this is bbc news. the headlines. the un security council is expected to hold an emergency meeting tomorrow to discuss reports of a chemical attack in syria. medical sources say dozens of people died in the rebel—held town of douma. donald trump describes president assad as an "animal" and condemns syria's allies. the syrian government denies responsibility. ministers deny any link between falling police numbers and 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 hits back saying mrjohnson has "made a fool of himself" over russia. voting in the hungarian election continues, as queues still remain at some polling stations crew what victor obertan is expected to win the fourth term. —— victor

oban. also in the next hour. setting sail in protest... campaigners hold a demonstration against fishing quotas during the brexit transition period sixty fishing boats put to sea in plymouth, one of several protests organised by fishing for leave. that is awesome, seeing them in real life, that is incredible. ade samples the spectacular sights in egypt. the travel show, that's in half an hour, here on bbc news. good evening and welcome to bbc news. president trump has warned bashar al—assad of syria, that there will be a "big price to pay" for a suspected chemical attack on a rebel—held town outside damascus. the un security council is expected to meet on monday to discuss the reports. medical aid groups claim dozens of people have been killed by 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 an 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 without enough medical supplies. we received many patients 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 president trump has criticised the attack. the white house is ruling out nothing. is it possible there will be another missile attack?” wouldn't take anything off the table, these are horrible photos, we are looking into the attack, state department put out a statement, the national security chairman has been speaking with each other, all through the evening and with each other. syrian government troops on the outskirts of douma. it is the last rebel held town in eastern ghouta both damascus and its russian ally

describe claims of a chemical attack as a fabrication. they are prepared to take duma at any they are prepared to take duma at a ny cost. this footage was filmed by syria's civil defence, known as the white helmets. here, they run into the aftermath of an air strike. they've found an injured man. he is carried to safety. this is daily life in douma. while the politicians talk, this is the reality in douma. the united nations security council is expected to meet tomorrow to discuss the suspected chemical attack. earlier, president trump warned there would be a big price to pay for the attack. syria has denied any involvement. i've been getting the latest from our diplomatic correspondent james landale.

there have been discussions before but the mood is different now, there will clearly be some voices saying, look, it is too late in this conflict for the west now to start retaliating against the use of chemical weapons, we are at that stage where the conflict is beginning to come to an end, we need to let it end so we can think about reconstructing, all of these things, the second phase, but there are two arguments why i think and the mood i'm getting now is that serious thinking is now going on about some kind of absolute response to this, the talking is mainly going on about the talking is mainly going on about the us, the french and the uk. one is, after salisbury, we have seen more than 20 countries take diplomatic action against russia, against the use of chemical weapons within this country. so the mood is out there. secondly, i think there is, as well as the issue itself here, what is going on, there is a broader view which says, is now the moment to draw a line in the sand and say, we can no longer tolerate

the normalisation of the use of chemical weapons. if you remember, a year ago, chemical chemical weapons. if you remember, a yearago, chemicalweapons chemical weapons. if you remember, a year ago, chemical weapons were used, donald trump use military action to try to deter it, it's deterred it but not for long, and the pick—up of these weapons has carried on. there is a move among some western policymakers to say, now is the moment, this has to stop, as the international community we have to say that we cannot allow this. the uk, the un, has tweeted about this, in confirmation of what has happened. yeah, the uk office in the united nations have confirmed that the meeting will take place tomorrow, i'm told at the moment there is not much discussion about there is not much discussion about there being any resolution. any measure that will be taken. america saying, a missile strike has not been ruled out. that is what the president's adviser said on television today, if you look at recent statements, boris johnson television today, if you look at recent statements, borisjohnson on the 18th of february, just a short

while ago, was asked about this in the house of commons, what happens when there is another chemical weapons attack? and borisjohnson said, he hoped the west would not stand idly by. look at a statement from the french foreign minister, tonight, saying that president emmanuel macron has pointed to france saying that people who breach the international chemical rules, you know, must be held to account, hinting at french unilateral action. the language being used in recent days and months has been reasonably punchy. the big question, what does donald trump think. let's speak now to the conservative mp, tom tugendhat, who's chairman of the commons foreign affairs select committee. he joins via webcam from florence what should the response of the international community beat,

