this is bbc news, i'm julian worricker. the headlines at eleven: the us raises the tension with syria and its ally russia, saying it has proof the syrian government carried out a suspected chemical attack in the town of douma. britain claims russia had been spying on sergei and yulia skripal, at least five years before they were poisoned in salisbury. sir cliff richard breaks down in court as he gives evidence in his case against the bbc, which he claims breached his privacy during coverage of a police raid on his home in 2014. and newsnight, is it worse to remember a speech like enoch powell's rivers of blood, or worse to forget? debate. good evening and welcome to bbc news.

the white house has ratcheted up the tension with syria and russia still further, claiming tonight it has proof the suspected chemical attack on saturday in which dozens are believed to have died was carried out by the syrian government. all eyes are on the white house tonight, waiting to see if donald trump will follow through on his threat to launch missiles on syria with military support from the uk and france. the secretary—general of the united nations has warned of the danger of military escalation in syria and says the cold war is back with a vengeance. russia, syria's closest ally, and with troops on the ground there, has warned any attack will be met with retaliation. our diplomatic correspondent james robbins has the latest. douma is firmly back under syrian government control. this is the ruined town where it is alleged president assad's forces used chemical weapons a week ago. rebel forces have now

fled or been killed. these are the pictures of children and babies overcome, and the desperate attempts to wash them. win over a factor was a chemical weapon, we know there are only certain countries likes of the —— syria that had deliberately mechanisms for the types of weapons. would you say the us has proof that this was the syrian regime? yes, and we continue to look at the information, we continue to gather information, we continue to gather information and further assess it. but russia makes a very different accusation, but the alleged attack was actually faked by the syrian opposition, working with british spies or specialforces. translation: in fact we have irrefutable data that this was another staged event which involved

special services of one of the country is trying very hard to be at the forefront of the anti— russian campaign. written calls that a grotesque, brake and light. —— blatant lie. at the un security council, the secretary general warned that military tensions between the west and russia could spiral out of control. the cold war is back, with a vengeance but the difference. the and safeguards to manage the risk of escalation in the past no longer seem to be present. the us says it has not decided on military action but their assessment points to president assad using chemical weapons in this war at least 50 times. all nations and all people will be harmed if we allow assad to normalise the use of chemical weapons. syria's ambassador painted a different picture, of western powers fabricating a case in order to justify force and initiate regime change. translation: those three

countries, the us, britain and france, if they think they can attack us and our sovereignty, we would have no choice but to exercise our rights under the un charter to defend ourselves. the west rejects that, so what could its military response involve? the mechanisms and safeguards to manage —— the us has the us is donald cook in the mediterranean, and it could launch missiles. the uk and french have five jets, there are submarines in the region is well armed with cruise missiles. no one is suggesting that has to be confrontation with the russians, but they do have anti—missile defence assistance to bases in syria with a

range capable of reaching cyprus. the russians also have a number of fighterjets in the region. whatever precisely happened in douma, russia now accuses britain directly organising it. the us says it has proved the assad regime was responsible. the war of words is louder than ever, any military steps are still unknown. the government's national security advisor says there is evidence moscow had been spying on sergei skripal and his daughter yulia for at least five years before they were poisoned in salisbury last month. in a letter to nato, sir mark sedwill also says russian military intelligence trained "special units" to use nerve agents, including applying them to door handles. the police have said a nerve agent was found on sergei skripal‘s front door. our security correspondent, gordon corera, has more. nearly six weeks on, police cordons are still in place in salisbury, as the investigation continues. today, thought, the government provided new details today, though, the government

provided new details to press its case that russia was responsible. we already knew that the highest concentration of the nerve agent was found on the front door handle of sergei skripal‘s home, but today, in a letter to nato allies, mr sedwill also claimed that yulia skripal had her e—mail hacked by russian military intelligence, the gru, at least as far back as 2013. her father was seen by the gru as a traitor because he had spied for britain. some of these new details come from secret intelligence, collected in part by mi6. there had been a debate amongst officials about how

much could be released, but the view at the highest levels was that it is important to provide as much as possible to try and convince doubters at home and abroad. this afternoon, russia's ambassador in london was dismissive of the investigation. the investigation is conducted in the most non—transparent way. the british government refuse to co—operate at all with the russian authorities. today's letter provides no smoking gun, but officials will hope that it supports the case that russia had the means and the motive, even if it does not convince all of the doubters. a 14—year—old girl whose body was found in a park in wolverhampton has been named by west midlands police as victoria sokolova. the lithuanian—born teenager was reported missing on wednesday. two boys, aged 16 and 17, have been arrested, on suspicion of murder and remain in custody. sir cliff richard broke down

