this is bbc news. i'm martine croxall. the headlines at 11pm: one of the salisbury poisoning victims, yulia skripal, issues a statement to say she's getting stronger by the day. russia's ambassador to the un warns britain it's pursuing a dangerous course by accusing russia of being behind the attack. the five—time world darts champion eric bristow dies at the age of 60. two people are arrested on suspicion of murder following the stabbing of a teenager in east london. julia skripal is getting stronger by the day, she says, she spoke through uk police and asked for privacy but what of the tape passed from a cousin to journalists in moscow, allegedly a telephone conversation between the two women. is it real or is it fake? good evening and welcome to bbc news.

yulia skripal, who was poisoned alongside her father sergei with a nerve agent in salisbury last month, has made herfirst public statement since the attack. she said she was getting stronger by the day, and thanked medical staff and members of the public who'd helped them. she described her ordeal as somewhat disorientating. tonight, moscow's envoy to the united nations has dismissed the uk's claim that russia was behind the attack, and said london was poisoning russia's relations with other countries. here's our diplomatic correspondent james landale. it's just over four weeks since sergei skripal and yulia were found poisoned by nerve agent on this bench in salisbury, four weeks since they've lain critically ill, at times in a coma. but today, miss skripal revealed she at least is on the mend. in a statement, she

said: she thanked the stuff of salisbury district hospital for their care and added: today, russian television broadcast an unverified recording of an alleged phone call between yulia skripal and her cousin, victoria. she's hoping to come to britain to visit miss skripal with the help of russian diplomats if british officials are prepared to risk giving her a visa. in london, the russian ambassador welcomed the news that miss

skripal is recovering. i'm really happy and i hope that sergei skripal will also recover and i'm quite sure that one day yulia will come back to moscow. but he once again denied any russian involvement in the attack. so amid the claims and counterclaims, what's the uk case? theresa may says the substance used is novichok, a type of nerve agent developed by russia. british scientists say this millitary—grade agent can only be made by a nation state but they don't say which one. instead its secret intelligence that the government says implicates russia. the conclusion that has the international support of dozens of countries. but russia rejects this and says britain lacks real evidence. it denies ever producing novichok, but says other countries could have done so. it's requested samples of the substance for testing and it's called for russian officials to be involved in a joint investigation. at the united nations this evening, there were smiles between ambassadors,

but not for long, as russia accused britain of fabricating intelligence to question the legitimacy of the russian state. translation: couldn't you come up with a better fake story? we all know what the worth of british intelligence information is based on the experience of tony blair. we have told our british colleagues that you're playing with fire and you will be sorry. britain in turn accused russia of playing fast and loose with international security. we cannot ignore what has happened in salisbury. we cannot ignore russia turning a blind eye to the use of chemical weapons in syria and in salisbury, and we cannot ignore the way that russia seeks to undermine the international institutions which have kept us safe since the end of the second world war. this confrontation between britain and russia is not over yet, not by a long chalk. james landale, bbc news. the five—time world darts champion eric bristow has died after suffering a heart attack.

he was 60. bristow, known as the crafty cockney, dominated darts in the 1980s and helped popularise the game on television. joining us now from bbc sport is our very own olly foster. at the age ofjust 60, shock has gone round the darts community? he was working this evening in hospitality at the liverpool echo arena and was taken ill very suddenly, a professional darts corporation event, and there was absolute shock. and tears among the thousands of darts fans there and the players as well. peter wright, a well—known player, was at the oche and you could tell he had heard the news and he was in tears at the end of his match against carol gurney. it is shock that will resonate across the world of darts because he

was the first real superstar winning all those world titles but becoming all those world titles but becoming a household name in much the same way that phil taylor, the greatest player who's ever played the game, transcended the game of darts to become a household name, so to eric bristow when he started that, and he did actually take phil taylor under his wing and mentored him, so influential for players following in his footsteps. that name, crafty cockney, anybody who lived at that certain age when he dominated the game in the early 80s, between 80 and 86 he was pretty much an unbeatable, winning all those titles and the rivalry againstjocky wilson among others really did lift the sport and set it on its way to where it is now really in those days when it is now really in those days when it was perhaps people looking down their noses at it, it was just a pub sport really and the kind of people who played it were perhaps viewed as not being professional sportsman but eric bristow certainly helped to

lift the image of darts and he will be very, very sorely missed in that sport. like i said, shock at the liverpool echo arena this evening during that darts at the end when the news spread that he had died of a suspected heart attack. i've been reading some of the tributes online to him and members of the public saying whenever you approached him he always had time to have a chat and a photograph, he was very, very well liked. that'sjust and a photograph, he was very, very well liked. that's just what that sport is like really. they are very, very approachable people, darts players, but eric bristow i think started the popularity of the sport andi started the popularity of the sport and i think the sport is going to ta ke and i think the sport is going to take some time to get over this, i'm sure over the coming weeks they will mark his passing in someway and i think there will obviously be an enormous amount of tributes paid towards him from current

professionals and those who shared the oche with him and those thousands of fans... looking at some of the pictures from the event this evening, many were wearing crafty cockney shirts they've been looking after a ll cockney shirts they've been looking after all these years, they were holding them aloft, and peter wright was something his heart and honouring eric bristow after his match this evening. a massive loss for the sport because so many know who the crafty cockney is, not because they might have been darts fans, but because he was a very, very big british sporting star in the early to mid eighties. olly, thank you very much, 0lly foster. two teenagers have been arrested on suspicion of the murder of an 18—year—old man who was stabbed to death in east london last night. the number of killings in the city has now passed 50. ministers are consulting on new laws to deal with offensive weapons and a serious violence strategy is due to be published within days.

