thank you, mr united states. thank you, mr president. thank you, sir, and thank you mr markram for your briefings. almost exactly one year ago i stood on the floor of the security council and held up pictures of dead syrian children. after that day i prayed that i would never have to do that again. i could, there are many and truly there are many truly gruesome pictures. many of us have worked ha rd pictures. many of us have worked hard that one day we will not have to see images of babies gassed to deathin to see images of babies gassed to death in syria. the day we prayed would never come has come again. chemical weapons have once again been used on syrian men, women and children and once again the security council is meeting in response. this time, iam council is meeting in response. this time, i am not going to hold up pictures of victims. i could, there are many and they are gruesome.

worse are the videos imprinted in out worse are the videos imprinted in our minds that no one should ever have to see. i could hold up pictures of babies lying dead next to their mothers. brothers and sisters, toddlers and infants still in diapers. all lying together dead. theirskin is in diapers. all lying together dead. their skin is the ashen blue that is not tragically familiar from chemical weapons. scenes their eyes are open and lifeless. white foam bubbles from their mouths and noses. pictures of dead syrian site or are not soldiers, people who are not armed. people who are the very definition of innocent and nonthreatening. women and children hiding in basements from a renewed assault by bashar al—assad. families that were hiding underground to escape the conventional bombs and

artillery but the basements that syrian families thought would shelter them from conventional bombs we re shelter them from conventional bombs were the worst place to be one chemical weapons fell from the sky. and saturday evening the basements of douma became their tombs. it's impossible to know for certain how many have died because of access to douma is cut off by the forces. but dozens are dead and hundreds are wounded. i could hold up pictures of survivors, children with burning eyes. choking for breath. i could hold up pictures of first responders washing the chemicals off of the victims. putting respirators of the children. first responders walking through room after room of families lying motionless with babies still in the arms of their mothers and fathers. i could show pictures of a

hospital attacked by the chemical weapons. i could show pictures of hospitals struck by barrel bombs following the chemical attack, ambulances and rescue vehicles have been repeatedly attacked. maximizing the numberof been repeatedly attacked. maximizing the number of dead civilians. civil defense centres have been attacked in orderto defense centres have been attacked in order to paralyse the medical response and to increase the suffering of the survivors. who does this? only a suffering of the survivors. who does this? 0nlya monster does suffering of the survivors. who does this? only a monster does this. suffering of the survivors. who does this? onlya monster does this. only a monster targets civilians and then ensures there are no ambulances to transfer the wounded. no hospitals to save their lives, no doctors or medicine to ease their pain. i could hold up pictures of all of this killing and suffering for the council to see. but what would be the point? the monster who was responsible for these attacks has no conscience. not even to be shot by

pictures of dead children. the russian regime whose hands are all cove red russian regime whose hands are all covered in blood of syrian children cannot be ashamed by pictures of its victims. we tried that before, we must not overlook russia and iran's roles in enabling the murderous destruction. in russia and iran have military advisors at the airfield and operation centres. russian officials are on the ground having directed the regime's starve and surrender campaign. and irani and allied forces do much of the dirty work. when the syrian military pommel civilians they rely on the military hardware given by russia. russia could stop this senseless slaughter if it wanted. but it stands with the regime and supports without any hesitation. what is the

point of trying to shame such people? after all, no civilized government would have anything to do with this murderous regime. pictures of dead children mean a little to governments like russia who expend their own resources to prop up assad. and this counsel which saw the pictures last year have failed to act. because russia has listed in its wake up every single time. for a year we have allowed russia to hold the lives of innocent syrians and the lives of innocent syrians and the hostage to its alliance with the regime. this is allowed russia to weaken the credibility of the united nations. we are quick to condemn chemical weapons in the security council but then russia prevents any action vetoing five resolutions on this issue alone. 11 altogether to

save assad. and our lives go on as usual. the council created the joint investigative mechanism and found the syrian regime was possible for the syrian regime was possible for the attack a year ago because russia supported assad and his actions, russia kills the mechanism. we condemned it in our lives went on as usual. we push for a cease—fire the council unanimously agreed but it was immediately ignored by russia and assad. we condemned it and our lives went on as usual. and now here we are confronted with the consequences of we are confronted with the consequences of giving russia a pass in the name of unity. eight unity that russia has shown many times before they don't want. here we are ina before they don't want. here we are in a world where chemical weapons used is becoming the mobilised from

