this is bbc news, and these are the top stories developing at 11:00: theresa may summons her cabinet to discuss the uk's response to syria's suspected use of chemical weapons— sources say she's prepared to take action without parliamentary consent. all the indications are that the syrian regime was responsible, and will be working with our closest allies to consider how we can ensure that those responsible are held to account. the findings of a report by the international chemical weapons watchdog into the salisbury attack are due out shortly. sir cliff richard arrives at the high court for the start of his case against the bbc for a breach of privacy and data protection also, police raids in south and west london — nine people, including a 14—year—old boy, have been arrested in an operation to crack down on gang criminality. a report into allegations of sexual abuse and exploitation at a boys‘ hostel and a residential school

in rochdale is to be published in the next hour. good morning. it's thursday 12th april. i'm rebecca jones. welcome to bbc newsroom live. theresa may has summoned ministers to an emergency cabinet meeting to discuss the uk's response to the suspected chemical weapons attack in syria. ministers are expected to back her call tojoin military action threatened by the united states and its allies. however, the prime minister is reported to be ready to take action without pa rliament‘s approval. joining me now from westminster is our chief political correspondent vicki young.

is it your view that the prime minister has made up her mind? the cabinet is yet to meet, so of course, that is a crucial moment for theresa may. she, as we understand it, is certainly willing to consider joining action with donald trump, with the french and other allies, without a parliamentary vote. there is no legal reason whyjihad to speak to parliament or get their authority, but it has become a bit ofa authority, but it has become a bit of a convention. now, the feeling among many mps on all sides, a vocab and in 2013, rejecting the idea of taking action against president assad's regime in syria. later on, it was authorised to take action against so—called is in that area. has anything changed between now and then? some mps, several conservatives, voted against action then, and would may well do so again. some feel that now it is just

too late and it won't make any difference. but there is another difference, of course, in the past few weeks theresa may has been phoning international leaders to get support from them, because of the poisoning, the skripal poisoning, getting support to stand up to russia. so, it is difficult for her in diplomatic terms to turn around to donald trump and say, on this occasion, we're not going to support you. those are the arguments that the cabinet will contemplate earlier on. they will want to see evidence, of course, that it was assad's regime that karen reid out the chemical attack on civilians. they also want to know that this is —— carried out. they will need to know that there is a wider plan going on here. a little earlier, sir vince cable, the leader of the lib dems, spoke to the bbc about what his party was likely to do. parliament can and should be re called parliament can and should be recalled immediately and a vote held oi'i recalled immediately and a vote held on this issue. the position is a

very dangerous one, because of russian involvement, also because of the erratic president of the united states. i don't rule out the fact that the liberal democrats might support the government if a case is made, but it has too been made when we support intervention in 2013, parliament declined to support it. the mandate has to be secured. jeremy corbyn certainly agrees with that, saying there must be no military strikes without parliamentary approval. it is very ha rd to parliamentary approval. it is very hard to see how he would ever support military action in these circumstances. the question, of course, for the labour party more broadly, dozens decided in 2013 that they would vote for military action. have they changed their mind? would they go along with it if it came to it? the other point is parliament is not sitting at the moment. they are back on monday. it is difficult for theresa may to say to donald trump, anger on, i need approvalfrom parliament. after this afternoon,

and the cabinet meeting, we will see which way she decides to go. after the cabinet meeting, you mentioned the cabinet meeting, you mentioned the precautionary voices there are against military action, will some of the voices sit around the cabinet table for the conservatives?m of the voices sit around the cabinet table for the conservatives? it is fascinating, the brexit secretary david davis voted against military action last time around. he has taken to twitter today and is saying that he has changed his mind. the point he is making is that he needs to see the evidence of what has happened, but he also needs to see the idea of this wider strategy. that is where that conversation around the cabinet table is likely to go. so many politicians in our parliament think back to iraq, i think back to libya as well. some of them think that military action doesn't solve anything on its own. you need a wider plan, and they take those two examples of ones where it hasn't really worked. this time around, that is what they will look

for. what does donald trump mean when he says there is a big price to pay for russia, but the syria as well? does he mean a wider, prolonged kind of military campaign? is he talking about one night of military strikes, like he launched last year round ? military strikes, like he launched last year round? all those things will be what the british cabinet will be what the british cabinet will want to know. while you have been speaking to us, jeremy corbyn has been speaking. he said, "more bombing, more killing, more warwill not save lives." very unequivocal statement of his position there. constitutionally, theresa may does not have to go to parliament to get permission for military strikes, does she? it has become a convention that politicians do do that. it has happened in the past, i think it was libya, where missiles were launched, and it was after that that parliament gave its approval pretty overwhelmingly. but most mps think that if there were to be a vote this time around, it would be close. many

have changed their minds, and have looked back on and maybe decided that that is not the answer. the time to act was maybe in 2013. but now, after this prolonged and horrific civil war in syria, actually, it is too late and it will not make difference. the massive risk is the idea of an escalation. jeremy corbyn, i don't think would support military action, i don't think he has in his parliamentary career, and is unlikely to do it now. he is calling for a political solution. the question for him is how you get these people to the table. if military action goes ahead, andi table. if military action goes ahead, and i appreciate this is a difficult question, do you get any sense at all of what that might actually look like? no, that is clearly what we don't know and that is what the cabinet is going to want to know. it is clearly america, it is president trump, who is driving this. their concerns are likely to be that president trump hasn't been com pletely be that president trump hasn't been completely clear about this, even about his wider strategy to do with

syria. a couple of weeks ago, he was saying that american troops should get out of syria and not be involved altogether. last time around, when president 0bama said he was willing to launch strikes because a red line had been crossed, because of the chemical weapons attack by assad, mr trump was very, very against that. there will be some concern that he's not being entirely clear exactly what his strategy here is, or indeed, what he is proposing. clearly, theresa may will have a better idea than we do about the discussions being had, notjust with president trump, but emmanuel macron of france as well. all of that to be looked at as well. but clearly, action being prepared in the next few days. vicki young in westminster, our chief political correspondent, good to hear your thoughts and we will talk to you later. for now, thank you. so what options could the us and the uk be considering in response to the suspected chemical

weapons attack in douma? the us has already got some assets in the region — the uss donald cook — a destroyer with more than 50 tomahawk cruise missiles is in the mediterranean. while a us naval strike force of six vessels headed by the air craft carrier the uss harry s truman is said to be heading to the gulf. we know, for the uk, tornado fighters and typhoon jets are stationed at raf akrotiri in cyprus. the hms duncan — a type 45 destroyer — which is currently on a routine deployment in the mediterranean could be manoeuvred to participate, and royal navy attack submarines armed with cruise missiles are believed to be moving into range. what could be the possible targets of a strike? in 2017, the us targeted a syrian government—controlled airfield in western homs, after another suspected chemical weapons attack. possible areas this time could be

the runways from which the douma attack planes took off from, and other government controlled chemical weapons stores. and if a strike does go ahead, how could moscow respond? it's never been used, butthe s—400 long—range surface—to—air missile defence system, which has been in place in syria for more than year, could be used to strike warships and planes firing missiles. let's talk to the snp mp stewart mcdonald, the spokesperson for defence. we are grateful to you, many thanks. i know you have written to the prime minister, urging caution, and also calling for a parliamentary vote before any military action is taken. why? well, at the moment, uk forces are engaged in syria on the back of are engaged in syria on the back of a mandate given to the government by parliament in december, 2015. that

mandate was specifically for the targeting of is in syria. the government, it appears, wish to go beyond that and target the assad regime. should the government wished to do that, it cannot use a parliamentary mandate that is for something else in order to do so. so, parliament must be asked. parliament must give its approval if the government wishes to do that. i, myself, am unconvinced that that kind of retaliation is the right response, but the government should not be using that 2015 mandate as some form of blank check. no parliamentarian worth their salt would allow the government to do so. except, under prerogative powers, theresa may has the right to order military strikes without consulting parliament, mandate or no mandate. you're correct to say she has the prerogative power, there's no argument about that. the question

is, should she use it in this circumstance? i go back to my point, we are only in syria because the then prime and mr david cameron felt then prime and mr david cameron felt the need to get the binding approval of parliament. any change to that mandate that he sought, any change to that mandate that parliament voted for, should only come at the behest of parliament, not at the use of the oil prerogative power. i think the public would expect that, and there's way more to discuss here than just how we should respond, but what would the consequences be of different responses? so, parliament cannot be sidelined, it would be wrong for the prime minister to proceed with oil prerogative. and as i say, any parliament area were vessel would agree with that. chemical weapons have been used, and surely the outside world has irresponsibility to demonstrate that this is not taxable, and swift milik

tree strikes, possibly before parliament can be recall, are the only option —— swift military strikes. hang on. of course, chemical weapons are to be aboard. they can never ever be allowed to become normal, that is why they are illegal under international law. there is the disagreement from me or the scottish national party on that point. if military action is to be the government's preferred option, thenit the government's preferred option, then it has to make that case to parliament. now, parliament can be recall, that's not difficult. it has happened before. that could happen tomorrow, it could happen on saturday. if the promise to does that, the snp will be there to hear what she has to say. but in terms of how we respond to the use of chemical weapons, we can't in a knee jerk fashion seem to be doing nothing. countries like france and the united states, any action needs to be thought out and considered.