whether through the international security council or several? —— what should the response of the international community beat?m should the response of the international community beat? it is a big moment, much of the action which would have been conducted has been blocked by russia, russia has 40,000 troops in syria, backing the resume of bashar al—assad. it has again used chemical weapons against its own people, so we have got to see some proper action by the un and stop seeing countries like russia blocking the united nations, the international community, from stopping one of the most barbarous a cts stopping one of the most barbarous acts that is going on in this world today. the syrian governments denied as bonds ability and involvement. they would, wouldn't they. for balance, i'm just offering their rejection of the accusation. how different is the climate now, russia has stood in the way in the past, why would they not stand in the way now? i wouldn't be surprised if they did, we have got to read the

nie is what is going on, we have a reaching that is quite brutally murdering hundreds and hundreds of its own people, and indeed has only recently, this is not the first of these chemical attacks, but has only recently killed certainly tens today and possibly hundreds using weapons that are banned under international law and that no responsible government stockpiles. the very fact the syrian government has done this at all is a legal, let alone that it uses them. we have got to see international action to respond. in 2013, the uk parliament had a vote which very sadly was for party political reasons used as an excuse not to act, and since then, the united states has only acted once, and infact united states has only acted once, and in fact it was under president trump. now, there is an opportunity for the international community to come together, with the coalition that has so rightly stood up to russian chemical weapons used in the united kingdom, and this time act

where it has been used so much more brutally in syria. sharing a wheat you posted this morning, we cannot act every time, we should not excuse friends, standing aside while people are gassed and sharing murderous lies does not create as —— make us safer, foreign affairs is not about foreigners, it is about us, how likely would you be to support a missile strike that has not been ruled out by the white house?” think the government has the rights to act, we have a system in the united kingdom, crown property of, the government can respond to attacks or to national emergencies, without taking records of parliament. i am somewhat disappointed that my own government has not decided to respond already because what we are seeing here is aircraft being loaded with chemical weapons, flying from bases, we know where these bases are, the united states did respond with a strike on some of these bases a while ago. i

would hope very much that my own government and other governments would coordinate to respond indeed to these abuses now. what else then should the international community be doing beyond that, given that in some ways, it looks like the conflict, as bloody as it still is, is coming to some sort of close and conclusion? well, i think we can accept that the syrian regime is likely to in some ways end up as the dominant force, but that does not mean that we have two stand—by when they use chemical weapons. i think we can perfectly reasonably strike the bases that hold chemical weapons and strike the aircraft hangars that launch the aircraft that carry them, without playing a part in the ongoing civil war. the use of chemical weapons isjust ongoing civil war. the use of chemical weapons is just a step beyond any accepted norm, and indeed is defined very clearly by the international committee of the red is asa

international committee of the red is as a war crime. chairman of the commons foreign affairs select committee, thank you for taking the time to speak with us. and we'll find out how this story, and many others, are covered in tomorrow's front pages at 10:30 and 11:30pm this evening in the papers, our guestsjoining martine croxall tonight are deputy editor of the daily express, michael booker and broadcaster lynn faulds wood. 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 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. ministers acknowledge the system is stretched. this latest move is an attempt to get the government back on the front foot following criticism. with debate over how many officers are needed, the issue 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 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. joining us now from our nottingham studio is ben rosser. he's a former police officer and the founder of the pythian club, which helps young people in the city keep away from a life of crime. where is the proof in your mind that a fall where is the proof in your mind that

afall in where is the proof in your mind that a fall in police numbers will inevitably leads to a rise in crime, particularly violent crime as some people have claimed. thank you for having me, this statement by the home secretary, i feel is another example of how out of touch with the general community it seems they are, those statements, they live in a twilight zone, it is really ludicrous. as you mentioned, i was a police officer from 2003, for ten yea rs. police officer from 2003, for ten years. when ijoined the police, we had at least ten to 15 officers per shift, that used to patrol a relatively normal average area. five yea rs relatively normal average area. five years later, these numbers were cut by half, and the area we had to cover was tripled. this directly caused us, to not be so proactive, we are now reactive to situations. if it is purely about police numbers, how is it then that the

crime survey of england and wales last november suggested people's perception of crime had come down?” strongly believe that it is the cut to police numbers, the morale dropped that causes, officers running from pillar to post trying to do an effective job but there are numbers and their resources are drastically cut, neighbourhood policing, community policing that we had 15 years ago, was able to support and able to gather information and be that visual deterrent to young people and others. that has all changed now, offices running from job to job to job and not able to give a quality service as much as they would like to and not able to give that visual deterrent. it is notjust the cut in police numbers, there are other things that have directly contributed to this as well. what are they? the media has to look at

