this is bbc news, the headlines at seven, i'm martine croxall. russia tells britain and other western countries it is expelling more diplomats after the salisbury poisoning row. at least 12 palestinians are killed after a mass protest on the border between gaza and israel. a british soldier working in syria with american troops has been killed fighting so—called islamic state. new bail rules are leading to thousands of crime suspects, some involving murder and rape, being released without any conditions. also in the next hour and a new form of supercomputer. scientists say quantum computing could open up amazing new possibilities. quantum computing could open up amazing new possibilitiesm quantum computing could open up amazing new possibilities. it can begin to solve problems that would ta ke begin to solve problems that would take is today more than a lifetime of the universe to solve, in seconds, hours or days. and in half an houron bbc seconds, hours or days. and in half an hour on bbc world... it's weather world marking 100 years of the royal

air force. world marking 100 years of the royal airforce. and where better than at its biggest race, raf brize norton. good evening and welcome to bbc news. in a day of tit—for—tat diplomatic expulsions after the salisbury nerve agent attack, russia has told britain it has to cut the number of staff it has there to the number that russia has in the uk. in a series of coordinated moves, moscow expelled embassy staff from several countries including germany, spain, croatia, and norway. the foreign office described moscow's demand as "regrettable", but said it didn't distract from what it called russia's flagrant breach of international law. from moscow, sarah rainsford reports. it was quite a sight. a stream of ambassadors summoned to russia's foreign ministry. they came from more than 20 countries to hear their punishment. each one had backed britain, and accused russia of the nerve

agent attack in salisbury. the german ambassador emerged to say moscow still has questions to answer over the poisoning. but his country is now losing four diplomats here. in total, well over 100 willjoin a mass exodus from moscow. there have been extraordinary scenes here all day. as, one by one, ambassadors have been called in to the foreign ministry. the timing of this, the choreography, seemed meant to send a message — that russia will hit back at any moves made against it by western governments. and today moscow decided to escalate. the british ambassador was summoned again, ordered to cut his staff even further. it's important to bear in mind why this crisis has arisen in the first place. it is the use of chemical weapons on the streets of the united kingdom that has threatened the lives of a number of people in my country. 23 british diplomats have already left this embassy.

now the uk has the match its total diplomatic presence here to the russian headcount in the uk. this move is a clear sign that vladimir putin is determined not to give in under pressure. expulsions look so easy. you don't have to pay a high price on either side for expulsions, but it is not the case. i'm afraid if the whole fabric of the relationship gets thinner and thinner, we have a real problem. but that problem is already here. western countries seem determined to show russia it has crossed the line, but the kremlin still calls the accusations against it is outrageous, and warns that further sanctions could follow. today, russia insisted it didn't start this crisis and said it is

being forced to retaliate against what it calls unfriendly moves by the allies. the kremlin spokesman said vladimir putin wants good relations and he is open to dialogue but, judging by today's expulsions and especially the extra moves against the uk, it seems he is pushing for that dialogue on his terms. in the last few minutes we have heard from the french foreign ministry that russia had expelled four french members of their team at the french embassy in russia. we'll find out how this is covered in tomorrow's front pages later. 0ur guestsjoining me tonight are the political commentator lance price and the telegraph's chief political correspondent christopher hope. the health ministry in gaza says that at least 12 people have been killed by israeli security forces along the israel—gaza border. thousands of palestinians joined a mass protest called by hamas, which controls gaza, and other palestinian groups.

israel's military doubled its usual deployment of troops in the area just ahead of the jewish passover holiday, and said it would act to stop any breach of its borderfence. yolande knell sent this report. a chaotic rush to the hospital, with hundreds of palestinians injured in gaza. a call for peaceful marches turned to violence, as protesters headed towards the israeli border. israel's military says it used tear gas and opened fire to stop anyone illegally crossing into its territory or attacking soldiers. and this was just the start. palestinians are planning a series of protests until mid—may. that will be 70 years on from the creation of the state of israel. palestinians see it as their catastrophe, when hundreds of thousands of people fled their homes, and many here have never given up their claim to the land. translation: we are here to stress our right to return. sooner or later, we must go back.

