14/03/2018 BBC News at Ten

Tonight at ten:

Britain expels 23 Russian diplomats

after Moscow fails to explain

the chemical attack in Salisbury.

As the investigation widened today

the Prime Minister announced

a series of sanctions against Russia

and cut off all high level

contacts with Moscow.

They have treated the use

of a military grade nerve agent

in Europe with sarcasm,

contempt and defiance.

Russia has again denied

being involved and has demanded

to be shown proof of a Russian link

to the nerve agent.

The Russian diplomats being expelled

have a week to leave.

We'll be asking who they are and

what impact their departure

will have.

Also tonight:

I'm very proud that I have

been able to contribute

to our understanding

of the universe.

An extraordinary scientist

who inspired millions -

tributes pour in from around

the world

to Professor Stephen Hawking who's

died at the age of 76.

Students across America

walk out of class -

a month after the Florida school

shooting - in the largest protest

against gun violence for years.

And what's in our bottled water?

A special investigation discovers

hundreds - even thousands -

of tiny particles of plastic

in a number of leading brands.

And coming up on Sportsday

on BBC News...

Altior wins the big race on day two

of the Cheltenham Festival.

The favourite stormed

home in impressive style

to win by 12 lengths.

Good evening.

Britain is expelling 23 Russian

diplomats after Moscow refused

to explain how a military grade

nerve agent was used

on a former spy in Salisbury.

It's the biggest such expulsion

for more than 30 years.

The Prime Minister told parliament

that the "undeclared

intelligence officers" have just one

week to leave.

The UK has also cut off all high

level contacts with Russia

and announced that government

ministers and the royal family

will not attend the World Cup.

Here's our political

editor, Laura Kuenssberg.

It was right to offer

Russia the opportunity

to provide an explanation.

But their response has

demonstrated complete disdain

for the gravity of these events.

The midnight deadline came

and went, leaving a morning

with no new answers.

Theresa May went prepared

to Prime Minister's Questions,

ready to announce the biggest

diplomatic action against Russia

since the Cold War.

They have treated the use

of a military grade nerve agent

in Europe with sarcasm,

contempt and defiance.

So, Mr Speaker, there is no

alternative conclusion,

other than the Russian state

was culpable for the attempted

murder of Mr Skripal

and his daughter.

This represents and unlawful use

of force by the Russian state

against the United Kingdom.

So the UK will retaliate.

The United Kingdom will now expel

23 Russian diplomats

who have been identified

as undeclared intelligence officers.

They have just one week to leave.

This was not just an act

of attempted murder in Salisbury,

nor just an act against UK.

It is an affront to the prohibition

on the use of chemical weapons,

and it is an affront

to the rules-based system,

on which we and our

international partners depend.

So 23 diplomats suspected of being

spies have seven days to leave,

all high-level contact

between the UK and Russia

is also being suspended,

and no minister or member

of the royal family will

go to the World Cup.

And some Russian state

assets could be frozen,

with possible new laws to crack down

on hostile states.

In a tense House of Commons,

Jeremy Corbyn was not quite ready

to accept the culpability

of the Russian state.

Our response must be both

decisive and proportionate,

and based on clear evidence.

But listen to rising anger,

as Jeremy Corbyn turns some

of his fire on the Tories.

It is, as we on these benches

have expressed before,

a matter of huge regret

that our country's diplomatic

capacity as been stripped

back with cuts of 25%

in the last five years.

It is tradition for the two

main parties to stick

together on foreign policy.

Not these two.

This is not a question

of our diplomacy, of what diplomatic

support we have around the world.

This is a question of

the culpability of the Russian

state, for an act on our soil.

Fever rose.

Their continued disregard

for the rule of law

and for human rights must be met

with unequivocal condemnation.

Look, Tories cheering

Labour backbenchers.

Jeremy Corbyn's team, arms folded.

The Russian government has

behaved with arrogance,

with inhumanity and with contempt.

Anger displayed in Westminster,

that this is happening

on British streets.

In Dorset today, the lorry that

removed the Skripals' car, seized.

