tonight at 5pm: sergei skripal, the former russian spy, is no longer in a critical condition and is responding well to treatment. doctors say mr skripal is improving rapidly and his daughter, yulia, is looking forward to the day when she can be discharged. they've been in hospital for more than a month, following the nerve agent attack at his home in salisbury. and tonight the bbc has learned his niece has been refused a visa to come to the uk; we'll have the latest. the other main stories on bbc news at 5... a man has been arrested in connection with the murder of 17—year—old tanesha melbourne in north london. campaigners have hailed the introduction of a tax on sugary soft drinks. the mixed martial arts fighter conor mcgregor has been charged with assault and criminal mischief in new york with assault and criminal mischief in new york. palestinian officials in gaza say israeli troops have killed at least three men during fresh protests on the territory's border with israel. it is my understanding that a

poltergeist is an evil spirit or an angry spirit. is that true? is that true? and martin freeman stars in the horror anthology ghost stories — as a play it left audiences on the edge of their seats. find out whatjames king made of the big screen version in the film review. welcome to the bbc news at 5pm. the former russian spy who was poisoned in salisbury, sergei skripal, is no longer in a critical condition. salisbury district hospital, where he's been treated since the nerve agent attack last month, says mr skripal is improving rapidly. in a statement, the hospital's

medical director said mr skripal‘s daughter yulia, who's also still receiving treatment, has asked for privacy. and in the last few minutes the bbc has learned that the uk authorities are not granting yulia's cousin, victoria, a visa to come to britain. more on that shortly — but first, the day's developments with our diplomatic correspondent james landale. when sergei and yulia skripal were poisoned with nerve agent in salisbury four weeks ago, they were left critically ill, for a time in a coma. but they are now both recovering. miss skripal said yesterday her strength was growing and a statement today from the salisbury hospital said that her father, a former russian intelligence officer, was responding well to treatment, improving rapidly and no longer in a critical condition. so, attention will now focus on what they both can say about the nerve agent attack that left them so ill. for now, miss skripal has refused to see russian diplomats.

but russian television claimed she had spoken to her cousin by phone. she has been offered help by the russian authorities to travel to britain to see yulia skripal if she has granted a visa. but she told newsnight of her concerns. at the united nations, the diplomatic confrontation continued with britain again insisting that it was highly likely that russia was behind the attack and russia denying it had ever made the novichok nerve agent, let alone used it. translation: we have told our british colleagues that you are playing with fire and you will be sorry. i think the metaphor that i find most apt is that of an arsonist turned firefighter. in this particular instance, the arsonist wishes to investigate his own fire. for now, despite all the kremlin‘s protestations, the uk continues to retain the support of its allies both at the un and the european union, allies who are prepared to say so in public.

spain has shown full solidarity with our british friends and allies. we were satisfied with the explanations that they provided, both directly and in brussels. the focus now will turn to the investigation by the international chemical weapons watchdog into the nerve agent used in salisbury. it is expected to complete its work next week. and james joins me now. just in the last few minutes, tell us more just in the last few minutes, tell us more about the development regarding the fees are for the cousin. this has only happened recently. as we saw, victoria skripal wanted to come to the uk to visit her cousin and her uncle. it was made clear that she was in contact with the russian authorities. yesterday, the russian ambassador to london said if she

wa nted ambassador to london said if she wanted to come the embassy in russia —— russian embassy would be willing to support her. so there was always a question, what role as she playing here? the one thing that has deeply frustrated the russian authorities is their inability to get access to the skripal ropes. they have co nsta ntly the skripal ropes. they have constantly been demanding consular access. we know that yulia, as a full russian national, has been offered congressional action, but she has turned it down so far. maybe the russians are thinking that if we get a relative, we can get information that way. that was the suspension and the uk government have decided they will turn down a visa for victoria to what they say are the usual processes. it added to that, a government source said to me, it appears the russian state are trying to use victoria as a pawn and they said that she is being

