this is bbc news. i'm shaun ley. the headlines at 11: president trump refuses to rule out military action against syria, after a suspected chemical weapons attack on the rebel—held town of douma. we are studying that situation extremely closely. it we're meeting with our military and everybody else and will be making some decisions over the next 2a to 48 hours. syria's ambassador accused the united states of double standards because it provides aid to the country. to provide milk or food soon children, or to provide armed groups with weapons. and newsnight, after another chemical attack in important questions. if the un

cannot do anything, who can? and while president trump wants to retaliate, if nothing has worked so far, what could he do that would work now? hello. good evening and welcome to bbc news. there were sharp words at the un security council tonight, as it met in an emergency session to discuss the suspected chemical weapons attack in a rebel—held syrian town. the ambassador from russia, which backs syria, said the use of chemical gas was "not confirmed" and accused the west of "boorishness". but he did say international experts should fly to syria as early as tomorrow to see the affected area for themselves. the attack on saturday on the syrian town of douma is reported to have killed up to 60 people.

syria says it was not responsible. earlier, president trump said "major decisions" about a response to the attack would be made in the next 48 hours, adding that "nothing was off the table." here's our middle east editor, jeremy bowen. his report contains some images which you may find distressing. most of the casualties in syria's war were attacked with bullets and high explosives but chemical weapons ata high explosives but chemical weapons at a special horror. this is the aftermath of what witnesses said was aftermath of what witnesses said was a chemical attack, as douma, a town just outside damascus fell to the regime. we are not showing the pictures we have of dozens of dead bodies with foam on their mouths, which can be a sign of a chemical attack. all this is not evidence of the use of chemical weapons by the regime, said the russians. president trump is not leave them. we will be making some major decisions over the

next 24 to 48 hours. if it is russia, if it is syria, if it is the rhyme, if it is all of them together, we will figure it out and we will know the answer quite soon. in seven years of fighting, syria's war has changed from a campaign to overthrow the regime to a mini war war that is being fought by many of the world's most powerful countries and looks to be escalating. at the un in new york, a stark divisions over syria and weapons of mass destruction at expanding into an ever more serious international crisis. translation: russia is being unpardonable youth threatened. the tone of the way this is being done has gone beyond the threshold of what is acceptable, even during the cold war. 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 flagrant disregard for the coalition 's that are universal oi'i the coalition 's that are universal on the use of weapons of mass destruction. a year ago, the americans retaliated after another chemical attack on syrian civilians. it was mostly symbolic. the assad regime, with russian and iranian help, has continued to strengthen its position. from the start of the war, the us and their allies called on president bashar al—assad to go but they did not back their words with deeds. when the us was vunerable, the us chose not to act. —— when the regime was. now, he has the backing of iran's supreme leader and of course, vladimir putin. that

makes in stronger than at any time since the war began in 2011. it is ha rd to since the war began in 2011. it is hard to see what the west can do to change that. the americans and the british missed their chance. in the last 48 hours, syria's mini war war has been heating up. this is said to be in israeli jet crossing to invade syria. it had the same target, an airbase. hitting the airbase was not about chemical weapons but israel's fight with alarm. supporters of president assad took to the streets in aleppo, the city in which the coalition between the syrian regime, the russians and the iranians scored their first significant victory. they still look to be the war‘s big winners and it is hard to see how western retaliation for the latest chemical attack is going to change that. in the past few minutes, syria's un representative

bashar al—jaafari has been speaking at the security council meeting. he accused the united states of hypocrisy over its stance on the syrian conflict. translation: some permanent members have become professional liars and this in itself is a weapon of mass destruction. through lying, israel was occupied, through lying, palestine was occupied. through lying, they fuelled the war in the korean peninsula. the lying, they invaded vietnam's, to lying, they invaded vietnam's, to lying, they invaded grenada, through lying, they occupied iraq, through lying, they destroyed libya, through lying they established organisations such as the islamic state, al qaeda, the taliban, and the list goes on. they

are trying to invade syria and prepare the ground for immigration. it is worthy to note that the statements, the negative statement of the us representative, is in contradiction with a statement made by general mattis, defence secretary. he said in an interview with newsweek two days ago, with a journalist, thisjournalist with newsweek two days ago, with a journalist, this journalist used a title for this interview, i weeded out in english. now, general mattis admits there was no evidence president assad use poison gas on his own people. this is not the

syrian defence minister, it is the american defence secretary. how coherent is this administration? 0n the 10th of december 2000 12, 2012, so six years ago, the 10th of december 2000 12, 2012, so six years ago, we the 10th of december 2000 12, 2012, so six years ago, we conveyed formal letter to the council. so before the first time the operators of terrorist groups claimed that sarin gas was used on march 19, 2013, we informed you that the united states, the united kingdom and france have launched a campaign of allegations claiming that the syrian government might have used chemical weapons. back then, we warned that such

