this is bbc news. i'm carrie gracie. the headlines at lipm. russia summons western ambassadors. london is told to cut its diplomatic contingent in moscow in the escalating row following the salisbury nerve agent attack. it's important to bear in mind why this crisis has arisen in the first place. it's the use of a chemical weapon on the streets of the united kingdom that has threatened the lives of a number of people in my country. at least six palestinians have been killed by israeli gun fire as thousands mass on the border ahead of a major protest. new bail rules are leading to thousands of crime suspects, some involving murder and rape, being released without any conditions. nearly a0 labour mps and peers call onjeremy corbyn to suspend a senior official at the centre of the latest row about anti—semitism. also in the next hour. senior staff at some academy trusts are accused of taking unjustifiably high salaries. mps say the academies in england are using public money that

could be better spent on children's education. and laura kuenssberg listens to a panel of voters as they discuss their views on brexit. that's in half an hour here on bbc news. good afternoon and welcome to bbc news. russia has told the uk it must further reduce its diplomatic contingent in the country within a month, the latest turn in an escalating row over the poisoning of a former spy, sergei skripal and his daughter yulia. moscow says the british mission in russia must be the same size as russia's mission in the uk. it has also ordered tit—for—tat expulsions of diplomats from western countries that acted in support of britain. the uk foreign office described moscow's latest

move as "regrettable." helena lee reports. today, at the foreign ministry in russia, ambassadors were summoned over the salisbury spy fallout. they were told to reduce their diplomatic presence in the country, a further escalation of the ongoing tension. the uk has been ordered to send some more of its staff home from russia, both countries have already expelled 23 staff. it's important to bear in mind why this crisis has arrived in the first place, the use of a chemical weapon on the streets of the united kingdom which has threatened the lives of a number of people on my country. other countries have also been told the data sent diplomats home from russia. among them, ukraine, germany, finland and spain. but the kremlin insists that russia remains

open to friendly relations. earlier this week the us expelled 60 diplomats, in retaliation, russia kicked out the same amount of us officials. earlier today in salisbury, the home secretary amber rudd attended an easter service in salisbury cathedral, as a sign of solidarity with the city. the condition of yulia skripal, the daughter of the former russian spy, is now improving. she's no longer in a critical condition and the bbc understands she is conscious and talking. herfather, sergei skripal, is still in a critical but stable condition. yulia is much younger than her father and the younger you are, whether you're poisoned or you have burns or you break bones, the more likely you are to make a quicker recovery. it's also quite possible she had a smaller dose than her father and the dose is very important. forensics tests have shown the highest concentration of the nerve agent was found on the front door of the former spy‘s home. how it got there is what detectives are still trying to work out.

our correspondent paul adams is in moscow where the russian foreign ministry is continuing its tit—for—tat expulsions of western diplomats that acted in support of britain. there's just been a steady procession of ambassadors at the foreign ministry. as each one has come and gone, we have heard in the subsequent hours that indeed, one or two or three or in some cases four of their diplomats have been told to leave. very much in line with what we're expecting to see, and matching diplomat for diplomat the expulsions that we saw earlier in the week, the explusions of russian diplomats. the one additional feature has been recalling of the british ambassador to the foreign ministry, and this additional instruction that britain has to reduce the size of its diplomatic presence in russia to the equivalent of the russian presence in the uk. we're not quite sure what that means in practice.

but that was described as a response to britain's provocative actions, which, according to russian, had led to other countries following suit and expelling russian diplomats. i think there was a sense that britain had to be singled out for additional punishment. at this end, the foreign office have been issuing their own views on this, a flagrant breach of international law, they're talking about? very much a restatement of the british position, which is to take it back to its origins, it regards russia as having been responsible for the poisoning of sergei and yulia skripal in salisbury almost four weeks ago. perhaps feeling it was necessary to remind people where this whole episode began, rather than allowing moscow to portray itself as the injured party who did not start any of this. earlier today the home secretary, amber rudd, attended an easter service at salisbury cathedral this

morning as a sign of solidarity with the city. simon jones is in the city and joins us. what else is happening there today? i think today you get the impression that this is a city very much trying to come together, almost a month after this attack. the home secretary was here, i have low—key visit for her, she attended a service for children at the cathedral in the city this morning. then much more high profile, hundreds of people gathered outside the cathedral for a procession through the city. this happens every easter but what was different today was that those attending had the skripals in their thoughts and prayers. one of the speakers after

