this is bbc news. i'm carrie gracie. the headlines: moscow tells britain to withdraw more diplomats in the continuing row over the use of a nerve agent in salisbury. two men accused of carrying out beheadings for the so—called islamic state, complain that they won't get a fair trial after losing their british citizenship. the daughter of one of their victims — david haines — says they should be left to rot in guantanamo bay. the british soldier killed while on operations in syria has been named as sergeant matt tonroe from the parachute regiment. as funerals are held for 16 palestinians killed on the gaza—israeli border, the un calls for an independent investigation. also in the next hour, the funeralfor professor stephen hawking is held in cambridge. mourners at the service heard that the physicist‘s legacy will live on after him. the actor eddie redmayne was among the speakers. the stage is set in cardiff, where anthonyjoshua hopes to cement his heavyweight world

title againstjoseph parker. good afternoon and welcome to bbc news. russia is expelling more than twice as many british diplomats as it had previously announced as a consequence of the nerve agent attack in salisbury. the british mission in moscow must be reduced by more than 50 staff. the foreign office here says it is considering the implications of the russian decision. the government's also weighing up a russian demand to be given access to yulia skripal in hospital. our correspondent simonjones is in salisbury for us. simon, let's deal with this access

to the man first. this is a delicate problem. delicate, and it might seem rather extraordinary that the british government had said from an early stage that the only plausible explanation that the people behind the attack in salisbury where the russian if: now ' ' to 1.3 able . visit fig in egg??? 7.7.5... a? in “np”? the is by law forced to consider here is by law forced to consider that. that is international convention but what it is stressing is that the decision is likely do be taken by the woman herself but the question is issue likely to want to have any contact with the rational pretties and even if she did, when is she likely to be well enough to

do that to happen. the hospital told us do that to happen. the hospital told us earlier this week her condition was improving quickly, unlike that of her father, and that has led the rational but ready to demand some a nswe i’s rational but ready to demand some a nswers to rational but ready to demand some answers to legends from the british, such as why is she being treated in the way she is, why is her treatment a p pa re ntly the way she is, why is her treatment apparently having a greater effect than the treatment is having on her father? we haven't had any response to those from the foreign office but they are simply saying they are considering russia's request for access. and the issue of galactic expulsions. does the british government feel that is the end of this gory? russia is talking about the couple point. i think the british have and is considering its options because what you may see if they decide they have to take further action in a tit—for—tat. so far, we've got around 145 russian

diplomats and officials who have been expelled by 29 countries in total. we already knew 23 richest diplomats were being kicked out of moscow. —— 23 british diplomats. moscow. —— 23 british diplomats. moscow taking this further move in expelling 27 or so diplomats and possibly officials from moscow, an additional 27 also, i think what moscow is trying to show is really an action against the fact that britain seems to have organised an international coalition against russia, persuading many international partners that they needed take action against russian diplomats, too. it is the latest step or russia, now we will see whether the richest government want to respond about all whether they wa nted to respond about all whether they wanted wait and see if things calm down. —— the british government. there seems no simon of abatement at the moment. —— sign of abating.

earlier, i spoke to sir tony brenton — the former uk ambassador to russia — he told me that that demand by moscow for consular access is a right that russian citizens, such as yulia skripal, are entitled to. the geneva convention is pretty clear that we have to grant access. so the foreign office will be very cautious about not finally going along with that, because they know very well, and we all do, that the russians operate on a basis of strict reciprocity. if we interpret it strictly, they will do the same in a future case, and some unfortunate briton in trouble in russia will have trouble getting consular access himself. and this issue about a russian plane, which is a side bar story, but a aeroflot flight that was searched, russians are raising questions about that. as an experienced diplomat, what is your view on these searches, and given what we've said about reciprocity? that is the point. i don't know the story about the search. we are saying it was a perfectly routine operation, and i'm sure that is the case.

