hello, you're watching afternoon live — i'm ben brown. today at 2:00pm... the attack on former russian spy sergei skripal and his daughter — the uk's national security advisor says russian special forces have been trained to put nerve agent on door handles. meanwhile, russia says it has evidence to show an alleged chemical weapons attack in syria was staged, with the help of foreign agents. translation: we have evidence that this was a false flag operation, spearheaded by those who promote russophobic ideas. the duke of edinburgh leaves hospital in london, after his hip replacement operation. coming up on afternoon live, all the sport. a pretty tasty drawer in the champions league for liverpool. there is indeed. liverpool avoid holders real madrid but are drawn

against roma in the semifinals of the tournament. also coming up, how much is too much? a new study says having more than five alcoholic drinks a week could shorten your life. hello everyone — this is afternoon live. i'm ben brown. the government's national security adviser sir mark sedwill has told nato that russia has trained special units in ways to use novichok—class nerve agents — including applying them to door handles. novichoks have been identified as the type of nerve agent used to attack former russian spy sergei skripal and his daughter yulia in salisbury last month. the greatest concentration of the agent was found on the handle of mr skripal‘s front door.

sir mark also said russian military intelligence were targeting an email account belonging to yulia skripal as early as 2013. a short while ago, the russian ambassador to the uk, alexander ya kovenko, accused the british government of pursuing a policy of destroying all possible evidence relating to the attack on the skripals. the statement made by scotland yard on behalf of yulia skripal only confirms our suspicions. we get the impression that the british government is deliberately pursuing the policy of destroying all possible evidence, classifying all remaining materials and making an independent and transparent investigation impossible. our home affairs correspondent daniel sandford is here. a lot of new information about the

british case for what happened potentially in salisbury. a letter from mark sedwill, the national security adviser, a civil service position. he's an official, but advising the prime minister, so he's not a politician. a letter to the secretary—general of nato with a summary secretary—general of nato with a summary of the british intelligence case against russia. we know detailed intelligence has been shared with the various countries who then expelled russian diplomats in the aftermath of the attack. but this is a summary, but without sourcing of what that intelligence said. it's worth pointing that out. it doesn't know we know this because such a person told us or we intercepted an e—mail or phone call, because that would completely expose the british sourcing of the intelligence, so we have to take it on trust. give us a bit of detail on exactly what sir mark is saying in

this. for example, what the russians we re this. for example, what the russians were allegedly doing with door handles is interesting. what mark sedwill says twice in the letter is that wejudge only sedwill says twice in the letter is that we judge only russia has the technical means, operational experience and the motive for the attack on the skripals. he repeats some of what boris jazzman theresa may has said in the last few weeks about the intelligence services. —— what boris johnson and about the intelligence services. —— what borisjohnson and theresa may. around this issue of the russian programme to assassinate people using nerve agents, he said during the 2000 is russia commenced a programme to test means of delivering chemical warfare agents and to train personnel agents from special units in the use of these agents. this included an investigation into the use of these nerve agents including bank application to door handles. so there is a claim that the russians we re there is a claim that the russians were specifically looking at putting nerve agents on door handles, which is what seems to have happened in this case. a second new area is

around the targeting of the skripals themselves. 0ne around the targeting of the skripals themselves. one of the things asked is, why would the russians target the skripals, he had been pardoned, was part of a spy swap. the british claim they have some information suggesting that they were very much targeting the skripals as far back as 2013. to quote mark sedwill, we have information indicating russian intelligence service interest in the skripals dating back at least as far as 2013 when e—mail accounts belonging to yulia skripal were targeted by gr you cyber specialists, the gr you is the military intelligence, the very organisations sergei skripal used to work for. the third area is around russia's overall chemical warfare programme, which the british have been saying ever since the attack had been going on through the 2000 and long after the soviet union had broken up. but in this letter mark sedwill says president putin was closely involved in the russian

chemical weapons programme in the mid—2000s and that is new as well. daniel sandford, thank you. russia has claimed that an apparent chemical attack in syria at the weekend was a ‘staged event', carried out with the help of a foreign secret service. the accusation was made by the country's foreign minister sergei lavrov, at a news conference in moscow. it comes as the united states, the uk and france consider a possible military response to the syrian government's alleged use of chemical weapons. inspectors from the chemical weapons watchdog the 0pcw have arrived in the town of douma, where it's claimed the attack took place. 0ur diplomatic correspondent paul adams reports. the syrian flag flying over douma, eastern ghouta now entirely in government hands. a notable victory for president assad, achieved with massive firepower, russian help, and, it is alleged, chemical weapons. the west seems poised to respond, but when? these american warships left

virginia on wednesday. they won't reach the eastern mediterranean until the end of next week. other ships and planes, american, british and french, are already in place, but what's the objective? last year, an intelligence report seen by the bbc said chemical weapons were being manufactured at three sites. five years ago international inspectors examined dozens of other facilities, some of these could now be hit, along with airfields and storage depots. syria says there's nothing to find. the government and ministry of foreign affairs declared many times we didn't use and will not use any kind of chemical weapons, because we don't have these kind of chemical weapons after 2013. western officials, with varying degrees of confidence, say syria was responsible for last weekend's attack.

