this is bbc news. i'm lukwesa burak. the headlines at six. russia is expelling 23 british diplomats — in the row over the nerve agent attack on a former spy. the prime minister insists the kremlin must account for its actions. we will never tolerate a threat to the life of british citizens and others on british soil from the russian government. applause police investigating the murder of a russian businessman in london contact other exiles in britain to discuss their personal safety. us authorities investigate reports that information from millions of facebook users was access by a data company. also in the next hour — beware the snow and ice of march. many areas of britain are hit by another wave of winter weather — with amber warnings in place. and in rugby — ireland beat england at twickenham and complete the grand slam for only the third time in their history. good evening and

welcome to bbc news. russia says it will expel 23 british diplomats, in retaliation for the uk's decision to throw out a similar number of russians because of the nerve agent attack in salisbury. the kremlin also said it would close the the british council, which promotes cultural ties — and the british consulate in st petersburg. 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 that any moves made by the uk. sarah rainsford, bbc news, moscow. jeremy corbyn, is in newcastle at a regional labour conference, from where he gave this reaction to the latest news from russia of expulsions. 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. earlier our news correspondent in moscow, richard galpin, told me that there is anger in russia over how britain is portraying what happened in salisbury. 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, over the many years in which mr putin has been in power he has played this card of basically the west being strongly 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. 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. mrs may was speaking earlier today. there's a lot of talk of taking further action. how is that perceived in russia? also, is the narrative of the west really being against mr putin and the country believed wholeheartedly? if 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 retaliatory action. so absolutely, it will carry on. if britain goes further, which they have hinted they might, russia will respond. you could see the whole thing ratcheting up and already it is a febrile atmosphere between the countries — the relationship is absolutely at rock bottom. 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. our diplomatic correspondent james robbins explained to me the impact of russia's response. i think it hurts because

the russians have gone a little bit beyond that. by closing the consulate in russia's ancient historic previous capital, the historic city, st petersburg. that is an escalation from the russian side and, so, i think almost more important, perhaps, the forced closure of british council activity in russia. this is really significant, because the british council fosters people to people links, it provides education in english language to thousands upon thousands of russians and it thinks it reaches literally millions of russians each year, through its lessons, through its cultural exchanges, through its theatrical productions, through its scientific exhibitions and all that sort of thing. now, part of this is to look beyond, to the post—putin generation and britain hopes it is able to export some of its values to young russians, from their teens into their late 20s, they are actually the largest single demographic that the council reaches. perhaps, it is not so surprising, therefore, that president putin

and the kremlin have gone for the council, because they dislike that. they don't believe in russians speaking english very much. that hurts, because we can see into the future, that links, potentially, are being smashed up in this row and that is not something that britain actually wants. the russian embassy in london has tweeted pictures of a reception for the 23 diplomats who have been expelled from the uk. russia's ambassador to the uk, alexander ya kovenko expressed his gratitude to his colleagues for their work. they are due to leave london on tuesday. meanwhile, police in salisbury are continuing their investigation... into the poisoning of the former spy, sergei skripal and his daughter. our reporter tom burridge is in salisbury with the latest developments into the police‘s investigation. some new information about the

movements of sergei skripal and yulia on the morning of monday the 4th of march are spur for ibe became critically ill. what the metropolitan police have appealed for, information concerning the car of sergei skripal, it is a red maroon bmw and we had an appeal from the met saying that they wanted to hear from anyone in salisbury on that day who might have seen the car early in the afternoon here in the city centre and what they are now saying is they would like to hear from anyone who saw the pair are in the bmw earlier in the morning around about 915 on the three main roads in salisbury. those three main roads link the house of sergei skripal to the cemetery where his wife and his sun are buried. we have seen a lot

of activity at the cemetery from the authorities, police and other officials. the police seem to believe that the skripals went from the house to visit their relatives at the cemetery on sunday morning and they want more people to come forward and they say they have had hundreds of people coming forward with information and they have hours of cctv footage that they are looking through for clues. the car of sergei skripal seems to be a big focus of the investigation. tell us more about the counter—terrorism unit contacting russian exile is in britain, why are they doing this? they are, but has another russian exile who russia wanted to extradite for alleged flawed link to a russian airline that he was senior at several years ago, the metropolitan police said yesterday that nickolai glushkov has been murdered and suggested that he had been strangled. we understand that the police are getting in touch with other exiles, other russian

dissidents living here in the uk and nickolai glushkov was linked to a man called boris berezovsky who used to be one of the richest and most famous and powerful people in russia who fell out with vladimir putin in a big way and move to the uk and he died several years ago. there are question marks surrounding his death, there was an inquest into his death, there was an inquest into his death but the coroner returned an open verdict. there is some evidence which has been questioned and also of course, other russian dissidents who have died in suspicious circumstances. the home secretary said that she wants to look again at some of those cases. that is why we believe the police have contacted other russian exiles living in the uk, to check in with them, to reassure them, i guess, and basically potentially take more measures to ensure that they are safe. amber weather warnings are in place this evening — in north—west and south—east england, yorkshire, the midlands and london.