the procession said, this was the place getting over trauma and the bishop said people here feel the city has been violated. he said, out of this bad, hope will arise. talking of hope, wilts i counsel are hoping people will come back to the centre —— wiltshire council. the police cordons are going to remain here, even when the crime scene is released they will have to decontaminate the area. the message is that it is safe for people to attend the city, we have heard that takings in some shops have been down about 80%. they're trying to get people back and restoring confidence in the place as the police investigation continues. we have also heard from the chief cause of wiltshire police who said he had

visited the policeman who was injured in this attack, and he described him and his family as amazing, saying they were trying to get through this trauma they have been through. he said he also took to them a handwritten card from ten downing st containing their good wishes and he passed on the wishes of the people here in salisbury for the continued recovery. thank you very much. a further five names have a furtherfive names have been added to the 39 labour's mps and peers who have signed a letter urging jeremy corbyn to spend a senior official over her handling of complaints about anti—semitism. christine shawcroft stood down as head of the party's disputes panel, after calling for the reinstatement of a council candidate accused of denying the holocaust, but she remains a member of labour's national executive committee. with me is our political correspondent iain watson. where is all this going? this is a very interesting question, the

numbers of people signing this letter is going up, the pressure on jeremy corbyn is increasing. it's a week on from when labour mps were criticising him when this facebook post came to light where he seems to be defending —year—old detecting a seemingly anti—semitic image. a week on “— seemingly anti—semitic image. a week on —— defending your role. it is now —— a mural. the mps are saying, jeremy corbyn need to put his words into action over christine shawcroft, he says he is an ally against anti—semitism and they say, 0k, against anti—semitism and they say, ok, if you are an ally, why don't you express your displeasure and at least urge... he does not have the power to do this under labour's rules but urge christine shawcroft ago. the person who wrote this letter told us why. who thinks that ifjeremy corbyn didn't said that she should stand down, that it wouldn't happen?

nobody. you know, this is about action. we've had enough letters, enough words to paper nelson's column. you know, if people are going to believe us as a party, we need to start following through on that and doing things. what was also interesting is the person in question christine shawcroft has posted twice on facebook today. initially her facebook today. initially her facebook posts said very clearly that she was not somebody who supported holocaust and eyes, but she was suggesting that the whole thing was got up to have a go at jeremy corbyn. that would tend to suggest that his supporters are not taking the underlying problem of anti—semitism seriously. she posted again and that reference had been deleted. but she is still arguing strongly that she has not herself than anything offensive, she said

she made a mistake by not looking at evidence. and secondly, she is saying that she will stand down from the national executive committee in due course, which she intended to do before all of this blew up. so opponents are saying it's not good enough. so why has the labour leader not come out at this point to do what the writers of this letter and the signatories are asking him to do? two reasons, one is that the labour leader has no formal power to remove him... you said you -- he could persuade. yes, she has stepped down from the disputes panel. i think he is not inclined to speed up the process as she is intending to stand down anyway. this is becoming a symbol by his internal opponents on how serious he is on these issues, and much serious issue. he has talked tojewish news, and made

the statements, but despite many attem pts the statements, but despite many atte m pts to the statements, but despite many attempts to encourage otherwise, she has not done any broadcast —— he has not done any broadcast interviews on this issue. thousands of suspects under investigation for violent and sexual offences have been released from police custody without any bail conditions attached, according to research by the bbc. new rules were introduced in england and wales a year ago, designed to prevent people being kept on bailfor months and, in some cases, years. the charity women's aid said the figures were shocking, and would worry victims of domestic violence. our home affairs correspondent danny shaw reports. it was the case of paul gambaccini that sparked concerns about the use of pre—charge, or police bail. the bbc radio presenter was questioned about alleged sex offences, then released on bail for 12 months before being told he wouldn't face any charges. as home secretary, theresa may said the use of police bail had to change. and last year a 28—day limit was imposed. if police want to bail suspects for longer,

they need approval from a senior officer or magistrate. as a result, the number of suspects bailed has dropped dramatically, by about two thirds. it means thousands don't have to report back to police and face no restrictions on who they contact or where they go. bbc news obtained figures from 12 forces about people suspected of violent and sexual offences. more than 3,100 were released under investigation without conditions, between april and june last year. the number included 31 murder suspects and 768 people suspected of rape, all still subject to police investigation. we are contacted by survivors all the time who are telling us about their worries about their safety. the failure to use bail conditions in many cases means the victim can be vulnerable to being contacted, to being stalked, harassed or even suffering further violence from a dangerous abuser. the home office said a large drop in the use of bail should not affect

the way police respond to incidents of domestic abuse, but it said ministers had asked forces to ensure that those who should be on bail are not being released without conditions. danny shaw, bbc news. at least nine palestinians have reportedly been killed in clashes near the israeli border in gaza, where thousands are demonstrating at the start of a six—week protest. palestinian officials say more than 300 and 50 people have been injured in the confrontations near the borderfence, some by israeli gunfire. our correspondent yolande knell is in jerusalem. we're being told by health officials in gaza that they are dealing with some 350 people who have been injured, many of them injured, they say, by live bullets. and now there is still a large presence along the israel gaza border, it's notjust in one location, there are actually five protest camps that have been set up from the very south to the very north.

