this is bbc news. president trump's national security adviser accuses the syrian government of using chemical weapons and demands action. it is time for all nations to hold the syrian regime and its sponsors accountable for their actions. meddling allegations anger moscow after the fbi charges 13 russians with interfering in the us election. thousands turn out to show their respects as the body of opposition leader morgan tsvangirai arrives in zimbabwe. and tough words for president trump as students from the school targeted in a mass shooting aren't tighter gun control. if all our government and president can do is send thoughts and prayers, then it's time for victims to be the change we need to see.

hello and welcome to world news today. president trump's national security adviser has called on world leaders to hold the syrian government to account for its continued use of chemical weapons. speaking at the munich security conference, h.r. mcmaster says it is clear that such weapons are still being deployed by the assad regime. it is time for all nations to hold the syrian regime and its sponsors accountable for their actions. and support the efforts of the organisation for the prohibition of chemical weapons. the nonproliferation regime is under tremendous pressure, not only from the use of chemical weapons but also

from the development and proliferation of nuclear weapons. it needs our unequivocal support. tensions between russia and the west have also been evident at the conference. with an fbi investigation on alleged russian interference in the us presidential election still ongoing, russian foreign minister, sergei lavrov took the opportunity to dismiss the accusations. translation: until we translation: untilwe see translation: until we see the facts, everything else is blather. i beg your pardon for not using diplomatic language. our chief international correspondent, lyse doucet, is in munich for us. it's not the first time senior us officials have accused president assad's government, and its main ally russia of being behind the use of chemical weapons in syria. we also recently had a warning from the french president who said there was evidence that they would strike in

retaliation for any use of weapons. -- if retaliation for any use of weapons. —— if there was evidence. it's not the first time a manual macron has said in his case there was no proof, what we have heard from the national security adviser is thatjudging from public records and by photographs, the evidence is clear he did not go make clear which public record and which photographs he was referring to. we do know time and again every time this accusation is made the syrian government denies it and they have responded when there was the warning from emmanuel macron. saying the syrian government not possess chemical weapons, describing them as immoral and unacceptable. yet the situation on the ground is syria is as complex and obligated as a ever has been. there are wars within walls in syria 110w there are wars within walls in syria now as this conflict approaches the

end of its seventh year. we have seen a recent invasion by turkish troops into the north of syria. there have been israeli air strikes against iranian and syrian positions. the syrian air force has shot down an israeli fighterjet. the tensions are mounting and this will just the tensions are mounting and this willjust add to those tensions at a time when the syrian air force and russian warplanes have also been unleashing more air strikes in the last rebel held tom ince idlib. there has been intense fighting there in the north of syria as well as in the last around damascus, which is also held by the rebels. there and in idlib there have been repeated accusations that the syrian government is using chlorine gas. that is not on the list of banned chemicals, i have to say i was in syria for three weeks injanuary and there were repeated allegations and repeated denials. let's turn now to

those indictments in the us, accusations of russian meddling in the us elections. angry words on both sides there in munich. again, it was mcmaster, the national security adviser who set the tone, saying the us with these indictments proved that they had, in his words, really incontrovertible proof of the russian meddling in the us presidential elections. he called it a criminal conspiracy and pointed out that the americans were getting much better at tracing the origins of these kinds of attacks. there was a reply as always from russia's foreign minister sergey lavrov, using one of his characteristic turns of phrase, calling itjust banter, saying there was no proof for it. he did not address the allegations directly but he made it clear he did not believe there was any substance, russia has repeatedly

denied it was involved as a state in the elections. i havejust denied it was involved as a state in the elections. i have just come out ofa the elections. i have just come out of a session with the head of foreign relations committee in the russian parliament, he also said the russians as a state have not been involved in any meddling in the us elections. the war of words goes on on many fronts here in munich. a court in pakistan has handed down four death sentences to a man who kidnapped, raped and murdered a six—year—old girl, zainab ansari, last month. the girl's family has called for imran ali to be publicly hanged. our correspondent secunder kermani has been following the case. these are the last images of 6—year—old zainab ansari alive, being led away by the man who would rape and kill her. her body was found on a rubbish dump five days later. her attacker was 24—year—old imran ali, an acquaintance of her family.

