and if the attack on sergei skripal did come from russia, why?kripal had spent the last eight years living quietly in salisbury, but he still had enemies. sergei skripal had been imprisoned in russia for selling secrets to british intelligence here at m16. in russia for selling secrets to british intelligence here at mi6. it was claimed he provided the identity of hundreds of russians operating undercover in europe. even though he had been pardoned as part of a spy swa p had been pardoned as part of a spy swap his former colleagues would still have regarded him as a traitor. the fact that he blew a whole range of russian agents, there may be personal animosity is there. the fact that he was a british spy, a former member of the russian military, in most russians‘ minds, it will categorise him as a traitor so it will categorise him as a traitor so there will be people who are delighted to see him dead. nobody confirming moscow was involved, but there have been other incidents involving russians in the uk. as we have heard, most famously alexander

investigations are continuing in salisbury into how and why sergei skripal and his 33 year old daughterto nerve gas on sunday afternoon. a doctor who was first on the scene has told the bbc that yulia skripal had stopped breathing and was in a terrible state. our home affairs correspondent, tom symonds, reports. detective sergeant nick bailey is 38 years old, a decorated officer with plenty of experience on the front line of policing. he's still in a serious condition but the good news today is he is awake and talking. here's a great character. he is a huge presence in wiltshire police, well loved and massively dedicated officer. he is clearly receiving high, specialist treatment. he is well, sat up. he not been nick i know that he is receiving a high level of treatment. the inquiry‘s not letting up. police began what appeared to be a major search and possible decontamination of sergei skripal‘s house today. for a while, they even taped off the graves of his wife and son. we are committed to doing all we can to bring the perpetrators to justice, whoever they are and wherever they may be

let mejust sergei skripal. and his doctor yulia skripal.on, media reporting could give the impression it is a planned action in the russian security services, which in no way corresponds to the truth. well, our correspondent is in salisbury and a short time ago she gave us this update from there. police have just released their latest statement. it still has no confirmation of the identities of the people involved. they do confirm that another cord and is in place close to it i am at the moment. this is the shopping centre where the two were found collapsed on that entry. it is under that police tent. another location that police tent. another location that way is being sealed off as well. we believe there are a number of police cordons in place around the city. police are now confirming that emergency services personnel we re that emergency services personnel were treated in hospital. we knew a couple of police officers had been treated with minor symptoms, police had said. we now believe all but one emergency services personnel have now b

yet sergei skripal wasn't an obvious target for the kremlin.on: there are certain rules that the secret services keep to. when there's an exchange of spies, the matter is considered closed. skripal had been exchanged, russia had no problem with him. moscow denies any connection, but a former double agent, collapsing in britain, it can only add to the chill in relations between the uk and russia. steve rosenberg, bbc news, moscow. after months of growing tensions on the korean peninsula north korea's leader, kimjong—un has hinted he is willing to start talks about dismantling his nuclear weapons if his country's safety could be guaranteed. he's agreed to meet the south korean leader at a summit next month, the first meeting of its kind for more than a decade. 0ur seoul correspondent laura bicker said today's announcements were extraordinary. not only is kim jong—un willing to discuss getting rid of his nuclear weapons but also to do so with the united states and he said he will hold any missile tests while those talks take place. these are extra

know we'll be in that if the more information about the substance believed to have been used on sergei skripalripal. the home secretary made clear this morning that she hoped there would be some detail given. i'm not convinced it is going to be an exact chemical name or chemical formula. i think we may get the general area on which the suspicion falls, the kind of substance that is believed to have been used. whether thatis believed to have been used. whether that is because the police are being cautious about releasing the full details or whether they still do not really know exactly what it was at this stage was up that is not clear to me. just a thought about the kind of character of this investigation now because clearly it has been handled by counterterrorism officers. the scale of the operation and the kind of questions the investigation is now raising. clearly when counterterrorism police involved they operate as a very high degree of detail. they have a reputation for being much more detailed and thorough and frankly just having many more resources than other detectives in the uk. so i

yet sergei skripal wasn't an obvious target for the kremlin.there are certain rules that the secret services keep to. when there's an exchange of spies, the matter is considered closed. skripal had been exchanged, russia had no problem with him. moscow denies any connection, but a former double agent, collapsing in britain, it can only add to the chill in relations between the uk and russia. steve rosenberg, bbc news, moscow. as we've heard, the man at the centre of the investigation, sergei skripal, arrived in the uk in 2010, as part of an exchange of spies. he was a former colonel in russian military intelligence. and mr skripal‘s relatives have told the bbc that he believed russia's special services could come after him at any time. 0ur security correspondent gordon corera examines whether the signs so far point to a state—sponsored assassination attempt. does the long arm of the kremlin reach all the way from moscow to salisbury in wiltshire? and if the attack on sergei skripal did come from russia, why? after being released from jail, skri

