tom symonds, bbc news, salisbury.l 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 service on the radio. he joined the eairborne troop and became a charm beyondship army boxer. this was him a few years later with colleagues serving in central asia. when soviet troops went into afghanistan in 1979, he was among the first to go in. soon after he was talented spotted by the gru military intelligence. he served unde

the hospital where the two are being treated is declared a major incident tom symonds reports. tom: last night what happened in lte center of salisbury re in teams wearing fl protective suits decontaminating the streets. eyewitnesses said the pair had been sitting on a bench, cered on a police time when it became clear something was wrong. re>> tas a couple -- an older guy and a younger girl. it looked like she passed out, maybe. he was doing some strange hand movements, looking up to the sky. i felt anxious, like i should step in. to be honest, they looked so out of it that i wasn't sure how i could hel they were taken a hospital, and teams with hazardous material suits called in to make the area say. both victims are in critical condition at salisbury district hospital. sergei skripal is russian. he i66 years old. he was arrested by russian secret service officers in 2004, accused of handing over state secrets to mi6. in 2006, he was convicted of by military court in moscow of but in 2010, he was pardoned by the russian authorities and came to this country in return for the re

tom symonds has the latest. tom: a father and a daughter apparently struck down in public on a sunday afternoon in salisbury. the bbc revealed today that shen had isiting her fatherwh from russi it happened. they were left fighting for useir lives. >> the eyes werecompletely white,wide-open but just frothing at the mouth. the man, his arms stopped moving. still looking get straight. -- looking dead straight. tom: cctv images obtained by the bbc appearo show mr. skripal and his daughter walking together at 15:47 sunday afternoon. they were heading for a small pa in the center of salisbury. cara, which capture these pictures, is yards from where they were e und. police wlled at 4:15 when people reported the pair were h.unconscious on a park be last night an italian restaurant nearby was sealed by police, followed today by a local pub. did someone put something into their food or drink?th fopolice, this is a highly sensitive and potentially hazardous investigation, not least for the officers involved the key questi

tom symonds, bbc news, salisbury. 'ane: let's take a quick look at some of the day's other news now. as hespoken archbishop of celebrated mass is tade a saint, according to the vatican. archbishop oscar romero denounced repression and social injustice in his country as it descended into civil war. no one was ever convicted for his killing. coca-cola is to make an alholic drink. the 125-year-old american company says it wants to cash in on a growing trend in japan for a fizzy-flavored drink mixed with a local spirit. coca-cola says it is targeting p specift of the japanese market. and state media in china has encouraged men and women to settle for someone who is more or less ok when choosing who to marry. the appeal, made in wspaper editorial, urged people to be less fussy when comes to picking a spouse. e follows concerns about low birth rate in the country. diplomatic envoys from south korea will deliver a private message from north korean lead kim jong-un when they visit washington later this week. president trump y

tom symonds reports. tom: d bailey is 38 years old, a decorated officer with plentyf xperience on the front line of policing. he is still in serious condition, but the good news today is he is awake andlk tag. >> he is a is a huge presence in wiltshire police, well-liked, well loved, ssively dedicated office he is clearly receiving high specialist treatment. he sat up. know,not the nick that i but he is receiving a high level of treatment. he is very anxious, very concerned. he did his very best that night. all of the staff that attend the incident in salisbury, they performed the role that police aff dors and police every day up and down the country. tom: the inquiry is 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 taped off the graves ohis wife and son. >> the use of a nerve agent on u.k. soil is a brazen and recklessttct. this waspted murder in the most cruel and public way. people are right to want to know

