this is bbc news. the headlines at 5.00. donald trump describes syria's president assad as an "animal", and condemns russia and iran for backing him. it follows reports of at least 70 people being killed in an alleged chemical attack. the syrian government has denied involvement as has russia. the foreign office has called for an urgent investigation. rescue workers say it appears that concentrated chlorine gas has been used. we have received many patients who have suffered from symptoms compatible with exposure to chlorine gas. ministers deny any link between the rise in violence in london and police cuts. labour have accused them of having their head in the sand. the foreign secretary borisjohnson describes jeremy corbyn as "the kremlin‘s useful idiot". labour has hit back, saying mrjohnson has "made a fool of himself" over russia. polls are closing shortly in the hungarian general election, where the right—wing nationalist viktor 0rban is expected

to win a third consecutive term as prime minister. also in the next hour... canadian prime ministerjustin trudeau says "an entire country is in mourning" after the fatal bus crash involving a junior ice hockey team. 15 people were killed and two others are said to be in a critical condition. the humboldt broncos had been on their way to a play—off match in the province of saskatchewan. and... they were almost extinct across england and wales but 0spreys are making a comeback — we'll bring you the details. good afternoon and welcome to bbc news. president trump has condemned a suspected chemical attack

on a rebel—held town in syria, saying president assad and his allies russia and iran must pay "a big price". rescue workers and monitors say at least 70 people were killed by what they believe was a chlorine gas attack in the town of douma, but there has been no independent verification. the syrian government has denied involvement, as has russia. the foreign office has called for an urgent investigation. this report from our middle east correspondent, martin patience, contains distressing images from the start. this was the scene at an emergency clinic in douma. medics hosing down children after an alleged chemical attack. these pictures were filmed by activists on the ground.

géééségféfiéné 355151413 " " ' ' " ' who suffered from symptoms compatible with exposure to high concentration chlorine gas, also their symptoms were deteriorating in a fashion which is not compatible with pure chlorine gas exposure, and that is why our physicians are concerned about exposure to nerve gas in low concentration. syrian government troops on the outskirts of douma. they are closing in. both damascus and its russian ally describe claims of a chemical attack as a fabrication. they are carrying out air strikes. this footage was filmed by syria's civil defence, known as the white helmets. here, they run into the aftermath. gfan. éirgtriigg. — , ,, .,

this is daily life in douma. 0ur correspondent chris buckler is in washington. a very strong reaction from around the world, but particularly from president trump. and from the state department in the us as well. we will take a look at what they've been saying since the first images appeared, those images of what was urging out of douma. horrific images. even before they were verified, the us state department

has made it clear that if there were chemicals used in this case, there would have to be some kind of international response. it seems increasingly clear that does mean some kind of military response. worth remembering that it's almost a year ago, almost a year to the day, that president trump ordered air strikes after a sarin gas attack. it's clear from what he's been saying on twitter that he believes that chemicals have been used. he says that many are dead, including women and children, in a mindless chemical attack in syria. making it com pletely chemical attack in syria. making it completely inaccessible to the outside world. president putin, russia and iran are responsible for backing animal assador. big to play. price 0pen area immediately for medical help and verification. another humanitarian disaster for no reason whatsoever. so president

trump saying that not only would syria have to be held accountable to this, but also russia. he specifically talks about vladimir putin. that is relatively rare for president trump, who has remained very quiet even as his administration have been talking tough about russia. in the last few days, there's been talk of sanctions for russia where specifically their support for syria and also their actions in ukraine has been mentioned. those worsening, deteriorating relationships between the white house and the kremlin. he also singles out president 0bama for criticism. it has to be said, we've heard a lot of these hard, tough words before. president 0bama talked about a line being crossed, but no action being taken. do you think there is a difference this time round? difficult to say. only because we did have that military

strike last year. that time where it seemed that president trump's administration said, enough is enough. there was criticism for president 0bama, and yes that there was military action involving president 0bama, and there continues to bea us president 0bama, and there continues to be a us presence in science syria, for example 2000 troops there who are getting involved in fighting is, but there are other tasks as well. there have been indications from president trump recently that he wants to pull us troops out of syria. that becomes increasingly difficult if you are criticising what is happening with the assad regime. also worth mentioning that a lot of what the us troops are doing is specifically targeting is. it is not involved in really targeting the assad regime. that has been scaled down over time. the question for president trump is, yes, he will

criticise what president 0bama did, but is there also potential criticism of whether he is doing enough, especially when there are these terrible images coming out of douma? thank you. with me in the studio is abdul—aziz al—mashi, the co—founder of the syria solidarity campaign based here in the uk. horrific scenes coming out of douma. what do you know about what is going on in the ground there?” what do you know about what is going on in the ground there? i spoke to two people today. one of them was a doctor, and he said that more than 100 people now have suffocated to death because of a nerve agent. he describes the nerve agent to be stronger than sarin, sorry, stronger than chlorine gas, and he said that the situation was absolutely horrific. they don't have enough medical supplies to deal with the situation. there is no safe,

