this is bbc world news. i'm duncan golestani. our top stories. russia calls in britain's man in moscow to announce its plans to retaliate — it will throw out 23 uk diplomats and close the consulate in st petersburg. translation: british prime ministers insult us and her foreign secretary in saipov, they took to russia as if they are drunk in a pub. us officials investigate allegations a company mishandled facebook users' data in an effort to support president trump's election campaign. thousands of civilians flee violence in syria — aid agencies say almost 250,000 people have been driven from their homes this week. and the campaign to clean up mount everest begins. 1,200kg of waste left behind by tourists and climbers is airlifted from the world's highest mountain. hello and welcome to bbc news.

russia has hit back against the uk in the escalating dispute about the poisoning of a former double agent. the british ambassador was called in to the foreign ministry in moscow and given a list of measures that moscow intends to take in retaliation to british actions against russia, which london holds responsible for the attack. steve rosenberg reports from moscow. he'd been expecting the telephone call. and today, it came. britain's ambassador was summoned to the foreign ministry, and in the skyscraper that joseph stalin built as a symbol of a superpower, the ambassador was told how moscow would retaliate for uk sanctions. a note of defiance when he left. 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 — all countries including russia — depend for their safety and security. thank you. the ambassador headed into work to tell embassy staff about the russian sanctions. moscow says they are a response to british provocation. russia has expelled 23 british diplomats. the uk had expelled 23 russians over the nerve agent attack in salisbury. the authorities here are shutting down the british consulate in st petersburg. and the british council, which promotes uk culture abroad, will now be forced to end all activity in russia. moscow says the language coming out of london was a factor when deciding what sanctions to announce. translation: the british prime minister insults us and threaten us. her foreign and defence

secretaries insult us. they talk to russia as if they are drunk in a pub. so what the uk got from us today is the result of this loutishness and their groundless accusations. not so, said theresa may. russia's response does not change the facts of the matter — the attempted assassination of two people on british soil for which there is no alternative conclusion other than that the russian state was culpable. relations between moscow and london haven't been this fractured since the cold war. the expulsion of 23 british diplomats — that was expected, that is traditional tit—for—tat — but the shutting down of a consulate and the activities of the british council — that feels like a challenge to the british government, and the russians have said that if britain responds with more measures against moscow,

then russia will respond with more sanctions against the uk. the danger now is a spiral of confrontation. steve rosenberg, bbc news, moscow. the bbc‘s diplomatic correspondent james robbins says the uk prime minister faces a tricky choice when deciding what to do next. to interpret the expulsion of 23 britons from russia is a simple tit—for—tat parity or do they think the russians have gone too far but adding the closure of the consulate in st petersburg and perhaps actually more significantly the com plete actually more significantly the complete closure of british council operations in russia. that is significant because it is the way in which britain tries to export its values as well is the english language in the rush hour. —— into russia. it has a huge reach, it reaches a lot of young russians, teenagers and young adults, and it's seen as a way of appealing to the post—putin generation, trying to export to them values

that they may miss at home. so losing the council is a major blow. how will britain response to that? earlier, i spoke to james sherr, an associate fellow for the russia and eurasia programme at the international policy institute, chatham house and i asked him what further options were open to the british prime minister, theresa may. i think the key steps are the ones she has already outlined. what really matters now is the extent to which we will give practical effects the steps already outlined to increase security, increase the coherence and cohesiveness of our effort, primarily with regard to our domestic security, including protecting those people, including russian citizens who are lawfully resident here, and other domains as well which must include financial

security and the privileges that dubious russian entities have enjoyed so far in making use of all the privileges and services of the city of london and the openness of the london property market. the kremlin is still waiting to see whether we actually mean it. and this is coming to be, this is the serious story, not the tit—for—tat and the exchanges that are taking place publicly. do you think the british government then have been hesitant to fully implement laws and legislation that they could have done over the last few years? over the past few years definitely and this is part of the problem. many reasons, the russians have seen the uk as relatively weak and we

unintentionally have reinforced this ina number of unintentionally have reinforced this in a number of ways. not least of all by failing to vigorously pursue all by failing to vigorously pursue a whole raft of unexplained macabre murders of russian citizens in this country. the home secretary now says that all of this is going to be investigated. well, good. will this also apply to the financial sector which is vitalfor a country like russia, whose system, the system that putin has constructed, is based ona that putin has constructed, is based on a merger of money and power at the very highest levels and a lot of his money before this money come from very dubious sources and so it is extremely dubious purposes we have laws on the table and mechanisms in place that can address this and the prime minister has also

