tonight at ten: relations between britain and russia take another turn for the worse following the spy poisoning in salisbury. four weeks after sergei skripal and his daughter were attacked, russia is now calling for a line to be drawn under the global row that's developed. translation: we're not waiting for anything. we're waiting for the common sense to ultimately prevail, so that international relations are no longer damaged in the way they have been, as we saw recently. as government scientists say they can't confirm the source of the posion, ministers say they're still sure that russia was to blame. we know that the russians designed it and we know that the russians were the only people to make it and stockpile it. so it very quickly eliminates most of the other suspects potentially. but labour'sjeremy corbyn says that evidence of russia's involvement may have been exaggerated. we'll have the latest. also tonight: a boost to the uk motor industry. vauxhall gets £100 million of new investment, building a new van model in luton. the duke of edinburgh is said to be in good spirits

after an operation to replace a hip. half a century after the killing of martin luther king, americans salute his legacy as the campaign for racial equality continues. those commemorations may well be most keenly felt here in memphis, tennessee, the place where dr king died from a single gunshot that was heard right around the world. commentator: 0h, he can hit one. and, liverpool overwhelm manchester city in the first leg of the champions league quarter—final at anfield. coming up on sportsday on bbc news: surf's up on the gold coast as the commonwealth games gets under way with a spectacular opening ceremony. good evening.

relations between britain and russia have worsened again following the chemical attack on a former russia agent in salisbury. russia is now being accused by britain and other eu countries of attempting to frustrate the official investigation. at an emergency meeting of the opcw, the international chemical weapons regulator, russia's demands for a joint inquiry were rejected. the eu accused moscow of being responsible for a "flood of insinuations targeting member states." the russians have now called an emergency session of the un security council. our diplomatic correspondent, james landale, reports. more than one month on in salisbury the investigation continues into a nerve agent attack that britain believes was

carried out by russia. an assessment based on science, yes, but also intelligence. no other country has a combination of the capability, the intent and the motive to carry out such an act. but the head of the porton down military laboratory muddied the waters by saying it was not the job of his scientists to say where the nerve agent had been made, contrary to what the foreign secretary had appeared to suggest. the people from porton down, they were absolutely categorical. i asked the guy myself, i said, "are you sure? he said, "there's no doubt." today, the foreign office deleted an inaccurate tweet that had also suggested porton down had said that novichok was produced in russia. all of which gave russia another chance to question britain's evidence, calling at short notice a meeting of the chemical weapons watchdog, the opcw in the hague, where its diplomats accused britain of a dirty flow of lies and outright russia phobia.

translation: the result of their investigation was announced in a hurry by their prime minister, theresa may, literally a few days after the incident. even though the investigation would take a few weeks or even months. british ministers insisted porton down‘s job was always to identify the nerve agent and it was for the police and intelligence services to establish who had used it and why. porton down identified fairly quickly the strain the nerve agent and once that's identified you remove from the list 99.9% of the people. we know that the russians designed it and we know the russians were the only people to make it and stockpile it. this muddle is a self—inflicted wound by the british government that has given russia yet another opportunity to challenge's britain's version of events but for now at least the international coalition behind the uk appears to be holding.

the eu issued a statement saying it had full confidence in the uk's assessment and investigation and attacking russia for what it called "a flood of insinuations." this evening, britain and its allies defeated a russian proposalfor a newjoint investigation into the salisbury attack, which mrjohnson branded a "ludicrous proposal to obscure the truth and undermine the opcw." but back in the uk, the labour leader accused the foreign secretary ever being too quick to blame russia when he believed other explanations could emerge. borisjohnson seems to have completely exceeded the information that he'd been given and told the world, in categorical terms, what he believed had happened, and it's not backed up by the evidence he claimed to have got from porton down in the first place. in turn, mrjohnson accused mr corbyn of playing russia's game. 28 countries had backed britain, he said, but mr corbyn had sided with the russian spin machine.

