked to your views on the happiest countries, finland. david says, happiness is a village surrounded by the nationalforage, forests, quiet lanes and wildlife, great for dog walks. also, the unity and diversity despite a population of 72 tribes in one nation. many more coming in the. keep them coming in here, on the briefing. thanks for watching. mild wind in the west, that sums up

the weather. for the next few days, starting with rain that pushes north and east across the uk and then it turns much colderjust in time to the weekend. easterly wind and that will blow in more snow showers especially across england and wales. at the moment, generally reigned. rein in northern ireland where it has been wet, the rain band moves away from wales heading further north, some snow in the mountains of scotla nd north, some snow in the mountains of scotland and some sunshine to the south of that, could trigger some heavy and potentially thundery showers but those to riches lifting up showers but those to riches lifting up to 12 or13 showers but those to riches lifting up to 12 or 13 degrees. the rain in the north it will be a little bit colder. the cold air yet to arrive but we will start to see that turning into sleet and snow over the high ground in scotland and we will still have these vans of showers moving northward —— northwards towards ireland. no frost early on friday morning. still could be some

rather heavy burst we're of rain and potential for thunderstorms. that range and into sleet and snow over the higher ground in scotland on friday. rain further south in england and northern ireland for a time, and every showers —— some heavy showers. you can contrast as you move northwards across the uk in terms of temperature is. we will all be in the same boat by the time to get into the weekend. high—pressure blocking things off from scandinavia and around it we draw down some cold airon the and around it we draw down some cold air on the easterly wind, a significant chill as well. perhaps not too much snow falling during the day on saturday, a if you snow showers coming in across eastern areas, perhaps some snow from early on overnight but many places dry, a little bit of sunshine coming through but significantly colder. remember in the south on friday, 12, 13, saturday four and five further north one and two and feeling colder in the wind. that area of

high—pressure transfers to the northern half of uk on sunday. a little feature here that could have got snow showers and give us snow overnight into sunday morning. through the english channel, southern counties that should pull away. will be a few more so showers coming in on those wins, again mainly for england and wales, another colgate —— cold day, those temperatures much lower than they should be at this time of year. this is business briefing.

iam i am david iam david eades. from pundit to policymaker — trump picks cnbc‘s larry kudlow as his new economic adviser. but will the president tune in to his free market views, or switch off? plus, negative energy: britain talks tough over the poisoned spy. but with russia pumping 11 million barrels of oil a day — and more than a third of europe's gas — do economics talk louder? and on the markets, stocks continue to fall on fears of a global trade war — as president trump talks about fresh tariffs on chinese