russia says it has evidence to the contrary. translation: our specialists haven't found any traces of the use of chloride or any other chemical weapons. in fact, we have evidence that this was a false flag operation, spearheaded by those who promote russophobic ideas. russia has large numbers of troops in syria. could they be hit, even by accident, in western air strikes? translation: there's been a telephone conversation between mr trump and mr putin recently. we're always open to contacts like this. it helps us understand one another. the militaries of the two countries are also contacting those channels that are not frozen yet are being used. here, the labour leader says britain should still be pressing for a un investigation and says theresa may

is not acting independently. the government, jeremy corbyn says, appears to be waiting for instructions from president donald trump on how to proceed. but the us administration is giving alarmingly contradictory signals. last year's american missile strikes damaged a single syrian air base, but did nothing to change the syrian government's behaviour. something much more substantial is expected this time, possibly as early as the weekend. paul adams, bbc news. we've already heard from the russian ambassador to britain, alexander yakovenko, about the nerve agent attack on the skripals; he also commented on syria, casting doubt on allegations of a chemical attack in douma. it's clear that the goal of this unsubstantiated lies, and the new

vaunted campaign against syria is to discredit the syrian government and justify the possible use of force by external actors. any military action against the syrian government is against the syrian government is against international law, against the charter of the united nations. 0ur chief political correspondent vicki young is at westminster. with all the talk of possible military action against the syrian regime, labourare military action against the syrian regime, labour are calling for parliament to get a vote and that theresa may is simply waiting for instructions from donald trump. theresa may is simply waiting for instructions from donald trumpm felt yesterday and today before that there was a momentum building towards air strikes sooner rather than later. the cabinet met yesterday, discussed it all for more than two hours, and they seemed to have given their backing to theresa may saying the use of chemical

weapons must stopped. something has to be done and it must be punished, otherwise it becomes the norm. if you like, in principle they have agreed to some kind of action, but what exactly it is and what form it will take, how, when and where, hasn't been decided. this row about whether mps should give their backing to any military intervention first, that is going on. there are many who say there is no need for that, legally theresa may does not have to do that. there is no need to recall parliament this week. she could go ahead because it could be seen as an emergency could go ahead because it could be seen as an emergency situation, the need is urgent to stop another kind of attack like this. until 2003 military action was taken without parliamentary votes. sierra leone in 2001, kosovo, the first gulf war and so on. if events on the ground or moving very quickly, either militarily or diplomatically, there might not be time for

parliament to have a debate and vote. that has been completely rejected by many of the opposition party saying there was bunch of time this week to recall parliament and depending what happens at the weekend it may be no action has been taken and parliament returns after the easter break on monday and at that point it will be very difficult if no action had been taken for theresa may to say she was not going to grant them a vote and a say. jeremy corbyn has talked about the fact that theresa may, he implies it's humiliating, she is sitting around waiting to hear what president trump is going to say and give her her instructions. the labour party talking very much about a political solution saying air strikes in such a volatile area simply can't help. the liberal democrats are also saying that mps must have their say. there is not a need to rush to action without having the chance to debate and vote in parliament, which could happen on monday. frankly, if the prime minister had wanted to,

parliament could have been recalled this week to have a discussion on it and it's a conscious choice she has made to do so. i think that's disrespectful to parliament and the whole democratic process. we are in a position where we are waiting to see what will happen. it still feels as if the government is moving towards some kind of action, but i think is the case that depending on what president trump and other allies, including emmanuel macron, with the three leaders talking constantly on the phone, we will wait to see what action, if any, is finally decided. vicki young in westminster. cliff richard has arrived in court for the first day of the case he's brought against the bbc for breach of privacy and data protection. the complaint relates to coverage of a police investigation and raid of the star's home in 2014, after sir cliff was named as a suspect in an alleged historical sexual assault. he denied any wrongdoing and was never arrested or charged. the duke of edinburgh has been discharged from hospital

in london following a successful hip operation last week. prince philip, who's 96, will continue his recovery at windsor. 0ur royal correspondent nicholas witchell is outside the king edward vii hospital in central london. he left out of sight of the cameras via a rear exit and was then driven around in front of the photographers here in the front passenger seat of the vehicle. he smiled and waved, and seemed to be in good spirits. he is now at windsor where he will continue his recovery. he spent ten nights in hospital. the hip replacement surgery was on wednesday last week. he is said to have been in good spirits after that. it will bea in good spirits after that. it will be a matter of weeks or months now for him to recover. he is only a few months short of his 97th birthday. he will be hoping to be up and on his feet in time for the royal wedding injust over a month

