this is bbc news and these are the top stories developing at 11. russia calls an emergency meeting of the world's chemical weapons watchdog following the nerve agent attack on a former spy and his daughter. the russian intelligence chief calls the attack in salisbury a "gross provocation" by the british and americans. the prime minister pledges to tackle what she calls the "burning injustice" of britain's gender pay gap, as the deadline approaches for companies to reveal their pay figures. three people are injured in a shooting at youtube‘s headquarters in california, with reports the gunwoman, who later killed herself, had been angry at how her videos had been treated. the duke of edinburgh is having surgery on his hip today. prince philip, who is 96, entered hospital for the planned procedure yesterday. also coming up in the next hour — 50 years since the assassination of martin luther king. events are planned to mark the anniversary of the day the civil rights leader was shot,

including a ceremony at the motel where was killed. the opening ceremony for the 21st commonwealth games gets under way, kicking off 12 days of events on australia's gold coast. good morning. welcome to bbc newsroom live. the british delegation to the international chemical weapons regulator the opcw has dismissed russia's proposal for a joint investigation into the salisbury nerve agent attack as "perverse". officials said the idea was a "diversionary tactic" by moscow. the opcw is holding an emergency meeting at the hague, at russia's request, to discuss the poisoning. yesterday, the head of the porton down defence

laboratory said it could not confirm the precise source of the substance used to poison sergei skripal and his daughter. what was the substance, where did it come from and who planted it? theresa may told parliament the attack involved a military—grade nerve agent and that the only plausible explanation was that russia was culpable, an allegation moscow has repeatedly denied. yesterday, the head of britain's military research centre at porton down confirmed it had identified the highly toxic novichok but was unable to prove where it had been produced. investigators from the opcw visited salisbury and collected samples, they're expecting to have the results of independent lab tests within a week. as a signatory of the chemical weapons convention, russia has

the right to request a meeting. 13 questions have been posed by moscow, including what kind of evidence the uk provided to the opcw, which inspectors were sent, who they met with and where the samples are being analysed. anna holligan, bbc news, in the hague. and anna is live for us now in the hague. what's the latest? there is this meeting at russia's request. it looks as though the meeting is just concluding. request. it looks as though the meeting isjust concluding. the diplomatic cars are pulling up, waiting for the ambassadors to emerge. the only information we have

from inside so far has come from the russian embassy on twitter. we know that the russians delivered a statement from somebody with a ph.d. in chemistry and the russians have also said 14 state parties have supported a joint statement from the russians in connection with the incident in salisbury. they say they consider it necessary to ensure this problem is solved within the international legal framework, using the full potential of the chemical weapons convention. what they are saying is undisputed. there is a broad agreement this should be conducted within the framework of the convention. all of these parties are members of the treaty. what the uk has done so far is shared samples with the independent inspectors, they are in the process of conducting the tests. we are expecting the results of those towards the end of this week,

beginning of next. what britain has so beginning of next. what britain has so farfailed to beginning of next. what britain has so far failed to do beginning of next. what britain has so farfailed to do is push beginning of next. what britain has so far failed to do is push out the information or prove the sources of their evidence and that has allowed their evidence and that has allowed the russians to step in with a huge mass of information which is confusing many people and then we had this statement from the head of porton down saying they have confirmed the substance used was a novichok but they were unable to detect the source. porton down are not a detective agency. that is not theirjob. what we are hearing today is very little. we are not expecting a statement or much more from the british embassy. the british ambassador is not here today. they have sent another member of staff to this meeting. it looks as if it is concluding now. it lasted about two hours, russia is also holding a press c0 nfe re nce hours, russia is also holding a press conference later on this evening. no doubt we will hear more from their perspective a bit later

on. ok, back with you shortly. the chief executive of the defence science and technology laboratory which run porton down, where the poison used in salisbury attack was examined, has explained that despite knowing what the substance is, they cannot confirm where it came from originally. ican speak i can speak on behalf of our scientists, the part that we played in the whole operation, which is using their expertise and experience and rigorous evidence —based scientific analysis, they have come to the conclusion that this is a nerve agent from the novichok family. of that i can be certain all of the other aspects that you might read about indymedia and all of the other questions being raised are not really a n other questions being raised are not really an issue for us to get into. but what we can be sure of is the scientific evidence and the confirmation of what this substance

is and it is extremely toxic military grade nerve agent. this morning, diane abbott said the development raised questions about the government approach and that jeremy corbyn should be given credit for demanding more evidence before allocating blame. but in the last few minutes, the foreign office minister has insisted russia was responsible for what he called the brazen use of a chemical weapon on uk soil one month ago. let's join norman smith live in westminster. once again the split between the opposition and the government on this whole issue have come back to the surface. i think it is clear that some around jeremy corbyn feel that the questions being asked back his more sceptical approach as to whether the russian government was directly to blame for this nerve agent attack.

that said, when you listen to government voices, they are absolutely adamant that it is not just the work of porton down that established it was novichok that they are relying on but they are also talking about other intelligence sources, porting to russia's previous track record, you look at and !;>;>l1 2? erégieg'; trey—54.2”; 2-354 95.27 . . ... t . 7!!ei!§=!§¥5%§5¥1695§!9£:§j§95§5§51 't . 7!!ei!§=!§¥5tstseé9§!9£t§?esseesi towards t . 7sgfii§§§¥5§f§é9§sflséfiésstfi towards former t . t7ufii§§§¥5§fsfiéessflséfiésstfi towards former soviet agents others towards former soviet agents and the fact that novichok was developed and stockpiled in russia. that they say paints a much bigger picture which does point the figure very directly at russia. in the information battle and the battle for public opinion, that sort of? raised which russia has been able to raise following the statement that they could not establish whether it came from russia because that is not theirjob. that has given russia a

crack in which to try and exploit divisions, uncertainty in international opinion. and i suppose that will be the real concern for the british government ‘s point of view. britain was very successful in marshalling a much wider coalition than people thought possible, more than people thought possible, more than 20 countries joining than people thought possible, more than 20 countriesjoining britain in kicking out russian diplomats. the concern will be whether russia makes any headway in beginning to dent at coalition and spread and disquiet that leads to a in that coalition. we arejust that leads to a in that coalition. we are just hearing from the eu, they say they are very concerned that russia is considering rejecting the chemical weapons body findings on the salisbury, imperative that russia cooperates with the chemical weapons body on salisbury. and it is imperative really for theresa may and the government that they continue to have this international coalition of support on this.” think quite encouraging from the government ‘s perspective that be you seems to be standing firm at the

moment because —— the european union. there are a lot of discordant voices within those countries which have traditional ties with russia. you look at countries like greece or even italy now, germany, heavily reliant on russian oil supplies and gas supplies. there are clear tensions within the european union. i think there will be some relief that for now it appears that the european union is standing firm, despite what i am sure the british government ministers worldview as further attempts to spread disinformation and cause delay by the russian government. norman, good to talk to you. thank you so much. theresa may has promised to tackle what she's described as the "burning injustice" of the uk's gender pay gap — that's the difference between the average earnings of men and women. companies with 250 or more employees have until midnight

to publish figures showing how their workforces are affected. most of the 9,000 employers have already done so and more than three quarters pay their men more on average than women. let's talk to our business correspondent, ben thompson, whojoins me now. yes, quite a few still haven't completed their sand they have only got a few hours left. yes, the deadline fast approaching. there are about 100 firms that are still outstanding as far as that report is concerned. you touched on the numbers. seven from those —— 78% say they pay men more than women. 8% of them say there is no problem. it is interesting, when you look at the details, you get an idea of why this may be going and some of the things that could be done to rectify it. one of the biggest names in this

list is rya nair, one of the biggest names in this list is ryanair, the low—cost airline. it reported a gender pay gap of nearly 72%. it is a staggering gap but if you will look into the detail, you get an idea of why. the majority of the highly paying jobs are pilots and the pilots tend to be male. what we are hearing now is there must be most to try and dissolve some of that, a suggestion it is in the interests of business and employees and whilst it isa business and employees and whilst it is a bit ofa business and employees and whilst it is a bit of a crude mechanism for working out how much men and women are paid, it kick start a conversation and allows women to go to their employer and say i need to be paid the same as men. and we spoke a little earlier to the equality minister who made it very clear that all of this really is in the interest of everybody to make sure that the problem is resolved.” don't believe that companies want an excuse, i believe they want to do it. i don't think this is a time for being defensive. it is a time for companies to say, organisations are

private and public, a balanced workforce is a far more productive workforce is a far more productive workforce and there is some analysis being done that if we get the gender pay gap right, we could add something like 150 billion to the economy by 2025. why would business is not want to do that? where are the biggest pay disparities? we have heard a lot about the banks for example in the city. i touched on airlines already. finance, big banks, a problem, especially when it comes to bonuses. construction, maybe you would suggest male dominated in some respects, particularly on building sites. but also sport as well. big disparities in sport. it is because in many cases women tend to work in less senior roles and that is for a number of reasons. also taking time

off to have children, they have left the workforce for a while. many of the workforce for a while. many of thejobs are part—time, women come back to the workforce and work part—time and therefore are paid less. this all means that disparities are growing. and that has been growing significantly over the last ten years. and so, resolving it as you heard in the interest of business, but studies say now more people are aware of it, it will have a real impact on how businesses are perceived. if there isa businesses are perceived. if there is a big pay disparity at a business, it may hamper their chances of hiring new staff. women we re chances of hiring new staff. women were asked, would you go to a employer with a massive pay disparity, they said no. these figures suggest there is a long way to go yet. three people have been injured in a shooting at youtube's

headquarters in california. a 36—year—old man is in a critical condition. police say the woman who opened fire later killed herself. she's been identified in the us media as nasim aghdam, who's reported to have been 39 and of iranian descent. our north america correspondent, dave lee, reports. this is the dramatic moment when police entered youtube's headquarters. moments later, they'd find a gunwoman dead. killed, they say, by a self—inflicted gunshot wound. before apparently taking her own life, the suspect used a handgun to shoot and injure three people.

