this is bbc news. i'm matthew price live in beirut. the headlines at 11. the us and the uk agree "on the need to take action" in syria as the world waits to find out what that action will be. moscow warns the us that launching air strikes in response to the suspected chemical attack could spark a war between the two countries. we're here live in beirut to bring you the latest developments from the region and around the world. i'm annita mcveigh in london with the rest of this morning's stories on newsroom live. protestors gather for alfie evans, the terminally ill boy at the centre of a right to life battle. how much is too much? a major new study says having more than five alcoholic drinks a week could shorten your life. a think tank warns employers are falsely listing jobs as apprenticeships in order to get government subsidies. and divers tom daley and dan goodfellow have won gold for england in the synchronised ten metre platform at the commonwealth games.

theresa may and donald trump have vowed that the alleged use of chemical weapons in syria will "not go unchallenged". the two leaders spoke by phone last night and agreed to work closely on an international response. meanwhile inspectors from the opcw, the chemical weapons watchdog, matthew price is in beirut. the midday call to prayer has just soundedin the midday call to prayer has just sounded in beirut and normal life goes on. the last couple of days, have been wondering when or if

missiles will be fired from the mediterranean over their heads against syria. damascus is a couple of hours drive from where i am speaking to you. we know that the united states, like the united kingdom, like france, have agreed that some sort of action, probably monetary action, needs to be taken against —— military action, needs to be taken against president bush al assad of syria. they suspected forces —— bashar al—assad. they suspect his forces did this chemical attack in douma a week ago. should not unpunished. the syrians government to say that it did not happen and we will be talking to

syrian representative on this broadcast soon. last night, british canada ministers gave their backing to prime minister —— cabinet ministers gave their backing to buy minister theresa may for future attacks. in syria, they say any intervention from the west would increase instability in the region. while moscow has warned that any us attack could spark war between the two because of the presence of russian forces in syria. andrew plant reports. with warships and aircraft carriers seemingly on standby, the world is watching. late—night phone calls between leaders, national security meetings, but still no decision yet on military intervention in syria. a suspected attack using chlorine in the syrian town of douma last weekend brought international condemnation. donald trump tweeted on tuesday that missiles would be coming, but by last night said military action was still under discussion. we're looking very, very seriously, very closely,

at that whole situation. and we'll see what happens, folks, we'll see what happens. it's too bad that the world puts us in a position like that. in a conversation with president trump, britain's prime minister agreed the use of chemical weapons could not go unchallenged, and president macron has said france has proof that the syrian government was behind the chlorine attack. so what form could the military action take, and what could be the targets? it is thought there could be three sites being used to produce chemical weapons. one at masyaf, near the town of hama, and two near damascus. russia's ambassador to the un has urged the us to refrain from military action, saying he couldn't rule out war between washington and moscow. in a high—stakes stand—off between russia and the us, the next move will have to come from the us, france and the uk. well, the whole international

consensus on this is being led by donald trump's white house. rather than consensus, i should say, the push to develop an international consensus. what the united states desperately wants is to build some sort of coalition. it has very strong support from france and key allies, does it have similar support from the united kingdom? it does, what is interesting is that there has been some discussion about whether the british parliament would get any sort of say in the matter. and with polls suggesting thatjust one in five of the british public are in favour of military action against syria, that might be something that leaders in britain would have to think about. so far, they have ruled it out. our political correspondent iain watson is in westminster. can you assess the mood music in

london at the moment, is it something that downing street wants to do, to get on board with donald trump and say, we are standing with you, if you decide, when you decide to strike? absolutely, there is no doubt that the prime minister believes she has the political cover to go ahead with military action before members of parliament come back here on monday. she had a meeting of the cabinet yesterday, they decided action had to be taken to deter future attacks in syria and she is prepared tojoin the international effort, america and france, to do so, without the need for prior parliamentary approval. that's something she does not require according to the british constitution but it has been a convention to seek parliamentary approval of since the iraq war. you we re approval of since the iraq war. you were talking about the consensus earlier, there is no consensus between the main political parties here. one thing uniting the main

opposition parties, the labour party, the scottish nationalists and the liberal democrats is a call for parliament to read before any action ta kes parliament to read before any action takes place. they may be less united on the form of action that should then follow, the timescale and the scale of that action. today the shadow home secretary, very close ally of the labour leaderjeremy corbyn, was speaking to the today programme and made very clear not only did she believe that there should be more bombing and military action at this stage in syria, there should be an investigation by the united nations but equally she was underlining what he believes is a need for parliamentary approval. underlining what he believes is a need for parliamentary approvalm would be outrageous for the government not to bring military action in syria to parliament for parliament to have a vote. the tories used to think that. william hague said in 2011, we will enshrine in the necessity of consulting

parliament on military action. so diane abbott saying it would be outrageous if there was not a vote ahead of military action. i'm joined bya ahead of military action. i'm joined by a supporter of theresa may, but she is right, a lack of support in the last time syria action was discussed in 20 2014, so what is different this time? i don't agree with diane abbott's insistence on a un sanctioned investigation because the russians would simply veto it as they have done six times in the re ce nt they have done six times in the recent past. i don't agree with her contention that the only circumstances that she can think of where military force isjustified if the second world war, i think there isa the second world war, i think there is a strong case on humanitarian grounds to protect women and children in syria from being attacked with chemical weapons. and on your last point, the

parliamentary vote, i would become able that the prime minister taking action before parliament debate on the topic. what is the rush? it's not just diane the topic. what is the rush? it's notjust diane abbott, its people in conservative party, kelly clark said, don't go ahead without a parliamentary vote, this is a mature —— ken clarke said, don't go ahead without a parliamentary vote, there's no need for it. a lot of events on the ground have moved forward before, in kosovo, in sierra leone, previously, there could be no time for parliament to have a vote. and in the case that the decision depends on it confidential evidence, it's difficult to bear that in parliament. the leader of the opposition has asked for the intelligence to be shared with him, should it be, it has not yet? members of the privy council including the opposition are entitled to be briefed on the issue

andl entitled to be briefed on the issue and i am sure he will be. only a small amount of parliamentarians are a memberof the small amount of parliamentarians are a member of the privy council, and i am not, so to ask me to vote on an issue as important as this without having seen the material is something should be thought about carefully. if there are things that should be not disclosed publicly, there are circumstances you could have action without having a vote. so it is trusting the prime minister? yes, it is. circumstances in your view military action can be taken without in your view military action can be ta ken without parliament, in your view military action can be taken without parliament, that has been a convention in recent years. i think there will be a big domestic debate on whether it should go ahead but i'm predicted the prime minister would be prepared to take action without a prior parliamentary vote. iam without a prior parliamentary vote. i am pretty clear about that. thank you very much from westminster. from london, let's go straightaway to the syrian capital.

we're joined now by dr bassam abu abdallah, a professor of international relations and an advisor to the syrian ministry of information. thank you forjoining us. and may i ask you, what is the syrian government position right now on what happened in eastern ghouta a week or so ago? is it the government position that there was some sort of chemical weapons attack? thank you very much for having me on your programme. it's a very good opportunity express from damascus what's going on and what is our opinion generally. i think damascus in full cooperation with the opcw organisation, which is responsible for relational investigations. first of all, the government and the minister has declared many times, we

did not use and we did not use any kind of chemical weapons because we do not have these kind of chemical weapons after 2013. everyone knows that wejoin the weapons after 2013. everyone knows that we join the international agreement of these prohibition of chemical weapons. if i may interrupt, if i may interrupt with a second, sir, can i put it to you that there are several instances that there are several instances that there are several instances that the united nations has documented where chemical weapons have been used in its opinion, by syrian government forces, one occasion on which rebel forces are said to have used chemical weapons but several occasions where government forces are said to have used them. this is why, sir, many around the world simply do not believe your assertion that this did not happen and it was not you.|j wa nt not happen and it was not you.” wa nt to not happen and it was not you.” want to mention one important thing.

just into minutes, you have showed us just into minutes, you have showed usa just into minutes, you have showed us a fabricated statement which is claiming that the r chemical weapons. the sources say that there we re weapons. the sources say that there were ten people who died, and 600 we re were ten people who died, and 600 were injured. where are these people, can you show us them? nobody, can you show us what are their names? nothing. last week, we saw, last week we saw footage...” mean here, if we were to violate the united haitians charter, it's very easy for a superpower like the united states or britain or france. —— the united nations charter. we could do that through that aggression against a sovereign state like syria. nothing will happen and

we have nothing to cover and we are ready to receive, i think, the investigators from the opcw. they have arrived in beirut and we are ready to show... those investigators arrived today, we believe. sir, if i may. this is a normal way in civilised... they will be investigating over the weekend and you are saying they will investigate and they will be given free access to the area to have a look for themselves about what was used if anything was used, and they will not be ruling on who used it. i put it to you again that the reason that many in the world, donald trump, paris, london, and plenty of others, do not believe you, is because you have record on this. you have done this in the past. and you talk about the need for evidence, we saw the pictures at the weekend from eastern ghouta of people, children, foaming at the mouth. the question to you,

again, sir, do you still categorically deny that you have anything to do with this? and if you do categorically deny it, do you deny that there was even a chemical weapon attack in the first place? yes, we are categorically, and we declared that in the united nations security council. the minister of foreign affairs. we have nothing to tell. nothing to cover. the western countries, only the united states, britain and france, should stop these double standards. they want to attack syria, they are silent on the aggression against the yemeni people. stop the double standards, we are ready to cooperate with international organisations which are responsible for that. but we are not ready to give any opportunity for the us or france or britain to attack us. we are defending ourselves, we are not attacking british interests, we are not a

