this is bbc news. i'm vicki young. the headlines at 11: police confirm that two people who fell criticially ill in wiltshire have been exposed to the nerve agent novichok. charlie rowley and dawn sturgess were found unconscious on saturday. the site where it's believed the two were poisoned — in the town of amesbury — is just a few miles away from the site of the russian poisoning in march. following the detailed analysis of those temples, we can confirm that the man and woman have been exposed to the nerve agent novichok, which has been identified as the same nerve agent that contaminated both julia and sergei skripal. police confirm the man arrested on suspicion of murdering 6—year—old alesha macphail is under the age of 18. alesha went missing on the isle of bute on saturday. police are continuing to question a nurse,

after arresting her on suspicion of murdering eight babies and attempting to murder another six. also this hour: the government puts forward new proposals on how it will manage fishing in british waters after brexit. ministers say that from 2020 the new plans would allow a fairer allocation of fishing opportunities. but others are warning of new barriers, to the eu market, for british fish. more than 2a million people watched england finally win a world cup penalty shoot out — making it the most—watched five minutes of television in six years. police in wiltshire have declared a major incident,

after two people were taken ill on saturday, following exposure to novichok — the type of nerve agent used in the salisbury attack four months ago. tests on the substance found in the town of amesbury, are being carried out at a government laboratory and counter—terrorism officers are involved in the investigation. amesbury is just 9 miles away from salisbury, where a former russian spy and his daughter were poisoned in march. our correspondent duncan kennedy reports. four months to the day since the salisbury incident, and another mysterious substance in wiltshire. the couple are now critically ill in hospital. this is the moment the emergency unfolded on saturday night. the bbc has been given these images of the fire and ambulance services at the property. this man says he is a friend of the couple and saw what happened. he was sweating, dribbling and he couldn't

speak and was making funny noises and was rocking back and forwards, there was no response, he didn't even know i was there. it was like he was in another world are hallucinating. about agent was identified in the same place used to identify the novichok liquid in march. tonight the metropolitan police counterterrorism unit confirmed the latest findings. following the detailed analysis of those samples, we can confirm the man and woman have been exposed to the nerve agent novichok, identified as the same urge agent —— nerve agent that contaminated both julia and sergei skripal. the latest update we have from hospital is that both patients remain in a critical condition. for the past four months, salisbury has been the scene of massive decontamination after the poisoning ofjulia and sergei skripal and a police sergeant. a

number of sites were handed back to the public at the cleanup is still going on in places with the highest concentrations. everyone had assumed that cleanup would be the end of the story so the revelation tonight there is a fresh nerve agent incident comes as a shock to many people. although public health england have stressed again today that the risk to the public remains low. will share police say five sites are being investigated in this latest novichok incident, including this church in amesbury and this park in salisbury. both of which, it is thought, the couple caught up in this latest poisoning had visited. they are being treated in the same salisbury hospital as the skripal‘s were, the couple will now receiving world —class were, the couple will now receiving world—class care to fight deadliest of su bsta nces world—class care to fight deadliest of substances and mid— and extraordinary twist in this potent sequence extraordinary twist in this potent sequence of events. duncan kennedy, bbc news, in amesbury. our home affairs

correspondent daniel sandford is at scotland yard. he sent this update a short time ago. detectives are in a position where they thought they had a contained area in march, there was a reason and a motive for attacking sergei skripal and his daughter became contaminated. the police officer investigating them came in contaminated and after that it was trying to work out who had done it. suddenly, four months on they find themselves in a situation where it doesn't appear to be contained. two new people who have been named in the media became contaminated on saturday by what appears to be the same nerve agent, so saturday by what appears to be the same nerve agent, so police cannot be certain it was from the same action and that leaves police facing two possibilities, one is that there is some other area that they didn't decontaminate that they were previously unaware of, were some kind of object or some part of the environment is still contaminated

with this nerve agent and these people became contaminated from that, all, perhaps less likely and more unnerving will it, the possibility that they has been some kind of second attack to muddy the waters around the first attack. i think detectives at the moment are concentrating on the first of those possibilities, trying to work out what kind of secondary contamination these people may have experienced and where that may have happened at some bit of discarded bit of equipment or someplace the nerve agent had been stored or something like that. but they have to keep an open mind and keep open the possibility that there has been some kind of secondary attack. some more analysis now on this case from our security correspondent — gordon correra — who told us tonight's developments are hugely significant. people will be worried about public health, but also significant for the investigation. as we heard earlier, there is a reason why these two individuals would have been

