e wan ' e? n,- on brexit talks and growing support for theresa may ‘s stance on russia. first the ongoing attack in france with the gunman is being that has been shot in the last few minutes,. breaking news this hour, please put an end to a hostage situation at a supermarket in south—west france. the man had opened fire on police and had hijacked a car, killing one person. later he killed two more. translation: everything believes us to believe it is a terror act. i just spoke to the minister of the interior who is arriving on the spot. and the prime minister is back in paris. and i will be back in a couple of hours to coordinate all the necessary measures. welcome to this special coverage

from bbc news, our breaking story this hour, three people have been killed by a gunman who took hostages ata killed by a gunman who took hostages at a supermarket near carcassonne in the south of france. the attacker who claimed allegiance to the islamic state group has been shot by police. he had reportedly demanded that the only surviving militant who carried out the attack at the bata cla n carried out the attack at the bataclan theatre in paris should be set free. we can bring you up—to—date with what we know so far. in the nearby city of carcassonne and armed man opened fire on several police officers who were jogging. one policeman was injured, we then had reports of a number of people being taken hostage in a supermarket in trebes a small town nearby. prosecutors said the hostage—takers claimed to be a member of the islamic state group. it is reported that shots were fired and two people

killed there. it is not clear how more were injured. the french president has called the incident a terrorist act, a view echoed by president macron. the prime minister called it a terrorist act and the president has verified that come he's currently attending a european summit in brussels which has just wrapped up. in the last few minutes it has been reported police raided the supermarket, the gunman was killed, that has not been confirmed but many reports now say french police have killed that gunman in place of one of the hostages was a 45—year—old soldier, a senior member of the military who had changed places with one of the hostages that the gunman had been holding. we have yet to hear what happened to him. we'll hear from the president of france at the moment but first this report on the hostage situation in trebes. shots were fired and

hostages taken at the supermarket just after 11 o'clock local time. a large police operation was mounted. reports say scores of officers together with airborne units were sent to the scene, can the counterterror police are leading the operation. this shocked woman told reporters she couldn't even see inside the supermarket. she said her children were in a school about 300 metres away. earlier in the day, about 15 minutes away near ca rcassonne, a group of police officers out jogging were followed and fired on five times by a man in a car. one officer was injured. that incident is now being linked to the hostage—taking at the supermarket. there are conflicting reports about the fate of the hostages. the french prime minister said security forces were rapidly

he said reports suggested it was a terrorist attack. reports say three people have been killed, and a handful of others wounded, one seriously. a security source said the gunman was moroccan and had been flagged as a potential extremist. andy moore, bbc news. the french president was in brussels and givea the french president was in brussels and give a statement short time ago. translation: about ongoing developments in france, indeed, an attack, hostagetaking operation, and going, in our country in the south of france and everything believes us to believe it is indeed a terror attack which is, as i said, still ongoing. police and in particular the gendarmerie

intervened in a coordinated manner. let me express support to all those addressing the situation. at this point in time i will not provide any figures. the paris public prosecutor will shortly provide relevant information. the matter has been referred to the 065 i, as well as the terror investigating magistrates. as we speak. please allow me to express the utmost support of the french government and authorities and in particular support to the police forces which are currently on the ground. ijust spoke to the ministry of the interior who will be arriving, and

the prime minister is back in paris. i myself will be back there in a couple of hours to coordinate all the necessary measures to be taken. also in brussels is my colleague christian fraser. i suppose one of the first tests of its kind for the french president who has been in office for less than one year. yes, and obviously people will point to the fact that the state of emergency in france was dropped in october, and replaced with a sweeping anti—terrorism bill which was widely supported in the french parliament. i have to say, though, the laws in place replaced many of the laws and the powers that the police had under the powers that the police had under the state of emergency, so they have the state of emergency, so they have the ability to search houses, to put people under house arrest, to put cordons around sensitive areas and so cordons around sensitive areas and so on, so it would be insensitive to say that the president has dropped the ball by bringing to an end the

state of emergency. what interested me, having formerly been across pond and in paris and covered many attacks, once more this was someone, according to the president, was known to the 065 i, domestic intelligence. we said before there was an extensive list within france, the list called fichier s with 10,000 names on it, it'sjust not possible to monitor everyone they know is a threat to the state. if you look at the recent attacks you have the pure brothers staged the on charlie hebdo, the man who attacked the train between paris and brussels, and so on and so on. very often unknown extremists in france who are on this list but i don't not under house arrest, not deemed to be a specific threat at any one time but said in the intelligence is there on them. that's the first thing. i've been reading la depeche

the local newspaper in the south, they seem to have good information, they seem to have good information, they said this morning they said that the police men were outjogging and one was shot at and wounded on the shoulder, then they say to people were attacked as he hijacked a carand people were attacked as he hijacked a car and they report that four people have been killed altogether, thatis people have been killed altogether, that is not yet confirmed that they are report from the people on the ground, as they have been reporting earlier, it tends to be the case in these situations, someone with the background of this attacker, when a raid happens these policing and are going very quickly because we know as $0 going very quickly because we know as so often in these circumstances

the terrorists begin to kill people and they don't want to take that risk so it was inevitable that they would go in quick and hard. and from what we saw from the president what sense do you get up what role he will play and how will he take ownership in the aftermath of this event, how visible will he be? it is a sensitive issue for france given what has happened in recent years, he has been kept informed while he has been here, we expected a press conference, especially when he was talking to the prime minister, the interior minister has been sent to the scene, the prosecutor as ever will be involved, paris is used to this unfortunately is all the provisions will be put in place, and they also have teams that are highly

skilled in this incident so the police were there quickly and the anti—terror police were there and once they had the cord and in place they finished it quickly. interestingly according to the local newspaper they were saying that in this instance they brought his mother to the scene, maybe to try to talk him out of that situation, if that didn't work they were going to go in and ensure they didn't kill any more people. christian, thank you. we've just heard from the french president emmanuel macron who is on his way back to paris. we can speak to hugh schofield in paris, can you bring us up to date with what has happened in the last half hour? half an hour ago exactly the assault was ordered by the police chief in charge, we don't know the detail that we are told that this man has been "abattu", that means

killed, and one hostage has been released, we will need confirmation that the hostage was a gendarme, policeman who had offered himself to replace one of the hostages from the supermarket and had gone involuntarily. it will be intriguing if this is true. we can now say that the incident is over. it has focused the incident is over. it has focused the attention of france and of the authorities very, very intensely over the last three hours because it isa over the last three hours because it is a rare crude essence of islamist terrorism in france, it would seem, which we haven't seen the six months, it almost felt like a reprieve, compared to 2016, that series of attacks, it had died down,

the last attack in france we could a tribute to islam is was back in october in marseille, so long period. but as the president said, it's no longer a case of waiting for armed attacks organised by a network oi’ armed attacks organised by a network oran armed attacks organised by a network or an organisation, sending people out to commit these attacks, as we have seen, local people becoming radicalised by themselves in small groups, communicating social media, but not people who have left the region and then come back in general. we are waiting to see the profile of this man. but i would bet he isa profile of this man. but i would bet he is a local with a background in petty crime because that is the profile. and the events of the day didn't begin in this tiny town of trebes. they started in nearby

carcassonne. what happened? the three incidents. esprit. we've seen that before as well. a man decides to go for it and he does. it can be a succession of different events and it's only later that you piece together what happened. there are three attacks, i'm not show in which order they came. the shooting of the ca ceres order they came. the shooting of the caceres police, they would jogging wearing civilian tracksuits, i presume that this man knew that they we re presume that this man knew that they were police even though they were not identifiable as such. he injured one of them seriously but these were not life—threatening injuries. in another incident he hijacks a car. christian mentioned that. it is not clear whether one person ought to people died in that. i'm told the passenger was killed, the driver was injured. he gets the car. it's logical that that incident preceded

the shooting of the cr as police, and to place from a car. i'm guessing the first incident was the hijacking of the car and then the crs. we don't know that. we know it concludes with the third incident which was just kilometres to the east of carcassonne. it's a well—known tourist town with its walled city. trebes is a much less well—known town just to the east. that's where he parked his car and went into the supermarket with his gunfiring, and went into the supermarket with his gun firing, and we know that two people were killed, possibly others we re people were killed, possibly others were injured, and there's a movement of panic, a lot of people escape or are allowed to go by the gunman and he is left, commit scenes with one person, and it seems eventually the gendarme who may or may not have volunteered to go in the place of an actual hostage, the details are not known to us. half an hour ago or two and a half hours after it started thatis

and a half hours after it started that is what we could predict, an assault by special forces and he's killed. i said we could predict this but as i said at the beginning i do not think this will last because there are clear orders in place to act quickly when there are islamist radicalised terrorists on the loose. on the one hand there is a standing order by the last interior minister that no incident should take place in france more than 20 minutes from where special forces are positioned, and so, very quickly, they would have been on the scene, probably from toulouse, by helicopter or on the motorway it's not far away, maybe in carcassonne itself in which case they would have been on the scene quickly but as i say the orders are clear in this situation you don't let the things drag out because there is a risk of the person involved killing the hostages. you have to assume that the man at the centre of it is

somebody for whom his own life does not count and he might take others with him. that is why one could have predicted and we did predict that this would be over quickly and it was. hugh, thank you. with me is our french correspondent who has been monitoring social media. when you look at what has happened, more than 240 people killed injihadist attacks, france really has changed. i guess we always had these attacks but since the paris attacks, three attacks coordinated, it has now become part of, we have to be protected and we have to think about it, we have to make it like part of oui’ it, we have to make it like part of our daily life now to see how we work react when this happens, earlier many of my friends said they

had to training, special training to work, how to confine ourselves, the police were on high alert and even though the state of emergency was lifted and 2017 we still have a law that was put in place because basically it was not as extreme as the state of emergency bets can be deployed really fast in this kind of situation. this is why we saw today this village of a few thousand inhabitants, suddenly an enormous number of police coming through, really trained up, dealing with the situation, really fast, organising

themselves well. i just situation, really fast, organising themselves well. ijust have to refer to what hugh was saying because i've been seeing on the french news now that now the order of attack would be that the guy actually started by hijacking the car, which would make sense in the end. he shot at the passenger, started driving towards trebes, why that particular village? and then he on the way would have shot one of the sea are best doing their jogging--- the sea are best doing their jogging... they were in plain clothes when they were jogging, how would he have known? this is why it makes you think he's from the area because there's this big trainee army military place the area so he might well have known there were this kind of military officers in training, doingjogging. but obviously we don't know exactly now. and then he got the supermarket, parked his car and attacked. and

then we have the story the gendarme who offered himself as an exchange against hostage survives the story, you asking about the reaction on the political side, it seems that since emmanuel macron it just hasn't happened, it's been so much quieter... has he been in more control of these things? because one of the first people who has been biting on twitter is marine le pen. she has been saying, when will the government understand we are at war. then she says, all our thoughts go to the victims, why can't they understand that we are at war, because that was one of her main line steering her campaign last.

helene daouphars thank you, in the last few minutes we've had pictures coming in from trebes. we can see a glimpse of the huge police operation that has been going on. hundreds of police officers as well as special forces but just in police officers as well as special forces butjust in the last three quarters of an hour it has all come toa quarters of an hour it has all come to a conclusion because police have shot and killed the gunman who is suspected of killing at least three people. he had opened fire on the police after hijacking a car, killing one person and making his way to that supermarket. and then barricading himself in. you can see the level of military and police force used to overwhelm him. he ended up with one officer and him alone in the supermarket. but officer, different reports, one person said he was a gendarme, another person said he was a soldier

who gave himself in place of a hostage to stay with an attack. we don't know what has happened to him that we know that the gunman has been shot dead in the police raid that followed. you're watching bbc news. and we will return to france whenever there is any development on what is now an investigation into that terrorist attack. you're watching afternoon live. the eu has recalled its ambassador to russia after they agreed that it was likely that russia was involved in the attack and sergio scrip al and his daughter yulia in the uk. for theresa may, something new. a summit where the uk sees eye to eye with other eu countries. mrs may knows in dealing with russia

at least she has solid support here. they agreed the uk government's assessment that it was highly likely russia was responsible for the attempted murder that took place on the streets of salisbury and there was no plausible alternative explanation. and how about this for a change in tone from the eu's chief brexit negotiator? some gallic gallantry for mrs may. michel barnier was about to brief eu leaders about his negotiations with the uk. on russia, some countries, lithuania among them, may follow britain and expel russian diplomats who they believe are spies. national measures will be applied. already starting from next week. from your country? from a lot of countries. ireland led calls to toughen up the eu response to russia. and is considering expulsions. bearing in mind what the united kingdom dead, expelling diplomats who turned out to be agents, we would have to do a security check.