i was literally 30 feet away. we are an incredibly tight knit community within youtube and it feels like a family. today it feels like the entire community of youtube and all of the employees were victims of this crime. our hearts go out to those who suffered in this particular attack and our prayers are with them and their families. police said when they arrived they we re police said when they arrived they were greeted with chaotic scenes as youtube employees tried to desperately flee the scene of the attack. us media reports have suggested the most seriously injured, a 36—year—old man, was the boyfriend of the gun woman. police but are yet to give any official hint as to a possible motive. the chief executive

of google which owns youtube described the attack as an unimaginable tragedy. other messages of support came in from other companies. dramatic footage of all too frequent shootings in america often appear on sites like youtube. staff have been left in shock that something like this could happen in their own backyard. the headlines on bbc newsroom live. britain has condemned russia, calling an emergency meeting of the world chemical weapons watchdog as perverse. the prime minister pledges to tackle what she calls the burning injustice of britain's gender pay gap as the deadline approaches for companies to reveal their pay figures. three people are injured in a shooting at youtube ‘s headquarters in california with reports that the gun woman who later killed herself had been angry at how her videos we re had been angry at how her videos were treated by the company. and in sport, the commonwealth games

opening ceremony is under way on the gold coast in australia. you can watch it live now on bbc one. 12 days of action starts from midnight. cristiano ronaldo shows no signs of ageing with this bicycle kick as real madrid take charge of their champions league quarterfinal tie. and tonight, could we be in for a treat at anfield? liverpool, the only team to beat manchester city in the league this season faced pep guardiola ‘steam in the last eight of europe's elite? i will be back with more on those stories at 11:30am. a 16—year—old boy who was shot on monday night in walthamstow, east london has died in hospital. he was attacked a short time after a 17—year—old girl was shot dead a few miles away in tottenham. the mayor of london, sadiq khan, has promised to fight what he called the "violent scourge" of gun and knife crime in the city. jon donnison reports. another day in london, another murder investigation.

this time in walthamstow, where a 16—year—old boy, shot on monday night, succumbed to his injuries. just a few miles away in tottenham, the community is mourning another dead teenager. 17—year—old tanesha melbourne was with friends when she was killed in a drive—by shooting, also on monday evening. those who knew her have described her as a beautiful, lively and bubbly girl. this map shows every murder in the capital this year. 48 now in total. behind each mark, a family bereaved and coming to terms with their loss. some are blaming a lack of police funding. i've never seen resources so scarce on the ground to be able to have the relationships with people to get the community to support what our police are doing. we've lost 100 police from around here already due to the cuts coming through from government.

i've stood up in parliament to beg and plead for people so that we can start getting community intelligence. the government says it is taking measures to break the deadly cycle of violence. in recent years across england and wales, there has been a rise in violent crime. some of it related to gangs. but the levels are still far below what they were in, say, the mid—1990s. that will be little comfort, though, for those mourning in london this week. jon donnison, bbc news. vladimir putin is set to meet the leaders of turkey and iran shortly to discuss the war in syria. the turkish president, recep tayyip erdogan, is hosting the summit with the russian president and hassan rouhani in ankara. the three leaders represent the three largest foreign military forces currently operating inside syria, excluding the united states. our correspondent mark lowen is in ankara for us now. these three men very much with the

future of syria in their hands. yes, that reflects the fact that as western governments have failed to bring an end to the war in syria after seven yea rs bring an end to the war in syria after seven years of fighting, turkey, russia and iran have filled that void. there has been a sense that void. there has been a sense that they have formed an unlikely alliance, given the fact that turkey is on the opposite side of the war to russia and iran. it supports the rebel fighters. it opposes the assad regime. russia and iran have bolstered the assad regime and have been bombing the rebel fighters. an unlikely coalition but they are cooperating because this has become a proxy war in which outside powers are all pursuing their own aims. russia needs to discuss with turkey

what will happen to the rebel enclave near the border, which could be the next focus of the russian bombardment. there is plenty to discuss, a reflection that western influence has considerably waned in syria. many thanks. the duke of edinburgh will have surgery on his hip later today. he was admitted to the private king edward vii hospital in central london yesterday for the planned operation. prince philip, who is 96 is understood to have had hip trouble for about a month. our royal correspondent, daniela relph, is at the hospital for us this morning. we don't know i suppose what time the operation is scheduled for but all we do know is this is very much all we do know is this is very much a planned operation. yes, that's

right. buckingham palace are not giving us any timings. you would imagine he would not have to wait too long to have his surgery here. ata too long to have his surgery here. at a guess, you would think the surgery at a guess, you would think the surgery is happening this morning. we have understood he has had this problem with his hip for a month or s0. problem with his hip for a month or so. it was felt he needed to be admitted to hospital for surgery. buckingham palace keen to stress this has all been a planned operation, a planned admission to hospital but having said all that, he is 96 years old and any kind of surgery he is 96 years old and any kind of surgery at that age does bring with it risks. but we are not being told exactly what the procedure, the surgery exactly what the procedure, the surgery is, they are unlikely to give is that detail but we are hoping once it is complete and once he is recuperating that we will get some sense later today that the surgery some sense later today that the surgery has actually happened. for the moment, thank you very much indeed. let's talk a little bit more

about what sort of surgery it might be. i'm joined by ananda nanu, president of the british orthopaedic association. he's in our newcastle studio. thank you very much for being with us. hip operations have become pretty much routine nowadays. that is absolutely true. tell us what is involved. what are the challenges with an older patient such as the duke of edinburgh? the challenges with an older person and i must stress this is not unusual that people in their 90s are having hip replacements, but the most important thing as you rightly state is the other core mobility is, other ailments he might have and what medication he is on and these would determine what kind of an anaesthetic he will have. the general perception is that when you are having a hip or knee replacement, you will have a general anaesthetic and that is no logger

true. the vast majority of patients have some sort of regional anaesthesia which gives them prolonged pain relief and the general prognosis for recovery are facilitated by these techniques. we have some sophisticated people with very sophisticated techniques available. i would very sophisticated techniques available. iwould not very sophisticated techniques available. i would not be quite as pessimistic and i think the chances ofa pessimistic and i think the chances of a good outcome are very high indeed. and how long might not surgery indeed. and how long might not surgery take and how wrong then to recover? how long do you think you would stay in hospital afterwards? in terms of the actual surgery, it would be anything between a0 and 50 minutes, depending on the kind of hip replacement that is being performed. at the time in theatre would probably be twice that because you need to bring the patient game,

administer the regional anaesthetic or whatever kind of anaesthetic you are using, draped the wound, prepare, make sure everything is sterile and then commenced at bring the patient in. in terms of mobility, knowing his reputation i would suggest he will be on his feet, walking tomorrow. the following day, i would expect him to be on sticks. in patients stay in hospital, i would anticipate, three — four days. i fully expect him to be walking, leading the procession at the royal wedding soon. and just one last question, he has obviously been in some pain and discomfort. people with hip problems do have very acute pain. does an operation like this immediately take away all that pain? it isn't amy is he takes away all the pain. which is why hip replacements are one of the

most successful treatments available in modern medicine, across—the—board. if you look at the top three procedures performed in terms of value for money, hip replacement is right there in the top three. great to talk to you. thank you so much for your time. vauxhall‘s parent company has announced investment in its luton plant that will see peugeot and citroen vans made in the uk. the deal with france—based psa, thought to be worth 10s of millions of pounds, was secured with the help of a contribution from the government. it means 1,a00 jobs will be secured beyond 2030. business editor simonjack is at vauxhall‘s luton plant this morning. very good news and in the build—up to brexit, this is a vote of confidence in the uk. an important milestone. ever since the general

motors assets were bought, there has been a question mark about over which plants they will keep open. this hundred million pound investment has secured the future of 1a00 jobs in luton. still about —— until about 2030. the life cycle of a commercial vehicle is much longer than a regular car. a lot of relief here. they have another plant in ellesmere port. no confirmation on that. i wonder if we can speak to the secretary live. another big win for him. he ensured the nissan investment, there has been a toyota investment. as these big decisions have come up, the uk has managed to hang onto it. the boss of the parent

company said, listen, we have a competitive market out there, we need to lower costs here by 20%, ellesmere port has a lot of work to do. but for the time being, some pretty good news. one other thing is that this has got a very big paint shop that works with plans. you can see the paint is applied here and the other potential candidate for placing this investment on vans does not have a paint shop. some cynics will say actually they did not have a choice about where to put this new investment and they got £9 million from the government to boot. the unions are very happy, as are the local councillors here. you mention the secretary of state. is he anywhere nearby? any chance of a quick word? let me see. bbc news live for a quick second? we will just

