this is bbc news — and these are the top stories developing at 11. a show of solidarity with britain, after the eu takes the rare step of recalling its ambassador to russia. the threat from russia is one that respects no borders, and i think it is clear that russia is challenging the values we share as europeans, and it is right that we are standing together in defence of those values. i am christian fraser live at the leader summit in brussels where they have formally accepted the guidelines for the next phase of the brexit negotiation: discussions on the future relationship will now begin. stock markets are hit by fears of a trade war — after china retaliates against president trump's decision to impose taxes on their exports. donald trump sacks his second national security advisor in m months — and appoints the hardline former un ambassador, john bolton, to the role. and the desperate scramble

to save stranded pilot whales — beached in western australia. good morning. it's friday 23rd march. i'm annita mcveigh. welcome to bbc newsroom live. the european union is recalling its ambassador to russia, in the wake of the nerve agent attack in salisbury. our correspondent christian fraser is in brussels and joins me now. this summit was a significant test

for the this summit was a significant test forthe uk, this summit was a significant test for the uk, could the rally the leaders around this issue? judging by the statement published in the early hours this morning, the answer was firmly yes. the other leaders said they were extremely concerned by the poisoning in salisbury. they said it was highly likely russia was behind it and that in their view, there was no other plausible explanation. but the big question is, beyond the rhetoric, what kind of coordinated response will there be? anecdotally, from the leaders we spoke to in the last few days, there are between five and ten leaders ready to take action now. there are divisions in europe, but there are a lwa ys divisions in europe, but there are always divisions when it comes to foreign policy. you have the baltic states which take a fairly hard—line and russia. then there are countries like greece and italy, where the major parties have had a more easy and sympathetic relationship with russia. at the moment, five and ten countries, between that, talking

about returning ambassadors and expelling them. the european union, and again, we're reminded around the summit that the eu and institutions have a limited effect when it comes to foreign policy. they have taken perhaps the only option open to them and that is recalling their ambassadors moscow. let's get this report. in brussels, the prime minister is asking for solidarity, not separation. last night, the eu answered by withdrawing its envoy in moscow for consultations, sending, said theresa may, a message to russia. it is a threat to our values, and it is right that here in the eu council, we are standing together to uphold those values. but earlier, at a press conference, eu council chief donald tusk and commission presidentjean—claude juncker had seemed less certain what their message was. we will come back to the question. he chuckles. sergei skripal and his daughter remain critically ill,

but police officer nick bailey, hurt after going to help, was well enough to be sent home from hospital. nick has had to undergo significant medical treatment, which has undoubtedly been very daunting for him and for his family. i have personally been amazed at the strength and resilience of nick. in brussels, the prime minister seems to have convinced britain's european allies to stand strong on russia. ben ando, bbc news. speaking to reporters before she left brussels this morning, theresa may said she welcomed the solidarity that european leaders had shown in response to the attempted murder in salisbury. i welcome the fact that last night, the european union council agreed with the uk government's assessment, that the attempted murder that took place on the streets of salisbury, that it's highly likely that russia is responsible for the attempted murder, and that there is no plausible alternative explanation. the threat from russia is one that

respects no borders and i think it is clear that russia is challenging the values we share as europeans, and it is right that we are standing together in defence of those values. the lithuanian president suggested that you gave them new information that they were not hitherto privy to last night. can you tell us anything about that? we have we have been throughout sharing on intelligence channels, what intelligence we can share, with our colleagues. i think what is crucial, though, is there was recognition around the table last night about the threat that russia poses and, as i say, they recognised and agreed the uk government's assessment that it is highly likely that russia was responsible for the attempted murder on the streets of salisbury and that there is no plausible alternative explanation. the national security adviser of the

but he's ahead of the summit, talking to some of the countries. as katie response from moscow. our correspondent oleg boldyrev is in moscow. it does not look like the statements from brussels have made any impression on moscow. russian officials stick to their denial that moscow had anything to do with sergei skripal‘s poisoning in salisbury. in the words of the russian foreign minister, all that is happening is the uk is driving the confrontation, pressurising its european partners and driving things into a dead—end. another official who spoke on the subject today was a presidential spokesman, who spoke on the subject today was a presidentialspokesman, he who spoke on the subject today was a presidential spokesman, he said russia had no motive, that sergei skripal is of no use to russia. he was a british guy. he said that he was a british guy. he said that he

was sent out from moscow as part of an exchange that means he is of no value, so that is no motive. vladimir putin did speak to the greek prime ministerjust yesterday, and obviously, they are speaking to those countries that are more sympathetic. a baby at all concerned by talk of between 5—10 countries returning on expelling diplomats in the united response they are now getting from europe? they say publicly they will not change anything, but what will be happening privately? it will be concerned. at the moment, the russian foreign ministry is measuring its words and it says formerly it has no notification that any country apart from the uk is prepared to go that farand from the uk is prepared to go that far and expel diplomats. the southern flank of the eu, you mention italy, greece, yugoslavia, they are more sympathetic towards that position. but that is concern

that position. but that is concern that it could snowball into a bigger confrontation. at the moment, russia sticks to its guns, saying basically there is no evidence and until the investigation is completed, it is baseless to point the finger at moscow. thank you very much for that update. theresa may has left the building here. we're told the other 27 leaders are now involved in a strategic discussion about brexit and we will come back in a few minutes and tell you all about that. some news coming in from france now — reports that a man has taken hostages at a supermarket in the town of trebes in southwest france after shots were heard, it's reported he's claiming allegiance to islamic state group.

andy moore is following the story for us. they say the gunman who is holding hostages is claiming allegiance to daesh. we heard that incident 15 minutes away, previous to that we had an incident where police were following a car, five shots were fired and a police man was injured in the shoulder. we do not know for sure that it is linked to the hostagetaking in the supermarket, but on the face of it, they are in the same sort of alias so they may be linked. there are unconfirmed reports from the french media that one person has been killed. i'm not

sure if we can go to our correspondent in paris. we hope to talk to him injust correspondent in paris. we hope to talk to him in just a few minutes. obviously france, if we look at european nations, france has had a particular issue with attacks carried out by supporters of so—called iis and at the moment, we're getting reports that this individual is claiming allegiance to them. the interior ministry in france is also saying that an operation is ongoing in the supermarket. to be have any idea how many people are being held hostage? no, we don't. i've had a look at the supermarket on google earth. it's quite a large supermarket, an out—of—town supermarket surrounded bya out—of—town supermarket surrounded by a large car park, so we don't know how many people are being held hostage. it could be this is a criminal act of some sort the amanda simply claiming he is a member of crisis. but if you remember back to

the batter clan attacks, i remember one of them took refuge in a supermarket. we don't know if this is confirmed to be a terrorist attack, but it is a familiar situation, where a gunman who is perhaps discovered by the police, may take refuge in a supermarket, it isa may take refuge in a supermarket, it is a tactic used by terrorists in france in the past. just to clarify, in terms of the other shooting in carcassonne, a 15 minute drive by carfrom this carcassonne, a 15 minute drive by car from this supermarket, we are seeing reports that a number of police officers who were out shopping were followed by a car. is that your understanding or where police officers following a car? that is some confusion. you are correct, my french is not so good. they were out shopping and they were followed by a car, and one individual got out of the car and fired five times. a colleague was

injured in the shoulder. but the brief message from the french police. you're absolutely right, they were followed by a car. thank you very much for the moment, obviously fairly scant information about this ongoing incident, but we will bring you more as soon as we get it. let's return to one of our stories — the nerve agent attack in salisbury. let's go to salisbury now — and duncan kennedy is there with the latest. this concerns the bench with sergei skripal and his daughter were found. we have had four people in suits to come and take away the tent covering the bench. it is our first sight, clear sight of the bench since this incident began on sunday the 4th of

march. we're not quite clear, not quite sure why they have taken that tent of. whether it is for investigators either from porton down or independent chemical investigators to common carrier testing, although one has to ask why they believe the tent taken away for that. there is only speculation at the moment that they have plans to ta ke the moment that they have plans to take the bench away at some point. it isa take the bench away at some point. it is a bench that is bolted to the ground, so that would not be a straightforward, simple, quick operation. just to the right of the bench, if you can scan across, another team in blue uniforms have turned up. one of them is carrying eight theodolite type piece of equipment. he put some sort of elaine electronic box on it, scan the area for a bit and then took it down and is standing just a couple

of metres from the bench. this team may or may not be connected to the bench activity itself. they may be another team doing another job. throughout the whole of this nearly three—week period, we have seen various teams come to the spot to ta ke various teams come to the spot to take samples, to take photographs, of this activity. this team may be connected with the fact they have taken the tent away, it may not be. we're not clear what this means. it looks for men in the blue uniforms, obviously all very much suited up as anyone who enters the cordon is, with protective clothing. it is not clear yet what is going on here, whether there is any other activity to be taking place at the bench itself on whether it is preparation for something we are not aware of. all this comes just for something we are not aware of. all this comesjust a for something we are not aware of. all this comes just a few hours after we learned that sergeant bailey, one of the police officers involved in the incident, we do not know where he came into contact with the nerve agent, but he has now been discharged from the hospital at the

