i'm mariko oi. the headlines: the us accuses syria's president of brutal barbarism after an apparent chemical attack left at least 58 people dead. translation: i lost my son, my children, my neighbours, by daughter. they are all gone. i only have got left. —— god. one of the worst atrocities of the syrian war sparks global condemnation. the un is set to stage emergency talks. prince harry unveils plans to rid the world of landmines, in memory of his mother princess diana. bicycles pileup on beijing's streets. live from studios in singapore and london, this is bbc world news. it's newsday. good morning. it's 8am in singapore

and 3am in syria, where president assad has been accused of carrying out a gas attack in which nearly 60 people, including children, were killed. the white house said such penis actions could not be ignored by the civilised world. —— heinous actions. this report includes distressing images from the start. this boy was one of hundreds of victims of the attack, he's showing classic symptoms of poisoning, perhaps by a military strength nerve agent. the victim's lungs were badly affected. rescue workers did what they could to decontaminate the victims, that includes removing clothes, where the poison can linger, and by spraying fresh water.

the attack happened in khan sheikhoun, a town that has been heavily bombed by the regime and by the russians in the last two days. it's in idlib province, which is one of the last rebel strongholds in syria. the hospital was overwhelmed by casualties. translation: all are wounded, some are dead, there are many suffocation cases. we couldn't enter khan sheikhoun city because of the intensive and systematic shelling. there doesn't seem to be much oxygen there, which could have saved more people. translation: i lost my son, my children, my neighbours, my daughter. they're all gone, i only have god left. this morning it looked just like the chemical attacks in 2013 near damascus. confronted with scenes just

like these, president obama threatened military action and then pulled back when syria gave up its chemical weapons. if this latest mayhem was caused by a regime attack, it suggests some chemical weapons were held back. condemnation is coming in from around the world. i'm appalled by the reports that there's been a chemical weapons attack on a town south of idlib, allegedly by the syrian regime. we condemn the use of chemical weapons in all circumstances. if proven, this will be further evidence of the barbarism of the syrian regime. we have understood it was a chemical attack and it came from the air. we will be stimulating all those who have the capacity of finding out technically what happened. president assad's regime has denied it launched the attack but, if that's not true, what's in it for them? idlib is one of the last rebel strongholds in syria, perhaps someone in the regime thought it was time to increase the pressure.

president assad's regime is much stronger than it was when the last big chemical attack happened in 2013. perhaps the way the president faced down american threats back then makes him think he can get away with it again. when local activists were still reporting what happened, the hospital was hit by air strikes. jerry smith supervised the removal of the syrian chemical arsenal after the 2013 attack. everything that they declared left the country, we can absolutely guarantee that. so the issue then becomes, is this new stuff, if it is indeed a warfare agent. or is it undeclared? what's happened in khan sheikhoun shows, once again, that the syrian war is far from over and the long

list of war crimes committed in this war has another entry. let's ta ke let's take a look at some of the day's other news. russian investigators had identified the man they believe carried out the bomb attack in saint petersburg on monday. the man was 22 and he was a russian citizen, originally from kazakhstan. investigators say he set offa bomb kazakhstan. investigators say he set off a bomb that wounded nearly 50. it killed 14 people. the driver of the metro train has been speaking about the moment the explosion ripped through the carriages. translation: there was a bang.” contacted the dispatch and reported the situation. at that moment on clear messages started to coming the passenger— driver in mitigation line because everyone was talking at the same time from all of the carriages. then i took the decision to drive

the train on to the station. there was no time to be afraid, i had to do myjob. there was no panic. on the door of the first carriage opened, the passengersjust explained all at once what happened. they didn't even explain what happened. they all said there was a loud bang in the first carriage. short time ago the lights on the eiffel tower was switched off as a mark of respect for the victims, but the decision by early and not to eliminate the brandenburg gate in the colours of the russian flag has provoked controversy, with critics calling it a scandal. we will have more from st petersburg later in the programme. also making news, us military has confirmed that the last hour that north korea has fired a medium—range missile from areas close to a port into the sea of japan. the launch comes on the eve of a visit by china's president of the us to meet president trump. they will discuss

how to rein in pyongyang's nuclear and missile programmes. the british chancellor of the exchequer is in india to discuss financial and business links. he is accompanied by the governor of the bank of england and other leaders of the uk's financial services. mr hammond said india is an important economic partner. in south korea, a software mogul is to be the candidate for the opposition party in the upcoming presidential elections. the 55—year—old will stand against the liberalfront—runner 55—year—old will stand against the liberal front—runner who won his pa rty‘s liberal front—runner who won his party's nomination on monday. the white house has released this image, the first official portrait of melania trump, the us first lady, but the image has raised a lot of eyebrows, with accusations that it has been airbrushed. white house officials say it was the portrait taken at the white house, but social media are all over this, comparing it with that of other first ladies.

