this is bbc news. i'm rebecca jones the headlines at 11:00. detectives investigating the poisoning of a former russian spy and his daughter believe the pairfirst came into contact with the nerve agent at the front door of their home in salisbury. the foreign secretary, borisjohnson, says the salisbury attack crystallised a "global wave of revulsion" against the kremlin as 27 countries expel russian diplomats. in the hope you will agree with me that i think the kremlin underestimated the strength of global feeling. the serial sex offenderjohn worboys will remain in prison after two of his victims went to the high court to challenge plans to release him. the rift betweenjeremy corbyn and jewish leaders deepens after they demanded he disown supporters who had vilified anti—semitism protesters.

the leader of north korea, kim jong—un, has been visiting beijing for talks with president xi. a money—back scheme for returning glass, plastic bottles and cans is to be introduced in england to boost recycling and cut waste. and thousands of fans of sir ken dodd join friends and family at his funeral at liverpool's anglican cathedral. good evening and welcome to bbc news. there's been a major new development in the investigation into the chemical attack in salisbury which has left the former russian spy sergei skripal and his daughter yulia critically ill in hospital. the metropolitan police say that

as a result of detailed forensic and scientific examination they believe the skripals first came into contact with the nerve agent at their home address. our security correspondent gordon corera gave us the latest from scotland yard. it isa it is a significant update from police. that scientific and forensic trail has been crucial to this investigation as they have looked to try and match the movements of the skripals with contamination of the nerve agent. that's been supported by police and military scientists from the port and downland, preserving evidence and avoiding getting contaminated themselves. that has led them to the conclusion that the skripals were poisoned most likely at the rowan home and specifically the highest concentration of the nerve agent they found was on the front door handle. —— their own home. i

understand from scientists it is possible to administer this as a kind of gloopy substance which could be smeared onto the door handle and could explain why two is found in so many other places like the car door and the restaurant because the skripals may have transferred it further with the rowan hands. while sigma begin it doesn't tell us who did it. it makes us —— it makes it more likely they came face—to—face with their own attackers, probably not in the town centre but the investigation will focus on the house, the forensic around it, talking to neighbours and singer bai can work out who might have gone to this house in a quiet cul—de—sac and administered a military grade nerve agent. and tonight, the foreign secretary borisjohnson has thanked the 27 nations and nato forjoining the uk in expelling russian diplomats. he said the kremlin had underestimated the strength of global feeling at the poisoning of the former russian spy and his daughter. speaking at the lord mayor's easter banquet, mrjohnson said that countries joining the uk had acted despite the risk of

retaliation from russia. the kremlin underestimated the strength of global feeling. if they thought that the world had become so hardened and so cynical as not to ca re hardened and so cynical as not to care about the use of chemical weapons in a place like salusbury, if they believe no one would give a fig about the suffering of yulia and sergei skripal, that we would be indifferent to the reckless and contemptuous disregard of public safety that saw 39 numbers seek medical treatment. if they believe we have become so horribly weakened and so dependent on hydrocarbons, so chronically risk averse and so fea rful of chronically risk averse and so fearful of russia that we would not dare to respond, then this is their

answer. because those countries that have acted no full well that they face the risk of retaliation. and frankly, there are countries that have taken action that are more bombed a ball to russia than we are, in the united kingdom, with a few geography or their own energy needs. and i pay tribute to them because they know that their own russia —based diplomats and their families must now deal with the possibility of their own lives being turned upside down. borisjohnson there. the controversial parole board decision to release serial sex offenderjohn worboys has been overturned by the high court. threejudges backed a legal challenge by two of worboys‘ victims and by the mayor of london.