and people have been urged to gather at those, as what they are calling part of the great march of return. it has been called by hamas, the faction that controls gaza, and other palestinian political factions. this is an annual day of protest, what's known as land day for the palestinians. but it's also the start of six weeks of protests. people are supposed to stay in these camps for the duration of that period going into mid—may. that is when it will be 70 years since the creation of the state of israel, israel will be celebrating that. the palestinians call it al nakba, the catastrophe, and they remember how hundreds and thousands of people were forced to leave or fled their homes in what became israel. and of the population of gaza, about 2 million people, most of them are either refugees or descendants of those original palestinian refugees.

going back to the injuries we were talking about at the top, 350 people, that's a lot of people. do we know how many of those injuries are from gunfire? they're saying that about half of the injured and injuries they are dealing with are from gunfire. we know the israeli military deployed snipers and tanks along the israel gaza border and said it would deal very seriously with anyone who entered this no—go zone which is adjacent to the fence, attempted to reach israeli sovereignty, as the israelis see it. there have been many instances where tear gas has been used to force back protesters and we know that live bullets have been used in some cases. the headlines on bbc news: russia summons western ambassadors. london is told to cut its diplomatic

contingent in moscow, in the escalating row following the salisbury nerve agent attack. at least nine palestinians have been killed by israeli gun fire as thousands mass on the border ahead of a major protest. thousands of crime suspects, some involving murder and rape, are being released without any conditions because new bail rules. sport now and for a full round up, from the bbc sport centre, here's lizzie. good afternoon. anthonyjoshua showed a leaner physique at the weigh in ahead of his clash withjoseph parker tomorrow. wba super and ibf heavyweight championjoshua weighed in at 17st albs, i2lbs lighter than his last world title defence. while parker, who is the wbo heavyweight champion, came in at 16st 12le. the fight in cardiff will be the first heavyweight unification

bout held on british soil. england's on field problems continued on the first day of the second test against new zealand in christchurch. they found themselves 94—5 untiljonny bairstow and mark wood led a comeback. bairstow finished the day with 97 not out with england 294—88. alastair cook gone, fragility exposed. after the weaker scandal in cricket, a picture perfect place to discover the game's more beautiful sight. england, like the sport, need to recover but this is not the way to go about it. alastair cook gone, fragility exposed. england's best batsmen falling. a painfully familiar collapse, only given a temporary halt when jonny bairstow sprung to the wicket, offering england a way to repair damage. others seemingly intent of simply causing more. stuart broad the seventh to go,

bairstow left to pick up the pieces. he passed 50 in fine fashion, supported by mark wood who also reached a half—century. bairstow finished the day three short of three figures, a recovery of sorts but after a long week there remains a long way to go. australia's cricketers are back in action for the first time, as the fall out continues to the ball tampering scandal. the search for a new head coach will begin when darren lehman steps down after the fourth and final test in what's become an ill fated series with south africa. the man he replaced and the current pakistan coach micky arthur, believes the culture of the team hasn't been right for some time. i was disappointed to see what has happened, i was really upset for all the players. and i'm disappointed for the knock that australian cricket is taking at the moment and world cricket in general. i have been disappointed with the behaviour of the australian team over the last couple of years, i think they felt they are almost above everyone is so that has been disappointing.