said quite rightly we will be looking at those to see where they need to be stiffened and consolidated. and just to remind you, for more detail on this story, you can go to the bbc news app or website. there's this summary of what we know so far and details of the uk government's warning to exiled russians about their security. just go bbc.com/news. the attorney—general in the us state of massachusetts is to begin an investigation into claims that information from millions of facebook users may have been used by a data company during the 2016 us presidential election. a former employee of cambridge analytica claims that 50 million profiles were accessed. the two companies deny any wrongdoing. carole cadwalladr writes for the guardian and helped break this story. she explains why the alleged misuse of data is so troubling. everything that you post on your

facebook profile, things about your family, tv shows, whatever, a tiny little crumbs that we live out their when they are all pulled together by a company, they can be very revealing about who we are and how we can be targeted. by political messages. and what is so troubling about this, not only is the information taken from facebook app in facebook was the platform on which these political messages were disseminated. this is a very complex story with several companies involved. our business correspondentjoe lynam explains what's been going on. this all started when an app was developed in the university of cambridge about four years ago which harvested the profiles of anyone who signed up for this app via their facebook login. 270,000 facebook users. and their

friends as well, so you can see it gets into the millions, and that personal information was given to a company called cambridge analytica, u nfortu nately company called cambridge analytica, unfortunately the name is confusingly similar, and facebook ordered cambridge analytica to delete the personal information because it was in breach of the rules. in the last 2a hours facebook said that you didn't delete all the information and so we are now suspending you from face pending an investigation. in the meantime as you said, are facebook, a whistleblower has come forward and said the million facebook profiles we re said the million facebook profiles were harvested from this app and used to target very specific m essa 9 es used to target very specific messages in relation to the 2016 us presidential election. anti— hillary clinton and pro—trump messages. the attorney—general in massachusetts says she will launch an investigation, she says the residence of the state deserve

a nswe rs residence of the state deserve answers immediately. 0n the side of the atlantic, the information commissioner ‘s office has said it is also investigating the circumstances which facebook data may been illegally acquired and used for political purposes. obviously a legal and political consequences, potentially. this does put facebook ina potentially. this does put facebook in a potentially difficult position as well, doesn't it? potentially. they will say they suspended the accounts and have acted and will not tolerate abuse of data. it also flatly denied any huge data breach which the whistleblower has alleged and said users had knowingly provided all the information they click the box do you agree? let's be honest, how many of us read the small print of these things? and the system small print of these things? and the syste m ha d small print of these things? and the system had indeed not been breached. also, the rules have changed from four years ago. before then you could by clicking that box and able the —— job enable the app to provide

your friends's information but the —— job enable the app to provide yourfriends's information but now it is just yours. cambridge analytica has delayed any information garnered from the infamous app was used in the 2016 us presidential election in and only receive and uses data that has been obtained legally and fairly. let's take a look at some of the other stories making the news. germany's chancellor angela merkel and china's president xi jinping have discussed overcapacity in world steel production. they've agreed to work within the g20 group of nations to find a solution. their telephone discussion comes shortly before president trump's new tariffs on steel and aluminium are enforced. an engineer left a voice mail two days before a bridge collapsed in miami, warning "some cracking" had been found in the structure, but added there were no concerns from a safety perspective. officials say the voice mail wasn't picked up until after the accident on thursday, in which six people were killed. tens of thousands of spanish pensioners have held rallies in the capital madrid and other cities across the country to demand an increase in public pension pay—outs.

demonstrators called on the government to guarantee them dignity in old age. pensions in spain are among the highest in europe, but protesters say this is eroded by rising energy and food prices. syrian civilians at both ends of the country have been facing intense fighting over the last few days, and the un says there is likely to be more to come. a few miles from the capital damascus, regime—backed forces have nearly captured the rebel—held eastern ghouta and it's thought up to 50,000 people are trying to escape the area. and in the north, as many as 150,000 people are fleeing a military operation by turkey, aiming to push out kurdish forces in the town of afrin. harry darkins has more. turkey has battered the kurdish controlled on clove of afrin the

nearly two months, slowly pushing us—backed kurdish militia out. it says they have links to kurdish groups inside turkey which ankara has for two decades. now, civilians are streaming out of the city, desperate to escape. translation macro as you can see, there are displaced people, our children are hungry and we have been walking for two days. thank god we have arrived here. translation: the road deaths and the war is raging, you cannot sleep, you cannot eat, and people are afraid. we cannot sleep because of planes and artillery. further south on the outskirts of damascus, russian—backed government forces are fighting rebels. eastern ghouta is syria's last rebel stronghold. so thousands are leaving before it is too late. translation: we wanted to leave three months ago but the ghouta rebels didn't allow us, they stuffed us. this temporary shelter to the north—east of damascus is