live for a quick second? we willjust have to wait for one second. i think that is a no. secretary of state? live with the bbc, very quickly? a big day. what assurances did you have to give the pa rent assurances did you have to give the parent company to make a decision when previously they had said brexit was holding back decisions? the industrial strategy is something thatis industrial strategy is something that is commanding a lot of respect in the automotive sector and other industries. we set out very clearly our intention to be one of the most innovative places in the world in the future as well as now to make cars. at his relationship that we have with the sector and with the workforce here is i think resulting in major investments like this. when i heard the chairman talking, he

said we are hoping we are going to get tariff free access, frictionless trade, you are not in a position to guarantee that are you? the prime minister set out our objectives in the negotiations. they are ongoing. they have not finished yet. it is not possible to say with certainty what the outcome is going to be. but lam very what the outcome is going to be. but i am very confident we will be able to get a good deal, to do a good deal, that allows us to continue what has been a really successful story of success in this industry and others and that is what we were very clear about. you have put £9 million of public money into this. a lot of people said in the case of nissan and toyota, and with this one, these investments were always going to happen anyway and you have spend public money. they have been very good at extracting public money from you. these big automotive investments we are talking about over £100 million in making sure this is going to be here for long

into the future is a highly competitive investment. we know that there is great competition between other plants across europe and around the world and what has been successful about our industrial strategy is that the investment in the technologies of the future in making sure that our workforce is equipped with the right skills to be able to take up those jobs, is respected across this sector and others and i'm delighted it has resulted in the success today. what accommodations have had about ellesmere port? it is a very important place when the outset. we have discussed the future of ellesmere port with the new owners of vauxhall, and the decision that they need to take on a new model is in the early 20205, but i think you can see from today's 5ucce55 in the early 20205, but i think you can see from today's success that we

are absolutely determined to work very closely with the workforce and with the technology innovators to make sure that the current 5ucce55 of these plants will continue into the future, so i am optimi5tic. of these plants will continue into the future, so i am optimistic. but investment in car production facilities has gone from 2.6 billion toi.6 facilities has gone from 2.6 billion to1.6in facilities has gone from 2.6 billion to1.6 in the facilities has gone from 2.6 billion to 1.6 in the last two and a half yea rs. to 1.6 in the last two and a half years. is that brexit related? it has fallen by 30%. i think what you are seeing now, has fallen by 30%. i think what you are seeing now, some has fallen by 30%. i think what you are seeing now, some of these big investment decisions that have been taken, not just here investment decisions that have been taken, notjust here in luton, but in cowley in oxford, with bmw, just a few weeks ago, we were talking about the second new investment that toyota had made in derbyshire, nissan in sunderland. these investments are being made for the long term, in this country, and we are doing our bit to make sure we represent the best case for them. the secretary of state there on greg clark, on what is a good day for

luton. a000 jobs secured, possibly growing over the next few years. £9 million investment courtesy of the government. that was a masterclass in grabbing a life guest. it is like when you grab a showbiz starlet at the oscars. i think we need some training, but we got him on camera. it was it was when they said greg. it was it was when they said greg. it pays to know ministers' first names, clearly. let's get the latest weather forecast with lucy. much colder in the north. we will see rain across scotland, which will fall as sleet and snow, as well. we will see some showers throughout the

uk, today. a mixture of sunny spells and showers, the shower is quite heavy. thunder possible. patchy outbreaks of rain in the east, and continue to seed outbreaks of rain, sleet and snow in scotland. it is quite windy. as we go through this evening and overnight, that hill snow clearing towards the south—east, so that we can see some tricky driving conditions for a time, but clear skies. tricky driving conditions for a time, but clearskies. it tricky driving conditions for a time, but clear skies. it will be a cold night. cloudier though in the south and east, and away from that cloud, we will see some light rain and drizzle. it will be chilly to start, but plenty of sunshine around tomorrow, telling a little bit cloudier in the west later. highs of 30 celsius. good morning. the commonwealth games opening

ceremony is under way in australia. chris, set the scene for us, now. you got the same whether as it got insulted at the moment. yes, i was just listen to the weather forecast, there. lots of rain were you 20 of rain here. prince charles brought an umbrella, because he needed it, or he wouldn't need it. a lot of rain before things got under way. the show finally got under way after a long preamble with a long aboriginal girl sat in the centre of the stage with a smartphone in her hand, which basically said, welcome the oldest culture in the world. there is going to bea culture in the world. there is going to be a lot of indigenous content in the opening ceremony. a bit dark in there at the moment, you can see for yourself what is going on inside. you have got a better idea than i do, you lucky people at home watching this. we are promised delta

gudrun, she is a big australian pop star and actress, angie can't move around this place without seeing big posters and pictures of her. this is due to go on for another couple of hours, so hopefully be rain has passed, and people enjoy it. and then, tomorrow of course, the sport gets under way. yes, 12 days of action to look forward to. what are the highlights on day one, chris? well, day one could be a very good one for the british home nations. england have alistair and johnny brownlee. they are in the chaff at —— triathlon. alistair is the flag bearer. his mother really wants to beat him. that will be sensational. we have got to hope that —— his brother really wants to beat him. that'll be sensational. there is a

slim possibility that the calls were changed because the wind and the rain bringing strong swells. they can rain bringing strong swells. they ca n affect rain bringing strong swells. they can affect the quality of the water, and that is what they were worried about, but that is due to go off tomorrow morning. you have got hannah miley over scotland later, in the summing. she gives me a00 individual medley. she is the favourite to win that defend the title. he needs to work on his tan, in australia. we will have more for you in the next hour. a 78 year old pensioner has been arrested after a man was stabbed to death during a break—in at a house in south east london. our correspondent jane—frances kelly is here to tell us more. the police were called. a 78 rolled

home owner discovered the two suspects. he was allegedly forced into the kitchen by one of the suspects with a screwdriver, another allegedly went upstairs, a struggle is said to have consumed, and one of the suspects received a stab wound to his upper body, the london ambulance service arrived and took one of the suspects to hospital where he died at 3:30am this morning. his next of kin have been informed. a postmortem examination will take place later on, and formal identification will take place to identify him. he 78 your old has been taken to a police station, on suspicion of previous bodily harm. he remains in custody at the moment. thank you very much indeed. alcoholism is a hidden problem in britain's punjabi community.

if you're sikh you're not meant to drink — which means it's not something that's talked about openly and when it is — it can lead to people being shunned. but with 60% more deaths from alcohol amongst uk punjabi's than the rest of the population — it is an issue which can't be ignored. a survey for this programme suggested that 27% of british sikhs report having someone in their family with an alcohol problem. our reporter tulip mazumdar has been to meet those affected. at seven years of age, i went to india. and to fit in, more than anything else, my uncle is a big drinker, he poured a drink, and i said, yeah, i'll have some of that, and i downed it in one. and they were like, wow, that's a seven—year—old kid, he's born in england, and these british kids have really got something here. i was the centre of attention and i loved it. bhupinder kullar nearly lost his life to alcohol. he is part of the uk's

indian punjabi community. strictly speaking, practising siggs aren't allowed to drink. —— practising sikhs aren't allowed to drink. in a new bbc survey, almost a quarter of sikhs who responded said they had had a family member with an alcohol problem. but, there is still stigma attached. bhupinder kullar remembers how his family tried to keep his problem quiet. he had to hide my problem from family, from society, our neighbours, from everyone. he had to hide it from my siblings, he had to pretend that everything was fine. at the age of 22, the doctors had told me that i wouldn't see my 23rd birthday. i developed jaundice, i started bleeding from everywhere you can think of. i was by no means a normal 22—year—old. what is happening particularly with the punjabi community, specifically because they seem to be

biologically susceptible to alcohol damage, is that there are more deaths overall related to alcohol use, and this is something that is not widely known. dr gurprit pannu has carried out research on alcoholism in the punjabi community, says that the nhs must understand the cultural differences behind the issue. there are a number of people in the community recognise that there is a problem, but they ditched to what to do about it. there are a number in the community who are still in denial, so i think it's still an ongoing process, try to open up the fact that this is happening within the community. but help is beginning to come from within the community, and at this sikh temple in southall, west london, an alcohol support group has been established. i started drinking when i was 16, as a teenager experimenting, over the years it quickly spiralled out of control. i went into treatment this last year, 2017, december, december, and i'll be nearly three months clean.

