richard galpin reports. was flown from moscow to berlin saturday after faing critically ill earlier that week, losing his sight and unable to talk or walk. been treatedhas here at this hospital in the capital, one ogermany's most famous. now for the first time, the doctors looking after him ha been speaking publicly about what may have caused the acute illnes that hewe can say is will now have, and from what we have learnedrom relatives, it is indeed highly plausible that a poisoning has taken place. so far we have seen no explanation for his condition. richard: wearing a police uniform, he was one of four members of the anti-putin protest group pussy riot which invaded the pitch during the world cup final in moscow july. all this as president putin looked on. after spending 15 days in jail deplaned againas last week, and the following day he fell critically ill. at another is conference in berlin today, his girlfriend, who was with him at the time, described what happened. >> it was getting worse and worse.

richard galpin has more.to syria in 2015 tojoin a kurdish group known as the ypg, which was fighting against so—called islamic state. the former soldier, who had served in afghanistan, was apparently frustrated by what he viewed as the british government's lack of action. although the ypg is backed by the united states, turkey views it as a terrorist organisation — anyone associated with it is vulnerable to arrest. so whenjoe robinson and his fiancee, mira rojkan, went on holiday to turkey last year, he was detained and has now been sentenced to more than seven years in prison. he was very shocked by the news from yesterday. he is very desperate to come home. he is broken, he is tired, and he just wishes to come home as soon as possible. his family say that while with the ypg, he never fought. he was a medical orderly. they say there will be an appeal against the conviction. for the moment, he is not in prison but cannot leave turkey. richard galpin, bbc news. a review of the rail industry is to be launched b

richard galpin, bbc news. jane: you are watching "bbc world news america." still to come on tonight's with poland's presidentin ashington, we look at a chapter in the history between the countries that few knew about until now. south korea's president moon jae-in has traveled to nor korea to me kim jong-un in pyongyang. progrs,outh the north will want a formal treaty marking an end to the korean war. laura: this summit began where the last left off with a warm hug and a handshake. the leaders of these countries technically still at war treated -- greeted each of the like old friends. for this chosen north korean girl, she got a hug from ident she probably never dreamed would set foot in her country. moon jae-in took time llth the carefuarranged crowds. they were dressed in their best to welcome this son of north korean refugees. president moon can't enjoy this moment for too long.as he lot of work to do. away from the cheering masses, he must persuade kim jong-un to take steps to disarm. pr i think the most important thing is that thress of the last year nee

richard galpin reports. these are military exercises on an epic scale.laiming more than 30,000 tanks and other armoured vehicles are taking part, along with 300,000 troops. it is also claiming 1,000 aircraft are involved, and a large part of the navy. the kremlin has not put on a show of strength like this for more than 30 years, when the soviet union and the cold war both existed. and also taking part here at this command centre in eastern siberia are these chinese officers, a sign of the deepening relationship between the two countries. this major general describes the joint exercises as strategic, co—ordinated, real combat, demonstrating their cooperation. the chinese contingent of these exercises, although significant, is comparatively small, with around 3,000 soldiers taking part. but at the same time, president putin has been meeting with the chinese leader, xi jinping, at an economic forum also in the far east of russia, all this bolstering the sense the two countries are growing closer together. while both countries have an interest in demonstrat

richard galpin, bbc news. let's get some of the day's other news.e taken part in a huge pro—independence demonstration in barcelona, to mark catalonia's national day. it's the first such event since separatist politicians were thwarted in their bid to declare catalan independence from spain last year. that was ruled illegal by spain's constitutional court. a court in bangladesh has once again denied bail to an internationally—acclaimed photographer arrested last month during mass protests over road safety. shahidul alam was detained on august 5th on charges of spreading rumours and false information against the government. he'd criticised the government's crackdown on the student demonstrations in a television interview and on facebook. pro—whaling nations have blocked an attempt to create a whale sanctuary in the south atlantic. the proposal failed to get enough votes at a fractious meeting of the international whaling commission in brazil. environmental campaigners are outraged. the pro—whaling nations ofjapan, iceland, and norway led the vote aga

richard galpin reports.e coming days or weeks that already hundreds of people have started moving out of areas likely to be first in the firing line. this, the last rebel held province in syria, is a congested area with a population of almost 3 million people. half of those who fled here were from previous battles elsewhere in the country. many of them are now living in camps like this. they are very vulnerable. and earlier this week, russia resumed air strikes on the province, reportedly killing civilians. this amid a major build—up of troops nearby, suggesting a full assault on idlib could be imminent. there is this eerie feeling that we are now at the final stages of a relentless countdown to war. i would say there's still time to call it off, to halt this insanity, and to end this last possible battle in syria in talks, and not in a bloodbath that could engulf millions of civilians. in response, rebel forces here are preparing to defend the province. these fighters are aligned with turkey. but amongst th