we're not going to randomly expel people. for mrs may this has been a happier summit. but the eu has closed ranks to when it comes to brexit. when mrs may was out of the room, the 27 other nations agreed negotiators can begin another round of talks about the post brexit relationship with the uk. they are offering a trade deal and partnership in areas like security and research but with caveats. the eu's guidelines for the new talks warn that some issues still require agreement, notably over ireland and the border, if negotiations are to progress. for the future partnership, the eu says he repeatedly stated positions of the uk limit the depth of a future partnership. meaning if the uk is outside the single market and the customs union, the divergence in tariffs and rules will necessitate checks and controls at borders. for mrs may, this was welcome progress. we will now be sitting down and determining those workable solutions for northern ireland,

but also for our future security partnership and economic partnership. and i believe this is in the best interest of the uk and the eu. to get those partnerships, mrs may must now find a solution that keeps the irish border open. the key to the future. damian grammaticas bbc news, wessels. christian, interesting to hearfrom emmanuel macron. he said basically the attack in the uk was an attack on european sovereignty. this was the language mrs may was seeking when she wanted backing on the russian situation. i think she will be well satisfied with the response he got because it's been a test of whether uk stands after the thorny issues of brexit, could it rally the eu around issues of security and defence and the resounding answer is

yes, she can. they had a trilateral meeting with the french and german leaders last night and she presented them with intelligence there were perhaps not aware of. shortly after that came this statement which the three of them had put together, saying, we are extremely concerned, it is very likely it is russia, we don't see any other plausible explanation. that's the attitude the other leaders have taken. in terms of what concrete action we could see from here, anecdotally, and you had some of the leaders from lithuania and the irish to shock, we are talking between five and ten, this is my demand to expelling russian diplomats or spies. some of them will wait until they've got a result from the op cw. they want to see the evidence that will probably be produced next week but nonetheless this am convinced by what they've heard from the british side. there are splits but there are always

splits when it comes to foreign policy in europe. we've got countries like italy and greece who ta ke countries like italy and greece who take a slightly softer line russia but overwhelmingly, the since here was that this was a brazen attack on british soil, not acceptable with a military grade nerve agent and no one will accept that. the most interesting thing perhaps is the change in the mood music, more smiles in the last 24 hours than we've had in the last few years. is abundantly clear, ok they got the joint report signed but there had been some inertia about some of the more tricky issues. i sensed a more positive optimistic mood which was cemented by the agreement on the transition, which they agreed on monday of course. and now this second phase of the brexit negotiation, they have approved today the guidelines of the negotiation, seven pages long and that kick—starts or moves the

negotiation into a whole new phase. the british sides say they want to see more dynamism around the talks now, and they believe very firmly that the answer to some of those thorny issues like the issue of the border in ireland and issues of governance like the european court, that can be answered by this next phase in the negotiation. it was reflected in short while ago by jean—claude juncker, the president of the european commission. translation: we want to settle outstanding issues such as the solution to avoiding a hard border between northern ireland and the republic of ireland. in parallel we our first talks about the future eu -uk our first talks about the future eu — uk relationship. leaders will at first decide if the irish question has been resolved and how to go about a common declaration on our future. the more observant and most

will notice that that was donald tusk, jean—claude juncker was next to him but the message was broadly the same. adam fleming hasjust come back from the emmanuel macron conference. what are we getting from france and germany that we are not getting from the others? in terms of brexit? in terms of france and germany at the press conference just held by president macron and chancellor merkel is that they sticking to the script they have stuck to without. if the uk doesn't wa nt stuck to without. if the uk doesn't want to be a member of the customs market opens and the union or stick to the rules of the european court

ofjustice, that limits what they'll get and the best the eu will offers a free trade agreement with no tariffs on goods. that is that the core of this document today, the offer is, we're happy to have a close, special deep relationship on trade and security but when it comes to trade if you aren't going to be in the club of the single market and the customs union matters what you'll get. it is intriguing that there wa s a paragraph at the end, and evolution clause which tells the uk, if you will ditch those red lines we will offer you a much closer, much more ambitious deal. adam, thank you very much. we'll bring you plenty to what has gone on today, i'll hand you back to simon. thank you christian. let's go straight back to trebes the scene of thank you christian. let's go straight back to trebes the scene of it has been stated that the attacker was known to police for petty crimes, not involving islamic allegiance. translation: everyday, every day we prevent terrorist attacks but unfortunately this time, it happened without us being able to prevent it. a brief news conference

there from the interior ministry. interesting that he confirmed the story that the gendarme injured in the shooting at the supermarket had exchanged himself for one of the original hostages and has been gravely injured as a result. we will bring you more about that, also than is that the attacker was known to authorities but not considered an islamist threat. more on that as we get it. that is not here, this is actually italy, you can see the wintry weather we have had across italy, many parts of europe seeing some stormy and wintry weather. some blossom on the trees but pretty heavy snow sitting on top of those trees as we head into late march. pretty heavy snow in parts of italy but elsewhere across europe, other types of weather, and if i show you the satellite image, you can see the snow we have across italy but further south east stand on the

satellite image, that is moving from the sahara desert from north africa, pushing towards greece. many south eastern part of the mediterranean are having dust storms, really dusty conditions. these pictures from greece showing how much dust they have in the skies, you can almost taste it with the sepia colours. what about next weekend, easter weekend? something what about next weekend, easter weekend ? something cold what about next weekend, easter weekend? something cold in the forecast, but for the here and now, things are not looking too bad out there at the moment. improving picture in the afternoon after the cloud we had this afternoon, many of us cloud we had this afternoon, many of us having blue sky and sunshine. as we head through into the latter part of today, we have more cloud sweeping in from the south west, this is the next area of low pressure, it is already bringing outbreaks of rain, so here is the radar image. pushing in across the

likes of pembrokeshire and the isles of city, down to the channel isles, and also some rain —— the isles of scilly. elsewhere, dry weatherand the best of the sunshine for central and eastern parts, just a few showers out there to the afternoon across parts of northern england into northern ireland. temperatures, not far from what we would expect at the time of year, feeling fairly pleasa nt the time of year, feeling fairly pleasant in the south where we have the light winds. this evening the rain and cloud will clear away from scotla nd rain and cloud will clear away from scotland but then we turn attention to the south—west. we have patchy outbreaks of rain working further north and east, clear skies further north, we are likely to see some frost across scotland, northern ireland, but milder for frost across scotland, northern ireland, but milderfor england and wales. over the weekend a lot of dry weather with spells of sunshine especially by sunday, a few showers in the north—west of the country,

temperatures around average, less cold than it was last weekend but things may turn colder again next weekend. but for saturday, fairly cloudy, for england and wales, patchy outbreaks of rain, and more sunshine for the far north of england, scotland and northern ireland, a few showers on the north westerly breeze, and they will be falling as sleet and snow over the mountains of scotland but rain at lower levels. sunday, we have the better day of the weekend, the cloud gradually clearing, a return to more sunshine, but still a few showers moving in on the north—westerly breeze but they will be confined to the far north—west of scotland. temperatures on sunday, little less cold, up to 10—13, should feel nice during the day on sunday, so a good getting out and about, but as we look through next week and towards easter, it looks like things are going to turn cold. we have a cold

wind developing, uncertainty about the extent of any wintry showers, but keep tuned to the forecast. this is bbc news — our latest headlines. a gunman has been shot dead by police after taking hostages at a supermarket in southern france. three people are reported to have been killed. reports say the gunman, believed to be moroccan, pledged allegiance to the islamic state group. president macron pulled out of the eu summit to return to paris. british diplomats ordered out of russia in the row over the salisbury nerve agent attack begin to leave moscow. the kremlin has accused the uk of trying to force its allies into taking confrontational steps, after eu leaders backed accusations against russia. ahmed hassan — the teenager who carried out a terrorist attack on parsons green tube station is due to be sentenced for attempted murder. theresa may praises what she called the "spirit of cooperation" after the european union agreed

the guidelines it will follow after brexit. the terms of a transition deal have also been formally signed off. more on the situation in france, more from the interior ministry, they have said that the gunmen who was shot dead in the incident was known to authorities but for petty crimes and he was not considered an ca rs crimes and he was not considered an cars islamist threat —— team—1—macro. —— gunman. and he also said the gendarme had exchanged himself for the initial hostage. it has also been said that he left his mobile phone line open in the entire operation so the police could monitor. we have a name of the

hostage—takers. he is a moroccan known to the authorities for petty crimes but not on the radar for the interior security services as an islamist threat. more on the developing story as we get it. china has published a list of more than 100 american products which may be hit by import duties — in retaliation for president trump's plans to impose tariffs on up to $60 billion worth of chinese goods. markets fell across asia, as investors worried about a trade war. robin brant reports. if there's going to be a trade war china will target america's fruit. strawberries and other berries exported by this californian firm are on the list to be hit by a 15% price hike. among the 128 items named, china is also targeting pork,

steel, nuts and wine, all of it coming here from the us. this nascent trade war started over cheap steel made here and sent to america, where president trump said it has killed jobs. as it announced its planned retaliation, china said it won't stand idly by. translation: china doesn't want a trade war to happen and it won't provoke a trade war, but we're not afraid of a trade war and we won't dodge it. this is a dispute that has been brewing for decades. american firms have long been in china, but some are forced to go into joint ventures with local firms, forced to hand over their technology. they say it has long been unfair. the business community has been feeling a growing sense of frustration with the lack of progress, so from that perspective, yes, we are pleased that the administration is taking a more forceful set of measures with the chinese government. this falling out over trade

between these two men has already cost billions. all asian markets dropped today. china has made it clear it will up the ante if america imposes these tariffs, and it has a record of stoking trade disputes. this is the biggest starbucks in the world, and it's right here in the heart of shanghai. it's a symbol of america's continuing cultural and commercial push into china. but posh coffee could get caught up in any trade war. china has portrayed the us measures as an assault on free trade. state media may also see it as an assault on china's people, who could be encouraged to look for an alternative to america. robin brant, bbc news in shanghai. more on that in a moment, but we have heard ahmed hassan has been given a life sentence at the old bailey with a minimum term of 34 yea rs, bailey with a minimum term of 34 years, convicted of attempted murder after planting a bomb on the london underground station at parsons green. the device partially exploded

in september, injuring about 50 people, and the jury tookjust a day to find the 18—year—old guilty of attempted murder and in the last few moments he has been sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum term of 35 years. we can now talk about the trade war. we can go to portsmouth and talk to an economist at london university. linda, nobody benefits from a trade war, but who gets hurt the most? the consumers in both america and china. but also britain and elsewhere. trade wars increase the price of a lot of goods which are produced in china and in the united states, so tariffs are just taxes and if you have higher costs imposed on any range of not just consumer goods but intermediate

goods, materials that go into producing those goods, it raises the price globally because these economies are so important in the world. it is quite clear what donald trump is targeting, high attack, specifically high end goods from china —— high—tech. that will make the chinese cross. yes, it will, it isa the chinese cross. yes, it will, it is a very deliberate strategy to make sure that this trade disagreement will hit china the ha rd est disagreement will hit china the hardest where it most needs to be accessing tech and expertise. president trump's tariffs will hit pharmaceutical products and high—tech, everything that goes into china's made in china 2025 plan which is intended to upgrade its industry and help it become a

prosperous nation. this is a massive goalfor the chinese prosperous nation. this is a massive goal for the chinese government and so this is a very targeted attempt to make sure that the chinese will be hit hardest in the area they are most vulnerable which is the middle income trying to grow rich full stop china is putting tariffs at the moment quite minimal but they are going for agricultural products which will hit american consumers and it looks like they are beginning to target some of the districts of key members of congress so that they could put pressure on the trump administration to back off before this becomes a fully fledged trade war. what is the difference, when is the moment reached? war. what is the difference, when is the moment reached ?|j war. what is the difference, when is the moment reached? i hope we never had to find out. i suppose when economists worry about a trade walk it isa economists worry about a trade walk it is a tit—for—tat escalation, so right now china is returning the blow by imposing tariffs and president trump said at his press conference he is going to have

restrictions on chinese investment in the united states and that means china will probably do a tit—for—tat if that happens and restrict american investment into china and you can get this escalation where markets become close and things but, more expensive and businesses do not know what costs are and they can't plan accordingly and consumers experience price rises and that i think would be... if that happened ona think would be... if that happened on a large scale that would be a trade war and the worry for everyone around the world is that if it really escalates and they cannot agree and the us decides the global trading system is not for them because it is not fair, something president trump has said many times, and he pause them out of the world trade organisation —— he pause them out. i would say then we would then be in out. i would say then we would then beina out. i would say then we would then be in a trade war at that point but

hopefully we won't not get there because one of the messages coming from china today is they hope the americans will pull back because it is not in the interest of either country to end up hurting both their economies and their businesses and their consumers. for the rest of us we hope they come to some resolution because we will certainly be impacted if the world's biggest economies go down this potentially very destructive route. linda, thanks forjoining us. president trump has sacked his second national security adviser in 14 months. general hr mcmaster will be replaced byjohn bolton — a blunt former diplomat who has argued for military action against iran and north korea. chris buckler sent this report. at what sometimes appears to be a constantly changing white house, president trump's latest appointment could mark the dawning of a new era in american foreign policy. with a customary tweet, donald trump announced that effective next month, ambassadorjohn bolton would be his new national security adviser,