congratulations. i was absolutely amazed at the response. not just from the temple committee, but from the community. still, a lot of them are reluctant to come forward, because they still have that fear of coming forward, and coming out. and you can find out more by going to the bbc website where there's a new interactive tool to help you find more on stories like this. go to bbc.co.uk/health. we were just hearing more about a 78—year—old pensioner who has been arrested after a man was stabbed to death during a break in. we are now hearing that he has been arrested on suspicion of murder, this is after a man died following a suspected burglary. the latest from the

metropolitan police. that 78—year—old who was arrested on suspicion of murder. we were told it was grievous bodily harm, but we are now told it is on suspicion of murder. the iranian foreign minister, mohammad javad zarif, has been speaking about the british mother nazanin—zaghari—ratcliffe who is serving a five—yearjail sentence after being convicted of spying charges. mrs zaghari—ratcliffe was arrested at tehran airport two years ago and denies all the charges against her. the foreign minister said iran are continuing to make efforts on humanitarian grounds but britain has to respect their decision. it is also important for the united kingdom goosen iraq the max respect iran's sovereignty, and —— it is also important for the united kingdom to respect iran's sovereignty and the decisions that

are made. the judiciary has its own case and we only in executive branch can only interview on humanitarian grounds, that is what we have been doing. that if the iranians foreign minister. we can now join the opening ceremony live. spectacular aerial shot, there. we can to some commentary for you right now. and here they come, led out by eilidh doyle, glasgow 201a‘s poster girlfor eilidh doyle, glasgow 201a‘s poster girl for the games. the first woman to the flag bearer. a very popular flag bearer. she will be doing her

best to emulators performance in glasgow, at least. it will be a tough event for hire in the hurdles. she isjust one tough event for hire in the hurdles. she is just one of the few of the contingent from scotland. it's good to see them here. the scots targeting a best ever overseas reformers of their team medals. the leonel mafi of bowls. the most decorated scot ever. he is trying to win another two golds. they've got chances elsewhere in athletics, as well. lindsay sharp the 800 metres will be taking on her opponents. yes, lindsay's dad cameron 13 bro nzes yes, lindsay's dad cameron 13 bronzes here. —— won three bronzes

here. there we are. just a flavour of the opening ceremony there with a column of games in the gold coast australia. we will be back with the other home nations as they make their appearances at the opening ceremony. in a moment, we will have a summary ceremony. in a moment, we will have a summary of the business news. britain has rejected as perverse a russian proposal for a joint investigation into the poisoning of a former spy. the prime minister pledges to tackle what she calls the "burning injustice" of britain's gender pay gap — as the deadline approaches for companies to reveal their pay figures. three people are injured in a shooting at youtube's headquarters in california — with reports the gunwoman who later killed herself, had been angry at how her videos had been treated by the company. it's deadline day — for the 9,000 uk companies

which have 250 or more employees. by law, they must reveal details of their gender pay gap have to publish the data by the end of today — or face hefty fines. vauxhall‘s french parent company psa has announced an investment in its luton van—making plant which could eventually see peugeot and citroen—branded vans made in the uk. psa said it will increase production capacity at its luton plant by a third "despite brexit uncertainties". business minister greg clark says the decision is a "vote of confidence" in uk carmaking. trade tensions between china and the us have been ramped up after beijing responded to us plans for putting new taxes on hundreds of chinese imports. china said it would place 25% trade tariffs on 106 us goods, including soybeans, cars and orange juice. this comes hours after washington detailed about 1,300 chinese products it intended to hit with tariffs — also set at 25%. today is the deadline for british

businesses to give a breakdown of the gender pay gap between men and women. there are lots of different measures of pay inequality, but on an hourly basis, the last year's figures showed that men are paid 18.a% more than women here in the uk. the world economic forum says that pay inequality is a global issue and that the gap has increased every year since the turn of the decade. but this varies massively across different companies and industries. for example, the consumer goods giant unilever pays women 9% more than men. this reflects the fact that the lower paid manufacturing jobs are dominated by men, yet there's nearly a 50:50 split at management level. but at ryanair, the gender pay gap is as much as 67%. many of the highest paid employees at airlines are pilots— and the majority of pilots are men.

kate andrews is from the institute of economic affairs. kate,itis kate, it is nice to see you. it is a story that has been around for a long time. it is no surprise that there is still this gender pay gap, and it has been getting bigger since the start of the decade. what difference does it make for business? why should we put it right now? it is important to give women the opportunity to advance, to reward them for their success, to give them the same trajectory at if they wanted as men. organisations should work on that. if you break down the official statistics, that includes full—time workers and part—time workers. part—time work tends to be less well paid. if you break it down in the uk, the full—time pay gap is 9.1%. the

part—time pay gap is negative 1.5%. in favour of women. that is more flattering for women. when we start to break down comparisons like for like, we find that a lot of this goes out the window. we need to be honest about the fact that a lot of these pay gap figures, do not in a nyway these pay gap figures, do not in anyway give the full picture of a quality in the workplace. and that is the issue. it is notoriously difficult to work out on a like—for—like basis what is actually happening, because there are so many reasons why it might be a problem, not least, women would traditionally tend to take time off to have children. maybe that would affect their career progression, but may be working in lower paid or part—time work. that affects the figures, doesn't it. indeed. they have not taken into doesn't it. indeed. they have not ta ken into account doesn't it. indeed. they have not taken into account any key differentials. it doesn't take into

accountjob, age, differentials. it doesn't take into account job, age, experience, background. time taken out of work, and that particularly relates to women who become mothers and decided dedicate their time to childcare. it is hard to know that there is any gender discrimination going on. it could be different age groups, it could be different age groups, it could be different age groups, it could be a whole brightest thing. just one word on what this means for business themselves. 90% of women who responded to the study said that they would actually move companies based on that gender pay gap. so it's really important for employers to get it right. it is important for employers to get it right, and i am afraid that women are getting the wrong picture, here because we're not calculating it properly. many of them feel that they are earning less than their male counterparts, and it's just not true. let me bring you up—to—date with other stories. wpp is investigating an allegation of personal misconduct against its chief executive sir martin sorrell.

the world's largest advertising agency said its board had appointed independent experts to carry out the investigation. mr sorrell responded on wednesday, saying he rejected the allegations "unreservedly". the advertising standards authority in the uk has taken action against amazon for misleading adverts. four of the online giant's ads have been banned after the asa ruled that recommended retail prices used for a television, gaming monitor, laptop and electric toothbrush were "misleading". spotify has now started publicly trading for the first time shares of the music—streaming service closed at 1a9 dollars making the company worth 29.5 billion dollars — well above the value of other tech firms such as twitter. that uncertainty between those trade ta riffs that uncertainty between those trade tariffs announced between the us and china. they are causing some concern

about sparking a global trade war. mothercare today announced that it's appointed david wood as ceo with immediate effect. the retailer is hoping that ‘fresh leadership' will help it to ‘complete its transformation plan and return to growth‘. wpp‘s share price opened 2.37% lower at £10.91 after it emerged overnight that the advertising giant is investigating an allegation of personal misconduct against its founder and chief executive sir martin sorrell. we can now join the opening ceremony live. this is northern ireland. they are looking like they are enjoying the sunshine, there. the northern ireland team ready for the commonwealth games. we can also show you some recorded pictures from a few minutes ago of the england team. as they arrive in the stadium for that parade of nations. the 21st commonwealth games, opening in australia‘s gold coast, and over the next 12 days, there will be more than four and

next 12 days, there will be more thanfourand a next 12 days, there will be more than four and a half thousand athletes from 71 nations and territories altogether, competing for a total of 275 gold medals. commemorations have been taking place in the united states to mark the 50th anniversary of the assassination of the civil rights leader, martin luther king. one event was held at the church in memphis where king gave his final speech and his daughter told the audience that america should repent for its failure to eliminate racism. nada tawfik reports. his advisers, and admirers gathered to put keep his dream alive. 50 yea rs to put keep his dream alive. 50 years ago he spoke of the struggles to come, but of the promised land.” just want to do god‘s will! he is allowed me to go up to the mountain,

andi allowed me to go up to the mountain, and i have looked over, and i have seen and i have looked over, and i have seen the promised land! i i may not get there with you. his daughter took to the podium with a damning assessment of the country. it is time for america to repent because we have not, in 50 years, dealt with asa we have not, in 50 years, dealt with as a dad challenged us to deal with the last vestiges of racism. doctor king travelled to memphis, because he saw the plight of the workers as pa rt he saw the plight of the workers as part of his larger campaign against poverty. laws lead to integration, but true equality meant fighting economic injustice, he believed. investor andrew young was one of his

closest advisers travelling with him in memphis. i am sure he knew that his days were numbered, and if he was going to lose his life, he didn't want to lose his life in new york or washington, he wanted to give his life to the least of god's children, and he wanted to die fighting poverty. and give his life he did. on the balcony of the lorraine motel, he was assassinated bya lorraine motel, he was assassinated by a sniper. the fatal shot was fired at 6:01pm. to mark the moment, bells will ring here and across the nation, 29 times to —— 39 times to reflect the number of years he lived. when reflected on his legacy, compared to the shortness of his life it is striking and inspiring. we have got some persistent rain

across england. it is clipping east ireland, and... across much of england and wales, seeing some good spells of sunshine, but one or two quite heavy or thundery showers through the afternoon. a breezy day with highs of 131a celsius. through this evening and overnight, we will see that rain, sleet and snow clearing its way south—eastwards. clear skies behind that, although a little bit cloudier in the south—east. tebbit is not fully quite as far, here. it‘ll be a cold and frosty start. especially where it is clearer in the sky sky. some

cut in the south—east, but that should clear quite quickly. we are looking at a largely dry, bright day, with plenty of sunshine around. won or two showers in the west. temperatures as high as that in celsius. this is bbc news and these are the top stories

developing at midday. the government has strongly defended its belief that russia was behind the nerve agent attack in salisbury. we know that russia has previously been willing to poison outside its own borders, including in the united kingdom and we know it regards ex—agents as being candidates for assassination. the prime minister pledges to tackle what she calls the "burning injustice" of britain‘s gender pay gap, as the deadline approaches for companies to reveal their pay figures. a 78—year—old man is arrested on suspicion of murder after a man died following a suspected burglary in hither green in south east london. three people are injured in a shooting at youtube‘s headquarters in california, with reports the gunwoman, who later killed herself, had been angry at how her videos had been treated. the duke of edinburgh is having surgery on his hip today. prince philip, who is 96, entered hospital for the planned