tom symonds, bbc news, at grenfell tower. now on bbc news, time for the travel show.tius, a force of nature in the middle of the indian ocean. mauritius is marking the 50th year of independence from british colonial rule, but the intriguing, rich and sometimes dark story of this island nation goes back way before then. on myjourney, i'm going to explore the history of mauritius. see and taste how multiculturalism works here. mmmm, that is nice. go on a day to the races. 0h, did he win? did we win? and visit a unique conservation project saving endangered species. this island is so often labelled as just a luxury beach paradise, but the reality is so much more fascinating than that. mauritius, gorgeous beaches, turquoise waters and lush vegetation, but the human story is just as awe—inspiring. le morne mountain on the south—west of the island faces in the direction of madagascar and stands 555 metres high. it's also at a 45—degree incline. no walk in the park. for the likes of me, this is a challenging climb, i've got to say. in fact, i think for anybody it's challengi

home affairs correspondent tom symonds reports. tom: sergei skripal was a man feth a shadowy past. relatives said hed it would catch up with him and he would be targeted. but he was using his own name, living a normal life, popping into a corner shop last month for milk and bacon. tonight he and his daughter remain gravely ill. this evening, britain's most senior counterterrorism officer revealed why. >> in summary, this is t iated as a majident involving attempted murder by administration oa nerve agent. as you know, these two people remain critically ill in hospital. sadly, in addition, a police officer who was one of the fir to respond to the incident, is also in serious condition init ho. tom: it wasn't just police officers and mandolin steams who came into contact. could they have been affected? >> my message to the public is that this event poses a low risk we the public on the event have. tom: now the focus is on the nearly three hours between skripalnd yulia arriving. s arearemain cordoned off including the italian restaurant. an eyewitness who wanted to remainol anonymousm

tom symonds, bbc news, salisbury. the foreign ministry in moscow said this was propaganda. say the case against him ended when he was part of a spy exchange in 2010. he was jailed in russia for passing information to m16. steve rosenberg has been looking at him. piece by piece, a picture is emerging of sergei skripal, the former russian double agent poisoned in britain. vladimir svyatski knew sergei skripal in the late 1960s. they studied together in a military college. translation: he was very active, with a positive attitude, and creative. a realfriend. many of the students looked up to him. oleg ivanov worked with sergei skripalfor two and a half years in the moscow regional government after skripal had retired 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—

tom symonds reports. apparently struck down in public on a sunday afternoon in salisbury. the bbc revealed today that yulia skripal had been visiting her father sergei from russia when it happened. they were left fighting for their lives. her eyes were just completely white, they were wide open butjust white and frothing at the mouth. and the man went stiff, his arms stopped moving, but he was still looking dead straight. cctv images obtained by the bbc appeared to show mr skripal and his daughter walking together at 15:47 on sunday afternoon. they were heading for a small park surrounded by shops in the centre of salisbury called the maltings. the camera which captured these pictures is yards from where they were found. police were called at 4:15pm when people reported the pair were unconscious on a park bench. last night zizzi, an italian restaurant nearby, was sealed by police, followed today by a local pub, bishop's mill. did someone slip something into theirfood or drink? for the police this is a hig

tom symonds, bbc news, salisbury. may be involved in the attack have sparked anger in russia. the state media has complained of an anti—russian campaign by the west, and amongst the russian people there's little sympathy for the former russian spy, 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 kremlin controlled media have been mocking boris johnson and making fun of britain. if you're a professional traitor, he says, my advice, don't move to england. something's not right t

tom symonds, bbc news, salisbury.you've been hearing, counter—terrorism officers are not revealing much more at the moment about the substance they've identified, except that it is a " here's our security correspondent, gordon corera. tests have been going on here at porton down, the ministry of defence‘s biological and chemical research establishment. its specialists have been analysing samples brought from salisbury. the tests established that a nerve agent had been used to specifically target two of the victims. so what is a nerve agent? nerve agents were first created in the 1930s for warfare. they are manufactured rather than naturally occurring. they are fast acting and, unless quickly treated, often deadly. and they work by crippling the nervous system. essentially many of the muscles go into spasm, so imagine that you were just having to hold your breath, and just hold it, keep holding it, keep holding it. and this is one of the effects, and this is why people struggle to breathe. but you also get massive secr