she came across sergei skripal.he got the daughter up from the floor, got her breathing and handed the woman. she is concerned about what she was exposed at but she is feeling fine at the moment. sergei and yulia skripal not getting better. suggestions that the kremlin may have been involved in the poisoning, have sparked anger in russia. state media has complained of an anti—russian campaign by the west, with little sympathy for sergei skripal, as our moscow correspondent steve rosenberg reports. moscow feels a world away from the drama of salisbury. relaxed russians are out enjoying a public holiday, determined not to allow a spy scandal to spoil their day. people here are short on sympathy for sergei skripal. translation: the fewer secrets you sell, the longer you'll live. translation: don't betray your motherland. then you'll have no problems. translation: when he was in prison in russia, he was healthy. he goes to britain and gets poisoned. he should have stayed here. it's a similar message from russian tv. the

have praised the bravery of one of their officers, who went to the aid of the former russian spy sergei skripalnd his daughter, after they were poisoned by a nerve agent in salisbury. detective sergeant nick bailey is still in a serious condition in hospital. it's still unclear how and why mr skripal, and his 33—year—old daughter, were targeted last sunday afternoon. our home affairs correspondent tom symonds reports from salisbury. detective sergeant nick bailey is 38 years old, a decorated officer with plenty of experience on the front line of policing. he's still in a serious condition, but the good news today is he is awake and talking. he's a great character. he is a huge presence in wiltshire police, a well—loved and massively dedicated officer. he is clearly receiving high, specialist treatment. he is well, he's sat up. he's not the nick i know, but he is receiving a high level of treatment. he's very anxious, he's very concerned. he did his very best on that night. all of our stuff that attended the incident in salisbury in the maltings performed the role that police officers and police

how important was sergei skripal? i saw reports that he may have been a personnel officer and had a good grasp of their operations across europe and that allowed the british and the nato allies to keep tabs on the gru and certainly did impact their operations in a very deep way. he was a colonel in the service, he was low ranking guy. thank you very much indeed. picasso's young lover, marie—therese walter, inspired some of his most celebrated works of art. a new exhibition at london's tate modern focuses on picasso's work from the year 1932 and includes the dream, and nude in a black armchair. one of picasso's portraits of walter sold recently for nearly 50 million as our arts correspondent david sillito reports from tate modern. there's a lot of emotion in this exhibition. it's kind of into lust and into life. there's also drama. normally a tate show would be a retrospective of a life's work, but this is just one year of picassos. that year is 1932. this is picasso and this is his wife olga. but when you look at the

president putin, bbc news — is russia behind the poisoning of sergei skripal?on: we are dealing with agriculture here, as you see, to create conditions for people's lives, and you talk to me about some tragedies. first get to the bottom of it there and then we will discuss this. but now that russia has been blamed officially for what happened in salisbury, it has 2a hours to decide how to respond. our security correspondent wouldn't there is here. the prime minister was specific about the substance — what exactly was it? that's right. she said it was novichok, which is a form of nerve agent, it is a class of —— class of nerve agents, developed during the summit union times to get around detection and prevention systems used by the west, and even the chemical warfare suits they used to give two soldiers. that was revealed, the existence of these novichok agents by defectors and scientists at porton down will have been working on a band they will have been able to match the samples that they got from the skripals in salisbury with the signatures that they have de

i want to repeat again, sergei skripal needs a real investigation.igence services. you are british citizens. you are not controlling your intelligence services. look what happened with ukraine. look at what happened in syria, when your spies cooperated with terrorists. we will leave it there. democracy, come back to great britain. don't leave it to terrorists to do what they are doing without controlling the british people. sergei markov, thank you forjoining us. that was sergei markov speaking earlier from minsk. now, good news if you work in a certain aircraft factory in lancashire — not so good maybe if you live in yemen. as saudi arabia's crown prince, mohammed bin salman rounded off a trip to the uk tonight, his country has signed a letter of intent to buy 48 more typhoon fighters from bae systems. britain is underfire from human rights groups for arming saudi arabia at the same time as mr bin salman, prince bin salman, one of the architects of the yemen war is portrayed by his country's media as the kingdom's best hope for human rights, reform

