11/03/2018 BBC Weekend News

Good afternoon.

Hundreds of people in Salisbury,

who visited the same restaurant

and pub as the poisoned Russian

spy and his daughter,

are being advised

to wash their clothes

and possessions as a precaution.

Traces of the nerve agent have

been found in the Zizzi

restaurant and Mill pub.

Those who were at the two locations

last Sunday and Monday

are being asked to take extra

measures, but England's Chief

Medical Officer says

she is confident that there's been

no harm to the health of any

members of the public.

Kathryn Stanczyszyn

reports from Salisbury.

A city under a watchful eye, a week

on from the moment these Skripals

were found collapsed on a bench in a

Salisbury Park, the 30s are still

trying to piece together what

happened to them. Last night traces

of the nerve agent used in the

attack were discovered in the

Italian rest and they had eaten at.

No hundreds of people who spend time

at Zizzi row or the Mill are being

asked to take precautions.

Wash

clothing you haven't already,

ideally in the washing machine. Any

items which cannot be washed which

would normally be dry cleaned should

be doubled back in plastic until

further information is available.

Wipe personal items such as phones,

handbags and other electronic items

with baby wipes and dispose of them

in plastic bags in the bin. Wash hat

items such as Julie and spectacles,

which cannot go in the washing

machine, with warm water and

determine. --

Exactly what the nerve

agent used is still not known. For

one victim, it is history that

should not be repeating itself. 12

years ago, the former Russian spy

Alexander Litvinenko was poisoned by

Russian agents in London. His widow

received this letter from the then

Home Secretary Theresa May,

promising such a thing would never

be repeated again.

Unfortunately it

happened again. It means something

was not done, and a lesson was not

learned.

Five locations are still

cordoned off today and some

businesses remain closed. But those

who live here are trying to make

Mother's Day as normal as possible,

despite the fact today's service at

St Thomas's will include prayers for

the well-being of the community, a

community in the grip of an

extraordinary investigation.

Well, this park behind me is where

the Skripals were found almost seven

days ago. The public are starting to

ask, though, if this remains a bit

of interest, as the pub restaurant,

will precautionary measures be

taken, why were they not told before

now? In terms of the condition of

the Skripals, we know they are still

seriously ill in hospital. More

questions likely to be answered at

the scheduled press conference Alex

Aragon by Wiltshire Police and

emergency services.

The Chancellor, Philip Hammond,

has rejected calls to announce

the end of austerity.

Speaking two days before

he delivers his Spring Statement,

Mr Hammond said the Government

would still need to continue

paying down the debt,

but that there was

"light at the end of the tunnel".

Labour have the accused the

Government of holding back growth.

Our political correspondent

Jonathan Blake reports.

Morning, Chancellor!

Is that a

spring in the Chancellor's step?

Philip Hammond looked reasonably

cheerful this morning as he arrived

to deliver his message that the

economy could be turning a corner.

After a gloomy through years of

relatively low growth, and things

could be looking brighter bungalow

there is light at the end of the

tunnel because what we are about to

see is debt started to fall after it

has been drawing for 17 continuous

years.

That is a very important

moment for us. But we are still in

the tunnel at the moment. We have to

get get down. We've got all sorts of

other things we want to do, we've

taken a balanced approach.

That get

the Chancellor talked about is too

high for his liking, but forecasts

show the amount the UK owes could

have beat and might fall in the

coming years. No cause for

celebration according to Labour who

say other factors tell a different

story.

We shouldn't be celebrating

that hostility, this isn't me saying

it, the head of the OBR has said it,

starting is holding us back and

wages are below what they were in

2000 -- in 2007 to 2008.

This week a

report that many councils were at

breaking point uppercuts and central

government funding. One example of

the effect that strict limits on

spending can have. We will not see

the Chancellor's red box this week.

The Budget has been moved to the

autumn. His Spring Statement on

Tuesday will be just an update on

the economy. And a reminder that

whilst his political opponents say

people have suffered under austerity

for too long, there will be no

spending spree any time soon.

The water regulator will investigate

why thousands of homes in England

and Wales suffered shortages,

or a total loss of supply

after the recent cold weather.

Ofwat says its review will determine

whether companies had proper

contingency plans in place.

Homes and businesses faced days

without running water after pipes

burst during the thaw.

China's Parliament has voted

to abolish the two-term limit

for the country's president.

The move will allow Xi Jinping

to stay in office beyond the end

of his second term in 2023

and possibly rule indefinitely.

The amendment changes a rule that's

been in place since the early 1900s,

and has seen leaders serve ten years

before passing on power

to the next generation.

John Sudworth is in Beijing.

John, does this matter was like the

Chinese Communist Party is a big

monolith, doesn't matter which man

in black hair dye and safe suit runs

it?

Well, you cannot tell how

significant a story is in China by

how little coverage it gets on state

media. That is certainly the case in

this instance. The official

Communist controlled news sources

giving only scant mention to the

constitutional change, and

discussion of it on social media

being heavily monitored and

censored. It matters because China

was once thought to have solved the

big challenge facing all

undemocratic authoritarian states,

how to handle leadership

transitions. The constitutional

change that was brought in, the

2-term limits, after the long role

of Chairman Mao and the disaster and

chaos of his years, was done

precisely to make sure that those

sorts of things did not happen

again. So this is hugely significant

and it raises fundamental questions

of how power is exercised in what is

now of course the world's

second-largest economy.

Both came in the women's

visually impaired super-g.

Millie Knight and her guide

Brett Wild, who finished in second

place in the downhill,

replicated that result

in today's race.

From South Korea, here's our sports

reporter, Kate Grey.

No time to celebrate

yesterday's silver medal.

Millie Knight and guide Brett Wild

were first on the slopes today,

this time in the super G.

A more technical course

to test the partnership,

but that didn't slow them down.

Clearly brimming with confidence,

the standard was set.

Could their team-mates

do any better?

Menna Fitzpatrick and guide

Jen Kehoe crashed out

of yesterday's downhill,

but there were no signs of holding

back in their favourite event.

Already super G World Cup champions,

this was their best medal chance.

And they delivered.

Not quite enough to beat Millie

and Brett, but a podium

finish nonetheless.

The winner of yesterday's

race followed them down

the hill and she again

outperformed the Brits.

So it was a silver and bronze.

Today's run was just about building

that confidence and then

by about halfway down,

you've got into it.

She started skiing really well.

Yeah, we are super pleased.

It's a massive dream come

true for both of us.

I'm just so glad we've

done it together.

Elsewhere on the snow,

Britain's first representative

in Nordic skiing for 20 years,

Scott Meenagh, went

in the 15km cross country.

A gruelling course and he

finished a long way down

the field in 17th place.

On the ice, the curlers were hoping

to build on yesterday's win,

but the Swiss hit the mark

when it mattered.

Back to the drawing

board for the Brits.

Well, the curlers are back in action

as we speak, they are currently up

against Finland, and the score is

7-2, Great Britain leading with just

two ends to go. That is the latest

from here in Pyeongchang.

Congratulations to all those

competing, impressive performance.

You can see more on all of today's

stories on the BBC News Channel.

The next news on BBC One

is just after six.

Bye for now.