06/03/2018 BBC News at Six

Counterterrorism police take over

the investigation into the suspected

poisoning of a former Russian spy

and his daughter in Salisbury.

Sergei Skripal and his 33-year-old

daughter Yulia both collapsed

suddenly in the city centre

on Sunday afternoon.

It's believed the two were captured

on CCTV shortly before

being found on a bench nearby.

Her eyes were just completely white,

wide-open, but just white,

and frothing at the mouth.

And then the man went stiff,

his arms stopped moving.

But he was still

looking dead straight.

A restaurant and a pub remain

cordoned off tonight

as the Foreign Secretary warns

there'll be consequences if Russia's

found to be involved.

Should evidence emerge that implies

state responsibility, then Her

Majesty's government will respond

appropriately and robustly.

We'll have the latest

on the investigation.

Also tonight...

Fat Britain - food companies

are told to cut the number

of calories in their products by 20%

to deal with an obesity epidemic.

Six months after Hurricane Irma tore

through the Caribbean, we report

from the British Virgin Islands

where people are still homeless.

And stealing the show -

the profoundly deaf

six-year-old from Swindon -

the star of the Oscar winning film

The Silent Child - on her LA debut.

And coming up on Sportsday

on BBC News...

Lord Coe denies misleading

the DCMS committee.

He wants to continue the fight

against doping and insists

athletics is not in tatters.

Good evening and welcome

to the BBC News at Six.

Counterterrorism police are now

leading the investigation into why

a former Russian agent

and his daughter suddenly fell ill

in Salisbury on Sunday afternoon.

Britain's chemical and biological

weapons centre is testing

the substance they were exposed to.

Sergei Skripal - a double agent

who was convicted in Russia

of passing state secrets to MI6 -

is fighting for his life in hospital

along with his daughter, Yulia.

It's still not known

what caused them to collapse.

But the Foreign Secretary,

Boris Johnson, has promised a robust

response if there is conclusive

evidence that Russia was involved.

With the latest from Salisbury,

here's Tom Symonds.

A father and a daughter apparently

struck down in public on a Sunday

afternoon in Salisbury. The BBC

revealed today that Yulia Skripal

had been visiting her father Sergei

Skripal, from Russia when it

happened. They were left fighting

for their lives.

Her eyes were just completely white,

wide-open, but just white,

and frothing at the mouth.

And then the man went stiff,

his arms stopped moving.

But he was still

looking dead straight.

CCTV images obtained by the BBC

appear to show Mr Skripal and his

daughter walking together at 15.47

on Sunday afternoon. They were

heading for a small park surrounded

by shops in the centre of Salisbury,

called the Maltings. The camera that

capture these pictures is yards from

where they were found. Police were

called at 4:15pm when people

reported the pair were unconscious

on a park bench. Last night, the

Italian restaurants nearby Zizzi,

was sealed by police, followed by a

local pub, Bishop's mill. Did

somebody slip something into their

food and drink? For the police, this

is a highly sensitive and

potentially hazardous investigation,

not least for the officers involved.

The key question of course is what

was the substance that left a father

and his daughter in such a terrible

condition on the park bench covered

by the tent behind me. There will be

toxicology reports prepared, but we

understand that several police

officers were admitted to hospital.

One has been kept in. Symptoms

include breathing difficulties and

itchy eyes experts at the research

fertility Porton down are now

involved, testing for a wide range

of substances. The research

facility.

It could be toxic

substances or something

radiological, something that is

similar to that used against

Litvinenko. People will be looking

at the environment, what's on the

closing, on the skin of the people

and what is in the blood and urine

and other services.

So far the

Wiltshire Police force had been

coordinating the operation but in a

significant development today...

The

Metropolitan Police have confirmed

that because of the unusual

circumstances, the counterterrorism

network will be leading this

investigation, as it has the

specialist capability and expertise

to do so.

After all, as the Foreign

Secretary made clear in Parliament

this afternoon, this incident could

have implications for Britain's

relationship with Russia.

Should evidence emerge that implies

state responsibility, then Her

Majesty's government will respond

appropriately and robustly.

Sergei Skripal was arrested in 2004,

accused of spying for MI6,

convicted, and in 2010 handed over

to Britain as part of a spy swap.

Sergei Skripal's wife, elder brother

and son have died in recent years.

The family believe in suspicious

circumstances. He has been living

quietly here for some years, but

under his own name. He would not

have been hard to find. Tom Symonds,

BBC News, Salisbury.

The Russian Embassy in London says

the plight of Sergei Skripal and his

daughter causes serious concern.