threat to your national security in france or us or britain. this is our right to defend our state, and also, to terrorists. i can challenge you, who left the eastern part of ghouta or douma? they are terrorists from the wahhabi movement. we are not attacking civilian people. this is a big war, a big critical game. —— a big war, a big critical game. —— a big geopolitical game. well, sir, syrian government adviser to the ministry of information, thank you very much forjoining us. 20 of evidence about what you say about not attacking civilians is not the case, and it has happened with conventional weapons as well. martin, you did not hear what he was saying there, but it will not surprise you to know that again,

categorical, we had nothing to do with anything here. we do not attack civilians, we are trying to defeat terrorism in syria. that's not what you hear on the ground. i have been speaking to people in eastern ghouta, more than 1500 people have been killed in this two—month offence, by conventional weapons, as you say. it's interesting, a lot of syrians on the end of government attacks do not make this distinction between chemical weapons. that is a big issue for the west. one syrian said to me, what is the difference between chemical weapons and rocket coming through the roof and killing my whole family? another point, half of this country has been forced to flee the fighting. people, opposition groups, rebels, they will say this is not the case. let's talk about the chemical weapons inspectors. presumably they will arrive today and they will be in damascus possibly now, because

tomorrow, we are told, the syrian government has said they will be given unfettered access to eastern ghouta, to the area where this is suspected chemical attack took place. what are they going to be able to dig up if anything? this town is now under the control of syrian government forces and the russian military. it's not clear what access this inspection team will have on the ground. a week after this alleged attack took place, whether or not they will be able to gather any evidence. they also perhaps, locate military plans if they are there, but i think the fa ct if they are there, but i think the fact that this inspection visit is going ahead may suggest that western countries might want more evidence before taking any decisions. thank you forjoining us, martin, rounding off this special coverage for beirut for bbc news. we will be here on bbc news throughout the day, bringing news throughout the day, bringing new analysis and information as we get it. at the moment it seems like

we're in some sort of holding pattern. those strikes which looked so pattern. those strikes which looked so imminent at the beginning of the week now seem to have been pushed back at least for now. and in the meantime, notjust back at least for now. and in the meantime, not just syrians back at least for now. and in the meantime, notjust syrians but the region itself awaits to see what will happen. thank you, matthew price. with me in the studio is dr leslie vinjamuri, an associate professor of international relations at soas, and associate fellow on the us and the americas programme at chatham house. very good to have you with us as ever. thank you. but you talking about a holding pattern as the international community tries to formulate a response, a strategy. how hemmed in is the international community and that includes the us itself, by that trump tweaked early on, the missiles is coming? one thing about donald trump is that he

has proven very willing to change his mind. he put out quite a tweet saying there would be of response and soon. and he has since attempted to walk it back. several things are going on, there is an internal conversation within the united states, the secretary of defence is likely saying we need to think very strategically about a response, and not repeat what happened a year ago which was the united states responded to a chemical weapons attack by launching 59 tomahawk missiles and we have seen an absolute failure to deter assad in his use of chemical weapons or violence against civilians more broadly. there is internal conversation within the united states and also this concern for the evidence. gathering more evidence, waiting for those inspectors to go in and be crystal clear that there is enough evidence to support the claim that the chemical weapons attack was launched by assad. said the us wants to be very much part of

a collective response? the us wants to be very much part of a collective response ?” the us wants to be very much part of a collective response? i think it's probably very important to the uk and the british government, and to the french, to make that collective response possible. and seen as legitimate, the evidence will be important to that. there was a failure to get a collective response through the security council. there is also another pressure, theresa may has said the cabinet meeting has given support but when parliament returns, that could lead to some fracturing. this weekend i suspect we will see probably quite a lot of movement. today and over the next day or so. the big question is, how to respond in a way that makes the difference without escalating the conflict. without either escalating the conflict, without coming into direct conflict with russia which is a key concern. but also a failure to do something substantial. we saw

those tomahawk missiles last year and nothing really changed. what do you do which really does deter assad, which does not bring the us and its partners further into the conflict in a way that is destructive and not productive. there are conversations going on to the americans and the russians about how not to come into direct conflict on the ground. but there is a lot of movement taking place, assad is moving his airforce movement taking place, assad is moving his air force to bases where russians are so he can protect them from central strikes. so as there is this delay, the facts on the ground are changing. there is a lot of strategic thinking going on, which is good to see, perhaps the scope for a more considered strategic response. so assad can move his aircraft, he cannot move the bases. what do you think is going to happen? iam what do you think is going to happen? i am going to bounce your question back to you, what do you do which a chilly deters assad? if you attack infrastructure, is that enough to deter him from carrying

out this action or does it simply delay it? or does it speeded up? pa rt delay it? or does it speeded up? part of what assad is trying to do is get as much territory as he can so is get as much territory as he can so he has dominant on the ground. one of the key thing is, assad has the backing of russia to the extent that the united states could put some leveraged on russia with military or non—military sanctions, to try and pressure the russians to constrain assad's movements more. very difficult but as we said, there is consideration of attacks on infrastructure and airfields. again, not clear which of these, if any measures, will actually change the situation on the ground. there's a lot of scepticism and a lot of scepticism on the people from syria, why the response for chemical weapons, the ban is very serious but civilians have been dying in really

devastating ways and in their hundreds and thousands for years now in syria. thank you very much. you can follow the latest developments in the syria conflict, as well as the rest of today's stories online at www. bbc.co.uk/news. hundreds of people protested outside a hospital in liverpool last night, to support the parents of alfie evans, the toddler at the centre of a right to life battle. the family wants to take him to rome for treatment, despite a high court ruling allowing the hospital to turn off his life support. gill dummigan sent this update from the protest. the family have told me that they have an ambulance on standby, a private ambulance. they have a private jet. they also have their own ventilation kit. they say that the court order ends when they remove the ventilation from him. at that point, they will take over and fly him to rome. alder hey of course saying they won't allow that to happen. the area is also heavily policed, but speaking tonight tom evans said he was confident they'd succeed.

there's no court order to say alfie has to stay in this hospital right now. the truth of the matter is me and kate hold full responsibilities, and we can take him to our transportation down there, with full equipment, with the doctors who have full duty of care, and they're not allowing us, so we're hoping now that my solicitor will spin this and get us out. alfie evans is 23 months old. for most of his life, he has been in here suffering from this cruel disease, which has relentlessly attacked his brain. doctors here say it is cruel and inhumane to treat him any further. the family disagree. they say they will not give up until they remove alfie from the hospital. drinking more than five pints of beer or glasses of wine a week could shorten your life according to a major new study. researchers looked into the health of more than half a million drinkers around the world and found that consuming between five and ten alcoholic drinks a week was likely to shorten a person's life by up to six months. our correspondent charlotte gallagher has more.

a glass of wine or a pint of beer is how many people like to relax after a long, stressful day. but new research says regularly drinking more than the recommended amount of alcohol could take years off your life. researchers compared the health and drinking habits of around 600,000 drinkers in 19 countries across the world. they concluded that people shouldn't have more than five pints of beer or five 175 millilitre glasses of wine each week. drinking more than that was linked to lower life expectancy. having ten or more drinks could take one to two years off your life, while having 18 drinks or more could take four to five years off. the british heart foundation, which part—funded the study, says drinking too much can lead to serious health problems. we mustn't forget that drinking too much also has an effect on your risk for cancer and other diseases, like liver disease. so it's not only your heart health that you need

to think about, but it's — your overall risk of dying is increased. so the take—home message for people is, if you think you're drinking too much at the moment, you need to start thinking about drinking less. since 2016, people in britain have been advised to have no more than 14 units of alcohol each week — around six drinks. the british heart foundation says the results are a sobering wake—up call for countries with much higher limits, and warns that many people in the uk drink a lot more than the recommended amount. charlotte gallagaher, bbc news. a line to bring you from the russian foreign minister sergei lavrov who has been giving news conference, reported by afp. he is saying that

moscow has irrefutable evidence that an alleged chemical weapons attack in syria was staged with the help of a foreign secret service. here is the quote we have come irrefutable evidence that this was another staged event and that the secret services of a certain state that is now at the forefront of a russia phobic campaign was involved in this staged event. that is a direct quote from the russian foreign minister sergei —— sergei lavrov who is said that it was not carried out by a foreign secret service. let's turn to other news first. employers are falsely listing jobs in cafes and fast food outlets as "apprenticeships" in order to benefit from government subsidies. the think tank reform has published a report warning that up to 40% of new apprenticeships are mislabelled. the government insists

that its policies are helping to turn more apprenticeships into real, paid jobs lasting at least 12 months. joining me now is tom richmond, author of this report by reform. thank you for coming to talk to us. ajob with training, thank you for coming to talk to us. a job with training, gaining recognised qualification and skills, people would agree that is the definition of what an apprenticeship is. you are saying round 40% don't meet their definition. why not? this is going back several years now, the government said to employers round 2012 and 2013. we want you to design apprenticeship, you tell us what cou nts apprenticeship, you tell us what counts as a good quality apprenticeship. some of the ones they designed have turned out to be high quality. some are using this opportunity to relabel courses that frankly don't have anything to do with apprenticeships as apprenticeships, the concern is that