same time as the high court in london gave permission for those independent chemical weapons experts today but samples from temple and his daughter. they are not able to give that permission because they are unconscious. that is another development taking place here this morning. quite what is going on here, we do not know. it has attracted a lot of attention. various teams arriving, whether it is to take the bench we're not, that may become clear in the next few hours. sergei skripal and his daughter i still unconscious, but has been any change or update on their condition? officially, we heard last night from the hospital, salisbury hospitaljust heard last night from the hospital, salisbury hospital just across heard last night from the hospital, salisbury hospitaljust across the way there, they are still in a critical but stable condition. we we re critical but stable condition. we were given a slight indication by that high court judge, were given a slight indication by that high courtjudge, who gave permission to have their blood taken, that they were in a position not to be able to give that permission, because they are

unconscious. he used words to indicate their condition could deteriorate at any moment. there was a note of urgency to what he was doing on legal grounds. the hospital have maintained that they have been ina have maintained that they have been in a critical condition throughout this time. there were found on the bench here on that sunday by members of the public, having convulsions, all kinds of incidents going on with their bodies, if i can put it that way. some of it is too graphic to go into on air, but they were obviously ina very into on air, but they were obviously in a very distressed condition on this bench. and we have not had an update on their health beyond that, other than that they are critical. we know they are getting the best ca re we know they are getting the best care possible. we have the chief executive of the hospital they berlin yesterday telling us that all kinds of expert health professionals are still caring for them. we have also learned that they have not had any visitors by way of family or friends. we don't know why, maybe

because none have come over or been available in britain to visit them, oi’ available in britain to visit them, or because they have in this closed unit that no members of the public can go into. we are talking about a nerve agent here. it's obviously a very sensitive, critical set of operations going on in that unit. that may be the explanation for that, but for the moment, they remain ina that, but for the moment, they remain in a critical but stable condition. thank you very much. the headlines on bbc newsroom live. theresa may has welcomed the support of other eu leaders in the row with russia about the nerve agent attack in salisbury. there's been a shooting and a separate hostage—taking at a supermarket in southwestern france. special forces are on the scene. stock markets have been hit

by fears of a trade war — after china retaliates against president trump's decision to impose taxes on their exports. gareth haskett says england should get their own house in order before accusing other countries of racism. the england boss says he has seen disgusting behaviour closer to home. world champion lewis hamilton was quicker in both for the opening session. rivals red bull and variety we re session. rivals red bull and variety were not too far away. i will have more on those stories just after 11.30. we were hearing about the decision to recall the eu ambassador to

moscow. we've also heard the eu delegation in russia has been recalled for consultations. let's catch up now with developments at that summit on brexit and go back to christian fraser. this morning, the attention has turned to brexit. they have rubber—stamped this morning the terms of the transmission we heard about on monday, as we expected they would. at for its part of the divorce proceedings. they have also given the green light to the negotiating guidelines for phase two. namely the discussion over the future relationship. that is where britain has tried to beget over the last year, some discussion about

trade. the answers to the thorny issues lie within the tree discussions. the stock a little more about it with the europe editor. let's speak to our brussels reporter adam fleming and also alberto nardelli from buzzfeeed. i think today was really about having a quick agreement on the transition, this has been known for quite awhile, and then approving the guidelines for the next phase and leaders have tried to have discussions on financial services. the point being, why should we talk about these things amongst ourselves until we have made progress on the exit issues such as the northern ireland border or the governance of the overall agreement on the

european court of justice. the overall agreement on the european court ofjustice. adam, they obviously want to pick apart they obviously want to pick apart the european countries here and start to create some division. in what so far has been a fairly united front from the eu. do you think the fa ct front from the eu. do you think the fact that they broke up this morning suggests there are not as many splits as we thought? this meeting this morning, this discussion about tactics and the overall principles of these two, we were expecting that to be quite a long meeting. and it was going to be really interesting to hear what came out of it, because it was going to be the first opportunity we have had in ages to hear that countries put forward that individual positions and that that that own national interest. yes, an example where there were potential splits and different emphases from different countries. but that meeting has been much shorter term of expected and it looks like donald task has managed to do what he wanted to do in the it under control. i think they will be

pleased they managed to keep everyone stuck to those guidelines and that is what they have been trying to do all along, keep 27 united around some paperwork they can all agree on. theresa may, when she left the building, said she wanted a unique dynamic approach. do you think after some of the inertia we saw at the end of last year, that is very new attitude to brexit?” think there has definitely been progress. certainly the weekend when they wrapped up the terms of the transition. i think the dynamic has fundamentally remained the same. i think the european union's red lines have not shifted. their principles on the single market, freedoms, customs union, remain the same. if you look at what issues are pending, they fundamentally stem from those red lines. beyond the tone, the issues remain the same. what has

happened to the dynamic is that the united kingdom has fundamentally folded on issue after issue, including the transition and there arejust a including the transition and there are just a couple of issues left, the question is how will these be solved? because the question is how will these be solved ? because of the question is how will these be solved? because of the british position shifts on those, it is changing its red lines. it will be a much bigger shift compared to the concessions theresa may has made so far. but time is finite and a minister from far. but time is finite and a ministerfrom ireland far. but time is finite and a minister from ireland were saying to me last night, we have three months to getan me last night, we have three months to get an agreement of sorts on the border issue in ireland, because they come back to the summit in june, they have one after that on a torpor, time is precious. it's also worth remembering what the best case scenario for the end product of all this from the eu '5 perspective. it is not a fully fledged trade deal like they did with canada, which is hundred pages long and incredibly detailed. while the eu is talking about is a political declaration to set out the broad outlines of what they want to achieve in the future

relationship, and that is what people provide and produce at the end of this, rather than something really detailed. does that mean that has loads of time or is it that's the end product will not be that brandon detailed and that the time doesn't matter as much. that is what we will be discussing in the next few months. thank you very much indeed. still a lot to discuss, but come monday morning, michel barnier, the cu noguchi negotiatorfor the european side does have some to start. and next thursday marksone year to go before the uk leaves the eu. throughout the day we will be putting your questions to a range of experts. you can tweet us your questions using the hashtag bbc ask this or by texting 61124. more now on breaking news on the hostage situation in france.

then mayor of trebes is quoted as saying on television that there are two dead in this hostage situation. that's cool to paris. —— let's speak to lucy williamson in paris. this situation has been going on for an hourorso. this situation has been going on for an hour or so. there are people being held hostage in the supermarket in trebes, south of carcassonne. there are hundreds of police officers now involved in that operation, as well as an airborne unit. the prime minister has already come out and said it's a very seedy ‘s situation. as you mentioned there, the latest reports are now

that there are two people dead. there, the latest reports are now that there are two people deadm there, the latest reports are now that there are two people dead. if i canjust that there are two people dead. if i can just interrupts, we are getting a correction from that television channel, quoting the mere saying that there are two victims, not necessarily dead. but collection has just come in ours. the situation is rather unclear in that tense hostage situation that is unfolding in the south—west of france. situation that is unfolding in the south-west of france. absolutely, a situation that is unfolding as we speak. police confirmed earlier that one person had died in that hostage situation, so again, information coming in in dribs and drabs. it is worth bearing in mind there was a separate incident that happened earlier this morning in carcassonne itself, when a unit of police officers were targeted by an armed man as they came back to their base after jogging. man as they came back to their base afterjogging. one man as they came back to their base after jogging. one of man as they came back to their base afterjogging. one of those police officers, the police union spokesman, says one of the officers was injured in the shoulder. not known at the moment whether those

two events are connected or how they are linked, but they did happen on the same morning in the same area of france. we had a prosecutor also tell us that the hostage taker in the supermarket said that he was working on behalf of the so—called islamic state, the jihadist group. that is feeding into the dribs and drabs of that is feeding into the dribs and dra bs of information that is feeding into the dribs and drabs of information that are coming in. the paris prosecutor confirming that prosecutors have opened an investigation into this. that's right. in the early days, in france, trying to keep all options open, it is obviously very difficult to ascertain at the moment exactly what the situation is, how it has come about and how serious it is going to become, but i think that the prosecutor's statement, the channels of counter terrorist investigation, the units involved, they will all have been sprung into action. the situation is changing as we speak,

because i am seeing another quote from the mayor of trebes, who has been quoted on television, he now says that the hostage taker is alone with one police officer in the supermarket and that all other hostages have been freed. i do that we have any other confirmation of that, at the moment. i don't know if you are unable to see anything there where you are. i'm afraid at the moment as i'm talking to you, i don't have access to that information, but it is certainly a live situation. the hostage taker walked into the supermarketjust over an hour ago. if indeed the hostages have all been removed safely or perhaps all but one been removed safely, the french authorities would count that as a fairly successful intervention by that massive force of police officers we talked about. the airborne units, the special forces, 200-300 airborne units, the special forces, 200—300 officers on the ground near

the supermarket. thank you very much. images of the supermarket coming to us from social media. the french interior minister is heading immediately to trebes, according to his officials. the situation they are somewhat unclear. reports of eight hostages, but then then mayor of trebes been quoted on a television station saying the hostages had been freed and the gunman was still inside the supermarket with one police officer. obviously, we will try to clarify what the situation is and bring that to you as soon as we find out. it is time now for the weather forecast. let's get the latest as we head into the weekend. a grey gloomy start to the weekend. but the rain is gradually clearing away. for many of us, something brighter this afternoon. england and wales already seeing blue sky

speaking through the cloud and that will continue this afternoon. there could still be showers in northern england, northern ireland and across the north of scotland. quite breezy conditions. further south in the studio, the drier and brighter the weather. chilly in the north, tonight, this area of rain which is quite sporadic, moving its way further north and east words. patchy rain into saturday morning, but temperatures staying above freezing. clear skies in scotland and northern ireland giving the risk of frost into saturday. workload and sad saturday and sunday, temperatures that the average. this is bbc news — our latest headlines... reports are coming in

that the hostage—taker at a supermarkert in southern france is now alone with one police officer and that all other hostages have been freed. it has also been reported that one person was killed. it's been reported that the gunman involved was claiming allegiance to so—called islamic state. the european union has taken the rare step of recalling its ambassador to russia, following the nerve agent attack in salisbury. the show of solidarity with the uk comes after eu leaders agreed it was ‘highly likely‘ that moscow was responsible. meanwhile, at the brussels summit, leaders have approved the guidelines for future relations with the uk following brexit, meaning negotiations can move on to the next stage. theresa may said it showed a "new dynamic" in the process. new research suggests nearly 40% of all cancers diagnosed in the uk each year could be avoided if people adopted healthier lifestyles. the charity cancer research uk also believes obesity could overtake smoking as the biggest avoidable cause of the disease in future.

