this is bbc news. i'm rebecca jones. the headlines at 11pm: theresa may apologies to caribbean leaders for the anxiety caused to the windrush migrants facing the threat of deportation from britain. i want to apologise to you today because we are genuinely sorry for any anxiety that has been caused. in salisbury, the big clean—up operation after the chemical attack could take months and cost millions of pounds. thousands of supporters of the syrian government have been out in force to mark syria's national day. we report from aleppo. and on newsnight, we revisit the topic of knife crime. if you want to see one thing to hope you understand the culture that underpins it, you're one to watch the film by our reporter, katy rose all. good evening and

welcome to bbc news. officials are investigating dozens of new migration cases relating to the windrush generation amid mounting criticism of the government. the home office said it was looking at 49 cases as a result of calls over the course of tuesday. earlier, the prime minister theresa may apologised over the deportation threats to children of commonwealth citizens. our correspondent adina campbell has more. that was the first day that he started school... paulette wilson, another descendant of the windrush generation who arrived into the uk as a child from jamaica. despite living here for more than 50 years, she was held in a detention centre for not having the right paperwork. when i saw the "illegal" paper, ijust didn't understand it,

and i kept it away from my daughter for about two weeks. i was just walking around in a daze, thinking, "why am i illegal?" it's just upsetting to think that an ordinary person like me could go through something like that. i'm still going through hell at the moment. archive: in jamaica they couldn't find work, but full of hope they sailed for britain... the treatment of long—term immigrants from commonwealth countries now living in the uk has become the focus of international political debate. it has become the focus of international political debate. jamaica's prime minister, andrew holness, today met theresa may to discuss the welfare of those affected. he reacted to the controversy in a speech to the commonwealth heads of government meeting in london. prime minister, we welcome your response, and we look forward to a speedy implementation of your proposed solution. applause then there was a more intimate discussion at number ten with commonwealth leaders, and inside, hoping to make amends, theresa may apologised.

i take this issue very seriously, the home secretary apologised to the house of commons yesterday for any anxiety caused, and i want to apologise to you today. after the meeting, some of those who attended said the british government was slow to act. it is regrettable that the circumstance which we now find ourselves was allowed to get to this far, but nonetheless we want to have a better future. so how did we get to this point? the mv empire windrush arrived in the uk in 1948 with 492 windrush arrived in the uk in 1948 with a92 people on windrush arrived in the uk in i9a8 with a92 people on board. over half a million people from the caribbean we re a million people from the caribbean were invited by the british government to help build the post—war economy. changes to immigration rolls in 1971 meant that

those settled in the uk were granted indefinite right to remain, but thought up to 50,000 commonwealth born people may not have registered to prove their right to stay in the uk. the 1999 immigration act safeguarded the windrush generation against the forced removal. but in 201a, these assurances were removed under theresa may as home secretary. the home office says it's looking at nearly 50 cases relating to windrush migrants asa nearly 50 cases relating to windrush migrants as a result of calls received today, and has admitted it destroyed landing cards back in 2010 belonging to this group. but insisted they were not seen as reliable evidence in immigration cases. with all eyes now on how the home office handles these cases going forward, jamaica's prime minister says he is poised to work with the british government. minister says he is poised to work with the british governmentm minister says he is poised to work with the british government. it is a concerning matter but we take note that the government has given a commitment, and we stand ready as

caribbean leaders to ensure that the commitment is kept. mrs night came to the uk as a baby in 1960 along with his parents from antigua and saint kitts —— this man. he spent all of his life living, working and raising his family in leicester but was not allowed to renew his british passports in 2011 after it expired after having been told by the home office he was not a british national. watching theresa may's apology, he's trying to stay positive. i think it's a genuine apology, you've just got to take her word, ijust hope the genuineness will be seen in the action of what happens after from now on. whether apologies are enough to draw a line under this ongoing issue caribbean leaders said they will continue to fight for the rights of all those affected. adina campbell, bbc news. more details have been released about the poison attack

on the former russian agent sergei skripal and his daughter yulia which took place in salisbury last month. the substance was delivered in a liquid form and a very small amount was used. our correspondent duncan kennedy reports. the police have already said the biggest concentrations of the novichok nerve agent were found on sergei skripal‘s front door. but until now, we didn't know what form the agent took. but now officials have confirmed it was a liquid, not in the form of a gas or vapour. they also say that it was transferred directly from person to person or item to item. the officials also confirmed that the novichok hasn't disappeared, as it doesn't evaporate. but they stress the concentrations are small and the risk to the public is low. but it will now mean a huge clean—up involving 190 military personel. recovery is really about looking at the sites where there could have possibly been contamination and then

testing those sites, cleaning, testing, cleaning, and repeating that loop until such time as there is no contaminant detected. at that time, we know a site is clean. painstaking work being done by the people who know how to do this. officials say a total of nine sites will need decontaminating across salisbury. as well as mr skripal‘s house in the suburbs, there's the bar that he and his daughter yulia visited, and the zizzi restaurant they went to after, before ending up on a nearby bench, where they were both found collapsed. officials say the clean—up will take several months, which is the last thing nico alesi wanted to hear. he's run this pizza shop in the city centre for five years. we are at least 60% down on where we were before that. basically we're struggling. sergei and yulia skripal continue to recover.