themselves very strongly in the mirror, the promotion of social media, negative stereotypes, young people are idealising the wrong type of role models, and i think the media as well has to look in the mir and think, have we done enough to curtail this kind of behaviour? because when young people think that carrying knives and glorifying violence and this and that is cool, we have a problem and we need to fight against that. myself, at my club, we do that positively. we need to look at the family, we need to look at family values, i work on the street every single day and i see young people out on the street with a pot noodle, not coming home until 10pm, wings need to change, we need to get that respect and discipline back, i know it's a process but i feel that if we have the right type of discussions and make the right tough decisions, i feel that we can change the tide. you mention knife crime, in nottinghamshire, knife crime, in nottinghamshire, knife crime to january this year rose by

31% in 12 months, speaks to some of the problems you are talking about. if it is about supporting young people, how much of this is to do with policing rather than education, social services... ? with policing rather than education, social services. . . ? not just one particular point, the policing side of it comes in, ten, 15 years ago, you had a community bobby on every corner, you knew the police officers in your local area, your family communicated with local police officers in most areas. when i was a police officer, that's what i did in my communities, i went back into the community, understood the issues. i was a visual deterrent. if i go back to when i was a young man, seeing police officers on the corner was a deterrent, if you felt like doing some mischief, and you saw a police officer on the corner, you would not do any thing, you would maybe go and play some football. we need to address obviously the lack of police numbers is a serious issue, and a

serious contributing factor to the problems we are having. however, there are other issues, as i have highlighted, that we needs to address. thank you very much stock thank you very much for speaking with us. 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 declare unequivocally that russia was responsible for the attack. labour says mrjohnson has "made a fool of himself" by misrepresenting what he was told by chemical weapons experts. police in germany have arrested six people over an alleged plot to carry out a "violent crime" at the german capital's half marathon. the german newspaper, die welt, says the group has links to anis amri, who was behind the lorry attack on a christmas market in the city in 2016, in which 12 people died. the headlines on bbc news. the un security council is expected to hold an emergency meeting tomorrow to discuss reports of a chemical attack in syria. medical sources say dozens of people died in the rebel—held town of douma ministers deny any link

between falling police numbers and 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 hits back saying has "made a fool of himself" over russia. sport now...and for a full round up, from the bbc sport centre. rory mcilroy has clawed back two after two holes, despite a disappointing tee shot at the first, he managed to par the hole, bogey for the american, then, a birdie four rory mcilroy at the second, it is live now over on bbc two.

sebastian vettel held off the challenge of valtteri bottas to make it back to back grand prix wins with victory in bahrain, liz hamilton started down in ninth, he mowed make it onto the podium in third. —— grands prix. voiceover: to be royal champion you need to keep your call. stranded down in ninth, thanks to a penalty for changing gearbox, it was going to be a day of damage limitation for the somerton, action packed start in bahrain saw some lose their way, lewis hamilton took a more careful approach, even when challenged at the start of the second lap, max verstappen came off worse. puncture and damage ending his day. race was briefly neutralised and when it resumed, hamilton was quick to capitalise, jumping three places in one go. on a different strategy briefly led, until rival sebastian vettel started from pole position and got back in front. the problem with his pit stop saw kimi raikkonen retire, andy hamilton third place. the briton could not catch team—mate valtteri

bottas or ferrari and bastian fettle, the german extended his championship lead to 17 points. the lewis hamilton will be relieved it is not more. studio: arsenal got the better of southampton, 3—2, at the emirates stadium, along with five goals there were two sendings ofcom arsene wenger made seven changes to his side, it paid off, danny welbeck ended a goalless run of 16 premier league games to score twice. —— two sendings off. jack stephens was sent off, so was mohamed elneny, of southampton and arsenal respectively. arsenal remain sixth in the premier league table. we were question, we found the resources, andi question, we found the resources, and i must give credit to the team, some players had heavy legs today, we still found the resources to win the game, when we were 1—0 down, 2-2, the game, when we were 1—0 down, 2—2, always we found the resources

