05/03/2018 Outside Source

Hello, I'm Philippa Thomas,

this is Outside Source.

A former Russian spy is found

critically ill in southern England -

exposed to an unknown substance.

Decontamination teams

are deployed and major incident

is declared at a hospital.

Italy's election proves to be

a victory for anti-establishment

candidates, the leader of the five

Star movement says he's now

open to coalition talks.

President Trump says he's "not

backing down" on his plan

for swingeing taxes on foreign steel

imports - saying America has been

ripped off on trade.

We lost $800 billion a

We lost $800 billion a year on

trade. Not going to happen, we are

going to get it back.

Get in touch on all

our stories at BBCOS.

Salisbury Hospital here

in the UK declared a major

incident early Monday -

it's only in the last few

hours we've got details

as to what's happening.

It appears to involved

an unknown substance,

a 33-year-old woman and this Russian

man, Sergei Skripal,

he was involved in a high profile

prisoner exchange back in 2010.

Here's the police in Salisbury.

The pair, who we believe are known

to each other did not have any

visible injuries and were taken to

Salisbury District Hospital. They

are being treated for suspected

exposure to an unknown substance.

The original incident

happened outside a shopping

mall in Salisbury.

From there, Leila Nathoo.

Far back in the distance behind

where these officers are currently

working there is a team of officers

working in protective suits and

masks, looking to the contents of a

bin. Behind that there is a police

tent in place which covers a bench.

It is a shopping precinct in the

centre of Salisbury. It was on a

bench in this shopping precinct

whether two were found yesterday

afternoon. They were found

unconscious, but we have spoken to

eyewitness who said they appeared to

be out of it, in their words. One

eyewitness said it looked like they

were on drugs or had been drinking

heavily. Police said the two are

critically ill in hospital and they

are investigating they have been

exposed to an unknown substance.

They are refusing to confirm as yet

what that substance may be. But the

BBC understands that one of the two

people involved was the former

Russian spy, Sergei Skripal. He had

been convicted in 2006 of working,

of treason in Russia. He was

suspected of passing intelligence to

the British. In 2010 he was pardoned

by the Russian government, released

to Britain as part of a so-called

spy swap. Along with three other

Russians were released to Britain.

Now, we understand he is the man

involved in this incident, although

police are unwilling to confirm the

identity of him, beyond saying a

66-year-old man and a 33-year-old

woman were found here unconscious

yesterday. But police are stressing

there is no wider risk to the

public. The major incident they

declared, at the local hospital here

in Salisbury where they are being

treated is still functioning and

people are still going to routine

operations and appointments. The

police are trying to understand how

the couple fell unconscious and what

happened to them.

When you hear

those words, a Russian national, it

does ring set an alarm bells because

it wouldn't be the first Russian to

have come to Britain or defected to

Britain and be targeted?

Many people

will be thinking of Alexander

Litvinenko, who died in the UK back

in 2006. He was alleged to have been

poisoned by the Russian authorities,

and another Russian intelligence

officer. Many unanswered questions

yet and we don't know any details of

what happened to Sergei Skripal in

between the time when he came to

Britain in 2010 and now. We

understand he has been living in

Salisbury, certainly when we visited

residents, we believe to be his

house nearby, there was a police car

stood outside it. Although

neighbours said they hadn't seen him

for while. Clearly, many unanswered

questions here about what exactly

has happened to him, what substance

he had been exposed to to leave him

and his 33-year-old companion in a

critical condition in hospital.

There is much more on that on the

BBC online.

Italy is Europe's third largest

economy and in the world's top ten.

But in political terms,

it's rudderless.

It looks like there'll be a hung

parliament after its voters gave

right-wing and populist parties

a boost in Sunday's election.

With 99% of votes counted,

results show the Euro-sceptic,

anti-establishment Five Star

Movement as the biggest

single party with almost

a third of the vote.

Here's its leader Luigi Di Maio.

TRANSLATION: For the five Star

Movement, this general election has

been a triumph.

We are the overall

winners of the selection. So first

and foremost, a big thank you to be

about 11 million Italians who voted

for us. They gave us the honour of

giving us their vote. It is an

honour to have such an endorsement

as the first party of the country.

Despite Five Star's success,

a coalition of the far-right looks

set to win the most seats

in the lower house of parliament.

The League's leader Matteo Salvini

would likely head up that coalition

and has declared his party has

the "right and duty" to govern.

TRANSLATION: I keep my word. I keep

the commitments I make with the 6

million Italians.

This commitment is

a centre-right coalition with which

we have the right and the duty to

rule and to govern in the next few

years.

Our Europe editor

Katya Adler tweets...