they said warboys, who's served nearly 10 years of an indeterminate sentence, should remain in prison while a new panel considers his case. the chairman of the parole board, nick hardwick, has resigned. our home affairs correspondent june kelly has more details. john worboys is one of the country's most notorious sexual predators. a decade ago the black cab rapist, as he's known, was finally convicted of drugging and sexually assaulting 12 of his passengers. but it's believed he'd done the same to more than 100 more. i believe that a lot of women can sleep a little bit happier tonight. for these women there was no justice and they include this victim, who helped bring today's legal challenge. he has conned the parole board and it's clear that he conned the parole board. and the fact that he's still doing that and able to deceive people is quite clear indication he hasn't changed because that is what he was like when we got into that cab. at the heart of this case

was whetherjohn worboys had acknowledged the scale of his offending and shown true remorse for his crimes. today's court ruling said the parole board had failed to examine these issues properly. after the judgment, lawyers for his victims said even now more women were coming forward and making allegations against him. i've been approached by in excess of ten, ten women who were attacked by him, many of whom never reported it before. and we know that many women still do not have the courage or the confidence, let's say, to report rape and sexual offence. particularly in circumstances where they've been drugged, as they were in these cases. there was drama before the court convened, with the news that nick hardwick, the head of the parole board, had been made to resign. in his resignation letter to thejustice secretary, his bitterness at being forced out was clear. he wrote... one of the lawyers for

worboys‘ victims accused the justice secretary of shifting the blame to nick hardwick. i think it's pure scapegoating, i think it's the typical behaviour of a politician seeking to make political capital out of a situation which is not a political situation. in the commons, the minister himself was having to admit failings in his own department. a dossier on worboys passed from the ministry ofjustice, the moj, to the parole panel, had lacked vital information. i apologise for that but i think we also should be clear that the moj, working through the national probation service, recommended that worboys was not released. for years, john worboys was the master manipulator, as he humiliated and abused scores of women. his victims have now taken control of his immediate future.

they've kept him behind bars and he'll be forced to face a new parole hearing. june kelly, bbc news. the labour leaderjeremy corbyn faces fresh criticism from jewish leaders tonight, as the row in the party over anti—semitism shows no sign of abating. the board of deputies and thejewish leadership council have written a fresh letter saying it was a disgrace that people who joined a protest against anti—semitism within labour had been subjected to "abuse and insults". this is despite mr corbyn in an interview forjewish news saying, "i am not an anti—semite in any way". never have been, never will be. a lot to one click here. we should start with the interviewjeremy corbyn has given tojewish news.

this is a lengthy interview that the paper has put up on its website. he was asked about his leadership over theissue was asked about his leadership over the issue in the party and also his personal views and beliefs and some of the actions he has undertaken an jeremy corbyn was very clear. he pointed out he had been a staunch defender against all forms of racism throughout his whole life. he says he was not anti—semitic himself and there was no place for it in the labour party. insisted measures had to be put in place quickly by the labour party, the review put out two yea rs labour party, the review put out two years ago, that it had to happen pretty soon and he was also asked about these counter protests, protests that were held against a demonstration, against anti—semitism. on that point, jeremy corbyn was very clear, that any abuse would not take place in his name. he said there was no place in

the labour party for abuse or abuse of his views. going further and this particular form of abuse, of his views. going further and this particularform of abuse, not of his views. going further and this particular form of abuse, not being condemned outright, so while he is making his personal perdition clear, there will be questions and criticism about the tone that he ta kes. criticism about the tone that he takes. are you saying his comments would be enough to satisfy takes. are you saying his comments would be enough to satisnyewish leaders? it's notjust jewish leaders, its members of his own party. it's been bubbling along for some time. this isn't something that is very recent. whilejeremy corbyn and his supporters are keen to point out time and time again, he has condemned anti—semitism and racism in all forms, they say he is not doing enough to stamp out the issue in the wider party. he intends to ta ke in the wider party. he intends to take certain measures but i'm not sure these will be enough to counter

those criticisms. there has also been a resignation tonight. christine shaw croft, the head of labour party's christine shaw croft, the head of labour pa rty‘s internal disputes panel, only appointed to that role injanuary, a key supporter of jeremy corbyn, an official in the campaign group momentum which helped in part to get him elected to the leadership. she has resigned because an e—mailwas leadership. she has resigned because an e—mail was leaked in which she questioned the suspense and other council candidate, alan ball, who is accused of posting anti—semitic posts on facebook. he says his posts we re posts on facebook. he says his posts were doctored. christine shorecroft questioned that decision. she says she was wrong to question that decision but she is standing down because she doesn't want to throw doubt on labour party processes.

