04/04/2017 BBC News at One

A suspected chemical attack in Syria has killed 58 people

Many children are among the dead and injured in Idlib.

Ambulance workers say they saw people choking in the street.

There are calls for the UN Security Council to hold

Russia says the attack on the St Petersburg

underground, which killed 14 people, was carried out by a suicide

The Prime Minister says the Government is preparing

for all scenarios in its Brexit negotiations, as a Commons

Committee warns of the risk of not striking a deal.

I'm confident that we can get a good deal with the European Union.

I'm confident not just because that will

be good for us but it will be good for them,

A man is sentenced to 15 years in prison for raping a woman

with learning difficulties, who he held captive for eight years.

The row between the Church, the National Trust and Cadbury

about the omission of the word Easter from their egg hunts.

And coming up in the sport on BBC News...

The Football Association will ask Sunderland boss David Moyes

to explain remarks in which he told a female reporter

Good afternoon and welcome to the BBC News At One.

At least 58 people have been killed in a suspected chemical attack

in the rebel-held province of Idlib in northern Syria.

Emergency services who arrived in the area shortly after a series

of strikes said they found people choking in the street.

The Syrian government has repeatedly denied using chemical weapons.

The dead are mostly civilians, and include at least 11 children.

In the last hour, France has called for an emergency meeting

of the UN Security Council to discuss the attack.

Our correspondent Ben James reports from Beirut.

This is some of the footage opposition activists posted online

after the attack on the town Bauer a town here. It was said that the

symptoms, the difficulty breathing and foaming at the mouth were

consistent with a gas attack. Witnesses talked about people

choking and fainting after the early morning air strike. Other pictures

too graphic to broadcast showed what appeared to be the seminaked bodies

of the dead, many of them children. Some reports describe people taking

Victors' clothes off and hosing them with water to try to help them.

TRANSLATION: The symptoms that we witnessed are different than

symptoms of chlorine gas. All the victims who arrived had a new role

stress. Very soon, blood started coming out of their mouths, which

means that their lungs are damaged. This area in the north-west of Syria

has been under heavy bombardment by pro-government forces. That is

controlled by a range of opposition groups jihadists linked to Al-Qaeda

and Free Syrian Army fighters. There has been no official response from

the Syrian government to the claim of a gas attack. They've repeatedly

denied using such weapons in the past. A political opposition group

has called for a UN investigation into today's attack.

Ben is in Beirut with the latest. As you say, there is always a denial

that chemical weapons are used. What is the latest you are hearing? Also

just in the last 20 minutes or so, a denial from the Russian defence

ministry that their planes were involved in an air strike in this

area. We've been seeing footage posted online of what appears to be

a rocket attack on hospital where some of the victims of this strike

were being treated. It is worth reminding everybody of the

background chemical attacks in the conflict in Syria. Just last year, a

report by the UN and the Organisation for the Prohibition of

Chemical found evidence that three times the government had used

chlorine gas in attacks in 2014 and 2015 and it found that the so-called

Islamic State had used mustard gas in an attack as well. Back in August

2013, you will remember this issue was a big one, it was around the

time that the UK Parliament rejected the possibility of military action

in response to a chemical attack in an area close to Damascus. The

United States and President Obama had described that as a red line

that would provoke a military response. That didn't happen in the

end because the deal brokered between the USA and Russia to

decommission a declared stockpile of Syrian chemical weapons, that

process was declared completed just over a year ago at the beginning of

2016. Some more of the responses coming in and reaction from the

international community. You mentioned the call by France for an

emergency meeting of the UN Security Council. In the last few minutes,

the UN's foreign affairs chief has said that President Assad declares

responsibility for what she calls this awful attack.

14 people are now known to have died in the explosion on a St Petersburg

The prime suspect, who's believed to be among the dead,

has been named as Akbarzhon Jalilov, who had Russian citizenship

49 people were injured in the explosion -

Let's go to our correspondent Sarah Rainsford in Saint Petersburg.

This is a city that is now trying to get back to normal after this

horrific attack. I think you can see behind me that the Metro station

here is now open again and is working but I've spoken to some

fairly nervous passengers, one woman who said she just didn't want to go

down on the Metro again after what happened. 14 people are now

confirmed to have lost their lives in this attack. Three people died

this morning after the initial 11 were killed in the explosion.