humanitarian corridor for people to flee the city. the situation is absolutely horrific and something must be done about it. we have had condemnation from various countries, from various leaders around the world, president trump, from boris johnson here, and others. you think they will take any action in order to punish president assad and russia? the syrian people don't trust the international community any more. those are empty words, and state m e nts any more. those are empty words, and statements of condemnation, and they are simply not working. assad has been using chemical weapons against the syrian people systematically since 2013. in spite of everything, the condemnations, in spite of the fa ct the condemnations, in spite of the fact that assad signed the chemical weapons convention. he still use them. he used them a year ago, he used them today. we are talking

about big scale attacks. according to some organisations, they say that assad has used chemical weapons in syria 214 times. that tells you how the russian community failed to uphold international law in syria. i'm sorry to say that the syrian people don't trust boris johnson, donald trump or the international community. we need the international community. we need the international community to take responsibility and protect syrian civilians. they fail to do so. what would you like to see them do now? they have talked about aun them do now? they have talked about a un meeting. trump has talked about a un meeting. trump has talked about a big price to pay. we will see what happens next. president trump literally launched missile strikes... he targeted empty airspace last year. this action

didn't deter assad from using chemical attack. yesterday's attacks isa chemical attack. yesterday's attacks is a good case study. we want a serious action. we want to bring war criminals in syria to justice. we wa nt to criminals in syria to justice. we want to deter the russians from supporting and carrying out war crimes in syria. this is what we want. we want the international community to step up and uphold international law in syria. the syrian people have had enough of empty words and statements of condemnation. we want justice. empty words and statements of condemnation. we wantjustice. do you think there is any prospect of peace? there's been talk of more talks, of ceasefires. do you think thatis talks, of ceasefires. do you think that is likely? we are in the eighth year of this conflict. i do not have any faith year of this conflict. i do not have anyfaith in year of this conflict. i do not have any faith in political talks, to be honest. i have lost count of the number of peace talks in geneva. all of these talks failed. we had

special compasses on syria. all of them seemed to fail. what the un convoy actually did was help assad evacuate people to help them cross demographic changes in syria, so assad is starving people to death, bombarding them with bombs, all kinds of chemicals, and then the un convoy kinds of chemicals, and then the un co nvoy co m es kinds of chemicals, and then the un convoy comes and tries to mediate between the people just to convince them to leave for assad. this is what the un are doing at the moment. peace talks are not working. we need serious peace talks. we did something really objective where we can see an end to the syrian ordeal, where syrian refugees can go back to their homes and stay safe in their countries. war criminals must come to justice. there will be no countries. war criminals must come tojustice. there will be no peace as long as assad is in power,

because he has killed half a million syrian citizens in syria. so any piece... it cannot be done with assad in power. thank you very much for coming to speak to us today. co—founder of the zoological society of london. there has been reaction now from the syrian government. they haveissued now from the syrian government. they have issued an official reaction to those reports of a chemical attack in douma, saying every time the syrian arab army advances in its fight against terrorism, claims a rise of chemical attacks as a pretext to prolong the presence in douma. that is a statement there from the syrian government. ministers have rejected claims that the rise in violence in london can be linked to police cuts. labour has accused them of having their heads in the sand. it comes as the government prepares to outline a new strategy to tackle serious violence. susana mendonca reports. a high visibility police presence

on london's streets after a week that has seen a spate of violent deaths. but the home secretary has rejected claims that falling police numbers are to blame. and she is being backed up by cabinet colleagues. go back a decade. serious violent crime was a lot higher than it is today, but so were police numbers, so for anyone to suggest that this is caused by police numbers, it is not backed up by facts. tomorrow the government will launch a serious violence strategy to focus on early intervention. it will also unveil a new offensive weapons bill which will further restrict the sale of knives online, make so—called zombie knives and knuckle—dusters illegal to possess, and introduce a new offence of possessing corrosive substances like acid in a public place. the move has been welcomed by police chiefs. this is a really essential piece of legislation for policing and for the public and communities. it will allow us to control the purchase by people under the age of 18, and it will allow us to have much more control as to who carries it in a public place, and whether they have good reason to or not.