his feet in time for the royal wedding in just over a month from now. you're watching afternoon live, these are our headlines the attack on former russian spy sergei skripal — the uk's national security adviser says russian special forces have been trained to put nerve agent on door handles. russia claims it has "irrefutable evidence" that an alleged chlorine gas attack in syria was "staged" with the help of a foreign secret service. the duke of edinburgh leaves hospital in london, after his hip replacement operation. in sport, liverpool have been drawn against roma in the semifinals of the champions league, avoiding holders real madrid, who will face bayern munich in the other type. in the europa league, arsenal will play atletico madrid. england's katarina johnson—thompson wins first major outdoor title, taking gold in the heptathlon at the commonwealth games. team—mate neil emmerson claimed a bronze medal. jack moore

wins his third gold of the games. i will be back with all those stories at around will be back with all those stories ataround 2:30pm. the parents of a terminally ill child at the centre of a life—support treatment battle are to mount another legal challenge to keep him alive. 23—month—old alfie evans has a degenerative neurological disease and doctors say subjecting him to further medical intervention is inhumane. a high courtjudge has ruled that life support can be withdrawn, but alfie's family want to take him to rome for treatment. hundreds of people staged a protest outside alder hey hospital in liverpool, in support of the parents. judith moritz is in liverpool this afternoon. alfie evans and his parents tom and kate are inside the intensive care unit inside alder hey as they have been for many months. outside their

supporters continue to protest. the little boy was born with a degenerative brain condition. which the hospital have been treating, have been keeping him on ventilation here for many months. in december of last year, alder hey said it was no longer in alfie's best interest for treatment to continue. that's what his family fundamentally disagree with. they have fought at every stage of the legal process, from the high court, the court of appeal, the supreme court, and even onto the european court of human rights. they have been unsuccessful at every stage and last week a judge approved a doctor's plans here for a timetable which life support should be withdrawn. there were protesters here last night, significant numbers of people. thom evans, alfie's dad, said he had a private plane on stand—by and he wanted to take his son to rome for further treatment. in the last two minutes, the news is that on mondayjudges at the court

of appeal will examine more detail around this case. drinking as little as five pints of beer or glasses of wine a week could shorten your life, according to a major new study. researchers looked at the health of 600,000 people globally who consume alcohol — and found that having between five and ten alcoholic units a week could cut life expectancy by up to six months. charlotte gallagher has the details. a glass of wine or a pint of beer is how many people like to relax after a long, stressful day. but new research says regularly drinking more than the recommended amount of alcohol could take years off your life. researchers compared the health and drinking habits of around 600,000 drinkers in 19 countries across the world. they concluded that people shouldn't have more than five pints of beer or five 175 millilitre glasses of wine each week. drinking more than that was linked to lower life expectancy. having ten or more drinks could take one to two years off your life,

while having 18 drinks or more could take four to five years off. but what do drinkers make of the study? things are always changing, aren't they. one minute something is really good for you, another minute something is really bad for you. i think if you're just happy then just go with the flow. i do drink a little bit, but you just have to consume it in a moderate amount, that's it, i think you know. it'll just make people think, not another scare story about alcohol or things that we like. so i think probably it'll be totally disregarded. the british heart foundation, which part—funded the study, says drinking too much can lead to serious health problems. we mustn't forget that drinking too much also has an effect on your risk for cancer and other diseases, like liver disease. so it's not only your heart health that you need to think about, but it's — your overall risk of dying is increased.

so the take—home message for people is, if you think you're drinking too much at the moment, you need to start thinking about drinking less. since 2016, people in britain have been advised to have no more than 1a units of alcohol each week — around six drinks. the british heart foundation says the results are a sobering wake—up call for countries with much higher limits, and warns that many people in the uk drink a lot more than the recommended amount. charlotte gallagher, bbc news. protests are growing in india after the rape and murder of an eight—year old girl. the body of the girl, who cannot be named, was found injanuary in a forest in indian—administered kashmir. justin rowlatt reports from delhi. an eight—year—old muslim girl smiles and a photo taken just days before she was abducted and then gang raped and murdered. she was allegedly held ina hindu and murdered. she was allegedly held in a hindu temple. the details of

this crime are horrific enough, but what has made this into a huge national issue is the way some local hindus have reacted. lawyers protested outside a police station in an attempt to stop charges being filed against the eight men who have been arrested in connection with the crime. and there have been other demonstrations. 0ne attended by two seniorfigures from india noes ruling party. indeed, the child murder has become a rallying cry, not for justice for the dead murder has become a rallying cry, not forjustice for the dead girl, but in defence of the men accused of raping and murdering her. and now, there are counter demonstrations. the commission for women in the indian capital of delhi has began a hunger strike demanding the prime minister speak out on behalf of the dead girland minister speak out on behalf of the dead girl and her family. minister speak out on behalf of the dead girl and herfamily. the way the here in the authorities berg '|;| diem

