during the day, theresa may visited salisbury, meeting members of the emergency services and welcoming the support she's had from the usa, france and germany. this happened in the uk, but it could have happened anywhere, and we take a united stance against it. in moscow — where vladimir putin is facing a presidential election — they're still denying any involvement in the attack. what rational person could imagine that a few days before the presidential election, the russian federation suddenly decides to do something like that? and moscow has again warned it will retaliate, following the explusion of some russian diplomats from the uk. also tonight: in syria, thousand of civilians have fled the rebel area of eastern ghouta, on the seventh anniversary of the start of the syrian conflict. we'll be hearing the story of a seven—year—old who was born in the year the conflict began. tests on a fire door from grenfell tower have shown that it was far less flame—resistant than it was claimed to be. in florida, a newly—built pedestrian bridge has collapsed, killing a number of people.

many are still trapped. and at the emirates tonight, arsenal have been playing ac milan in the europa league. and coming up on sportsday on bbc news: the irish dominate at cheltenham, while trainer willie mullins and penhill were the big winners on day three of the festival. good evening. three of britain's closest allies have declared their strong support for theresa may's response to the poisoning of a former russian spy and his daughter in salisbury. the united states, france and germany blamed russia for the chemical attack, which they said was an attack on british sovereignty. during the day, theresa may visited salisbury for the first time since the incident and met health officials and members

of the emergency services, including the police officer who attended the scene and is still in hospital — as our diplomatic correspondent, james landale, reports. his report contains flashing lights. this was theresa may's first visit to salisbury since the nerve agent attack. a chance to be briefed by the police and public health officials. but also a chance to meet members of the public, to chat, to reassure. and, yes, even to do this. she visited the scene of the attack on the former russian intelligence officer sergei skripal and his daughter, yulia. the restaurant where they ate. the park bench, under a tent, where they were found. the prime minister thanked some of the police officers who'd first responded to the call. thank you. what you did is what the police do day in and day out. you go to a routine call, as you say, you don't

know what you'll find. then, at the local hospital, she met and thanked detective sergeant nick bailey, who's still recovering from exposure to the nerve agent. she said she'd expelled 23 russian diplomats for this despicable attack, but was ready to do more. there are other measures we're looking at. and if we face further provocation from russia, there are further measures that we can deploy. but what is important in the international arena, and we have taken this into nato, the united nations and we will be taking it into the european union, is that allies are standing alongside us. and saying this is part of a pattern of activity that we have seen from russia. that united stance came in a joint statement from the leaders of britain, france, germany and the us, all blaming russia unequivocally. i spoke with the prime minister

and we are in deep discussions. a very sad situation. it certainly looks like the russians are behind it. something that should never, ever happen. and we're taking it very seriously, as i think are many others. the joint statement is significant because it shows the foreign office and downing street are convincing britain's allies that the salisbury attack is different, that it represents an escalation of russia's hostile behaviour. and, as such, those allies are now ready to crank up the pressure on moscow. that diplomacy continued at nato headquarters in brussels, where british officials briefed allies about what they called russia's ‘reckless and unlawful behaviour‘. and promised to support other countries facing similar threats. and in the netherlands, ministers confirmed that officials from the chemical weapons watchdog, the opcw, would get access to

samples of the nerve agent to verify that it was developed in russia. they would get that access here at the military research laboratory at porton down, where the novichok was identified. today, the defence secretary announced porton down will get another £16 million in funding. and the russians would get short shrift. if you're a nation and another nation has launched a nerve agent attack on your people, i think we have every right to tell russia to shut up and go away. meanwhile, near salisbury, the investigation and decontamination process continues. the graves of mr skripal‘s wife and son were still being inspected and two vehicles were recovered from near the home of ds bailey. james landale, bbc news. in moscow, the russian government says that president putin will decide soon what action to take — in response to the expulsion of 23 russian diplomats, thought to be intelligence officers from the uk.

the foreign minister, sergei lavrov, accused britain of acting in a boorish way, and insisted again that russia was not involved in the salisbury attack — as our correspondent steve rosenberg reports. well, in three days' time, russians go to the polls to elect a new president. and there is little doubt that vladimir putin will be the winner. the kremlin insists that president putin is focused com pletely president putin is focused completely on the election campaign, but the nerve agent attack in salisbury has sparked, on the eve of the vote, a diplomatic war with britain, and the next move is vladimir putin's. it may be feeling like a cold war, but in moscow today, there was a warm reception for the president. vladimir putin the star guest at a youth conference. lots of smiles, but no mention of diplomatic expulsions. the kremlin leader keeping his plans for retaliation against britain to himself. across town, at the british embassy,

they waited for news. would moscow expel british diplomats? the uk had expelled 23 russians. and the news on russian tv — britain has been russia's enemy for centuries. the message to viewers — the uk cannot be trusted. russia's foreign minister, sergei lavrov, claimed britain was using the poisoning of sergei skripal to distract attention from brexit. then, pictures from the kremlin. the president meeting his security chiefs to discuss uk sanctions. moscow's response expected soon. russia may be coming under increasing international pressure, but the language coming out of the kremlin is increasingly defiant. vladimir putin's spokesman today described britain's stance as ‘destructive and provocative‘.