an indonesian airports to an english village to the homes and hospitals of syria. since the regime used chemical weapons one year ago chemical weapons one year ago chemical weapons one year ago chemical weapons have been reportedly used dozens of times and this counsel does nothing. what we are dealing with today is not about are dealing with today is not about a spat between the united states and russia, this is about the inhumane use of chemical agents on innocent civilians. each and every one of the nations in this counsel are on re cord nations in this counsel are on record opposing the use of chemical weapons. there can be no more rationalizations for our failure to act. we have already introduced and circulated to the council and resolution demanding unrestricted humanitarian access to the people of douma. assad is doing all he can to ensure maximum suffering and douma. our priority must be to help the

starving, sick and injured left behind. we also call on this counsel to immediately reestablish a truly professional and impartial mechanism for chemical weapons attacks in syria including the attack this weekend. we held our colleagues on the council willjoin weekend. we held our colleagues on the council will join us weekend. we held our colleagues on the council willjoin us as they have before. this is the very minimum we can do in response to the attack we just witnessed. the of church and in of them will not continue to hold us hostage when we are confronted with an attack like this one. the united states is determined to see the monster held to account. we have heard of the president of the united states has said about this. meetings are ongoing. important decisions are being weighed even as we speak. we are on being weighed even as we speak. we are on the edge of a dangerous precipice. the great evil of chemical weapons use that once unified the world in opposition is

oi'i unified the world in opposition is on the verge of becoming the new normal. the international community must not let this happen. we are beyond showing pictures of dead babies. we are beyond appeals to conscience. we have reached the moment when the world must see justice done. history will record this as the moment when the security council either discharged its duty or demonstrated its utter and complete failure to protect the people of syria. either way, the united states will respond. thank you. translation: i think the representative of the united states for her statement and i give the floor to the representative of france. translation: mr president, ithink the peruvian presidency for having convened to this emergency security

council meetings which france solicited with eight other member states of this counsel. i also wish to thank the special envoy and the deputy to the representative for disarmament affairs mr thomas markram for their importance and thorough briefings. mr president, there are times in the lives of nations where what is essential is at stake, let forget, peace or war. civilization or barbarism. the international order or chaos. this is the case today after the horrific chemical carnage which once again push the limits of horror on saturday in douma. we are aware of the fact that two new chemical attacks, particularly serious ones took place in douma on seven april. the human toll is now the 50 ——

including the number of children. this toll is likely to be even higher. some areas remain inaccessible for assistance and once again toxic substances have been dropped to asphyxiate, to kill, to terrorize civilians. by reaching them in the basements when they sought refuge. chlorine gas has a specific feature of being a heavy gas capable of entering basements and for this reason it is used. mr president, this is the level of the deadly cynicism that we have reached in syria. there is no language to describe the horror of the images which surfaced on seven april nearly one year after the attack that killed 80 people. what we see in the

thousands of photos and videos which surfaced in the course of several hours since the attacks on seven april the 7th a reminder of the images we far too often saw. children and adults suffocating to exposure to consecrate a chlorine gas. we also see our people suffering a significant convulsions and these phenomena of excessive saliva and i is being burned. these symptoms are symptomatic of exposure toa symptoms are symptomatic of exposure to a potent neurotoxin mixed with chlorine to heighten the lethal effect. overall as i mentioned more than 1000 people have been exposed to this deadly chemical compound. the experience and the success of the reports of the joint mechanism reflects there is no doubt as of the

perpetrators of this attack. the syrian army forces and their agencies alone have the requisite knowledge to develop such a sophisticated toxic substances. with such a high degree of deadliness and only do they have a military interest in this use. this attack took place in douma, an area which has been subjected to relentless shelling by the syrian army for a number of weeks. use of such weapons allows enables far more rapid tactical progress than was seen with conventional weapons. we are all aware that a syrian regime has been identified as being responsible for the use of chlorine and seron gas as a chemical weapon and this is been investigated for times at least. no illusions as to the sincerity of the declaration delivered by syria as to the state of its chemical stockpiles

in 2013. unfortunately once again we have proof with evidence this dovetails with the regime's strategy of terror that has been unleashed with civilians. we have already expanded this for the world. at the worst this is bad faith and as the absolute worst is complicity. the damascus regime seized by stoking terror to conquer other urban areas which it seeks to control. what is more effective to prompt those who resist to flee and even the middle ages style sieges with chemical threats being posed, let us be clear either. these children were held hostage are not collateral victims as is said, it is a deliberate targets of these chemical attacks designed and planned for this purpose to wage terror. and this is