You'll remember last year's French

elections saw the far-right

candidate Marine Le Pen reach

the presidential run off.

She has treated happily about what

has happened in Italy.

One other thing to show you quickly.

The Italian newspaper La Repubblica

has mapped the election results,

and you can see how the vote split

the country in half.

The yellow in the south of

the country is where five Star won.

The dark blue in the north

is where the centre-right won.

Let's go back to Karin in Rome.

If you look at the map of the way

people voted in Italy, you will see

the political divide and that is

because of the economic divide. The

North is so much more prosperous

than the south. The South has lower

productivity. The North has opted

for the centre-right Forza Italia or

Northern League. The five Star

Movement on its own is the single

biggest party. Whether the people

who voted for change in terms of

voting for the five Star Movement,

actually get to see it get its hands

on big power in government is a big

question, because the centre-right

coalition has come first as a block

and it may be the one that is

granted the mandate by the president

to try to form a government. It is

just short of the 40%, so it does

have to enter into coalition talks.

But it is a big question whether the

system will simply not allow the

five Star Movement, as it is, to

actually take power.

And what about those

who were in government?

Well the centre-left

Democratic Party did

worse than expected,

leaving its leader, the former

Prime Minister Matteo Renzi,

with only one way - out.

TRANSLATION: It is obvious that

after this I will leave my post of

lead to the Democratic Party. I have

already asked the chairman to call a

national assembly to start the

procedure. This will happen at the

end of the stage of the new

parliament are forming and the new

government forming.

We have an Italian journalist and

she has more on Matty Arendse's

expected departure.

He said that he wants to resign

after the parliament has elected the

president of the House of Commons

and the president of the Senate. But

he has not resigned yet, so this is

a little bit crazy at the moment.

The Democratic Party, we do not know

what will happen. Certainly, it will

open up a competition to run the

secretary back again.

There was a

line used in British politics where

one politician taunted another and

said, you were the future, once. I

guess that could be said of Matty

Arendse, and I wonder who is the

future now?

The future now is the

five Star Movement and the Northern

League. The Northern League was the

past, but with Mattiello Salvini, is

the future again. There is no

majority at all. The centre-right

coalition is the first coalition and

the five star movement is the first

party but the parliament is divided

into three major forces and the

fourth is the centre left with the

Democratic Party. It will be

difficult to elect the president of

the chamber of the House of Commons

and the president of the Senate.

But, I think the head of state, the

president of the Republic is waiting

to see what happens in the

parliament after these elections

coming at the end of March.

Italian

politics often involves coalitions

and negotiation, but even by Italian

standards, is this mess?

This is a

mess, also by Italian standards.

Because we used to have the country

divided into two and centre left.

Now it is centre-right, centre-left

and the five Star Movement. The

country itself is divided in two,

between North who voted for the

centre-right coalition and the

South, which voted for the five Star

Movement. It is MS, yes.

President Trump has hit out again

at foreign steel producers

that he feels dump their products

on the American market.

See for yourself how strongly

he feels about this.

People have to understand, our

country on trade has been ripped off

by virtually every country in the

world, whether it is friend or

enemy. Everybody. China, Russia...

People we think are wonderful, the

European Union. We cannot do

business with them, they don't

allow, they have trade barriers that

are worse than tariffs.

Let's think

about what he meant when he said

trade wars are good because he might

be getting one. Let's look at what

might be implicated here. The EU

said it might slap heavy tariffs on

Levi jeans. And Bourbon products and

the EU was talking about a 25%

import tax. We want to show you

about where the US gets its steel

from.

Canada's at the top.

Today it joined fellow members

of the World Trade Organisation,

including the EU, Mexico

and Australia, South Korea and

India, to warn against the US plans.

Even members of President Trump's

own party are urging a re-think.

here's Republican

Senator Mike Lee...

It is a "huge job-killing tax hike

on American consumers."

And here's another Republican

senator Lindsay Graham explaining

that the tariffs won't tackle

the underlying problem -

the glut of cheap steel

on the market, that's largely

produced by China.

China is winning and we are losing

with this tariff regime. You are

letting China of the hot, punishing

the American consumer and our

allies. Go after China, not the rest

of the world.

Here's Barbara Plett-Usher in

Washington,

The formal announcement hasn't been

made yet but the rhetoric coming out

of the White House is pretty tough.

It is actually US allies which would

suffer the most, which is ironic,

including Mexico and Canada. Today,

President Trump suggested they might

get a carved out if they play nice

with these applets to renegotiate

the American free trade agreement,

which is probably not going to

soothe any tempers, but it might

suggest it is still a progress. When

Mr Trump made the announcement last

week, he took everyone by surprise.

