this is bbc news. i'm martine croxall. the headlines at 11: 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. hungary's right—wing prime minister viktor orban is on course to be re—elected for a third term. initial results suggest his party has won about half the votes in the country's general election. also in the next hour: rory falters in the final round at the masters. the northern ireland golfer sees yet another chance for a career and we will be taking another look

at tonight ‘s papers. good evening and welcome to bbc news. president trump has warned bashar al assad of syria, there'll 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 the un security council will meet tomorrow to discuss the situation. the syrian government and it's biggest ally russia, deny chemical weapons have been used. this evening a deal has been reached between the russian military and rebels in douma, to allow them to leave the city. state media is reporting that a bus carrying fighters and their families has left the area, heading for opposition—held areas

in the north of the country 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 chlorine gas, high concentration

chlorine gas. also, 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 the alleged chemical attack. on social media he wrote... the white house is ruling nothing out. is it possible there will be another missile attack? i wouldn't take anything off the table. these are horrible photos. we are looking into the attack at this point. the state department put out a statement last night, and the president's senior national security cabinet have been talking with him and with each other all throughout the evening and this morning, and myself included. 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. and 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 to the aftermath of an air strike. they find an injured man. while the politicians talk, this is the reality in douma. martin patience, bbc news, beirut. 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. you have been lots of discussions

before —— berwick have been. but i think the mood is slightly 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 the stage where the conflict is coming to an end, people are saying we need to an end, people are saying we need to let it and so can think about reconstruction. there are two arguments why i think, serious thinking is now going on about absolute response to this, but talk is coming from the us, the french and the uk. 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 of there. secondly, as well as theissue out of there. secondly, as well as the issue itself in what is going on in douma, 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, one year ago, the use of chemical weapons. if you remember, one yearago, chemical weapons were used and donald trump used military action to deter it, it deterred it for a bit not for long and you pick up of cool opens in syria increased. now is the moment to say this just has to stop, we have to say as the international community that we cannot allow this. big uk at the un has tweeted confirmation of this... big uk at the un has tweeted confirmation of this. .. that in the uk. have confirmed that the meeting will take post tomorrow. i am told at the moment there is not much discussion about any kind of resolution. but america is saying that a missile strike is not being 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 was asked about this in the house of commons, what happened if there is another chemical weapons attack. he said that he hoped the worst would not stand idly by. if you listen to the french foreign minister tonight, noting that emmanuel macron has pointed to that friends said that people who breach the international chemical weapons rules must be held to account. in other words, the language that people have been using in the recent days and months has been punitive. the question is, what does donald trump think? let's speak now to andrew tabler, a senior fellow at the foreign affairs think tank, the washington institute and author of the book, ‘in the lion's den: an eyewitness account of washington's battle with syria.‘ thank you very much forjoining us.

how clear is it to use the nature of this attack in douma and who carried it out? it appears from the evidence on social media, that the assad regime launched this attack and that is what being —— that is what is being concluded now in washington and european capitals. the questions of what substance was used is being taken out of the country at the moment and once that is in hand and evaluated, policymakers will tee up different decisions for the president. russia and syria said that no such attack even took place, never mind that either state were responsible. what sort of response do you expect from president tromp, given what he said so far? —— president trump. if the russians hadn't failed to renew the joint investigated mechanism last fall we could be using a un process to look

into this, without strikes or much less. the problem is they torpedoed that, so there is no way to find out conclusively, that puts the ball into the military realm and we could be looking at decision strikes on airfields and other facilities inside of syria. however, right now they are getting the basics of the problem in front of the president. given that russia has the veto, what is the options for the united nations security council due to meet tomorrow? it begs the question what can be done at this point? what could be done, this happened in the past, where russia can put forward a proposal that could somehow replace the use of military force by the united states, but i don't think in these circumstances it is likely.“ there is a reaction at all from the

international community, it is likely to be between a number of allies rather than through un?” would say that you would have a number of allies, european together with the united states, and also the regional allies of all those countries trying to come to some sort of agreement and to try to deter us from using these weapons. had to talk to you, thank you very much. —— good to talk to you. had to talk to you, thank you very much. -- good to talk to you. thank you. 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 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 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 here say they are investing more money in policing but they acknowledge the system is stretched. this latest move is an attempt to get the government back on the front foot following criticism that 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 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's notjust about police numbers, it is about our community services as well, our 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. well, dr anthony gunter joins you now. he's a principal lecturer in criminology at the university of east london and has carried out research into youth culture and crime. thank you forjoining us this