however, the russians, in the present state, would interpret what happened as affected by the state of our relations. they will certainly want to act on the basis of reciprocity, and there is a danger they will start inconveniencing british flights into moscow in a similar way. in terms of the alliances, so crucial here, how do you think that picture is shaping up? there have been so many countries that have come to back the uk. will that give the british government confidence about going forward? can ijust say, and this isn't just patriotism, i think our government and diplomats have performed brilliantly, getting the level of international support they've done, which nobody expected them to achieve at the beginning. this has come as a real shock to the russians, which is one reason they are picking us out in particular. it is reasonable to hope it will be enough of a shock that the next time

someone suggest a brutal and nasty operation like the attack on mr skripal, someone else in the kremlin will say, "look at the price we paid last time, we can't do this again." two british men held captive in syria accused of being members of an islamic state gang that murdered dozens of hostages have said they regret the killings. they've complained that they won't get a fair trial. alexanda kotey and el shafee elsheikh, who were captured by kurdish fighters injanuary say they've been stripped of their uk citizenship. jessica parker reports. they became the most infamous gang of foreign fighters in the self—styled islamic state. jihadijohn, his real name mohammed emwazi, now dead, aine davis, in prison in turkey, and alexanda kotey and el shafee elsheikh, captured in january by syrian kurdish fighters who are now holding them in northern

syria while their fate is decided. among many others, the gang is accused of beheading alan henning, a driver and aid workerfrom eccles, and david haines, an aid workerfrom perth. now, speaking for the first time since their capture, alexanda kotey described the murder of is hostages as "regrettable". the pair complain that they will not get a fair trial. they say the uk has illegally withdrawn their citizenship, putting them at risk of rendition and torture. us officials believe the gang beheaded at least 27 hostages, the government have not commented on whether the pair have been stripped off their citizenship, but britain and the united states have been holding talks on the fate of the two men, and where — how — they might face trial. jessica parker, bbc news. the daughter of the aid worker

says... the ministry of defence have named the soldier killed in syria on thursday as sergeant matt tonroe. he served with the 3rd batalion parachute regiment. he was killed along with an american solider by an improvised explosive device, near the syrian town of manbij. his commanding officer paid tribute to him and said his bravery and talent as a solider was matched by his compassion as a human being. the funeral of professor stephen hawking has taken place in cambridge this afternoon. hundreds of people lined the streets and applauded as his coffin was carried into the church. actor eddie redmayne, who played the physicist in the theory of everything was one of several speakers at the service. our correspondent

jo black is in cambridge. yes, we know professor hawking was an international icon, bringing science to the masses but home was a lwa ys science to the masses but home was always cambridge, the city and the university, so his family say it was fitting that his funeral service should take place here. we are standing outside the church where the funeral took place todayjust after two o'clock this afternoon. 500 mourners attended the service, it was a private service for his friends and family and the invited guests which included former colleagues. thousands of people lined the route, members of the public who had never even met him said they wanted to become and be pa rt said they wanted to become and be part of this historic moment, they said they wanted to say their

goodbyes. after the service, we spoke to a professor from harvard university who knew professor hawking. the service was very heartfelt. we heard remembrances about his work, as well as his family, how he was as a man, and how he was as a physicist, and how he was as a wonderful human being. so, as well as that professor and the family, there were some celebrities here today. eddie redmayne, the actor who played professor hawking in the film the theory of everything. derelict green and brian cox were also here. many people attending, celebrities and family and friends. lots of poignant people here. the people outside the church we re here. the people outside the church were really quiet and respectful

when the coffin was taken out of the hearse and went into the church and they burst into spontaneous applause. that also happened when the coffin was bought out of the hearse. the family looked very solemn but very proud as the coffin through away, —— drew away. president trump has taken to twitter to blast online retailer amazon for a second time this week. mr trump said the us post office would lose $1.50 on average for each package it delivered for amazon and that amounted to billions of dollars. he also claimed the size of the company's lobbying staff had ballooned. in a further tweet, he accused the washington post, which is owned by amazon head jeff bezos, of acting as a lobbyist. president trump's latest tweets follow other attacks on the company earlier this week. our business correspondent joe lynam is here. it's not the first attack and won't be the last. make sense of it, please. it is

unprecedented for a sitting president to single out a single company for quite vicious series of attacks, especially an american company, an american success story. that is unusual. let's start with a personal thing. $150. the regulator for the postal service says they are making money on that, like art not losing money. the other thing he was talking about... so, the president is actually incorrect? according to the independent regulator, they have said the services divided for amazon make money for the us postal service. the other thing is paying taxes. it is this true that amazon