He went ahead and did it. According

to reports, he was having a bad

house at the White House and he got

fed up saying he could not follow

his instincts on tariffs, so he took

matters into his own hands. People

are hoping he will reverse it or

mitigate it in some way.

I will just

bring up a quote from Paul Ryan, who

says we are extremely worried about

the consequences of a trade war and

we are urging the White House not to

advance with this plan. But he is

one of the President's top allies in

Congress?

Yes, there are many more

people against this move than those

for it. The Republican party is

against it. It is a strong statement

from Paul Ryan and members of the

business community have been very

worried about a possible trade war

and the consequences for American

industry and business, because of

it. They are lobbying to try to get

Mr Trump to back down, saying this

is a really bad idea. From what Paul

Ryan was saying coming he is

prepared to go head-to-head with the

president on this.

We want to talk

about one more story about President

Trump. He was making those trade

comments in the White House

alongside Benjamin Netanyahu. When

Mr Trump had finished, this is what

the Israeli Prime Minister had to

say.

This is the first time we have

met in Washington, America's capital

after you declared, Mr President,

Jerusalem as Israel's capital. This

was an historic proclamation,

followed by your bold decision to

move the embassy on our up and

coming national Independence Day.

Why has this been such a very big

deal?

In its context it is good news

for Benjamin Netanyahu because he is

mired in bribery and corruption

scandals at home. Abysmally by Mr

Trump to recognise Jerusalem as the

capital of Israel and saying the US

will move it embassy there is

popular. We expect Benjamin

Netanyahu make a big deal of it in

his comments and he did. Mr Trump

responded by saying he may go to

Israel for the opening of the

embassy. But as we know, the

Palestinians are furious about this

decision because they want East

Jerusalem as their capital and they

feel Mr Trump has taken that option

away from them. They are boycotting

his peace efforts. Mr Trump said

they wanted to come back to the

table, but he provided no evidence

for that and they haven't provided

any evidence either. We not

expecting any roll-out of this

long-awaited peace plan during this

visit.

Stay with us on Outside

Source - still to come:

We will show you the future of the

Berg industry. It is not about the

meet, but the machine doing the

preparation.

The Prime Minister has

announced reforms to

planning rules in England.

Labour called them "feeble."

but Theresa May says home ownership

"largely unaffordable" to those not

backed by "the bank of mum and dad".

I want to seek planning permission

going to people who will build

houses, not just sit on the land and

watch its value rise. The councils

are allocating sufficient lands for

the home people need and a new

planning rule book. Developers

building on large sites that aren't

allocated in the plan. Something

that is not fair on residents who

agree to a plan, only to see it

ignored. By ending abuse of the

viability assessment process, we

will make it much harder for

unscrupulous developers to dodge

their obligation to build homes

local people can afford. The

government will make sure land is

available for homes and make sure

young people have the skills needed

to build the homes are country

needs.

This is Outside Source live

from the BBC Newsroom.

Our lead story is:

A former Russian spy is found

critically ill in southern England,

exposed to an unknown substance.

Decontamination teams

are deployed and major incident

is declared at a hospital.

Some of our other stories making

news around the world...

BBC Arabic reports on the Iraqi

government ordering the seizure

of assets that belonged to the late

dictator Saddam Hussein.

Also targeted are his extended

family and thousands

of former officials.

Their assets will be confiscated

and sold, with all revenues

going to the Ministry of Finance.

BBC Vietnamese reports

that the United States has sent

an aircraft carrier to the country

for the first time,

since the end of the Vietnam War.

The USS Carl Vinson is coming 53

years after US forces first arrived

to fight communist forces.

Online a lot of people

are watching this footage

of Brazil striker Neymar -

that's him on crutches.

If you're a Brazil supporter,

it's not what you want to see 100

days before the World Cup kicks

off in Russia.

He'll be assessed by club doctors

at Paris Saint-Germain

in the next couple of weeks.

Shale oil output in the US is set

to surge over the next five years,

moving the United States,

once the world's top oil importer,

closer to self sufficiency.

That's according to

the International Energy Agency.

Joe Miller joins me

now from New York.

This has been the story over the

last few years, the boom in shale?

It has been an incredible story. One

of the fundamental truths of the

energy market and the political

reality for decades in the past has

always been that the US imports its

oil and the biggest oil producers at

the Opec cartel countries, mainly

the middle east, including Nigeria

and what we have seen in the last

few years, is this reversing. In

2014 when the oil price started to

drop, there was talk about Opec

countries cutting their supply to

boost the price. They did that and

they got shot in the foot, because

what happened was, US shale

producers in New Mexico and Texas

managed to cut costs and become even

more competitive and now the

International energy agency is

saying 80% of the increased demand

over the next couple of years will

be met by American shale. So that is

cutting Opec and the measures Opec

can take to affect the oil price,

out of the picture. So they are

extraordinary times.

