hello, you're watching afternoon live. i'm ben brown. today at 2pm: the second suspect in the salisbury nerve agent attack is identified as a military doctor working for the russian intelligence service — the gru. they are a military outfit that is very aggressive and ambitious in doing things, and they don't necessarily care as much about the consequences as the more traditional secret agencies. a waste disposal company is stripped of its nhs contracts, after hundreds of tonnes of medical waste from hospitals, including body parts, were allowed to pile up. in brussels to talk brexit — the leader of the democratic unionists, arlene foster, insists again that she won't accept any customs barriers within the uk. coming up on afternoon live, all the sport. good afternoon. jose mourinho hasn't got many people jumping to good afternoon. jose mourinho hasn't got many peoplejumping to his

defence right now, but he does have the support of former manchester united captain, wayne rooney, who has been discussing his former club's situation from the united states. and we also have the weather news. it is looking absolutely fabulous today, and we have some nice sunny pictures. there will be buddy of that tomorrow. there is more to the weather, they could be some stormy weather, they could be some stormy weather on the way. more in half an hour. also coming up: the strictly curse strikes again — seann walsh's now ex—girlfriend hits back, saying she is not a victim. hello, everyone.

this is afternoon live. more details are being revealed about the second man suspected of carrying out the salisbury nerve agent attack. he has been identified as a doctor with the russian military intelligence agency, the gru, who was made a hero of the russian federation — the country's highest honorary title — four year ago. the investigations website, bellingcat, has named him as alexander mishkin. the bbc understands british officials are not disputing the identification. naomi grimley reports. until now, this man has been known to the world as alexander petrov. he is a suspect in the salisbury poisoning case which started as an attempted assassination of a former russian spy and his daughter, and then, three months later, led to the death of a british woman, dawn sturgess, after she accidentally handled the deadly nerve agent. the website bellingcat, run by investigative journalists, has revealed the man's real identity

is alexander mishkin. it even obtained images of his passport. so what do we know about him so far? well, he was born on the 13th ofjuly 1979 in northern russia. his rank is unknown, but he is believed to be a military doctor. he was recruited by russia's military intelligence agency, the gru, as a student. until september 2014, mishkin‘s registered home address is the address of the headquarters of the gru in moscow. unlike the other suspect in this case, who's already been named, mishkin has less of an online presence. so it's taken longer to establish his true identity down to his hometown. he grew up in a remote village in the north of russia, which has less than 1,000 residents.

the village is permafrosted and constantly covered in snow. one might remember this person's allegations on television that he decided to come back from salisbury because there was some slush there, but actually it's a village that lives in slush. 0nly last week, we learned how the gru had sent a team of spies in the hague to try and hack the computer systems of the opcw, the body responsible for testing samples of the nerve agent. the dutch authorities laid out in embarrassing detail the workings of a spy mission gone wrong, which should have been top—secret. they are military outfit that is very aggressive and ambitious in doing things, and they don't necessarily care as much about consequences as your more traditional secret agencies. all the investigative digging of the intelligence agencies

and journalists means the story the two salisbury suspects told about visiting the city's famous cathedral spire is now looking ever more threadbare. investigators from the website bellingcat briefed mps on their research a little earlier today. let's go now to our correspondent, ben ando, in westminster. more details in particular emerging this afternoon about alexander mishkin, the second suspect in the salisbury attack. that's right. what we know now is he is somebody who was in the russian navy, he is a trained doctor, he is with the gru. he is somebody who had less of a digital footprint than the other man who was allegedly involved in the salisbury poisoning, so it took longer i think for investigators to track him down and build upa investigators to track him down and build up a picture of who he was. what they have been telling mps is

what they have also put in a dossier they have given to the police who are investigating the salisbury poisoning they use a commendation of open source media and some close source do exactly identify who they believe he is. i spoke to one of the investigators from bellingcat, who said that 85% of it is online. the rest was sold to them by russian officials orfor more rest was sold to them by russian officials or for more private sources. all that has been given to the police. some of the website data go back to the late 1990s. 0nce the police. some of the website data go back to the late 1990s. once that information is out there, it cannot be undone or changed. they are confident they know their man. who exactly is this group, bellingcat, because they seem to have made the running on the whole

salisbury story, and getting a lot of information about the two suspects. it was founded in 2014 and it came after a campaign by elliott higgins, after a campaign by elliott higgins, a crowd funded campaign, to create a network if you like of people who i just interested in finding out information online. much of what they find out is stuff you would call open source that perhaps traditional media organisations don't have the time to trawl through, the vast amounts of data that are available that can be found there. what they do is they use a network of people, most of volunteers, to come together to trawl through all of this information to find patterns, divine sequences, information to find patterns, divine sequences, to find the parts of the digital jigsaw sequences, to find the parts of the digitaljigsaw they then sequences, to find the parts of the digital jigsaw they then put together which then gives them enough cross corroboration to confirm the information they are putting out. thank you very much indeed. and stay with us for more on this developing story. i'll be speaking to the founder of the investigative journalism website bellingcat,

eliot higgins, in a few minutes. we'll be asking him more questions about bellingcat and how they are getting so much information on the alleged attackers in salisbury. a clinical waste disposal firm has been stripped of nhs contracts after allowing body parts to pile up at its facilities. healthcare environmental services had been responsibile for removing medical waste from many hospitals in england and scotland. 0ur health editor, hugh pym, has this update. the story only emerged at the end of last week, even though the environment agency had informed the government act injuly that there was this problem with medical waste from hospitals going to sites in england and in scotland as well, and that some there was a backlog building up. it was not being disposed of in a timely fashion. it wasn't going to incineration in the time that should have been allowed. now, what's happened today

is that the company who had this contract with about 50 hospitals has been stripped of that contract at 15 of them. the government made a statement this morning. another contractor has been found, called mitie, well—known in the outsourcing world, and they have taken over that contract. but that still leaves 35 also other hospitals still working with hes. now, in due course, their contracts will be moved. there have been assurances that there is no risk to the public or patients, and that there is no problem with getting that moved. but those hospitals will still lead to have contingency plans. ministers have been criticised for not telling the commons about this. matt hancock, the secretary of state for health and social care, chaired an emergency cobra meeting in september, and yet the story only emerged at the end of last week. what they're saying is they had to get the contract in line before they could make today's announcement. the leader of the democratic unionists, arlene foster,

has been holding talks in brussels with the eu's chief brexit negotiator, michel barnier, ahead of next week's crucial eu summit. the irish border remains the key outstanding issue. this morning, the international development secretary, penny mordaunt, failed to give explicit backing to theresa may's chequers plan for brexit, but says the prime minister can count on her support. 0ur political correspondent, leila nathoo, reports. we do get a brexit deal next week, minister? back to work in westminster this morning and they know it is crunch time for the brexit talks. the prime minister hopes her top team will stay backing her approach. are you facing brexit mutiny? to face down discontent within her party. after a speech in london this morning, one of the cabinet's leading brexit supporters for the first time publicly gave her

view on the government's plans. the prime minister can count on my support but what i would say is that we don't know where this is going to end up. we are at a critical moment i'iow. end up. we are at a critical moment now. the issue currently is that the ball is firmly back in the eu's court. we are waiting for them to respond. brussels has is missed as an workable the government's offer of what has become the chequers plan for a future relationship and how to prevent checks returning to the irish border is holding up the negotiations was that this morning in brussels, for talks with the eu's chief negotiator, were northern ireland parties, including the dup, making clear their red lines. there cannot be barriers to trade in the uk internal market which would damage the economic well—being of northern ireland and therefore we can not support any arrangements which would give rise to either

customs or regulatory barriers within the uk internal market. even ifa within the uk internal market. even if a brexit deal is agreed in the coming weeks, it must then be approved by parliament. never mind the opposition parties, its conservative mps, former remain as an brexit supporters alike, who are lining up to criticise the agreement theresa may is hoping to strike. to carry this deal am at the prime minister needs to bring the conservative party together with our dup allies was not that easy only way she can be certain to get it through parliament, which means involving the chequers proposals in the direction of a conference of free trade deal with the european union has made clear is on offer. mike estimate is that the core of colleagues will not support a chequers —based and and state is between 40 and 45. an agreement is still to be reached with brussels, but that might yet seen the easier

part. we can cross to brussels and speak to our reporter, adam flemming. how important was this meeting with the dup and mr barnier? it was important from the eu's side because what they have been trying to do for the last few weeks is to de—dramatise the whole issue of the northern ireland border axed up. —— backstop. it is often talked about as an insurance policy. it is seen by the dup and british government as a threat to the constitutional integrity of the uk because it would make northern ireland have a different relationship with the eu, with its customs arrangements, with its singer market, with its trade relations with the rest of the world in fact than the rest of the uk. what michel barnier has been trying to do isa

what michel barnier has been trying to do is a river drama, make it look like less because additional problem but a technical problem that could be solved with some checks at premises, in factories, the odd bar—code being scanned at a port in the uk. however, the dup say that the uk. however, the dup say that the rotherham is not with the implementation of the backstop, it is with the concept of it. —— that the problem is not with the impairment nation. it is interesting to hear the dup say that, this nothing has changed in the negotiations other than we have had it confirmed that the dup are not happy with the crucial part of the brexit treaty, because that backstop will have to go into the withdrawal agreement which will be signed by both sides. where do you think we are the stalks? what might we hear from brussels on the negotiations? the first thing i have been hearing hinted strongly to me this afternoon is that the uk will not be publishing a new paper with its

alternative proposals for that infamous northern ireland backstop. there had been a big expectation in the coming days, maybe next week, there would be a document coming from the uk saying, here is an alternative way of looking at this, this is our plan. it now looks like that will not happen and the discussion will take place in the negotiating room with the uk and the eu negotiators as they try to find a compromise as they tried to reach convergence in the jargon. also not happening tomorrow is it looks like we will definitely not get an outline of the future relationship from michel barnier. there was speculation he would produce something that would look like a first draft or a hint on list of aspirations on the future relations between the eu and the uk. we thought that the european commission might produce a document on brexit

planning, in other words what to do in the case of no deal. that does not like it will be published either. what we will have tomorrow in the european commission will be their regular wednesday morning mission weather will get a bubble presentation on the state of play of the brexit negotiations and planning for a no deal. there is lots of stuff going on, because i'm getting texts a nd stuff going on, because i'm getting texts and e—mails all the time, saying that a briefing this afternoon is happening on monday. 0n fighting night, there is a meeting at 6pm of ambassadors to talk about the summit at the last minute. not a lot of news and lots of stuff not happening, but i get you a flavour of how exciting it is at the moment. so it's exciting but not happening at the same time?! welcome to my world! our not happening a respondent in brussels will stop you're watching afternoon live. these are our headlines:

the second suspect in the salisbury nerve agent attack is identified as a military doctor, working for the russian intelligence service, the gru. a waste disposal company is stripped of its nhs contracts, after hundreds of tonnes of medical waste from hospitals, including body parts, were allowed to pile up. in brussels to talk brexit — the leader of the democratic unionists, arlene foster, insists again that she won't accept any customs barriers within the uk. and the former girlfriend of strictly come dancing contestant seann walsh speaks out, after he admitted kissing his dance partner, katya jones. and in sport, former manchester united captain wayne rooney has called on current players to stand up called on current players to stand up and be counted, saying jose mourinho is an easy target for the club's troubles. he has accused his

critics of staging a man had to get him sacked. kyle edmund came through a tough test to get through to the second round of the shanghai masters. and england's vice captain, jos buttler, insist that the preparation will not bea insist that the preparation will not be a factor in the first one—day international in colombo. 0nly be a factor in the first one—day international in colombo. only four batsmen made it a decrease in the warm up match due to the rain. let's return now to the latest on the nerve agent attack in salisbury, and the investigative website bellingcat has identified the second suspect as a russian military doctor called alexander mishkin. bbc news has now spoken to people who grew up with mishkin and have confirmed his identity. joining me now from central london is the founder of bellingcat, eliot higgins. thank you for being with us. tell us

more about what you have discovered about this man. we have been able to identify his true identity. his name is mishkin, he is from a small town in russia. 0ne is mishkin, he is from a small town in russia. one of the most interesting things was that he is a doctor, trained military doctor, a member of the gru, anti—cancer this small town so we were able to send a journalist from a partner organisation to talk to people to confirm his identity. bellingcat has sprung to prominence over this salisbury fiasco. you have made the running on the investigations. tell us more running on the investigations. tell us more about yourselves, who exactly you are, how you are funded and where you are based. bellingcat was launched in 2014. i had been blogging for a couple of years, using what we call public source information to investigate a range of topics. 0nly launched, it was just a few days before a plane was