sergei in hospital, yulia at a secret location. it's more than six weeks since they were victims of the nerve agent, and like them, the city where they were attacked has many more months of recovery ahead. duncan kennedy, bbc news, in salisbury. syrian state media are claiming that united nations chemical weapons inspectors have entered the town of douma in syria, the scene of a suspected attack ten days ago. western powers believe president assad's forces were behind the attack which led to the missile strikes by britain, france and the us. our chief international correspondent lyse doucet sent this report from aleppo. aleppo's ancient ramparts now a monument to president assad's staying power. once in rebel hands, once the scene of the war‘s worst fighting, which divided the city and cost so many lives. now, for the government, a site of celebration, chosen notjust to mark syria's independence,

but to show the world the war is going its way. i could not stand here, you could not stand here, we would have been sniped or beheaded. and this is look, look, it became, you know, normal again. tonight, inside this fortress, soldiers strike up national anthem to a crowd of syrian elite and invited guests, some from abroad. entertained by songs and dance of a syria gone by. a syria from before the war. stirring old emotions and defiance too. translation: it's a big celebration for aleppo and all syria. we are very happy and celebrating this day. you can see the people around here, we are the winners. god protect the president. translation: we are celebrating two

things, our independence and surviving the air strikes, through the leadership of bashar al—assad. tonight, government supporters rally around theirflag, their president. in a city where so many have lost so much, and for those forced to flee, even the city they once called home. lyse doucet there in aleppo. the high court has heard that south yorkshire police knew about the bbc‘s plans to broadcast footage of the search of sir cliff richard's home in 201a one month before it took place. the singer claims that images of the raid, carried out following an allegation of sexual assault, were a very serious invasion of his privacy and he's suing the bbc. the corporation disputes his claims. sir cliff richard was never arrested or charged, as our special correspondent, lucy manning, reports. sir cliff richard arrived at court to hear more details about how a bbc

helicopter came to film and broadcast pictures of the police searching his flat in 201a. the bbc and south yorkshire police disagree about how close their relationship was. the force's head of communications, carrie goodwin, admitted in court she had known nearly a month before the search the bbc was going to film officers going in to carry out the raid, and broadcast it as soon as it could. we understand there are eight officers here, they're from south yorkshire police... danjohnson was the bbc reporter who south yorkshire told the date and time of the search, the police claims under pressure. he was in court as the force was accused of telling him more, helping the bbc film police arriving when a press officer texted mrjohnson their location details. ms goodwin admitted she had seen this bbc report on the one o'clock news and no—one at south yorkshire police had

contacted the bbc to object to the helicopter pictures. later that afternoon, she texted mrjohnson: the bbc‘s barrister, gavin miller, put it to carrie goodwin: "south yorkshire police were quite happy to use danjohnson and the bbc "to get coverage of a high—profile child sexual abuse case. " "that couldn't be further from the truth," she said, "no." mr miller continued. "that's why south yorkshire police went out of its way to enable the bbc to report." "i completely disagree," she said. there was also written evidence today from gloria hunniford, who was in court last week. a close friend of sir cliff richard's, she said when she watched the bbc‘s report of the search, it was beyond belief. she'd never seen anything like it before on british television.

she said the singer was broken, violated and betrayed, and lost so much weight he felt like skin and bones. lucy manning, bbc news. starbucks has said it will close all 8,000 of its us branches for one day next month for staff training on preventing racial discrimination. it comes after a video emerged of two black men being arrested last week in one of its cafes in philadelphia sparking outrage. they'd refused to leave after being told they couldn't use the toilet. a type of plankton described as part of the beating heart of the oceans has been named after the bbc‘s blue planet series. scientists at university college london bestowed the honour on sir david attenborough and the documentary team. it's believed to be the first time a species has been named after a television programme. now on bbc news it's time for newsnight with evan davies,

with a warning that one of tonight's reports contains strong language and violence that some might find distressing. this was 201a. this was 2014. what this does is make it harder for people this was 2014. what this does is make it harderfor people here illegally to be able to carry on living in the uk so access to the things that people have an things on day to day basis like driving licences and bank accounts. and this is now. i take this issue very seriously, the home secretary apologised to the house of commons yesterday for any anxiety caused and i want to apologise to you today, because we are genuinely sorry for any anxiety that's been caused. it's not the first time a minister tried to respond to public concern on something without thinking through the full run of occasions of their policy. but this is a case with

painful consequences. it's hard. the whole family. when you try this explain to the family, they couldn't believe it. understanding knife crime. if you want to see one thing to help you do that, you want to watch this film. first, a must see when used. seeing that at such a young age, i don't want to say sheet, it may be realising that it is quite horrible that it can happen to quicken the finger. we reflect on why gangs can appeal to some people.