prince harry and his bride—to—be meghan markle arrive in belfast, as the couple make their firstjoint visit to northern ireland. we are governed to return to the situation in the south—west of france, where a gunman said to be claiming allegiance to so—called islamic state has taken hostages at a supermarket, there are some reports those hostages have been freed but that he is still in the supermarket with one police officer, also reports that one person has been killed. on the line is christoph from france 3 television. what can you tell us about the

situation? the thing is, i cannot on the spot at the moment, so it is evolving fast, i don't know exactly. what i know is there were five policemen running in the street and this guy arrived, he arrived in a car, he fired at them, then he went in the supermarket, so now he is in the supermarket and they say that he killed a man, so there is one dead man in the supermarket, and then when he fired, this guy screamed allahu akbar, so he would be, how do you say in english, the islamic... islamic state? can ijust clarify,

our police definitely linking the two incidents, the shooting, the firing of a gun at police officers in carcassonne and the incident at the supermarket? yes, exactly. it started in trebes, which is a small village, about 5500 people in that village, about 5500 people in that village, so it is quite a small place, but it should be linked, yes, because this man fired at policemen and took refuge in the supermarket, and took refuge in the supermarket, and took refuge in the supermarket, and took hostages at the same time. so now the supermarket is surrounded, you know, with a special unit, special forces trying to... surrounded, you know, with a special unit, specialforces trying to... i don't know if they are going to attack or not, they mayjust be talking with him, trying to get in touch with him. do we know if the

police officer who is said to be inside the supermarket with the gunman, if he was taken as part of the group of hostages, or whether he has gone in to try to negotiate with the gunman? i am sorry, could you say it again? i am wondering whether the police officer who is said to be inside the supermarket was one of those taken hostage, or whether he has gone in to try to negotiate with the gunman? you are talking about the gunman? you are talking about the people who got killed? know, the police officer said to be in the supermarket still? i have got no information about it, i'm sorry. of course, we are hearing that there is still one police officer inside the supermarket, so i was trying to establish whether he had been taken hostage or whether he was a negotiator. unfortunately, france, of course, has considerable experience in recent years at

dealing with this sort of situation. well, in france, during the 90s we already had islamic attacks but it is like in england, you know, we are just very concerned with that and very aware, so i think the police arrived very quickly on the spot. we don't know about this man. if it is a single gunman, you cannot do anything anyway. but we do know that it is being investigated, the operation is being run by anti—terrorism officers, don't we? we call that special unit, it is not about islamic people, it is hostages, when there is a hostage,

every situation is run by this special unit. christophe, thank you very much forjoining us, a journalist from france 3 television. and we will bring you the latest on that situation of course throughout news room live. nearly 40% of all cancers diagnosed in the uk every year could be avoided if people adopted a healthier lifestyle — that's more than 135,000 cases. the study conducted by cancer research uk also warns that obesity could overtake smoking as the biggest cause of the disease. here's more from our health correspondent, dominic hughes. exercise is now an important part of kath bebbington's life, but that hasn't always been the case. this was a couple of months after i'd had my operation. in 2014, she was diagnosed with cancer of the womb.

she'll never know for sure, but kath felt the extra weight she was carrying was a factor, so decided she needed to make changes in her life. i've got six grandchildren so to be around for them, and to be around my children, they bring such a lot ofjoy and the thoughts of not being able to grow up alongside them and see them achieving what they want to achieve, itjust made sense to do something. the latest data on cancer shows that smoking is responsible for more than 5a,000 cancer cases each year. 22,000 people are diagnosed with 13 types of cancer linked to obesity. skin cancer, caused by too much ultraviolet radiation from the sun or sunbeds, affects more than 13,000 people. we would hope that we'll continue to see smoking rates coming down, they have been coming down at around 1% per year, so hopefully that trend would continue, if not accelerate. sadly we're not yet seeing a turnaround in obesity—related

activity yet or obesity—related cancer, so clearly the expectation would be if we did this again in seven years' time we would see those two getting closer together as risk factors for cancer. a healthy diet and more exercise have left kath feeling better than ever. today's report is further evidence that following kath‘s example could reduce the risk of cancer for all of us. dominic hughes, bbc news. let's return to the summit in brussels when european leaders demand big president trump give the block a permanent exemption from new ta riffs block a permanent exemption from new tariffs on steel and aluminium imposed by washington as part of the trade conflict with china. president trump has announced he plans to impose tariffs worth tens of billions of pounds on chinese imports. he said the duties were necessary and retaliation for years of unfair competition from beijing. china's embassy in washington says it is disappointed by the decision.

our correspondent stephen mcdonnell is in hong kong. there has been a relatively measured response from china but with the threat that it is not afraid of a trade war? yes, it depends what you call measured! certainly the language has been pretty strong, for example the foreign ministry spokeswoman today said that this innovation we have seenin said that this innovation we have seen in china is not the result of stealing us technology and ideas but the hard work and determination of the hard work and determination of the chinese people, that the tariff policy coming out of washington shows the arrogance of the trump administration, that washington has underestimated china's resolve, and that the collapse in the market shows the general community's attitude towards the tariff policy in washington. china has announced its own series of potential

retaliatory tariffs. american fruit and nuts, pork, steel tubing, wine, this is a first shot across the bow from beijing, if you like, and is a response to the first round of steel and aluminium tariffs we saw from washington at the beginning of the month. now we have got this second round of tablets that have been announced in the united states, china is yet to respond to that, and this is why some analysts say they are worried about this starting to become a tit—for—tat threat, threat, threat, next thing you know it will blow up into a complete trade war. the chinese government says it is leaving open the door to negotiations to somehow bring this to an end before it gets to that stage, but both sides seem to be digging game at the moment. when we won though china is serious, for example, if they started cancelling orders of boeing jets, or if they

put tariffs on caterpillar heavy machinery or apple products, or soy beans. this is the type of stuff china knows it can really hurt the us economy where it counts. at the moment, they seem to be targeting those rural areas which voted for donald trump but which don't matter so much in the grand scheme of things. but either way it is really hotting up in this area. ok, steve, thank you very much in hong kong. with me is mike jakeman, who is global analyst at the economist intelligence unit. what is your assessment of the response from china to donald trump? i think it is important we clarify this is the first response from china to two different things. first we had steel and aluminium tariffs imposed by the us two weeks ago, what we have had from china today is in response to that. separately there is the investigation into

chinese intellectual property theft and we have not had the chinese response to that yet. what we have at the moment is a fairly measured response from china to the first, smaller set of us tariffs. what we have not had is the chinese response to the bigger one so at the moment it is contained but there is a risk it is contained but there is a risk it could get bigger. to put a figure on that, am i right in saying the response from china has been to target a number of us products with an import value of $3 billion in response to donald trump's announcement of tariffs of up to $60 billion worth... no. iam announcement of tariffs of up to $60 billion worth... no. i am glad we have you here! clarify the figures for me. we have steel and aluminium ta riffs for me. we have steel and aluminium tariffs from the us and china has responded to that with tariffs of 3 billion. separately to that we have the 301 investigation which the us unveiled yesterday, we don't know china's response to that yet, that is the one that is 60 billion.“ you're feeling at the moment, based on what china is doing, that it is

trying to avoid an escalation of this? i think thatis that is absolutely fair. china has said clearly, we don't want a trade war, but they have to be seen to do something in response and what we have here is a fairly measured starting point from china with the promise that if things go wrong they are prepared to escalate if necessary. what could the net result be for the us economy? if we get broad—based chinese tariffs on us exports, we are looking at the us economy slowing because of the domestic price would go up so us consumers would pay more for goods the us buys from china. there is potential that this could lead in to damage the us economy but we are not there yet. the numbers discussed at there yet. the numbers discussed at the moment, this 50, $60 billion, is fairly small bright compacted total us imports from china. let's move a lwa ys us imports from china. let's move always for the moment from the us economy to american national security, the sacking of general