evening. how closely can we correlate the number of police officers with the rate of violent crime? i don't think we can make a direct cause or link, but it doesn't help matters, mostly. where is the evidence then, from the home secretary she has rejected this idea that police cuts have led to this increase and we heard sajid javid earlier on the bbc, saying that violent crime used to be much higher even when he had less officers on the beat. we have to take the politics out and say there is a bigger issue around policing in general in terms of cuts, as well as oui’ general in terms of cuts, as well as our police have been looking at this issue over the past 8— ten years, which has been wrong, in my opinion. how much broader does this £40

million strategy need to be than just enforcement? how much should focus on prevention? we need a lot more money focus focus on prevention? we need a lot more money focus on health and education, moving away from leasing to public health issues around the spike in glasgow and also other parts of the united states and jamaica as well, they are using that model as well. where is the political will as far as you can see? does it exist? no, it doesn't exist. if this had been a terror attack, there would have been much more of a concerted effort to deal with this problem. many have flipped the agenda over the past few years and we find ourselves in this dreadful situation. in the research have done into crime and young people, or to those people say is a key factor for them either turning to or keeping out of crime? many are

out of the mainstream of society and don't have the confidence in a nice job or a good career and also they don't have faith in the police, so feel the need to protect themselves rather than going to the police and say i am not safe and i am honourable beat it is 2—pronged, really. —— i am vulnerable. honourable beat it is 2—pronged, really. -- i am vulnerable. in the places it has worked, what has it taken to move it away from just stop—and—search and methods that can alienate a community, where you do see crime rates going down?“ alienate a community, where you do see crime rates going down? it is working together and say we can work with our health agencies, our education agencies and youth services as well as the police. the police can have a second airy, supportive role, not a lead role. it requires much investment in young people ‘s future from a young age until they are older, it is a much more holistic approach to this, i

believe. thank you very much for your time tonight. 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. ethical sources said dozens of people died. ministers here deny any link between falling police numbers and the rise in violence in london. labour accused them of having their heads in the centre. hungry‘s right—wing prime minister claims victory in the countries general election, initial results suggest his party has won about half of the vote so far. sport now. a full round up from the bbc sport centre. ?prevsub ? prevsub thanks very ?prevsub thanks very much indeed. let's start with the golf and jordan spieth has put together an incredible round at the masters golf. —— let's start with. the

overnight leader patrick reed has struggled at times, but still leads by two shots. rory mcilroy, who started the day second, has slipped out of contention. he is two over for the round, six shots behind patrick reed. butjordan spieth has hit 30 after birdie to put pressure on the leader, he is top on 13 under. you can watch the action live on bbc two right now. in formula i, ferrari's sebastian vettel made it two out of two with victory at the bahrain that grand prix. lewis hamilton made it onto the podium despite starting the night. he 17 points behind sebastian vettel in the driver ‘s championship. chelsea could only manage a draw against west ham at stamford bridge. it finished i—i. west ham at stamford bridge. it finished 1—1. chelsea have lost more

ground on the premier league's top alter, despite making seven changes, arsenal got the better of southampton. winning 3—2. each side also had a player sent off late on. and celtic are nowjust one win away from retaining the scottish premiership title. they won away at hamilton 2—i, premiership title. they won away at hamilton 2—1, which leaves them 13 points clear of the second placed rangers with five games left to play. each of the home nations picked up gold on dave four of the commonwealth games on the gold coast. an 18—year—old gymnast from northern ireland produced a huge upset, beating the olympic champion the gold on the pommel horse. with a round—up of today ‘s gold—medallists. it takes a special touch to raise teenage champion. this is northern ireland's first gold of these games. he called his

proudest day and at 18, he will hope it is just the start. his poise on the pommel was enough to beat his idol, max whitlock settling the silver. the sensational feeling i have at the minute is unbelievable. max whitlock missed out, but his england teammates made up for it. george a phantom that won the uneven bars. they hope it lives them to 0lympic glory, while in the pool the scots are up and running. the scot could win this! this is going to be very close indeed. the scot, at the last stroke, has got it. yes, he has got it. he had to be the man with six gold medals to do it, neither chibok low, nor his father like missing out. while england's 0'connor dominated the medley. a new

champion. o'connor of england, a very good slim indeed. plenty of competition for the last track race. scotland's mark stewart used to be a triathlete. he has turned his insurers to the cycling now. it was worth all the pain. 0n the thursday of athletics, wales won their first gold in the long jump. 0livia green limping to victory. while nick miller heaved his way to gold, a new british record took every emotion. it is more sedate on the bowling green but meant just it is more sedate on the bowling green but meantjust as much to scotland. a win over australia gave accc and gold. no basketball medals are decided yet that england had been given out gold, at full—time, anderson proposed on court. the way to make a winning match even sweeter. and finally, some sad news from the world of cycling. belgium's