there are other non—lethal options open to the government. i believe they are the best options for the uk government to pursue. theresa may should recall parliament, so that we can make that case to her. but up until now, certainly not as far as i'm aware, the prime minister, the government, hasn't laid out the case or the consequences of air strikes. so, iurge or the consequences of air strikes. so, i urge extreme caution on her part, in terms of a military response, but certainly in terms of responding without pa rliament‘s consent. stewart mcdonald, the snp's defence spokesperson, we are thankfulfor your time. thank defence spokesperson, we are thankful for your time. thank you. 0ur middle east correspondent martin patience is in beirut. hejoins us now. 11 v— any

them from the region as well. any possible american - action the british and french on—board with the british and french on—board could potentially trigger an escalation in violence. the big fear in the region is what's been contained in syria until now, terrible as it is, could potentially spill across borders. and people in the region are very nervous, but it is worth stating, the mood music in the middle east is that people here are expecting military action. martin, we will leave it there for now. good to talk to you. thanks. the headlines on bbc newsroom live: senior members of the government will attend a cabinet meeting this afternoon to consider the options for taking military action against syria. labour leaderjeremy corbyn has said, "more bombing will not save life." the findings of a report

by the international chemical weapons watchdog into the salisbury attack are due out shortly. the high court begins hearing a case brought by sir cliff richard against the bbc for breach of privacy and data protection. the daughter of a former russian spy poisoned in salisbury has rejected an offer of help from moscow. in a statement, yulia skripal, who was discharged from hospital on monday,also said herfather sergei was still seriously ill. the international chemical weapons watchdog is expected to release details of its investigation into the nerve agent attack shortly. andrew plant reports. yulia skripal left hospital on monday. herfather, sergei, is still there, after both were exposed to a nerve agent in the city of salisbury last month. she is now in a secret location, and has asked to be left alone. but in a statement she praised

hospital staff, saying... she also refuses offers of help from russia, adding: sergei skripal is a former russian spy who was living in the uk. he and his daughter were discovered on a park bench on the 11th of march. it was unclear if they'd survive. they'd been exposed to the nerve agent novichok, which the british government says came from the russian chemical weapons programme. britain asked the office for the prohibition of chemical weapons to investigate. theirfindings will be released at midday today. russia has repeatedly cast doubt on the claim that they

carried out the poisoning. but britain has received strong diplomatic backing, with more than 20 countries expelling russian diplomats in protest. meanwhile, skripal skripal is said to have responded exceptionally well to treatment, and is also expected to leave hospital soon. andrew plant, bbc news. 0ur correspondent duncan kennedy is in salisbury. hejoins us now. what are he joins us now. what are we expecting, duncan? well, we're expecting, duncan? well, we're expecting, we don't know, we're expecting, we don't know, we're expecting the 0pcw to confirm that it was novichok, just like scientists at porton down near here confirmed that it was novichok nearly five weeks ago now. what's not expected, and we don't know for sure, but what's not expected is that they will point the finger at a country as to where this novichok came from, just like porton down scientists didn't. at porton down,

beside his, just like the scientists that do tests on things, they are not diplomats or politicians, they leave others to point the finger. if thatis leave others to point the finger. if that is the case, and they only confirmed that it is novichok, and where does that leave us? both sides will take something from this. the british and other countries that expeued british and other countries that expelled russian diplomats, they will say it was novichok and it can only come from the former soviet union in the hands of the russians. the russians, on the other hand, may turn around and likely say, "if it is novichok, it doesn't prove its arts. 0ther is novichok, it doesn't prove its arts. other countries may produce this stuff as well." if that is the case, where does it leave us? one imagines that the full force of the diplomatic spat we've had over the past five weeks has been spent. 0ne can't envisage another huge round of diplomatic expulsions on the basis that the novichok is confirmed by the 0pcw. especially at the same time that we've got syria and other

issues going on, which seemed to have taken over in terms of the international agenda, and the importance for these countries involved. yes, it's an important report, but unless the 0pcw confirm it was a country, we're not expecting that they will, then it's ha rd to expecting that they will, then it's hard to see, diplomatically and politically, where we go from here. in the meantime, duncan, a war of words between russia and yulia skripal. can you tell us a little bit more about those? yes, we had a statement overnight from yulia skripal, issued by the met police, saying she's recovering, it's going well, saying other things as well. but the russians are saying, they don't believe these words are coming from her freely and don't believe these words are coming from herfreely and openly. they say, they used the word earlier this week, she is in an abduction situation. the british authorities deny that. in her statement, she was saying, pretty much, leave me alone.

i want to recuperate. she said to the russian consular officials, i don't want to speak to you at the moment. if i do, i will let you know. i don't want to speak to the media, ifi know. i don't want to speak to the media, if i do, i will let you know. and i don't want is beaten my cousin victoria in russian, who has been making statements in russia. yulia has distanced herself from those comments as well. she confirmed that her father sergei comments as well. she confirmed that herfather sergei is comments as well. she confirmed that her father sergei is seriously ill still. we heard from hospital that he is making good progress and is due to be recent in due course. it was a holding statement from yulia. we know she is at a secret location, we are not told where. but a lot of interest from the media to know how she was getting on. the various agencies involved, she said something to the world, what she is feeling about various things, that's what she has done through this statement. the russians doubt its authenticity, and say she is not really doing all of this under her own free will. good to talk to you,

duncan. duncan kennedy there, alcor respondent in salisbury. talk to later. thanks. theresa may has summoned her cabinet to respond. donald trump as just we did in the last few minutes: so, the latest tweet from donald trump saying the syrian attack, the proposed attack, on syria could be sued or not so soon at all. here at home, an inquiry looking into allegations about a boys' hostel and residential school in greater manchester linked to late politician cyril smith publishes its findings at midday.

the independent inquiry into child sexual abuse has investigated claims about cambridge house boys' hostel and knowl view school, both places where children were sent to live by rochdale borough council. despite a police investigation into the mp, he never faced trial and received a knighthood in 1988. government figures show that the number of successful appeals against home office immigration and visa decisions has risen steadily over the last three years. half of appeals at independent tribunals are now upheld. the high court will begin hearing the case brought by sir cliff richard against the bbc for breach of privacy and data protection following coverage of a police investigation and raid of the star's home in 2014. the case is due to last two weeks and is expected to give guidance on the contentious issue of whether a suspect who has not been charged, can be lawfully named by the media. 0ur correspondent helena lee

is outside the high court. and just to pick up on that point first of all, helena, clearly, this case has implications for other ones. it does. notjust about sir cliff richard, it does have wide implications. first of all, how the media, depending of course on which way thejudgment media, depending of course on which way the judgment goes, how the media will be able to report in future in the early stages of a police investigation. remember, in this case, sir cliff richard hadn't been questioned at a time when the raid took place. he hadn't been arrested, and he hadn't been charged. that is something that could give clarity, in terms of the law and also bdo organisations. and also, as you

mentioned there, in terms of whether somebody can be named legally before they are charged —— and also media organisations. depending on what the judge says at the end of the trial, it should bring clarity as well. but sir cliff richard arrived here early on for the first day of his trial. of course, he's an international star. he is a man used to decades of being in the public eye, however, there are some things that he thinks should be kept private. this is why he's brought the case against the bbc. he's suing them and seeking damages from the corporation. and it all relates, rebecca, to a police raid by south yorkshire police in 2014. they were investigating sir cliff richard over an allegation against him of an historical sexual abuse claim of a boy under the age of 16. the bbc covered the story.

they named sir cliff richard in their reports. there was a helicopter sent up, there was broadcasting footage near his home. 0ne broadcasting footage near his home. one particular shot, you could see an officer inside sir cliff richard's apartment sifting through some of his belongings. as i said, sir cliff richard at the time hadn't been questioned, he hadn't been arrested, he hadn't been charged, and the case was dropped two years later by the crown prosecution service. and he says the bbc invaded his privacy. we've heard this morning, so far, from his barrister, who told the court, "it was a very serious invasion of his privacy, for which there was no lawful justification. " he went on to say, the disclosure of the information, there was no public interest in that. that was broadcast, his barrister said, to millions of viewers and website readers around the world. so, sir cliff richard's

barrister is continuing to give their opening statement to court. a bit later on today, we are expecting to hear the other side from the bbc, but we know they are defending their case. they say they were right to broadcast in the way they did. it was public interest. and in desk ella toone argument, they say the reporting of the search was accurate and in good faith. cliff richard is in court listening to proceedings, and we also expect him to take to the witness box himself tomorrow. helena, thank you. helena lee outside the high court. metropolitan police officers have seized drugs and firearms, including a submachine gun, in raids targeting gang violence in london. it follows a recent spate of crime in the capital. 0ur reporterjessica parker joined officers as they carried out the operation. her report contains flash photography. a six—month investigation leading to this. police!