labour says police officer numbers have been cut by 21,000 since 2010 and it would be naive of the government to argue that this has not had an impact, and with many young people involved in recent stabbings and shootings, labour says wider cuts to public funding may also be playing a part. it is notjust about police numbers, it is about community services as well, youth service, children's centres, social workers and local councils seeing significant cuts to their budgets as well. with more than 50 lives lost in london alone this year to violent crime, the mayor of london is calling a summit this week. it is not yet clear whether the home secretary will attend. susana mendonca, bbc news. the foreign secretary, borisjohnson, has stepped up his criticism ofjeremy corbyn over the poisoning of a former russian spy in salisbury. mrjohnson's described the labour leader as "the kremlin's useful idiot" for refusing to say unequivocally that russia was responsible. labour said mrjohnson had "made a fool of himself"

by misrepresenting what he was told by chemical weapons experts. the headlines on bbc news: donald trump describes syria's president assad as an "animal", and condemns russia and iran for backing him. it follows reports of at least 70 people being killed in an alleged chemical attack. ministers deny any link between the rise in violence in london and police cuts. labour have accuse them of having their head in the sand. the foreign secretary borisjohnson describes jeremy corbyn as "the kremlin's useful idiot", labour hits back saying has "made a fool of himself" over russia. german authorities say a man who drove a van into people outside a restaurant in the city of muenster, was a german citizen with no apparent links to terrorism. two people were killed, and the driver shot himself dead at the scene.

0ur europe correspondent, bethany bell, reports from muenster. the van drove into a crowd in a popular area of the old town of muenster. the driver of the vehicle, a german citizen, died after shooting himself in his car at the scene. the authorities say there's no indication that this was an islamist attack. reports in the german media say the driver may have had a history of mental health problems. police have been combing the area for clues. 0vernight they cordoned off the town centre and evacuated the residents. they have now been allowed to return home. this square in the heart of muenster‘s old town is normally full of ta bles muenster‘s old town is normally full of tables and chairs, and at the time when the van drove in here, people had been out enjoying the

early spring sunshine. now police have cordoned it off, and people have cordoned it off, and people have been coming here to lay flowers and light candles for those who died. among those coming to pay their respects it was germany's interior minister. he says his thoughts are with the victims and theirfamilies. the thoughts are with the victims and their families. the incident thoughts are with the victims and theirfamilies. the incident comes ata time theirfamilies. the incident comes at a time of heightened concern. there have been a series of cases in which vehicles have been used to attack crowds of people in public places. bethany bell, bbc news, muenster. well, meanwhile — reports from germany say police have arrested four people, one of whom they suspected of planning knife attacks at today's berlin marathon. the die welt newspaper is reporting that the four suspects who hijacked a truck in berlin in december 2016 killing 11 people and injuring dozens more

at the city's christmas market. canadian prime ministerjustin trudeau says "an entire country is in shock and mourning" after 15 people have been killed in a road accident involving a canadian junior ice hockey team. two other people are said to be in a critical condition. the humboldt broncos had been on their way to a play—off match in the province of saskatchewan. tributes have been paid across the country. we'll take that time to recognise our... all of our young men and our coaching staff and everybody who has been involved in this tragedy. polls will close in hungary in the next hour in the country's general election, following a campaign dominated by immigration. the current prime minister, viktor 0rban, is favourite to win a third consecutive term, what would be his fourth overall. 0ur correspondent nick thorpe's in the hungarian capital budapest and sent us this update. a note on the turnout,

42% by one o'clock here, well up on previous years. heading for a high turnout here for sure. there are queues forming at polling stations here in the capital and across the country. one estimation is that turnout could reach 70%. four years ago it was a 61, 60 2%. reach 70%. four years ago it was a 61,60 2%. one reach 70%. four years ago it was a 61, 60 2%. one should be very careful with these figures, but on the whole, commentators say it would favour the opposition. whether it would favour than enough, or whether it would just prune back mr 0rban's majority, or whether it could just produce a surprise results by the opposition, denying mr 0rban a working majority, it is much too early to say. the former brazilian president, luiz inacio lula da silva,

is spending his first night in prison after surrendering himself to police to begin a twelve—year sentence for corruption. lula arrived by helicopter after turning himself in to brazilian police and ending a daylong standoff. katy watson reports from sao paulo. never would lula have imagined spending his retirement in prison. a culmination of nearly three days of gripping political drama. it wasn't straightforward. for hours on saturday, his supporters had blocked the exit to the union building's car park, refusing to let him leave. despite the fact he said he was willing to surrender. his first attempt at handing himself over failed after fans stopped the car from leaving, and forced him back in the building. this was the moment of surrender. walking out into the crowds to be taken away by federal police and begin his 12—year sentence for corruption. earlier in the day,

lula had spoken to the crowd, who had been waiting for him patiently ever since his arrest warrant was issued on thursday. in an emotional speech, he told them that although he was prepared to give himself in, he would not give up. translation: i am doing a very conscious — very conscious — thing. i'm going to go. i'm not going to run. and so they know, i'm going to prove my innocence. they need to know this. this doesn't feel like a solemn occasion. it feels like another rally for his fans, who have supported him throughout the trial. but lula is a man who deeply divides brazil. for people here, he is a saviour. for millions of others, he is a corrupt politician who needs to be locked up. his fans said they would carry on supporting him. translation: there is no brazil without lula. lula is in our hearts. we are with lula in every place. lula is an ideology and we will defend this ideology and we will turn this around.

