a very warm welcome to bbc news, broadcasting to our viewers in north america and around the globe. my name's tom donkin. our top stories: after its missile strike on a syrian airbase, washington warns it will no longer allow president assad to use chemical weapons without consequences. we took measured steps and are prepared to do more. russia says the strikes could have very serious consequences in the region and the un calls for restraint. but america's allies offer their support. four people are killed, and 15 injured, in what the swedish prime minister is calling a terrorist attack after a lorry ploughs into shoppers in the capital stockholm. you could see bodies lying on the street and police covering the bodies in orange covers. the united states has warned that it

may not stop at its missile strike in syria. president trump authorised the attack on a syrian airbase, from which he believes president bashar al—assad's forces launched a chemical weapons attack. russia and syria have both condemned the action, but addressing an emergency meeting of the un security council, the american ambassador nikki haley said stopping the use and spread of chemical weapons was a vital national security interest. our military destroyed the airfield from which this week's chemical strike took place. we were fullyjustified in doing so. the moral stain of the assad regime could no longer go unanswered. his crimes against humanity could no longer be met with empty words. it was time to say "enough," but not only say it, it was time to act. bashar al—assad must never use

chemical weapons again, ever. the syrian government condemned thursday night's attack as reckless and irresponsible. but less than 2a hours after the strikes, syrian warplanes are reportedly once again taking off from the airbase. our north america editor, jon sopel, reports. it was after dark on the east coast of america, and before the sun had risen in the middle east, when the commander—in—chief gave the order to strike. from two us warships in the eastern mediterranean, a volley of cruise missiles was fired, targeting a single military airbase outside homs, that had been used, say

the americans, by the syrian air force to launch the deadly chemical weapons attack on idlib earlier in the week. 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. the grotesque after—effects of the attack — the us believe the nerve agent sarin was used — horrified the world, and more importantly, horrified this president. a line had been crossed, and unlike his predecessor, he was going to act. assad choked out 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. what is truly astonishing,

dizzying even, is the speed with which this administration has changed its policy towards syria and decided to act. at the beginning of the week, president trump saw bashar al—assad as a useful ally in the fight against so—called islamic state. there was no talk of regime change. but the chemical weapons attack changed everything, and within two days, targets had been identified and struck. here is what we know about the attack. 59 tomahawk cruise missiles were launched from the two destroyers in the eastern med. the shayrat airbase is some 20 miles from homs, deep

in syrian government—held territory. targets included aircraft, their shelters, fuel depots, air defences, and radar sites. but, because russian forces are also deployed at the base, russia was informed of the attack in advance. the aftermath shows damage and debris at the base, but hardly devastation. the pentagon says it didn't particularly target the runways, as they can be quickly repaired. the aim was to destroy the infrastructure that allows the base to function, and the attack has brought the president strong support. mr president was authorised to conduct this strike. he's not asking for a declaration of war. he's not committing ground troops over an extended period of time. he was dealing with exigent circumstances, and as the commander—in—chief, not only does he have the right, he has an obligation to act. and hillary clinton has also backed the president's action, but with this qualification. we cannot in one breath speak of protecting syrian babies, and in the next, close america's doors to them. the president and his team at the makeshift situation room at mar—a—lago, as they await news of the strike. donald trump, who didn't want to get embroiled in foreign conflicts, hasjust ordered us

forces into action. and, as he ended his address to the nation last night, he no longer sounded like the "america first" isolationist. goodnight, and god bless america, and the entire world. thank you. the president, not yet 100 days in, has travelled a long way in a short time. jon sopel, bbc news, palm beach, florida. as we heard earlier, russia was quick to respond to the us strikes, saying they violated international law. moscow said president trump's actions encouraged terrorists in the region, including the so—called islamic state. our moscow correspondent steve rosenberg has this assessment of russia's response. until recently, the russian media had been singing donald trump's praises, but no longer. today, state tv accused him of an unprovoked show of force with the missile strike he had

ordered on a syrian air base. less than half of the missiles fired, moscow claimed, had hit their target. still, russia condemned the attack as a gross, groundless violation of the international rulebook. it's 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. it is russian military power that has been keeping president assad in power, russia's airforce and navy helping syria's leader turn the tide of the country's civil war, and boosting moscow's role in the middle east. today, the kremlin accused washington of inventing a pretext for missile strikes. those american tomahawks may have been targeting the syrian military, butjudging what the kremlin has been saying, it is us—russian 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 has