richard galpin reports.uspects in the attempted poisoning of sergei skripal and his daughter yulia in salisbury has led to an increasingly angry response from the government here. this is cctv footage obtained by the police, showing the two men coming to britain, in early march. and on the day of the attack, walking along this road close to the house of mr skripal, where the nerve agent was smeared on the door handle. all of this providing important evidence. the government has also announced that they were agents of this organisation, the russian military intelligence agency — also known as the gru. it sees itself as a war fighting instrument with special forces in its ranks. is it possible its operations, including assassination attempt, could go ahead without the approval of vladimir putin? he's the president of the russian federation. he's in charge, just like our prime minister is, accountable for her intelligence services. he is accountable for them, the gru is a major intelligence service belonging to

richard galpin reports.former soldier, who had served in afghanistan, apparently frustrated by what he viewed as the british government‘s lack of action. although the ypg is backed by the united states, turkey views it as a terrorist organisation — anyone associated with it vulnerable to arrest. so whenjoe robinson and his fiancee, mira rojkan, went on holiday to turkey last year, they were detained and he has now been sentenced to more than seven years in prison. he was very shocked by the news from yesterday. he‘s very desperate to come home. he‘s broken, he‘s tired. his family say he was only a medic with the ypg, and they say there will be an appeal against the conviction. for the moment, he‘s not injail but cannot leave turkey. the bbc understands that the foreign office he has raised the case with the turkish authorities. and of course the family are hoping diplomats will do everything they can to getjoe robinson back home. nasa has successfully launched a satellite designed a major food scare a majorf

richard galpin reports. these are military exercises on an epic scale. russia is claiming more than 30,000 tanks and other armoured vehicles are taking part, along with 300,000 troops. it is also claiming 1000 aircraft are involved, and a large part of the navy. the kremlin has not put on a show of strength like this for more than 30 years, when the soviet union and the cold war earth existed. and also taking pa rt war earth existed. and also taking part here at this command centre in eastern siberia are these chinese officers, a sign of the deepening relationship between the two countries. this major general describes the joint exercises as strategic, co—ordinated, real combat, demonstrating their cooperation. the chinese contingent of these exercises, although significant, is comparatively small, with around 3000 soldiers taking part. but, at the same time, president putin has been meeting with the chinese leader, xi jinping, atan with the chinese leader, xi jinping, at an economic forum also in the far east of russia. all this ulster in the sense that

richard galpin reports. steve rosenberg, the biggest since the cold war. being told how significant are they? it's a good question. if you believe what the russian military is saying, these are massive military exercises. this into the kind of figures that most officials have been quoting. they are talking about 36,000 tanks and armoured vehicles being involved. and just under 300,000 russian soldiers which is about one third of the entire russian armed forces. some military observers suggest that those figures are inflated. even so, if that is the case, these are the numbers being officially quoted here, and that says a lot about the message that says a lot about the message that moscow wants to send with these military exercises, and that message is that russia is a military superpower that is well equipped and well trained and quick to mobilise. when you consider the growing tension between moscow and the united states, between russia and nato, that message is primarily designed for western governments. china and mongolia are involved. what is the signi

richard galpin reports. the two men, both russian nationals, who are suspected of poisoning sergei and yulia skripal with the deadly nerve agent novichok. named as alexander petrov and ruslan boshirov although these are probably aliases. and the police investigation has video footage showing their movements from the moment they arrived at gatwick airport on march the 2nd, two days before the poisoning. from gatwick, they travelled to east london, staying in a hotel where investigators found traces of novichok, although those traces soon faded. on saturday march the 3rd, they travelled by train to salisbury where it is alleged they carried out reconnaissance before returning to london. on sunday, they gain travelled to salisbury by train and they were seen near the house of the skripals just before midday. they were seen near the house of the skripalsjust before midday. it they were seen near the house of the skripals just before midday. it is alleged around this time, the novichok nerve agent was sprayed on