that is why there is little sympathy for sergei skripal. if moscow did target circuit skripa -- target sergei skripal -- >> most russians take pride in it, because there was a black and white worldview -- us against them. putin has brought ity.ack in a big steve: todaylihe president red a special address. no mention of spies. he congratulated russian women on internation women's day. moscow knows it is under suspicion, but the kremlin is acting as if it is business as usual. steve rosenberg, bbc news, moscow. of the look now at some day's other news. organizers of a one-day strike by women in spain say more than 5 million are taking part in the protest to mark international women's day. 10 trade unions are backing the action against unequal pay, ploitation, and the violence against women. the international red cross has postponed an aid convoy due to travel to the syrian rebel-held enclave of eastern ghouta,is saying ioo dangerous to go there. fighting is intensifying in the reon near damascus as government forces advance. an estimated 400,

two figures, believed to be sergei skripal and his daughter, but the man he saw has a complex past, mrrussian convicted of spying for the west before coming to the uk. wiltshire police are still examining the area outside a shopping centre where he and his daughter were found unconscious but counter terror officers are now leading this investigation. due to the unusual circumstances, the counter—terrorism network will be leading this investigation as it has the specialist capability and expertise to do so. it is important to reiterate, they have not declared this as a terrorist incident. as at this stage, they are keeping an open mind as to what has happened. the ministry of defence laboratory has confirmed it's received samples of the substance thought to have been involved in this incident. it has the facilities to test highly toxic compounds. with a mystery poisonious substance involved, tracing the pair's movements is a priority. after taping off the area around the maltings shopping centre, where they were found, police then secured the zizzi restaurant as a precaution. today, the

we also believe sergei skripal had a 43—year—old son who died last year. her found on the bench unconscious with herfather on found on the bench unconscious with her father on sunday afternoon. they are both still in a critical condition in hospital and police are working to find out how exactly they came to be found unconscious here on sunday afternoon. thank you very much. that breaking news that the woman found collapsed alongside the former russian spy sergei skripal is his daughter, yulia skripal, who was visiting her father from his daughter, yulia skripal, who was visiting herfatherfrom moscow. much more to come on that story throughout the day on bbc news. also still to come, but i‘m‘s most senior counterterrorism officer tells a social media companies have a moral duty to tip off the police about potential terror activity. that interview in the next half an hour. and over the last week, more than 120 mostly female immigration and eating these have been on hunger strike at the yarl‘s wood detention centre. they are protesting about conditions in the

sergei skripal used to spy

the bbc established that the man being treated is sergei skripal. court in moscow in 2006 of being a spy for british intelligence. he was sent from the court where he languished forfour from the court where he languished for four years. from the court where he languished forfour years. it from the court where he languished for four years. it was from the court where he languished forfour years. it was in from the court where he languished for four years. it was in 2010 that the arrest of a network of russian agents provided an opportunity for mi6 to agents provided an opportunity for m16 to repay its debt to sergei skripal. the uk asked for his name to be added to a list of prisoners the cia was putting together, and in july of that year, sergei skripal and three others were put on a jet from moscow to vienna. the ten accused by the us of espionage were flown from america and in the best cold war traditions, the two parties of spies crossed on the tarmac in austria. asked about who might have betrayed this american spy ring, president putin vented h

this is an update from the police and from salisbury district hospital about sergei and yulia skripalout sergei and yulia skripal. i am the chief executive at salisbury district hospital. enjoy and by lorna wilkinson, director of nursing. i would like to make a statement on the condition of the patient exposed to the nerve agent receiving hospital treatment and i will hand over to my colleague after that from wiltshire police. will not ta ke that from wiltshire police. will not take questions following the statement. i am pleased to say that sergeant nick bailey's condition has now improved and he was discharged from hospital this afternoon. i personally want to nick and his family well and i know the staff across the hospital will want me to share their very best wishes. i am sure you will understand that the reasons “— sure you will understand that the reasons —— for reasons of patient confidentiality, i cannot go into further detail regarding nick's condition or his treatment. we still have two patients at the hospital and their condition remains critical, but stable. ourstaff and

these are new images of sergei skripal. he and his daughter yulia are still critically ill after the attack on sunday. having established that a nerve agent is the cause of the symptoms, leading us to treat this as attempted murder, i can also confirm that we believe the two people who originally became unwell were targeted specifically. police are still searching tonight. there are hundreds of officers involved but they are not giving more details of the substance used. we'll have the latest on the investigation, as moscow complains of black propaganda being directed against russia. also tonight... newly—released images of the teenager accused of planting a bomb on a london underground train last september. after the m1 crash in which eight people died, one lorry driver is cleared of causing death by dangerous driving. crown prince mohamed bin salman holding talks on trade and security in downing street, as labour protests about the saudis‘ involvement in the war in yemen. and coming up on sportsday on bbc news, can totten