Russian investigators are now saying they have evidence that this could

have been carried out by a suicide bomber. They have been bringing

flowers here all morning, creating a shrine in the very heart of St

Petersburg. A whole city suffering after a bomb tore through a train

deep underground here. Anyone of us could have been in that carriage,

this woman says. She believes 6 million people in St Petersburg are

in danger. These were the panic to seems right after the blast.

Passengers in the mangled wreck of a train struggling to reach safety.

Those on the platform hunting for survivors, desperate to help however

they could. The train was between stations when the bomb went off.

Down the line, a man filming on his phone heard the explosion. Then came

the smoke and a terrible smell. And from someone passing on the other

platform, a glimpse of the carnage. The train driver kept going to make

sure rescuers could research the injured. Today, calmly, he told his

story. TRANSLATION: There was a bang and spoke. Icon doubted the

dispatcher and reported the situation. At that moment, in

compensable messages began to come in on the passenger driver named

because everyone was speaking in all the carriages. President Putin was

in St Petersburg when the attack happened. Last night he visited the

scene himself. This is a blow against his hometown. Earlier, in

muted tones, he had called this a tragedy as an official investigation

into a terrorist attack was opened. It is now 18 months since Russia's

president ordered air strikes in Syria. With thousands of Russian

citizens fighting alongside IS, this campaign was sold as a way to stop

them bringing that war back home. As the investigation into the Metro

attack continues, Russian officials now say there is evidence this could

have been the work of a suicide bomber. The security service in

Kyrgyzstan, central Asia, say a man born there, who has a Russian

passport, is now a key suspect. The Metro station here has been closed

again after another bomb scare. It is the latest of several since the

explosion here yesterday. This is clearly a city that is very much an

edge because nothing like this has ever happened here. So, as people

here mourn their dead, they wait, too, for answers as to how and why

this happened and how safe they are in their city.

The man in charge of the investigation here has said forensic

teams are going through evidence at the blast site, checking security

cameras and questioning witnesses as they tried to establish who exactly

was behind this attack. There is, as you have heard, one key suspect at

the moment but, for the moment, the Russian side in particular are being

very cautious about releasing too many details and so that makes it

extremely nervous times here in St Petersburg and in Russia as a whole

after this latest horrific attack. Thank you, Sarah Rainsford.

The Prime Minister has insisted it is in both the UK and the EU's

Theresa May, who has just arrived in Saudi Arabia, was responding to a

report from MPs that challenged the Government's claim that no deal is

better than a bad deal. The Parliamentary Committee

for Exiting the EU says Parliament should be consulted before ministers

walk away without a deal. But six pro-Brexit MPs

on the Committee voted against the report,

saying it was too gloomy. Our political correspondent

Ellie Price reports. The charm offensive is on. Theresa

May is in the Middle East on a mission to foster new partners and

new trade partnerships in a post-Brexit world. Here in Jordan,

next stop Saudi Arabia. I want to see a truly global Britain that is

really outward looking. A good trade deal with the EU but yes, good trade

deals around the world. But our relationships around the world are

not just about trade, they are about ensuring we can maintain our

security and support the security of areas like the Gulf region. But as

Britain looks to make new deals further afield, closer to home

questions over what would happen if the UK and EU failed to reach a

trade agreement Edem backbench MPs have released a report warning of

the risks and called on the government to work out how much no

deal would cost. Without the Government setting out what

mitigating steps it would put in place, the assertion that no deal is

better than a bad deal is, in the words of the report,

unsubstantiated. Select committees are meant to hold the government to

account it up they are made up of MPs from across the political

spectrum. In the case of the Brexit committee, they are also made up of

pro-leave and pro-remain MPs. This report didn't have the full support

of all its members, some of whom said it was too pessimistic about

Brexit. And critics say a committee report without the full backing of

its members lacks full credibility. It was far too obsessively focused

on one side, which is the risks, the downsides of leaving the EU, with

scant real attention to the upside and the opportunities. And actually,

what we should be doing, I believe, is both. The Prime Minister insisted

that every scenario in the Brexit negotiations was being considered

but that a good deal for the UK would benefit the EU as well. In the

meantime she is looking beyond Europe. This morning she shrugged

off criticism is about human rights concerns and insisted engagement

with the likes of Saudi Arabia was in the national interest. Ellie

Price, BBC News, Westminster. Detectives investigating the attack

on a young asylum seeker in south London on Friday have charged

a further six people in connection with the assault,

including a 15-year-old boy. Our home affairs correspondent

Tom Symonds is outside What has been happening today?