translation: history will not forgive this. lula will return with triumph to the government and make the changes that need to be done in our country. but while his supporters maintain lula's innocence, millions of others were unable to hide theirjoy at his arrest. when lula arrived in the southern city of curitiba, where he will begin his sentence, the scene was tense. tear gas and rubber bullets were fired to disperse the crowd. this marks the end of a dramatic chapter in brazil's political soap opera but is unlikely to be the last we'll hear from the country's most famous politician. katy watson, bbc in sao paulo. this tuesday marks the 20th anniversary of the good friday agreement in northern ireland. the deal brought an end to the troubles in northern ireland and began power sharing at stormont.

0n the eve of the anniversary commemorations bbc northern ireland's political editor mark devenport spoke to tony blair — prime minister at the time of the agreement — and asked him if he was concerned the achievements of the deal were in peril because of the current political deadlock. we are celebrating the anniversary of the good friday agreement, the belfast agreement, and ijust think it's important that people remember what things were like before we had the peace process, before we had the agreement. i'm of a generation, you are pretty much of a generation that remembers those times, remembers waking up every day to the tales of violence and extremism and murder and terrible things happening, deep divisions and sectarian hatred. now, the truth is the agreement was never going to simply the day after usher in a brave new world and everything was going to be fine. but where we are today should be

compared not with the ideal world but with where we were, and when you compare that, you realise that it was a huge achievement of everyone concerned to bring about the agreement, and secondly, it's worth keeping. and it would be dangerous and foolish to put it at risk. obviously it did deliver peace, and that was the main aim. but in terms of the political system it setup, that seems to have been prone to deadlock, we have no assembly, no executive. do you think it is time to reform it, do nuts and bolts review? when i look at the issues that are currently interrupting progress at stormont, they seem to be the very types of issues we were dealing with all through my ten years as prime minister, and after the good friday agreement, i was constantly involved in every single stage of the negotiation and process and probably in the ten years i was prime minister i must visited northern ireland probably more times than all my predecessors

put together since partition, so it was never going to be a situation in which there weren't constantly going to be issues that divided, that still had a deep cultural significance for example, and would require working on, but nowadays i see a lot of what is happening in different parts of the world and you realise that wherever there is a peace process, the work doesn't end at the moment you have an agreement, it carries on probably for a generation, maybe two generations, but it is better to do that then go back to the time of conflict. how much responsibility, then, do you put on the current government? have theresa may and david cameron taken their eye off the ball too much? i don't allocate responsibility for what has happened, but i urge attention in the future. this requires the full focus of government at certain points in time, and for example with this impasse that there is the moment,

i can't believe it's not possible to find a way around it. it is very similar to the types of issues we used to deal with, and you have to keep working at them until you find a way through. now, it's not easy, on the whole issues around brexit complicate things for a variety of reasons, but nonetheless, it is still worth doing. do you think that the fact that the theresa may is relying on the dup makes it harder for her to be the kind of independent broker that you were? does she need to bring in some sort of outside mediator? i think she can do it, because to be fair to her, i'm sure she wants to keep the good friday agreement and she wants to make sure it works satisfactorily, but i do think it is important to realise there were points of time certainly in that ten years, because remember we went through the setting up of the new northern ireland police service, decommissioning drumcree, there were always things happening.

and at a certain point, the authority of the prime minister is necessary in order to get people to move and to come into some form of alignment. so i don't... i think it's just constant work, that's all i'm saying, and i sometimes say to people but now i study a lot of what has happened in the balkans, i work in the balkan state with my institute, and you can see for example there it was 20 years ago, roughly the same anniversary, that the dictatorship in serbia was removed, that kosovo was liberated. but even today, there are still huge problems. today, you've got fortunately young leaders in serbia and albania who are determined to make it work, and i hope they will make it work. and both of them want a future in the european union. but my point is very simple. in exactly the same way, the end of the conflict didn't signal nirvana. the whole world didn't suddenly change. what it did do was give

you an opportunity over time to put in place changes that are part institutional and then deeply cultural, and that requires time. tony blair speaking about the good friday agreement there. 0spreys were almost extinct in england and wales — but are now making a comeback in some parts of the country. last week, a pair of the nesting birds arrived back in cumbria — after spending the winter in a warmer climate. judy hobson has the details. this is foulshaw moss, one of the few places in england and wales where you might catch a glimpse of a very rare pair of breeding birds. well, the ospreys are nesting safely in the distance, in the first set of trees. you can't actually see them from here unless you have a telescope, but we can show you some webcam footage. this is of the male arriving a couple of days ago because these birds have spent the winter in west africa. there are just 30 pairs of mating ospreys in england and wales. six are in cumbria.

