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 and renewal. today's announcements about the planes followed meetings with theresa may, boris johnson and the queen. earlier, i spoke to sherard cowper coles, formerly british ambassador to saudi and former consult to bae. i asked him if this deal was good news for people in factories across the uk. yes, good news for the british economy, but also good news for british influence in the middle east. good news for our relationship with saudi arabia.

they told us that sergei skripal was called backin us that sergei skripal was called back in two weeks ago. he spoke to his mother and promised to call soon. he sounded optimistic but on the other hand, he believed that russian security services may come after him at any time. we also must add that the skripal family condemns any accusations of his connections to mi6. they say he was the biggest traitor of russia they have ever known. the sale of the last few years, sergei has lost a few family members, the burst his wife died, then his elder brother and then his son, who was just 43, and then his elder brother and then his son, who wasjust 43, and both sergei and his daughter are in hospital in a critical condition and the family believe this is more than a coincidence. the kremlin has made it clear they were not involved and wa nt to it clear they were not involved and want to help in the investigation, but they have no knowledge of exactly what happened. what is your view of the russian response? the russian ministry of foreign affairs said that british comments were preposterous. t

she came across sergei skripal. she stepped in, she 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

yet sergei skripal wasn't an obvious target for the kremlin. translation: 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. t

yet sergei skripal wasn't an obvious target for the kremlin. translation: 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 releas

sergei skripal remains in a critical condition. his daughter 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. 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

sergei skripal and his daughter were poisoned in salisbury over a week ago. scotland yard warns the investigation will take many more weeks. the public are going to continue to see a great deal of police activity around the city, including potentially more cordons. do not be alarmed. it is necessary as part of this investigation. in today's other main news: just over a year after his appointment, president trump sacks his secretary of state, rex tillerson. in his spring statement, the chancellor forecasts higher growth, lower inflation and debt, and hints at possible spending rises in the future. and newsnight, russia is not exactly trembling at the british threat of some kind of response to the salisbury attack. so what might be retaliation of britain be? —— the. good evening, and welcome to bbc news. less than an hour remains until the deadline announced by theresa may for moscow to explain its role in an attack using a nerve agent upon a former spy and his daughter. sergei and yulia scripal were taken ill over a week ago in salisbury. the kremlin said

sergei skripal is a man with a shadowy past. relatives 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 us, the public, on the evidence that we have. now the focus is on the nearly thr

how important was sergei skripal? —— sort of operations.“ we look at the career he had working for the british as their agent within the gru, 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 i

and if moscow did target sergei skripal... most russian people, not me, of course, most russian people would take pride in it because there is a very black and white worldview — it's us against them. putin has brought this back in a big way. today, the president delivered a special address. no mention of spies. he congratulated russian women on international women's day. moscow knows it's under suspicion but the kremlin is acting as if its business as usual. steve rosenberg, bbc news, moscow. our security correspondent gordon corera is live outside the headquarters of mi6 tonight. are we any closer to understanding who was behind all this, and why? well, the identity of that rare nerve agent will still be a crucial clue to establishing that. government officials are still cautious about pointing the finger publicly. they want to make sure they have as many facts as possible before doing that. but in terms of motive, there has been speculation that perhaps sergei skripal was still involved in some kind of active ongoing intel

her brother, sergei skripal‘s son, also died last year. he was 43 and he passed away in st petersburg while on holiday. he had been crossed a hospital with liver failure. relatives say that they are suspicious about his death, but since then we understand that yulia had been visiting her brother in the uk. the family dispute the fact that sergei skripal was ever involved in any spying activity for mi6, those we re any spying activity for mi6, those were the accusations that he was jailed for in 2006. so far we have no comment from the russian government, they have no information on this case, they say, the police have not engaged in that line of enquiry. there will be a very difficult details investigation going on, there is sites of enquiry. there is some cctv footage from a nearby gym that appears to show a man and a woman walking very close, just down the past here. very close to the time that the two were found. if that was so, there would be a very short period between when the couple were pictured walking down this alleyway and then