In Salisbury, the bench

where Father and daughter

were found, still sealed off.

While the Prime Minister makes her

opening moves in a diplomatic

tangle that could last.

Tonight we do know it the Prime

Minister felt she had little choice

but to take firm steps in

retaliation. We know the government

expects there to be some form of

retaliation from Moscow. What we

don't know and what ministers don't

know, what shape and form that may

take. But we also don't know, there

could be a prolonged period of

tension between the two countries.

But what is clear tonight, this is a

big test of judgment for Theresa

May, and there may be nothing

straightforward in the coming weeks

and months, for making sure for her

that she passes it.

Thank you. Tonight, Russia has again

denied being involved and has

demanded to see proof of the nerve

agent used in Salisbury.

Our Moscow correspondent,

Steve Rosenberg, joins us now.

Steve.

There was little surprise. Russia

expected sanctions. What that was a

lot of was a feeling of anger and

defiance. There is a feeling that if

Britain wants a diplomatic war with

Russia, then bring it on.

In Russia, at least the weather

is showing signs of a thaw.

After the long winter,

Moscow is melting.

But in UK Russian relations,

you can feel the chill.

Britain's expulsion of Russian

diplomats has sparked anger

with Theresa May.

Prime Minister May is destroying

international law, and is destroying

international relationship.

Of course, it is the

end of her career.

It's the end.

It's a show.

That was a political show.

And this is not, it's not serious,

it's not for the serious politician.

And this was the show

on Russian TV, while Mrs May

was announcing sanctions.

Commenting live, Andrei Lugavoy,

the man Britain believes poisoned

former Russian agent

Alexander Litvinenko in 2006.

Moscow refuses to extradite him.

As for Kremlin funded

English-language channel RT,

Theresa May has left it up to UK

regulator Ofcom to decide

whether it can keep its UK licence.

What do you think the chances

are of RT being censored in the UK?

I hope RT is not censored in the UK,

because I really would not

like British media, including you,

you are a very nice man,

a gentleman, to be expelled

from Russia, which is exactly

what I believe will happen if RT

is censored in the UK.

The British government

wanted to send a strong

message today to Moscow.

But that message has been

dismissed here as nothing

more than a provocation,

and it plays into the narrative

which the Kremlin has been

creating for some time,

that the West is against Russia.

The man who styles himself

as the defender of Russia,

came to Crimea today,

territory Vladimir Putin

annexed from Ukraine.

With an election in Russia in four

days' time, UK sanctions may help

the UK leader rally support.

With an election in Russia in four

days' time, UK sanctions may help

the Kremlin leader rally support.

Tonight, Moscow is showing no signs

of buckling under British pressure.

Russia is promising

retaliation soon.

Steve Rosenberg, BBC News, Moscow.

In New York the United Nations

Security Council has been told

tonight that the chemical weapon

used in Salisbury was so horrific

that it's banned in war.

The US ambassador to

the United Nations said America

believes Russia is responsible

for the attack

and the UN Security Council should

take action.

Sergei and Yulia Skripal remain

in critical condition

in Salisbury, ten days

after they were the principal

victims of an attack

using a banned chemical weapon.

Widespread international

outrage has now been echoed

at the Security Council

of the United Nations,

where Russia is so often at odds

with the key powers.

Britain's principal ally

the United States, urged

collective action against Russia.

Time and time again,

member states say they oppose

the use of chemical weapons

under any circumstance.

Now one member stands accused

of using chemical weapons

on the sovereign soil

of another member.

The credibility of this council

will not survive, if we fail

to hold Russia accountable.

That's exactly the support Britain

was hoping for when it

requested this meeting.

But what of other punitive

measures against Russia?

In the City of London it's less

obvious if Russians with corrupt

or criminal money in Britain,

have much new to fear.

Unexplained Russian wealth may now

be pursued more vigorously,

including some of the most expensive

property in the world.

The leading anti-corruption

organisation,

Transparency International,

estimates that a fifth

of all property bought

with criminal money in Britain

is owned by Russians.