translation: we want to tell the world that returning to our land is non—negotiable. but israel says gaza's leaders are cynically exploiting ordinary people to stir up unrest. translation: hamas and other palestinian groups are calling their protest "the march of return", however, as events unfold, it's the march of chaos. these are aggressive riots. gazan families are now being urged to stay at protest camps along the israeli border, and that will ensure that tensions here remain high in the weeks ahead. yolande knell, bbc news, jerusalem. the ministry of defence has confirmed that a member of the uk armed forces has been killed in syria. it said the individual was embedded with us forces in an operation against the islamic state group. earlier, our correspondent helena lee gave more details from a statement released by the ministry of defence.

it confirms the death of a member of the uk armed forces. they say the british serviceman was killed in syria by a roadside bomb. they also say, as you mentioned, that the soldier was embedded with us forces at the time of an operation against so—called islamic state. they also say that he was likely, we understand he was likely to be killed with special forces. the family has been informed, but they haven't yet released his name. parents are increasingly being asked to contribute towards classroom basics such as textbooks, says the leader of the largest teachers‘ union. ahead of their annual conference in brighton, kevin courtney of the national education union said that despite more than a billion pounds of extra funding being allocated to schools in england, rising costs meant they still faced tough choices. our education editor bra nwen jeffreys reports. they're not the only ones counting carefully... the budget is tight

at this primary school. it's in west sussex, an area of low funding. we need to make sure it's the same amount in each quarter... parents paid for the rug in this classroom, part of a wish list set our education editor bra nwen jeffreys reports. parents paid for the rug in this classroom, part of a wish list set up online by one mum. that was a big shock to myself, when i came to the school and asked them to provide items that they really needed and they were asking me to put on hand towels, tissues, toilet roll, glue sticks, pencils, exercise books. they have to raise the funds somehow to provide all the children in the next school year with exercise books, and the money's not necessarily there. the online portal has raised £5,000 in a month, notjust from parents but from the local community too. schools can only ask parents for voluntary contributions. it's meant to be for little extras, but with budgets increasingly under pressure from rising costs, parents are finding themselves forking out for the basics.

what's another question, max? some extra money is going to schools. more than £1 billion across england, a bigger share for west sussex, but the big cost is staff. teachers are asking for a 5% pay increase. the head here says it all feels too uncertain. my concern is that we're going to end up with a real yo—yo system, where there'll be the teacher cuts, they'll be the redundancies, there'll be the school closures, and then all of a sudden, then more money will be put back into education, butjust too late. so then what do we do? share them into quarters, what we now need to do? not enough teachers are training, too many are leaving. teachers unions say a pay rise would help. they want the government, not schools, to find more money. a 90—year—old woman has died after being struck

by a bin lorry in edinburgh. the pensioner was hit at approximately 11.30 this morning and was pronounced dead at the scene. an investigation has been launched into the cause of the collision. the comedy actor bill maynard has died at the age of 89 his family has confirmed. it's selwyn froggatt in the 1970s before starring in the popular drama heartbeat in the 1990s. thousands of suspects under investigation for violent and sexual offences have been released from police custody without any bail conditions attached, according to research by the bbc. new rules were introduced in england and wales a year ago, designed to prevent people being kept on bailfor months and, in some cases, years. the charity women's aid said the figures were shocking, and would worry victims of domestic violence. our home affairs correspondent danny shaw reports. it was the case of paul gambaccini that sparked concerns about the use of pre—charge, or police bail. the bbc radio presenter was questioned about alleged sex

offences, then released on bail for 12 months before being told he wouldn't face any charges. as home secretary, theresa may said the use of police bail had to change. and last year a 28—day limit was imposed. if police want to bail suspects for longer, they need approval from a senior officer or magistrate. as a result, the number of suspects bailed has dropped dramatically, by about two thirds. it means thousands don't have to report back to police and face no restrictions on who they contact or where they go. bbc news obtained figures from 12 forces about people suspected of violent and sexual offences. more than 3,100 were released under investigation without conditions, between april and june last year. the number included 31 murder suspects and 768 people suspected of rape, all still subject to police investigation.