the operation saw eight raids carried out across south and west london last night. 0nto another one, the police targeting what has been described as a notorious gang. you have a lot of turf war going through other gangs and throughout london, which then stems the violence between gang members. police! a suspect is found in a nearby car. just concentrate on what the police officer is saying... the raids come after a recent spate of violent crime in the capital. with the force under the microscope, a high—level presence as the operation got under way. i think people have been shocked by the events of the last few weeks, and in particular, the young lives lost. everywhere my officers go, people come up to them and say, "it's good to see you here." nine people have been arrested in total, including a 14—year—old boy. suspected class a drugs were seized, firearms too, including a submachine—gun

in an operation involving 200 officers. these raids are focused on tackling violent crime on our streets, and the police are trying to send a message to the public that action is being taken. there is a message too for offenders — or rather a warning. jessica parker, bbc news. prosecutors in los angeles are investigating an allegation of sexual assault made against the oscar winning actor, kevin spacey. scotland yard is already looking into three assault claims made about the actor, relating to incidents between 2005 until 2008. the california case is the first investigation outside of the uk. let's catch up with the weather now. simon king has the details. more details on the warm weather coming our way through the weekend and next week into a divide minutes' time, but for now, it is the cloud,

mist and murkiness that i will talk about, still cloudy in milford on cnn hamsik. that is a scene quite widely across england and wales. cloud in central areas, rain in the far north and east of england later on. sunshine for scotland at the moment. cloud increasing in the far north—east of scotland this afternoon. you get sunshine, temperatures 12—14. temperatures struggling again under cloud, 7—10. tonight, rain and showers in the south—east of england, drifting further northwards. quite heavy rain into the early hours of friday morning stop temperatures down to 5-7. morning stop temperatures down to 5—7. after a wet start to the day, lots of cloud around again on friday. mostly dry in the afternoon, but we stay with the cloud and mist and fog around eastern coasts. but things improving as we go into the weekend. see you in 30 minutes. this is bbc news, our latest headlines: theresa may summons her cabinet

to discuss options for military action against syria following the alleged gas attack in douma last weekend. president trump has tweeted this morning to say that any attack on syria could be ‘very soon or not at all‘. president assad says any such threats are based on ‘lies'. the findings of an international chemical weapons watchdog into the salisbury novichok attack are to be revealed shortly. sir cliff richard arrives at the high court as his case against the bbc for breach of privacy and data protection gets underway. nine people, including a 14—year—old boy, have been arrested in an operation to crack down on gang criminality in london. let's get the latest now from the commonwealth games. hello, and welcome to

the gold coast on day eight of the commonwealth games. the main focus right now may be on the carrara stadium, behind me you can see the floodlights behind me. history was made by england's women in their27 history was made by england's women in their 27 kilometre race. this isn't your standard countryside cycle, this is cross—country mown dane biking at its most gruelling. a circuit that has to be completed five times, full of tricky trails. it is not often that last is best but in this case annie last was, silver medallist in the world championships she went one better. her team—mate finished shortly

behind her to ensure england claim their first ever commonwealth games medals in women's mountain biking. for english mountain bike, british mountain biking it is amazing, we have kind of not been up there in the racing torque have kind of two of us at the front of the race is so good, so i'm really pleased for her as well. there has been other british medal success too. shona mackintosh has taken bronze in the rifle prone vent. she becomes the third member of her family rifle prone vent. she becomes the third member of herfamily to rifle prone vent. she becomes the third member of her family to win a commonwealth games shooting medal. costa semenya reined supreme. he won her heat but alex bell willjoin her in the final thanks to her surging finish. there has been another medal for scotland, ally doyle said she was delighted to win silver in the

hurdles behind jamaica's january eve russell. it is the third commonwealth games silver in a row for doyle. sophie hahn has completed a clean sweep of titles in the t38100 metres. now she has added commonwealth gold to her election and olivia breen took bronze for wales. the most recent medal is for england's jack laugherer. this was the three metre springboard diving. he had already won the one metre title and is goer for a third he had already won the one metre title and is goerfor a third in he had already won the one metre title and is goer for a third in the sin co—with chris mears who he may you may remember won 0lympic sin co—with chris mears who he may you may remember won olympic gold two years ago with. and are —— a reminder of that medal for scotland: she won bronze today in the 50

metres rifle prone events following in the footsteps of her sisterjen who won two in delhi. her mother shirley won a gold in the 1994 commonwealth games. now, someone who you will know very well. he may be retired but that doesn't mean where ever he goes usain bolt doesn't cause a stir. people follow him where ever he treads and he is here as an ambassador, he held a press conference and was squid if there was any athlete who could be be the face of the sport like he was?m was any athlete who could be be the face of the sport like he was? it is going to take time. it won't be a lwa ys going to take time. it won't be always like this, i know that much, but it is going to take time, i have said it to a few people, this is your time. the sport needs somebody else to really step up to be that person, so, it's a wide—open play field. it is just that person step up field. it is just that person step up and do it. but i'm still track and field so no matter if they talk about me, i'm still part of the

sport, that is how i feel. everybody is talking about the bolt being back in town. that is just about it, a big night to to come, one to look out for is the final of the men and women's one and 200 metres. plenty more on sportsday and i will have this round up for you again tomorrow. see you new figures have revealed a&e waiting times in england have dropped to their worst level since records began. just 84—point—6 % of patients were seen within four hours last month — well below the 95 % target. here to tell us more is our health correspondent nick triggle. what do these figures tell us? as we know, it has been a very difficult few months for the nhs, the figures

for march are the worst on record since the target began in 2004. the previous worst month was february and before that it was december, so winter has been incredibly difficult and it has dragged the overall yearly performance down, also to its worst ever level, below 89% of patients were seen in four hours. so what is causing the problem? well, this is is notjust an england only problem, scotland performance is similar. it lags a bit behind, but scotla nd similar. it lags a bit behind, but scotland is very similar, wales and northern ireland is in fact the, the performance there is worse, what we have seen over, for a good 10, 15 yea rs have seen over, for a good 10, 15 years is rising numbers of people coming to a&e, if you talk to doctor and hospital managers they say there isa number of and hospital managers they say there is a number of factor, there is not enough beds so there is delays getting patients in and out of hospital. they point to funding, it is not rising enough to cope with demand and there is also a staffing

shortage, a lot of vacancies currently, one in nine posts are va ca nt currently, one in nine posts are vacant and that is making it very difficult to see patients as quickly as they would like? like? any importance to the figures by the government? the government hasn't responded but nhs england say they we re responded but nhs england say they were expecting this performance in march, the pressures had been growing during winter and if you remember, the weather has been particularly bad in march, with the beast from the east, which makes it very difficult for hospitals, so they say they are not surprised by this and they would expect performance to get better in the coming months but when you talk to doctors they say it will be very difficult, they are trying to catch up difficult, they are trying to catch up on the operations cancelled in the past few months so the pressures will be continuing. good to talk to you. thanks. thanks. china has a serious shortage of blood because not enough people donate. for decades, it has been traded illegally on the black market. last month, the government brought

in new rules to end a system which allowed people to give blood to their family or friends — but buying and selling seems to be continuing. 0ur china correspondent robin brant reports. this is how much medicine you have at home when you are 31 and recovering from cancer. gao's immune system is weak after chemotherapy to fight leukaemia, but that wasn't her only battle. she had to find blood. china has a chronic blood shortage, and even though she had donated in the past, which should have given her a guarantee of blood, the hospital had none. so gao had to buy it. in fact, it was her mum

who went out to do the deal. she was emotional as she described the last few years. it is not hard to find blood traders in china. the bbc spoke to this man outside a donor centre in shanghai. he told us he pays people to donate, then he sells their certificates to needy patients, which they exchange for blood. it is illegal, and the government banned it last month. it is almost two weeks now since the rules changed, so we came back to the same blood centre in shanghai, and we've been driving around for half an hour. and look who we've seen hanging around outside — the same man, this time in red, in the same place. it is supposed to be over but there

is still a problem inside. and it is a big problem. there is not enough of this. only about 1% of chinese give blood. china had a reciprocal system. people could donate, they earn credit, they could give that to friends and family. but that's what gave rise to the blood traders, so the government banned it last month. in a village on the edge of beijing this month, this mum thinks that is good news. zaozao has a rare blood type, which she discovered when she was pregnant. she thinks an end to people shopping around for blood will encourage more donations.

but that requires a change in culture, and gao doesn't have time to wait for that. she wants the old system back, because she says friends, family, even the blood traders, kept her alive. robin brant, bbc news, shanghai. a baby has been born in china to a surrogate mother four years after his parents died in a car crash. chinese media reported the couple, who died in 2013, had frozen several embryos hoping to have a child through ivf. after the accident, their parents fought a protracted legal battle to be allowed to use the embryos. the boy was born in december to a woman from laos. joining me now is our asia pacific editor, michael bristow. tell us more about this extraordinary story. you have that right, it is an extraordinary story, aus right, it is an extraordinary story, a us you say the story began in 2013 when the couple unfortunately died

ina carcrash, when the couple unfortunately died in a car crash, leaving these frozen embryos, the grandparents, still wa nted embryos, the grandparents, still wanted the grandchild because their line would have ended there, because these people who died were their only children, so there was a long battle in the court, first of all to get control of the embryo, then to find a surrogate mother willing to carry the child, that mother was found in laos, she at the end of last year travelled to china, had the bake by in a chinese hospital, the bake by in a chinese hospital, the battle for these grandparents didn't end there, they had to have a dna test to prove they were related to the child before it was finally handed over to them, so a story about the determination of four grandparents who wanted desperately to have a grandchild. you say the babyis to have a grandchild. you say the baby is with the grandparent, that is what is going to happen to him, he will be brought up and raised by them. initially, yes, they said that they are not going to tell the child at least in the initial stages that

his parents are dead, that is something they will come to later on, but, in china, it is very difficult the legal situation is not a lwa ys difficult the legal situation is not always clear, this, who will be responsible for the child in the future, it was ungleer actual getting this child or the embryos in the first place and getsing the right to take them out of the country and find a surrogate so a real legal and personal battle on behalf of the grandparents. thank you. thank you. in a moment, a summary of the business news this hour, but first, the headlines on bbc newsroom live. senior members of the government will attend a cabinet meeting this afternoon to consider the options for taking military action against syria. labour leaderjeremy corbyn has said "more bombing will not save life." the findings of a report by the international chemical weapons watchdog into the salisbury attack are due out shortly. a case brought by sir cliff richard against the bbc for breach of privacy and data protection is under way at the high court. in the business news...