shot down over ukraine, which is a big part of our work. we raised quite a bit of money from running oui’ quite a bit of money from running our own workshops, showing people how to do open source investigations. have a lot of volu nteers investigations. have a lot of volunteers helping to piece together this information. a big part of our work is being part of a community of investigators. we have a core team of investigators, full—time employees, some policies, and then we have a wider community who follow oui’ we have a wider community who follow our work and to come to various ways. we have a wider community who might not want to be heavily involved. we use a range of techniques. some people would say,

are you getting information from the british intelligence agencies? we do to people saying that, after working for the russian government. in the case of mishkin, it was piecing together lots of little bits of information. in an earlier investigation done into the potential coup in montenegrin, a gru officer was identified there. his faked documents used some information that were shared with his real documents was to be used that same theory to identify miskin, using various data bases that same theory to identify miskin, using various databases such as car registration databases, using various databases such as car registration data bases, so using various databases such as car registration databases, so to piece together the real identity. the russian government must absolutely hate you. are you worried about your own safety, the safety of the people you work with? we have been targeted repeatedly by cyber attacks from the gru. we have lots of criticism from

the russian state media. we have been heavily featured on russia today and sputnik. if a russian agent is going to smear nerve agents on my door handles, i have to be careful that arching door handles in futures. the gru have been incredibly sloppy, haven't they are not only with what happened in salisbury but in the netherlands as well. a taxi receipt was found with those guys from the gru in the netherlands, from the gru headquarters to moscow airport. what do you think is going on with the gru and russian intelligence in general? it is hard to speculate. it might bea general? it is hard to speculate. it might be a question of overreach will stop we only know that the operations that have failed and get exposed to. there was a hacking campaign that targeted the clinton campaign that targeted the clinton campaign in 2016. we were targeted

as part of that same campaign, along with thousands of other people. a huge scale fishing campaign. they do have successes, but one big factor here has been the amount of publicly available topic information we could piece together about people involved. that was key in the investigation. as an investigative unit, it is a change to investigative journalism, traditionally we had journalism from the sunday times or panorama, but are you offering something different? i have no professional background injournalism, different? i have no professional background in journalism, sighted guide did what seemed to make sense. i saw lots of information coming from libya to begin with, and there was a lot of it being shared online. i had to work out how to authenticate it. you have to work out where the photograph was taken 01’ out where the photograph was taken or the video was filmed. you could

confirm using satellite imaging all of the locations. we had individual skills which we use to train other organisations to use. the bbc africa unit is heavily inspired by bellingcat, recently publishing an investigation on an execution of two women and two children in cameroon. 0ur women and two children in cameroon. our approach is exhumed the transparent, which is very important in this new environment where certain people call everything fake news was not being able to show your working is important. a lot of the data you analyse is generally available, it is out there if people have got the time and manpower to trawl through it. you can piece together the jigsaw. that's right. there is an awful lot of information available, partly through the rise of the use of smartphones and apps and social media sharing. along with that, there is the availability of

satellite imagery thanks to google earth and other platforms and websites will stop google street view as well, all kinds of information being shared online. you can piece together to understand different situations. that is something people are coming around to recognising on a larger scale through all different organisations. good to talk to you. the founder of the investigative journalism website to andrew brayshaw will stop —— bellingcat. brett kavanaugh starts work today as a supreme courtjudge after a confirmation process that has divided america. last night president trump apologised to the judge, saying he had been proved innocent of allegations of sexual abuse during his nomination and had endured a campaign of political and personal destruction based on lies and deception. peter bowes reports. i, brett m kavanaugh, do solemnly swear...

after weeks of political rancour, a ceremonial swearing—in ceremony for justice brett kava nagh. greeted by an extended standing ovation from his supporters, the new member of the us supreme court took the 0ath of office with his wife and daughters by his side. less than two weeks ago, he angrily denied a charge that sexually assaulted christine blasey ford when they were both teenagers. president trump said mr kavanaugh was owed an apology. on behalf of our nation, i want to apologise to brett and the entire kavanaugh family for the terrible pain and suffering you have been forced to endure. justice kava naugh thanked the president for what he called his steadfast, unwavering support throughout the process. i'm grateful to you and mrs trump for the exceptional, overwhelming courtesy you have extended to my family and me. mr president, thank you for everything. applause.

but mr kavanaugh also adopted a tone of reconciliation. the senate confirmation process was contentious and emotional. that process is over. my focus now is to be the bestjustice i can be. this chapter in the extremely acrimonious appointment of a supreme courtjudge may be closing, but with the us mid—term elections just four weeks away, the politicalfallout could be critical to the future of donald trump's presidency. peter bowes, bbc news. time for a look at the weather. you have got news of another heading are ken heading towards the united states will stop you are therefore harry kane on. so you know about —— ewart therefore hurricane irma. this

is the storm developing. this time yesterday, we were not sure weather it would develop into a hurricane. around florida here, it is very low—lying. with an intense storm pushing all of that sea water into this area here, where the coastline curves, this area here, where the coastline curves , you this area here, where the coastline curves, you get that amount of water, so there is likely to be stories of serious flooding and homes destroyed. this is another disaster on the way for the us, u nfortu nately. disaster on the way for the us, unfortunately. i will show you a track now where it is going. i will zoom ina track now where it is going. i will zoom in a little bit. the blue bit here is basically where the... this is close to tallahassee. a very bad

for this coastline, and there are warnings extending from alabama to just north of tampa. a different area to the storms that affected florida last year, as they were further south. the problem is this is likely to be a very wet storm with ten or 12 inches of rain and it is going over south carolina, which endured all of that flooding a while ago. still very much in hurricane season. not nearly as serious, but there is some stormy weather coming our way, isn't there? that's right. friday, north—western parts of the uk, we are used which obviously but the trouble is that here, at this time of the year, 0ctober, here, at this time of the year, october, the season of storms, the trees are still in full leaf, so in 50 or 60 mph winds could cause a lot of problems will stop for most of us, it is a very positive story. the area is coming out of africa, moving across portugal, spain, france, heading to the uk and engulfing many

parts of europe. it is very, very warm. in scotland today, the weather has been dreadful. we have had pictures coming in of flooding, there have been landslides in part of the western isles. so the weather has been dreadful. there is a weather front bringing a storm. this is what happens when you get the contrast between the warm air in the south and the cold air in the north atlantic. this is the end of the night. between nine and 11 degrees, those sort of figures. crucially, these winds are blowing from the south, pretty brisk, so it could be fairly call around the coasts, but it is pushing the weather front out to sea. inland, we are in for a stunning date. are we going to get many more days like this before it turns cold? many more days like this before it turns cold ? i many more days like this before it turns cold? i would say make the most of it. maybe 24 in london, maybe 20 in london. —— 20 in

glasgow. if you have the day off, make the most of it because it will be beautiful tomorrow. thursday, a weather front starts moving be beautiful tomorrow. thursday, a weatherfront starts moving in. the winds are still blowing from the south, so i think some eastern part of the country on thursday will be fine maybe showers around, but it will be warm. however, howard west, we are seeing the weather front moving in and upsetting the weather for the west of the country. again, 21 in london. high teens in edinburgh. in the south—west, we have a storm brewing because of the contrast between warm air coming out of africa, the cold air dinghy in from the north and then all the ingredients we need for a storm to come oui’ ingredients we need for a storm to come our way. worst of it? at the moment, it looks it might be swinging to the north—west of us, so around northern ireland and western scotland. hopefully staying out to

see, but be prepared because there is some uncertainty. by friday, it could be stormy with some heavy rain anywhere in the uk. this is bbc news. our latest headlines. the investigative website, bellingcat, says it has uncovered the real identity of alexander petrov, one of the suspects in the salisbury novichock attack. they say he's actually alexander mishkin, alexander petrov, alexander mishkin, a doctor working for russian intelligence agency, the gru. the company responsible for the disposal of medical waste has been stripped of its nhs contract after it emerged that hundreds of tonnes of waste, including human body parts, had been left to pile up at sites across england and scotland. the leader of the democratic unionists, arlene foster, has met with the eu's chief brexit negotiatior in brussels, and has reiterated that she won't accept any customs barriers within the united kingdom. and rebecca humphries, the ex—girlfriend

of strictly come dancing star seann walsh has publicly ended their relationship. she spoke out on twitter after pictures emerged of him kissing his dance partner, katya jones. sports news now on afternoon live with holly hamilton. and the daily soap opera ofjose mourinho. we have had some comments from wayne rooney, i gather. we have spoken about him every day. he has had a lot of criticism. it has been the worst start of the season in 29 yea rs the worst start of the season in 29 years for manchester united. so you cannot blame the critics. 0ne newspaper at the weekend reported that he would be sacked regardless of the result against newcastle at the weekend. it seems like everyone has had a say. rio ferdinand says

that the basics are not being done, something has to be said, paul scholes said mourinho was an embarrassment to the club. ryan giggs has defended him and said he should stay in the job. and now we have heard from former united captain wayne rooney who joined the mls side dc united earlier this year. he has come to his defence, saying that mourinho is an easy target and that the players need to do better, they need to stand up and be counted. but not everyone agrees. just last night, the former blackburn and celtic striker chris sutton said it was mourinho needs to date most of the blame. they beat leicester on the opening day, fortunate with that, lost to brighton and spurs, beat burnley, did 0k against watford, and then wolves were better than united, derby were better, west ham. they have hardly been tested all season and they were lucky to get away with it at newcastle. as a whole, mourinho is not

the right man to take united forward. 15 minutes should not paper over the cracks and when he has behaved this season. it been appalling. some strong words from chris sutton. england women continue their preparations for next year's world cup tonight, with a friendly against australia at craven cottage. australia are ranked sixth in the world, against england's third, so they'll offer another good test for the lionesses. it is gonna be a real physical game, this one, where australia i think are similar to usa in terms of the physicality. they have real running power and strength in the team. regardless of who they have brought or not, you know, they have got players that can play in any league in the world, on any stage, and our players are going to have to show all their quality. tennis: british number one kyle edmund has made it through to the second round of the shanghai masters. edmund has risen to a career—high of 14th in the world and he went into the match against

filip krajinovic as favourite but he was given a stern test by the serbian, who broke serve in the opening set. edmund recovered, though, to win in straight sets and earn a meeting with andreas seppi. wigan centre 0liver gildart has been called into the england rugby league squad for the upcoming internationals against france and new zealand. he replaces the injured sam burgess and will divert from the england knights squad who travel to papua new guinea next week. gildart was super league's young player of the year in 2017 and he's played an important role in wigan‘s progress to saturday's grand final. to cricket and england vice—captain jos buttler says he's happy that they're favourites to beat sri lanka in the one—day series, which starts tomorrow. their preparation hasn't been ideal, with the first warm—up game cut short and the second washed out completely because of heavy rain. but they are the world's best 0d! side. very happy to be favourites. it shows we have been doing some good stuff and i like being favourites,

it means we've been playing well. but we come in here very aware of sri lanka's qualities in their own conditions. they have experienced players who played well in these conditions and it has been tricky in the past for english teams. we look forward to the challenge with confidence, look to adapting our style and pushing the boundaries of what is capable in these conditions. if you have ever watched freestyle skiers making those use jumps and balancing on the smallest edges, have you ever thought about how they train to do that? check this out, this is a swiss freestyle skier, posting this on instagram. i imagine that it posting this on instagram. i imagine thatitis posting this on instagram. i imagine that it is probably harder than he is making that look. imagine throwing some snow into the middle of that. he does successfully make it to the end of that course. he won

in the big air discipline in september in switzerland so you can imagine he's pretty good at what he does. if you are feeling in any way an adequate after watching this, just remember, this took him to 53 attem pts just remember, this took him to 53 atte m pts to just remember, this took him to 53 attempts to complete! and there he goes. i don't think i could manage that even after 53 attempts. i bet you could, i definitely couldn't! holly hamilton, thank you very much. the investigative website, bellingcat, says it has uncovered the real identity of alexander petrov, one of the suspects in the salisbury novichock attack. let's return now to the latest developments following the nerve agent attack in salisbury back in march. the investigative group bellingcat says the second suspect was decorated as a hero by president putin for his "actions in ukraine". alexander mishkin is said to be a doctor employed by the russian military intelligence unit, gru.