they mate for life and this pair have been coming back here for five years and have raised eleven chicks. people love to follow them. they build these huge nests right in the top of trees. they are quite bold, if you like. and they have got this fantastic highwayman's mask, fantastic black and white markings. over the next few weeks, around 7,000 visitors are expected to come here to foulshawjust to see if they can get a glimpse of the ospreys. i thought i'd nip across the border from north yorkshire and have a look at them. it was cool. it was really... it looked really nice. this is a conservation success story. they're thriving now in scotland and are slowly starting to spread south of the border. judy hobson, bbc news. now it is time for the weather. most of us have seen at least some

pleasa nt most of us have seen at least some pleasant spring weather this weekend. 0thers pleasant spring weather this weekend. others were stuck under a cloud with outbreaks of rain. agri— you there in hertfordshire. you can see this stripe of cloud that has been working its way across south—eastern areas. there have been a scattering of heavy showers in the west. tonight, we keep the cloudy and down weather in the south—east. some clear spells in the north—west. for part northern ireland, south—west north—west england could be some damp patches for the morning. amateurs holding freezing. there could be some frost in scotland. tomorrow, grey and dump weather in the south—eastern corner. some of the outbreaks of brain may move into the midlands and east wales as the date goes on. further north and west, cloud that some

sunny spells breaking through. some heavy showers in northern ireland and the north of scotland. in most places temperatures will be into double digits. into tuesday, this area of low pressure that will drive the weather. frontal systems from time to time spiralling along the low. there will be an easterly wind. in the winter the easterly wind brought cold weather, but this easterly wind is not coming from a cold place, so the week ahead will remain mild. the north sea coast the exception to that with his wind, the cold sea. some rain at times but also some spells of sunshine. soggy across northern england and northern ireland and 30 scotland has a go through the day on tuesday. we will see some thundery rain edging its way into the south—west, as well. elsewhere, some sunny spells developing most boards into double figures. you can see the colder

temperatures from aberdeen down to newcastle. it will stay that way in north—eastern areas as we head towards the end of the week that some cloud, drizzle and missed deadlines. further west, some cloud, drizzle and missed deadlines. furtherwest, more in some cloud, drizzle and missed deadlines. further west, more in the way of brightness and higher temperatures as well. president hollande says there will bea president hollande says there will be a big price to pay after a chemical attack in syria. we received many patients who suffered from symptoms compatible with exposure to to chlorine gas, high concentration chlorine gas. one of president trump's top advisers says a us missile strike on syrian forces, hasn't been ruled out. also on the programme. the home secretary denies the rise in violent crime in london, is due to police cuts. as voting ends in hungary's general election, viktor 0rban the self styled defender of christian culture, is seeking a third term in office. and it's gold for rhys mcclenaghan,

and the first for northern ireland, at the commonwealth games, in australia. good evening. president trump has warned bashar al assad of syria, that there would be a "big price to pay," for an alleged chemical attack on a rebel—held town outside damascus. medical aid groups are reporting that dozens of people have been killed due to poison gas, in the town of douma in eastern ghouta. there's been widespread condemnation, and one of mr trump's top advisers says a missile strike against syria, hasn't been ruled out. the syrian government and its biggest ally russia, deny chemical weapons have been used. this report from our middle east correspondent martin patience

contains distressing images from the start. this was the scene at the emergency clinic in douma. medics hosing down children, after an alleged chemical attack. these pictures were filmed by activists on the ground. some children were barely conscious. this baby is alive, but struggling to breathe. the medics are doing what they can. but they are overwhelmed, working in a war zone, with not enough medical supplies. we received many patients who suffered from symptoms compatible with exposure to chlorine gas, high concentration chlorine gas, the symptoms were deteriorating in a fashion that is not compatible with pure chlorine gas exposure and that is why our physicians are concerned about exposure to nerve gas in low concentration. president trump denounced alleged

chemical attack, on social media he wrote: the white house is ruling nothing out. is it possible there will be another misattack? i wouldn't take anything off the table. these are horrible photos, we are looking into the attack, the state department put out a statement last night, and the president senior national security cabinet have been talking throughout the evening and this morning. backin the evening and this morning. back in syria government troops have surrounded douma. it is the last rebel held town in eastern ghouta. both damascus and its ally russia describe claims of a chemical attack as fabrication. they are prepared to ta ke as fabrication. they are prepared to take douma at any cost.