mcmaster, the second national security adviser removed by donald trump in a0 months, and the appointment described as someone described as the hawk's hawk, john bolton. what did you make of that? will be a better relationship in terms of the dynamic between donald trump and the new national security adviser? what does it mean for foreign policy? bolt in and trump probably get on better than mcmaster and trump but the trouble is the rest of the world may get on less well with america. bolton is less mawkish than mcmaster was and the risk of military action in some areas is higher, he is a formidable figure who knows how to get things and his views are more aligned with trump than some of the more moderate members of the cabinet, mcmaster. 0k, members of the cabinet, mcmaster. ok, thank you very much. we arejust ok, thank you very much. we are just hearing from police that they are dealing with a suspicious

vehicle at the westfield shopping centre in west london, cordons in place at the shopping centre, that is all the information we have on that at the moment, just coming into us, so police dealing with a suspicious vehicle at westfield shopping centre in west london. let me also remind you about the breaking news this hourfrom france, from the south—western france, where a gunman took hostages at a supermarket, we have been told, according to one source, that eight hostages have been released but a police officer is still inside the supermarket with the gunman, who is claiming allegiance to so—called islamic state. we have also been told that one person has been killed in this situation. we heard from a french journalist a short while ago who said that officials in france are linking the incident to another incident that happened a 15 minute drive away in carcassonne, when a

man ina drive away in carcassonne, when a man in a car approached police officers who were outjogging and opened fire on them, wounding one of the police officers. these are the latest pictures that we are getting gain of the situation at the supermarket in the south—west of france, where that hostage situation evolved a short while ago. this is the town of trebes. we will bring you the latest on that as we get it. ina you the latest on that as we get it. in a moment we will have the summary of the business news with jamie but first the headlines... that is the top story, a gunman claiming allegiance to so—called islamic state is reported to have been holding several people hostage in a supermarket in trebes in south—west france, though some reports say the hostages have been freed and that a police officer is still inside the supermarket. earlier, shots were fired nearby at policemen. theresa may has welcomed the support of other eu leaders in the row with russia about the nerve agent

attack in salisbury. stock markets have been hit by fears of a trade war after china retaliates against president trump's decision to impose taxes on their exports. good morning, i'm jamie good morning, i'mjamie roberts and with the business news. european markets have tumbled following the falls on thursday in the us and then more falls on asian markets overnight. the main reason is the ratcheting up of the trade war by president trump and then, this morning, by china, which has threatened tariffs on up to $3 billion of us imports. mps have said heathrow should meet a string of environmental and community obligations before its expansion plans are approved. the transport committee said there should be a night flight ban of seven hours, and a package of compensation and mitigations for local communities. annual profits at the retailer next have fallen 8% after what the retailer described as its most challenging

year since it came close to collapse in the early 1990s. it's the third year in a row profits have fallen. in the shops, where most of its sales still take place, revenues were down about 8%. online, sales actually grew over 9%. let's have a bit more on this, on the retailer next, which has had its most challenging year in its own words, it's pre—tax profits have dropped, the third year in a row that profits have fallen get online sales have been groping and, actually, it shares are up 6% at one point this morning, not quite as much now but still fairly strong. let's go to sam dover from mintel. shares are up so there must be some good news in there but i could not spotted! i think that has come from the fact that a lot of the results today, though they are bad, were to

be expected because it was driven by the first top of the year when next self admittedly had a range of issues so they lost track of what their customer wanted and i think thatis their customer wanted and i think that is where it came from but they have reversed that now so that is why i think it is not all doom and gloom. online softens the blow, as it were, for them, because even though most of their sales are down in the shops, it has a huge online presence and that is doing well? deaths, definitely, online continues to outperform and what we see at mintel is a massive shift to online purchasing in general, it's now accou nts purchasing in general, it's now accounts for 25% of spending in uk fashion economy, so that is a big shift online and it is making a lot of challenges but a lot of opportunities for businesses like next. when we read about the problems on the high street, week after week another retailer not going bust, having to restructure, closing

shops, is it because of a shift to online, or is it because consumers are not spending that much money? we hear about the bad they are squeezed by inflation, not having enough wages and the rest? yes, you have the fall in real incomes, a shift towards more experiential spending, but alongside that it comes down to whether the retailer is addressing what the customer wants, that is where we are seeing a lot of problems so i don't necessarily think it is a distinction between online doing better than off—line, it is more complex than that. do you think we will get deserted high street? i remember 20, 30 years ago when the big supermarkets were sucking the energy out of the high street, they were filled with estate agents and shoe shops, are we seeing that sort of thing happening again? as we have said, online is becoming more important but i think there is still a place for a high—speed, particularly in a sector like clothing when you cannot replace the

feeling of seeing the product and trying it on, you cannot replace that so i think it willjust be an element of how retailers can readd ress element of how retailers can readdress our people are shopping, eight multichannel experience becomes more important, how the two channels interact together. good to talk to you, sam bopara from mintel. a business premises suspected of making 200 million illegal nuisance calls has been raided by a data watchdog. the information commissioner's office has searched the premises in west dunbartonshire in scotland, saying some of the calls may have put lives at risk as they were made to network rail's control centre near fort william. shares in smiths engineering have fallen 10%. it makes hospital equipment and sophisticated sensors and industrial kit, and it's said profits are down 12% in the last six months. another reason for the fall in the share price, worries about how it might suffer from the knock—on effects of higher international trade tariffs. investment bank citigroup has said it will introduce new restrictions on business customers who sell guns. that's the boss of citigroup, michael l corbat, behind me. he has said it would not work

with firms that sell guns to customers who have not passed a background check or who are younger than 21, or who sell bump stocks and high—capacity magazines. a quick look at the markets, all looking a bit sad. the ftse down not a huge amount, it was down about 1% and bounced back of the game. smiths group, you can see the damage there, 7.596. group, you can see the damage there, 7.5%. next up, it has got problems and it did do badly over the last year but there is a general feeling in the market that it is on top of the situation even though it is perhaps not doing as well as some would hope. the pound looking pretty strong, about as strong as it has been over the last 18 months or so, the top of its range, as you might say. that is the business, there will be more through the day. jamie, thank you very much. allow me to update you on some

breaking news pieces from this hour, first the situation at the westfield shopping centre in the white city area of london, and the suspicious vehicle being examined there. police said they were called at 10:30am this morning to a car park at the westfield shopping centre on aerial way, officers including specialist units were on the scene assessing the vehicle, according in place. hammersmith and fulham police said there are road closures in the divinity and no exit from the adjacent underground train stations. british transport police say they are also assisting with the operation dealing with the suspicious vehicle in the westfield shopping centre in west london, in the white city area. now the latest on the situation in trebes in the south—west of france, we are now fearing that two people are presumed dead, that is what is being said, and 12 wounded in the

attack at a supermarket in trebes in france. this has been reported by french news, quoting the local police commander also something just coming into us, quoting the mayor of the town, saying the man entered the supermarket shouting allahu akbar, i will kill you all. the prime minister of france is also saying a police officer has been injured. we are getting conflicting and changing reports this morning about what happened, this number of 12 people injured and two presumed dead increases the total number of people that we had earlier understood to be involved in the incident. we had also heard reports that eight hostages were released from the supermarket and that a police officer was still inside the supermarket with the gunman, so certainly some issues to be clarified. a local french journalist also told us that police were

linking the supermarket incident with an earlier shooting 15 minutes away in carcassonne, where a man in away in carcassonne, where a man in a car approached jogging police officers and opened fire, wounding one of those offices. so these pictures coming into us, the latest from the small town of trebes, where several police officers have arrived to deal with this situation. the headlines are coming up on the bbc news channel. in a moment we say goodbye to viewers on bbc two. first, the weather with simon. we started on a grey note this morning with rain and a damp start for many, the rain is clearing the way, still cloudy in edinburgh, as you can see from the weather watcher photo, but there is sunshine developing, this is the scene in essex, we have got blue skies and sunshine and across the midlands and eastern and southern england we will continue with the sunshine. showers

in the far north—west of england, and across scotland, to the south—west of england we will see the cloud increasing later on with outbreaks of rain spreading in. temperatures 11 to 13 in the sunshine, chile at further north. that rain in the south—west is associated with this area of low pressure which will just associated with this area of low pressure which willjust skirt across and we will see rain spreading to the north as we go through this evening and night. the rain will be quite patchy, so not particularly heavy but lots of cloud for england and wales which will prevent frost. for scotland, northern ireland, with clearer skies, the temperatures will drop below freezing. into the weekend, it is going to be mostly dry, a few showers around, particularly on saturday morning, sunny spells developing and temperatures about where they should be for the time of year. where they should be for the time of yea r. let's have where they should be for the time of year. let's have a look at saturday, starting with a lot of cloud, some outbreaks of rain across england and wales, may be confined to the far

south—east later in the day, so the spells developing in the north and west. the scotland and northern ireland and mixture of sunny spells and scattered showers, maximum temperatures on saturday around nine to 11 degrees. sunday is looking a little bit brighter for england and wales. good spells of sunshine, the odd shower again across the north and west of scotland which could turn wintry, but on the whole hear it will be dry with the sunshine and temperatures in double figures for all of us, ten to 13 degrees. but as we go into next week, things are going to turn colder, there is still some uncertainty in the forecast but it looks like as we go through into wednesday and the end of the week, we will see an easterly winds starting to set up, which will bring colder air from scandinavia. there is also the risk with that of getting a bit of snow. there is some uncertainty, as i said, about where