state terrorism which the regime is engaged in with a litany of war crimes and crimes against humanity. mr president, the offensive and shelling staged by the regime by the allies of the past 48 hours reflects the degree to which they have engaged in a military race without any consideration of the human cost. the latest escalation of violence perpetuated by new instances of chemical weapons being used to bring us chemical weapons being used to bring us face—to—face with the destructive madness of a machiavelli and regime and it seeks to destroy people completely. with the russian and iranian support is unwilling or unable to stop it. we are aware of the facts and authorities have confirmed this on a number of occasions that russian military forces have a presence in neck or

one on the ground and in the air. on seven april as the second chemical attack took place in douma russian aircraft were taking part in air operations in the damascus region. russian and iranian military support is present on the ground and at all levels of the syrian war machinery. no syrian aircraft takes off without the russian ally being informed. these attacks took place either with a tacit or explicit consent of russia or despite its reluctance and despite its military presence. i'm unaware of which of these two abuses is more alarming when it comes to our collective security. mr president, the stakes revolving around this recent attack are extremely grave. this is the latest proof that normalisation of chemical

weapons use which is to be attributable not only to a regime that has now become uncontrollable but a regime that guesses civilians with complete impunity but also with respect to its supporters including a prominent member of the security council. it failed its commitment to amend the resolution which it itself co—sponsored. as the responsibility, it's co—sponsored. as the responsibility, its responsibility in the angeles and unending tragedy in syria of the war in syria is overwhelming. towards the syria, naturally turns towards russia to put forward to demands. the first is the cessation of hostilities and an immediate cease—fire in syria in line with 2401. to this resolution has not been upheld by the damascus regime. in we deplore and lament the fact

that it was possible to animate this resolution unanimously adopted to the resolutions stipulating the humanitarian access. it is the new international mechanism which will document all of the factors of the attack in douma and compel the perpetrators for them to be brought to justice. the disappearance of the joint investigative mechanism last november due to the success of russian vetoes have stripped of his asa russian vetoes have stripped of his as a deterrence. we support initiative to bridge this gap to and and in the spirit of that france is committed to a partnership to combat a chemical impunity and in the same spirit we endorse the draft resolution that has been proposed today by the united states. mr president, with this attack the a side regime is testing the

international community determination to ensure respect for the help —— prohibition of chemical weapons use. it needs to be met with robust response. they must be understanding and it must understand that chemical weapons used against civilians will not be tolerated. those who flout this fundamental rule of our collective security will have to be held accountable and assume the consequences. the assad regime needs to adhere to international response. france stands ready to fully shoulder its role alongside our partners. we know that only an inclusive political solution will bring an end to seven yea rs of solution will bring an end to seven years of a conflict that has claimed the life of 500,000. the conflict that has pushed millions on the roads of exile. france will remain fully committed along the social

envoy of the united states and live with the geneva process. in light of this most recent carnage we can no longer merely repeats words. words which without being followed up by deed are liable to be hollowed of all signs and i wish to reiterate here as was stressed by president macron a number of occasions that france will shoulder its full responsibility to combat a poor perforation of chemical weapons. france will on our word. thank you. you are watching outside source and we're listening to what is going in an emergency meeting of the united nations security council. we have heard from russia and the us can we have heard from friends, let's not hear from the united have heard from friends, let's not hearfrom the united kingdom. through him all the un teams on the ground for the important but incredibly difficult work that they

do. as the minister said this is an important security council session. my important security council session. my government shares the operators other colleagues have eloquently describes today. it is truly horrific to think of victims families sheltering underground when the chlorine found them. mr president, it's the third time in five days that the council has convened to discuss chemical weapons. this is dreadful in the true sense of that word. the council should dread what we risk happening and that chemical weapons become a routine part of fighting. as a member of the p5 routine part of fighting. as a member of the ps the uk believes that we have a particular responsibility to uphold the worldwide prohibition of the use of wmds. we agree with the netherlands ambassador that the p5 has specific responsibilities. i believe that

four members of the p5 to believe this but there is one who does not. the russian ambassador referred to a resurgence of the cold war. this is not the cold war mr president. in the cold war there was not this flag ra nt the cold war there was not this flagrant disregard for the prohibitions that are universal on the use of wmd. mr president, the sr st referred to the risks of distillation and risks more broadly. we share his fears but it's the syrian government and its backers iran and russia who are prolonging the fighting and risking regional and wider instability. there are real questions, mr president about what is happening in the airbase with its foreign fighters and mercenaries. mr president, we have been challenged today by our russian collea g u es been challenged today by our russian colleagues to say why we believe the attack was carried out i syria and

