hello. this is the briefing. i'm sally bundock. our top stories: president trump promises a forceful response to the suspected chemical attack in syria. his decision is expected soon. 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. president trump blasts the fbi raids on david cohen — his personal lawyer — and calls it a "witch hunt". and 20 years since the good friday agreement, but is it still relevant? getting ready for a grilling. the facebook boss prepares to face questions from us politicians over his firm's data scandal. also in business, the chinese president pledges to open up the world's second biggest economy, as his country faces a potential

trade war with the us. we'll be live in shanghai for the latest. a very warm welcome to the programme, briefing you on all you need to know in global news, business and sport. and also, you can be a part of the conversation. do tell us what you think about the stories we're covering or what you are spotting. just use the hashtag, #bbcthebriefing. we begin with the bitter exchanges of words between the us and russia at the un over the response to the suspected chemical attack in syria.

president trump vowed to respond "forcefully" to the attack, after russia rejected washington's call for an independent investigation. moscow warned that any action against syria would have "grave repercussions". david willis has the latest. their images in this report that you may find distressing. —— they are the images which are pressing western leaders to act but the tangle of alliances in syria's escalating civil war makes avenging what is thought to be a chemical weapons attack a potentially precarious proposition. nonetheless, president trump is promising a swift response. we are going to make a decision tonight or very shortly thereafter, and you will be hearing thereafter, and you will be hearing the decision but we can't let atrocities like we all witnessed, and you can see that and it is

horrible, we cannot let that happen in ourworld, we horrible, we cannot let that happen in our world, we cannot let that happen, especially when we are able to because of the power of the united states, because of the power of our country, we able to stop it. at america's efforts to stop the violence might only served to inflame it, as well as the regime of shah al—assad, the us is pointing the finger at two of his staunchest allies, russia and iran. the russian regime, whose hands are all covered in the blood of syrian children, cannot be ashamed by pictures of its victims. we have tried that before, we must not overlook russia and iran's roles in allowing the assad regime's murderous destruction. international committee must not let this happen. prompting russia's ambassador to the un to warn of grave repercussions should the us ta ke grave repercussions should the us take military action in syria.

translation: russia is being unpardonable in threatened. the tone of the way this is being done has gone beyond the threshold of what is acceptable, even during the cold war. america went it alone last year, firing, hawk missiles at a syrian air base in retaliation for the killing of dozens of civilians & gas attack. this time, it would like britain or france also be part of any military action. but the assad regime has strengthened its position since that attack and it is widely thought to be stronger now than at any time since the seven year civil war began, making the dilemma of how to respond this time around all the greater. and we will have more analysis of that story later on in

this programme, but for now, let's focus on president trump. he has angrily condemned an fbi raid on the offices of his personal lawyer michael cohen, describing it as a "witch hunt". the washington post says mr cohen is under investigation for finance violations relating to the 2016 presidential campaign. lebo diseko has more. a furious donald trump accuse the fbi of trekking into the office his attorney. the president says this is attorney. the president says this is a total witch—hunt. attorney. the president says this is a total witch-hunt. and it is a disgrace, it is frankly a real disgrace, it is frankly a real disgrace, it is an attack on our country in a true sense. it is an attack on what we all stand for, so when i saw this and when i heard it, i heard it when you did, i said that is really now in a whole new level of unfairness. when agents searched his residence, hotel room and office, they were acting in part on a referral from special counsel robert mueller, he is the man

investigating suspected russian meddling in the 2016 election. among the items seized, according to his lawyer, privileged communication between michael cohen and his clients, files relating to the pawn star stormy daniels and files relating to the $130,000 that michael cohen it's paying her. mr colin's lawyer says the fbi's action was completely inappropriate and unnecessary, but necessary or not, a raid on the personal lawyer of the president of united states certainly significant. let's brief you on some of the other stories making the news. public sector workers in germany are beginning a series of short strikes, amid an escalating wage dispute. the industrial action is set to cause great disruption for air passengers today, with lufthansa forced to cancel more than half of its scheduled flights today. the british government's considering a ban on all live

