yulia skripal, attack, has left hospital. yulia skripal. one of the victims of the salisbury nerve agent attack, has left hospital. her father sergei, the former russian spy, is also making good progress and doctors hope he too will be discharged from hospital in due course. both patients have responded exceptionally well. equally, both patients are at different stages of their recovery. we have now discharged yulia from salisbury district hospital. we'll be talking to our security correspondent about what happens to yulia skripal now that she's left hospital. also this lunchtime. theresa may will speak to president trump later today about the suspected chemical weapons attack in syria. we are working with allies and partners, to assess what has happened on the ground in syria, it isa happened on the ground in syria, it is a barbaric chemical weapons attack that has taken place. an inquest into the death of six—year—old ellie butler finds that she was unlawfully killed in 2013. not in a t—shirt for once

but a suit and tie, facebook founder mark zuckerberg testifies before the us c0 ng ress about the mass harvesting of users‘ data and it's 20 years today since the good friday agreement, a milestone in the northern ireland peace process. and coming up on bbc news, the pride of england, ben prout, successfully defends his 50 metres freestyle title, at the commonwealth games on the gold coast. good afternoon and welcome to the bbc news at one.

yulia skripal, poisoned with a nerve agent in salisbury last month, has left hospital. it's understood she's been moved to a secure location. herfather, sergei, the former russian spy was also targeted, is still in hospital but his condition is improving and doctors say he too should be discharged "in due course". they say both patients have responded "exceptionally well" to treatment. our correspondent duncan kennedy is in salisbury this lunchtime. the news that even just a few weeks ago no one would have expected, yulia skripal has now been discharged from hospital, her father, sergei is expected to be released in due course, we do not know where yulia has been taken to, it comes at an extraordinary —— at the end of an extraordinary five weeks coming here in salisbury and right around the world. attacked by a nerve agent in

salisbury, left unconscious in hospital, it has been and is the ordinary five weeks for yulia skripal. today after encouraging reports about her being able to talk, came the news that many never expected to happen. we have now discharged yulia from salisbury district hospital. she has asked for privacy from the media and i would like to get a rate that request. i also want to take the opportunity to wish yulia well, this is not the end of her treatment but marks a significant milestone. her father has also made significant progress. on friday i announced he was no longer in a critical condition, although he's recovering more slowly than yulia we hope that he, too, will be able to leave hospital in due course. march four, yulia skripal and herfather due course. march four, yulia skripal and her father sergei skripal and her father sergei skripal left his home in salisbury, his front door would later be found to have the biggest concentration of nerve agent on it. three hours later they were found convulsing on a

bench insoles brie city centre. when nerve agent was implicated and russia put forward as front and centre of government suspects, it was a catalyst to a month—long diplomatic row. —— on a bench in salisbury city centre. diplomatic row. —— on a bench in salisbury city centrelj diplomatic row. —— on a bench in salisbury city centre. i welcome the fa ct salisbury city centre. i welcome the fact yulia has been discharged from hospital and i wish the best for her recovery and a huge thank you to all of the staff at the hospital in salisbury who have looked after her and her family so well. the russians have an idea any involvement, saying it isa have an idea any involvement, saying it is a fake story and with a puzzling tweet, their embassy in london said: they have already said they would like to talk to her as she is a russian citizen, it is not clear where she has been taken, so it is unlikely they will get immediate access. herfather, sergei is expected to leave oz bottle in due course and it is likely that he also

will be taken to a secure location to continue his recovery and for both of them to make long—term plans for their futures. both of them to make long—term plans for theirfutures. —— both of them to make long—term plans for their futures. —— is both of them to make long—term plans for theirfutures. —— is expected both of them to make long—term plans for their futures. —— is expected to leave hospital. we do not know where yulia is what will happen to her next, we do not know when her father will be released from hospital, the russians wa nted released from hospital, the russians wanted bigger yulia but as i said in a report that may not happen immediately, so too the police will wa nt to immediately, so too the police will want to debrief her even more. for her and for her father, a want to debrief her even more. for her and for herfather, a lot want to debrief her even more. for her and for her father, a lot of recuperation to be done, and so their futures at least in the short—term are uncertain and we go into the future not knowing where they will be, in this country or elsewhere, at the forefront of the hospital, it is their health that matters, and yulia has been discharged and her father to follow in due course. our security correspondent frank gardner is here. so yulia has been released from hospital, she is a russian citizen, do we know

