this is bbc world news today. i'm celia hatton. our top stories. syrian government forces make gains in ghouta, splitting the territory held by rebels. the trump administration takes the first step towards banning bomb stocks, the deadly device which turns arrival into a machine gun. former white house strategist steve bannon tells frances's national front to prepare for victory, promising a new wave of european populism. you are part of a worldwide movement which is bigger than france, bigger than italy, bigger than hungary, bigger than all of it. police in the uk say they have identified more than 200 witnesses investigating case of a suspected poison attack on a russian spy. and a jewel of gothic architecture — but for how much longer? parts of notre—dame cathedral in paris are in danger of falling apart. hello and welcome

to world news today. syrian government forces have advanced further in the rebel—held enclave of eastern ghouta. the territory's city of douma is reportedly surrounded. as bombardments continue, the casualties keep rising — at least 1,000 civilians have now been killed since the regime began its offensive there nearly three weeks ago — that death toll includes 200 children. 0ur arab affairs editor, sebastian usher has more. syrian tanks have continued to spearhead the army's remorseless advance into eastern goutah, which has gathered further momentum. a a military commander said that rebel fighters, all of whom the government sees as terrorists, were on the run. translation: after syrian army forces took control of this village,

we are currently on our way to another place and our advance is going towards the town. we have noticed the escape of several members of the terrorist groups faylaq al—rahman several sources say the troops have moved in even deeper and have managed to cut off the two biggest towns in the region, including douma. the heavy bombardment of douma by land and air has continued. residents assay casualties are mounting again in a town where just 2a hours ago a convoy of aid was finally being delivered. syrian state media has shown troops inside the small town of misraba in the centre of eastern goutah. the biggest rebel group denies that it has fallen and says it has beaten back army units, but if misraba is in government hands, then the enclave in effect will be divided in half,

following a tried and tested pattern which pro—government forces have used across syria to force the surrender of verbal holdouts. both of the main rebel forces have vowed to continue fighting, but the battle may have reached a turning point. the us department ofjustice has taken the first step towards banning bump stocks, which allow rivals to fly with the speed of machine guns. bump stocks were used last year by a gunman in las vegas to kill 58 people. the definition of machine guns, which are already banned, will be changed to include the device, effectively banning them from sale, too. joining me now from washington dc is our correspondent chris buckler. chris, thank you for chatting with us. would banning bump stocks really help to improve gun safety in the us? well, i think it is one step towards trying to improve gun safety. certainly new restrictions which are a lot of campaigners have been asking for and

indeed which president trump himself has talked about. these are devices which essentially modify semiautomatic weapons and turn them into automatic machine guns. basically they increase the speed at which bullets can be fired. and it was that attack in las vegas in 0ctober was that attack in las vegas in october in which 58 people were killed and hundreds were injured that really brought it to the four, because these devices were used on semiautomatic rifles then to use them effectively as machine guns. now, it is important to say that this is just the first step in a lengthy process. president trump has been talking about, it is now clear that the department ofjustice wants to do it. but the proposal has to go through a number of hoops before it is finally made law. and there is the chance of a legal challenge. but there is a sense that campaigners are being heard at least with the message that gun restrictions, new laws to try to tighten legislation, is something they want to. what is interesting, though, is that this is

in itself not new legislation. this is really about redefining existing legislation and making bump stocks one of the things that is defined as a machine gun, and that is how it will be tightened. but effectively it makes them illegal for sale. do you think this will be enough to satisfy campaigners, to relieve the pressure on the trump administration to do more? 0h, absolutely not. this is just to do more? 0h, absolutely not. this isjust one step to do more? 0h, absolutely not. this is just one step and if you look at all of what the campaigners want, then really you have to go much, much further to satisfy them. here in washington, we are preparing before the end of the month to have a huge march here in which students, particularly are organising people to come and campaign, to ask the politicians to listen. and we are seeing this battle taking place between campaigners and the gun lobby, including the national rifle association. as you saw this week in florida, we have new legislation that has been signed into law by the governor there, rick scott. and one