targeted. they are different from the skripal‘s tom the only hypothesis is that this is material left over perhaps from the poisoning of the skripal‘s back in march and perhaps this was some of the novichok which was put together for that attack and then maybe discarded afterwards, left somewhere, perhaps ina park afterwards, left somewhere, perhaps in a park or a house and these two individuals came across it. the police and the government won't confirm that at that seems the most likely hypothesis. if that is the case, on one level it will give them investigated leads the state didn't know how it was brought and put together before and this might provide a crucial bit of evidence, but crucially, other public health concerns to come from this because if that is the case, if those are leftovers, then four months on two people have fallen ill by something which people had no idea was there in the community in salisbury. they have stressed that there is a sign of anyone else being ill and therefore there should be great

public health concerns but you can see why people at this stage would be worried and if indeed it easily —— linked to the skripal‘s attack, then the suggestion that russia was behind it, then there are still casuals —— casualties and mounting from that attack for months on. there maybe gloves or a jacket that the person who was using the poison in the skripal case may have tried to put away somewhere that might not be easily found and so it may not have been spotted as people were looking to clean up earlier. how alarmed you think people will be or should we, in this area, given this is several miles from salisbury? they were reassured at the time that the cleanup had taken place, you have seen people on site from the

army and in special suits for weeks after that attack, how concerned should people be now that this hasn't been contained ? should people be now that this hasn't been contained? there is obviously a concern that there is some of this material that was obviously somewhere that wasn't expected. i think the chances of a lot of people being exposed to something are very small. i guess is that it something are very small. i guess is thatitis something are very small. i guess is that it is an object that these two individuals have perhaps come across in an exceptional set of circumstances, very difficult to tell at this point, very difficult to do too much speculation because of course that can end up being misleading because people to an extent are guessing right now. but it would be wreaked really important to work out where these two individuals have been, where they have picked up objects or taken objects away. one of the possibilities is that whoever smeared the material on the doorknob of the skripal's house, which appears to be how they were

poisoned, probably want to get rid of the clothing they were wearing. they might be wearing a leather jacket or something that any material would have splashed onto to protect the person who is carrying out the poisoning. that was then thrown away somewhere, somebody else might kick it up and handle it and perhaps get exposed. given the eyewitness accounts of this couple who have been taken ill, it is clear that they are extremely ill, in a critical condition, we know that novichok, obviously, it is a very dangerous substance of it but it suggests that they have been exposed to it very closely, but quite a lot of it, potentially. obviously from the sort of exposure that the skripal's themselves had. one of the problems trying to look at exposure is that certain materials, especially on the skin, can end up with a greater effective exposure because it has been on the skin for

a longer time. it may not be material they have been in contact with, but they have been in contact with, but they have been in contact with it for longer. that might make a big difference. a small amount of its —— a big difference. a small amount of its — — material exposed a big difference. a small amount of its —— material exposed for a long time can have the same effect as our larger amount for a small—time. it can be an object that they can act to their house that had left material on and perhaps they didn't wash their hands for a number of hours or had been on a part of the skin, so it had been there for quite a while. a teenage boy has been arrested tonight in connection with the murder of 6 year—old alesha macphail on the isle of bute. alesha's body was discovered in woodland on monday, just hours after she was reported missing. police say the suspect is under the age of 18. esther mcvey — has apologised to the house of commons —— the secretary of state for work and pensions —

esther mcvey — has apologised to the house of commons for ‘inadvertently misleading' mps about a highly critical report on universal credit. the national audit office said the new welfare benefit — one of the main conservative policies of recent years was causing hardship and not delivering value for money. officials said that ms mcvey‘s statements on the report had been incorrect and unrpoven. our social affairs correspondent michael buchanan has more details. universal credit is a new service that helps ensure you are better off in work than you are on benefits. it is the largest welfare reform in decades — a new benefit that will eventually be paid to nearly 7 million households. it replaces six benefits, including jobseeker's allowance... but last month, universal credit was slated by the government spending watchdog, the national audit office. they said thousands of claimants had been forced to occasionally wait months for payments, leaving some with little or no money. keen to defend the policy, esther mcvey attacked the report — an approach that today led to an extraordinary rebuke from the head of the national audit office. take this statement...

secretary of state. it is unfortunate that the nao were not able to take into account the significant changes recently implemented in universal credit. an odd remark, said sir amyas morse in an open letter, as her own officials had agreed the report's contents and, we have seen no evidence of such impacts nor fresh information. and this claim, that the report urged ministers to speed up the roll—out of universal credit. in the report it says just that, it says it needs to continue to go forward and it needs to continue at a faster rate. that is not correct, say the nao. mr speaker... to loud cheers of "resign", a chastened esther mcvey came to parliament to say sorry. i want to apologise to you and the house for inadvertently misleading you. what i meant to say was that the nao had said that there was no practical alternative to continuing with universal credit. despite that apology, labour are not satisfied.