we she'll go now? the government runs a number of very discreet properties around the country where people are often taken, country where people are often ta ken, safe country where people are often taken, safe houses, essentially, sometimes for debrief and sometimes to be kept out of the public eye, or in the case of yulia skripal, for her own safety. they will not announce where she is. we are now in announce where she is. we are now in a different i mention, up until last night when she was discharged, everybody knew where she was, in salisbury district hospital, receiving treatment to save her life. now she is out of there and not fully well, let's be fair about this, neither she nor herfatherare likely to recover fully, they have both taken catastrophic doses of a very dangerous agent, and they have been saved by the skill of the staff, but now we enter this rather tricky diplomatic area, they say they want access, she is a russian citizen, and this will allow the

possibility that they will say she is being held against her will, very unlikely that the british government is going to force access to her, it is going to force access to her, it is up to yulia skripal, who is not going to be speaking in the near future. thank you very much. theresa may says she'll speak to donald trump today about the suspected chemical weapons attack in syria on saturday. the prime minister will chair a meeting of the national security council later. yesterday president trump promised "quick and forceful action" against the assad regime in damascus. meanwhile the crisis has been debated at an urgent meeting of the un security council, as david willis reports from washington. they are the images which are pressing western leaders to act but the tangle of alliances in syria's escalating civil war makes avenging what is thought to be a chemical weapons attack a potentially precarious proposition. nonetheless, president trump is promising a swift response. we're going to make a decision tonight, or very shortly thereafter, and you'll be hearing the decision. but we can't let atrocities

like we all witnessed, and you can see that, and it's horrible, we can't let that happen. in ourworld, we can't let that happen. but america's efforts to stop the violence might only serve to inflame it. as well as the regime of bashar al—assad, the us is pointing the finger at two of his staunchest allies, russia and iran. russia could stop this senseless slaughter if it wanted. but it stands with the assad regime and supports without any hesitation. we are beyond showing pictures of dead babies. we are beyond appeals to conscience. we have reached the moment when the world must see justice done. prompting russia's ambassador to the un to warn of grave repercussions should the us take military action in syria. translation: russia is being unpardonably threatened. the tone of the way this is being done has gone beyond the threshold of what is acceptable,

even during the cold war. america went it alone last year, firing tomahawk missiles at a syrian air base in retaliation for the killing of dozens of civilians in a sarin gas attack. this time, it would like britain or france to also be part of any military action. but the assad regime it isa it is a barbaric chemical weapons attack which has taken place, illegal use of chemical weapons, i have already spoken with president emmanuel macron about this, i will be speaking with president trump about it later today and of course we will be talking about this issue and including the discussions taking place at the security council of the united nations. but the assad regime has strengthened its position since that attack,

and it is widely thought to be stronger now than at any time since the seven—year civil war began, making the dilemma of how to respond this time around all the greater. david willis, bbc news, los angeles. our diplomatic correspondent paul adams is here. we have heard theresa may say that she will speak with donald trump later on today about this, if there is american military reaction in response to this, could britain joining? there is a little bit of diplomatic business that has to happen before then, the same issue discussed last night will be discussed last night will be discussed today, battle of resolutions, the russians and the americans with their own proposals on how these things should be investigated, it is likely the outcome will be deadlocked, awesomely a veto by one side or the other. donald trump says he will make up his mind in its 2a to 36 hours, he seems keen to punish president assad, the french also seem president assad, the french also seem quite keen on it, the language

used last night by the french ambassador was much more tough than that used by the british representative, and we have also heard president emmanuel macron, president trump already spoke twice, interesting that theresa may has not yet had the phone call. she is having a meeting of the national security council this afternoon. the british, by and large, still talking in terms of finding out what happened, and then holding those responsible accountable. she is not being drawn on uk military participation, pretty hard to imaginea participation, pretty hard to imagine a scenario where the us and france go ahead and britain remains a bystander. there is the spectre of 2013 when david cameron put it to the commons and then the whole thing fell apart, the commons said, no, barack obama fell apart, the commons said, no, ba rack obama withdrew fell apart, the commons said, no, barack obama withdrew his own threats, i don't think theresa may wa nts to threats, i don't think theresa may wants to go there, and for donald trump, what is the calculation, one year ago, almost exactly, he launched 16 cruise missiles in the same circumstances following a chemical weapons attack and it had

