welcome to bbc news, broadcasting to viewers in north america and around the globe. my name is mike embley. our top stories: the uk's counter—terrorism investigation intensifies as a couple come into contact with the nerve agent, novichok. the site is just a few miles away from the location of the russian poisoning in march. we can confirm the man and woman have been exposed to the nerve agent novichok which has been identified as the same nerve agent that affected yuliya and sergei skripal. training for escape in thailand. the boys trapped in a flooded cave get advice from the military on a possible plan to get them out safely. we report from syria on the plight of people in one of the last rebel strongholds under fire from government forces. in the last few hours, british police have confirmed that

two people who've fallen critically ill have been poisoned with a novichok nerve agent. the couple were discovered in the town of amesbury in south west england. the town is a few kilometres from where the former russian spy, sergei skripal and his daughter, yulia, were poisoned in march. police say the substance had been identified by chemical weapons research experts. duncan kennedy reports. four months to the day after the salisbury attack, and dawn sturgess and charlie rowley have become the new victims of nerve agent poisoning in britain. the couple were taken ill from their home on saturday are now critically ill in hospital. this is the moment the emergency unfolded on saturday night. the bbc has been given these phone 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, hallucinating. the nerve agent was identified in porton down near amesbury 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, which has been identified as the same 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 a scene of massive decontamination, after the poisoning of sergei and julia skripal and a police sergeant. a number of sites were handed back to the public, but the cleanup is still going on in the places with the highest concentrations. everyone had assumed that cleanup would be the end of the contamination story, so the revelation tonight there is a fresh nerve agent incident will come as a shock

to many people. although public health england have stressed again today that the risk to the public remains low. wiltshere 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 skripals were, dawn sturgess and charlie rowley now receiving world—class care to fight this deadliest of substances amid an extraordinary twist in this potent sequence of events. duncan kennedy, bbc news, in amesbury. bruce bennett is a senior defence analyst for rand corporation.

he joins us now from los angeles. thank you for your time. what do you make of this? it seems to be a case where it may have been worth of planted the agent in the first place could have planted it in more places than discovered. the nature of this agent is that it is difficult to discover if. it does not create vapour like other agents. it is persistent and sticks around potentially for four months. this is speculation. rather than a second attack on what seems to be ordinary members of the public, it seems they came into contact with an object or key area contaminated. it is the same thing that affected the

skripals. we do not know. it is a possibility. this material could be so possibility. this material could be so toxic even a ten millimetre drop could potentially kill. what would be the priority. to establish how they came to contact with it and if anyone else did? that is the priority, trying to determine where the contact occurred and whether or not there are follow once to those who did it in the first place. —— follow—ons. it could have been targeted on someone else but these people ran into it. how difficult is the follow—up going to be? people ran into it. how difficult is the follow-up going to be? very difficult. think about the way you typically attempt this. you have a piece of paper sensitive to the agent. you rub it over the top of the agent to detect it. people are

going to be looking all over the place trying to see where this is, rubbing it on all kinds of services. that can take a very long time, we do not really know. thank you. thank you. 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 bbc‘s sophie long

is in tham luang outside the cave entrance and she joins us now. all of these options are very tough. how was looking? as you heard, we are at this makeshift camp. we are not closer to knowing how they will get them out a huge amount of activity behind me. vehicles up and down this hill. this is a round operation. they are bringing water out of the caves. they are pumping it around the clock to reduce the levels of water. the safest way is to get them to come out the way they

came in. that is almost impossible at the moment. we are expecting rain this afternoon and a big one at the end of the week. they mean monsoonal rain. that will mean flash flooding which caused the issue in the first place. they have now spent a 12th night in the cave. it is cold and dark and they have medics with them 110w. dark and they have medics with them now. what they are trying to do is establish communications into the caves so establish communications into the caves so the boys can speak to their pa rents to caves so the boys can speak to their parents to amazingly emotional. they spend nine days not knowing if they would be alive. we still do not know how they will get them out. they are trying to keep the boys healthy, physically and mentally, so if the opportunity arises they will be perfectly capable of taking that opportunity. it is hoped if a communications line can be installed we will be able to have the families

speak to each other. the fact they are football team, they are used to being together. they have a coach with them. this is all good. but clearly, we a re with them. this is all good. but clearly, we are expecting a press briefing in the next hour also to see if they are closer to making a decision to see how long it will take. we may get details on that later this morning. it is a real possibility they may simply have to stay down there and try and wait out the monsoon season stay down there and try and wait out the monsoon season and hope they survive. yeah, that is the initial warnings we had. they could be up to four months inside because the monsoonjust began. four months inside because the monsoon just began. even that waiting game is not without dangers. the monsoon season is unpredictable. there could be implications for the air pocket they are in, that little shelf. some people say that maybe

