tonight at ten: syria and russia face intense criticism following the gas attack which killed at least 70 people. many of the victims in the town in northern syria were children. the americans have blamed the assad regime as the president signalled a change of attitude. i will tell you that it's already happened, that my attitude towards syria and assad has changed very much. at the united nations, the us ambassador went a step further than the president and challenged the russians for their failure to intervene. how many more children have to die before russia cares? and moscow's suggestion that civilians were poisoned by rebel weapons has been widely rejected. we'll have the latest. also tonight: at westminster abbey a service of hope following the terror attack of two weeks ago as the widow of one victim speaks for the first time.

i'm extremely proud of him and i'm very happy that the world now knows what a wonderful man he was. as persecution of rohingya muslims intensifies, we ask the leader of myanmar if she's failing to stop a process of ethnic cleansing. i don't think there's ethnic cleansing going on. i think ethnic cleansing is too strong an expression to use for what is happening. at the european parliament, nigel farage laughs at suggestions that the uk should pay for an exit fee for leaving the eu. and why did pepsi cancel this advert less than 2a hours after its release? coming up in the sport: can chelsea extend their lead in the premier league or will they open up the door in the title race against manchester city at stamford bridge? good evening.

syria and russia have both come under intense criticism at an emergency session of the un security council. syria stands accused of mounting a gas attack in idlib province which killed at least 70 people and injured hundreds of others. president trump called it a terrible affront to humanity. but mr trump's ambassador to the united nations went a step further, accusing russia of helping syria to carry out war crimes. our correspondent nick bryant reports. five—year—old ibrahim went to bed and woke up to the latest horror in syria's unending war. his grandmother was at his hospital bedside caring for him and his

sister because their father was killed in the attack. lives ended, lives ruined by a toxic cloud that filled victims‘ lungs with poison. translation: my grandchildren were sleeping. everyone woke up to a loud noise. they went outside and that‘s when they came across the chemical attack. they just fell to when they came across the chemical attack. theyjust fell to the when they came across the chemical attack. they just fell to the floor and died. it's all too easy to become desensitised to the suffering of the syrian people but consider the plight of this man, he lost 20 members of his family, including his twin children, killed in a second explosion. translation: i left them in good health. why did this happen? i went to help other people and thought my children were 0k. now they are gone. yesterday, donald trump derided his predecessor barack yesterday, donald trump derided his predecessor ba rack 0bama yesterday, donald trump derided his predecessor barack 0bama for warning the assad regime that using chemical weapons crossed a red line but not

following through on that threat. but today in the setting of the rose garden he deployed similar language himself himself and signalled a change in thinking on syria. these heinous actions by the assad regime cannot be tolerated. my attitude towards syria and assad has changed very much. it cost a — crossed a lot of lines for me. in an angry session at the security council. diplomatic protectors russia but moscow claimed syrian rebels were to blame for the deaths. translation: the syrian air force conducted an air strike on the eastern edge of khan sheikhoun on a large warehouse of ammunition and military equipment, on the territory of that warehouse there was a facility to produce ammunition with the use of toxic weapons. but that

prompted this electrifying moment of diplomatic theatre, the us ambassador nikki haley getting to herfeet ambassador nikki haley getting to her feet and holding ambassador nikki haley getting to herfeet and holding up graphic images of the dead. then, eye—balling her russian counterpart she blasted moscow. if russia has the influence in syria it claims to have we need to see them use it. we need to see them put an end to these horrific acts. how many more children have to die before russia ca res ? today we saw the usual divisions at the security council, the usual deadlock over syria. and the usual inability of the international community, even to agree about basic fa cts o n community, even to agree about basic facts on the ground. this is the deadliest attack in syria after nearly four years. after 2013 the assad regime was supposed to have handed over its chemical weaponses stockpile. but it‘s