But it's the expulsion

of 23 so-called diplomats

which is the big story.

At the embassy packing

may ready have started.

The government is convinced all

those being kicked out are spies,

and that the hit will hurt.

Whatever the effect turns out

to be of today's action,

the Prime Minister was bold

in her claims.

She said if the Russians seek

to rebuild their intelligence

capability, we will prevent

them from doing so.

James Robbins, BBC News,

at the Russian Embassy.

Our security correspondent,

Gordon Correra, is outside

MI5 headquarters.

Tell us more about these so-called

"undeclared intelligence officers"

who've been told to leave,

and what impact their

departure will have?

It was striking the focus on

intelligence in the Prime Minister's

statement today. You could tell they

picked 23 intelligence officers,

because that was every single

Russian intelligence officer who had

been identified here at MI5, as

operating undercover at the Russian

Embassy. There are a couple of

others who are not undercover. They

are declared open intelligence

officers. They have been left in

place as a communications channel.

The aspiration is ambitious. Simply

to dismantle Russia's espionage

capability here in the UK. Other

measures the government wants,

including the ability to stop

suspected spies at the border or

port, something they can only do

with terrorism suspects, and the

ability to check private flights for

freight. We do now how do Salisbury

attack was carried out, but you can

see why the authorities want more

power to stop people coming in and

out of the country, and to check

what they might be bringing in and

out of the country. Everyone knows

the Russians will respond. They may

carry out tit-for-tat expulsions. I

think the view in London is it will

not damage British intelligence in

the same way, because we may not

have as many spies in Moscow, as the

Russians do here in London, but

British officials also have some

other measures in their back pocket

ready to go in case the Russians

continue and try and even escalate

the situation.

Thank you.

Tributes have poured

in from all over the world

for Professor Stephen Hawking,

one of the greatest scientists

of modern times, who died this

morning at the age of 76.

He was diagnosed with a rare form

of motor neurone disease

when he was 22 and told he only had

a few years to live.

But he defied all expectations

and went on to become

one of the most famous

physicists in the world,

thanks to his studies

on black holes and relativity.

Our science editor, David Shukman,

looks back at his life.

There is nothing like the Eureka

moment of discovering

something that no one knew before.

Stephen Hawking had a gift

for inspiration, a powerful spirit

overcoming an ailing body to allow

a mind to roam through the cosmos.

It earned him a place as the most

famous scientist in the world.

It has been a glorious time to be

alive and doing research

in theoretical physics.

Who else could draw the crowds?

This was Israel.

The man who gazed at the stars

became one himself.

His story both poignant

and uplifting.

His career involved concepts

so alien and complicated that

for most people it's been a struggle

to keep up but he explored

the strangest of features

of the universe, black holes,

drawing together the science

of the very largest things in space

with the science of the very small -

part of a quest to come up with

a single theory for the universe.

He made these incredibly original

insights which set up the modern

theory of black holes,

and made great contributions

to cosmology, and so

he was a huge figure.

I was devastated, really upset.

I'd only met him a couple of times,

but he had a real impact on my life.

I think it is the passing

of a great scientist.

He will be truly, sorely missed.

Even as a young student his

intelligence stood out,

but at just that moment he was given

a warning that motor neurone disease

would cut his life short.

When I was diagnosed at 21

I was told it would kill me

in two or three years.

But somehow he kept going.

In a high-tech wheelchair

and with a synthesised voice.

I am happier now than before

I developed the condition.

Communicating first by touch,

then by twitching a single

muscle in his cheek -

a daunting burden for anyone.

His children saw him as an example.

His daughter Lucy

spoke to us last year.

People who've lived in really

extreme circumstances seem to find

something very, very inspirational

in his example of perseverance

and persistence and his ability

to rise above his suffering

and still want to communicate

at a higher level.

Life was never straightforward.

His first marriage ending

in divorce, as did a second marriage

to one of his nurses.

Claims had emerged that he had

been physically abused,

the case was dropped

for lack of evidence.

None of this held him back.

His book, A Brief History of Time,

sold at least 10 million copies

and everyone has wanted to meet him.

