this is bbc news — our latest headlines: the us, uk and france have bombed multiple government targets in syria in an early morning operation targeting alleged chemical weapons sites. president trump says the us is prepared to sustain the action until syrian regime stops using chemical agents. four british tornado jets were involved in the operation — theresa may said there was no practicable alternative to the use of force. russia has condemned the strikes as an act of aggression, and called for an urgent meeting of the un security council. the syrian president bashar al—assad has said missile strikes carried out by britain, the us and france will only increase his government's resolve to continue what he described as his war against terrorism. the pentagon said more than a hundred cruise missiles were launched in total — twice as many as used by the us when it launched an attack on a syrian air base last year. president trump said the bombing raids would be sustained

unless syria stopped using chemical weapons and in the past few minutes has described the attack as a perfectly executed strike, saying mission accomplished. he announced that mission moments before the first missiles were reported in syria. my fellow americans. a short time ago, i ordered the united states armed forces to launch precision strikes on targets associated with the chemical weapons capabilities of syrian dictator bashar al—assad. a combined operation with the armed forces of france and the uk is now under way. we thank them both. tonight i want to speak with you about why we have taken this action. one year ago, assad launched a savage chemical weapons attack

against his own innocent people. the united states responded with 58 missile strike that destroyed 20% of the syrian air force. last saturday the assad regime again deployed chemical weapons to slaughter innocent civilians. this time in the town of douma, near the syrian capital of damascus. this massacre was a significant escalation in a pattern of chemical weapons use by that very terrible regime. the evil and despicable attack left mothers and fathers, infants and children, thrashing in pain and gasping for air. these are not the actions of a man, they are crimes of a monster instead.

following the horrors of world war i, a century ago, civilised nations joined together to ban chemical warfare. chemical weapons are uniquely dangerous. not only because they can focus on suffering. but because even small amounts can unleash widespread devastation. the purpose of our actions tonight is to establish a strong deterrent against the production, spread and use of chemical weapons. establishing this deterrent is a vital national security interest of the united states. the combined american, british and french response to these atrocities will integrate all instruments of our national power, military, economic and diplomatic. we are prepared to sustain this response until the syrian

regime stops its use of prohibited chemical agents. i also have a message tonight for the two governments most responsible for supporting, equipping and financing the criminal assad regime. to iran and to russia i ask, what kind of a nation wants to be associated with the mass murder of innocent men, women and children? the nations of the world can be judged by the friends they keep. no nation can succeed in the long run by promoting a rogue states, brutal tyrants and murderous dictators. in 2013, president putin and his government promised the world that they would guarantee

them the elimination of syria's chemical weapons. assad's recent attack and today's response are the direct result of russia's failure to keep that promise. russia must decide if it will continue down this dark past or if it willjoin with civilised nations as a force for stability and peace. dr ralf trapp, is an international disarmament consultant and joins us now from france. thank you for being with us. the first thing to do is how this news is being received in france today. first thing to do is how this news is being received in france todaylj cannot is being received in france today.” cannot speak for france, where we left we have the media and the press. we are not in paris. how was

it received? press. we are not in paris. how was it received 7 president press. we are not in paris. how was it received? president macron hurd made it clear that the french government had drawn the conclusion that the site regime was responsible for the attacks in douma. this would have been taken in the political debate that france is serious about enforcing the non—use of chemical weapons and the complete elimination of chemical weapons from this conflict zone. the contribution was important but modest in the end. eight missiles out of 100 that were fun. in the end, this was an american military operation. —— 100 that were flown. it had the political support of the british and french governments. it was not one senior government. it was based on a shared assessment of what happened in douma. in terms of vertigo next, there has been talk by the french defence minister this morning about

the next steps being political ones, trying to take the initiative and get some kind of progress in the political environment. we will see some of that at the un security council this afternoon. france, britain and the us are permanent members of the security council prominently with russia. given what we've seen in the past, it might says that this attack will bring people back to talks and negotiations? relatively attacks don't necessarily bring people back to the negotiating table. we will see what happens in security council later. —— military attacks. we're not just talking about these issues. notjust not just talking about these issues. not just talking about them not just talking about these issues. notjust talking about them in a public forum, they are also talking to each other quietly behind the scenes and coming to grips with what has happened and how we can come