we may see some snow butjust really as we get into the week ahead, into easter, turning much colderfor all of us. goodbye. this is bbc news — and these are the top stories developing at midday. two people are dead and another being held hostage after an incident in france. prosecutors and the regency in the hostage ego is claiming to be a member of the so—called islamic state group. earlier, in carcassonne, a man opened fire on a group of police officers who were outjogging. we begin with the breaking news

coming out of the south—west of france with a hostage situation is unfolding in the small town of trebes. a man has opened fire on a group of police officers in the nearby town of carcassonne. a french news agency quoted prosecutors as saying the man involved was claiming allegiance to the so—called islamic state group. according to them, at least two people have been killed and up to a dozen others injured. the developing story, what's the latest you have. two people presumed dead and at least 12 wounded in the supermarket. it has been unfolding over the last two hours. just paint the picture, this morning, there was a group of police officers out jogging a group of police officers out jogging in carcassonne. a gunman pulled up to them in a car and shot at them. one was injured. then 15 miles up the road, a hostage tuition

and for that at a supermarket in trebes, with its estimated at least eight people were held hostage. we now believe all have been freed. as we said, someone did, and we now believe the gunman is still inside with at least one hostage. what kind of responses on the ground now in trebes? we know that french prosecutors are treating this as a terror attack. hundreds of police officers are at the scene. they have cordoned off the area until people to avoid it. that also airborne forces and they are trying to investigate, because as you see, there are claims is gunman has claimed to be part of the so—called ices. the french government have had a state of emergency in place for a long time, and that is over, but have the french authorities said anything so far about islamic state or the people behind this? not yet,

because this is a tenuous and unfolding situation. we are still getting reports, and this is being treated as a counter, as the terror attack. the french prime minister has called it a very serious incident. as he said, there are two different incidents we are talking about, because there was a shooting in carcassonne and then the hostage situation in the supermarket in trebes. any indication the authorities believe that is a connection? french authorities are linking the two. they are linking the jogging linking the two. they are linking thejogging incident where police we re thejogging incident where police were shot at. they are linking the supermarket. the details are scant, we know the interior minister is on his way to trebes. we do the french prime minister has called this a very serious incident and prosecutors are treating it as a

terror attack. in recent years, there have been several very serious incidents in france involving terrorism. they do have special forces on stand—by now. they are very used to responding very quickly to the sort of operation. indeed. 2015 was a particularly bad year for france in terms of terror attacks. there was the attack on the satirical magazine that their officers, then the paris attacks, which included an attack at the concert hall. there was also bastille day, which saw 8a people being killed. they are very used to responding exceptionally quickly to terror attacks or threats even of terror attacks or threats even of terror attacks. we know there were two incidents this morning, the first being a number of police officers outjogging first being a number of police officers out jogging who first being a number of police officers outjogging who were shot at bya officers outjogging who were shot at by a gunman in a car. it is believed that gunman was the same person who went into a local supermarket about 15 miles away in trebes and two cottages. we are now

led to believe that two people are presumed dead, 12 were wounded in the attack. the gunman, as far as we know, is still inside the supermarket and he is still holding at least one hostage. thank you so much for bringing us the very latest. we a re much for bringing us the very latest. we are all responding to agency reports coming from the south—west of france. i believe we canjoin with south—west of france. i believe we can join with skype or a full collection, we can join thomas withington, who works for a security company that is very much in anglo—french security company. he has been following events very closely from his base in to lose. thomas withington, welcome to bbc news. i don't have much information you are receiving, but this is clearly the sort of attack that will prompt an immediate and massive response from french security forces. how well prepared to you think they are for this sort of

thing? firstly, i work think they are for this sort of thing? firstly, iwork for think they are for this sort of thing? firstly, i work for a defence analysis company. in terms of the preparation of the french forces and the law enforcement services, this is the kind of attack that people have been feeling for quite some time. france has been no stranger to terrorist activity over the last few years. this profile of hostagetaking and shooting regrettably does follow the pattern of previous incidents that we have seen around the country, particularly in paris in the wake of the attacks on the satirical magazine. it's not something that the french laurence in authorities are unfamiliar with. they will have very clearly drafted plans on how to respond to this, but regrettably, yet again, it appears this kind of terrorism has visited the streets of france. it is

interesting that the macron presidency and government decided to lift the state of emergency which had been in place for so long as a result of the terror attacks. do you think this incident might raise questions about whether lifting that state of emergency was premature? questions about whether lifting that state of emergency was premature7m isa very state of emergency was premature7m is a very good question. it is very early days and the situation is unfolding. some critics within france, who have looked a state of emergency, have been vocal in their opposition to it, because they said the state of emergency would have been unable to prevent these kind of attacks anyway. and we have seen attacks anyway. and we have seen attacks that have been performed while the state of emergency has beenin while the state of emergency has been in place. to me, the indication of firearms might be involved indicates another aspect of the security situation in france at the moment, which is the availability of firearms. there has been some

discussion domestically that the criminal underworld in france provides a conduit by which people wishing to perpetrate violent attacks can obtain firearms. the debate about the state of emergency will continue to rage, but clearly, it will, this latest incident, will shine the light back on whether it needs to be reintroduced. you know the security situation in france pretty well. would it be right to assume that specialist anti—terror forces are assume that specialist anti—terror forces a re not assume that specialist anti—terror forces are not just assume that specialist anti—terror forces are notjust based in the paris region? that they are based in various places all over france, so there would be a rapid response team that did get to this place in south—west france pretty quickly? inevitably, with the kind of forces france has at its disposal, i'm thinking of the two police law enforcement special forces units, any incident within france is reachable by helicopter, by military

aircraft, within hours if not shorter, so the response times are very rapid. i would think if the special forces are not on the ground already, there are certainly on the way and could then be deployed as possible response to what is happening. thank you very much for joining us with that inside. pictures are limited right now, so we are the few pictures we have from the scene right now. which we are seeing are the first responders. let's go to pardus, our correspondent there is monitoring everything coming out of the french government. what's the latest you have got? i'vejust government. what's the latest you have got? i've just heard that the prime minister has cut short his

visit and is coming back to paris to monitor events from there. he will be back in an hour or so, coming backin be back in an hour or so, coming back ina be back in an hour or so, coming back in a helicopter orjet, i imagine. i can't see this situation lasting very long. this is a hostage situation with someone who has claimed to be from daesh. the orders they are different from the orders that the will be of this was a classic hostage situation, a man with family problems or some kind of personal issue. i think the standing orders there will be to move fast. we have seen in the past how people who came to be from, we claim to be from daesh are prepared to kill and that risk will not be taken by those who are in charge on the ground, so there will be some sort of establishment of contact with the personal, but it will not be with the intention of a long drawn—out

confrontation to talk him down, it'll be just to get the special forces in place. it's not clear what the situation is inside the supermarket, whether there are live people in there with them. there has been a little bit of confusion about what seems to have happened inside the supermarket. tell me what you can about what you know. as i understood, several people and one can assume they were shopping, several people were released from the supermarket and i think the french news agency is suggesting that right now, it is believed the gunman, the hostage—takers, is in there with one other individual, which some reports suggest maybe a police officer. is that anything you can to that? not really. these things coming out from unofficial sources, i think there probably broadly true, but the picture is confused. what i have heard is there two inanimate bodies inside, visible

to some outside. the error inside the supermarket. that would tally with the reports of two dead, but we do have to be cautious. i've seen reports of several injured, but whether they are injured inside or have managed to escape, i don't know. i don't know if there was the release of people or if there was a panicked flight and most people got out. i've seen a report of contact being made with the gunman, but i'm not aware if that is someone in there with him or someone shouting from outside of whether it is for contact. i just don't from outside of whether it is for contact. ijust don't know. we will have to see. what i can say is i took the people hang around. if there is any risk to life, the moment and fast. indeed, it is best to be cautious and be clear about what we don't know. i wonder if are saying anything about the earlier

incident, the shooting incident which appears to have taken place in or very close to carcassonne, were some policemen outjogging were shot at. there is a very more you have a match? i know it was a group of four officers, men who were jogging. they would not have been in any recognisable gear, they would have beenin recognisable gear, they would have been in plain clothes, and i've heard speculation around that, that they are for the gunman must have known who they were. they were not random victims, they were policemen and he known they were police, so that suggests he's from the area and knew they would be out jogging jogging knew they would be out jogging jogging at that time and place or maybe he had followed them from where they left their barracks. there are a police barracks around france, evidently there was one in carcassonne to these were people just on their regular fitness training in the morning. apparently, he followed them in his car and opened fire, wounding one of them in

the shoulder and then drove off. the connection with the supermarket event was not automatic, but it soon became clear it was the same person behind both incidents. so we're looking probably at someone from that area. again, not getting ahead of ourselves, but you can't help asking questions about what their profile as would be. and when someone says he is from daesh, does that mean he is mandated by them? the general presumption would be no. probably someone ugly scene it doesn't belong to lead network, whose radicalise themselves on the internet. and often, we have seen this kind of individual being behind these affairs known as one—offs, with their own personal issues and stories who have often been involved in crime and drug and have moved on to the religious side at some point. maybe with others in their entourage