no real effect at all. seems to want to do something bigger this time with britain and france, but not ta ke with britain and france, but not take ownership of the syrian civil war. so it is going to be difficult to see exactly what kind of measures he takes, and the three countries take. it is likely that will happen but not quite clear of the scale of it. a coroner has ruled that a six—year—old girl, who was murdered by her father in 2013, was unlawfully killed. ellie butler died less than a year after she'd returned to herfamily home at south london, on the orders of a judge. june kelly is at south london coroner's court this lunchtime. ellie butler died from head injuries inflicted by her father, ellie butler died from head injuries inflicted by herfather, there ellie butler died from head injuries inflicted by her father, there was only one verdict, this court could come too, that was a verdict of unlawful killing. during her short life, she had contact with a number of agencies but today the coroner, dame linda dog, said that despite

various failings that had been highlighted, i am unable to conclude that any acts or omissions by the releva nt that any acts or omissions by the relevant agencies contributed to the death of ellie butler. —— dame linda dobbs. voiceover: from the start, ellie butler was not safe in her father ‘s arms. when she was just weeks old, ben butler was accused of shaking her so hard that she suffered serious head injuries. after being treated for bleeding to her brain and the back of her eyes, ellie recovered. butler was jailed but then freed on appeal. a few years on, his vicious temper was picked up in an accidentally recorded phone call. don't ask me to do something which you ain't bleep done and then sort it out. bleep off. also in the family kitchen was ellie with a black eye. months later, she was dead. this case goes back nearly a decade. in march, 2009, butler was sentenced for assaulting his daughter when she was six weeks old. a conviction which was later overturned. in october, 2012, the family courts returned ellie to her parents and stressed that butler had been cleared of any wrongdoing.

but four years later, butler was found guilty of killing his daughter. he was jailed for 23 years. in march this year, the inquest into ellie's death opened. it has examined the process by which she was handed back to her parents. her mother, jennie gray, here turning her camera phone on the camera crew, also stood trial following ellie's death. she was convicted of child cruelty. after ben butler's first conviction for attacking ellie, she was placed in the care of her maternal grandparents, lynne and neal gray, who looked after her for most of her short life. knowing butler's capacity for violence, they battled unsuccessfully to keep their granddaughter and in the months before her death, they grew alarmed by her appearance. she had bruises on herface and down

there, but she had face paints on. the face paint they believed had been applied deliberately to hide her bruising. she had lost about a stone, her eyes were beginning to sink in, her hair was all... looks as though it hadn't been combed. what you would say, looked as though she had been dragged through a hedgerow. neal gray's wife died two years ago as the criminal trial got under way. he remembers the last time they saw their granddaughter. she said, "nanny, when can i come back home to live with you? grandad, when can i come back home to live with you?" and she kept going like that. "i love you, nan. i love you." her grandfather says that ellie was placed at fatal risk by being returned to her parents. he wants lessons to be learned from her death to protect other children in the future. the coroner only handed down this

ruling in the past hour and neal gray is going to speak to the media this afternoon. thank you. the founder of facebook, mark zuckerberg, will testify before the us congress today, to answer questions about the improper sharing of people's data with the political consulting firm, cambridge analytica. he'll also be asked to explain why his company was slow to react to claims that russia used facebook to interfere in the us presidential election in 2016. dave lee reports. can americans trust facebook? make no mistake, this is an event mark zuckerberg had really wanted to avoid adding to his calendar, a trip to washington to face tough questions about how he runs the most powerful social network in the world. is he going to wear a suit and tie and a clean white shirt? that's my biggest question. is he going to behave like an adult? politicians have wanted to speak to mr zuckerberg before,

though until now, he's sent lawyers and other members of the facebook team to do the job. when it comes to the 2016 election, i want to be clear, we take what happened on facebook very seriously. in two days of hearings, he will answer queries about the cambridge analytica scandal, and whether there are others that may have done the same thing. he will be asked about election meddling, what the company is doing about it, and why it didn't act sooner. but it's notjust in the us where facebook is under scrutiny. the facebook apology road show will travel to the uk and europe, australia and canada. don't step forward, please. please don't step forward, thank you. in dc, mr zuckerberg will have one goal, to ride out this storm. a strong performance here could see facebook‘s stock rise, reversing an almost $80 billion loss in value since the scandal took hold. but most observers think these hearings are a tipping point. the beginning of tighter regulation on facebook and other companies like it, firms that have built enormous