the key question we don't know the answer to, exactly where sergei and yulia skripal. co nta ct where sergei and yulia skripal. came into contact with the nerve agent, but the car is an essential part of the police investigation. huge questions still out there. angry very much. much of the uk has experienced it's second significant snowfall in the last few days. worst affected have been the north and east of the country and the snow is now falling in south wales and the aouthwest of england. combined with sub zero temperature and strong winds, the arctic weather has brought delays and cancellations to public transport and made driving conditions difficult for many. this is the current picture, most of the most serious warnings have now expired, but there is still an amber snow warning in place in the south west where forecasters say there is a risk to some rural upland communities. jane—frances kelly has the latest picture from across the uk. heavy snow made driving conditions treacherous on exmoor, in north devon, strong, east north—easterly winds allowed snowdrifts t

sergei skripal and his daughter yulia skripal is in hospital.her regularly. recently she came to the uk to see her father and recently she came to the uk to see herfather and for recently she came to the uk to see her father and for the last two days, she was not an string. that is why relatives are worrying about yulia skripal and sergei skripal. public health england warn that people who use counterfeit xanax pills laced with a powerful painkiller as a party drug are "dicing with death". our correspondent noel phillip's report does some graphic references to drugs use which you might not want children to see. we are inside a prescription drug party, the venue is a one—bedroom flat in the west midlands and these teenagers are preparing to get high illegally on an anti—anxiety tranquilliser. can you show us what you bought? two xanax. how much did you spend? i spent £5 for this. jordan and kieran, not their real names, are 18. they are both regular users of xanax. it is a psychiatric painkiller used to treat anxiety and insomnia. how long have y

into the poisoning of the former spy, sergei skripal and his daughter.burridge is in salisbury with the latest developments into the police‘s investigation. some new information about the movements of sergei skripal and yulia on the morning of monday the 4th of march are spur for ibe became critically ill. what the metropolitan police have appealed for, information concerning the car of sergei skripal, it is a red maroon bmw and we had an appeal from the met saying that they wanted to hear from anyone in salisbury on that day who might have seen the car early in the afternoon here in the city centre and what they are now saying is they would like to hear from anyone who saw the pair are in the bmw earlier in the morning around about 915 on the three main roads in salisbury. those three main roads link the house of sergei skripal to the cemetery where his wife and his sun are buried. we have seen a lot of activity at the cemetery from the authorities, police and other officials. the police seem to believe that the skripals went from the house to visit the

into how they came into contact, sergei skripal and yulia, with this nerve agent, none of this groupying now, we suspect international officials will be coming to the uk to verify exactly what that nerve agent was. 0k, exactly what that nerve agent was. ok, thank you very much indeed. the headlines on bbc news: britain's ambassador is summoned to the foreign ministry as russia announce they will expel 23 british diplomats amid tensions over the nerve agent attack in salisbury. a man's been arrested on suspicion of murder after two women were shot dead at a house in st leonards in east sussex. forecasters say snow could cause problems in large parts of the uk this weekend. an amber weather warning is due to come into force this afternoon. sport now, and for a full round—up from the bbc sport centre, here'sjohn akers. it has been snowing, actually, in london and at twickenham. as they reach the climax of this year's six nations championship, three matches today in the six nations, and a huge afternoon ahead at twickenham. ireland have already taken the title and are looking to complete

sergei skripal was jailed by russia in 2006 but returned to the uk four years later as part of a spy police were called to a shopping centre in salisbury yesterday where it's believed mr skripal and an unknown female companion fell ill. a major incident has been declared at salisbury district hospital today and a decontamination team has been called in. the bbc understands the man in hospital this evening is sergei skripal. the 66—year—old is an ex—russian military intelligence officer. he was accused by russia of spying for britain and was jailed in russia back in 2006 four years later. he was pardoned by russia. he then returned to the uk as part of a spy swap which took place at an airport in vienna. the swap involved agencies from the united states and russia. our security correspondent gordon corera joins me. do we know anymore about this? we still don't have any idea about the substance, there were reports initially that this was a drug that people might have heard of, but then those were discounted quite quickly, and it was clear from the reaction of the hospital authorities th