the trump administration is writing its own rules when it comes to diplomacy is. president trump's son—in—law has organised an upcoming meeting with the president and china, so how will the chinese view this unusual setup and how will it help the us get what it wants? earlier i asked a doctor from an help the us get what it wants? earlier i asked a doctorfrom an in situ to four international policy if there are benefits for president trump using his son—in—law. —— institute for. a lot is clearly riding on the shoulders of his son—in—law at the moment and that this is an unconventional approach to such a high—level summit that puts the two most important powers in the world together. but there are also concerns about conflicts of interest, because in theory china

could offer some deals to the trump organisation to win some favours?m fa ct organisation to win some favours?m fact the issues go wider for the us. one legitimate criticism is that this is a premature summit because the us hasn't got its asia policy arranged for its case against china on trade. that puts president trump ata on trade. that puts president trump at a disadvantage in his meeting with president xijinping, who has also been around longer. he's met mrobama, he's more comfortable in this kind of statesmanlike role. so i think it will be interesting to see how it plays but i think the tactical advantage lies with china. there are a lot of things to talk about between the two leaders and of course president trump several days ago said that the us would solve north korea's nuclear issues on its own if necessary. you've been to north korea, how do you think this meeting is viewed in pyongyang?

well, they will certainly be keenly watching how this relationship plays out. pyongyang is very used to dealing with china and the united states. i think they clearly see their priority as continuing down the current track, which is to get their missile and nuclear programme up and ready and running and their negotiating position will therefore be stronger in future. but the relationship with china is already highly problematic. the problem is even if president xi cooperates with president trump, he must know his leverage with the north koreans is actually quite limited. and trade is another key issue and president trump has said that he would use that as a leverage to get china to co—operate. do you think that could work? well, in his campaign, president trump warned about 45% tariffs being put on china, that hasn't happened yet. i think for the obvious reason that politically it would hurt him at home to do so and i think the chinese are aware of that. but on the other hand,

president xi needs to avoid a trade war with the united states. he's got important things at home to take care of, he's got an important party congress coming up, and what he really needs to do is take friction out of the relationship. so i think he will be prepared to offer something to the united states but what he doesn't want is to have a relationship that he has to go back and explain to his peers and colleagues why it's in trouble. so i think he's looking to basically avoid any kind of conflict. but what the trump team have to do is to get some kind of deliverables back on their side, and i'm just not sure they're in a position to know exactly what they want. the french far—right leader marine le pen has been attacked from all sides over europe as the eleven presidential candidates went head to head in the second live tv debate. the centrist candidate emmanuel macron said ms le pen's nationalist proposals amounted

to "economic warfare". but she was also accused from the right of not being tough enough on france's membership of the eu. our paris correspondent hugh schofield watched the debate and he told me more. we had the five front runners, that is emmanuel macron, francois fillon, marine le pen, of course, and then the two left—wingers, benoit hamon and jean—luc melenchon, who were in the first debate. but then we have the six others, who were in the first debate, but who are frankly fringe candidates who have no chance at all. two trotskyites, a sort of neo—gaullist, and a super—gaullist, who is even more gaullist than he is. a rural affairs candidate, and then a completely fringe candidate to back things like colonising mars and is sort of fiercely against international finance. so none of these candidates has any real chance, but such are the rules of the game, they have to be given their moment to speak. so this time was strictly divided between them, and that did, kind of, kill a of momentum. it meant that when ever you got to a point that was interesting,

moderators had to stop and say that we had to hearfrom x or y, so they could say their bit as well. to be fair, they did have them bits to say as well, but it did make the debate very bitty, and there were no — there have been no standout moments of huge importance, i think, that will influence the way people decide. an update on the recent developments, that north korea has launched a missile. we are getting response from japan. a government spokesperson has said that the latest missile launch is extremely problematic and said that it will not tolerate north korea's continued provocative actions. the news of course that north korea had fired a ballistic missile from its east coast into the sea, where it borders

