they claim they were just tourists. the men, interviewed on russian state tv, admit being in salisbury in march but say they were sightseeing. translation: ourfriends had been suggesting for a long time that we visit this wonderful town. salisbury, a wonderful town? there's the famous salisbury cathedral, famous not only in europe, but in the whole world. six months after the skripals were poisoned in salisbury, the uk government says this is just another case of russian lies. and number ten added that the russian response was an insult to the public‘s intelligence and deeply offensive to the victims. also tonight... house prices could drop by up to a third if there's a no—deal brexit — a new warning from the governor of the bank of england. a romanian tourist describes how he almost jumped into the river thames after last year's westminster bridge attack in his frantic search for his girlfriend. you're not a bad normal kid no more,

you're just that young carer. —— that normal kid. almost a million children are acting as carers in england — far more than previously thought — according to new research. russia's biggest military drills since the fall of the soviet union. president putin says it's an answer to "aggressive and unfriendly attitudes" towards his country. strong winds and heavy rain have started to the coast of america and much worse is forecast as hurricane florence approaches the carolinas. and coming up on sportsday on bbc news: not out. surrey‘s wait is over. they win the county championship for the first time in 16 years. good evening.

two russian men, named by the british authorities as suspects in the chemical attack in salisbury, have appeared on rt — the state—funded television channel russia today. the pair, who identify themselves as alexander petrov and ruslan boshirov, claim they are the victims of a fantastical coincidence, insisting they are innocent. in their first comments since being accused of poisoning the former russian agent sergei skripal and his daughter, they said they were businessmen who were on a visit to salisbury cathedral. our security correspondent, gordon corera, has more details. last week britain presented ruslan boshirov and alexander petrov as a pairof boshirov and alexander petrov as a pair of russian military intelligence officers, assassins, sent with nerve agent to kill. but today we saw a different side. they tour the kremlin funded news channel they were tourists who had come to salisbury to see the sights. —— they

told. translation: what will you doing there? our friends suggested for a long time we visit his wonderful time. salisbury, for a long time we visit his wonderfultime. salisbury, a wonderfultime. salisbury, a wonderful town? yes, wonderfultime. salisbury, a wonderfultown? yes, it tourist town. there is the famous salisbury cathedral, famous not only in europe but the whole world. it is famous for its 123 metre spire. it is famous for its clock, the first ever created in the world that is still working. salisbury cathedral certainly is a tourist attraction, drawing visitors from all over the world, but just how drawing visitors from all over the world, butjust how plausible is the story of these two russians set against the evidence laid out by the police last week? there is the question of the motive for their trip, flying in from moscow to

gatwick airport on friday march the 2nd, all to see salisbury, and then their movements, giving up sightseeing in salisbury on saturday because, they say, there was too much slush. they returned on sunday and cctv catches them arriving at the station. but rather than head out to be tourist sites they said they wanted to see, like old sarum and the cathedral, they were spotted close to sergei skripal‘s house on wilton road, their images captured on this picture. police believe it was around this time that novichok was around this time that novichok was smeared on the skripals's front door handle, poisoning sergei and his daughter yulia. the interviewers ask them if they approached the house. translation: maybe we passed it or maybe we didn't, i had never heard about it before this nightmare started, never heard his name before. i did not know anything about them. they were seen heading back to the station from the city

centre. an hour and ten minutes is not long to see the sights you've come from moscow for. it is alleged they discovered this perfume bottle which had been carrying the novichok. it was found months later and poisoned charlie rowley and killed dawn sturgess. the russians deny bringing it into the country. translation: when you go through customs, they check all your belongings so if we add anything suspicious, any police officer would have questions. why would a man have women's perfume in his luggage? the interview were never asked why a trace of novichok was said to be found in the london hotel they stayed in austin and the interview raised another question — who are the pair? the british government said they are russian intelligence officers using fake names. in the interview they seemed unwilling to go into details of their back story, such as theirjobs, as they said