the bbc has been told by people in his home village that he is one of the men caught on camera in salisbury. let's speak now to the chemical weapons expert, hamish de bretton—gordon, who has been following this case closely. all of this detail that is now emerging about the two salisbury attackers, a wealth of information. it is extraordinarily embarrassing for the russians aren't for the gru, and for president putin and the kremlin. i think it has been a strategic error by the russians. they knew that they were bustly overmatched by the us and nato and ourselves in military terms but it was the intelligence service, the gru, which was the golden thing in the crown, and of course they are prepared to do anything to further this, but what this has shown is that they seem to be rather amateurish. the 23 agents that we expeued amateurish. the 23 agents that we expelled after the skripal attack in april had a profound effect on the intelligence capability in europe so

the back—up around this has really dissipated and the people at bellingcat have managed to do this with open source material, and it is amazing. the closed source material that undoubtedly the security services have, about 25% of it has been put in the public domain thus far, is very compelling and has actually drilled down to the gru in this one and i understand that vladimir putin in moscow is furious and there is a purge going on. this could impact russian intelligence operations for a long time. they we re operations for a long time. they were called the novichumps in some of the newspapers, workday the tradecraft, they were caught by dutch intelligence red—handed trying to hack into the 0pcw, but those two

quys to hack into the 0pcw, but those two guys walking along through salisbury, they must have known that they were going to be caught on cctv. it seemed arrogant. the techniques have not moved on since the 80s and 905. it techniques have not moved on since the 805 and 905. it is beyond belief that they would not understand about the cctv at the start. i'm pretty sure that they brought the novichok on the aeroplane from moscow. i believe that they circumnavigated security in moscow which allowed them to get on the plane. getting off here they would not necessarily be picked up. the fact that we have been able to follow them and people like bellingcat have been able to pin them down so precisely, and they have so precisely watched sergei skripal open the door to make sure that he got some novichok on his hand, for this to be not picked up i5 hand, for this to be not picked up is deeply worrying for the gru but for our own security services, they will be hugely impressed with what bellingcat have done and they will have some satisfaction, they will

not take the hand of the wheel, a5 it were. thi5 not take the hand of the wheel, a5 it were. this is important, because vladimir putin has led us all a merry dance over cyber attacks and elections and particularly in syria and one hopes now that we can get back on the front foot and start to do meaningful things in syria and elsewhere rather than just letting putin get on and do, as he would, because we know that his security and intel is capability is not as good as we thought. why would they send a doctor as one of this team of two ? send a doctor as one of this team of two? wa5 send a doctor as one of this team of two? was that in case something went wrong with the novichok, do you think? yed mark reddi5h i5 wrong with the novichok, do you think? yed mark reddi5h is the most deadly chemical that has ever been produced. 0ne pinhead i5 deadly chemical that has ever been produced. 0ne pinhead is enough to kill you. your mac really wanted to make sure that they were safe, that the attack was done correctly. and that they could get away. and that seems to be the reason, and he would

have had the skills and the wherewithal to be able to do that. of course, that failed, sergei skripal survive, we know exactly who they are and what they did and hopefully, now, we can move forward and get back on the front foot from and get back on the front foot from an intelligence and from a strategic political stance. thank you so much for your time. a convicted british paedophile is being sued for damages by five young people who claim they were sexually exploited by him while he was living in the philippines. douglas slade was jailed for 24 years in 2016 for abusing five boys here in the uk. angus crawford reports. a dangerous and manipulative paedophile. briton douglas slade now behind bars in the uk. but for 30 years, he lived here, angeles city in the philippines. it's claimed he would entice children into his home and abuse them. whenever i remember the things he did to me, the way he abused us,

it comes back to my mind. everything he did. a member of the notorious paedophile information exchange, two years ago he was extradited, tried and convicted of sex offences against children in the uk in the 19605, 705 and 805. but today he faces a new legal battle. five young people in the philippines are suing him over the abuse they say they suffered. it is thought to be the first case of its kind to reach the high court. i think the message needs to be sent out to those who, in the west in particular, who think that they can go to far—away places such as the philippines and sexually abuse children and young people, that you are not beyond reach. slade may spend the rest of his life in prison here, but children on the other side of the world are still seeking justice.

back to the latest on brexit. we know that the dup leader has been meeting the eu's chief brexit negotiator in brussels and has repeated that she will not accept any customs barriers within the united kingdom. so the issue of the irish border is centre stage once again. let's speak to our reality check correspondent chris morris to find out what makes coming to a deal so difficult. yes, we know that there's onlyjust over a week to go until the next eu summit, so it really is coming close to decision time. but why is ireland such a big issue in these negotiations? the map tells the story — after brexit, the land border between northern ireland and the republic will also become the only land border between the uk and the eu — which will be two separate economic areas. both sides have agreed that there should be no new infrastructure or checks on the border, basically keeping things as open as they are now.

and they've agreed that there should be a backstop plan — or guarantee — to avoid a hard border "in all circumstances". they hope that they can solve all these border issues as part of a long—term agreement on a future trade relationship. but the backstop would automatically kick in if there was a delay or an outright failure to secure such as agreement. so what does that mean in practice? back in february the eu put out a draft legal text for the backstop that would — in effect — keep northern ireland in the eu customs union, with no customs checks or payments, and in the single market for all trade in goods and agriculture — following all eu rules. but that would mean you'd need checks between northern ireland and great britain instead. no way, said the government. that would break up the uk — but eight months later, we're still waiting for detailed alternative proposals which may emerge this week. they're likely to include a plan for the whole of the uk to stay in a customs union

with the eu for some time after brexit. and a compromise which would see some checking of goods, in particular of food and animals, moving between great britain and northern ireland. which brings us to this: no border in the irish sea. the democratic unionist party, on whose support the prime minister depends in parliament, is not alone in insisting that any suggestion of a border would be unacceptable. but the eu, and it seems the government, will argue that it won't be a border, just a series of checks that few people will notice. in the longer term though, if northern ireland was tied more closely to the rules of the eu customs union and single market, and great britain wasn't, then most trade deals the government was able to negotiate in the future, with other countries around the world, wouldn't apply to northern ireland. that's a big problem, which could be very difficult to fudge. but if there's no backstop agreed, then there would be no overall withdrawal agreement, and then the uk could leave the eu

with no deal at all. the girlfriend of comedian seann walsh has insisted she is leaving him and that she is "not a victim" after he was caught kissing his strictly come dancing partner. rebecca humphries said she had suspected something was going on but that her boyfriend had denied it. lizo mzimba has the story. seann walsh and his partner katya jones wowing the audience and the judges on saturday night's strictly. watched by millions at home and cheered on by walsh's girlfriend, rebecca humphries. but soon afterwards, a newspaper revealed that after a day of rehearsal, seann walsh had kissed katya jones after a night out.

they both apologised, walsh saying, "this is no excuse, "but it was a one—off drunken mistake which i am truly sorry for." walsh's girlfriend, rebecca humphries, responded on social media, saying she was ending the relationship. she said that earlier on the night in question, which was also her birthday, she voiced her suspicions about walsh and his dance partner. humphries wrote: "we spoke, and i told him, not for the first time, that his actions over the past three weeks have led me to believe that something inappropriate was going on. "he aggressively and repeatedly called me a psycho, nuts, mental, as he has done countless times throughout our relationship when i've questioned his inappropriate and hurtful behaviour. " there's a lot of pressure on people to look good, isn't there? go on these extreme diets. even i'vejuiced. over the past few years, walsh has become increasingly popular as a stand—up comedian, performing around the uk and on tv. no solid food, just guinness...

because of the allegations made against him by his now former girlfriend, if he does appear on strictly this weekend, it's uncertain what kind of reception he'll receive. watch this space. we'll have the latest business news in a minute. first, the latest headlines. a second suspect in the salisbury nerve agent at that has been identified as a military doctor working for the russian military intelligence unit, the gru. a waste disposal company has been stripped of its nhs contract after hundreds of its nhs contract after hundreds of tonnes of medical waste from hospitals, including body parts, we re hospitals, including body parts, were allowed to pile up. in brussels to talk brexit, the leader of the democratic unionists, arlene foster, has again insisted she will not

accept any customs barriers within the united kingdom. here's your business headlines on afternoon live. the bank of england has called on the eu to do more to protect financial services in the event of a hard brexit. the bank's financial policy committee said that the need for action "is now pressing". it's warned that insurance, derivatives and the transfer of data are all at risk. a committee of mp5 say water companies should be able to force customers on to water meters, to reduce usage. the environment, food and rural affairs committee also says targets for companies to reduce water leaks do not go far enough. aviva boss mark wilson is to stand down after more than five years at the helm. mr wilson will leave the role immediately, but remain with the group until april 2019 while a successor is appointed. his move follows a decision tojoin the board of rival asset manager blackrock, which angered some shareholders.

i know that you would like to talk more about strictly but we are going to talk more about water meters instead. iam to talk more about water meters instead. i am surprised that we are not forced to have water meters. it would cost you more if you use the lot. it might make you think harder about how much you're using. this is the point for a group of mp5. they want water companies to be able to force customers to have a meter installed, to cut how much we use. but they're also demanding tougher targets for companies to cut water leaks, after figures showed three billion litres is lost from the water network each day. that is every day, 3 billion litres. so the water companies are being pressurised quite a lot. we spoke to neil paris, the chair of the

committee. he explained why he thinks we all need water meters. about 15% of water is leaked through the pipes, and i think we can get a reduction of about 50% of usage by customers, by bringing in metres. that brings in about one third less water being used, because at the moment we are just wasting the resource, we are taking more water out of rivers and water courses and reservoirs than we need, especially at times when we have had a drought situation this year, we are getting weather patterns bringing in tighter conditions on water supply. we want to keep our rivers and good environmental condition but we also want to have enough water for our population. and i think it is right that we should pay for the water that we use, but not for what we don't use. so that's the issue of water meters. let's talk about the uk tourist industry. it is booming, apparently. according to visit britain, over 40 million annual inbound visits will be acheieved this year.

that's two years ahead of schedule. people just cannot get enough of the uk. why? we spoke to the lady from visit britain earlier. she said people from the gulf states like to come to london, people from germany like the south—west. different kinds of tourists have their own preferred areas, and uk tourists are enjoying the uk as well. it is up 6%. because the uk as well. it is up 6%. because the weather is so good. we don't need a trade deal to grow. we are a growing industry and we can do more and we can be even more competitive. there are things we need as an industry. we need frictionless borders as much as possible. we need to make sure that we have got great connectivity and that airlines can continue to come in and out of the country and that message of welcome

is so important. two thirds of visits at the moment come from europe, and we need to be continuing to betray britain as a country that welcomes all of our visitors and offers great value and great experiences, as well. apostasy in britain, of course. and now a new venture for microsoft. —— lots to see in britain, of course. tech giant microsoft says it will invest in singapore—based ride—hailing company grab, as part of a new strategic partnership. talk me through exactly what interests microsoft have in this company. grab will notjust be a ride hailing company. that is the reason for this deal between microsoft and grab. they want to invest in artificial intelligence,

and get involved in everything, mobile payments, deliveries. they really wa nt mobile payments, deliveries. they really want to go beyond just right hailing. if you think about how things work in south—east asia, look at companies like tencent or alibaba, they at companies like tencent or aliba ba, they occupy at companies like tencent or alibaba, they occupy more than one space, so what grab are trying to do is to emerge as a similar kind of player and is tying the microsoft comes with technology and of course, although microsoft didn't say how much money it was contributing. although microsoft didn't say how much money it was contributingm might do eventually. semiregular new york, thank you very much indeed. you might not know about microsoft but you know about the markets. so, greggs, in the hot summer heatwave people still did well, going to greggs and buying the hot food. its

share price is up on the back of that. oil share price is up on the back of that. oil prices are back up again after falling back ever so slightly yesterday. thank you very much indeed. see you later on. time for a look at the weather. here's tomasz schafernaker. we are in for a stunning spell of weather over the next couple of days, particularly tomorrow, looking like being the best day of the week with temperatures hitting the mid—205 in the south and whiley into the low 205 further north. but it is not like that everywhere. in western scotla nd not like that everywhere. in western scotland it has been absolutely pouring down, particularly in the western isles. through this afternoon we have continued to see heavy rain, but eventually that will move away by the time we get to early wednesday morning. we have southerly winds across the uk, not a desperately mild morning, single figures everywhere, under clear skies, but the sun will be out, the skies, but the sun will be out, the skies will be clear, blue skies for

many and look at the temperatures going orange across the midlands and yorkshire. temperatures at least 22 in london. we might get to 20 in the lowla nds in london. we might get to 20 in the lowlands of scotland as well. hello, you're watching afternoon live. i'm ben brown. today at 3pm: the second suspect in the salisbury nerve agent attack is identified as a military doctor working for the russian intelligence service, the gru. they are a military outfit that is very aggressive and ambitious in doing things, and they don't necessarily care as much about the consequences as the more traditional secret agencies. a waste disposal company is stripped of its nhs contracts after hundreds of tonnes of medical waste from hospitals, including body parts, were allowed to pile up. in brussels to talk brexit — the leader of the democratic unionists, arlene foster, insists again that she won't accept any customs barriers within the uk. coming up on afternoon live,

all the sport with holly. good afternoon. the jose mourinho soap opera continues. we may be into the international break, but we are still talking about the manchester united manager. today, wayne rooney hasjumped united manager. today, wayne rooney has jumped to his defence for a change. more on that later. thanks holly, and we'll bejoining you for a full update just after half—past. tomasz has all the weather. it is certainly turning warmer. tomorrow is expected to be the best day of the week. thursday onwards, it is all change. also coming up: the strictly curse strikes again — seann walsh's now ex—girlfriend hits back, saying she is not a victim. hello, everyone.