as well. we are seeing news agencies that the french by minister is now saying that in his view this as a terrorist attack. i was talking with an earlier guest about this. i wondered if there was any debate when the french government decided to lift the state of emergency after the spate of terror attacks. so much debate about that? i wonder if there will be debating the future about the wisdom doing that.|j will be debating the future about the wisdom doing that. i don't think there was. i mean, there was debate, but lifting the state of emergency had an effect that was primarily judicial and related to the ability ofjudges to intervene and police to confine people to certain areas and so on. it was not really a change that would have affected operational awareness and the deployment of

military and police around the country. we sell see a lot of military on the streets of paris. we still have this plan which allows a rapid and urgent intervention by special forces around the country. it's called something like the immediate response law or order, which means that whichever body of the police is needless to an event goes there first. there was a kind of hierarchy and a pecking order and jealousies at preventing rapid deployment, because the real specialists would say, no, we're the people who need to move in and we are in paris and we need a chance to get down there. this was deemed to bea get down there. this was deemed to be a delay and a vengeance to effective action. so, now, around the country, the groups related to

the country, the groups related to the police and they have rapid response, terrorists trained outfits. the nearest one is probably in toulouse and they are probably on their way already. in answer to your question, there hasn't been any real change in the ability of the special forces or police or army to respond to this sort of event because of the end of the state of emergency. to this sort of event because of the end of the state of emergencym will be a mass of story as it develops in france. utopia earlier the prime minister is on his way back to paris. any idea where president macron is and any indication he might be taking personal charge of this or they might be preparing to see anything in public? yes, i presume he is in brussels at the summit. he will be there and i suspect he will be

dealing with that they are. i don't think there's any prospect of him returning to france in urgency. but of course, he will be being kept abreast of events. it's the sort of affairs that, i don't think it requires the whole of the government to come to a standstill. it'd be something to monitor and i do have a strong feeling that the expectation will be that this will be sooner rather than later. we're still then in terms of pictures from the scene. one can only imagine that there are now many dozens if not hundreds of different security personnel, whether they be local police or national anti—terrorist security forces now on the scene. there will be local police, municipal police and regular police sealing off the area. television crews will be kept well back as well, so we won't see much on tv. behind them will be the

men, and it is mainly men, in uniform, often wearing ski masks, leaving their vehicles no, around now and taking up positions and waiting further orders. who will be other people informing them about what they know all of the position of the man. the state of mind he has, what armament he has all and then they will have to wait. it may well be that they are not required intervene at all, but they will be ready to intervene, and when they do, it will be a series of explosions we will hear from a distance, stunned crusades, stun grenades, for example. though galway, thank you very much keeping usa galway, thank you very much keeping us a cross thing that is happening. probably a good time for me to bring you a general update on what we know

so far. basically, this event began to unfold between three and four hours ago in france, in south—west france. the first incident we became aware of was the shooting in the town of carcassonne in south—west france. this shooting appeared to be aimed atfour france. this shooting appeared to be aimed at four police security officers who were outjogging. one is believed to have been injured. then a short time later and only about 15 kilometres away, reports started coming in of a very serious incident in the small town of trebes, where it appears a gunman stormed into a supermarket. and it is believed he shouted out and identification, a loyalty that suggested he was identifying himself with the so—called islamic state group. reports about exactly what

happened inside the supermarket are somewhat confused, but a french news agency quoting local officials, including the mayor of trebes, have suggested that two bodies can be seen or have been seen visible in the vicinity of the supermarket. it's not clear whether everybody has been able to reach those two individuals to see what state they are in. there has been a report that at least one is regarded as of the talented, but we cannot confirm that. but inside the supermarket, we understand several people were able to leave, whether that was because they escaped because they were allowed to leave in the end. and we also believe, and again, this is not confirmed, but we believe the attacker, the hostage taker, is inside with one other individual at least. some reports suggest that individual, who is with the attacker, is a police man, but again, that is not confirmed. so i'm

bringing you a mix of information, some of which we now is verified, some of which we now is verified, some of which is taken from agency reports and local officials, but cannot necessarily be taken internally at face value. what is clearly as there is very massive security operation is taking place around that supermarket. we are bringing you these pictures and i apologise, they are pretty limited. gloomy pictures coming in, it is of course the local gendarmes who have cordoned off the area. we understand the airborne security forces are hovering over the site in helicopters. we now france's antique terror forces have been activated. you can see the supermarket building. clearly, this is now a major security operation for the french government. the french prime

minister, who is heading back to paris, has said that in his view, this is a terrorist incident. france has been afflicted with a series of serious terror attacks, in france and nice and other places. the french are now well used to the rapid response that comes with events like this. as i was discussing with my guests, the french government took the decision to lift the formal state of emergency some time ago. as shoes corfield was saying, that largely had judicial implications, it certainly did not mean france was giving back on its commitment to anti—terrorist policing. we do understand anti—terrorist units were involved in the security operation. our correspondent said, given what has happened in incidents like this one, that is some expectation that this incident may not be allowed to

continue for too much longer. that is in the realm of speculation. the french are obviously right now figuring out how to handle this unfolding and serious situation in the south—west of france. we will continue to follow this story, because of course, it is going to be something that dominates news not just in france, but across europe and it will be watched very closely around the world as it becomes clear that. this is being seen as a terror attack on european soil, as described by the french prime minister just described by the french prime ministerjust the described by the french prime minister just the few minutes described by the french prime ministerjust the few minutes ago. we will continue to follow it and i'm delighted to say i'm joined back in the studio by our correspondent, who is following it with me here in the studio. you have been trawling the studio. you have been trawling

the news agencies while i have been talking. what really cleaning from them? what we do know is that there we re them? what we do know is that there were two separate incidents this morning that have been linked by the same gunman. the first incident was that a number of police officers out jogging that a number of police officers out jogging in plain clothes were attacked by a gunman who passed them by with a car, opened fire. one was hit in the shoulder, we know his injuries are not life—threatening. later on, about an hour later, a hostage situation institute at a supermarket in the nearby town of trebes. it's about 15 kilometres away from carcassonne. we now believe that most of those hostages, according to one source, afp agency, the employees and customers at the supermarket managed to escape. we understand the gunman is still inside the supermarket with at least one police officer. we understand from the french prime minister that

this is the very least serious situation and they are treating it asa situation and they are treating it as a terror attack. just to pick up on something you said there, is there now an official statement saying the two incidents we saw u nfold saying the two incidents we saw unfold in quick succession are connected in their view? officials are saying they are connecting the two incidents that happened this morning to the same gunman. we did not know anything more about him, we do not know his age, we do not know whether he really is part of the so—called islamic state, as some reports are suggesting. the french prime minister, when he said this was a very serious prime minister, when he said this was a very serious situation, he made no comment about the links to so—called islamic state. there is a hostage situation or cuddling at a supermarket in trebes, with one gunman, who has released oral some employees and customers have managed to flee from that situation, but he

still has at least one hostage and we do believe it may be a police officer. to be clear, the local mayor of trebes and local media reports as well, suggest that there are two bodies that have been seen in the vicinity of the supermarket, and it is believed, local french media report that they are indeed dead. because this is such a quick, unfolding situation, that information keeps changing. we were led to believe earlier today that at least once a actuation, we could see at least one body and then it changed to two. now we're getting another flash on our wires which says the french interior minister spokesman could not confirm to a local television station that two people were killed in that southern france hostage situation. as yet, we are unclear about whether there have

been any fatalities, but there have also been suggestions that a number of people have been wounded and that figure is hovering around 12. you are quite right to exercise caution. we should continue to say that some of the reporting we are commenting upon from french local media sources is unconfirmed. that really is very important. our correspondent in paris, you are monitoring things from the bureau in paris. anything you you can add. the french by minister has described this as a terrorist attack. authorities have activated a major security response. what is the latest you are seeing? unconfirmed reports, but they have interesting ones. i put it all in the context of unconfirmed reports, because i would not like to see this is true, it is what has been reported on a reliable source, but

it is relying on people at the scene, who are not quoted directly. they are saying that the man is alone inside the supermarket now and that he has made the claim, a demand. he has made a demand that the one man who is facing court proceedings in france and in belgium at the moment relating to the concert hall attacks in paris, the one survivor of that group of people who carried out the attacks in november 2015, that he be released. it appears then, if he is alone in the building and there is no immediate danger to other lives, we may enter a different kind of scenario, in which the gendarmes and special forces surrounding him are thinking, there is no threat except himself now, so we can maybe enter some kind of negotiation with him. i

stress again that this is what the television channel is getting rough and ready from the ground. thank you for the very latest from paris. you join us for a bbc news special. we are covering an unfolding situation in the south—west of france, which appears to involve a gunman, who is now ina appears to involve a gunman, who is now in a supermarket in the small town of trebes. this follows the confusing and dramatic sequence of events in south—west france, which appears to have begun with the shooting incident in carcassonne, which left one french police man, who was outjogging, injured and then continued 15 kilometres down then continued 15 kilometres down the road to trebes, when a gunman entered the supermarket, appears to have claimed allegiance to the islamic ifi group have claimed allegiance to the islamic§ group and have claimed allegiance to the islamic 5452 group and are have claimed allegiance to the islamic ifi gr! 35:5 g there!