the president, he said, would take the final decision on how russia responds. and just when you think relations can‘t get any worse, the defence secretary tells russia to ‘shut up‘. the reaction in moscow? it‘s not only a mistake, it‘s worse than a mistake because it‘s stupid. or it‘s done on purpose, it‘s a provocation, they want the russians to be provoked. criticism of russia, too, by nato. it agrees moscow was behind the salisbury attack. all of us agree that the attack was a clear breach of international norms and agreements. this is unacceptable. it has no place in a civilised world. tonight, russia is feeling increasingly isolated and in a new cold war it blames on the west. in a moment, we‘ll speak to our security correspondent, gordon corera.

but first, live to washington and our north america editor, jon sopel. a notable change of tone in washington, what is behind it? well, you could argue that theresa may has been more successful than the us intelligence services because she has convinced donald trump that the russians have been up to no good and for the past 15 months, donald trump has been very wary, almost openin trump has been very wary, almost open in refusing to accept that. what was striking was the statement issued last night by the white house press secretary, full square behind theresa may and the need to expel the diplomats and the belief that russia was behind it. then the most unlikely thing this morning, a joint letter signed by trump, the leader of france and germany and britain. and one other thing as well, america has announced that it is imposing its own sanctions on 19 individuals

and private entities. not connected directly with the salisbury attack, but with the hacking of the us election in 2016 and russian involvement in that. i think that has come today because the americans wa nt to has come today because the americans want to send a sign to russia as well as the french and the germans, it is not britain alone against vladimir putin. there are a lot of mighty powers who think what happened in salisbury overstepped the mark. many thanks. can we talk about that, gordon, the basis for the consensus? can we assume france, germany and the united states have seen the intelligence and agree with it? britain has been busy showing this assessment with different allies and that is based on a number of things. the technical element, which shows written says this was a russian developed nerve agent, a novichok. and the broad assessment that not only did russia have the means in terms of that agent, but the motive, having made calls to

kill what it considers traitors, and the track record using unconventional weapons. the use of polonium to kill alexander litvinenko. that is not a direct trail of evidence of what happened, but it is enough clearly for allies and it was important in the statement they said, there was no plausible alternative explanation other than moscow‘s involvement. there will be an independent, scientific analysis done by the chemical weapons inspectors from the opcw, but that chemical weapons inspectors from the 0pcw, but that is slow and it took months for them to come to conclusions about syrian chemical weapons and british professionals we re weapons and british professionals were clear, they wanted to maintain the initiative. if you look back to the litvinenko case, they felt played by the russians, played for time inviting the police to moscow and making their life very difficult. this time, british officials wanted to keep up the momentum and they will be encouraged by the way that has gone with allies today and they will hope the russians will be on the back foot as

they work out how to respond. once again, thanks very much. and thanks very much from the white house. in syria, thousands of people are fleeing the rebel—held enclave of eastern ghouta, as government forces intensify their offensive. doctors there have been sending 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. this report by our middle east editor, jeremy bowen, contains some distressing scenes. thousands are fleeing parts of eastern ghouta, tredging into an uncertain future that looks better now than the deadly present. in this war, half syria‘s population has fled or been driven from their homes. these people are among the latest. many families will have been displaced before. they‘ve spent weeks hiding in basements from the shelling. eastern ghouta is the size of manchester, and this isn‘t

happening everywhere. 0ne armed group has bought some quiet by negotiating a transfer of power. but many tens of thousands of civilians are still besieged. this was filmed by 0mar, a cameraman who gives his material to the bbc. the attack happened outside his building. translation: i was telling myself that this rocket was going to kill me. for a second, i was talking to myself, saying i‘m about to die. a small boy was caught up in it. he‘s deaf, so he hadn‘t heard warnings to take cover. 0mar, the cameraman, worried the boy would bleed to death and told us the eight minutes it took for the ambulance to arrive were the worst he had endured since the battle for eastern ghouta began. 0mar carried him to the ambulance, where he was squeezed in

next to the bodies of the dead. 0mar has seen a lot of death. he said the boy was a soul he wanted to save. we have been following dr amani ballour, a paediatrician in an underground hospital, who spends every day with the wounded and the dying. in that place, they are all fighting fear, aware that regime soldiers are advancing into eastern ghouta. dr amani sent a message. translation: it's the worst it‘s 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 all, our own homes have been shelled. a small amount of aid is being brought into eastern ghouta. all the talk of a humanitarian ceasefire has been ignored.

