welcome to bbc news, broadcasting to viewers in north america and around the globe. my name is mike embley. our top stories — president trump promises a forceful response to the suspected chemical attack in syria. his decision is expected soon. we are studying that situation extremely closely. we are meeting with our military, and everybody else, and we'll be making some major decisions over the next 2a to 48 hours. russia rejects calls for an independent inquiry but america's ambassador to the un points the finger clearly at syria's allies. we must not overlook russia and iran's roles in enabling the assad regime's murderous destruction. the international community must not let this happen. facebook users are told whether they are among the 87 million whose personal data was misused. president trump has said it's becoming increasingly clear

who is responsible for the latest suspected chemical weapons attack in syria and he's promised a quick and forceful decision on a response, possibly within hours. there's been sweeping international condemnation of saturday's attack on douma, believed to have killed up to 60 people. there were sharp words at an emergency session of the un security council. russia, which backs syria, said the incident was staged and warned that an american military strike in response could lead to grave repercussions. our middle east editorjeremy bowen starts our coverage. there are images you may find distressing. most of the casualties in syria's war were attacked with bullets and high explosive, but chemical weapons have a special horror. this is the aftermath of what witnesses said

was a chemical attack, as douma, a town just outside damascus, fell to the regime. we're not showing you 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, say the russians. president trump doesn't believe them. we'll be making some major decisions over the next 2a to 48 hours. if it's russia, if it's syria, if it's iran, if it's all of them together, we'll figure it out, and we'll know the answers quite soon. in seven years of fighting, syria's war has changed from a campaign to overthrow the regime to a mini world 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,

stark divisions over syria and weapons of mass destruction, wmds, are expanding into an even more serious international crisis. translation: russia is being unpardonably 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 prohibitions that are universal on the use of wmds. 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, britain and their allies called for president assad to go,

but they didn't back their words with deeds. when the president was vunerable, the us and the uk chose not to act. now, he has the firm backing of iran's supreme leader, ayatollah khamenei, and of course russia's president putin. that makes him stronger than at any time 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 world war has been heating up. this is said to be an israeli jet crossing lebanon to raid syria. in february, the israelis had a plane shot down as it hit the same target — an airbase called t4. hitting t4 was not about chemical weapons, but israel's fight with iran. 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. jeremy bowen, bbc news. the us ambassador to the un, nikki haley told the security council that syria's president, bashar al—assad, bore responsibility for what had happened. she called him a monster who must be held to account, and also criticised his backers, russia and iran. ms haley said that even if the council failed to act, washington would. who does this? only a monster does this. only a monster targets civilians, and then ensures that 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 is 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 shamed by pictures of its victims. we've tried that before. we must not overlook russia and iran's roles in enabling the assad regime's murderous destruction. 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 seejustice 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. with that promise of

a response by the us, what are president trump's options? here's our north america editor, jon sopel. well, we've heard president trump use the words heinous, barbaric, horrible, atrocious — this is a question about humanity. i've spoken to a senior source who said the direction of travel is that something has to be done in the next 48 hours, and that the americans are hoping that the british and the french will be alongside them. now, that is in marked contrast to a year ago, when the president didn't really consult the french or the british at all about that liberty cruise missile strike that took place then. 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's 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've been given some indications that they will be. but that then brings you to the question of what action. america has the ability to launch whatever sort of strikes it wants. it wants the british and the french there as well. but do 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 risks destabilising the region still further, and perhaps inflaming the situation, and with russia warning of dire consequences? these are finely calibrated judgements that have to be made. and one other thing — the president last week was talking about pulling troops out of syria, it's nothing to do with us. is his position now a settled one, or might it change again?