if she didn't do it on purpose the question remains, how could she be so incompetent as to not understand what the report was saying? i think that's a very serious question around herjudgement and her competency levels. esther mcvey‘s errors were born of a desire to put a positive spin on a hugely negative report. put simply, universal credit is not working as it should. the use of food banks, for instance, has increased more rapidly after the benefit is introduced to an area. a welfare reform creating for some the very problems the welfare state was designed to abolish. michael buchanan, bbc news. the bbc has been told that official brexit campaign — vote leave — is expected to be found guilty of four charges of breaking electoral law. the draft of an investigation into vote leave concludes that it broke spending limits and failed to comply with some of the rules. it is expected to impose fines as a result of its findings. the headlines on bbc news:

police confirm that two people who fell criticially ill in wiltshire have been exposed to the nerve agent novichok. charlie rowley and dawn sturgess were found unconscious on saturday. police confirm the man arrested on suspicion of murdering six—year—old alesha macphail is under the age of 18. alesha went missing on the isle of bute on saturday. police are continuing to question a nurse, after arresting her on suspicion of murdering eight babies and attempting to murder another six. a nurse is being held on suspicion of the murder of eight babies and the attempted murder of another six at a hospital in chester.

28—year—old lucy letby was arrested yesterday by police investigating infant deaths at the countess of chester hospital. police have also extended their investigation to a second hospital, liverpool women's nhs foundation trust. our correspondent, judith moritz, reports. lucy letby once said she enjoyed nursing babies, as she could see them progress and support their families. now she's suspected of murdering eight infants and trying to kill another six. today, police searches have continued at the nurse's home. forensic officers searching the house and taking items forensic officers, searching the house and taking items away for examination. detectives are still questioning the 28—year—old about the alleged murders and attempted murders. police say that their investigation is focusing on what happened to 32 babies at the countess of chester hospital between march 2015 and july 2016. the babies were all on the neonatal units, which cares for poorly and premature infants. managers here called in the police because they couldn't explain

the unusual number of fatalities and babies who came close to death on the unit. now the murder investigation has widened beyond this hospital. during her training, lucy letby went on placement to liverpool women's hospital. today, the hospital confirmed that it is helping the police. they're reviewing what happened to babies on their neonatal unit during the nurse's time there, saying there is currently no suggestion that any came to harm. since lucy letby was arrested, the police have also been at the home of her parents in hereford. tonight, the children's nurse is still under investigation, being asked to explain what happened to the babies in her care. judith moritz, bbc news, chester. efforts are continuing in northern thailand to work out the best way to rescue the 12 boys and their football coach who've been trapped in flooded caves for 11 days. they're being given food, and the authorities are trying to put in phone lines so that the boys can speak to theirfamilies.

but they say no attempt to rescue them will be made until it can be done safely, and that could take months. our south—east asia correspondent, jonathan head, reports from the scene in chiang rai province. no longer alone. the trapped boys now have an army doctor treating them. they even manage a smile. they're being given foil blankets to keep them warm. they are painfully thin. "the food is coming", promises one of the divers. up on the surface, they've been rehearsing for the scenario everyone here is hoping for, getting the boys out and off to hospital. but it won't happen soon. translation: we need to be 100% confident in order to get the boys out, and they don't have to come out at the same time. we are assessing the situation,

and if there is a risk, we will not move them out. the options confronting this rescue operation are just as tough as when they found the boys. they are healthy enough, but they say giving them some basic diving training and pulling them through the flooded tunnels one by one is feasible, and yet we've spoken to sources inside the thai diving team who say that's still too risky, that they may still have to leave those boys down there for the full four to five months of the rainy season. we visited the class of dom, the football team captain, and mick, both trapped in the caves. did they have a message for their classmates? translation: i want them to get healthy, to be patient, and to come back safely so they can be with us again. come back quickly, there's lots of homework waiting for you! singing.

other school friends have been down to the cave entrance to see the rescue effort and to sing them good wishes. spirits are high here. but the task of the divers, either in extracting the boys or sustaining them underground, is formidable. they will need all the help they can get. jonathan head, bbc news, tham luang caves, northern thailand. the environment secretary, michael gove, has said the government's plans for the fishing industry after brexit will bring huge benefits to coastal communities. ministers say they're setting out plans to "take back control" of britain's waters in 2020, but the scottish government has said it has "significant concerns" about the proposals. our scotland editor, sarah smith, reports from peterhead in aberdeenshire. british boats are currently allowed to catch only 40%

of the fish in uk waters. under eu rules the fishermen think are deeply unfair, and the government when we leave the european union, we'll have control of our territorial waters, and that means we can reverse what's happened in the past. in the past, we've had a situation where more than half of the fish that's caught in our own waters is caught by foreign boats. now we can say that we'll decide who catches that fish. now, of course, we'll negotiate with other countries, but we'll negotiate with our control in our hands. after brexit, the government say we will control the catch in all uk coastal waters, extending up to 200 miles out to sea. british fishermen recognise that eu boats will still be able to negotiate some access to these waters, but they say they hope the uk will double their share. we need access to fish. if we can't get access to fish, well, the bigger picture is the business suffers. no access to fish, you've not got an income.