procedure yesterday. also coming up in the next hour — 50 years since the assassination of martin luther king. events will commemorate the anniversary of his murder, including a ceremony at the motel where was shot. the opening ceremony for the 21st commonwealth games is underway, kicking off 12 days of events on the gold coast. good afternoon. it‘s wednesday the ath of april. welcome to bbc newsroom live. the british delegation to the international chemical weapons regulator, the opcw, has dismissed russia‘s proposal for a joint investigation into the salisbury nerve agent

attack as "perverse". officials said the idea was a "diversionary tactic" by moscow. the opcw is holding an emergency meeting at the hague, at russia‘s request, to discuss the poisoning. yesterday, the head of the porton down defence laboratory said it could not confirm the precise source of the substance used to poison sergei skripal and his daughter. we‘ll be live in the hague shortly, but first this report by anna holligan. what was the substance, where did it come from and who planted it? theresa may told parliament the attack involved a military—grade nerve agent and that the only plausible explanation was that russia was culpable, an allegation moscow has repeatedly denied. yesterday, the head of britain‘s military research centre at porton down confirmed it had identified the highly toxic novichok but was unable to prove

where it had been produced. investigators from the opcw visited salisbury and collected samples, they‘re expecting to have the results of independent lab tests within a week. as a signatory of the chemical weapons convention, russia has the right to request a meeting. 13 questions have been posed by moscow, including what kind of evidence the uk provided to the opcw, which inspectors were sent, who they met with and where the samples are being analysed. anna holligan, bbc news, in the hague. anna holligan is live for us now in the hague. what‘s the latest? the meeting is ongoing. russia has

been tweeting some details from inside, saying a ph.d. scientist has been sharing his expert view and that some of the members supported the russian view that this should all be led by the chemical weapons convention. that of course is not the matter of any dispute. i have been looking at the foreign office minister ‘s blog. he has been responding to this meeting inside the headquarters. he accused russia ofan the headquarters. he accused russia of an outpouring of disinformation, designed to pa ralyse of an outpouring of disinformation, designed to paralyse the international system. the uk delegation here tweeted this morning to say russia‘s proposal for a joint uk russian investigation into the salisbury incident is perverse. they described it as a diversionary tactic and yet more disinformation designed to evade the question is russian authorities must answer. this investigation is being led by

the opcw. inspectors visited salisbury a couple of weeks ago and they are working to identify the samples. in the last 2a hours, we have had this concern that has been jumped upon by moscow by the head of the military research facility at porton down, saying that they could be sure it was a novichok nerve agent but they could not be sure of the source of that. of course, porton down is not a detective agency. it is not theirjob to establish the source. that is something that could be done at a later date. they could seek to identify the source. the first task is to independently verify those samples and whether indeed they were novichok, military grade nerve agent, as suggested by theresa may. as we‘ve been hearing, the chief executive of the porton down laboratory, where the poison used in the salisbury attack was examined,

has explained that despite identifying what the substance is, the lab cannot confirm where it came from originally. ican speak i can speak on behalf of of our scientists for the part that we‘ve played in the whole operation, which is using their expertise, their experience, and rigorous evidence —based scientific analysis, they‘ve come to the conclusion that this is a nerve agent from the novichok family. that i can certain. all of the other aspects that you might read about in the media and all of the other questions that are being raised are not really an issue for us to get into. but what we can be sure of is the scientific evidence and the confirmation of what this substance is and that it is extremely toxic military grade nerve agent. this morning, shadow home secretary diane abbott said liam fox has reiterated that all the

evidence pointed towards russia. this morning we have been hearing from liam fox. reiterating that is the belief of the british government, that it is russia that was responsible for that attack. let‘sjoin norman was responsible for that attack. let‘s join norman smith at westminster. we were hearing from the head of porton down and that interview has i suppose in a sense from russia‘s point of view been a bit of a gift and so the british government really working hard today to reinforce their conviction that this was russia‘s work. to reinforce their conviction that this was russia's work.” to reinforce their conviction that this was russia's work. i think a real concern is that russia manages to use that interview to raise a question mark over how sure britain can really be that russia was behind this attack. and the broader concern with russia demanding now a joint

investigation with britain, with the 13 questions it asked the international chemical weapons organisation, i think the views here is this is all part of a russian move to spread disinformation, to prompt delay in the investigative process , prompt delay in the investigative process, in the hope of taking the heat out of the whole issue and more than that, perhaps fracturing the international coalition, which britain has managed to pull together with more than 20 countries now having kicked out russian diplomats. but interesting this morning, we have heard from alistair burt and liam fox, very publicly reiterating their conviction that russia was responsible for this attack. just have a look to liam fox. porton down identify the agent as being a russian military grade nerve agent. we know that russia has been stockpiling amounts of this. we know that russia has been investigating ways of delivering it. we know that

russia has previously been willing to poison outside its own borders, including in the united kingdom. we know that it regards ex—agents as being candidates for assassination. and it is not the united kingdom alone that came to this conclusion, it isa alone that came to this conclusion, it is a conclusion backed up by our allies across the world, looking to the same conclusions we did. there is no other plausible area that could have come from. it is worth stressing of course that it is not porton down ‘sjob stressing of course that it is not porton down ‘s job to stressing of course that it is not porton down ‘sjob to identify stressing of course that it is not porton down ‘s job to identify where the nerve agent came from. their missionary isjust to the nerve agent came from. their missionary is just to identify what the nerve agent is. the chief executive was never going to be able to say this is where we believe it came from. all of which said, it is something of a propaganda gift for the russians. we have also heard from diane abbott, from the labour benches on this. what has she been saying? she has been sort of pointing tojeremy corbyn is more cautious response to the salisbury

poisoning, which we know he raised questions about how certain the british government could be, that resulted in the considerable amount of criticism ofjeremy corbyn. now, diane abbott saying this morning that he adopted a more thoughtful approach at a time when others, she didn‘t name individuals, but i think she was primary pointing at the foreign secretary, boris johnson, had rushed in to apportion blame. we will be hearing from jeremy corbyn later today. he is at a local government election event and i suspect he will be asked about this andi suspect he will be asked about this and i suspect he will probably point to the fact that labour has been careful to adopt a more cautious approach and perhaps that is now being vindicated. norman smith, many thanks. the leaders of iran, russia and turkey have begun a summit aimed at finding a political solution to the seven—year war in syria. the meeting in ankara is the second summit between turkish president recep tayyip erdogan,

his iranian counterpart hassan rouhani and russian president vladimir putin. the three leaders represent the three largest foreign military forces currently operating inside syria, excluding the united states. theresa may has promised to tackle what she‘s described as the "burning injustice" of the uk‘s gender pay gap — that‘s the difference between the average earnings of men and women. companies with 250 or more employees have until midnight to publish figures showing how their workforces are affected. most of the 9,000 employers have already done so and more than three quarters pay their men more on average than women. earlier our business correspondent, ben thompson, gave us detail. about 100 firms that are still outstanding as far as that report is concerned. and you touched on the numbers. from those that have

reported, 78% say they pay men more than women, 13% say they pay women more than men, 8% say there is no problem, we pay everyone the same. it isa problem, we pay everyone the same. it is a distinct look at some other details, you get an idea of why this may be going on and some of the things that can be done to rectify. one of the biggest names in this list is rya nair, one of the biggest names in this list is ryanair, the low—cost airline. it reported a gender pay gap of nearly 72%. it is a staggering gap but if you look into the detail, you start to get an idea of why. it says, the majority of our highly paying jobs are those pilots and they tend to be made and that is why they have such a big pay disparity. what we are hearing now is there must be moves to try and resolve some of that. suggestions that it resolve some of that. suggestions thatitis resolve some of that. suggestions that it is in the interests of business and the employers. it is a crude mechanism for working out how much men and women are paid but it kick—starts a conversation and it allows women to go to their employer and say, i need to be paid the same as men. we spoke a little earlier to

the equality minister who made it very clear that all of this really is in the interests of everybody to make sure that the problem is resolved. the headlines on bbc newsroom live. britain has strongly reiterated its belief that russia was behind an attack on a former spy, said its grip al. the prime minister pledges to tackle what she calls the "burning injustice" of britain‘s gender pay gap — as the deadline approaches for companies to reveal their pay figures. let‘s get all the latest board for

you now and all the football and the commonwealth games news. yes, let‘s start with the football. look at that for a matchup. everyone will be watching anfield as liverpool take on manchester city in their champions league quarterfinal first leg. manchester city will wrap up first leg. manchester city will wrap up the premier league title on saturday if they beat manchester united but remember, liverpool are the only team to beat them all season in the premier league. jurgen klopp knows they have to be at their absolute best and has told his side to write their own history. people can tell me each goal liverpool scored 37 years ago and i think there are ten players who did that, they can say the names, so that it‘s all good and i liked it but this team, we need to... we need to be

proud of our history but we need to create our own. they are so clinical, they punish your mistakes. they are so fast. they are so direct. and that is good. it is a good challenge for us. 180 minutes, we are going to try and make a good performance year, to try and score goals and give a good result to manchester. steve smith, the former australian cricket captain, has confirmed on social media this morning he will not contest the ball tampering ban. smith says, i meant what i was talking about when i said, taking full responsibility. that is all the sport from now.