more than a hundred flights have been cancelled at heathrow airport due to snow and ice. our correspondent frankie mccamley is in lofthouse near wakefield in west yorkshire. the snow is still coming down. describe how it is out there, despite this might grow apart from cold. it is very cold, the snow has been coming down. it has been coming down in sporadic showers, 15 minutes on and then you would see sunshine. it is starting to stick and with their winds on top of that. an idea of how cold it is filling, around three miles from here, the met office is saying it will feel in wakefield at around —8 and overnight that will drop to minus nine. there are amber warnings that will drop to minus nine. there are amberwarnings in that will drop to minus nine. there are amber warnings in place across

north yorkshire as well as in the midlands, london and the south—east. that means if you are on lower ground, there will be about three centimetres of snow and on higher ground up to 15 centimetres. you can see the snow is sticking and that will be coming down overnight. police are advising people here to avoid the higher roads especially the trans—pennine road. you may remember, when the beast from the east head a couple of weeks ago, a lot of people were stranded there overnight and they are saying to people to avoid those roads. you do not want to be stuck there. have the roads being well—prepared? not want to be stuck there. have the roads being well-prepared? are there any issues? gritters have been out. the roads seem 0k. there have been a few accidents, in cumbria there has been a 12 car accident and in derbyshire, the snake pass has been closed. there is lots of congestion due to the snow. the highways agency

are saying to take care especially with the winds up to 70 mph. give yourself time, wrap up warm, take blankets, make sure you are prepared because that still will come down thick and heavy overnight. into tomorrow, there will be lots more snow, especially in the midlands, wales, even in devon and cornwall police are saying it will be heavy overnight. this is... the mini based on these. it is not expected to last as long as last time. thank you so much. you can see that snow drifting behind you, blowing in the wind and affecting our signal to you. we believe that therefore now. thank you very much. let's take a look at how this blast of wintry weather is affecting other parts of the country. the east coast is worst hit so far. thank you to sam howard for this shot of the harbour at leigh—on—sea in essex blanketed with snow. everton‘s theo walcott got a snowy

beard as his team took on stoke city at the bet365 stadium in stoke. and there were also harsh conditions for fans arriving at the molineux stadium in wolverhapmton for the championship match between wolves and burton albion. he looks like he is enjoying himself. it's been a snowy day for supermarket shopping in salisbury in wiltshire. and it was bitterly cold with snow at kensington gardens in london. thank you for those. the headlines on bbc news: russia is expelling 23 british diplomats in the row over the nerve agent attack on a former spy. the prime minister insisted that the kremlin must account for its

actions. police investigating the murder of a russian businessmen in london contact other exiles to discuss their personal safety. facebook suspends a data company which worked for president trump's election campaign. police have launched a murder investigation after 2 women were shot and killed at a house in st—leonards—on—sea, in east sussex. two other women — including one who's pregnant — were taken to hospital suffering from shock after the shooting. a 35 year—old man has been arrested on suspicion of murder. temporary chief superintendent, jason taylor from east sussex police —— made the following statement. i would like to begin by saying our thoughts are with the family and friends of the victims who tragically died following a shooting at a house in bexhill road, st leonards, last night. 0fficers responded immediately to a reporting of a shooting

shortly before 7a5pm. two women died at the scene. two other women who were also at the house were led to safety by police officers and were taken to hospital for shock. they are being supported by specially trained officers. a 35—year—old man who was known to the victims was arrested on suspicion of murder and taken into custody where he remains. a firearm has been recovered. officers and staff from the major incident team are leading the investigation supported by local policing teams. we are not looking for anyone else in connection with the murders but are appealing for witnesses to contact us by ringing 101 and quoting operation winlock. the sunderland footballer darron gibson has been involved in a car crash involving several vehicles. it happened earlier this morning on dugdale rode in the city. gibson was

not due to play for the club this afternoon. northumbria police say a 35—year—old man has been arrested on suspicion of driving over the legal alcohol limit and is in their custody. 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. 0ur 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. a data company which worked for president trump's election campaign has been suspended by facebook. cambridge analytica is alleged to have inappropriately shared data with a third party and not fully deleted it when asked. it denies any wrongdoing. let's speak to our business correspondent joe lynam. tell us the background to this case. this centres on the management and husbandry of personal information. about four years ago the university of cambridge expert developed an app to test your personality and invited people to get this information about

the personality as long as they signed up using their facebook profile. at the time it was permissible to not only give you your personal data but all your friends personal data once you've signed up, it is in all the small print that very few people read. the information was cornered and given to this american company with a similar name called cambridge analytica based in the us. the accusation made from a whistle—blower who worked within cambridge analytica was that the information was harvested to use in the election of 2016 in which donald trump emerged as the victor. facebook ordered that the personal data be deleted a few years ago. at the last 2a hours it said that it has emerged that not all the personal information from the millions of accounts was deleted, some was held on and as a result they are suspending the accounts of these other people involved, the