back to the understanding is that we had the beginning of this process in 2013, which was to guarantee that there would not be any chemical weapons capabilities by anybody in syria, whether that is the assad regime or the opposition groups, terrorists, called on what you like, and refined, strategy. this means that we need to go into a broader approach to the syrian conflict. that we need to go into a broader approach to the syrian conflictm terms of the specifics of probation on chemical weapons, we had a long process and 2014 that followed the incident in 2013, with the us and russia agreed with the syrian government that there would be com plete government that there would be complete removal of chemical weapons stocks, the syrians said they would provide a list that would lead to the materials being physically taken out of the country, where they were destroyed. what went wrong? first of all, there had been concerns about whether the declaration was a com plete whether the declaration was a

complete declaration fairly early on in the process. what was declared by syria, the stockpiles and productions facilities and mixing facilities and provide facilities, whatever was declared has been destroyed and removed from the country. that part worked perfectly well under the conditions in syria. where there is concern is whether or not the syrian declaration was com plete not the syrian declaration was complete and this is why the thing set up and 2014, the declaration assistance team, to find out quickly caps are in the —— find out where the gaps are. some things have been added by syria. there remain concerns about the completeness of that declaration. we have seen the use of sarin gas, for instance in khan shaykhun, this can only be the syrian government. on this point, is a suspicion that syria has had

helped to get new stocks or is there just a suspicion that they didn't declare everything they had? there certainly has been a suspicion that have been made public and media outlets. i can comment because i don't have first hand information on that. —— don't have first hand information on that. -- i don't have first hand information on that. —— i cannot comment because. it is important to have a political framework to address these issues and to discuss what preventive measures can be taken to stop this. thank you forjoining us from france. four british tornado jets were involved in the action overnight — hitting a military site near the city of homs. in all, at least three sites suspected of developing and storing chemical weapons were targeted. she says she is confident that the strikes had been good and were illegal. they work with their

allies. theresa may said the uk had worked with its allies to establish who was behind the chemical weapons attack on douma last week. a significant body of information, including intelligence, indicates that the syrian regime is responsible for this attack. i cannot tell you everything, but let me give you an example of some of the evidence is leading us to the conclusion that they are responsible. open source accounts allege that a barrel bomb was used to deliver the chemicals. multiple open source reports claim that a regime helicopter was observed above the city of douma on the evening of the 7th of april. the opposition does not operate helicopters or use barrel bombs. reliable intelligence indicates that syrian military officials coordinated what appears to be the use of chlorine in douma on the 7th of april. no other group could have carried out this attack. indeed, daesh, for example, does not even have a presence in douma. the fact of this attack should surprise no one. we know that the syrian

regime has an utterly abhorrent record of using chemical weapons against its own people. killed and dozens injured in a chemical attack. —— 0n the 21st of august 2014, over 800 people were killed and dozens injured in a chemical attack. there were 14 further smaller chemical attacks that summer. in khan shaykhun, the syrian regime used saren against its people. based on the regime's pattern of behaviour and the cumulative analysis of specific instance, we judge it highly likely that the syrian regime has continued to use chemical weapons since then and will continue to do so. this must be stopped. theresa may has said she will answer questions from mps on the decision to carry out air

strikes in syria. that will be on monday when she makes a statement in parliament. earlier i spoke to professorjohn gearson from kings college london, who explained why mrs may chose to go ahead with the strikes without consulting parliament first. i certainly think that critics will argue that she shouldn't have taken this action without going to parliament first. clearly, parliament first. clearly, parliament was in recess and also there was a dynamic situation. that is for argument, the attack was recent and military action has to be planned and it doesn't lend itself to debate in the house of commons as to debate in the house of commons as to what jets when to debate in the house of commons as to whatjets when and how they to debate in the house of commons as to what jets when and how they fly. giving people enough time to fly, moved things are whatever is being targeted. right, she doesn't want to give the appearance of a national crisis, even though there is a lot of important events going on. parliament returns on monday. i think she will get away with the argument that action needed to be taken and other allies were going to

do something. she has the royal prerogative to injure —— prerogative to initiate military action. there was a convention to deal with these decisions. however, there have also been a number of decisions being taken within time periods where they haven't sold prior parliamentary approval. such as, the decision to go into helmand province, in afghanistan. this was a major kenya operation and ultimately we lost a significant number of british forces there. —— ten—year operation. the prime minister chaucer are fully —— charles roberts carefully in the press c0 nfe re nce . charles roberts carefully in the press conference. she referred to national interests. this is one of the opt out for prime ministers. the core scott mcmann what to be

