this is bbc news. the headlines at 2pm. russia expels 23 british diplomats from moscow, in the row over the nerve agent attack on a former russian spy. the british ambassador remains defiant. we will always do what is necessary to defend ourselves and our badges againstan to defend ourselves and our badges against an attack like this which is an attack on the uk but also on the international system in which all countries including russia depend for their safety and security. here, the foreign office stress russia must account for their actions — the national security council will meet early next week. we will never tolerate a threat to the life of british citizens and others on british soil from the russian government. here, a man's been arrested on suspicion of murder after two women were shot dead at a house in st leonards in east sussex. the beast from the east

makes a brief return — amber weather warnings are in place for large parts of the uk. also in the next hour. will twickenham turn green this afternoon, on st patrick's day? ireland need to beat england to secure only their third ever rugby grand slam. in half an hour here on bbc news, witness meets the civil servant who challenged one of india's top policeman, after he sexually harrassed her. good afternoon and welcome to bbc news. russia says it will expel 23 british diplomats. the move is one of the measures in response to britain's decision to throw out the same number

of russian officials, following the nerve agent attack in salisbury. theresa may says russia's response doesn't change the facts of what happened. our moscow correspondent sarah rainsford reports. moscow took its time to respond. three days after london announced the expulsion of russian diplomats, britain's ambassador here was summoned to the foreign ministry. the meeting inside lasted just minutes, as officials handed over a list of names and informed britain of the additional measures russia was taking. the ambassador emerged to underline why relations with russia have plummeted to this new low. we will always do what is necessary to defend ourselves, our allies and our values against an attack of this sort, which is an attack not only on the united kingdom, but upon the international rules—based system on which all countries including russia depend for their safety and security. the russian sanctions were then made public. the decision to expel 23 british

diplomats was expected after britain expelled 23 russians from the embassy in london. shutting down the british consulate in russia's second city of st petersburg, though, is an extra step. and the british council, which fosters cultural and educational ties with the russian people, will now be forced to end all activity here. targeting the british council will affect russian citizens, though, not their government. it helps stage british cultural events here and promotes language learning. its work was restricted, though, a decade ago after the last crisis over the poisoning of alexander litvinenko. now sergei skripal, anotherformer russian spy, has been poisoned, this time by a nerve agent. theresa may has blamed russia directly. the attempted assassination of two people on british soil, for which there was no alternative conclusion other than that the russian state was culpable. it is russia that is in flagrant

breach of international law and the chemical weapons convention. the response by the foreign ministry here in moscow is robust and it does go beyond the measures announced in the uk. given the mood and the language here in recent days, moscow might have gone even further. officials here call the poisoning in salisbury a provocation, and they say comments linking vladimir putin directly to attempted murder were unforgivable. but this row could yet escalate. moscow will continue to deny everything, and officials here warn that they are ready to impose further sanctions and match any moves made by the uk. sarah rainsford, bbc news, moscow. the labour leader, jeremy corbyn, has been addressing party faithfuls at their north east regional conference at newcastle university. speaking after his address he gave his reaction. we have to have relations with governments. therefore, there has to be a limit

to how far you go with that. clearly, there has to be a relationship where we can talk to the russian government. i challenge the russian government on human rights in russia, on lgbt rights, on chechnya and much of its foreign policy. does that mean we don't talk to them? absolutely not. we have to talk to them and assert all of those values. borisjohnson yesterday named putin as being responsible. do you think it's wise for the foreign secretary to antagonise the russians by naming putin as the culprit? the basis of any assertion or allegation has to be based on evidence. i'd be very interested if the foreign secretary has evidence that wasn't revealed during the week by the prime minister in two statements to the house of commons. i think we need cool heads. we need people that are going to be serious about this and not shoot from the hip. richard galpin is in moscow.

and kathryn stanczyszyn who is outside the foreign office in central london. the russian elections are taking place, is it just the russian elections are taking place, is itjust sabre rattling, it is going to damage vladimir putin? there is genuine anger about the way britain is portraying what happened in the uk two weeks ago and they are still denying they had any involvement. they are saying that britain has not produced any evidence so there is real anger about that. historically, overthe many years in which vladimir putin has been in power he has played this ca rd of has been in power he has played this card of basically the west being opposed to russia and trying to

close it in and encircle it, and that works, it works for him and has done for quite a few years, he's running now for his fourth term stop he knows the narrative works. people respond to that. they agree with what he says, and they do believe that they face a real problem from the west. theresa may was speaking earlier today. there is a lot of talk of taking further action. how is that perceived in russia? is the narrative of the west really being against vladimir putin and the country believed wholeheartedly?“ there is further measures from britain, there is no doubt russia will respond in kind again. they have made that absolutely clear in their announcements today. following when they made the announcement