he was identified on the basis of dna evidence. after a trial lasting just four days, today he was sentenced to death. he has been convicted on four different counts and has been sentenced to death. the discovery of zainab's body led to angry protests in her hometown. at the trial, her killer admitted to having assaulted or murdered eight other young girls here over the past two years. many believe he could have been stopped sooner. zainab's family welcomed today's verdict. translation: we are satisfied with this verdict of the death sentence, but our next demand is that he should be punished and hanged publicly. the murder of zainab ansari has sparked unprecedented discussion of child abuse, normally a taboo topic in pakistan. but campaigners believe more needs to be done to educate both children and parents about the dangers, and to ensure the authorities

properly investigate cases. the families of these victims now have some semblance ofjustice. but for many, it may feel too little too late. survivors of the shooting at a school in florida, in which 17 people died have taken part in an emotionally charged rally demanding tighter gun controls. the crowds cheered passionate speeches calling for party politics to be put aside in order to deal with the problem. one student, emma gonzalez, attacked politicians, including president trump, fortaking campaign contributions from the powerful national rifle association. if the president wants to come up to me and tell me to my face this was a terrible tragedy and how it should never have happened, telling us how

nothing will be done about it, i would happily ask him how much money he received from the national rifle association. to every politician who is taking money from the nra, shame on you. the rally comes after president trump met survivors of the school shooting in florida. meanwhile, pressure is mounting on the fbi over the agency's failure to act on a tip—off that nikolas cruz, the suspected gunman, might carry out an attack. aleem maqbool reports. some survivors of the school attack are still being treated in hospital. as he promised, the president visited here, albeit very briefly. reporter: did you see some victims, mr president? yes, i did, i did indeed and it was very sad, something like that could happen, but the jobs the doctors do, the nurses, the hospital, first responders, law enforcement, really incredible. donald trump also met officials from the emergency services.

what he didn't do though was answer any questions about the need to tighten gun laws. more funerals are being held for the 17 people who died. most of them teenagers shot in their classrooms. this gun show was advertised close to the very school where the shooting took place. we weren't allowed in but spoke to people as they left. is it worth sacrificing guns if it means there will not be any mass shootings or school shootings? i don't think it would make a difference, that's my honest opinion. if it was proven to me, sure, but unfortunately that's not the case. life is delicate, you could kill somebody with a pencil. barking up the wrong tree. and with more than 300 million firearms in circulation in this country, how do you change a gun culture that's become such an integral part of american life? aleem maqbool, bbc news, in florida. let's take a look at some of the other stories making the news...

a worldwide search is under way for nirav modi, a billionaire indian jeweller accused of cheating the state—owned punjab national bank out of nearly 1.8 billion dollars. it's been reported that mr modi, who's achieved notoriety in india, left the countryjust days before the start of the investigation into him. indian media reports he's been staying in an apartment in manhattan. the body of zimbabwe's opposition leader, morgan tsvangirai, has arrived back in the country following his death from cancer in south africa earlier this week. do stay with us on bbc news because

we have more to come. we will be taking the temperature in pyeongchang on britain's most successful day at a winter games so far. hello and welcome back to world news today. president trump's national security adviser has called on world leaders to hold the syrian government to account for its continued use of chemical weapons. the russian foreign minister has dismissed as "blather" accusations that moscow interfered in the us presidential election. members of the uk independence party, ukip, which campaigned for brexit, have voted to sack their leader, henry bolton.

he's been in office for less than six months. mr bolton has been under pressure to resign since his ex—girlfriend sent racially offensive messages about meghan markle, the fiance of queen elizabeth's grandson, prince harry. after the vote, he was asked whether he would have handled the controversy in a different way. that whole episode has been a hell ofan that whole episode has been a hell of an experience, and one that very few people in this country have ever been through. i have learned from that experience and with hindsight i would have dealt with certain aspects differently but we are all human, i tried aspects differently but we are all human, itried my aspects differently but we are all human, i tried my best and what110% of my effort has been involved in is getting this party fighting fit so it can influence the trajectory this country comes out of when it leaves the eu. that must be the priority and that is still my priority. henry

walton has been facing an uncertain future since revelations came out about text messages sent by his partner joe about text messages sent by his partnerjoe mane, about text messages sent by his partner joe mane, this about text messages sent by his partnerjoe mane, this happened before christmas. it emerged she had sent racist text messages including some about meghan markle who is prince harry's beyonce. there were other problems as well, and the national executive committee of the uk independence party decided to pass a motion of no—confidence in henry bolton last month, they felt he had not had that the situation well. he distanced himself from joe mane somewhat, but not completely, saying they were no longer in a romantic relationship after those renovations. but there were still friends and he was trying to help out friends and he was trying to help our work through a difficult personal time. that was not good enough for the nec who felt he had handled the situation badly and obviously the majority of the membership here agreed, that's why they voted to get rid of him. the uk