replacing hr mcmaster, with whom the president had clashed for months. bolton is a hawkish hardliner, who served in the bush presidency. he has called for the iran nuclear deal to be scrapped, he supported military action against north korea, and he brings a clearly interventionist voice into the trump inner circle. breaking just moments ago... he has long been a right—wing commentator for fox news and he chose the network to give his first thoughts about his new job. i've never been shy about what my views are, but frankly, what i've said in private now is behind me, at least effective april 9th, and the important thing is what the president says and what advice i give him. there have been a lot of people leaving the doors of this white house, and hr mcmaster‘s departure had long been predicted — although only a week ago, president trump's team were playing down such talk. the president spoke to a number

of staff this morning, reassuring them that there were personnel changes — no immediate personnel changes at this time and that people should not be concerned — we should do exactly what we do every day, and that is come to work and do the very best job that we can. but there is a changing of the guard, and with mike pompeo as secretary of state and john bolton as national security adviser, donald trump is surrounding himself with tougher—talking foreign policy advisers. that may concern some, who feel their predecessors were a moderating influence, and all this change comes amid difficult diplomatic questions for america about russia, iran, and the planned summit between president trump and the north korean leader, kim jong—un. chris buckler, bbc news. i am joined by the director of the asia studies centre

at the henryjackson society a think tank that advocates the robust spreading of liberal democracy, drjohn hemmings. whenjohn bolton says everything he has done until now is behind him, there's a sense of wishful thinking because everything he has said is very much going to stay with him? absolutely. he has shown his views and opinions very stridently previously in the united nations as the ambassador there, but this may not be a bad thing. we are trying to get a not be a bad thing. we are trying to geta —— not be a bad thing. we are trying to get a —— past where the trump administration is going, so we will see how he goes forward. the one thing he and donald trump have slight disagreements on is the iraq war because the president said that is easing the worst decision ever made a few weeks ago. —— that is the single worst decision for thejohn bolton has remained quiet about that. that is correct. the issue is

a divisive one here in london and washington, it is hard to find any set of excellent thinkers, people with the experience ofjohn bolton, who haven't crossed one of those lines. the things the president will be looking forward to is that he is able to handle the challenges ahead rather than those in the past. one thing we will look on from here in britain, his views on russia. at the moment his views will chime with those of theresa may. john bolton is very pro—british and he's very favourable to the uk and he took a strong line on russia in his period in the bush administration and he has been tweeting until his announcement quite often about russia. we are seeing that some of the president's positioning on russia has been filled out by people who are more along the lines of

european leaders, more pro—nato and thinking about dealing with the threat that russia has come to represent especially after the salisbury poisoning. it is a reassuring position to have someone who is cautious and hawkish on russia back close to the president. tour countries who will be watching this guardedly, iran and north korea —— two countries for. this guardedly, iran and north korea -- two countries for. we don't know when the president is going to sit down with kim jong—un, maybe late april, but the north korean to have been playing it cautiously. i don't thinkjohn bolton's announcement means that the administration is looking to go to war but it will wa nt to looking to go to war but it will want to keep all options on the table and if you're going into negotiations with north korea is not bad to have someone like that at the table. thanks forjoining us. the parsons green bomber

ahmed hassan has been given a life sentence and will serve a minimum sentence of 34 years. our correspondent richard lister is at the old bailey. thejudge spoke for the judge spoke for about 35—40 minutes in the sentencing remarks, explaining the sentence he was giving ahmed hassan who sat in the dock for most of it, his eyes closed and his head bowed. he was asked to stand up by thejudge and his head bowed. he was asked to stand up by the judge and and his head bowed. he was asked to stand up by thejudge and he and his head bowed. he was asked to stand up by the judge and he said and his head bowed. he was asked to stand up by thejudge and he said to him, there is no doubt you are a very dangerous and devious individual who planned this attack with ruthless determination and almost military efficiency, while pretending to be a model asylum seeker stop we heard two different faces of ahmed hassan in the course of this trial, one in which he was motivated by anger and hatred of the uk and united states, because he blamed coalition forces for the death of his father in iraq, and there was the model student who was there was the model student who was the student of the year in his

couege the student of the year in his college and given a gift voucher which is bent on chemicals to prepare this bomb. —— which he spent. thejudge said he prepare this bomb. —— which he spent. the judge said he would prepare this bomb. —— which he spent. thejudge said he would have plenty of time to study the koran in prison in years to come and you should understand that the koran is a book of peace and islam is a religion of peace and both forbid a cts religion of peace and both forbid acts of extremism, and he told him you have violated the koran and islam as well as the law of all civilised people and it is hoped you will realise this one day, the judge said. ahmed hassan gave no reaction as he was led away to the cells. thanks forjoining us. in a moment the business news. first a look at the headlines on afternoon live. a gunman has been killed by police — after taking hostages at a supermarket in south west france. ahmed hassan — the teenager who carried out a terrorist attack on parsons green tube station is sentenced to life for attempted murder. he will serve a minimum sentence of

34 years. british diplomats ordered out of russia in the row over the salisbury nerve agent attack have started to leave moscow. the kremlin has accused the uk of trying to force its allies into taking confrontational steps, after eu leaders backed accusations against russia. hi, i'm ben bland — these are your business headlines on afternoon live. stock markets on edge around the world. european shares are down following falls in the us on thursday and on the asian markets overnight. investors fear a trade war — as president tump's import tariffs on steel and aluminium are due to kick in later today. in response, china has threatened tariffs on up to $3 billion of us imports. what next for next? the retailer says its had the toughest year for quarter of a century. its annual profits were down 8% last year. it's the second year in a row that profits have fallen. before tax, the chain made £726 million. in its high street shops sales fell by 7%. but online, they actually

went up by 11%. it blamed "a weak clothing market" — but also admitted making mistakes about product ranges. before heathrow airport expansion plans are approved, mps say they want tougher measures to protect passengers from higher prices — and protect neighbours from extra noise. the transport committee said there should be a night flight ban of seven hours, and a package of compensation for local communities. a feeling of deja vu about this. what have the mps said? well, the airport has welcomed the report — but now wants parliament to get on and allow the project to move into the planning phase.

the airlines also agree with parts of the report — especially the bit about making sure that the costs of the expansion are not passed on to passengers through higher landing charges that would then be passed on to passengers. iag, which owns british airways and iberia and is the biggest user of the airport, has criticised the proposed cost of heathrow‘s expansion plans as "exorbita nt and unacceptably vague". as far as people living near the airport — they've welcomed the idea of putting conditions on air pollution and particularly they like the proposal to ban night flights for six and a half hours overnight. but one airline consultant i spoke to, thinks the idea of that night flight ban won't be popular with carriers. airlines are supportive of the comments made by the transport committee today apart from the issue of extending the night ban, what iag have argued is a more intelligent way to tackle the issue of noise as byatt and they understand there is a

need to give residents a breather —— noise respite. there could be more intelligent ways to use runway capacity by sharing at which runways are used and when so everyone gets the necessary respite but the extra capacity can still be used without handicapping airlines. when will there be an agreement on heathrow expansion? mps are expected to vote on the airports policy statement in the first half of this year. if it is approved, the proposals will enter an official planning process. the transport committee says at the moment — detail on projected costs and benefits is not detailed enough for the current proposal to avoid legal challenge. that is why they wanted to be more specific at the planning phase. heathrow hopes to start building a new runway in early 2021, with completion by the end of 2025. president trump's tweeted again.

this time about potentially vetoing a spending bill? that's right, he's complained about a lack of immigration measures, and no funding for his border wall with mexico. the bill needs mr trump's signature by a friday midnight deadline to keep the government funded. we do have this a lot. yes, it would be the third government shutdown this year. the us has already had two government shutdowns this year. joining me now is new york business correspondentjoe miller. another showdown between the president and congress attention? yes, as if there wasn't enough market moving news, donald trump has provided even more this morning thanks to his twitter account. unlike the china sanctions which

we re unlike the china sanctions which were announced yesterday which were expected, this is unexpected, not least because after congress came to an agreement and voted on this bill yesterday, colleagues of donald trump said he would sign the bill la st trump said he would sign the bill last night, and this morning we had further evidence that no one knows what donald trump is going to do apart from donald trump, the fact the spending bill is now up in the air puts even more uncertainty on the table this week after threats and retaliation from china over yesterday's tariffs, now we may have a government shutdown could last onto the weekend and could go beyond. lawmakers are going to go on holiday for two weeks in capitol hilland holiday for two weeks in capitol hill and that might persuade them to come to agreement sooner rather than later, but what is interesting, on wall street this is being received with a giant shrug because as one trader said they have grown numb, until there is concrete details on where donald trump is going with this and what will be in the

spending bill and whether it will pass, they are just waiting and holding their breath. thanks for joining us. joe miller, our new york business correspondent. updates on the markets in the next hour. something to look forward to! time for a look at the weather. here's sarah keith—lucas. the most part of the country the weather has been improving through the day, sunshine breaking through, many places strike but now we are seeing the next area of cloud —— many places dry. this is the low pressure system which will be centred to the south of the uk but it will bring patchy fabrics of rain, and the cloud will move further north across all of the uk —— patchy outbreaks. here we will see fast first thing saturday

morning but but milder and frustrate further south. we have —— milder and frost free for the disappointing day further south on saturday, but temperatures for most of us getting into double figures. hello, you're watching afternoon live. today at 3: a gunman in france who'd ta ken hostages at a supermarket in the southwestern town of trebes has been shot dead by police. the attacker is reported to have killed at least three people. he had proclaimed allegiance to so—called islamic state. translation: we didn't think he was radicalised, but he was already being watched. this is the scene — live in trebes. we'll have the latest.

one gender arm —— one gendarme offered to swap places with another person and is now fighting for his life. ahmed hassan — the teenager who carried out a terrorist attack on parsons green tube station — is sentenced to life at the old bailey and will serve a minimum term of 34 years. the investigation into the attempted murders of sergei skripal and his daughter yulia skripal continues — experts remove the park bench they were sitting on, when they were found unwell in salisbury. coming up on afternoon live: all the sport. the england team are planning their trip to russia. that's right, they play the netherlands in amsterdam tonight. most of what gareth southgate has been talking about before this match, you are right, has been about russia, and particularly politics and security. with only four matches between now and the world cup, it is a crucial one tonight. we will look ahead to that the little later. thanks for that. and with the weather, here is

sarah. saturday looks like a cloudy day, particularly across england and wales. more sunshine in the north—west. sunday is the brighter day of the weekend wherever you are. temperatures gradually on the rise through the weekend. all the details in halfan through the weekend. all the details in half an hour. sarah, thank you very much. also coming up — the desperate scramble to save stranded pilot whales beached in western australia. hello, everyone — this is afternoon live. police in the south of france have shot dead a gunman suspected of having killed at least three people. the man had opened fire on officers, and hijacked a car, killing one person. reports say he shouted allegiance to islamic state militants. a policeman who volunteered to take

the place of one of the hostages has been praised for his bravery. this prompted a huge police response led by counterterror officers. security forces surrounded the supermarket, and a police officer exchanged himself for a hostage. after a stand—off, the gunman was shot dead. the french president was kept up to date with events while at a summit. translation: the gendarme array intervened in a coordinated manner import less a an attack against police officers. please allow me to express my utmost support to all of those addressing the situation. the gunman is

believed to have killed and wounded his victims which began in carcassonne, 15 minutes away —— in trebes, 15 minutes away from the back. translation: the officer who was with those men voluntarily swapped himself for a hostage, that the terrorist then let go. the terrorist fired and forces intervened and brought down the terrorist. reports say the gunman was believed to be moroccan and had pledged allegiance to the so—called islamic state group. the french authorities said he was known for petty crimes but not known to be an islamist threat. the french interior minister gave details of short time ago. translation: there were three victims. the gunman was shot down by

the special forces. this victims. the gunman was shot down by the specialforces. this is victims. the gunman was shot down by the special forces. this is what happened. this morning, the gunman shot at a car driver, who was seriously injured. another person was also injured. the gunman then left the scene, came across a group of riot police and also injured one of riot police and also injured one of them. he then arrived in trebes at the supermarket, walked into the supermarket, shot and injured to make people. the gendarmerie intervened immediately and were able to get one of the people out of the supermarket. the lieutenant colonel voluntarily swapped with one of the hostages. and he stayed with the

terrorist inside the supermarket. the terrorist fired. the gign launched a raid and shut down the terrorists. the terrorist was 26 yea rs terrorists. the terrorist was 26 years old. he was known by law enforcement services after committing some order law offences. —— some ordinary law offences. we did not think he was radicalised but he was already being watched. the lieutenant colonel had left his telephone on the table. we were able to hear what was going on, and that's when we heard the —— and it is when we heard the shot that the

special police decided to launch a raid on the supermarket. we are now in the process of informing families. i would like to pay tribute to the lieutenant colonel's carriage in deciding to swap places with one of the hostages. this was a heroic act on his part. something thatis heroic act on his part. something that is typical of the police forces who are committed to protecting the public. he was from carcassonne. he committed his first offences there, in carcassonne, before driving to trebes. we did not expect this to happen in such a quiet small but u nfortu nately,