about their brutality action, so absolutely, it will carry on. —— about their retallick treat retaliatory action. if britain goes further, russia will respond. you could see the whole thing ratcheting up and already it isa thing ratcheting up and already it is a fever are atmosphere between the countries, the relationship is absolutely at rock bottom —— it is a fee but at least they say they want to maintain some kind of relationship despite everything that has happened, they don't want to break the relationship completely which is critical, because then it would leave a very precarious situation between the countries. thanks for joining us. richard, speaking to us from moscow. we will go to the foreign office now. and kathryn stanczyszyn. theresa may was speaking? she was

speaking at the conservatives spring conference earlier on this morning, and she described what happened in salisbury as a russian act of aggression, the antithesis of british values and she also reiterated several of the points that were made in a statement from the foreign and commonwealth office earlier this morning. they put out the statement within a few hours of news of those sanctions against british diplomats. mainly that the ohus british diplomats. mainly that the onusis british diplomats. mainly that the onus is on russia to explain its actions, and you also made that point again —— she also. she said she expected britain to face the sanctions and bayer also thinking about the next possible steps with the national security meeting —— and they are also thinking. she said there isn't an argument with the russian people. she said the sanctions are not against the

russian people and there is no disagreement with them, and many russians have made this country their home and those who abide by their home and those who abide by their laws and make a contribution to our society will always be welcome but we will know —— never tolerate a threat to the lives of british citizens. the foreign office advice is to take care if you are travelling to russia because of possible anti—british sentiment and they have said their main priority is for the staff who are in russia at the moment. thanks forjoining us. i'm joined now by our diplomatic correspondent — james robbins. these are the first steps, we have the expulsions, they were anticipated, where does this hurt? it hurts not in the unexpected way, because britain is braced for a tit—for—tat numerically equal expulsion, that is what has happened. it hurts because the russians have gone beyond that by

closing the consulate in st petersburg, the second city in russia, that is an escalation from the russian side, and more important, the forced closure of british council activity in russia. this is significant because the british council fosters people to people links and it provides education in english language to thousands of russians and it thinks it reaches literally millions of russians every year through their lessons and cultural exchanges and theatrical productions and scientific exhibitions and that sort of thing. part of this is to look beyond to the post vladimir putin generation and britain hopes it will be able to export some of its values to young russians. they are the largest single demographic amongst the people the council reaches, so maybe not surprising the kremlin

have gone for the council because they don't like that. they don't even like russians speaking english very much what that hurts because we can see into the future that links potentially are being smashed up and thatis potentially are being smashed up and that is not something britain wants. russia is targeting this idea of soft power, activities, what does vladimir putin want out of this? yes, theresa may and borisjohnson, this originates from russia, but what does he want? vladimir putin has a very strong idea that the west is engaged in an active conspiracy to belittle and humiliate and surround and envelop russia and try to squeeze it of all of its historic greatness. that is a view which is rejected in the west but that nationalism is driving vladimir

putin, fuelled by the fact he is in the closing stages of an election which everyone assumes he will win, but this plays to his classic narrative. we will see more of this, and the real question now is whether the national security council and the national security council and the most senior cabinet ministers, they will make probably on tuesday, will they decide enough is enough and we don't want to go deeper into damage, one damaging the other and then reverse, or will they feel this retaliation from russia has gone beyond and they have got to be seen to respond. with this ever go as far as all—out conflict? some of the british people are watching, thinking, so what, what are you going to do out? theresa may is also counting on international support, she really wants that behind her for

the how far could this go question mark it is important to stress the international sport that britain is building and will go on building. the united states, france and germany have come strongly behind the uk position and donald trump has recalibrated his position regarding russia, after what happened, he has taken a tougher stance, after what was seen by many as being an apologist for russia, and so there has been a shift of time. boris johnson will be in brussels on monday at a regular meeting of foreign ministers, looking for strong language, and we may be leaving the eu but he will be looking for solidarity in terms of words. britain wants to build the widest possible consensus to say to moscow this is not a row between russia and the uk, this is a much bigger and more important row which could damage you far more than it could damage you far more than it could damage you far more than it could damage the uk. james, thanks for joining could damage the uk. james, thanks forjoining us.

meanwhile, the metropolitan police have appealed for anyone who saw sergei skipal‘s car on the morning sunday 4th of march to get in touch. they are trying to piece together the movements of the former spy on the day of the incident by tracing movements of the burgundy red bmw with the number plate hd09 wao. the headlines on bbc news: britain's ambassador is summoned to the foreign ministry as russia announce they will expel 23 british diplomats amid tensions over the nerve agent attack in salisbury. a man has been arrested on suspicion of murder after two women were shot dead at a house in st leonards in east sussex. forecasters say snow could cause problems in large parts of the uk this weekend.