michael goolaerts has died during the cycling race. he suffered a cardiac arrest. counting is underway in the hungarian general election, where the right—wing nationalist viktor 0rban is seeking a third consecutive term as prime minister. his fidesz party has portrayed itself as the protector of a christian culture, it claims, is threatened by muslim immigration. 0ur correspondentjenny hill reports from budapest. it's as if for a while hungary held its breath. not that viktor 0rban, defiant, divisive, ever expected to lose. good morning mr 0rban, bbc news. are you feeling confident? europe's 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, so he tried it again. a simple message, hungary comes first for us. and mr 0rban, it seems, comes first for hungary. the opposition here is weak, fragmented, but turnout is 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, healthcare in ruins, low wages. viktor orban is perhaps europe's most divisive leader. it's a reputation he's carefully

crafted and he's counting to win this election. mr orban, very few migrants are coming into this country, why the focus on immigration when so few people come? this is a question of the future. mr orban, the eu say that you flout its values and laws, is this the direction that hungary should be going in? we are just standing for democracy now. after all, he has powerful friends — russia, poland. tonight, a country awaits confirmation of a result which matters well beyond its borders. because the decision hungarians make today will influence europe's course tomorrow. jenny hill, bbc news, budapest. stars of british theatre have been on the red carpet this evening at the prestigious olivier awards, the stage version of the baftas. this year, hamilton, the us hip—hop musical, had a record 13 nominations. our arts editor will gompertz‘s report contains some flashing images. for one night only, theatreland's

finest are not treading the boards, they're walking a wet red carpet. the 2018 olivier awards. the oliviers, of course, are all about celebrating british theatre, which has had a good year. ticket sales are up, box office is better, but actually, in reality, what everybody really is talking about is an american blockbuster, the musical, hamilton. # see if you can spy another immigrant coming... the rap musical about america's founding fathers had a record—breaking 13 nominations, and it did all right on the night, winning seven oliviers, including best choreographer, best new musical, and best actor in a musical. # i'm the damn fool that shot him. people talk about will the british audiences take all the american politics, the american history? i think what lin—manuel did so brilliantly was he madee it about people. he made it about humans and their relationships with each

other, and that will work anywhere, i think. jez butterworth‘s play, the ferryman, which is set in rural northern ireland during the troubles, won in three major categories — best new play, best director for sam mendez, and best actress. laura donnelly for the ferryman. immediate reaction? um, i'm in shock. i did not expect that. a story about 1981 northern ireland is not going to necessarily touch everybody‘s soul. but stories about love and loss will. best actor went to bryan cranston for his performance as a news anchorman having a nervous breakdown in network at the national theatre. oh, it's very difficult to be mad as hell when you holding an olivier. tonight i would like to dedicate this award to the company of network actors and crew who i'm giving a huge hug to tonight, and maybe sometime tomorrow, we'll let go. cranston and hamilton weren't the only american winners. roughly half the awards, if you look at them,

are work of american origin. that's very nice in some ways, but we always say about the brits conquering broadway, we don't talk about the americans conquering out theatre and i think that's starting to happen. not if james graham is anything to do with it. the prolific british playwright is enjoying a purple patch, acknowledged by the best new comedy olivier. the view from scotland showed there was some sunshine around, that made go into northern ireland as well. as we look at things across east anglia and in the south—east england, all of that crowd, damp weather and it is still raining some through the

night and into the morning as well. a few showers lurking in northern parts of scotland, in between the two there are some cloud. hutchi mist and fog developing too, some areas of going into the morning, could be quite dense. gradually clearing, allowing some sunny spells to come through. a few showers developing again in scotland and northern ireland. barely budging in east anglia and south—east england. but into the afternoon, just nudges across the midlands, parts of yorkshire. it becomes woakes an item in the tuesday morning, at revolving around that will be summer wet weather systems to the week. not cold, showing up here though, in

fa ct cold, showing up here though, in fact the origin of the air is the eastern mediterranean. temperatures will be out or perhaps a little bit above normal. not so for the north sea coast, it will be chilly here. some rain at times, some sunny spells too, especially in north—western parts of the uk. a wet start to some of us on tuesday in england and wales. very slowly taking some of that rain into parts of scotla nd taking some of that rain into parts of scotland and northern ireland. some sunny spells developing east anglia, south—east england. heavy showers in the afternoon the south—west england, heading towards south wales. those temperatures single figures on the north sea coast, especially northwards, without flow of air coming from the cold sea. you go further west, you find something a bit drier. and we have got a decent week of weather. much more detail ahead, where you

are, where you are going. hello. this is bbc news. we'll be taking a look at tomorrow mornings papers in a moment. first, 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. hungary's right—wing prime minister viktor orban claims victory in the country's general election, leaving him poised for a third consecutive term. hello and welcome to our look ahead to what the the papers will be bringing us tomorrow.

with me are michael booker, he's the deputy editor of the daily express and broadcaster and campaigner lynn faulds wood.