sports nutritionists, and they declined to provide identity documents. i don't think any of the interview is plausible, i have watched it a couple of times now and i think, if i was their defence lawyer, my advice to them would be to keep quiet and wait for a trial when you're allan white will be tested by our evidence. —— you're allan . the war of words will go on about what happened in salisbury but the awkward account today might have done the russian case more harm than good. our correspondent, sarah rainsford, is in moscow. there is no shortage of incredulity here at that account but what is the sense in moscow? all of this was obviously choreographed, just one day after blood amid the din publicly urged the suspect to come board and explain themselves and they appeared on state television. the choice of channels was interesting, rt broadcast in english which suggests the main audience was the world and not hit in russia but

what about the message? primarily it was that london is lying. britain says these men were intelligent agents and they are saying they were businessmen, tourists, believe it or not. britain says they used aliases but here they are saying that they we re but here they are saying that they were petrov and washer but they did not produce any documents to back that up —— and boshirov. some people might buy it but plenty on social media are mocking the whole thing and plenty are digging deep to see what they might turn up. given that, it is not in kylie clear why the kremlin felt the need at all to produce these characters —— with the —— and not entirely clear. these men might still have some answers that they have vanished as quickly as they have vanished as quickly as they appeared before those tv cameras. many thanks, sarah. the governor of the bank of england has told ministers that house prices could fall by up to a third over three years if britain leaves the eu in a disorganised way.

it comes as the former chief of theresa may's policy unit said she should resign after she's negotiated the withdrawal agreement and let a new conservative leader agree the precise terms of the uk's future relationship with the eu. today the government also published its no—deal brexit plans to help businesses and consumers plan for life outside the eu, as our political editor, laura kuenssberg, reports. sending a message across the continent, making a call, hiring a car. if there is no deal between the uk and the eu, free and easy becomes costly and hard. the brexit secretary hopes the government has it under control. we would face short—term risks and short—term disruption. what we need to have in place and what people would expect us to have in place is a set of plans and proposals and a readiness amongst our institutional capacity, staff and government, to manage those risks, avoid them

if possible, or mitigate them. that is what we are confident that we have got. no deal would mean a lot of hassle and potentially cost for a lot of people. there is no guarantee you would be able to use your mobile abroad without huge bills, even though the government says they would cap roaming charges. if you are on the road in europe, you might need to get an international driving licence. and if you want to go to the continent at all, you might need to make sure you have six months left on your passport or you might not be able to travel at all. the brexit secretary presented those no—deal plans to his colleagues this morning. he didn't emerge for three and a half hours — a flavour of how much there is to worry about. today's meeting was about making sure we are prepared for all eventualities, and it was very successful. the cabinet afterwards, striving to find reasons to be cheerful. we are working towards a good deal and we expect to get one. the bank of england governor slipped out of the back after taking part too.

he said that house prices could fall over 35% over three years. he and other governments know that no deal would be much more than holiday hassles. the french foreign minister said planes could be grounded, trains not able to go. if we do nothing and if we reach no agreement, this is what would happen. and even without a deal, we would still have to pay. not a penny more than our strict legal obligations, but what that would not be would be a set out in the withdrawal agreement which didn't then get signed. as the government has been clear with the public about the kind of figured they expect to pay if there isa figured they expect to pay if there is a deal, around a0 billion, can you do the same thing and tell the public roughly what we might expect if there is not a deal? i am not going to put a figure on it. but for our viewers, why can't you tell them how much we would pay if there is a deal

when we didn't know if there is a deal, when you can't say how much it would be if there isn't a deal? even in relation... well, we would pay our strict legal obligations. translating that into a sum might need it to go to arbitration. all is not well in the tory party. a former minister and adviser to theresa may went public with a call for her to move on next year. we need to allow the prime minister to get us through march and deliberate brexit. herjob, which she is doing amazingly, is to get us to the point of brexit and in due course a new generation of leaders has to frame that longer term relationship. labour says no deal would be a crisis of the tories own making. unlikely perhaps, but a journey few wa nt to unlikely perhaps, but a journey few want to make. today was meant to be all about the government showing it could be in control if that were the potential chaos if a deal with the eu was not reached. 0f potential chaos if a deal with the eu was not reached. of course they have not been able to control all