jonathan scha nzer is senior vice president of foundation for defense of democracies. he's in washington. what do you expect from the us and, if anything, from the un?” what do you expect from the us and, if anything, from the un? i don't expect much from the un. the russians would have a veto of any meaningful action and i don't really believe that the international community is primed to do anything now. donald trump, is he willing to re—examine? there was an indication he wanted to leave syria entirely. i think a case can be made now, perhaps with a new national security

adviser in place, with the israeli is taking shots with the iranians inside syria, with chemical weapons attacks taking place in the outskirts of damascus, all of these things perhaps point to the president trained to recalibrate that policy and perhaps shift from the islamic state is the islamic republic. there doesn't seem to be any mechanism of accountability for the use of chemical weapons. you see any point of leveraged? not at the moment but i can note that i think russia which has played the role of protector for both the iranians and the assad regime, i think they are beginning to see how toxic this alliance has been and how troubling it is for them. not so much in terms of ramifications on the chemical weapons front but merely that the israelis are now targeting iranian assets inside syria. putin may be presiding over a war between assad,

the iranians and the israeli. this is certainly not what he had in mind when he first entered syria in 2015 and perhaps that may change some of it. we are often told that president assad is winning with the allies he has that he can't take control of the whole country again. you have to wonder, if he is prepared to do this against almost anyone, could he in fa ct ta ke against almost anyone, could he in fact take control of the whole country? i don't believe he can take control of the country. i'm not even sure he can take control over the parts that his regime currently inhabits. this is a leader now who is really a hollow shell of what he once was when this conflict began. the russians have taken over, the iranians are operating at will, the allies that assad has chosen have effectively hollowed him out over time. i do believe that even if he survives the wall and it is somehow

consolidated, i don't believe there is much of the government left. we know now that his army has been thoroughly depleted so there is not much of the regime to talk about and it has now essentially become an iranian and russian proxy state. live to china web president xi jinping is addressing the opening of a majorforum jinping is addressing the opening of a major forum which jinping is addressing the opening of a majorforum which brings together asian leaders, government officials and businesses in the hannath province. because of a trade war between the u s and china likely to between the u s and china likely to be on his agenda and his keynote speech likely to announce economic reforms. we have a translation i think. translation: between foreign and chinese enterprises and potentially lawfully itr owned by private enterprises in china. at the same time, i hope foreign governments will also improve protection of chinese itr. fourth,

we will take the initiative to expand the imports. domestic demand is the driving force for china's economic development and an essential requirement for us to meet people ‘s ever—growing need for a better life. china does not seek trade surplus. we have a genuine desire to increase imports and achieve greater balance of international payments under the current accounts. this year, we will significantly lower the import ta riffs significantly lower the import tariffs for vehicles and also reduce import tariffs for some other products. we will work hard to import more products that are competitive and i needed by our people. we will seek faster progress

toward joining the government procurement agreement. we hope developed countries will stop imposing restrictions on normal and reasonable trade of high—tech products and relax their controls of such trade with china. this november, we will hold the first china international import expo in shanghai. this is a major platform. it will be an annual event. it is not just another expo in it will be an annual event. it is notjust another expo in the ordinary sense but major policy initiative and the commitment taken of our own accord to open up the chinese market. friends from around

the world are welcome to participate in exports. i wish to emphasise that, with regard to all those major initiatives of opening up that i have just announced, we initiatives of opening up that i havejust announced, we have initiatives of opening up that i have just announced, we have every intention to translate them into reality sooner rather than later. applause we wa nt applause we want the outcomes of our opening up we want the outcomes of our opening up efforts to deliver benefits as $0011 up efforts to deliver benefits as soon as possible to all enterprises and people in china and around the world. iam and people in china and around the world. i am confident that with these efforts, china's financial sector will be much more competitive. 0ur capital market will continue to enjoy healthy development. the modern systems will

be accelerated, and intellectual property rights will be protected. in short, china will enter a new phase of opening up. five years ago, i put forward an initiative, the bri. since then more than 80 countries and agencies have signed cooperation agreements with china. the bri maybe china's idea, but its opportunities and outcomes are going to benefit the world. china has no geopolitical calculations, seeks no exclusionary blocks, and imposes no business deals on others. it must be

pointed out that, as the bri is a new initiative, it is perfectly natural for there to be different views. as long as the parties embrace the principle of extensive consultation, joint contribution and shared benefits, we can surely enhance cooperation and resolve differences. this way we can make the bri the broadest platform for international cooperation, in keeping with the trend of international globalisation, and to the greater benefit of all of our peoples. ladies and gentlemen, friends, as a chinese saying goes, a

mountain is formed by accumulation of earth, and an ocean is formed by accumulation of water. happiness and success will not occur automatically. success only favours those with courage and perseverance. let us dedicate ourselves to openness and win—win outcomes, be brave to change and break new ground, and keep striving for a community with a shared future for mankind, and a better tomorrow for asia and the world. in closing, i wish this boao forum conference com plete wish this boao forum conference complete success. thank you. xi jinping they are, live from hainan,

