this is bbc news. i'm reeta chakrabarti. the headlines at 6pm... the us, britain and france have taken joint action for the first time in syria, bombing three chemical weapons sites with more than 100 missiles. we are prepared to continue this response until the syrian regime stop—searches of chemical agents. —— stops its use of chemical agents. 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, either in syria, on the streets of the uk or elsewhere. parliament should be consulted and be allowed to do give on this but instead the strikes were once last night. the secretary general has urged all states on saturday "to show restraint" and avoid acts that could worsen the suffering of the syrian people. president assad says it's an act of aggression which will make him more determined to fight his opponents.

good evening and welcome to bbc news. britain, the united states and france have agreed that the military strikes in syria were a success. in the last few minutes, downing street said that president trump, theresa may and french president emmanuel macron had spoken to each other on the phone this afternoon, to discuss theirjoint action. let's get the latest now from beirut — and our chief international correspondent lyse doucet. today the pentagon described the operation as overwhelming, precise and effective. more than 100 missiles were said to have been launched a week after a suspected chemical attack in the town of douma, on the edges of the capital

of damascus. the pentagon now says that one of its strikes targeted a scientific research laboratory in the capital damascus, as well as two other sites in the central syrian city of homs. president from this morning thanked his allies and said that the strikes were perfectly executed and he declared mission accomplished. let us look at all of the latest developments. this report from our diplomatic correspondent, paul adams. after a week of talking, an hourof bombing. from a french ship in the mediterranean, a salvo of cruise missiles, 12 in total. britain acted with tornadoes taking off from their base in cyprus also loaded with missiles, a carefully coordinated operation led by the united states. 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. in the early hours of the morning, explosions close to the syrian capital damascus. the target, one of three hit by america and her allies. this is not about intervening in a civil war, it is not about regime change. it is about a limited and targeted strike that does not further escalate tensions in the region and that does everything possible to prevent civilian casualties. and while this action is specifically about deterring the syrian regime, it will also send a clear signal to anyone else who believes they can use chemical weapons with impunity. syria claims to have shot down more than a dozen

missiles, but the attack involved over 100. pictures of the aftermath on syrian television, the research centre near damascus has been reduced to rubble, and near homs, evidence of strikes on two other chemical weapon targets, syrian officials are defiant. this aggression will only increase our determination to defend our sovereignty, dignity, national security and the security of our citizens. syria has said it is business as usual. pictures released appearing to show president assad strolling to work. the president's supporters are celebrating what they call a victory over aggression. last night's attacks were almost certainly less widespread than they expected and it seems clear that for now, the bombing is over. right now this is a one—time shot and i believe it has sent out a strong message to dissuade him and deter

him from doing this again. france said it will not hesitate to act again, but like its allies, said it is not out to provoke. translation: we are not looking for confrontation and we do not see any logic in military escalation. that is the reason why we, with our allies, ensured that the russians were warned before hand. russia has condemned last night's operation and is calling for a meeting of the un security council, but for all of its threats beforehand, it is yet to respond militarily. syrian forces at the scene of last weekend's alleged attack, weapons inspectors have said they still expect to reach douma today. syria and russia continue to insist that nothing happened in that location. paul adams, bbc news. 0ur correspondentjonah fisher — who's in moscow —

gave this assessment, a short time ago, about the authorities in russia had reacted to the military strikes. tough words but behind closed doors in russia i think there is a sense of relief. 1a hours ago there was concern about the possibility of russian forces on the ground in syria, indeed, russia has a naval base in syria that they might find themselves touched in some way by an american led military action. that did not come to pass, the action if it was pretty limited. confined to these, as far as we can tell, chemical weapons facilities and facilities related to chemical weapons production and storage. so, the scenario that i think people here in moscow dreaded was that some of the forces might be killed or caught up in any strikes, that did not come to pass, and so the pressure is not there today in quite the same way that russian leaders

would have perhaps expected and they would have perhaps expected and they would have perhaps expected and they would have been under pressure to respond militarily perhaps if russians had been killed on the ground in syria. but that has not come to pass and behind closed doors at least, people are reading something beside of relief here. jonah fisher, our correspondent in russia. —— people are breeding something of a scion of relief. defending the action, the prime minister said the raids sent a clear signal that the use of chemical weapons would not be tolerated. theresa may also said it had been "right and legal" to take action. but the labour leaderjeremy corbyn has described the action as ‘legally questionable.‘ 0ur political correspondent vicki young has been looking at the uk's reaction. getting a preparation right, british pilots ready themselves for an order from politicians back home. under pressure to explain why she ordered air strikes, theresa may toljan was in downing street this was a limited use of force and there was no alternative path. there is no group