influenced or coerced by the kremlin, she hasjust become another victim. and in terms of everything we have been talking about more broadly, we are now in an extract your situation where it seems someone your situation where it seems someone who was your situation where it seems someone who was so your situation where it seems someone who was so very your situation where it seems someone who was so very desperately ill is now improving, according to the statement from the hospital, and i wonder what all this then does to the manoeuvrings and diplomatic situation here. what we have learnt in the past 2a hours as yulia is recovering and no sergei is recovering. the foreign office in the last few moments has issued a statement welcoming this fact but also noting that they are both likely to have ongoing medical needs, so they are making clear that they are not out of the woods yet. the significant errors, we now have two individuals at the heart of this incident in salisbury who can now speak to the investigators about their last movements, whether any threats? any other circumstances we don't know about? but also it has

the wider implication because it opens up new the wider implication because it opens up new avenues for the wider implication because it opens up new avenues for other potential explanations that have been proffered by russia and its supporters, namely, if they have recovered this quickly, perhaps it wasn't a proper nerve agent, perhaps it was something else. perhaps it was some other actor. in other words, some of those arguments, conspiracy theories that have been put up in recent weeks. this will provide a new opportunity for those kind of comments. thank you very much indeed. atee’:* 7 w” kind of comments. thank you very much indeed. atee’:* be 7 fl” more about 2; and talking more about this story and about -g 7 gfiguiégfiggi talking more about this story and of bout 7g gfiguiégfiggi talking more about this story and of this ; 7g gfiguiégfiggi ca; 55? ear. ... . .., ..... f fissflfi that that ca; 55? as; ... . .., ..... f fissflfi that that someone.- was so ssrissssif's’f’f'f " w 7, f ssdsssijf ill ”f " w 7, f ssdsssijf ill is "f "f” ssdsssiif ill is now = ssdsssiif ill is now as = ssdsssiif ill is now as we say very seriously ill is now as we say described by the hospital as no longer being any critical condition? we will talk about the nerve agent of the impact that it has on the body as far as we know. we will talk about that after 5:30pm. now we will

ta ke about that after 5:30pm. now we will take a look at some of today's other main stories. a 30—year—old man has been arrested in connection with the murder of a 17—year—old girl in north london. tanesha melbourne—bla ke died of her wounds after an apparent drive—by shooting in tottenham on monday night. police believe she died when shots were fired from a vehicle as it drove past a group of young people. earlier, police held a community meeting about the recent series of violent crimes and killings in london — where so far this year, 55 murder investigations have been launched. simonjones is at the metropolitan police headquarters at new scotland yard. simon, first of all, in terms of the young woman who lost her life on monday, whatmore are we hearing about the arrest of today? the man who has been arrested as 30 years old and he was arrested in hackney in east london. he has been taken to a police station for questioning.

tanesha was killed on monday evening in an apparent drive—by shooting. she was with a group of friends aware that someone in a car opened fire. the police as well as this arrest are appealing for witnesses. they want to know what clark was used in this shooting, how many people were in the car, how many people were in the car, how many people in the group. they believe someone people in the group. they believe someone has a vital information but they might be thinking twice, they might be really scared to come forward or have divided loyalties. but the police are saying, this was a shocking murder and they are asking people to take a step back and think, this was a teenage girl who was gunned down in the street. and the% who was gunned down in the street. and the messages, if you andthemessages, if you haves”? ,, s, do—the right thing information. dfiike—flglfi—hnm—fiee! today, there information. dfiike—flglfi—hnm—fiee! [m toda , there around 2 what ha “if? m. \

some community leaders into scotland yard were welcomed into scotland yard here today to talk to the police about what's they are trying to do to tackle this problem of violence on the streets involving both knives and guns. the message from police errors, this is not something we can solve on our own, we need the help of the community. yesterday evening i was of the community. yesterday evening iwas in of the community. yesterday evening i was in hackney where people from the community gathered in a protest. they said, enough of this violence, they want to see an end to it. as that was getting under way, a man approached me and showed me some pictures he had just filmed moments earlier on his mobile phonejust a couple of miles away, where two young men had been stabbed. they actually turned out to be is—year—olds. you can see on that pitch the aftermath, the two children being treated. the man said he wanted people to see these pictures because, when is this going