happen in such a quiet small but unfortunately, this threat is something that affects us all, wherever we are. the police were able to intervene very early on in this case. thankfully. a lot of reaction to what has been going on on twitter. principally this from the leader of the front national. we are thinking of the victims and theirfamilies. when are thinking of the victims and their families. when will the goverment understand that we are at war? that is in the last hour or so. the french president, emmanuel macron, has been reassuring those who live in trebes that the full panoply of state support will be given to them in these difficult hours. but the resolution to that attack meaning the gunman has been shot dead by security forces. the

story that's developing there is the news that one of the gendarmes offered himself in place of the hostages. and kept his phone on so that authorities could monitor what was going on in the supermarket. he is in hospital now. we will bring you any developments. hugh schofield is in paris. this gunman was not on the radar of police. i don't read too much into responsibility. it seems to me that the man has the classic profile of attackers that we have seen a lot of in the last year, two years. after

bataclan, we have had a different type of attack. with the bataclan, there was financing of arms and heavy organisation, serious organisation being required. this attack is one of a kind that we saw many times last year in different ways of people who are basically from a kind of petty criminal background of muslim faith, who have neglected their religion and then shift back into their religion in a stark and dramatic fashion either because they have personally had a crisis of conscience. they have been surfing the internet and have been proselytised over the internet, or also because they have in their entourage someone who has brought them down that road. that is the classic profile. and they often go into a spree of action of this kind,

which has been given added intensity by the fact that they have this animus, this hatred of anything that smacks of authority and french state power. that is why we have often seen attacks on police, soldiers and so on. in this case, the riot police, though they were in civilian dress, he may well have known that they were riot police. when they go out jogging, they were riot police. when they go outjogging, you they were riot police. when they go out jogging, you know they were riot police. when they go outjogging, you know they are police because they all had short hairand look police because they all had short hair and look military in style. a classic profile of someone who probably had absolutely no connection at all with anyone in so—called islamic state but self identifies with them because of his contacts over the internet with people, with websites, maybe people have spoken to him and calls for the release of the most famous and only real survivor of the paris attacks in 2015, who is a figurehead for people around the country who

identify with islamic state and someone who in this circumstance whose release is automatically demanded. that is the sort of demand you would make if you were a radical gunman cornered by police. one aspect of this story that is gaining traction is the story of the gendarme who was outside and gave up —— the attacker gave up a hostage in exchange for the gendarme, and he's been described as a hero. an extraordinary story attached to this terrible series of events. he is the senior officer, as i see it, from the squad of gendarmes who came and

intervene. it seems that this is lieutenant colonel offered himself asa lieutenant colonel offered himself as a hostage. i imagine he would have said, i will come in if you let them go. he went in, in an astonishing act of self—sacrifice, it seems, and at the same time left his mobile telephone on so that what was going on inside the supermarket could then be monitored by the special forces gathering outside. and we are told by the interior minister that it was when, over this open telephone line, they heard shots being fired, that special forces moved in. my conjecture was that the gendarme was shooting at the senior officer. whether the officer tried to make a break for it or tried to overcome the gunman, or

that the gunman spotted that the mobile phone was on, the gunman started shooting at the senior officer, which triggered the special forces to intervene and kill the gunman. at this point, the gendarme himself had been seriously injured. that is my conjecture of the series of events, but i'm fascinated to see what the official version recounts. we will be back to you when it becomes clearer. hugh schofield in paris. the parsons green bomber ahmed hassan has been given a life sentence and will spend a minimum of 34 years in prison. hassan was convicted of attempted murder last week after planting a bomb on a london tube train. our correspondent richard lister is at the old bailey. what did thejudge what did the judge had to say, richard? he went through the details of the case, reminding everybody that that bomb went off at the peak of the morning rush—hour last september the 15th. it was 8:20am and there were about 93 people in the carriage. after that explosion,

the carriage. after that explosion, the device only partially exploded and could have been a lot worse, but some 23 people were treated for burns, and another 28 people were treated for injuries they received as they rushed to get away from the scene. the trial heard evidence that hassan had talked to colleagues and friends at his university, that he had a duty to hate britain because he blamed coalition forces for the death of his father in iraq. there was evidence he had looked at extremist material and had planned this operation very carefully. it was only pure luck that the bomb he prepared, with 400 grams of high explosive and 2.2 kilos of shrapnel, did not fully exploit. the judge said: there is no doubt in my mind that you are a very dangerous and devious individual who planned this attack with ruthless determination and almost military efficiency while pretending to be a model asylum seeker. the trial also heard that there were very much two size to his character. he appeared to be a model

student, very intelligent, did very well at brooklands college and was student of the year. he was given an amazon voucher for that. but he spent that money on trying to build the bomb, which almost claimed many lives. and iraqi asylum seeker, as you say, and he was on the radar and had been referred to an anti—radicalisation programme. yellow at a number of people had referred him, concerned about the behaviour and concerned that he was vulnerable to radicalisation, and they spoke to the prevent programme, they spoke to the prevent programme, the government's the radicalisation programme, which has a number of arms. we were told by police that ahmed hassan had been engaged in this programme but had concealed what he was doing from those he was dealing with. the bbc now understand from a number of sources that not only was he not engaged with this programme, he was never even formally asked to be on it. the

channel programme, an aamodt prevent that works with young people relies on and is fundamental to the programme that it gets the consent of those involved with it. it has to bea of those involved with it. it has to be a two—way process and has to be open. it is the default position of that part of the programme that people who are thought to be at risk are approached. it is put to them and they have to give their consent. the bbc, as i say, understands that he was not only not given any indication that this was happening to him, but he did not consent to ta ke to him, but he did not consent to take part in it, either. richard, thank you very much. richard lister at the old bailey. the tape is still up and that shows

that the investigation is still very much a live one. the bench has been removed but the police tape is still up, so stillan removed but the police tape is still up, so still an ongoing investigation. i think at some point these will be taken down, these tapes. at the moment, the team that came in in their white suits are just being decontaminated over here, so it might be a case of getting all those people off scene before they consider taking the take—down. it may be that other teams need to come to the site to take photographs and samples. we don't yet know. the only way we will find out this when these tapes go down. this operation to remove this bench which many people consider the focal point of the investigation took place in the past hour or so. it started with a team of four coming hour or so. it started with a team offourcoming in hour or so. it started with a team of four coming in in quite protective uniforms to wrap the bench up in what looked like clingfilm, again, presumably for fear of any type of contamination.

that took several minutes. that was followed by another team coming in with an angle grinder to grind off the boats that were anchoring the bench to the floor. that took a few minutes. they then used a crowbar to get the bench out of its fittings, if you like, wrapped the bench up even more in if you like, wrapped the bench up even more in more if you like, wrapped the bench up even more in more plastic, and then moved that bench away from the scene altogether, took it away in a van. the whole process took something like an hourorso. the whole process took something like an hour or so. as you said, we had a statement from the metropolitan police saying that this bench, in their terms, metropolitan police saying that this bench, in theirterms, is metropolitan police saying that this bench, in their terms, is to be used ina bench, in their terms, is to be used in a possible future prosecution, in what they are describing as an enquiry into two attempted murders. that is unlike, for example, the table in the restaurant, which is the other side of the building behind me, about 100 metres or so away, the table that was believed to be used by the skripals. that table

is said to have been incinerated. they want to hold onto the bench for forensic possibilities and potential future exhibit possibilities if this we re future exhibit possibilities if this were to come to a trial at some point in the future. in terms of the area opening up, that will become clear in the next few hours. but make you are in an area that has been the focus of global attention for so long, and been the focus of global attention forso long, and i been the focus of global attention for so long, and i am guessing that some of the shots behind you are keen for things to get back to normal. —— some of the shops. yes, they have talked about business being down by 70—80%. we have a live market here two or three times a week. i spoke to one of the men here, and he said, can you tell me when it is going to open because i am not making any business

whatsoever? what you get from eve ryo ne whatsoever? what you get from everyone talking to them is that all these business people fully understand that this is a complicated police investigation, and that is obviously going to take priority. this is just and that is obviously going to take priority. this isjust one and that is obviously going to take priority. this is just one of at least five sites across salisbury where officers, forensic teams and others are investigating. of course, just in the past few days, on top of the police investigation, we have had this team from the organisation for the prohibition of chemical over to ta ke for the prohibition of chemical over to take their own independent samples to samples to prove to their satisfaction that it was for scientists at porton down had been saying, that this was a russian nerve agent. all kinds of investigations going on all across the city, and business leaders are saying it is not very nice that this is going on but they fully understand and support the police and others in what they are doing. thank you very much, duncan kennedy, in salisbury. the eu has recalled its ambassador to moscow after leaders agreed it was "highly likely" russia was responsible for a nerve agent attack in the uk.

the european council of eu leaders said there was no plausible alternative. moscow denies responsibility for the attack on a former spy and his daughter and said the eu was following an anti—russian campaign hatched in london. damian grammaticas reports. for theresa may, something new — seeing eye to eye with other eu country. they agreed with the united kingdom government's assessment that it was highly likely that russia was responsible for the terrible attack that took place on the streets of salisbury and that there was no plausible alternative explanation. and how about this for a change in tone? some gallic gallantry from the chief negotiator for theresa may. tone? some gallic gallantry from the chief negotiatorfor theresa may. he was about to be the eu leaders about his negotiation with the uk. on russia, some countries may follow britain and expel russian diplomats whom they believe our spies.

national measures will be applied. already starting from next week. from your country —— already starting from next week. from your country -- from your country? from a lot of countries. ireland is also considering expulsions. the uk expel 23 diplomats whom they believe were agents, so we would have to do a security assessment, just like they did, before that. we won't randomly expel people who are genuine diplomats. for mrs mavis has been a happier summit. the eu has closed frank too when it comes to brexit. once mrs may was out of the room, the 27 leaders agreed negotiators can begin talks about the post brexit relationship with the uk. they are offering a trade deal and partnership in areas like security and research, but with caveats. the eu guidelines for the new talks warn

that some issues still require agreement, notably over ireland and the border, if negotiations are to progress. for the future partnership, the eu says: that means that if the uk is outside of the single market and customs union, the divergence in tariffs and rules will necessitate checks and controls our borders. for theresa may, this was welcome progress. we will now be sitting down in determining those workable solutions for northern ireland but also for our future security and economic partnership, andi security and economic partnership, and i believe this is in the interests of both the uk and the eu. to get those partnerships, though, theresa may must now find a solution that keeps the irish border open, the key to the future. in a joint press conference the presidents of the eu commission and eu council reiterated that they stand in solidarity with the uk over the attack in salisbury. it is highly likely that russia is

behind this awful attack. we decided to call back our european ambassador in moscow, first to debrief him on the outcome of the development of the outcome of the development of the discussions we had yesterday night, and second, to listen to him when he is explaining what is happening in russia. this is an extraordinary measure. we never took it before. exactly, and i am not here to comment on the situation in detail, but as a result of our discussion yesterday, i expect that a numberof memberstates discussion yesterday, i expect that a number of member states will take additional measures towards russia on monday. it means that it's not the end of... of our actions. donald tusk and jean—claude juncker. some breaking news: we are hearing that a

police inspector who strangled his wife, also a police officer, and dumped his body in a lake after applying for a loan in her name has been found guilty of murder. this is the case of darren mckee, who admitted the murder of his wife nine days into the trial, but the jury has now found him guilty of murder. friends described the couple with three children as the perfect family. they were several thousand pounds in debt, and he had been applying for loans in his and his wife's names. they spent money on improvements to their house in wilmslow, cheshire. her passport and salary details, which had been accessed through the police computer by her husband,... she sent him a text m essa g e by her husband,... she sent him a

text message calling him a liar and asking, are we in such a mess? when he returned, the court heard, he killed her. convicted of murder, darren mckee. we will bring you more on that a little later on. a charity says nearly 40 per cent of cancers diagnosed in the uk every year could be avoided if people lived healthier lifestyles. cancer research uk also warns that obesity could overtake smoking as the biggest cause of the disease. dominic hughes reports. 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 54,000 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. what we're talking about here is the actions actually that each of us can take individually to reduce our risk of cancer, but also, the actions that government can take to make the environment one in which we can more easily adopt healthier behaviours. the link between cancer and our lifestyle choices, whether we smoke and drink, how much we eat and exercise, is now more obvious than ever, but as our habits change, so too does the pattern of cancer. so while there has been a gradual decline in the number of people who smoke, there has also been a fall in lung cancers, but at the same time, more and more people are becoming obese, and the danger is that

obesity could soon overtake smoking as the leading cause of cancer. obesity is a tremendous problem in this country. two thirds of the population are either overweight or obese. and when you are obese, you trigger other problems, such as diabetes, cancer, heart disease, and that is a situation that is even worse than obesity itself. a healthy diet and more exercise have left calf 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. nikki smithjoins us from cancer research uk. is there some good news here? if saying smoking is coming down from the number one slot, is that reflecting better news on smoking, orami reflecting better news on smoking, oram i being reflecting better news on smoking, or am i being optimistic here? this