eiil ’ figures from the opposition congress party, are saying this latest case shows that the authorities still are not doing enough to protect women and girls from sexual violence in india. justin rowlatt, bbc news, new delhi. the open university vice—chancellor peter horrocks has resigned after a vote of no—confidence in his leadership. mr horrocks had angered some staff by saying academics "get away with not teaching." in a statement, he said the university "faces a scale of challenge that is unprecedented". it has to save £100 million

and student numbers have fallen. employers in england are falsely listing jobs in cafes and fast food outlets as apprenticeships, in order to benefit from government subsidies, according to the think tank reform. it's warning that up to 40% of new positions are mislabelled. the government insists that its policies are helping to turn more apprenticeships into real, paid jobs which last for at least a year. here's our business correspondent joe lynam. these young people are at the most exciting time of their lives. the government says it's on target to have millions of high quality apprenticeships by 2020. but how many of those are genuine? report by the centre—right think tank reform sysop to 40% of new apprenticeships are not what they seem. reform says they are merely rebadging existing orjuniorjobs as they are merely rebadging existing or junior jobs as apprenticeships they are merely rebadging existing orjuniorjobs as apprenticeships in order to use the government funding.

it says some fast—food outlets or copy shops are using the money for apprenticeships to train up a wrist is. most people quite rightly expect an apprenticeship to be a high skilled training course aimed at young people to get them started in their career. what we found in our report today is that actually many apprenticeships are simply low skilled courses such as working in a delicatessen, serving drinks in a restau ra nt, delicatessen, serving drinks in a restaurant, working on a hotel reception desk, that do not in any way represent a genuine apprenticeship, so we have called on the government to be more robust on what is allowed to be called an apprentice ship and what isn't. since 2010 3.7 million people have started an apprenticeship in england and spending on apprenticeships will reach £2.11 billion by next year. but that will be covered by the new apprenticeship levy. but some employers are rebranding ordinary training jobs as high—value apprenticeships. and that is annoying trade unions. we are very keen on apprenticeships. they are a great idea. but at the moment they are focusing on the wrong sorts of

jobs. and they also being set up by employer groups only. there is a real need for trade unions to get involved in designing these schemes and being involved higher levels as the institute of apprentice chips and other government bodies looking at this. in a statement the department for education said our reforms have fundamentally changed what apprenticeships are, as we made ita what apprenticeships are, as we made it a requirement that all apprenticeships must be real paid jobs lasting for a minimum of 12 months, with at least 20% off the job training. many hope that a well—trained british workforce will drive the economy forward after brexit. the government hopes that apprenticeships will form the backbone of that drive, provided of course, they are real apprenticeships, and not just course, they are real apprenticeships, and notjust a rebranding exercise. joel line, bbc news. two british women are attempting to trek to the north pole this week. they're part of an all—female international expedition which includes women from europe and the middle east. the group is hoping to improve understanding between different

cultures, and inspire a younger generation of girls. the bbc asian network's poonam taneja travelled to the arctic town of longyearbyen — in norway — to hear about the final preparations. trading in the arctic. these women, from the west and east, are preparing to ski to the north pole. they are a long way from home. some have travelled from the deserts in the arabian peninsular. others european cities. there seems to be this disconnect between particularly women in arabic and european cultures, and so i wanted to put together this expedition to explore that a little bit and hopefully provide some insight. the ten day expedition is going to be tough. skiing forup to expedition is going to be tough. skiing for up to eight hours a day across sea skiing for up to eight hours a day across sea ice in freezing temperatures, and the threat of polar bears. most have never tried anything like it. i knew this was

something i wanted to do. i wanted to get out of my comfort zone. i wanted to challenge myself when it comes to the cold weather, and just to see how far i could push myself. temperatures of —40, shifting pack ice, open waters, these are all the challenges. and also putting up our tent, on floating ice. these are women from very different backgrounds. a marine biologist from france, a businesswoman from saudi arabia. even a member of qatar's ruling family. but if they want to get the north pole, they need to work together. just being around these different women, from these different cultures, taught me a lot about myself, but a lot about who they are. the euro arabian team have been preparing for this expedition for the past two years, meeting in the deserts of 0 man and the glaziers of iceland, not only learning how to survive in harsh arctic conditions, but also about each other‘s culture. arctic conditions, but also about

each other's culture. for me it has actually been very interesting to ask them questions, how it is to live in their country, with their religion, with their culture. this expedition will be a memorable experience. even historic. as the arabian women will be the first women from their countries to trek to the top of the world. they hope other women will follow in their footsteps. good luck to them. we can see what the weather here will be like with simon king. good afternoon. if you are lacking that friday feeling at the moment, looking out of the window at the weather, stick with me, better news in the forecast as we go into the weekend. it has been a pretty grey and dismal start to the day. that mist and fog has continued through the afternoon. this was in north yorkshire. not much to see that on that telescope. this is the scene in

warwickshire. lots of cloud around. not a great deal of change as we go through the evening. still some outbreaks of rain affecting western areas of scotland, some rain to the north—east of scotland. but look at this. some clearer skies as we go through tonight. some temperatures getting down to 5—7d. as we start of the weekend, there will be some sunshine. it will warm up. the temperature is responding to the sunshine and getting up to the mid to high teens and by sunday it will be more breezy and showers are in the forecast as well. looking at saturday first of all, a dry and bright start with lots of sunshine. not wall—to—wall sunshine, some crowd expected across scotland and northern ireland at times. later in the day, some showers developing across south wales and southern england. the temperatures up to 13, 17 or 18 celsius, and much higher temperatures on the north sea coast.

