a very warm welcome to bbc news, broadcasting to our viewers 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. the united states took a very measured step last night. we 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. i could actually see bodies lying on the street, and i could see the police covering a body with an orange blanket. the united states has warned that it

may not stop at a missile strike to ensure chemical weapons aren't used in syria. president trump authorised the cruise missile attack on a syrian airbase, from which he believes president bashar al—assad's forces launched a chemical weapons attack. america's decision to take action has signalled a change in washington's stance on the war—torn country, and divided opinion both at home and internationally, as david willis reports. this was america's first direct involvement in the syrian crisis, its crude missile attack a contradiction of the trumped up in of avoiding conflicts in faraway lands. and putting america first. and, as syria's army chief inspector

the impact of the attack, on the air base from which us officials insist tuesday's chemical weapons attack was launched, but for the administration insisted it was a i—off and not the opening of a new front in the war against bashar al—assad. nonetheless, there are those on both the right and left who oppose america's action. some in the belief that the us should be doing more to relieve syria's humanitarian crisis. others who see it as a betrayal of the isolationist stance that swept donald trump to victory. yet although the administration's strategy in syria remains focused on defeating the so—called islamic state, there is no doubt it has hardened its stance on president asaad quite considerably in the past few days. the united states took a very measured step last night. we

are prepared to do more. but we hope that will not be necessary. tuesday's chemical weapons attack on the rebel stronghold of it led killed more than 80 people, including dozens of children. —— idib. the us as it had incontrovertible evidence that the syrian government was to blame for the attack. syria denies this and the attack. syria denies this and the suggestion that it has access to chemical weapons. we have shipped all the materials on british, on french, on finish, on american ships, and we sent them to be buried in those countries and overseas. this is what we have done. we have no whatsoever any uncle weapons and the syrian army has not and will never use them against a syrian people. we asked for god's wisdom as we face the challenge of a very

troubled world. all this has put donald trump on a collision course with his opposite number in the kremlin, but me putin. russia is syria's chief benefactor and following friday's missile strike, the russians have suspended military cooperation in the skies over syria. meanwhile, the pentagon is looking into suggestions that russia may have been complicit in the chemical weapons attack, possibly by seeking to cover up evidence, something which could harden the battle lines over one of the world's most intractable conflicts. david willis, bbc news washington. a man has been arrested on suspicion of causing a terrorist act, following friday's truck attack on pedestrians in the swedish capital stockholm. four people were killed and 15 injured when a stolen truck rammed unconfirmed local media reports say a second suspect has been arrested. prime minister stefan lofven has said swedish values will not be undermined by such attacks. 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. 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. 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. in a few hours time,

the basque separatist group, eta, is due to hand over the last of its weapons. it announced that it would fully disarm in a letter obtained by the bbc, after a militant campaign that killed more than 800 people since the 1960s. the group actually declared a unilateral ceasefire six years ago, but today's events bring a formal end to the violence. the bbc‘s chief international correspondent lyse doucet reports from san sebastian, in spain's basque region. the heart of the basque region, once the heart of eta's brutal insurgency. hard to imagine it now in towns like san sebastien. for many basque, impossible to forget — especially for officials who were targets of assassination. translation: the world of violence was like the tide. it came up the beach, little by little, until it took over your whole life, and the lives of everyone around you, and the lives of your family. the basque separatist movement

emerged under spain's long franco dictatorship. eta became a byword for car bombs, extortion, shootings, for decades. this man, a local police chief, one of many victims. his wife, rosa, remembers every detail of the day eta shot him. "my son told me, "mama, be strong," she says." doctors tried for five days to save him, but now she wants her country to move on. "any steps towards peace are good," she says. but she accuses eta of making too much of their declaration. eta calls it ‘disarmament day.‘ their statement obtained by the bbc

says all its weapons will be handed over to civil society representatives. this prominent basque politician played a key role in persuading eta to give up its guns. arnaldo ortegi once headed eta's political wing. translation: the ceasefire was a few years ago, so disarming was the obvious next step. but look at what is happening in the world, as well. the strategies of the 20th century are over. when you look back, do you regret those decades of violence? it's a difficult question. i believe the armed conflict should have ended earlier. our society wanted us to take this step earlier. we should've listened. in some ways, eta's move is largely symbolic. it doesn't have many weapons left, and there haven't been any attacks here in the basque region of spain for many years. but this is an historic turning point. it draws a line under what had been decades of violence,

and brings an end to the last insurgency in the heart of europe. but, for many basques, there's still the issue of eta prisoners. in villages across this region, they're regarded as heroes. hundreds languishe in spanish and french jails, far from theirfamilies. but eta won't get anything in return fordisarming. the spanish government won't negotiate with people it calls terrorists. an old conflict goes on, fought now with words, not with weapons. lyse doucet, bbc news, san sebastian. 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. i'm tom donkin with our top story.