businesses out of personal data. you can't protect our privacyjust on the basis of somebody telling you that they are going to protect it. so does that mean law? yes. does that mean regulation? yes. the question is, what will the regulation actually be and how will it be enforced? the rest of silicon valley will be watching very closely. our top story this lunchtime: yulia skripal, the daughter of the poisoned former russian spy, sergei skripal, has left hospital. doctors say her father is making good progress. and coming up, a proud moment in the pool. england's ben proud takes gold in the 50m freestyle at the commonwealth games. man city boss pep guardiola asks for

the perfect game as they look to over ten deficit against liverpool. tony blair and the former us president, bill clinton, are among a number of international figures gathering in belfast today to mark the 20th anniversary of the good friday agreement — the peace deal which helped to bring an end to the troubles in northern ireland. it comes at a time of political uncertainty at stormont, where power—sharing collapsed last year. our ireland correspondent, chris page, is in belfast. in the 30 years before the good friday agreement, around 3500 people died in the troubles, but the deal marked the point at which political violence gave way to political agreement, this afternoon the people involved in the negotiations are

coming back togetherfor involved in the negotiations are coming back together for an event at the university in belfast. as well as reflecting on what has been achieved, they will be considering the political problems which still have not been resolved. the three decades, in the late 20th century, violence was the normality in this part of the uk. 20 yea rs normality in this part of the uk. 20 years ago today, politicians struck once unthinkable peace deal. the two governments and to political parties in northern ireland have reached agreement. it did not completely stop the bloodshed, but the agreement was a huge step towards ending the conflict. police had been used to being underfire, this former officer has written a book about his colleagues to pull stories, he remembers how the troubles somehow became routine. stories, he remembers how the troubles somehow became routinelj was shocked at five times in the course of work. —— shot. my car was

mixed up with the car the victim was driving. the whole idea behind the agreement was you do not want the police force to have to go through that again. one of the most controversial aspects of the agreement was that loyalist and republican paramilitary members were released early from jail, many victims were angered by pictures like these. but former prisoners say their support for the deal was important. from my community's perspective, it was a good thing to do. the release of the prisoners. when we have a look at what other contribution was we made, we have not only supported the good friday agreement, we have proactively promoted it. the agreement was put toa promoted it. the agreement was put to a public vote, this was perhaps the moment of the campaign. the leaders of unionism and nationalism brought onto the stage by bono at a

special concert. it was kind of electric. something nobody had ever seen electric. something nobody had ever seen before. michaelwas at electric. something nobody had ever seen before. michael was at that gig but now he is concerned about northern ireland and the collapse of its power—sharing government last year. we live in a post-traumatic stress society. we all suffer from that. nothing has been done to recognise it. this agreement is good for the people of ireland, north and south. the former prime minister who signed the good friday agreement says that although the piece is not perfect, it is precious. those of us who remember the days when every morning you would wake up to fresh tales on death and destruction on terrorism, sectarianism, what we have today is definitely worth preserving and worth building on, not destroying. tony blair will be here later today along with bill clinton and of course many politicians from northern ireland, the significant anniversary is reminding people hear how much this place has changed and

how much this place has changed and how much this place has changed and how much more work needs to be done to heal the remaining deep divisions. many thanks. a bbc investigation has discovered that evidence from groups which hunt paedophiles was used to charge at least 150 suspects last year across england and wales. that's a seven—fold increase in just two years, despite police saying vigilante tactics present significant risks. phil bodmer reports. an angry confrontation between a group of paedophile hunters and neighbours of a 53—year—old man who it is claimed has been grooming an under—age girl. you've been speaking to one of our decoys. have you got a sexual interest in kids? nope. so why are you talking to a 13—year—old child? in this case, however, the middle—aged suspect has been exchanging explicit messages with a woman. are you working today? she is a member of predator exposure, and a decoy using a fake online profile. all right, i'll speak soon. the group, based in yorkshire, was set up in 2016 to bring paedophiles tojustice.