this war started seven years ago. its horror goes on. jeremy bowen, bbc news. and for many of those who‘ve managed to flee the violence in syria, the shadow of war remains. rouaa and mustafa — two seven year olds — were born in the year the conflict began. 0ur correspondent, caroline hawley, has been following their stories. rouaa and herfriend hoda are part of a whole generation of syrians growing up as refugees. her family fled eastern ghouta in 2013, after a chemical attack. a nappy soaked in vinegar is all her parents have to try to protect her. this is home now, she says. 0ne room for the whole family to eat, sleep and study in. and even after nearly five years

here, she still hasn‘t got used to the camp‘s shared toilets. but here, she is at least safe. her cousin, mohammed, was killed in an air strike in eastern ghouta this week. herfather‘s thighbone was shattered by a sniper‘s bullet and he can‘t work. her sister was hit by shrapnel. they‘re just one of so many families scarred inside and out by syria‘s war. a barrel bomb killed mustafa‘s parents, broke both of his hips and lodged a piece of shrapnel

in his brain. he has severe nerve damage down his left side. it‘s hard for him trying to keep up with his peers, but he‘s determined. back at home, his grandmother brings out a photograph of his father, ibrahim. but mustafa is now losing the memory of what his parents were actually like. once a week, mustafa comes for physiotherapy. beside him is benin.

she lost her father, two brothers and a sister when a shell landed on her home. syrian children have paid a catastrophic price for the war. and yet, in art therapy, mustafa draws himself smiling. despite everything he‘s been through, everything he‘s up against, i‘ve never once seen him complain. caroline hawley, bbc news. a number of people have died — and many are believed trapped under rubble — after a newly—built pedestrian bridge collapsed in the us city of miami. a major rescue operation is under way. the bridge, weighing nearly a thousand tonnes, was opened last saturday — as our correspondent, gary 0‘donoghue, reports. the bridgejust the bridge just clap stowed of nowhere. there are cars stuck under there. scrambling to rescue the trapped and injured after 950 tonnes of the newly—installed pedestrian bridge crashed down

onto the road below. a number of vehicles were crushed as the bridge came down, shortly before 2pm. the emergency services, dashing to help those pinned under the concrete. the footbridge had only just been completed, designed to take students from the florida international university safely across a six—lane highway to their accommodation. what was soon to become an iconic, staple part of the connectivity between the city and the university has actually turned out to be a national tragedy. our hearts are extended out to those, the victims that were actually able to be transported away, as well as those that may not be walking away from the scene. the collapsed section of the bridge was only put in place last saturday, using a method known as advanced bridge construction, designed to be fast and cause the least disruption as possible to traffic. this is crazy, god bless everyone

involved. the national transportation safety board says it is sending investigators to the scene, and the building company employed to put up the bridge, mcm, says it will co—operate fully. a brief look at some of the day‘s other other news stories. following the death of an egyptian student in nottingham, egypt is to send a delegation of parliamentarians to britain. mariam moustafa died in hospital yesterday, a month after being attacked in the city centre. police say they‘re aware of suggestions on social media that she was the victim of a hate crime, but they‘re not currently treating the attack as being racially motivated. neville hord has beenjailed for at least 30 years — after admitting stabbing to death the daughter of his former partner at an aldi supermarket in skipton just before christmas. 30—year—old jodie willsher died after being stabbed 11 times. prosecutors described hord‘s motive for the killing as ‘revenge‘. a government inspector has recommended that northamptonshire county council, which has faced serious

financial problems, should be abolished, and replaced with two new councils. the conservative council has accepted the findings, and its leader has resigned. hsbc has revealed that its female staff in the uk earned 59% less than their male colleagues last year. bonuses at the bank awarded to men were 86% higher than those given to women. hsbc said less than a quarter of senior roles were filled by women. police investigating the fire at grenfell tower in west london, which claimed the lives of 71 people, say tests on a front door from one of the flats, showed it was far less fire—resista nt than intended. survivors of the blaze have described the finding as ‘shocking‘ as our home affairs correspondent 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 anglo—dutch consumer company unilever, the third—biggest firm in the uk, has denied that brexit is a factor in its decision to base its new headquarters in rotterdam rather than london. the firm, which owns well—known brands such as marmite and hellmann‘s,