But they also accuse the media

of fuelling an anti-Russian campaign

by creating the impression

it was a planned operation

by Russian special services -

something they categorically deny.

In Moscow, a spokesman

for President Putin described

the situation as tragic.

From Moscow, here's Steve Rosenberg.

It sounds chillingly familiar.

Russia under suspicion of planning

and executing an attack 2000 miles

away, in Britain.

In 2006, the target was former

Russian agent Alexander Litvinenko,

murdered in London.

The man Britain believes

poisoned him is Andrei Lugovoy.

Today, he dismissed claims

that Moscow had attacked

Sergei Skripal as propaganda.

TRANSLATION:

Why do

they say he was poisoned?

Perhaps he poisoned himself.

Or had a heart attack.

You talk about propaganda,

but what about Alexander Litvinenko.

The enquiry in Britain

into his death found that

you had poisoned him,

probably on the orders

of Vladimir Putin.

TRANSLATION:

There was no

official investigation

into Litvinenko's death.

There was an attempt to accuse

Russia and a Russian citizen,

me, of poisoning him

in Britain with polonium.

As for the Kremlin, well,

it's been saying very little today

about Sergei Skripal.

President Putin's spokesman

told me earlier that,

"We have no information

about what happened.

We cannot comment."

Although he did add

it was a tragic situation.

But catching spies has become one

of Vladimir Putin's priorities.

Yesterday, he congratulated Russia's

security service, the FSB.

It uncovered 397 spies last year.

Spy-mania, and now a former double

agent collapsing in Britain.

Moscow denies any connection,

but it can only add

to the chill in relations

between the UK and Russia.

Steve Rosenberg, BBC News, Moscow.

Sergei Skripal has been living

in the UK for several years now.

He came to Britain as part

of a high-profile spy

swap involving Russia

and the United States in 2010.

So if he has been poisoned,

why would he be targeted now?

Our security correspondent

Gordon Corera reports.

Does the long arm of the Kremlin

reach all the way from Moscow to

Salisbury in Wiltshire?

And if the attack on Sergei Skripal

did come from Russia, why?

After being released

from jail, Skripal had spent

the last eight years

living quietly in Salisbury,

but he still had enemies.

Sergei Skripal had been imprisoned

in Russia for selling secrets to

British intelligence here at MI6. It

was claimed he provided the identity

of hundreds of Russians operating

undercover in Europe. Even though he

had been pardoned as part of a spy

swap his former colleagues would

still have regarded him as a

traitor.

The fact that he blew a

whole range of Russian agents, there

may be personal animosity is there.

The fact that he was a British spy,

a former member of the Russian

military, in most Russians' minds,

it will categorise him as a traitor

so there will be people who are

delighted to see him dead.

Nobody

confirming Moscow was involved, but

there have been other incidents

involving Russians in the UK. As we

have heard, most famously Alexander

Litvinenko, another former Russian

spy poisoned in London's Mayfair.

And other figures have aroused

suspicions.

suspicions. Alexander died suddenly

jogging in Surrey. One study

revealed traces of a rare toxin in

his stomach and a businessman

campaigning of his death said not

enough has been done to deter

Russia.

Based on the reaction of the

British government to the murder in

Mayfair using nuclear material of

Alexander Litvinenko, which was

nothing, it basically gave the green

light to Vladimir Putin that he can

do whatever he wants here and he has

been doing whatever he wants for

quite awhile.

It's still too early

to be sure where this investigation

will go, but if the trail does

connect Salisbury to Moscow, then

the pressure will be on the British

government to respond Gordon Corera,

BBC News.

Our Deputy Political Editor John

Pienaar is in Westminster.

The question is, how seriously will

the government be taking this

investigation?

They are taking it

seriously. Boris Johnson wasn't

holding back today. The government's

national security council discussed

this earlier today in Downing

Street. The Prime Minister was there

and one government source told me

the aim was to respond robustly and

send the message that Britain wanted

to be seen in the front line of

nations confronting Russia's threat

to international order. This is

about Britain's place in the world

as well. At one point today Boris

Johnson also raised the question of

Britain's involvement in the

football World Cup in Russia.

Although officials very quickly

pointed out that was about officials

and ministers, not the

and ministers, not the England

football team. The Russian Embassy

this evening has issued a derisive

stadium, sarcastically mocking Boris

Johnson for finding Russia guilty

before any enquiry has even started.

But tonight the government is keen

to show that Britain will not be a

country that stands idly by if it is

shown that a potentially aggressive

power has carried out a murderous

plot on the streets of Britain.

John

Pienaar in Westminster, thank you.