because she's such a key ofjeremy corbyn, this will only fuel the questions over the way the party ‘s handling allegations of anti—semitism right now. a brief look at some of the day's other other news stories. a motorist who knocked down and killed three teenage boys in hayes in west london, has been jailed for 13 years after admitting causing death by dangerous driving. jaynesh chudasama was 2.5 times over the drink—drive limit when he struck harry rice, george wilkinson and josh mcguinness at more than 70 miles an hour. detectives investigating the hatton garden jewel robbery 3 years ago have charged a man with conspiracy to burgle. he's been named as 57—year—old michael seed from islington in london. some £14 million was stolen, the biggest burglary in legal history. six men have already beenjailed for their part in the raid.

two ulster and ireland rugby players have been cleared of rape after a nine—week trial. stuart olding and paddyjackson had been accused of assaulting the same woman in south belfast injune 2016. mrjackson was also cleared of sexual assault. the cost of drinks in plastic bottles and cans in england could rise under plans for a refundable deposit scheme to increase recycling. consumers would get their money back when they returned bottles and cans to a collecting point. our science editor david shukman reports. plastic bottles are suddenly getting political attention. 13 billion of them are bought in the uk every year. but at least three billion are never recycled. and this is where discarded plastic can end up, drifting in the oceans and polluting them on an ever—growing scale. ten years ago, i saw for myself how

sea birds in the pacific can suffer from plastic waste. and some countries have responded quickly to this emerging threat. in norway, for example, people returning bottles get a refund of the small deposit they paid when buying the drinks. germany and denmark have similar schemes. and they have massively increased the rate of recycling. british ministers think something similar could work here. other countries have got it right. we can learn from them. but there are particular circumstances in the uk. the way in which local government, for example, currently recycles material. the way in which our corner shops attract custom as well. we've got to make sure that this scheme works. but some key questions about the new scheme have yet to be decided. the types of bottles to be included — all drinks orjust some? where the collection machines will go — that could be tricky in small shops. and crucially, who will pay for the scheme? retailers are waiting for the hard details. we do have some concerns.

one concern is how it will interact with the current recycling collection system we have by local authorities. we would like one scheme across the uk, and we know scotland is looking at this already. we don't want four separate schemes. already a lot of plastic does get recycled. in dagenham in east london today, the waste firm veolia showed us what they do with 300 million plastic bottles a year. some kinds of plastic can be used again, and they fetch very good money. so this is just one example of how plastic can be recycled. old milk bottles brought in to be chopped up into these fragments and then processed into these pellets, which are the raw material of the plastics industry, going on to make new plastic milk bottles. it's what they call a circular economy, and the deposit scheme should encourage it. in many ways, all this is an old idea. getting the deposit back on empty glass bottles used to be standard. so how do the public react now

to doing this with plastic bottles? recycling is a serious thing, especially where we are now in our day and age. the more incentives we can offer the public, the better, really. yeah, it's worth a try. it might work. i'd do it. we're paying 5p for the bag charge, so we are used to it by now. but definitely if it means saving the environment, because plastic pollution isjust insane. plastic waste can produce strong reactions. in the town of keynsham in somerset, there was a highly unusual protest yesterday. shoppers pulled theirfood out of the plastic packaging. plastic is now a major issue and the government has clearly noticed. david shukman, bbc news. the headlines on bbc news: detectives investigating the poisoning of a former russian spy and his daughter believe the pairfirst came into contact with the nerve agent at the front door of their home in salisbury. the serial sex offenderjohn worboys will remain in prison after two of his victims went