why we believe even a chemical weapons were used. the reasons, mr president are as follows. the joint investigative mechanism between 2014 and 2017 found six uses of chemical weapons. two described to daesh for the use of mustard gas. three to the regime for use of chlorine and one for the use and describes to the assad regime for the use of seron gas and that is the attack we talked about the council just last week. it led to the us strike which we support. in addition befriends has said we have had syrian warnings before the cw attack took place and ofa before the cw attack took place and of a pattern of helicopters flying overhead in visa reports that have

come from the ground. i have listened carefully to the russian ambassador‘s arguments as i have just sent out we as the united kingdom believe that the syrian regime is responsible for these latest attacks. but there is one way to settle this, mr president and this is to have an independent fact—finding mission followed by an independent investigation. as we all know, the fact—finding missions are there to determine whether chemical weapons had been used and if they have been used, what sort of chemical weapons. but it is only an investigation, mr president that can determine who is responsible for their use and therefore start the path to accountability. i was very interested to hear the russian offer that opc w fact—finding mission could visit and would have the protection of russian forces. mr

president, i believe this is an offer worth pursuing but it would of course be necessary for the opc w mission to have complete freedom of action and access. that still leaves us, mr president, with the prez question of who committed these atrocities. that is why we support the us text for a resolution and we believe that there is no legitimate reason not to support the call for this council to send out an independent investigative mechanism. asi independent investigative mechanism. as i said before, mr president, we have nothing to hide but it appears that russia and syria and their supporters do have something to fear. mr president, the russian ambassador singled out the uk along with the us and france for some criticism and i would like if fight me to turn to that. the responsibility for the cruelty in

syria belongs to syria and its backers in russia and iran. the use of chemical weapons is an ascii what russia is trying to do is to turn this debate in this counsel away from a discussion of the use of chemical weapons into a dispute of east and west of presenting itself as the victim. it is far too important to play games with the politics between east and west in respect of chemical weapons. the crocodile tears for the people of eastern ghouta has an easy answer. it is tojoin us in a eastern ghouta has an easy answer. it is to join us in a nonpolitical attempt to get humanitarian and production workers from the un to do theirjob of looking after production workers from the un to do their job of looking after and mitigating the risk of harming civilians. it also doesn't easy answer: mr president. it is tojoin

us answer: mr president. it is tojoin us in allowing the un to set up an international investigative mechanism to pursue who is responsibility and i repeat here the two demands of my french colleague andi two demands of my french colleague and i hope we will be able to make progress. mr president, i had not intended to address the case in salisbury, but because my russian colleague has done so i will address it today. he asked what were the similarities between salisbury and syria? i think it's important that i point out that the cases are different in the following respects, there is a thorough investigation under way in salisbury as we have heard, mr president, there is no investigation under way in syria. the british government in salisbury is seeking to protect its people as is seeking to protect its people as is its duty. the syria government on

the contrary, mr president, again has been referred today attacks and gas is its people. what a to do have in commonl gas is its people. what a to do have in common i am sorry to say is russia's refusal to assume the responsibilities to prevent the use of wmd. and mr president, it is not us who wa nt to and mr president, it is not us who want to alienate russia. she alienates herself by notjoining in the vast majority of this counsel who wants to find a way through and to address the use of cw against civilians in syria. the russian ambassador mentioned friends in the united states. in my government and our people are proud to be friend of the united states and we stand with everybody this counsel who wants to find a way through the cw problem to have a proper fact—finding find a way through the cw problem to have a properfact—finding mission and to have a proper investigation

as the first step to bringing this dreadful conflict to a close. thank you, mr president. that is karen pierce the ambassador to united nations is pressing the ducay‘s concern is that we have heard from the other members of the security far that the use of chemical weapons is becoming the new normal and what she has been calling for most emphatically is for a fact—finding mission and a nonpolitical, and independent investigation into what happened in the douma the alleged chemical attack. it's believed that up to 60 people have died in that with a thousand people injured. we also heard from russia who said they have investigated with their people going in and finding no evidence of any chlorine or a single residence that could confirm such an attack had happened. also russia extending an offer to the investigators the opc w