events, they were not able to stop news leaking from the cabinet that the bank of england governor gave a very gloomy scenario of what might happen ina very gloomy scenario of what might happen in a worst—case scenario, a recession and a pretty significant slide in house prices. he has always been painted as somebody who was pa rt been painted as somebody who was part of project sphere, but the tea rs part of project sphere, but the tears tend to dismiss him, but it is a pretty depressing and risky picture —— project fear. and again in westminster, not privately but publicly, open discussion of the future of theresa may as the torah leader. —— numberten is —— number ten is going to get used to ta ke —— number ten is going to get used to take the knocks and also perhaps not feeling completely in charge. thank you, laura. a tourist has described how he almost jumped into the river thames after the westminster terror attack last year to try to find his girlfriend, who'd been hit by the attacker‘s car. the couple from romania had been taking photos on the bridge when khalid masood drove into pedestrians. our home affairs correspondent, daniel sandford, reports

from the old bailey. andrei burnaz was himself injured during the westminster bridge attack last year but, today, grim—faced, he had to give evidence in the inquest into the death of his girlfriend, andreea cristea. 0n holiday from romania, they'd been to visit westminster abbey and were heading over the bridge when khalid masood's axa drove into them at speed. michael brown was driving past as it happened and saw what andrei hadn't. andreea had been knocked clean over the parapet. michael brown told the inquest he quickly dialled 999 and looked over the edge of the bridge to see andreea lying face down in the water.

so, he immediately shouted to get the attention of the captain of the nearby passenger boat. the millennium diamond reacted quickly with captain gordon markley using a boat hook to stop andreea floating away. about five minutes after she fell in, a london fire brigade boat, the fire flash, managed to get her out of the water, still alive. today the crew of the passenger ship were asked by andreea's family's lawyers if they could not have pulled her out more quickly but they said they had done what they could. andreea cristea died in hospital two weeks later. a doctor said today he didn't know if her long time in the water had worsened her chance of survival. she also had a fractured skull. daniel sandford, bbc news, at the old bailey. thousands of cancer patients in england are waiting longer than they should to start their treatment, according to the latest figures from the nhs. injuly, only 78.2% of people were seen within the two—month target — the worst performance since records began in 2009. it means more than 3,000 people

waited longer than two months for treatment to begin. the number of school—age young carers in england is much higher than previously thought, according to research carried out by the bbc with the university of nottingham. the report shows one in five young people aged between 11 and 16 consider themselves to be a young carer. that is they have someone with an illness or disability living at home and they help to look after them. it corresponds to more than 800,000 children providing some level of assistance to family members or siblings. our special correspondent, ed thomas, has been to meet some of those children. nobody knows how many times he has saved me. young, dedicated and loyal. in all this chaos, just a really calm, considerate child. he is like a mini adult.

the children who put theirfamilies first. rather than be out playing with friends, she is at home caring for me, which is unfair. you are not really that normal kid no more. you are just that young carer. katie is 11 and looks after her mum. cut my body in half. half of it would feel like an adult and half of it would feel like a child. do you mind getting my lunchtime medicine? charlotte nearly died from sepsis. pass me a pillow, please. she lost her fingers and her feet. carers do help out four times a day but everything else is katie. she has helped me in the shower. thank you. fetch, carry and bring. see you. i feel like i've taken her childhood away or, should i say, sepsis has taken her childhood away. what is she to you? my world, my baby girl. your mum. i am your mum right now. for many young carers,

there is constant worry. i have heard someone say you and your mum are silly cows, silly bitches. and like loads of effing and jeffing. i've heard her crying, you know, in her room. yes, she is asking, "why us?" how has this affected her schooling? she has fallen behind quite a lot. how much? about two years. high five. she's learned to be more open. she knows she can talk to mum and everything is going to be ok. i don't really have a choice to not do stuff really. i have to do it. i'm stuck. what does your mum mean to you? the world. these young people have stresses and strains far beyond their years. they are less likely to go to get a steady and secure job and they are much more likely to have mental health issues. he is six years old and he can talk a little bit.