more pain for the high street. carpetright says it is closing 92 stores and cutting 300 jobs as part of a restructuring plan. the chain is planning a company voluntary arrangement that will allow it to shut the worst—performing stores and ask for rent concessions on another 113 sites. good and bad news from two other high street favourites. mothercare has seen like for like sales fall, though online sales have risen. whilst thmith suffered a dip in profits. whilst wh smith suffered a dip in profits. edf energy is raising its electricity prices by 2.7%, days after british gas raised prices for 4.1 million of its customers. edf's move, which will affect 1.3 million customers, will see electricity prices rise, but gas prices remain unchanged from seven june. typical standard dual—fuel customers will see their bill rise by 1.4%, or £16 a year. it's a tough time to be a retailer

on the uk high street. we've had updates from a number of big names. first, carpetright has announced it is closing 92 stores and cutting 300 jobs as part of a restructuring plan. baby goods retailer mothercare saw sales fall 2.8% in the last 12 weeks in the last 12 weeks, thanks to a fall in the shopper numbers, but internet sales were up, with purchases from its own website up 7.2%. and wh smith has reported a slight dip in half year profits, down 1% to £82 million, compared with the same period in the previous year. sales at its high street stores fell by 5% for the half—year period, but its travel division — which consists of 800 stores in travel locations, including 160 airport shops in 50 countries — saw a 7% climb in sales due to increased numbers of passengers passing through. here to tell us what is going

on is michael ingram, chief market strategist at the financial services company whireland. no surprise for carpetright. it has had some trouble for some time.“ you look at what management is saying today, they are pointing the finger at the previous management team, they said they overexpanded the store footprint, a lot of the stores are in the wrong location, and they need to sort that out. i would have to say there is a broader issue in the non—food retail sector in the uk, if you look at the latest data out from the british retail consortium they are showing non—food retail sales three mondays to january were down 1.8%. still a cautious uk consumer, not wanting to sheu cautious uk consumer, not wanting to shell out on big ticket items and carpets fall into that category. is

that what it is? it has been tough for so many, what is going on, why are so many seeming to fall into trouble? i think it's is a combination of thing, as i mentioned a cautious uk consumer, many retailers are still struggling with higher imported costs through the sterling devaluation with saw in mid 2016. there are constant complaints about high rental, high business rates, so the cost side not too good and that cautious uk consumer you have the internet biting at a huge chunk of market share. retailers complaining there isn't a level playing field with amazon, so a lot of things go on and by the way, a lot of retail operations are highly indebted, and are not in a position to actually respond to these monumental changes taking place.|j wa nt to monumental changes taking place.|j want to ask you about debt and in particular private equity and the

role it has to play in the issues in the uk high street, because a lot of these companies like mothercare, toys are us, maplin, they are backed by private equity, a lot of times it is looking for quick returns rather than perhaps the long—term investment in the business. some would argue that has had a role to play in the issues we have seen with some of these companies. you look at private equity model it is up front to ta ke private equity model it is up front to take cash out of testify business and leave with that balance sheet up. and then extract dividend on an ongoing basis i would argue many cases toys are us ongoing basis i would argue many cases toys are us it is clear the company was cases toys are us it is clear the com pa ny was left cases toys are us it is clear the company was left in a position where it underinvested for many years, in its internet proposition steady market share loss and its balance sheet was left in the position where there is a market downturn they are unable to respond and they are forced out of business. i would be wa ry forced out of business. i would be wary at some of the private equity involvement we have seen in the

sector to date. thank you. a couple of other business stories for you now... british airways owner international airlines group (iag) has confirmed that it is exploring a potential acquisition of low—cost carrier norwegian air shuttle. shares in norwegian air shuttle jumped by as much as 26% on news of a possible tie—up. according to reports, iag wants to boost its market share amid increasing competition from low—cost carriers. and toy retailer toys r us says it will close its remaining 75 uk stores by 24 april. more than 2,000 affected employees have been informed and will be paid up to their last day of employment. toys r us, which fell into administration in february under the weight of its debts, has already closed 25 uk outlets. the london mark is treading water.

we have seen the london mark is treading water. we have seen concerns over the london mark is treading water. we have seen concerns over possible us military action in syria. these are the big shares at the moment. carpetright shares are down significantly, off the back of the news that it is cutting jobs and closing stores. wh smith is in focus. it has seen a drop in profits but the results are better than many expect and the share price reflecting that and shares in done elm have risen after it reported a jump elm have risen after it reported a jump in sales which boosted the revenue growth. more business throughout the day here but back to you for now rebecca. we take it for granted that we're familiar with virtually every aspect of life on earth. well— maybe we're not. a team of scientists has been trekking through one of the most remote places on earth, to find new — previously undiscovered — species of animals and plants. in what's being called a "landmark expedition", they were granted rare access to the brazilian amazon. the bbc‘s jaw felletjoined them as they explored brazil's highest mountain.

brazil's pico da neblina, meaning "peak of mists". true to its name, it is shrouded in clouds, hidden from view. sitting deep in the remote amazon, the national park stretches across densejungle. we follow four professors and biologists from the university of sao paulo, a world—leading institute in zoology. it is a mission of discovery. they are here to find new animal and plant species, to find life that may be under threat from deforestation and climate change. this is the first expedition to an area that is absolutely unexplored in the amazon. miguel trefaut rodrigues is heading the exposition, made possible with the help of indigenous guides and the brazilian army. we have a guess for

the family — hylidae. seems to be a tree frog. what's very interesting about this guy is his eyes. check it out. there is this weird iridescence, in kind of like orange and green. what was your reaction when you saw it? so it was totally unexpected. hopefully we're going to have a better idea if this is a known species, or if this is something completely new. the scientists are racing against the clock to find out if life up here can survive rising temperatures. scientists working on nasa'sjuno mission tojupiter have shared

an animation based on data collected from the spacecraft‘s infrared mapper. the images will help researchers understand the planet and its magnetic field better. the probe can collect infrared imagery at higher resolution than ever before by flying over the planet at a close distance. now the weather. i will give you the good new, it will warm up over the weekend and certainly into next week, the temperatures getting into the ‘20s but bear with me before we get there we have to deal with more of this unfortunately. more mist and fog round across parts of england and wales at the moment. the better story for scotland. look at this lovely sunshine here from our

weather watcher graham in sterling —— stirling. the cloud will tend to increase in the north east later on. 0therwise though, staying cloudy for many as we go into the afternoon with spots of rain. let us have a closer look. holding on to the sunshine in the northern isles towards the high land. aberdeenshire and central scotland the cloud will linger. there will be lots of cloud, a few showers into the coast of east yorkshire, a few showers for wales further east you go, generally cloudy but perhaps a few bright spells. temperatures where you get the sunshine, 14, 15 degrees otherwise on the cool side. through tonight, heavy showers move into south—east earn part, those could be thundery. those temperatures dropping down to about 5—07 or 8. it could be wet for some of us on

friday morning. the showers will gradually fade away as the day goes on, and really for tomorrow it is much the same as today, lots of cloud, still rather drab conditions round the eastern coasts of england and eastern scotland where you get some sunshine the temperatures responding, cool elsewhere. then things change as we go into the weekend. we lose that easterly wind and we pick up a southerly wind ahead of this area of low pressure which will start to move in. for saturday for many it should be a dry day, there will be some sunshine coming through, but mostly cloudy. look at the temperatures though. 18 degrees in london. a big difference round to north sea coasts. 14, 15, sunday we could see rain in northern, western areas, but the temperatures in the mid to high teens. that warm air comes all way up teens. that warm air comes all way up from iberia, the temperatures

wide, getting up into the high teens, the low to mid 20s by the time we get to tuesday and wednesday, that is something to look forward to. bye. the this is bbc news, and these are the top stories developing at 12:00: theresa may summons her cabinet to discuss the uk‘s response to syria's suspected use of chemical weapons— its believed she's ready to take action without parliamentary consent. it's a very, very delicate circumstance, and we've got to make this judgment on very careful, very deliberate, very well thought through basis, knowing exactly what we're trying to achieve and exactly how strong the evidence is. more bombing, more killing, more war will not save life, it willjust ta ke will not save life, it willjust take more lives and spawned the war elsewhere. president trump tweets this morning that any attack on syria could be ‘very soon or not at all‘. president assad says any such threats are based on ‘lies'. the international chemical weapons

watchdog has just backed the british government's finding that the nerve agent novichok was used in the salisbury attack. a report into allegations of sexual abuse at a boys' hostel in rochdale condemns the former leader of the council richard farnell. also, the baby born four years after his parents died — the child was born in china to a surrogate mother after his parents died in a car crash in 2013. sir cliff richard arrives at the high court as his case against the bbc for a breach of privacy and data protection gets under way. good afternoon. it's thursday 12th april.

