this is bbc news. the headlines at 2. america launches missile strikes on syria over its suspected use of chemical weapons on civilians. tonight, i ordered a targeted military strike on the air field in syria from where the chemical attack was launched. thick moscow says fewer than half the missiles hit their target — it calls for an emergency meeting of the un. other world leaders back the us — here, the defence secretary called it "an appropriate response to the barbaric chemical weapons attack". we don't see this as the beginning of a new campaign, rather as a carefully tailored operation to try to deter the regime from carrying out these type of attacks in the future. also in the next hour... a romanian tourist who was knocked

into the river thames during the westminster bridge terror attack has died of her injuries. ambulances under pressure — figures show a sharp rise in the number being turned away by accident and emergency departments in england. and, it's ladies‘ day at aintree on the second day of the grand national festival. the united states has carried out a missile strike on a syrian air base, in response to the suspected chemical weapons attack earlier this week in idlib province. it's the first direct us military action against forces commanded by syria's president.

russia, which backs the assad regime, has condemned the strike. the americans say they fired 59 cruise missiles at the shayrat airbase in the west of syria. six people are thought to have been killed, and the pentagon says aircraft and buildings were severely damaged. according to the united states, the shayrat airbase was used to launch tuesday's chemical attack on the town of khan skeikhoun, which killed and injured scores of civilians. this first report by david willis who's in washington. it was a decisive response from an administration that has often seemed disorganised and at times dysfunctional. a fusillade of tomahawk cruise missiles fired from us navy ships in the mediterranean, aimed at the syrian air base from which america says that deadly chemical weapons attack was launched earlier this week. a line—in—the—sand moment for the new commander—in—chief. on tuesday, syrian dictator bashar

al—assad launched a horrible chemical weapons attack on innocent civilians. using a deadly nerve agent, assad choked out the lives of helpless men, women and children. these are the heart—breaking images that moved the president to action, triggering in the process a remarkable shift in foreign policy on the part of his nascent administration. a week ago, white house officials professed little interest in regime change in syria, but the use of what they say was the deadly nerve agent by bashar al—assad's forces has changed everything. i call on all nations in seeking to

end the bloodshed in syria. and also to end terrorism of all kinds and all types. news of the missile strike has overshadowed today's summit with china's president xi, a meeting at which the two were expected to discuss the growing threat posed by north korea. but he could find he has his work cut out in syria, in a quagmire of a conflict which could come to define his presidency one way or the other. david willis, bbc news, washington. the kremlin has reacted angrily to the us strike, with a spokesman for president putin calling it "an act of aggression against a sovereign nation" that had harmed the fight against terrorism, as steve rosenberg reports. on russian tv, the first pictures from inside the syrian air base hit by us cruise missiles. in the distance, one aircraft that is still intact. but moscow is calling the us strike a gross, groundless violation

of international law. it is definitely an aggressive act against international law, against a sovereign country, and without any true evidence of the assad regime being guilty of using chemical weapons. up until now in syria, it is russian military power that's been keeping president assad in power. russia's air force and the russian navy helping syria's leader turned navy helping syria's leader turn the tide of the country's six—year—long civil war. and helping moscow boost its role in the middle east. today, the kremlin accused washington of inventing a pretext for the missile strikes, which moscow claimed had harmed the fight against terrorism. those american tomahawks may have been targeting the syrian military, butjudging by what the kremlin has been saying, it is us—russia relations that will take a real

battering now as a result of the missile strike. the russians had been hoping that with donald trump in the white house, relations with america would improve. but, so far, there's been no sign of that. today, russia said it was suspending a deal designed to prevent us and russian warplanes from accidentally clashing in the skies over syria. as for political dialogue, that will continue. america's secretary of state, rex tillerson, is due in moscow next week. after the us missile strikes in syria, he could be in for some difficult conversations. steve rosenberg, bbc news, moscow. with me is our diplomatic correspondent jonathan marcus. the united states are saying it is a one—off, basically we have punished you for one act. and hopefully that is it. that is not how russia will

see it. behind-the-scenes? behind—the—scenes they may realise, thatis behind—the—scenes they may realise, that is exactly what the russians have been told and the proviso is the syrian regime does not resort to these weapons again as the west believes, other than russia and iran and syria and government themselves. the crucial thing is how long the immediate consequences loss. the russians are talking about stepping up russians are talking about stepping up air defences syria which will ta ke up air defences syria which will take time. crucially, they suspended the agreement they have with the americans to exchange information aboutair americans to exchange information about air operations over the country, which is important, because going back to 2015, when russian air operations began in meant for the first time there were russian jets and american and allied jets in the same airspace and on occasions they came close to each other and instituted an additional affective hotline to coordinate and to make