is located. our euro-e supermarket is located. our europe editor is saying on twitter that france info is saying the french authorities have identified the hostagetaking in trebes, they said he was known to the authorities and ona he was known to the authorities and on a watchlist of potentially radicalised individuals, so that in itself clearly raises a number of questions about to what degree he was being watched, followed, his

activities were being checked on, so thatis activities were being checked on, so that is the latest from our europe editor on the situation there. yes, it seems a manual macron and angela merkel are due to give a press co nfe re nce angela merkel are due to give a press conference because of course the french president is in brussels today at an eu summit and will be getting the information fed to him in the belgian capital, so we will bring you the latest from emmanuel macron when we get it. but the latest from hugh schofield was that reports suggested that the gunman may not have a hostage, as was earlier reported in the super u supermarket, he may be on his own but is making demands of the police, who he appears to be communicating with in some fashion. a short time ago i wasjoint

with in some fashion. a short time ago i was joint from toulouse by a defence analyst who works in france, he was telling me how prepared he believes french police would have been for an event like this. in terms of preparation of the law enforcement services, this is the kind of attack people have been fearing for quite some time. as your previous package noted, france has been no stranger to terrorist activity over the last few years, and this profile of a hostagetaking ina and this profile of a hostagetaking in a shooting regrettably does follow the pattern of previous incidents we have seen around the country, particularly in paris in the wake of the charlie hebdo attacks. so it is not something that the french law enforcement authorities are unfamiliar with, they will have very clearly drafted plans on how to respond to this, but reg retta bly yet plans on how to respond to this, but regrettably yet again it appears that this kind of terrorism once

more has visited the streets of france. it is interesting to me that the macron presidency, the government, they decided to lift the state of emergency which had been in effect for so long in france as a result of the terror attacks you talked about. do you think this incident, and we should not speculate too much, might it raise questions about whether lifting the state of emergency was a little premature? that is a very good question, obviously it is early days and the situation is unfolding but some critics who have looked at the state of emergency in france have been vocal to their —— vocal in their opposition to it because they have said the state of emergency would have been unable to prevent these kinds of attacks anyway, and we have seen attacks that have been performed while the state of emergency has been in place. to me, the indication that firearms might be involved indicates another aspect of the security situation in france

at the moment, which is the availability of firearms perhaps in the criminal underworld and there has been some discussion domestically that the criminal underworld in france provides a conduit by which people wishing to perpetrate violent attacks can obtain firearms. so the debate, i think, about the state of emergency will continue to rage but clearly it will continue to rage but clearly it will shine, this latest incident will shine, this latest incident will shine, this latest incident will shine some light back on whether it needs to be reintroduced. you know the security situation in france pretty well, would it be right to assume that specialist anti—terror forces are notjust based in the paris region, they are based in the paris region, they are based at various places all over france, so there would be a rapid response team that could get to this region, displays in south—west france, pretty quickly? inevitably, with the kind of forces that france has at its disposal, i'm thinking principally the raid at the gign,

the law enforcement unit, any place unreachable by military, helicopter, aircraft, in a couple of hours if not shorter, so response times are rapid and! not shorter, so response times are rapid and i would think its special forces are rapid and i would think its special forces a re not rapid and i would think its special forces are not on the ground already regarding this they are certainly en route and could then be deployed as a possible response to what is happening. and that was security analyst thomas withington. just to update you on the apparent confirmation that the suspect in trebes is known to the french authorities, we are hearing that french media are saying 15 to 16,000 people are on a watchlist which this individual was apparently

also on, the individual suspected of being radicalised, but 15 to 16,000 people is a lot of people to watch, clearly they will be looking and getting answers to how clearly they will be looking and getting ar was 's to how clearly they will be looking and getting ar was 's to i watched, 5 iii" a to we saying that all flights havebeen saying that all flights havsbeen from as we have seen with previous that, as we have seen with previous incidents, has been a typical response, local transport hubs closed—door affected in some way in order to stop any potential suspects all accomplices fleeing the scene. now we are going to go to brussels, the french president emmanuel macron is expected to give a news conference there a little later

alongside angela merkel, no doubt he will be talking about this, we are also expecting a news conference involving jean—claude juncker and donald tusk. christian fraser is in brussels. yes, thank you very much. manual macron due to appear in the next hour, the summit has wrapped up here so the delay to the press conference with angela merkel may have something to do with what is going on in south—east france, and of course as you have been thinking he will be kept up—to—date by the prime minister on what is actually happening, and of course he is probably well used to this because he was in government through 201a, 2015, he was there with francois hollande and he will know the sort of threats that there are, and of course he was instrumental as well in signing off this bill but replaced the state of emergency. i have been listening to your commentary about the end to the state of emergency, it was extended six times in france and he bought it to an end at the end of october. will he be criticised for that?

probably not, because the bill that came in, the counterterrorism bill, more or less encapsulating all the powers police had under the emergency powers they had, so they have had the ability to stop and search, to search properties, to extend places around airports and sensitive side and do identity checks there, they can keep people under house arrest, so many of the judicial powers they had were put into law by this bill which was approved by a huge majority in france as well. so he will be asked about that, you will also be asked about that, you will also be asked about what sort of response there was going to be. i do agree with hugh, having covered the supermarket hostagetaking in paris shortly after charlie hebdo, you will remember that a gunman went into a kosher supermarket shortly after the charlie hebdo attack, they finish that pretty quickly and went in there, the breed team that was there, the breed team that was there, went in pretty quickly and finished it behind those shields,

and the government did have hostages —— the gunman did have hostages with him but they killed him pretty quickly, they went in through the doors, they tend to do this if there isa doors, they tend to do this if there is a threat to life but we don't know how many hostages are in the supermarket, we don't have much detail about what the police on the ground are facing. aside from that, to digress a bit from what is going on in south—east france, what we are expecting is a strong statement from these two leaders on russia, because they met with theresa may last night, the three of them, and they talked about what would be in the statement laid and what they would put to the other leaders when they got together over dinner, and it was the opinion of germany and france that it is likely russia was involved in the salisbury poisoning, they said they could see no other explanation for what had happened, so they very much formulated the statement that was put before the other leaders, and indeed france is one of the five countries that we know so far that

are saying they are going to take extra measures, maybe expelling diplomats. the other countries are ireland, the czech republic, poland and lithuania. they say between five and lithuania. they say between five and ten will take measures against russia, although it may be that they decide not to do that until they get the findings of the opcw who are in salisbury at the moment and will report probably towards the end of next week. some other news, it has been a busy summit, they have been talking this morning about brexit, of course, good news for the british side, rubber—stamping the transition which forms part of the divorce proceedings which will be reassuring to businesses both in britain and in europe. that is provisional, the transition, that they get over the hurdle of the border issue in ireland and future governments, the role of the european court of justice, but also alongside that, they have given the to michel barnier, the chief negotiator, to start phase two, the future relationship. it is interesting in the context of what is going on in

south—east france that they said there will be, what they are holding out is a free trade agreement with zero tax on goods but also close collaboration on security, defence, and on foreign policy. it is really and on foreign policy. it is really a reminder, ithink, this summit, given the discussions that have gone on around brexit, the thorny discussions, that actually the uk and france stand very close when it comes to security and intelligence and defence, and that has been demonstrated again this week in the response that we have had from the two senior leaders in europe. and, christian, at times, of course, up and, christian, at times, of course, up to this point, progress has seemed weighted down, it has seemed really slow, but now the uk prime minister theresa may is saying that there is a new dynamic in the talks. do you think that this second phase of the talks will be, if not plain sailing, perhaps proceed at a faster pace?

i think it has to do, to be quite honest. i spoke to the european affairs ministerfor the honest. i spoke to the european affairs minister for the republic of ireland last night and she said, we have given the go—ahead to the transition but we expect, in return, a lot of work in the next three months before the next council summit which will be here injune. past that you only have one more summit in october for them past that you only have one more summit in octoberfor them to basically agree the framework and agree the withdrawal process and then pass that on to the various parliaments for ratification. it may slip, of course, if they cannot get everything finished but certainly the irish want to see more progress in the next three months and i do sense that there is more optimism around here after the inertia at the end of last year. now we have renewed purpose, and i think what the british side would say, with a bit of a rotation is, we told you so. last year we said to you at the start of the process that you cannot solve some of the more intractable issues unless you are talking about the future trade relationship. the

issue of ireland and the border, we cannot agree it until we know what trade agreement we have. so now it opens up a new possibility to find perhaps more innovative solutions to the border process and also perhaps future guidance of that deal as well, the role of the european order of justice. we will see, well, the role of the european order ofjustice. we will see, but certainly more positivity i have picked up around the summit over the last two days. 0k, last two days. ok, christian, thanks very much for that, christian fraser in brussels. just a couple of lines that stephen andi just a couple of lines that stephen and i have two update you on on the situation in trebes, the hostagetaking at the supermarket there. yes, there is a developing story which brings new information all of the time, i willjust bring you a couple of things, we understand from a french news website that the gunman, now believed to be holed up inside the super u supermarket in

trebes, is demanding the release of salah abdeslam, he was one of the november 2015 terrorist attackers, who mounted a series of assaults on paris including that terrible attack on the bataclan theatre. i believe salah abdeslam is held in belgium but the attacker today in the supermarket in trebes in the south france appears to be demanding the release of that prisoner. the french authorities have not given a specific response to that. we also have a little detail, a rather horrifying detail, from the mayor, who has said that he has heard local people described how the gunman entered the super u supermarket screaming, akbar, which of course is arabic for god is greatest, and also saying, i will kill you all. so clearly it was a terribly frightening, horrifying experience