research was based on work that was then seven years ago, and since then, we have seen fewer cancers related to smoking, which reflects the fact that fewer people are smoking. it is still the number one preve nta ble smoking. it is still the number one preventable cause of cancer, so if people are looking to make a change to lifestyle, stopping smoking would be the first thing to do. we are seeing an increase in the number of obesity related cancers. it is now the second biggest cause of cancer. what sort of cancers are we talking about? there are 13 kinds related to obesity, including bowel cancer, one of the most common, and hormone related cancers such as breast cancer in women. that does notjust sit there in the obese. it is releasing hormones and growth factors causing inflammation in the body which mean that cells can be more likely to divide and become

cancerous. if you like, the message on smoking has got through, taking a long time to do so, but is this the next battlefront? of the city is important to tackle. we have seen huge advances in smoking, and the government and the regulations that have been brought in her played a huge part in that. we would really like to see the government taking more action on obesity and taking it seriously. how do you regulate on lifestyle ? seriously. how do you regulate on lifestyle? what do you want to see? we think it is important to tackle childhood obesity. the advertising ofjunk food childhood obesity. the advertising of junk food to kids childhood obesity. the advertising ofjunk food to kids is banned during children's tv but not during family viewing programmes such as saturday night tv. we would like to see a ban onjunk saturday night tv. we would like to see a ban on junk food advertising on october 9pm watersheds to stop seeing the kids seeing this bombardment of junk food advertising. there are other issues, drinking and a healthy diet? yes, there are many things people can do, that could be small changes, incorporating some of

that activity into your day to day life and swapping snacks for a healthy alternative and it can make a difference. this was looking at population levels and we would like to see government supporting this, as well. thanks forjoining us. prince harry and his fiancee meghan markle have met members of the public who gathered to catch a glimpse of them in belfast. the surprise trip to northern ireland is one of a string of engagements ahead of their wedding on 19th may and their first officialjoint visit to northern ireland. the couple's tour began at the eikon centre where they were shown the work of amazing the space, a cross—community peace initiative that was launched by prince harry in september 2017. for most parts of the country the weather has been improving through the day on friday, sunshine breaking through, many places dry, but now we have the next area of cloud with patchy rain moving from the south west. you can see the area cloud,

the low—pressure system centred to the low—pressure system centred to the south of the uk but it will bring cloud and patchy outbreaks of rain in the south west and wales. overnight the cloud increases overall of england and wales, patchy outbreaks of rain, scotland and northern ireland staying dry and clear, here we have frost first thing saturday morning but largely frost free further south. we have quite a bit of cloud over england and wales through saturday but some rain in the south and west, a disappointing day, but further north, more in the way of sunshine but still showers with a wintry flavour. temperatures for most of us getting into double figures. goodbye for now. this is bbc news — our latest headlines. a gunman has been shot dead by police — after taking hostages at a supermarket in southern france. three people are reported

to have been killed. reports say the gunman, a 26—year—old moroccan, pledged allegiance to the islamic state group. in afghanistan, at least 30 civilians have been killed or wounded in a car bomb explosion in the heart of provincial capital, lashkargah. it happened near a sports stadium while a wrestling match was going on. ahmed hassan — the 18—year—old who carried out a terrorist attack on parsons green tube station is jailed for life for attempted murder. he has been ordered to serve a minimum of 34 years. in salisbury, the park bench that former spy, sergei skripal and his daughter collapsed on, has been removed by police. detectives say they want to preserve it as a potential crime exhibit, as part of the attempted murder investigation. theresa may praises what she called the "spirit of cooperation" after the european union agreed the guidelines it will follow after brexit. the terms of a transition deal have also been formally signed off. sport now on afternoon

live with hugh ferris. and hugh, england continue their world cup preparations tonight against the netherlands but manager gareth southgate has barely had time to talk about the game. yes, gareth southgate has had to think about both of these things with the escalating tensions and the language between britain and russia, it has overshadowed england's preparations this match tonight in the netherlands but also for the world cup in its entirety and it has dominated everything gareth southgate has been talking about at his press conferences. he says he has no concerns about the safety of his squad in russia and if he was a supporter he says he would go, but there are political issues and also racist issues, fears that england players might suffer abuse in russia, but southgate says the problem needs to be addressed closer to home as well. i don't think we

should just talk about racism in russia, we have got to get our own house in order there are still things going on in our country which are not correct around racism. we keep pointing the finger at russia, where we will be guests in the next couple of months but we haven't resolved the issue in our own country and until we do we should stop firing off those things elsewhere. he is referring to something he saw in the last few months, what he calls the disgusting racist abuse he has seen suffered by three england under 17 players that was delivered to him and they represent —— in a representation made to him by a member of the fa. he already has that haunted look, even before the world cup. and it's been a significant day

for england's women as well — they're up to second in the world rankings. yes, they have jumped yes, they havejumped in yes, they have jumped in front of germany. germany in the tournament they played in only finished in fourth place. it is a prestigious tournament committee makes a big difference to the rankings. england we re difference to the rankings. england were runners—up and they become number two. the usa are number one. the best for the england man was third in 2012 —— men. southampton are applying for unaffiliated senior women's team, just a few days after manchester united did the same —— an affiliated. ibrahimovic has signed a two—year deal with la galaxy, after being released from his manchester united contract. the announcement

was made through the los angeles times who say he will earn £1 million in year which is not that much when you consider the wages of most footballers these days, there was also this advert in the newspaper saying this. typically understated from ibrahimovic what he follows in the footsteps of david beckham and steven gerrard implying for la galaxy. —— in playing. only 54 runs were possible on the second day of the first test match between england and new zealand because of the bad weather but there was time for but 23 the rain new zealand with a - of was called off am} was called off in 171, and play was called off late in in auckland where the ata; a..,.,,_,:aa la aaacgaaa l”, ya; g,” f afhanistan better over the weekend. afghanistan have sealed the final qualifying place at next year's world cup after

beating ireland by five wickets in what was effectively a straight knockout for a place at the finals. the world cup has been cut now to ten teams next year that means ireland, scotland and zimbabwe or miss out. lewis hamilton was quickest in both practice sessions for the australian grand prix as the one champion looks to pick up where he left off in the formula 1 season. not much between the top three teams with red bull and ferrari not far behind. rain is expected in qualifying and the race itself, and we could be in for an exciting weekend in melbourne. you can follow that across the bbc. that is all these bought for now. —— that is all that sport now. thanks forjoining us. president trump has sacked his second national security adviser in 14 months. general hr mcmaster will be replaced byjohn bolton — a blunt former diplomat who has argued for military action against iran and north korea. chris buckler sent this report. at what sometimes appears to be

a constantly changing white house, president trump's latest appointment could mark the dawning of a new era in american foreign policy. with a customary tweet, donald trump announced that effective next month, ambassadorjohn bolton would be his new national security adviser, replacing hr mcmaster, with whom the president had clashed for months. bolton is a hawkish hardliner, who served in the bush presidency. he has called for the iran nuclear deal to be scrapped, supported military action against north korea, and he brings a clearly interventionist voice into the trump inner circle. breaking just moments ago... he has long been a right—wing commentator for fox news and he chose the network to give his first thoughts about his new job. i've never been shy about what my views are, but frankly, what i've said in private now is behind me, at least effective april 9th, and the important thing is what the president says

and what advice i give him. there have been a lot of people leaving the doors of this white house, and hr mcmaster‘s departure had long been predicted — although only a week ago, president trump's team were playing down such talk. the president spoke to a number of staff this morning, reassuring them that there were personnel changes — no immediate personnel changes at this time and that people should not be concerned — we should do exactly what we do every day, and that is come to work and do the very best job that we can. but there is a changing of the guard, and with mike pompeo as secretary of state and john bolton as national security adviser, donald trump is surrounding himself with tougher—talking foreign policy advisers. that may concern some, who feel their predecessors were a moderating influence, and all this change comes amid difficult diplomatic questions for america about russia, iran, and the planned summit between president trump

and the north korean leader, kim jong—un. chris buckler, bbc news. china has published a list of more than 100 american products which may be hit by import duties — in retaliation for president trump's plans to impose tariffs on up to $60 billion worth of chinese goods. markets fell across asia, as investors worried about a trade war. robin brant reports. if there's going to be a trade war china will target america's fruit. strawberries and other berries exported by this californian firm are on the list to be hit by a 15% price hike. among the 128 items named, china is also targeting pork, steel, nuts and wine, all of it coming here from the us. this nascent trade war started over cheap steel made here and sent to america, where president trump said it's killed jobs.

as it announced its planned retaliation, china said it won't stand idly by. translation: china doesn't want a trade war to happen and it won't provoke a trade war, but we're not afraid of a trade war and we won't dodge it. this is a dispute that has been brewing for decades. american firms have long been in china, but some are forced to go into joint ventures with local firms, forced to hand over their technology. they say it has long been unfair. the business community has been feeling a growing sense of frustration with the lack of progress, so from that perspective, yes, we are pleased that the administration is taking a more forceful set of measures with the chinese government. this falling out over trade between these two men has already cost billions. all asian markets dropped today. china has made it clear it will up the ante if america imposes these tariffs, and it has a record of stoking trade disputes. this is the biggest starbucks in the world, and it's right

here in the heart of shanghai. it's a symbol of america's continuing cultural and commercial push into china. but posh coffee could get caught up in any trade war. china has portrayed the us measures as an assault on free trade. state media may also see it as an assault on china's people, who could be encouraged to look for an alternative to america. robin brant, bbc news in shanghai. european leaders have said they will take further measures against russia over the poisoning of a former spy in britain. president putin has reacted angrily — and called for the russian people to unite behind him — during what he called a ‘challenging time'. this morning, a convoy of vehicles left the british embassy in moscow, before the deadline set by the kremlin for 23 diplomats to leave. sarah rainsford sent this report. they came out applauding in solidarity. british embassy staff in moscow watched as their colleagues took their last drive through these gates.

on board the buses were the 23 diplomats being expelled from russia along with their families. they'd been given a week to pack. but they left just as the eu is increasing its support for britain and hardening its stance against moscow. the eu ambassador here has been called back to brussels for consultations. russia's foreign minister has quickly lashed back, accusing britain of frantically forcing its allies into a confrontation over the skripal case. officials here insist there is no evidence russia poisoned the double agent. translation: we regret the eu chose to follow in the wake of another anti—russian campaign launched by london and its allies with the obvious purpose of creating yet another obstacle for normalising the situation on the european continent. as for reports that other countries might now expel russian diplomat, the kremlin spokesman said he would comment on that if and when it happens.

vladimir putin himself is showing no signs of concern. today he came out to thank the nation for re—electing him by a landslide. he urged russians to unite in what he called a complex time with challenges at home and abroad. his prestige project, the world cup, is still on course for this summer. in a moment the business news.

first a look at the headlines on afternoon live. a gunman has been killed by police — after klling at least three people and taking hostages at a supermarket in south west france. ahmed hassan — the teenager who carried out a bomb attack on a london tube train — has been sentence to life at the old bailey and will serve a minimum of 34 years. british diplomats ordered out of russia in the row over the salisbury nerve agent attack have started to leave moscow. here's your business headlines on afternoon live. stock markets on edge. european shares are down following falls in the us on thursday and on the asian markets overnight. investors fear a trade war — as president trump's import tariffs before heathrow airport , e... asa—fa ffriélg mps say they want tougher measures to protect passengers

from higher prices — and protect neighbours from extra noise. the transport committee said there should be a night flight ban of seven hours, and a package of compensation for local communities. riff::‘::"1“fffi age... ~:;: : riff—f: "’ f" , fl f’f,;f:e::/"“‘:’:’ 7 5:1; a? ”17,111? _”7 a ,,:i, f’f,;f:e::/"“‘:’:’ 7 5:1; ;:’ 7717"; eafl lot. is there a wider problem? yes. retail data showed there was a rise

in sales in supermarkets but falling trade at all other types of stores. as consumers choose to spend their money on essential items. a number of retailers and casual dining outlets have failed orface having to radically restructure their businesses. both toys r us and maplin have fallen into administration. fashion chain new look this week secured an agreement with its creditors to close 60 uk stores and cut 1,000 jobs. in the restaurant sector, jamie's italian, burger chain byron and prezzo are closing outlets and laying off staff. so what is next going to do about its fall in profits? it said that it planned to roll out more concessions across its store after trying out a number of new services at its shop in manchester's arndale centre. these include: a florist, a prosecco bar, a restaurant, a children's activity centre, a cafe, a card and stationery shop, a barber and "shortly a car showroom". really?