this footage was shot by syria's civil defence. known as the white helmets. here, they run—in the aftermath of an airstrike. they find an injured man. while the politicians talk, this is the reality in douma. martin patience, bbc news beirut. in a moment, we'll get the latest from our diplomatic correspondent, james landale, but first, chris buckler is in washington. isa is a missile strike on the cards do you think from the trump administration against syrian forces ? administration against syrian forces? well, almost at first sight of these deeply disturbing images coming out of douma the us state department was warning a response was inevitable. it seems increasingly clear that will be a military response. it is almost exactly a year since donald trump ordered a military strike on syria

after a sarin gas attack. it seems clear he believes chemical weapons have been used again, and that the assad regime was responsible. in fa ct assad regime was responsible. in fact he called the syrian president animals a said and he said there must be free passage opened up to let people get to those injured and to verify exactly what has happened amid the syria denials. beyond that, there is mention of syria's ally, iran and russia, and specific criticism of vladimir putin, saying they must all share responsibility. that is relatively rare specific criticism of vladimir putin, whose relationship he normally seems to try to respect but it is clear that things are deteriorating between the white house and the kremlin. thank you for that chris. james, let us turn to you, russia, president assad's most powerful ally, the spotlight again on moscow after what happened in salisbury. exactly so, behind the scene, behind

the usual ritual condemnation of this attack, some serious discussion and diplomacy have taken place, mainly between the us, the united kingdom and france, there is talk there will be an emergency session of the united nations security council tomorrow, and clearly there will be some voices saying that there shouldn't be military action that now is too late in the conflict, that if the west was going to make a stand, they are yet to do so and for the west to make a military intervention would be somehow escalatory, i think there are some other arguments in the other direction, one is as you say, salisbury, the context of that is the international community has recent weeks, made a stand against the use of chemical weapons in the uk, will that read across to this situation? i think there is a second point here, there is i am told a mood against the normalisation of chemical weapons. anywhere. ithink that would be playing heavily in thinking it is going on tonight and

thinking it is going on tonight and tomorrow. the home secretary, amber rudd, has rejected claims that the rise in violent crime in london, is linked to police cuts.the government is preparing to outline a new strategy to tackle the problem, but labour says ministers have their heads in the sand. susana mendonca reports. a high visibility police presence on london's streets, after a week that's seen a spate of violent deaths. but the home secretary has rejected claims that falling police numbers are to blame, and she's been backed up by cabinet colleagues. go back a decade. serious violent crime was a lot higher than it is today, but so were the police numbers, so for anyone to suggest this is caused by police numbers, it is not backed up by fact. tomorrow the government will launch a serious violence strategy, to focus on early intervention. it will also unveil a new 0ffensive weapons bill, which will further restrict the sale of knives online, make

so—called zombie knives and knuckle—dusters illegal to possess, and introduce a new offence of possessing corrosive substances, like acid, in a public place. the move has been welcomed by police chiefs. this is a really essential piece of legislation for policing and for the public and communities. it will allow us to control the purchase by people under age 18, and it will allow us to have much more control as to who carries it in a public place, and whether they have good reason to or not. ministers here say they are investing more money in policing, but acknowledged that the system is stretched. this latest move is an attempt to get the government back on the front foot following criticism it hasn't been doing enough. but the debate over how many officers are needed isn't going away. labour says police officer numbers have been cut by 21,000 since 2010, and it would be naive of the government to argue that hasn't had an impact, and with many young people involved in recent stabbings and shootings, labour says wider cuts to public funding may also be playing a part. it's notjust about police numbers, it's about our community services

as well, our youth services, children's centres, our social workers and our local councils that have seen significant cuts to their budgets as well. with more than 50 lives lost in london alone this year to violent crime, the mayor of london is calling a summit this week. it isn't yet clear whether the home secretary will attend. the foreign secretary, borisjohnson, has stepped up his criticism ofjeremy corbyn, over the poisoning of a former russian spy in salisbury. he said the labour leader was "the kremlin's useful idiot," for refusing to say unequivocally, that russia was responsible for the nerve agent attack. labour says mrjohnson has "made a fool of himself," by misrepresenting what he was told, by chemical weapons experts. voting has just ended in the hungarian general election, where the right—wing nationalist viktor 0rban is seeking his third consecutive term as prime minister. his fidesz party had a big lead in opinion polls, but the high turn out could benefit opposition parties.