this is afternoon live. more details are being revealed about the second man suspected of carrying out the salisbury nerve agent attack. he has been identified as a doctor with the russian military intelligence agency, the gru, who was made a hero of the russian federation — the country's highest honorary title — four years ago. the investigations website, bellingcat, has named him as alexander mishkin. the bbc understands british officials are not disputing the identification. naomi grimley reports. until now, this man has been known to the world as alexander petrov. he is a suspect in the salisbury poisoning case which started as an attempted assassination of a former russian spy and his daughter, and then, three months later, led to the death of a british woman, dawn sturgess,

after she accidentally handled the deadly nerve agent. the website bellingcat, run by investigative journalists, has revealed the man's real identity is alexander mishkin. it even obtained images of his passport. so what do we know about him so far? well, he was born on the 13th ofjuly 1979 in northern russia. his rank is unknown, but he is believed to be a military doctor. he was recruited by russia's military intelligence agency, the gru, as a student. he was made a hero of the russian federation in 2014 after his actions in ukraine. unlike the other suspect in this case, who's already been named, mishkin has less of an online presence. so it's taken longer to establish his true identity

down to his hometown. the journalists who did this work found themselves heckled at westminster by people who think they are stooges. the man who started bellingcat said that his information comes bellingcat said that his information co m es m ostly bellingcat said that his information comes mostly from open sources. we have had the availability of satellite imagery becoming more common, with the likes of google earth and other platforms and websites. google street view as well. all kinds of information being shared online. you can piece that together to create a greater understanding of different situations. that is something people are coming round to recognising on a larger scale. 0nly last week, we learned how the gru had sent a team of spies in the hague to try and hack the computer systems of the 0pcw, the body responsible for testing samples of the nerve agent. the dutch authorities laid out

in embarrassing detail the workings of a spy mission gone wrong, which should have been top—secret. they are a military outfit that is very aggressive and ambitious in doing things, and they don't necessarily care as much about consequences as your more traditional secret agencies. all the investigative digging of the intelligence agencies and journalists means the story the two salisbury suspects told about visiting the city's famous cathedral spire is now looking ever more threadbare. let's get the latest from russia. joining me now is our moscow correspondent, sarah rainsford. we have had more detail about the second suspect. what more have you found out about him? we have been trying to stand up what

to andrew brayshaw has reported. we have a team heading to try to find things out first hand, but certainly even by contacting people on social media and by phone, the russian service here in moscow has managed to speak to three people who grew up with alexander mishkin in that very remote village in the north of russia, who has seen his photograph and have seen him paraded here as theyis and have seen him paraded here as they is supposed civilian on russian television. they believe he is alexander mishkin, a man who bellingcat is an intelligent agent for russian military intelligence, the gru. 0ne for russian military intelligence, the gru. one person described a young man who he says was not aggressive at all, very friendly, very easy—going, a good student who a lwa ys very easy—going, a good student who always had ambitions of going to medical school, according to this friend. he also described him as being really into computer games

come in music and running the school disco. he founded to believe that it is the same man being accused of a nerve agent attack in the uk. all of this must be acutely and harassing for the gru, for the kremlin. —— acutely embarrass. what is the reaction to all of this coming out? if it is embarrassment, nobody is showing any sign of that, as you might expect. the kremlin has changed tack in the last few days will stop they have been commenting on reports and rumours. 0bviously from the beginning, the russian authorities denied any involvement in the salisbury poisoning. the kremlin has started to say they will not comment. unless evidence come directly from the british authorities, and that comes to the releva nt authorities, and that comes to the relevant authorities in russia, the

kremlin would bother commenting on rumours and speculation in the press and stop that is a giant sidestep away from some uncomfortable questions coming about the identity of the key suspects. a lot of russians beyond those who watch state media, those who read social media and for the own opinions, they are quite surprised to see what appears to be a not very confident admission, let's say, by their intelligence agents, many people who have been held if not in high esteem but were considered to be efficient and effective. 0n social media, there is a backlash against that. people are surprised and joking about what the intelligent agents have been up to. one wonders whether all of this might cause russia to step back a bit. the gru has been heavily involved in ukraine and syria and so on. maybe russian intelligence in general will step back and not be quite as bold and adventurous. i don't think so. that

is not what we will see. there might bea is not what we will see. there might be a pause. it depends how many gru agents have been compromised by the intelligence work from western agencies by all of this. we understand that dozens if not hundreds of people might have been exposed. certainly the mood here... i was the two to three separate individuals the other day and every sickle one said, we are at war, this will not change was up a battle may have been lost but the kremlin thinks this is an ongoing fight. they may retreat and lick their wounds for a while, learn some lessons, the might be some purge at the gru, people will lose their jobs, but they consider it to be a warand jobs, but they consider it to be a war and the fight will go on. thank you. prison officers in england and wales are to be issued with canisters of synthetic pepper spray to help deal with violence and disorder. the spray will be carried by officers in all publicly—run prisons for men from 2019.

the announcement comes as the prison governors association accused the government of failing to react quickly enough to a "crisis" injails. the duke and duchess of cambridge have taken part in a summit in london aimed at helping to improve mental health around the world. prince william and kate were greeted by the health secretary matt hancock as they arrived at the first global ministerial mental health summit. experts from around the world and policy makers are attending the two—day event to discuss issues such as how to deal with the stigma attached to mental health. scotland's first minister and snp leader, nicola sturgeon, will be addressing her party's annual conference shortly. we know she is expected to contrast the chaos of westminster to what the

snp can offer. we willjoin politics like now for full coverage of her speech. and we can welcome viewers from the news channel who have joined and we can welcome viewers from the news channel who havejoined us and we can welcome viewers from the news channel who have joined us for coverage of the speech which should begin in next five minutes or so. keeping me company here, a former snp mp and a former adviser to alistair darling when he was labour chancellor. it is difficult for her now. we heard from our correspondent that this speech from nicola sturgeon is a holding speech. which way does she go now when it comes to independence? i think she has got to talk about achievements, because they had been in powerfor ten yea rs. they had been in powerfor ten years. because you cannot promise independent square to muck a thick they have got to talk about that anyway. the person who talks about independence mostly is ruth davidson. she wants to build a

unionist majority, which she has done successfully. nicola sturgeon has been in power with the snp for ten years. they have to talk about policies and achievements. they are 20 points ahead of the tories in the latest poll, and she has got to talk about why they are there. why they are in this dominant position in scottish politics. she has got to claim the credit for the policies. she has got to keep the crowds enthusiastic and looking to the future without promising... timetable for a date. she does not wa nt to timetable for a date. she does not want to hold a referendum until she thinks she can win it. how do you manage to square the circle that labour and the tories in scotland cannot capture? i don't think she can. following that film, i think quite a few of the delegates will be disappointed. she will not announce a referendum, she will take the referendum into the long grass on a

second independence referendum. she cannot be blamed for that because she will not have one until she thinks she can win it, and the indications are she will not win it. we have got to keep coming back to the economy. the questions they did not answer at the 2014 referendum are still not answer to stop they have answered some of them. on the currency, there was a proposal on the currency. you are right, i think at the last referendum the snp failed to lay out the policy around currency in away people found acceptable. it handed a lot of power to george osborne so he could say no. so you would be happy for an

independent scotland to go back into the eu, which is what they would try to do, and adopt the euro?|j the eu, which is what they would try to do, and adopt the euro? i always thought that what we should have offered was an independent currency that we could peg to either sterling or the euro. to go into an independence referendum, if you don't offer a currency option, i think people think it lacks confidence. yes, and they don't know quite what they will put forward as firm proposals. and i think we don't even know if nicola sturgeon likes the growth commission and its suggestions because it does not discuss this big. it is all free well to save we can take it to the pound. but who will underpin it? it is difficult. we don't want scotland to be the panama of the united kingdom. i think these very theatrical comparisons, i don't think they work any more. you can't talk about scotland as panama. in

the last independence referendum, we had it as fast becoming the albania of europe. people are tired of it. would you accept that she is still the queen of scottish politics? yeah, she's ahead in the polls. good for her. that might be a refection on the other parties as much as on the snp. i don't think... i hope she talks a lot about policy because they have not been a great progressive success we were looking for. education is not a great advert for. education is not a great advert for the prize that scotland once had and could have again. they were a lwa ys and could have again. they were always seen as being ahead on that. why she isn't concentrating on education and saying, let us be the jewel of the united kingdom. london education is miles ahead of scottish

education. in fairness, she came down and she looked at london education and look at the progressive radical steps they have taken to improve london education but it hasn't come back. and london, for example, look at scotland on violent crime and said, you have done so well on this, modern and the lessons. but an education... it is so important. let's talk about everything. it is very important to learn from best practice elsewhere. so you can see that standards have slipped? in some places, they have slipped. the first one is to has said she is determined to get scotla nd said she is determined to get scotland back to its pre—eminent place. all of us want education to be the best it can possibly be. i think there is huge similarities between labour and the snp in terms of the overall attitude towards education. attitude is one thing... except for university education,

because we support free tuition fees will stop which policies could have been enacted by the snp that could have prevented some of the slides in standards in some areas of education? 0ne standards in some areas of education? one thing they are keen on is early—stage testing. you know how children are performing. 0ne on is early—stage testing. you know how children are performing. one of the interesting things, because people are talking about the need for snp politicians to take brave decisions. there is some speculation thatjohn swinney might ignore an advisory vote on testing, because all the other parties got together to overrule the snp government on the question of testing for the very youngest children. he is saying, listen, i have spoken to educationalists who are keen on testing, to establish wherejordan are. he may well press ahead with that. —— where children are. are. he may well press ahead with

that. -- where children are. injohn swinney's own constituency, he advertised for graduates to teach with no pay. there is something wrong in the education system. testing works in some places, i don't think universally educationalists like testing 5 euros. it goes far beyond testing. there is a serious problem in scottish education, and a just god is education. it is a big problem. in the round, it is important to remember that after ten years they are 20 points ahead and that labour has slipped even further behind. where ever they are doing, they are doing something pretty well. it is not just about independence doing something pretty well. it is notjust about independence but doing something pretty well. it is not just about independence but also about policy management and proposals will stop people think in scotla nd proposals will stop people think in scotland that they are a hard—working government. scotland that they are a hard—working governmentm scotland that they are a hard-working government. is that right? well, some people think that.

i come from the highlands and they are dismayed at such a centralised government. they don't know why they have done that. they have pulled the public bodies back to edinburgh.“ that were true, the labour party would be doing so much better. that were true, the labour party would be doing so much betterlj can't get the wording edgeways! keith brown, the warm up who will be introducing nicola sturgeon, who we expect to come from backstage rather than a walk that we can then film. skating. what is this? just because theresa may danced onto the stage, will they skate on? you can call it dancing. it was joking, will they skate on? you can call it dancing. it wasjoking, wasn't it? she is an ice skater, isn't she?“ doesn't look as though she is on

skates, does it, at this particular time. here is nicola sturgeon, first list and leader of the snp to her speech to the annual conference. friends, let me clear something up right at the start. you will have noticed my shoes. laughter .ican laughter . i can barely walk in the seals. dancing was never an option. —— in these heels. friends, 25 years ago today, i sat in another auditorium in this city, listening in to the great nelson

mandela. it was an extraordinary occasion, one that no one who was present will ever forget. the occasion, one that no one who was present will everforget. the people of glasgow were the first in the world to grant mandela freedom of the city. applause and in so doing, they lead the globalfight against and in so doing, they lead the global fight against apartheid.“ was shortly after his release from prison that he came here to say thank you. nelson mandela knew then what we all know now. people really do make glasgow. conference, there are many privileges that come with thejob of first are many privileges that come with the job of first minister. 0ne

are many privileges that come with the job of first minister. one of them is being patron of our women's national football team. cheering i was given that on a two years ago. shortly afterwards, they qualified for the european championships. this year, and the brilliant leadership, they have gone one better. don't worry, i'm not about to break into a chorus of we are on the march with sheuey chorus of we are on the march with shelley was matter army yet. it is our women leading the way at the world cup. the achievement of shelley and the tea m the achievement of shelley and the team is just one of many memorable