insisted it‘s fully committed to its british operations. our business editor simon jack is at the firm‘s current headquarters in london. when they say it is not to do with brexit what do you make of that?|j think brexit what do you make of that?” think they‘ve got good reasons why thatis think they‘ve got good reasons why that is a credible explanation. since 1930 this rather beautiful building unilever house has been the uk headquarters of the maker of marmite, of dove and personal and throw those decades it‘s adding another headquarters in rotterdam in the netherlands. today the company, historic move, said its future, there is only room for one headquarters and it‘s not going to be here. so why are they doing it? they say they need to save money and be more streamlined, be more agile. just last year they had a nasty shock when they were the subject to one of the biggest takeover bids in history when the us giant kraft

heinz tried to buy them. a lot of people see under dutch law that ta keover people see under dutch law that takeover would have been more difficult to actually pull off. there is more protection afforded under dutch law. it does not mean unilever is leaving the uk, seven and a half thousand jobs here and will stay, they will run two divisions, but it does mean unilever will fall out of the ftse 100 divisions, but it does mean unilever will fall out of the ftse100 index of leading shares. they say it‘s not to do with brexit. having said that, the prime minister and the business secretary lobbied very hard for this not to happen because they know full well that with just over a year to go before we leave the european union this move will send a very uncomfortable and very unpleasant message to the rest of the corporate sector and very, very sensitive time. thank you very much, our business editor simonjack time. thank you very much, our business editor simon jack at unilever headquarters in london. the danish prime minister has told the bbc that britain can rely upon its european neighbours, in moments of crisis.

lars lokke rasmussen said that although britain had decided to leave the eu, they still had the closest ties possible. and he warned that the eu would be sending a very clear message to russia, in relation to the salisbury attack, when it meets next week. 0ur europe editor katya adler reports. denmark is one of the uk‘s closest european allies, a fellow nonconformist, rather eurosceptic nation. today, as we walked through the danish parliament, prime minister rasmussen wanted to talk first about the salisbury attack and whether the eu would take concrete action. i think it‘s time to step up and speak out very loud and very clear to russia that we will not accept this because this is a threat to everybody‘s security. this is in a way the first real test after brexit. 12 months of very bad—tempered negotiations. can the uk still rely on its european allies in a moment of crisis? yes. i‘m absolutely convinced that britain can rely on europe. even though the british have decided

to leave the eu as an institution, britain is still a part of europe. because so far britain has been disappointed by its traditional allies, in that in the brexit negotiations, denmark, the netherlands, ireland, in the negotiations have chosen, if you like, the eu over ally uk. well, i wouldn‘t put it that way. even though i love britain, i mean, i have to be aware of what the danish interest is in this case. i have to protect my business environment in the same way that theresa may has to protect the british business community. and you believe that changing rules for the uk would damage the single market? that could be the case. it could be, you know, followed by other countries wanting to go down the same lane, if we allow this kind of cherry picking.

but denmark is keen on some cherry picking of its own. it‘s one of the world‘s biggest exporters of fish but danish fishermen rely heavily on access to uk waters. they want that to continue after brexit. this is definitely something we have to negotiate. i mean, that‘s what it‘s all about, negotiating. so will there be that give and take? my point of departure is that we have to reach out for a balanced agreement. let‘s look at this idea the transition deal. the uk is hoping for that to be confirmed at the eu‘s leaders summit on thursday and friday. you will be there. will it be a yes? i will echo those who say that we need to send a clear signal about a transitional agreement so that we can postpone uncertainty until 2020. that brexit uncertainty is disruptive for denmark and the rest of europe as well as the uk. whatever is decided at next week‘s eu summit, months of tough negotiations still lie ahead.

katya adler, bbc news, copenhagen. football, and arsenal have been playing tonight in the europa league. they have beaten ac milan at the emirates i 3—1 to get to the quarterfinals. it‘s been a dark winter in islington. arsenal‘s league season went into a tunnel and ended up in a hole. but they found escapism in europe. last week they beat ac milan 2—0, a morale boost, but also a mental test, for in the second leg milan knew they could change the mood in a moment. calhanoglu with a strike to shake the try. how were those nerves? well, how about this for a settler? not two minutes later danny welbeck broke and fell. a plea, a pause. a penalty. back to welbeck. pressure. in a kick a stadium exhaled. arsenal aren‘t always suitable for before the watershed. though always a chance ofjump scares courtesy of a desperate milan

with nothing to lose. arsenal ensured they had nothing to gain either. xhaka aimed for one corner and somehow scored in the other. safety. then time for luxury. they queued up for a third, welbeck got it. a competition which was never supposed to be a priority for arsenal has helped them regain a little of their identity. patrick gearey, bbc news. newsnight is coming up on bbc two. here is an 0llie. tonight we talk to the excelled russian oligarch who believes blood and putin has lost control of the russian state. during the night on bbc