so anything you say, we record all this. we pass it all over to the police. what you say to us, and what we say to you. following a bbc freedom of information request, 29 of the 43 police forces in england and wales told us, in 2015, they used evidence from so—called paedophile hunters to charge suspects on 20 occasions. by 2017, that number had risen to 150 — a more than sevenfold increase in just two years. all stay safe, and let's go catch ourself a baddie. predator exposure says it rejects accusations of vigilantism. this isn't entrapment. they‘ re entrapping themselves. we don't go and start talking to them, they come on and start talking to us, start sending us vile messages, start sending us rude pictures. police say so—called paedophile hunters are taking risks they don't necessarily understand. have confidence in what we are doing, we are doing more than anybody else in the world

to tackle this threat. we are very good at it. we put all the appropriate safeguards in place. don't compromise our operations. don't compromise the tactics that we use. i'll state again, she just told you she is 15 years old. can you see that, there? but with more of their evidence being used in prosecutions, paedophile hunters say they are determined to continue exposing online predators. phil bodmer, bbc news. president trump has condemned an fbi raid on the offices and home of his personal lawyer, michael cohen, describing it as a disgrace and a witchhunt. among the documents seized were details of a payment to stormy daniels, the porn star who claims she had sex with mr trump in 2006. british gas is increasing energy bills for dual fuel customers on its standard variable tariff by around 5% a year. around 4 million households will be affected. the company has blamed rising

wholesale energy costs, and government policies. it was a clean sweep for the home nations in the pairs shooting title at the commonwealth games. england, wales and scotland took gold, silver and bronze in the queen's prize event, which sees competitors fire at targets over five distances. in the swimming, england's ben proud successfully defended his 50m freestyle title. the 23—year—old set a new games record in the heats. adam wild reports. for those arriving at the pool, an australian welcome. so far they have dominated, these games built on national pride. step forward... ben prout, it looked comfortable. national pride. step forward... ben prout, it looked comfortablelj national pride. step forward... ben prout, it looked comfortable. i let go, took on the environment, that is why we do it. it has been a really special night. no doubting their home city rich in the women's 400

metres freestyle, but silvers and bronze for england. much closer in the 200 metre medley, scotland's duncan scott with silver, his sixth medal that these games, worth the pain. battling through the barriers too, wales, a quite brilliant silver in the 1500 metres. what a swing that was. and so to the relay, gold yet again for australia, bronze for wales women. but for england's men, the very closest margins, leading for much of the way, just beaten to the touch, silverfor for much of the way, just beaten to the touch, silver for them, for much of the way, just beaten to the touch, silverfor them, gold for much of the way, just beaten to the touch, silver for them, gold for australia. elsewhere, more gold firmly in the sights, in the 50 metres prone rifle, wales david phelps taking aim. this is for the gold medal. it is ten. that is enough. gold medal, games record,

quite some way to celebrate your birthday. # happy birthday to you. # the queen's pairs event, england taking the title. the open road may have provided a rather more scenic view but for england's harry, quite enough destruction. racing against both the clock and his brother, charlie, a silver in the men's time trial. if there is any lingering doubt about just what a medal can mean, this was haley simons winning bronze in the women's event. for others, the celebrations were no less powerful, although for a robinson para powerlifting, it was a little more acrobatic —— for a bronze. she only took up the sport nine months ago, she is now a commonwealth silver medallist. our sports correspondent, mike bushell, is on the gold coast.

real drama realdrama in real drama in the final athletics events of the day. yes, it has only just finished. at this time of night, the band strikes up behind me, apologies for the music getting louder, it means we have finished for the day in the athletics where there was a really exciting end and a late medalfor wales. this was the women's1500 metres, won bike south africa, but melissa of wales picked up africa, but melissa of wales picked up the bronze medal in the 1500 metres. emotional moment for the botswa na n athlete metres. emotional moment for the botswa nan athlete who metres. emotional moment for the botswanan athlete who won, you may recall he was the chap from botswana who last summer at the world championships in london was co ntroversially championships in london was controversially stopped from entering the championships because it was thought he was suffering from the nora virus. certainly shown tonight in the last hour what london

was missing with a dominant display. apart from the province from wales, a disappointing night overall for the home nations —— apart from the bronze. the home teams need to catch up. talking of disappointment, imagine coming all this way and not being allowed to enter, that is what happened to data melissa, gutted after an administration error meant she could not enter the women's time trial. there will be a review. brett lee she can enter the road race. second chance at the weekend, separate event. —— at least she can enter the road race. now the weather. it looked a bit