by calling something an apprenticeship you get access to hundreds of millions of pounds in subsidies, and that is why we are concerned. some firms think, we are being effectively issued with this pay role tax, so, let's get the money back, and not think too much about how we are spending it perhaps. exactly. that is where the quality comes into play, the levy round for about a year now, has very much been designed with employers in mind. it is their money they are spending. it is right that the gloir should have flexibility in designing them because they need to create something that meets the needs of their businesses. that i can do that to some extent but the concern is when they start designing courses that are low skill low wage jobs and calling them apprenticeships because that means the experience for the apprentice is much worse than it would be in say another country who has a high quality apprenticeship system. you have been looking among other outlets at the fast—food

giants and coffee shops. kfc says the apprenticeship existed before the apprenticeship existed before the levy and met the key standards and they pay more than the minimum rate and a spokesman for starbucks said their programme was established five years ago and was offered with a specialist training provider. what do you say to their response to your report? so, they are absolutely within their rights and the government wants them to come forward and design them. if you are a young person and you see that word apprenticeship or a parent sees that word, they have every right, we think, to demand a very high quality course. who does the quality control then and does there need to be more of it? i think in our report we are said clearly there does have to be more quality control. leaving employers it up to them to decide what an apprenticeship is is good to some extent. there have been some good quality ones coming through but it's the 40% that don't meet the

historical definition in this country, or an international definition, they are the oneses we are concerned about. if you can take those out of the system you are left with a high quality system at the end. ok. thank you very much for time for the weather. simon has the latest. everyone wants to talk about the weather next week but let us talk about this weekend first. of course you may have heard it is going to get nicer next week. a was ego into the weekend we will feel that warmer weather coming through, for the here and the now it is going to remain cloudy, pretty misty and murky, this is the scene at the moment in wales. we have the cloudy skies there. some showers is affecting the north and west, that should clear away. rain edging into the northern isles of, brighter skies across south wales and south—west england. the risk of one

or two sharp showers. temperatures in the south about 14—16 degrees. elsewhere disappointingly cool again, with highs of 10—13. but through tonight, notice as we see that cloud clearing across england and wales, into the early hours of saturday morning, clear spells. temperatures no lower than 5—7. we start off saturday with some sunnier spells. it will dry, warming up, temperatures in the mid to high teen, by sunday it will turn breezier, still some sunshine but showers across western areas but still on warm side before turning warmer into next week. this is bbc news, our latest headlines. the us and the uk agree "on the need to take action" in syria — as the world waits to find out what that action will be moscow warns the us that launching air strikes in response

to the suspected chemical attack could spark a war with russia. protestors gather for alfie evans the terminally ill boy at the centre of a right to life battle. just one more drink? a major new study says more than five pints of beer or glasses of wine could shorten your life. fake jobs — employers are scamming the government's "apprenticeships" scheme to get subsidies of tax payers‘ money, according to a think tank's warning. let's go over now to the gold coast in australia, where mike bushell has all today's news from the commonwealth games. yes, hello, welcome back to the gold

coast, at these commonwealth games, where we are on the home straight, a few days to go. in a moment why it has been an historic day for scotla nd has been an historic day for scotland and wales. let us go live to the stadium, gleaming in the night sky, you mightjust make out the flood light, it is because did she do it. katrina johnson—thompson was on the verge of getting the gold medal in the heptathlon. did she do it? good new, kjt has claimed gold, her first ever outdoor major heptathlon title. she went into the final round this evening, the women's 8800 metres with a commanding lead, claimed mostly in the long jump where she excelled. so the long jump where she excelled. so the pressure was off her after so many years of getting so close. in that 800 metres final. well, she ran a very good race. she crossed the line fourth. confident knowing that she had done enough and collapsed in a heap as many others, but what we

didn't know was what would happen to england's other medal prospect. good news for emerson who won that race and thanks to her eight second lead she claimed the bronze medalfor england. a good night for team england. a good night for team england after what has been a slightly disappointing form here, in the athletics field so far. but there is plenty more to come of course, we have the pole vault going at the moment. holly bradshaw took the lead with her firstjump. at the moment. holly bradshaw took the lead with herfirstjump. she has real gold prospect expect ahead of her. a lot of long distance medals up for grab, we have seen the 3,000 metre steeplechase, kenya taking one, two and three. one of the highlight will be the 10,000 metre, a very strong east african contingent there. fantastic contingent there. fa ntastic stuff. plenty more to come there. for now, let us reflect on who it has been an

historic day for wales and scotland and why, i am sure a certain tom daley was grateful he did in the end compete, in the synchro 10 metre dive, despite the injury scares they only decided to compete a couple of days before today. the dive that wins you a commonwealth games medal. they teamed up for bronze at the rio olympics but today was about the top prize for tom daley and dan goodfellow. it has been a spinning few days on the gold coast, after daley feared he might not be able to compete at all with a hip injury, that wasn't the only podium in the pool that wasn't the only podium in the pool. his 17—year—old matthew dixon and noah williams claimed silver, medals a plenty. it is a group that is making waves. this means a whole lot to me. i have won medals in the past and it has been, you know, it has been a smooth journey to get to

the other competitions where it has been a rough and rocky ride for me to get to this competition, to be able to compete. the next gold came on the green. scotland's four—man tea m on the green. scotland's four—man team includes alex marshall. their victory was his fifth commonwealth gold making him the most successful scottish athlete in games history. the women all bowled their way to the bronze. laura falled for saw wales surpass their high medalsle tally at an overseas gapes. she says she is going to have some pizza to celebrate. charring wants to make an impact. northern ireland claimed their first impact. northern ireland claimed theirfirst silver of the impact. northern ireland claimed their first silver of the games thanks to kerrty barr in the trap. success is celebrated there is also failure, so spare a thought for new

zealand's elizabeth cue whose dai in the preliminary round is one she will want to forget. and before i go, another historic gold medal tonight for scotland in the last half hour, grace reeva becoming the first scottish woman to wina diving becoming the first scottish woman to win a diving medal. so more success for scotland tonight. that is all for scotland tonight. that is all for now. join us at 6.30. until then, see you soon. bye. bye. let me remind you of a line we have

had from moscow, with the rush foreign minister has said that moscow had irrefutable evidence that an alleged chemical weapon attack in syria was staged with the help of a foreign secret service, i will read you the quote let me remind you of a line we have had from moscow, with the rush foreign minister has said that moscow had irrefutable evidence that an alleged chemical weapon attack in syria was staged with the help of a foreign secret service, i will read you the quote from from news conference, he says "we have irrefutable evidence that this was another staged event, and that the secret services of a certain state, thatis secret services of a certain state, that is now at the forefront of a russo phobic campaign was involved in this staged event." more on our top story this morning, theresa may and donald trump have vowed that the alleged use of chemical weapons in syria will "not go unchallenged". the two leaders spoke by phone last night and agreed to work closely on an international response. the labour mp john woodcock is chairman of the party's backbench foreign affairs committee — and backs uk action in syria. thank you for your time this morning. i would like to ask you at those comments from the russian foreign minister, which country to you think he is talking about and

what do you make of them?m you think he is talking about and what do you make of them? it is ludicrous and yet another example of russia's complete determine they —— determination to lie wildly to try to distract from the events that have happened. you will see increasingly wild claims about the prove na nce increasingly wild claims about the provenance of these chemical weapons, about the potentialfor russian retaliation, i think it, it is best to dismiss all of them as pretty desperate attempts to deflect the international community from the action which i do believe is needed. in fact long overdue to restore a sense of deterrence and consequence for the use of these horrific quebec chemical weapons which have been rightly banned across the world for more than one 00 years but are being used again, in salisbury, on the uk,

let us not forget for years now, being used against civilians in indiscriminately in syria and we have the ability to, to take action to show that that will never be tolerated, and that is want we should be doing now. so if one party to any solution in syria which russia must surely be is making, in your words these wild claims, what does that say about the possibility ofa does that say about the possibility of a diplomatic route having any success here? at the moment that is isa success here? at the moment that is is a long way off. unfortunately it is a long way off. unfortunately it is going to the political solution which is indeed necessary, is going to become more remote, the more we allow ourselves to be ruled by russia's campaign of lies and it is the way it is enabling these grotesque attacks against civilians, u nfortu nately, grotesque attacks against civilians,

unfortunately, putin, the putin regime is acting like a prior state and it is a state that only responds to the sense that there will be, to the sense there will be firm repercussions for its answers. now, for its actions. what sort of action, if i may interrupt, what sort of action would you be prepared to back in syria against syria right now? i do want to see a wider strategy than has been countenanced. we should be enforces a new fly zone in syria, we should be, we should be saying that that aid convoys are going to get through and we are going to get through and we are going to get through and we are going to protect them. it has been reprehensible nations have retreated after the 2013, the 2013 failure to ta ke after the 2013, the 2013 failure to take action against chemical weaponings, and we have ian the carnage that has resulted from that. —— weapons. where i differfrom

those who are warning against action now, is that i think that even if, evenif now, is that i think that even if, even if we do not see that comprehensive strategy, which we all want, i would advocate a military consequences for, from the us and uk, france taken together, because that in of itself will be an important part of restoring the sense that there will be consequences, any time that action, that chemical weapons are used against civilians in the way they are being done in syria. what do you make of your party lead ear —— comment that theresa may is just being led by donald trump awaiting for ininfrastructurion from donald trump in all this? i do think it is important that the uk retains, regains its position of international leadership, which we