we are contacted by survivors all the time who are telling us about their worries about their safety. the failure to use bail conditions in many cases means the victim can be vulnerable to being contacted, to being stalked, harassed or even suffering further violence from a dangerous abuser. the home office said a large drop in the use of bail should not affect the way police respond to incidents of domestic abuse, but it said ministers had asked forces to ensure that those who should be on bail are not being released without conditions. danny shaw, bbc news. more now on the violence on the border between gaza and israel, which has left more than a dozen people dead as palestinians begin what they say will be weeks of protests. let's go to yolande knell injerusalem. i believe the number of casualties has gone up. that's right. according

to the health ministry in gaza, it is 15 people that have been killed, and they say they are dealing as well with many hundreds of people who are injured. it was one of the largest demonstrations by palestinians on the israel gaza border that we've seen in recent yea rs. border that we've seen in recent years. i spoke earlier to an israeli military official who told me there are about 30,000 people who took part, and basically there these encampments that have been set up along the border, which is a0 miles long, and the idea was supposed to be, according to the organisers, to have families come along there. there were cultural events and sporting activities planned, like football matches for children, but many palestinians as the day went on to probe the borderfence many palestinians as the day went on to probe the border fence with israel. that is israeli soldiers we re israel. that is israeli soldiers were working. —— many palestinians went on to approach. when they started throwing stones, using

molotov cocktails, according to the israeli military, they responded by opening fire, also using tear gas and rubber bullets in some cases. this day of violence unfolded and 110w this day of violence unfolded and now hospitals are having a difficult time dealing with a number of injuries in gaza, considering there are many people with gunshot wounds. what are the protests going to be those taking part say they will last for some weeks. today's protest is annual, and across the palestinian territories this day is marked. in gaza, the different palestinian political factions, gaza, the different palestinian politicalfactions, including gaza, the different palestinian political factions, including hamas, which controls gaza, have decided this will be the start of six days of protests, going out to meet may, which was when it will be 70 years since the creation of the state of israel. israel will be celebrating

that but, for the palestinians, this is known as the catastrophe. that is when hundreds of thousands of palestinians were forced to leave their homes, or they fled from their homes in land which now became israel, and their descendants have become palestinian refugees. there are many people with that status who lived in gaza, and they were taking pa rt lived in gaza, and they were taking part in these demonstrations. lived in gaza, and they were taking part in these demonstrationsm this is how its beginning, what are the prospects for calm during those protests ? the prospects for calm during those protests? now there is a lot concerned about what happens next. the palestinian president, mahmoud abbas, has declared tomorrow a national day of mourning, and we expect the funerals take place of many of those who have been killed, which could be another trigger for violence. the israeli authorities say that they are accusing hamas in gaza of making this into a cynical attempt, exploiting ordinary palestinians to stir up trouble on

the israeli border, and they are very worried because it is the start of the jewish passover holiday that this could mean a lot of unrest, when israelis are trying to enjoy their holiday, and people living in their holiday, and people living in the border zone, where tensions are 110w the border zone, where tensions are now running so high. this huge deployment is going to remain for the moment in the south of israel, close to the gaza border. the headlines on bbc news: russia tells britain and other western countries it's expelling more diplomats after the salisbury poisoning row. latest details say four french diplomats are being expelled by moscow. 15 palestinians have been killed, according to the gaza health ministry, after a mass protest on the border with israel. a british soldier, working in syria with american troops, has been killed fighting the so—called islamic state group. malala yousafzai, the youngest ever winner of the nobel peace prize,

has told the bbc she hopes one day to move back to pakistan. she's currently on her first trip back there, after she was nearly killed by the pakistani taliban in 2012 for campaigning for girls‘ education. she was brought to britain for treatment and has been living here ever since. she spoke to our pakistan correspondent secunder kermani in the capital, islamabad. this was the last time malala was in pakistan — fighting for her life after being shot by militants. after nearly six years, she's now back and says she still can't believe it. it is emotional. each and every thing i see, it is valuable to me. even just this warm air, i value it and i'm enjoying it and i am just so happy to be home and to put my feet on this land again. malala, though, has her critics in pakistan. many on social media accuse her of being a western agent. how does it feel when you read those kind of comments?

firstly, i just want to understand, who, why do they oppose me and what is the reason behind it? i want a better future for this country, that's why i started speaking out for girls‘ education. that‘s why i did not fear anything and i said even if the terrorists attack me, it does not matter, i will continue speaking out. and it did happen and i continued my campaign for girls‘ education. so my focus is only working for the good. it‘s 200 million people and i know that 99%, more than 99% stand with me, support me, they believe in education, they believe in their daughters. yesterday, malala spoke at an event attended by the pakistani prime minister. but she says she doesn‘t have political ambitions herself. so when i was 11 or 12 and when there was extremism happening in swat valley, at that time i thought by becoming prime minister i can solve every problem and i will eradicate all these extremists and everything would be fixed. but i think now i have met many