sure there were no accidental encounters. that has been used on many occasions. there have been circumstances when both sides have struck targets on the ground by mistake and they have been alerted quickly. that is a tool, useful for both sides and the russians are spending that will be concern and the hope will be it can be reinstated quickly. there is a call in russia for a un meeting. how likely is that? and what will be the effect on president assad? is this, for the first time, the americans saying regime change is necessary?‘ un meeting is possible. there has been a military strike against the country, what ever one may think about the regime. russia will be pushing for that and also for it not least because it wants an

equivalence and there was a security council meeting in the wake of what russia says is the alleged chemical attack, so it will want to see due process gone through here. i think there is a lot of going through the motions. the russians probably realise and i think the american administration has made it clear, it is not a dramatic shift in policy towards syria. that might come. mr trump has signalled his mind is changing on syria but i do not think it was an attack to change the military balance in syria, or to move forward with the removal of the assad regime. it is military action. but on a relatively modest scale against a specific target to send a message about reinforcing the norms against the use of chemical weapons. that is what mr trump said he was about and what we have to believe because it is probably true. this is not military force to try to take down the regime. the paradox is that

in 2013, when mr obama was faced with a similar dilemma and decided not to carry out air strikes, at that point, air strikes might have done some serious damage to the regime because of course it was more vulnerable. now the regime has consolidated and got strong backing from moscow and tehran and is not about to crumble and it would take a dramatic american military intervention to change the balance of forces on the ground. intervention to change the balance of forces on the groundlj intervention to change the balance of forces on the ground. i want to draw your attention to use. we are hearing from reuters, that swedish police are reporting a vehicle has injured people in the swedish capital stockholm. a second instalment we are hearing is a truck has driven into people on a street in central. kohn, coming on the reuters newswire. —— in central ‘s

stock home. that coming from swedish police —— the swedish capital. police and eyewitnesses in the capital being quoted at the moment and that is all we can tell you that swedish police are on the scene, responding to a call, they understand a truck has been driven into ona understand a truck has been driven into on a street in the centre of the swedish capital. we do not know any more details. we will bring them as soon as they reach us. we can get more 110w as soon as they reach us. we can get more now on the us strike in syria. international reaction has been breaking throughout the morning. our correspondent sarah rainsford is in moscow this move by the united states has been condemned by the kremlin. this move by the united states has

been condemned by the kremlinm has. it has been a robust response from all levels of political life in russia with the kremlin talking about an act of aggression against a sovereign state. we heard from the foreign minister, who is out of the country, but he made a statement. he said it was unjustified and called ita said it was unjustified and called it a provocation and compared what he called was a strike with total lack of evidence as he put it to what happened when the us invaded iraq. again he said without evidence. strong language from russia. i think also tinged with a sense of disappointment perhaps russia, we know russia had hoped for a new era in relations with united states when donald trump took office. now i think there is a reality check, this is showing that hope for a friendship even, certainly better relations, even in syria, looks like it has been dashed. strong language, is there an

indication of changes on a practical level in terms of response from moscow? yes, a memorandum was signed between the united states and russia are intended to prevent a crisis in the air over syria so when russian aeroplanes and syrian aeroplanes and american, or coalition aircraft, we re american, or coalition aircraft, were in the skies over syria, this was a channel used to avert any collision, any crisis in the crowded skies over syria. that memorandum has been suspended by russia. that was the least it could do in response to what it says, as mr putin called it, an act of aggression against syria. the military has said that it will reinforce air defence systems in syria. perhaps that is a veiled warning the us should stop there with its missile strikes, because

russia may feel it has two response. if the us keeps this as a warning, symbolic strike, because of the chemical weapons attack, i think it can be contained. if the us feels the need to change activity in the syria, i think russia will feel it needs to respond accordingly. with me is andreas krieg, professor of defence studies kings college london. is it as the americans said, a one—off, on the basis that this will prevent further use of chemical weapons? i think it is punitive action in the same way the obama administration planned it in 2013 and did not execute. ironically because of the vote in britain. exactly. because of the vote in britain. exa ctly. n ow because of the vote in britain. exactly. now a different leadership. there is the humanitarian aspect and