tom symonds reports. could what happened here be the result of corporate manslaughter?g the test of a door from a grenfell flat. one that was undamaged in the fire. in this standard test, heat is applied to one side and the door must hold for 30 minutes. here, there's some smoke, but this door easily passes the test. the sample from grenfell lasted 15 minutes. the police informed the government, which has consulted its own experts. the response... there is no change to fire safety advice that the public should follow. i, nevertheless, fully appreciate that this news will be troubling for many people, not least all those affected by the grenfell tragedy. that is why, based on expert advice, we have begun the process of conducting further tests and we will continue to consult with the expert panel to identify the implications of these further tests. this picture is from before the fire. flats appear to have had a variety of doors, but they were fairly new. the doors were replaced in 2012, not as part as the major refurbishment of grenfell tower. after that work there was

tom symonds, bbc news, at grenfell tower.ters in rotterdam rather than london. the firm, which owns well—known brands such as marmite and hellmann‘s, insisted it‘s fully committed to its british operations. our business editor simon jack is at the firm‘s current headquarters in london. when they say it is not to do with brexit what do you make of that?|j think brexit what do you make of that?” think they‘ve got good reasons why thatis think they‘ve got good reasons why that is a credible explanation. since 1930 this rather beautiful building unilever house has been the uk headquarters of the maker of marmite, of dove and personal and throw those decades it‘s adding another headquarters in rotterdam in the netherlands. today the company, historic move, said its future, there is only room for one headquarters and it‘s not going to be here. so why are they doing it? they say they need to save money and be more streamlined, be more agile. just last year they had a nasty shock when they were the subject to one of the biggest takeo

tom symonds, bbc news, salisbury.the russian government has vehemently denied any suggestion of involvement, and promised to cooperate with the inquiry if asked. a foreign ministry spokesman accused borisjohnson of making "wild" and "preposterous" statements, and the russian ambassador in london accused the british media of trying to demonise russia, as our correspondent steve rosenberg reports from moscow. it sounds chillingly familiar. russia under suspicion of planning and executing an attack, 2,000 miles away, in britain. in 2006, the target was former russian agent alexander litvinenko, murdered in london. the man britain believes poisoned him is andrei lugovoy. today, he dismissed claims that moscow had attacked sergei skripal as propaganda. translation: why do they say he was poisoned? perhaps he poisoned himself or had a heart attack. you talk about propaganda, but what about alexander litvinenko? the inquiry in britain into his death found that you had poisoned him, probably on the orders of vladimir putin. t

tom symonds, bbc news, salisbury. 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 seek refuge here? our correspondent has been given exclusive access to details and photographs from his past. the man behind the story. friends 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 now fighting for their lives. skripal was born in kaliningrad. he grew up listening to the world service on the radio. he joined the airborne troop. he became a championship army boxer. this was him a few years later with colleagues serving in central asia. when soviet troops went into afghanistan in 1979, he was among the first to go in. soon after, he was talent—spotted by the gru military intelligence. he served undercover in europe twice, in the ‘80s and the ‘90s. and it is during that time it is thought he

tom symonds, bbc news, at grenfell tower.ria's rebel held enclave of eastern ghouta, as government forces step up their offensive. doctors there have sent out desperate messages saying they are overwhelmed by the number of casualties. president assad's forces have now retaken large parts of eastern ghouta, the last rebel stronghold near the capital damascus. 0ur middle east editor jeremy bowen's report contains some distressing scenes. thousands of people are fleeing parts of eastern ghouta, going into an uncertain future that looks better now than the deadly present. these are the people who have spent weeks hiding in basements from the shelling. eastern ghouta is a big area and this isn't happening everywhere. many tens of thousands are still besieged. this was filmed by 0mar, a cameraman who gives his material to the bbc. the attack happened outside his building. a small boy was caught up in it. he is deaf, so he hadn't heard warnings to take cover. 0mar, the cameraman, worried the boy would bleed to death and told us the