of those restrictions being put in place is to raise the age at which someone can place is to raise the age at which someone can buy place is to raise the age at which someone can buy a gun place is to raise the age at which someone can buy a gun from 18 to 21. the nra is challenging that which gives you a sense of how he did this debate is. but campaigners will not be satisfied and they say that they don'tjust want be satisfied and they say that they don't just want sympathy, they want to change. it is a debate which is going to continue. sparkler, thank you. —— chris buckler. more than 200 witnesses have been identified in a uk investigation into the poisoning of a russian ex—spy. british home secretary amber rudd said the "serious, substantial investigation" was painstaking but progressing quickly. our home affairs correspondent dominic casciani has more. this was the scene at salisbury ambulance station this evening as chemical warfare specialists began the latest phase of this evolving operation. more than 180 military personnel are now involved in an operation which already includes

more than 250 detectives. this is the second major military operation in salisbury in the last 2a hours. in the last 2a hours. last night we saw them taking away a police car from the hospital. today is now taking away ambulances which were potentially contaminated last sunday. everybody is watching and waiting to see when this emergency will end and the nation is watching and waiting to find out who is behind this crime. today was the second meeting in a week of the emergency committee cobra to see how far the police have got. this investigation is focused on making sure that we keep people safe as a priority, that's what the meeting was about. and also making sure that we collect all the evidence, so when it comes to attribution, we will be absolutely clear where it should lead. the pizza restaurant where the two dined is now behind screens. 200 witnesses have so far been identified. and 240 pieces of evidence. today the main cemetery in the city

was also closed to the public as officers examined the graves of mr skripal‘s wife and son. today there was no change in his condition or that of his daughter — still critical and still in intensive care. wiltshire police released a statement on behalf of the third victim, detective sergeant nick bailey. he said he and his family are hugely grateful for all the messages of support from the public and colleagues from the police family. he was part of a group of officers and other emergency service colleagues who dealt with the incident and he does not consider himself a hero. he was merely doing hisjob, a job he loves and is immensely proud of. salisbury is a proud city, trying to get on with normal life. shoppers in the market and officials drawing up a plan to help businesses affected by the police operation. more barriers were going up tonight

at the park bench where it all began and it might be weeks yet before this is all over. steve bannon has told a conference of the far right national front movement in france that it national front movement in france thatitis national front movement in france that it is part of a global movement to. he took aim at what he called the globalised elite and the mainstream media. he spoke of a growing wave of populism across europe. you saw in italy that the 5—star movement and the league don't agree on everything, and in fact the 5—star movement is i would argue a ce ntreleft 5—star movement is i would argue a centreleft movement. but they came together to vote against the permanent political class in rome and in brussels. marine le pen laid it out. it is not about left versus right. that's too simplistic, and it's the way the opposition party

media has always kept us out of power. i did not come here as a teacher, i came to europe as an observer and to learn. and what i've learned is, you are part of a worldwide movement that is bigger than france, bigger than italy, bigger than hungary, bigger than all of it. steve bannon. stay with us on bbc world news, still to come... it's known as a jewel of gothic architecture — but for how much longer? we take a look around notre—dame cathedral in paris — some of which is in danger of falling apart. this, the worst terrorist atrocity on modern european soil in modern times. in less than 2a hours the soviet union lost an elderly sikh

leader and replaced him with a dynamic figure 20 years his junior. we heard these gunshots and then he came out and started firing and we we re came out and started firing and we were all petrified. james hall ray, 41, sentenced to 99 years, travelled to nashville state prison in a convoy... to nashville state prison in a convoy. . . what to nashville state prison in a convoy... what does it feel like to be married at last? it feels fine thank you. is it going to change your life? i don't know, really, i've never been married this is bbc world news today. the latest headlines. reports from syria suggest that