The change in

the oil and energy industry always

revert through politics. Venezuela,

which could ride high on its oil for

so long and prices have been

slipping?

Absolutely, this is linked

to politics and what we might soon

see is politicians in the US begin

to talk about this as a major win.

It has been happening quietly in the

background, but many before

President Trump, would have given

their left hand to have energy

self-sufficiency. Depending what the

market does, they will give it a

little while to see if the price

stabilises and how long this boom

lasts. But towards the end of the

year we expect the US to become the

world's largest oil producer and

then we will hear US politicians and

beyond talking about that and that

will feed into a lot of diplomatic

relations across the globe.

Good to

hear from you.

China has set its 2018 growth

target at around 6.5%,

a faster expansion than any western

economy could dream of.

But behind the strong figures

there are concerns China's economy

is too reliant on debt.

Here's Celia Hatton our Asia Pacific

Editor with her take on the story.

The Chinese economy is like one of

those inkblot tests. You see what

you want to see. If you want to go

with what the Chinese government is

telling you, 6.5%, I am sure they

will hit that target. The economy

will try to remain at a stable pace,

growth will be a bit slower, but

they will try to manage that. But if

you are one of the economists who

are worrying and want to question

those numbers, there is a lot to

question. The main thing that hasn't

been achieved is economic reform.

The president pledged early on they

would try to retract the

government's role in the economy and

let market forces take over. But he

has committed more money to

infrastructure spending. He has

invested more government money in

the economy and that is what

economists have been saying all

along that he has got to stop doing.

Burger-flipping - its hot,

smelly and repetitive.

So is this the perfect

task for a machine?

Today, a burger flipping robot

debuts at the California-based

chain Caliburger.

This is the robot that can replace

one of life's Basic unskilled jobs.

It uses image recognition and heat

sensing technology to know which

burgers can Billy macaroni flipping.

They can handle 12 burgers I once.

But there is little doubt what the

eventual impact will be.

There will

be changes in the way workers are

hired.

What does that mean a typical

restaurant in the future will have

fewer human employees than it does

now?

Back could be possible.

It

costs $6,000 and $12,000 a year to

run. The first one can be found in

Pasadena near Los Angeles.

It is not

a nice job. We train them for a few

weeks and then they leave.

It still

needs a bit of a helping hand,

however and it made regular mistakes

that no human ever would.

If I to

anybody in behind the grill tomorrow

and ask them to start cooking, would

you forget to flip the burgers. This

will get smarter, we're just getting

started.

The robot made this

burgers. I have had a few burgers in

my time and that is very good.

Please stay with us.

It is nowhere near as cold as it was

last week a milder conditions have

spread to most parts of the UK.

Still colder northern areas,

particularly in Scotland where we

have had more snow falling today.

Wintry looking scene here in

contrast that with something that

looks more like spring and we had

some sunshine at Walton on Thames in

Surrey. We have lost the beast from

the east, the bitterly cold Siberian

winds and the air is coming from the

south and that has been drawing in

milder air across most of the UK.

You can clearly see where it is

still cold. Low pressure dominating

the weather at the moment. Within

that area of low pressure we have

this weather system here and it is

tracking its way northwards and it

is that that has been producing the

rain. The rain is heavy and moving

northwards into the colder air so we

will get a bit of snow over the tops

of the Pennines, the

Cumbrian back into Scotland over the

hills. As it turns drier to the

south with no wind, it will turn

misty with low cloud. Typical

temperatures overnight, two or three

degrees. The risk of some frost. The

wettest weather over the north of

the UK tomorrow morning. In

Scotland, sleet and snow over the

hills. It should brighten up across

northern England and Northern

Ireland. In the middle it could be

cloudy. A range of temperatures.

Still low pressure in charge as we

head into the middle part of the

week. Nothing much is moving at all,

the weather from bringing some

showers. It keeps the wetter weather

going. More towards the Highlands

and Islands and there will be some

snow over the hills. Further south

across England and Wales, a bit of a

breeze picking up and that will

break up the clouds some more and

the chance of some sunshine. But

that could be some sharp showers

around. Lighter winds. A

disappointing temperature on

Wednesday. But there should be more

sunshine around on Thursday. But

whether this is clinging to

Scotland. Some of the showers could

be heavy.

Versus Outside Source, these are the

main stories here in the BBC

Newsroom Live.