don‘t forget, you can keep updated on the commonwealth games. the opening ceremony is live on bbc one right now. i will have more for you in the next hour. let‘s just stay with the commonwealth games opening ceremony for a moment. it is still under way. we wa nt for a moment. it is still under way. we want to show you the wales team arriving for the parade of nations at the opening ceremony. early on we had seen the scotland team and the england team, this was the wales team. these are the 21st commonwealth games. i think we can see the isle of man team as well. there they are. 71 nations and territories altogether competing. i think we can see thejersey team as well. and guernsey as well. 71

nations and territories competing altogether. 275 gold medals up for grabs altogether. let‘s go to its live now. this is the scene live. there is malaysia. and altogether, there are a500 or so athletes competing over the next 12 days on australia‘s gold coast. what a stunning setting for the 21st commonwealth games, just opening there. and lots of smiles, as you can see. and it will be the prince of wales who you saw a glimpse of just a little earlier on, who will officially open those 21st gold coast commonwealth games in australia. a 16—year—old boy who was shot on monday night in walthamstow, east london has died in hospital. he was attacked a short time

after a 17—year—old girl was shot dead a few miles away in tottenham. the mayor of london, sadiq khan, has promised to fight what he called the "violent scourge" of gun and knife crime in the city. jon donnison reports. her another day in london, another murder investigation. this time in waltha mstow. murder investigation. this time in walthamstow. just a few miles away, a community is morning another dead teenager. 17—year—old tanesha melbourne was with friends when she was killed in a drive—by shooting, also on monday evening. those who knew her have described her as a beautiful, lively and bubbly girl. this map shows every murder in the capital this year. a8 now in total. behind each mark, a family bereaved. coming to terms with their loss. some are blaming a lack of police funding. i have never seen resources

so scarce on the ground to be able to have the relationships would be good to have that community intelligence to support what police are doing. we have lost 100 policemen around here in cuts from government. i have begged and pleaded ministers to give us those people so that we can start getting that community intelligence. the government says it is taking measures to break the deadly cycle of violence. in recent years, there has been a rise in violent crime, some of it related to gangs. at the levels are still far below what they we re levels are still far below what they were in say the mid—19 90s. that will be little comfort though for those morning in london this week. police united states have confirmed the identity of the youtube shooting suspect kolasinac al. are three people have been injured in a shooting at youtube‘s headquarters in california.

a 36—year—old man is in a critical condition. police say the woman who opened fire later killed herself. she‘s been identified in the us media as nasim aghdam, who‘s reported to have been 39 and of iranian descent. our north america correspondent, dave lee reports. this is the dramatic moment that police entered youtube ‘s headquarters. moments later, they would find a dead woman dead, killed they say by a self of the gunshot wound. before apparently taking her own life, the suspect used a handgun to shoot and injured three people. onea to shoot and injured three people. one a 36—year—old man is said to be in critical condition. the woman has been named by local police as 39—year—old naseem abele. our hyam being discriminated, i am not the only one. so, recently, they also attack my persian channel. as has become familiar, those caught up

as has become familiar, those caught up in the violence showed clips of themselves barricaded in their offices. this time, those employees will one of silicon valley ‘s most powerful companies. the chief executive of google which owns youtube described the attack as an unimaginable tragedy, other messages of support came in from firms such as google, apple and twitter. dramatic footage of all too frequent shootings often appear on youtube. staff have been in shock that something like this could happen in their backyard. a 78—year—old man has been arrested after an intruder was stabbed to death during a suspected burglary at his home. police said the pensioner, from hither green in south—east london, was arrested on suspicion of murder. the duke of edinburgh will have surgery on his hip today. he was admitted to the private king edward vi! hospital in central london yesterday for the planned operation. prince philip, who is 96, is understood to have had hip trouble for about a month. vauxhall‘s parent company has

announced an investment of almost £100 million in its luton plant. the deal with france—based psa — which was secured with a nine—million pound contribution from the government — will see peugeot and citroen vans made in the uk. it means 1,a00 jobs will be secured beyond 2030. arab business editor is in luton today and he has been speaking to the business secretary about the deal. what assurances did you have to give to the parent company to make a decision when previously they said brexit was holding back decisions quitting mark the industrial strategy something that is commanding a lot of respect in the automotive sector and other industries beyond. we settled very clearly our intention to be one of the most innovative places in the world in a future as well as now to

make cars, that is a relationship that we have with the sector and with the workforce here is i think resulting in major investors like this. when i heard the chairman of psa tour, he said we are hoping we‘re going to get tariff free access, we‘re going to get tariff free access , we we‘re going to get tariff free access, we are going to get frictionless trade. you are not in a position to guarantee that. the prime minister set out our objectives from the negotiations. of course, the negotiations are ongoing and they have not finished yet. it is not possible to say with certainty what the outcome is going to be. but i am very confident that we will be able to get a good deal, to do we will be able to get a good deal, todoa we will be able to get a good deal, to do a good deal, that allows us to continue what has been a really successful story of success in this industry and others. and that is what we were very clear with. you have put £9 million of public money and this. a lot of people say in the case of nissan, toyota and in this case, the only one fitted with the

kind of paint shop that works for fans, these investments were going to happen anyway and you have spent public money, they have been good at extracting public money from you for things they were going to do anyway. these big investments, over £100 million, making sure that this is going to be here for long into the future, these are highly competitive investments. you know that there is great competition between other plants across europe and around the world. and what has been successful about our industrial strategy is that the investment in the technologies of the future in making sure that our workforce is equipped with the right skills to be able to ta ke with the right skills to be able to take up those jobs is respected across this sector and others and i'm delighted it's resulted in success here today. what conversations have you had about the future of the ellesmere port plant? it isa future of the ellesmere port plant? it is a very important plant and from the outset, i and the it is a very important plant and from the outset, land the workforce

have discussed the future of ellesmere port with psa, the new owners of vauxhall, the decision that they need to take on a new model is in the early 20 205. but i think you can see from today's success that we are absolutely determined to work very closely with the workforce and with the technology innovators to make sure that the current success of these plants will continue into the future. i am optimistic. plants will continue into the future. iam optimistic. but investment in car production facilities has gone from 2.6 billion toi.6 facilities has gone from 2.6 billion to 1.6 billion in the last six yea rs. to 1.6 billion in the last six years. it has fallen by nearly 35%. ls years. it has fallen by nearly 35%. is that brexit related? what you are seeing now is some of these big decisions that are being taken not just here in luton but in oxford with bmw, just a few weeks ago, we we re with bmw, just a few weeks ago, we were talking about the second new investment that toyota have made in

derbyshire, nissan in sunderland. these investments are being made for the long term in this country and l will always do my bit to make sure that we present the best case for them. secretary of state, thank you very much indeed. a good day for luton. 1a00 jobs secured, possibly growing over the next 15 years without £100 million investment, 9 million courtesy of the government. the official list of chinese imports that the united states plans to subject to new tariffs has been released. they target fifty billion dollars worth of chinese imports. president trump insists chinese intellectual property practices have unfairly harmed american businesses. kim gittleson has more from new york. just two days after china placed ta riffs

just two days after china placed tariffs on 128 us products, the united states has responded with a list of its own. running to 1300 separate items, the range of chinese imports that could be subject to additional tariffs include everything from viscid ovens to flatscreen televisions to jet engines. the us has said that it is specifically focusing on the robotics aerospace and machinery sectors. there will now be a period before the list is finalised and the ta riffs before the list is finalised and the tariffs go into effect. already several business groups have said they oppose the tariffs. commemorations are taking place across america to mark the 50th anniversary of the assassination of the civil rights leader, martin luther king. a day of remembrance at the motel in memphis where he was shot, will combine performance and speeches to reflect on the past and ongoing struggle for equality. we are joined by clive myrie, who‘s in memphis.

what is going on there today and how significant would you say it is for the united states to stop and remember today on this anniversary? well, to the first point, the first pa rt well, to the first point, the first part of your question, it is going to bea part of your question, it is going to be a poignant day, no question about that, obviously reflecting on the amazing life of a man who was so prominent in the civil rights movement here in the united states and who was a galvanising force for humanity around the world. a poignant moment but also it is going to bea poignant moment but also it is going to be a day of celebration on the stage behind me. we are in front of the motel where he was murdered 50 yea rs the motel where he was murdered 50 years ago today. they will be speeches from some of his family and other civil rights leaders who were with him on a balcony in 1968 when he was shot. there will be poetry and dance. there will be a

celebration of the life of a remarkable man. but this is a sobering moment. it is good to be a time of reflection, as you say, for the so many african—americans in this country who feel that they have not reached the promised land. martin luther king 2a hours before gave that famous mountaintop speech ina gave that famous mountaintop speech in a church not far from gave that famous mountaintop speech in a church not farfrom here. he talked about reaching the mountaintop, seeing the promised land that hoping that would be a moment when african—americans would be living side by side with whites in this country on an equal footing. but he prophesied his own demise. he suggested he might not be there with you. he might not see that day when people would live here in equality. and of course 2a hours later, he was dead. i think a lot of people will be reflecting on the last 50 years, where african—america ns have be reflecting on the last 50 years, where african—americans have come. how patchy it has been in terms of their upward mobility in society.