government forces have split the rebel— held enclave of eastern goutah. the sri lankan government says it will pay for all the damage caused by days of violent and he was in protests in the city of own. that includes buildings gutted by fire and businesses that were ransacked infour and businesses that were ransacked in four days of riots. several people were also killed in a wave of attacks on muslims by buddhist hardliners. jill mcgillvary has the latest. this was the moment the prime minister saw the devastation for himself if burnt out shops, smashed windows and badly damaged mosques. the violence here is a reminder that tensions between buddhist and muslim immunities run deep. many businesses are still closed and with mosques damaged, friday prayers were in the open air under army protection. the military are out in force now, on the

surface, all is calm. but many muslims say they still feel unsafe and flee to the jungle to hide at night. the government now promises to pay for the damage. local officials have been told to start the clean—up at once. and in another sign of life starting to return to normal, the curfew was lifted on saturday. but a social media ban is still in place. at the height of the violence, a state of emergency was declared and thousands of troops we re declared and thousands of troops were sent onto the streets. buddhism mobs were sent onto the streets. buddhism m o bs m ostly were sent onto the streets. buddhism mobs mostly from, her community attacked a muslim owned properties, reacting to reports that a buddhist man had been killed by a group of muslims. this monk risks to his life to protect mosques in his area from attack. translation: there were four attempted attacks, we were able to successfully stop them and we quickly got the police to come and

another instance we ran towards the attackers and sent them away. there are 14 mosques in this area and we did not allow anything to happen to them. we found several petrol bombs, by well—briefed failed attacks with petrol bombs. mohamed's home was one sacked. translation: they've looted our house, my sister only got married recently. they have taken all her jewellery. my married recently. they have taken all herjewellery. my small brother could take the money to buy a watch and they have even taken that. see how they have torn our two—month—old child's toy. i think more than racism their intention was to looked. police say they have arrested nearly 150 people. sri lanka's president has launched an independent investigation into what happened, a signal from independent investigation into what happened, a signalfrom the government that it will restore justice here. you're watching bbc world news today. jessica has the sports. starting with football,

marcus rashford scored twice as manchester united held on to beat liverpool and strengthened their grip on second place in the premier league. it means jose grip on second place in the premier league. it meansjose mourinho's side narrowed the gap on manchester city to 13 points. and they are now five points clear of liverpool.|j don't remember a dangerous situation to our goal. it was controlled by them having the ball, controlled by us them having the ball, controlled by us not having the boulter so, i think we deserve the victory but of course, a big match, i don't know because i don't have binoculars, but my feeling is that the referee was also very good. and i think a big game, where nobody goes home disappointed with the emotion, the quality, the level and the intensity. at the london stadium west ham lost to birmingham by 3—0. the game was marred

by ugly scenes during the second—half, when a number of west ham fans took to the pitch to protest against the owners. the fa and the premier league have condemned the disturbances and say they will be seeking observations from west ham and the club has launched an inquiry. west ham are three points above the relegation west ham are three points above the relegation zone. we want the supporters behind us and since i've been here they've been really good. but you can't cross the line had come on the pitch. the players had gone one down and we want them to keep their focus and overall a lot of them did a really good job. not football—wise at times in the second half but certainly in the way they behaved. confirmation of those results, newcastle united have gone five points clear of the relegation zone after beating southampton. west brom look to be heading towards the championship. they were thrashed at home to leicester city. in the late game, chelsea beat crystal palace.