decision for a prime minister than to commit ourto decision for a prime minister than to commit our to combat. and this is the first time that i have had to do so. the first time that i have had to do so. we must reinstate the global consensus that chemical weapons cannot be used. this action is absolutely in britain's national interest. the lesson of history is that when the global rules and standards that keep us safe under threat, we must take a stand and defend them. and mrs may drew a clear link with the salisbury nerve agent attack for which he called russia responsible. so, while this action is specifically about deterring the syrian regime, it will also send a clear signal to anyone else who believes they can use chemical weapons with impunity. jeremy corbyn has said that the prime minister was wrong not to consult parliament before the air strikes, and he suggest this is illegal. she could have come to parliament on monday to

suggest the situation instead of launching the strikes. she claims there is a legal basis for it, i have asked for any letter that i have asked for any letter that i have centre this morning to publish in full the legal basis and justification for it. when cabinet ministers meet on thursday to discuss taking action against the syrian regime, they were given legal advice. the government is expected to publish a summary of that later. 0pposition parties have other questions for theresa may. 0pposition parties have other questions for theresa maym 0pposition parties have other questions for theresa may. it does not do anything to bring syria to a more peaceful resolution and they are not convinced that it actually seeks to do what it was set out to do, until mine the capability of launching chemical attacks by the syrian government in the future. the public expects parliament to do its job in holding the government to account. we understand this decision was difficult and there are legitimate reasons for wanting to respond to the use of chemical weapons, which undoubtedly has occurred. but there are major questions and major doubts, is this

a one—off attack or a continued operation? how much control do we have over what the americans are doing? an american president to changes his position from monday to the next. theresa may will have to a nswer the next. theresa may will have to answer all of these questions on monday when mps return to westminster. she is adamant that military action was the right thing to do. the government has released its position on the legality of uk military action, saying it is permitted under international law, on an exceptional basis, to take measures in order to alleviate overwhelming humanitarian suffering. it says the legal basis for the use of force is "humanitarian intervention", which it says met the following three conditions. there is convincing evidence, generally accepted by the international community as a whole, of extreme humanitarian distress on a large scale, requiring immediate and urgent relief. it must be objectively clear there is no practicable alternative to the use of force if lives are to be saved. and the proposed use of force must be necessary and proportionate to the aim of relief of humanitarian suffering, and must be

strictly limited in time and in scope to this aim. 0ur political correspondent, ben wright, is in downing street. what has the reaction been to this publication of the legal justification? well, the labour party have repeated their criticism of this action and have continued to question the legal advice. the government have always, it says, intended to publish this legal advice butjeremy corbyn was applying pressure from early this morning suggesting that it had to be out there. the justification that you read out, for humanitarian reasons that action was justified, is an argument that the uk government has used several times in recent yea rs. government has used several times in recent years. it used to justify action in kosovo, it is almost the same legal advise the government relied on in 2013 when david cameron

went to the house of commons and tried and failed to persuade mps to back military action against the assad regime then. but in view of the uk government and it is pretty much alone amongst many countries in using this type ofjustification, it feels it is on water tight solid ground, using this as a reason to justify the air strikes in this case, because they see the assad government has made no attempt whatsoever to alleviate the humanitarian distress that the people of serbia are experiencing because of this chemical weapons. theresa may will go to the commons on monday to make a statement about this action, what sort of issues do you expect to be raised? -- syria. she will have to explain more fully than she has done so far, exactly why she decided in this instance that parliamentary approval was not required before military action was taken. certainly since 2003 in that iraq vote, it has become a convention for a government to seek

the green light from mps before military action is taken. in one insta nce military action is taken. in one instance in 2011, when there were air strikes against colonel gaddafi's forces in libya, david cameron went to the commons a few days later but still sought to get retrospective approval. there is no sign today that the government want to do that either. so there will not bea to do that either. so there will not be a vote and it does not look like the government will put down a promotion for mps to vote on but there would be a debate. the prime minister will make a statement and i think she will be under some pressure to explain why she did not true that parliament should be consulted and she will be under pressure to explain what happens next. where might the school, what if there is another use of chemical weapons by the assad regime in a few weeks' time? will there be a repeat of this military action? i think thatis of this military action? i think that is where the questioning will go. we will want to know, mps, where this fits into a broader strategy for the country and that civil war that theresa may has made clear today that the uk has no interest in

getting further involved in. then, we will have to leave it there. thank you. 0ur correspondent barbara plett usher is in washington. listening to the pentagon there is the feeling ofjob done, is there any nervousness about what has happened? i do not think so. the president used the phrase mission accomplished, which was like the u nfortu nate, accomplished, which was like the unfortunate, given that that was the phrase that george w bush used to suggest that the iraq war was over when it clearly was not. in terms of the operation itself, which was limited, the pentagon and the president seem to be quite satisfied. we have said that they struck all of the target and destroy them. that the syrians, although they did launch missiles in defence, did not obstruct the operation, did not hate them, the missiles did not