in court today as he told a high courtjudge he felt "forever tainted" by the bbc‘s coverage of a police raid on his home in berkshire, following a sex assault allegation. the 77—year—old singer is taking legal action against the bbc, following the raid in 2014. in his evidence to the court, sir cliff said that after seeing the coverage on television, he collapsed in his kitchen sobbing, and that helicopter footage of the search of his flat, has caused him "profound and long—lasting" damage. the bbc says its coverage was in the public interest. our special correspondent lucy manning's report contains some flash photography. sir cliff richard often performs in front of thousands, but with his friend gloria hunniford alongside him, he came this afternoon to the high court and stepped into the witness box. in despair, helpless and hopeless, was how he described his feelings when the bbc broadcast

pictures of police searching his flat in 2014. south yorkshire police confirmed they are searching a property in berkshire owned by sir cliff richard. "i could see the cameras zoom to show police wearing gloves rummaging through drawers", he said. "i felt confused, disturbed and very upset. it was like i was watching burglars in my apartment going through my personal belongings". the singer was tearful at the beginning. in a witness statement he said the police investigation and bbc reporting of it: normally an energetic performer, the singer said the allegation of a historical sex offence against him and the bbc‘s coverage had affected him

physically and mentally, collapsing on his knees and sobbing the day after the broadcast. he claims he feared he might have a heart attack or stroke. he was never charged or arrested and claims the bbc invaded his privacy. as sir cliff richard was finishing giving evidence he broke down in tears saying, "i am not sure i can go on". he was listing the countries he claims where his reputation was ruined. he said, "everywhere i have ever been, i felt my name was smeared. the police did not do that. the bbc did". sitting listening, bbc news managers fran unsworth and jonathan munroe. the bbc says it was in the public interest to run a story about a serious police investigation that was accurate and where information had been provided by police. the south yorkshire force who searched his flat has paid £a00,000 to the singer in damages and more in legal costs, and apologised.

but it says the bbc was more responsible for his distress and should pay a share. sir cliff richard was clear about the impact he claims this has all had. "i felt forever tainted", the singer said. "i still do". the duke of edinburgh has left hospital after hip replacement surgery. prince philip, who's 96, retired from royal duties last august, but his hip problem came to light following his absence at an easter service at windsor. he went into hospital ten days ago. the parents of alfie evans,the terminally ill boy at the centre of a right to life battle, will bring a new appeal to the high court on monday. hundreds protested outside alder hey hospital in liverpool last night, becausejudges had ruled his life support could be turned off today. but treatment will now continue until the outcome of the fresh appeal. jaguar land rover is to cut

1,000 jobs at plants in the west midlands. the company is blaming a fall in demand for new diesel vehicles, and a weakening of consumer confidence due to the uncertainty caused by brexit. peter plisner has the details. ten yea rs ten years agojaguar land rover almost went bust, indian firm tata bought the company and since then has gone from strength to strength, 110w has gone from strength to strength, now with a workforce of over 40,000. but in recent months sales of its recent models have slumped along with the rest of the car industry. last month you registration is in the uk were down almost 16%, march is traditionally one of the best months for car sales. earlier this yearjaguar land rover cut production at some of its plants, claiming uncertainty over brexit and changes in diesel cars. now it is being forced to make job cuts as well. on monday it is expected to

confirm that more than 1000 agency workers will go at its underhill plant and other workers will be redeployed there from nearby castle bromwich. it is part of adjustments to production schedule that all its uk plants, as the company admits that it uk plants, as the company admits thatitis uk plants, as the company admits that it is facing significant challenges. police and bomb disposal experts are dealing with an incident near peterborough prison, which is the country's only dual purpose—built unit for men and women. a cordon was put in place around the jail, and surrounding area, this afternoon. a bomb disposal squadron was despatched from raf wittering in cambridgeshire. most of the activity is focused on a vehicle in a car park on the outskirts of the jail. police said they were dealing with an "ongoing" incident, but haven't provided any further detail. the open university's vice—chancellor, peter horrocks, has resigned, after a vote of no confidence in his leadership. he had angered some staff by saying academics "get away with not teaching." in a statement, he said the university "faces a scale of challenge that is unprecedented."

it has to save £100 million and student numbers have fallen. the businessmen fighting for the right to be forgotten has won a high court action against google. the man who has not been named wanted search results about the past crime he had committed removed from the search engine. google says it has taken down 800,000 pages from its results under eu rules, although search engines can decline to remove pages if theyjudge them to be remaining in the public interest. that's a summary of the news. newsday is coming up at midnight. now on bbc news, it's time for newsnight with emily maitlis. we have proof that this was yet another event staged by the secret services of a leading anti—russian state. russia accuses the uk of staging the chemical attack on douma. can the un security council serve

any purpose when a permanent member leads a propaganda war? we talk to jeremy corbyn‘s spokesman. nobody is suggesting that there are easy answers. all i say, let us take a moment to consider the options and let us notjoin in some sort of rush to conflict without even having a parliamentary vote beforehand, which seems to be what the prime minister is likely to do. russia is not the only country still backing bashar al—assad. iran is still on the same side. we ask what the iranian ambassador thinks. in this country in 15 or 20 years' time, the black man will have the whip hand over the white man.