reassured that this is a constraint operation. in this case, she will get the support of the house. there isa get the support of the house. there is a range of opinions and —— opinions in the house of commons. let's talk about the decision the russians admit, just having been confirmed in the last few minutes, that they will be a un security council meeting in new york this morning. what has that potential for any kind of progress on this given the succession of un security council meetings on syria? what are the chances something can be carved out of this? the expectations must be low. both america and russia have used every two hours in recent weeks over resolutions. —— have used their veto powers in recent weeks. they

might get the support of the security council. it's notjust the veto holding powers that code. beneath the majority of the security council to support action. 15 member countries. —— powers that count, you need to get the majority of the security council. three of the five veto holding powers have taken action on this occasion. there seems to be some stumbling in syria, this isa to be some stumbling in syria, this is a reflection of what is going on in the ground. how far do you think that the british decision was motivated by what happened in salisbury, the british city where the former russian agent and his daughter were poisoned, the skripals. the statement referred to norms of behaviour. that is part of it, although not thejustification for taking action against the syrian regime. there is a concern that the norms around the use of chemical

weapons is diluting and it was important for the western allies that they will not stand back and ignore this. it is a factor in the british decision but i don't think they will actually link action of this site. the war of words preceding last night's action was very u nfortu nate preceding last night's action was very unfortunate and one would hope for in the next few days is a tempering of the rhetoric on both sides, going back to the question about the un security council. let's hope they can afford. we will know more about that this afternoon. the security council is due to meet in just over two hours' time. the missile strikes have caused anger in russia — with president putin describing them as an act of agression. the united nations security council is to meet this afternoon at russia's request. there has been next international reaction to air strikes. the "evening standard's "

defence editor—— robert fox—— told me it would have been difficult to get un backing for the air strikes. international law is utterly hopeless on this because of course it is not within the ambit of international law but it couldn't be the way the world is. it should be the way the world is. it should be the way the world is. it should be the way the world should be but because to have an international mandate he would have to go to the un and you would have to go to the security council and we've already had within the last week on an impartial un inspection a russian veto and so it would continue. what they will explain this to things. this is within the convention of international law and practice and there are all kinds of principles obtained. the most important one is proportionality. it's very interesting listening to the marvellous global coverage of the bbc this morning and watching it. on the one hand, this is a pinprick. 0n

the one hand, this is a pinprick. 0n the other, it's illegal. the other is that we are beating syria, the russians have been extremely successful. they haven't got the point, this is proportional to the act, to the breach, it is a continuum. remember, 2013. syria agreed to give up chemical weapons and about by the convention against chemical weapons. —— and abide by the convention. they've got some of the convention. they've got some of the bad stuff... as far as outside the bad stuff... as far as outside the basis, they shipped it. then it all went. the staff has continued. —— stuff has continued. two or three organisations have called up that there have been in the seven years of work on syria, notjust on one side, about 50 uses of chemical

weapons, not biological weapons, side, about 50 uses of chemical weapons, not biologicalweapons, but chemical and exotic weapons to some degree. the other thing. window of opportunity, it have to be null. it couldn't be sadly mike —— be sunday night or monday month. theresa may being challenged repeatedly at her news co nfe re nce being challenged repeatedly at her news conference and she said she was asked why she couldn't wait until parliament returns on monday to give its approvalfor this parliament returns on monday to give its approval for this action to be taken. so much has been moving around in syria, the battle space, the iranians have been political outcome hiding weaponry, there seems to have been quite a bit of conceding. some good anecdotal evidence of chemical weapons capable to. there is a worried that the war, which we haven't heard anything of on the bbc, i sound like the reverend doctor paisley now, we

haven't heard much about what has been going on between iran and israel. yesterday israel said that we had to bomb daesh again on monday —— to bomb drones again. that is where they are launching the drones. all that is going on. they had to contain it. there is an awful lot of stuff out there that could do an awful damage. we haven't heard much about the edifice capabilities of the russian fleet, which is quite strong, coming out of the eastern mediterranean. and taking olives with lawmaking and kind of distilling that. —— and taking all of your points and distilling them, yourideais of your points and distilling them, your idea is this is a one—time shot, not... there is no desire to