A former Russian spy is found

critically ill in southern England -

exposed to an unknown substance.

Decontamination teams have been

deployed and major incident

declared at a hospital.

Italy's election proves

to be a victory for

anti-establishment candidates -

the leader of the Five Star

movement says he's now

open to coalition talks.

President Trump says he's "not

backing down" on his plan

for swingeing taxes on foreign steel

imports, saying America has been

ripped off on trade.

We lost $800 billion a year on

trade. Not going to happen. We have

got to get it back.

Every day, Outside Source features

BBC journalists working

in over 30 languages.

Your questions are always welcome.

#BBCOS is the hashtag.

Welcome to Outside Source.

Salisbury Hospital here

in the UK declared a 'major

incident' early Monday -

it's only in the last few

hours we've got details

as to what's happening.

It appears to involved

an unknown substance,

a 33 year-old woman and this Russian

man - Sergei Skripal -

he was involved in a high profile

prisoner exchange back in 2010.

Here's the police in Salisbury.

The pair, who we believe are known

to each other, did not have any

visible injuries, and were taken to

Salisbury District Hospital. They

are currently being treated for

suspected exposure to an unknown

substance.

Joining me now in the studio

is the UK investigations

editor for BuzzFeed

News, Heidi Blake.

This southern illness of Mr Skripal,

does it suggest you that Russian

intelligence is involved or is it

taking it too far -- sudden illness.

Certainly this apparent poisoning

there is some other hallmarks of the

Russian state linked investigation

we have investigated over at

Buzzfeed news over the last couple

of years. Know that the Russians

Secret Service uses a sophisticated

array of poisons to eliminate

enemies outside Russian borders. We

know that Vladimir Putin has passed

a law authorising the FSB, the

successors to the KGB, to go outside

Russia and terminate enemies of the

Kremlin. And Sergei Skripal fits pro

much the standard description of the

sort of person who is likely to be a

target. He is a former try -- a

former spy, seen as a traitor in

Russia, and Vladimir Putin is a

former KGB man himself, so a spy who

defects and betrays mother Russia is

highly vulnerable.

And seen as the

lowest of the low from the Kremlin's

point of view. When you hear the

word former spy involved commute

into the about Alexander Lydon

Janko.

That is right, he was the

most famous Russian assassination in

Britain -- Alexander Livinenko. He

died of polonium poisoning after two

FSB assassins came over to

assassinate him, and a public

enquiry found out it was a hit

probably carried out on the orders

of Vladimir Putin himself will stop

we have completed 14 cases where

evidence points to Russia, and we

know MI6 has evidence connected to a

total of 14 deaths in Britain with

Russia.

You investigated it, people

have looked at this but it has not

been front-page news in the way that

this is, almost immediately.

That's

right, and the difference is that

the British police have come out and

made a statement saying this is a

major incident, and that they are

treating this very seriously. Now

that is very different from the

other 14 cases we have looked at.

Saint Litvinenko, they have not been

a Russian suspected assassination

that the Blues have made any

statement about at all, and in the

14 cases we have looked at those

overwhelming evidence pointing at

Russia, that in all those cases the

police have publicly said they are

not suspicious, despite what we know

of existing evidence connecting back

to Russia. There has been a change

in Steptoe, the authorities have

come out and confronted the Russian

link.

What we can say is that the

relationship between the UK and

Russia is it a pretty low Ebright

now.

There is growing concern in

British governance circles on both

sides of the Atlantic about the

surgeons of Russia, Russian

interference in Western democracies,

and increasingly bold moves by

Russian state actors in the West. We

know from our intelligence sources

there is mounting alarm about that,

and this very public statement by

the police is a marker of the degree

of concern the British government is

currently feeling about Russian

activities in the UK.

Coming back to

where we are here and now, this man

is critically ill in hospital in

Salisbury, and what is being looked

at now is what is in his system.

That's right, early indications are

that it may be connected to the

drug, fentanyl, a very strong form

of heroin, but it is very unclear at

this point as to what the substance

itself is. What we do know about the

Russian state is that the FSB has a

factory outside Moscow, where they

develop poisons specifically in

order to use in targeted

assassinations Nari 's, so the state

has a vast array of poisons, some of

which are undetectable, some of

which might trigger cardiac arrest

or other apparently natural

illnesses. So it is very early days,

we don't know what this is yet, and

of course it may be that this is not

a poisoning, we don't know. That is

all under investigation.

Enough

alarm bells seemed to be ringing,

Heidi Blake, thank you but talking

to us. Something we have been

covering, their national elections

are just around the corner.

One of Vladimir Putin's first moves

on coming to power 18 years ago

was to bring TV channels

under state control.