moments for scottish sport this year. the city playing host to the european shipping chips, and a rugby tea m european shipping chips, and a rugby team lifting the calcutta cup. it is a lwa ys team lifting the calcutta cup. it is always brilliant watching our athletes succeed at the highest levels. there is achievements inspire us. setting goals, perseverance, resilience. eyes on the prize, no matter how hard the path at times might seem. for many in the snp's long history on our goal, the goal of independence, would have seemed a long way off. but the dedication to building a

better scotla nd but the dedication to building a better scotland never wavered. 0ver the decades, victor is in motherwell, hamilton and others laid the foundation for the success we enjoy today. we are much more privileged generation. 0ur enjoy today. we are much more privileged generation. our goal is clearly in sight. it is now up to us to honour those who went before and when our country's independence. cheering and applause in government now, we're building a country that plays its part in meeting the global challenges of our age. climate change, automation, and ageing population, countering the forces of intolerance, how we

respond to these challenges will affect how we live, work and interact with each other for generations to come. much of the pressure politicians face today is for instant pressure politicians face today is for insta nt a nswers pressure politicians face today is for instant answers and short—term action. governments have a journey to plan for the —— have a duty to plan for the future. the scottish government is owning up to that responsibility. by contrast, the westminster government stumbles from disaster to disaster. it is a shambles. it's hard to watch that unfolding calamity with anything other than horror. let's be frank, a political system that throws up jacob horror. let's be frank, a political system that throws upjacob rees mogg or boris johnson system that throws upjacob rees mogg or borisjohnson as contenders for prime minister has clearly gone very, very adding wrong. —— badly

wrong. that is why it is up to us, now more than ever, to offer optimism and hope. it was once said that to be truly radical is to make hope possible rather than despair convincing. never giving in to despair, making hope possible. that is the difference between our party and westminster. of course, making hope possible is not just about words. it's about action, delivering progress in the here and now, giving a secure home

to those without a roof over their head, helping families on the lowest incomes, supporting children at risk of going hungry. 0ur incomes, supporting children at risk of going hungry. our goal is to create a fairer, more prosperous scotla nd create a fairer, more prosperous scotland with that sort of intervention no longer necessary. in government, we're working day in, day out, step—by—step, to change lives for the better. that is something to be the proud of. it might not always be recognised by the doom mongers in the opposition parties. i will rephrase that, it is never recognised by the miserable doom mongers in the opposition parties. although there is so much more to do, the ground—breaking work already being done here in scotland is recognised across the uk and

around the world. our actions to tackle climate change have been called exemplary by the united nations, and they will make scotland... applause they will make scotland one of the first carbon neutral countries anywhere in the world. the work of the violence reduction unit has won plaudits from the world economic forum and is now being commended by the mayor of london. even the uk tories praise our approach to community sentencing and reducing reoffending. it isjust approach to community sentencing and reducing reoffending. it is just a pity that the shameless opportunist in the scottish wings continue to oppose it at every single term.

0ur oppose it at every single term. our work to tackle period poverty has drawn praise from the united states. awesome and important, thank you scotland for leading the way, that was chelsea clinton. just two weeks ago, bernie sanders praised our actions on their work. of course, in the interests of balance, i should point out that the current incumbent of the white house has not said anything nice about us at all. laughter and applause i think we should take that as a condiment. —— as condiment. ——asa condiment. —— as a complement. then there is labour, i won't waste

too many words on scottish labour except to say that branch office now seems a gross exaggeration of their status. but the uk labour conference two weeks ago was like an snp policy tribute backed. so here is an offer, jeremy. you say you want to bring water into public ownership. the next time you are in scotland, i will show you how to run a public water company. and while you are here, i will show you how to abolish prescription charges. i will show

you how to get rid of tuition fees... i will even take you to dl steelworks or the fort william smelter and show you how to deliver an active industrial policy. and while you talk about the fairer tax system, i will show you how the snp has already delivered a fairer tax system. you see, for the snp it isn'tjust rhetoric. we win public support, we get ourselves elected. we put our money where our mouth is and we improve lives in scotland each and

every single day. and just think how much more we could do three of the chaos and incompetence of westminster. just think how much more hope will be possible when we ta ke more hope will be possible when we take scotland's future into scotland's hands and become an independent country. applause. an independent scotland, just as scotla nd an independent scotland, just as scotland is now, will be a beacon for progressive values, equality, opportunity, diversity and fairness. indeed those values feel more important today than at any time in

my life. in the face of rising prejudice and intolerance across the world, iam proud prejudice and intolerance across the world, i am proud that our party welcomes those who come here from other countries. to everyone who has chosen to make scotla nd to everyone who has chosen to make scotland your home, no matter where you come from, let me say this again today. we value your contribution. 0urs today. we value your contribution. ours is today. we value your contribution. 0urs isa today. we value your contribution. ours is a much better country for having you here and we want you to stay. and to the prime minister, my message is blunt. it is great that the son of an immigrant is your home secretary but don't expect praise

when you are denying others the chance to build a life here. actions, prime minister, speak louder than words. and you're hostile environment policy, and end it now. the snp is meeting the challenges of the future head—on. that means building afairand the future head—on. that means building a fair and inclusive economy. we are providing more help to business than ever before. we know that without sustainable economic growth there can be no sustained social growth so we will a lwa ys sustained social growth so we will always champion scotland '5 businesses but we will never ever accept a tory race to the bottom on wages and workers' rights. we are

committed to fair work, more security, decent pay and a greater voice for workers in the companies whose wealth they help to create. firework is good for everyone, it drives innovation and productivity and that makes for better businesses and that makes for better businesses and higher profits. of course westminster still controls employment law and labour and the tories want to keep it that way. i know why the tories don't want the scottish parliament to protect workers' rights, labour backs that position too. proof, if it were needed, but labour isn't the workers party, labour is just the westminster party. 0nly party, labour is just the westminster party. only with the power of independence, give the full

force of law to our aspirations but we will push the boundaries as fast as we possibly can. we have already made payment of the real living wage pa rt made payment of the real living wage part of our procurement process. we have extended it to adult social ca re have extended it to adult social care workers and will soon do the same to early years workers. as a result of all of that, i can confirm today that scotland now has the highest proportion of employees paid the living wage of any uk nation. but we must do more. last month we said business support grants from scottish enterprise would have living wage, zero—hours contracts and gender pay criteria attached. some saw that as a challenge to companies like amazon. well, last week amazon announced it would pay the living wage, so i can announce

today that working with unions, business and the public sector, we will extend that approach. we will adopt a new default position. their work first. the support amazon received is just one type of is miss grant public money pays for. by the end of this parliament we will extend firework criteria to as many funding streams and business support gra nts funding streams and business support grants as we can. we will also extend the range of scottish government and public sector contracts that fair work criteria will apply to and we will maximise the benefit of public contracts to small businesses and local supply chains. yes, details will vary depending on the size of companies and the circumstances of different sectors, but let me be clear what ourfairwork sectors, but let me be clear what ourfair work first sectors, but let me be clear what our fair work first approach means.

investment in skills and training, no exploitative zero—hours contracts, action on gender pay, genuine workforce engagement including with trade unions and payment of the living wage. we may not yet have the constitutional power to make fair work a legal requirement but we do have the financial power of government to make it a practical reality and we will make sure that counts. conference, we are doing even more to boost the economy for the long—term. by the end of this parliament, scotland will have a new government—owned national investment bank. that will be transformational.

we will be well on the way to meeting our new target for infrastructure spending. that commitment will mean £7 billion of extra investment in schools, hospitals, housing, transport and low—carbon solutions. that will be transformational too. a new infrastructure commission will advise, and it will explore the feasibility of a government—owned national infrastructure company, a policy backed by this conference in june. we are building a new scotland here at home and we are putting scotla nd here at home and we are putting scotland firmly on the map. when the government of the uk turns inwards,

the scottish government is looking outwards. building our nation's reputation and connections. we are extending our international presence to boost exports. we now have permanent operations in dublin, fossils, washington, beijing, london and berlin —— brussels. last month we opened an office in the capital city of canada and i can confirm today that our new office in paris will be open for business next month. not so much an old alliance but new alliances, not just in not so much an old alliance but new alliances, notjust in france and europe but right across the world. the prediction is coming true, we don't even have to stop the world, scotla nd don't even have to stop the world, scotland is just getting

don't even have to stop the world, scotland isjust getting on. 0ver over the past year, our overseas goods exports have grown faster than any other nation. a of our long—term commitment a national manufacturing institute. based in renfrewshire and backed by £65 million, it has been called a factory for the future. today i can announce even more support, to spread the benefits of that new institute we will target up to £18 million of european funding to £18 million of european funding to set up an advanced manufacturing fund, helping small and medium—sized businesses. in the 19805, the tories did their very best to wipe out scottish industries. the effect was

to de—industrialise our country. now we are rebuilding, the snp is re—industrialising scotland. friends, we are building an economy for the future, making hope possible. that starts in the earliest years with our commitment to double childcare, and it runs through our work to close the skill attainment gap, a top priority, and ensure attainment gap, a top priority, and e nsu re a ccess attainment gap, a top priority, and ensure access to university. providing world—class education and flexible skills is the best long—term plan to tackle poverty, but every decent society also needs a strong social security safety net. social protection is a collective

endeavour. a national expression that we care for each other, that we belong to something bigger than ourselves. the wilful damage being done to social protection by the uk government is a scandal. the two child cap, attacks on disability support, sanctions that leave people destitute. it is callous. it lacks heart. it is the hallmark of a government that just doesn't heart. it is the hallmark of a government thatjust doesn't care. universal credit is causing misery. that is now beyond any doubt. even the minister responsible says it could cause families £200 a month. while the prime minister tries to claim they are ending austerity!

shame on them. experience in areas where universal credit is implemented, like the highlands, dundee, east lothian and south lanarkshire highlands, dundee, east lothian and south la narkshire is highlands, dundee, east lothian and south lanarkshire is rent arrears and increased reliance on food banks and increased reliance on food banks and next in the firing line is glasgow. friends, it is unacceptable that in 21st—century scotland, people are not able to eat as a direct result of westminster government policy. to the tories we say this, find some compassion, halt the roll—out of universal credit now. with our limited new powers over social security, we are building

modern rights —based system. we have set upa modern rights —based system. we have set up a new agency, social security scotland. it will employ 1500 people between its dundee hq and its base here in glasgow, and a further 400 in local communities across the country. which just goes to show, more powers for the scottish parliament means more services delivered in scotland and that means morejobs for people delivered in scotland and that means more jobs for people who live here. just one more reason why scotland should become independent. the new agency has made its first payments already. 0ver the new agency has made its first payments already. over the last few weeks more than 76,000 people have received first instalment of the new carer‘s received first instalment of the new ca rer‘s allowance supplement. received first instalment of the new carer‘s allowance supplement. that is an snp policy giving carers more

than £400 a year extra. let me... applause. let mejust share applause. let me just share with you a message i got from a carer at the other day, one of many. she said, "i just received my carer‘s allowance supplement and i'm not ashamed to say i had a wee cry to myself. it is the first time i have been thanked for what i do and not questioned." that is real, it makes a difference, it speaks to the kind of country we are working to build. just like the baby box, the £100 school clothing payment, the new best start grants, it is happening only in scotland and it is happening only in scotland and it is happening only in scotland and it is happening only because of the snp. it is making hope possible, thatis snp. it is making hope possible, that is what our government is all about and i am proud of it. building houses people can afford is

another strand of our long—term work. last week theresa may made a big deal about lifting the borrowing cap on local councils. the snp has never applied a cap in scotland. which maybe goes some of the way to explain this quite remarkable fact. 0ver explain this quite remarkable fact. over the last five years, more council houses have been built in scotla nd council houses have been built in scotland and south of the border. multiple prussian —— proportionately, we have built more council houses than a country ten times our size! 0verall

overall we have delivered 78,000 new affordable homes in our time in government and i can confirm today that we are on track to reach our 50,000 target in this term of parliament. and that is vital to meeting our moral responsibility to eradicate homelessness and rough sleeping. 0f eradicate homelessness and rough sleeping. of course, many people have come homeless have complex needs that requires specialist support as well as a home. traditionally the approach has been to provide support and get a person tenancy ready before providing house but that can make it harder for them

to address the other issues they face. we want to change that. we joined with the charity social bite to introduce what is called housing first, to get people into housing first so they can access support from the security of their own home. social bite is contributing money raised from an event last year that saw 8000 hardy souls, including our own deputy first minister, sleep outside on one of the coldest nights of the year. i say that's what deputies are for! social bite's investment will enable