an amber weather warning is due to come into force this afternoon. tens of thousands of people have been fleeing the northern syrian town of afrin, as turkish forces fight a us—backed kurdish militia that it considers a terrorist group. the un estimates that almost 60,000 people have been displaced in the last few days, with reports from the area that dozens of people were killed in air strikes on friday. lebo diseko reports. an exodus, the seemingly end —— endless stream of civilians leaving afrin, desperation punctuated by the sound of despair, tens of thousands of people have left the border with turkey. translation: we have no money, we have nothing and we have children, we left our houses, where can we go? houses and buildings are

bombarded and this is why we left the city of afrin, human rights organisations must speak about those things. this is what they are escaping, turkey is bombarding the mainly kurdish town trying to force out fighters from the ypg, turkey calls the kurdish militia terrorists but the group has been key in the fight against the so—called islamic state which is why the united states has been backing it. it is perhaps the proximity of afrin to the border which has made turkey feel so threatened, and turkish fighters now have almost completely encircled the town. thousands of civilians have now made the journey out of town but seven now made the journey out of town but seve n years now made the journey out of town but seven years into this conflict and with no end in sight, the future for people here looks bleak. an amber weather warning is due to come into force this afternoon in north west england, yorkshire and the midlands

and also london and parts of south east england. more snow has fallen across parts of the uk overnight as a cold snap dubbed the "mini beast from the east" sweeps in. more than 100 flights have been cancelled at heathrow, mostly on short—haul routes. let's talk to our reporter sarah walton, who's at ainley top near huddersfield in west yorkshire. it looks a bit blowy out there.“ is. just a little bit. the snow has been coming down in flurries, some of them quite heavy. we have another one coming in now, the snow is lying one coming in now, the snow is lying on high ground. but we are being warned this is just the beginning and the conditions are going to get worse through the afternoon into tonight and into tomorrow morning. the amber weather warnings mean many places will get about three centimetres of snow but over the

hills that could be 10—15 centimetres and that will come with very strong winds. gusts of up to 70 mph predicted later and that is what could cause problems, blizzard conditions possible in places, also drifting snow. we are seeing the weather causing problems already this afternoon. there was a st patrick's day celebration in sheffield which was cancelled and the boat race happening in newcastle this afternoon was also called off because of concerns about the wind. highways england is advising drivers to ta ke highways england is advising drivers to take extra care, if you have a journey to make, leave extra time to do it, and here in west yorkshire people are being asked to avoid the roads, and there are already closures amongst the high roads of the pennines. you mentioned the flight the pennines. you mentioned the flight cancellations at heathrow, thatis flight cancellations at heathrow, that is so the planes can be de—iced

asa that is so the planes can be de—iced as a precaution. some good news, this cold snap should not last as long as the last one, this is more the mini beast from the east, and by tuesday we should see temperatures getting back to average for this time of year. but the bad news, those weather warnings mean before it gets better, it will get worse for some of us. you need to get home, it looks like you are about to fall over! laughter thank you very much. it did not look very nice out there. not much snow lying there, but it is cold, and a shock to the system compared with yesterday, when it was 12 degrees across much of the country. it was very windy. we have

strong to gale force winds coming in from the east and a significant wind—chill, and this is the beast from the east. the easterly wind, the air is originating from siberia and it is much colder and we also have snow showers. is it as bad as the last blast? we will see in the next few days, but we're not expecting it to be as bad. the last cold snap lasted longer than this one is forecasted to, and we had read warnings, take action warnings from the met office but we don't have any of those, we just have amber warnings, which is the next level down. they are going to start at four o'clock in the afternoon and they will run to nine o'clock tomorrow morning and there are two areas. this is why it is so cold, high pressure over scandinavia like we had, so you are dragging the air from siberia picking the winds up

and dragging in the snow showers. this is looking a bit wetter but this is being blown around by the winds and there will be blizzard some and the worst will be over the high ground. we have these amber warnings on the met office, these are the two that begin at four o'clock this afternoon and they are to ta ke o'clock this afternoon and they are to take in frequent lines of heavy snow showers that are coming from the north sea. this convergence of snow showers in those areas which is why we have those warnings, they are from four o'clock this afternoon on till nine o'clock tomorrow morning, but we have another one. the south west, it has been extended into cornwall, into parts of wales. organised spell of persistent snow which will develop overnight, this is from midnight until nine o'clock tomorrow evening. for that corner of the uk. a couple of mechanisms