and if the attack on sergei skripal did come from russia, why? after being released from jail, skripal 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

and if moscow did target sergei skripal... most russian people, not me, of course, most russian people would take pride in it because there is a very black and white world, it's us against them. putin has brought us back in a big way. today, the president delivered a special address. no mention of spies. he congratulated russian women on international women's day. moscow knows it's under suspicion that the kremlin is acting as if it's business as usual. steve rosenberg, bbc news, moscow. we can join our security correspondent, gordon corera, from outside mi6 headquarters. now, are we any closer to finding out how and why the skripals were poisoned? the identity of the nerve agent described as very rare is crucial. it may point to which country, which laboratory, is involved in the manufacturer. government institutions are being careful about pointing the finger at russia until the facts are clearer. in terms of why, there has been speculation that perhaps after he came here, sergei skripal was still actively involved in intell

and that could well reveal who targeted sergei skripal and his daughter. but 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

this is sergei skripal buying groceries at a shop in salisbury last week. he looks relaxed and jovial as he chats with the shopkeeper. but just jovial as he chats with the shopkeeper. butjust days later he and his daughter would fall critically ill in the city centre. both now fighting for their lives in hospital. and today emergency vehicles were back in the city centre in large numbers. theirfocus this time of building adjacent to the restaurant where mr skripal and his daughter had lunch on the day they apparently ingested some form of poison. an ambulance drove away from here this afternoon with a woman inside. it is not clear if this was connected to the apparent poisoning. in another sign of the seriousness of the situation cabinet ministers and security officials held a meeting of the government emergency response committee cobra this morning. scientist at the government research laboratories in porton down near salisbury have been ha rd porton down near salisbury have been hard at work examining samples taken from mr skripal and his daughter. but de

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 to

people here are short on said that the four sergei -- short on sympathy for sergei skripal. >> bloomberg for your motherland, then you will have no problem. >> whehe was in prison in russia can he was healthy. he goes toritain and gets poisoned. he should have stayed here. steve: it is a similar message froman rusv. the kremlin having controlled media have been mucking boris johnson and making fun of britain. "if you are a professional trader, my adviceve -- don't to england. something is not rightth there - climate, perhaps. too many bad things go on there. people are hanged, poison, helicopter crashes, or they fall out of windows." , the vladimir putin kremlin has sent a clear message to the russian people, that their country is a besieged fortress, threatened by enemies abroad and traders at home. -- traitors at home. that is why there is little sympathy for sergei skripal. if moscow did target circuit skripa -- tget sergei skripal -- >> most russians take pride in k, because there was a bl and white worldview -- us against them. putin has brought it back in a big way. steve: today th

-- short on sympathyor sergei skripal. >>rg bloomor your motherland, then you will have no problem. >> when he was in prison in russia can he was healthy. he goes to britain and gets poisoned. he should have stayed here. imsteve: it is a sar message from russian tv. the kremlin having controlled media have been mucking boris johnson and making fun of britain. "if you are a professional tradermy advice -- don't move to england. something is not right there -- the climate, perhaps. too many bad things go on there. people are hanged, poison, helicopter crashes, or they fall out of windows." , the vladimir putin n has sent a clear messa to the russian people, that their country is a besieged fortress, threatened by enemiesd abroadraders at home. --it ts at home. 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: today

the police believe that sergei skripal went to visit the graves of his family. we have seen some decontamination work going 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

president putin, bbc news — is russia behind the poisoning of sergei skripal? translation: 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 t

came into 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 to build up and the met office says the

salisbury district hospital about sergei and yulia skripallj salisbury district hospital about 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 th

how important was sergei skripal, you say? i think if we look at the career he had working for the british 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 outd

he a nswered 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, troops and police officers continued the delicate and danger

sergei and yulia skripal sergei and yulia skripal still critically ill. the bbc has been told 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