been no sign of that. later, the two countries clashed at the un security council. it could be that russia is knowingly allowing chemical weapons to remain in syria. it could be that russia has been incompetent in its efforts to remove the chemical weapons. or it could be that the assad regime is playing the russians for fools. "i would ask america not to insult my country," said russia's deputy ambassador. today, moscow suspended a deal designed to prevent incidents between us and russian warplanes over syria. which means that we have two big, military powers in the area,

operating without any — any contacts and any co—ordination, which is very dangerous. russia is hoping that this us strike was a one—off, but tonight it is strengthening air defences across syria, just in case. steve rosenberg, bbc news, moscow. a lorry has been driven into a crowd of pedestrians in the swedish capital stockholm, killing four people and injuring 15. sweden's prime minister has called it an act of terrorism. our correspondent, dan johnson, reports from stockholm. people running in terror, as a truck races towards shoppers in the centre of stockholm. and this is where it ended up, in flames, after crashing into a department store.

translation: i saw exactly where the lorry went in, just there. there wasn't much of a reaction, then the police arrived. the police just said, "you have to run". you could actually see bodies lying on the street, and i could see the police covering a body with an orange blanket. and there were lots of police around, lots of people just standing around and filming, taking photos. the truck belongs to a brewery company, who said a man hijacked it earlier, as it was dropping off beer. the bluntest of weapons, used to deliver a sudden and deadly blow, that has hit sweden hard. there was a lady laying with a severed foot, there were blood everywhere, there were bodies on the ground everywhere, and a sense of panic. people standing by their loved ones, but also people running away. so many questions. first, who was involved, and why? police quickly released images of a man they wanted to question, and within hours they

had made an arrest. translation: earlier, we released a picture of a person of particular interest to the investigation. and a short while ago, we apprehended a person that matches that description. and sweden's prime minister said his country would not give in to terror. thoughts, concerns, and condolences have reached many of us from all around the world, and we are grateful for the many warm expressions of sharing our grief. we are determined never to let the values that we treasure, democracy, human rights, and freedom, to be undermined by hatred. after hours under lockdown, at least some normality is returning to the city. the metro has reopened, and people are returning. there is an uneasy feel here tonight. this has really shaken people in this city. the police are visible in number, and there are already extra checks

at sweden's borders. already, some are saying this is a wake—up call for the security services. sweden has a proud history as an open society, that embraces all, but it is now the latest corner of europe forced to confront death, so sudden, so shocking. danjohnson, bbc news, stockholm. stay with us on bbc news. still to come: a lot of hot air. these big balloons are trying to beat the world record for crossing the channel. 55 years of hatred and rage, as theyjump up on the statue. this funeral became a massive demonstration of black power,

the power to influence. 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 that 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 tom donkin. the latest headlines: the united states has warned that it could take further action against syria over its use of chemical weapons, hours after firing missiles at an airbase.

four people are killed in what the swedish prime minister is calling a terrorist attack after a lorry ploughs into shoppers in the capital stockholm. senators in the united states have confirmed neil gorsuch as a supreme courtjudge, following a year long political battle over the post. the development is being seen as the biggest success so far for president trump, who had nominated gorsuch over democratic opposition. mr gorsuch will be the iisthjustice of the us supreme court. sahar aziz is professor of law at texas a&m university. shejoins us now from chicago. professor, thank you forjoining us. we spoke a little about the man but can we talk about the process to choose the replacementjudge. it became quite political. supreme court justices to say that became quite political. supreme courtjustices to say that politics play now role in theirjob but they

are chosen by the president and confirmed by the senate, more politicians. can the supreme court bea politicians. can the supreme court be a political? well, it is now going to be perhaps even more political because the republicans use what is known as the nuclear option they change the rules in the senate fudged that it is no longer required to obtain 60 votes from the centres in order to confirm a supreme courtjustice and instead it is only a majority vote. that means that the minority party now has essentially no input all very little input into who is confirmed as a justice and, therefore, justices will now be viewed as the judge of a particular party. they will be seen asa particular party. they will be seen as a republican justice particular party. they will be seen as a republicanjustice or democrat justice as opposed to a justice

nominated by a president but still needing at least 60 votes which usually requires minority participation because it is rare that one party will have over 60 representatives in the senate. what is your particular view on neil gorsuch and how do you think it will influence the court overtime? there will be no shift in the court because he is effectively a conservative text to a list that follows the original list jurisprudence which is what the previousjudge was. he is jurisprudence which is what the previous judge was. he is a younger version ofjustice scalia. so there will be no shift in the leanings of the court. however, if one of the four liberaljudges retires or passes away under the trump administration, in the light of the removal of the 60 requirement then