the devastation among the black community as far as men are concerned. african—america ns form less tha n concerned. african—america ns form less than 20% of the population in this land. 60% of the prison population is made up of black people. the unemployment rate is appalling among african—americans. a whole raft of indicators suggest things have not really improved as well or as fast as doctor king had hoped. it will be a poignant moment, a moment of reflection but also a celebration of a remarkable life. his memory really does live on, doesn‘t it? his memory really does live on, doesn't it? it stars. he understood the power of words. the cadence, the way that he delivered words, and

interestingly, i heard a documentary about barack about ba rack obama about barack obama in 2007, and i went to one of the churches where barack obama went to one of the churches where ba rack obama used went to one of the churches where barack obama used to be in the congregation, and he used to speak in the way that the minister would. he didn‘t have the cadence, he didn‘t have the style, he had to learn that. and martin luther king was the person that he emulated, in terms of his delivery and his rhetoric. the brilliance of his speeches, they live on in the memory of anyone who heard it at the time. today in newsreels. he was able to project an image, and project a message of unity, of love and of kinship that

resonated across the world. fa‘atu close to a weather front, which has brought snow to... an area of low pressure which is dominating the scene across the south—west quarter. in the midst of all of those showers, at least you have got the prospect of sunshine. so two to the prospect of sunshine. so two to the north. tebbit is underneath the front, three, four, five. in the best of the sunshine, ten, 11 or 12. and then we push that frontal system

away to give that cold frosty start, but here, what a contrast. a dry day, dare i say it? there will be some sunshine, as well. and temperatures beginning to respond. it may even feel like spring. this is bbc newsroom live. our latest headlines: britain has strongly reiterated its belief that russia was behind a nerve agent attack on a former spy — and rejected as ‘perverse‘ a russian proposal for a joint investigation into the poisoning. the prime minister pledges to tackle the "burning injustice" of the uk‘s gender pay gap — as the deadline approaches for companies to reveal their pay figures.

so far nearly 80 percent of firms have shown that men earn more. vauxhall‘s parent company has announced an investment plan to build new vans at its luton plant. the deal will safeguard 1,a00 jobs at the factory. a 78—year—old pensioner is arrested on suspicion of murder after a man died following a suspected burglary in south east london. and the duke of edinburgh is to undergo surgery on his hip later today. he was admitted to london‘s king edward the seventh hospital yesterday for a planned operation. we can now join the opening ceremony live. here are the soloman islands team, and tonga, as you can see, the parade of nations, altogether four and a half thousand athletes are taking part in12 and a half thousand athletes are taking part in 12 days. the perfect

setting for the commonwealth games. competing for some 275 gold medals. let‘s just listen in for a competing for some 275 gold medals. let‘sjust listen in for a moment. i can‘t remember his name, now. he was in rio, and then the tongan flag bearer in rio, he made a real impression. he switched sports, anyway. to the capital is but a footie. midway between hawaii and australia. light changed their name in 1975. vanuatu hoping to get a medal in

beach volleyball. can you hear the rumble and the thunder? it means only one thing. and finally, please welcome the team that is so proud to be the host nation of 2018 commonwealth games, australia! if there was a roof on the stadium, it would just have come. what a

noise! what a welcome, for this huge strong team. —— a73 strong team. the largest tea m strong team. —— a73 strong team. the largest team ever assembled. led out by kookaburra‘s captain mark knowles. a surprise choice. ahead of sally pearson. he‘ll retire after gold coast. hoping for a sixth straight hockey gold. there‘s not aside the medals publicly, but the chief priority appears to be beating england and returning to the top of the medal table once again. it's a funny type of australian sport, with everything that has gone on in cricket, but they have struggled in funding, so these games are really important, not just for the individual athletes, they want to whine about their own performances,

but australia wants to put on a show, here. they want to put themselves back on top. they do. it has been a chastening experience the last few days. some of the star names that we will hear it a lot about is emma mcewing. she is targeting six medals, here. doubt we are, we will leave the opening of the coroner —— there we are. the host nation getting a huge cheer as you had. the 21st commonwealth games opening their in the gold coast in australia. fantastic scenes. let‘s get more on theresa may promising to tackle what she‘s described as the "burning injustice" of the uk‘s gender pay gap — that‘s the difference between the average earnings of men and women. companies with 250 or more employees have until midnight to publish figures showing how their workforces are affected. most of the 9000 employers have already done so — and more than three quarters pay their men more on average than women.

i am now joined by jacqui hunt, director of european office at equality now. thank you very much for being with us. do these figures surprise you? no, not at all. clearly there is a big structural issue here that needs to be addressed, and we are hoping that government and business will ta ke that government and business will take leadership on it. and how best to address it? and address it fast, because these things can take time to deal with. they can take time to deal with, but firstly, you start in schools. fylingdales and boys equally. perhaps you look at the tax regime to see if men and women can be taxed differently to encourage women back to work. you look at childcare and that‘s a huge issue, and also how you are valuing jobs. why is it all the care jobs, and also how you are valuing jobs. why is it all the carejobs, women, teachers, kerry voted in kindergarten, even caring for all the people. why is that valued less

than some dogs such as plumbing. women are stereotyped into certain jobs. we need to look at how we are valuing people, and how we can get the best out of everybody to continue to contribute to economy and the society. and as a society, how do we put compare to other european competitors, for example, what is our pay gap like apache others? better and worse. we look to is scandinavia quite often to leadership in terms of women‘s promotion. if you look at weedon, they looked at the tax regime, they looked at childcare, and they encouraged women back into the workforce, and try to make it easier for people to be the best that they can be. we can look at maternity and paternity like tamoaieta writes, and flexible working. a lot of countries, these days, especially with fantastic technology, can look ata with fantastic technology, can look at a way that we can all contribute ina way at a way that we can all contribute in a way that we can give the most at home, and the most at work.

valuing contributions in each place. and when we go down into the data that we are getting about british company is, for example, finance firms in the city, the big banks, for example, they seem to be some of the worst offenders, in terms of the huge pay cut. men at the top getting huge pay cut. men at the top getting huge bonuses, and so on. yes. this is analysis is just the beginning. they look at who they hire, into which rolls, and see if they can make changes back, and see if they can benefit, and are theyjust promoting them, because they think men are there longer. it is notjust about taking maternity pay, it is about taking maternity pay, it is about looking at these girls are being contributed by the workforce. how are they encouraging their people to learn, to go to give their best that they can to the company. and also to give a lifestyle that men and women both won. interesting. idoso men and women both won. interesting. i do so much for being with us. the liberal democrats have

launched their local election campaign in watford — promising to focus on education, social care, and combating rising crime. ahead of the contests which take place in various local authorities across the country on thursday 3rd may. the party‘s leader sir vince cable said his party is a "secret phenomenon" in defying opinion polls. we are doing about twice as well as the public opinion wells suggest that public opinion polls suggest we are. that is the background in which we are going to be competing in these local elections. i think there one reason why these local elections. i think there one reason why we are these local elections. i think there one reason why we are doing well locally, is that we actually believe in local government. we have got a system that has become massively centralised, we need to have local councils building homes, but they can‘t borrow to build, because they are prevented from doing so. sir

vince cable, though. a woman shot and wounded three people at youtube‘s headquarters in northern california before killing herself. police have named the suspect as nasim aghdam and said the incident is the result of a domestic dispute. the suspect is reported to have approached an outdoor patio and dining area at the offices on tuesday, local—time around midday, and opened fire with a hand—gun. nasim aghdam appeared often on youtube and in one of her videos criticised the platform for discriminating against and filtering her posts. joining me now is professor craig jackson who is a professor of occupational health psychology at birmingham city university. thanks very much for being with us. how unusual is it in... to have a female carrying out an attack of this nature? good afternoon. well, female loan of mass shootings are

incredibly rare. they do happen, obviously, but latest estimates suggest it is less than 2% of all mass shootings are perpetrated by females acting alone. and really, over the last couple of decades, there have only been less than a handful of mass killings where a female has been responsible. there have been a couple of —— female has been responsible. there have been a couple of -- there have been a couple of incidents. what ties these female acts together, really, is that we know very little about their motives relative to what we understand about when men perpetrate mass shootings. to go back to 1979, there was an infamous case where16—year—old brenda spencer opened fire at an elementary school, and she killed two individuals and injured several more. she did that from the comfort

of her own bedroom window. when taken alive and captured, and she is still in captivity to this day, how reasons behind what she did have never truly been established. possibly more useful for us to understand, is the 2006 case of a young woman who was an employee of the us postal service who opened fire at a sorting office where she had been dismissed a few months previously. she also had some moments... but, what we do see in both of these cases, and possibly in the case that we had yesterday, is that it the case that we had yesterday, is thatitis the case that we had yesterday, is that it is not about the mental health of the individuals, but it is about their personality, and what we would hear a slow unravelling of theirgrip of would hear a slow unravelling of their grip of reality, but it is not to do with mental health in the terms of depression and anxiety in