then it was alisa, she's seven and enjoys playing with toys. they are different. because they have autism. and it is safa who understands their needs. with a dad working nights, she helps her mum. she cares for her siblings. and she is only nine. we need safa. safa is like a cement in the family. what are the things you always check? look that they are happy, so that they are not hungry and if they make a mess, i clean it up. like many young carers, the emotional support matters. do you know that mummy really, really needs you in my life, don't i? what do you say to me when i am sad? it's ok. i will help you. we ignore these

children at our peril. they are under the radar and many of them need to be seen because if we can see them than we can hopefully support them. he has had to change me, wash me, and look after his brother and sister as well as all the housework. a day injamil‘s life. i'm going back to school now. come on, get on my back. i'm going to the shop. i'm taking the card? when i get back home, i'm going to need to cook for my mum. i should have give you such a big plate, should i? my brother and sister help my mum a bit. my legs ache. don't fall backwards. i've just been diagnosed with mental illness, chronic back pain, and that won't get any better now. he just tells me to stop saying sorry and that's all he says. stop saying sorry, mum, it's fine. 13 and jamil feels responsible for his family. he tucks me in bed.

he sometimes makes food. he kisses me. he gives me more hugs. there are tens of thousands of young carers just like jamil providing the highest levels of care. luckily for me, i've got my grandad who is always there for me and i can always go to his house and have my own time. but it's the homework that i struggle with. makes me feel sad because now i've got so much homework building up and building up and i can't do anything about it. carers do help the family but it is jamil who is always there for his mum. night. i know my mum needs me to bits and without me she wouldn't be here right now. you know i am lost without you. yeah. you are my best friend, you know. that was jamil and his mother, ending that report by our special correspondent, ed thomas. russian troops are taking part in the country's biggest military

exercise since the cold war. it's taking place in eastern siberia. russia says 300,000 soldiers are parading at the week—long event called vostock 2018. 36,000 tanks and armoured vehicles, as well as a thousand planes, are also said to be taking part in the drills, which the kremlin has justified given what they call "aggressive and unfriendly attitudes" towards russia. from siberia, our moscow correspondent, steve rosenberg, has more. a warning his report does contain flash photography. from over the hills, the russians are coming. they are the largest russian manoeuvres since the cold war. one third of the entire russian armed forces is taking part, says moscow. and joining them here, troops from china. under pressure from the west, russia tilting east. the army invited us to watch the show. the aim of the exercises

across the russian far east is to test combat readiness. the drills, moscow insists, purely defensive. some experts suspect the russians have inflated troop numbers but the show of strength was indisputable. we weren't the only ones watching. vladimir putin followed the drills and then pledged to make russia's armed forces even stronger. translation: russia is a peace—loving country. we don't have any aggressive plans but we have a duty to the motherland to be ready to defend russia's sovereignty, security and national interests. the message russia wants to send with all of this is pretty clear — that it has a powerful army and powerful allies in the east, and that moscow has no intention of giving in to pressure from the west.

and that's where china comes in. presidents putin and xi have been cooking up a strategic partnership as a counterweight to the west. moscow sees closer ties with beijing as a recipe for surviving western sanctions. russia always wanted to be integrated into the west. now this era is over. russia needs a very strong external partner which can provide technology, new markets and new investments, and that's china. so russia is slowly drifting into china's firm embrace, definitely ignoring the bigger picture and ignoring these tectonic shifts between the two. i think it's very dangerous and short—sighted. but, in courting china, will russia end up thejunior partner? it is determined not to. moscow continues to see itself as a military superpower. steve rosenberg, bbc news, eastern siberia. this weekend, it will be ten years

since the investment bank lehman brothers collapsed, sparking the global finacial crash. a decade on, some think the banks are now too cautious and are holding back economic growth. our business editor, simon jack, looks back. no—one could ever, ever, ever imagine a lehman brothers collapse. the single event of a series of events that led to as deep and dark a correct in the economy as we had seen since the first world war. i was shocked that the american government just let it collapse. there had been some tremors in the financial system. northern rock was nationalised in february 2008, but it was september when the really big one hit. the collapse of lehman brothers was a financial earthquake of such breathtaking proportions that these temples of finance were shaken to their very foundations. it unleashed shock waves around the world, shock waves that changed the world we live in today.