to go into douma as early as tuesday to go into douma as early as tuesday to carry out an investigation and offering protection and an escort by russian troops for that investigation. 0r where the alleged chemical attack has taken place. let's go into what we have been hearing so far from the emergency meeting of the security council. right at the beginning, we heard an envoy warning that the conflict in syria risked escalating out of control, this emergency session, he said that the alleged chemical attack in douma must be investigated. continual allegations of allegations of use of chemical agents all of extremely grave concern. these allegations must be independently and urgently investigated. any use of chemical weapons is absolutely prohibited,

and constitute a very serious violation of international law. chemical weapons convention security council resolution, 2118. preventing impunity and any further use of chemical weapons and upholding international law must be in at utmost priority of all members of this council. and the russian envoy to the united nations, speaking a little earlier, called the members of the international watchdog on chemical weapons to go into syria to investigate that alleged attack which the russians say did not happen. they called it fa ke say did not happen. they called it fake news. two presented the case that the rebels staged the attack for their own ends. translation: above all in washington, and those blindly following it, in london and

paris. there was a deliberate policy undertaken to stoke international tensions. the leadership of the united states of the united kingdom, and france, without justification, and france, without justification, and without considering the consequences, have engaged in a confrontational policy against russia and syria, and they are prompting others to follow suit. a broad arsenal of methods is being leveraged to slander, insult, hawkish rhetoric, like mail, sanctions, and threats to use of force against the southern states full -- force against the southern states full —— the sovereign state. he was speaking for around 30 minutes. but here a little more. armed forces under mendes shows of a country, russian troops have been deployed, could lead to grave repercussions. i

call upon all western politicians to scale down their hawkish refco trek —— rhetoric, she sees the reckless spill—over of threats to global security. so, we have been hearing some very, very strong words in the last hour or so. the us ambassador ‘s push to —— spokes shortly after. she had some harsh criticism, and promised that the united states would respond. who does this? only a monster. only a monster target civilians and then ensures that there are no ambulances to transfer there are no ambulances to transfer the wounded. no hospitals to save their lives. no doctors or medicine to ease their pain. i could hold up pictures of all of this killing, and suffering for the council to see, but what would be the point? the

monster who was responsible for these attacks has no conscience. not even to be shocked by pictures of dead children. the russian regime, whose hands are all covered in the blood of syrian children, cannot be ashamed. i pictures of its victims. we have tried that before. we must not overlook russia and iran's roles in enabling the assad regime madras destruction —— murderous destruction. the international committee must not let that happen. we are beyond showing pictures of dead babies. we are beyond appeals to conscience. we have reached the moment when the world must see justice done. history will record this as the moment when the security council either discharged its duty or demonstrated its art and complete failure to protect the people of syria. either way, the united states will respond. nikki haley, the us's

ambassador to the un, not mincing her words much like the russian ambassador to the un his bridges beforehand. 20 more coverage of that, what we have seen about that alleged chemical attack in syria over the coming hours here on bbc news. facebook has revealed to its users which of them are among the 87 million people whose data was shared with cambridge analytica. every account holder is receiving one of two notices informing them whether their data was breached. if you get this one, it means you weren't a victim of the breach. but if you get this longer one it means you were and it tells you how to find out what happened. it comes as chief executive mark zuckerberg prepares to give evidence on capitol hill tomorrow. he's already in washington where he's been meeting lawmakers. he's released the

testimony he'll be apologising for not taking a broad enough view of his responsibility and saying he'll make sure facebook tools are used for good in future. quite a big claim. but critics have been lining up. oregon senator ron wyden said: "there are going to be people who are going to say facebook ought to be broken up." senator ed markey tweeted "a day of reckoning is coming for websites like facebook." and usa today has tweeted that apple co—founder steve wozniak has deactivated his facebook account. republican senatorjohn kennedy will be one of those who'll be questioning mark zuckerberg tomorrow. he says there are two main issues: the first one is the privacy issue. the first one is the privacy issue. the second one is the propaganda issue. how do we stop that and how

do we define poison? i would like the ceo to make his suggestions on how he's going to address these issues. me tell you what i am most worried about. i am most worried that he and his colleagues at facebook don't have control, that they don't have the capacity to solve these problems. that these problems are bigger than they want to admit, and that is why i am going to admit, and that is why i am going to ask him that he be forthcoming. i think it is great that he is being congressmen, but i think that most of my colleagues want to understand the problem, and try to solve it. let's go over to our correspondence in new york. how much are things hotting up for marx achterberg? --