jenny hill reports from budapest. divisive, defiant. for viktor 0rban it's hungary first. good morning mr 0rban, bbc news. are you feeling confident? no wonder europe is watching closely. mr 0rban knows how to upset the neighbours. his dream for the eu, closed doors, illiberal values, and most of all, no migrants. it's won him elections before and he is hoping it will work again. a simple message — hungary comes first for us. but will mr 0rban come first for hungary? the opposition here is weak, fragmented, but turn outs much higher than usual. translation: the stakes are huge.

we will either become an immigrant country or we will stay free. we need change, because what's happening here is chaos. the problem? everything — corruption, health care in ruins, low wages. viktor 0rban is perhaps europe's most divisive leader. it is a reputation he has carefully crafted and he is counting on it to win this election. mr 0rban, very few migrants are coming into this country, why the focus on immigration when so few people come? there is a question of the future. mr 0rban, the eu says that you flout its values and laws, is this the direction hungary should be going in? we are just standing for democracy now. and he has powerful friends — russia, poland. what hungary chooses today will influence europe's course tomorrow. jenny hill, bbc news budapest. the comedian peter kay has made his first public appearance, since cancelling a tour in december

because of what were described as "unforeseen family circumstances". he appeared on stage last night at the blackpool opera house, which was screening the final episode of his comedy series, car share. the show will be broadcast on bbc television next month. on day four of the commonwealth games in australia, there have been more medals for the home nations. in the pool the scottish swimmer duncan scott won the men's 100 metres freestyle, beating the favourite, chad le clos of south africa. 0livia breen took the t38 long jump title with a commonwealth games record on her sixth jump. the 21—year—old's victory is wales' third gold of the games. and englishman nick miller smashed a 12—year old games record, when he took gold in the hammer. the medal table now looks like this, with england in second place with 19 golds, scotland fifth and wales eighth. northern ireland are just outside the top ten, but picked their gold, as natalie pirks reports. a puff of the cheeks, a moment to savour.

rhys mcclenaghan's first commonwealth games couldn't have gone much better. max whitlock. .. he usually performs miracles, but today the olympic floor champion showed he's a mere mortal after all. his routine was high difficulty, but also high risk. mistakes meant he knew what was coming. disappointment for whitlock. scotland's dan purvis took bronze. whitlock could only manage sixth. he has upgraded four of the five tumbles that won him gold in rio and it hasn't quite paid off for him today. he now has an hour before he goes on his favourite piece of apparatus, the pommel. good dismount, no hesitation. but first up was an emotional 18—year—old. a hug from mcclenaghan's coach told him it was good, but he'd have to wait to find out how good. whitlock is the reigning world

and olympic champion on the pommel. he was happy, but the judges marked him down for execution. and northern ireland had theirfirst gold of the games, their first ever medal in gymnastics. a proud moment for rhys's parents as he beat the pommel‘s biggest star. he's one of the best gymnasts that has ever lived, being an double olympic champion, and of course i have a lot of respect for max, but i'm here now. later came more strength in—depth from the home teams. england's courtney tulloch won gold on rings, and georgia may fenton took gold in the uneven bars. but today will be remembered for an off day for the pommel king, and a great one for his heir apparent. natalie pirks, bbc news, the gold coast. and there was a victory of a different kind, for a member of england's mens basketball team at the commonwealth games. jamell anderson dropped to one knee,

and proposed to the england women's player georgia jones, and her answer was yes. he said basketball was a big part of their relationship, so it made sense propose on the court. that's it. i'll be back with the late news at ten. now on bbc one, its time for the news where you are.bye for now. good evening, the latest from bbc sport. in the premier league, a much—changed arsenal side got the better of southampton 3—2 at the emirates this afternoon. along with the five goals, there were also two sending's off. rounding it allup, here's azi farni. with an important you league match coming up midweek, are sent wenger made seven changes to his side arsenal's defence were caught

sleeping. theirforward have the perfect response. affleck from danny welbeck and this sector arsenal goal for here emmerich cabana lying. danny welbeck‘s shot from outside the box was on target but helped on its way by either the. desperately needs points for premier league survival and a bit like the might of rescued one when charlie austin made it 2-2 rescued one when charlie austin made it 2—2 within minutes of coming on. danny welbeck insured the win for the gunners, getting his second goal of the match. both sides finished with ten men. jack stephens sean and straight red. the result keeps arsenal six and southampton in the bottom three. even when we were

questioned we find the resources and i must give credit to the team, some players had heavy legs today but still find the resources to win the game. when we were questioned, 1—0 down, 2—2, we find the resources because of the spirit in the team. that is why we won the game today. we have been hurt by bad goals. that has been the story of the season. at times defensively we did not get the details right and stop things developing, albeit, the second goal for arsenal was fortunate because of the deflection. chelsea against west ham was the late kick—off. they're into the second half at stamford bridge. the blues are in front. they dominated proceedings during the first—half. ten minutes before the break, chelsea scored. it remains