professor ian cambridge and cambridge analytica in the united states. the latest news is that the attorney general for the state of massachusetts said that she would launch an investigation into this and that the residence of her estate deserve and that the residence of her estate d ese rve a nswe i’s and that the residence of her estate deserve answers immediately. it is an unfurling story, and one that has an unfurling story, and one that has a lot to do with privacy, but also the stuff that we sign up to, when we click accept all the terms and conditions. what have facebook and cambridge analytica said? both companies deny wrongdoing. let me say what facebook said, they said that people knowingly provided their information and 2014, so no systems of theirs were infiltrated, no passwords are sensitive pieces of information were stolen or hacked and that is some of the accusation from this whistle—blower, he is quoted in the observer online and the new york times and soon later on

channel 4 news. as for cambridge analytica, the american company that worked supposedly on the president trump campaign in 2016, it denied that the information acquired from this app that i was telling you about had been used in the election and added that it only receives an user ‘s data that has been obtained legally unfairly. 0ne user ‘s data that has been obtained legally unfairly. one final note, here in the uk the information commissioners office have confirmed that they are launching an investigation and there is an investigation and there is an investigation under way as to whether facebook data may have been illegally required and used for political purposes. investigations on both sides of the atlantic. developing story, thank you very much. as many as a quarter of a million people have been displaced by the violence in syria in recent days. a monitoring group says about one hundred and fifty thousand people have fled a turkish military offensive in afrin in the north. in the south, tens of thousands of people have been fleeing the rebel—held enclave of eastern ghouta outside damascus.

it's been subjected to a syrian government offensive. harry darkins reports. leaving before it is too late. reports say at least 20,000 people have fled and military offensive in eastern ghouta on saturday alone. leaving almost everything behind, escaping the death throes of syria's last rebel stronghold. we wanted to leave three months ago, but the rebels did not allow us. they starved us. this isjust ten miles away from the presidential palace. in the last month, regime forces, strongly backed by russia, have reta ken strongly backed by russia, have retaken 70% of eastern ghouta. they have slowly carved it up into three is shrinking pockets. all held by different rebel groups. translation: according to the information we have, individual units are ready to lay down their

arms and leave eastern ghouta, but they are waiting for the command from the western patrons. as ever in this cruel war, civilians pay the price of military action. a monitoring group say that more than 1400 civilians have been killed in the region in the past month. on saturday, dozens were reportedly killed by air strikes in one town. 215 miles north of eastern ghouta in a turkish controlled conclave, and other accidents. it may technically be the same country, but it has become a very different war. here, it is turkey flexing its muscles. its military has waged a nearly two—month long offensive in the area, slowly pushing us backed kurdish militia out. it says they have links to kurdish groups inside turkey which ankara has fought for decades. now

civilians are rushing to use the only escape route open to the south. reports say violence here has displaced more than 150,000 people. translation: as you can see, there is warand translation: as you can see, there is war and displaced people, are children are hungry and we have been walking for three days. thank god we have arrived here. there are deaths and the war is raging, you cannot sleep or eat and people are afraid. we cannot sleep because of planes and artillery. this week the syrian conflict entered its eighth year. no foreign power has been able to stop the violence. the fact that so many foreign governments are protecting their own interest here means it has 110w their own interest here means it has now become their work as well. before we go: the duke and duchess of cambridge have been getting into the st patrick's day spirit. they've been watching a traditional parade by the irish guards, led by the regimental mascot irish wolfhound at their base in west london. thousands of people turned out in dublin for the traditional parade — which included marching bands, a sea of green hats and lots of shamrock decorations. meanwhile across the atlantic,

the city of chicago turned its river green — something they've been doing in the windy city since 1962. but you need to get to see if quickly — the temporary dye only sticks around for about five hours. let us find out how the weather is looking. we will see what then rich has for us. good evening, winter returned with a vengeance today, cold easterly winds bringing snow and there is more to come. be prepared warnings enforced through this evening across parts of the south—east, into the london area and yorkshire, linkage into the north midlands and then on sunday, south east wales also covered by warnings.

these are the areas most at risk of seeing some disruptive snowfall particularly where we have the area of more persistent snow drifting west through the rest of the night. still the feed of showers into these, clear spells, temperatures dipping well below freezing, a widespread frost and perhaps ice tomorrow morning. into tomorrow, this snowfall could give up to 20 centimetres of high ground in the south west. it will snow here throughout the day. some showers on the easterly wind but probably not as many as today. largely dry towards the south—east but it will still feel cold. this is bbc news. our latest headlines: 23 british diplomats are to be expelled by moscow amid tensions over the nerve agent attack in salisbury. the british consulate in st petersburg will also close. the prime minister has said russia must account for its actions. we will never tolerate a threat to the life of british citizens and others on british soil from the russian government. applause