a very warm welcome to bbc news, broadcasting to our viewers in north america and around the globe. my name's mike embley. our top stories: global condemnation after a suspected chemical attack kills dozens in north—west syria. the us blames the assad regime. st petersburg pays tribute to the 1a people killed in the metro bombing. a 22—year—old born in kyrgyzstan is identified as the prime suspect. prince harry unveils plans to rid the world of landmines, and remember the legacy of his mother, princess diana. frontrunners in the french presidential election clash over europe in their second tv debate. and dreaming in two dimensions: high hopes for the super—thin miracle material graphene. hello.

the suspected chemical weapons attack in syria was brutal, unabashed barbarism, according to the us secretary of state. at least 58 people died. hundreds more were affected, choking, fainting, foaming at the mouth. the white house has said it's certain president assad's regime was responsible — despite denials from syria and its ally, russia. the un security council is to hold an emergency session. the attack was focused on the rebel—held town of khan sheikhoun, in the north—west province of idlib. this report from our middle east editorjeremy bowen. there are distressing images coming up, right from the beginning. 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.

jeremy bowen, bbc news. 0ur correspondent nada tawfik is in new york where the un will hold its security council meeting. and this news i thinkjust coming through on the newsagency wise, there seem to be some draft resolutions at least? yes, that is right. we are actuallyjust getting the resolution and have been going through it. this is a resolution put together by the united states, the united kingdom, and france. they have put it under what they cool silence until 9am tomorrow. they have distributed it to the security council members to look at and to come up with any other issues. and if everyone is happy with the draft, there will then try to go for a vote, likely tomorrow, is what we are hearing. to give you a sense of

what is in the resolution, it basically condemns the use of chemical weapons in syria. it ex presses chemical weapons in syria. it expresses support for the fact—finding mission and really basically says that it is up to all parties to co—operate with that mission. it also asks for that mission. it also asks for that mission to share their findings with the security council as soon as possible and in particular what it is asking the syrian republic to do is asking the syrian republic to do is to provide the fact—finding mission with flight plans and provide them with access to relevant airbases where any kind of attacks could have been launched. so it asked the syrian republic to provide certain bits of detail, they are, for the fact—finding mission, and thenit for the fact—finding mission, and then it ends by asking the secretary general to report to the council every 30 days on progress on this. the white house and also the us secretary of state also talking tough. but in the end, even with un resolutions, it is all words, isn't it? what chance of any effective

action do you think? certainly syria and its russian ally of all the clouds on this field. absolutely. we have seen us play out in the un numerous times, unfortunately. they have been passed chemical weapons attacks will stop in fact, the 0pcw joint investigative mechanism outlined three instances where they say the syrian republic is camille webb ands. 0ne incident also where the islamic state used these weapons. they have been unified in calling these investigations, but what we saw in february, again, a movement to try and hold people accountable for these types of actions, we sought the dose from russia, syria's key ally, along with china. they said politically it was not the right time with tall stone in geneva, and worries that a resolution like that could hurt those talks, and they also questioned the conclusions of the

0pcw‘s report. so it has been... the security council has failed to hold anyone accountable for the violations that we have seen time and again in syria, and that is clearly because of the divisions on the council that we've seen since the council that we've seen since the start of the crisis. there is a new us administration in place, and we hope tough land which run them, saying everything from that it was repressive, too that it was another brutal, unabashed example of barbarism from the syrian regime. they have not yet put forward their foreign policy posture. given this meeting tomorrow, we will probably see similar patterns that we have seen, with attention eventually came to washington to see how president donald trump deals with this differently, if at all, from president obama. thank you very much indeed. let's wrap up some of the

other main use. —— main news. 0n the eve of the chinese president's visit to the united states, the us military has confirmed north korea has fired a medium—range ballistic missile from near its eastern port of sinpo, into the sea of japan. president xijinping is due to discuss with president trump how to rein in pyongyang's nuclear and missile programmes. the powerful south african trades union federation has called on presidentjacob zuma to step down. cosatu, a key ally of the governing african national congress, says it no longer believes the president is the right person to lead the country. mr zuma is under growing pressure since he fired his widely respected finance minister last month. ajudge in argentina has opened a case against the former president, cristina fernandez de kirchner, and her two children. it's on charges of money laundering and corruption. two business associates have also been named. all five have been banned from leaving the country. cristina fernandez has denied illegally amassing personal wealth while she was president. in russia, investigators have named the man they suspect

of carrying out the bomb attack on a metro train in st petersburg. they say akbarzhon jalilov was a 22—year—old russian citizen, originally from kyrgyzstan, in central asia. investigators believe he detonated a device that killed 1a people, injuring dozens, and left a second bomb at another station, which was defused. 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.