hit their targets, so they carried out what they had planned to do. and they also have said that the hit targets that were acquired key to the chemical weapons programme, especially this research laboratory in damascus, but then also this story ‘s depot in homs, which they have said that having destroyed in the sights, this will put back the chemical weapons programme significantly, cripple it was the work that they use. and they also said that they took great care not to have civilian casualties, but also especially casualties from the allies of the syrian regime, the russians and the iranians. we seem to have carried out successfully. plus, the dead and together with our lives. so from the point of view, the point of view of a military operation that was supposed to be targeted to give quite a narrow message, we feel that they have been successful. barbara, earlier, there appeared to be some difference between the president and the defence secretary over whether this

was a one off, single act, or both 01’ was a one off, single act, or both or it could be repeated. are we any clearer on were the us stands on that now? yes, i think it was mainly a difference in emphasis. in his speech, president, said this would bea speech, president, said this would be a sustained campaign until president assad stopped using chemical weapons, whereas the phrase that general mattis, the defence secretary, used, was that this was the one of it. but then when asked if they would be if other military operation, he said that would depend on president assad and the continued use chemical weapons. the pentagon briefing that was reinforced, it sort of said that the ball is in the court of president assad and it can decide what happens next, an indication that there could be further strikes. then nikki haley at the un, the us ambassador, she was quite blunt and made it clear, suggesting that if there was another chemical weapons attack that we are

locked and loaded to respond. i think it would be difficult for the americans, they have opened up a potential conflict, because what will they respond to now? every small chemical weapons attack with chlorine gas that tells you a number of people but not a lot? 0r chlorine gas that tells you a number of people but not a lot? or have they changed the fresh all depending on numbers? that is going to be an ongoing issue but they did indicate that this would not necessarily be the last strike, especially if mister assad continue to use these weapons. 0k, barbara, many thanks. barbara mentioned the us ambassador to the un, nikki haley and awards that she had used earlier. that the us was ready to strike again if necessary. let us listen her now. 0ur message last night was crystal clear, the united states of america will not allow the assad regime to continue to use chemical weapons. last night we obliterated the major

research facility that it used to assemble weapons of mass murder. i spoke to the president this morning and he said that the syrian regime uses this poisonous gas again, the united states is locked and loaded. when our president draws a red line, oui’ when our president draws a red line, our president enforces the red line. that was nikki haley, the american ambassador to the un. the russian ambassador to the un said the strikes threaten the prospects of a brokered political solution for the syrian conflict. let's hear what he told the security council a little earlier. without a mandate from the united nations security council, and in violations of the un charter of norms and principal of normal law, aggression against the sovereign state was carried out, which is on the front line in the fight against terrorism. just as one year ago,

when the shayrat airbase in syria came under attack, the us used as a pretext the stage chemical attack against civilians. this time in douma, damascus suburb, a russian military expert did not find any traces of chlorine or any other toxic agent when they visited the site. not a single local resident was able to gain from that a chemical attack had actually taken place. karen pierce, the british ambassador to the un, explain the involvement of britain in the military strikes that took place overnight against the syrian regime. acting with our american and french allies, in the early hours of this morning, the united kingdom conducted coordinated, targeted and precise strikes to degrade assad's chemical weapons and deter the future use. the british royal air force with storm shadow missiles

launched them at a military facility some 15 miles west of, were it was assessed they were chemical weapons keptin assessed they were chemical weapons kept in breach of serious obligations under the chemical weapons convention. a full assessment has not yet been completed, but we believe the strikes to have been successful. furthermore, none of the british, us 01’ furthermore, none of the british, us or french aircraft missiles involved in this operation were successfully engaged by syrian air defences, and the results also no indication that russian air defence systems were employed. nick bryant is at the un in new york for us now. next, it feels as this, i mean, diplomacy was deadlocked before the easier strikes and listening to that session this afternoon, and remains deadlocked. it was heated rhetoric with a cold war child, wasn't it? very angry, and that is the fifth meeting we

have had this week and they have all had the same kind of mood. the russians accusing the british, french and americans of it blatant breach of international law and americans accusing the russians are trashing every kind of international law and norm, and saying that russian has paralysed the security council when it comes to syria, it has used its veto 12 times over the past seven years, so it has no other choice but to take action outside of the security council. so what happens now, there is evil deceiving, isn't there? well, the russians are putting forward a resolution calling on the other members of the security council to condemn an act of aggression. —— there is a vote this evening, isn't there? the british and americans would never allow that to pass and it will not get the nine votes needed to pass, so the british and

americans and the french will not have to deploy the vehicle. that is where we are at the moment, the un security council, not being used for constructive dialogue, but for a war of words and in the midst of that was antonio guterres, the un secretary general, urging both sides, stressing again as he has done for the last few weeks that the sides should not let the situation spiral out of control. so when british ministers talk about the need now for a political solution, it does not look like that will come from the un security council. well, i think that ship left a long time ago, frankly, to be honest. the un has been working towards a political solution for seven years and it has just failed repeatedly. three different un envoys have tried to do that, including kofi annan in the early stages of the war, and it has just failed, and, of course, the