police say there is no to link the death of a russian in london to sergei skripal.mes vladimir putin for the attack. 18—year—old ahmed hassan is convicted of attempted murder following the london tube bombing. it's emerged he was on the government's deradicalisation programme. sport now and a full round—up from the bbc sport centre. good evening. jose mourinho has launched an extraordinary 12 minute defence of manchester united being knocked out of the champions league this week. they lost at home to sevilla with a performance hugely criticised, particularly by the club's fans. he ranted uninterrupted ata club's fans. he ranted uninterrupted at a press conference today using notes to back up his points about united's recent record in europe and the premier league, which he claims to put the defeat to a different light. | to put the defeat to a different light. i am not going to run away or disappear, i will not cry. because i heard some boos, i will not disappearfrom heard some boos, i will not disappear from the tunnel immediately. the next match, i will be the fir

sergei skripal and yulia skripal are in sealed off.palare ina sealed off. sergei skripal and yulia skripal are in a serious condition. public health england has stressed there is no wider health risk from there is no wider health risk from the incident. but parallels with the 2006 poisoning off alexander litvenenko are hard to ignore. a russian dissident, he was poisoned in london weather radioactive compound. an enquiry said he was probably murdered by the kremlin. the russian embassy today complained of speculative stories which it said we re of speculative stories which it said were demonising russia. but the government has now put moscow on notice. while it would be wrong to prejudge the investigation, i can reassure the host that should evidence emerged that implies state responsibility, then her majesty ‘s government will respond appropriately and robustly. the first pictures have no emerged of 33—year—old yulia skripal who was visiting her father from 33—year—old yulia skripal who was visiting herfatherfrom russia when they fell

one thing that we know, there is a lot of work to clear up the crucial data about the attack on sergei skripal. it e e e e e e e e e e e thing, is reminiscent of a similar poisoning incident in 2006. here are the images. --sergeigeshohow in skripal in a supermarket hours befofore he a and his daughter e atattackeded in salisbury with a nerve a agent. it stirred former russian agent who was murdered in 2006. his tea was poisoned with radioactive polonium. an inquiry into his death said it was likely that putin ordered the also accuses him. >> it was a message from russia. toon' wait for another death to understand what we have to do. >> is there a pattern to these attacks? peter: christian, is therererer? like aan: it looks broader scheme. the messages that the corporate structures are behind it, but we don't have the final truthththtt if you look at this giant declaration of the powers by the argument b b b b b b b't that the russian government is behind it. cautious stance. it took the government in london to show days to convince paris and -- two days to convince paris and berlin to sign thi

about russian involvement in the salisbury nerve agent attack on former spy soviet skripal —— sergei skripal skripal —— sergei skripal. he answered that it was nonsense. in relation to the tragedy that you mentioned, i learned about it from the media, and the first thing that came into my mind is that if it was a military operation, people would have died straightaway. this is another one. secondly, russia does not have those weapons. russia has demolished all its chemical weapons under the supervision and international supervision, with a difference to some of our partners who have not done it yet. the foreign secretary says the government has evidence that russia has been creating and stockpiling the nerve agents known as novichok. speaking to the bbc, borisjohnson accused the kremlin of ‘smug sarcasm' in its response to the attack in salisbury two weeks ago. a senior russian diplomat has suggested that the substance used in salisbury could have come from the british research laboratory at porton down. here's our home affairs correspondent daniel sandford. today, despite the bad weather, t

meanwhile, the police officer who tried to help sergei skripal and his daughter yulia, after the nerveack, remains in hospital. detective sergeant nick bailey fell seriously ill after he responded to the emergency. in the past half hour, the wiltshire chief constable has been giving this update on his condition. i don't think anything could have prepared me or my force for the news of a member of our staff, a police officer who has been admitted to hospital, not just to the ward but then transferred to the intensive care unit. that personal aspect has sent shock waves through my force, a huge level of concern and anxiety, but what i've been touched with this week is the high level of outpouring of support we have seen across the country from members of our staff, the public, from police officers up and down the country but also across the world wishing to pay their respects and their regards to nick and to nick's family. so despite such tragedy, it's been a genuine honour to have had the privilege to have gone to hospital on two occasions this week, one of those with the home secretary