the next justice will removal of the 60 requirement then the nextjustice will possibly be even further to the right because the president will no longer feel obliged to nominate a compromise candidate, one who was more moderate than his or her actual positions. at that point the call will be rightleaning and that will fundamentally change supreme court jurisprudence and have a significant impact on law and the united states. what are the big cases or issues that may come to the supreme court which may give us an insight into how neil gorsuch will operate? i'm sorry, could you repeat the question? what are the big issues that may come to the supreme court in the nearor that may come to the supreme court in the near or in the future that may give us an insight into how neil gorsuch might rule? there are

various issues that will be coming up. the one that is of concern to many americans is the right to abortion which has been a very long—standing culture war, for lack ofa long—standing culture war, for lack of a better time, between those who identifies are alive and those who identifies are alive and those who identifies pro—choice. and so if it we re identifies pro—choice. and so if it were to come up before the court currently with neil gorsuch confirmed it will depend on the swing vote which is, historically, has been stevens. it could possibly be overturned, rosy ways, but unlikely. other cases that are coming up are possibly another same—sex marriage case such that a previous law would be overturned because there are some concerns that

whatever progress has been made, particularly on the rights of lgbti people may not be long—standing. so there are many different issues that could come our. thank you very much, professor. here in london, a romanian tourist knocked into the river thames during the terror attack at westminster last month has died. 31—year—old andreea cristea had been visiting the city with her boyfriend. her death brings the number of people killed by the attacker khalid masood to five. our correspondent tom symonds reports. there had been a hope that andreea cristea would make it. she was young, she'd been on holiday, about to receive a marriage proposal. it wasn't to be. doctors at st bartholomew's said she'd been in a critical condition since the attack. yesterday, they decided to withdraw life support. we are saddened by the death of miss andreea cristea at st bartholomew's hospital. she had been receiving care here since the westminster terror attacks, having been initially treated at the royal london hospital.

and our thoughts are with her friends and family at this difficult time. i'd like to pay tribute to all the staff who showed great care and compassion in looking after her. her family praised the kindness and empathy shown by medical staff and the police. after fighting for her life for over two weeks, they said, our beloved and irrepressible andreea, wonderful daughter, sister, partner, dedicated friend and the most unique and life—loving person you can imagine, was cruelly and brutally ripped away from our lives in the most heartless and spiritless way. she will always be remembered as our shining ray of light that will for ever keep on shining in our hearts. khalid masood can't have cared who he targeted that day, using a blunt weapon, a hire car. he mowed down his victims, somehow sending andreea over the railing of the bridge and into the river. leslie rhodes, aysha frade, kurt cochrane and pc keith palmer also lost their lives.

the inquest into their deaths has been adjourned, but it will consider what happened in precise detail that day. the benefit the coroner has is the sheer number of witnesses. it's thought 1,500 people may have seen what happened. last week, andrei burnaz laid a single flower in memory of the woman he'd hoped would be his wife. today, for all the victims, the flowers, the candles and the thoughts kept coming. more now on our main story — the us attack on a syrian airbase. earlier i spoke to daniel drezner, a professor of international politics at tufts university in massachusetts. i asked him if he thought this action was the precursor to more military action. it is unclear at this point. i would be inclined to say no. the one way

in which i think president trump could escalate actions in syria is the question of are these the only chemical weapons left and if they have not been destroyed then how does the united states guarantee that the kerry chemical weapons convention has been enforced. that may raise thorny questions down the road. i think that is the part where it is unclear. on the other hand, and, also, it should be noted that the administration has been unclear as to what this means going forward. the secretary of state has said one thing, the secretary of defence is something else. truthfully when we see how syria reacts we will see how russia reacts. do you think this was potentially an opportunity too good to miss for the new administration? i say that because, obviously, president trump has wanted to forge his own path in his presidency and by doing that he has basically done the opposite of what president obama has done. is that how you read the situation? i would read it

differently. that is certainly a factor but there is something in international relations that we like to talk about called the cnn effect is that the notion that presidents occasionally acted because there we re occasionally acted because there were horrific images on television that caused a ground swell from the public to do something that led the president to pursue action. there is not a ton of evidence to this prior presidents but we are now experiencing a fox news effect because we have a president who does what a fair because we have a president who does whatafairamount because we have a president who does what a fair amount of cable news and there are already reports suggesting that one of the things that motivated him in this case was the fa ct motivated him in this case was the fact that he saw horrific and grisly images of children and other syrians who are dead because of chemical weapons use. as a result i think that may have motivated him to action which, unfortunately suggests that if there are other horrific images from elsewhere in the world he may decide he wants to do