mark zuckerberg. it is interesting, that he outlined the range of issues from fake news, to as the senator was saying propaganda, and i have the statement in front of me for into periods in elections. hate speech also in there. he said that facebook did not take a broad enough view is of its responsible t in the past couple of years and was slow to react for some of the big problem is that the site faced. it is notjust facebook that it hacker a lot of people have deleted fsbo, but not instagram. he acknowledged that a lot of instagram users that saw these allegations, and has prepared remarks come he said that 20 million instagram users probably saw some of that con tent in addition to the 26 million facebook users who you saw it as well. it be interesting to see

what lawmakers decide to focus on in these herrings. there is one tomorrow and one on wednesday, so be adjusting to see the tone of questioning, and how it shifts over the next couple of days. —— in these hearings. as head of such a social media giant, and its founder, how much of a sense of personal responsibility for what has been going on to be sense that mark zuckerberg is prepared to take?|j wa nt to zuckerberg is prepared to take?|j want to reduce from his prepared testimony which i thought was interesting. he said, it was my mistake and i am sorry. i started facebook, i run it and are responsible for what happened here. it is one of the more bold declaration to have made and terms of taking responsibility for what has happened, because of his new, it is easy to point fingers at comments that mark zuckerberg made in the wa ke that mark zuckerberg made in the wake of the 2015 presidential election, when he said that facebook did not play a role. here's sort of eating his words a little bit. tomorrow's the big day, thank very much, kim. what you can get a lot

more on the website. there is full coverage on of the recent attack in syria and the entire follow—up in the last hour at the united nations. and you can download the bbc news app and stay up to date on all the news. it has been an extremely heated meeting of the security council. let's get over to our correspondence who was watching and listening events there. some extremely strong words. nobody holding back at all? yes. absolutely, and you did see just how divided the council is on this. russia, on the one hand saying that the alleged chemical attack was staged. it was fabricated, it was all part of a western plot to intervene in syria. and would relate the united states that if they did attack the syrian military, that

there would be grave consequences. the russian ambassador even went as far as to say that the uk was supporting this tough stance on russia. to take away tension from the salisbury attack. —— attention. it was very heated. nikki haley said, who would do this? only a monster would do this, and nothing seems a monster who would do some thing like this. not even a site of dead children, and she said that russia and iran were also to blame, that russia had the blood of dead children on their hands, and she said that the united states would not be held hostage by russia, any longer, because russia has of course beaded several resolutions on syria, and specifically ones which tried to set up an investigative mechanism to

hold those responsible for chemical weapons use accountable, and she said that the united states would act, really echoing what presidents clu b act, really echoing what presidents club have spoken about earlier, that they were having intense conversations, and having to make a decision within the next 24 to 48 hours on how best to respond. and amongst all of those omitted words that we have been hearing over the last hour and a half, tangibly what might urge? is there any sense that there will be an independent investigation, supported by all the permanent five members of the security council? the russian ambassador said had the organisation of chemical weapons fly tomorrow into douma, and the syrian and russian officials on the ground will guarantee their safety, and the british ambassador, karen pearce seized on that. she said, that interesting. let's talk more about that with russia, but let's not forget that there must be accountability for who the fact—finding mission finds responsible, and that is something that russia has failed to do in the past. diplomats will have come as

agent about a proposed us. after this meeting, and close consultations. he was beaten about that, but that is most certainly going to get a no go from russia. i doubt that diplomats will take it to a vote, because they are too far apart ona a vote, because they are too far apart on a resolution that would pass. 50, to be honest, i think what un experts were saying is that this was more the united states, the uk and france trying once more, through the security council, to get unity, before they declare that they must hold as a response —— assad responsible for action unilaterally through the capitals. thank you very much. now i want to turn to the central african republic — it's a country that we don't often cover — but there are more than 10 thousand un peacekeepers on the ground. some of those peacekeepers have clashed an armed group. at least two

people were killed and dozens wounded, including eleven peacekeepers. it happened near the president's residence in the capital, bangui. alex duval smith reports on what's behind this latest violence. their vehicles were pelted with rocks and hit by bullets and shrapnel. this is usually one of pk five‘s bustling streets. the smoke is from one of two aces used by self defence militias. they are accused of charging traders protection money. drugs and arms were a p pa re ntly money. drugs and arms were apparently seized. 40-20 hours, we detained eight elements of this group, we seized weapons, ammunition, , group, we seized weapons, ammunition,, pk five is