donald trump was touched by what happened and they wanted to respond on humanitarian grounds. there is a strategic dimension. we have to think about what is coming after isis. the us policy on syria has focused so far on containing jihadist threats in the north, now we are moving, we are looking towards the next six months went isis might collapse in syria and then we have to think about what comes then we have to think about what co m es after then we have to think about what comes after what is happening with the regime. much has been made about donald trump as a man, his personal reaction. there is no doubt he has made a decision and acted swiftly, so the domestic audience will see that side of him. how much of that is behind this? matt is the third point, domestic politics, showing, i am different from obama. you have the obama policy, a man who presented himself as a liberal,

humanitarian, who let these things happen and basically turned a blind eye, and here i am, donald trump, willing to take action and be more resolute and show more resolved when it comes to signalling red lines. in terms of the russian reaction, which will be crucial, how do you think they will play at? we are getting they will play at? we are getting the almost predictable reaction to a strike by the united states on syrian soul, but will they want to be punitive in their own way? punitive to an extent. both sides know they cannot escalate it, beyond escalation at the moment. what is going on effectively is a sorrow that war. we should not forget in north—east of syria, we have american troops working alongside rebels and we have russians working alongside the syrian regime. the significance of cancelling this kind

of agreement is you might run into certain areas. there is a risk of the sides colluding. the advice would be to calm at? it should be calm. the question is whether president putin will keep it that way or say, you offended me. how will he react, we don't know. a limited possibility of escalation, if both of them are rational people, which i think they are to a certain degree. joining us from washington hill is our correspondent laura trevelyan. i think it is fair to say rarely do we see a policy change so quickly and be acted on so swiftly. yes, and in fact there has been support from top democrat to this. they have praised what the president did as proportional response, the right thing to do in response to president

assad using chemical weapons against his own people, but there have been calls by democrats and also a coded calls by democrats and also a coded call from the speaker of the house, a republican, for the president to consult with congress if he intends to escalate this. congress authorises the president to use military force against terrorism stop this was an act against a government that used chemical weapons. there are some on the left and right to argue the president overstepped boundaries, but they're generally seems to be support. the question everybody is asking is what comes question everybody is asking is what co m es after question everybody is asking is what comes after this? is it a warning shot, a one—off? in congress they wa nt to shot, a one—off? in congress they want to be consulted if it escalates. we have heard it was a one—off strike. in terms of what happens next, is there any indication it might be anything different? it is the question

everybody is asking and the more hawkish senators on the republican side, john mccain, he has been saying this is an incredible first step. what he wants to see is the setting up a safe zones in syria to protect civilians from president assad and also to have the arming of the free syrian army. the secretary of state goes to moscow next week and the question is does he have leverage with the russians to try to force them to bring the syrians to the negotiating table and revive the geneva peace process in the hope of a peaceful transition? these are questions right now, no answers. thanks. just to update you, we hear the un security council will meet on the un security council will meet on the attack on syria. we can update you on the other story breaking,

police in sweden, the capital, have sealed off part of the city centre after a truck was driven into pedestrians. we do not know if it was deliberate action. initial reports say several have been injured. i have seen photographs on twitter showing the shopping area now cordoned off. a large incident involving a number of police and ambulances in the heart of the swedish capital. there is a security incident. this is the first still pictures. that is of a truck. i do not know if it is on the right hand of the picture book suggests it is. collided with pedestrians. there are reports of injuries. we cannot say if this was a deliberate act, or an accident. we are on it and will try to find out more as we get it. the

latest is a van drove into a crowd outside a busy department store. police received an alarm call from a person in a vehicle is saying people had been injured. that happened just before one o'clock uk time. as simon says, we are monitoring closely. we will bring any further details as soon as we can. we have no indication as to whether this was a deliberate act. we know a number of people have been injured in central stockholm after being hit by a vehicle we believe to be a friend. we can talk to andy. we have probably got as much information as you, but updaters on what you understand has happened. we have the official information from police who say they got an alarm call at seven minutes to 2pm. just over half an

hour ago. they said a lorry crashed in central stockholm, and that several people were injured. that is the official information we have. beyond that we have a lot of witness reports coming in. a lot of people in central stockholm, a busy area, are reporting a large truck driving into a are reporting a large truck driving intoa number of are reporting a large truck driving into a number of people. witnesses say they saw people lying on the street, apparently seriously injured. these are the first live pictures of the event. i'm sorry, i interrupted. some witnesses say there was a fire in the lorry after that. there are reports, the police drew weapons. police in sweden are routinely armed. there are reports police drew their weapons. beyond that, we do not know at the moment