to the high court to challenge plans to release him. the rift betweenjeremy corbyn and jewish leaders deepens after they demanded he disown supporters who had vilified anti—semitism protesters. the leader of north korea, kim jong—un has been visiting beijing for talks with president xi. it's his first known foreign trip since he assumed power in 2011 and comes ahead of planned summits with south korea next month and with president trump in may. our diplomatic correspondent james robbins has more. this is no ordinary train. heavily armoured, on board, north korea's leader who had travelled to china to see his giant of an ally. unexplained convoys in beijing, a bizarre secret visit only announced after it was all over. behind closed doors,

kim jong—un was honoured with due ceremony, but china's president xi is by turns supportive and suspicious of his maverick nuclear neighbour. the north korean, 30 years hisjunior, looked suitably awed, even a bit submissive, as he dutifully took his own notes at meetings which surely focused on the hope china shares with the united states that north korea will at the very least freeze its nuclear weapons programme everyone sees as a threat. kim's next big meeting could be with donald trump. so the north korean would naturally turn to china first for reassurance he and his regime can survive if he does start to disarm. only china can provide him with a certain level of security, ok? and, of course, if china can persuade others also to provide this kind of security, then so much the better. president trump welcomed news

of progress following the beijing talks. "now there is a good chance that kim jong un will do what is right for his people and for humanity, " mr trump tweeted. adding in his next message that president xi had told him mr kim also "looks forward to his meeting with me." so what are the prospects? i turn to drjim hoare. this is the vice minister who looked after europe... he opened britain's first embassy in north korea before its weapons programme really took off. what does kim now want? that might well include a lifting of sanctions, or a reduction of some of the sanctions. they're not all going to be lifted. in exchange for...? in exchange for a cap on their nuclear programme and the continued moratorium of their rocket development. huge doubts remain. could this be a new north korean nuclear reactor capable of producing

weapons grade plutonium? satellite images from last month suggest that possibility. so behind kim's extraordinary beijing visit and ahead of a possible first encounter with donald trump, the stakes could hardly be higher. james robbins, bbc news. president trump has announced that his veterans affairs secretary david shulkin is to resign and that he is nominating white house doctor ronnyjohnson as his successor. white house officials said mr shulkin had become a distraction due to a constant wave of speculation about his future. admiraljackson, as the president's physician, praised mr trump's ‘good genes', his ‘excellent‘ cardiac health and how he did exceedingly well on his ‘cognitive test.‘ the first funerals have taken place in russia for some of the 64 people who lost their lives in a fire at a shopping centre on sunday. most of those who died in the city of kemerovo were children. relatives say dozens of other people are still missing.

moscow has declared a national day of mourning. sarah rainsford reports. they are desperate not to let go. a couple cling to the coffin of their ten—year—old daughter. masha's little brother and their grandma were also killed in the kemerovo fire in a day out at the cinema. for those left behind, saying goodbye is too much to bear. wailing. "save their souls, take them to paradise," natalia begs as her children are lowered into a shared grave. and then she cries out their names. they are three of the 64 who were trapped in a burning shopping centre where no fire alarm went off and emergency doors were blocked. sergei wants to know why. translation: someone

has to answer for this. this can't be allowed. it's so hard to understand why those trying to escape did not make it out. this is just one of many burials here today, and there are many still to come. this city is plunged in grief, and for the families that pain is even fiercer because they know this tragedy could have been avoided. this giant burnt carcass is now the focus of a criminal investigation. though vladimir putin has already blamed negligence and corruption. so today the first suspect appeared in court. a security guard accused of turning the alarms off. he claimed the system has been faulty for years and said he had reported that. but this city feels numb now, more than angry. everybody knows the victims. they are friends, friends' children or neighbours or... just relatives. it's...