the boao forum there, a majorforum bringing together international leaders in hainan province. you may well have heard but in case you just joined us, china's reform and opening up, he says, will definitely succeed. he said a cold war mentality, zero—sum thinking and isolationism will build walls. 0pening brings progress and closure will lead to backwardness. more concrete things, he said china will step up protection of intellectual property, and china will also lower import tariffs on vehicles. more on that to come, i am sure, but that's it from hainan for the moment. the president, in fact, just finished. i'm joined by guy ziv from the school of international service at the american university in washington. welcome, thank you very much for your time. what do you expect to happen straightaway? well, first of

all, this is not the first time that assad has used chemical weapons. he has done so before. he did so in august 2013 using sarin gas, which killed 1000 people, he used sarin gas last april, in which 80 to 100 people were killed, and we saw the tragic events unfold in douma the other day. i think that the international community cannot be silent in the wake of these atrocities, and has two... i expect the united states to send a very clear message to assad that the use of chemical weapons is unacceptable, and this is a red line that has been crossed too many times and cannot be crossed too many times and cannot be crossed again. the scale of the response is the tricky thing, isn't it? the last time, i think about the year ago, it was felt that was very limited and really just year ago, it was felt that was very limited and reallyjust a gesture. but this is already a mini world war. something much bigger risks bringing something much bigger. yes, andi

bringing something much bigger. yes, and i think that we need to account for other actors, bigger actors than syria's assad. and we need to take them into account as well. and i am referring here specifically to his enablers, the russians and the iranians. i wasn't surprised that an israeli attack on the air force base, that for mark out of 14 military personnel who were killed we re military personnel who were killed were iranian offices. this is another demonstration of iran's destabilising role in the middle east, and israel, as you know, has been a key actor in countering iran's destabilising activities. and i suspect that it will continue to counter iran's negative activities in the months ahead, as well. do you have any sense how the situation in syria might play out, ultimately? well, i think that there is no way to predict what is going to happen. and this could clearly escalate into

a war, into a regional war. and this could clearly escalate into a war, into a regionalwar. it and this could clearly escalate into a war, into a regional war. it can clearly devolve into something none of us want to see, including a vacuum without any kind of leadership there. so i don't think we are talking about regime change at this point in time. but what we are talking about is perhaps weakening assad's ability to conduct these chemical weapons attacks on his own people. and that means i would expect president trump to carry out his threat, and to do so imminently. and that means perhaps destroying a good chunk of assad's air force. destroying the helicopters and the planes that are used to carry out these chemical weapons. . . . used to carry out these chemical weapons. ... these used to carry out these chemical weapons. these chemical weapons attacks on his own people. but more importantly, i think it is very importantly, i think it is very important that this white house establish a coherent strategy. right now there is no coherent strategy, and this white house is a look ru d d e rless

and this white house is a look rudderless ship, without a clear direction. and that lack of coherence is what is enabling ruthless dictators like assad to commit these heinous atrocities. professor, forgive me. i must leave it there. thank you very much indeed for that. i hope we talk to you again. thank you. facebook‘s ceo, mark zuckerberg, has been on capitol hill, meeting with members of congress ahead of two scheduled hearings this week. in the coming days, he'll face tough questions on how the data of millions of users got into the hands of the political consulting firm cambridge analytica. facebook has begun notifying the 87 million users whose information was shared in that breach. 0ur media editor amol rajan reports. in less than a decade and a half, one company has done more than any other to connect the world, and not always in a good way. each time we scroll, share or like something on facebook, we leave a digital footprint. and our personal data can be scraped by developers of apps, or applications, some of whom pass that information on to companies such as cambridge analytica.