problem then is that president assad is on the verge of victory. a few yea rs is on the verge of victory. a few years ago when the outcome of the war was a lot less predictable, there was a possibility that if russia exerted pressure on assad and the americans could bring the moderate rebels to the negotiating table, they could have been some kind of political solution, but the reality is that that moment passed along time ago. 0k, nick bryant, we will have to leave it. thank you. as we have been hearing, four raf tornado jets were involved in last night's us—led military strike against syria. our home affairs correspondent, daniel sandford, is at the ministry of defence. as the day has gone on it has become clear that the 105 missiles fired by the three nations, 87 were fired by americans, 12 by the french and eight were british storm shadow cruise missiles. these were fired from four tornadojets

cruise missiles. these were fired from four tornado jets that took off from four tornado jets that took off from the airbase in cyprus. they are stand of missiles and so the aircraft would have fired from quite aircraft would have fired from quite a long way away from the target, let go of the cruise missiles which would descend to a low altitude to try to go under any radar defences, and then they rise up just before the target to acquire the target properly and dive down into the target, and they have two warheads on them, these storm shadow missiles, one to break through any concrete defences and is second to explode inside. the british said they still had only an initial assessment and they were not com pletely assessment and they were not completely certain about the details of what appeared to be a successful attack. the americans then released some photographs of the chemical weapons storage facility that the british had been targeting. this was the him shinshar chemical weapons storage facility and there seems to be quite severe damage to buildings on that side. so at this stage

eve ryo ne on that side. so at this stage everyone seems to think that the british contribution to this was a success , british contribution to this was a success, and there was also a bit of a further explanation by the british ambassador to the united nations this afternoon, as to why it is that the british felt that the syrians we re the british felt that the syrians were responsible for the original chemical weapons attack that had triggered these attacks today. she said that they were eyewitness accou nts said that they were eyewitness accounts about a syrian helicopter hovering near to douma on that day and ofa hovering near to douma on that day and of a barrel bomb being dropped ata time and of a barrel bomb being dropped at a time when people started to be affected by this instance of chemical weapons and she said that the british had intelligence that syrian military officers had been coordinating the chlorine attack, as she described them, that day, as a justification for the attacks today, as if there was a humanitarian intervention where there was nothing else i could be used to stop the syrians using further chemical weapons against their own people. daniel sandford. in a few minutes'

time, viewers on bbc one willjoin us time, viewers on bbc one willjoin us for a full round—up of the day ‘s news, but before that, time for the weather. we have finally had a decent spring, sunny, warm day. most of us have seen the sunshine today and it looked glorious earlier on. the mist lifted and the sunny and the waves crashed onto the beaches. the sunshine today has been extensive the sunshine today has been exte ns ive a cross the sunshine today has been extensive across most of england and wales, although it has been quite cloudy from north—east england, northern ireland, central and southern parts of scotland. what little cloud we have seenjulie de ward end to melt away over the coming hours and we will be left with clear skies today goes through most of the night. the exception to that story is down towards the south—west, will see clive thickening clive thickening up the end of the night and a band of rain approaching through cornwall and amateur. for most of us, a dry night, 50 to 8 degrees is the low, cold for the north—east of scotland. tomorrow it is a different kind of day, low pressure is coming our way.

this is the low, this area of cloud spiralling around the centre into the low—pressure centre and that is often what we see with all the leaders of low pressure. that is coming and it means that on sunday it will be cloudy with spells of rain working in. it will feel cooler and be windy at times across the west. the forecast on sunday, nor these bands of rain extending across england and wales, one of those days we will see two or three downpours during the day by sunshine. rain will threaten northern ireland and scotla nd will threaten northern ireland and scotland but probably during the afternoon and the north of scotland should stay dry. a cool day, temperatures between 11 and 15 degrees. do not worry, that is not the end of the warm weather, we will see another return to it but we have u nsettled see another return to it but we have unsettled conditions first because high pressure drives are from in the continent and we will see temperatures rise significantly next week. how one will it get? we could see up to 25 degrees to the

north—west of london, but widely, most of us will see those temperatures pushing up into the high teens and 20s for the medal to the end of the week ahead. before we get there, monday looks like a decent day, dry weather for england and wales, south—westerly winds, fresh wind and eventually rain getting into northern ireland where it could be quite wet. clouding over for the west of scotland with the best of the sunshine in the north—east. temperatures will build towards the middle of the week. president trump declares ‘mission accomplished', saying missile strikes against syria by the us, britain and france were ‘perfectly executed. more than 100 missiles were fired in the joint action — targeting suspected chemical weapons sites. the purpose of our actions tonight is to establish a strong deterrent against the production, spread and use of chemical weapons. four british tornado jets were involved in the bombing raids.