sergei lavrov says it will bea reaction? sergei lavrov says it will be a strong reaction, which we would expect. sure. from the meddling in the election, whether that has been proved not, donald trump expelled to promote. and we found out that michael flynn told the then russian ambassador, sergey kislyak, not to do anything. that eventually led to, once michael flynn left his job, the 755 american physicians eliminated by the russians. when theresa may and the uk government expelled 23 russian diplomats over the sergei skripal incident, another needed russia respond with expelling 23 british muds, but also closely british muds, but also closely british council, but also the british council, but also the british consulate in moscow. —— ridge diplomats. so we had expected it to happen. every country that expeued it to happen. every country that expelled and russian diplomat knows that it will be responded to tit—for—tat. —— british diplomat. so at minimum russia will respond in that way. the united states also clo

yet sergei skripal wasn't an obvious target for the kremlin. translation: 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. stay with us on bbc news, still to come: taking home oscar — we catch up with the small star whose movie won big at the academy awards. first, the plates slipped gently off the restaurant tables, then suddenly the tables, the chairs and people crashed sideways and downwards, and it was just a matter of seconds as the ferry lurched on to her side. the hydrogen bomb. on a remote pacific atoll, the americans have successfully tested a weapon whose explosive force dwarfed that of the bomb dropped on hiroshima. i had heard the news earlier and so my heart went bang, bang, bang! and are sent to hospital. this rel

sergei skripal and his daughter yulia were taken ill over a week ago in salisbury. the kremlin said today it would not cooperate with any investigation until it was given a sample of the substance involved. as tensions deepened between london and moscow, scotland yard gave more details of the attack and appealed for more witnesses. our first report tonight is from our diplomatic correspondent, james landale it began as a brutal attack on the streets of salisbury, the poisoning of a former russian intelligence officer and his daughter. but it's become tonight a global diplomatic row, with britain in confrontation with moscow and looking for allies. the kremlin hasjust two hours left to explain what role it played salisbury. to say how a nerve agent developed in russia ended up here. and if midnight passes without that explanation, the government is promising a robust and expensive response. this is a brazen attempt to murder innocent people on uk soil. policeman still in hospital, overwhelmingly likely or highly likely the russian state was involved, and the use of t

sergei and yulia skripal remain ina found. sergei and yulia skripal remain in a critical condition in hospital, a week after they were taken ill. and ahead of the spring statement, the chancellor philip hammond says there is cause for economic optimism. sport now. here is richard. thank you. sir trevor brooking says he fears west ham will be relegated if the current aggressive atmosphere at the club continues. his comments come after several pitch invasions during their 3-0 several pitch invasions during their 3—0 defeat to burnley yesterday. he has also told the bbc thatjoint chairman david sullivan was hit by a coin. west ham have lost an enquiry into the incident. the game was stopped a number of times due to members of the crowd invading the pitch. at one point captain mark noble decided to intervene. it was one of a number of incidents that happened. burnley were not distracted by the turmoil and went on to win comfortably by 3—0. the west ham protest continued after the game and the club and the fa say they will inve

i'm appealing for anyone who saw sergei and yulia in sergei's car, which is a red bmw with a registration plate hdo9 wao — hotel delta oscar nine whisky alpha oscar — in the salisbury area between approximately 1pm and 1.45pm on sunday, 4th march. police said they had no information about any suspects, nor would they say where and when the nerve agent was ingested, but they have confirmed it was novichok. this is the most deadly chemical agent we've ever come across that has the potential to kill many millions of people. it is a new chemical weapon, very sophisticated, very toxic and very persistent. a total of 38 people have been treated by medical staff. three remain in hospital, one is being monitored as an out—patient. from around the world has come support for the british position and this the first comment from the american president. well, it sounds to me, i'm speaking to theresa may today, it sounds to me like it with would be russia — based on all the evidence they have. i don't know if they have come to a conclusion, but she's calling me today. russia has been given a de