leaders and politicians and prime ministers, and it seems it‘s not that simple. i think my focus right now is continuing the malala fund and making sure we reach out to as many girls as we can and there are 130 million girls who cannot go to school right now — to ensure that they can get quality education. i have no intention right now of politics. that was malala yousafzai speaking to secunder kermani. the labour leader, jeremy corbyn, has said his party must do better in the fight against anti—semitism. in his passover message, he tried to reassure thejewish community that labour would "never be complacent" about the issue. aa labour mps and peers have now urged mr corbyn to suspend a senior official over her handling of a complaint about anti—semitism. christine shawcroft stood down as head of the party‘s disputes panel, after backing the reinstatement of a council candidate accused of holocaust denial. with me is our political

correspondent iain watson. a bit more on the background first. it isa a bit more on the background first. it is a week since the first stories about labour and anti—semitism appeared, with some labour mps having a go atjeremy corbyn for an old facebook post from 2012, a p pa re ntly old facebook post from 2012, apparently opposing the taking down ofa apparently opposing the taking down of a mural depicting a stereotypical anti—semitic image. he has since apologised. he has been under pressure ever since. what made it worse was what happened with christine shawcroft. she stood down as chairman of that panel. nonetheless, she is still in the ruling national executive committee. what has happened is that around aa labour mps what has happened is that around aa labourmps and what has happened is that around aa labour mps and peers have written to jeremy corbyn, asking for her to effectively be turfed off almost immediately. what made matters worse

was that she went on facebook in a now deleted post and said this whole i’ow now deleted post and said this whole row is being stirred up to attack germany. those close to the leader‘s office say that is potentially toxic, because it looks like you are downplaying the scent for —— the anti—semitism. jeremy corbyn and people around him say he doesn‘t have the power to reject her, but one signatory of that letter, a labourmp, one signatory of that letter, a labour mp, suggests thatjeremy corbyn could be doing a lot more. who thinks, ifjeremy corbyn said she should stand down, it wouldn't happen? nobody. this is about action. we've had enough letters and words to paper nelson's column. if people are going to believe us as a party, we need to start pulling through doing things. what is interesting that is saying that, he might not be able to wriggle

christine shawcroft but he can urge them to go for the many of the signatories to this letter are people who are never really been reconciled to corbyn‘s leadership, not all of them, but many of them. they are effectively saying this is the acid test for him. rather than warm words, can he do something about christine shawcroft? my understanding is she is perfectly happy to leave the ruling body. she is going to stand down in the summer, but she hasn‘t been asked to do so the labour leader. parts of stansted airport had to be evacuated after a fire broke out on a car park shuttle bus. stansted airport has tweeted that no injuries were reported and that the fire has been caused by an engine electrical fault on the bus. security has reopened and they‘ll continue to re—screen all passengers due to depart this evening. 150 million users of the myfitnesspal app and website have had their personal details accessed in a data breach. its owner, under armour, says it happened in late february. user names, emails and encrypted passwords may have been stolen. users are being urged to change their passwords.

the hollywood actor arnold schwarzenegger has undergone emergency open heart surgery at a hospital in los angeles, according to reports in the united states. the 70 year old terminator star — who also served as california‘s governor — was admitted for a routine catheter valve procedure which developed complications. according to reports, his spokesman says he is in a stable condition. a 27—year—old woman from east sussex, who‘d been missing in brazil forfive days, has been found safe and well. katherine brewster failed to return from a walk in remote woodland on sunday. her mother told the bbc her daughter had been in touch, and had been amazed to learn of the police search for her. the founder of facebook has distanced himself from a leaked memo by a high—ranking executive, which warned about the negative consequences of the social network. the internal memo was written by andrew bosworth in 2016. he wrote that some "questionable" practices were all right if the result was connecting people. tomorrow night, boxing heavyweight world champion anthonyjoshua is back in action, in one of the sport‘s biggest fights in recent memory.