the safest way to go about this, keep them well and healthy and continue communication lines, but even that option is not without danger. the other thing is drilling into the cave they are in through another cavern. but that is not that simple. they would need to drag heavy equipment up the hill and new roads would need to be instructed. they are in a rock construction. it is very thick. they could teach the children to dive, but many of the boys cannot swim. they have no diving experience. the experts say that the dive would be very difficult and complicated. it it is very narrow. some are

difficult and complicated. it it is very narrow. some are even as narrow they cannot get oxygen tanks in. think about the young boys. they have no diving experience and have beenin have no diving experience and have been in there a long time. it is thick clay mud. there is still the issue with the air pocket. for them to panic would be bad. notjust for them, but the people trying to rescue them. thank you very much. more from you after the press conference in the next few hours. many thanks. stay with us on bbc world news. still to come. from roof top to shop floor. how one supermarket in belgium is taking care of supply and demand by growing its own fruit and vegetables. china marked its first day of rule in hong kong with a series of spectacular celebrations. a huge firework display was held in the former colony. the chinese president, jiang zemin, said unification was the start

of a new era for hong kong. the world's first clone has been produced of an adult mammal. scientists in scotland have produced a sheep called dolly, that was cloned in a laboratory using a cell from another sheep. for the first time in 20 years, russian and american spacecraft have docked in orbit, at the start of a new era of cooperation in space. challenger powered past the bishop rock lighthouse at almost 50 knots, shattering the record that had stood for 34 years. and there was no hiding the sheer elation of richard branson and his crew. this is bbc world news.

one main headline: british police say two people who've fallen critically ill were exposed to the same type of nerve agent used in the attempted murder of a former russian spy and his daughter. the fact that the british couple who are critically ill were exposed to novichok, the same nerve agent used in the poisoning of the former russian spy, sergei skripal, was revealed at a late night press conference by the metropolitan police. this is what the police had to say. we can confirm the man and woman have been exposed to the nerve agent novichok which has been identified as the same nerve agent that contaminated the sergei and yuliya skripal. the latest update from the hospital is both patients remain in critical condition, both are british nationals and locals to the area. officers are still working to identify their next of kin. at this stage, and this is important, at this stage, no one else has presented with the same symptoms linked to this incident. priority for the investigation team now is to establish how these two people have come into contact with this nerve agent. i have people working on this alongside colleagues. the bbc‘s daniel sandford

was at scotland yard for that press conference, here's his analysis. detectives in scotland yard suddenly find themselves in a very uncomfortable position, they had this extraordinarily unusual attack back in march. in which sergey skripal was attacked, his daughter too. he was a former russian intelligence officer who turned to the british. his daughter may have been attacked by accident or part of the attack. the policeman who investigated that became contaminated. it was reasonably contained.

four months later and two ordinary members of the public with no obvious motive for them to be attacked have suddenly gotten ill from being contaminated with what is the same nerve agent but not necessarily the same batch of that nerve agent. detectives now have to work out whether there is an area of contamination they were not aware of. perhaps a parkland or a bench or some object — a glove, some of the equipment, and they may have to find it. perhaps less likely but more unnervingly, some kind of second attack, this time not on somebody with a motive, but on two ordinary members of the public. so it is a very significant element in this investigation. it is making detectives feel quite uncomfortable this evening. heavy fighting has continued in southern syria, as government

forces try to recapture dera'a 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 the displaced have gone towardsjordan and the israeli—occupied golan heights, but the border crossings remain closed. our middle east editorjeremy bowen reports from the region. 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. other 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 to a concept that's turning food production upside down. one supermarket in belgium is sourcing some of its supplies from its own roof. andy beatt reports. for the freshest, most local produce, to disguise. this brussels supermarket liberally going green with its own rooftop garden. the urban farm is producing a range of fruits and vegetables without use of pesticides, while cutting distribution cost to zero. the

products are distribution cost to zero. the products a re harvested distribution cost to zero. the products are harvested in the morning at 8am and an hour later they are in the store. clients appreciate the freshness of the product, they even tell us that they can keep the products for longer in their fridge, can keep the products for longer in theirfridge, so it is a very can keep the products for longer in their fridge, so it is a very short chain. the farm uses stilted rainwater, solar panels and heat recirculated from the store's cooling systems, to produce the most sustainable produce possible. we are very conscious about the foods that we buy, fruit and vegetables and we wonder where it comes from. for people who want to buy local, more local than this, it is impossible. for these people it will be good. but high—rise horticulture wrings its own challenges. team of gardeners has had to work within tight weight restrictions, while biodiversity on rooftops isn't the same as in the field. translation:

there is a danger we could get overwhelmed by pests or diseases as we cannot rely on the surrounding nature to help but we have tried to create an island of nature to do permit culture, but in a completely urban way. if the project really gets off the ground, the supermarket chain says are the stores could soon see their own rooftop revolution. the french president, emmanuel macron, says the european union's plans to set up centres in north africa to process asylum claims won't work unless the countries there lead the initiative. on a visit to nigeria, mr macron said solutions had to come from the continent. it can fly, if some african governments decide to organise it. has any african countries agreed?” am in the same situation. it is

a lwa ys am in the same situation. it is always very easy to decide for others at. at the european table we should decide for ourselves first. on his visit, emmanuel macron took in some cultural delights too. whilst at the africa shrine, he was introduced to a very talented young artist. 11—year—old kareem waris olamilekan attended the special event in lagos where he drew a portrait of the world leader injust two hours. kareem say‘s he's inspired by artists such as michelangelo and fellow nigerian portrait painter, arinze stanley egbengwu. we went to meet him. i draw castle, comics. i get my inspiration from something going on at home, especially my family. arinze stanley egbengwu,

michelangelo. that is myself among great artists. my best work is this because of the title. my family, work hard to meet. —— work hard to me. —— work hard for me. just 11 years old! more news on the bbc website. and you can get in touch with me and most of the team on twitter. i'm @bbcmikeembley. that is it for now, they give very much for watching. come again. —— ain't you very much for watching. —— thank you very much for watching. hello there.

29 degrees celsius was the high yesterday. that was in northern ireland. there will be a dramatic dip in the temperature here during the day ahead. we had and will have a dramatic drop in temperature for parts of scotland. you can see we had a few shower clouds yesterday. we had a few light showers across the southern half of the country. a smattering of rain for some of the gardens. we will see perhaps a little bit more during the day ahead. the change in scotland and northern ireland was brought about by this band of cloud. the odd spot of drizzle. the noticeable change is a dip in temperature. for many of us, temperatures are higher than wednesday morning. a bit more comfortable for sleeping, i'm sure. this weather system is not bringing much weather. just a line of cloud. most of the rain is further north. but it is bringing the fresher atlantic air in.

you can see the delineation between the hot air and that is the atlantic influence. that is why temperatures in scotland and northern ireland could be 10 degrees lower than those yesterday. there should not be as much weather on that system. more cloud as it goes gradually east through the day. things will brighten up. cloud is building for the south to be a few showers in the pennines. more likely in the southern half of the uk, parts of wales in southern and central england. they could well be heavier than yesterday. thunder, given the heat building. it looks like the heat will be higher on the temperatures by a degree or two for the bulk of england and wales to be a contrast after the 29, only 18 or 19 during the day ahead. there will be a refreshing sea breeze around the coast. thursday and friday. the change in the wind on thursday today should see the low cloud shift away from the east coast more quickly. early—morning mist will burn away. then it's a lovely day. the odd shower in the east.

temperatures are gradually starting to recover across scotland and northern ireland as we lose the atlantic influence, building the heat by the day and therefore by night. it will be uncomfortably hot. many of us once again with temperatures in central and southern areas getting towards 30 degrees. high pressure ensures lots of dry weather through the weekend. the fly in the ointment is more cloud at times, producing patchy rain on these weak weather fronts towards the north and west. temperatures recovering and hot further south. refreshing sea breezes around the coast. still strong sunshine. looks as though fine weather will last into the early part of next week. this is bbc world news. the headlines: british police say two people, who've fallen critically ill, were exposed to novichok, the same type of nerve agent used in the attempted murder of a former russian spy and his daughter. offciers say there was no evidence that the couple had

—— officers say there was no evidence that the couple had been deliberately targeted. in thailand, attempts to rescue a group of teenage boys and their coach continue. 10,000 litres of water an hour are being pumped out of the flooded cave complex where they are trapped. above ground, medical teams have been rehearsing their role in the rescue effort. heavy fighting has continued in southern syria, as government forces push on in their attempt to recapture daraa 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. it is just it isjust gone it is just gone to 30 a.m. it isjust gone to 30 a.m. in the morning.