200 people with some of the most complex needs to be supported into permanent accommodation. people are already benefiting. 0ne permanent accommodation. people are already benefiting. one man, who has been homeless on and off since the age of 16, said this... housing first has given me the key to a whole new life. before, every day was a struggle, but now i am so happy here. we want to help social bite go further so i can announce the scottish government will increase our investment to £65 million. applause. this will allow not 200 but 800 people to be lifted out of homelessness for good. that is making hope possible. friends, the national health service

is our most precious public service. all political parties say the same, but not all political parties are the same. to those itching to open up the same. to those itching to open up our nhs is part of the trade deal with donald trump, let us be clear. if you go down that road, prepare for the political fight of your lives. we will never allow you to put scotland's nhs in danger. applause. like health services everywhere,

ours faces big challenges. with our commitment to record investment and vital reform, we are determined to meet and overcome them. at the heart of the nhs are all those who work in it. every patient, every parent, every family in every home in scotla nd every family in every home in scotland knows how much we owe them so let's thank them again today for all that they do. applause. but thanks alone won't ensure that we have the staff we need to keep the nhs going strong, that's why we have given our nurses the best pay rise in the uk. and as the reason for another commitment i'm making today... in england the number of

trainee nurses has fallen dramatically as a result of the decision to scrap the student nurse bursary. in scotland we retain the bursary, it is not means tested and its value today is £6,500 per year. recruitment is a big challenge and it will get even bigger as brexit bite so we need to attract more people into nursing. that's why i'm announcing today a three stage plan to increase the support we provide. at our last conference i said all carer experience young people at couege carer experience young people at college or university would get the bursary of £8,100, equivalent to the real living wage. this year we will match that for all care experience student nurses. from next year... applause. from next year, the payment for all student nurses, care experienced or

not, will rise to £8,100 per year. and then from the year after, every student nurse will get a bursary of £10,000 per year. we know the value of our nurses. we know the value of our nhs, and to anyone from across the uk attracted toa anyone from across the uk attracted to a career in nursing, our message is simple. come to scotland. friends, our government is taking

action to improve lives now and prepare scotland for the future, but all of that is happening in the shadow of brexit. labour and the tories promised in 2014 that westminster would provide strength and security. that boast was at the very heart of the project fear campaign. now it lies in the brexit ruins. westminster has not delivered strength and security, it has brought chaos, incompetence and confusion, and it has killed off any project fear campaign against independence once and for all. applause. brexit is costing jobs and hitting living standards. 0ur young people are losing the opportunity to study,

travel and work freely across the eu. the work of our world—class universities, researchers, creative artists and so many others is already being damaged, and for what? in 2014 we were told we had to reject independence to protect our place in europe. today we face warnings of medicine shortages, grounded aeroplanes, gridlock airports and the haemorrhaging of investment. they have even appointed minister for food supplies for goodness' sake. we haven't had one of those since winston churchill was prime minister. it brings to mind those immortal churchill words about the sacrifices of the raf in world war ii. never was so much owed by so many to so few. but when the history books tell the story of this tory government, selfishly driving the uk

towards a ha rd government, selfishly driving the uk towards a hard brexit, the verdict will be damning. never has so much been lost by so many to satisfy so few. applause. the snp supports membership of the european union for a simple reason. independent nations should cooperate for the common good. the eu isn't perfect but it's one of the worlds best exa m ples perfect but it's one of the worlds best examples of that principle action, and whatever disagreement there is about whether scotland is better off inside or outside the eu, one thing is not in doubt, this uk government's handling of

negotiations has been chaotic and incompetent. applause. 838 days since the brexit referendum happened, just 171 days until exit, and yet no one has any idea what the uk s until exit, and yet no one has any idea what the uk 5 future relationship with the eu will be. that is a disgraceful failure of leadership. these negotiations have also brought into sharp focus the difference in status between scotland and independent members of the eu. independent ireland has received nothing but solidarity from its european partners. westminster has shown scotland nothing but contempt.

applause. friends, the independence we seek is the very opposite of brexit. brexit is about turning inwards, pulling up the drawbridge, retreating from the world. independence is about being open, outward looking, aspiring to play our full part in the world around us, and it is about partnership, real partnership, with our sister nations across the british isles and ourfriends in europe and across the globe. you know, it seems to me that one of the lasting casualties of brexit is the notion that the uk is in any sense of partnership of equals. 0ur vote to remain in the eu ignored. the scottish government's compromise

plan to stay in the single market dismissed. 0ur request for a role in the negotiations cast aside. a raid on our parliament's power, and when the scottish parliament said no to that raid, the uk government could and should have respected that decision. instead they took us to court. that is not partnership, it is westminster control. scotland deserves better. and now we have tory and labour politicians queueing up to tell us that the decision about scotland's future belongs not to the people but to westminster. that they will

decide if and when we can choose to be independent. let us send this message to date. you can oppose independence, that is your democratic right but you cannot and you will not deny scotland's right to choose. cheering and applause friends, scotland chose to remain in the eu. we did not choose this westminster fiasco. in recent days we have argued for the article 50 process to be extended to allow disaster to be averted. it would allow more time before a sensible single market option to be pursued and time for another vote to take place. on that, let me make our position clear. if there is a proposalfor position clear. if there is a proposal for another position clear. if there is a proposalfor another eu position clear. if there is a proposal for another eu referendum, snp mp5 will vote for that but let's not kid ourselves. there is no

guarantee that another vote will not deliver the same outcome. scotland choosing to remain but still facing exit against our will. brexit is a serious problem for scotland. but thatis serious problem for scotland. but that is only because of a more fundamental issue. 0ur that is only because of a more fundamental issue. our future that is only because of a more fundamental issue. 0urfuture is not in ourown fundamental issue. 0urfuture is not in our own hands. scotland's future is in westminster‘s hands and the only solution to that is to become an independent country. applause isaid i said earlier that independence is the opposite of brexit. the way we make and with our case must also be a stark contrast to a leave campaign that was shameful, deceitful, and very possibly illegal. applause

people look at how parties campaign and conduct themselves and they make judgments about who we are, the values we hold dear and the kind of country that we want to build. so, let us resolve to date, in everything we do, to embody the positive, progressive, inclusive change that we want to see. the passion in our movement demonstrated on the streets of edinburgh at the weekend is wonderful. cheering and applause it gladdens my heart. to those who

say there is no demand for scotland to have a choice about our future, i'd say the polls and people are telling a different story. 0urjob is to take that passion and blend it with pragmatism, perseverance and patience to persuade those not yet persuaded. if we... if we do that, then, believe me, the moment for independence will be simply unstoppable. so let the passion shines through but let us always strive to see the argument from the other point of view. we have a duty to answer questions as fully as we can. we owe

the people of scotland no less. the future relationship between the uk and the eu will determine the context in which scotland would become independent and so the detail of that will shape some of the a nswer of that will shape some of the answer is that people want. but, as we wait, impatiently at times i know, for this phase of negotiations to conclude and for the fog of brexit to clear, no doubt about this. the last two years have shown wide scotland needs to be independent and i am more confident than ever that scotland will be independent. applause 0ur task now is to step up our work, to update and strengthen the case. the sustainable growth commission

set out the opportunities that are there to be grasped in an independent scotland. we must show people that come up with the powers of independence, we can fully realise our country but the vast potential and we must take our case to every home, community and workplace across the land. with independence we can turn our wealth and resources into better lives for eve ryo ne and resources into better lives for everyone who lives here. we are a renewable energy powerhouse. 0ur universities are among the very best in the world. our food and universities are among the very best in the world. 0urfood and drink industry is the very best in the world. applause 0ur tourism industry is booming. we are at the cutting edge of the technologies of the future. above all, we eyed talented and educated people so, yes, let's debate scotland's economic future, address concerns and answer questions but

never ever let anyone tell us that scotla nd never ever let anyone tell us that scotland does not have the talent and the resources to be a independent country. the economic potential of our nation is enormous. and more people now think the scottish economy would be better off with independence than staying with westminster. it is our job to build on that growing sense of confidence so that when the time comes, and it will, the choice facing the scottish people will be this— the ever tightening grip of westminster control or a hopeful, outward looking independent country. an independent country in a modern

partnership of equals across our islands. a country with the ability to ta ke islands. a country with the ability to take our own decisions, to invest in our economy, schools, hospitals and our people, and not waste a single penny on weapons of mass destruction on the river clyde. cheering and applause friends, i don't really think of scotla nd friends, i don't really think of scotland as a small country. i think of it as a big family. and, yes, that does mean the occasional disagreement. but, throughout it all, we care for one another. we fight each other‘s corner, we have big hearts and we're not afraid to show love and there is so much about scotla nd show love and there is so much about scotland to love. the majesty of our

landscape, the humour and ingenuity of our people, and a huge contribution we have made and continue to make across the globe. but pride in who we are today must never stop as believing in and working for an even better country and afairer working for an even better country and a fairer world. that is why all of us are in this party. ijoined the snp in 1986. trust me, in those days you had to be an optimist to join the snp! we have come so far since then, both our party and our country, and we will keep moving forward by using the privilege of government now to change lives for the better and by offering a vision of even brighter days ahead. i was an optimist back then and i am an optimist still. 0ptimistic for our country and hopeful yet for that better world. our goal is simple. a

fairer country, for all those born here, for those who've chosen to make this their home, and for the generations yet to come. that is why we believe in an independent scotland. so no this. leaving this. work for this. hope is possible. a better future is within our grasp. and together we are going to make it happen. cheering and applause studio: a standing ovation for nicola sturgeon who spoke forjust over 50 minutes, a fairly low—key end. part of the speech were quite

reflective. as we all expected, she devoted a large portion of her speech to annual conference on brexit and saying that it is the reason that independence now is going to happen, she said, it will happen, but of course has not named the date. she dangled the prospect of independence and said everybody in the hall had to work towards it but without, as i say, putting a date on it. no doubt pressure in the hall—johnson to do that but she has said they need to wait until they know the shape of the brexit deal —— in the hall to do that. she said westminster under the conservative government was an unfolding calamity, a political system that throws up boris johnson calamity, a political system that throws up borisjohnson and jacob rees—mogg is protect —— perspective by minister shows it is a system where something has gone wrong. she talked about optimism, hope of course as being the slogan of the

conference, and she mentioned it numerous times, i lost count in fact full the she contrasted brexit, which she described as pulling up the drawbridge, and an independent scotla nd the drawbridge, and an independent scotland which she said would be an example of opening outwards. she even quoted winston churchill, former prime minister, although she twisted his words by saying the hard brexit, never has been so much been lost by so many to satisfy so few. she also talked about the domestic agenda and the fact that the snp have been a beta of progressive values which he talked about before the speech —— had been a beacon. she also addressed the issue of the economic future of scotland and the questions that would be raised again if there were moves towards a second independence referendum. this was something she said they would address, that they would answer those questions. john nicolson, what did you think? i think it was a

lovely speech and a reflective speech. i said lovely speech and a reflective speech. isaid before lovely speech and a reflective speech. i said before that she would wa nt to speech. i said before that she would want to dwell on the achievements of the snp of the ten years in power which is a long time for one party to be in power and extraordinary that the snp is 20 points ahead of its nearest rival, the conservatives. also extraordinary that it conservatives. also extraordinary thatitis conservatives. also extraordinary that it is the conservatives. reflective speech talking about their achievements. there were quite a lot of international references, mentioning all of the officers that the scottish government is opening across the world and i thought that was very interesting. a new office opening in paris, on top of 1's in washington, berlin and elsewhere.- this point we will say goodbye to viewers on the news channel. thank you very much for the coverage from nicola sturgeon's speech. while we were listening, news has been coming in from washington that nikki haley, the us ambassador to

the united nations, is leaving the job. she has been holding a news conference with president trump in the oval office also be said that nikki haley at that a fantastic job and would leave at the end of the year. he also said that she'd probably told them about six months ago that she wanted to take a bit of time off. she has not given a glut of details, it does not seem to be apolitical falling out —— a lot of details. thank you very much, everyone. before we begin i willjust say that we are very well—prepared for the incoming hurricane, we have another coming and we have done very well. north carolina, south carolina, texas, puerto rico, so many places and we have another coming and a big one, bigger than they anticipated a week ago. i heard for the first time there was a very small drop of

whether that looked like it was forming and now it is pretty close toa forming and now it is pretty close to a category three if not already. we are very well—prepared. i spoke with governor scott and everybody you have to speak to and think hopefully we will get lucky but maybe that won't happen but we are prepared. i wanted to do this because nikki haley, ambassador to the united nations, has been very special to me. she done an incredible job. special to me. she done an incrediblejob. she is a special to me. she done an incredible job. she is a fantastic person, very importantly, but she is also somebody that gets it. she has been at the united nations from the beginning with us, right from the beginning, and work with us on the campaign. it has been a long time, very intense, and she told me probably six months ago, she said, you know, maybe at the end of the two—year period but at the end of