1-0. celtic are just one win away from the scottish premiership title. they beat hamilton 2—1 at new douglas park and are 13 points clear of rangers in the table. it was 1—1 at half—time, but hamilton also had a man sent off. brendan rodgers brought on leigh griffiths at the start of the second half and he scored the winner within a minute of coming on. celtic will clinch their seventh title in a row with one more win from their remaining five matches. there has been a clean sweep of golds for the home nations on day four of the commonwealth games. 18—year—old gymnast rhys mcclenaghan of northern ireland produced one of the big shocks, beating the olympic champion max whitlock to gold on the pommell horse. with a round up of today's gold medallists, here'sjoe lynskey. no way! i can't believe it. it takes a special touch to raise a teenage champion. this is northern ireland's first gold of these games. rhys mcclenaghan called it his proudest day, and at 18 he'll hope it's just the start.

his poise on the pommel was enough to beat his idol, max whitlock settling for silver. i honestly have no words. i know that is very cliched to say that i have got no words, but now, the sensational of feeling i have at the minute is unbelievable. though whitlock missed out, his england team—mates made up for it. there was gold on the rings for courtney tulloch, while georgia—mae fenton won the uneven bars. they will hope it lifts them to olympic glory. while in the pool, the scots are up and running. the scot could win this! this is going to be very close indeed! duncan scott on the last stroke, i think he's got it. yes, he has got it! duncan scott sealed their first swimming gold this week. he had to beat chad le clos to do it. the south african's father feels the painjust as hard, while england's siobhan—marie 0'connor dominated the medley. a new champion on the 200 metres individual medley, it's siobhan—marie o'connor of england.

a very good swim indeed. 0n the first day of athletics, wales won their third gold in the long jump, 0livia breen leaping to glory. while in the hammer, england's nick miller heaved his way to gold. a new british record took every emotion. it is more sedate on the bowling green, but it means just as much to scotland. a win over australia gave the triples team gold. no basketball medals are decided yet, but england have been giving out gold. at full—time, jamell anderson proposed on court. the way to make a winning match even sweeter. joe lynskey, bbc news. sebastien bassong hasjust won

sebastien bassong has just won the brand —— bahrain grand prix. lewis hamilton was in third, despite having started in night vision. sebastien battle's second consecutive win of the season extends his window crashes lead over lewis hamilton. the final round of the masters is underway, but it's still a couple of hours until the leaders take to the course at augusta. patrick reed leads the way by three shots from northern ireland's rory mcillroy, who shot a fantastic 65 yesterday. coverage gets under way on bbc two at 6.30pm. rugby union now and, in the aviva premiership, defending champions exeter chiefs comprehensively beat gloucester 46—10 to clinch a spot in the play—offs. gloucester took an early lead at sandy park, but exeter responded through alec hepburn, who scored the first of six tries for the leaders. wingerjack nowell then came off the bench and scored a brace on his return from injury, sealing a comfortable win. exeter need one point from their three remaining games

to secure a home tie in the semi—final. there were two games in super league this afternoon. the champions, leeds, came from behind at wakefield, and then had to hang on in the final minutes to win 28—26. a young huddersfield giants side gave castleford a run for their money in the second half, but lost out to the tigers 28—40. that's all the sport for now. most of us got to see at least some pleasa nt most of us got to see at least some pleasant spring weather this weekend but it wasn't all plain sailing. we have had some outbreaks of rain in the south—east. this cloudy damp weather will sit around as we go through the night. elsewhere, clear spells, but the potentialforfog patches in northern ireland, south—west scotland, the north—west

of england. if this guy stay clear enoughin of england. if this guy stay clear enough in scotland for long enough that could be a touch of frost, but most visitors will stay above freezing. they did tomorrow, grey and dampen the south—east. patchy rain navy moving westwards into the midlands and east wales. brighter skies for western and northern areas. the odd hefty shower across parts of northern ireland. temperatures but most of us into double digits. through the week ahead, it is going to stay mild, but ahead, it is going to stay mild, but a bit chilly for north sea posts. some rain at times, but some spells of sunshine, well. this is bbc news. i'm vicki young. the headlines at 6pm. the syrian government denies it is behind an alleged chemical attack in syria. reports suggest 70 people were killed in the rebel—held area of douma. donald trump has denounced the syrian government and condemned its allies, calling president assad an animal. ministers deny any link between falling police numbers

are the rise in violence in london. labour accuse them of having their heads in the sand. the foreign secretary borisjohnson describes jeremy corbyn as "the kremlin's useful idiot". labour has hit back saying mrjohnson has "made a fool of himself" over russia. polls are just closing in the hungarian general election where the right—wing nationalist viktor 0rban is expected to win a third consecutive term. also in the next hour.