to end? and that is very much the feeling in the community. to put this into context, yesterday in london we had seven stabbings, fortu nately london we had seven stabbings, fortunately none of those were fatal. but over the past year, the average number of stabbings per day has been around 12. but what they are has been around 12. but what they a re really has been around 12. but what they are really worried about here at scotla nd are really worried about here at scotland yard is the number that have turned out to be fatal and that's why there is concern here and amongst the community. the chief of the met went on a walkabout in stoke newington, the commissioner was trying to reassure people there as thatis trying to reassure people there as that is the message we are trying to i that is the message we are trying to get this for now and in - § - mentioning cressida dick, the head of the metropolitan police. she has been speaking to the bbc in the last few minutes and has said that her police force has not lost control of london's streets following the attacks that we have just been talking about. the commissioner says

that an extra 300 officers would be out on the streets over the weekend in the parts of the capital that have been worst affected. but she went on to say that police cannot solve the problem without help from communities. she has been talking to our home editor, mark easton. people are scared stiff, what can you see is a people are scared stiff, what can you see is a reassure people are scared stiff, what can you see is a reassure them? the metropolitan police out there. we have an extra 300 officers each day in the most significant hotspots where there have been high levels of knife crime. but they are above and beyond all the other officers, those working in covert rules, patrol, in the neighbourhoods, and people who are saving lives everyday, arresting people, taking weapons off the streets, targeting the most violent and doing everything they can to be down street violence. have you got enough resources? have you got enough resources? have you got enough police officers? every police

chief would always want more officers and of course, it's myjob to make the case for more and also to make the case for more and also to make the best use of what we have. do you think that the awful tragic spoken homicides we have seen this year is down to cuts in police budgets? no, i don't. ithink our job is stretched. we are stretched, there's no doubt about that. but the causes of knife crime, violent crime are very complex and long running. this is something i talked about from the day i arrived as one of my highest priority together with terrorism. i'm really sorry these people have lost their lives, i don't say they've lost their lives because we've suffered cuts, but of course i need to make the best use of my officers, i need to get as many people as i can out on the streets. that's what we're doing this weekend and will be in the weeks to come. what about the priority of infiltrating the gangs and getting that intelligence that means that you are one step ahead?

these are challenging offences to investigate budget will probably have noticed that we nearly always arrest people, nearly always charge people. we have fantastic on the site investigation capabilities. the five tragic cases this week, we have already arrested all but one and i expect us to have charges. it is very striking to have listened to that given the very story you have its splintering and have talking to people on these committees in the last few days. cressida dick making the point is that this is complex. resources might tie in to it to it but it is about an awful lot of factors. i think what is interesting as you have hard over the past few days a lots of local politicians trying a direct correlation between police numbers and mounting violence. but cressida dick there are not trying that direct parallel. of course you were saying we would like more resources, but she wasn't

putting down that increase in murder rates directly down to police numbers. we heard her say over the weekend there is going to be hundreds more officers on the streets. that will partly be a sign of reassurance full stop in some areas, they will have extra powers to carry out stop and searches in certain areas, even if they don't suspect anyone to be carrying any sort of knife or a weapon. but they won't let our shop are just as a preventative talk. but i think the key thing, you can have extra officers on the straight, but this will be a problem you can solve overnight and she will be well aware of that because this is a gang culture in many cases, which has become very ingrained, particularly amongst young people. that will take time to tackle. it could take years to tackle and it's not simply going to tackle and it's not simply going to be solved by flooding the streets with extra officers. simon jones at scotla nd with extra officers. simon jones at scotland yard, thanks very much. a new tax of up to 2a pence a litre is added from today on soft drinks with a high sugar content.

