‘of disruptive in the southern half of the uk. also blizzards and very icy conditions as well. the prime minister visited the crime man -* mn-~ scene today and welcomed the of the international support in the wake of the poisoning of the former russian spy. this happened in the uk, but it could have happened anywhere. and we take a united stance against it. now streets are cordoned off around the home of the police officer, still seriously ill after the attack, as the defence 51:5 n first}. ,.,, secretary voices his anger. first; , it. if you are a nation and another nation has launched a nerve agent attack on your people and you have every right to tell russia to shut up and go away. moscow continues to deny being involved and says should never, ever happen , 7 , should never, ever happen and e are taking it very seriously, as it will expel british diplomats in retaliation. we are taking it very seriously, as also on the programme tonight. i think we are taking it very seriously, as ithink are we are taking it very seriously, as i think are many others. the joint thousands flee the syrian enclave statement is significant because it of eastern ghouta as government shows the foreign office and downing forces intensify their attacks street are convincing britain's on the rebel held area. allies that the salisbury attack is a police investigation reveals that

a fire door at grenfell tower only different, it represents an held back the flames for 15 minutes escalation of russia's hostile — half the time it should have. behaviour. and as such, those allies are ready to crank up the pressure the world health organisation orders a review into the potential risks of microplastics after hundreds on moscow. bad diplomacy continued today in brussels where british are found in leading brands of bottled water. security officials briefed nato and coming up on allies. the head of the alliance sportsday on bbc news: said russia had clearly breached penhill wins a thrilling stayers‘ hurdle — giving trainer penhill wins a thrilling stayésé international agreements. said russia had clearly breached international agreementsm said russia had clearly breached international agreements. it is hurdle — and g trainer important to express strong, political support to the united penhill wins a thrilling stayésé hurdle — and g ti united - in statement, sta gssisegrg nerve kingdom, sending a clear message that the united kingdom is not alone. we stand together with them. in moscow, president putin discussed the salisbury case with his ministers, who denied russia and the soviet union had ever run a novichok nerve agent programme and promised sergei and yulia skripal. to respond soon to the expulsion of its diplomats. the porton down military research laboratory, which russia continues to identified the nerve agent is to get deny any involvement. james landale reports. this was theresa may's first visit an extra £48 million in funding. ministers confirmed it would provide a sample to the chemical watchdog.

ministers, whose diplomacy is not extending to russia. if you are a to salisbury since the nerve agent nation and another nation has attack. a chance to be briefed by launched a nerve agent attack on your people, you have every right to the police and public health tell russia to shut up and go away. meanwhile, this afternoon near salisbury, the investigation continued with the army recovering a carfrom continued with the army recovering a car from the continued with the army recovering a carfrom the village continued with the army recovering a car from the village near the continued with the army recovering a carfrom the village near the home of detective sergeant nick bailey. in a moment we'll get the latest -— from washington and moscow but first let's speak to daniel sandford ‘11 days restaurant ' ' ~ we re who's in salisbury. more cordons as we saw, the i—— the prime minister the i police ‘iinister investigation goes on? yes, what is 2r— 2g; unusual about this investigation is because of the use of the nerve agent in this english cathedral city, there are an unprecedented number of safety concerns. the main thing we have been seeing is the recovery of those two vehicles from the village where detective sergeant nick bailey lived. you wouldn't

normally have to do that in a counterterrorism investigation, recovering the vehicles of first responders, but they have to do that sat; ‘ififs w: - i if; "t'ufsz" w to to decontaminate them. troops have had to put on protective clothes and —§§3§ sig—m171 iii—3 we're looking at. what gas masks, load the vehicles onto will the low loaders and carefully removed the protective clothing again to avoid being contaminated. allies élufiafig "' that is because of this identification of this military grade nerve agent from the novichok class, which was made in the soviet union. that was identified last week by the scientists from porton down. it took them several days to get to that point. now a sample will be made available for independent verification. it is part of the internationally agreed process of the uk, proving its charge against russia, that russia has used a chemical weapon, and nerve agent in europe for the first time since the second world war. the uk will be hoping it will persuade enough

countries the kremlin is simply lying and no amount of russia muddying the waters with conspiracy theories and propaganda will undermine its case. steve rosenberg is in moscow. russia says it will retaliate after its diplomats were expelled but we still don't know when or how? absolutely, there will be retaliation, but we do know vladimir putin discussed the matter today here in the kremlin with his top security officials. a meeting of the powerful russian security council and they denounced britain's stance as destructive and provocative but there was no announcement about their planned response. as we await that response, you can feel the anti—british sentiment bubbling up in the state—controlled media here. i was watching russian tv and rolling news channel and there was a report which listed all the bad things that russia alleges britain has done to russia over the last 200