the year, i want to take a little time off, little break. she is been very successful governor of south carolina for 80 years. and —— eight yea rs. carolina for 80 years. and —— eight years. and this is possibly even more intense, and very dangerous and a lot of things. but she has done a fantastic job and we a lot of things. but she has done a fantasticjob and we have done a fantasticjob and we have done a fantastic job together, fantasticjob and we have done a fantasticjob together, we have sold a lot of problems and we are in the process of solving a lot of problems. in the beginning, north korea was a massive problem and now it is moving along really nicely. i can speak for secretary of state mike pompeo, he thinks the world of nikki so we are all happy for you in one way but we had to lose you but hopefully you will be coming back at some point. ijust want hopefully you will be coming back at some point. i just want to hopefully you will be coming back at some point. ijust want to let hopefully you will be coming back at some point. i just want to let you know, at the end of the year nikki will be leaving and will be in

co nsta nt will be leaving and will be in constant touch. i know it you have ideas you will call me because you know all the players. that was what she did best at the un, she got to know all the players, china, russia, india, she knows everybody on the very first name basis and they like her. except for maybe a couple which is normal! but they really do like herand, is normal! but they really do like her and, more importantly, they respect. i just wanted her and, more importantly, they respect. ijust wanted to tell you that we will miss you. we will be speaking all the time but we will miss you nevertheless and you have done a fantasticjob and i want to thank you very much. thank you very much. i want to say, first of all i wa nt much. i want to say, first of all i want to thank the president forjust allowing us to come out and talk to you this way. it has been an honour ofa you this way. it has been an honour of a lifetime. i said i am such a lucky girl to have been able to lead the state that raised me and to serve a country i love so very much, it has really been a blessing i want

to thank you for that. i'm most excited, look at the two years, what has happened in two years with the united states on foreign policy. now the united states is respected. countries may not like what we do but they respect what we do. they know that if we say we will do something, we follow it through and the president proved that, whether that was with chemical weapons in syria, with nato, saying other countries have to pay their share, the trade deals which have been amazing. they get at the president means business and they all agree with that. and then if you look at just these two years at the un. we cut1.3 just these two years at the un. we cut 1.3 billion in the un budget, we made a stronger and more efficient. south sudan, we got an arms embargo which was a long time coming. three north korean sanctions packages which was the largest in a generation done in a way that we could really work towards denuclearise inc north korea. the

iran deal, bringing attention to a country that everyone has to understand you can't overlook the bad things are doing, you have to see them as the threat they are possibly lack of beads and thai israel bias and the strength and courage that the president showed in moving the embassy and showing the re st of moving the embassy and showing the rest of the world that we will put our embassy where we want to put our embassies. all of those things have made a huge difference in the us' standing but i can tell you, us is strong again and strong in a way that should make all americans very proud. i do want to say that it is notjust the proud. i do want to say that it is not just the president proud. i do want to say that it is notjust the president i want proud. i do want to say that it is not just the president i want to thank. the family in general. the first lady has been nothing but very kind to me. i can't say enough good things about jared and ivanka. jared is such a hidden genius that no one understands. what i have done working with him on the middle east

peace plan, it is so unbelievably well done. ivanka has been a great friend and they do a lot of things behind the scenes that i wish more people knew about because we are a better country because they are in this administration. ijust had to say also, thank you to my family. michael is a saint and my two little ones, i adore them. and to team us un, they sacrificed a lot and put a lot of time and energy into it but they have a lot of heart and really wanted to make america proud. with that, i'm not leaving until the end of the year. my goal is we make sure everything is in a good place for the next ambassador to come in. but it's a great day in the united states and i'm proud to have been pa rt of states and i'm proud to have been part of the team. now i don't have anything set on where i'm going to go. i think the main thing was, i was governor for six years and we dealt with the havoc on, thousand year flood, church shooting and

school shooting and a lot and to do two years of russia and iran and north korea, it has been eight years of intense time. i think you have to be selfless enough to know when you step aside and allow someone else to do the job. thank you, mr president, it has been the honour of a lifetime. i will say this. for all of you who were asked about 2020, no, i'm not running. i can promise you what i will be doing is campaigning for this one and i look forward to supporting the president in the next election. that was nikki haley with the news that she is resigning as us ambassador to the united nations and also saying she is not planning, there had been suspect elation she might run as a rival to the president but she is not, in 2020. that is the latest from washington, more on that this afternoon and this evening here on bbc news. more details are being revealed about the second man suspected of carrying out the salisbury nerve agent attack. he has been identified as a doctor with the russian military intelligence agency,

the gru, who was made a hero of the russian federation — the country's highest honorary title — four years ago. the investigations website bellingcat has named him as alexander mishkin. the bbc understands british officials are not disputing the identification. naomi grimley reports. until now, this man has been known to the world as alexander petrov. he is a suspect in the salisbury poisoning case which started as an attempted assassination of a former russian spy and his daughter, and then, three months later, led to the death of a british woman, dawn sturgess, after she accidentally handled the deadly nerve agent. the website bellingcat, run by investigative journalists, has revealed the man's real identity is alexander mishkin. it even obtained images of his passport. so, what do we know about him so far? well, he was born on the 13th

ofjuly1979 in northern russia. his rank is unknown, but he is believed to be a military doctor. he was recruited by russia's military intelligence agency, the gru, as a student. he was made a hero of the russian federation in 2014 for actions in ukraine. unlike the other suspect in this case, who's already been named, mishkin has less of an online presence. so it's taken longer to establish his true identity down to his hometown. the journalists who did this work found themselves heckled at westminster by protestors who think they are stooges for western intelligence services. the man who founded bellingcat said that a lot of their material comes from open sources. there's an awful lot of information that's become available, partly from the rise of the use of smartphones and apps and social media sharing.

we have had the availability of satellite imagery becoming more common, thanks to google earth and other platforms and websites. google street view as well. all kinds of information being shared online. you can piece that together to gain a greater understanding of different situations. that is something people are coming round to recognising on a larger scale. 0nly last week, we learned how the gru had sent a team of spies in the hague to try and hack the computer systems of the 0pcw, the body responsible for testing samples of the nerve agent. the dutch authorities laid out in embarrassing detail the workings of a spy mission gone wrong, which should have been top—secret. they are a military outfit that is very aggressive and ambitious in doing things, and they don't necessarily care as much about consequences as your more traditional secret agencies. all the investigative digging of the intelligence agencies

and journalists means the story the two salisbury suspects told about visiting the city's famous cathedral spire is now looking ever more threadbare. joining me now is sir andrew wood, uk ambassador to russia from 1995 to 2000. as we said, there is an embarrassing wealth of detail we now have about these people behind the salisbury attack. yes, which is thanks to bellingcat in particular which has been very active in this area and no doubt other sources. it is striking. in our military we have doctors to save lives, including enemy lives. in russia, they recruited people to kill people. i think that is a particularly repellent aspect of

this discovery. what do you think about the gru? they seem to have made so many mistakes, frankly. their tradecraft and spy craft was amateurish, not only in the salisbury bid with what the dutch intelligence revealed. what will be going through the minds president putin and people in the kremlin? how embarrassed will they be? will there be repercussions for people who run the gru? according to well—established russian reporter, they have already been given a tremendous... and reminding —— i'm trying to think of a polite... telling off! which in itself is a confession of guilt. what has angered the president is apparently that they bungled, not that they we re that they bungled, not that they were wrong to be trying to kill people and i think that tells you a lot about the nature of russia today. the gru have been accused of

doing all sorts of things in ukraine, in other theatres, doing all sorts of things in ukraine, in othertheatres, syria and so on. do you think if all of this from their point of view has gone wrong and backfired in terms of pr, might they step back a little bit from what they have been doing around the world ? bit from what they have been doing around the world? no, i think they are more likely to double or quits and try to do it better next time. what they did in ukraine is different order of things. they went into crime area —— crimea to seize it, pretended they were nothing to do with the russian military. they have established a rain of repression in eastern ukraine, i think quite successful if you look at it like that. i don't think both operations were just about a particularly good but they achieve their objectives but not this time. i have seen it said, one of the things the russian have always prided themselves on is that they are very good at espionage, spy craft. if this is a humiliation, it

isa craft. if this is a humiliation, it is a humiliation relief for the whole russian state. yes. if you read books about the gordievsky saga for example, you will discover they make quite a lot of mistakes in that as well and it is only human to do that. in terms of what putin does now, you don't think he will retreat into his shell at all because of what are perceived to be failures? no, i don't. what is he going to do? can he keep going with all of these cyber attacks and everything else? he has been in the kremlin for a long time. it is a very lonely place to be and he has been increasingly isolated within russia, let alone from the outside world. that can create a dangerous attitude towards power in general. it doesn't necessarily create a long—term,

considered strategy which i don't think he really has. thank you very much. a clinical waste disposal firm has been stripped of nhs contracts after allowing medical waste to pile up at its facilities. healthcare environmental services had been responsible for removing medical waste from many hospitals in england and scotland. our health editor hugh pym has this update. the story only emerged at the end of last week, even though the environment agency had informed the government back injuly that there was this problem with medical waste from hospitals going to sites in england and in scotland as well, and at some there was a backlog building up. it was not being disposed of in a timely fashion. it wasn't going to incineration in the time that should have been allowed. now, what's happened today is that the company who had this contract with about 50 hospitals has been stripped of that contract at 15 of them. the government made a statement this morning. another contractor has been found, called mitie,

well—known in the outsourcing world, and they have taken over that contract. but that still leaves 35 or so other hospitals still working with hes. now, in due course, their contracts will be moved. there have been assurances that there is no risk to the public or patients, and that there is no problem with getting that moved. but those hospitals will still lead to have contingency plans. ministers have been criticised for not telling the commons about this. matt hancock, the secretary of state for health and social care, chaired an emergency cobra meeting in september, and yet the story only emerged at the end of last week. what they're saying is they had to get the contract in line before they could make today's announcement. time for a look at the weather. tomasz schafernaker has joined me and we are talking about the hurricane heading towards the united states. in fact donald trump did

mention it, so how dangerous is that hurricane going to be? how much devastation could cause when it gets there? iamjust there? i am just going to check the microphone is switched on and so bear with me, i do apologise. all in good time! it is looking like it will be a serious storm. this time yesterday we were looking at a potential pretty bad storm, now it looks like it will be a major hurricane. it will make landfall on the panhandle of florida towards the north so well away from miami and florida, but further north closer to the capital tallahassee, and on la ndfall the capital tallahassee, and on landfall that could create a tremendous storm surge, perhaps 12 feet. that is a lot of water that will be flooding in very low—lying

areas, barely above sea level. on top of that, the national hurricane centre in florida is predicting gusts of wind could be heating up 150 mph so this is a very serious storm and it is making a beeline for the coast and it won't be long before we start to see the effect of this system. here is the track, so what all of this means is the blue area is the area, so for anyone in this area right here they are getting out of it, they should have gone by now. on top of that, ten, 12 inches of rain so this will be a real headache for the us once again. that is an understatement, a potential real disaster on the way. some stormy weather also heading

towards us? yes, tropical storm leslie. perhaps there were thoughts that might be brushing us but in fa ct we that might be brushing us but in fact we are getting our own autumn storm generated in the north atla ntic storm generated in the north atlantic and that will come off the back—end of what we are experiencing, a bit of an indian summer, so it is warm and then towards the end of the week it is looking stormy. we will go to the details now and see what's happening. right across europe we are experiencing well above average temperatures, the star east as the very far west of russia and into scandinavia as well. warm air coming straight out of north africa so temperatures well into the 205. in central parts of france not far off 30 degrees. here in the uk this afternoon, a fine end to the day, this is more or less right now but i must stress that in western scotland

you are wondering, my goodness, where is this indian summer? it has been pouring with rain, there has been pouring with rain, there has been flooding and landslides. it will get better through this evening and overnight. that weatherfront will get better through this evening and overnight. that weather front is finally pulling out to see. it is these warm southerly winds pushing them back out to seize this time tomorrow the weather is great across the uk. from the tip of cornwall all the uk. from the tip of cornwall all the way to lerwick we are looking at sunshine, which doesn't happen very often. the top whack will be 24 in london. that will be the best day of the week. thursday, things are going downhill. this is the storm i'm talking about, you can see it here, but on thursday we have a weather front approaching us. eastern parts of the uk, the winds are coming from

the south so there will still be warmeraircoming in, so the south so there will still be warmerair coming in, so eastern areas like london, norwich, newcastle, aberdeen, still a decent day. there might be a shower but the temperatures will still be well above average. then western areas, notice the weather front comes in, then this just about on the edge of then this just about on the edge of the screen, this is the next weather system coming in, the nasty low—pressure. at the moment, eyeballing this low, the worst of the winds are actually going to the north—west of the uk so perhaps for many further south across the country it is not the wind but the rain will be the real problem. the best message is for friday, if you are travelling and through the weekend, take note of the weather forecast because there could be severe weather not 1 forecast because there could be severe weather not1 million miles away from you. staging and to updates for sure. —— state