if you are heading to entry for the grand national, 1a celsius, some cloud and some bright spells breaking through and drier than it has been. 0n breaking through and drier than it has been. on sunday, low pressure moving its way in towards the west, throwing up more breezy conditions. and with it some outbreaks of showery rain in south—west england, wales and northern ireland that could spread further east. generally speaking, the further east and north you are, it will stay largely dry and fairly bright. we will get sunshine again and maximum temperatures getting up to 17 or 18 celsius. temperatures elsewhere typically 13—15. still milder and warmer than it has been today. and then temperatures will rise even further as we go through next week. a wind affecting north and west areas. you can see by the orange developing as we go into next week, there will be some sunshine, and temperatures potentially open to the

mid—20s by the middle part of the week. this is bbc news. our latest headlines: the uk's national security adviser says russian special forces have been trained to put nerve agent on door handles. it's thought this was the way former russian spy sergei skripal and his daughter, yulia, were attacked. but russia's ambassador has accused the british government of destroying evidence from the scene of the attack in salisbury last month, and denying russia access to the skripals. meanwhile, russia has also said it has evidence to show an alleged chemical weapons attack in syria was staged, with the help of foreign agents. we have evidence that this was a false—flag operation, spearheaded by those who promote russophobic ideas. the duke of edinburgh leaves hospital in london,

after his hip replacement operation. the parents of a terminally ill boy, alfie evans, are to bring a new appeal before judges on monday. a major new study says more than five pints of beer, or glasses of wine, a week could shorten your life. sport now on afternoon live withjohn watson. and the draw‘s been made for the semi—finals of the champions league. iam not i am not entirely impartial, rather good for liverpool! liverpool fans will be pleased, they have avoided the holders real madrid and are facing roma in the semifinals. they beat manchester city in the quarterfinals and it is liverpool who staged the first leg at anfield on the 24th of april before the return fixture on the 2nd of may. perhaps not entirely straight forward, roma overturning a

4-1 straight forward, roma overturning a 4—1 deficit from the first leg. this will be considered the best possible news for liverpool but jurgen klopp, the liverpool manager, is wary. he says, i can't stop people saying this is the easiest tie but i can't help it if they say that. roma of forth in italy but have had a really good results this season. they beat chelsea 3—0 this season. they beat chelsea 3—0 this season. 0ne season. they beat chelsea 3—0 this season. one of the greatest comebacks in champions league history as well against barcelona earlier this week. it is a tough tie for liverpool against roma, who will be really confident after what happened against barcelona. no room for complacency. let's talk about the commonwealth games. and more medals on day nine of the commonwealth games. significant for katarina johnson—thompson, who claimed gold for england in the heptathlon. 0ut on the gold coast. following up her indoor title from last e to make

two if“) medals two 2“) medals from two 35“) medals from tfifi .. . ,, , two 2“) medals from tfifi games i it two gold medals from two games and hi? fourth it two gold medals from two games and he'rfourth in ae; 3,2; 5,323. if. ge-z—l—gg

stuff from them. grace reid became the first female scottish diver to wina the first female scottish diver to win a gold medal at the commonwealth games as she won the women's one metre springboard. and earlier today, tom daley and dan goodfellow struck gold in the ten metre synchronised dive, the penultimate dive clinching top spot. they only practised together twice before competing this week. afterwards, tom daley drew attention to the commonwealth countries were being 93v commonwealth countries were being gay is still a crime, insisting it isa gay is still a crime, insisting it is a crime they changed their laws. there are 37 countries in the commonwealth competing that currently criminalise lgbt people which i feel extremely lucky to be able to compete openly and julie who iam and able to compete openly and julie who i am and not worry about ramifications. but for lots of athletes and people living in those countries, it is not the case. and we have to talk about these things and shinea we have to talk about these things and shine a light on them in order to get change. birmingham, the next

commonwealth games, i hope we see the crease in that number of countries that criminalise lgbt issues. tom daley and dan goodfellow speaking after that success in the synchronised event. and the premier league clubs have voted against the use of the ar technology in the premier league next season after shareholders meeting next —— and all 20 clubs voted. so more trial and tests before the technology is fermented in the premier league. that is all sport for now. thank you very much indeed. more from john throughout the afternoon. let's get more now on our top story — the claims made by the government's national security adviser, sir mark sedwill, that russia has trained special units in ways to use novichok—class nerve agents — including applying them to door handles.