Just to remind you, this relates to an incident on Friday night when

three young asylum seekers were heading to a bus stop in a suburb of

Croydon. They came into contact with a large group of people at a pub

nearby, between 20 and 30, and there was a confrontation and the result

of that was that a 17-year-old asylum seeker was kicked and beaten

and given quite serious head and spinal injuries. As you say, 16

people arrested. We now have eight further charges today here at

Croydon magistrates court and those charged are being processed by the

court, bail terms considered and discussed. They have all been

charged with violent disorder and that involves the threat of violence

on the part of three or more people in a crowded. Some of them, three of

them, are charged with aggravated racial offences of grievous bodily

harm. To give you the names of those charged today, Kyran Evans, 23, Liam

Neylen, 19, Ben Harman, 20, Ellie Leite, 19, James Neves, 22, and

three people who are children under the law and we can't name for legal

reasons. They will all appear at Croydon Crown Court on the second of

next month and there is quite a lot of processing of the legal paperwork

and decisions about bail to be done at this court over the course of

lunchtime and this afternoon. Tom Symonds, thank you.

The Labour leader has launched his party's campaign

Speaking in Nottinghamshire, Jeremy Corbyn accused

the Conservatives of running the country down and trying to use

Brexit to turn Britain into a low-wage tax haven.

He said his party would invest in education, re-nationalise

the railways and increase the living wage.

A man who pleaded guilty to raping a woman with severe learning

disabilities who he held captive in his house has been jailed for 15

Keith Baker's wife, Caroline, was also involved in the years

of sexual abuse, and was sentenced to three years for a series

Our Ireland correspondent Chris Buckler is outside the court.

It is an extremely upsetting and disturbing case, Chris. There must

be questions, though, about how a young woman disappeared, it seemed,

for eight years? Yes, there certainly are. During

sentencing the judge said it was difficult to understand how the

couple had lost their moral compass to such an extent that they could

abuse of vulnerable woman in such a way for eight years. Some of that

abuse they video taped and, as you rightly say, she disappeared for a

period of eight years. The alarm was eventually raised by a woman who

also lived alongside the couple and she, too, said she was raped by

Keith Baker. She has waived her right to anonymity to describe what

has happened in what was described in court as a house of horrors to

drop. For most of a decade,

this estate in Craigavon housed Inside their home and hidden

from sight, Keith and Caroline Baker kept a woman with severe learning

difficulties a virtual prisoner - and for eight years, they raped

and indecently assaulted her. The vulnerable woman went missing

in England in 2004 and was only found here in Northern Ireland eight

years later, and she wasn't And I couldn't tell

anybody about it. Mandy Highfield lived

with the couple and is the mother She says she didn't know

that the Bakers were sexually abusing the woman kept captive

in their house, but she did eventually contact the police

because of the conditions She was 45 but she was

like a 12-year-old. There was no lightbulb in her light,

no carpet on the floor. They were sick people,

just really sick people. I don't know how anybody, anybody,

can do something like that When the police found the woman,

inside an unlit bedroom in the house, she weighed just six

stone and the court was told Neighbours say Keith Baker appeared

controlling of his wife, but they never imagined

what was going on I just thought she was in

a situation with domestic violence with an abusive husband that didn't

let her out, that was controlling. But it was very, very quiet,

never heard anything. During their search of the house,

which is no longer owned by the Bakers, detectives found

videos taken by the couple, of them The whole case is

extremely upsetting. It's horrific and it's

depraved and the suffering of this woman over a period of around eight

years can only be imagined. It has been an awful life that this

woman has been exposed to at the hands of Baker

and his wife. The dark truth of what happened

in this house may now have been exposed, but authorities on both

sides of the Irish Sea face serious questions about how she ended up

in the hands of a couple who abused her under the pretence

of offering her a home. You are a which she was missing,

from March of 2004, when she was first recorded missing, until

December of 2012. -- and it is that period of time. It has led to calls

for an enquiry. Chris Butler, thank you.

More than 50 people have been killed in a suspected chemical attack

in the northwestern city of Idlib in Syria.

The husband of a woman who was murdered on their honeymoon

in Mauritius has returned to the island for the first time.

Players in the National Hockey League say they're extraordinarily

disappointed with the short sighted decision to stop them from taking

The husband of a woman who was murdered on their honeymoon

in Mauritius has returned to the island for the first time

since her death six years ago, and put up a reward for information

John McAreavey has offered two million Mauritian rupees, almost

Michaela McAreavey was found strangled in her hotel

room in January 2011, just 12 days after her wedding.