pay less than the large companies. on average, independent assessments say 13% of it and they should be paying late 20s, compared to other companies. that is also debatable. but don't forget, carry, that the owner of the washington post isjeff bezos. the washington post has not held back in its criticism. are you implying there is some kind of link between the washington post attacks on president trump recently, in relation to the mother indictments and various other stories, the allegations by a former porn star, stories the washington post has been covering quite fully, and the president's attacks on amazon. the

washington post has not held off in his critique of president trump but neither have many other publications. the other thing we need to bearing mind is commercial property. before becoming resident, he was a broke —— commercial property developer. a lot of his buddies have been whispering, saying, you have to do something to protect us against these digital giants because they are destroying retail parks, shopping centres are being shut down every week. so, that is also very much in the mix whether he acts on that, whether he can act on that, that is a different discussion. various possible motives for which the president might be sending out these tweets and we can ta ke sending out these tweets and we can take our pick on which motive it is? exactly. but it is very unusual for a president to attack one single company. the headlines on bbc news:

russia has more than doubled the number of british diplomats it plans to expel, in the continuing row over the salisbury poisoning. two men — believed to have been from the islamic state cell known as "the beatles" — complain they can't get a fair trial after losing their british citizenship. the british soldier killed while on operations syria has been named as sergeant matt tonroe from the parachute regiment. teachers have moved a step closer towards allowing strike action if they don't receive substantial pay rises next year. it follows lengthy debate over pay and conditions at the annual national education union conference in brighton. our correspondent marc ashdown is there and sent this update a short time ago. teachers have backed a possible allott on strike action over teacher pgy- allott on strike action over teacher pay. the conference was told it has fallen by 20% in real terms over the

past seven years. we had delegates such sharing horror stories about how tough conditions have got for teachers, overworked, stressful, lots of supply teachers, teaching subject they are not defied specialist in. one teacher said she only has £60 per month to live on after playing all her bills. up the road, the nasuwt also backed a possible rolling strike, so, what now? they go away, the executive committees will put up a deal to the government, a 5% pay rise this september. if that is not forthcoming, they have the option forthcoming, they have the option for a ballot on strike. the last time that happened was 2016, we saw thousands of schools closed. it is a difficult one. schools have been saying they've got no money, head teachers say their budgets are under pressure, they say they cannot fund

to pay rises so theoretically, that government has two byte extra money. the nhs has just government has two byte extra money. the nhs hasjust had a pay government has two byte extra money. the nhs has just had a pay rise government has two byte extra money. the nhs hasjust had a pay rise but 6% over a few years. we are a long way from strikes, this can best be described as sorting the battlefield, they are giving the executive the animation to go and fight for a pay rise. —— ammunition. teachers here today have taken a significant step towards possible industrial action over the teacher pgy- thousands of palestinians have been attending funerals in gaza for some of the 16 people shot dead by israeli troops yesterday. tens of thousands of protestors had gathered along the border fence between gaza and israel at the start of a planned six—week demonstration. the united nations is calling for an independent inquiry. yolande knell has this report from jerusalem. israeli drones dropped tear gas as huge palestinian crowds massed on the israel—gaza border after friday's prayers. organisers had called for a peaceful march, but israel's military says demonstrators threw stones and tried

to breach the perimeterfence entering israeli territory. that's when its soldiers opened fire. and the result was deadly. last night, emergency talks took place at the un security council. israel must uphold its responsibilities under international human rights and humanitarian law. lethal force should only be used as a last resort. palestinians here are demanding the right to return to land they lost 70 years ago when the state of israel was created. israel says gaza's hamas leaders just want to stir up unrest on the border. over the last few weeks, you have had numerous attempts by hamas to cross into israel through the border with squads of terrorists to kill our people. we can't allow our border to be porous. we can't allow the hamas activists to tear down the border fence and enter israel.

we would be putting our people in danger. but now palestinians plan to stay in these camps near the israel border for the next six weeks, and the fear is that with further protests, there will be further unrest. yolande knell, bbc news, jerusalem. britain's most senior police officer, the metropolitan commissioner cressida dick, has suggested that social media is partly to blame for some violent crime, including a rising number of knife attacks. in an interview with the times, ms dick said the websites were being used by gangs to glamorise violence and allowed trivial disputes to escalate quickly. earlier, i spoke to patrick green from the ben kinsella trust, which campaigns against knife crime and educates young people about the issue. he told me he agrees with ms dick's view. social media has unfortunately played a very negative role in the