From the Pope in the Vatican...

Good evening, ma'am.

To the Queen...

Nice to see you again.

To Barack Obama, who awarded him

a Presidential Medal of Freedom.

His fame reached far

beyond the world of science.

Your theory of a doughnut-shaped

universe is intriguing, Homer.

I may have to steal it.

Wow.

Even appearing in The Simpsons.

Who's paying the tab?

HOMER IMITATING HAWKING:

I am.

I didn't say that.

HOMER IMITATING HAWKING:

Yes, I did!

In an episode of Star Trek

he was given the chance

to tease Isaac Newton.

Not the apple story again!

And is this your new friend?

More recently he was happy to play

along for Comic Relief.

Astounding to think the Lord created

all this in just seven days.

Incorrect.

It took 13.8 million years.

Let's not get bogged

down in all that again!

He had real a sense

of adventure, even attempting

a zero gravity flight.

As you can imagine,

I am very excited.

I have been wheelchair-bound

for almost four decades

and the chance to float

free in zero G will be wonderful.

Tim Berners-Lee, founder

of the World Wide Web tweeted...

And Nasa said...

If you reverse time then

the universe is getting smaller.

All right.

Eddie Redmayne played

Stephen Hawking in the film

The Theory of Everything

and today said "We've lost

a truly beautiful mind."

Which sums up the real

Stephen Hawking, who could always

conjur up a visionary thought.

So a scientist who delved

into the weird realm of black holes

achieved something remarkable.

He found a way of acting as a bridge

between science and popular culture.

He knew his work baffled a lot

of people, but he hoped they'd get

something out of it,

understanding that there

are rational laws governing

the universe, and, uniquely

he succeeded in reaching

a global audience.

Professor Stephen Hawking,

who's died at the age of 76.

Stephen Hawking's most famous book

A Brief History Of Time has shot

to the top of the bestseller list

at Amazon today.

He had an ability to bridge

the divide between academia

and popular culture.

Our correspondent, Jon Kay,

reflects on his enduring appeal

for new generations of scientists.

Stephen Hawking would have loved

this - 20,000 young British

scientists experimenting together.

Do it again!

Do it again!

Don't touch it.

He told young people

to be curious and today,

as they studied trajectories

and force, many were thinking

of their scientific superhero.

How would you describe him?

Genius, pioneer, brilliant,

inspirational, motivationally

engaging, phenomenal.

I've read A Brief History Of Time,

I thought it was very interesting.

Did you read all of it?

I did actually read all of it.

And it got me into black holes

and I went on to a series

of lectures about them.

So, yeah, it fuelled a lot for me.

On display at the Big

Bang Fair, inventions

from the scientists of tomorrow.

These A-level physicists,

from North Wales, regard Professor

Hawking as a modern-day genius.

He's the intellectual follower

of Einstein and Newton.

These amazing, amazing figures

that we read about in physics books,

he was getting to that level.

He was incredible.

His legacy will live on.

For ever.

See the astronaut

there, look at him.

Inside an inflatable black hole,

teenagers studied Hawking's

space and time theories,

while taking selfies.

It's a lot in one

lifetime for anyone.

I think he's encouraged

science as a field as well.

I think more people are more

invested in science

nowadays because of him.

It would navigate you

to the nearest exit.

At 15, Byron has invented an app

which could help people

escape a tower block fire

using virtual reality.

He admires Hawking's

personal courage.

He was only one man who did such

great things and I was really

inspired by that, because usually

you see people follow the same paths

and try and do the same things.

But Stephen Hawking was really

unique in the sense that he wanted

to do things differently

and he wanted to contribute things

in a different sense.

I was really inspired by that.

Perhaps the next Stephen Hawking

was in this room today.

Jon Kay, BBC News, Birmingham.

And after the news on BBC One

there is another chance to see

Dara O'Briain meets Stephen Hawking.

That's at 10.45pm tonight.

Students across the United States

have walked out of their classrooms

today to demand tighter

gun safety laws.