years. whenever there is a diplomatic row between moscow and london, there is one famous russian expression you always hear in the state media here, the english man spoils everything. we have been hearing that a lot in the last couple of days. and jon at the white house. president trump has joined president trump hasjoined uk in blaming russia, a significant moment? yes, since he came to office there has been a stubborn refusal to blame russia for anything and ignored the advice of his own intelligence services. but now he stands square behind theresa may and the accusation she has made about the accusation she has made about the russians. the statement issued la st the russians. the statement issued last night saying just that. donald trump did something, he joint signed the letter with the leaders of france, germany and britain. furthermore, he had a brief news

co nfe re nce furthermore, he had a brief news conference with the irish prime minister, who is here in washington at the moment and said, it looks like it was the russians who were behind it, something which should never have happened and we are taking it very seriously. one other thing, the americans have imposed sanctions against 19 russians over a separate investigation. it looks as though the calculation appears to be this... if everyone is acting together against russia, much more difficult for vladimir putin to pick theresa may off individually. thank you all very much. thousands of people are fleeing syria's rebel held enclave of eastern ghouta, as government forces step up their offensive. doctors there have sent out desperate messages saying they are overwhelmed by the number of casualties. president assad's forces have now retaken large parts of eastern ghouta, the last rebel stronghold near the capital damascus. our middle east editorjeremy bowen report contains some distressing scenes.

thousands of people are fleeing parts of eastern pewter, going into an uncertain future that looks better now than the deadly present. these are the people who have spent weeks hiding in basements from the shelling. eastern ghouta is a big area and this isn't happening everywhere. many tens of thousands are still besieged. this was filmed by omar, a cameraman who gives his material to the bbc. the attack happened outside his building. a small boy was caught up in it. he is deaf, so he hadn't heard warnings to ta ke deaf, so he hadn't heard warnings to take cover. omar, the cameraman worried the boy would be to death and told us the eight minutes it took for the ambulance to arrive we re took for the ambulance to arrive were the worst he had enjoyed since

the battle for eastern ghouta had began. omar carried him to the ambulance where he was squeezed in next to the bodies of the dead. omar has seen a lot of death. he said the boy was a soul he wanted to say. we have been following this doctor, a paediatrician and an underground hospital who spends every day with the wounded and the dying. in that place, they are all fighting fear, where regime soldiers are advancing into the eastern ghouta. the doctor sent a message. translation: into the eastern ghouta. the doctor sent a message. translatiosz into the eastern ghouta. the doctor sent a message. translation: it is the worst it has been for many days, the worst it has been for many days, the shelling is brutal, bombs, rockets, all kinds of weapons. this may be my last message. the injured are everywhere, the operating theatres are full of wounded people. we don't have enough doctors to help them and our own homes are being

shelved. a small amount of aid is being brought into eastern ghouta. all the talk of a humanitarian ceasefire is being ignored. this war started seven being ignored. this war started seve n years being ignored. this war started seven years ago. it's horror goes on. jeremy bowen, bbc news. a man's been sentenced to at least 30 years in jail for stabbing to death the daughter of his ex—partner at an aldi supermarket in skipton in west yorkshire. 30—year—old jodie wilsher, a mother of one, was working at the supermarket four days before christmas when she was stabbed several times by neville hord. the 44—year—old admitted killing her. he was told he may never be released. the crown prosecution service has ruled out a further review of the death of poppi worthington, the 13 month—old girl who died in barrow—in—furness in december 2012. a coroner concluded in january she had been sexually assaulted by her father paul worthington, hours before she died of asphyxia. he denies any wrongdoing. the anglo—dutch consumer company unilever, the third biggest firm in the uk,

has denied brexit is a factor in its decision to base its new headquarters in rotterdam, rather than london. unilever, which makes staples such as marmite and hellmann's mayonnaise, insists it's fully committed to its british operations. a police investigation into the deaths of 71 people who died in the grenfell tower blaze has revealed that a fire door installed in the tower block was only able to hold back the flames for around 15 minutes — just half the time it was supposed to work for. survivors of the fire have called the revelations "shocking". tom symonds reports. could what happened here be the result of corporate manslaughter? that is what the police are investigating. highly technical work, including the test of a door from a grenfell flat. one that was undamaged in the fire. in this standard test, heat is applied to one side and the door must hold for 30 minutes. here, there's some smoke, but this