continued to use banned toxic weapons and experts believe the evidence points to damascus having carried out another war crime. wrecked buildings and ruined cities are usually the grim landmarks, but todayit are usually the grim landmarks, but today it was empty streets and signs that warned of the poison still contomorrow nating the air. —— contaminating the air. let‘s go to washington and our north america editor, jon sopel. the president talks about changing his attitude to the assad regime, what should people read into that? he also said that president assad had crossed many lines in carrying out what he did. he said he was shocked and it couldn‘t go unanswered. the clear implication of which is that the president would favour some kind of military action to be taken against syria. but what? just because you have a new president in the white house doesn‘t mean that the kind of equation has changed, that ba rack mean that the kind of equation has changed, that barack 0bama had to deal with. what would be the objective of military action, what

would success look like, what would mission accomplished be? that is not to mention russia. we heard there from the ambassador nikki haley saying that russia was shielding syria from further sanctions. from president trump we heard nothing about the word russia. he didn‘t mention russia. where do the america americans stand and how could they ta ke americans stand and how could they take military action if russia is alongside syria? in the context of this security strategy a very important change today in the president‘s staffing? important change today in the president's staffing? the most important person in the white house, apart from donald trump, is a man called steve bannon, he is the chief strategist and he was a permanent member of the national security council even though he had no national security experience. he was the insurgent, the man during the campaign who said he wanted to tear down the walls of the establishment, wreck the state, he described himself as a lennonist. he has been

moved off the national security council. in normal politics you would say if someone influential has been moved he must be on his way out. i think that‘s premature to say about steve bannon. he is the architect of america first. yesterday we heard donald trump talking about i am not the president of the world, i am the president of america. sometimes the world impinges in ways the president wishes it didn‘t. with syria today, tomorrow he is meeting his chinese counterpart, where the topic will be north korea. national security issues often define a us president. thank you very much. a service of hope and reconciliation has taken place at westminster abbey, a fortnight after the attack on westminster bridge and the houses of parliament. the service took place to remember the victims of khalid masood who drove a car into pedestrians and stabbed a police officer. at the abbey, the duke and duchess of cambridge and prince harryjoined those attending the multi—faith service, as our royal correspondent nicholas witchell reports. two weeks after shocking events

which occurred almost within its precincts, at westminster abbey a service symbolising hope. leaders of the different faith communities from across the united kingdom werejoined in the congregation by the duke and duchess of cambridge and prince harry, together with members of the emergency services, some of those who were injured and some of the bereaved, including melissa cochran whose husband kurt was one of the four people who died. candles were lit to represent the light which can never be extinguished by the darkness of terror. in his address, the dean of westminster recalled that among those who were directly affected by the attack were people from britain and 12 other nations. he posed the question so many have asked — why? what could possibly motivate a man

to hire a car and take it from birmingham to brighton to london and then drive it fast at people he‘d never met, couldn‘t possibly know, against who he had no personal grudge, no reason to hate them and then run at the gates of the palace of westminster to cause another death? we weep for the violence, for the hatred, for the loss of life, for all that divides and spoils our world. prayers were offered pledging respect between different communities. that the best of muslims is the one who utters beautiful words, who does virtuous deeds. two weeks after the westminster attack, from an ancient abbey, which has borne witness to so much,

a message of hope. nicolas witchall, bbc news. one of those attending the service was melissa cochran. she and her husband kurt were both hit by khalid masood‘s car on westminster bridge. kurt was killed, while melissa suffered injuries, including a broken leg. they‘d travelled from the usa to celebrate their 25th wedding anniversary in london. melissa cochran has spoken exclusively to fiona bruce. kurt was probably the best man i have ever met. he was... sweet and kind. and... i am extremely proud of him and i‘m very happy that the world now knows what a wonderful man he was. he would probably hate all the publicity that is going on, he‘s a very private kind of person.

very generous, very sweet, and... the love of my life. what can you remember about the day? we were just having another wonderful day in our vacation. just enjoying the sights, taking pictures, making our way to the abbey. i don‘t remember much more after that. crossing the bridge and we were almost there. you have no recollection of the car and the attack itself? i don‘t. there is a photograph that has been printed, i imagine you‘re aware of it, of you on the ground being helped by a passer—by. i do recall all of that. and the panic, you know, of not being able to see my husband anywhere. 0r really know what was kind of going on. it was...