so trying to lure shoppers in with more of an experience. earlier we spoke to sam dover, a retail analyst at mintel, about why next‘s shares are up even as its profits are down. a lot of the results today, although they are bad, they were too big spectre because it was driven by the first half of the year when next had range issues as they admitted so they lost focus of what the customer wanted but they have now- it they lost focus of what the customer war that nut they have now- it they lost focus of what the customer war that nu why! have now- it they lost focus of what the customer war that nu why it nave now- it they lost focus of what the customer war that nu why it nave n as - it they lost focus of what the customer war that nu why it nave n as in". and that is whyitisnatasbad-as might —— ——— —r is — git seeing is; k unsurprisingly shares

in facebook have dropped after what's been a pretty terrible week? yes — investors reacting to the news that cambridge analytica — the constultancy — may have improperly used data from millions of facebook users on behalf of political clients. why might that affect share price? well, it's because advertisers are telling facebook that "enough is enough". many of them are worried about reputational risk — by being associated with a platform that was invovled in a breach that left millions of users' information open to being exploited. it has also emerged that isba, a trade body which represents major uk advertisers, is going to meet facebook to discuss what's gone on. here to tell us more

is dr stephanie hare, a technology researcher. i wonder if facebook is the kind of company where it has ingrained itself so much into people's lives that it itself so much into people's lives thatitis itself so much into people's lives that it is too big to really file? that is one thing we will be looking at with this story, will we see people leaving facebook and also will we see people notjoining facebook at the same rate? there are user metrics we can look at in the next few months, even in the coming days, to see if people are voting with their feet. it is interesting when you look at the pattern of user growth, they are still increasing the number of people but not at the rate they once were. that is right, but the amount of time that users in

the united states are spending on facebook has been going down, so growth is largely in other countries, asia and africa and latin america, and there are different attitudes about privacy all over the world and this story is only beginning to start. cambridge analytica story will have greater resonance in the uk and the united states compared to other markets where facebook is hoping to grow. forgive me for sounding cynical, but we have seen advertisers threaten other online platforms before, it happened with youtube and google, but then those adverts by and large are still there. is it a case of the advertisers wanting to extract a price reduction and then business continues as normal? this is a very good point, we need to see if they will be any regulatory change with facebook and whether any other whistle—blowers come forward and if the story is to get even worse. that

could make advertisers nervous because they don't want to be associated with something that is improper. that is what we are looking at at the moment, but it is too early to tell. everyone else is waiting to see what mark zuckerberg is going to be doing and the consensus seems to be he is not doing enough with his statement but we have not seen any hard lawsuits being fired. congress and the house of commons have invited mark zuckerberg to testify in the summer. not the same as saying you have to do come here and explain yourself, so this is early days. mark zuckerberg was slow to acknowledge this and issued his apology, what you think facebook needs to do now to stop the downward flow of their shares? —— what do you think. to stop the downward flow of their shares? -- what do you think. you

could say he was several years to slow, if the whistle—blower hadn't come forward and we did not have the crusading journalism he might not have acknowledged the situation at all, and facebook have known about this since 2017. what can he do about this going forward? not much. the data is out there, along with all the other data that has been stolen from things like yahoo and others. facebook won't be able to get that back, the matter what nice words we have heard this week. —— no matter. stephanie, thanks for joining us. studio: view, cynical? almost as much as you, simon. and now the markets. europe's leading markets are all lower — though the ftse100 in london not

down as much as the main indices in frankfurt and paris. look at this though — next — despite its difficulties is up 8%! so there must be something that investors are feeling optimistic about. perhaps because the results are what the bosses predicted. at the other end of the scale smiths group sank after the engineering group reported a weaker first—half profit than expected. both profit and revenue fell short of analysts' expectations. the markets here reflecting the fall on the asian markets overnight. investors feeling nervous about a possible trade war after president trump announced traiffs on up to $60 billion of chinese goods. thanks forjoining us. nearly all the 150 whales stranded in western australia have died, in spite of efforts to save them. a mission by the authorities and volunteers

was underway to try and herd out to sea six short—finned pilot whales who were still alive. pilot whales are prone to mass strandings, but the large number involved is unusual. time for a look at the weather. here's sarah keith—lucas. the weather has been slowly improving for most parts of the country with sunshine breaking through, this is the scene in cambridgeshire, quite a bit of blue sky. we have more clout towards the north and it was a cloudy start in the south west of england, this was the south west of england, this was the scene in devon. more cloud in the scene in devon. more cloud in the south—west of england and wales, you can see the area cloud here on the satellite image, but for the rest of the country the cloud eases towards the east and there are clear skies, so late sunshine and that is when we have the cloud increasing

including patchy rain initially for wales and the south—west, and that will drift further north and east over most of england and wales overnight. further north we have clearer skies. we are likely to see a frost in the north first thing saturday morning but milder and free of frost in the south. the weekend is not looking too bad, some sunshine and dry weather, a few showers especially in the north—west and temperatures fairly average the time of year. looking at saturday, a cloudy start, with if you patchy outbreaks of rain slowly working their way east would —— with a few. also show was coming in on the north—westerly breeze, falling as snow and sleet on the heels of scotland. most of us getting into double figures but feeling disappointing with the cloudy skies

on sunday. england and wales have most of the cloud moving away, so more sunshine, and a similar day for scotla nd more sunshine, and a similar day for scotland and northern ireland, with a few isolated showers to the north and west of scotland but try elsewhere. temperatures a few degrees warmer, 10—13, sunday, it should feel present with the light winds, but next week it will be u nsettled. winds, but next week it will be unsettled. rain around and then things looked to be turning colder in the run—up to easter. goodbye for now. hello, you're watching afternoon live — i'm simon mccoy. today at 4: a gunman in france, who'd ta ken hostages at a supermarket in the southwestern town of trebes, has been shot dead by police. the attacker is reported to have killed at least three people. he had proclaimed allegiance to so—called islamic state. translation: we didn't expect this

to happen in such a quiet, small—town, but unfortunately, this threat is something that affects us all, wherever we are. ahmed hassan — the teenager who carried out a terrorist attack on parsons green tube station — is sentenced to life at the old bailey and will serve a minimum of 34 years. the investigation into the attempted murders of sergei skripal and his daughter yulia skripal continues — experts remove the park bench they were sitting on, when they were found unwell in salisbury. coming up: all the sport with lizzie, and the preparations for russia are under way. it is getting serious for southgate with less than three months until england's world cup campaign gets on. tonight, they play the netherlands in amsterdam, one of two friendlies. and sarah has the weather. a decent afternoon,

simon. the temperatures are going up and down. it was cold and wintry last weekend, more springlike this weekend with sunshine, but next week it will turn colder again. details and have an hour. also coming up — the campaign to have one of english football's first black players honoured as a world war one hero hello, everyone. this is afternoon live. i'm simon mccoy. armed police have killed a suspect who shot dead three people in a shooting spree in southern france. the gunman hijacked a car and then took hostages at a supermarket in the town of trebes. the man, named by ministers as 26—year—old redouane lakdim, had pledged allegiance to the islamic state group. a policeman who volunteered to take the place of one of the hostages

has been praised for his heroism. he was seriously injured. simonjones has this report. another terror attack in france, this time, a shooting spree in the south of the country. a car hijacked and hostages ta ken south of the country. a car hijacked and hostages taken at this supermarket. it prompted a huge police response, led by counterterror officers. the french president at the eu summit was kept up president at the eu summit was kept up to date with developments. translation: it is a terror attack. the police, and in particular the gendarmerie, intervened in a coordinated manner after what was first attack against police officers. please allow me to express our utmost support to all those addressing the situation. our utmost support to all those addressing the situationm our utmost support to all those addressing the situation. it had begun around 15 minutes' drive from trebes, in carcassonne, the gunman

hijacking a car, injuring the passenger and shutting the driver. would the policeman outjogging. thenin would the policeman outjogging. then in trebes he charged into the supermarket shouting support for so—called islamic state. translation: he went into the supermarket and supermarket and fired, and killed two people. at that moment, immediately, the gendarmerie intervened and organise the escape of the people who were there. the officer with those men voluntarily swapped himself for a hostage that the terrorist then let go. and brought down the terrorist. the gunman has been named as redouane radkim from morocco. he was known the petty thief but not a radicalised terrorist. a short time ago gerard collomb, the french interior minister, gave more details — let's listen to what he had to say. translation: there were three victims. the gunman was shot down by

the special forces. this victims. the gunman was shot down by the specialforces. this is victims. the gunman was shot down by the special forces. this is what happened. this morning, the gunman shot at the car driver, who was seriously injured. another person was also injured. the gunman then left the scene, came across a group of riot police and also injured one of riot police and also injured one of them. he then arrived in trebes at the supermarket, walked into the supermarket, shot and injured two people. the gendarmerie intervened immediately and were able to get one of the people out of the supermarket. the lieutenant colonel voluntarily swapped with one of the hostages. and he stayed with the

terrorist inside the supermarket. the terrorist fired. the special forces launched a raid and shot down the terrorists. his name was redouane radkim. he was 26 years old. he was known by law enforcement services after committing some ordinary law offences. we did not think he was radicalised, but he was already being watched. the lieutenant colonel had left his telephone on the table. we were able to hear what was going on, and it's when we heard the shot that the special police decided to launch a

raid. on the supermarket. we are now in the process of informing families. i would like to pay tribute to the n and colonel's courage in deciding the swap places with one of the hostages. this was a heroic act on his part. something thatis heroic act on his part. something that is typical of the police forces who are committed to protecting the public. he was from carcassonne and committed his first offence is there before driving to trebes. we didn't expect this to happen in such a quiet, small—town, but u nfortu nately, quiet, small—town, but unfortunately, this threat is

something that affects us all, wherever we are. the police were able to intervene very early on in this case. thankfully. we've been keeping across twitter on afternoon live. the french interior minister has been tweeting in the last few minutes. he says: here's at the special police headquarters. he paid tribute to the actions of the special security forces and described them as a credit to france. also, i'm just hearing that a french newspaper has identified

the gunman as redouane rakdim, a moroccan. they say he was very active on a website related to salad dressing, related to the hardline sunni islam. hugh schofield is in paris. described the reaction to this event. there was a lot of satisfaction that it was dealt with separately by police. it was of course a tragic event and there are three people dead, but be security forces have been primed to react quickly to this event and there is a certain amount of satisfaction in

that. the gendarmes responded quickly and local forces were in shortly after that. we need to highlight this act of heroism, which is certainly how the interior minister referred to it, that the chief of the squadron of gendarmes will arrive first was the man who volunteered to go into the supermarket, to replace a hostage or hostages, and in doing so, left his phone open so that there was a clear line of contact, a line of, you know... comprehension, because they could not understand what was going on inside. and that led to the moment when they intervene, hearing that the gunman had opened fire, a p pa re ntly that the gunman had opened fire, apparently on the gendarme. all of that smacks of efficiency and indeed heroism on the part of this one officer, which creates a great deal officer, which creates a great deal of satisfaction, i'm quite sure. on the other hand, there is the co nsta nt the other hand, there is the constant awareness that what this shows is the ever present danger of localised terrorism. and what

eve ryo ne localised terrorism. and what everyone is saying is that the distinction is now quite clear between what happened before and what is happening now. before, there was the type of bataclan— style attack, where there was organisation of men, material and money sent from a foreign land, and it was a huge enterprise which resulted in mayhem and carnage. what has happened since then,in and carnage. what has happened since then, in the name, is something much more simple but equally deadly and quite frightening, which is that individual local french people radicalising by themselves or in groups, always on the internet for social media, most of whom come from difficult backgrounds in the sense that they have been involved in petty criminality and have built up a hatred of french authority and symbols of the french state, which then translate at some moment into a radical version of islam. and this profile is exactly what fits this quy: profile is exactly what fits this guy, acting in an obscure region of france, a part of france which is

far better known for its tourism than for anything else. and if it can happen there, the message is, it can happen there, the message is, it can happen there, the message is, it can happen anywhere. thank you very much, do you —— hugh schofield. the two lorry drivers sentence for being responsible for causing a pile—up that killed eight people on the m1 has been sentenced to prison for 14 yea rs. has been sentenced to prison for 14 years. he has been disqualified from driving for 17 years. the other driver involved, david wagstaff, has got 40 months for a count of death by careless driving and four counts of causing serious injury by keller striving. he has been banned for three years. he admitted eight cou nts three years. he admitted eight counts of causing death by dangerous driving. this follows the case where

the minibus was crushed between two make vehicles. the accused came to a com plete make vehicles. the accused came to a complete stop in the slow lane. he was twice the legal limit. wagstaff had his vehicle on cruise control and was chatting on his hands—free set when he crashed into the back of the minibus at 56 miles an hour, forcing it under a lorry. this happened near newport pagnell in buckinghamshire. six men, to make women, including mrjoseph cordina killed in the smash, while former others were seriously injured. they had been on their way from nottingham to london to catch a coach to disneyland. the accused had been stationary in the slow lane for more than 12 minutes, the court was told, despite miles of hard shoulder being available to him. it also emerged that he did not have a

professional licence, after it had been revoked by the authorities. that was something he had not told his employers. he has received 14 yea rs his employers. he has received 14 years for eight counts of death by dangerous driving, we will talk to our correspondent, who covered that case. she was in court and will bring us the latest soon. the parsons green bomber ahmed hassan has been given a life sentence and will spend a minimum of 34 years in prison. hassan was convicted of attempted murder last week after planting a bomb on a london tube train. our correspondent richard lister is at the old bailey. richard. thejudge went richard. the judge went through basically what happened in the days and weeks