did representative hencibly retreat from in the wake of the 2013 failure by david cameron to secure a majority for action. i want to see global leadership from the uk, but while there is... isn't that happening though, because the us hasn't launched any strikes yet. one would argue that international voices are urging some restraint and caution when it comes to what the us wa nts to caution when it comes to what the us wants to do? i think what the uk can very much be doing is saying to the us and france, it is necessary to ta ke us and france, it is necessary to take action, to take military action against directly against the use of chemical weapons but it is not sufficient, and that there needs to be an engagement in a wider strategy that restores the responsibility to protect innocent citizens which the un had sworn to up hold but failed to do so, we looks at the humanitarian crisis in the region

and looks no more we can do. i want to see all of that. yes, the uk can right now and in the coming days be, play a critically important role in engaging the international community to that report. thank you very much. protestors have demonstrated outside alder hey hospital in liverpool, in support of the terminally ill toddler, alfie evans. medical experts say further treatment for the 23—month—old boy would be inhumane, a decision backed by the courts. alfie's parents want to take him to a hospital abroad. and gill dummiganjoins us now from outside alder hey hospital. i know you were there while that protest was taking place last night. what is happening now? yes, it is all calm now, you can see behind me, but last night there were hundreds of protestors here, blocking the road, waving banners chanting

against the hospital and in support of the parents of alfie evan, meanwhile they were inside with alfie, with a private ambulance crew, with their own life—support system, arguing that they should be able to remove him, to take him to a waiting van and to take him to liverpool airport where they say a private jet was waiting to fly him to rome. why do they want to go to rome? tell us why do they want to go to rome? tell us what treatment or options could be offered to them there in their view? well, there is a large paediatric hospital in rome, it is within the holy see, they are offering palliative end of life care, sadly every medical expert who has examined alfie has come to the same conclusion that his brain is now so badly damageded there is no realistic ross member of a recovery. alder hey say he has no quality of life and it is cruel to treat him any further. his parents believe

there may still be some home of improvement. they argue as long as he is kept alive there is still hope. ok, thank you in a moment a summary of the business news this hour but first, the headlines on bbc newsroom live: the us and the uk agree "on the need to take action" in syria — as calls grow for parliament to be given a say on a possible military response. hundreds protest outside a hospital in liverpool — to support the parents of alfie evans, the toddler at the centre of a right—to—life battle. new research says regularly drinking more than the recommended amount of alcohol could take years off your life. morning, business news now. there's a new head of the london stock exchange — david schwimmer, an investment banker from goldman sachs, takes over in august. he replaces xavier rolet,

who left in november, a year earlier than planned, with one of the firm's biggest shareholders claiming he was forced out. and a new boss at the top of volkswagen. he's herbert diess. he's in charge of the whole group — remember vw includes audi, bentley, scania, ducati, skoda and porsche. he used to be head of vw branding. of the diesel emissions scandal since it broke in 2015. and apprenticeships are being hijacked by fast food giants, coffee shops and retailers — according to a study by the think tank reform. it says 40% of apprenticeships — approved and subsidised by the government, are no such thing — just low—skilled jobs dressed up to look like bona fide training. so who is the new man driving vw? he's herbert diess. he used to be at bmw. he's known to be tough on cutting costs and not afraid to clash with the unions.

the german newspaper sueddeutsche zeitung daily calls him "tough—as—nails". he has been running the vw brand, which has managed to come out of the diesel emissions scandal remarkably well — let's face it vw is the world's biggest car maker. last yea r‘s sales were its highest ever. joining us now is david bailey, professor of industry, at aston business school. why the change? they recognise they should probably opened up earlier and brought in an outsider. so this is about opening up, it is as you no noted it is about cutting cost, he has clashed with union, he has done a deal with them recently and partly as well it is about trying to safe monday to then put into research and development and speed up the move into electric and autonomous car, under strategy 2025 their plan they

hope to have a quarter of sales being electric by 2025. it is about speedings thins up. is electric key to it. you are saying he is a diesel man, what is their policy going to be? that will be interesting, yes he is seen as a supporter of clean diesel. that is about getting the message over, so he has a big job to do there. but the company had indicated under the previous ceo it would shift into electric car, they area would shift into electric car, they are a long way behind so they need to speed things up. they have announced a deal with their truck division on developing that. they will have to co—operate more. division on developing that. they will have to co-operate more. do you feel the whole campaign to go electric from vw was in a way act mag strategy, to cover up or divert themselves away from the diesel

scandal? it has great marketing bennett fits in the sense they were trying to portray themselves as reorientating. they are investing heavily in electric cars and they have plans to launch new models. whether they will achieve their targets, iam whether they will achieve their targets, i am sceptical about, they have been too slow to get into it. because he is going to be bringing about change, how will he get on with the union, the unions are tough. the unions have a say through the supervisory board in terms of the supervisory board in terms of the governance of the company. company. one interesting thing is that the secretary—general of the working council has been brought on the board. that is a fillip to the unions to keep them onboard. he will have to come to a deal to restructure the company, to put more money into developing new technologies, they are both on the board there together and they hope

they can achieve that. thank you very much indeed. a few weeks ago the life insurance company aegon said one fifth of retired uk workers are "pension millionaires". that may go some way to explaining some figures out today. these show that a third of those coming up to retirement are financially assisting family members as well as paying for their own retirement. this comes from another insurance firm prudential. the pensioners it looked at they estimated would provide more than £500 a month to one or more people in their family. but remember four fifths of pensioners are certainly not millionaires and claire walsh from aspect eight explained that they have to be careful how they plan to help out theirfamilies. with the recent pension freedoms, accessing pension pots for money can look very attractive, but it's really important to understand what you've actually got. so many pensions have penalties if you draw them early, or they might have guarantees that might make it more attractive to keep them to the normal retirement date, and notjust thinking about making sure you've got enough money

for you own retirement, you've also got to think about the tax implications. so with personal pensions, 25% of the pension you can access tax free, but the rest is subject to income tax, so if you take a huge sum in one year, you could be looking at a really massive tax bill. the bafta game awards ceremony honouring "outstanding creative achievement" in the video game industry took place last night. if you every doubted the importance of this industry here are a couple of useful facts — the games industry worldwide is about three times the size of the movie industry in terms of revenue. there are over 2,000 games active games companies in the uk which is the fifth largest video game market. but the winner of the top prize last night was a us designer giant sparrow with what remains of edith finch.

the british game prize was won by hellblade: senua's sacrifice. you can find out more on the website bbc.co.uk/business. quick look at the markets, a bit of nervousness going on, the ftse is down a bit. the dax up about half of 196. down a bit. the dax up about half of 1%. what people are waiting for really, i mean there is a geopolitical things going on, but also, next week in the united states, we have a lot of big companies reporting. now this happens every quarter, there shouldn't be anything difference but this time it is the first time we will see the direct results of a fax reform in united states, they could be really massive and we could see a real surge in stocks depending on how good the figures. er. more of that next week. that is all.

let me tell you news in from west midlands police saying that two teenagers have been arrested after a gerl‘s body was found in a park in wolverhampton, police say they have arrested two teenage boys, on suspicion of the 14—year—old girl's murder. her body diwas found in west park in wolverhampton yesterday morning and this morning police have arrested two teenage boys on suspicion of her murder. they are aged 16 and 17. the headlines are coming up but first let us take a look at the detail of the weekend weather. yes, we have got some warmer weather coming our way for the weekend, but just warmer weather coming our way for the weekend, butjust for the rest of this afternoon we have to put up with this grey cloudy skies, misty condition, this the scene in wales an we have got some grey skies as

well in worcestershire. outbreaks of rain affecting the north midland, parts of north—west england. that will continue to spread further north and westward. still some showers on the western side of scotla nd showers on the western side of scotland and rain moving into the far north of scotland. some brighter skies though, coming through in south wales and south—west england. you get some sunshine, the temperatures up to 144, 15 degrees but for most of us it is likely to be nine to 11. as this cloud starts to shift away, so for england and wales clear spells to taste take us into the early mores —— —— hours of the morning. temperatures no lower than five to nine degree, so then, the weekend. well, a youz notice with the clearer spells we start off saturday with a bit of sunshine, lit warm up, temperatures in the mid to high teens. sunday it will turn breezier.

i think we will keep the milder, the warmer conditions. this is saturday. sunny spells for a good part of england and wales. not wall—to—wall sunshine. a few showers developing in the south. not completely dry but for many it will stay dry. the temperatures are a complete difference in the north east, where you have 6, 7 today, 14 going into tomorrow. sunday, turning breezier. the further east and north you are, i think it will remain largely dry and bright still butjust expect some showery rain across the western areas but the wind is coming in from the south so the temperatures will get up into double figures, perhaps in the best of the sunshine 17 degrees in the south—east. those temperatures will don't rise as we go into next week, while we

are looking at temperatures up to 24 celsius by midweek in england, potentially up to 19, 20 in scotland as well, so, those temperatures are on if rise, something much nicer coming our way after what seemed leek a long winter. that is it from me. bye. this is bbc news, and these are the top stories developing at midday. russia's foreign minister points the finger at the west saying the chemical attack in syria was fabricated. we have irrefutable data that it was yet another staged event, and the staging was done also by the special services of one of the countries at the forefront of the anti—russian campaign. the us and the uk agree on the need to take action in syria as the world waits to find out what that action will be. we'll be live in beirut

bringing you the latest developments from the region and around the world. also this hour. protestors gather for alfie evans, the terminally ill boy at the centre of a right to life battle. how much is too much? a major new study says having more than five alcoholic drinks a week could shorten your life. a think tank warns employers are falsely listing jobs as apprenticeships to get government subsidies. and more medals on the gold coast. katarina johnson—thompson wins gold in the heptathlon as england team—mate niamh emerson takes bronze. good afternoon.