exports of animals after brexit. ministers say the idea is part of efforts to be a global leader on welfare. such a ban is not currently possible under the rules of the single market. the international criminal court has been asked to rule on whether it has the jurisdiction to investigate and prosecute the coerced deportation of rohingyas from myanmar to bangladesh. hundreds of thousands have fled to bangladesh, which is a signatory to the court — but myanmar is not. the mexican president enrique pena nieto has ordered his government to review all aspects of cooperation with the united states. the move follows days of tension with washington following president trump's decision to deploy national guard troops to the border. today is the day that facebook boss mark zuckerberg will testify before the us congress for the first time.

he'll face some tough questions in the light of the company's huge data breach. he's acknowledged that the company didn't do enough to stop misuse of its users' data. justin urquhart stewart, director of seven investment management, joins me now. is he with us for the briefing, good morning, great to see you. —— he is here with us. many have been calling for him to say something for weeks, what do you make of his day of reckoning, as it were? well, from both him and his chief executive, we have not heard very much from them at all. you mean the chief operating china's president has promised his country's economy will enter a new phase of opening up to greater international competition. xijinping said china would improve investment opportunities, strengthen protection of intellectual property rights and cut import tariffs on vehicles — all areas high on the list of demands by the united states. translation: china will stick to the path of peaceful development, actively pursue global partnerships, uphold multilateralism and take

an active part in reforming the global governance system. by doing so, we will be able to build a new type of international relations and to promote a community with a shared future for mankind. no matter how much progress china has made in development, china will not threaten anyone else, attempt to overturn the existing international system or seek steers of influence. we saw an upturn in the natural markets in asia in reaction to his speech. we will have more on that in the business briefing. the former us president bill clinton and tony blair are among a number of international figures in belfast today to mark the 20th anniversary of the good friday agreement. the deal is seen as the most significant breakthrough in the northern ireland peace process. the event comes at a time of political uncertainty at stormont, where power—sharing collapsed last year. jennifer 0'leary has been

examining its legacy two decades on. anniversaries are often a time to celebrate and reflect on the past. to consider how much northern ireland has changed over the last 20 yea rs, ireland has changed over the last 20 years, it is necessary to look back at the years that came before. 0ver the course of three decades, violence he was commonplace. the goal of the unionist majority was to remain part of the united kingdom, the goal of the nationalist and republican and 90 was to become part of the republic of ireland. in the conflict known as the troubles, violence was largely perpetrated by paramilitary groups on both sides, such as the ira. while others were killed by the british security forces. 0ver killed by the british security forces. over 3500 people were killed, the majority civilians and thousands more injured. several attem pts thousands more injured. several atte m pts to thousands more injured. several attempts to find that critical solution failed until the 1998 good friday agreement. this is it, this is the agreement. you have it in your hand. it is not a day for the

soundbite, really. ifeelthat, i feel the hand of history upon our shoulders. it is still largely bought anand to the sectarian violence. —— that he is still largely bought anand. and while there has been considerable progress, flashpoints remain in some communities are still divided by so—called peace walls, like this one in west belfast. but today, many are reflecting on the historical peace deal‘s main achievement. reflecting on the historical peace deal's main achievement. the truth is the agreement was never going to usherin is the agreement was never going to usher in a brave new world and everything is going to be fine at where we are today should be compared not the ideal world but with where we were. it marks a seismic shift in northern ireland's political landscape, culminating in

the eventual return of self—government here at stormont, but politics is at a standstill because the assembly, set up under the peace deal, has been suspended for over a year now following a row between the largest powersharing parties. tensions now largely pay out in political discourse, a so—called dividend of the good friday agreement, which paved the way for what some describe as northern ireland's welcome, if imperfect peace. stay with us on the briefing. also on the programme: day 7 of the commonwealth games in australia. we'll be live from the gold coast with a full round—up of all the latest action. years of hatred and rage as theyjump up on the statue.