A woman has been found dead

with stab wounds in her family home

in South West London,

an hour after the bodies

of her husband and two boys -

aged seven and ten - were discovered

at the foot of cliffs

in East Sussex.

Police say the woman was discovered

at the house in Twickenham.

They're not looking

for anyone else in connection

with the investigation.

Lauren Moss is at

Birling Gap this evening.

This is a beauty spot on the Sussex

coast line and it is very popular

with walkers. It was a member of

public who called the police here

yesterday afternoon around five

o'clock, and they found three bodies

at the bottom of the cliffs on the

beach. A man who was 57 and two boys

aged just seven and ten years old. A

vehicle was also found nearby. The

bodies have not been formally

identified yet, but they believed to

be a father and his two sons. At the

family home in Twickenham yesterday

afternoon, police also discovered

the body of a woman in her 40s. She

had been stabbed. Neighbours spoke

there today of their shock and said

they were a normal family and they

had regularly seen the children

playing outside in the garden. A

murder investigation has been

launched but no arrests have been

made. Detectives say they are not

looking for anyone else at this

stage in connection with what has

happened here. STUDIO: Lauren Moss,

thank you.

One of the two lorry

drivers who were involved

in a crash on the M1,

in which eight people died, has been

convicted of causing death

by dangerous driving.

Ryszard Masierak was two times over

the drink-drive limit and had been

stationary in the slow lane for 12

minutes before the accident,

in August last year.

He was found guilty of eight

counts of causing death

by dangerous driving.

A 17-year-old girl and a man have

been arrested after sustaining

injuries during an incident

in a police vehicle in Perth.

45-year-old Stuart Lymer

and the teenager -

who can't be named -

had been missing since last Friday.

The pair are being treated

in hospital after the incident,

which is understood to have involved

a bladed weapon.

Their injuries are not thought

to be life-threatening.

Britain needs to go on a diet -

that's the stark message from

leading public health officials.

They say too many people eat too

many calories every day and it's led

to an obesity epidemic.

Now Public Health England is calling

on food companies to cut portion

sizes for things like pizzas,

ready meals, processed meat

and takeaways to try to reduce

calories by 20% over

the next few years.

Our health editor,

Hugh Pym, reports.

It's time for action, and food

companies must cut calories. That's

the demand from public health chiefs

who want to see new recipes, smaller

portions, or more efforts to move

customers to healthy options. Here's

the obesity problem. A child's diet

might include breakfast with nearly

500 calories, a packed lunch with

more than 1000, an after-school

snack at around 250, and pasta and a

pudding later with more than 800

calories. But that is well above the

recommended limit for children. In

fact, it's as much as eating an

extra meal a day. But with an ice

cream van parked outside this school

in Salford today, parents told us it

wasn't easy keeping their children's

diet is under control.

There's an

ice cream van right there outside

the school. There is something

everywhere, so it's hard, but I do

try.

If the children want ice cream

covered a distant ice cream, don't

they.

Kids go in McDonald's and eat

burgers and stuff and even I don't

know what calories are in them to be

fair.

McDonald's, in fact, is one of

the big companies that has agreed to

a calorie cutting plan for its

meals. And it has backed a campaign

telling customers what they can get

if they want to stick to a 600

calorie limit. Subway is another

Peppa Pig company publishing

nutritional information and it says

all its individual items are under

600 calories. Do you acknowledge

your Company and others have

prohibited to this problem?

With

choice customers are today, there is

so much choice on the high street

and four out of ten Subways

prejudicing good is from our low-fat

range.

There is still a lot of

detail to be worked out on how the

calorie reduction plan will work in

practice, but fast-food change and

supermarkets have until 2024 to

deliver the 20% cut. The question

arises, what happens if things are

not on track.

What we need to see is

regular transparent reporting so we

see which parts of the industries

are playing their role and who is

lagging behind. If change does not

happen fast enough we need the

government to introduce legislation

to make it mandatory.

There is

already a sugar reduction plan for

cakes and other sweet items that has

to deliver by 2020. But the new

calorie initiative for other food

runs four years beyond that. Some

say that isn't fast enough to tackle

what is being called an obesity

epidemic. Hugh Pym, BBC News.

Our top story this evening.

Counter-terrorism police take over

the investigation into the suspected

poisoning of a former Russian spy

and his daughter in Salisbury.

Still to come...

A late-night for a little star.

Family celebrations for six-year-old

star Maisie Sly, star

of an Oscar-winning film.

Coming up on Sportsday

on BBC News...

Liverpool are set to reach

the quarter-finals of

the Champions League for the first

time since 2009.

Jurgen Klopp's side have a 5-0

lead ahead of tonight's

second leg agsaint Porto.