overwhelmed. this family fled as the russian—backed forces approached. translation: people were hungry, ghouta's women were in good health and now we are thin, we beg for money, the rebels have a lot of money, the rebels have a lot of money and farms cost millions. in the last month president asaad's forces have retaken 70% of eastern ghouta. translation macro —— according to the information we have, militants are to lay down their arms and live is the ghouta but they are waiting for the command from their western patrons. as syria's brutal conflict entered at eight year this week, the end cannot come soon enough for ordinary civilians who have lost so much already. stay with us on bbc world news, still to come: a clean up in the clouds. a new campaign is launched on mount everest to remove some 100—tonnes of rubbish, human waste and old equipment left behind on the world's highest mountain. today we have closed the book

on apartheid and that chapter. more than 3,000 subway passengers were affected. nausea, fainting, headaches and the dimming of vision, all of this caused by an apparently organised attack. the trophy itself was on the pedestal in the middle of the cabinet here. it was an international trophy and we understand now that the search for it has become an international search. above all, this was a triumph for the christian democrats of the west, offering reunification as quickly as possible, and that's

what the voters wanted. this is bbc news. the latest headlines: moscow has summoned the uk ambassador to confirm its expelling 23 british diplomats in a row over a nerve agent attack on an ex—spy. the us state of massachusetts is launching an investigation into alleged harvesting of facebook profiles by a firm employed by donald trump's election campaign. andrew mccabe, who was the fbi's deputy under former director james comey, is a potentially key witness in the russia probe. trump has hailed his firing, but critics call it a "dangerous" ploy to discredit the fbi. it comes as donald trump's personal attorney calls for the russia investigation to be shut down altogether. here's chris buckler in washington with the latest. a statement that was given to many

media outlets, the robert mu statement regarding the russian interference that it should come to an end this topic initially, one of those outlets claim that he was saying that on behalf of the president, he has clarified that and says that is his view, it is not necessarily the president's view. however, donald trump has been certainly making himself clear about this issue surrounding the firing of andrew mccabe. he has tweeted this, celebrating the sacking of andrew mccabe, describing it as a great day for the hard—working men and women of the fbi and a great day for democracy. he wasn't fired by donald

trump, he was fired by the attorney generaljeff sessions. that was after an fbi internal investigation into allegations of misconduct, essentially they suggested that he wasn't fully open and fully honest and some answers he gave in connection with some politically sensitive investigations. nonetheless, you get a real sense from him in statements that he has released that he feels it was a direct result of political and specifically presidential pressure and certainly donald trump is given and certainly donald trump is given a sense that he wanted andrew mccabe dawn. we are now hearing that andrew mccabe kept detailed notes of meetings with president trump, what is the potential significance of that? he has already said that he is prepared to back up the account of james comey, a former director of the fbi who was fired by donald trump. it has become clear that he was keeping memos about conversations that he had with the

president and also details of what happened surrounding that firing. so that if you could end up in the hands of robert mu, that is very clear. i think what we are seeing here is a real battle taking place between president trump and the fbi, law enforcement agencies and there isa law enforcement agencies and there is a real growing sense of a war emerging here, that is what andrew mccabe himself has called it. a war between the president and the fbi. australian government has rejected a bid by activist lawyers to prosecute myanmar leader aung san suu kyi for crimes against humanity over the country's treatment of minority rohingya muslims. attorney general said he cannot allow prosecution of suu kyi, who had arrived in sydney for regional talks, citing her diplomatic immunity. un said the army crackdown against rohingyas in rakhine state constituted ethnic cleansing. a new campaign to clean up mount everest has started, with twelve—hundred kilogrammes

of waste taken to the nepalese capital kathmandu. the aim is to airlift 100 tons of waste from the world's highest mountain and the surrounding region, which was visited by more than 100,000 people last year. a private airline said it would continue to transport mostly recyclable waste like bottles, adventure gear and metal throughout the year. a little earlier, i spoke to british mountaineer alan hinkes — who has been to everest on multiple expeditions — and asked him if the litter is really as bad as it sounds. no, it isn't really. i think we get bad publicity. most climbers take only photographs and leave only footprints. as you mention, there is a 100,000. on footprints. as you mention, there is a 100,000. 0n everest there is only about 500— a 100,000. 0n everest there is only about 500- 1000 a 100,000. 0n everest there is only about 500— 1000 climbers and most are environmentally aware. there is quite a lot of rubbish on the way up

to base camp, there is some. the nepalese and shippers are very in byker read that very environmentally aware, so they clean it up. 1200 kg is a lot. ido drop it in my local park and wouldn't think about doing this the incredible mountain range. i know. and unfortunately there hasn't been a proper disposal system like we have in first or countries so they are getting grips —— to grips with it now. on that eight day trek, trekkers will drink bottles of beer and soft drinks and eat things that are wrapped up and all that rubbish has to be taken out. at the moment a lot of it is just piled rubbish has to be taken out. at the moment a lot of it isjust piled up, so they are starting to take it out. do you find it hard to believe that the nepalese taken so seriously?