in spain, cristiano ronaldo scored twice for real madrid and they are now four points behind atletico madrid in third after winning their game. barcelona are currently leading 2—0. ireland have won the six nations with one round remaining after a bonus point victory over scotla nd after a bonus point victory over scotland in dublin. two tries from jacob stockdale and further scores by conor murray and sean cronin gave the irish deserved victory. england we re the irish deserved victory. england were beaten by france in the other game. it handed ireland the trophy. there was a lot of pressure, a lot of people talking about it and we knew how good a team scotland were, so knew how good a team scotland were, so there are a lot of good things in there. to score a bonus point win in there. to score a bonus point win in the six nations is a big defeat. is a lwa ys the six nations is a big defeat. is always there are things we can do better, but ultimately, we're really

happy to get a big win. in cricket, a58 happy to get a big win. in cricket, a 58 ball century from jonny ba i rstow a 58 ball century from jonny bairstow helped england to a seven wicket victory in the deciding one—day international against new zealand in christ church. england bowled new zealand out for 223. chris woakes bowled new zealand out for 223. chris woa kes and bowled new zealand out for 223. chris woakes and adil rashid got three wickets each. a partnership of 84 between colin de grandhomme and mitchell santner helped 84 between colin de grandhomme and mitchell sa ntner helped the 84 between colin de grandhomme and mitchell santner helped the kiwis get a respectable target. but ba i rstow get a respectable target. but bairstow helped tourists win the series 3—2, winning this one with more than 17 overs remaining. series 3—2, winning this one with more than 17 overs remainingm series 3—2, winning this one with more than 17 overs remaining. it was outstanding. it really was. we played extremely well in the previous game. today, different circumstances, different pitch, some results. just probably about 50 balls less. it is funny the conversations we have in the changing room is about who has got the quickest hundred a.d. just is

the first and nowjonny bairstow has the first and nowjonny bairstow has the fourth quickest. to have four quys the fourth quickest. to have four guys who can go and do that is a huge compliments to our batting line—up. huge compliments to our batting line-up. that is to sport for now. let's go back to our top stories deeney advance of the syrian regime forces on the rebel enclave of eastern goutah. to talk more about itiam eastern goutah. to talk more about it i am nowjoined by somebody from brussels, the middle east programme director at crisis group. thank you rejoining us. let's get back to basics — can you explain why eastern ghouta is such a key battle ground? well, it is because the area is a suburb of damascus, is century. and it has been rebel—held from pretty much the beginning of the syrian uprising against the regime. and since the regime has been able to recover quite a bit of territory elsewhere in the country, and since the rebels have been shelling

downtown damascus from their vantage point in the suburb, the regime clearly has decided now to retake that area now that it has freed up its troops in other parts of the country. so, we have 1000 civilians deadin country. so, we have 1000 civilians dead in the past few weeks, including 200 children — what will happen now to the civilians who are still left in the router and also the rebels who are still there?m isa the rebels who are still there?m is a good question. we don't know. the pressure is clearly tremendous. there is a united nations security council resolution calling for a nationwide ceasefire, including eastern goutah. and yet we see that the conflict continues there. at tremendous cost to the local population. it's not clear what their way out is. technically eastern goutah, apart from the fact

that supposedly there is a nationwide ceasefire, it is also a de—escalation zone, which means that no fighting should be taking place between the regime and the rebels raqqa groups such as al-qaeda and islamic state are excluded from that but the presence of an al-qaeda affiliated group there is very minor. and it is clearly being used as an excuse to continue attacking civilian areas. so, now, the question is, what can other states do? exert pressure on russia, on syria, on iran. we don't see it. and so, we syria, on iran. we don't see it. and so, we can syria, on iran. we don't see it. and so, we can hope for any other measure that would help protect the lives of civilians in particular. what more can you tell me about the how many humanities situation, are the aid convoys getting through? the red cross has been able to go in.