it was quite scary. and when did you find out that kurt had been killed? it was after my surgery on my leg, i had come out of recovery and they placed me in a hospital room. my parents had come to visit. and they were there waiting for me when i came out. i asked them to find out what had happened to my husband. my parents walked out of the room and came back in and they both grabbed my hand and said that he didn‘t make it. which, you know, crushed me. very striking, the press conference where so many members of your family came and stood in solidarity with you. and also said that your husband would not have felt ill will towards his attacker. i think that would have

surprised a lot of people. he was probably the most loving man i‘ve ever met. no hate. just loved everyone. there was just such a nerve in his heart. and you can manage to do that yourself? not feel ill—will towards the man that has put you in this wheelchair, that has ended your future together with your husband ? i don‘t think i could heal my injuries or as a person if i had hate in my heart. and kurt wouldn‘t want that either. so there‘s no hate. melissa cochran talking to fiona bruce. in the past six months, some 70,000 rohingya muslims — a persecuted minority — have fled their homeland in myanmar, formerly known as burma. there are now reports that the national army has been responsible for mass killings and rapes. the country‘s leader is aung san suu kyi who for many years has been widely recognised

as a champion of human rights. but more recently she‘s been accused of failing to confront the atrocities against the rohingya minority. a year after aung san suu kyi became leader in democratic elections she has given a rare interview to our special correspondent fergal keane. it is a relic of the absurdity and paranoia of military rule, a capital marooned far from the people, designed to keep the generals safe, but where the new democratic government is trying to consolidate its hold on power. it‘s leader, aung san suu kyi, has undergone a rapid transformation from pro—democracy icon. it‘s good to see you, a year later. a period of intense scrutiny and criticism. now, for the first time this year, she‘s agreed to a face—to—face interview. in terms of change in the lives of ordinary people, one of the things that‘s happened — it‘s happened in south africa, for example — is a massive sense of disappointment when a liberation movement comes into power. what have you done to make their lives better? you go through the whole list

of things we have done, such as how many miles of roads and how many bridges and so many townships electrified. last year we started out by saying that, at the top of our priorities was job creation and we discovered, over this one year, that if you start constructing all—weather roads and if you provide electrification, then people start creating jobs for themselves. there‘ve been advances in healthcare and, critically, more free elections. but all of this has been overshadowed by the terror in rakhine state, where tens of thousands of rohingya muslims have fled what human rights groups call ethnic cleansing. and about which aung san suu kyi has condemned for failing to speak out. what exactly is it that they‘re condemning? they want you to allow a un fact—finding mission into rakhine state. that is just now. that is just what they asked for last month.

but what is that they have been condemning over the last year? many, many people, including those who would be sympathetic to you, look at the situation and say — why hasn‘t she spoken out? here‘s an icon of human rights — what do you mean by "speaking out"? now, fergal, this question has been asked since 2013 when the troubles, the last round of troubles broke out in the rakhine, and they would ask me questions, and i would answer them and people would say i said nothing, simply because i didn‘t make the kind of statements which they thought i should make, which is to condemn one community or the other. so what we‘re trying to go for is reconciliation, not condemnation. do you ever worry that you will be remembered as the champion of human rights, the nobel laureate who failed to stand up to ethnic cleansing in her own country? no, because i don‘t think there‘s ethnic cleansing going on. i think ethnic cleansing is too strong an expression to use for what‘s happening. it‘s what i think,

as an outsider, i have to say. fergal, i think there‘s a lot of hostility there and, as i pointed outjust now, its muslims killing muslims as well, if they think that they are collaborating with the authorities. so it‘s notjust a matter of ethnic cleansing, as you‘ve put it, it‘s a matter of people on different sides of a divide. she remains the most popular politician here by a very long way and her goal remains to negotiate the military out of politics, with people power at her back and a steely interior determination. do you think that people in the west misjudged you or mischaracterised you or misunderstood you, expecting you to be this sort of amalgam of mahatma gandhi and mother teresa, for example? and, actually, maybe you‘re closer in your determination and steeliness to someone like margaret thatcher? well, no, i‘m just a politician, i‘m not quite like margaret thatcher, no.