theresa may said the use of force was right and legal. it was a limited, targeted and effective strike with clear boundaries that expressly sought to avoid escalation and did everything possible to prevent civilian casualties. parliament should be consulted, parliament should be allowed to take a view on this, but instead the strikes were launched last night. syria and russia have condemned the strikes, calling them an illegal act of aggression. we‘ll assess the significance of today‘s military action and the reaction to it. also in today‘s other news... a dramatic finish at the grand national, as tiger roll holds on to claim victory. good evening.

president trump has declared "mission accomplished" following overnight military strikes by the us, the uk and france on suspected chemical weapons sites in syria. mr trump said the action was taken in response to a chemical attack on civilians in douma last week — and described it as the use of "righteous power against barbarism and brutality". the pentagon said the targets were a chemical weapons research unit in damascus, and two storage facilities and a command post near the city of homs. syria‘s denounced the attacks, but said they caused limited damage. here, the prime minister said the action should serve as a warning to syria and its ally, russia, against the use of chemical weapons. but russia‘s ambassador to the un told a meeting of the security council that the missile strikes were an illegal act of aggression. here‘s our north america editor, jon sopel. from a french warship in the eastern

mediterranean... to a british raf base in cyprus... to the uss monterey in the red sea, days of planning was replaced by execution, with the bombing and missile strikes. the president said britain, france and the us had marshalled their righteous power against barbarism and brutality. 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. capabilities of syrian dictator bashar al-assad. and he singled out syria‘s two principal backers. teheran and to russia, i ask, what

kind of nation wants to be associated with the mass murder of innocent men, women and children? —— to iran. the nations of the world can bejudged to iran. the nations of the world can be judged by to iran. the nations of the world can bejudged by the to iran. the nations of the world can be judged by the friends they keep. in damascus last night, flashes, bangs and streaking missiles lit the night sky. those launching the attack seemed as keen to define what this mission wasn‘t as what it was. this is not about intervening in the civil war. it is not about regime change. it is about a limited and targeted strike that does not further escalate tensions in the region and that does everything possible to prevent civilian casualties. daylight reveals the extent of the destruction. this is all that‘s left of the scientific research centre near damascus, one of the targets that took the greatest painting. at a pentagon briefing this morning, the defence chief said all targets

had been hit with no casualties suffered. we are still conducting a more detailed damage assessment, the initial indications are that we accomplished our military objectives without interference from syria. i use three words to describe this operation, precise, overwhelming and effective. but in damascus this morning, regime supporters were celebrating a success in repelling american aggression. perhaps more accurately, this strike was more limited than they‘d anticipated. from a government spokesman, defiance. translation: this aggression will only increase our determination to defend our sovereignty, national security and the security of our citizens. this a p pa re ntly the security of our citizens. this apparently is president assad struggling to work today, although we don‘t see a close—up of his face. if he is able to walk at all, it‘s only because of the support he is receiving from the russians. today at the un they turned their fire on

britain, france and the us. translation: the us and allies continued to demonstrate blatant disregard for international law. they must be especially firm in protecting the un charter. in the douma, the site of the chemical weapons attack, the syrian army are in control and awaiting the weapons inspectors. the americans are saying it‘sjob done. but inspectors. the americans are saying it‘s job done. but maybe world waits to see if there will be retaliation orany to see if there will be retaliation or any further use of chemical weapons, because if there is then this will be far from over. jon sopel this will be far from over. jon sopel, bbc news, washington. we‘ll get the latest from jon in washington shortly but first steve rosenberg is in moscow, and steve — as one might expect — strong reaction there? yes, since moscow is president assad‘s biggest backer, the russians we re assad‘s biggest backer, the russians were never going to mince their words about a us—led strike on

syria, that‘s why the words we‘ve been hearing today in moscow have been hearing today in moscow have been so strong. we heard vladimir putin talk about an act of aggression. unlawful and unacceptable said sergey lavrov. we heard a senior russian senators say america was acting like a school bully. in this geopolitical school playground, there is lots of shouting and shadow—boxing behind the bicycle sheds, but crucially it hasn‘t come to a fight between russia and america. neither want to go to war over syria. and we know because the us ambassador in moscow said so today, that before the strike the two sides took measures to try to keep out of each other‘s way during this strike. of course syria is a crowded theatre of war and the danger of this conflict spreading and growing, it still exists. thank you, steve. and jon from washington — is that it — is the operation over? donald trump use the illjudged fee