he faces the current wbo champion, joseph parker from new zealand, in wales. our sports correspondent david ornstein reports. cardiff — a city steeped in history, but more recently renowned for hosting major sporting events, and they don‘t come a lot bigger than this... because anthonyjoshua is the biggest show in town. he‘s the man they‘ve all come to see, the hopes of the nation on his shoulders. face—to—face withjoseph parker for the final time before they become the first reigning heavyweight world champions to box on british soil. two unbeaten records on the line, three world title belts up for grabs. never before hasjoshua fought with so much at stake. if i make a mistake, they‘re going to capitalise. so that‘s why i work hard and i want to improve, because i don‘t want to give them that chance, do you know what i mean? so i‘m not going to sit here and say it‘s not a possibility, but i make the possibility,

you know, slim to none by training, focusing and being in the best shape physically and mentally. although a hero in his homeland of new zealand, parker is yet to compete on a stage of such magnitude and victory would cause a huge upset. i can't wait to walk in front of 80,000 people and put on the best performance of my life. i'll prepare for 12 rounds, but i know that if i clip him well, clip him good in the right place, he's going down. and if he doesn't go down, i'm going to chase him. chase him until i get him out of there. joshua‘s rise has been spectacular. now, though, the pressure is on and he‘ll be desperate to deliver. scientists say it‘s the technology that could revolutionise computing. it‘s called quantum computing and for years companies have been vying to build a fully operational quantum computer, which could process information much faster than today‘s most powerful supercomputers. rory cellan—jones reports.

copenhagen, and it‘s pretty cold outside, but inside a university lab, there‘s a place that‘s even colder. if you look right up here on this gauge, you‘ll see that the inside of that refrigerator is sitting at three hundredths of a degree above absolute zero. that‘s 100 times colder than deep space. this may be the coldest place in the universe. and this is why. embedded in this chip is a qubit, the building block for the computer of the future, which will only work under these extreme conditions. microsoft is working with scientists here and around the world to build a quantum computer. they‘re confident they‘re about to make a major breakthrough. if they succeed, there‘s a huge prize. quantum really represents a giant leap forward from today‘s technology. we can begin to solve problems that would take us today more than a lifetime of the universe to solve, in seconds, hours or days. so how does a quantum computer work?

drill down into a conventional computer and you‘ll find the bit, the basic unit of information, which is either a zero or a one. think of it as a switch which is either on or off. but at the heart of a quantum computer is the qubit and the magic here is it can be both one and zero at the same time. the switch can be both on and off. this supercharges any computer programme, making impossible problems easy to solve. we could find answers to climate change, make rapid progress in artificial intelligence and break encryption — secure codes would be simple to crack. first, though, there are huge challenges in creating qubits stable enough to be useful in a commercial quantum computer. microsoft thinks it‘s got a unique way of doing that. by making a better qubit to begin with, you‘ll need fewer of them to build the full quantum processor. but there‘s stiff competition.

google, ibm and scientists in labs like this one in london are all making breakthroughs, and so far they‘ve made faster progress. so microsoft is starting further behind, they‘re still trying to demonstrate a single qubit, but their approach is unique. its qubits may be much better protected against errors, so if they get their one qubit to work, they could leapfrog these other approaches quite quickly. back in copenhagen, they‘re confident they‘re on the verge of a breakthrough which will lead to a commercial quantum computer within five years. if that‘s true, and it‘s a big if, the world will change in all sorts of ways. rory cellan—jones, bbc news, copenhagen. the prince of wales has recorded a good friday easter of persecuted christians and other faiths around the world. in the video, prince charles describes how moved he‘s been while meeting christians who have had to flee from persecution. he also expresses sympathy for anyone being persecuted because of their faith.

all through abrahamic faiths have known and continue to know the bitterness of persecution, when religion has fallen into the barbaric grip of those who distort and misrepresent faith. so this easter i want to salute the fortitude of all of those who, whatever their faith, are persecuted for remaining faithful to the true essence of their beliefs. now i look at the weather forecast. a very 5°99y at the weather forecast. a very soggy start for many parts, but further north we saw more sunny spells. the easter weekend will generally be unsettled with rain at times and even some snow, which could be problematic. it will

continue to have some dry and bright intervals. for the rest of good friday and into the start of saturday, it will remain very wet or parts of england and wales, eastern scotland, and further snow on high ground. drier in the south—east by the end of the might, with the best dry weather across northern and western scotland and northern ireland. a chilly start for saturday, but we‘ll continue to seek the best of the weather here. for much of england and wales and eastern scotland, it will stay cloudy with outbreaks of rain and some hill snow. tending to ease through the day, but it will feel cold for the time of year with that easterly wind, particularly coastal counties, nine or 10 degrees across the south—west. airforce. and where better than at its biggest race, raf brize norton.