Since then Russia has

been accused of taking

the information war abroad -

using trolls to manipulate public

opinion on social media.

In the first of her series ahead

of Russia's presidential elections,

our correspondent Sarah Rainsford

reports from Tomsk in Siberia.

This was Viktor's life

for over 20 years.

Here in Siberia, he created

a popular independent TV channel,

but three years ago,

TV2 was taken off air.

Officially, it was a license

dispute, but Viktor

is sure it was political.

The channel annoyed

everyone in power locally.

The team saw that as their job.

But reining in the free

press was one

of Vladimir Putin's first

moves as president.

Far from Moscow, TV2 was

one of the last survivors.

TRANSLATION:

It's obvious we were no

threat here in Tomsk.

But the authorities

are constantly afraid.

Afraid of revolution or losing

control, they want to control

everything, but that's impossible.

And they don't trust anyone.

Now Russia's information war

has moved onto the internet,

so we travel to one

of the key battle grounds.

From St Petersburg,

the Kremlin's been accused

of using the internet

to manipulate opinion

not just at home but abroad.

This place has become notorious

as Russia's troll factory.

It's mostly empty now, up for rent,

but a criminal indictment

in the United States claims staff

here were deployed as an online army

to sow discord, and influence

voters in America.

Ludmilla shows me the blog of one

of the fake characters

she helped to create.

She leaked information

from inside the troll factory

that exposed how it worked.

Her focus was Russian language

content,

and she tells me the trolls

operated in shifts,

ordered to produce up to 80 posts

on social media every single day.

TRANSLATION:

It's a huge machine.

I'd see thousands of posts

appearing under every news story

right before my eyes.

If a troll spoke about America

or Ukraine, it had to be negative.

If it was Putin or Russia's

military, it was positive.

Bloggers got written instructions

what to present

and the conclusions

that people should draw.

And it seems the trolls

are still operating.

We've been told that the troll

factory has moved here to this

premises, so I'm just going to see

if any of these people in

the smoking shelter opposite

actually work there

and what they can tell me.

This man tells me

he's seen them here

and he doesn't like what they do.

Inside, we met a representative

of one firm named in

the US indictment, but he wouldn't

comment on camera about its work.

Back in Siberia,

Viktor and his wife show me

how easily the traditional

media have been tamed.

When there were mass protests

against closing TV2,

state-run channels

ignored them completely.

Information is being controlled now,

even weaponised, and

under Vladimir Putin, this couple

see no chance of that changing.

Don't forget you can get much more

detail on our top stories

on our website.

There's plenty of

background on the former

Russian spy found poisoned

in southern england.

The Irish Prime Minister has ruled

out formal three-way

talks between the UK,

Ireland and the EU over

avoiding a hard border

on the island of Ireland.

Leo Varadkar said such a debate

would not be in Ireland's

interests and that Ireland

was stronger negotiating

as part of the EU 27.

Let's just remind you

of the issue at stake.

Once the UK leaves the EU,

Northern Ireland,

which is part of the UK,

will be outside the

EU's customs union.

But it's feared that a physical

customs border could become a magnet

for sectarian violence and all sides

have vowed to avoid it.

On that subject, the Irish

Republican party Sinn Fein

has been holding talks with the EU's

chief Brexit negotiator today.

Party President Mary Lou McDonald,

who you can see in the middle here,

said they'd shared a meeting

of minds and there could be

no overall agreement

on Brexit unless the issue

of the border was solved.

Meanwhile, the British Prime

Minister has been updating

Parliament on the talks' progress

following her speech on Friday.

We cannot escape the complexity

of the task ahead.

We must build a new and lasting

relationship while preparing

for every scenario.

But with pragmatism,

calm and patient discussion,

I am confident...

JEERING

I am confident we can set

an example to the world.

Yes...

Yes, there will be ups and downs

over the months ahead.

But we will not...

JEERING

We will not be buffeted by demands

to talk tough or threaten a walkout.

And we will not give

into the of despair,

And we will not give

into the councils of despair,

that they simply cannot be done.

Hear, hear!

For this is in both the UK

and EU's interests.

But the leader of

the Opposition Jeremy

Corbyn was dismissive.

20 months have passed

since the referendum.

A year has passed since

the triggering of Article 50.

20 wasted months, in

which the arrogance of some

of the cabinet who said it would be

the easiest deal in history has

turned into debilitating infighting.

We've seen set-piece speech

after set piece-speech.

Yet the Prime Minister still cannot

bring clarity to these negotiations,

and still cannot bring certainty

to British businesses or workers.

The Prime Minister's

speech on Friday promised

to unite the nation.