it's part of an initiative by the government to try to tackle obesity and tooth decay. the treasury says food and drink manufacturers have already reduced the amount of sugar in more than half their products, which means the levy is unlikely to bring in as much revenue as had been forecast. any few moments i will be asking a dot to what he thinks of this, but first, more details about those new rules that have come in today from our health correspondence. they're some of our favourite drinks, but the sugar tax means they're now more expensive, or the recipe's been changed. the sugar content of ribena and lucozade has been more than halved. artificial sweeteners are being used instead. but pepsi is sticking to its sweet recipe, and will now cost more. as is coca—cola, although it will come in smaller, and more expensive, 1.5 litre bottles. so how big is the tax? drinks that are more than around 5% sugar will be taxed at 18p per litre.

those that are more than 8% sugar will be taxed at 24p per litre. the amount the treasury expects to raise has already fallen from £500 million a year to £240 million, as so many soft drinks have been redesigned. changes to irn—bru led to an online campaign, and even people stockpiling scotland's other national drink. this tax is not universally popular. rather than addressing the cause of the problem, it's just taxing people that can probably not afford to pay any more for it anyway. i want to discourage my children from being able to go out and buy a fizzy drink, so all the better as far as i'm concerned. i don't think it will make a difference, really. they're just making it more expensive for us. as long as it's going to be more healthy to children, or even grown—ups, i think that makes a difference. the aim of taxing the white stuff in our drinks is to help combat the obesity epidemic. only a handful of other countries, including mexico, norway and france, have tried it. these are products that the industry have created demand for. so it's also their responsibility

to change them, particularly now that we have such strong evidence that levels of sugar in children are so high, and they do have an impact on their health. so if we are concerned about children's health, and we are, then we need to look at how we could improve this. but some commentators question whether the tax will be effective. our consumption of soft drinks is prolific. we need hydration, but on the other hand, from a calorie point of view, there's such an easy availability of calories. wherever you look, there's more shops selling food than ever before. there are more products, and portion sizes are getting bigger all the time. so really, soft drinks are a drop in the ocean compared with the overall obesity problem. the soft drinks aisle in our supermarkets is changing. but it will take some time to see how the sugar tax affects businesses, our shopping habits and our health. james gallacher, bbc news. dr michael mosley is a doctor and science journalist and is here with me now.

well—known form it many programmes on the bbc over the years. good to see you. in essence, is a tax like this a good thing? i think it is a fantastic experiment. i really hope it succeeds and i think it's absolutely the right thing to do because we know that sugary drinks contribute massively to to decay in the uk. you've got around 40,000 kids under the age of 19 having their teeth pulled out under anaesthetic every year, cost around 40 million quid a year. that alone, as might be worth exploring. and then there's the impact on a busy day at a particularly type two diabetes. there seems to be something particular about fizzy drinks which goes beyond calories. i am really looking forward to seeing what the impact of this is because asi what the impact of this is because as i said, it's a huge experiment as we don't know what will happen. some of these experiments turned out to be vastly better than you expect,

for instance the 5p on rustic barracks had a massive impact on our consumption of plastic bags. i saw a wonderful study the art of the day that said followers are collecting less plastic bags even since then. others, we don't know. but it's worth trying it. and it's worth trying even though some are making the point today that this will disproportionately affect people on lower incomes? i think the whole point is that people on lower incomes are also disproportionately affected by obesity and by type two diabetes. to be honest, i don't want a disease which is chronic progressive and which means i have a high risk of becoming evident, blind, incontinent and other things. type two diabetes is a dire progressive disease which you really don't want to get and there is quite a lot of evidence that fizzy drinks increase your risk of developing this. i think there is a huge price to be paid if you don't do about it and this is something you can try. other countries have already tried

it quite successfully stop. mexico have seen quite a dramatic drop, particularly in the poorer groups and the consumption of these fizzy drinks. there is evidence they have shifted to drinking water. also in hungary and it is hard being tried in ireland, places like the united arab emirates. i think we have to do something because we have a massive rise in type two diabetes but also in obesity worldwide. we do and we thought about it a lot, but right at the start you said, we all know about the impact of sugar and know how bad it is for us, and yet we still drink these things. and so, have we reached a point where even though we are told time and time again this is bad for you, eat five ta ke again this is bad for you, eat five take regular exercise, do we have to be hit in the pockets do you think? i think it probably helps. humans are incredibly odd creatures. i study them with great interest and i studied them myself. i do stupid