the ways that we would understand it. and just to hear this, there. it is unusual for it. and just to hear this, there. it is unusualfor a it. and just to hear this, there. it is unusual for a woman to carry out an attack like this. there have been so many mass shootings in the united states in particular, but almost a lwa ys states in particular, but almost always carried out by men. absolutely. the couple of other cases, where females have been involved, you often have a more dominant male and a female accomplice or sidekick. we saw that accomplice or sidekick. we saw that a couple of years ago in 2015 with the husband and wife in the case where the iphone is needed to be unlocked by the fbi. but, when we have a female lone operative, killing for a grant rather than a terrorist reason, it is incredibly rare. there are some things about this case that clearly... it involves a workplace. they defined place of business, and the time of

day, lunchtime on a weekday. that is also very telling. the methods that they choose are very telling about what their problems are as individuals. thank you very much for being with us. the headlines on bbc newsroom live: britain has strongly reiterated its belief that russia was behind a nerve agent attack on a former spy — and rejected as perverse a russian proposal for a joint investigation into the poisoning. the prime minister pledges to tackle what she calls the "burning injustice" of britain‘s gender pay gap — as the deadline approaches for companies to reveal their pay figures. car manufacturer vauxhall is to build a new van at its luton plant, safeguarding 1a00 jobs at the factory — and potentially creating more roles. alcoholism is a hidden problem in britain‘s punjabi community. if you‘re sikh you‘re

not meant to drink — which means it‘s not something that‘s talked about openly and when it is — it can lead to people being shunned. but with 60% more deaths from alcohol amongst uk punjabi‘s than the rest of the population — it is an issue which can‘t be ignored. a survey for the victoria derbyshire programme suggested that 27% of british sikhs report having someone in their family with an alcohol problem. our reporter tulip mazumdar has been to meet those affected. at seven years of age, i went to india. and to fit in, more than anything else, my uncle is a big drinker, he poured a drink, and i said yeah, i‘ll have some of that, and i downed it in one. and they were like, wow, that‘s a seven—year—old kid, he‘s born in england, and these british kids have really got something here. i was the centre of attention and i loved it. bhupinder kullar nearly lost his life to alcohol. he is part of the uk‘s indian punjabi community. strictly speaking, practising sikhs

aren‘t allowed to drink. in a new bbc survey, almost a quarter of sikhs who responded said they had had a family member with an alcohol problem. but, there is still stigma attached. bhupinder kullar remembers how his family tried to keep his problem quiet. he had to hide my problem from family, from society, our neighbours, from everyone. he had to hide it from my siblings, he had to pretend that everything was fine. at the age of 22, the doctors had told me that i wouldn‘t see my 23rd birthday. i developed jaundice, i started bleeding from everywhere you can think of. i was by no means a normal 22—year—old. what is happening particularly with the punjabi community, specifically because they seemed to be biologically spaced susceptible to alcohol damage, is that there are more deaths

overall related to alcohol use, and this is something that is not widely known. dr gurprit pannu has carried out research on alcoholism in the punjabi community, says that the nhs must understand the cultural differences behind the issue. there are a number of people in the community recognise that there is a problem, but they ditched to what to do about it. there are a number in the community who are still in denial, so i think it's still an ongoing process, try to open up the fact that this is happening within the community. but help is beginning to come from within the community, and at this sikh temple, an alcohol support group has been established. i started drinking when i was 16, as a teenager experimenting, over the years it quickly spiralled out of control. i went into treatment this last year, 2017, december, and i will be nearly three months clean. congratulations. l was absolutely amazed at the response.

not just from the temple committee, but from the community. still, a lot of them are reluctant to come forward, because they still have that fear of coming forward, and coming out. and you can find out more by going to the bbc website where there‘s a new interactive tool to help you find more on stories like this. go to bbc.co.uk/health. the iranian foreign minister, has been speaking about the case of the british mother nazanin zaghari—ratcliffe who is serving a five—year jail sentence after being convicted of spying charges. mrs zaghari—ratcliffe was arrested at tehran airport 2 years ago and denies all the charges against her. yesterday her husband richard ratcliffe criticised boris johnson for failing to bring her home. the foreign minister said iran are continuing to make efforts on humanitarian grounds but britain has to respect their decision. it is also important for the united

kingdom to respect iran's sovereignty, and iran's political judicial decisions that are made. with the judiciary that is totally independent from the executive branch of the government. so, the judiciary has its own case and we any executive branch can only intervene on humanitarian grounds and that is what we are doing. britain‘s biggest airport is set to overhaul how disabled passengers access their wheelchairs once they‘ve landed. currently, they are sent to the baggage reclaim area but from june wheelchairs will be brought to the plane door. today, the government has announced plans to work more closely with the aviation industry in a bid to make flying more enjoyable for those with reduced mobility. here‘s our disability correspondent, nikki fox. whenjemma‘s not working, she loves

to travel but it‘s not easy. she has spinal muscular atrophy and can‘t stand or walk. last year she went to florida with family and friends. it was her dream holiday and it all went smoothly until she returned home and had to get off the plane. three orfour men came on. very quickly, my level of confidence went from perfectly fine to, "hang on a minute, what‘s going on, they don‘t know what they‘re doing here, how am i going to get off the aircraft safely?" to get off the plane, jemma needed to be lifted straight from her seat to a narrow aisle chair, but it didn‘t go well. i was just in a position that was so undignified, so embarrassing. i was crying at this point. i was in a lot of pain. i was in a position you‘re not meant to be in. jemma complained to the airline and received compensation but she‘s not alone when it comes to the many issues disabled people have when flying. most recent figures show the number

of disabled people and those with mobility restrictions that pass through uk airports increased to more than 3 million. 1.2 million of those come through heathrow. last year, a civil aviation authority report was critical of the service heathrow provides disabled passengers, ranking it as poor. i wanted to put some of the complaints we‘d received to the management of the airport to see what they were doing to tackle the problem. staff having zero training, being denied pre—boarding, one of them, an appalling disregard for disabled passengers institutionalised at heathrow. they are just a few. every time we get negative feedback it's unacceptable to us. some of the things we are working on are looking at how we make the service of passengers being taken onto the aircraft far more comfortable and one other key part of the process is obviously the repatriation of the passengers' wheelchairs to them after their flight. there are now plans to make sure wheelchairs are returned to aircraft doors as standard instead of them

ending up in baggage reclaim, but is that enough? and are airlines as well as airports doing their bit to make flying more accessible? if you want to travel by air, prepare to be uncomfortable, prepare to be manhandled and don‘t even think about using the toilet. chris wood has a disabled son and daughter. he wants to see wheelchairs allowed inside the aircraft, eliminating the need for transfers and long waits. his campaign has already led to meetings with manufacturers to develop flight—safe wheelchairs. it needs the whole industry to come together to resolve it and everybody join together as one and say, "yeah, this is not right, hey, we are out of touch "but we are dealing with it now." but wheelchairs on planes in the short term is unlikely. right now, many disabled passengers feel that current legislation doesn‘t do enough to protect them. the airlines have really got it stitched up. there's an international treaty called the montreal convention and that says you can't bring any kind of legal claim for discrimination for anything that happens between embarkation,

which is getting on the plane, and disembarkation. today, the government has told us that as part of its upcoming aviation strategy, it plans to work with industry to improve everything from staff training to the design of aircraft. but it will take more than just plans before many disabled passengers feel comfortable taking to the skies. nikki fox, bbc news. 12:a5pm, more news coming up at the top of the hour. let‘s take a look at the weather with phil avery. that have a look in the short term. not too many problems with the day, but it depends where you are. this same day, same country. that is

going up is in five, and anywhere near the weather front that is looking across much of northern britain, you are still trapped in some pretty cold air. further south, you are closer to an area of low pressure, and you just see that swell their perilously close to the south—eastern quarter of the british isles. so, it is a real compare and contrast with regard to the fortunes on the weather front, today. some heavy showers, and plenty of sunshine towards the north of the british isles, too, but anywhere near that zone, potentially several centimetres of snow across the higher ground, and as that front seats away, you‘ll end up with quite a widespread frost across the top of the british isles. but, eventually, it would be too long into thursday, that card will pull off towards the near continents, and what is that? a half decent day break out across a good part of the british isles. not the warmest that we would have seen, temperatures still in single figures after actually start for scotland,

northern ireland and the far north of england. but, at least you‘re going to get some sunshine. that is after the easter period that we have seen across many after the easter period that we have seen across many parts. here, into friday, yes, next set of whether france beginning to loom into the western side, and northern part of the british isles. cardiff, wet and windy weather returns here, but that little further parts east, have a look at that, with a southerly breeze, it is getting to that sort of time of year with a bit of sunshine, a bit of southerly, and we are off and running. 15, all16 degrees. it just are off and running. 15, all16 degrees. itjust depends where that weather front goes, it mayjust put on through. but if that card get out of the way, eventually, we will see quite a deal of dry weather across the british isles, and those temperatures widely will be pushing into double figures. the weekend, it will be fairly quiet. a little rain, some sunny

will be fairly quiet. a little rain, some sunny periods, and potentially warm. this is bbc news. the headlines at midday. the government strongly defends its belief that russia was behind the nerve agent attack in salisbury. we know that it regards ex—agents as being candidates for assassination. the prime minister pledges to tackle what she calls the "burning injustice" of britain‘s gender pay gap — as the deadline approaches for companies to reveal their pay figures. car manufacturer vauxhall is to build a new van at its luton plant, safeguarding 1,a00 jobs at the factory and potentially creating more roles. a 78—year—old pensioner is arrested on suspicion of murder after a man died following a suspected burglary in south east london.