it's friday 13th april. i'm annita mcveigh. welcome to bbc newsroom live. let's go live to beirut festival. -- first of all. lebanon is very much a country, as one newspaper editorial put it the other day, that finds itself in the eye of the storm. the mediterranean sea which we assume missiles will come from if they are launched is over that way in a couple of miles and in that direction is syria. the syrian capital damascus is less than two hours from here by car. lebanon finds itself wondering exactly what's going to happen. the us and the uk have made it clear that they believed the suspected weapons attack by president assad's forces should not go unpunished but we do

not know what the retribution will take, will it be military action or something else? on thursday, the white house said the president would continue to assess intelligent and discuss action with allies before a final decision. syria has said any attack will create instability in the region. in the last few minutes, the region. in the last few minutes, the russian foreign minister sergei lavrov has said he had evidence that the chemical attack was faked. let's go live to washington first. thank you forjoining us. you have spent 25 years in the us foreign service, you retired from the state department in 2013, and i wonder how you read what is going on in

washington at the moment. what calculations are being made behind closed doors in the state department and the white house?” closed doors in the state department and the white house? i think we have seen and the white house? i think we have seen nothing but staged drama from this administration from day one. drama on the domestic scene, in internal politics, and drama in foreign policy. whether trade or anything else. the trouble is that this drama is fraught with amateurism and mistakes. so despite trump's best efforts to stage these dramas, he makes mistakes and he ends up getting in trouble. i think we are witnessing something similar right now in the case of syria. in general, a strike on syria in which the nato forces participate and

which is part of a broader political and military strategy, could affect military and political change on the ground. the trouble is, we see no evidence of the strategy here in washington. if there were a strategy, the president would have presented it. somebody in his administration would have. there is no such thing. so such a strike, therefore, without a big plan, what are your goals, what are the methods you are using, what possible results will happen, without that, the strike is pointless. it's an act of vengeance, strike is pointless. it's an act of vengeance, people would be killed for nothing. so i am sceptical at this point, frankly, that anything would happen except perhaps by mistake. i don't think putin

wants... i was going to ask about mistakes, we know that in the past, the us and russia have coordinated, and at least the us has warned of the russians and we would assume, we would hope that if anything takes place on this occasion, the russians would be kept out of it. that is one danger that has been analysed in washington, we know, and indeed in the united kingdom. one of the things that people here on the ground in the middle east are telling me and you will know this as well, they are fearful that if any striker worked to hit iranian assets or his brother assets in —— his brother assets in the region,. this could be a problem. no, ithink

hezbollahh targets have been working for patrick reed hit by a while and one has done anything. israel is happy tojust one has done anything. israel is happy to just hit certain targets without escalating further. so i don't think irani and is all hezbollahh that iranian ‘s or hezbollahh that iranian ‘s or hezbollahh hit inside syria would cause any problem. but it could cause any problem. but it could cause any problem. but it could cause an escalation. putin does not wa nt cause an escalation. putin does not want a cause an escalation. putin does not wanta war cause an escalation. putin does not want a war because frankly whatever putin has on the ground, even with his s 400 system, he is no match for the force that's being amassed with the force that's being amassed with the nato armada already there in the mediterranean. his forces are known much for that, he would lose the war

in syria. and he would not want to escalate into a full world war with nuclear weapons. so, also, trump is very reluctant, he is being pushed into action by some of his military advisers, not all of them. but frankly, trump does not want to end up frankly, trump does not want to end up in frankly, trump does not want to end upina frankly, trump does not want to end up in a big war, he has a fear of escalation and he also has a fear of putin. this strange relationship between him and putin that nobody has analysed yet. this relationship stops trump from even add now think putin. even now with the drums of war sounding off, he is having a heads up to putin. watch out, the

missiles are coming. in other words, ta ke missiles are coming. in other words, take cover. so i think in the end, we are likely to see... thank you very much. we are grappling with a slight satellite delay, thank you for your patience. thank you very much forjoining us from washington, dc. let's bring you right over this side of the atlantic, across europe and into the middle east, let's go to damascus which is a short drive down the road behind me. ispoke which is a short drive down the road behind me. i spoke to an adviser from the syrian information ministry andi from the syrian information ministry and i asked him whether syria still denied if there had been any sort of attack at all. i think damascus, in full corporation with the ocp w operation which is responsible for investigating will investigate. first of all the government has

declared many times, he did not use and we will not use any kind of chemical weapons because we do not have this kind of chemical weapons after 2013 and everyone knows that wejoined the after 2013 and everyone knows that we joined the international agreement of the prohibition of chemical weapons. if i may injure agreement of the prohibition of chemicalweapons. ifi may injure up for a second, sir, chemicalweapons. ifi may injure up fora second, sir, if chemicalweapons. ifi may injure up for a second, sir, if i may interrupt you, i can put it to you that there are several instances the united nations has documented where chemical weapons have been used in its opinion by its syrian government forces. one occasion on which rebel forces. one occasion on which rebel forces are of said to have used chemical weapons but several occasions where syrian government forces are said to have used them. and this is why, sir, many around the world simply do not believe your assertion that they did not happen, this was not you. i want to mention

one important thing. just two minutes, you showed us a fabricated thing, which is claiming that there is chemical weapons. and the sources of this say there were ten people died and 600 were injured. where are these people? can you show us them? nobody. can you show us what are their names? nothing. last week we saw. . . their names? nothing. last week we saw... last week we saw... we should, if we were to violate the united nations charter, it's very easy for eight superpower like the united states or britain or france. what this situation will be better, and we can do that through aggression to a state like syria,

nothing will happen, and we have nothing will happen, and we have nothing to cover and we are ready to receive the investigators from the opcw. an adviser to the syrian interior ministry of information, sticking to the syrian government line as it might expect. i think it's worth playing you what the russian foreign minister sergei lavrov has said, he has again reiterated the fact that the russians believe, as indeed you have their damascus does, that this chemical attack, suspected chemical attack was a fabrication. translation: our specialists have not found a single such fact. moreover we have irrefutable data that it was it was yet another staged event, and as a staging was done also by the special services of one of the countries being at the

forefront of the anti—russian campaign. it is possible, of course, that in the next few days, we will get some clarity on exactly what happened in eastern ghouta last weekend. we know that a team of inspectors from the international chemical weapons inspectorate is heading into damascus. they are due to arrive any time now, we believe. and on saturday, damascus, the syrian government, is saying they will begin unfettered and unblocked access to the area which its alleged is affected by the chemical attack. i'd like to bring in someone from the institute of affairs, this is a crucial point in this region, as around the world, but crucially in this region, what exactly is the evidence of this attack, and is there anything that point the finger

at damascus? this is not the first time that the syrian regime has been accused of using these weapons, and this is not the first time russia is denying this. and russia cannot but denying this. and russia cannot but deny this, they are repeating it as a mantra, no chemical used by very gene. that go by their regime. but we have had four investigations publicly by the un, and they have all pointed to the regime having used this kind of weapons. the second report said that some of the other groups, islamic extremists have used this, but the commissions have used this, but the commissions have pointed to the regime as a user of chemical weapons. and why russia cannot accept this kind of accusation, because this would show it as not honouring a deal not only under international law but

breaching an agreement that has been agreed on with the americans in 2015. so the chemical weapons inspectors heading in today and tomorrow, is what? damascus, the max clifford and moscow buying time? —— damascus and moscow buying time? i would say yes, maybe, and the camps headed by the americans to try and peeled more of a case, and ramping up military power. they may say to that graffiti to achieve the result of a strike without doing the strike. —— they may seek to achieve the result of a strike without doing a strike. there is a sense here that things are normal and life goes on. this is a region that has faced great difficulties and a country that has faced great difficulties as a result of the syrian war over the

last few years, so it is a country and region that at the moment is holding its breath about what happens next. thank you very much, matthew, we will be talking more about syria in a few moments. let's take you to king edward vii's hospital in marylebone in central london where in the past few minutes, the duke of edinburgh has left after planned surgery on his hip. our royal correspondent nicholas witchell is there. i understand he did not come out of the door behind you, but was he walking, do you know? we do not know. he came out of the hospital out of sight of the cameras via a rear exit. and was then driven past us rear exit. and was then driven past us here, the waiting media, outside the main entrance to the hospital. he was sitting in the front seat of the range rover and waved to photographers and so far as one could tell, he seemed to be quite content, happy, no doubt relieved to be leaving hospital after ten night

that he has spent here. as you mentioned, the hip replacement surgery mentioned, the hip replacement surgery was carried out on wednesday of last week. successfully, we believe. he was said to have been in good spirits after the operation and he will now, after his departure just after midday today, he is on his way to winter where he willjoin the queen and where he will continue —— windsor where he will continue his recovery. that is likely to be long and drawn out. but by all accou nts long and drawn out. but by all accounts he seems to have come to the operation successfully. he is of course not far short of his 90s a birthday but making a good recovery as far as we can tell. —— 97th birthday. he will be hoping to be up and on his feet in time for the royal wedding just over a month away. thank you very much, nicholas. let's return to the situation in syria and the talks going on in the