Yet it barely papered over

the cracks in her own party.

Hear, hear!

Opponents of Brexit have

criticised the government's

approach to Brexit as trying

to "have your cake and eat it" -

a reference to wanting the EU's

benefits without its obligations.

But former Conservative party leader

Iain Duncan Smith was unapologetic.

Bringing these decisions back to a

British parliament in future to make

all the shows and is about our

arrangement is exactly about

delivering on that, and when she

gets into negotiations with their

European counterparts about trade

arrangements, could she remind them

that cake exists to be eaten and

Cherries exist to be picked.

So far in the programme we've

talked Italy's election,

Russia's upcoming election.

Now we turn to Sierra Leone.

The country goes to

the polls this week -

it's the first time since that

devastating Ebola outbreak that left

nearly 4,000 people dead.

And after Ebola, there

was a mudslide that took the lives

of another 1,000 people.

After 10 years at

the helm - this man,

President Ernest Bai Koorooma -

is standing down, as mandated

by the constitution.

But he leaves behind

a feeble economy.

From the capital, Freetown,

Umaru Fofana reports.

It is more than 300 years since

slaves were brought to Freetown

through the sport, but some traders

feel economically enslaved. Many of

the traders here are women, often

widows. They take goods on credit,

sell them, pay back the suppliers,

and take their small profits home.

It is a hand to mouth existence.

TRANSLATION:

I came here to find my

living, my husband has died, leaving

me with five children, so right now

there was no one to help us out. I

am all alone. That is why I came

here, to eke out a living.

The trade

here in the rain under the scorching

heat. Their representative says

successive presidents have promised

reform and failed them. TRANSLATION:

Probably because they used to bring

slaves to this market area, that is

why we still suffer from slavery to

this day. The leaders have failed to

help us. We are praying to God so

that the candidate who will redeem

us from the slavery will emerge

victorious.

Over the last ten years,

the Sierra Leone government has

banned hundreds of millions of

dollars through tax concessions and

waivers to attract big businesses,

mainly mining companies. Economists

are small businesses have not been a

priority.

It is not merely a problem

for these, I mean it is a problem

but it is symptomatic of the wider

problem we face of poverty. As many

women activists will tell you, women

bear the brunt of it. So we must

have policies that are proper, a

deliberate choice made that

resources will go to areas that will

generate jobs for the poor. As

distinct from resources going to

areas where the benefits are more

likely to go to the rich. And lead.

16 candidates are running for

president. The three frontrunners

are an interesting mix. A former

leader of a military junto. A

finance minister. And this former UN

executive also served in the

military cabinet. The government has

made strides in infrastructure,

mainly thanks to donor funds, but

the education system is in decline.

Poorly trained teachers and

overcrowded classrooms with too few

basic materials. The ten years, the

president has occupied this office.

He says these elections are about

protecting his legacy, a legacy

which he says has brought about a

massive infrastructural expansion.

The opposition say they want an end

to that period, a period which they

say has brought about the erosion of

the constitutional fabric and has

entrenched corruption and poverty.

Supermarkets in South Africa have

been clearing a popular sausage

from the shelves after it was blamed

for a food poisoning

outbreak behind 180 deaths.

The government identified THIS cold

meat - called polony -

as the source of listeria poisoning.

The Department of Health tweeted...

These customers

in Johannesburg queued up

at factories that produce polony

today to demand a refund.

The contamination is thought to have

come from an Enterprise Food

factory in the northern

city of Polokwane.

It's taken more than a year to

identify the source of the outbreak.

Since January 2017,

there have been 948 cases

of listeria poisoning reported.

The disease - known

as listeriosis - causes fever,

vomiting and diarrhoea.

Some 180 of those

infected have died.

The United Nations and

World Health Organization

says it's the largest

outbreak ever, worldwide.

Several countries, including

Botswana, Mozambique,

Namibia, Malawi and Zambia have

banned imports of South African

processed meat following the crisis.

Dr Lucia Analic

is from a food safety

consulting firm in Pretoria.

She explains that one of the reasons

the disease has spread so far

is because it can be

tricky to identify.

That is probably one of the reasons.

That is not as difficult to diagnose

if the patient presents with

symptoms early enough to a medical

doctor or a clinic, and the person

taking care of the patient suspect

listeriosis. Some of the symptoms

that cause listeriosis, however, are

similar to other illnesses, and that

is one of the reasons why it is

possibly a little difficult to

diagnose it. Once a blood test has

been taken, and that has been sent

away for testing, it exactly quite

quick from there onwards. There are

some more vulnerable groups than

others, for example pregnant women,

they can transmit the organism via

their placenta to the unborn child.