sergei and yulia skripal remain in a critical condition in hospital. moscow continues to deny any involvement in the attack. our correspondent, sarah rainsford, reports from moscow. accused of a crime many miles from here, under pressure to explain a chemical attack that shocked britain. but today, the kremlin has remained silent. the foreign minister, though, was in full defensive flow. sergey lavrov rejected britain's 24—hour ultimatum to respond to the claim that moscow used a nerve agent. "russia should get 10 days," he said, accusing britain of flouting the chemical weapons convention. and when i asked about the actual charge, the minister called that nonsense. translation: russia is not guilty. russia is ready to co—operate in accordance with the convention on the prohibition of chemical weapons if the uk finally decides to fulfil its obligations under international law within that document. russia's also demanding a sample of the substance used in the attack to conduct its own tests. it's been identified as novichok, which the bbc believes w

meanwhile, the police officer who tried to help sergei skripal and his daughter yulia, after the nerve gas attack, 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 s

sergei skripal remains in a critical condition. his daughter 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 th

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 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 was approached by british intelligen

sergei skripal and yulia are both critically ill. russia has denied any involvement in their attempted murder. after chairing a second meeting of the cobra emergency committee, the home secretary said the investigation was proceeding at speed, with 200 pieces of evidence, and more than 240 witnesses. it's a really painstaking, detailed investigation, as the police go through over 200 pieces of evidence, huge amounts of cctv. but they are absolutely committed to making sure that we do that in a completely professional way. the third victim of this attack, detective sergeant nick bailey, is seriously ill, though able to talk to his family. he released a statement saying he didn't consider himself a hero and was merely doing hisjob. kathryn stanczyszyn is in salisbury. various new lines this morning. let's look at that question of traces in the zizzi restaurant, where does that take us? this afternoon marks exactly seven days since sergei and yulia skripal were found slumped on the bench behind me in the centre of salisbury. this is one

sergei and yulia skripal remain in a critical condition in hospital. moscow continues to deny any involvement in the attack. our correspondent sarah rainsford reports from moscow. accused of a crime many miles from here, under pressure to explain a chemical attack that shocked britain. but today the kremlin has remained silent. the foreign minister, though, was in full defensive flow. sergey lavrov rejected britain's 2a hour ultimatum to respond to the claim that moscow used a nerve agent. russia should get ten days, he said, accusing britain of floating the chemical weapons convention. and when i asked about the actual charge the minister called that nonsense. translation: russia is not guilty. russia is ready to co—operate in accordance with the convention on the prohibition of chemical weapons if the uk finally decides to fulfil its obligations under international law within that document. russia's also demanding a sample of the substance used in the attack to conduct its own tests. the uk has identified it as novichok which the bbc believes was o

sergei skripal and yulia skripal are in sealed off. sergei skripal and yulia skripalare 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 visi

we also believe sergei skripal had a 43—year—old son who died last year. after his death, we believe yulia skripal was visiting here more regularly, we believe the sun died in st petersburg on holiday. —— the son. relatives say they deny sergei skripal was involved in any way with mi6, as was alleged by the russian government. but we believe now that yulia skripal is the woman who was found on the bench unconscious with her father 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 mos

reaction to the attack upon former double agent sergei skripal continues in russia. the government there denies being involved and the russian foreign minister has accused britain of breaking international law by preventing the kremlin from accessing evidence of the nerve agent attack. from moscow, here's sarah rainsford. accused of a crime many miles from here, under pressure to explain a chemical attack that shocked britain. but today the kremlin has remained silent. the foreign minister, though, was in full defensive flow. sergey lavrov rejected britain's 2a hour ultimatum to respond to the claim that moscow used a nerve agent. russia should get ten days, he said, accusing britain of floating the chemical weapons convention. and when i asked about the actual charge the minister called that nonsense. translation: russia is not guilty. russia is ready to corporate mac — co—operate in their dealings with legislation on chemical weapons if the uk finally decides to fulfil its obligations under international law within that document. russia is also demanding a samp