tom symonds reports. sergei skripal is a man with a shadowy past.es say he feared it would catch up with him, that he would be targeted. but he was using his own name, living a normal life, popping into a corner shop last month for milk and bacon. tonight, he and his daughter remain gravely ill, and this evening, britain's most senior counter—terrorism officer revealed why. in summary, this is being treated as a major incident involved attempting murder by the administration of a nerve agent. as you know, these two people remain critically ill in hospital. sadly, in addition, a police officer who was one of the first to attend the scene and respond to the incident is now also in a serious condition in hospital. it wasn'tjust police officers and ambulance teams who came into contact with the victims. so did people who just tried to help. could they have been affected? as your chief medical officer, my message to the public is that this event poses a low risk to the public on the evidence that we have. now the focus is on the nearly three hours betwee

tom symonds reports.. this evening, the military was called in at salisbury hospital. troops, trained to tackle chemical warfare, supporting a british police investigation. their mission includes securing possibly contaminated evidence — painstaking work. the stakes are high. as ministry of defence, we‘ve been supporting the police in their investigations, through the work of military scientists at porton down. we‘ll continue to do that. another task — dealing with contaminated vehicles. this police car may have been driven to the hospital after the incident. 180 troops will be involved in this phase of the investigation. they have all the chemical agent monitors, the personal protective equipment, respirators etc, that allow them to safely. and they‘ll probably take this kit to porton down, or perhaps winterbourne gunner, where it can be decontaminated effectively. they are also expected to secure sergei skripal‘s car, and there are ambulances which may have traces of the nerve agent. across the city, sc

tom symonds, bbc news, salisbury.ndon says the plight of sergei skripal and his daughter causes serious concern. but they also accuse the media of fuelling an anti—russian campaign by creating the impression it was a planned operation by russian special services — something they categorically deny. in moscow, a spokesman for president putin described the situation as tragic. from moscow, here's steve rosenberg. it sounds chillingly familiar. russia under suspicion of planning and executing an attack 2000 miles away, in britain. in 2006, the target was former russian agent alexander litvinenko, murdered in london. the man britain believes poisoned him is andrei lugovoy. today, he dismissed claims that moscow had attacked sergei skripal as propaganda. translation: why do they say he was poisoned? perhaps he poisoned himself. or had a heart attack. you talk about propaganda, but what about alexander litvinenko. the enquiry in britain into his death found that you had poisoned him, probably on the orders of vladimir putin

tom symonds, bbc news.l be joining the stars on the red carpet at the oscars on sunday. maisie sly stars in the british drama the silent child, which has been nominated for best short film. colin paterson reports. it's a story so happy it could be the plot of a hollywood film. maisie sly had never even acted before her parents were told about film—makers looking for a profoundly deaf girl to star in their film, the silent child. and now, here are the nominees for best live action short film. this is the moment injanuary when the team gathered to find out if they had been nominated for an oscar. my nephew emmett. the silent child. cheering yes! and so, this week, they reunited at heathrow... hello, welcome on board. and headed to los angeles. most people prepare for the oscars by meeting stylists and planning acceptance speeches. maisie's schedule has been rather different.

tom symonds, bbc news, salisbury.t 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 kremlin—controlled media have been mocking boris johnson and making fun of britain. if you're a professional traitor, he says, my advice, don't move to england. something's not right there, the climate, perhaps. but too many

tom symonds has more.hatever happened here is now the subject of a delicate and potentially hazardous investigation. and so officers in respirators were tonight searching bins in the square where sergei skirpal and the 33—year—old woman he was with were found slumped and delirious yesterday afternoon. eyewitnesses said the pair had been sitting on a bench now covered with a police tent when it became clear something was wrong. there was a couple, an older guy and a younger girl. she was sort of leaning on him, it looked like she had passed out maybe. he was doing some strange hand movements, looking up to the sky. i felt anxious, i felt like i should step in, but they look so out of it and i thought i was not sure how i could help. after they went to hospital, the square was cordoned off. and later, teams in full hazardous material suits were called in to make the area safe. a major incident was under way. both victims are in a critical condition at salisbury district hospital. sergei skirpal is russian. h