whether it is a terrible accident or a terror attack. it is inevitable, given the nature of the incident. already i can see comparisons being made with what happened in france and london but we do not know at this moment? inevitably conclusions will be drawn by some but we have to be cautious until we know otherwise. ina be cautious until we know otherwise. in a situation like this there are people on twitter and reports that shots have been fired, maybe they are misconstrued. we know there may beafire, are misconstrued. we know there may be a fire, may be explosions in the vehicle, so until we have definite information from police we have to exercise caution. one swedish newspaper quotes a witness saying they saw hundreds of people running for their lives near the shopping mall. and we saw in the picture the truck has clearly gone into the shopping mall. willie update us on

what you got. in this -- official information, seven minutes to 2pm, just over half an hour ago, they say a lorry crashed on the street in central stockholm and several were injured. we have witness reports the truck crashed into a building. that it may have caught fire. reports of panic. maybe people worried about what is going on. they do not know what is going on. they do not know what is going on, so they are fleeing. we do not know if it is a terrible accident, or a terror attack. we will talk to you later. thanks. the romanian tourist who was knocked into the river thames during the westminster attack two weeks ago has died. andreea cristea, who was 31, had been visiting london with her boyfriend. her death brings the number of victims killed to five. sangita myska reports. andreea cristea was much loved. she had come to london with her boyfriend, andrei burnaz,

when they became victims of the terrorist attack on parliament. on a spring day two weeks ago, the couple had been strolling along westminster bridge when khalid masood deliberately drove his car at pedestrians. miss cristea fell into the river thames, sustaining massive injuries. despite intense efforts by medical teams, yesterday it was decided her life—support machine should be switched off. today, her family made this statement... last week, hundreds walked across westminster bridge to pay tribute to those who were murdered. among them was miss cristea's partner, andrei bernaz,

partner, andrei burnaz, whose foot was broken during the assault. it's emerged that he had intended to propose to ms cristea that evening. they were coming to london to celebrate their birthday. he intended to ask her for marriage. the floral tributes at westminster bridge to the four people who lost their lives there continue to grow. ms cristea's family say the thousands of pounds raised by the public for her care will now be donated to charity. sangita myska, bbc news. hospitals in england were forced to turn away ambulances almost twice as often this winter than in the previous three years. the nuffield trust says its analysis shows ambulance services are facing even more pressure than nhs hospitals. our health correspondent, jane dreaper, has the details. a grieving brother. sam has suffered from an ambulance service under

strange. his brother died in december after a six—hour wait and he feels he's had to battle to get answers. we believe the ambulance arriving late, very late, had a direct result, so it's absolutely devastating and i'm not sure that myself and other members of the family really quite believe what's happened. it's like a really bad dream. emergency services are under increasing pressure, with ambulances sometimes being sent to hospitals further away as a temporary measure. today's report shows hospitals are diverting ambulances more often. during the three winters beginning in 2013, this happened on average 249 times. but in this most recent winter, the number of diverts jumped to almost 500. you may say that's not a big number. they are the tip of the iceberg.

they have doubled. they reveal a service under tremendous pressure. there will be 500 diverts, but many more a&e departments working right at the limit that they could have diverted. ambulance trusts in england are missing their expected response times and paramedics say being sent elsewhere doesn't help anyone. the report says morale is low amongst ambulance staff. nhs england believes too many ambulances are being dispatched to simply try to hit targets and it's reviewing the system. jane dreaper, bbc news. the latest from stockholm in sweden. we hear on the pa newsagency three people have been killed after reports of van driving into people in the streets of central stockholm. we hear three people have been killed and we are hearing on the pa newswi re killed and we are hearing on the pa

newswire shots have been fired. they are quoting swedish radio is reporting that. the radio saying a small truck was driven down a pedestrian shopping street, crashed into a department store, and they say it is still burning. we are trying to get pictures from stockholm, but we cannot at this stage say what the cause of this is. whether this is a deliberate act, or a truck out of control. we are hearing three people have been killed. and there are reports of shots fired. that is all we have actually at the moment. any more and we will bring it to you. more on that and the latest reaction following the us strikes in syria. first, we can bring queue up to date with the weather. the weather is pretty good across most of the uk. quite a bit of