0ne 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. and just worth noting, tonight the lights on the eiffel tower in paris went out in a mark of

respect for the victims of the st petersburg attack. the mayor of the french capital had previously come under pressure for not using the tower to mark the attack, as it did after attacks in london, orlando and brussels. and now the controversy has moved to berlin, where the city has angered many by deciding not to illuminate its most famous landmark, the brandenburg gate. in the past, the gate has been lit with the colours of britain, france and the rainbow. local authorities say they would only do that to "partner cities". 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 this evening, 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. stay with us on bbc news, still to come: 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 25 years of hatred and rage as they jump up 25 years of hatred and rage as they jump up on the statue. this be in role became a massive demonstration of black power, the power to influence. —— this demonstration. todayis today is about the promise of a bright future, a day when we hope a line can be drawn under the bloody past. i think picasso's works were beautiful. they were intelligent. and it's a sad loss to everybody who

loves art. this is bbc news. i'm mike embley. the latest headlines: the us has accused syria's president of brutal, unabashed barbarism after an apparent chemical attack left at least 58 people dead. a d raft a draft un resolution has called for a rapid investigation. all 11 candidates in the french presidential election have taken part in a live televised debate. the frontrunner in the polls, emmanuel macron, spoke of a recovery of french optimism under his presidency. the centre—right candidate, francois fillon, was hoping to use the debate to revive his campaign, and, the national front leader, marine le pen, said globalisation should be replaced by economic patriotism. let's hear some of what the candidates had to say. translation: i want to give the

people their voice back stop the iwatch people their voice back stop the match the french be pulled to get their money back. i want to straighten france out again and to do iti straighten france out again and to do it i have a manifesto that is clear and precise. i'm not vague or dishonest and i would like to tell the french people that voting to really ta ke the french people that voting to really take back power is the only tactical vote that counts. translation: i'm offering a real, radical auldana dave, a total renewal of our political life with new faces, new practices, because i believe we can overcome modern problems —— alternative. we have the means to do it and i wa nt to we have the means to do it and i want to get back the optimism of the french people, we can't go on like this. translation: over the next ten yea rs, this. translation: over the next ten years, my objective is to make our cou ntrycou ntry years, my objective is to make our countrycountry europe's greatest power, a country whose side topic, economic and cultural energy will

power the world. you need strength to be president of france, i have that strength and we need to put it with the french people. 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. president trump has strong ties to scotla nd president trump has strong ties to scotland but he is poles apart from scotland's first minister. ata time at a time when mr trump is profiting to put america first, she is in california launching a defence. the first minister of scotland on the global stage where she hopes one day to stride as the leader of an independent nation. saint scottish voters rejected independence in 2014, the world has changed and with the uk now preparing to leave the

eu, nicola sturgeon has another chance —— since. eu, nicola sturgeon has another chance -- since. the uk is notjust leaving the eu, there's a real danger developing that it will leave the eu in the most damaging way possible. it is totally counter—productive for the uk as a whole to prioritise control of immigration over other outcome for brexit, but it is especially damaging for a country like scotland. yesterday nicola sturgeon met california's democratic governor jerry brown, they signed a pledge to work together to combat climate change, in contrast to the republican white house, which is prioritise in economic growth over cutting emissions. miss sturgeon is not meeting anyone from donald trump's administration during her five days in the us. she did meet apple's chief executive tim cook to discuss pioneering medical research as well as holding talks with other firms including tesla, which makes electric cars and batteries. what we're trying to do in scotland,

which is why coming to meet companies like apple and tesla as well, we're trying to take these big challenges that scotland faces were scotland... also trying to get the economic advantage of that in terms of investment for scotland. how do you respond to the accusations that are being made back in scotland, particularly by the conservative is to simply said you are grandstanding abroad and talking too much about independence? this trip is fundamentally about business and that's all the more important in light of brexit that scotland gets out there and sells the message about what an attractive place we are to do business. that's part of my dayjob. are to do business. that's part of my day job. nicola sturgeon sketched out a political philosophy here which used to be very popular of an open country that uses the fruits of free trade to benefit everyone in society. how much modern scotland agrees with this vision may yet determine the future of her country. james cook, bbc news, at stanford in

california. the ability to turn sea—water into drinking water could change the lives of millions of people worldwide. it could be a step closer thanks to a team of british—based scientists, who have found a way to create a sieve which can sift salt from seawater. it's made using graphene, the world's thinnest material. 0ur science correspondent pallab ghosh has been finding out more. it's three times the strength of steel, incredibly flexible and a sheet of it can be the thickness of a single atom. and that's not all — graphene has been described as a miracle material. here in manchester, graphene oxide has been used to create a filter to take salt out of water. the aim is to convert sea water into a form that's drinkable. the potential of this technology is giving clean water to millions of people around the world and we're sure that this technology will be available in a couple of years' time to sell to people around the world. like any sieve, this graphene paper has tiny holes in that let's the water through, but not the salt.