international community about what sort of action to take. i'm joined now by general sir richard barrons. he led the uk'sjoint forces command from 2013 to 2016, a role which included advising on strategy on syria as one of the chiefs of staff. thank you very much forjoining us, general sir richard. what sort of action is being considered, can you give us an insight into what this coalition of the us, the uk, france, perhaps others, what sort of action will they be looking at?” perhaps others, what sort of action will they be looking at? i think we are will they be looking at? i think we a re pretty clearly will they be looking at? i think we are pretty clearly seeing those countries that are going to participate in a potential strike on syria assembling the forces that are needed to do that. that will be accommodation of aircraft, ships and submarines. it looks as though they are doing that in numbers that are far greater than previous strikes which were a us only business. whilst they are doing that, they will be having to work through what targets they‘ re will be having to work through what targets they're going to potentially strike, because the strike is not

enter —— going to be a surprise any more so enter —— going to be a surprise any more so the people responsible for chemical weapons in syria will be moving things around so the targeting must be appropriate. you talk about appropriate targets, talk to us about the various scenarios that could play out. one of the big considerations is how to affect some change, how to make a difference without escalating the conflict in syria and the region. there are a number of factors that will have to be considered. the first is, this is the irreducible minimum, there is going to be a requirement to target the chemical weapons that the assad regime has used on its own population. that is obviously stocks of chemical weapons, where they are known to be stored and manufactured, and the means to deliver them such as aircraft. those were all form pa rt as aircraft. those were all form part of the basic targets set. and then there are some difficult questions about how the coalition

may choose to reduce further the ability of the assad regime to use chemical weapons to butcher it own people, they will be looking at leadership, command and control, wider logistics and infrastructure. many of those things are used in more than chemical weapons so the dollar becomes a bit wider —— the dilemma becomes wider. everything they do have to be lawful, this and proportionate so they have to think carefully about collateral damage. so any use of military force must be aligned with the political strategy, you have said, there are plenty of exa m ples you have said, there are plenty of examples where that has not happened recent history —— in recent history, haven't there? the previous american strike, for excel, was a one—off, it was an event, and it did not shake the little dialogue or the outcome of the syrian war. i think we are now ina of the syrian war. i think we are now in a place where the us, uk and french governments will be looking at how the consideration of strike

in syria brings the war to an end, how does it end in political dialogue? and this is now wrapped up in how the west manages this very difficult and wholly unnecessarily confrontational relationship with russia, we have to find a way forward. this makes it hugely complicated, we have already seen the russian foreign ministry saying that the syrian chemical attack was staged with the help of a foreign secret service, the relationship between the west and russia has become increasingly placated in the recent months and weeks. how does that complicate strategy is back it is very, located ——? that complicate strategy is back it is very, located --? it is very complicated and it is riven with deceit, we need to link the way that russia is reacting with the salisbury attack to the way they are reacting to this attack, it is all pa rt reacting to this attack, it is all part of the same narrative. there is

no script as to how these things turn out. the unusual thing is that normal rules that apply in this situation do not seem to apply, or they are hard to follow. so how miss calculation is managed and unnecessary escalation is managed is very ha rd to unnecessary escalation is managed is very hard tojudge unnecessary escalation is managed is very hard to judge of the risks are profound. do you think with russia pointing the finger at the uk -- is russia pointing the finger at the uk —— is russia pointing the finger at the uk not the us, in their statement this morning?” the uk not the us, in their statement this morning? i don't know, we need to have confidence in the intelligent and rise above this altercation. with the greatest respect with sergei lavrov, he knows it is nonsense. what is your fear of military action without this sort of political strategy? one is it will bea political strategy? one is it will be a use of force that doesn't

connect to anything so it might be brutal and bloody but not politically decisive. and secondly, it just escalates in politically decisive. and secondly, itjust escalates in a rather random and uncontrolled way. we would need to recognise the greatest risk is that a coalition strike on assad's chemical weapons disability becomes a military confrontation between the us and russia. if russia response against us ships, summaries and aircraft, and indeed —— submarines and aircraft, and indeed uk and french assets. thank you for your thoughts on this. protestors have demonstrated outside alder hey hospital in liverpool, in support of the terminally ill toddler, alfie evans. medical experts say further treatment for the 23—month—old boy would be inhumane, a decision backed by the courts. alfie's parents want to take him to a hospital abroad. we have just heard

we havejust heard in we have just heard in the last short while that alfie's parents are bringing in new appeal before the courts, we are told that that hearing is listed for this coming monday, the 16th, at the royal courts ofjustice. monday, the 16th, at the royal courts of justice. that's monday, the 16th, at the royal courts ofjustice. that's all the detail we have at the moment but clearly the family feel there are still routes open to them by the judicial process. our correspondent gill dummigan is outside alder hey hospital and gave us this update. it's all calm now, you can see behind me. but last night there were hundreds of protesters here blocking the roads, waving banners, chanting against the hospital and in support of the parents of alfie evans. meanwhile, kate and thom evans were inside with ourfeet meanwhile, kate and thom evans were inside with our feet with a private ambulance crew, with their own struggle with alfie with a private ambience group, with a life support system, they say they had a private

jet waiting to fly him to rome. why do they want to go to rome? tell asked what kind of treatment could be offered to them there in their view. there is a large paediatric hospital in rome, within the holy see. they they are offering palliative end of life care. every medical expert has now said that alfie's brain is so badly damage, there is no real prospect of recovery. alder hey argue he had no quality of life and it's cruel and inhumane to treat him any further. his parents believe against the odds that there might be some hope of improvement. they argue that as long as he's kept alive, there is still hope. let's look at some of today's other developing stories. former fbi director james comey has compared

president trump to a mafia boss. in a new book written after he was fired last year, mr comey accuses the president of being "un—tethered to truth" and driven by a need for "personal loyalty". he also claims the president wanted the fbi to prove lewd allegations against him were untrue. labour says it will refer the health secretary, jeremy hunt, to the parliamentary commissioner for standards for his failure to declare immediately his involvement in a property company set up with his wife. mr hunt has apologised, saying he was advised he didn't need to register his role in the firm until it became operational. downing street said mr hunt hadn't breached the ministerial code, and it considered the matter closed. a man from nottingham says he believes his wife would still be alive if the probation service had acted on warnings and sent a convicted murderer back to prison. simon mellors murdered his former partner pearl black in 1999, then killed janet scott after being released from prison on licence. her husband, chris scott, said mellors threatened to kill them both and followed janet to work before she died.

the ministry ofjustice said a full review into the case is under way. for a full summary of the news you can go to our website where you'll be able to get more details on all of those stories. drinking more than five pints of beer or glasses of wine a week could shorten your life according to a major new study. researchers looked into the health of more than half a million drinkers around the world and found that consuming between five and ten alcoholic drinks a week was likely to shorten a person's life by up to six months. our correspondent charlotte gallagher has more. a glass of wine or a pint of beer is how many people like to relax after a long, stressful day. but new research says regularly drinking more than the recommended amount of alcohol could take years off your life.

researchers compared the health and drinking habits of around 600,000 drinkers in 19 countries across the world. they concluded that people shouldn't have more than five pints of beer or five 175 millilitre glasses of wine each week. drinking more than that was linked to lower life expectancy. having ten or more drinks could take one to two years off your life, while having 18 drinks or more could take four to five years off. the british heart foundation, which part—funded the study, says drinking too much can lead to serious health problems. we mustn't forget that drinking too much also has an effect on your risk for cancer and other diseases, like liver disease. so it's not only your heart health that you need to think about, but it's — your overall risk of dying is increased. so the take—home message for people is, if you think you're drinking too much at the moment, you need to start thinking about drinking less. since 2016, people in britain have been advised to have no more than 14 units of alcohol each week — around six drinks. the british heart foundation says

the results are a sobering wake—up call for countries with much higher limits, and warns that many people in the uk drink a lot more than the recommended amount. charlotte gallagaher, bbc news. employers are falsely listing jobs in cafes and fast food outlets as apprenticeships in order to benefit from government subsidies. the think tank reform has warned that up to 40% of new apprenticeships are mislabelled. the government insists that its policies are helping to turn more apprenticeships into real, paid jobs lasting at least 12 months. with me is paul warner from the association of employers and learning providers. and you work in that association to provide and manage a british its? yes, we are the trade body for friendship providers, representing

—— apprenticeships providers, reticent in 75%. do you think this report is there? we have two realise that 80% of the uk economy a service —based and we need to respond to that. we can no longer afford to see that. we can no longer afford to see that apprenticeships are constrained to craft —based industries. it is important that we find high—quality work —based training that can cover a range of older patients, notjust building on skills at the moment but allowing young people to build their skills for the future as well. that said, there are some issues with the way that some apprenticeships standards are being developed at the moment and we need to build a proper system that provides those opportunities at all levels. in other words, you saying that some of those apprenticeships don't offer the high—quality training one would expect in terms of the traditional definition of don't print a ship is?