sunshine and also we expect fine weather throughout the weekend. not sunny everywhere. overcast in the north—west of the country. scotland, northern ireland, lake district. into wales. fairly cool, as well. the best of the weather across central and eastern areas a big contrast. the cloud will melt away in the north west overnight and tomorrow, quite cold in the morning, we expect temperatures to shoot up during the weekend but mornings are chilly. this is what spring is about. cold in the morning, even grass frost, and when the sun arrives the temperatures spring up and on saturday it could get to 20 degrees, rising across yorkshire and the north—west. peaking at 23 across england on sunday but the north—west

isa england on sunday but the north—west is a one—day wonder and temperatures will go down again in glasgow and belfast. hello. this is bbc news. the headlines. american warships have fired 59 cruise missiles in the united states' first direct action against president assad's regime. russia, which backs syria, says its air defences will be strengthened and condemns the attack, calling for an emergency meeting of the un. labour leaderjeremy corbyn has condemned the attack — saying it risks escalating the war in syria still further. he calls for a negotiated settlement to the conflict. i think there should have been consultation with the un before anything happened but it has happened, let's now have rapid ceasefire and a return to the negotiating table in geneva. police in the swedish capital, stockholm have sealed off part

of the city centre after a truck was driven into pedestrians. it's not clear if the action was deliberate. swedish radio reporting that the people have been killed. a romanian tourist, andreea cristea, has become the fifth victim to die as a result of the attack in westminster two weeks ago. ambulances under pressure — figures show a sharp rise in the number being turned away by accident and emergency departments in england. and a man spared jail for domestic violence, after telling a court he would lose an offer to play professional cricket, has been sent to prison after thejudge reviewed his sentence. let's bring you up—to—date with the latest from stockholm, sweden. three people are being reported to have been killed in the truck crash. what

we know is that pedestrians were cloud into an street in central stockholm, we do not know whether this was a terrible accident or the result of a deliberate action. we are also hearing according to swedish radio day are reporting that three people have been killed and the shots were fired. we know that pa rt the shots were fired. we know that part of the city centre is cordoned off. on twitter, we are hearing that the truck is still blazing. these are the latest pictures that we can bring give from a street in central stockholm. this happened, we are told, directly outside a department store, as you can see a very busy area of stockholm. reports, so far from various different news agencies are that at one o'clock there they received an sos call saying that people were in trouble after a truck had ploughed into them. we can speak now to an eyewitness who was there in that street. thank you so much

for joining in that street. thank you so much forjoining us. just tell us, if you can, what you saw what happened. macro so, i was not witness to the accident i was a cafe in the same street. i suddenly saw people coming in and talking about the lorry they had seen riding into people. then they walked out and there were many people on the street. it is a pedestrianised street, and i was on the other end of it. very quickly the other end of it. very quickly the police couldn't everything. so i could not see everything. my end of the street is a bit high up and i could only see what was going on on the other end. so, itjust looked like there were many people standing is taking photos the police load the matter closed off everything. and of course there were helicopters everywhere. tell us what you can see

now, you are further away outside the police cordon but can you see, can you give is a sense of what is happening? no, it looks relatively, you would seek peaceful, most of the street is cordoned off, there is lots of police everywhere and people walk around taking photos and try and get away from it, but it is comey yes, i can mainly the police. and, ido comey yes, i can mainly the police. and, i do not know what people are saying to you but there will was obviously a sense of people being scared, any kind of vehicle mounting a pavement or hitting pedestrians, is anybody saying to you anything about what might have happened or what might have caused this to have taken place? no, nobody has to too much about that someone drove over other people that someone drove into

a crowd. where it happened doesn't sound like could be an excellent very easily, because it is a pedestrianised street and people did say that the lorry drove into the pedestrianised street, but i did not see it. weight give is a better sense of that area, i don't know how well you know it would give as a sense of what happened in that area of stockholm the people who do not know where you are at the moment. it isa know where you are at the moment. it is a very —— it is at the very heart of stockholm, is where the main shopping streets meet our high road and leads to the central train station. also this area is quite close, to several areas of construction so there are lorries there that are engaged in the construction work. but the actual

crossroads is just a crossroads between a very busy pedestrianised shopping street and one of the central streets of the city. so, it is very much the very heart of stockholm. so a lot of people are around, especially at the time of day it happened. one of your time cometh that might? probably more to o'clock. —— probably more to o'clock swedish time, one o'clock british time. i think it was closer to tee o'clock. i walked their ads to o'clock. i walked their ads to o'clock and still nothing was happened, so i think it was after two. people were starting to go back home to work, it is friday afternoon so it is very busy. ok, we are looking at live pictures of the street, probably a bit away from where you are. as you can imagine