i'm rebecca jones. welcome to bbc newsroom live. more on the main story of possible military action in syria. but in the past few minutes, the international chemical weapons watchdog, the 0pcw, has announced that its investigation into the identity of the poison used against sergei and yulia skripal in salisbury has confirmed the findings of the british government. ministers said they had fallen ill after being attacked with a soviet—era nerve agent. novichok. the 0pcw has said that samples novichok. the 0pcw has said that sa m ples collected novichok. the 0pcw has said that samples collected by its team confirm the findings of the knighted kingdom relating to the identity of

the toxic chemical used in salisbury —— of the united kingdom. it's carried out an independent investigation at the request of the british government, which blames moscow. moscow has strongly denied involvement. in the last few moments, the foreign secretary boris johnson has said there can be no doubt that russia was responsible for the salisbury nerve agent. james landau has been finding out more files, he says, "they do not name the substance in the 0pcw report, novichok, but does confirm the findings of the british government relating to the toxic chemical, which it says was of high

purity." scientists at the porton down military laboratory had named the substance as a novichok military grade nerve agent that the government says was developed in russia. russia, as i said, has denied any involvement. this news just breaking as we come on air, so we will bring you more details, of course, as we get them. theresa may has summoned ministers to an emergency cabinet meeting this afternoon to discuss the uk's response to the suspected chemical weapons attack in syria. ministers are expected to back her call tojoin military action threatened by the united states and its allies. however, the prime minister is reported to be ready to take action without pa rliament‘s approval. in a tweet within the last hour, president trump said a us attack could be "very soon or not so soon at all". 0ur chief political correspondent vicki young is at westminster. any reaction to that tweet from

president trump yet? know, there hasn't been, but i think it is that kind of thing that will be at the forefront of the minds of cabinet ministers as they return here, summoned back to downing street for this special cabinet meeting, because they want to be sure that they know exactly what president trump is planning, what he has in mind, whether this is a broader strategy. and i think that kind of sweet will ring alarm bells for some of them. we know that theresa may is at least contemplating taking part in any kind of action alongside america, france, potentially other allies. and she's considering doing it without getting parliamentary approval. by law, she doesn't need to, but it has become a bit of a convention in recent years to do so. of course, david cameron in 2013 lost a vote that was specifically about tackling president assad in

syria. there have been other votes, for example, in libya, action was taken, but the vote in parliament took place after action had started. but there is a feeling among some mps that there needs to be parliamentary approval. parliament isn't sitting at the moment, they are off for the easter break. they could be a recall, but it is not in the airat could be a recall, but it is not in the air at the moment. 0ne could be a recall, but it is not in the air at the moment. one person certainly feels there has to be a vote in parliament before anything else happens, and that isjeremy corbyn, the leader of the labour party. what happened in syria is disgraceful. any use of chemical weapons by anybody against anybody else is clearly illegal, as well as immoral and wrong. the united nations has a duty and function to ensure there is a proper investigation undertaken, as the inspectors are now in douma doing just that. when we have the results of that, then decide what action to take. but, just say this... hundreds

of thousands have died and lost their lives in syria. millions have been forced into refuge, many are living in terrible poverty and desperation. there has to be a political solution. russia, america, the european union, all the neighbouring countries — iran, saudi arabia — has got to be involved in ensuring there is a ceasefire and a political process that gives hope to the people of syria in future. more bombing, more killing, more warwill not save life, it will take more lives and spawned war elsewhere. parliament must be consulted on this. surely, the lessons of iraq, the lessons that came from the chilcott report have got to be, there has to be a proper process of consultation. we elect parliament, we elect members of parliament, they should have a voice in this. the cabinet on its own should not be making this decision.

there was a parliamentary vote on iraq before action was taken. mps did approve the action that then followed. but clearly, mps are thinking about wider strategy and what happens afterwards. is this a matter of dropping missiles? is there any broader thought going into what exactly should happen, given of course that this conflict in syria is into its seventh year. there has been no sign of a political solution, and nobody knows how to get the key players around the table. so, that cabinet meeting happening later on this afternoon. this is clearly the area of concern that ministers will be talking about. really, the arguments haven't changed much since 2013 when it was first debated in parliament whether action should be taken against assad. the one thing is, theresa may in the last few weeks has asked the international community for support because of the chemical attack in salisbury, which they believe, the

british government, very much that russia was behind. that has changed things, i think, russia was behind. that has changed things, ithink, somewhat diplomatically. it is hard for her to go back to donald trump and say, support me on this, but i will not support me on this, but i will not support you on what you want to do in syria. that is the background to this. this is what david davis said this. this is what david davis said this morning. interestingly, he was an mp in 2013 that voted against action in syria. he is suggesting he might have changed his mind. the situation in syria is horrific. the use of chemical weapons is something that the world has to prevent. are elaborating, we, as all the countries in the world, after the skripal affair, perhaps the most immediate knowledge of it, other than the syrians themselves, but also, it's a very, very delicate circumstance. and we've got to make thisjudgment on very careful, very deliberate,

very well thought through basis, knowing exactly what we're trying to achieve and exactly how strong the evidence is. david davis there showing he wants to be sure about what britain is getting into. have they been reassured by the words coming out of washington from donald trump, particularly of course, those tweets ? particularly of course, those tweets? you mentioned the tweets. donald trump is not the only leader reacting on twitter. president assad of syria has also made his feeling known. he tweeted that with every victory in the field, some western countries vote and intensify the moves in an attempt to change the course of events. these voices and any possible moves will only contribute to further destabilisation of the region, which threatens international peace and security. 0ur middle east correspondent martin patience is in beirut. perhaps i could ask you to reflect,

first of all, what on that tweet from president assad, and what else syrian authorities are saying. from president assad, and what else syrian authorities are sayinglj think syrian authorities are saying.” think what that tweet is doing is echoing concerns made by russia, but also echoing concerns around the region as well as the western capitals. we are in a dangerous moment. i think president assad is perhaps, from his point of view, he wa nts perhaps, from his point of view, he wants the west, america, britain and france to really think about this. it may ward off any military action. but this is a region on edge, the mood music across the middle east is that we are expecting military action. when that military action will come, we will have to wait and see. but the feeling is it will pat is be more serious than we saw a year ago. a year ago, america carried out crews miss strikes on an airbase. many saw it as purely

symbolic, a pinprick. it was supposed to serve as a warning to president assad not to use chemical weapons. a year on, we find ourselves in similar circumstances, but the situation now is far more serious than it was a year ago. martin, thank you. 0ur correspondent sarah rainsford is in moscow for us now. has there been any reaction from the russian authorities to that tweet from president trump that an attack on syria could be soon or not so soon on syria could be soon or not so soon at all? no, not specifically to that tweet today. but certainly to the barrage of tweets that have been coming from donald trump on this specific issue over the past couple of days. there's been a lot of mockery in the state media here at what they are describing as his confusion, his flip—flopping from one decision to another, talking about strange tweets, talking about

mr trump's mood swings. that is the kind of coverage in the state media. 0n the more serious side of whether a strike is coming and what consequences that might have, there has been one slight development today in a sense that the kremlin spokesman has confirmed that a geek and fiction mind, a line between the us military and the russian military, specifically designed a couple of years ago to prevent a miscalculation or to prevent some kind of mistake in syria between the us and russian military, that line has been active and is being used on a daily basis. it suggests that there could be attempts to prevent any kind of missile strike, if one happens, actually causing the loss of life of russian military personnel on the ground is very. the danger is, if that happens, the situation could escalate to a serious level. russia has said

clearly it retains the right to respond to that kind of action if russian lives are lost. i think it will respond. that is what the message has been coming from must —— moscow in the last couple of days. the message is, calm down, let's not increased tensions further than they are. on the other hand, russia warning that if there is a strike and it affects russian military personnel, russia will respond to that. sarah rainsford in moscow. for now, thank you. let's talk to the conservative mp daniel kawczynski who joins us from our studio in shrewsbury. we are grateful for your time, thank you. you voted against action in syria interview 13, how would you vote now? -- 3013. it is extremely important that the promised, if she does want to join with american military action in syria —— 2013,

does recall parliament at the earliest opportunity and the issue is debated thoroughly. we need to sebi chemical attack has been instigated by the assad regime, and it needs to be debated. when the promised was first appointed, she stated that the bar for military intervention overseas would be much higher because of the many previous military engagements that we've been involved in, which some would argue have been very bad and disastrous. so, she needs to stick to that commitment that she made at the beginning of her premiership. and clearly, as a mandate from parliament is a very important part of that. as you, she doesn't need to go to parliament, but take your view that you think that she should. if she was to do that, would you then support her if she wanted to instigate military action against