before the parsons green bomber, ackerman hassan, planted this device. he went into detail about a he made it, ordering things from the internet and going to local stores to buy the shrapnel that he needed, knives, bolts and nuts that he packed around this device, 400 grams of high explosive. thejudge packed around this device, 400 grams of high explosive. the judge said packed around this device, 400 grams of high explosive. thejudge said it was only pure luck that this device did not fully explode, an incident which would have caused numerous fatalities. he said the hassan, there is no doubt that you are a very dangerous and devious individual. you quietly went about planning and executing this bomb attack with the ruthless determination and almost military efficiency while, he said, appearing to bea efficiency while, he said, appearing to be a dedicated asylum —— a model asylu m to be a dedicated asylum —— a model asylum seeker. he came to this country in 2015 and enrolled at brooklands university to study media

will shortly after, he did exceptionally well, becoming student of the year. it was very engaged in what he was doing, apparently, but about a month before this attack last september, he began assembling the ingredients for this device and put it on this train, intending, said thejudge, to kill as many people as possible. and he had featured on the map in terms of the prevent programme, hadn't equally you may recall —— hadn't he? he was part of the prevent scheme, aimed at helping people who may be targeted by a radicalisation. the bbc understands that ahmed hassan did not give his consent to take pa rt did not give his consent to take part in the programme. the bbc has

heard from a number of sources in a position to know that he wasn't even approached. one of the organisations that would have been up involved, surrey county council, has declined to a nswer surrey county council, has declined to answer a specific question about whether he agreed to take part in the programme. the bbc understands he did not. they released a statement last week saying that agencies from the staff on the panel met with hassan and he received extensive support from these agency. our understanding is that that was not under the auspices of the show programme “— not under the auspices of the show programme ——i not under the auspices of the show programme —— i was dart—mac not under the auspices of the show programme -- i was dart-mac richard, thank you. policeman darren mckie has been

found guilty of murdering his former wife. in salisbury, the park bench that the former spy sergei skripal and his daughter yulia, collapsed on has been removed by police. detectives say they want to preserve it as a potential crime exhibit, as part of the investigation into the attempted murders. our correspondent duncan kennedy is in salisbury. that investigation is still very much ongoing, duncan. yes, it is. right across the city, five sites in all, but of course, here, the bench is where it all began nearly three weeks ago. the skripals sat down at this bench and were found by a members of the public, poisoned and foaming at the mouth. since then, the bench has been covered by a tent, which was removed today. over

the course of an hour this afternoon, to make teams moved in. the first came in to wrap up the bench in what looked like clingfilm. obviously, all part of the decontamination process to make sure no one was touching that bench. all the men have white chemical hazard uniforms. shortly after that, another team came in to grind off the bolts holding the bench to the ground, which took a few more minutes. they then took out a crowbar and levered the bench of the position, studied into an upright position, studied into an upright position, added more plastic covering to it, not taking any chances at all with the contamination on this, and then carry that bench to a waiting white van, where it was taken away. we do not know where it was taken, or we have heard from the metropolitan police, who are in charge of the investigation, is that it may form pa rt investigation, is that it may form part of a potential crime at exhibit. the table in the restaurant where the skripals had their meal,

we understand, has been destroyed. as far as the bench is concerned, they decided they have future plans for that bench. one imagines it could, for example, become an exhibit in a court case if they ever bring anybody to trial for this. as far as the bench is concerned, that is now gone. as you can see from behind me, the police and the tapes are still up here, much to the annoyance of the businesses here, who would like to see things get back to normal. we keep being told by them and others that they fully understand that this operation is very complex and could last many months, as we have been told by the met. thank you, duncan. let's go to christian fraser, who is in brussels, because events in salisbury are the focus of attention lama as well. they took up a large pa rt lama as well. they took up a large part of the summit yesterday. there was a trilateral meeting between the

prime minister, emmanuel macron and german chancellor angela merkel. after that meeting, at which intelligence was shared, or the leaders agreed quite a robust statement in which they said it was highly likely russia was involved and they couldn't see any other plausible explanation, and they were extremely concerned about it. from theresa may's perspective, thatis it. from theresa may's perspective, that is as much as she could have hoped for — a unanimous vote of confidence from other eu leaders. the real question is, what sort of concrete action are they now prepared to take? we heard today that probably 5—10 countries will ta ke that probably 5—10 countries will take action soon, the likes of lithuania, poland, ireland france, the czech republic have all said they will examine diplomats in their countries and if they are there on the falls pretences, they will expel them. other people are waiting to see the results of the testing by

the ocdw. the eu's powers are limited but they are recalling their ambassador in moscow. years highly likeable — — ambassador in moscow. years highly likeable —— likely that russia is behind this awful attack. we decided to call black our european ambassador in moscow, first to debrief him on the outcome and development of the discussions of yesterday night, and second, to listen to him when he is explaining what is happening in russia. this extraordinary measure and we have never taken extraordinary measure and we have never ta ken it extraordinary measure and we have never taken it before. exactly, and lam not never taken it before. exactly, and i am not here to... i expect the

numberof i am not here to... i expect the number of states will take additional measures towards russia on monday. it means it is not the end of our actions. so, pretty unequivocal. i was thinking, i end of our actions. so, pretty unequivocal. iwas thinking, i have been to a number of these summits over the years, but can britain have got so much one summit in one go. i can't think of a summit that has been as been as successful as this one has been for the british side. not only did they get full support on russia, but they got agreement on the tariffs imposed by america. and they got some big green lights when it came to brexit. the smiles which we haven't seen at all in this process until now... very much, i think there is a more optimistic attitude on all parts. they know there are some sizeable obstacles, particularly when it comes to the

withdrawal agreement, notably the irish border, the issue of governance and the role of the ecj. that will take a lot of work, but the inertia that was there last year before the joint treaty was signed as gone, and in its place, i think, isa as gone, and in its place, i think, is a sense that they need to move quickly to getting a framework on how to operate the future relationship in place. the irish are pushing to get things done on the irish border as early asjune for the next summit here in brussels. everyone seems to have a common purpose, but whether or not they can get over their disagreements remains to be seen. christian fraser, in brussels, thank you. car manufacturer suzuki has axed tv adverts featuring ant and dec after ant mcpartlin was charged with drink driving. (oov) the car firm will still sponsor the last two episodes the car firm will still sponsor the last two episodes of the series of itv‘s saturday night takeaway, but the duo will not

appear in its commercials. mr mcpartlin was charged following a collision in london on sunday, and this weekend's saturday night takeaway ha been cancelled. time for a look at the weather. sarah is here, and that isn't. this is italy, so you can see the blossom on the trees, but they have also had really heavy snowfall towards the end of march sitting on top of that blossom as well. the snow has caused disruption across parts of italy at the moment. some really contrasting weather across southern parts of europe at the moment. we have the wintry weather there, but not far away, if we look at the satellites image, you can away, if we look at the satellites image, you can see away, if we look at the satellites image, you can see the snow sitting across italy. you can also make out quite a lot of sand on the satellite picture, which has been pushing from the sahara, heading north towards greece and crete and into turkey. really dusty, sandy conditions

across greece. that is causing a sepia colour to appear in the sky in greece. we thought we had seen the back end of snow here but we may be disappointed. temperature is going up disappointed. temperature is going up and down. it is reasonably mild and springlike at the moment, but things will head colder in the course of next week. this is argyll & bute, and a similar picture for many parts of the country. we have the next area of low cloud and pressure moving its way in from the south—west at the moment, bringing a cloudy and damp day, particularly across england and wales on saturday. the rain is already heading in across parts of wales, cornwall and the channel isles. the far north of scotland should see the rain easing away and much of the country ends the day on a drying out. more patchy rain moves north

and east overnight across england and east overnight across england and wales and it should be mostly frost free here. there are clear skies and subzero temperatures to start the day on sunday, so chilly for scotland and northern ireland. through the weekend, a lot of dry weather. spells of sunshine, particularly by the time we get to sunday. temperatures this weekend are around average, but could be colder by next weekend. fairly cloudy on saturday across england and wales with a few patchy outbreaks of rain. those are becoming confined to the south and east. more signs are for the furrow for most of us are just about seeing those temperatures into double figures but it will feel fairly cool valuer stuck under the cloudy skies across england and wales. that area of cloud eventually clears off towards the south and east overnight and into the early hours of sunday, giving a chilly start with clear

skies and light winds. scotland will see the lowest temperatures first thing, and there could be a such a frosty there. through the day on sunday we expect the brighter day of the weekend, so eventually, the cloud clears off towards the surface, then we see a return to sunnier skies. still one or two showers moving in on that north—westerly breeze, probably confined to the north—west of scotland, wintry over higher ground, but temperatures on sunday a few degrees warmer than saturday, tenth -13 degrees warmer than saturday, tenth — 13 celsius. don't get used to it, though, because things will feel less like spring next week. after an u nsettled less like spring next week. after an unsettled start, it will be colder in the run—up towards easter. don't forget that during the early hours of sunday morning we head into british time, which means the clocks are set to go forward by one hour. —— british summertime. this is bbc news — our latest headlines. a gunman has been sho dead by police — after taking hostages

at a supermarket in southern france. three people are reported to have been killed. reports say the gunman, a 25—year—old moroccan had pledged allegiance to the islamic state group. ahmed hassan — the 18—year—old who carried out a terrorist attack on parsons green tube station is jailed for life for attempted murder. he has been ordered to serve a minimum of 34 years. in salisbury, the park bench that former spy sergei skripal and his daughter collapsed on, has been removed by police. detectives say they want to preserve it as a potential crime exhibit. in afghanistan, at least 30 civilians have been killed or wounded in a car bomb explosion in the heart of provincial capital, lashkargah. it happened near a sports stadium. two lorry drivers have been sentenced for causing a pile—up that killed eight people in a minibus. ryszard masierak and david wagstaff caused the collision on the m1

in the early hours of august 26 last year. jo black is at aylesbury crown court for us. what reaction in court? some damning remarks on thejudge, what reaction in court? some damning remarks on the judge, he was talking to the first lorry driver involved in the collision, ryszard masierak, he stopped in the slow lane for around 12 minutes, and a minibus approach from behind and could not get past and had its warning lights on, and then a second lorry driven by david wagstaff collided with it. thejudge called by david wagstaff collided with it. the judge called ryszard by david wagstaff collided with it. thejudge called ryszard masierak an accomplished liar and talked about how he was twice over the legal limitand he

how he was twice over the legal limit and he said you drag yourself toa limit and he said you drag yourself to a terrible degree and he said it was unclear whether he had collapsed because of the effects of alcohol or because of the effects of alcohol or because he fell asleep —— drag yourself. —— drag yourself at their work cans of side in the lorry, although he denied they were his —— there were cans of cider. he had also given the wrong way on a straight road and the wrong way round and other drivers said his driving was dangerous and erratic and that was an understatement because of what was about to happen. he said quite how theirjourneys began beggars belief, he said he'll so took thejury began beggars belief, he said he'll so took the jury for complete idiots because he spoke about the records of other drivers —— he also took. to david wagstaff he said he had been on the phone for an hour, and that

he had not been paying attention to the road and had between nine and 11 seconds in which to put the brakes on or swerve but he had done neither. ryszard on or swerve but he had done neither. rysza rd masierak on or swerve but he had done neither. ryszard masierak has been sentenced to 14 years and david wagstaff to three years and four months. thanks forjoining us. sport now on afternoon live with lizzie greenwood hughes. and we're looking ahead to england and scotland in international action this evening. it will be in interesting one for england manager gareth southgate, two freni magistracy what shape his tea m two freni magistracy what shape his team are in, after they qualified for the world cup —— two friendly matches to see what shape his team are in. there appears to be plenty of things to ponder for southgate as to who he might want in his starting 11 not least the goalkeeping situation. tonight's game against

the netherlands is one of two friendly matches and they hope to solve their quandaries in this match and the following game against italy on tuesday. i'm pretty clear on the vast majority of the squad and if we had to play tomorrow i know the starting team i'd play. we have more opportunity now to work on things and a chance to look at different tackle systems and a chance to look at different options —— tactical systems. people in different roles so we can systems. people in different roles so we can balance off positionally where we might want to have additional numbers in the squad as well. every time you get to work with the players is a real plus full stop. scotland are hosting costa

rica at hampden park. england's footballers aren't too fussed about the rain. england's cricketers quite glad they had some. i think they need it to rain every day of the match if they are to avoid losing the first test match, but the forecast is not good. after being bowled out forjust 58 on the first day, england ari long way behind, but it is not as bad as it could be for the —— - a long way could be for the —— are a long way behind. kane williamson with his 18th test century which is a record for new zealand, but rain came down and play ended, with new zealand leading by 171. the forecast is not much better over the weekend. england will be hoping for more rain to get a draw out of this one. ireland have missed out on qualifying for the cricket world cup, after being beaten by

afghanistan who sealed a place at the finals. ireland were beaten by five wickets in what was essentially a knockout match for a place in the bud cup. the world cup has been reduced from 14 teams down to just ten teams —— a place in the world cup. mark cavendish missed the 2014 games through injury in glasgow and after aggravating a rib problem in milan last week mark cavendish says the games in australia have come too soon for his recovery. gymnast amy tinkler has been ruled out of the commonwealth games, as well, she has torn ankle ligaments. she said she was heartbroken to not be travelling to the gold coast. she joins the four times champion on the sidelines for thejohanna four times champion on the sidelines for the johanna konta will four times champion on the sidelines for thejohanna konta will begin the defence of her miami open title in about one hour. she will be up against kirsten flipkens. liam brady

has been in action with this controversial moment, where the ball seemed to go out, leah brodie retallick the point. —— liam brodie. the 21st seed from serbia winning in straight sets. just outside we have the sport relief five aside. robbie savage's team are playing for 12 straight hours and the score at the moment is 51 goals for robbie savage's team and 52 for the challenges, but there is still a way to go. that is all in aid of sport relief. more to come later. now on afternoon live —

let's go nationwide — and see what's happening around the country — in our daily visit to the bbc newsrooms around the uk. let's go to alex lovell who is in bristol for us with details of the grand opening of the much anticipated being brunel museum. tara mills is in belfast to tell us more about meghan markle and prince harry's first visit to northern ireland together. alex, what is so special about this museum ? the build—up has been long. the build-up has been long. yes, this is a real celebration of the great engineer, isambard kingdom brunel, one of the greatest engineers of the time, certainly of his time in the 1800 ‘s for the new build bridges and ships and tunnels, ra i lwa ys build bridges and ships and tunnels, railways that were longer and faster and bigger than anything before. the idea for this museum was partly

inspired. did you see the film, being john malkovich? well, in this insta nce being john malkovich? well, in this instance visitors are invited to go through brunel‘s here can now and access his brain and learn more about the man —— ear canal. he was plagued by self—doubt, and you learn more about his art. you can enjoy his art collection. there is even a school report from when he was in france, they commend his aptitude for maths and drawing but they say his behaviour was beyond approach. unlike my school report where they saidi unlike my school report where they said i talked too much. anybody who knows bristol knows that brunel is still at the heart of it. you are a west cou ntry still at the heart of it. you are a west country boy at heart. you carry him around in your heart, don't you?