something there as well. more than eighty hot air balloons have travelled from england to france to try to set a new world record for the largest group crossing the channel. our reporter fiona lamdin was on board one of them. they gathered at first light in a field in kent. and as the sun rose, with almost military precision, at exactly 7am, the mass ascent began. 82 pilots from across europe, here to set a new record. the pack drifted over dover's castle and cliffs. england was soon behind them as they headed 26 miles over the channel to mainland europe. it's just fantastic being up with so many other balloons. it's a once—in—a—lifetime opportunity. well, the cameraman is in a balloon somewhere out there so i am filming this myself. we are right in the middle of the flight. can't see france, can't see england, all i know is i'm above the world's busiest shipping lanes.

and after three hours drifting above the sea, they arrived in france, south of calais, to the warmest of welcomes. after three hours, 21 minutes, and 20 seconds, it was down—to—earth with the most gentlest of bumps. bend your knees, bend your knees... when we began to see a little point in the sky, and so we, with the car, we tried to follow the course of the balloons, and we are happy to see you! the pilots are confident they've broken the previous record of 49 balloons, but are waiting for confirmation that they hold the new title. fiona lamdin, bbc news. you can catch up with me on twitter. but for now, goodbye. hello there, good morning.

as april weekends go, i think we are in for a bit of a treat this weekend, because there is some strong sunshine to be had for large swathes of the uk on both days. and we are going to see those temperatures creeping up day by day, 23, 2a degrees by sunday afternoon for some of us. however, across england and wales through the day today, we do have some quite high levels of pollen. it is birch pollen at this time of the year. now, to end the week, we saw a good deal of sunshine for much of the uk. always a bit more cloud in the north and west of the uk, but the odd spot of rain. but, with the clear skies for most, it is turning quite chilly once again. overnight, major towns and cities into single figures. but it is in more rural spots where we are getting down to the bottom end of single figures. two, three degrees for some, so quite a chilly start to saturday with a few patches of mist and fog. mist and fog will not last too long, nor will the chilly feel to things. once the sun is up, those temperatures will be rising quite quickly. it looks like it could be sunny for large swathes of the uk. it is just the far north—west

where we could see a few spots of cloud and some rain. 14 or 15 for glasgow and belfast, but into the low 20s in the london area. in between, in aintree, around about 17 or 18 degrees. the sky, light winds, very pleasant indeed. should be a fantastic day out. and if you are off to the premier league matches, no problem with the weather, at 16 or 17 degrees the top in man city, a little bit of pressure in bournemouth, but still a lot of sunshine. and on the other side of the atlantic, the winds are easing down for golfers in augusta, and temperatures on the rise for the second half of the weekend, so it looks pretty good here. and temperatures are on the rise for the second part of our weekend as well. warmth coming up from spain and france will raise those temperatures, especially across more central and eastern parts of england. it will be a fresh start to the day on sunday. a few patches of mist and fog, but a decent day for most places, lots of sunshine. more cloud in the north and west bringing more rain into western scotland, maybe into northern ireland. thickening cloud on the western side of england and wales, but here, that is where

we are going to see the sunshine and the highest temperatures. and it is that fresher air which will eventually win out, late sunday on into monday, the weather fronts out there head south. not much rain on it, but it will be introducing this cool, fresh air. so by monday it is going to be a rather different day. we just have a quick reminder of those temperatures on sunday, because they will be doing quite well. but by monday, a sharp drop in those temperatures. those temperatures will be coming back down by a good eight or nine degrees, so a fresher feel to things on monday, and a different sort of look at things as well. there will be a lot more cloud in the sky, there will be a few showers around, and of course, it will feel that bit cooler. the latest headlines from bbc news.

i'm mike embley. the united states has refused to rule out further military action against syria. it comes after it fired missiles at an airbase from which it believes president assad's forces launched a chemical weapons attack. but despite the strikes, syrian war planes are reportedly once again taking off from the airbase. four people have died and 15 people were injured, nine of them seriously, after a lorry has been driven into a crowd of pedestrians in the swedish capital stockholm. the prime minister called it an act of terrorism. police arrested a man who they say resembles cctv images they released. senators in the united states have confirmed neil gorsuch as a supreme courtjudge following a year—long political battle over the post. the development is being seen as the biggest success so far for president trump, who had nominated gorsuch over democratic opposition.

now on bbc news, the actor ian puleston—davies speaks about his ocd, and the programme demonstrates the extent to which ocd can take