novichoks have been identified as the type of nerve agent used to attack former russian spy sergei skripal and his daughter yulia in salisbury last month, and the substance was found on the handle of mr skripal‘s front door. 0ur correspondent, duncan kennedy, is in salisbury. this is very interesting from the government's national security adviser about how the russians appear to have been trained specifically in putting this nerve agent and door handles and that appears to be precisely the technique used in salisbury. exactly right. interesting and chilling, you have to say, that we have these extra details. it comes from sir mark sedwill, the national security adviser, in a letter tojens stoltenberg, the secretary general of nato. they will have a meeting in april and it was a briefing letter before the meeting. we have these new facts, the main one of which is what you just said, that russia appears to have set up this team to train in chemical weapons and part

of that team was trained how to apply nerve agent is to door handles. here we are in 2018 and that appears to be exactly what has happened. we have had from the police a couple weeks ago the highest concentrations of the novichok nerve agent found on the front door of sergei skripal‘s home and on the door handle. and we have this letter from and on the door handle. and we have this letterfrom sir mark and on the door handle. and we have this letter from sir mark sedwill what appears to be confirmation the russians had a team setup to do this, to apply nerve agent is door handles. this letter also had other interesting facts. it went on to say it seems highly likely that sergei skripal was a target for assassination by the rational parities. we had obviously suspected that because of the nature of what we are talking about. —— by the russian authorities. but since his transfer, he was a convicted spy and had been spying for british intelligence and he was swapped in

2010 and it seems that since then, the russians have been, in the words of this letter, highly likely to have targeted him for assassination, presumably because the russians judged him to have betrayed russia. the third point from this letter todayis the third point from this letter today is the fact his daughter, yulia, was targeted, e—mails targeted by russian military intelligence, the gru. that was something else we did not know and that seems to have started in 2013, three years after 22 macro ended up in britain following that spy swap. —— sergei skripal. and the russian leader himself vladimir putin was involved in this chemical weapons programme at some point during 2,000 although there is no detail of what his role was. the purpose of this letter from his role was. the purpose of this letterfrom sir mark his role was. the purpose of this letter from sir mark sedwill was to back up britain's case and provide more evidence of russian involvement, what britain sees a bit

and this letter summarises it by saying russia had the means, the motive and the record to carry out assassinations and this is the evidence for it. but russia denies this and it says the story about this and it says the story about this salisbury attack is, in their words, fake news. thank you very much. from salisbury. let's get more now on the possible military action against syria, following a suspected chemical attack in the city of douma last week. russia has warned the west it will respond to any strikes. british armed forces are stationed in akrotiri on the island of cyprus. 0ur defence correspondent, jonathan beale, is at the raf base in akrotiri. give an idea of the military assets being assembled and the possible targets. yes, you will remember this

space in cyprus, the british sovereign base, has been used for the last three years by british jets to mount attacks on so—called islamic state in both syria and iraq. they have eight tornado jets, six typhoonjets. if iraq. they have eight tornado jets, six typhoon jets. if they were to be involved in any military action against syrian regime targets, it would be a different operation because they probably want to stay clear of syrian airspace, because syria has more sophisticated air defence systems, along with the russians. so probably, if they were going to mount an attack, they would use their long—range cruise missiles called storm shadow which they can fire from hundreds of kilometres on the target. as well as those tornado jets that can carry the storm shadow, the typhoonjets have jets that can carry the storm shadow, the typhoon jets have air to air missiles to fire against any potential enemy in the air. they can't bring down other missiles. at

sea can't bring down other missiles. at sea in the mediterranean, there is an in -- air sea in the mediterranean, there is an in —— air defence destroyer, hms duncan and we believe a submarine loaded with tomahawk cruise missiles which could provide more firepower. we don't know which assets will be used but clearly, the preparations are being made. it is important to say any uk military action would be, alongside the us, in support of the us and probably alongside france. as to the targets, they will be military targets. and probably targets that the west believes are involved in what they think is syria's chemical weapons programme. i suppose one of the potential issues and difficulties if there is military action is that some of those syrian government military assets, we hear, are being moved to russian bases in syria. yes, to be honest, an element of surprise. the

attacks have already been telegraphed in the sense that we know donald trump has said he is now considering this. he has not given we don't know where in and what might happen, but you are right, we know that syrian jets and helicopters are being moved to those russian bases where there are much more significant air defence systems. that will make it more difficult to destroy those syrian assets, that is for sure, and i think the other concern in cyprus is, will there be any reprisal action from the syrians and the russians? and clearly, by having those air defence systems, and they are limited, the uk is reassuring bases like cyprus where attacks could be mounted that they will be defended. so a lot of complications. what would military action achieve, what would be the targets, will they hit the assets, the military hardware that they want to hit now that some of these assets have been