but the convoys have been few and far between. and clearly, even when they get through, there are insufficient quantities to provide the entire population of the area, which is about 400,000, with aid and food. so, many people are hunkered down in underground shelters and don't dare to come out in most cases. and even when they do, there is no food to be had, so the situation is clearly dire. thank you very much. the cathedral of notre dame in paris attracts around 13 million visitors every year — and is one of paris's leading landmarks. but for how much longer? parts of the 850—year—old gothic masterpiece are starting to crumble, because of pollution eating away at the stone. hugh schofield reports from paris. because actually the parts of the pinnacle have fallen down... outside on the roof above the back of the cathedral, this is the part of notre—dame that visitors don't

get to see — fallen chunks of stoneware, gatg oyles replaced by pvc pipes, of stoneware, ga rg oyles replaced by pvc pipes, a flying buttress held together with metal staples. this jewel of gothic architecture is becoming unstable. so, i think if there is no repairs, the risk is that the stone begins to fall down, and the risk is also that the structure itself of the walls, of the nave of the cathedral, for instance, will be in danger. parts of the cathedral could fall, and this is a big risk, yes. you get a real sense of the dilapidation of notre—dame cathedral when you come here, it's a little private garden just behind the cathedral, off—limits to the public, and this section is what they call the cemetery. these pieces are all bits of gothic masonry which are in such bad repair they simply fell off.

some examples of stones that have been recently damaged... the problem is pollution, combined with the cold and rain, which together are eating into the limestone — eventually, it crumbles away. the only solution is to replace the masonry block by block, but that is a massive job, and the french state can't afford it. that's why the cathedral has launched an international plea for private funds aimed principally at the us. on this very roof, after all, once cavorted the hunchback of disney fame — oh, yes, and the book. it's a unique jewel at the worldwide level, so i think not begging, but asking for help is the best thing to do, because it's not a french monument, it's not a paris monument, it's a worldwide monument. time, the elements and the petrol engine have exacted a heavy toll on notre—dame cathedral. today, the imaginative genius of its medieval craftsmen is being eroded into annihilation.

without urgent help, much more will be lost. hugh schofield, bbc news, paris. bolivia has unfurled what it says is the world's biggest flag as part of its campaign to regain territory it lost to chile 100 years ago. the flag is decorated with national symbols. look at all the work that has been done on it. it was stretched for about 200 kilometres between two bolivian western cities. feel free to get in touch with me and some of the rest of the team on twitter. i'm @celiahatton.

it has been a bit of a miserable start to the week and for many of us the rain has been spinning northwards as boro conditions have been turning much milder across—the—board. we did see some late sunshine as this weather system continued to move northwards. chewing the course of the night the rain will be gradually clearing away from the northern side of scotland, further snow on the higher ground, pushing into the northern isles, but further south it is a drier story. some showers pushing into southern counties of england but elsewhere it will be dry. and it will be more chilly than the previous nightjust don't be surprised on sunday morning if you wake up to seems like this. a little bit of a mist and fog around. it could be quite slow to clearing one or two places. it looks like it should be a largely dry day. for

much of scotland and northern ireland and northern england, a fine day with some sunshine. for lots of wales and central and southern england some scattered showers will develop and some of them could be heavy and even thundery. a slightly cooler day here but milder for scotland. heading into monday, low pressure is always close by, particularly into england and wales so particularly into england and wales so it looks like a fairly unsettled day with fairly strong winds. northern ireland might get the best of the sunshine on monday. for england and wales, a rather cloudy story. with showers or longer spells of rain, some of them could be quite heavy towards the south—east, and quite breezy, too. moving into tuesday, we have a ridge of high pressure building in, so, a fine day after a cool start. there should be

some good sunny spells around. but still on the cooler side. it is a window of fine weather on tuesday and moving into wednesday it looks like low pressure will take effect again with a lot of cloud and outbreaks of rain. things turning cooler towards the end of the week. this is bbc world news, the headlines: reports from syria say government forces have made gains in the rebel held on five of ghouta. —— rebel held enclave. the doj in america has declared bump stops illegal. police in the uk say that they have identified more than 200 witnesses in the investigation into the nerve agent attack on the former russian spy in the english city of

salisbury. more than 240 pieces of evidence have been examined. american right—wing strategist steve bannon has told a meeting of the french national front