syria? we have to bear in mind that the wars in iraq and afghanistan between 2003 and 2009 cost her £20 billion. that's enough money to build and fully equipped over 220 hospitals in this country. so we have to take into consideration the potential huge financial costs involved, but also, and the fact that when we have intervened previously, as was the case in libya, we had wall—to—wall coverage of the libyan civil war. mr cameron cowell to us and told us that action was essential. we now see, subsequently, in hindsight, that the bombing campaign and involving ourselves in one part of the civil war in libya led to chaos and instability. and we replaced one tyra nt instability. and we replaced one tyrant with a myriad of terrorist organisations that took control of the country. so, it's a very, very

complex situation. icom of course, if there was a debate in the house of commons, i would listen to the prime and mr, and i would want to try to support her —— to the prime minister. military intervention overseas has not been a particularly positive record for us. we had to leave it there. daniel kawzcynski, thank you talking to us. let's go back to that breaking news story now that the international chemical weapons watchdog, the 0pcw, has announced that its investigation into the identity of the poison used against sergei and yulia skripal in salisbury has confirmed the findings of the british government. ministers said they had fallen ill after being attacked with a soviet—era nerve agent. 0ur diplomatic correspondent james landale is at the foreign and commonwealth office in central london for us. hejoins us now. what more can he joins us now. what more can you tell us, james? what is interesting

about the report is, what the independent chemical weapons people have done is they have gone in and taken samples, doing it themselves co—writing the report independently. their doctors have taken blood samples from the skripals and detective sergeant nick bailey. they have gone independently and made sure, doing it independently, testing in four different laboratories, reaching the same conclusion as the british scientist at porton down of the type of toxic chemical that was used on the streets of salisbury over a month ago. at what is interesting is, in the public summary that we have been given, we are not given the formal name. at no point do they save this was novichok. the reason for that is novichok is a shorthand. what they do in the classified part of this report, which will not be made public, they formally identify what it is, but they identify it with a

formal chemical structure that other scientists will understand. the reason they're not putting that out is because of proliferation concerns. they don't want to put that information in the public domain. the problem with that is that will give an opportunity to those people that disagree with the british governor, mainly the russians, to say, the weapon inspectors don't name or use the word novichok. secondly, these inspectors don't actually say where this substance came from. now, these inspectors were never going to do that in the first place. that was never their job, that in the first place. that was never theirjob, they are scientists. they assess samples and save what something is or isn't. the one hint, though, that the report gives, which officials say is another piece of evidence to suggesting that russia... these chemicals came from russia. the report says specifically," the toxic chemical was of high purity." the reason that matters is that

scientists say that only a state actor with the facilities and resources of a state could produce a nerve agent of this purity. in other words, this is not something that can be knocked up in a kitchen or in a small, little laboratory somewhere, it is something that requires a big operation. the way the foreign office is interpreting thatis,itis the foreign office is interpreting that is, it is another indication of where it originated, russia. what next, james? what happens next is the full document, the classified document, has been circulated to all the other fellow members that have signed up to the chemical weapons convention, who are part of the 0pcw membership, they will be able to read the full report. there will be a meeting of the weapons inspectors council, the 0pcw council, in the hague next wednesday, where they will discuss the findings. the interesting question will be what happens after that. do come as a

result of this report, the british and other allies ask further questions of russia ? and other allies ask further questions of russia? they are signatures to the convention, and there may be further questions about what stockpiles were when they were making the stuff. we don't know this yet, the british state may ask for access to certain russian laboratories. but that is the next phase. what will happen now is there will be the traditional war of words over this. i would expect a russian reaction at some point today, they will raise sceptical questions about it. foreign secretary has issued a statement, "there can be no doubt now was used in salisbury. there is now was used in salisbury. there is no alternative explanation about who was was once more, only russia has the means, motive and record." james landau, for now, thank you. let's bring in our europe correspondent damian grammaticas now — who outside the headquarters of the 0pcw. what are you hearing from there?

what are you hearing from there? what we have seen is this summary coming out through the uk. here, they haven't quite released it yet. they are just publishing it now. but what the summary lays out very clearly is that the 0pcw here, once it had been involved by the uk, the uk brought the issue to the 0pcw here, following the poisoning. the 0pcw carried out its investigations. what the report says is that a team from here was able to go to the uk to collect samples, both from the victims of the poisoning, so that appears to be blood samples, and environmental samples, they say, so from locations in salisbury. and the tests on those samples by the 0pcw‘s own independent laboratories has confirmed this report. it says the

ukfindings on confirmed this report. it says the uk findings on the nature of the chemical involved. the report does not name the specific substance. it confirms the uk finding. the uk said it was one of the novichok group of nerve agents. the exact findings, the summary says, "are contained in the summary says, "are contained in the classified report, which has been given to the nations that are party to the chemical weapons convention here." but interesting, what they have confirmed is that both the identity of the chemical, and the fact that those individuals we re and the fact that those individuals were exposed to it. so, both of those things confirmed by executive. thank you. damien grammaticas there outside the headquarters of the 0pcw. good to talk to you. the independent inquiry into child sexual abuse has found that rochdale council failed to keep children in its care safe from harm for 25 years.

it found that the sexual exploitation and trafficking of boys was well known to staff members at knowl view, a school for troubled boys. the report published today also says that boys as young as 11 weren't regarded as victims but as authors of their own abuse. judith moritz has this report. there was a man there. i can only describe him as enormous. to me, he looked massive, because i was small for my age then. he's a pensioner now, but once, he was a vulnerable child in care where he was summoned by cyril smith. he asked me to take my pants down. i have a turnaround to face the wall. he started running his hand over my body and he started to bring his hands up the side of my

legs. this was years ago. yes. the pain is still very sharp. i... i am 70 now, but i still feel the pain and suffering as i did. several boys told police about the abuse, but cyril smith was a politician who wielded power and influence. he was never charged. you want a man to represent, or do you want a party robot? smith had free reign here, cambridge house, now a private home in the 1960s he ran it as a hostel for troubled boys. he was also involved at a residential school, null view, where men abused boys are more than 25 years. martin deegan was a ca re more than 25 years. martin deegan was a care worker at knowl view, but nothing was done. you have the education department, you have the social service department, central council and the police. and between

those four factions, they decided for what ever reason not to pull this together and represent the young people whose lives have been ruined as a consequence. the independent enquiry into child section abuse heard weeks of evidence about what happened to boys in care in rochdale, who knew about it and why it wasn't stopped? society and culture may have changed, but many people whose lives we re changed, but many people whose lives were forever blighted by the abuse they suffered have understandably been unable to move on. and they continue to seek justice. been unable to move on. and they continue to seekjustice. rochdale has lurched from one scandal to the next, from cyril smith in the 60s, to the wider abuse of boys in care, to the wider abuse of boys in care, to the wider abuse of boys in care, to the satanic abuse allegations and the more recent grooming of teenage girls. and there are many here that feel this town can't move on until

the full truth is known. and there is more detail to come. abuse allegations about cyril smith at westminster are expected to be examined by the enquiry next year. 0ur correspondent alison freeman is in salford for us now. alison, i mean, this is such a damning report, isn't it, into failings, majorfailings at damning report, isn't it, into failings, major failings at every level? it really is. it describes how those in authority failed to protect young boys for decades. 0ne of the parts of the report described how those in authority failed to see young boys, as young as 11, as victims. they were being sexually exploited in public toilets, directly opposite the council offices, but were viewed by those in authority as "authors of their own abuse." the finger was heavily pointed at richard farnell, the

leader of the council back in the early 90s. today, the enquiry panel said in the report that they believe he lied when he gave evidence at hearings held back in october, when hearings held back in october, when he said he knew nothing about the abuse. the panel said, his refusal to a cce pt abuse. the panel said, his refusal to accept responsibility was, in fa ct, to accept responsibility was, in fact, shameful. you heard in the report how cyril smith had links to both institutions looked at by the enquiry, and the report said that they could find no evidence of a cover—up as to why he wasn't charged, but opportunities were missed. it wasn't clear why he wasn't prosecuted when there was evidence to suggest that he could have been prosecuted by the authorities. the report went on to say that the authorities response had been wholly inadequate, and that the way they had behaved during the allegations was deeply disturbing. alison freeman in salford, thank

you. government figures show that the number of successful appeals against home office immigration and visa decisions has risen steadily over the last three years. half of appeals at independent tribunals are now upheld. it's warming up. it is indeed, but for many, a call, grey and cloudy day, missed and low cloud lingering for eastern coastal counties, but there is such an run, scotla nd counties, but there is such an run, scotland doing well this afternoon. western parts of wales and south—west england, although we can catch showers through the afternoon. and for part of the midlands and northern england, outbreaks of light and patchy rain continuing to work north and westwards. temperatures today very cool along the north east coast of 6—7, 12—14 further south where we get the sunshine. scotland can see 14 or 15. this evening and

overnight, showery rain from the near continent, some quite heavy, ending east anglia, up into northern england, southern scotland later in the night. elsewhere, cloud. lo is between four and nine. most of the country between four and nine. most of the cou ntry wa kes between four and nine. most of the country wakes up to a grey and gloomy start, outbreaks of rain from northern england and scotland, not getting into northern ireland. later in the afternoon, sunshine getting into southern coastal counties. here, highest to bridge is 13 or 14, still on the cool side further north. —— highest temperatures. this is bbc newsroom live, our latest headlines. theresa may summons her cabinet to discuss options for military action against syria following the alleged gas attack in douma last weekend. president trump has tweeted this morning to say that any attack on syria could be "very soon or not soon at all". president assad says any such threats are based on "lies". the international chemical weapons watchdog has just backed the british government's findings