moved? thank you very much indeed, at akrotiri, in cyprus. new rules are to be introduced to limit the amount that lawyers can claim if holidaymakers say they've fallen ill on package holidays. the travel industry says the number of claims has risen in recent years, despite illness in resorts declining. jon ironmonger reports. as scams go, it's simple. take an overseas package holiday, fake an illness, and claim thousands of pounds in damages from your tour operator. it's been dubbed the new whiplash, and since the vast majority of holiday sickness claims go unchallenged, british tourists have been cashing in. travel operators say it could drive up the price of holidays, leading some, like thomas cook, to fight back. in 2016, deborah briton and paul roberts were jailed after seeking damages for £20,000 from the operator, feigning a severe

gastric illness in majorca. dozens of companies are thought to be driving the scam, touting the business in european resorts, and passing clients onto lawyers. but new rules announced today could bring the racket to a halt. legal companies and claims management companies have been able to pretty much charge whatever they like for the legal costs to travel companies for pursuing these claims. so it means that if a claim is put in, they can ramp costs up in tens of thousands of pounds to pursue a single case. what the government has announced today is that they are capping the amount that can be charged, so it makes it less lucrative for those legal companies to pursue fake claims. ministers insist they are taking on britain's claim culture, but the law society has raised doubts about the change, saying it mustn't undermine genuine cases. they used to be something you'd only see in a science—fiction film, but driverless cars are fast becoming a reality. this is despite safety concerns, following a fatal crash involving uber‘s test car last month. 0ur transport correspondent, victoria fritz, has

been to germany to test the latest developments in self—driving technology. a few years ago, this was the stuff of science fiction, but wait for self driving future is almost over. although we have an engineer here today, as you can see, he is not in the driving seat. this car is com pletely the driving seat. this car is completely driverless. it means that me, ican completely driverless. it means that me, i can sit back in the car, relax, check my e—mails and i do know driving at all. autonomous cars perceive the world through a series of sensors. can receive road markings, radar message is distance and speed. laser sensors provide the fine detail. all three are combined to create a real—time 3—d map of the surrounding area. the electronic, which you can see, and the soft...

this man is driving bmw's ambitions. the manufacturers spent over £1 billion on electronic and autonomous technology last year. we are testing most of the activities in a computer. if you are ready with a computer. if you are ready with a computer and the simulation, we are going to the streets. in china, as well as in israel or in the us. tech giants are also looking to carve off a slice of the pie, but after the fatal uber and tesla crashes last month, there are questions about whether this first race is a safe one. that two development races with autonomous cars, self driving cars. one is the way the manufacturers have been doing it, which is very incremental, step—by—step, have been doing it, which is very incremental, step— by—step, slowly, safety first. the other is the west coast us way, the silicon valley way, which is testing on public roads, with people. every major manufacturer is eager to rebrand as

transport service provider and not just of cars. here in munich, cars have been getting smarter for years. i had been making cars here since 1973 and about ten years ago, they started to add cameras and sensors to the mass—market models. the first autonomous vehicle, the prototypes, they were born here. and in 2021, they were born here. and in 2021, the first fully electric autonomous vehicles will roll of this production mine. we are edging closer to a driverless future, but the question is whether the public is prepared to take its hands off the wheel. in a moment, the business news. first, a look at the headlines on afternoon live. the attack on former russian spy sergei skripal — the uk's national security adviser says russian special forces have been trained to put nerve agent on door handles. russia claims it has "irrefutable evidence" that an alleged chlorine gas attack in syria was "staged", with the help of a foreign secret service.

the duke of edinburgh leaves hospital in london, after his hip replacement operation. these are your business headlines on afternoon live: jaguar land rover is to cut 1,000 agencyjobs at its plant in solihull. its where land rovers are made — as well as the defender, discovery and range rover models. britain's biggest carmaker has previously described the uk car market as "tough", and sales have been falling. jaguar land rover said it remains committed to uk plants. there's a new head of the london stock exchange — david schwimmer, an investment banker from goldman sachs, takes over in august. he replaces xavier rolet, who left in november, a year earlier than planned, with one of the firm's biggest shareholders claiming he was forced out. and a new boss at

the top of volkswagen. he's herbert diess. he's in charge of the whole group — remember, vw includes audi, bentley, scania, ducati skoda and porsche. he used to be head of vw branding. he takes over from matthias mueller, who has been steering vw out of the diesel emissions scandal since it broke in 2015. what's going on at jaguar land rover? why these cuts? asign of a sign of how tough, is at moment. they will be renewing 1,000 temporaryjobs at its plant, it will not be renewing 1,000 temporaryjobs at its plant in solihull. to put that in context, jlr has a workforce of 10,000 at solihull. and we have news aboutjp morgan

