this is bbc news. the headlines at 11:00: two russian men speak out on state tv and deny being involved in the salisbury chemical attack — they claim they were just tourists. ourfriends had been suggesting our friends had been suggesting for a long time that our friends —— that we visit this wonderful town. salisbury? a wonderful town? yes. preparing for a no—deal brexit — the cabinet meets to discuss contingencies in the event of no agreement between britain and the eu. an exclusive report on england's child carers. new research says more than one in five children is involved in some care for sick or disabled relatives. also coming up — preparing for the worst on the east coast of america. these pictures are live from cape fear on the north carolina

coast, with hurricane florence predicted to bring life—threatening waves and up to a0 inches of rainfall. 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. and at 11:30, we'll be taking an in—depth look at the papers with our reviewers the former trade minister, lord digbyjones and the broadcaster, henry bonsu — stay with us for that. two russian men — named by the british authorities as suspects in the chemical attack in salisbury — have appeared on russia today, russia's state—funded television channel. the pair — who identify themselves as alexander petrov and ruslan boshirov — claim they are the victims of a fantastical coincidence and insist 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 tourists 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 pair of russian military intelligence officers, assassins, sent with nerve agent to kill. but today we saw a different side. they told the kremlin—funded news channel they were tourists who had come to salisbury to see the sights. translation: what were you doing there? our friends had suggested for a long time we visit this wonderful town. salisbury, a wonderful town? yes. a tourist town. there is the famous salisbury cathedral,

famous not only in europe but in 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‘s cathedral certainly is a tourist attraction, drawing visitors from all over the world, but just 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 2nd, all to see salisbury, and then there's their movements — the russian giving up sightseeing in salisbury on saturday because, they say, there was too much slush. they returned on sunday and here cctv catches them arriving at the station at11:48. 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 cctv picture at 11:58. police believe it was around this time that novichok was smeared on the skripals' front door handle, poisoning sergei and his daughter yulia. the interviewer asked the men if they approached the skripals' house. translation: maybe we passed it or maybe we didn't, i had never heard about them before this nightmare started, i'd never heard his name before. i did not know anything about them. at 1:08 they were seen heading back to the station from the city centre. an hour and 10 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 had anything suspicious, any police officer would have questions. why would a man have women's perfume in his luggage? the interviewer never asked why a trace of novichok was said to be found in the london hotel they stayed in. and the interview raised another question — who are the pair? the british government says 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 their interview is plausible, i've 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 to a trial when your alibi will be tested by our evidence.

the war of words over what really happened in salisbury will go on but today's awkward account might have done the russian case more harm than good. a short while ago our moscow correspondent sarah rainsford gave a sense of how the interview was being recieved in russia. all of this is obviously choreographed. it was a day after vladimir putin urged the suspects to come forward to explain themselves. the choice of channel was interesting. rt broadcast in english so interesting. rt broadcast in english so the main audience was the world, not here in russia but what about the message? primarily, the message was that london is lying. whitten says that these two men were intelligence agents, but saying, no, they are tourists, believe it or not, that they used aliases. they are saying no, we not, that they used aliases. they are saying no, we are not, that they used aliases. they are saying no, we are alexander petrov and ruslan boshirov, but they didn't produce any documents to back

that up so here in russia, some people will buy that but there are plenty of people to on social media who are mocking the whole thing and there are plenty of others who are digging very deep to see what they might turn up so given that, it's not entirely clear why the kremlin felt the need all to produce these characters. perhaps this was a show of defiance or about sowing doubt and confusion, but the two men who may have some answers had vanished as quickly as they appeared before those tv cameras. 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. but 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 now 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 3.5 hours — a flavour of how much there is to worry about. what 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 telling ministers under the worst case no—deal scenario, 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 wouldn't be would is the sum or the phased approach set out in the withdrawal agreement which didn't then get signed. but as the government has been clear with the public about the kind of 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 to pay if there isn't a deal? i'm not putting a number on it. 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... translating that into a sum might need it to go to arbitration. but 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 deliver brexit. herjob, which she is doing amazingly, is to get us through 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 want to make. 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 4x4 drove into them at speed.

after the vehicle passed, i looked on the left side of me to search for andreea, but i could not see her, he told the court. i started searching for andreea and i started running over the bridge. 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. 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 this weather is expected to deteriorate rapidly, causing real problems here. storm surge portion

water inland and this time tomorrow the eye of the storm is expected to be over the carolinas potentially causing 2a hours or more of deeply disruptive weather. 0n the edge of the carolinas the wind is strengthening and the water is rising. and this isjust a strengthening and the water is rising. and this is just a taste of what florence threatens. the hurricane has been making a 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 for two high tides, so i'm not sure, i'm nervous. i would high tides, so i'm not sure, i'm nervous. iwould be high tides, so i'm not sure, i'm nervous. i would be lying if i was saying different. the hurricane has been downgraded to a category two storm by the authorities are doing everything they can to emphasise how dangerous it remains. don't 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 have been listening to the warnings. this storm is likely to threaten both property and lives. in the middle of the afternoon, downtown wellington 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. people. you can just probably until maybe yesterday. people. you canjust see probably until maybe yesterday. people. you can just see the look on their faces when they are picking up batteries or last—minute water. emergency teams have gathered in towns along the coastline. no one can be sure exactly where we will feel the full force of florence. but they fear they will be needed as the storm pushes onto land. the headlines on bbc news:

two russian men denied being involved in the salisbury chemical attack and claim they were tourists. the cabinet meets to discuss contingencies in the event of no agreement between britain and the eu. and an exclusive report on england's child carers with research showing one in five children is involved in ca re one in five children is involved in care for sick or disabled relatives. let's stay with the last of those headlines. 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. ifeel 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? make sure 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. angela awuah was a child carer to a family member with paranoid schizophrenia, and is now a young adult carer. she told me about the unique challenges she faced. while her friends were out partying, angela was sorting out the family finances. balancing my college life and being at home and having to manage finances in the home, so looking after my own well—being while doing all those things at the same time was definitely challenging. i wouldn't say there was a specific point. mostly towards my exams, having the pressure of exams and going home and having to face what i had to face at home. and where could

you look for more help if you needed it? so it was more friends and family at the time, but because we area family at the time, but because we are a very close—knit family, it was very ha rd to are a very close—knit family, it was very hard to step out and speak to someone very hard to step out and speak to someone about it. a lot of the things that happened i kept to myself for a long period of time before speaking about it and it wasn't until i graduated from university. you mentioned managing your finances, how challenging was that? it wasn't so bad because we had a bit of money. it was making sure that it was paid at the right time and it was the right amount without forgetting that if it is not paid within a certain time then there would be fees i would have to pgy- there would be fees i would have to pay. sometimes you forget as a young person because it is not your responsibility. a lot of the time i would forget and have to call up and make sure there is an extension and ican make make sure there is an extension and i can make sure it is paid in the

agreed limit of time. these are challenges that most contemporaries of yours at the time would not have been facing at all. yes. most of my friends around the time of college are thinking about university, going partying, the close they are wearing to college. for me there was always the other level of me being overwhelmed by looking after a family member especially someone with paranoid schizophrenia which is different from anxiety and depression and even bipolar disorder. what do you think you have to give up in that time that he might otherwise have done?” to give up in that time that he might otherwise have done? i think it was getting close to friends. i thought i had friends at the time. that time you are still figuring out who your friends are. and for me it was how do i open up to people who might not necessarily accept what i am about to tell them and thinking about the rejection that i might receive as a result of opening up about my family home life. 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. a 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, 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 were not the only ones watching. vladimir putin followed the drills and then pledged to make russia's armed forces even stronger. translation: russia is a peaceloving 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 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 is where china comes in. presidents putin and xi have been cooking up a strategic partnership asa cooking up a strategic partnership as a counterweight to the west. moscow sees as a counterweight to the west. moscow sees closer as a counterweight to the west. moscow sees closer ties with beijing asa 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 and russia needs a very strong external partner that can provide technology, new markets and investments. and that is china. russia is slowly drifting into china's embrace and ignoring the bigger picture and ignoring the tectonic shifts between the two. i think it is very dangerous and shortsighted. bite in courting china, will russia and up thejunior

partner? it is determined not to. russia continues to ce itself as a military power. and we'll be taking an in—depth look at the papers with our reviewers. that's coming up after the headlines at 11:30pm. now it's time for the weather with sarah keith lucas. it isa it is a very active spell of weather across the pacific and the atlantic in terms of typhoons, tropical storms and hurricanes and we might see an ex— hurricane influencing the weather next week. here and now there is a weather front. 0n weather next week. here and now there is a weatherfront. on friday it will bring outbreaks of rain across parts of northern ireland, england, wales. either side of the band of cloud and rain, dry and bright weather. sunshine and showers return to the north west of scotland. down to the east midlands, east anglia and the south—east, some

bright and warm weather. temperatures in the region of 1a or 15 in scotland and northern ireland. we could see 19, possibly 20 further south. through friday into the start of the weekend, high—pressure moves in from the south—west. that should quieten the weather on saturday. a decent looking day around the country. southern and eastern parts hold on to the sunshine. cloud increasing from the west. some rain in northern ireland and western scotla nd in northern ireland and western scotland later on. for the bulk of the country it looks like a mostly dry day and the temperatures start to grip up to around 21 degrees in the south—east, the high teens further north —— creep up. this area of high pressure starts to slip towards the near continent, opening the doorfor the towards the near continent, opening the door for the frontal system to move further south and east. the areas likely to see rain on sunday, probably northern england and wales, and further south it could be, or it

could be further north, some uncertainty about the positioning. at the moment the south of england look strike, quite warm at 22, and a touch cooler with sunshine and showers in the north—west. further ahead to the working week this warm front ahead to the working week this warm fro nt m oves ahead to the working week this warm front moves in on monday and that is an indication of some slightly warmerairon an indication of some slightly warmer air on the way. certainly on monday and tuesday as well. south—westerly wind starting to build on monday. still some rain across parts of northern ireland and scotland. particularly late in the day. england and wales has a fine looking day. in the sunshine temperatures up to around 20 or 22 degrees or so. then things start to get more interesting on monday night and tuesday. looking at all of the isobars around the storm system, ex— hurricane helen