independence party was such a force in the lead up to britain voting to leave the european union, what does it mean for that political party, might we see a return of their well—known leader nigel farage? might we see a return of their well-known leader nigel farage? this all comes against the context of a turbulent time for ukip over the la st turbulent time for ukip over the last couple of years. when henry bolton came to the leadership of the party in september, he was the fourth leader in 18 months. constant evidence, constant problems within the leadership, internal fighting. that follows this huge high point for ukip where they had, they say, successfully got a referendum to leave the eu. since then, there has beena leave the eu. since then, there has been a bit of a crisis for the party. what are we therefore now? brexit will happen, that has lead to a lot of problems in terms of internal fighting. this is the fifth leadership election in two years or so. leadership election in two years or

so. nigel farage has said that is a very difficult thing to face, he thought henry bolton should stay because if he goes, then you could fade into irrelevance. the people that are happy today, they don't agree. they say the party does have agree. they say the party does have a future. the body of zimbabwe's opposition leader, morgan tsvangirai, has arrived back in the country following his death from cancer in south africa earlier this week. he was 65. hundreds of his supporters were at the airport in harare to pay their respects. what are the plans for the next few days? as you said, he arrived at the airport where hundreds of supporters we re airport where hundreds of supporters were there to meet him. his body was then escorted to the military barracks where it will lie in state

until tomorrow. we understand there will be a church service at about 12 gmt tomorrow, followed by a public service, a memorial service on monday and finally his body will be taken to his village which is about four hours outside the capital. he will be laid to rest there. this is a state assisted funeral. it is not a state assisted funeral. it is not a state assisted funeral. it is not a state funeral, where in that case he would be buried at the national heroes acre. how would you describe the mood in zimbabwe? well, the supporters were obviously very excited to have his body back, they almost broke down the hang of trying to get his body. but zimbabweans have been in a very sombre mood, remembering the legacy he had, he has been in politics here in zimbabwe for about 20 years. he has

led the movement for democratic change for all of that time. he is the figurehead for the opposition and many people wonder what will happen to the opposition now that he has passed away, given that in about four months‘ time, the country will be heading for elections. how are those who so forcefully opposed morgan tsvangirai and everything he stood for dealing with his death and the outpouring of respects you have been describing? it's a major departure from what zimbabweans are used to. under president mugabe, morgan tsvangirai served as his minister, but there was a very acrimonious relationship between the ruling party and the mdc, but what we have heard over the last few days from the president, he described him asa from the president, he described him as a son of the soil, he had said they might even consider conferring another honour on him. the

relationship between the military and the mdc has always been tenuous, they also hailed him as a man who contributed to democracy and pushed for free and fair elections in this country across the board, what we have seen is something zimbabweans have seen is something zimbabweans have never really seen which is all the political parties coming together, but their differences aside to celebrate the of morgan tsvangirai. we will be back with you in the coming days. for now, thank you. let‘s take a look at the sport 110w. let‘s start at the winter olympics, where records tumbled for great britain and skeleton star lizzie yarnold, proved once again why she‘s queen of the skeleton track. yarnold was pushed all the way though and needed a track record on herfinal run to secure the gold medal. // in doing so, she became the first british athlete and first skeleton racer to successfully defend

a winter games title. she shared the podium with team mate laura deas, who won bronze — the first time british athletes have won two medals in the same event. germany‘s jacquelin loelling took silver. elsewhere on the ice yuzuru hanyu of japan clinched the first back—to—back men‘s 0lympic figure skating title in 66 years. hanyu lost his balance twice in his free skate but a total score of 317—point—85 gave the japanese star gold with room to spare, over compatriot shoma uno and spain‘s javier fernandez. hanyu was greeted by a shower of his mascot winnie the pooh stuffed toys on the podium. south korea‘s world record—holder choi min—jeong won the women‘s 15—hundred metres short track speed skating, after her disqualification in the 500m. great britain‘s elise christie crashed out — just as she‘d done in the 500 metres.