excel at this and everything is being done, telling the russians this is coming, to ensure that this does not provoke a counter reaction. proportional, practical, efficacious. it had been because there is a fear that it could proliferate. they could have got away with douma. syria might have used chemical weapons over rebel fighters and refugees, refugees. they still want to take over and manage the whole of the server. there is no —— the whole of syria. earlier i spoke to the middle east analyst jonathan paris. he said the strikes have put a number of nations in the region on edge. it's made some regional players very

nervous. jordan is nervous, israel. they are very nervous about iranian armstrongs coming their way. —— armed drones. we will see more instability, more cross—border attacks, it will be a very, very difficult situation for syria. in addition to the humanitarian crisis. how far will that have been part of the calculation for the british, americans and french? the importance of not doing anything that would cause such a reaction, whether from russians, the iranians, other players, that it would add to the instability? they were very careful to avoid retaliation. that was uppermost in secretary of defence mattis' outlook. there are a lot of troops from america in iraq, where random ones at the show effectively.

—— where iran once the show.” random ones at the show effectively. -- where iran once the show. i don't ta ke -- where iran once the show. i don't take the view that if americans get involved there will be moral tales. better asset and chaos. i am of the view that the current formula of america starting off and letting russia run the show is a formula for was the chaos because it will include a run in —— iran in syria, give ron access to the mystery raining. is there a change of approach? have they been efforts to deal about this curious coalition of iran, syria and russia? iran and russia do not have the same interest in syria. russia wants to go home as a theatre and remain an arbeiter, economic and diplomatic. they don't

have the resources to escalate into war. “— have the resources to escalate into war. —— and arbiter. have the resources to escalate into war. -- and arbiter. what has changed overnight by the attack? this was a coalition of the willing. this was a coalition of the willing. thisjob the this was a coalition of the willing. this job the french and british working well together, perhaps a bit ofa working well together, perhaps a bit of a balance to trump. —— is shortly french british. the fact the three did it together was a significant present over the last attack last year, the key is what will be the follow—up? what will be the diplomatic follow—up? i also think it was good that they remained proportionate and didn't go out of their way to gratuitously attack and iranian base and russian bases, to keep its content for now. that's a good point, for now. we measured the british and french dimensions for this. there has been a suggestion that it may have been the british

and french but urged the americans to move quicker than they would have done, what is your reading of that? the americans have a lot of troops in iraq. that one has a lot of acids in iraq. that one has a lot of acids in iraq. the one thing that the pentagon... a lot of assets in iraq. whatever happens, iran could retaliate through their proxies, a lwa ys retaliate through their proxies, always through the proxies, against american troops. many american troops were killed by ieds plaited by the iranian proxies. there is a bit of that concern. the extra day didn't hurt, in the end. i think it was a good thing that they waited. thank you for your company today so far. gritter will be healed with the 2pm news. now let's look at the weather. —— rita will be here with

the 2pm. the sunshine is in the sky, it actually feels warm. significant boost in temperatures out and about. this is the satellite picture. the extent of such, the best in england and wales, northern parts of sunshine. plug it in central and northern ireland. look at all that sunshine, continuing through this afternoon. the cloud across north—east of england should tend to break up over the next hour or two to give selected a practice. temperatures much higher than they have been, 18 degrees in london. pleasa nt have been, 18 degrees in london. pleasant if you are out and about. this evening and overnight, the cloud will clear away and we will have clear skies. a chilly night, temperatures between 5—8 degrees but cold on the north—east of scotland. a band of rain will build inroads into the south—west. tomorrow will

be different, cloutier, cooler, bosses of rain in england and wales that. most of us will see some downpours. the showers will be later for northern ireland, central and southern scotland. it is the north of scotla nd southern scotland. it is the north of scotland where it will be dry. temperatures between 11—14d. this is bbc news. i'm lyse doucet live in beirut. britain, the us and france have bombed three sites in syria. three alleged chemical sites were attacked in an overnight operation. the biggest international show of force since the syrian uprising began more than seven years ago. president trump says it was a ‘perfectly executed' strike, declaring ‘mission accomplished'.

four british tornado jets were involved in the operation. theresa may said there was "no practicable alternative to the use of force". we cannot allow the use of chemical wepaons to become normalised,