so the diplomatic and political fallout from the salisbury attack continues with russia calling a meeting of the un security council tomorrow. james landale, bbc news. in moscow today, the head of russia's foreign intelligence agency said the west was trying to build a new iron curtain, while president putin said he hoped common sense would prevail in the dispute over salisbury poisoning. from moscow our correspondent, steve rosenberg, reports. the matinee in moscow seemed an odd choice — russian bombs at a conference on global security. but the message was loud and clear, that russia is a military superpower and is determined to stand up to the west. when he took the stand, russia's foreign intelligence chief accused the british and american secret services of a grotesque provocation over the salisbury poisoning. the west, he said, was building a new iron curtain. translation: washington has

become fixated with the fight against the nonexistent so—called "russian threat". this has reached such an absurd level that it's possible to speak of a return to the dark days of the cold war. east—west tension has been building for some time, but the diplomatic war over the nerve agent attack has deepened the divide. this is a situation that is really poisoning our relations, and this is something that we should jointly find an antidote to. the british are good at creating antidotes, aren't they? and what are the russians creating? chaos, says the west. moscow disagrees. the world, according to moscow, is a very different one to the one seen through the eyes of the west. russia portrays itself as the cornerstone of global peace and stability, of international order. the very order the british government accuses moscow of undermining through

hostile activities. on a visit to turkey today, president putin said he hoped common sense would prevail, not only in the skripal case, but overall in international relations. back at the moscow conference, they may be talking peace and global stability, but business is business. what's your price? it depends on negotiations. whether in arms sales or in geopolitics, russia has set its sights on competing with the west. steve rosenberg, bbc news, moscow. and our political correspondent, alex forsyth, is in westminster. alex, after today's claims and counter claims, where do we stand? well, huw, what happened today on the domestic political front doesn't seem so the domestic political front doesn't seem so far to have dented the support the uk is getting from its western allies. it hasn't changed the government's position. it is still clear that in its view the

only plausible explanation is russian involvement in this attack. until now the government has seemed pretty sure footed in the handling of this affair. we had the deleted tweet from the foreign office and state m e nts tweet from the foreign office and statements of clarity. it allowed labour to ask serious questions about boris johnson and labour to ask serious questions about borisjohnson and we've had strongly worded statements from the foreign secretary. jeremy corbyn‘s supporters are suggesting all of this validates his more cautious approach to the whole affair. it might not have damaged the international alliance at this point, but it certainly is an unwelcomed distraction. for a government that is handling something as crucial and sensitive as this on the international stage, the very last thing it wants are questions and even criticism about its handling of it on the home front. alex, many thanks again. alex forsyth there for us at westminster. vauxhall is to build a new van model in luton. the decision will safeguard 1,400 jobs and should secure the plant's future until 2030. the business secretary, greg clark,

said the announcement was a vote of confidence in vauxhall‘s workforce and in the uk's car industry. our business editor, simonjack, reports. the future of vauxhall‘s two uk plants, here in luton and at ellesmere port, has been a concern ever since vauxhall became part of the peugeot—citroen family, when psa bought general motors' european business. the boss of psa has previously said brexit uncertainty would delay major investment decisions. so what has changed? we have a strong performance plan for the plant, that we are now going to implement to give the plant the possibility to catch up, in terms of cost and quality competitiveness, with all the other european continental plants. he's also feeling more confident about an eventual brexit deal. i think there is a common interest that this deal will be supporting the interest of both parties and that therefore there is a good probability that something looking like a frictionless trade deal will be made. the government will contribute £9 million to a total investment of over £100 million.

currently, luton can produce up to 70,000 vans a year, the extra investment will mean that goes up to 100,000. industry insiders say this was the key to the decision, luton is the only psa plant with a paint facility compatible with the models they want to make. they effectively had little choice, which begs questions over government financial support. they've been very good at extracting public money from you for something they were going to do anyway? these big automotive investments, we're talking about over £100 million, making sure that this is going to be here for long into the future. these are highly competitive firm investments. you know that there is great competition between other plants across europe and around the world. this is obviously great news for vauxhall and the 1,400 people who work here in luton. the life cycle of those vans is 10—15 years, so those jobs are secured until 2029 and beyond. the same is not necessarily true of ellesmere port, which is 200 miles in that

direction, who are waiting to find out whether they will build the new astra, and whether it will secure that plant's future. union leaders say efforts to protect the 1,200 jobs at risk in the north—west are already under way. it's very critical. we made it clear to the company that luton doesn't stand alone, it's luton and ellesmere port. negotiations are taking place and i'm confident that we'll reach a position that will secure the long—term future for ellesmere port. that decision will be made in 2020 — time, say psa, for ellesmere port to improve its efficiency and for there to be greater clarity on brexit. simon jack, bbc news. president trump has insisted the united states is not engaged in a trade war with china. shares fell sharply during the day amid growing concern on the financial markets about the tensions between america and china. beijing is to impose new tariffs of 25% on a significant slice of us imports, a direct response to the levies announced by washington yesterday.