in the past though, it's not worked properly. that's because the graphene weakens and the holes get bigger. so the researchers here have coated it with a chemical that stop the holes from expanding. so the water here is completely salt—free. and this is why it matters. according to the un, drinking water will be scarce for 1.2 billion people by 2025. it's hard to believe that countries don't have water at the moment. if you don't have it, it compromises everything that you do — your health and the ability to educate your children. a lot of things rest on this basic human right, so this is why we focus a lot on it. currently, desalination plants, such as this one in london, are expensive. it costs £270 million to build and they use a lot of energy, though the technology is improving. the graphene—based filter could be a much cheaper and greener solution, but the big question is whether it

works just as well in real situations as it does in the lab. pallab ghosh, bbc news, at the national graphene institute in manchester. and let's finish the programme with more than one sparkle. a rare pink diamond that was mined in south africa in 1999 has broken the world record for a gemstone at an auction. it fetched more than $71 million in hong kong. the 59.6 carat pink star is the largest polished diamond in its class to go under the hammer. it fetched a higher price when it was put up for auction in 2013, going for $83 million, but the new york—based buyer defaulted on the deal. 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, just nudging in from the south—west, pushing that area of low pressure out of the way — and that has brought some severe gales to the far north of scotland, and certainly to the northern isles, but gradually easing down. so first thing on wednesday, for most of us, the winds will be light, quite a chilly start across england and wales, especially in rural places. now, there will be quite a bit of cloud across the northern half of the uk, where it will be quite windy. the best of the sunshine, to start off with across central and southern areas. so that wind quite a feature across the northern half of scotland and for the northern isles, and we will see some outbreaks of rain and a little patchy rain as well across western scotland, drier across the east. but generally speaking, it's going to be quite cloudy for scotland, northern ireland, and to the north of england. maybe some light rain or drizzle for cumbria. in the midlands southwards, here we start off dry. could be a bit of mist and fog around but that will clear quickly.

because the winds will be light it's going feel not too bad in that sunshine with temperatures of about seven or eight degrees to start the day. through the day, it looks like the cloud across the north will move southwards, turning greyer for many central and south—eastern parts. i think the sunshine just holding on across the south coast and in towards the south—west, and will see sunny spells developing across, say, the south—east of scotland, with some shelter in the north—west. and where you get the sunshine, 13 or 14 degrees, cooler than that, though, where it stays cloudy, around 11 or 13 degrees. stays rather cloudy for wednesday evening and overnight, with further spots of rain across western scotland, but those winds easing all the while. so for thursday and friday, they are looking similar, day—by—day. so for the end of the week, it's largely dry thanks to high pressure. there will be some cloud around, but also some sunny spells where it will feel quite warm. now across the pond, into the united states, the masters golf has started off very windy. those winds will gradually ease down on thursday — and into friday, looks like we should see some good spells of sunshine, then it is even warmer into

the weekend with very light winds. that is what is to be happening across the uk to the weekend. this high pressure keeps things settled. we also import some warm air off the near continent. you see the orange colours bathing much of the country but it could be, locally, very warm across the south—east of england on sunday. but this area of cooler air, as you can see, will be making inroads into the start of the next week, so things are set down to cool down a little bit monday onwards. for saturday, though, starting off rather cloudy, some sunshine breaking through that cloud, and we'll see temperatures reaching the mid—teens celsius in many places. on sunday, it looks like the best of the sunshine will be central, south, eastern parts of the country. it'll be very warm, starting to feel cooler and cloudier though across the north—west. the latest headlines from bbc news. i'm mike embley. the us has accused syria's president of brutal, unabashed barbarism after a suspected chemical attack killed at least 58 people. it's one of the worst atrocities of the syrian war, sparking global condemnation. the un security council is set to hold emergency talks on wednesday. st petersburg has paid tribute to the 14 people killed

in the metro bombing. investigators have identified a 22—year—old born in kyrgyzstan as the prime suspect. it's not clear whether he was a suicide bomber or if he was killed when his bomb went off prematurely. prince harry has paid tribute to his mother, princess diana, for her work in raising awareness of landmines and the dangers of unexploded munitions. in a speech in london, he said he wanted help to "finish the job and rid the planet of landmines". now on bbc news, it's time for hardtalk.