for the people inside that supermarket, though it has to be said, as we understand it, most of those inside did manage to escape. we arejoined by those inside did manage to escape. we are joined by the bbc‘s those inside did manage to escape. we arejoined by the bbc‘s helen, who has been monitoring french media sites overt‘za '—' " who has been monitoring french media sites over t‘za last —' " who has been monitoring french media sites over t‘za last couple —' " who has been monitoring french media sites over t‘za last couple of —' " who has been monitoring french media sites over t‘za last couple of hours 7' " sites over the last couple of hours for updates and developments on the situation in trebes. what can you tell us? so, now we are hearing a bit more detail coming out, so a p pa re ntly bit more detail coming out, so apparently the first attack happened at10:15am apparently the first attack happened at 10:15am this morning when we had police four military crs doing some training, jogging, coming back from this training and then a car approached them and started shooting at them, and one of them got wounded. then this man drove to trebes and parked his car on the

supermarket of the super u that we see now and entered saying, allahu akbar, which is what we know so far. the french newspapers and television are reporting that they are pretty sure it is at least two wounded, if not dead. there are mixed reports, though, aren't there? yes, exactly, so it is tricky to know exactly what is happening. the whole city of trebes is completely on lockdown, people cannot enter. we just heard a woman on television in france saying, i cannot even go and get my children from school, because they have blocked all the roads into the city and they are asking people, please, let us do ourjob, we need to sort this situation. one important thing, if i may, our correspondent in paris, hugh schofield, was saying he had seen media reports suggesting that the man, the attacker in the super u, no

longer held any hostages. that was the very latest, it is evolving by the very latest, it is evolving by the minute. the very latest is that he would be the only one left in the supermarket now and he is apparently now asking for salah abdeslam to be released, so that is a very new... i have heard us, this is unconfirmed, that he has been, first they were saying the intelligence agencies did not know about him, now there are reports that actually they knew about this guy, so that is probably going to come out. who is the attacker? that will be the next step in the next few hours. as we see these pictures, if you have been watching for some time you will perhaps be getting tired of the same old pictures of the gendarme outside of this area, which is cornered off,

but we have also heard reports that a major terror response has been activated including specialist forces. anything you have seen on french media giving a scale of the operation? about 200 cars and wagons of policemen. obviously this is something that i don't know if a uk audience or world audience would realise but in france, since the paris attack, really, this has massively scaled up, we were obviously on a state of emergency for a very long time, you had preparations from the police, from schools, from companies would prepare exercises of confinement, how to deal with these situations, so this is not so much of a surprise that we have a very big reaction even though it is in a tiny village near ca rcassonne. even though it is in a tiny village near carcassonne. one thing that strikes me, you have seen it

reported in several places, that the attacker has demanded the release of this individual, salah abdeslam, who is imprisoned as a result of his involvement in the paris november 2015 attacks. if he is making these sorts of demands, it suggests there isa sorts of demands, it suggests there is a means of communication with the police, do we know if there has been telephone contact all how else could this communication be conducted?” guess what they are trying now, they we re guess what they are trying now, they were trying to have a conversation with the attacker in the supermarket. we don't know exactly to which level they have managed to access him, they have probably managed to discuss an exit for the hostages. this is all staying under wraps, on twitter the french police saying, please don't share anything that could have an impact and

cou ntera ct that could have an impact and counteract our work. and i think french people are now very aware of that, that you don't want to spread any rumours because then it would play against the police work. no, thatis play against the police work. no, that is right, and we are endeavouring to be cautious and a lwa ys endeavouring to be cautious and always indicate where we are giving information from the french media thatis information from the french media that is not entirely confirmed from at least two different sources. one political aspect of this, the french prime minister has said that in his view it sounds as though this is a serious terrorist incident, he was not in paris but i believe he is on his way back, is there any indication what the french government, in terms of its public political face, is government, in terms of its public politicalface, is saying government, in terms of its public political face, is saying and government, in terms of its public politicalface, is saying and doing? yes, so straightaway, actually, maybe about an hour after the first attack, we had our prime minister saying that everything is letting us believe that it is a terrorist

attack, and obviously now the home secretary is on his way to the location so he obviously we'll be doing some kind of declaration when he gets there. macron has been saying something from brussels, i don't know if it is just a tweet for now, he is supposed to speak? we get indications that he and angela merkel will give a joint press conference, some people thought it would have taken place already but it hasn't and that may be an indication that the french president is still monitoring and taking in information in brussels from his teens in paris and in the south—west france as well, but we are expecting mr macron to talk to the press in brussels in a very short while because of course the eu summit which he was attending is now finished and i imagine he will speak to the press and return as quickly as he can to paris to take personal

charge of this. yes, exactly, and i guess this is slightly a bit of a strange time for us because it has been nearly a year since it has been a bit quieter in france and also i was hearing something interesting earlier saying that it started in big capitals, then we had things happening in provincial towns, and now this is happening in a tiny village, so it is also kind of showing maybe the evolution of how the terrorists would be deciding to act now and how they might act on a very small scale but also very dangerous scale, because they are really acting as low walls, and this isa really acting as low walls, and this is a very unpredictable and really difficult thing to counteract for a government, for a police force, for the gendarmerie. the latest we are getting is that sources are

suggesting that the authorities believe the man in the super u is of moroccan origin, and they are saying no more than that, that they are linking him to morocco, there is a very large... yes, on the s list. on a watchlist, regarded as a man of interest to the intelligence and you deserve it is in france, but as i understand it, you are looking at your latest french wire, we have not got a name yet, they have not identified him by name but have suggested he may be of moroccan origin. apparently there are two different types of list, from what i understand, there is the s list, which is the one from the intelligence agencies, and then there is another list that is from

this prevention of radicalisation and terrorism, so he was not on the s list, which has been kind of more known by everyone, basically marked by the intelligence services. but no doubt there will be a lot of discussion in france about exactly what they knew of this individual and whether they had taken sufficient account of what he was up to? yes, again, this is a situation where we potentially knew about the risk, and the difficulty is that this man could have —— the difficulties this man could have brought, and nothing was done about it, and that is a wide issue. brought, and nothing was done about it, and that is a wide issuelj brought, and nothing was done about it, and that is a wide issue. i am going to stop you there because we are coming to the end of our coverage for this hour of bbc news. to remind you before we go that there is an unfolding a serious security situation in france, a gunman believed to be holed up in a supermarket in trebes in south—west france, following a series of incidents including shooting at police officers who were outjogging and a gunman storming into a

supermarket in trebes. we will keep following the story here on bbc news, so do stay with us. we will give you the latest developments from south—west france. the most part of the country the weather has been improving after a cloudy start, with more sunshine breaking through. this is cambridge, taken by one of our weather watchers earlier in the day, quite a bit of blue sky. more add to the north and west. this was the scene as the sun rose in devon. we will see more clout into the south—west of england and wales as well. but the rest of the country, as we had through the latter pa rt the country, as we had through the latter part of the day, the cloud eases to the east and there are clear skies, late sunshine into the early evening and that is when we see the cloud increasing and patchy

outbreaks of brain imaging for wales and the south—west of england and some of that fairly light patchy rain trysts across the bulk of england and wales overnight tonight. further north, scotland and northern ireland, we keep clearer skies, temperatures will fall the risk here tonight, likely to see frost in the north first thing saturday morning but milder, frost free under cloud in the south. the weekend is not looking too bad, there will be some sunshine, quite a bit of dry weather, still a few showers and especially to the north—west and temperatures fairly average for the time of year. let's look at saturday morning, quite a cloudy start for england and wales with a few patchy outbreaks of rain slowly working their way east woods through the day. scotland and northern ireland having the lion's share of the sunshine but also showers coming in on the north—westerly breeze, falling asleep and snow over the mountains, lower levels as rain showers with perhaps hale and thunder mixed in with some of them. most of us getting into double figures but disappointing with those

cloudy skies on saturday. by sunday, england and wales to the bulk of the cloud clearing, more sunshine by sunday for england and wales, a similar day for scotland and northern ireland, a few isolated showers to the north and west, dry elsewhere, temperatures a few degrees warmer than saturday, ten to 13 celsius. sunday will be quite pleasa nt 13 celsius. sunday will be quite pleasant with light wind, it continues into next week, quite u nsettled continues into next week, quite unsettled start of the week, some rain around and then things look to be turning quite a bit colder in the run—up to easter. goodbye for now. a gunman is feared to have killed at least two people and taken others hostage at a supermarket in france — it's being treated as a terrorist act. sirens armed police are at the scene. in a second incident in a nearby town, a policeman has been shot. we'll have the latest live from paris. also this lunchtime... the eu backs britain's position following the nerve agent attack in salisbury — it's recalled its ambassador

from moscow, prompting angerfrom russia. stock markets have been hit by fears that president trump's plan for tariffs on chinese products may trigger a trade war. the campaign to have one of english football's first black players honoured as a world war one hero. and prince harry and meghan markle visit belfast, as part of the tour of the uk in the run up to their wedding.