they are good enough cricket team, they're very skilled cricketers, to win games without resorting to the types of tactics they have. this is the scorecard at the moment. australia playing without captain steve smith, cameron bancroft and david warner. hull fc beat hull kr today in the in the hull derby. they managed to win despite being down to 12 players after a sendoff for a high challenge. hull fc now fourth in the league table. all of the super league scores and the latest from good friday's football fixtures are on the bbc sport website. that is it for me for the moment. a teachers‘ union is claiming ofsted

chief inspector amanda spielman risks splitting communities after backing head teachers who want to ban the hijab. speaking at the national education union's annual conference in brighton, general secretary kevin courtney said she over—stepped her remit when she backed an east london head who tried to stop pupils wearing the muslim head—scarf. our education correspondent marc ashdown is in brighton. tell us more about this developing i’ow tell us more about this developing row over the hijab. it's interesting, it apparently picked teachers here at this conference with the chief inspector of schools at ofsted over a highly sensitive cultural issue. it all started at a tiny primer is cooling is london where the headteacher for her own reasons decided to ban girls from

wearing the hijab, which is normally woi'i'i wearing the hijab, which is normally worn by goals when they hit puberty, these girls were as young she did eventually backed down but that meant that the chief effect of ofsted to use a major speech to warn of the dangers of those who use religion to provide education. she said the head should not have backed down and criticised the abuse and calling on all leaders to use muscular liberalism to defend themselves. that has prompted a backlash from this union who will be debating emotion criticising ofsted saying there have gone beyond their remit. they say that there is no evidence that clothing affects people's learning. they say this could have a negative impact to local communities and leads to marginalisation and perhaps even

physical or verbal attacks on muslim girls or women. we will be talking to the joint general spoke —— we have been speaking to kevin courtney. i think there are two concerns. one is that ofsted is really getting outside the area that should be looking at, which is school standards. and the second is that amanda spielman is suggesting that she knows why muslim girls wear the headscarf and she's suggesting it's because they're being sexualised. and i think for the vast majority of muslim girls who wear the headscarf, they wear it because their sister wears it, they wear it because their mother wears it. it is an expression of their religious faith. we want to live together in this world and that means respecting one another‘s religious faiths. that's the view from the union, but what is ofsted saying in response? we have had a response from the ofsted spokesman who says these comments are disappointed, they say heads need to be able to take uniform decisions on the basis of safeguarding or community cohesion and ofsted will always support them in doing that. this is an

interesting debate, a highly sensitive cultural topic and it'll i'io sensitive cultural topic and it'll no doubt be a headline overnight here. a separate story that has been developing over the last 2a hours, the public accounts committee criticising some academy managers for what they see as excessively high salaries. how is that being debated at the union conference? the backdrop to all of this is the nhs having had a pay deal, a pay rise agreement in the last few weeks. certainly the mood music here, the buzz is that teachers are hoping and expecting that they may get something similar. then school budgets are under pressure, head teachers already say that they are cut to the bone, tried to balance books, having to pay for basic resources in some cases. the feeling is if the government makes a move to lift pay restraint, they will have to find additional funding. the timing of this public accounts committee report, a group of mps criticising academy finances. they question excessive salaries, these

schools are free to set their own budgets and pay their staff whatever they want. 100 headteachers in schools across england and wales are fiow schools across england and wales are now paid over £150,000 in academies. we are also expecting some debate on agreement and retention, rb training enough features? and also crucially retaining them. and also on workload stress. schools and budgets were a bit issue in the doorsteps in the general election —— were a big issue on the doorstep in the general election, local elections around the corner, teachers think that's their voices will never be heard louder. an imam has been charged with assaulting two boys at a mosque in rochdale. our correspondent fiona trott is following the story for us. greater manchester police have told us that 51—year—old abdul rauf from rochdale has been charged with two assaults against boys aged ten and 12. they're section 47 assaults, which relate to actual bodily harm. he has also been charged with 19 other assaults against other children. it's understood that these incidents happened at the mosque

on crawford street in rochdale over the past year. mr rauf is due to appear at manchester crown court next month. in the meantime greater manchester police are asking anyone with information to come forward. malala, who is now 20, and a student at oxford university, was shot in the head because she was campaigning for girl's education. details of her trip to pakistan were kept secret, because of fears that she might be targeted again. however malala told the bbc that the vast majority of the country is behind her. this is not the whole of pakistan, this does not reflect that image of pakistan. it's completely wrong. i think we should notjust make conclusions by looking at what is there on social media, what we see on media and tv. it is 200 million people and i know 99%, more

because they've heard my story. i know so many parents who have named their daughters after me because they believe in their daughters and i think there is a change coming. so anyone who is against me and wants to say something should just come and talk to me. lee .. .-.-: of persecuted christians and other faiths around the world. in the video, prince charles describes how moved he's been while meeting christians who have had to flee from persecution.

he also expresses sympathy for anyone being persecuted because of their faith. here's our royal correspondent nick witchell. in the past, prince charles has spoken out about the destruction of christian churches in syria, iraq and elsewhere. and so, from the prince on this good friday, an easter message calling for greater understanding