but, on the other hand, i‘m no mother teresa either. fergal keane, bbc news. the european parliament has agreed its priorities for the forthcoming brexit negotiations. meps overwhelmingly backed a motion that said trade talks could not begin until substantial progress had been made on the terms of britain‘s departure. nigel farage, the former ukip leader, accused meps of behaving like the mafia, setting a ransom demand. 0ur correspondent, damian grammaticas, watched the exchanges. it began cordial enough — smiles, genuine or not, between the architect of brexit and the man who says britain must pay billions, he‘s michel barnier, the eu‘s chief negotiator. today, the european parliament backed his demand. the leader of the socialist group said the uk must pay its bills, "it‘s like moving house", he said. "the gas bill, the electricity, it all has to be settled",

said gianni patella. nigel farage laughed that off. but he had a riposte of his own. as soon as he was on his feet, his tone changed. he said the eu was being vindictive and nasty, making impossible demands. you‘re behaving like the mafia, you think we‘re a hostage, we‘re not. we‘re free to go. and 85... no. groans at the mafia comparison stopped him mid—flow. then this, from the parliament‘s italian president. translation: i'm sorry, mr farage interrupted antonio tajani, but saying this parliament is behaving like the mafia, that is unacceptable. 0k, all right. it‘s a sign of how fractious the real negotiations could become. mr barnier responded, he will not punish the uk, only ask that it live up to its financial obligations and he said it‘ll have to agree the separation terms before trade

talks can begin. the sooner we agree the principles of an orderly withdrawal, the sooner we can prepare our future relation. among the parliament‘s other demands, that the uk can have no special access to the eu‘s single market for sectors like financial services. the reason this debate matters is that this parliament will have a vote in two years‘ time on any brexit deal, yes or no. if it doesn‘t like it, it could throw it out, scupper the whole thing. ...was not directed against britain. a different future was laid out too, where a young generation of britons want to rejoin the eu. a young generation that will see brexit for what it really is, a catfight in the conservative party that got out of hand. a lot of time, a waste of energy and, ithink, stupidity.

but for now, the eu is ready in what it says will be a tough negotiating position. damian grammaticas, bbc news, strasbourg. former london mayor, ken livingstone, is facing a new labour party investigation into his comments about hitler. mr livingstone was last night suspended from the party for a year. labour leader, jeremy corbyn, says his refusal to apologise could now open him up to further disciplinary action. the matter will now be considered by the party‘s ruling executive committee. a group of muslim leaders from britain have been in rome for talks with pope francis as part of efforts to strengthen relations between christians and muslims and to improve the quality of interfaith dialogue. the delegation was led by the leader of roman catholics in england and wales, cardinal vincent nichols of westminster, as our religious affairs correspondent,

martin bashir, reports. in a city where christians once feared to tread, four muslim leaders arrived for a meeting that intentionally crossed the borders of their own religion. the four imams — who serve communities in leicester, birmingham, glasgow and london — were taken to the vatican‘s inner sanctum and then the doors opened. pope francis said such an interfaith gathering brought greatjoy, that it furthered the most important work of humanity, that of listening to one another. and then he greeted each of the imams and even welcomed our bbc team. lovely to meet you, sir. thank you so much. islam gets very a bad press, as you know, because of some muslims who have behaved in an un—islamic way, but for the pope, whose beliefs are so different to those of islam, yet for him to acknowledge that islam is a religion of peace is a very powerful message and i hope muslims are listening, especially those muslims who are

behaving in a most un—islamic way. the meeting was organised by the leaders of catholics in england and wales. what do you say to those who point at the persecution of christians in muslim countries like syria, nigeria, pakistan? the violence in those countries certainly includes christians, but it‘s not only directed against christians in some of those countries. clearly, innate violence finds a lodging place in aspects of islam and that is a real challenge for us to face together. this may have been more symbolic than substantive but, in meeting with the pope, these imams were signalling to british muslims that the way forward should be friendship with other faiths and not enmity; community and not conflict. the pope will travel to egypt at the end of this month in his continuing quest to improve catholic—islamic relations. he offered his blessing to each

of the imams and asked them to pray for him. martin bashir, bbc news, rome. the outgoing head of britain‘s surveillance agency, gchq, has called on technology companies to do more to tackle extremist content online. in his final interview before leaving the role, robert hannigan spoke to our security correspondent, gordon corera, who was given exclusive access behind the scenes of gchq. she‘s gchq‘s iconic building, housing a mix of people and machines working at the cutting—edge of technology, countering threats to national security. in the heart of its headquarters, the outgoing director told me that so—called islamic state will, as it faces defeat on the battlefield, increasingly turn to the internet.