the former russian spy sergei skripal and his daughter are still critically ill. mr skripal‘s niece has been speaking to the bbc, as our correspondent steve rosenberg reports. it looks like a game show, but this was russian tv on the diplomatic war with the west. the names in the frames, the string of countries who had expelled russian diplomats over the salisbury attack. 26 countries have now ordered expulsions. moscow's point is that the west has got it in for russia. this is not about poisoning some former agents. this is about containing russia, creating problems for russia with its sovereign and independent foreign policy. and could a diplomatic war morph into something more dangerous? this confrontation has certain logic, and this logic is to step up — each next move should be stronger than the previous one. and with this, we can reach a pretty dangerous situation where militarisation of behaviour will be inevitable. the one expression you hear more and more to describe the growing tension between russia and the west is "new cold war". but in fact what w

one of the key questions we still don't know the answer to is where sergei and yulia skripal came into co nta ct where sergei and yulia skripal came into contact with the nerve agent before they end up in a critical condition on the bench behind me, which is covered in that white and yellow sheeting. so a second appeal from the police for information from anyone who might have seen sergei skripal‘s car on sunday the 11th of march. they are particularly interested in the car. we have seen a lot of work on the car by officers and we saw it being towed late yesterday. they have released a new photo of that maroon bmw. the police we re photo of that maroon bmw. the police were already asking for information from anyone who might have seen that car between one and 1.45 on sunday the 4th of march. what is new is that they want to hear from anyone who might have seen the car earlier in the day, at around 9.15 on three main roads. what is interesting about those three main roads is that they link sergei skripal‘s house with the cemetery where his wife and son are buried. so i think we can

sergei skripal used to spy

sergei lost his mother and his two children in the fire. translation: we could identify my children because they were suffocating somewhere. other children that were brought, they were without hands and legs. inside what's left of the winter cherry shopping complex, a scene of utter devastation. this place was packed on sunday, when the fire broke out it swept through the building with appalling speed. on one of the upper floors, what's left of the cinema. this is where many of the children died. the man leading the investigation says those responsible for safety simply ran away. the view from above is equally shocking. parts of the roof simply collapsed. russia's newly re—elected president was in kemerovo this morning. he's offered condolences and promised a thorough investigation. what happened, he says was "inexcusable". translation: an investigation group of 100 people is working here. they will go through the whole chain, starting with those who issued licences and up to those who were responsible for safety. what began as a local tr

where sergei skripal and his daughter sat. they sat at a table away 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 pe

amber rudd told parliament sergei and yulia skripal remain in a critical condition in hospital, and the police officer who went to their aid is in a serious condition. the use of a nerve agent on uk soil is a brazen and reckless act. this was attempted murder in the most cruel and public way. we'll have the latest on the counter—terrorism investigation into where the nerve agent came from. also this lunchtime... a passenger tells a court how her hair caught fire when a bomb went off on a london underground train last september. domestic abusers could be electronically tagged or banned from drinking alcohol, in a new crackdown proposed by the government. longer waits in a&e and fewer non—urgent operations — new figures make grim reading for the nhs. and, going for gold — britain is hoping for a record medal haul at the winter paralympics. and coming up in the sport on bbc news... eddiejones makes three changes for england's six nations clash with france this weekend. captain dylan hartley misses out through injury. good afternoon and welcome to the bbc news at one. the home secre

and if the attack on sergei skripal did come from russia, why? after being released from jail, skripal 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 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 suspici

into the poisoning of the former spy, sergei skripal and his daughter. our reporter tom 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 th

sergei and yulia skreepal are still critically ill sergei and yulia skripal are still critically ill in hospital, while the policeman who tried to help them remains in a serious condition. tom symonds reports. it began with unprotected police officers dealing with an unexplained medical emergency. 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 have been supporting the police in their investigations through the work of military scientists at porton down. we will 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 will probably take this kit to porton down or perhaps win

and sergei skripal was involved in this spy swap in 2010. when that happens, what sort of protection are those spies given in both directions? well, essentially you get a new identity, you get a place to live. 0bviously your family, or his wife was taken out of russia to come with him. he would have 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