at the epicentre of the earthquake, this former banker who now has a pasta business in east london. natalia rogoff, lehman brothers employee 200a—2008. the main emotion on the day was i think disbelief. the bank collapsed, we are still in the building, there is no official news from the management, they are all behind closed doors. no—one is trading. it was absolute my dream job. i put everything i had, i did the exams, i did the hours, and it all disappeared the next day. losses in the us property market that toppled lehmans infected the entire global financial system. within weeks, rbs, lloyds, hbos received tens of billions in tax payers‘ money. absolutely necessary, deeply unpopular. the people who received bailouts from the government were not the small businesses that went under, they weren't the people who lost theirjobs as the recession started to bite,

they were the people who earned most to begin with. the finger of blame was pointed at bankers, like former boss of barclays bob diamond, who became a poster boy for what was dubbed casino banking. high pay, high—risk, low standards of conduct. well, i'm a banker, so you have to be tough. bob diamond says that's unfair, given barclays did not take any government cash, raising money in the middle east. he insists poor behaviour was rare. have people made mistakes? absolutely. was that behaviour wrong? absolutely, i'm not defending the behaviour at all. i don't think that represents the culture of what we had at barclays. i think we had a very, very strong culture. really? and it's the single biggest reason that we were able to manage as effectively during the financial crisis, relative to other uk banks, as we did. really. murky practices like price—fixing surfaced at nearly all banks, provoking public outrage and costing them tens of billions of pounds. the crisis spawned a stagnant economic decade which changed

politics, according to former prime minister gordon brown, who believes we are now more vulnerable to future threats. i feel we are sleepwalking into the next crisis. i feel that this is a leaderless world and i think when the next crisis comes — and there will be a future crisis — we will find that we neither have the fiscal and monetary room for manoeuvre that we had in 2008/09, or the willingness to take that action. but, perhaps most worryingly of all, we will not have the international cooperation that was necessary to get us out of this worldwide crisis. if gordon brown is right, it's been ten years of pain with very little gain. simon jack, bbc news. hurricane florence is bearing down on the east coast of the united states, amid warnings it could cause catastrophic flooding across a wide area. around 10 million people live in the storm's path. 0ur north america correspondent, chris buckler, is in wilmington, north carolina.

four days people have been preparing and now the first of the strong wind and now the first of the strong wind and rain has really arrived. in 12 hours' time for this weather is expected to deteriorate rapidly causing real problems. the storm surge pushing water inland and this time tomorrow the eye of the storm is expected to be over the ca rolinas, is expected to be over the carolinas, potentially causing 2a hours of more —— or more of deeply destructive weather. 0n the edge of the carolinas, the wind is strengthening and the water is rising. and this is just a taste of what florence threatens. the hurricane has been making its slow approach from the atlantic and, if what has been forecast comes true, days of flooding lie ahead. there is talk about storm surges of maybe nine feet and if it stalls like they are saying, we could be going through two high tides. so, no, iam not sure.

i am nervous. i'd be lying if i said different. the hurricane has been downgraded to a category two storm but the authorities are doing everything they can to emphasise how dangerous it remains. do not get complacent. stay on guard. this is a powerful storm that can kill. today, the threat becomes a reality. home after home lies boarded up here. families, who live in the path of florence, have been listening to those warnings — that this storm is likely to threaten both property and lives. in the middle of the afternoon, downtown wilmington was deserted, shops abandoned with sandbags placed optimistically at their doors and a few people making last—minute efforts to protect their stores. it didn't feel like a panic probably until maybe yesterday for some people. you can just see the look on their faces when you are picking up batteries or last—minute water. emergency teams have gathered

in towns along the coastline. no—one can be sure exactly where will feel the full force of florence but they fear they will be needed as the storm pushes on to land. chris buckler, bbc news, wilmington. kelly salads and has now received her bronze medalfrom kelly salads and has now received her bronze medal from the kelly salads and has now received her bronze medalfrom the beijing 0lympic her bronze medalfrom the beijing olympic games. she received it in london tonight for the she finished fifth in the heptathlon but since then two rivals have been disqualified for doping. if patients isa disqualified for doping. if patients is a virtue, kelly saboteur