this funeral became a massive demonstration of black power, a power to influence. today is about the promise of a bright future, a day when we hope a line can be drawn under the bloody past. i think that picasso's works were beautiful, they were intelligent and it's a sad loss to everybody who loves art. you're watching the briefing. 0ur headlines: the fbi has raided the offices

of president trump's personal lawyer, michael cohen. washington is planning a forceful response to the suspected chemical attack in the syrian city of douma at the weekend. moscow warned that any action against its syrian ally would have "grave repercussions". let's stay with that story now. joining us from washington is kenan rahmani. he's a policy adviser at human rights advocacy group, the syrian campaign. thank you for being with us. let's get your take on whether you believe a strike on the part of the us, a decisive strong reaction, what impact that would have on the ground. thank you for having me on. first of all, it is important to a lwa ys first of all, it is important to always acknowledged the horrific reality that syrians deal with on a daily basis. they are living through

hell on earth and now that is, again, including the use of chemical wa rfa re again, including the use of chemical warfare against them. on saturday, again, including the use of chemical headed the fact that lasted about eight months that has not completely deterred this —— the assad regime from launching these attacks. campaign for the full grounding of the regime's airforce campaign for the full grounding of the regime's air force so they can no longer launched attacks against civilians. you are on the view that he was behind this attack. if true, why do you think you carry this out now given the fact that president assad seems to be very much on the upper hand. first of all, the city had been surviving for years under a very brutal siege by the size regime. the regime failed to try to

ta ke regime. the regime failed to try to take this city from rebels. people have been resilient, they have created their own democracies and local governance and the regime was never able to advance. 0n local governance and the regime was never able to advance. on saturday, the regime had resumed nearly 36 hours of very intense shelling, and speaking to civilians on the ground there, the straw that finally broke there, the straw that finally broke the camel ‘s back when it comes to getting them to surrender to regime forces was this horrific chemical attack. this horrific tech chemical attack. this horrific tech chemical attack made it possible for the regime to achieve militarily the same outcome that would have taken months perhaps and many casualties on the side of the regime of the army in order to take this and force the people to surrender. there a military objective to this chemical attack. the second thing to note is

that the regime is not predictable in the sense that sometimes they use chemical weapons, sometimes, you know, this fits very much within the mod and the regime. there is nothing surprising about this for people studying the conflict. thank you very much forjoining us. your path that give on what is going on right now. it's day 7 of the commonwealth games on australia's gold coast and the action is underway. let's get the latest from the bbc‘s sports correspondent, chris mitchell, who's there for us. hello, sally. we are inside the athletes village for you right now. a very interesting place to be right now, all the athletes mingling around, getting rings like their hair cut around, getting rings like their haircut or around, getting rings like their hair cut or washing or doing some shopping. the big line coming out of the games today is another high—profile withdrawal from them,

and it is tom daley this time, the world champion in diving. he has pulled out of the ten metre platform dive, that is the one he does on his own. he is apparently injured, a hip injury. however, he says he will try at least to compete in a ten metre synchronised dive, where you do the dive with a part. more bad news for the organisers. he was a headline act, but he will play no part in the ten metre dive. cameron meyer on one of the first goals of the game, another one for australia in the meantime trial on the road cycling. it is not all about the gold medals here. it is about people changing their lives through sport. i met caroline jabbar yesterday. she plays lawn bowls for tonga, and she told me in lawn bowls for tonga, and she told meina lawn bowls for tonga, and she told me in a very emotional interview how lawn bowls actually saved her life. she had lost everything she cared about, her husband, her child taken