reporters are on the ground trying to find out what happened to other people. this is swedish tv pictures that we're seeing at the moment. while you are with others could you give us a sense of the mood there, obviously very scary when a vehicle mounts pavement or is hitting pedestrians in any kind of crash, but kenny gives a sense of what people there are feeling at the moment's is it a sense of, quick, eve ryo ne moment's is it a sense of, quick, everyone lets go home? it looks like people are trying to go home about 20 or 30 minutes ago people were filling the street, and now the people who work here don't seem to be at work, but are just standing on the street and calling people. otherwise, most people who will appear before seen to have gone home. it does look like people are just not entirely sure what is happening. scarred. the thing about

sweden is that it is very quiet. stay with others. for our views that arejust tuning in stay with others. for our views that are just tuning in we're looking at live pictures from swedish television at the moment because we have had reports that three people have had reports that three people have been killed according to swedish radio in central stockholm. there is a truck in central stockholm that has been running into people. the latest we have from swedish radio is that shots have also been fired. we were just talking to an eyewitness. thank you both joining talking to an eyewitness. thank you bothjoining us, he was mp metres away from the police cordoned as been set up. you've been looking into this, tell me what you know. the first official report came from swedish police they said that a lorry had crashed into pedestrians in the centre of stockholm and that several people were injured. we are now getting reports that according to swedish television they had been told by police that they are now

treating this as a suspected terror attack. that is going from the police, is it? that is the police telling swedish television. in may be that it is not put in the absence of any other evidence they are treating it as such in the initial stages. we are getting further reports that people appear to have been seriously injured if not killed. there have been reports that there are people lying on the streets covered in blankets. i've seen images of the talk itself which has crashed into a department store, it isa has crashed into a department store, it is a large, blue trot maybe a dumper truck of some sort. there are reports that there was a fire coming from the cabin of the lorry, i have seen pictures of some of the police officers at the seal wearing gas masks. there was obviously a lot of concern is not panic at the time, people wondering what was going on. people were winning away. we have reports that police officers were

drawing their weapons. there are reports that shots have been fired but they have not been confirmed. if there was a fire it may have been there was a fire it may have been the sound of explosions that have been mistaken but gunfire. we are talking about a pedestrianised street so that would suggest that it is not someone who has just gone off the road. we just do not know, we know with the accident several years ago when the refuge is trot, a man had a heart attack and pressed into pedestrians, not a terror attack obviously. the fact that it was pedestrianised suggest that it was a deliberate act of some sort but we are still waiting for an official confirmation on the police on the entry to and the own website that they regard this as a terror attack. according to swedish television it is being treated as starch. we're looking at the shopping mall

desecration treated as such. a relative calm. the sense of dj vu, coming so soon after london and bailly, people will make assumptions here. that is right, we know that terror attacks of the launched using vehicles, as you say in nice, and 80 people were killed. most recently in the uk, a carwas people were killed. most recently in the uk, a car was used. we know that terror attacks can be launched using trucks like this. we are getting an update now from swedish police that there tee they are advising people to avoid the city centre. —— the swedish police there are advising people to avoid the city centre. we are hearing from the police in fact that at least two people have been killed and many more injured in this

incident. so, just to confirm that from an official source, police in stockholm are saying that two people have been killed and many more injured. they are still not saying on the record that this is a terror attack, but they are saying that people have been killed in injured. 0k, people have been killed in injured. ok, whether swedish radio is grating the security forces are saying that they are treating it as a terrorist attack, because when you have a lorry going into people the effect is the same, there are multiple casualties and as you say at least two confirmed deaths. again, give us as much as we know at the moment because as i said earlier people are a lwa ys because as i said earlier people are alwaysjunior and because as i said earlier people are always junior and when they see stuff like this. to summarise, at seven minutes to our time we had a report from police in stockholm that i lorry had driven into pedestrians in the centre of stockholm right in the centre of stockholm and that several people had been injured. since then we have had an update

from the police saying that at least two people have been killed. and that many more have been injured. according to swedish television they have been told by police that they are treating this as a terror incident, but we have not had it on the record from the swedish police that this is a terror incident. we do not know the status of the driver of this vehicle, that appears to crash into a department store, there was talk of a fire in the cab. we do not know if the driver has been arrested or is one of those that has been killed, there is nothing on the status of the driver. a confusing picture. i will let you get away and hit the phones and we will talk to you again in a moment. thank you very much. that is the latest we have at the moment the swedish police have confirmed that at least two people have been killed after a truck has driven into pedestrians, they are treating it as a possible terror attack at the moment. let's return to our main news — those us missile attacks on a syrian government airbase, in response to tuesday's suspected