things despite that i know they are really stupid. i need plenty of chocolate, i love chocolate. the other day i drove into... i was on the motorway, i talked the talk is on the back because i didn't want dessert. then i stopped at the next service station to users. because you felt, i shouldn't have brought this in the first place. you felt, i shouldn't have brought this in the first placelj you felt, i shouldn't have brought this in the first place. i thought, it's going to make me fat, but i felt this mad craving to eat the stuff. so humans don't really respond terribly well. we now from tobacco, a long—time people knew that it was bad for them but they went on smoking. it kilos of things, including a tax on tobacco and a whole range of other things, before people actually produced tobacco consumption. i think that the sugar tax is just consumption. i think that the sugar tax isjust going consumption. i think that the sugar tax is just going to consumption. i think that the sugar tax isjust going to be consumption. i think that the sugar tax is just going to be stayed one. it will be absolutely fine to a mystery —— fascinating to see how consumers responded. mystery —— fascinating to see how consumers respondedlj mystery —— fascinating to see how consumers responded. i would be happy to sell to use about this for the rest of the art. thank you very

much for coming in. just while i was talking there, we have had a development on our main story that we started our programme with. we have just had a comment from the russian embassy regarding that statement from salisbury district hospital that we have been talking about. essentially, the hospital says that sergei skripal is no longer any critical condition. the russian embassy is saying, we welcome the news of progress in sergei skripal‘s recovery. we are grateful to the staff at treating him. we hope that the improvement in their health will contribute to the investigation of the crime perpetrated against them. we are confident that an objective probe will ultimately establish that the claims against russia by the uk government are null and void. that, the latest reaction from the russian

embassy to the medical developments there announced by salisbury district hospital today. and as i say, it reminder that we are talking more about that story as well after 5:30pm. conor mcgregor, one of the world's most famous martial arts fighters, has been arrested in new york and charged with three counts of assault. mcgregor was escorted to the court in handcuffs, by members of the nypd. the irish former two—weight champion in the ultimate fighting championship — a sport which uses mixed martial arts — was one of a group of men alleged to have vandalised a bus containing rivalfighters. richard conway reports. even in a sport where hype comes as standard, conor mcgregor may have overplayed his hand. as the ufc held a media promotion day in new york, mcgregor and his entourage stormed the backstage area, attacking a coach containing otherfighters. you all right, mike? the video appears to show mcgregor attempting to throw a barrier, while others rain objects towards the vehicle. a number of those on board

are believed to have been injured by glass fragments. the irishman, who turned himself into police, is now in custody, and is due to appear in court later today. a star of ufc, he was seemingly incensed of being stripped of his title, but his long—term future in the sport now appears to be in majorjeopardy. you want to grab 30 (bleep) friends and come down here and do what you did today? it's disgusting, and i don't think anybody is going to be, you know, huge conor mcgregor fans after this. ufc is a sport that uses a brutal mix of martial arts. but mcgregor turned to boxing last summer, fighting and losing to floyd mayweather in one of the most lucrative bouts in history. having not returned to ufc since then, a decision was made to remove his championship belt. an agent provocateur, he revels in courting controversy and being outspoken.

i will reign supreme. there'll be a new king. that's it, there will be a new king. all publicity is said to be good publicity, especially for a man who has forged a career as a flamboyant outsider. but any criminal conviction could yet see conor mcgregor lose his right to fight in america. richard conway, bbc news. two palestinian men are reported to have been shot dead during fresh palestinian protests on the territory's border with israel. it takes to 22 the number of people killed by israeli security forces since demonstrations began last week. organisers say they are peacefully calling for the right for palestinian refugees to return to land they were forced to leave in 1948, when israel was created. the israelis say last week's mass gathering was an attempt to break through the border and infiltrate israel with terrorists. our correspondent yolande knell is at the border between gaza and israel.