door easily passes the test. the sample from grenfell lasted 15 minutes. the police informed the government, which has consulted its own experts. the response... there is no change to fire safety advice that the public should follow. i, nevertheless, fully appreciate that this news will be troubling for many people, not least all those affected by the grenfell tragedy. that is why, based on expert advice, we have begun the process of conducting further tests and we will continue to consult with the expert panel to identify the implications of these further tests. this picture is from before the fire. flats appear to have had a variety of doors, but they were fairly new. the doors were replaced in 2012, not as part as the major refurbishment of grenfell tower. after that work there was a safety inspection. the investigators will want to know were the doors properly assessed? for the survivors, understanding why

it happened is vital. it's very important for grenfell survivors and the bereaved families to feel that we can honour the memory of those who have died. one way we can bring justice is to make sure that regulations and progressive policies ensure that people feel safe in their homes once again and that means tightening the regulations. but those questions will come later. for now, this is still the scene of a criminal investigation. tom symonds, bbc news, at grenfell tower. the time isjust the time is just after quarter past six. our top story this evening... america, germany and francejoin britain in blaming russia for the salisbury nerve agent attack as the prime minister visits the crime scene. and still to come... how to spot fake news — the task set to thousands of pupils across the country for bbc school report. coming up on sportsday on bbc news... gareth southgate names four uncapped players in his 27—man squad for england's pre—world cup friendlies against the netherlands and italy. microplastics — they're tiny pieces

of plastic small enough to be ingested by the human body. now the world health organisation is launching a review into the potential risks of microplastics after researchers found hundreds, even thousands of the tiny particles in many major brands of bottled water. at the moment there is no evidence that microplastics can harm human health as our science editor, david shukman reports. in the latest research into plastic, more than 200 bottles of water were put through a screening process. most turned out to have particles of plastic floating around inside. there is no evidence this is harmful but we asked people around the world what they think of this discovery. this phenomenon is really a cause for concern. and with the usage going up, i think it's going to hit a large i think it's going to affect a large

segment of the population. they tell you to not eat this or drink this, that or the other. i prefer bottled water than tap water so i would have to just have to carry on. i'd ratherjust boil my own water. that is more important, than actually buying water at an expensive price which is actually a health risk. it's kind of like you're damned if you do, damned if you don't. if you drink the bottled water, if you drink the fawcet water it's scary. tests on this scale have never been tried before. a special dye which sticks to particles of plastic was added to more than 200 bottles. in the right lighting conditions, it makes the plastic glow. and when the dyed water was poured through a filter, each particle was trapped so it could then be counted and analysed. so what are the results from this laboratory testing showing us? on average, each litre contains ten larger pieces of plastic. that's bigger than the width of a human hair. and with smaller particles, which were probably plastic, you get

an average of 314 per litre. so, does this matter? there's no evidence that ingesting plastic causes any harm but scientists say they can't rule it out. plastic could release chemicals inside the body. tiny particles could cross from the gut into the bloodstream and potentially they might accumulate in organs like the liver. the risks may turn out to be minor but the world health organisation wants to be sure. we need to understand what's in the plastic, what the plastic might actually carry on it — whether that's microbes or chemicals — and when it happens in the body. so all those things need to be explored with research. there's a lot that scientists don't know but they say it's plausible that microplastics could have an effect. these are non—degradable persistent particles that can enter the body and cause an inflammatory response, and there's potential for more complex situations to arise

because of the plastic itself and its chemicals. the companies involved told us they stand by the safety of their products. they've questioned how the study was conducted, and they point out there are no regulations on microplastics or any agreed way of testing for them. this is a totally new area of science. the research is in its earliest days but there is a growing demand for answers. david shukman, bbc news. an 18—year—old student from egypt has died in nottingham three weeks after she was attacked by a group of women. mariam moustapha fell into a coma after allegedly being sent home from hospital, following the incident in the city centre. detectives says there's no information to suggest it was motivated by hate. our correspondent, sima kotecha is in nottingham. mariam moustapha was an engineering

student in nottingham, she went to the local college, but on february the local college, but on february the 20th as she went to meet her mother and sister she was attacked bya group. mother and sister she was attacked by a group. police say she was punched several times. today in response to rumours circulating on social media, officers have released a statement saying there is little 01’ no a statement saying there is little or no information suggesting this was a hate crime, but at this stage in the investigation they are keeping an open mind. a 17—year—old girl was arrested on suspicion of assault, she's now been released on bail. thank you. a financial crisis at northamptonshire county council has become so serious that it should be abolished, according to a government report. it says that living within budget constraints is not part of the council's culture and northamptonshire now needs a new start. the leader of the council has resigned. our social affairs correspondent alison holt looks at what it will all mean. libraries closing, bus routes cut,