allegations would encourage governments that sponsor terrorist is to provide chemical weapons to armed terrorist groups and then claims, claimed that the syrian government had use those weapons. what happened in the past few years in eastern ghouta and other villages and towns in syria, confirms unequivocally that what we had warned of five years ago... the united states, the united kingdom and france had been so eager to hold one meeting after the other, based one meeting after the other, based on fabricated information. this is pa rt on fabricated information. this is part of a deep crisis that we are witnessing and they want to involve other council members in this crisis. these three countries

created in the security council, since 2013, the big elephant of lies and deceit and this elephant is living today in this chamber and is stamping with its huge feet on the credibility of this council. it seems that these countries call for holding the session to support terrorist and to obstruct the agreement reached about douma. however, these countries were a bit late because the terrorists wanted this meeting to be held before they we re this meeting to be held before they were forced to reach an agreement with the syrian state to leave their strongholds and hand over their weapons. these countries were late in fulfilling their promises to the terrorist ‘s. it would have been better not to repeat this broken record, and not to rely on false reports from mercenaries, so—called

happy white helmets. the syrian representatives speaking at the un a little while ago. 0ur north america editorjon sopel has more on what president trump's options on syria could be. with her president trump use the words heinous, barbaric, horrible, atrocious. this is a question about humanity. —— we have heard. i have spoken to a senior source said that the direction of travel is that something has to be done in the next 48 hours in the americans are hoping that the british and the french will be alongside them, that is in marked contrast to the year ago when the president did not really consult the french or the british at all about that cruise missile strike that took place than. now, the president has not yet spoken to theresa may. that call is expected to happen in the next 24 hours or so. i suppose the american concern will be that theresa may decides she has got to refer this to the british parliament to decide upon, that would upset

donald trump, to put it mildly, and i think the americans are hoping that the british will be on board and they have given some indications that they will be, but that then brings you to the question of what will be. america has the ability to launch whatever kind of strikes it wa nts. launch whatever kind of strikes it wants. it wants the british and the french there as well, but you do what you did last year, which was a limited strike on one airfield and a year later seems to have made no difference, or do you do something much more powerful and forceful in terms of an attack on syria but which are risks destabilising the area still further and perhaps in blaming the situation, and with russia warning of dire consequences? isa russia warning of dire consequences? is a finely calibrated judgements that have to be made, and one other thing, the president last week was talking about pulling troops out of syria, is nothing to do with us. is his position now a or might change ain? —

his position now a or might change again? —— a settled one. gangs that recruit children as drugs couriers will be one of the targets of a new government strategy aimed at cutting violent crime in england and wales. the home secretary, amber rudd, announced a series of measures, including messages online and more support for organisations helping them. it comes as a leaked home office report linked a rise in violence with falling numbers of police officers. a man has been shot dead by armed police in romford in east london. scotland yard said officers were called just before 4am this morning to reports of a man making threats and claiming to have a gun. the police watchdog is now investigating. the offices of donald trump's personal lawyer had been raided by the fbi and documents are used. files taken the late to payments made to stormy daniels, an actor in pornography films who claims that she had a relationship with trump. facebook has begun notifying users

this evening about whether they are amongst the 87 million people whose data was shared with the controversial consultancy firm, cambridge analytica. it happened as facebook‘s founder, mark zuckerberg, arrived in washington to answer questions about the scandal in front of a senate committee. mark zuckerberg has promised investments to improve security and acknowledge that his company did not do enough to stop the misuse of data. now on bbc news, it's time for newsnight with evan davies. almost exactly a year ago to the day, president trump launched a missile attack on syria in retaliation for a chemical attack. now it looks like we're facing the same situation again. a new front has opened in the post—skripal information war, but syria is facing the wrath of the west at the alleged chemical attack on saturday, and so is its ally russia. as president trump weighs his strike options, russia warns him there could be "grave repurcussions" and tensions ratchet up across the region. also tonight. you might think politics

in northern ireland is dysfunctional now: it used to be far worse. we mark tomorrow's twentieth anniversary of the good friday agreement with one of its architects. a sad side story, your mother died in the days before. yeah, my mother took a heart attack on the sunday morning, just as i was involved in the talks and she died on the monday. so the removal was the tuesday and she was buried on the wednesday. also tonight, is there a direct link between police numbers and violent crime? this labour police commissioner says yes. this conservative politician says no. who's right? and this — for some, prefab homes, are fab homes.