the british data firm's alleged use of such data has plunged facebook into the biggest crisis in its history. some 87 million users' data ended up in the firm's hands, 1 million of them british. this mathematician and entrepreneur gave evidence to mps at the same time as a whistle—blower who worked for cambridge analytica. the cambridge analytica story shows that their policies and practices are not sufficient to handle our personal data properly. so i wouldn't trust facebook, or mark zuckerberg for that matter, with our personal data. the personal data is an extension of ourselves. do we really want to sell it, just like we would sell an organ, maybe? so there's — we have to be very careful there. this evening, facebook started pushing out notifications to users. it could take up to 48 hours to reach everyone. 0ne message will be sent to all users, showing them how to remove apps they would rather didn't have access to their data. 0ther notifications are being sent specifically to those targeted by this is your digital life. it was this app which an academic used to harvest information that was sent on to cambridge analytica. people who downloaded the app and

their friends people who downloaded the app and theirfriends are being notified that their data has been shared. not so long ago, most of us kept our most personal information in something like this, in hard copy. if you lost it, or if someone took it, then maybe one person would have access to that precious information. but now, most of us leave such information online, and there such information can be scraped, shared or marketed to thousands of people. and, once you lose control of it, it is very hard to get back. tonight, founder and chief executive mark zuckerberg arrived in washington, eschewing his usual t—shirt and jeans. testifying this week before us congress, he is expected to discuss facebook‘s privacy settings. mark zuckerberg has done a lot of apologising lately. he may do so again. amol rajan, bbc news.

hello again, good morning. west wales, the far south—west of england saw the best of the temperatures and sunshine on monday. for many other parts of the uk, it was rather dull and misty. we saw rain developing more widely across england, pushing into wales, and that will continue to work its way northwards. and for most of us, disappointing temperatures this week. a lot of cloud, some rain at times. easterly winds are setting up so it's always going to be better towards more western parts of the uk. at the moment, our weather map is dominated by a large area of low pressure. that's not really going anywhere at all, picking rain up from iberia and pushing it towards france and heading it towards our shores. so the rain that's been developing continues to work its way northwards through the day, away eventually from northern england, up into scotland apart from the far north—west. some wetter weather later for northern ireland. some cloud behind that, and still rather misty, especially in the hills, as it brightens up across the southern parts of england.

and as we get some sunshine, it will get a bit warmer but it could trigger some heavy showers around too and will continue into the evening. 0vernight, we'll see that rain moving away from northern ireland and scotland. the next area of rain comes in around our area of low pressure, originating from germany, moving across the low countries, and heading towards england and wales. some uncertainty about exactly where the rain is going to be on wednesday. at the moment, it looks more likely to be through the midlands, wales, possibly into northern england. should be drier for scotland and northern ireland. again, not too bad for the north—west of scotland but across eastern scotland, north—east england, higher and fret, low cloud, mist and drizzle really low temperatures as well. get some sunshine again across southern counties of england, those temperatures getting into the mid—teens quite easily. stronger winds in an easterly wind, always going to be stronger across the northern half of the uk, high pressure blocking things off from scandinavia, low pressure across france maintaining that easterly flow. not much wind, though, further south across the uk, so we get a bit of sunshine here, it shouldn't feel too bad. there won't be too much of that, mind you. some heavy rain developing

in the south—east later on, and further north, it's always going to be the eastern side of scotland and north—east england that could be dull and damp, still quite cold as well. still the same sort of weather pattern, low pressure to the south of us, high pressure to the north and across scandinavia, keeping the stronger easterly winds this time, more for northern and eastern areas of scotland, where we'll see some more rain developing probably on friday, pushing across northern england for a time. a little bit brighter further south. eventually some warmth when the sun does come out, but still the potential for some showers across england and wales. so quite a range of temperatures for most of us. a disappointing week ahead into the weekend. it's more likely to be wet and windy for northern and western areas of the uk. warmer, drier and brighter in the south—east. this is bbc news. the headlines — president trump has said it's becoming increasingly clear who is responsible for the latest suspected chemical weapons attack in syria, and he's promised a quick and forceful decision on a response — possibly within hours. russia has warned that us military action could

cause grave repercussions. there has been sweeping international condemnation. the us ambassador to the un, nikki haley, told an emergency meeting of the security council syria's president, and his allies russia and iran, bear responsibility. president trump has described a raid on the office, home and hotel room of his personal lawyer as a disgrace. fbi agents seized a phone, computer, and documents from michael cohen relating to the payment of $130,000 to the porn star stormy daniels. the washington post claims mr cohen is under investigation for campaign finance violations and bank fraud. now, spare a thought for the keepers at newquay zoo.