escalation of knife crime. it contributes to the often futile arguments that suddenly develop and are amplified into much bigger things which often lead to young people arranging to meet and carrying knives and stabbing one another. youtube videos glorifying knife crime lifestyles, all of these things are contributing to the rising knife crime figures that we are seeing at the moment. if you agree on the problem and there is wide agreement on the problem, what thenis wide agreement on the problem, what then is the solution? well, i think then is the solution? well, i think the people meeting from this debate are the social media companies. it is their platforms which are being used. incorrectly. to drive knife crime unfortunately higher and higher. and we really need to get

them into the debate and we have heard the police and politicians talk about this but we never see any of the social media companies coming forward to talk about this, and that is really, really important. their product is being incorrectly used and it is being used, you know, people are being killed as a result. i don't think any other manufacturer would allow that to happen without trying to address what the problem is. we have seen social media companies resisting pressure on a number of issues or denying responsibility for social issues that other groups like yourselves are suggesting they may be in part responsible for, or related to. do you think there is a weight you can have more purchase on them to get them involved in the conversation more effectively? i do. i hope they are listening to the commissioner

and the politicians and ourselves in terms of reaching out to say, we need your help to stop this problem escalating. i think they have a moral and social responsibility to do that. so, we would like them to come forward. they other creative people. it is a difficult problem, i acknowledge that, but they other creative people who i think i look at this and hopefully find a way where we can use social media in the way that it is designed and that is to bring us together, to share information more quickly, and not be used as it is more currently by sung young people in terms of escalating violence with ultimately leads to young people losing their lives. the trump administration has said it wants to start collecting the social media history of nearly everyone seeking a visa to enter the us. the proposal would require most visa applicants to give details of their facebook and twitter accounts and disclose all social media identities used in the past five years. it follows a promise

by president trump to introduce "extreme vetting" of those entering the united states to help improve security. kimjong unis commited to sending a north korean team to the tokyo olympics in 2020 and the beijing winter games two years later. following a rare meeting with the leader, the olympics chief said north korea will definitely participate in the showpiece events after what he called ‘fruitful‘ talks. (sot next) the national olympic committee, they announced to us that they will definitely participate in the olympic games tokyo 2020, as well as in the winter olympics games in beijing in 2022. this commitment was fully supported by the supreme leader of dprk in a very open and fall discussion i had with him

yesterday. malala yousafzai has returned to her hometown in the swat valley in pakistan for the first time since she was shot there by islamist militants. a helicopter carrying ms yousafzai landed not far from herfamily home in mingora amid a tight security operation. the nobel peace prize winner was attacked by the taliban in 2012, for campaigning on behalf of girls‘ education. for c is|paigning on behalf for c is thejning on behalf for c is the end | on behalf let's ta ke for c is the end | on behalf let's take a look at the weather. with the local awaiting let's take a look at the weather. wit scene, cal awaiting was never going to be the scene, it was never going to be a sparkling weekend. a lot of cloud for many but some are getting away with a dry respect and that times, the sun has come through as well. there is better than average chance of seeing some sunshine to finish off the across northern and western

parts of the richard giles as the cloud tends to come towards the eastern side. —— western parts of the british isles. underneath the clearing skies the north and west, it will be a chilly night, temperatures down to —7 in the scottish glens. for easter day, but pretty quiet start with sunshine around as well. this front will become a player later on in the afternoon across the far south—west so get out and get on with easter day if you can in the south—western quarter. elsewhere, enough allowed across eastern parts. if you haven't had a mention that far, you are in for a pretty decent day. overnight, the moisture is wished up and there

isa the moisture is wished up and there is a good deal of snow in the mountains of wales, in northern ireland, up towards the pennines, the central out, and on the hills. even at the lower levels, you may well find you see some accumulations as well. it depends on the intensity, it is a couple of days off but that is what we are you —— warning you of. further south, it is not an issue. nor indeed in the far north of scotland on monday but elsewhere, one to bear in mind. we will keep you up—to—date with the proceedings. following behind some pretty hefty showers, especially in northern ireland, but at least it turns a good deal milder. take care. this is bbc news. there is a warning that two men

could escape justice. the there is a warning that two men could escapejustice. the two men ca ptu red could escapejustice. the two men captured by kurdish fighters in january say they have been stripped of the british citizenship. relatives of some of their victims have said america and the uk must agree to bring these men to justice.