i suppose so. i always think of that bridge. exactly. the bridge, the railway, it is all there. he was a celebrity in his day and that has continued. one of his greatest su ccesses was continued. one of his greatest successes was the sss continued. one of his greatest successes was the 555 great britain which was so advanced for her time, the longest passion to ship at the time, builtand the longest passion to ship at the time, built and designed in the bristol docks —— passion judgeship —— passenger ship. she was a fantastic shape. there are so many other things you can learn about the manner brunel, he smoked 48 of those cigars a day. he often fell asleep while he was smoking. he only slept

for hours a night and he did not need ten hours like me and you —— four. i'm not sure how you know that, but thanks! tara in belfast. how has prince harry and meghan's first official joint visit to northern ireland been going? it has been a very successful visit, they are at titanic belfast, but they are at titanic belfast, but they started off at a peace initiative this morning. prince harry launched an initiative here back when he was a single man but this time he brought his bride—to—be and they met young people and they proved to be a hit. the focus of the initiative is on young people and deciding on a more peaceful way forward for northern ireland and the young people said they were honoured to meet them and they felt they were very down—to—earth. and that it was down to belfast, to ageing bar which

is now a listed building, —— to a gym bar which is now a listed building, and the local couple were told about the drinks on offer. they we re told about the drinks on offer. they were told it takes 175 seconds to pour the perfect pint of guinness. it is understood prince harry had sausages and mash. meghan markle had irish shivers up crowds have gathered to meet them —— irish stew. they were giving gifts and flowers and they spoke to some in the crowd afterwards and they said prince harry offered his congratulations about last week's rugby result. oh, did he? they are now at the titanic museum. there might be some flash photography for the clearly an important visit for them and not long until the big day.

important visit for them and not long untilthe big day. the important visit for them and not long until the big day. the final pa rt long until the big day. the final part in thejigsaw long until the big day. the final part in the jigsaw of the long until the big day. the final part in thejigsaw of the uk, long until the big day. the final part in the jigsaw of the uk, they have been to scotland, england and wales but not to northern ireland. they are going to titanic belfast which maps out the history of how the ship was built and they are experiencing the sights and sounds of shipbuilding more than a hundred yea rs of shipbuilding more than a hundred years ago. they have been to a new centre encouraging innovation and new business in northern ireland, so they have touched on the main tourist attractions and got to meet a few members of the public and for meghan markle it was to get a sense of another part of the uk, the place she will be calling a permanent home after their wedding injust she will be calling a permanent home after their wedding in just eight weeks' time. there she is, getting a model of titanic. thanks forjoining us. thank you both. if you would like to see more on any

of those stories you can access them via the bbc iplayer. we go nationwide on bbc news every weekday at 430. walter tull is not a familiar name in either football, or military, history — but there is now growing recognition of the bravery he displayed during world war one. he led 26 men across a fast—flowing river on a night raid into enemy territory. now, more than 120 mps are calling for walter tull to be awarded a posthumous miltary cross. he was also one of english football's first black players — as richard conway reports. from the football field to the battlefield. walter tull is remembered. but his bravery is still not formally recognised. he was britain's first army officer and one of the english game's

first black players. he went to tottenham hotspur and then northampton town until he was set on a radically different path. england take on the netherlands tonight. ahead of the centenary of walter's death this weekend three current spurs internationals took time to learn of his bravery and the campaign to raise awareness of his legacy. he was a tottenham player. when you are at school you talk about rosa parks and martin luther king. it is a shame growing up in england i had never heard of walter and what he had been through, it is a pretty emotional moving story. born in folkestone, his parents died at an early age. he is ourgrand

he is our grand uncle. we know from the accounts what he did in the war. as a family, we will always honour and be proud of our grand uncle. walter tull‘s name is inscribed on the wall at arras. despite a law at the time that stated such men should be white. this is where walter tull‘s story ends with trying to defend against a massive german onslaught coming from the east, known as the spring offensive — it was their final attempt to try to turn the war in their favour. walter was shot and killed and his body, like that of so many men, lies under the soil. it was the sacrifice of men like walter tull which proved to be pivotal. the germans come so close to winning the first world war here. i cannot describe how close it is to a german victory. we could have been looking

at the first world war completely differently had it not been for sacrifices made by men like walter tull. walter was recommended for a military cross but it was never awarded. david —— david lammy has written to the prime minister asking for her to intervene. it may have taken 100 years but walter tull might finally be receiving the national recognition he deserves. we have got some breaking news regarding facebook. this was about one hour ago, elon musk asking, what's facebook? that is what happened. lots of

anticipation. he said, it looks lame, anyway. some people having a bit of fun with this, but not fun for facebook who have lost 2.6 million followers. at the end of what looks like a bit of fun by elon musk. in a moment the business news. first a look at the headlines on afternoon live. a gunman has been killed by police — after klling at least three people and taking hostages at a supermarket in south west france. ahmed hassan — the teenager who carried out a bomb attack on a london tube train — has been sentenced to life at the old bailey and will serve a minimum of 34 years. in salisbury, the park

bench that former spy sergei skripal and his daughter collapsed on, has been removed by police. here's your business headlines on afternoon live. stock markets on edge. furtherfalls on the us markets — and european shares have closed lower tracking big losses on the asian markets overnight. investors fear a trade war — as president tump threatens to bring in tariffs on up to $60 billion of imports from china. that's on top of the import tariffs on steel and aluminium that are due to kick in later today. in response, china has threatened tariffs on up to $3 billion of us imports. before heathrow airport expansion plans are approved, mps say they want tougher measures to protect passengers from higher prices — and protect neighbours from extra noise. the transport committee said there should be a night flight ban of seven hours, and a package of compensation

for local communities. what next for next? the retailer says it's had the toughest year for quarter of a century. its annual profits were down 8% last year. it's the second year in a row that profits have fallen. before tax, the chain made £726 million. in its high street shops, sales fell by 7%. but online, they actually went up by 11%. it blamed "a weak clothing market" but also admitted making mistakes about product ranges. mark zuckerberg won't be too bothered by elon musk but he will be worried about advertisers. many of them are threatening to pull the plug. yes — investors reacting to the news that cambridge analytica — the consultancy —

may have improperly used data from millions of facebook users on behalf of political clients. a number of advertisers are telling facebook that "enough is enough". many of them are worried about reputational risk — by being associated with a platform that was invovled in a breach that left millions of users' information open to being exploited. it has also emerged that isba, a trade body which represents major uk advertisers, is going to meet facebook to discuss what's gone on. so next profits are down but shares are up? yes, this is counterintuitive. the shares were amongst the biggest rises on the ftse100, up almost 8% at times. those results were broadly what the retailer predicted so there were no nasty surprises for investors. perhaps they also like what the chain has got planned

to deal with the fall in profits. they said much of it was self—inflicted. interesting face. yes, taking responsibility might go down well with investors. it said that it planned to roll out more concessions across its store after trying out a number of new services at its shop in manchester's arndale centre. these include — a florist, a prosecco bar, a restaurant, a children's activity centre, a cafe, a card and stationery shop, a barber and "shortly a car showroom". a prosecco bar and a car showroom in the same place, that is a recipe for disaster! a choppy end to the week for the stock markets? yes, the threat of a trade war between the us and china — the world's two largest economies — sent many world stock markets lower. big falls on the asian markets overnight — that was followed by falls on the european indices including the ftse100 which have ended the day sharply lower. over in the us, markets are also

lower. when times are uncertain, investors move money from riskier stocks in safer assets like the japanese yen and government bonds. as well as threatening to impose tariffs on $60 billion of chinese imports — prompting a retaliatory measure by china — president trump has also today threatened to block a spending bill at home, which could cause a third government shutdown this year. joining me now is shaniel ramjee, senior investment manager at pictet asset management. sharp falls amongst investors around the world. shares lower everywhere and that can be put down to the greater amount of uncertainty mostly because of this increased tension in terms of trade war. we know higher ta riffs create lower terms of trade war. we know higher tariffs create lower growth and higher prices and that is not good

for profit and i think all across the world shares have been feeling that higher level of uncertainty that higher level of uncertainty that we saw, 50 billion worth of trade identified by the united states, the trump administration, that might infringe on intellectual property that the us is criticising china for using inappropriately, a 20% tax on that is quite a number although still fall relative to the global trade that the united states and china do. we have seen a muted response from china, being more restrained in how they act but markets do not like the uncertainty. it is interesting, the facebook effect. after the week facebook has had, their shares are lower. it is also having an effect on other tech stocks. we have to remember, data is one of the most important resources

to the globe and understanding how to the globe and understanding how to use it and when it is appropriate to use it and when it is appropriate to use it and when it is appropriate to use it and analysing that data is becoming under increased scrutiny so whether you are facebook or google or anyone who uses and manipulates data this will be incredibly important going forward. thanks for joining us. and a quick look at the markets. europe's leading markets are all lower — though the ftse100 in london not down as much as the main indices in frankfurt and paris. look at this though — next — despite its difficulties is up 8%! at the other end of the scale smiths group sank after the engineering group reported a weaker first—half profit than expected. the markets here reflecting the fall

on the asian markets overnight. we are seeing these further falls in the united states. the markets are all connected in this way. that's all the business news. that's it from your afternoon live team for today, next the bbc news at five with jane hill. time for a look at the weather. here's sarah keith—lucas. the weather has been slowly improving for most parts of the country with sunshine breaking through. this is the scene in cambridgeshire. quite a bit of blue sky. we have more cloud towards the north and it was a cloudy start in the south west of england — this was the scene in devon.

more cloud in the south—west of england and wales, too. you can see the area of cloud here on the satellite image, but for the rest of the country the cloud eases towards the east and there are clear skies, so late sunshine and that is when we have the cloud increasing. patchy rain initially for wales and the south—west, and that will drift further north and east over most of england and wales overnight. further north we have clearer skies. we are likely to see a frost in the north first thing saturday morning but milder and free of frost in the south. the weekend is not looking too bad. some sunshine and dry weather, a few showers especially in the north—west and temperatures fairly average for the time of year. looking at saturday, a cloudy start, with a few patchy outbreaks of rain slowly working their way east.

also showers coming in on the north—westerly breeze, falling as snow and sleet on the hills of scotland. most of us getting into double figures but feeling disappointing with the cloudy skies on saturday. england and wales have most of the cloud moving away sunday, so more sunshine, and a similar day for scotland and northern ireland, with a few isolated showers to the north and west of scotland but dry elsewhere. temperatures a few degrees warmer, 10—13 on sunday, it should feel pleasant with the light winds, but next week it will be unsettled. rain around and then things look to be turning colder in the run—up to easter. goodbye for now. today at 5:00: a gunman who'd taken hostages at a supermarket in southwestern france has been shot dead by police. the attacker killed three people —

local officials say he had claimed allegiance to so—called islamic state. a policeman offered to take the place of the hostages and was inside when special forces stormed the building. translation: the lieutenant colonel from the police, who was with his men, voluntarily swapped himself for a hostage, who the terrorist then let go. we'll have the latest. the other main stories on bbc news at 5... ahmed hassan, the teenager who carried out a terrorist attack on the london underground, is given a life sentence, with a minimum term of 34 years. a show of solidarity for theresa may from the european union — as it recalls its ambassador to russia following the nerve