into the chemical used in the salisbury attack. ministers said they had fallen ill after being attacked with a soviet—era nerve agent. a report into allegations of sexual abuse at a boys' home in rochdale finds the council failed to keep children in its care safe from harm for 25 years. sir cliff richard arrives at the high court as his case against the bbc for a breach of privacy and data protection gets underway. the high court has begun hearing the case brought by sir cliff richard against the bbc for breach of privacy and data protection following coverage of a police investigation and raid of the star's home in 2014. the case is due to last two weeks and is expected to give guidance on the contentious issue of whether a suspect who has not been charged, can be lawfully named by the media. 0ur correspondent helena lee

is outside the high court. perhaps you could bring us up—to—date with what has been happening this there morning and the wider implications of this case. well, as you say cliff richard arrived here at the high court. this is the first day of his trial. as you said, he is suing the bbc, and he is seeking damages from them. his barrister in court said he was one of the most distinguished entertainer this country has ever seen, only the beatles and elvis have sold more records than him. but he went on to say that cliff richard, sir cliff richard's private life was shattered when the bbc covered a police raid back in 2014. now that raid was carried out by south yorkshire police, sir cliff

richard was being investigated over an historical allegation of sexual abuse, against a boy under the age of 16 abuse, against a boy under the age of16 in the abuse, against a boy under the age of 16 in the 1980s. the bbc covered the story. they had reporters outside his house in berkshire, they also used a helicopter and shot footage from there, including some of the footage which you could see a politician officer inside of sir cliff richard's apartment sifting through some of his belongings. sir chef richard at the time was in portugal watching this unfold on bbc news, he had never been questioned at the time, in connection with the allegation, he also was never arrested, and he was never charged. and the cps, the crown prosecution service dropped the case, two years later, so sir cliff richard says the bbc breached his privacy. we heard

earlier on this morning from his barrister, in court today, who said that it was a very serious invasion of his privacy, there was no lawful justification for the bbc to cover the story in the way it did. he went on to say that a bbc news gathering tea m on to say that a bbc news gathering team had shown an obsessive desire to scoop rivals and wanted to make headlines rather than report the new, and a regrettable failure, he went on to say, of senior staff to eve ryo ne went on to say, of senior staff to everyone adhere to proper standards. now, the bbc is expected to give its defence later on today, in court. we have seen a skeleton argument from them, and they are defending their decision of coverage, they say the reporting of the search was accurate, and in good faith. they also go on to say it was a matter of legitimate public interest, and at every opportunity, they broadcast

sir cliff richard's denial of the allegation. sir cliff richard himself is sat next to his barrister here in court, listening to proceedings and he is expected to give evidence in his own words in the witness box here tomorrow. 0k. for now, we will leave it there, good to talk to you. for now, we will leave it there, good to talk to you. let's get more now on our main story. the cabinet will meet this afternoon to discuss whether to support us—led air strikes in syria. against the backdrop of this possible military action, the man who could be america's next secretary of state is facing questioning in washington. mike pompeo's senate confirmation hearings are expected to focus on his time as the head of the cia, and his support for president trump's america first agenda. critics have already questioned whether his style and politics would best serve us interests overseas. 0ur correspondent barbara plett usher is in washington for us now. tell us more about him. in the

pave rsz tell us more about him. in the paversz he has been strongly anti—russian, hasn't he. —— in the past. he has. he has had quite hard line positions on national security issues like russia, like iran, like north korea, he was a republican law maker, where he sort of steaked out a reputation with those view, —— sta ked a reputation with those view, —— staked out. he made it an article of faith that the iran nuclear deal was a bad one, and then he was appointed cia director where he has been for the past 14 month, senators of will have two questions for him. they wa nt to have two questions for him. they want to know how much he values diplomacy in responding to national security issues, but also they will wa nt to security issues, but also they will want to know whether he has the ability or the desire to stand up to trump on issues because he seems to have similar views at many times, as you mentioned in terms of russia he

has been tough on russia in the past. it sounds like it is going to continue. it sounds like he will have a harder lean to moscow. he will say russia has become more aggressive because of year of soft policy but that is going to change now, that is over now. he will talk about steps ta ken now, that is over now. he will talk about steps taken in terms of expelling diplomats. he doesn't mention syria, what is going on with syria but i am sure senators will him about it, not only in terms of a possible strike but his views on the longer term policy. a strike, a military strike is not a strategy. yes it will be interesting to see what, if anything he says about syria. we have had this tweet this morning from the president, donald trump, thatan morning from the president, donald trump, that an attack on syria could be soon or not so trump, that an attack on syria could be soon or not so soon trump, that an attack on syria could be soon or not so soon at all. this is one of his impulsive gesture tweets or is that are reflection of

policy, do you think?” tweets or is that are reflection of policy, do you think? i think that he got ahead of the military planning with his statements and tweets this week. he started out on monday saying we are making a decision within 24—48—hours and yesterday they had that tweet where he said missiles were coming and he said to russia you shouldn't be sur portings from sat which raised the level for a while. while. the white house has been rolling back, saying all options are on the table. and the defence secretary said we are still assessing the intelligence, thatis still assessing the intelligence, that is president trump getting in line where where his military planner are, saying it could happen soon, it may not happen that soon. the most likely time is the weekend. the most likely time is the weekend. the idea is probably that they, the americans perhaps with allies will strike more targets than they did a year ago and that is more complicated and they are trying to

bring ally onboard, including britain. we will leave it there for now. for now, thank you. new figures have revealed a&e waiting times in england are now at their worst level since records began. just 84.6% of patients were seen within four hours last month — well below the 95% target. i spoke earlier to our health correspondent nick triggle about the significance of the figures. as we know it has been a very difficult few months for the nhs, the figures for march are the worst on record since the target began in 2004. the previous worst month was february and before that it was december, so winter has been incredibly difficult and it has dragged the overall yearly performance down, also, to its worst ever level, below 89% of patients we re ever level, below 89% of patients were seen ever level, below 89% of patients were seen in four hours. so what is causing the problem? well, this is

not just causing the problem? well, this is notjust an causing the problem? well, this is not just an england causing the problem? well, this is notjust an england only problem, scotla nd notjust an england only problem, scotland performance is similar. it lags a bit behind but it is similar. wales and northern ireland is, the performance there is worse. what we have seen over, for a good ten, 15 yea rs have seen over, for a good ten, 15 years is rising numbers of people coming to a&e, if you talk to doctors and hospital managers they say there is a number of factors at play. firstly there is not enough beds so there is delays in getting patients in and out of hospital. they point to funding, it is not rising enough to cope with demand and there is a staffing shortage, a lot of vacancies currently, one in nine posts are vacant and that is making it difficult to see patients as quickly as they would like. any response from the government? the government hasn't responded yet but nhs england said they were expecting this performance in march, the pressures had been growing during

winter, and if you remember, the weather has been particularly bad in march, with the beast from the east which makes it difficult for hospitals so they say they are not surprised by this ex they would expect performance to get better in the coming months be when you talk toe doctors they say it will be difficult. they are trying to catch up difficult. they are trying to catch up on the routine operations cancels, so the pressures will be continuing. cancels, so the pressures will be continuing. metropolitan police officers have seized drugs and firearms, including a submachine gun, in raids targeting gang violence in london. it follows a recent spate of crime in the capital. 0ur reporterjessica parkerjoined officers as they carried out the operation. her report contains flash photography. a six—month investigation leading to this. police! the operation saw eight raids carried out across south and west london last night. 0nto another one, the police targeting what has been described as a notorious gang.

you have a lot of turf war, going through other gangs and throughout london, which then stems the violence between gang members. police! a suspect is found in a nearby car. just concentrate on what the police officer is saying... the raids come after a recent spate of violent crime in the capital. with the force under the microscope, a high—level presence as the operation got under way. i think people have been shocked by the events of the last few weeks, and in particular the young lives lost. everywhere my officers go, people come up to them and say, "it's good to see you here." nine people have been arrested in total, including a 14—year—old boy. suspected class a drugs were seized, firearms too, including a submachine—gun, in an operation involving 200 officers. these raids are focused on tackling violent crime on our streets, and the police are trying to send a message to the public that action is being taken. there is a message too for offenders — or rather a warning. jessica parker, bbc news.