group, we seized weapons, ammunition, , pk five is the group, we seized weapons, ammunition,, pk five is the main trading area of the capital. it is chiefly muslim. a fewer hours after the un rates, a base housing egyptian military and jordanian un police came under fire. the egyptian military and jordanian un police came underfire. the un has been accused of being passive in the central african republic. this time it was proactive. meniscus says it has not finished its clean—up of pk five. right wing leader viktor orban has been re—elected as prime minister of hungary. his party, fidesz, will have a two thirds majority after winning 48 percent of the vote, with a distinctly distinctly anti—immigrant, platform. this is an official government anti immigration poster, showing a long line of migrants in slovenia during the migrant crisis in 2015, the same image used in a ukip campaign poster

calling for the uk to leave the eu. last year the eu began legal action against hungary, poland and the czech republic for their refusal to host asylum—seekers. hungary was pivotal during the migrant crisis, closing its borders in 2015 with serbia and croatia. those border closures led to the long queues of migrants in slovenia seen in the campaign poster used by orban's government. the bbc‘s jenny hill is in hungary for the results. he has done it again. divisive, defiant, hungry‘s controversial prime minister secured a third said executive —— consecutive term in office. there is a big battle behind us. office. there is a big battle behind us. we have won a crucial victory, got a chance, given ourselves a chance to defend hungary next.|j respect the decisions of the voters,

evenif respect the decisions of the voters, even if it hurts and feels bad, even if one expected in lot more support for 1's party. but, we have got to except as part of life, and part of democracy, when things go different default to what we would have liked. for a while —— default to what we would have liked. for a while -- for a while, hungry held its breath. it was a record turnout. but among those who queued, in some cases flowers, were plenty demanding change. —— in some cases flowers, were plenty demanding change. -- we need change, because this is chaos. orban was a lwa ys because this is chaos. orban was always expected success. europe is

watching closely. his dream for the eu, closed doors, a liberal values, and most of all, no migrants. it has proved again to be a winning electoral tactic. a simple message, hungary comes first for us all. very few migrants coming into this country, but i do focus on that once if you come? it is for the future. the eu say that you felt its values and its laws, is this the direction that hungary should be going in? after all, he has powerfulfriends, russia, poland, and brussels, berlin, and paris will analyses results. the votes may symbolise a battle for the soul of hungary, but it also represents a struggle at the heart of the european project. the battle for influence in the south china sea is continuing to heat up. this is the south china sea — bordered by china, the philippines,

malaysia and vietnam — all with separate territorial claims. adding to the mix a us aircraft carrier is heading there at the same time as beijing dispatches its largest—ever naval fleet to the area. beijing has accused the us navy of "trespassing". rupert wingfield hayes reports from on board the us aircraft carrier, theodore roosevelt. pilots describe what we are about to do as trying to land on a postage stamp. in the world of aviation, there is nothing harder. in the middle of the south china sea, the crew of the us theodore result is calmly going about what is a pretty extraordinary business. but, it is not what they are doing that has brought me out here. it is where they are doing it. we are about 300 nautical miles north—east of

singapore. over there, is nautical miles north—east of singapore. overthere, is vietnam, over that weighs indonesia and the philippines. somewhere to north of here, a fleet has been spotted sailing... these satellite photos taken at the end of march, show 40 chinese ships heading to see. in the middle, the clear outline of an aircraft carrier. the ship is china's first operational carrier. it is the largest fleet china has ever sent into the south china sea. it isa ever sent into the south china sea. it is a demonstration of beijing's growing naval power and intention to challenge american dominance. on board the uss roosevelt, the strike group commander is unfazed. there is no doubt that aircraft carriers make a statement where they go, the statement is that we are a professional navy and we are operating as we think everyone else showed. and we will continue to do so? we will continue to operate in the maritime and common throughout

the maritime and common throughout the world, exactly right. but the geography of the south china sea is changing, literally. two years ago, we filmed these huge new islands being built by china on three coral atolls. the latest photos show that those islands have been tended to advanced military outposts. i asked the commander of the us pacific fleet how concerned he is? unfortunately, we are left with a we'll wait and see. without the clarity of the outcome, what is the intent of the establishment of such a significant military presence, that can really influence the freedom of navigation throughout the south china sea. it'll be a long time before china can challenge this sort of us naval might directly. but china's neighbours have seen its intent. and they know beijing will never sail away across the pacific