thatis and we have news aboutjp morgan that is reaching us. that things have got off to a very good start for the us banking giant. their net income was up $8.7 billion, more than a third on the same quarter last year. than a third on the same quarter last yea r. sales than a third on the same quarter last year. sales also what10%, at $28.5 billion. high interest rates and lower... wishes beat our north american business correspondent who is standing by. —— should speak to. what is behind the soaring global profits atjpl? what is behind the soaring global profits at jpl? you and i might hate stock market volatility, the big movements we store injanuary might have made just movements we store injanuary might have madejust a mac plunge but movements we store injanuary might have made just a mac plunge but they made money forjp morgan. the idea is when people want to sell or to buy shares, jpm takes a cut from those sales so the more people buy and sell, the more moneyjp morgan

makes. their trading revenue from stock markets alone was 26%. from the same period last year, that is one of the big drivers leading to this record—breaking profit figure we saw today. it wasn't justjp morgan, we saw earnings from two other big us banks. citigroup and wells fargo. but there is a mystery, the shares in these companies are not spiking. these companies reported better than expected profits but no significant movement in the share price and that question is why? most people know stock market volatility helps a bank, investors might have already bought into these companies assuming they would see good earning figures and the banks did not disappoint. you mentioned citi and wells fargo. have their profits gone up for the same reasons as jp morgan their profits gone up for the same reasons asjp morgan or is that other factors? wells fargo is the bad boy of the us

banking world right now as sanctioned by the us federal reserve earlier this yearfor its sanctioned by the us federal reserve earlier this year for its practices regarding lending and the us fed said the bank could not grow beyond certain side. but they reported better than expected earnings, helped along by president trump's tax reform which has helped bank earnings across the board. and many people bought wells fargo would be doing worse this first quarter than it did so that is something helping a nalysts it did so that is something helping analysts and investors feel quite good about the company, although we did see share prices dip a little in trading this morning. thanks very much indeed, from new york. let's talk more about jaguar much indeed, from new york. let's talk more aboutjaguar land rover. pretty big job cuts. and it does show how tough the car market is. they are one of britain's most successful automobile enterprises. yes, britain's biggest car—maker and

let's give you some numbers. it says it will not be renewing 1,000 temporaryjobs at its plant in solihull. to put that in context for you, jlr has a workforce of 10,000 at solihull. and in total, it has 40,000 workers in the uk. last year, the firm's global sales hit a record high. the problem is that while sales grew in china and the us, they were down in europe and even more sharply in the uk. jaguar land rover said the european and uk markets were tough. and it had already announced in january that it will cut production of some of its models. does it look like pins were keeping tough for the car industry and jaguar land rover in particular? yes, if you look at the figures. figures for uk sales between january to march this year show that jaguar sales were down 26%

compared with the same three months last year. land rover sales were down 20%. diesel registrations overall in the uk industry have plunged, let's get the thoughts of one city expert — russ mould, investment director at aj bell. what we read into this, is this down to targeting geegaw —— diesel emissions, consumer confidence, where'd you put the reasons for this? it is down to a combination. 0ne this? it is down to a combination. one third year—on—year is clearly an issue. weak uk consumer confidence issue. weak uk consumer confidence is an obvious problem. thejfk consumer confidence survey looks wea k consumer confidence survey looks weak and the big—ticket purchase indexes week so consumers are getting more careful with their money. it is notjust a uk problem. jaguar is a huge exporter, around 80% of sales go overseas and so it

would maybe benefit from the weaker pound but the pound is recovering some of the ground lost after the eu referendum and the us car market is flattening of and general motors have stopped publishing monthly car sales saying they are not relevant any more. there were happy to publish them when things went well so publish them when things went well so it be you to suspect things are not going so well and the us market is also soft. thanks very much for your insight. a quick look at the markets. picking up on the strength of the pound. that is a two month high against the dollar and at a ten month high against the euro. that puts pressure on the ftse, the multinational call it dutch companies trading dollars. so they do not get as much when they have converted it. the ftse 100 do not get as much when they have converted it. the ftse100 is in the green, but not quite keeping up with the frankfurt dax. world stock

markets generally up so far today in trading, breathing a sigh of relief after that hint from the us president that any action on syria is being put off for the moment. so investors, then nerves given a bit ofa investors, then nerves given a bit of a break. that is all the business, and will be back in an hour. thank you very much. the latest weather with simon king. almost time to see something drier and brighter that we have been promising new. for the rest of today into the evening, largely dry. clear spells developing overnight across england and wales. if precursor to what we might see on saturday. temperatures overnight down to five, 7 degrees. we start on saturday with the sunshine across england and wales. some cloud floating around, especially across scotland and northern ireland. dry for most, but some showers developing across south

wales and southern parts of england later on saturday, but the biggest difference is those temperatures. 15-17, difference is those temperatures. 15—17, perhaps 18, and we have been struggling on the north sea coast at six or 7 degrees. the weekend is warming up with sunny spells on saturday, turning breezy by sunday. showers moving towards western parts.