our north america editor, jon sopel, is in washington. for many people, jon, this does look like some kind of trade war. what's the white house perspective? well, the only phrase goes if it walks like a duck and it quacks like a duck it's a duck. let us call d a squirmish. the direction of travel seems to be towards heading towards a trade war with china and america lined up the two most powerful economies in the world against each other. donald trump tweeted this morning, "when you are already $500 billion down, you can't lose." talking about the trade deficit. try taling telling that to the soya bean grocers because they are the people china are targeting strategically and proportionally because that is the heart of trump country. the

farmers are protesting like crazy this will be very, very damaging. you have producers here in steel and aluminium saying us tariffs on chinese products will raise prices for american consumers. that's going to be very unpopular as well. donald trump said a month ago that trade wa rs trump said a month ago that trade wars are easy to win. they are if you're opponent backs down, signs an unconditional surrender and waves a white flag. china aren't doing that. jon, many thanks again, jon sopel there with the latest in washington. detectives are continuing to appeal for witnesses and information following the fatal shooting of a 16—year—old boy in walthamstow, in east london, on monday night. the police have named the victim as amaan shakoor from leyton. facebook says a total of 87 million people globally may have had their data accessed improperly by the british firm cambridge analytica. that's much bigger than the 50 million previously estimated. the bbc has been told that about one million of those affected are based in the uk.

our technology correspondent, rory cellan—jones, is with me. facebook, for the first time, giving some details. it says it is taking a worst possible scenario, 87 million people around the world, these are people around the world, these are people that are friends, most of them are friends of people that downloaded the personality quiz. 1000 people downloaded that personality quiz in the uk, and if we counted all of their potential friends, that is more than a million people whose data would have been collected. it came from facebook in a blog post, tightening up various loopholes in the way it shares data with outsiders, including one loophole that unbelievably said malicious actors could have used just about everybody on facebook could have had their public profile scraped in this way by these

malicious actors. in the last hour, mark zuckerberg, the ceo of facebook has been talking to reporters, he admitted, "we didn't take a broad enough view of what our responsibly to was, it was a huge mistake, my mistake." he was asked if he considered stepping down, and he said, no, he is still the man for thejob and said, no, he is still the man for the job and will learn from his mistakes. thanks very much, rory cellan—jones with the latest on that story. a pensioner from south—east london has been arrested on suspicion of murder after a suspected burglar was fatally stabbed at his house. police are questioning the 78 year—old man about the incident, which happened shortly after midnight. from lewisham, our correspondent jessica parker reports. residents watch on as emergency crews attend to an injured man in the early hours of this morning. the 38—year—old, along with another man, is suspected of burgling a house nearby, but was stabbed after a struggle with a 78—year—old homeowner. the arrested pensioner has been named locally

as richard osborne brooks. the neighbour who filmed the footage says she saw one suspect flee the scene in a van, leaving the other injured man behind. we ran over to him, and he wasjust staring at us going... and i knew he was going to go because his pupils... they were dilating. i thought he was going to go. and then the police turned up. a frightening experience? very. very. i will not forget that, because he was staring right into my eyes. the man was taken to hospital in central london, but was pronounced dead atjust after 3:30 this morning. the pensioner is being held on suspicion of murder. it's a case that will remind some of that of tony martin, the norfolk farmer who was jailed for killing a burglar at his home in 1999. people in this area of south london say burglary is a long—standing concern, but this incident will stand out for its fatal consequences. jessica parker, bbc news. british companies employing more

than 250 staff have less than two hours left to submit figures showing the average difference in pay for male and female employees. the deadline is midnight tonight. more than 9,000 companies have already published their data. it's revealed that 78% of businesses pay men more than women. 14% pay women more than men. and only 8% of companies claim they have no pay gap. our business correspondent emma simpson reports. how much we earn, it's long been a stubborn problem between the sexes. but now, for the first time, our biggest employers have been forced to reveal the pay gap between their male and female workers, and the results aren't pretty. now, this isn't about equal pay. take bobby and laura here, they do the same job, for the same pay. that's the law.