producing what could be some substantial snowfall with the heaviest snowfall over the high ground. in terms of how long it is going to last? into next week? a return to spring question not don't shake your head! i was shaking my head to the first question. laughter i was talking about this as a mini beast because it won't last so long, this is not as intense and the snow won't last as long. what we find, when the spell of snow runs on the south—east to the south—west overnight, you will find things drying off in the south—east. snow showers across many parts of the country, the radar picture is littered with snow showers coming from the north sea so it's notjust those amber areas, and there are other lower—level warnings from the met office. that is the main area of

snow which goes overnight towards the south—west of england and wales, and behind that business thing following behind —— behind that there is nothing following behind. there will be snow showers in the northern parts stop next week we lose the easterly wind and instead we have a northerly and it went feel as cold. you might find that strange northerly normally feels cold, but easterly winds are much colder because they have a continental land tract. the high pressure builds in and then we lose these no showers and then we lose these no showers and then we lose these no showers and then it tends to become milder from midweek. atlantic winds and the snow will only be over the tops of hills if there is any. very quickly, how unusual is the weather? it is not unusual, we have had snow in june and july, we can expect this to happen. in the last few years we

have seen very little snow, though. darren, thanks forjoining us. and now to some other news. police have launched a murder investigation after two women were shot and killed at a house in east sussex. officers responded to reports of a shooting at an address in st leonards on sea last night. two other women — including one who is pregnant — were taken to hospital suffering from shock. a 35 year—old man has been arrested on suspicion of murder. britain's department stores used to be the height of luxury and service. if you needed anything from clothing to electricals or food, they were the place to go. but today they face fierce competition in all categories, as online retailers offer everything a customer wants at the click of a button. radio 4's consumer reporter samantha fenwick has been finding out how department stores are fighting back. george davies has been called

a serial brand creator, a fashion visionary, the king of the high street. they are very abba, these, aren't they? yes, very good. i was too young to remember abba. he was the man behind next and m&s. when i started next in 1982, there were 400 spots. by the time i got to the 1990s, when starting george and asda, i already knew parking was a real problem. so you could see that there was, at that point, decline in the high street? yes, sure. it was obvious. george left m&s in 2008, vowing never to return to the high street. he said it was no longer a place to make money. ten years on, and he's changed his mind. his new line of women's and children's clothing will be

in the shops next week. so why the change of heart? rents are high, business rates are high, but dealers own a lot of their properties. probably 70%, they own it, so that takes quite a high risk out of it. but not all department stores are that lucky. this is london's oxford street. it's where all the big names have their flagship stores. but the buildings are big, with too much unprofitable space. house of fraser have asked their landlords to reduce their rent, and the likes of debenhams and marks & spencer's are closing stores completely. costs are going up for retailers, and shoppers want to go online because it offers convenience. they can get the lowest prices, and they get the lowest prices because those operators don't have the same kind of costs as a physical store. the government is concerned about the state of the uk's high street. it's just set up a special panel to investigate how best to adapt to the changes in the way we shop. it's being led by richard

pennycook, the chairman of department store fenwick. department stores are about theatre and service, and those are things that can't be replicated online. so i think there's a real good future for department stores, but it's all about making sure that we're providing something different, which makes the visit worthwhile. it will have to be something very different to get us off the internet and into the high street. the former fbi deputy director, andrew mccabe, has accused the trump administration of acting with political malice after he was fired just days before he was due to retire. an internal review said that mr mccabe leaked information and misled investigators, claims he has denied. president trump called his sacking a great day for democracy. our washington correspondent, chris buckler, reports. as deputy director, andrew mccabe was heavily involved in some of the fbi's most controversial

and politically contentious investigations. and it's one of those inquiries that's led to his dismissal. in 2016, as hillary clinton was running for president, she was being investigated because of questions about e—mails she received on a private server when she was the us secretary of state. mr mccabe authorised information to be given to the media, something the department ofjustice said he was not entitled to do. and an internal fbi investigation found he had not been completely honest when asked about it. firing him, the us attorney generaljeff sessions said: but andrew mccabe says he has been sacked for political reasons, and he claims that president trump brought much of that pressure. in a lengthy statement, he accused the white house of declaring a war on both the fbi and the special counsel's investigation into allegations of russian interference

in the election two years ago. it's less than a year since his boss, the former fbi directorjames comey, was fired by president trump. and mr mccabe claims what he witnessed event was another reason for his dismissal. andrew mccabe had served more than 20 years in the fbi, butjust over 2a hours before his retirement and his 50th birthday, he has been sacked in the full glare of publicity. chris buckler, bbc news, washington. let's have a look at the weather. some snow already and probably more to come as the beast from the east arrives, with some bitterly cold easterly winds. all the snow