and canada‘s sam girard won the men‘s 1—thousand metres title after a mid—race pile—up cost home hope lim hyo—jun a shot at a second gold. manchester united are through to the quarter finals of the fa cup, they beat huddersfield town 2—0 away from home. both goals came from romalu lukaku. the belgian opened the scoring afterjust three minutes and then got his 21st goal of the season early in the second half. juan mata had a goal ruled out just before half time by the video assistant referee, although there was some confusion over whether the decision was a correct one. we lost against them here in a few months ago, we knew it would be difficult, that they would not play for the point, because this is not about points, we knew they would try to win it. it was hard, we started

really well, the second goal in the second half. the second on the third, i‘m not sure. but with that second goal in the second half, i think we killed the game and from that moment we were in control. west bromwich albion‘s bad week continued as they were knocked out by southampton, it finished 2—1 at the hawthorns. albion were looking to move on from an incident in which four senior players were interviewed by police after a taxi was stolen from outside a fast—food restaurant in barcelona while the team were on a mid—season warm weather break. the draw has taken place for the quarterfinals. of course it‘s been difficult. but in terms of the experience on the pitch and the attitude and the reaction to that, i was pleased. it was a difficult day for the players as well of course. they gave a good

account of themselves, slightly u nfortu nate to account of themselves, slightly unfortunate to be out of account. the draw has taken place for the quarterfinals. sheffield wednesday and swansea still both in it after their 0—0 draw earlier, they will play rochdale or spurs who play theirfifth round match tomorrow. manchester united are at home to brighton who beat coventry city. leicester city play chelsea and wigan or manchester city who play on monday, will play southampton. and that‘s all the sport for now. celebrations have been taking place today in kosovo to mark ten years since it declared independence from serbia. the anniversary comes as kosovo is struggling

with massive unemployment and international travel restrictions. the european union has listed the western balkans nation as a potential candidate for membership, but several eu states strongly oppose this. the syrian government is being warned to be held to account for its use of syrian chemical weapons. public accounts and photos clearly show that assad‘s chemical weapon use is continuing, he said, something the syrian regime deny. don‘t forget you can get in touch with me and some of the team on twitter — i‘m duncangolestani. thank you for watching. a lovely day for many of us that could turn frosty overnight. things look different tomorrow because of all this cloud spilling its way across the uk, already we see some

of that cloud arriving into the far south—west. 0therwise clearer skies ahead of that cloud for a while, temperatures are dropping away already. may well have full packages in the vale of york. more cloud into wales, later into northern ireland, perhaps lifting temperatures. lower temperatures further north and east, possibly down to minus two. that mist and fog will slowly lift in the morning. the cloud from the atlantic is on this weather front, this warm front, we will find low cloud and rain and drizzle. in between those weather fronts, we have rain and drizzle. in between those weatherfronts, we have some much milderair weatherfronts, we have some much milder air that will be pushing in slowly across the uk. in chilly to begin with further north and east, the rest of any sunshine tomorrow will be north—east scotland, north—east england for a while, eddie north east wales into cheshire. low cloud into northern ireland, outbreaks of rain, perhaps a little rain in wales and the far south—west. ironically where it is

brighter to the north—west, temperatures might be quite so high. through the evening and overnight, this wet weather spills into scotland. it will be rain and drizzle. accompanied by a lot of low cloud. into monday, the eastern side of the uk could be rather dull and damp and drizzly. 0n the whole, another cloudy day. another mild day, temperatures ten or 11 degrees. that mild day gets squeezed away, much reduced as we head into tuesday, slumped by colder air coming in from the atlantic and also from the near continent. lots of cloud around, maybe rain or drizzle, the rain and drizzle peters out into wales. maybe lightening up a bit. the best of the sunshine in scotland and northern ireland. still reasonable temperatures but it will not stay that way. while we get a mild start, it will turn colder as

the week goes on. easterly winds for a while, but with high pressure it should be turning dry. this is bbc news, the headlines... the us national security advisor says it is time the world held the syrian government accountable for its use of chemical weapons. hr mcmaster said that reports and photos show such weapons are being deployed. the russian foreign minister has dismissed charges of russian meddling in the us election. sergei lavrov says he will not comment on the indictment of 13 russians until he sees the facts. the body of the opposition leader morgan chang rae has arrived back in zimbabwe since his death from cancer. hundreds of supporters were at the international airport to