and that could well reveal who targeted sergei skripal and his daughter. why were they targeted now? sergei skripal is one of a large community of russians living in this country. some of them left russia in fear of their lives. here in surrey, i have been speaking to one of those exiles, who met sergei skripaljust a couple of months ago. he told me that in the chance meeting, sergei skripal had talked about how he regularly met up with russian diplomats here and about the work he was involved in. he said, i'm doing business, a different kind. but i closed down my business in spain. i am working mainly in cyber security. did he say what he was doing in cyber security? no, and i was not asking, because a sensitive question. but i understand he was working for some russian groups. but working with people in the embassy on this, or something separate? no, i had a feeling that meeting with friends was one and cyber security, his business, was another. so could that work in cyber security possibly be the motive for the attack? richard galpin, bbc news. our home

and if the attack on sergei skripal did come from russia, why? quietly in salisbury, but he still had enemies. sergei skripal had been imprisoned in russia for selling secrets to british intelligence here at mi6. it was claimed he provided the identity of hundreds of russians operating undercover in europe. even though he had been pardoned as part of a spy swap his former colleagues would still have regarded him as a traitor. the fact that he blew a whole range of russian agents, there may be personal animosity there. the fact that he was a british spy, a former member of the russian military, in most russians‘ minds, it will categorise him as a traitor so there will be people who are delighted to see him dead. nobody is yet confirming moscow was involved, but there have been other incidents involving russians in the uk. as we have heard, most famously alexander litvinenko, another former russian spy poisoned in london's mayfair. and other figures have aroused suspicions. one died suddenlyjogging in surrey. one study revealed traces of a rare toxi

you were speaking to relatives of sergei skripal earlier today.has happened to him? they are very cautious because they are still very much concerned for their well—being and that of him and his daughter. first of all they told us his daughter. first of all they told us that they strongly condemn any allegations that sergei skripal worked for the british security services, they say he was the biggest patriot of russia they have ever known. they are very suspicious to the chain of events which happened in the family in recent yea rs, happened in the family in recent years, that one by one he lost his wife, his elder brother and last year his son. skripal called his mum just two weeks ago, we were told, and he sounded very as a tip and promised to go back soon but at the same time his relatives underlined he was always vigilant and he said that russian security services might come after him at any time. to be clear, he was worried for his life despite the spy swap and the pardon from president medvedev, despite everything that suggested he could liv

the police believe that sergei skripal went to visit the graves of his family.g on there. how much activity is actually taking place in the area where you are now? at this spot where the benchis are now? at this spot where the bench is there has been little activity today but there has been small movements of emergency services, at the house and the cemetery, and we saw significant activity yesterday, that was probably the busiest day in terms of police and emergency services activity this week, we saw a lot of activity this week, we saw a lot of activity in the garage where sergei skripal‘s car was towed in the early hours after they fell critically ill and the car was moved away from there by military personnel, trained in dealing with chemical weapons. they moved the car into a metal container and it has been taken away. what is also crucial, the fact downing street have said a few days ago they wrote to the organisation for the prohibition of chemical weapons, an international body based in the hague, and downing street said eight delegation from the interna

the british foreign secretary accuses president putin of being behind the nerve—agent attack on sergei skripalnd his daughter. we think it overwhelmingly likely that it was his decision to direct the use of a nerve agent on the streets of the uk, the streets of europe, for the first time since the second world war. the fbi's deputy is fired by the us attorney general. andrew mccabe is sacked just days before he was due to retire. jumping to safety. a dozen people are injured when a ski—lift goes out of control in a ski resort in georgia. a turkish air strike has reportedly hit the main hospital in the syrian town of afrin, killing nine people. it's not yet clear whether medical staff are among the dead. turkey's military, and its syrian allies, have denied hitting civilians in their offensive against the kurdish militia, who control the northern town. around 30,000 people have fled the area in recent days. lebo diseko reports. an exodus, a seemingly endless stream of civilians leaving afrin. desperation punctuated by the sound of despair. tens of thousands of people are said to have left the c

yulia lives in russia and was visiting her father sergei skripal.tv footage shows them half an hour before they were found unconscious ona park before they were found unconscious on a park bench. her rise were com pletely on a park bench. her rise were completely white, frothing at the mouth and the man was stiff, his arms stopped moving and looking dead straight. sergei skripal was an officer in russian military intelligence but in 2004 was arrested and later convicted for working for mi6. in 2010 he was and that working for m16. in 2010 he was and that over to britain as part of a spy that over to britain as part of a spy swap. the russian government says suggestions it was involved are com pletely says suggestions it was involved are completely untrue but the murder in london in 2006 former russian spy litvinenko means suspicion is almost inevitable and the ramifications are huge. if russia is behind it, they are taking this to a whole new level. it is in fact the declaration of war. experts here have been trying to work out whether toxics su bst