the gender pay gap is the difference between average salaries of all men and women in a workforce, whatever theirjob or position. here at the tsb that gap is 24%. not as high as some other banks, but the boss says it's going to come down. we have fewer women in senior roles and this is the real issue for us. we need to focus on getting more women into senior roles across tsb. we think that's good for our business, we think it's good for our customers and, ultimately, it's good for the uk economy. lunchtime in croydon, a pitstop for workers. in every sector of our economy, men get paid more than women. the construction industry has a 25% gap, the biggest, followed by finance and insurance at 22%. industries where men dominate at the top. it's the same at ryanair, with its 72% gap. it says that's because most of its pilots are men. but in hotels and restaurants

there's just a 1% pay gap. that's because most staff are working for the same hourly rate. infact, kfc, starbucks and mcdonald's say they don't have a pay gap at all based on the middle earners. it's interesting to know, but you always want to know what they're going to do about it. i'm not surprised. disappointed, but not surprised. the problem is that we've not promoted women higher up the ranks where the big gaps arise, and until we do, we won't create equality throughout. that's what they've managed to do at this technology services company. it's a record they're proud of. we can't get away from the fact that women are still taking time off to raise families, and often, women have to come back on a part—time basis. employers have to be cognisant of this and have to be much more flexible, i believe, in order to shift the dial. it's not going to be easy or quick. but with the numbers laid bare, companies will now be under pressure to do better.

emma simpson, bbc news. buckingham palace says the duke of edinburgh has had a successful hip replacement operation today and is in good spirits. prince philip, who's 96, is likely to remain in hospital for a number of days. our royal correspondent, sarah campbell, is at the duke was admitted here yesterday after suffering hip problems for around a month. he underwent the procedure earlier today, and is now described as comfortable and regressing satisfactorily. hip replacement are a common procedure, it is when a damaged right is replaced by a working one. the latest figures, 800 people each year over the age of 90 undergo the procedure. prince philip's was carried out under general anaesthetic, and will now have a period of recovery as he gets used to the new drug. the palace

expecting to stay at hospital for several days. the royal college of surgeons say the majority of patients can go back to normal within a few weeks of surgery. the queen is at windsor castle, she will have been kept across the duke of‘s condition. the whole family will hope he will be fit by 19th of may, the date of prince harry and meghan markle's wedding. the liberal democrat leader, sir vince cable, has claimed his party is a "well—kept secret" that's set to defy opinion polls in the forthcoming local elections in england. he said the lib dems were winning local council by—elections in all areas, which had gone unreported. voters go to the polls across england on 3rd may for local elections. tributes have been paid to the former england football captain ray wilkins, who has died aged 61. he'd been critically ill in hospital after suffering heart problems. in a long and distinguished career, he played for chelsea, manchester united and glasgow rangers as our correspondent, richard conway, reports.

commentatory: wilkins has curled one! and that's absolutely magnificent! goals and glory weren't the biggest part of ray wilkins' game, but he provided plenty of them nonetheless, such as here in 1983 fa cup final. for club and country, he was the oil in the team's engine, emphasising passing and possession long before those qualities were as widely appreciated as they are today. that was my philosophy of the game, keep the ball. make the opposition work, so when they receive the ball you know, they're tired because they've had to work hard to get it back. don't give the ball away cheaply. normally as a player, you have one thing that you can do quite well. and i would like people to say that i could pass the ball well. whether it be sideways or forward. i'm not too sure! a natural leader, he captained chelsea while still a teenager. after six years at stamford bridge, it was onto manchester united, which incorporated that fa cup win. he then signed for rangers after a spell at ac milan. commentator: ray wilkins scores for england! but it was arguably england