we feel like a family now. everybody is talking only about this disaster. and yet russians know the causes of this disaster run deep, and so they wonder how much will really change even after all this. sarah rainsford, bbc news, kemerovo. households face the steepest council tax rise in 1a years, costing the average home £81 more for local authority services. it comes as councils take advantage of new freedoms to increase bills by nearly 6% and will raise an extra £2 billion. the local government association has warned that town halls may still have to cut back services. some council leaders say that caps on bills under the current government had left them with "little choice" but to ask residents to pay more. australia's cricket captain

steve smith and his vice—captain david warner have been banned from playing for their country for a year, after admitting cheating against south africa. cameron bancroft, who was caught tampering with the ball was given a nine—month ban. our sports editor dan roan has the details. cast into cricketing exile, australia captain steve smith leaving johannesburg today, the best batsman in the world sent home in disgrace. one of three players banned as the damning details of the sport's ball tampering scandal were laid bare, and cricket bosses got tough. do you honestly believe that only three men were involved in this plot? our investigation which was done by iain roy, our head of integrity, has found there were only three players who knew of this plan, and we are absolutely satisfied of that. people want to use their own words, but cheating is certainly one of them that is probably appropriate in the circumstances. one of australian sport's most famous faces, david warner, was found to have

concocted the plot. one of the things i look forward to when i come home is actually being able to sit on my couch... the vice captain will certainly have more time to do that now, also banned for a year. and in a shocking twist it was revealed thatjunior batsman cameron bancroft was instructed to use sandpaper to rough up one side of the ball during the cape town test — not sticky tape, as initially claimed. he gets a nine—month ban. australia were meant to be training here at the wanderers today ahead of the fourth and final test match against south africa on friday, but their session has been cancelled. their preparations in disarray. tonight, coach darren lehmann spoke publicly for the first time since being cleared to continue in his role. these are young men, and i hope people will give them a second chance. their health and well—being is extremely important to us. but even if an outraged australian public managed to forgive, it's unlikely the players‘ moment of madness will be forgotten. dan roan, bbc news, johannesburg. some breaking news from the national

crime agency and an 18—year—old man in the abbots langley area has been arrested on suspicion of making malicious communications relating to threatening e— mails. malicious communications relating to threatening e- mails. these e- mails we re threatening e- mails. these e- mails were received earlier today by a large number of schools and colleges throughout the uk. these threats have caused, as you may imagine, considerable concern that the national crime agency is keen to say there is no increase risk to the public but they do believe the incident is linked to a hoax bomb threat closed schools last week. an 18—year—old man has been arrested. the greatest stand—up comedian. a genius.

a humble man. just some of the tributes today as liverpool said farewell to sir ken dodd. thousands of people lined the streets of the city as his cortege made its way to the anglican cathedral for his funeral. sir ken died aged 90 earlier this month. andy gill reports. sir ken dodd lived in the same house in knotty ash for all his 90 years. today, it was the start for his finaljourney. his cortege wound through the streets of liverpool, allowing his fellow citizens to pay their respects. he made everyone happy, didn't it, really. you know, you couldn't be sad if you are listening to ken dodd. he stayed here when everybody else left, yes. thousands of members of the public came to the anglican cathedral too. we are just here to show our respects for one of the city's most famous sons. and to say thank you. ijust really loved him, it is great that everyone has turned out to see him.

as did sir ken's fellow comedians and actors. he is liverpool's hero, name them all, beatles, cilla, anyone you want you name them, he is their hero. you can compare footballers, georgie best with messi, or anyone, you cannot compare ken dodd when it comes to comedy. from the '50s until today on merseyside, notjust that, the world. when you saw him, you had to laugh. didn't matter what he did. the cathedral was full, so despite the cold and the window in the rain, hundreds watched on a screen outside. during the service, more tributes. i loved to talk to him about the mechanics of comedy, and i learned so much from him.

he came to several plays i did, and we pick the bones of how and why things work, or didn't. but this wasn't just a showbiz event. there were heartfelt farewells. we will never see the like of ken dodd again. thank you. thank you, sir ken. tatty bye. statues across the statute carried tickling sticks to mark the day, as ken dodd's coffin left the cathedral, the congregation waved tickling sticks and diddy men joined the procession. sir ken asked for people wanting to give donations in his memory should give to help the homeless on merseyside. andy gill, bbc north west tonight, liverpool.