are you confident the government will fight for the british fishing industry? i hope they do, i hope they do! there is, of course, always a catch. most of the fish that's landed here is sold into the eu, so we'll still need smooth and easy access to their markets. that, say the government, is a totally separate issue, unrelated to allowing eu boats to fish in uk waters. but the eu do not see it that way, and market access is a battle still to be fought. any barriers to free trade could be devastating for parts of the industry, like creel fishing for seafood. with all our stuff they catch solely going to the continent, or 90% of it going to the continent. if tariffs get involved, the tariffs mean a hold up, and they can't have lorries sitting waiting at ports with fresh produce on them. a lot of the time, the prawns are live,

they've only got a matter of hours. there's a timescale in getting them to the market live, that will be lost. fishing is only a tiny part of the uk economy, but it's politically important. regaining fishing rights will be a highly symbolic example of taking back control. the government's made its position clear today. the eventual outcome, of course, will be subject to negotiation. sarah smith, bbc news, peterhead. heavy fighting has continued in southern syria as government forces push on in their attempt to recapture deira province, one of the last rebel strongholds. the un says at least 270,000 people, a third of the population, have fled their homes since the assault began two weeks ago. many of those displaced have headed towards jordan and the israeli—occupied golan heights, but the border crossings remain closed. in deira have failed, with the last set of talks collapsing earlier today. 0ur middle east editorjeremy bowen reports from damascus. here in damascus, the atmosphere has

felt very different, much more peaceful, ever since syrian forces, with the help of the russians, eliminated the last rebel enclaves around the city back in the spring. now they are on the march again, down in the south of the country, and they seem to be heading for another decisive victory. these are stirring times for supporters of president assad. the offensive is hard for us to report, as the authorities here haven't allowed the bbc to travel to the south. the main objective is the city of daraa. it's strategically important, on the border with jordan, and it's a vital symbol because it's the place where demonstrations

against president assad started in 2011. the syrian army is making steady progress with overwhelming firepower and russian help. some rebel groups posting pictures of the fight say they won't surrender. the americans, who armed and trained some of them, have told them not to expect any help. 0ther armed groups are negotiating surrender deals brokered by the russians. civilians have been killed. this is believed to be the aftermath of an air strike on the village of musayfrah last week. local reports say 22 people, including 12 children, died. the living were alongside the dead as they rushed them to hospital. reports say hospitals have also been bombed. funerals are being held quickly and unceremoniously. since these bodies were buried this area has been captured. huge numbers of people have been displaced by the offensive. the un and other humanitarian groups have issued grave warnings about their safety. jordan is allowing aid through its border, but with more than a million syrian refugees already, it won't let the new arrivals in. refugees have gathered

near the battlefield's other border with the golan heights, syrian territory occupied by israel. the israelis have sent in aid, but their borders are closed too. the syrian army held a victory rally in a captured town. it won't be the last. regional powers and the americans seem to have accepted that the syrian army and the russians will win the battle of the south. the war isn't over. but president assad is firmly in power in this country, and, one by one, he's destroying his enemies. jeremy bowen, bbc news, damascus. now it's time for a look at the weather.

back we had showers at wimbledon. the risk is there tomorrow afternoon as well. 0ther the risk is there tomorrow afternoon as well. other places, by then dry. this was sent in from hampton court. we had showers on the radar earlier. is showers are from the m4 corridot to london. dry overnight. most of the low cloud out into the sea. a gentle westerly. a bit of cloud in north—west scotland. a weak weather

front. no rain. it brings airfrom a different region. fresh air behind the weather front. england and wales, continental hit building quickly in the sunshine. weather should improve in scotland, likely to be dry. further south, one or two showers in wales towards the south—east, perhaps east anglia. heavy and thundery. not many of them. most places, dry. scotland and northern ireland, significantly lower temperatures than england. 29 in england and wales in one or two areas. friday, more sunshine, low to know rain. temperatures are around

the low 20s for scotland and northern ireland. the heat will build in the north. a weatherfront wea k build in the north. a weatherfront weak in the north—west. dry. hot sunshine. strong sunshine. light winds. not far away from 30 degrees. hello this is bbc news. the headlines: police confirm that two people who fell criticially ill in wiltshire have been exposed to the nerve agent novichok. charlie rowley and dawn sturgess were found unconscious on saturday.