oleg ivanov worked with sergei skripalfor two and a half years in the moscow regional government after skripaled from russian military intelligence. translation: sergei was the life and soul of the party. he could find a common language with anyone. all his colleagues respected him. so when he was arrested for spying it was a real shock. today russia's foreign ministry responded to claims that moscow had targeted sergei skripal. "this was provocation," it said, "and an anti—russian campaign." and fortunately we regard this as a piece of disinformation. because what actually the media and all the people need is actual information, official information on this case. as for president putin, he is yet to comment on events in the uk. he was on the campaign trail today, visiting a cake factory. the sweet picture, a stark contrast to suspicions of possible russian involvement in the nerve agent attack. russian officials have said they are willing to cooperate with the uk investigation if they are asked to. what moscow isn't prepared to do, though, is accept that the russian state was behind this atta

and sergei skripal was involved in this spy swap in 2010.ave received a pension, and i understand he was a regular lecturer to new entrants to mi6, in order to tell them about russian intelligence. so he was essentially pa rt intelligence. so he was essentially part of the british security services family. and that presumably is what he was doing in this intervening eight years. unlike alexander litvinenko, again, he didn't publicise his existence. alexander litvinenko was an inveterate self publicise, whereas sergei skripal state under the radar. you attended the alexander litvinenko enquiry every day it was taking place. how did russia react to that, and how do you think they will react to the new case? one of the astonishing things about the enquiry was the sheer contempt russian enquiries showed it to the investigation into the murder of alexander litvinenko from the very beginning. it is worth recapping, alexander litvinenko was murdered in 2006 in the centre of london, and the poison used to kill him, polonium 210, is possibly the most

where sergei skripal and his daughter sat.y from other diners, and the bbc understands that that particular table used by the father and daughter has been removed to a safe location and destroyed along with other items. we have heard about several items being taken from different locations around salisbury by we believe a specialist decontamination unit. we understand that the table has been destroyed. scientists are advising the police operation —— scientist advising the police operation estimate that this could take weeks in terms of a full precautionary investigation, and the decontamination of that premises. there has been a lot of focus on zizzi's in the last 48 hours. yesterday, we found out that that trace of the nerve agent had been found there, and that wasn't certain before, but we realise that. we have been told today that some traces have been found in the mill pub as well, which is where the father and daughter went at some point last sunday too. as a result of that, around 400—500 people in salisbury have been ad

how important was sergei skripal, you say? basically as their agent within the gru, i've seen reports that he may have been a personnel officer and had a good grasp of their network across europe and perhaps beyond, and that allowed the british and their nato allies to keep tabs on the gru and certainly did impact their operations in a very deep way. he was a colonel in the service, so he wasn't a low—ranking guy. the courts may have blocked president trump's deadline to decide the fate of young undocumented immigrants known as dreamers, but for the 700,000 in the us, their fate is still uncertain. francisco cantu witnessed firsthand the realities of immigration to the us. he was a border patrol agent before quitting. now, he's written a book called, the line becomes a river: dispatches from the border. thejob of being a border the job of being a border patrol agent, the certain that is that to me andi agent, the certain that is that to me and i enjoy being outdoors, learning to read the landscape. there is always this knowled

vladimir putin wins another six years as president of russia. of former spy sergei skripal. i'm kasia madera in london. leaders for humanitarian support at a regional summit in australia. after a medical trial involving stem cell transplants. good morning. term in office. serving leader since stalin. he's already won more than three quarters of the vote. lucy hockings is in moscow. me putin, when he appeared, winning indeed his fourth term in office. indeed his fourth term in office. questions of voter turnout we were interested in. interested in. or a piece of carefully choreographed political theatre. choreographed political theatre. night but they are counting quickly, he has won 76. 3% of the vote. despite a very aggressive get out the vote campaign. the vote campaign. how this was a team effort, and about some of the challenges ahead. about some of the challenges ahead. team and everyone who voted today is our one big team. our one big team. the recognition of what has been done over the last few years. done over the last few years. same way with the same great results.