a baby has been born in china to a surrogate mother four years after his parents died in a car crash. chinese media reported the couple, who died in 2013, had frozen several embryos hoping to have a child through ivf. after the accident, their parents fought a protracted legal battle to be allowed to use the embryos. the boy was born in december to a woman from laos. i spoke to our asia pacific editor, michael bristow earlier about this remarkable story. the story began in 2013 when the couple unfortunately died in a car crash, leaving these frozen embryos, the grandparents, still wanted the grandchild because their line would have ended there, because these

people who died were their only children and so there was a long battle in the court, first of all, to get control of the embryos, then to get control of the embryos, then to find a surrogate mother willing to find a surrogate mother willing to carry the child, that mother was found in laos, she at the end of last year travelled to china, had the baby in a chinese hospital, the battles for these grandparents didn't end there, they had to have a dna test to prove they were we lated to the child before it was finally handed over to them. so a story about the determination of four grandparents who wanted desperately to have a rained grandchild. you say the baby with the grand prarn pa rents the baby with the grand prarn parents he is going to be brought up and raised by them? initially yes, they said that they are not going to child the child in the initial stages there, its parents are dead, thatis stages there, its parents are dead, that is something they will come to later on, but, in china, it is very difficult, the legal situation is

not always clear, this, who will be responsible for the child, in the future, it was unclear in actual getting this child or the embryos in the first place and getting the right to take them out of the country, and find a surrogate, so a real legal and personal battle on behalf of the brand parents. real legal and personal battle on behalf of the brand parents. theresa may is summoning her cabinet to discuss military options against syria. word coming in from our correspondent in berlin, that the german chancellor angela merkel said germany will not participate in any potential military response against the syrian government. angela merkel was speaking in berlin after holding talks with the danish prime minister. she said a spectrum of measures must be considered. she did say it is important to show unity on

syria, and it is hard to simply do nothing, but the german chancellor saying germany would not participate in any potential military response against the syrian government. more on that no doubt later. prosecutors in los angeles are investigating an allegation of sexual assault made against the oscar winning actor, kevin spacey. scotland yard is already looking into three assault claims made about the actor, relating to incidents between 2005 until 2008. the california case is the first investigation outside of the uk. theresa may summons her cabinet to discuss options for military action against syria following the alleged gas attack in douma last weekend. the international chemical weapons watchdog has just backed the british government's findings into the chemical used in the salisbury attack. ministers said they had fallen ill after being attacked with a soviet—era nerve agent. a report into allegations of sexual

abuse at a boys home in rochdale finds the council failed to keep children in its care safe from harm for 25 years. a month out from the wedding of meghan markle and prince harry, and her activism and humanitarian work have led to comparisons with harry's mother, princess diana. biographer andrew morton — who wrote an explosive book about princess diana in the 90s— has written one about the soon—to—be new addition to the royal family. he spoke to victoria derbyshire earlier this morning, where he explained what makes meghan so unique. he she is coming to the royal family

fully formed with a successful career, and also of course her humanitarian work, with world vision canada, and the united nations. so she, you know she is the full package and if you think of it, as a dowry she has brought millions of now we ares as a dowry to the royal family. have you met her? i have met herfamily family. have you met her? i have met her family and the friends, and family. have you met her? i have met herfamily and the friends, and i for part of year i live in pasadena which was meghan markle central. all boyfriends lived there, her drama teacher, her teachers and friends and other people she knows. now, you mentioned the activism, there is evidence that she was a feminist as a child, because she complained about a sexist tv ad, tell us about that. yes, she was an activist at a

pretty early age, she organised a demonstration against the first gulf war when she was ten and she used write to food companies complaining about packaging and sweets and she used to bring the goodies to school and distribute them. the most famous one was when proctor and gamble had a seccist advert saying women all over america are using this liquid. she wrote to hillary clinton, various lawyers and to the company themselves, and they changed the advertising, from being women, to people all over america, and that was a great triumph personally and also, put her on the road to an activist career. it did make the news back then, here is a little clip. clip.. idon't news back then, here is a little clip. clip.. i don't think it is right for kids to grow up thinking these things that just right for kids to grow up thinking these things thatjust mum does everything. if you see something you don't like or are after phoned by on television or any other place, write letters a nd television or any other place, write letters and send them to the right

people and you can make a difference for, notjust people and you can make a difference for, not just yourself people and you can make a difference for, notjust yourself but lots of other people. frankly i think her royal crest is going to be make the change, because thatis going to be make the change, because that is her, that has been her motto throughout her life.” that is her, that has been her motto throughout her life. i mean she, as she grew up, she has carried are on with that campaigning, for someone who is a feminist, someone who is determined to be an equal, to be her own person why is she marrying into the royal family? it's a remarkable paradox, you have invited me on to talk about meghan markle but she is only of interest to people because she is about to marry a male member of the royal family. i think she is clearly, she is prepared to make that compromise, because very quickly, and it is one of the interesting things about her, she is thoughtful and considered, but within a matter of 24 hourses after a couple of dates with prince harry she is agreed to go round the world on safari with him, alone, and i

think their romance just hit off straightaway, so there was a real genuine soul connection. he was asked whether he was speaking to american president donald trump and he said yes, every day since the beginning of the work, our teams are working closely together, we will have decisions to take at the right time, when we think it will be most useful and efficient and the french president went on to say we will stay focussed on our priorities and maintain the stability of this region. france will never let things escalate or let anything happen that will endanger the stable of the region, but we cannot let regimes do what they want, including the worst

in breach of international law. that is the french president mr macron speaking on french television, it comes can after that news we brought you that the german chancellor angela merkel has been speaking in berlin, she said germany will not participate in any potential military response against the syrian government. military response against the syrian government. we take it for granted that we're familiar with virtually every aspect of life on earth. but maybe not. a team of scientists has been trekking through one of the most remote places on earth, to find new — previously undiscovered — species of animals and plants. in what's being called a "landmark expedition", they were granted rare access to the brazilian amazon. the bbc‘s jaw felletjoined them as they explored brazil's highest mountain. brazil's pico da neblina, meaning "peak of mists". true to its name, it is shrouded in clouds, hidden from view. sitting deep in the remote amazon, the national park stretches across densejungle.

we follow four professors and biologists from the university of sao paulo, a world—leading institute in zoology. it is a mission of discovery. they are here to find new animal and plant species, to find life that may be under threat from deforestation and climate change. this is the first expedition to an area that is absolutely unexplored in the amazon. miguel trefaut rodrigues is heading the exposition, made possible with the help of indigenous guides and the brazilian army. this is one of the most important parts of the amazon today to get genetic material. the amazon is home to 10% of the earth's known species. it is thought a new animal or plant is discovered every two days. 0h, here.

this is an explosive—breeding frog. there are at least 18 species under this name. that look exactly the same. yes. could this frog be a new species? yeah, sure. so we might have found a new species. the mountain has taken the army months of careful planning. we are 2,000 metres up, 1,000 metres away from the mountain's highest peak. on arrival, creatures begin wandering close to the scientists' tent. we don't know what it is. it's very different from what we know. we have a guess for the family — hylidae. seems to be a tree frog. what's very interesting about this guy is his eyes. check it out.

there is this weird iridescence, in kind of like orange and green. what was your reaction when you saw it? so it was totally unexpected. hopefully we're going to have a better idea if this is a known species, or if this is something completely new. the scientists are racing against the clock to find out if life up here can survive rising temperatures. scientists working on nasa'sjuno mission tojupiter have shared an animation based on data collected from the spacecraft‘s infrared mapper. the images will help researchers better understand the planet and its magnetic field. the probe can collect infrared imagery at higher resolution than ever before by flying over the planet at a close distance. in a moment, the news at one, with jane hill. first, the weather.

hello, there is some warmth and sunshine but some of us are going to have to wait longer to see it, because much of the country is still under this blanket of cloud, the misty murky conditions continue to linger on eastern coastal county, colt is doing well. this was north berwick earlier on today, but the reason for all the cloud is we are hanging on to this moist airflow, that wind stream will tend to get cut off as we go through the weekend. keeping an eye on heavy rain, that will extend northwards into tomorrow. the earlier satellite picture tells a story quite well. western wales, south—west england although here we could see shower, patchy rain continuing to work across the midland and into northern england, before that heavy rain in france pushes into south—east england and north—west wards overnight. where we have had any sunshine through the afternoon it will tend to fill in again, so a lot

of cloud, temperatureses on a par with last night, between four and nine, but another grey gloomy start for much of the country tomorrow, further outbreaks of rain, northern england pushing their way into scotland. may just about england pushing their way into scotland. mayjust about miss northern ireland but a lot of cloud here, later in the afternoon that cloud just trying to thin and break for southern coastal county, hee the best prospect of any sunshine to start the week. still, a cool feel further north underneath all that cloud. but some changes through the weekend. where we have had the cloud, we will see spells of sunshine, will make it feel warmer, breezy through the weekend. the prospect oaf heavy showers on sunday. this is how saturday shapes us, up. it is a mainly dry day. there will be some cloud round, some spells of sunshine, particularly for those who seem very “— sunshine, particularly for those who seem very —— seen very sunshine, particularly for those who seem very —— seen very little through this week. into the teens for many temperature—wise. 17 or 18 in the south—east in the best of the

sunshine. through the latter half of the weekend we see out to the west this deep area of low pressure but it is being kept at baby high pressure to the east. what we will see is the winds strengthening, with cloud creeping into northern ireland, the far west of wales but also enabling this much warmer air to drift across as we head into next week. temperatures are on the rise. never know. —— don't think it has happened since. brown in three, richard deane four, using five and clarence munyai and six the main contenders in the men's 200 metres final. -- contenders in the men's 200 metres final. —— richards in four, contenders in the men's 200 metres final. —— richards infour, hughes in five. hughes with a great view of clarence

munyai. you will start quickly. —— he will start quickly.