Two hotel workers stood trial for murder, but were found not guilty.

Back on the island where his wife was murdered.

This is a return journey most people thought

He first came to Mauritius six years ago.

But 12 days after getting married, Michaela McAreavey was murdered.

Time may have passed but his quest for justice continues. Today, John

McAreavey announced a reward to help try to catch his wife's killers. He

is offering 2 million Mauritian rupees, more than ?40,000. If anyone

can provide information that will subsequently be used and will lead

to a successful conviction in court for the people responsible for

Michaela's murder, then they are fully entitled to that reward.

John and Michaela were a well-known couple back home

Her father, Mickey Harte, is one of Ireland's most successful

She disturbed intruders who broke into her room.

Two hotel workers later went on trial for murder,

Since then, John McAreavey has not spoken about the case but this week

he has decided not just to speak out but to act.

Nothing can ever bring Michaela back. That we know. But the next

best thing is that the people responsible for this heinous crime,

a crime which resulted in a 27-year-old woman losing her life on

a honeymoon, then that would bring us a lot of satisfaction.

The hotel where Michaela McAreavey was killed

Six years on, it's been renamed but what happened here has not been

forgotten in Mauritius, especially now that John McAreavey

And he says he is prepared to return again and again until justice is

done. The Chancellor, Philip Hammond,

has arrived in India to discuss He's accompanied by

the Governor of the Bank of England and the leaders

of financial services companies. The government is hoping

to boost ties between the UK and India as Britain leaves

the European Union. This report from Justin Rowlatt does

contain some flash photography. India is a crucial part of Britain's

post-Brexit strategy, hence the Chancellor's visit to this

market in the centre of Delhi. The message of this visit

is absolutely clear. What the British government wants

to say is that there is a world India already invests more in the UK

than the rest of Europe combined, and Philip Hammond is hoping

to build on that. India offers a vast potential market

and is the fastest-growing large In a trendy cafe, the Chancellor

meets Indian entrepreneurs keen to work with British businesses

to develop new opportunities, but the real prize is much

bigger - a trade deal. This afternoon, he met

the Indian Finance Minister. Britain can't negotiate new trade

arrangements until it actually leaves the EU,

but that doesn't mean it can't begin Though getting a deal,

is likely to be difficult. Once that opportunity arises

after Brexit, India's open to all arrangements

which are in mutual interests But actually getting a deal

is likely to be difficult. The EU has been negotiating

for nearly a decade without any luck, so why should Britain find

it any easier? 28 countries trying to agree

together the terms of a deal that they want to make with a third

country is always going We've seen that in other European

negotiations as well. It's always easier to make

a bilateral agreement than it is to But don't underestimate

the work involved. Britain will be trying

to strike similar deals It is going to keep a small army

of civil servants very busy Working in high temperatures

increases the risk of heart attack, Scientists have been investigating

why the most common cause of death for serving firefighters is heart

attack or heart disease. Our health correspondent,

Sophie Hutchinson, reports. Experienced firefighter Simon

McNally used to train new recruits. It meant several times a day

he was exposed to fires Then one day at work

he had a heart attack. You are hoping it is

indigestion or something else. You are hoping it is not going to be

as sinister as a heart attack. We keep ourselves reasonably fit

in the fire service. We have to pass a standard

test every year. We have a check-up

every three years. It was a bit confusing to be faced

with those symptoms. Heart attacks are the leading

cause of death for front Studies in America have shown almost

half of all firefighters who die on duty are killed

by heart problems. The new research carried out

by Edinburgh University and published in the journal

Circulation monitored the heart of 19 healthy firefighters

during mock rescues. It found body temperatures rose

by one degree Celsius and remained high for up

to four hours afterwards. Blood vessels failed

to relax despite medication and the blood became stickier,

carrying a higher risk of forming Scientists believe the reason

was the extreme physical They say simple measures

like staying hydrated and taking breaks to cool down are vital

for saving the lives British scientists say they've

created a sieve capable of removing It uses a derivative of graphene -

a fine sheet of carbon The development, at the University

of Manchester, has the potential to improve access to clean drinking

water for millions of With me now is our science

correspondent Rebecca Morelle. Let's find out more. Explain a

little bit more about how it works. Well, graphene has been hailed as a

wonder material with all these great qualities, like it is very light yet

very strong and very flexible. Scientists have been looking at

Lords of applications and this is an interesting one. The idea is simple.