the leg freeze mission accomplished, you will remember that quanta george w bush when it during the iraq war he landed on an aircraft carrier and that was the banner behind him, the war went on for several more years. donald trump‘s ambitions are very much more limited. this is about stopping chemical weapons on a battlefield. it‘s not stopping the russians, the syrians from bombing civilians. it‘s purely about chemical weapons and the americans went out of their way not to hit foreigners, such as russians or iranians, the limit to the target very much. to use steve‘s metaphor of the playground, last year when it was one in your field, that was a slap on the rest, this time it was maybe a punch on the arm as well. there‘s been an interesting division in washington. the defence department were very keen it should be much more limited, donald trump seemed to want something a bit more

ambitious and prolonged. the defence department prevailed and ironically in domestic terms that will help donald trump. his supporters didn‘t elect him to get further embroiled in conflict and nothing is more intractable than the situation in syria. thank you very much indeed, jon sopel there. the prime minister theresa may says the raids sent a clear signal that the use of chemical weapons would not be tolerated and she said it had been "right and legal" to take action. but the labour leaderjeremy corbyn has called the strikes "legally questionable". with more then on the reaction here in the uk, here‘s our political editor, laura kuenssberg. 2am at home. 4am at the target. raf jets take off to strike at assad‘s regime. by 9am in number ten the prime minister emerged to explain her case. there is no graver decision for a prime minister than to commit our forces to combat. and this is the first time that i‘ve had

to do so. we cannot allow the use of chemical weapons to become normalised. either within syria, on the streets of the uk, or elsewhere. not just a punishment for president assad, but about a wider principle, too. this was not about interfering in a civil war, and it was not about regime change. it was a limited, targeted and effective strike with clear boundaries. we must reinstate the global consensus that chemical weapons cannot be used. this action is absolutely in britain‘s national interest. the lesson of history is that when the global rules and standards that keep us safe come under threat we must take a stand and defend them. will you do the same again if president assad does the same again? as you have suggested he has. and do you feel you have the public‘s consent, given you have not even consulted mps in parliament?

we believe the action was successful, but the syrian regime should be under no doubt of our resolve in relation to this matter of the use of chemical weapons. and i have taken this decision because i believe it is the right thing to do. ministers‘ legal advice justifies the strikes as an exceptional measure to alleviate humanitarian distress by degrading the syrian regime‘s chemical weapons capability and deterring future attacks. yet without explicit un backing, the labour leader believes the strikes might not be legal. the consequences of any country taking unilateral and action that has no legal base, it's an encouragement for others to do exactly the same and reduces our ability to complain when do that. —— others do that. surely the united nations

exists for a purpose. the prime minister will face questions from mps on monday, but no firm plans for a vote. mps have been powerless all week to hold the government accountable on this, and for us to have to wait another two days after the event really is not good enough. there are major questions, major doubts. is this a one—off or is it a continuing operation? how much control do we have of what the americans are doing? we‘ve got a very erratic american president who changes his position from one day to the next. this was not intended to end the war in syria, not part of an effort to remove assad. but the prime minister wants these attacks to be seen as a clear and grave reprimand to a country suspected of using chemical weapons. an effort to force respect of the decades old rule that such weapons are illegal and must not be used. but while theresa may‘s decision to act was in her gift, what happens next may well not be. the prime minister may hope her decisions have

a straightforward outcome. but the political fall—out may not be clean. and laura joins me now. the prime minster was very confident making the case for action, but it‘s a risk, isn‘t it? absolutely not. like any military action which any prime minister may take, which she said is the most serious decision they can ever take, the reality is she simply cannot be sure what happens next. number ten have tried explicitly to tie this to a very, very tight canvas, but the picture might be redrawn by other people in the coming weeks. the situation on the ground and it syria may change very suddenly, quite outside british control. what if there was some form of retaliation? what happens if president assad continues with these kind of attacks the government is convinced he has been up to? the implication is

clear, the president is now they‘re the uk might take this kind of action again, but the syrian conflict even though number ten has tried to be so tight about what they‘ve been doing is multi dimensional, it‘s been unpredictable and messy. to reason may have the power to make this decision but she does not have extensive control over what happens next and she can be confident she‘s going to face a hard time from the opposition parties in parliament on monday, particularly over that issue of whether this action was actually illegal. it is an extremely competitive situation, an extremely competitive situation, a decision taken absolutely seriously and with theresa may would say the best of intention, but who knows, british prime ministers often begin the foreign intervention seeming as if it could be straightforward, hoping it would be, that would be the case, but it ends up that would be the case, but it ends up being much more politically tricky. laura, thank you. 0ur defence correspondent jonathan beale is at raf akrotiri in cyprus, from where the british jets took off. how challenging was this operation? the air crews here are well