and the togetherness and resourcefulness in the team. that is why we won. chelsea's bid to close the gap on the top four took another setback, they were held 1—1 by struggling west ham united, before the game, the blues paid tribute to former captain and assistant manager ray wilkins, who passed away earlier this week. they were the better sides during the first half, and deservedly lead at the interval, says azpilicueta prodding home from close range. they thought they had doubled their lead in the second half but alvaro robles was ruled offside, and within minutes of entering the action, javier hernandez and west ham united a priceless point in their bid for survival. chelsea remained ten points of full placed tottenham hotspur. —— cesar azpilicueta. points of full placed tottenham hotspur. —— cesarazpilicueta. gold medals for england, wales, scotland and northern ireland on day four of the commonwealth games. —— chelsea remain ten points off fourth placed

totte n ha m remain ten points off fourth placed tottenham hotspur. max whitlock was beaten to gold on the pommel horse, first gold of the games for northern ireland. i honestly have no words, i know that is cliched, but i have no words. sensationalfeeling know that is cliched, but i have no words. sensational feeling i have at the minute is unbelievable. have you ever perform like that in your life? in training but not in competition. it goes to show that all of the hours of dedication i have put in has paid off, 100%. it did indeed. that is all the sport, for now, can find more on all those stories on the website, including medal news from the commonwealth games and the latest from the masters at augusta. counting is now under way in hungary after some polling stations stayed open beyond their official closing time to enable large queues of people to vote in the general election. there's been a larger than expected turnout.

the incumbent right wing nationalist prime minister, viktor orban, is hoping to get re—elected. jenny hill reports from budapest. divisive, defiant. for viktor orban, it's hungary first. good morning mr orban, bbc news. are you feeling confident? no wonder europe's watching closely. mr orban 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 orban come first for hungary? the opposition here is weak, fragmented, but turn out‘s much higher than usual. translation: the stakes are huge. we will either become an immigrant country or we will stay free.

translation: we need change, because what's happening here is chaos. translation: the problem? everything — corruption, health care in ruins, low wages. viktor orban 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 orban, 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 orban, 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. dr mark almond is a lecturer in modern history at the university

of oxford and hejoins me now via webcam from cheshire. what you think the likely result will be given that's only people this time really wanted to vote? the president is 2002, that could cause an upset, because of the way the election works out, it is more like britain, small number of seats relatively speaking, and so it is likely to be the biggest single party in the first past the post. and will get the lion's share of the seats. how likely that they will get enough seats to form a government? likely they will have another seats to form a government but they were hoping to go back to the situation where they had a two thirds majority and therefore could change the constitution if they wanted to and carry through all sorts of measures without having to take too much notice of the opposition, the opposition has a problem in that it has been disunited, given that most

of the seas will be decided by first past the post system, as we know from british elections, if you have a divided opposition, the likelihood is to need a single group who will wina is to need a single group who will win a great number of seats. what has happened to the support for fidesz and why? i problem of success , fidesz and why? i problem of success, he is no longer the free young thrusting democrat in 1989, he has kept the title of the party of youth, people get bored of somebody who has been an powerful long time, there are lingering accusations of corruption associated with his supporters, even with this great issue of migration, allegations that fast tracking passports for favoured people while at the same time making a big issue of defending hungary's borders against this horde of people coming from the middle east and its rhetoric. which party then is going to be the likely beneficiary from that fall in support for his party? well, there are two broad groups,

and even more nationalistic party, although it has tried to turn down some of its more aggressive anti—rome and anti—semitic views, they are competing with french voters, who feel that he is perhaps not either nationalistic enough or tainted by corruption charges, so thatis tainted by corruption charges, so that isjobbik, tainted by corruption charges, so that is jobbik, and tainted by corruption charges, so that isjobbik, and then there is the old socialist party, the successor to the ruling commonest is many years ago, and liberals and so on who have formed an uneasy and not terribly effective coalition, so we do not know, what may happen is that the voters themselves decide the individual first past the post constituencies to plump for as it we re constituencies to plump for as it were the most likely anti—fidesz candidate, so a potential upset is that voters in individual seats is that voters in individual seats is that they will decide that is the person who is most likely to defeat the candidate for the desert party

—— for the desert party. —— fidesz. they can say we have low unemployment because of mass immigration, hungary is quite late, in this great move to the west, we saw from poland and the baltic states, immediately after joining the eu, hungary has now had a lot of immigration and that has a psychological effect, any of the pa rents of psychological effect, any of the parents of young people who left the country may feel the government's claims that macroeconomic figures are positive do not really compensate them for not seeing their children and feeling their children will never come back. campaigners have been demonstrating on land and sea across the uk today — protesting against the european union and their quotas on how much fish can be caught off