—— whatan definition of don't print a ship is? —— what an apprenticeship is? there are some that have gone to the development process that not they should be, there are a of areas where young people has started apprenticeships but there's no way for them to a competed. —— complete it. there is no end point assessment in place to complete the standard they have started. there's work to do on making sure that the standards that are put in place are happily funded, and are able —— properly funded, and are able —— properly funded and able to build the skills and people need. are you saying there is no one body systematically checking the quality of apprenticeships and comparing apprenticeships and comparing apprenticeships to check they are meeting certain threshold? the institute for apprenticeships has recently ta ken over institute for apprenticeships has recently taken over responsibility to ensuring that standards are of high quality, and are looking to

make sure there is not, for example, undue overlaps between standards being developed. but there are some issues about the way they are for example, we are seeing a lot of high—level degree apprenticeships, additional portion or amount, being developed, as opposed —— disproportional amount, as opposed toa disproportional amount, as opposed to a great range of entry—level that need properfunding. to a great range of entry—level that need proper funding. so one of the adverts for an apprenticeship at a fast food outlet described it as eight structured learning programme designed to do skills for lifelong behaviours. but it is about serving customers or cooking products while maintaining clean working conditions. perhaps the gulf between the rather lost a description of the apprentice ship and the —— lofty description and the reality of the job. but if 80% of the economy is

the service sector, they are roles that he be fulfilled. absolutely, and we need to understand this better and understand there is a slight difference between the occupation, the vehicle in which the apprenticeship is being delivered and the apprenticeship itself. the role itself may centre around cooking chicken and making sure that service areas are of the right level for customers to come in, however the apprenticeship itself will develop their skills a lot further beyond that and that is really what the point of it is. how many of the employers genuinely are not understanding how to design and apprenticeship properly as opposed to those who think, this is like a payroll tax, let's get the money back from the government and get someone back from the government and get someone to do this job without someone someone to do this job without someone thinking about what they do and developing them as an individual. it's difficult to put a precise number on it but it's certainly a case that the apprenticeship system is very

complicated and fractured in some ways, and some employers are having difficulty getting to grips with what it is they are asked to develop. so it's very important that the institute for apprenticeships, the institute for apprenticeships, the provider base and employ is working together to make sure that apprenticeships are as high quality of ikeme. that is the candy. let us take a look at the weather with simon king. good afternoon. it is almost the weekend and that means it is almost time to see something drier and brighter, we have promised you that for the last few days, today and this evening it is rather dry. we will see clear spelling developing in, asa will see clear spelling developing in, as a precursor to what we might see on saturday. temperatures down to five to seven degree, we start off on saturday with this sunshine, across england and wales, there will be some cloud floating round, in

scotla nd be some cloud floating round, in scotland and northern ireland, dry for most of us but there will be some showers developing in south wales and southern england, later on saturday, but the biggest difference is the temperature, 15—17, perhaps 18 degree, bigger difference on that north sea coast where we have been struggling at six or seven. so for the weekend it is warming up. sunny spells on saturday. turning breezier by sunday and with that some showers moving into western parts. bye. this is bbc newsroom live, our latest headlines. the duke of edinburgh leaves hospital — nine days after being admitted for an operation his hip. russia's foreign minister points the finger at the west — saying the chemical attack in syria was staged with the help of a foreign secret service. the parents of a terminally ill boy, alfie evans, are to bring a new appeal before judges on monday. a major new study says more

than five pints of beer or glasses of wine could shorten your life. more now on our top story — the international response to that alleged chemical weapons attack in syria. last night, theresa may and donald trump agreed that the incident must not go unchallenged — here in london, ministers agreed to back action to deter future use of chemical weapons. last night, minister for londonjojohnson told bbc‘s question time that no decision had been made on what type of action will be taken against the assad regime. our objectives in taking any action, and i have to stress that no decision has been taken as to the nature of any action that we might take, would be to make sure we're upholding that critical convention established since 1925, that countries should not with impunity use these terrible chemical weapons. meanwhile, the shadow home secretary, diane abbott,

said a bombing campaign was not the answer to the crisis in syria. speaking to bbc radio 4 this morning, she supported calls for parliament to be recalled to vote on any military action. it would be outrageous for the government not to bring military action in syria to parliament, for parliament to have a vote. and the tories used to think that. william hague said in 2011 "we wll also enshrine in law for the future the necessity of consulting parliament on military action." our chief political correspondent vicki young is at westminster. it appears that the cabinet have agreed with theresa may that the use of chemical weapons mustn't go unpunished though it feels as if there is a mo towards some kind of military action in syria but the details of that, the when, the how, the where, we are certainly not there yet. there is no growing

really concern about the recall of parliament and whether there should bea parliament and whether there should be a vote and whetherjust getting the sanction of her cabinet is enough for theresa may. let us speak more about this, i am joined by the deputy leader of the liberal democrats. legally, theresa may doesn't have to get the authority of parliament, does she, why should she have to? that is legal situation but we have strong precedent, in the case of the controversial conflict in iraq that that was preceded by a vote in parliament as well as more re ce nt vote in parliament as well as more recent conflicts, the case for pressing ahead, particularly when there is no acute urgency, clearly, there is no acute urgency, clearly, the government is looking at what happened, very serious chemical weapon attack and you know, the breach of international law that represent, we are talking about a warcrime, represent, we are talking about a war crime, this is very serious, but there is not a need to rushing to action without having the chance to debate and vote in parliament which could happen on monday and had the prime minister wanted to, parliament could have been recalled this week to have a discussion on it. it's a

choice she has made not to do so. i think that is disrespectful to parliament and the democratic process, to people of this country who deserve to have their representatives consulted before any significant decision such as whether or not to commit to millry action. do the liberal democrats think military action would be the rights thing at this point? any consideration of the right approach in terms of military action, diplomatic action needs to happen concurrently has to be judged against objective, what are the objectives? what are the risks? how have the potential considerations of the involvement of russia in the region been considered. now there may well be answers to the question, there may be a case that could be set out. that is not being made by the government, it is a trust me says theresa may approach and i will do what donald trump say, we may be forgiven for think, that doesn't

seem forgiven for think, that doesn't seem like a comfortable place to be, when you have someone who is so unpre—david miliband david miliband detectible and rash. we have asked for briefing from the government, on theseissues for briefing from the government, on these issues and we need to have that debate in parliament, but at the moment the government is, i don't think addressing this in a proper way because they are refusing to share the information they know with parliament and have that proper detail. there are many reasons you can see and people are making the case for the reason not to intervene, it is complicated and risky, the problem is that then this kind of stuff goes unpunished and it has done for year, isn't there an argument to say that something has to be done to make sure that this use of chemical weapons doesn'tjust become the norm? look, war crimes and the up holding of international law is important. this year we are on the 100th anniversary of the first world war where chemical

wa rfa re first world war where chemical warfare was used with appalling barbarity. we have a had a consensus about not using chemical weapons evenin about not using chemical weapons even in the context of the atrocities committed in war, and i think that is important, butjust saying something must be done doesn't mean what is suggested is the obvious thing. it has to be assessed, how likely that he is balanced against the risk, that discussion has to be aid and weighed up discussion has to be aid and weighed up in discussion has to be aid and weighed upina discussion has to be aid and weighed up in a serious and reasoned manner. thank you. that is the view there from the liberal democrats. parliament will be back on monday, so parliament will be back on monday, so whatever happens overs the weekend it seems likely theresa may will have to make the case for whatever she wans to do next. the vice—chancellor of the open university, peter horrocks, has resigned after a vote of no—confidence in his leadership.

he described an "unprecedented" challenge faced by the university which has to save one hundred million pounds in the wake of collapsing student numbers. staff at the open university had been angered by comments mr horrocks had made, saying academics "get away with not teaching". the royal college of emergency medicine says a chronic shortage of nurses has left some hospitals closing down wards despite rising patient demand. research by the labour party suggests the number of beds in wards, which have been put out of service at some trusts in england, has tripled over four years. the department of health said that trusts control the number of beds to meet high demand at peak periods. the shadow health secretary accused the government of incompetence. a&e log jammed. we have people waiting op trolleys in corridors, unable to get a bed, and the question people will be asking is why is theresa may allowed a situation to develop, where hundreds and hundreds of beds are just left empty? the incompetence is staggering. the incompetence is staggering.