i'm in the north—east of the gaza strip. what you can see behind me is a big pile of burning tyres, sending black smoke billowing across the israeli border. palestinians set fire to these to be a kind of smoke screen because they know that there are israeli soldiers, including snipers, that waitjust the other side of the border fence in front of the sand enbankment and that you see over there. we have seen palestinians who have been throwing stones, they have had tear gas fired at them, but the israeli military has been very clear in saying that it will again open fire if palestinian protesters approach the border fence, try to damage it and tried to breach it to cross it illegally into israel. they are very worried about a mass infiltration. palestinians say that they mean turnout here peacefully, that the idea of these demonstrations is to show support for palestinian refugees.

it's coming up to nearly 70 years since the state of israel was created and that is when hundreds of thousands of palestinians were forced to leave orfled their homes. israel, of course, rejects their claim to go back to the land. eric bristow, the 5 time world darts champion, has died at the age of 60. his huge success in the 19805 helped the game to win a mass audience. eric bristow had a heart attack in liverpool last night — the crowd at a tournament there chanted his name when his death was announced. our sports correspondent olly foster looks back at his life. many of the thousands of darts fans who chanted his name last night had met eric bristow just who chanted his name last night had met eric bristowjust the who chanted his name last night had met eric bristow just the few who chanted his name last night had met eric bristowjust the few hours earlier in liverpool at a hospitality events before he was

suddenly taken ill. the crafty cockney was king of the occe, a poster boy who helped drag the sport out of the pubs and gave it public recognition. i think you took two different level. i knew eric when he was 17 years old. we used to go round different pubs and clubs playing for money and tournaments. he was a good darts player. really cocky. but that was eric, that's the way he came over. but he was quite good—hearted. way he came over. but he was quite good-hearted. the first of bristow's first world titles came in the 19805. a first world titles came in the 1980s. a boom time for darts. but he was the best. when i finish playing darts, my name is on the record books. i want to set such a high standard by the time i finished, luckily enough i am a young fellow andi luckily enough i am a young fellow and i have plenty more years in front of me that when some other youngster comes along and thinks

this is going to be the new bristow, we will see how good he is. he was bettered by phil taylor, the man he meant old, who was to become the greatest of all time. bristow's influence on the sport was huge. he lost hisjob as influence on the sport was huge. he lost his job as a television pundit 18 months ago at following social media comments following comments about the victims of the football abuse scandal, something he apologise for. the darts fans were a lwa ys apologise for. the darts fans were always going to forgive one of their legends. there were tears last night and tributes. they will be many more. eric bristow who has died aged 60. time for a look at the weather. here's ben rich. we have up to 17 degrees, the warmest day of the year so far, it should stay mild through the weekend although the weather itself is a decidedly mixed affair. we have rain

across the north—west, more rain across the north—west, more rain across parts of the south west, in between a fair amount of dry weather, some clear spells and the odd mist and fog patch, winds easing through the night, temperatures not dropping far, so i'll start to saturday. any early mist and fog should clear, dry weather around this area of wet weather will move across the wales and the midlands and northern england, heavy bursts of rain only petering out in the afternoon, right of scotland and northern ireland, 13 or 14 degrees, if you see sunshine towards the south—east, 17 degrees a height, lots of dry generally but if you are lucky the cloud will break up to bring sunshine and another mild day, 10 degrees in aberdeen, 15 in london. this is bbc news — the headlines. sergei skripal, the former russian spy poisoned

with a nerve agent in salisbury a month ago, along with his daughter, is no longer in a critical condition, but uk authorities have told the cousin of yulia skripal that she will not be granted a visa to come to britain. a man has been arrested in connection with the murder of a 17—year—old girl in north london. tanesha melbourne—bla ke died of her wounds after an apparent drive—by shooting in tottenham on monday night. campaigners have hailed the introduction today of a new tax on sugary soft drinks. the levy — of up to 24 pence a litre — is part of an initiative by the government to tackle obesity. more about many of those stories to come, now we'll catch up with the sports news. hello lizzie. day two