tom symonds, bbc news, salisbury.ow, the russian government has vehemently denied any suggestion of involvement and promised to cooperate with the inquiry if asked. a foreign ministry spokesman accused boris johnson of making "wild" and "preposterous" statements and the russian ambassador in london accused the british media of trying to demonise russia. 0ur correspondent steve rosenberg reports from moscow. it sounds chillingly familiar. russia under suspicion of planning and executing an attack, 2,000 miles away, in britain. in 2006, the target was former russian agent alexander litvinenko, murdered in london. the man britain believes poisoned him is andrei lugovoy. today, he dismissed claims that moscow had attacked sergei skripal as propaganda. translation: why do they say he was poisoned? perhaps he poisoned himself or had a heart attack. you talk about propaganda, but what about alexander litvinenko? the inquiry in britain into his death found that you had poisoned him, probably on the orders of vladimir putin. t

our home affairs correspondent tom symonds reports from salisbury.ergeant 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 staff do every day up and down the country. 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. the use of a nerve agent on uk soil is a brazen and reckless act. this was attempted mu

our home affairs correspondent, tom symonds has more.nous development, given what has happened elsewhere. monday night a 68—year—old man found dead, his body taken for a postmortem examination. 0minous because nikolai glushkov was russian, a political exile, number one on that country's list of people it would like sent back to russia. not that his neighbours had much idea of his background. i think he presented as a normal englishman. i didn't know he was russian. it's horrible to be on your doorstep, for one thing, but for that to happen to him, it must be a horrible thing to have happened. the daughter must be terribly upset. all week, his house has been the subject of a detailed search. the tents were for protecting items of interest. a pathologist has concluded that nikolai glushkov died as a result of compression of the neck, suggesting strangulation, but detectives are clear they are keeping an open mind. they'll be looking at all aspects of his life, and of course his past. but the stakes for them are high, not least because of t

survivors of the blaze have described the finding as "shocking", as our home affairs correspondent tom symondste manslaughter. that is what the police are investigating, highly technical work, police are investigating, highly technicalwork, including police are investigating, highly technical work, including the test ofa technical work, including the test of a doorfrom a grenfell flat, one that was undamaged in the fire. in this standard test, heat is applied to one side and the door must withstand it for 30 minutes. here there is smoke that this door easily passes the test, at this level from g re nfell lasted passes the test, at this level from grenfell lasted 15 minutes. the police informed the government, which has consulted its own experts. the response... there is no change to fire safety advice that the public should follow. i nevertheless fully appreciate that this news will be troubling for many people, not least all those affected by the g re nfell least all those affected by the grenfell tragedy. that is why based on expert advice, we have begun the process of conducting further tes

tom symonds, bbc news, salisbury.t moscow may have been involved in the attack have sparked anger in russia. the state media has complained of an anti—russian campaign by the west. and there's little sympathy — amongst russian people — for the former russian spy, 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 kremlin controlled media have been mocking boris johnson and making fun of britain. if you're a professional traitor, he says, my advice, don't move to england. something'

tom symonds, bbc news, at grenfell tower. you're watching beyond 100 days.moment to re—think its past. the publication has said its previous coverage was racist by showing different groups as exotic or savage and reproducing a racial hierarchy. now the latest issue of the 130—year—old publication is confronting its troubled history by being entirely dedicated to the issue of race. with us now to discuss it all is national geographic‘s editor in chief, susan goldberg. what made you decide to look not just at the issue of race, it is the 50th anniversary of the assassination of martin luther king, but national geographic‘s role in that? i thought if we were going to speak credibly about race, we should look at her own history because i have heard that the pages of our magazine was the first place that readers were exposed to community is different to them. so you look back and what did you find? until the time of the civil rights movement in the us, we didn't capture people of colour living in the us, did not acknowledge their roles beyond being labourers or d