richard galpin reports.ese two russian nationals were the prime suspects in the attempted poisoning of sergei skripal and his daughter yulia skripal and his daughter yulia skripal in salisbury has led to an increasingly angry response from the government here. this is cctv footage obtained by the police, showing the two men coming to britain, in early march. and, on the day of the attack, walking along this road close to the house of sergei skripal, where the nerve agent was smeared on the door handle. all of this providing important evidence. the government has announced that they were agents of this organisation, the russian military intelligence agency aka the gru. it sees itself as a war fighting instrument with special forces in its ranks. is it possible is operations, including assassination attempt, could go ahead without the approval of vladimir putin? he's the president of the russian federation. he's in charge, just like the prime minister is, accountable for her intelligence services. he is accoun

richard galpin, bbc news.s time in syria and a new documentary. the home of the novichok poisoning victim, sergei skripal, is being decontaminated. the work, at his house in salisbury is being carried out by specialist military teams. meanwhile, the head of the intelligence agency, gchq, has said the uk and its allies will use all tools available to fight back against the threat from russia. every year millions of tonnes of plastic waste flow into the oceans. now, for the first time, there's going to be an attempt to get into the middle of the pacific — to try to clean it up. in the biggest operation of its kind, a huge plastic—collection system will be towed out from california tomorrow. 0ur science editor david shukman explains. in san francisco, final construction ofa in san francisco, final construction of a massive project with an incredibly bold ambition. to try to clear the ocean of plastic waste. this animation shows how the structure is meant to collect millions of pieces of plastic to make it easier

richard galpin reports. likely to be first in the firing line. this is the last rebel held province in syria is a congested area with a population of almost 3 million people. half of whom fled here from previous battles elsewhere in the country. many of them are now living in camps like this. they are very vulnerable. earlier this week russia resumes are strikes on the province. reportedly killing civilians. this amid a major build—up of troops nearby, suggesting a full assault on a globe could be imminent. there is this eerie feeling that we are now in the final stages of a relentless countdown to war. i would say it is still time to call it off, to some hold this insanity and two and this last possible battle. in talks and not ina last possible battle. in talks and not in a bloodbath. that could engulf millions of civilians. in response rebel forces here are preparing to defend the province. these fighters are aligned with turkey. but amongst the thousands of rebels now in england, including many foreigner

scotland yard gave extensive background detail to the attack on the skripals, as our correspondent richard galpin. these are the two men, both russian nationals, who are suspected of poisoning sergei and yulia skripal with the deadly nerve agent novichok, named as alexander petrov and ruslan boshirov, although these are probably aliases. the government has concluded that the two individuals named by the police and cps are officers from the russian military intelligence service. also known as the gru. the gru isa service. also known as the gru. the gru is a highly disciplined organisation with a well established chain of command. so this was not a rogue operation. it was almost certainly also approved outside the gru ata certainly also approved outside the gru at a senior level of the russian state. some of the key evidence comes from video footage obtained by the police showing the two men's movements from the moment they arrived here at gatwick airport on march the 2nd, two days before the poisoning. from gatwick they travelled to east london, checking into this hotel where investigators later f

richard galpin reports. alexander petrov and ruslan boshirov, although these are probably aliases. and the police investigation has video footage showing their movements from the moment they arrived at gatwick airport on march 2nd, two days before the poisoning. from gatwick, they travelled to east london, staying in a hotel where investigators found traces of novichok, although those traces soon faded. on saturday march 3rd, they travelled by train to salisbury, where it is alleged they carried out reconnaissance before returning to london. on sunday, they again travelled to salisbury by train and they were seen near the skripals' house near the skripals' housejust before midday. it is alleged around this time, the novichok nerve agent was sprayed on the door handle. later that day, they were seen at heathrow airport, where they boarded an aeroflot flight to moscow. salisbury was soon turned into a major crime scene after it was discovered a nerve agent had been used to try to kill the former russian milita

our correspondent richard galpin is at new scotland yard and has the details. bring us up—to—date.mportant. not only have they actually named the people they suspect of carrying out the attacks but they are saying they have brought charges against them and they believe there is a realistic prospect of convicting them. they've named them. alexander petrov and ruslan boshirov. police have said they think these are aliases, not their real names. there is also detail about what exactly happened in march when the skripals or poisoned. they said these two men allegedly left the the uk on the same day as the poisoning and prior to that had been staying in a hotel in london. and apparently they did a reconnaissance trip to salisbury and then the poisoning took place on the sunday. police think that a purview bottle was used to spray the novichok agent on the door handle of the skripals' house in salisbury. we know it was a purview bottle which dawn stu rgess know it was a purview bottle which dawn sturgess and charlie rowley from amersham who were taken ill suddenly in june and from amersh