of the masters, and overnight leaderjordan spieth has just started his second round with a double bogey. he dropped three shots in the opening two holes, he's three under alongside others including henrik stenson. rory mcilroy was a joint leader but isjust stenson. rory mcilroy was a joint leader but is just bogeyed the six sodhi has dropped a shot, that top ten looking very american apart from henrik stenson and rory mcilroy. jordan rose another top british player is tied for 20th place. manchester city can win the premier league title tomorrow if they beat rivals manchester united at the etihad, with six games to spare it would be the earliest team has ever won the title, manager pep guardiola isn't allowing the derby status to distract him of the team from the prize. it's quite close to be champion, it's a coincidence that it isa champion, it's a coincidence that it is a derby but believe me, that doesn't matter, we don't prepare the season to think we are going to win

the premier league and manchester united concerns of the situation is what it is, we're just focusing on what it is, we're just focusing on what we have to do to win and that's it. we have been in second position for many, many months. obviously it is our objective to fight for that, and for that we need points. so my objective for tomorrow is to try to have points that can help us to finish second. a crowd is expected to watch england's women play wales in southampton as part of the qualification for the win next world cup. england are currently one point behind wales award top of group one that they have a game in hand. it's a big world cup qualifier, you know the games in america were great for me as the games in america were great for measa the games in america were great for me as a learning curve in terms of getting to know my players and the standard they are out and learning about the standard of the other

teams we are competing against the three points on offer now, wales top of the group and we'll have to make sure by end of play on friday that we are back on top of the group where we where we believe we should be. and it's been a great day for the home teams at the commonwealth games. gold for england, scotland and wales, in the velodrome katie archibald beat rebecca wiasak from australia in the women's 3000 metres individual pursuit to give scotland their second gold of the games. this means so their second gold of the games. this means so much. ifeel uncomfortable with that but this event is means so much. and her older brotherjohn could not replicate his sister's win in his gold medal race, he missed out in the men's 4000 metres pursuit to charlie tanfield of england. meanwhile, gareth evans one wales's

first gold medal of the games, he was working as a painter and decorator just a few years was working as a painter and decoratorjust a few years ago and has had funding problemsjust decoratorjust a few years ago and has had funding problems just to reach his third commonwealth games but he was top of the podium on the 69 kilos category. and england continued their good start the competition in the pool with sarah vasey winning a surprise gold in the 50 metre breaststroke, world record holder alice tai also won gold for england in the as man backstroke. adam peaty will be racing tomorrow in the final of the 100 metres breaststroke. kimi raikkonen had mixed fortunes as he achieved the quickest time of the day in practice before this against bahrain grand prix, the former world champion was 100th of a second ahead of team mate vettel but red faces amongst his ferrari pit crew after they sent about securing a wheel. britain's

lewis hamilton was off a second off the pace. the second time it's happened this season and we've only had a couple of races. keep up—to—date with all the latest scores and everything going on in the world of sport at the bbc sport website. we will have more for you at 630 in sportsday. thank you lizzie. we will talk more about sergei skripal because we have learned that his health is improving. he is deemed to be no longer in a critical condition. doctor christine blanchard is the medical director of salisbury hospital and has been talking to journalists. this salisbury hospital and has been talking tojournalists. this is salisbury hospital and has been talking to journalists. this is what she said. following intense media coverage yesterday i would like to update you on the condition of the two remaining patients being treated at salisbury district hospital. last thursday i told you that yulia

skripal‘s condition had improved to stable. as she herself says, her strength is growing daily and she can look forward to the day when she is well enough to leave hospital. any speculation on when that date will be will be just that, speculation. in the meantime, yulia has asked for privacy while she recovers , has asked for privacy while she recovers, something i would urge the media to respect. i also want to update you on the condition of her father sergei skripal. he is responding well to treatment, improving rapidly, and is no longer ina improving rapidly, and is no longer in a critical condition. as he will appreciate, i will not be giving any further details at this time. that the statement from the hospital. alastair hay is professor of environmental toxicology at leeds university — and is our leeds studio for us now. good evening. are you surprised that someone good evening. are you surprised that someone who has been attacked with a nerve agent is now improving at