tom symonds, bbc news, salisbury.eaction from russia in just a moment, but first, a look at what we know so far. let's speak to mark urban, the diplomatic editor for bbc newsnight. where have we got to with the investigation? it is significant, as tom was reporting, that counter terrorism command has taken over. it is not terrorism but counterterrorism command contains specialist branch which deals with these incidents. it is also evident that the foreign secretary would not have gone this far unless the government was party to some kind of intelligence about what had gone on. we know, as in the case of litvinenko, there is a difference between intelligence and evidence. they want to show that they have an idea, but they do not want to obstruct or prejudice the police investigation, said the two things will go on in tandem. intelligence and gathering of evidence. i was surprised to hear that mr skripal had been living under his own name. does that give us some indication of what kind of like he has been living for the

tom symonds, bbc news, salisbury.mbassy in london says the plight of sergei skripal and his daughter causes serious concern. but they also accuse the media of fuelling an anti—russian campaign by creating the impression it was a planned operation by russia — something they categorically deny. in moscow a spokesman for president putin described the situation as tragic. from moscow, here's steve rosenberg. it sounds chillingly familiar. russia under suspicion of planning and executing an attack 2,000 miles away in britain. in 2006, the target was former russian agent alexander litvinenko, murdered in london. the man britain believes poisoned him is andrei lugovoy. today, he dismissed claims that moscow had attacked sergei skripal as propaganda. translation: why do they say he was poisoned? perhaps he poisoned himself or had a heart attack. you talk about propaganda, but what about alexander litvinenko? the enquiry in britain into his death found that you had poisoned him, probably on the orders of vladimir putin. transl

our home affairs correspondent tom symonds is in central london, where the report has just been publishedhat the british government has been directly blamed for that programme of child migrations, a programme that's been described today as child trafficking. we are talking about british children here in the years following the second world war, 2000 of those a000 are still alive and this report says that that continued because successive governments, right up to 1970, put politics before child protection. they have been called britain's lost children. at the end of their lives, they are still blighted by the horrors they faced when very young. the liner arrives at fremantle from great britain with 931 new migrants... many were in care when sent in the post—war years to live abroad, as they were told, in the sunshine. but some ended up in places like this the boys school in western australia. the enquiry was told it was run by paedophiles who used their position to inflict vicious abuse. we were 60 miles from perth. we had no parents, we had no relatives and there was nowhere we could go.

tom symonds has more. whatever happened here is now the subject of a delicate and potentially hazardous investigation. and so officers in respirators were tonight searching bins in the square where sergei skirpal and the 33—year—old woman he was with were found slumped and delirious yesterday afternoon. eyewitnesses said the pair had been sitting on a bench now covered with a police ten when it became clear that something was wrong. there was a couple, an older guy and a younger girl. she was sort of leaning on him, looked like she had passed out, maybe. he was doing some strange hand movements and looking up to the sky. i felt anxious and like i should step in, but they look so out of it andi step in, but they look so out of it and i thought i was not sure how i could help. after they went to hospital, the square was cordoned... and teams in full hazardous material suits were called in to make the area safe. a major incident was under way. both victims are in a critical condition at salisbury district hos

our home affairs correspondent tom symonds reports.deported, sexually abused, even tortured. i've lived for 60—odd years with this. it went unmentioned for decades. even today, this is not a well—known scandal. but it has devastated lives and continues to blight them. all we did was do as we were told. and suffered immensely for it. the child migrants were from poor backgrounds, promised a better life in the sunshine. and when visitors came, especially from britain, that's how it seemed. but last year, the now—elderly migrants gave hours of chilling evidence of what their carers said. they said that you're a nobody, you've got nobody, you've got no parents, they're all dead. ..and even worse, did. the verdict today, even by 1940s standards, what happened was indefensible. several governments ignored warnings, carefully filed in the official archives to avoid upsetting the charities and religious groups involved. or the australians. politics put before children. they ignored our plight, they encouraged paedophilia, to a degree. because