Six months after Hurricane Irma tore

through parts of the Caribbean,

killing dozens of people

and destroying thousands of homes,

many of the survivors

are still living in shelters.

One of the worst hit places

was the island of Tortola,

in the British Virgin Islands.

More than 80% of the buildings

there were either damaged

or completely destroyed.

Aleem Maqbool has been to the island

to find out how the community

there is recovering.

He joins us now.

We know that the British Government

is carrying out a review looking at

whether it was prepared enough,

whether its response was good enough

here

whether its response was good enough

here after the storm We know after

the last few days speaking to people

that many are till traumatised by

what they went through and in many

senses are still living with the

consequences of Hurricane Irma every

day.

It is shocking that,

so long after the storm,

there are still those

living in shelters.

They are among the thousands whose

homes were torn apart by Irma.

We've been here, like, five,

six months and nothing.

It seems to me that everybody

just gave up on us.

We're just here.

Irma was the most devastating

hurricane ever to be

recorded in this region,

barely a building on this

island was left untouched,

boats were lifted clean into the air

and dumped on the land.

Tortola now still has the signs

everywhere you look that a massive

storm came this way.

Well, even though it is desperately

needed, tourism here has suffered

immensely over the last six months

and they've suffered a huge below

-- blow just in recent weeks,

with two of the biggest cruise

companies serving this area saying,

for this season, they won't be

bringing their ships

to the British Virgin Islands.

Peak season a couple of years ago,

sometimes it looks like there's

more boats than water.

You can't see the water

for the yachts.

It's not a good feeling, you know,

back then to compare it now.

It's not a good feeling.

The window went in.

The window went in and went out.

But light has been hard to come

by in the last six months here,

just ask Rita, whose home was badly

damaged by Irma and who says,

in this UK territory,

that she saw little aid from the UK.

We have no aid, apart from the six

bottles of water I get.

That was it.

I don't have no aid.

It was a common perception we heard

here, that apart from the work done

by British troops immediately

after the storm, more

could have been done.

When we did need them to show

that we are truly a child

of the United Kingdom,

I think they disappointed us.

So it changed our view,

in terms of the relationship.

The governor of these islands says

he's proud of the UK's contribution.

We've got the electricity back on.

We've got businesses back open.

We've got all children

getting educated.

So we won't under estimate the scale

of the challenge still ahead of us,

but we've made good progress

after the last six months.

It's been a massive effort by people

here just to get this far,

but they're worried again,

the next hurricane season

is less than 100 days away.

Aleem Maqbool, BBC News, on Tortola,

in the British Virgin Islands.

President Trump says the world

is watching and waiting

after reports that North Korea

is willing to discuss giving

up its nuclear weapons,

in return for security guarantees.

North and South Korea are due

to hold direct talks

at a summit next month.

Our North America correspondent,

Nick Bryant, is at the White House.

Tell us more about the reaction

there then?

It's the first time the

North Koreans raised the possibility

of abandoning their nuclear weapons

in return for security guarantees

from Washington. Previously

Pyongyang says they are

unnegotiatable it has been made with

cautious optimism. The President

said possible progress, "a serious

effort is being made by all parties

concerned. Maybe false hope, but the

US is ready to go hard in either

direction." The White House believes

its hard line stands against North

Korea is,ing. The tough sanctions,

the tough talk, the threats of fire

and fury the threats of totally

destroying North Korea and its

leader Kim Jong-un or Little Rocket

Man as Donald Trump insists on

calling him. There is a sense in

Washington that they have seen this

movie before. The North Koreans have

been engaged in talks and all the

time they have been developing a

nuclear capability which could soon

target east coast cities like New

York and like Washington. A

statement from the White House

tonight says this, "that they will

keep on applying maximum pressure

with all options on the table,

including the military option until

they see credible, verifiable and

concrete steps towards

denuclearisation."

Nick Bryant, in

Washington, thank you.

Thousands of people in parts

of the UK have spent a fourth day

without water after pipes that froze

last week burst as temperatures

rose at the weekend.

Water companies have continued work

to restore supplies to homes

and businesses in London,

Kent, Sussex and parts of Wales.

The industry regulator, Ofwat,

said suppliers had "fallen well

short" on forward planning.

Emma Simpson reports.

A Sussex country pub with lots

of beer, but no running water.

Not today.

I'm really sorry.

That's all right.

They've been saying sorry

to customers since Saturday.,

200 lost bookings and counting.

How much is this all

going to cost you?

Probably £6,000, £7,000 so far.

It's devastation.

We can't open and we've lost food.

We've lost our revenue, you know.