chemical weapons attack. 59 cruise missiles were fired from us warships in the mediterranean at the air base which the americans say was used in the attack. russia has strongly condemned the attack which happened at 20 to two this morning. president trump said it was in america's national security interest to prevent the spread of chemical weapons. and tuesday syrian dictator bashar al—assad launched a horrible chemical weapons attack on innocent civilians. using a deadly nerve agent assad stops short the lives of helpless men, women, and children. it was a slow and brutal death for so many. even beautiful babies were

cruelly murdered in this very barbaric attack. no child of god should ever suffer such horror. tonight i ordered a targeted military strike on the airfield in syria from where the chemical attack was launched. it is in this vital, national security interest of the united states to prevent and deter the spread and use of deadly, chemical weapons. there can be no dispute that syria used banned chemical weapons, violated its obligations under the chemical weapons convention, and ignored the urging of the un security council.

years of previous attempts at changing assad's behaviour have all failed and failed very dramatically. asa failed and failed very dramatically. as a result, the refugee crisis continues to deepen and the region continues to deepen and the region continues to deepen and the region continues to destabilise, threatening the united states and its allies. tonight i call on also belies nations tojoin its allies. tonight i call on also belies nations to join us its allies. tonight i call on also belies nations tojoin us in its allies. tonight i call on also belies nations to join us in seeking to end the slaughter and bloodshed in syria. and also, to end terrorism of all kinds and all types. we ask the gods wisdom as we face the challenge of our very troubled world. we pray for the lives of the wounded and for the souls of those who have passed and we hope that as

long as america stands forjustice then peace and harmony will, in the end, prevail. good nightand then peace and harmony will, in the end, prevail. good night and god bless america and the entire world. thank you. this syrian state news agency said the attack killed nine civilians including four children. elliott the syrian army put out the statement of accusing the us of fighting the wrong fight. translation: be attack makes the united states of america partner of iso—, who have sought to attack point of the syrian army and the syrian military bases. the act of aggression, violence sarri violates all international laws and conventions and aims are affecting the capabilities of the syrian army in its fight against terrorism.

let's go to our political us by two is in westminster. britain are among those backing the action so far? that is right, michael fallon made it very clear that he felt these attacks were limited in nature where appropriate and he would very clear that britain had been consulted in advance, but had not been asked to parties eight. he was also very clear they showed there been any question of british involvement house of commons would be consulted, but you tell the bbc elliott that it supports president from absolutely. they didn't ask is to get involved, they didn't ask us to choose a particular option. they decided to ta ke particular option. they decided to take this action, and very limited, appropriate action, attacking the airfield, the aeroplanes and the equipment that they believe were involved in the gas attack with the very specific purpose of trying to

depend the regime from future gas attacks on their own people including civilians. so michael fallon making it clear there that he felt there was a deterrent effect took the strikes that the us carried out but there is no political consensus at westminster by this. there is disagreement notjust between the government and a labour party but inside the labour party as well. the deputy leader, tom watson, like michael fallon felt the attacks we re like michael fallon felt the attacks were appropriate and indeed limited in nature. but, jeremy corbyn has condemned the attacks and suggested that the effect of those attacks could be to intensify the contact click in syria. i think it is the wrong time to do it i think they should have been consultation with the un before anything happened, but it is happening and let's now have rapid ceasefire and a return to the negotiating table in geneva. means of people have been forced into

excel, tens of thousands of bad in this conflict, weapons are pulling into big region and it is getting worse. the house to be a political solution. jeremy corbyn is saying that there are alternatives, in addition to that the green party are saying there should be more emphasis on an arms embargo and there has been talks bumped diane abbott about freezing russian assets to put pressure on them. but interestingly, there remain sarri jeremy corbyn opposed the iraq war... this year the lib dems are in support of this action. it will be interesting if westminster consulted, interesting too that the former chancellor, george osborne, tweeted that parliament could make amends for failing to back military action back in 2013 when he and david cameron of course narrowly lost that voted to join with president obama the last

time it was documented that president assad had been involved in chemical attacks on his own people. thank you very much. a cricketer has been sent to jail for domestic violence following an outcry over the "leniency" of the original trial judge. 34—year—old mustafa bashir originally received only a suspended he is now selling any 18 month sentence for assaulting his wife. our correspondent judith moritz spoke to us from outside court earlier. originally this man had been given a suspended sentence, he had omitted assaulting his wife and several occasions, hitting her with a cricket back, forcing her to drink bleach. in mitigation, at the time,