but ministers accept that more will be needed if they are to deal with the gang—related violence in london. our home editor mark easton reports. the spread of london killings this year has been compared to a virus, and the spike in young people stabbed and shot in the capital should be treated in the same way we would tackle a public health emergency. senior police officers know that one killing in the headlines can spread fear, making it more likely scared young men will carry weapons and potentially use them. killing can be contagious. here in glasgow, for more than a decade, they've been successfully reducing gang violence by treating it like a disease. i remember saying it would be a good thing to get 1,000 extra police officers, it would be really clever to get 1,000 extra health visitors, that would be the smart thing to do. if you wanted to prevent it, it's intergenerational. what are we doing right now about the men in prison? because they're also fathers. what are we doing about them? are we just locking them up at the cheapest cost and doing

nothing about rehabilitation? that's silly. a uk survey found inordinately high levels of mental health problems among gang members, often young men for whom the slightest provocation can trigger extreme violence. tonight, scotland yard said they were working with social media platforms to prevent their content pushing people over the edge. i think some of the things that have changed, we see very quickly small issues becoming big issues. we see social media being used, where some of these offences are glamorised and people are provoked into reprisals. i think those are some of the reasons about why this is happening. he's16, he's been stabbed. he's got for my wounds... —— four. the youth charity redthread, partly funded by the government, has been working in the emergency units of london hospitals, talking to the victims of gang violence and helping them find a different path. today, in nottingham, the charity launched a new service to try to deal with the gang problems in that city. we know that the young people we see often are very entrenched in these

cycles of violence and we know that violence begets violence as well, so they've been exposed to it and they're involved in violent behaviour perhaps, so if we can interrupt them in a really vulnerable moment when actually they are frightened, they are alone, they are in pain — it sounds terrible, but actually it's a really good moment to say to them it doesn't have to be like this and there are ways to change and ways to develop. the causes of youth crime are complex and so are the solutions. a tough criminaljustice approach may foil individual acts of violence, but it can also infect communities with resentment and distrust that are the breeding grounds of the gangsters. mark easton, bbc news. police have named the intruder fatally stabbed at the home of a pensioner in south—east london. he's henry vincent. the 37—year—old from kent was wanted by police for questioning about other burglaries. pensioner richard 0sborn—brooks has been released on police bail. a former nhs consultant who drew up an assassination list of former colleagues has beenjailed for 12 years for possessing firearms

with intent to endanger life. martin watt‘s arsenal included three sub—machine guns. the 62—year—old had lost his job in the accident and emergency department of monklands hospital in airdrie. the bollywood superstar salman khan has been jailed for five years for poaching a rare antelope in 1998. khan killed two blackbucks, a protected species, in the western state of rajasthan while shooting a film. the actor has been acquitted three times before over the crime and can appeal against this jail sentence. academic staff at the open university are calling for their vice chancellor, peter horrocks, to resign after voting overwhelmingly for a motion of no confidence in him. members of the university and college union are strongly critical of cost—cutting plans drawn up by mr horrocks, who is a former bbc manager. a german court has rejected rebellion as grounds to extradite catalonia's ex—leader carles puigdemont. the government is reviewing laws to tackle illegal traveller camps in england. the housing minister, dominic raab, said that while most travellers

were decent and law abiding, concerns had been raised about anti—social behaviour on some illegal camps. 0ne council has gone to the high court to win extra powers which could see travellers jailed for trespassing. from boston in lincolnshire, our correspondent tim iredale reports. 0ver over the last few years we've had several occasions where travellers have come into this rear car park. this is thejeff mol dova leisure complex in boston, staff here said they had to put up with illegal incumbents on the ground with reports of theft, antisocial behaviour and litter. we've noticed bags of nappies, even fridges, furniture, carpets, all sorts of things have been left behind in our hedgerows. that's prompted boston borough council to go to the high court to secure new powers that could see those who set up camp on council land without permission facing up to two years in prison and an unlimited fine. the government

says since 2010 the number of traveller caravans on authorised sites has increased, however latest figures show 16% of traveller caravans, around 3700, are on unauthorised sites, something ministers are keen to address. the frustration that existing settled communities understandably feel about illegal encampment is, some of the antisocial behaviour that goes with it and the cost of the cleanup operation, so we're going to look carefully at the powers available to the police and local councils and make sure the rule of law is consistently applied across the board. this woman says it's all very well for the government to talk of a crackdown but argues there are too few organised sites for the travelling community. a couple of yea rs travelling community. a couple of years ago the government brought in legislation to say in order to retain gypsy status, which is very important, travellers had to retain a nomadic lifestyle, they had to prove they were moving for work and

go from place to place. now, at the time we protested this because we said there is nowhere illegalfor them to go. my message to the government, please provide more sites for the community because they are part of the community and the right to a nomadic lifestyle is in trying in statute. councils across lincolnshire and east yorkshire have pledged to create more permanent and transit pitches for gypsies and travellers but in many areas those pledges haven't been met. we have got a travellers site in boston that has some space on it, so there is some space on has some space on it, so there is some space on our has some space on it, so there is some space on our boston site. i don't know if we do need more because some of these travellers that doucet up camp have also got