this is bbc news — our latest headlines. the true identity of the second suspect in the salisbury novichock attack has been revealed by the investigative website, bellingcat. it's identified alexander mishkin as a doctor working with russian intelligence, who was given the title ‘hero of the russian federation' by vladimi putin in 2014. the united states' ambassador to the un, nikki haley, has resigned. donald trump accepted her resignation at the white house today and said she would leave the post at the end of the year after doing an "incrediblejob". a company responsible for the disposal of medical waste has been stripped of its nhs contract after it emerged that hundreds of tonnes of waste had been left to pile up at sites across england and scotland. the dup leader, arlene foster, has met with the eu's chief brexit negotiator, michel barnier, today, and has made a fresh warning that her party won't accept any deal that leads to economic barriers

between northern ireland and the rest of the uk. good afternoon. the winner of the royal institute of british architects' most prestigious award, the riba stirling prize, will be announced on wedneasday night. announced on wednesday night. the nominations to become britain's best new building include a student housing development, a cemetery, and a nursery school. we've been looking at each building in the shortlist over the past few days and today it's the turn of storey‘s field centre and eddington nursery in cambridge by muma, which was commissioned by the university, for the new community of north—west cambridge. inspired by the college cloisters and courts of the city, this project has a sustainability agenda at its core. with this building, the client wished to create a new focus

at the heart of the new community in eddington, cambridge. the building comprises a community centre and a nursery, and those two parts of the building are rather different. the community centre is outward engaging, something of the community. the nursery is for children's education, a secure place for play for kids. with a building of two parts, we've worked carefully to balance the nature of the architecture. with the nursery, we've created moon gates, portal windows, the sunburst grill. all of these are highly crafted elements made from brick, made from metal, made from timber. as we move through the building, then, into the main hall of the community centre, there is more of a sense of gravitas. we see this as a room that might suit a wedding or a memorial service, so we're balancing the different

uses through the articulation of the architecture. the spaces that we see around us are, for the most part, very elegant and refined. and what i really enjoy are the occasional moments when that's interrupted and there is a delight. when you walk into a nursery classroom and you see a triangle, a square and a circle on the wall or a constellation of windows or a very, very elegant staircase in the main hall that actually creates wonder and excitement while you're in the spaces. it's amazing. we feel really lucky being able to live in this place and have such an amazing community centre. we feel like it's our own place. we're really happy about that, aren't we? yes, we are! you can find out more about all of the nominated buildings on the bbc arts website and watch this year's riba stirling prize

live here on the bbc news channel tomorrow evening between 8:30 and 9pm. with me here is an expert on new buildings and how buildings make us feel. how important do you think architecture is in terms of our mental health and the way we feel? it is incredibly important for mental health and it is something thatis mental health and it is something that is only just mental health and it is something that is onlyjust been properly recognised. i think we have always recognised. i think we have always recognised architecture can make you feel happy or yes happy but it can have long—lasting effects on anxiety, depression, things like that so there is a really big opportunity here. what about a building would make us feel happy for example? what is it that gets us

feeling better? there's three main things, one is connection to the outside world though it tends to be that the building that feels like a fortress is not especially good for the mental health of the people in it or outside of it. being connected in terms of natural light for circadian rhythms or views of nature, and any tangible connection with the community that you are placed within. then physical activity, people think of as a thing for physical health, but actually regular physical activity is really important for mental health as well so designing to facilitate that is great. and finally social interaction, all of these things can really help with your mental health. that sounds fine in theory, give some examples of architectural works that you think have had that impact, made people feel better and improved

mental health. i'm interested to look at the current contenders for the riba prize and some of those incorporate what we have been thinking about. for example in terms of being connected to the community outside the building, the bloomberg new building has this glass corridor that essentially connects right to the other side and they have also created a street that runs through the building, which brings extra value to the community, it makes people come in and feel that they area part people come in and feel that they are a part of it. in terms of the tate in st ives, it is interesting that there is these big windows that look out, that sort of make you feel like the community, the people outside are the art and it's a very grounding thing. some of the buildings that have been interesting over time for example are the new coca—cola headquarters injapan

which i was lucky enough to visit recently. they have done lots of good thinking about how you can get people using the stairs. how can you get them having meetings looking out over parkland and things like that. all right, layla mccay, good to talk to you. thank you. you are watching bbc news. a convicted british paedophile is being sued for damages by five young people who claim they were sexually exploited by him while he was living in the philippines. douglas slade was jailed for 24 years in 2016 for abusing five boys here in the uk. angus crawford reports. a dangerous and manipulative paedophile. briton douglas slade, now behind bars in the uk. but for 30 years, he lived here, angeles city in the philippines. it's claimed he would entice children into his home and abuse them. whenever i remember the things he did to me, the way he abused us, it comes back to my mind.

everything he did. a member of the notorious paedophile information exchange, two years ago he was extradited, tried and convicted of sex offences against children in the uk in the 19605, 705 and 805. but today he faces a new legal battle. five young people in the philippines are suing him over the abuse they say they suffered. it is thought to be the first case of its kind to reach the high court. i think the message needs to be sent out to those who, in the west in particular, who think that they can go to far—away places such as the philippines and sexually abuse children and young people, that you are not beyond reach. slade may spend the rest of his life in prison here, but children on the other side of the world are still seeking justice. angus crawford, bbc news. marion is here with the business

news. first a look at the headlines on afternoon live... the second suspect in the salisbury nerve agent attack is identified by an investigative website, as a military doctor, working for the russian intelligence service. the us ambassador to the united nations, nikki haley, appears alongside president trump to announce that she will stand down at the end of the year. a waste disposal company is stripped of its nhs contracts, after hundreds of tonnes of medical waste from hospitals — including body parts — were allowed to pile up. here's your business headlines on afternoon live. the bank of england has called on the eu to do more to protect financial services in the event of a hard brexit. the bank's financial policy committee said that the need for action "is now pressing".

it's warned that insurance, derivatives and the transfer of data are all at risk. a committee of mp5 say water companies should be able to force customers onto water meters, to reduce usage. the environment, food and rural affairs committee also says targets for companies to reduce water leaks don't go far enough. three billion litres of water is lost from the network every day. aviva boss mark wilson is to stand down after more than five years at the helm. mr wilson will leave the role immediately, but remain with the group until april 2019 while a successor is appointed. his move follows a decision tojoin the board of rival asset manager blackrock, which angered some shareholders. a warning from the bank of england today?

the bank of england is concerned about rapid growth in lending to risky uk businesses. it is saying it is worried about the outlook and lending will be reviewed to see if there's any financial risk, that is the story of the bank of england today. we have had some difficult news from the high street, and more today? the british retail consortium and the kpmg have come out with this survey, showing the slowest rate of growth we have seen since october last year. with total sales growing byjust 0.7% from a year earlier. and how have the financial

markets been doing? it has been a mixed day, in particular the markets worried about financial stability of the italian economy, also the imf came out with its greater forecasts for global growth which is looking disappointing so quite a bit for investors to get their heads around. emma—lou montgomery is from fidelity. a stark warning from the bank of england today? yes, it has identified this money going to risky businesses. if you compare it to be £10 billion of normal lending you can see where their worries are coming from. the big issue is it's a worry from the bank that we are going back into the territory that we haven't seen since 2008 or before

that when there was the exuberant lending that led to the credit crunch and the financial crisis so thatis crunch and the financial crisis so that is a warning shot across the bow is to say let's make sure lending is on getting out of hand. disappointing news from the high street after kpmg's survey? yes, non—food retailers are doing particularly badly at the moment, it isa particularly badly at the moment, it is a tough time for them. there are winners but people are reining in their spending. there's no doubt consumers are being picky. some good news was from greggs. if i told you they would win an award for vegan sandwich of the year you would have choked on your pork pie but that is what they have don! they have seen sales rise which is particularly good when there is such a tightening of the belt at the moment. and also very good when the weather is so

hot, people are still going out and buying those hot snacks. the markets have been a mixed bag, they started the day in negative territory but they have regained some momentum, but a pretty flat day all in all. what are investors thinking about today? it is a bit dicey, there's lots of uncertainty. we have brexit uncertainty, trade was between china and the us, and some caution as to what is happening. ftse went to— the first time in a few days, got out of the red. the us markets also started off that way but there is the imf warning about global growth. also in america there has been better news coming out today in the fact tech stocks have had a rebound and also treasury yields over there have come back slightly from their seven—year highs which has given the equity market a boost. which is what they

needed, to be honest. thank you. emma—lou montgomery from fidelity. red is my favourite colour but in market terms that is not so good. the ftse 100 market terms that is not so good. the ftse100 is barely keeping its head over the mark. brent crude has been fluctuating slightly but back again to near the 85 cents mark. many thanks indeed. that was the latest is this news. —— business news. the girlfriend of comedian seann walsh says she's leaving him and that she is "not a victim" after he was caught kissing his strictly come dancing partner. rebecca humphries said she had suspected something was going on but that her boyfriend had denied it. lizo mzimba has the story.

seann walsh and his partner katya jones wowing the audience and the judges on saturday night's strictly. applause. watched by millions at home and cheered on by walsh's girlfriend, rebecca humphries. but soon afterwards, a newspaper revealed that after a day of rehearsal, seann walsh had kissed katya jones after a night out. they both apologised, walsh saying, "this is no excuse, but it was a one—off drunken mistake which i am truly sorry for." walsh's girlfriend, rebecca humphries, responded on social media, saying she was ending the relationship. she said that earlier on the night in question, which was also her birthday, she voiced her suspicions

about walsh and his dance partner. humphries wrote: there's a lot of pressure on people to look good, isn't there? go on these extreme diets. even i'vejuiced. over the past few years, walsh has become increasingly popular as a stand—up comedian, performing around the uk and on tv. no solid food, just guinness... because of the allegations made against him by his now former girlfriend, if he does appear on strictly this weekend, it's uncertain what kind of reception he'll receive. lizo mzimba, bbc news. the duke and duchess of cambridge have taken part in a summit in london aimed at helping to improve mental health

provision around the world. prince william and kate were greeted by the health secretary matt hancock as they arrived at the first global ministerial mental health summit. that's it from your afternoon live team for today. next, the bbc news at five. time for a look at the weather. here is tomasz schafernaker. as far as tomorrow goes, i would go as far as saying the weather will be spectacular for the as far as saying the weather will be spectacularfor the time as far as saying the weather will be spectacular for the time of year. it is october, the month of storms but we are in this spell of very warm weather with temperatures well into the 205, well above average for the time of year. you can see the areas drifting out of africa, across spain, france and into the uk, affecting much of europe as well so widely across europe we are seeing

temperatures much higher than they should be at this time of year. we are ending the afternoon with temperatures of 20 degrees in london, but in the north west of scotla nd london, but in the north west of scotland it is still wet and it has been pouring in the western isles but the rain will ease and tomorrow the southerly winds will push the weather front out of the way, pushing it back out to sea. first thing in the morning some mist and fog and a nip in the air, but then the sunshine will come out and it will be a beautiful sunny day in the south, across the midlands, northern ireland, scotland, all the way up to lerwick. i think 24 probably actually the highest temperature in london and we will probably hit around 20 degrees in glasgow and edinburgh as well. the change comes on thursday, a weather front moves in. before it arrives there will be warm weather across eastern parts of the country because of the southerly winds but stormy weather is brewing

at the same time though i'm trying to get the message across that from thursday onwards things will start to go downhill. 0n thursday onwards things will start to go downhill. on thursday, rain across western areas sweeping into cornwall, devon, parts of wales, scotla nd cornwall, devon, parts of wales, scotland too. another fine day for the eastern side of the country, 21 degrees in london, but the winds are increasing out west. not pouring all day long but take a brolly. nasty weather arrives through friday, this low pressure could be named storm by the time we get to friday. severe gales out towards the south—west and also some very heavy rain heading our way too so wherever you are on friday, just bear in mind there could be nasty weather heading your way. today at five. more details emerge about the second russian suspect involved in the salisbury chemical attack. investigators say he's a military doctor called alexander mishkin

and a decorated hero of the russian federation who works for the intelligence agency the gru. they are a military outfit that is very aggressive and ambitious in doing things and they do not necessarily care as much about the consequences as your more traditional secret agencies. we'll be talking to a former british intelligence officer about the latest on that story. the other main stories on bbc news at 5. a waste disposal company is stripped of its nhs contracts in england — after hundreds of tonnes of medical waste from hospitals were allowed to pile up. in brussels talking brexit — the leader of the democratic unionists arlene foster insists again that she won't accept any customs barriers within the uk.