Down the road, yet more emergency

supplies for households in need.

Oh, we're managing.

You know, we're British, aren't we!

They were helping themselves in west

Wales, and there are still thousands

without water in London.

Here's the problem, just one of many

burst pipes still being repaired.

No quick-fix, but

progress is being made.

The big freeze has put an enormous

strain on the water network,

but critics say the water companies

should be investing much

more in improving ageing

infrastructure and making

the system more resilient.

South East Water will invest

£450 million into its infrastructure

from 2015 to 2020.

We're dealing with an unprecedented

event here due to the weather,

where we've seen a 25% increase

in burst and water demand

over a couple of days.

Back at the pub, the chef's

cleaning, not cooking.

They just want to know

when they can re-open.

This ale won't keep

if it's not soon, yet more

money being poured away.

Emma Simpson, BBC News, Wardhurst.

There's been increasing concern

recently over plastic

waste in the environment,

but rarely has the problem been

illustrated so starkly as this.

It was filmed by British diver

Rich Horner off the coast

of the Indonesian island of Bali.

It shows the water strewn

with plastic waste, bags,

bottles and wrappers.

She swapped Swindon

for Los Angeles and became one

of the stars of the Oscars.

Six-year-old Maisie Sly,

who's profoundly deaf,

played the lead role

in The Silent Child, and the short

film won an Oscar on Sunday.

Maisie was there with her family,

watching on with all the stars.

Colin Patterson went to see her

as she soaks up the glory.

A star is born.

Six years old and profoundly deaf,

Maisie Sly has now played the main

role in an Oscar-winning film,

and seems to be pretty unfazed

by all the attention.

Just tell me about your

day at the Oscars?

I feel happy, I felt really happy.

I want her to speak...

The Silent Child is about a deaf

girl struggling to communicate

as her family don't want her

to learn sign language.

It was made by two former stars

of the show Hollyoaks.

The Silent Child, Chris Overton

and Rachel Shenton.

It won Best Live Action Short.

Maisie was up on the balcony

at the Oscars with her mum,

while her dad watched nearby

with family and friends,

and this was their reaction.

The Silent Child...

SCREAMING.

After midnight, the winner

made her entrance.

And as for what's next -

well, Maisie could return

to the role, there are plans

to adapt The Silent Child

into a full length feature.

Absolutely extending the film's

what we would like to do next.

We asked Maisie what she wants to do

next and she said she wants

to do some colouring.

Which I think is

a much better answer.

Yeah.

Gold, gold colouring?

Probably.

She'll be drawing a lot

of pictures of Oscars, I think.

I bet she will.

Colin Patterson, BBC

News, Los Angeles.

Time for a look at the weather.

Here's Matt Taylor.

Battle of the seasons at the moment

across the UK. Spring has arrived to

parts of England and Wales and

Northern Ireland adding to the thaw

with sunshine there earlier in

Carmarthenshire. Different story in

Scotland, though. Winter has been in

place throughout the day and pretty

heavy snowfall around the Grampians

and the highlands and some of the

sheep have been fighting that as

well as us mere humans. The snow

more confined to the highlands and

will fizzle out through tonight.

Elsewhere showers to the west. Wet

weather close to the Channel Islands

at the moment. That may fringe in

towards the far south-east by the

end of the night and dawn on

Wednesday morning. In between clear

skies around. It will be a colder

night than last night. Temperatures

low enough anywhere for a touch of

frost. Ice on the ground into the

morning. For many it will be a

brighter start than today. We have

cloud, outbreaks of rain across the

far north of Scotland, Auckney and

Shetland.

Shetland. Wetter weather into East

Anglia, showers to the west. Hail

mixed in with showers in south-west

England. The thaw will continue

elsewhere with temperatures in high

single figures if not double

figures. Low pressure still in

charge as we go into Thursday

morning. Watching the development of

weather fronts close to the south.

That will bring a wet day in the

Channel Islands. It could be further

north. South-east England watch the

forecast. The rain will not be too

far away. Showers on Thursday,

wintry over the hills. Rain to lower

levels. In between those plenty of

dry, reasonably bright and sunny

weather. Temperatures still getting

into double figures for one or two.

Frosty start to Friday. Some more

snow to come in the highlands, but

after a mild day elsewhere, after a

frosty start, rain will arrive from

the south-west and that will bring a

wet start to the weekend across

parts of England and Wales with snow

for Scotland and Northern Ireland.

A reminder of our main story:

Counter-terrorism police take over

the investigation into thement sped

poisoning of a were foer Russian spy

and his daughter in Salisbury.

That's all from the BBC News at Six,

so it's goodbye from me