Essentially they have turned it into a miniature serves, little membrane

with tiny holes in it. And the water molecules, which are very small, the

H2O molecules can go very easily. Salt is a bigger molecule, and it

cannot go through so easily. So you pour in the water and the salt stays

behind, clean water comes out, which is sounds easy but it has been a big

technological challenge. The question is, what application could

it have? How exciting is this? This is a laboratory based study. There

are several things they need to do, first of all see if they can scale

it up to an industrial level, the scale it would need to be to make

any sort of difference. And it has to be very durable. The third point

is cost. There are desalination plant in the desert that use

sunlight to separate water and salt, so it would need to be cheaper than

those to be effective. The UN says by 2025 1.8 billion people will be

in need of fresh drinking water, there will be some sort of scarcity.

This could make a big difference if it passes those tests. It is quite

early days. Thank you. The Church of England has

accused the National Trust of 'airbrushing faith',

after the word Easter was dropped from the title of its egg hunt

which is sponsored by Cadbury. Theresa May Kolbe omission

absolutely ridiculous. -- called the omission.

The conservation charity has said it's nonsense to suggest

the significance of Easter is being downplayed.

This Easter, Cadbury is bringing joy to the whole nation.

As Easter approaches, chocolate eggs are being hidden

at National Trust properties up and down the UK.

But the name of the event has attracted furious comments

from the Archbishop of York, who is annoyed that the word Easter

With Cadbury's Great British Egg Hunt.

Doctor John Sentamu says that Cadbury's Christian faith

To drop Easter from Cadbury's Easter egg hunt in my book,

is tantamount to spitting on the grave of the founder.

For Christians, Easter eggs are symbolic of

And now the Prime Minister, Theresa May, a vicar's daughter,

It's very important as a festival for Christians,

I think what the National Trust is doing is frankly just ridiculous.

But is this all a storm in an egg cup?

I do think it is just a big fuss over nothing.

In one way, it is a very traditional thing,

but I guess on the other hand everyone is entitled to either

Cadbury point out that their website, advertising and many

of their seasonal products feature the word Easter prominently.

This morning the National Trust updated their website

following the uproar to feature Easter in its title.

They say it is nonsense to suggest the National Trust is downplaying

You have to wonder what Cadbury's founder, John Cadbury,

As a Quaker, he did not celebrate Easter Sunday.

Instead the group says it remembers Jesus all year.

No controversy about the weather, I hope. Lots of bright weather to come

over the next few days but nothing as warm as we had at the end of

March where some of us got above 22 degrees. As a consequence, it is no

surprise that when we look at the statistics for March 2017, we find

across the UK that it was the fifth mildest on record. For south-east

England, it was the joint mildest march on record. We saw a filament

of rain, average amounts during the month. -- a fair amount of rain.

Despite some sunshine, and many of us have seen that today, the picture

in south Wales for example, it is not as warm as it was last week.

There is cloud around and this is the satellite picture. Speckled

cloud in north-west Scotland. Across parts of Kent, that was the view

earlier on. Thanks to Becky. Grey skies and rain around. For the rest

of this afternoon, elements of cloud across the south-east and maybe the

odd shower but equally some breaks in the cloud. Temperatures up to 15

or 16. And then it is largely sunshine into the West Midlands,

Wales, northern England and Easter in Scotland. A decent today to get

out and about. Not a bad afternoon for Northern Ireland but showers

continue across western and northern Scotland, some on the heavy side.

And it will be windy across the far north of Scotland as well. Through

this evening and tonight, we could see wind gusts of 60 or 70mph.

Showers continue overnight across Scotland and we will lose most of

the cloud and patchy rain. In between, there will be the odd mist

patch and it will actually be quite a chilly night, may be cold enough

for a touch of grass frost. Into tomorrow, clearly in the southern

areas we will have the best of the sunshine. Further north, a wedge of

cloud spilling its way through Northern Ireland and much of

Scotland, eventually into the Midlands, East Anglia, and the

south-east as well. The sky will turn increasingly grey, with maybe

the odd spot of rain. Temperatures between ten and 14. By the end of

the week, more of the same. Thursday and Friday, to remind of cloud but

it will be dry. At times we will see some spells of sunshine and then we

will get to the weekend. High pressure trying to hold on,

retreating slowly to the east. This weather front making attempts to

move in from the West. But most of us will stay dry during a weekend

and with that dry weather, when you do escape the rain, warm here

wafting up from the south. That could bring temperatures back to

where they were for the end of March.

Excellent. And that is all from the BBC News at One.