where he set himself apart, winning 84 caps over the course of a decade. his sending—off at the 1986 world cup demonstrating the passion that was always a part of his play. he lived for the game and he loved the game, ray. and he was massively passionate when he played. he had high expectations of you when you played alongside him. people genuinely loved the man. he was a great guy and a wonderful footballer. after retiring as a player, he naturally progressed to managing and coaching, assisting chelsea to a premier league and fa cup double in 2010. ray wilkins will be remembered as a gentleman of the game, who did the little things for some of the biggest clubs. perhaps the ultimate team player. today's many tributes to the former england football captain, ray

wilkins, who has died aged 61. 50 years ago today, the civil rights leader martin luther king was assassinated in memphis, tennessee. tonight, bells will ring out, followed by a moment of silence, to mark the moment he was killed. despite the decades that have passed, many from the community he represented so powerfully, still feel marginalised. my colleague clive myrie is following events in memphis and we canjoin him now. it has been a day to reflect on an extraordinary life full of achievements, but also a moment to reflect on how far african americans have come in the last 50 years. and frankly, it has to be said, progress has been patchy. a new generation of activists and protesters are doing exactly what martin luther king did, highlight injustice, using the power of words. do me a favour and put your hands together for soul. give it up for soul, everyone. it's open mic night at the slice of soul club in memphis,

a chance for poets and musicians to come together to reflect the reality of what it means to be black in america. the black man is ashamed to be successful, because his homeboys say it's selling out to try. to buy you a queen is the main routine behind measurements, bothers her intelligence. for social relevance, she sells her soul. the poetry often involves the trials of african—american men, police brutality, racism and the importance of being proud of who you are. me, myself and i are a team called self—esteem. don't let anything come between me and my dream. the organiser of the evening says a younger generation, just like martin luther king, is using the power of words to try to effect social change. they still dream and feel that they can be more. and they know they can be more. and that's why these spaces are important.

it's about the dream, right? and i've seen the promised land. i may not get there with you, but i want you to know tonight that, we, as a people, will get to the promised land. this was dr king's final speech, delivered here in memphis. so, i'm happy tonight, i'm not worried about anything. i'm not fearing any men. mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the lord. many african—americans are still waiting for that promised land, a point darius clayton says artists have a duty to explain. don't get it twisted. it's not great. we got a long way still to go, and we have to remember that we can't say what is better. it doesn't mean that the bleeding has stopped. dr king gave a voice to the voiceless, his words had energy and life. these performers hope their social commentary has a similar power

to, at the very least, make people think. clive myrie, bbc news in memphis. the prince of wales has formally opened the commonwealth games on australia's gold coast. the opening ceremony has announced the start of 11 days of competition. more than 11,500 athletes are competing, including the largest ever programme of disability sport at any commonwealth games. from 71 nations and territories right across the world. the uk's home nations will all be competing separately, plusjersey, guernsey and the isle of man. our sports correspondent natalie pirks is there and we canjoin her now. last night was wet and today is very windy. that opening ceremonies are all about where a country's history meets its culture, and this one gave us meets its culture, and this one gave us that. themes of reconciliation and friendship played out through more modern aussie teams, peter

porter, and the indigenous population in stunning effect. it was incredibly colourful, last time it was in scotland, they were first up it was in scotland, they were first up this time. aussie classics from the likes of kylie and inxs. there we re the likes of kylie and inxs. there were protests from aboriginal groups carrying banners saying, "colonisation is not a game." it is a relief when the talking stops and the sport begins. today will see the first medals in the triathlon and the double olympic champion alistair brownlee will attempt to defend his commonwealth title, his brother jonny pushing him all the way, no doubt. natalie, we will be with you for that. thank you. football, and liverpool hosted manchester city —— in the first leg of the champions league quarter—finals tonight. our sports editor dan roan was at anfield.

manchester city may have swept aside almost all before them this season, but as they arrived at anfield tonight, it was obvious this was no ordinary game, the team bus damaged as the passion of some fans boiled over. liverpool later issuing an apology. inside, the atmosphere was no less intent as the home crowd prepared to play its role, familiar foes and familiar talents. none more so than mo salah, such is his form, a 38th goal of the season seemed almost inevitable. the egyptian pouncing to give you all the early lead they craved. if that thrilled and phil, what followed was simply sublime. he can hit one! 0h, he can hit one!