with the sea of japan. that's the reaction coming from japan on that. when we get more we will bring it to you. you're watching newsday on the bbc. still to come on the programme: 20 years after princess diana's campaign against land mines, her son harry vows to continue her legacy. the accident that happened here was of the sort that can at worst produce a meltdown. in this case the precautions worked, but they didn't work quite well enough to prevent some old fears about the safety features of these stations from resurfacing. the republic of ireland has become the first country in the world to ban smoking in the workplace. from today, anyone lighting up in offices, businesses, pubs and restaurants will face a heavy fine. the president was on his way out

of the washington hilton hotel, where he had been addressing a trade union conference. the small crowd outside included his assailant. it has become a symbol of paris. 100 years ago, many parisians wished it had never been built. the eiffel tower's birthday is being marked by a re—enactment of the first ascent by gustave eiffel. this is newsday on the bbc. i'm mariko oi in singapore. i'm babita sharma in london. our top stories: the us has accused syria's president of brutal, unabashed barbarism after an apparent chemical attack left at least 58 people dead. one of the worst atrocities of the syrian war has sparked global condemnation, the un is set to stage emergency talks. the suspected gas attack in syria

has dominated many of the front pages from around the world. it was described as among the worst in the country's six—year civil war. the gulf news leads with that story — which will be discussed in an emergency session of the un security council on wednesday. it runs a picture of a child being treated by doctors at a makeshift hospital — with the headline, gassed to death. the japan times reports on the government's decision to send back its ambassador to south korea, after a row over a statue representing women who were forced to work for the prostitution corps of the japanese military during world war two. it says that prime minister abe hard—line approach did not work and that the envoy‘s recall failed to force south korea to remove the statue.

the financial times has this special repost on the gender gap in the finance industry. it says that women are still missing out on most seniorjobs and that only 25% of top executives are female. now, a very large diamond is sparking discussions online, babita? that's right — it's known as the pink star and has set a new world record when it was sold in hong kong for more than $71 million. the 59.6 carat stone was bought afterjust five minutes' bidding in an auction. we don't yet know who bought it. let's return to the st petersburg attack now. the first victims have been named, as investigators continue to piece together the identity of the attacker. our correspondent steve rosenberg has the latest. this is what chaos looks

like, underground. this mobile phone footage was shot seconds after the bomb. there is a mad scramble to get out of the train alive. "smash it, break it down", says a voice. some passengers were helped to safety. "give me your hand." at that moment someone cries, "mum, mum." the injured are pulled away. ulvi was on the train, one carriage down. translation: there was a flash, then panic, people screaming, crying. at moments like this you think about your parents. how will they live without you? when i got out of the carriage, i could hardly stand. i was in shock, i was shaking. i saw blood, body parts,

a horrifying scene. and here's the station today, wreckage cleared, service back, st petersburg trying to be normal. it is astonishing how quickly a scene of chaos and carnage can be replaced by an air of normality. as you can see, the metro is up and running again today. but look over here, and you see a reminder of yesterday's drama. people are normally rushing by in the metro, not today. some here said prayers for the dead. but returning to normal isn't easy. more metro stations were shut today because of bomb threats. one hero from this tragedy is the driver of the bombed train, for keeping calm and not stopping in the tunnel.

"i was just doing myjob", alexander kaverin says. russian investigators now say that yesterday's attack on the train was carried out by a 22—year—old man from central asia, who'd been living in st petersburg. they're searching for clues to explain why. that's a question that people of st petersburg are asking. this has been a day of mourning here, a day for paying respects to the victims, to the passengers of a metro train who never made it home. steve rosenberg, bbc news, st petersburg. prince harry has paid tribute to his mother, diana, princess of wales, for her work in raising awareness of landmines and the dangers of unexploded munitions. in a speech at kensington palace, harry said he wanted help to finish thejob and rid the planet of landmines, as our royal correspondent nicholas witchell reports. it was one of the many images of her that caught the world's attention. diana, princess of wales,

a matter of months before her death, visiting a mine clearance operation in angola. she met people, many of them children, who'd lost limbs to this most indiscriminate of weapons. she couldn't understand why the world wasn't doing more, and she said so. i am committed to supporting in whatever way i can... her intervention upset some politicians who called her "ill—informed." a few months later, diana was dead. but the world had heard, a treaty was passed, real progress was made. forward now to 2017 and it is her son, harry, who is challenging the world to finish his mother's work. his speech tonight was personal and heartfelt. he recalled that his mother had been a voice for all those who'd felt marginalised. she knew she had a big spotlight to shine and she used it to bring attention on the people that others had forgotten, ignored or were too afraid to support. in august 1997, one month