prepared, they‘ve been doing bombing missions against so—called islamic state targets for the last three yea rs. state targets for the last three years. this mission did have added risks and dangers not least because of syria‘s air defences and the fact they are backed by russia‘s military. we have learned as well as those for tornado jets carrying booze cruise missiles that took off in the early hours of the morning, they were accompanied by four typhoon jets that would have been armed with air to air missiles. this was a precaution, they weren‘t needed. those tornadoes with the cruise missiles, storm shadow cruise missiles, they fired them outside syrian ear space. the target was an old missile base west of homs, which the mod believes was being used to store the ingredients and precursors for assad‘s chemical weapons

programme. the defence secretary gavin williamson says that strike was highly successful, those missiles didn‘t reach their target. more importantly he says this was a show of solidarity with allies and it sent a clear warning to president assad. jonathan, thank you. so last night‘s strikes may appear to have been very clearly targeted, but they are being seen by some as a limited punishment on syria. so what impact will they have on syria‘s chemical weapons programme? and what do they say about the strategy of america, britain and france? here‘s our diplomatic correspondent, james robbins. this is what provoked the strikes, last saturday‘s apparent gas attack on civilians in douma. britain, france and the united states are convinced this was the latest in a long line of assad‘s chemical attacks and had to be punished. so what was achieved? the strikes sent a deliberate, precise, if limited message to president assad, "you are not the target — your chemical weapons programme is." the united states fired

missiles from two warships and from the submarine uss john warner, plus in the air, two b—1 lancer bombers. the raf flew tornadoes from akrotiri in cyprus, staying out of syrian airspace to fire their storm shadow missiles. and france launched missiles from its frigate, as well as strike aircraft flying from france. so, the us was not acting alone but with two close allies, this time, and that is politically important. the targets of all this firepower? syria‘s chemical weapons production. the main target for 76 missiles was a research and development centre close to damascus. but also, a chemical weapon storage site near homs, 22 weapons were aimed there, including the raf‘s eight storm shadow missiles. and target three, a nearby chemical weapons bunker, the main french target for seven of their nine missiles. the military in the shape of the pentagon in washington say they are very pleased with the outcome, both political and military.

in a powerful show of allied unity, we deployed 105 weapons against three targets. that will significantly impact syrian‘s regime ability to develop, deploy and use chemical weapons in the future. it has been said before, but i want to emphasise it again, that by comparison the strike was double the size of the last strike in april 2017, and i would also emphasise that the strike was a multinational effort. but an end to syria‘s appalling civil war is no closer after this military action. as long as russia continues to dominate with its forces on the ground, fighting to keep president assad in power, it is hard to see an eventual peace which isn‘t largely dictated by that alliance. james robbins, bbc news. 0ur chief international correspondent lyse doucet is in beirut, the capital of lebanon, which borders syria. lyse, give us a sense of the mood in both syria and the region, and what sense that there might be retaliation? reaction across the region are very

much depends on where you stand on this conflict, everyone has a stand. for countries like turkey and israel, staunch opponents of president assad, there was total support of the western military operations in what they saw as a very clear operations in what they saw as a very clear message operations in what they saw as a very clear message to the syrian leader. but for the president of lebanon and iran, there was harsh condemnation against what they call aggression. iran‘s most senior figure, the supreme leader, called the military operation is a crime and described the leaders of britain, france and the united states as criminals. but it also has to be said mixed in with this combination is also a sense of relief. iran in particular wondered and appeared with the possibility that it‘s all the forces on the ground and those of its ally, lebanon on‘s fighters, as well as

their bases could, undertake, the fa ct their bases could, undertake, the fact that they haven‘t, it has led some hardliners and iran to mock the west as paper tigers. there is already an assessment emerging from at least some countries in this region that the strikes could end up strengthening what they called the resistance, this alliance between president assad, iran and lebanon on‘s has blah fighters. if that‘s the case, it is still an ominous warning for what could happen in the future. thank you. in today‘s other news: two irish rugby internationals who were cleared of raping a woman in belfast have been sacked by both ulster and ireland. while paddyjackson and stuart 0lding were cleared of rape after a nine—week trial last month, there had been controversy over social media and text messages they had exchanged — which sparked a review into whether they should continue to play. the pair have apologised for their behaviour. the funeral‘s taken place in soweto of the south african anti—apartheid leader, winnie madikizela—mandela.

thousands of mourners crowded into a stadium close to her home in soweto, where the campaigner was given a high—level send—off. mrs madikizela—mandela, former wife of nelson mandela, died earlier this month at the age of 81. she will be buried injohannesburg. it‘s been a busy day of sport. with all the news, here‘s lizzie greenwood—hughes at the bbc sport centre. thanks very much. good evening. tiger roll has won this year‘s grand national at ten one in one of the closest finishes in history. ridden by davy russel and trained by gordon elliot, it was a clean sweep for irish horses as our correspondent andy swiss reports from aintree. would racing‘s biggest day see one of its biggest stories? much of the focus beforehand was an free female jockeys, especially katie walsh. but