The child can miscarry. They can be

stillborn, or they are born with

meningitis, which of course creates

a lot of complications. Elderly

people over the age of 65, and

people with weakened immune systems

are particularly vulnerable,

typically people with HIV

infections, undergoing cancer

treatment, persons with diabetes,

autoimmune diseases and so forth.

Thousands of delegates at

China's National People's Congress

in Beijing have applauded plans

to abolish term limits

for the country's president.

The proposal would mean

that this man, Xi Jinping,

can remain in power indefinitely.

It will be put to a formal vote

on the 11th of March.

Let's hear how one senior Communist

Party official described it.

TRANSLATION:

This is a major event

in the political life of the party

and the nation. It means persevering

in the new era with comrades shoe

during thing as the core of the

central party committee, and from

the overall strategy of developing

socialism with Chinese

characteristics.

The annual National

People's Congress

is largely a rubber-stamp parliament

- endorsing decisions already made

by the Communist Party.

There are 3,000 delegates

from all over the country.

Here's how some of them reacted.

So will there be any

sign of dissent over

Xi Jinping's indefinite rule?

Let's hear from Emily Feng

in Beijing who covers Chinese

politics for the Financial Times.

It will be very interesting to see

the constitutional amendments coming

up this Sunday. In previous times,

there have been dissenting

extensions, and I suspect that very

few people if at all will vote

against it. That being said, there

has been no open discussion and when

I went to the great hall today for

the ceremony for the two sessions,

meetings, the responses from

delegates was extremely measured.

They were very, very cautious about

repeating the same stock phrases

they now are safe to say so the

message about what kind of

discussion and any kind of

dissension about these

constitutional limits is being kept

under wraps, I would say more

tightly than in previous sessions

about other constitutional

amendments.

The 90th Oscars has

been run and won.

The big winner - The Shape of Water.

But Hollywood's night of nights

reflected what's been happening

off-screen as much as what dazzled

on-screen - including the way

the Me Too movement is driving

cultural change on sexual

politics and inclusion.

Our Arts Editor Will

Gompertz was there.

The night began with host

Jimmy Kimmel using his

opening monologue to round up some

of the elephants in the room.

Black Panther and Wonder Woman

were massive hits,

which is almost miraculous,

because I remember a time

when the major studios didn't

believe a woman or a minority

could open a superhero movie,

and the reason I remember that time

was because it was March

of last year.

That joke set the agenda

for the evening.

In the year of the 90th

Academy Awards,

it was Time's Up for a monocultural,

male-dominated movie business.

It's a new day in Hollywood...

..said Jennifer Lawrence,

before announcing that the winner

of actress in a leading role was...

Frances McDormand - Three Billboards

Outside Ebbing, Missouri.

So I'm hyperventilating

a little bit.

If I fall over, pick me up,

'cos I've got some things to say.

If I may be so honoured to have

all the female nominees in every

category stand with me

in this room tonight.

The actors...

Meryl, if you do it,

everybody else will.

Come on.

The film-makers...

Look around, everybody.

Look around, ladies and gentlemen,

because we all have stories to tell

and projects we need to finance.

The call for equality and tolerance

was made time and again,

and was perhaps best captured

by Guillermo del Toro,

whose film The Shape Of Water,

a story of misfits and outcasts,

won best picture,

and he best director.

I am an immigrant

like many, many of you.

The greatest thing our art does

and our industry does is to

erase the lines in the sand.

We should continue doing that

when the world tells us

to make them deeper.

Roger A Deakins, Blade Runner...

There were long-awaited wins

for two British veterans.

After 13 failed attempts,

the cinematographer Roger Deakins

finally converted a nomination

into a golden statue for his work

on Blade Runner 2049.

And for his portrayal

of Winston Churchill

in The Darkest Hour,

Gary Oldman won his first Oscar.

I say to my mother, thank

you for your love and support.

Put the kettle on.

I'm bringing Oscar home.

The Silent Child, a British film

about a deaf four-year-old

played by Maisie Sly,

won the short film category.

I made a promise to our six-year-old

lead actress that I'd sign this

speech, but my hands are shaking

a little bit, so I apologise.

Deafness is a silent disability.

You can't see it and it's

not life-threatening,

so I want to say the biggest thank

yous to the Academy for allowing us

to put this in front

of a mainstream audience.

Congratulations to Maisie. Coming up

on BBC News, the ten o'clock news,

much more on this story, which has

been breaking and developing in the

last hour or so about the spy swap.

The BBC's Gordon Corera broke the

news that the man who fell ill in

Salisbury appears to be Sergei

Skripal, a former Russian

intelligence officer. Lots more

still to come,