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 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. 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. 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. 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. a short time ago i got

the latest from the bbc‘s sophie long who is in tham luang outside the cave entrance. huge euphoria when we found the boys but we do send to be any closer as to how we will get them out. there isa to how we will get them out. there is a huge amount of activity at here, military vehicles coming up and down this steep hill. throughout the night, what they are trying to do is bring down the water level. those pumps are pumping out 10,000 litres per hour, going around the clock. they are hoping to reduce the water levels, the safest way would be for the boys to come out the way they came in but that looks impossible at the moment. the weather conditions are good but that is likely to change it. we are expecting rain this afternoon and big rain at the end of the week, by that they mean monsoon rain this topic it will create that flash

flooding conditions that caused this problem in the first place. the boys have now spent their 12th night inside the cave, it is cold and dark and they have got medics with them, they are not alone. the one thing they are not alone. the one thing they are not alone. the one thing they are trying to do is establish communications lines into the case so communications lines into the case so the boys can speak to their pa rents, so the boys can speak to their parents, and amazingly emotional time for them, spending nine days not knowing if they were alive. huge euphoria on monday but still we don't know how they will get them out. what they are traded at the is keep those boys healthy physically and mentally so if an opportunity arises they will be physically capable of taking that opportunity. there is hope it a communications line can be installed, they will be able to speak to their families and that will be a huge boost to their morale. there are factors on their side, they are a team and are used to being together and have their coach with them that they are going through this together. 50 coach with them that they are going through this together. so there is a

real possibility that they might have to stay down there and wait out the monsoon season have to stay down there and wait out the monsoon season and hope that they survive and the airport that they survive and the airport that they are in survives. —— air pocket. that was the first reports that we had, that they could be careful four months. even that we can gain is not without its dangers. the monsoon season without its dangers. the monsoon seasonis without its dangers. the monsoon season is very unpredictable and a large amount of water that comes in there could be implications or that pocket on the shelf they are on. some people think that might be the safest way to go about this, keeping them well and healthy and have communications lines in there and wait it out, even that option is not without its dangers. another thing they are looking at is potentially drilling into the cave that they are in through another cabin. in order to get the heavy drilling equipment, they would need to do that up the hill and build new roads, basically. even then we don't know if that

option would work. very rock in this cave complex that they find themselves in. it could be a waiting game, another option we have heard about is that they might teach these kids died. many of these boys cannot swim, certainly they have no diving experience and even the diving experts who found them on monday described this as a gnarly died. there are very narrow passageways that you cannot to people through at the same time and some even narrow enough that it would be difficult to getan enough that it would be difficult to get an oxygen tank through there. if you think about the boys, they have beenin you think about the boys, they have been in there for a long time and don't have any diving experience, their visibility is all, notjust water, it is a thick clay mud, even if they let the way with glow sticks and had a full face mask, there is a problem with that because any panic would be bad, notjust for them but also that people attempting to rescue them. and a press conference is underway in chiang rai —

the governor and military are speaking. we'll bring you the latest as soon as we get it. let's get some of the day's other news. there have been clashes between palestinian protesters and israeli police in the occupied west bank over the planned demolition of a bedouin village. israel's supreme court has approved proposals to evict more than 170 palestinian bedouins. officials describe their homes as illegal. police in new york have removed a woman who climbed onto the base of the statue of liberty in an apparent protest against president trump's immigration policy. the area around the statue was evacuated. earlier, a group climbed the pedestal and unfurled a banner reading "abolish ice" — a reference to a us immigration enforcement agency. new zealand's court of appeal has ruled that the internet entrepreneur, kim dotcom, can be extradited to the united states. the founder of the file—sharing website, megaupload, faces criminal charges of breaching copyright laws and racketeering. kim dotcom's lawyer said that his client would appeal

to new zealand's supreme court. 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. the latest headlines: 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.

the bbc‘s daniel sandford was at scotland yard. 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 development in this investigation. it is making detectives feel quite uncomfortable this evening. so, what do we know about this toxic nerve agent, and what risk it poses to those who come in contact with it? i've been speaking to bruce bennett, a senior defence analyst for rand corporation, about the nature of novichok. they may have planned to do in areas

it has not been discovered so be it is difficult to discover. it creates no vapour is difficult to discover. it creates no vapour like other agents. it is persistent and sticks around for potentially months. possibly, it is this is speculation, rather than a second attack on what seems to be too ordinary members of the public, it seems they perhaps came into contact with an area of contamination or an object that was contaminated when the skripals were poisoned but not identified. we do not know, but that is a stability. this material is so toxic that even a 10th of a drop could potentially kill someone. what would be the

priority now, establish how they came into contact with it and whether anyone else is at risk? exactly. that has to be the priority, trying to determine where the contact occurred and whether or not there are follow—ups to those who sent the agent in the first place. it could be an attack of some sort targeted at somebody else but this couple accidentally ran into it. how difficult is that follow—up going to be, would you say? very difficult. think about it. the way you typically detect this kind of nerve agent is you have a piece of paper sensitive to it and you rub it over it to detect it. people will be looking all over the place trying to see where this is, rubbing it on all kinds of services, umm, that can ta ke kinds of services, umm, that can take a very long time, we do not

really know. heavy fighting has continued in southern syria, as government forces try 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 the displaced have gone towardsjordan and the israeli—occupied golan heights, but the border crossings remain closed. 0ur middle east editor, jeremy 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. 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.

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. 0ne supermarket in belgium is sourcing some of its supplies from its own roof. andy beatt reports. for the freshest, most local produce, look to the skies. this brussels supermarket literally 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 costs 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, so it is a very short chain. the farm uses distilled 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 brings 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

permaculture, 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 told the bbc solutions had to come from the continent. it can fly, if some african governments decide to organise it. have any african countries agreed? did you meet them? no. i am in the same situation. it is always very easy to decide for others. 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 0lami—lekan 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 eg—bengwu. we went to meet him. i started drawing castles from the age of six at school. i draw castles, comics. i get my inspiration from something going on at home, especially my family. this is my friend. i want to be like arinze stanley

egbengwu, michelangelo. that is myself among great artists. my best work is this because of the title. the sweat is from the work i did. my family, work hard for me. 0nly11. and you can get in touch with me and most of the team on twitter. i'm @bbc mike embley. 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. just a smattering of rain for some of the gardens. we will, i think, 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

in a weak weather front. 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. the odd spot of drizzle. 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 this atlantic influence getting in. 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. just a bit more cloud as it goes gradually east through the day. things will brighten up. there will be cloud building further south. 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. even the odd rumble of 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 by a degree or two for the bulk of england and wales. 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. just the odd shower potentially in the east. temperatures are gradually starting to recover across scotland and northern ireland as we lose the atlantic influence, building the heat again by the day and therefore by night. so it will become uncomfortably hot for 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 perahsp more cloud at times, producing patchy rain on these weak weather fronts towards the north and west. but for many central and eastern parts of scotland and northern ireland, 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. 0ffciers say there was no evidence that the couple had been deliberately targeted. officers say there's no evidence the couple were deliberately targeted. in thailand, 10,000 litres of water an hour are being pumped out of the flooded cave complex where 12 teenage boys and their football coach are trapped. the hope is they can be rescued before the monsoon rains start, within days. otherwise they may have to wait underground for up to 5 months. there's been more heavy fighting in southern syria, as government forces try to recapture daraa province — one of the last rebel strongholds. un officials say at least 270,000 people — a third of the population — have fled their homes. let's get more now on our top story:

british police have confirmed