that historic hope didn‘t materialise, as at the first time of asking the set of over aintree‘s famous fences. as ever, there were followers, only 12 of the 38 horses finished and on the second circuit they had to bypassed beeches broke. it was effectively a duel, tiger roll ridden by davy russell seemed to have an one, but back came david mullins on pleasant company to set up mullins on pleasant company to set up an extraordinary finish. eventually, after a photo, tiger roll‘s when was confirmed. delight on one side, despair on the other. victory for gordon elliott on another day of grand national drama. yes, it was some finish. some news on the horse whose fault caused that date on the second circuit. he is being assessed in the stables, all

the other horses and jockeys have returned safely. thank you, andy swiss reporting from aintree. athletes from england, scotland and wales dominated the penultimate day of the commonwealth games winning nearly a third of the 44 gold medals on offer. hwyl griffith reports from the gold coast. england‘s track team have been accused of making a slow start to these games, there was nothing sluggish about the mena‘s race. they held onto the batten and the lead. but whatever the men can do, the women can better. the didn‘tjust win, they set a new inclusion record, with the long jumper called in to run the last leg. england are the champions! i thought, in to run the last leg. england are the champions! ithought, i have in to run the last leg. england are the champions! i thought, i have to run, i have two! she gave me the batten, and i thoughtjust go, go, go. england, northern ireland and

wales were battling for medals. these have already been a record—breaking commonwealth games are wheels, now its boxers have the chance to added a tented gold medal. that challenge fell to 19—year—old sammy lee, it is only his third ever seen your site. how does it feel to have the record—breaking medal? seen your site. how does it feel to have the record-breaking medal? it's unbelievable, i can‘t believe it. i got the gold. england's net bowlers got the gold. england's net bowlers got what they wanted— a last second victory overjamaica which puts them in the final against australia. the day‘s premier league football has been all about survival so far. southampton are still in the relegation zone after chelsea came from 2—0 down to beat them three two. substitute 0livier giroud scoring twice. elsewhere, there were important wins for crystal palace and huddersfield... swansea drew with everton. motherwell are into the scottish cup final after beating aberdeen 3—0. curtis main with two of the goals at hampden park.

they‘ll face either celtic or rangers. elsewhere, kilmarnock beat hamilton in the day‘s only premiership match. ferrari‘s drivers dominated qualifying for tomorrow‘s f1 chinese grand prix. championship leader sebastian vettel is going for his third successive victory snatching pole on his final lap in shanghai. lewis hamilton‘s struggles continue the briton over half a second slower to start fourth on the grid. there‘s more on the bbc sport website including the latest between liverpool and bournemouth. but from me, goodnight. that‘s it for now. there‘s continuing coverage of the air strikes on syria on the bbc news channel. i‘m back here on bbc one at ten o‘clock. now though, it‘s time for the news where you are. goodbye. good evening. that was the kind of

spring day many of us have been waiting for. just about every year looked the country there was at least some sunshine, a beautiful scene in ullapool in ullapool in the scottish highlands. dorset seen blue skies overhead this afternoon, a beautiful day for a walk close to the coast. this is the view from space, there was a bit workload across northern england, northern ireland and scotland. summer show was developed across england and wales through the late afternoon. as we go through the night, we will see some shower is going into east anglia. most areas are dry with clear spells, some mist and fog patches. going to the south—west the first sign of a change. a strengthening wind. this area of low pressure tries to squeeze its way in from the atlantic. sunday, a slightly different looking and feeling day. there will be workload, quite breezy in the west, we‘re going to see some rain at times.

that rain will be at times not all the time. you can see these sporadic bursts of rain pushing across the south—west, northern ireland and moving into northern england and southern scotland as we go through the day. behind our main band of patchy rain, a mixture of sunshine and hefty showers in the south—west, some brisk winds across northern ireland. north—east scotland has got sunshine, temperatures here could get up to 16 degrees. a bit cooler elsewhere. 0n get up to 16 degrees. a bit cooler elsewhere. on monday, spells of sunshine around, particularly for central and eastern areas. patchy cloud developing and thicker cloud in northern ireland, some outbreaks of rain. western areas will be quite breezy. we keep the breeze in the west on tuesday, outbreaks of rain for northern ireland, western scotland, but further south and east, there will be some sunshine, those temperatures really starting to climb by this stage, up to 19,

maybe 20 degrees. a sign of things to come. as we head deeper into the week, wednesday and thursday, we start to tap into this very warm air from the near continent. temperatures up to 25 degrees across the south—east, but plenty of other places not too far behind. welcome to bbc news. i am live from beirut with our continuing special coverage. president donald trump has hailed the military operations against syria as a success hailing mission accomplished. three chemical sites were targeted with 100 missiles. today in an emergency meeting of the un security council the united states says it was prepared to strike again if necessary. i spoke to the president

this morning and he said if they use these weapons against the us is locked and loaded.