they will continue to try to use the media to crowd source terrorism, to get people around the world to go and commit acts of violence on their behalf, but it‘s notjust for governments to do operations online, it‘s for the companies and for the rest of media and society to have the will to drive this material off the internet. so this is our 24—hour operation centre. inside the building, teams of analysts pour over communications and data from around the world. so there may be a team monitoring the kidnap of a british hostage overseas, for example, or a counter—terrorist operation that‘s live at the moment, in support of mi5. this, for example, is our cyber 24—hour monitoring cell. we were shown a map which visualises cyber—attacks on the uk, and high on the agenda is the cyber threat from russia. the scale has changed, they‘ve invested a lot of money and people in offensive cyber behaviour and, critically, they‘ve decided to do reckless and interfering things

in european countries. clearly, they aspire to do similar things in the uk. there has been this accusation, that‘s been aired in the united states, that gchq was asked to spy on donald trump by the 0bama administration. is there any truth to that? well, we get crazy conspiracy theories thrown at us every day, and we ignore most of them. on this occasion, it was so crazy that we felt we should say so. it‘s a ridiculous suggestion. so, this is one of our high performance computers. deep under the building sits the electronic brain of gchq, humming with data and super computers. this is the first time cameras have filmed inside. today, our map editions are again using them to tackle our most difficult problems, including on terrorism. critics argue there is too much intrusive power within these walls, but gchq says it‘s needed to pursue those who pose a threat. technology and the internet are overwhelmingly brilliant things for human progress.

unfortunately, there will always be people who want to abuse the latest technology and it‘s ourjob to deal with that dark side. gchq acknowledges it may have been too secret in the past and to succeed in the future, it needs greater public understanding of what really goes on here. gordon corera, bbc news, inside gchq. pepsi has announced it‘s discountinued a controversial advert starring the model kendalljenner and apologised for "missing the mark." viewers had complained that the video undermined the black lives matter movement. pepsi argued it was trying to project a "global message of unity, peace and understanding" as our correspondent, elaine dunkley, reports. # we are the chosen. # we‘re going to shine... it‘s a global brand that‘s caused a global backlash. # we are the lions. # we are the chosen. supermodel kendalljenner handing a can of pepsi to a police

officer during a protest. pepsi says the message was about harmony, but it‘s caused outrage on social media. they‘ve basically set this advert in a protest situation. donald trump just got elected, black lives matter‘s just fresh of the boat. i think people have a right to be upset because essentially pepsi‘s just gone out and said — "with a can of pepsi we can fix and heal the world," and that‘s just not true. in america, this is the reality of protests. anger and arrests, not soft drinks and supermodels. in baton rouge, louisiana last year, there was widespread unrest following the shooting of a black man, alton stirling, by police. critics say pepsi have tried to replicate this iconic image from the protest, and it‘s in bad taste. i‘m tired of black pain being used for commercial gain. it made no sense and it was a parody, basically, of some serious situations. i‘m wondering if they even have an inclusive and diverse board of advisors, because if anybody who saw that before it went out...

they would know that that was just inappropriate and disrespectful. they say any publicity is good publicity. ad agencies are constantly trying to push the boundaries. but how far is too far? when you trivialise it or make a scene, like, just that everybody in a melting pot kind of thing, i don‘t know if they‘re really about the issues or if they‘re just trivialising the whole thing. probably bigger problems in the world, isn't there? but i think when you say insulting... it's insulting in that, you know, there are serious problems in the world and pepsi have used the problems to try and give them some value. # we are the chosen...