they are all lovely people. it is nearly as nice as the lake district. seriously, nepal is a lovely country andi seriously, nepal is a lovely country and i recommend anybody to go there. the nepalese are lovely people and the areas that the sherpas live in isa the areas that the sherpas live in is a fabulous region and is worth visiting. a slight change of subject, because a polish climbing expedition gave up climbing mount k2 due to bad weather and difficulty, why is k2 so tough? k2 is not much lower than everest but it is much more difficult. steeper to rain, more avalanches, it really is the gna rly more avalanches, it really is the gnarly surmounted in the world. it is known as the savage mountain. it is known as the savage mountain. it is the only mountain of these big that has never been claimed in winter and it is remote, on the border of northern pakistan and china. this polish expedition was one of the strongest ever, led by a

friend of mine, i have been with him in the past. if they can not do it it doesn't bode well, perhaps they will go back next winter. now if you're a competitor at the paralympic winter games in pyeongchang, what happens if your wheelchair breaks or your prosthetic limb needs adjusting? well, you take it to the repair centre. they've been very busy and here's a look at their work. iam i am madly and i am a ph.d. student andi i am madly and i am a ph.d. student and i am here to help out in the repairs workshop at the paralympic games. 0ne repairs workshop at the paralympic games. one of the most surprising thing is that i have seen is the fa ct thing is that i have seen is the fact that there is less selling involved. quite a queue wheelchairs coming with complaints that the wheels are not turning quite like they should. we think it is to do with the different salts and stuff that are coming from the snow. you are

consta ntly coming from the snow. you are constantly worried about something working and suddenly howl constantly worried about something working and suddenly how i go to get to the venue, how are you going to get to eat and your recovery? 0r those that start to add up and build up those that start to add up and build up against you. you really have to trust your equipment to make sure it works. you feel proud little bit because you help the athletes, the people to do this sports that they are trained for, for four years.|j am used to working in a lab by myself but if you have met with the patient and you have seen what their needs are and have a better understanding of what is going on, you can go into the workshop with that in mind this topic we had in sochi 260 repairs and now we have 300 and the games are not over, so we are still working. thinks the company. —— thanks for your company. winter has returned with a vengeance

this weekend, strong come a cold easterly winds have already selling places, our weather watchers have ca ptu red places, our weather watchers have captured the scenes, this one from west yorkshire, this weather watcher picture on a six. and there is some more snow to come. let's look back at how things developed during saturday evening on the radar picture you can see all of the showers piling in from the east but then an area of more significant, persistent snow that developed over the south—east. that continues to drift westwards and so we have three different that office amber warnings in force, or one towards the and london, one was eastern england and the midlands and one for the south—west of england and the south—west of england and the south—west of england and the south—west of wales. these areas most prone to seeing disruption from significant snowfall. this is how we start off the date with this area and more persistent snow continuing to drift across england and wales,

some snow showers elsewhere, widely down below freezing so not only frost but ice to take us into sunday morning. but it is all about the snow across these western and south—western areas in the first pa rt south—western areas in the first part of sunday, let's take a closer look. man in the morning, you can see the snow falling across devon, dorset, somerset, the bristol area, it east wales and the west midlands. piling up and blowing around this strong easterly wind, some drifting snow in places. all the while, so showers across the eastern side of northern england, politically one or two clipping into the south—east of oil in ireland and some showers across the eastern side of scotland. further west, the western side of scotla nd further west, the western side of scotland at not seeing as much showers, more sunshine that is the theme as we go through the day. many of the showers in eastern areas will slowly but surely fade away, some brightness towards the south—east later and the snow will pull away from wales and keep falling across the south—west on a 10— 20

centimetres over high ground. would be for all and a bitterly cold feel. what we will lose this area of snow during sunday night. high—pressure start buildout from the north and we have a subtle shift in the wind direction as well. the easterly wind from the weekend will become more like northerly wind. northerly winds are never warm by any means but they will be slightly less cold. monday sees the picture is rising between 3- sees the picture is rising between 3— seven degrees with some good spells of sunshine. not a bad day. temperatures will continue to climb as we had deeper into the coming week but after a dry start to the week but after a dry start to the week things will then turn much more u nsettled. this is bbc world news. the headlines: russia has announced its expelling 23 british diplomats. the uk ambassador was summoned to hear moscow's decision — a direct response to the move by london, ordering the same number of russian diplomats to leave britain. us officials say they are investigating allegations that

a political consultancy company mishandled facebook users' data in an effort to support president trump's election campaign. this week's fighting in syria has driven up to 250,000 people from their homes. 150,000 are reported to have fled the northern town of afrin, while tens of thousands have escaped the enclave of eastern ghouta. and a campaign to clean up mount everest is under way. 1,200kg of waste left behind by tourists and climbers is being airlifted from the world's highest mountain. now on bbc news, witness.