ocean. it's been a week since winnie madikizela—mandela passed away and the discussion over her legacy continues. one of the most contentious areas is over the death of teenage political activist stompie seipei. ms madikizela—mandela was implicated in his murder in 1989 and convicted for his kidnapping. but now stompie‘s mother, joyce, says she doesn't believe that the former first lady was involved in her son's murder. lukwesa burak has more from johannesburg. this is the methodist church. an event took place here in 1989 that threatened to cast a shadow on the legacy of winnie mandela. a 40—year—old boy was kidnapped from this chat and taken to winnie mandela's house. the fact of what

took place at this house, here, winnie's former home are well—documented, but what we are learning today is the scale of the propaganda campaign that was mounted against winnie mandela. a former operative, the government agency, has been speaking to a local broadcaster here in south africa. she has described how spies and informers were put in the group that close circle around winnie mandela. you probably know it as the mandela football player. she has gone as far as to say that they were all spies. and that theirjob was to monitor her movements. these latest relevant relations have not only cast doubt on the credibility of that witness, but also sparked widespread anger in south africa. let's return to the emergency

meeting of the un security council. there has been sweeping international condemnation of that chemical attack in douma in syria over the weekend. let's see what is going on. the meeting are still under way. equatorial guinea is currently giving a statement. we have heard from the us ambassador, nikki haley, is telling that meeting that that attack had been perpetrated by president basher as —— basher al—assad. she said that evenif —— basher al—assad. she said that even if the counsel failed to act, washington would. the russian ambassador said that it had been staged for their road game, and he

called it fake news. hello, by this time last day, we had topped 25 celsius, but we haven't even got to 20. there are signs of something warming, and i know you wa nt to something warming, and i know you want to hear that. across many parts of wales, president this area of low pressure, which is around spinning some weather systems our way through this week. one of which will go further north as part of other valid on tuesday. it is an easterly wind this week, but it is not bitterly cold as these colours might suggest. the area is coming more from the east of the mediterranean, rather than siberia. some of us that will quite well, such as north—western areas of scotland. it is hardly the

costa del stornoway, but there will be some decent weather. we do is have some wet weather affecting parts of ignorant and wales, gradually migrating northwards, sunny spells north—west scotland, and up east anglia, southern england and up east anglia, southern england and south wales. but there could be heavy and possibly thundery showers developing. that easterly flow though will certainly limit temperature is beyond the north sea coast, especially from the wash northwards. the arrows are travelling in a way of a cold north sea, cooling closer to the sea temperature. that is what you're getting right on the coastline. but have so much of that to freddie southern and western parts of uk. here, mid to late teens, but look at that of the cosine, just seven or 8 degrees. a lot of low cloud. both wednesday and thursday, looked generally drier. a lot of card around. some patchy aspects of rain, but it in parts of england and

wales. on thursday, this sort of... north—west scotland, is seeing some of those sunny spells. into southern england, too. but, we are watching some that could bring some wet weather into parts of east south—east england and entrance thursday. some of that rain feeling north —— being felt and west. still that same range of temperatures because of that easterly flow coming to the uk. but, it looked as if we go to change that weather pattern, finally, going into the weekend and the start of next week. we will start by taking a look at the jet stream. we are going to see a developing this big dip to the west of us, into the atlantic, here it comes, and then within that deep, we will see quite a large area of low pressure, just tending to just it around for a feed is, here. but as it does so, it

means we draw up feed is, here. but as it does so, it means we draw up our feed is, here. but as it does so, it means we draw up our airfrom the south, the warmer direction, it means an offshore rather than an onshore wind north sea coast, and it will be a big change for you as we bring some warm air into the uk, and some might get you 20 celsius. not at the weekend, but at the start of the following week. something warmer, a bit sane, a bit drier, but there is an exception, that has to be pointed out, but the further west you are, it might be quite windy at times, and there is a chance of some showers, or some outbreaks of rain. exactly who is included in that, how extensive that threat will be, remains open to question, and we'll be updating you as we go through the week ahead. that is how it is looking at the moment. probably a bit tégrg on bit tétrg on the bit sétrg on the horizon. tonight at ten... president trump says he'll decide within 48 hours on what action to take against syria. he said nothing was off the table after the suspected chemical attack

on a rebel—held syrian town at the weekend. we are studying that situation extremely closely. we are meeting with our military and everybody else and we will be making some major decisions over the next 24 to 48 hours. and i am at the white house where i understand the president has been seeking to persuade britain and france tojoin seeking to persuade britain and france to join any military action against syria that could come very soon. this evening, angry exchanges at an emergency united nations meeting. but russia did say syria would allow international inspectors to see the affected area as early as tomorrow. also on tonight's programme...