before her death, diana went to bosnia. there she met two boys, both of whom had lost their legs to landmines. to one of them, a boy called zarco, harry said she'd made a promise. when my mother said goodbye to zarco that august, just weeks before her untimely death, she told him that he would not be forgotten. please, help me keep her word to zarco and malic and other people like them throughout the world who still need us to finish the job and rid the planet of landmines. harry met zarco and his friend malic, both grown men now, both though still struggling with the life—changing effects of weapons of war which, as diana pointed out 20 years ago, kill and maim without discrimination long after the wars are over. nicholas witchell, bbc news, at kensington palace. the huge success of new bike hire schemes in china has left local

governments wondering how to fix the problem of pedestrians, bikes and cars battling for space in the enormous cities of the middle kingdom. china correspondent stephen mcdonell took to the streets of beijing to try and find a path through the chaos. the rapid success of china's bike

hire companies took everybody by surprise. it has also raised questions as to how a city should run its transport. it not about the roads, but the foot paths. as you can see, there are spaces in beijing which are now totally crammed with bikes. the beauty is that you scan them with your phone, and then leave them with your phone, and then leave them wherever you like for the next person —— footpaths. some of those complaining about the bikes want to park cars on the footpath. ultimately, this system is effective because the bikes are everywhere. if the authorities limit

is too much, they could ruin the whole scheme. they'd be doing something that really works and that millions of people are using. —— they'd be killing. you have been watching newsday. stay with us. we will be looking at how thailand's property market is being transformed and what's driving the demand. and in london, before we go, these pig says. last week, a us hiker was given a warning after he'd rescued what appeared to be a black bear. two more cubs have been rescued in montenegro. there is a warning that people should stay away and let animals stay in the wild. hello there. high pressure is going

to be the dominating force for the weather across the uk for the rest of this week and into the weekend. here it is, not immune from the south—west. pushing low pressure onto the way, bringing some severe gales to the form of scotland and northern isles, gradually eating down. nothing on wednesday, at most winds up. quite chilly across england and wales, especially in rural places. ita lot of cloud across northern uk, windy. the best of the sunshine to start across central and southern areas. that wind quite a feature across scotland and the northern isles, some outbreaks of rain. patchy rain across western scotland, dry across the east. quite cloudy for scotland, northern ireland, in the north of england, maybe some light rain and drizzle in cumbria. could be starting dry, some mizdow fog but clearing quickly. light winds, not feeling too bad in the sunshine. temperature 7— eight degrees.

through the day, the cloud across the north moving south, turning grey for minty central and south—eastern parts. sunny spells developing across the south—east of scotland. some shelterfrom across the south—east of scotland. some shelter from the north—west wind —— many. where you get the sunshine, 13— 1a degrees. cooler where it stays cloudy, 11 or 12 degrees. party for wednesday evening and overnight, spots of rain across eastern scotland and winds easing. on thursday and friday, looking similar day by day. for the end of the week, largely dry thanks to high pressure. some cloud around, but also some sunny spells where it will feel quite warm. the masters golf has started off very windy. those winds gradually easing on thursday. friday, looks like we should see some good spells of sunshine. even warmer into the weekend, very light winds. that will be happening across the uk over the weekend. high pressure keeping things settled,

some warmer air of the near continent. you can see the orange colours greeting much of the country, could be very warm across the south—east of england. this area of cooler air will be making inroads into the start of next week, things are set to cool down from monday onwards. saturday, starting rather cloudy. sunshine breaking through the cloud, temperatures reaching the midteens. sunday, the best of the sunshine in central, southern and eastern parts. very warm, starting to turn cooler and cloudy so, across the south—west. —— cloudy, though, across the south—west. you're watching newsday on the bbc. the headlines: the us has accused syria's president of barbarism after a chemical attack kills at least 58 people. one of the worst atrocities of the syrian war

has sparked global condemnation. the un security council is set to hold emergency talks. the lights go out early on the eiffel tower, as parisjoins russia to mourn the 1a victims of the st petersburg metro attack. and the story is trading at a busy dock on. the red diamond, known as the pink star, has sold a new world record after it was sold in hong kong for more than $71 million. the stone was bought afterjust kong for more than $71 million. the stone was bought after just five minutes of eating. you are up—to—date. stay with us. —— of bidding. our top story in the uk, ken livingstone on other former