a p pa re ntly nerve agent is now improving at apparently some pace? not at all. i know of other cases where people have been exposed to many times the lethal dose of the nerve agent and have made complete recoveries, the father and daughter have survived because they've had prompt and efficient medical care. use a prompt and efficient, to what extent would energise medics have known what they we re energise medics have known what they were dealing with, have known how to deal with it, mercifully this is not a common occurrence in this country, what has led to them receiving such remarkable treatment? the first thing you want is for paramedics to be on the scene rapidly, ensuring that someone's airways are cleared, they are breathing well, there ha rd est they are breathing well, there hardest working, there's a collision is maintained, that gives the individual is time to be taken to hnd where they will be assessed.

i've no idea how quickly the signs we re i've no idea how quickly the signs were recognised because of course the father and daughter were unconscious when they were taken to hospital. that there would have been signs that the doctors recognised, pinpoint pupils, difficulty breathing, perhaps frothing at the breathing, perhaps frothing atthe perhaps having been sick mouth, perhaps having been sick according to reports about yulia ‘s condition. this would narrow done something and the fact that both we re something and the fact that both were affected would indicate that it was an external agent so they would be looking for poisoning and treatment would follow accordingly. some people at a & e would recognise the symptoms of organophosphate poisoning and treatment would follow accordingly. weeks ago we were reporting on that court of protection hearing which had to go ahead precisely because the judge said that sergei skripal might never recover from the attack, and not

wishing to diminish anyone's reading of the situation, did it go ahead because that was not an understanding of the situation or has this surprised some people, even if you yourself were not surprised. there were several factors, i think the prognosis was unclear at that stage anyway, these are ultimately metabolised and excreted. so they are at their most efficient in the first few days and someone is exposed, what happens in the nerves, the systems are remade by the body and that remodelling occurs all the time so once you get beyond the point where the nerve agents are ceasing to function as efficiently,

the body ‘s mechanisms will help ensure survival, and if there is a specific enzyme inhibited and this is remade all the time, this is why you hear yulia say she is getting stronger every day because that enzyme in the nerve this system is ensuring more efficient functioning of the nerves and the messages between nerves and muscles and this would accord with the fact that she says she's getting better. let's talk the future, but the longer term prognosis. can somebody hit in such a violent day ultimately be fully recovered, walking, talking, doing their job, recovered, walking, talking, doing theirjob, the basics of life? absolutely, and there's form for this, individuals poisoned have made com plete this, individuals poisoned have made complete recoveries, these were people poisoned with the nerve agent sarin injapan, in other cases that

have been complete recoveries and equally there are conditions where people have had longer term problems. it's difficult to ascertain at this stage, we don't know the symptoms and the strength of the victims of the moment. they may have psychological behaviour, even physical problems. hopefully the psychological and behavioural problems once they will recover from, whether they will have physical problems is hard to say at this stage. as long as there was no failure of the oxygenation of the brain, then the chances are good. fascinating to talk to you. really good to speak to you. thank you for your time tonight, professor alistair hay from leeds university. in related element to that story. we told you at the start of the hour that the bbc had learned that viktoria, the cousin in moscow of yulia skripal, has been refused a visa to come to britain. our home

office spokesman simply says we have refused a visitor visa application on the grounds that her application did not comply with the immigration rules. that is the simple statement, it did not comply with the rules. russian foreign ministry says in response that they would like an explanation for the refusal of the visa. it's coming up to quarter to six. these are the headlines. sergei skripal is no longer in a critical condition but is responding well to treatment in hospital. the bbc has learned that his niece viktoria has been refused a visa to come to britain and visit relatives. in other news and man has been arrested in connection with the murder of a 17—year—old in north london on monday, tanesha melbourne. the film review isjust

the film review is just ahead, the film review isjust ahead, let's have a reminder of sportsday. we will be globetrotting on sportsday this evening, the second round of the masters in augusta, we'll be live there to see what's happening on the leaderboard. jordan spieth was on top of the night, two days down into the commonwealth games on the gold coast, hosts australia top of the medals they