his defence lawyer told that court that if he was given his liberty, a suspended sentence, rather than being jailed at the time then he stood to sign a contract to play professional cricket for leicestershi re professional cricket for leicestershire and the judge, an weighing up various factors at the time took that into account and decided that because there was a professional cricketing career potentially there in the balance that he should be giving a suspended sentence. as soon as that court hearing concluding, there was lot of pressure putting about what had happened, leicestershire county cricket club said publicly that there was no such contract that it had not been in discussions with the mana. they contacted the crown prosecution service then notified the court and the court, in any court case at a sentencing has the right to call defendants back in for a sentence to be reviewed if new information comes to light. that is what has happened today. the judge told the staff of the sheer that he

had fundamentally misled the court. and because of that he has reviewed the sentence, still 80 months but he will be serving it in jail, the sentence, still 80 months but he will be serving it injail, he the sentence, still 80 months but he will be serving it in jail, he was sent to prison straightaway. —— still 18 months. the defendant did not show much reaction to that. he had told the court today that he had never intended to mislead anybody that there had been a series of misunderstandings that his probation officer and his original defence tea m officer and his original defence team had got the end terry well end of the stick, he had played for a local cricket league. —— his original defence team had got the wrong end of the stick. he had played in the past for pakistan ba rna cle played in the past for pakistan barnacle team that but he had not intended anybody to think that he was going to go and sign a professional contact at leicestershire. nevertheless, the judge did not accept his defence today and sent him to prison. the other thing to add into this you may remember at the time that when the

judge was passing sentence last month he also made some comments about the vulnerability of the defendants's wife. he spoke about the fact that she had gone to university, had a network of friends and was not particularly vulnerable. there was a lot of criticism of the back of that from domestic abuse charities, amongst other organisations, thejudge charities, amongst other organisations, the judge today said he wanted to also make some comments about that. he explained in court that he had been referring to guidelines which are in place across all courts, issued by the sentencing guidelines council about the vulnerability of witnesses. there is a measuring index looking at different factors which

can makea looking at different factors which can make a victim especially vulnerable and that can include not having a support network, may be having a support network, may be having come here from another country, not being ill speak the language having friends or independents. he was pointing out about though the white of mustapha bashir was vulnerable, he did have a network of friends and had been to university. he wanted to make the point that there had been misreporting, misunderstanding and he did not want brescia's wife to go away thinking that she had not been believed. he wants to make the point that she had been believed, he she is vulnerable but she wanted to set it into the context of explaining theissue it into the context of explaining the issue around the guideline that she was working too. to bring you the latest on the security alert at the heart of stockholm, reports of at least two people died after a truck drove through a shopping model and crashed into a department store. three people have died in the incident and to our confirmed so far. is the subway has the shutdown in stockholm

is the security operation continues. the fate of the driver of the van we do not know but police are treating it as do not know but police are treating itasa do not know but police are treating it as a potential terrorist attack. more on that at the top of the hour but let's get the weather now with thomas. thank you very much the weather is pretty good across means of the uk, plenty of sunshine across eastern and southern areas, fairly promising for this weekend, as well. not sunny everywhere, many north—western parts are stuck under a cloud. the good news is that here where you have had the cloud and where it is being cool and disappointing the weather will be improving through the cause of this weekend. these are the temperatures in the next hour or so, 17, high teens in the south. then tonight quite chilly, there will be some crass frost early in the morning. but it will melt away quickly as the sun rises and temperatures shoot up quickly in the morning. then, we're left with a

beautiful bay on saturday, which is overall the best day of the weekend as most of us will get some sunshine. the far north—west will see a little bit of card. temperatures peaked to 20 degrees. by temperatures peaked to 20 degrees. by sunday the temperatures will be 23 across parts of england but in the north—west of the country the weather will go downhilljust the north—west of the country the weather will go downhill just that little bit. you are up—to—date. this is bbc news. the headlines at 3. at least two people have been killed and many others injured after a truck was driven into a crowd outside a department store in central stockholm.

shots have also reportedly been fired — swedish police say they're treating the incident as possible terrorism. america launches missile strikes on syria over its suspected use of chemical weapons on civilians. tonight, i ordered a targeted military strike on the air field in syria from where the chemical attack was launched. moscow says fewer than half the missiles hit their target — and calls for an emergency meeting of the un. that is happening at 3:30pm.