potholes not filled and prevention services struggling. this is the financial cost of northamptonshire cou nty financial cost of northamptonshire county council's failures. the report concludes it lost control of its budget. and this is the human cost, john smith relies on council care. he feels cuts are leaving him and others isolated and worried.“ community organisations that provide support arejuiced, community organisations that provide support are juiced, they are minimal now, they're only doing the basic so you cannot get less than what we have got at the moment, so if it goes even further i don't know what will happen. today's government commissioned report says the council's problems are lack of management and it should be abolished. the report says the 2013 plan to change the way the council delivers its services is at the root of northamptonshire's problems. it concludes there wasn't enough

scrutiny from councillors and regular budget spends were not addressed. the conservative council leader who resign today blames the increasing demand for social care for the problems they and other councils face. i am aware significant changes need to be made. ido significant changes need to be made. i do not believe these changes will amount to the additional £15 million per year that was genuinely needed in our budget to meet our statutory obligations. charities facing cuts now describe the current situation isa now describe the current situation is a nightmare, so believe something had to happen. maybe this is a couple of years of uncertainty but with the hope of a much brighter, better future. it is now for the communities secretary, sajid javid, to decide on the authority's future. thousands of pupils around the country have been taking part

in the bbc‘s school report day, finding stories in their local area and producing their own news bulletins. the focus of this year's project is fake news and how to spot it, as our wales correspondent sian lloyd has been finding out. these pupils have been learning how to unpick fact from fiction. in the online world they have been born into, it's a skill that is more important than it's ever been. as part of bbc school report, resources will now be available to help young people across the uk, but these pupils at maesteg school are ahead of the game. they have researched their own project into fake news. fake news is when someone shares a fake news story online, and then other people have seen it and shared it with their friends, and their friends have shared it with their friends. sometimes it can get out of hand and rumours can start. we need to know how to tell it is fake news, to actually establish if it's fake news. so how do you do that?

you can check the url, you can ask an expert — someone with higher knowledge than you. do you think that young people are particularly susceptible to believing fake news? yes, i think so because i think social media and mobile devices have become very popular now and they just believe anything they see. after learning about it at school, i personally like to look into news stories to see whether they're true or not and have a look on different news websites. the next headline is a boy who is nine got locked in a safe during a game of hide and seek in berlin. do you think this story is true or false? i think this headline is false because it is difficult to get locked in a safe. it sounded unbelievable to him, but that headline was true. a lesson to the class in how tricky it can be to sift what is true from what's false. these young journalists have created their own presentation about fake news and are sharing

what they've learned. the bbc is encouraging young people to learn how to check the facts and know where to look for reliable information. while these students can identify a false story, bbc school report wants to ensure other young people are also well—equipped. sian lloyd, bbc news, maesteg. and you can find out more on the bbc‘s website on bbc.co.uk/schoolreport. time for a look at the weather. here's helen willets. just one we all thought spring had sprung, it is rather blue behind you. take out the winter coats again! there is an increasing risk of snow, and the hazards that go with it, such as ice. rain has been causing

issues, we've had a couple of inches of rain in northern ireland for a start. it stays down, with mist and fog in some places but on the whole it is relatively mild compared with what is on the way. we should see those showers turning to snow across the scottish mountains progressively during tomorrow. it is a tale of two seasons tomorrow with wintriness across parts of scotland, increasingly so later in the day at lower levels, and the concern for flooding because this rain has been ongoing for much of today and will be tonight and tomorrow. more rain to northern ireland but further south and west, 14 with light winds but it doesn't last. you can see it turns progressively to snow and a much colder night tomorrow with widespread frost in central and eastern areas and a bit of frost is well with that wind, which will continue dragging in showers which

will fall as snow everywhere because it is so cold. it will be a shock to the system, add on the wind chill and you don't need me to tell you it will feel bitter. it is showers we think on saturday. come sunday, another fly in the ointment which could bring more widespread snow across the southern half of the country. it is another icy cold day, and we see a spell of more persistent snow in the south which can cause a lot of possible disruption, stay tuned. a reminder of our main story... president trump joins germany, france and britain in blaming russia for the salisbury nerve attack as the prime minister visits the crime scene. good evening. these are our

headlines this is our... the leaders of france, germany and the united states have backed to may's decision to confront moscow over the poisoning of a former spy. the prime minister has visited salisbury. we hold russia responsible for this brazen act that has taken place on the streets of what is a remarkable city. the russian government has denied any involvement and says it will expel british diplomats. tests on a door in grenfell tower found it was only fire resistant for half the time it was meant to be. calls to dismantle northamptonshire cou nty calls to dismantle northamptonshire county council after it fails to

deal with a huge deficit.