away from her because she had turned to alcohol. now she has turned to lawn bowls and it has turned her life around. i lost my marriage, my daughter was taken life around. i lost my marriage, my daughter was ta ken away life around. i lost my marriage, my daughter was taken away and i actually lost the plot, basically, and went down really destructive path. every minute i had, i would find a bar, find a drink, i thought drowning myself, it was the perfect solution for me. drown myself in drink and go to sleep, wake up hoping it will improve. but it didn't. and bowls actually, i believe, saved my life. , doesn't have a green, so going to auckland and seeing my sister and niece playing bowls, ithought, well, and seeing my sister and niece playing bowls, i thought, well, what i could give this a go. i think i could do this. it was the turning point in my life. a very emotional meeting. she is so happy to have her

family back and to have found lawn bowls. it is notjust about the gold medals for some of the competitors here. spot changing their lives in other ways. that said, either click on will be looking for a gold a little later ron for botswana. some of you might remember him, he didn't do very well in moscow. —— glasgow. he was too cold. is much prefers the conditions here and he will go in as one of the favourites. he is looking for gold for botswana. south africa had a wonderful day on the track and in the pool last night, and they will be looking for another gold on the track, because caster semenya is here. she goes as the favourite in the 1500 metres a little later on, her preferred distance is 800 metres, but she has such qualities, she is expected to win that quite easily. you will remember her winning the gold in rio, and of course, the gold in london. she is

an olympic champion and she is the quality athlete on the track this evening here in the gold coast. a lot going on, a lot of gold medals being one, and a lot of lives being changed. quite a story. many, many stories. many people hitting records and changing their lives, really. stay with us here on bbc news. i will see you soon. hello there. it is a very slowly changing weather pattern this week. broadly, the week is going to be disappointing temperatures for many parts of the uk, because there is a lot of cloud and could be some further rain at times. easterly winds bringing that lot so it's always going to be brightest further west across the uk, and perhaps across southern counties, as well, seeing some sunshine. this is the pressure pattern we have on tuesday.

a big area of low pressure to the south of us, and that's dominating the chart, certainly. and it's spilling up some rain away from iberia, pushing across france and heading northwards across the uk. so we saw rain developing through the evening and overnight. that continues its journey northwards up into scotland, away from the north—west, a bit drier for england and wales. still a lot of misty low cloud for a while. some sunshine in southern england could trigger some heavy showers during the afternoon. temperatures here perhaps 16 or even 17 degrees, so an improvement on monday. now, wetter weather moves up and away from northern ireland and scotland. at the same time, we could see some rain originating from germany, coming across the low countries, heading towards our shores. and at the moment, it looks like that rain is more likely to affect the midlands, perhaps wales, possibly pushing into northern england. again, some sunshine in the north—west of scotland. perhaps some sunshine across southern counties of england, boosting those temperatures. but again, we have a big range of temperatures. in the sunshine, not too bad, but again 7 or 8 degrees around the eastern coast

of scotland, north—east england, where the winds are a little bit stronger and coming in off the north sea. high pressure centred over scandinavia. low pressure here across france and in between that easterly wind. it's always going to be a stronger wind in the northern part of the uk. even on thursday, there could be a few showers coming in from off the north sea again. some brighter skies further west and across the south, but we could see some wetter weather developing in the south—east, the air destabilising. conditions are ripe for rain to develop across this part of the uk, still dominated by low pressure. lighter winds for most of us probably by friday, away from the northern half of scotland, where we still have the stronger winds. more rain developing, pushing its way northwards overnight. at the moment, some heavier rain looks likely across scotland and north—east england for a while, although it might well brighten up a touch and it may well feel warmer with lighter winds. there's still a chance of a few showers across england and wales, but wetter weather overnight. this is your business briefing. i'm sally bundock. unwelcome status update.

facebook boss mark zuckerberg gets ready for a grilling from us lawmakers over his firm's privacy scandal. president xi pledges new steps to open up his markets to global trade. will this be enough to ease tensions with washington? financial markets in asia rose following the speech from president xi. shares of some of the world's biggest carmarers in toyota are among the winners.