They staged a 17-minute protest

to represent the 17 people

who were killed in the Florida

school shooting exactly a month ago.

Here's our North America

editor, Jon Sopel.

Hey-hey, ho-ho,

the NRA has got to go!

The last time we saw children

pouring out of school,

it was with their hands up in terror

after the Florida shooting.

Today they came out across America,

but this time with fists clenched,

demanding change on gun control.

What do we want?!

Gun control!

When do we want it?!

Now!

In Washington at ten o'clock,

on a bracing cold morning,

with their backs turned

on the White House, these students

fell silent for 17 minutes -

a minute for each of the people

who died at the Marjory

Stoneman Douglas School

in Florida last month.

There's no doubting

the extraordinary success these

young people have had in changing

the whole terms of debate

on the subject of gun

control in America.

Their problem is that the man

who lives on the other side of that

fence seems to have got cold feet.

Hey-hey, ho-ho,

the NRA has got to go!

When Donald Trump met

youngsters from the Florida

school at the White House,

he seemed to offer his support

for tougher gun control measures,

like raising to 21 the age

at which you can buy a rifle.

And he later chided lawmakers

for being frightened

of the National Rifle Association.

Some of you people are

petrified of the NRA.

You can't be petrified.

But he's now backed off those

proposals and so young people

are intensifying their campaign.

We want them to pass

common-sense gun laws.

Common-sense gun laws.

We want to see a ban

on assault rifles.

We don't want to be

scared in school.

It should be our safest institution.

We are tired of being scared.

We want actual change.

We want it to happen

with this protest.

This is what democracy looks like!

This is a curtain raiser

to a mass demonstration

in Washington in ten days' time.

They're a long way from getting

what they want, but the power

of youth protest has got them

further than anyone

could have imagined.

And they're not in any

mood to surrender.

Never again!

Never again!

Jon Sopel, BBC News, Washington.

Scientists have discovered tiny

particles of plastic

in bottled drinking water.

Research, commissioned

by journalists at Orb Media,

studied more than 250 bottles

of water, from 11 of

the world's leading brands.

Some bottles had no particles,

but others tested had hundreds

or even thousands of particles -

some the width of a human hair.

Food safety experts say the levels

of plastic found does not make

the water unsafe to drink.

But they are calling for more

research into the effects

of microplastic on the human body,

as David Shukman reports.

They are among some of the most

popular brands of water

in the world, millions are sold

every day, but new research has made

a surprising discovery that

many of the bottles contain tiny

particles of plastic.

And there are certain wavelengths

of light that causes them to sparkle

like stars in the night sky.

In the largest study of its kind,

bottles were water were bought

in different countries around

the world - China, India,

Brazil and many others.

The project was coordinated

by journalists at Orb Media

and they recorded each step

of the process, from the shops,

to the courier companies,

as the bottles were sent

to a laboratory in New York State.

Professor Sherri Mason is a chemist

specialising in plastic

and she tested more than 250

of the bottles.

I'm going to take a specific

amount of nile red dye.

The dye, nile red, has

a proven ability to stick

to pieces of plastic.

It was first used to detect

plastic in sea water.

So when the bottles were emptied

through a filter, what was left

was a mass of tiny particles.

The next stage was then to analyse

them under a microscope.

The dye makes anything

plastic fluoresce under

a particular kind of light.

So the particles could be counted

and some were then examined to see

what they were made of.

The typical microplastics that we're

finding in the bottled water,

at the lower end of the screen

you see a fibre.

This, what looks like

a little hair, just there?

Correct.

You see it in bottle after bottle

and we see it in brand after brand.

Part of that too is,

it's not about pointing fingers

at particular brands,

it's really showing

that this is everywhere.

So what exactly was found?

A small minority of bottles had no

plastic particles at all.

But in this video, recorded

with a special light and an orange

lens, you can actually see

pieces of plastic.

And this close-up image of a filter

shows hundreds of particles,

it looks like a picture

of the stars.

A technique developed for astronomy

had to be used to count every dot.