president putin, bbc news — is russia behind the poisoning of sergei skripal?ealing with agriculture here, as you see, to create conditions for people's lives, and you talk to me about some tragedies. first get to the bottom of it there, and then we will discuss this. but now that russia has been blamed officially for what happened in salisbury, it has 2a hours to decide how to respond. james landale, bbc news. in salisbury hundreds of police officers have been working around the clock, along with experts from the armed forces to try to establish exactly what happened on that sunday afternoon 8 days ago. our home affairs correspondent daniel sandford reports from salisbury with the latest in the investigation. scenes of chemical warfare experts in gas masks and protective suits spread out from salisbury into the surrounding countryside today. here they were removing a van belonging toa they were removing a van belonging to a company that runs tow trucks. vehicles recovered during the operation are being taken to the nearby chemical weapons laboratory at porton

sergei skripal remains in a critical condition.r yulia the same, but she is responding better to treatment. salisbury has become a multi—location crime scene, a city of disturbing images and unanswered questions. who wanted to kill them? why? how did they do it? what will happen next? tonight the evidence is being gathered. tom symonds, bbc news, salisbury. sergei skripal is still fighting for his life in hospital alongside his daughter yulia. he came to the uk in 2008 as part of a spy swap with russia. but what led him to betray his country and seek refuge here? 0ur security correspondent, gordon corera, has been given exclusive access to details and photos from his past. the man behind the story. friend of sergei skripal have provided the bbc with the first detailed account of his life, including these personal pictures. here skripal is in the centre with his daughter yulia, just after her birth in 1984. both are 110w after her birth in 1984. both are now fighting for their lives. skripal was grew up listening to the world servic

headlines at four: the bbc understands that traces of analogies —— nerve agent used to poison sergei skripal his daughter... pub goers and diners have been told to wash their clothes and possession. the people who work in either zizzi's restaurant or the mill pub should clean the clothes they wore. the chancellor says their‘s cause for economic optimism. there is light at the end of the tunnel because we are seeing get stuck to fall. but we are still in the tunnel. also in the next hour: china's congress approves the removal of term limits for its leader. the move effectively allows president xijin ping to remain in powerfor life. and in half an hour: sarah raynsford travels around russia to see how deep the country's rejection of the west remains. good afternoon and welcome to bbc news. up to 500 people in salisbury who went to the same pub and restaurant as a poisoned former russian spy and his daughter are being advised to wash their clothes and clean any possessions they handled while they were there. england's chief medical officer, dame sally davies, stressed the risk from the nerve ag

sergei skripal remains in a critical condition.me, but she is responding better to treatment. salisbury has become a multi—location crime scene, a city of disturbing images and unanswered questions. who wanted to kill them? why? how did they do it? what will happen next? tonight, the evidence is being gathered. a leaked internal email from the medical director of northampton general hospital claims an elderly man waiting to be seen in a&e died ‘due entirely to dangerous overcrowding in the department.‘ our correspondent james waterhouse is here with more details — what happened ? we have heard a lot about the pressures on ame department and the nhs, this sounds like a tragic example of something going wrong. nhs, this sounds like a tragic example of something going wrongm was four o‘clock on wednesday afternoon that a 85 thereof and went to northampton general hospital, he was seen around 90 minutes later and told he would have to stick around ti; .. eseei e see other heart problem. from there he..- . , .-.. , ., in the heart probl

sergei and yulia skripal sergei and yulia skripal still critically ill.ld the nerve agent was not sarin or vx but something much rarer. the british government says it knows what that substance was but is not naming it at the moment. coming up at six o'clock on breakfast — charlie stayt and naga munchetty will have all the day's news, business and sport. this is the briefing from bbc news. the latest headlines: president trump has accepted an offer to meet the north korean leader, kim jong—un for what would be the first ever talks between leaders of the two states. a south korean envoy — just returned from pyongyang — confirmed the meeting would take place, during a white house conference. south korea also confirmed that pyongyang has agreed to halt all nuclear and missile tests, while talks go on, and to consider denuclearisation. after months of missile tests, brinkmanship, and bloodcurdling threats from pyongyang and the us, it could be an historic breakthrough. major trading partners of the us have condemned president trump for agreeing to new tariffs

boris johnson assassination of sergei skripal, and his daughter.isjohnson has made a few days here. what is he said now? he's travelling to brussels to brief new ministers —— brief eu ministers on what is happening. the allegation is that russia has violated what is pledged under the chemical weapons convention that russia signed in 1993, as did the uk, which involve destroying all of its chemical stockpiles. they filed yesterday that they had done so. the question is where this nerve agent, novachok, came from. so this is an interesting situation which could involve the un security council in call for recession, and also the un general assembly finding that russia has violated its treaty. this is the latest line on this ongoing diplomatic storm that is bring between the uk and russia. we had the uk diplomats expelled, which was to be expected. in the meantime, as we have been saying, vladimir putin gets this resounding success in an election which we all knew he would. and the financial times looks at claims that perhaps there was reading, with cc