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. until this week's chemical attack in northern syria, president trump had appeared set against any intervention against the regime of bashar al—assad. our middle east editorjeremy bowen reports now on the implications of the us strike for the six year syrian war. the war crime that killed so many pushed the americans into military action. the long—term impact on the war itself depends on what the americans do next. more chemical weapons attacks on civilians might bring a tougher response. the syrian regime denies it has ever used chemical weapons. i think trump himself knows that

syria did not use any chemical weapons and does not have any chemical weapons and it has given its stockpile to the international organisation responsible for that. the americans say they have clear proof that the syrian armed forces carried out war crimes by using the nerve gas sarin against civilians, they are certain of that, that is why they carried out this raid. fourteen years after the invasion of iraq we see iraq has been destroyed. syria is the second secular state after iraq that is being targeted by the west simply because it is secular and it has an army and again with the israeli occupation of palestine. in one of the damascus suburbs in which more than 1000 people were killed by chemical weapons in 2013, local people stopped believing the regime years ago.

they want more military action from the americans. translation: we hope that foreign intervention will bring an end to the suffering of the syrian people and notjust a single hit. the solution is for the assad regime to step away from power, the end of the massacres in syria, the end of targeting civilians. a major reason why the syrian war is so hard to stop is that so many countries are involved with different interests and objectives. president assad's main allies are russia and iran, the biggest shia muslim countries. these days, the rebels still fighting the regime are mainly muslim sunni islamists. some are approved by the west, some arejihadis. rebels sometimes fighting each other. there is also a war against so—called islamic state led by the us and its allies. think of it all as

layers of conflict. sometimes they are parallel and sometimes they intersect and now donald trump has added a whole new layer. the events and the us response will force the syrian regime to take american threats more seriously, including calls for regime change. what is certain is that more foreign intervention, no matter who does it will not bring peace any closer. 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 and if they haven't been destroyed, then how does the united states guarantee that the chemical weapons convention has been enforced which might raise thorny questions down the road. i think that's the part where it is unclear. also it should be noted that the administration has been somewhat unclear as to whether or not what this means going forward. rex tillerson said one thing, the secretary of state, secretary of defense said something else. but truthfully we need to see how syria reacts to this and how russia reacts as well. 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's basically done the opposite of what president obama has done. is that how you read the situation? i would read it somewhat differently.

i don't doubt that is certainly a factor. there's something that international relation scholars like to talk about called the cnn effect, the notion that presidents occasionally acted because there were horrific images on television, that that called a public groundswell or demand to do something, that then led the president to pursue action. there's not a tonne of evidence for the cnn effect in prior presidents, but i would argue that we're now experiencing a fox news effect. we actually have a president who really does watch a fair amount of cable news, and there's already reports in both politico and the washington post suggesting that one of the things that motivated president trump in this case was the fact he saw horrific and grisly images of children and other syrians who were dead because of chemical weapons' use. so as a result i think that might have motivated him to action. which unfortunately suggests that if there are other horrific images from elsewhere in the world, that wind up coming across his desk, he might decide he wants to do something there, as well. 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. earlier, i spoke to corey brettschneider, professor of political science at brown university. he's looked closely at neil gorsuch‘s views on gay marriage and euthanasia. i asked him if he thought this would give us a good indication of how he will be in court. yes, i think he can, he's written a lot, a dissertation at oxford university and a book that followed based on the dissertation. the topic of the book is assisted suicide. he gives an argument as for why there has to be a respect for human life and an argument for a national ban on assisted suicide, potentially enforced by the supreme court. and the question in regard to abortion is whether or not he would apply that sort

of framework in thinking about abortion as well. i think certainly the book has lots of criticism of the foundation of the right to an abortion, namely the right to privacy, or, as he terms it, the right to make intimate choices and he's very critical about thatjurisprudence. similarly he is critical about the right of gay marriage, but of course it was a book — sorry, in the dissertation i think he was critical — but that was written before this decision came down. yeah, he was pretty good not giving away any of his views in that hearing process. he didn't hint at how he might rule on some of the issues. it is kind of a lifejob — you get a life term for the supreme court. do you think, then, it's going to take some time before we find out whojustice neil gorsuch actually is? it depends on the cases that come before the court. the justices don't have the ability to just address any issue. they have to wait for a case of controversy. but there are several on abortion that are brewing.

he will have the power to effect which cases are taken. so if it turns out that he is devoted to overturning roe, we may find that out sooner than we think. they don't have the votes now to overturn roe v wade. he's a replacement for the previous justice so i don't think they yet have the votes but i think his influence will be felt well beyond his vote. he's a very smart person steeped in these issues in a deep way and has strong commitments. i think his persuasion and his influence will be well beyond this vote. we might see it soon. 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 there 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. probably not as quick as the eu rostar probably not as quick as the eurostar but certainly a better view. that is all we have for you this our work. you can get in touch with us on twitter. let us know your thoughts on the programme and what is making news in your world today. from me and the team, goodbye for now. 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. bbc news. the united states has refused to rule out further military action against syria. this comes after it fired missiles on an airbase. despite the strikes, syrian warplanes are once again taking off from the airbase. four people have

died and 15 other injured, nine of them seriously after a lorry was driven into a crowd of people in the swedish capital of stockholm. the prime minister called it an act of terror. police arrested a man who resemble cctv images they released. senators in the united states have confirmed neil gorsuch as a supreme courtjudge confirmed neil gorsuch as a supreme court judge following a confirmed neil gorsuch as a supreme courtjudge following a year—long political battle. this is seen as the biggest success so far for president trump who nominated neil gorsuch are the democratic opposition. —— over democratic opposition. —— over democratic opposition. a man who was spared jail because he told a judge he