The biggest particles, larger

than the width of a human hair,

were confirmed as plastic,

and there was an average

of ten of them per litre.

Smaller particles were also found,

an average of 314 per litre.

These weren't positively identified,

but were probably plastic.

At the moment there are no rules

covering these microplastics or any

agreed way of checking for them.

What's striking is how

widespread this problem is.

The research has studied bottles

from nine different countries,

11 different brands and,

in almost all of them, they found

plastic floating around inside.

When they looked more closely,

they found that the type of plastic

is often what's used

to make the cap.

So the theory is, that the very act

of opening a bottle,

maybe what pollutes it.

We approached all the companies

involved, a few didn't reply.

Those that did said they maintained

the highest standards of safety.

Nestle told us...

It said the study "misses some

crucial steps to avoid false

positives, detecting something

other than plastic."

Danone, which owns Evian,

said it wouldn't comment

on the study because the testing

methodology is unclear,

and it pointed out that

for microplastics there's "no

regulatory framework or scientific

consensus on testing for them."

Gerolsteiner said its own tests

found microplastics "significantly

below the limits for particles set

for pharmaceutical companies."

And Coca-Cola, which makes Dasani,

said that microplastics seem to be

everywhere "and therefore maybe

found at minute levels,

even in highly treated products."

Plastic is turning up

in unexpected places.

Last year this lab found it

in samples of tap water.

So what does this

mean for our health?

Right now there's no hard evidence

that drinking or eating plastic

particles can cause any harm,

but that isn't out of the question.

Some of these particles

are so incredibly small

that they can actually

make their way across

the gastrointestinal track,

across the lining and be carried

throughout the body,

and we don't know the implications

of what that means on our various

organs an tissues.

And if there's plastic in bottled

water, where else might it be?

We turned to one of the British

scientists who helped to develop

the nile red technique

for detecting plastic.

This study is maybe just the start.

When we start looking more

carefully, we will very

likely find it in food,

in packaging, in milk,

in any other place we look,

because I don't think mineral water

is unique in that sense.

Despite this, the message

from the scientists is clear -

if your tap water is dirty,

bottled water is far safer.

But the world of microplastics

is new and full of uncertainty,

which makes research into it

all the more urgent.

David Shukman, BBC News,

in New York State.

Toys R Us is closing all 100

of its UK stores in the next six

weeks after administrators failed

to find a buyer.

3,000 jobs will be lost as a result.

Some 25 stores have either already

closed in recent days or are due

to close by tomorrow.

Football now, and Chelsea

have been knocked out of

the Champions League by Barcelona.

They lost 3-0 in tonight's

second leg in Barcelona.

Joe Wilson watched the action.

Barcelona helpfully provided

a banner in English

for visiting Chelsea.

Ask anyone in the world

who's football royalty,

they'll answer - Lionel Messi.

Sure, he's good, but nobody has

a devine right to score.

You can't just expect

to finish your first opportunity,

from an impossible angle.

COMMENTATOR:

And he scores, Messi.

Oh!

Two minutes - Messi 1, Chelsea 0.

Even at the highest level,

Messi just seems superior.

Steal the ball, then then his legs

whirl and his brain beats everyone.

No shot, a pass - let

Dembele finish this one.

COMMENTATOR:

He smashes it in.

So Chelsea were 3-1 down

on aggregate, but getting a goal

back seemed feasible.

This free-kick brushed the post.

Chelsea had a lot of the ball,

but Messi just needed one sight

of goal, aiming again for the gap

between the goalkeeper's legs.

There is a release

clause in his contract.

he could be yours for

700 million euros.

Joe Wilson, BBC News.

Well, that's just about from us.

In a moment the news where you are,

but we will leave you now

with the words and images of one

of the greatest scientists of modern

times, Professor Stephen Hawking,

who died this morning.

Good night.

Theoretical physics is one

of the few fields in which being

disabled is no handicap.

It's all in the mind.

I hope my example will give

encouragement and hope to others

in similar situations.

I hope my example will show

disability can be no barrier.

One can achieve anything,

if one is determined enough.

Never give up.