more now on a major new study into alcohol. a group of researchers has found no benefits to drinking alcohol — and that consuming more than five pints of beer or glasses of wine a week could shorten your life. the study looked into the health of 600,000 drinkers around the world and backs up existing uk guidelines on drinking. i'm joined now by victoria taylor — a senior dietitian for the british heart foundation, which part—funded the study. thank you would be forjoining u i guess that most people if you said to them, if you drink five, six, seven pints of beer or glasses of wine a week, that is low risk, is that pretty low risk they would say yes, but you know, this study is suggesting that is not the case, and it is challenging common wisdom on this. yes, this study is saying the tipping point comes about five drinksa tipping point comes about five drinks a week, and so yes, it is that thought of a moderate drinker, one more won't hurt. this is saying drinking more than between guidance,

sta rts drinking more than between guidance, starts to increase your risk of car owe council tax very disease, a range of different conditions and you are reducing your life expectancy. hang on some will say, aren't there some studies that say things like red wine is good for the heart. we have heard the sort of stories that people want to hear. they looked at all the difference range range of conditions that come under cardiovascular disease, so ever everything that affecting the heart. they found some drinking alcohol. whatftheyfeuad drinking alcohol. whatflnoyfoonoi that orinkino alcohol. whatflhoyfoonci that the alac. that the) octcfhcf baa thc negative gffcclc on — mam—- m man-— § other true good to be true basically. the study comparing people who don't isn't comparing people who don't drink at all, to drinker, is it, it

is comparing people who drink to varying degrees. that is interesting when you have studies that include non—drinkers it tends to skew the result. result. people have often stopped drinking because they are unwell, that can make the result seem unwell, that can make the result seem like it is better to drink some than not at all. do you think the government should be looking at the current guidelines. for for the uk it is great. so we are often criticised for flip—flopping round, this confirms we have got it right. at the right revel but for other countries who have set them higher this should be sort of food for thought. i know the message from the british heart foundation is about reinforcing the idea that the guidelines should be a limit not a target. exactly. it is not we have to achieve 14 united a week. we

would encourage people to implement the wider part, which is having alcohol free days and not binge drinking, that was something that came through, if you drink the same amount in one go, that was also worse for your health. thank you very much. the headlines on bbc newsroom live. russia claims it has "irrefutable evidence" that an alleged chlorine has attack in syria was "staged" with the help of a foreign secret service. new research says regularly drinking more than the recommended amount of alcohol could take years off your life. the united nations will hold a donor conference today in geneva, hoping

to raise one—point—seven billion dollars to ease what it calls a major humanitarian crisis in the democratic republic of congo. but in an unprecedented step, its government has refused to attend the event, alleging that the un has exaggerated the scale of the problem. aid agencies say around five million people have been forced from their homes by violence, hunger and instability, and tens of thousands of congolese have sought refuge in western uganda. imogen foulkes reports from geneva. millions in misery. the un says the democratic republic of congo is suffering a long neglected, major humanitarian crisis, one that has got much worse in the last year. even seasoned aid workers are shocked at the scale of the need. 3.2 million people are at severe risk, as we speak. hundreds of thousands of children are on the brink of starvation. we need the donors to step in now. if they don't, not only

are people going to die, children are going to die. the aid operation is chronically underfunded. food rations to the hungry have been cut. the un is counting on generosity in geneva. but there is a problem. the un says drc‘s crisis is at level three, the most severe. drc‘s government says that's an exaggeration, and it's going to boycott this aid conference. it's unheard of for an affected country to snub a un donor conference, but congolese diplomats view level three as its mind and show up.

but whatever happen, the donor conference will go ahead, because aid agencies say millions of lives are at stake. imogen faulks, bbc news, geneva. new rules are to be introduced to limit the amount that lawyers can claim if holidaymakers say they've fallen ill on package holidays. the travel industry says the number of claims has risen in recent years despite illness in resorts declining. jon ironmonger reports. as scams go, it is simple. take an overseas package holiday, fake an illness, and claim thousands of pounds in damages from your tour operator. it has been dubbed the new whiplash, and since the vast majority of holiday sickness claims go unchallenged, british tourists have been cashing in. tour operators say it could drive up the price of holidays, leading some, like thomas cook, to fight back. in 2016, deborah briton and paul roberts were jailed

after seeking damages for £20,000 from the operator, claiming a severe gastric illness in majorca. dozens of companies are thought to be driving the scam, touting the business in european resorts, and passing clients onto lawyers. to pretty much charge whatever they like for the legal costs to travel companies for pursuing these claims. so it means that if a claim is put in, they can ramp costs up of thousands of pounds to pursue a single case. this is despite safety concerns following a fatal crash involving

uber‘s test car last month. our transport correspondent victoria fritz has been to germany to test the latest developments in self—driving technology. gone are the days you have to raise your hand to hail a cab. a few years ago this was the stuff of science fiction. but the wait for a self—driving future is almost over. there we go, and we're off. now, although we have an engineer with us today, as you can see, he's not in the driving seat. this car is completely driverless. it means that me, i can sit back in the car, i can relax, i can check my e—mails. in fact, i do no driving at all. autonomous cars perceive the world through a series of sensors. cameras see road markings, radar measures distance and speed. lasor sensors called lidar provide the fine detail. all three are combined to create a real—time 3—d map of the surrounding area. the electronic, which you can see, and the software.

this is the man who's driving bmw's ambitions. the manufacturer spent over £1 billion on electronic and autonomous technology last year. we are testing most of the activities in a computer. if you're ready with the computer and simulation, we're going to the streets in china as well as israel and in the us. tech giants are also looking to carve off a slice of the pie, but after the fatal uber and tesla crashes last month, there are questions about whether this fast race is a safe one. there are two development races going on with autonomous cars, self—driving cars. one on them is the way the manufacturers have been doing it, which is very incremental, step—by—step, slowly, safety first. the other is the west coast us way, the silicon valley way, which is testing on public roads with people. every major manufacturer is eager to rebrand itself as a transport service provider, and notjust a maker of cars.

here in munich, cars have been getting smarter for years. they've been making cars here since 1973, and about ten years ago they started to add cameras and sensors to the mass—market models. the very first autonomous vehicles, the prototypes, well, they were born here. and in 2021, the first fully electric autonomous vehicles will roll off this production line. we are edging closer to a driverless future, but the question is whether the public is prepared to take its hands off the wheel. victoria fritz, bbc news, munich. two british women are attempting to trek to the north pole, this week. they're part of an all female international expedition which includes women from europe and the middle east. they're hoping to improve understanding between two different cultures, as well as inspire a younger generation of girls. bbc asian network's poonam taneja went to meet them in norway —

as they made their final preparations. training in the arctic, these women from the west and the east are preparing to ski to the north pole. they're a long way from home, some have travelled from the deserts of the arabian peninsula, others from european cities. there seems to be this disconnect between particularly women in arabic and european cultures, and so i wanted to put together this expedition to explore that a little bit, hopefully to provide some insight. the ten day expedition is going to be tough. skiing for up to eight hours a day across sea ice in freezing temperatures. and the threat of polar bears. most have never tried anything like it. i knew that this is something i wanted to do. i want to get out of my comfort zone, i want to challenge myself when it comes to the cold weather and just to see how far i can push myself.

temperatures of minus 40, shifting pack ice, open waters, these are all the challenges, and then also putting up our tent on floating ice. these are women from very different backgrounds — a marine biologist from france, a businesswoman from saudi arabia, even a member of qatar's ruling family, but if they want to get to the north pole, they need to work together. just being around these different women from these different cultures taught me a lot about myself, but a lot about who they are. the euro arabian team have been preparing for this expedition for the past two years. meeting in the deserts of oman and the glaciers of iceland, learning not only how to survive in harsh arctic conditions, but also about each other‘s culture. for me it has been interesting to ask them questions how

it is to live in their country, with their religion, with their culture. this expedition will be a memorable experience, even historic, as the arabian women will be the first women from their countries to trek to the top of the world. they hope other women will follow in their footsteps. in a moment, the news at one. first, the weather. if you are lacking that friday feeling at the moment by looking out the window, stick with me, because there is some better news, in the forecast as we go into the weekend. it has been a pretty grey, dismal start to the day and that misty foggy weathers has continued through the afternoon, this is in north yorkshire, not much to see there on that telescope and this is the scene

as well in warwick shire, lots of cloud round. not a great deal of change as we go through into this evening. some outbreaks of rain, a bit of rain to the north east of scotland, as well, but look at this, some clearer skies as we go through tonight, we have got some temperatures getting down to about five to seven degrees, but certainly as we start off the weekend, there is going to be some sunshine, it is going to warm up as well. the temperatures respond toing the sunshine, getting up into the mid to high teen, by sunday it will turn breezier and there will be showers in the forecast as well. let us look at saturday first of all. and a dry and bright start, there will be lots of sunshine, not wall—to—wall sunshine, a bit of cloud expecting in scotland at times and later in day. so showers you notice developing across south wales and southern parts of england but look at the temperatures, up to about 13-17, at the temperatures, up to about 13—17, much higher temperatures on the north sea coast so if you are

heading to aintree for the grand national, 14 degrees, there will be some cloud but also some bright spells breaking through, certainly drier than it has been. into sunday, low pressure moving into the west, thatis low pressure moving into the west, that is going to throw up some breezier conditions, with it also, some outbreaks of rain, or showery rain really into south—west england, wales, northern ireland, that could spread its way further east ward but generally speaking the further east and northern you are, it is going to stay largely dry and fairly bright, and we get that sunshine again, maximum temperatures getting up to 17, 18 maximum temperatures getting up to 17,18 degree, maximum temperatures getting up to 17, 18 degree, temperatures elsewhere, typically about 13, to 15 degrees, still milder or warmer than it has been today. but then temperatures will rise even further as we go through next week, we have quite a wind affecting northern and western area, but you see by the oranges there, developing as we go into next week, there is going to be some sunshine, and those temperatures up into the mid 20s o

ten shrill by the middle part of the week. 0 potentially by the middle pa rt week. 0 potentially by the middle part of the week. russia says it has irrefutable evidence that an apparent chemical weapons attack in syria was staged, with the help of a foreign secret service. the foreign minister sergei lavrov was speaking in moscow — as the united states, the uk and france consider a possible military response. translation: we have evidence that this was a false flag operation, spearheaded by those who promote russophobic ideas. the labour leader has accused the government of waiting for instructions from donald trump on how to proceed over syria. we'll have the latest from westminster and beirut. also this lunchtime. after the salisbury attack, the british government reveals new details about how russian special forces were trained in chemical warfare, including putting nerve agent