after what has been an uncontested election. still many troubles ahead for ukip. finding its way and finding its policies and getting the support for the leadership so far many leaders have refused to get. ukip leader gerard batten commenting on the confirmation in the last two minutes saying, i'm pleased to accept the leadership of ukip since may appointment as interim leader i have made a number of decisions that have made a number of decisions that have but the party on a firm footing financially and as an organisation, as leader i will do all i can to work for the progress of the party. ukip is the only real opposition to oui’ ukip is the only real opposition to our political establishment as we needed now as as much as ever. one of his promises is to hold the government to account with delivering the brexit that was promised in the referendum. holding the government accountable particularly in the coming months as theresa may tries to come back with that secured agreement. one reaction on that in the papers later as well. let me bring you some other

developing news. a number of young people have been injured following a road accident in canvey island in essex. a number of emergency crews responded, including three air ambulances. essex police say a serious collision took place in furtherwick road at around four o'clock this afternoon. it's believed six pedestrians were hurt, and were taken to hospital. one is said to have suffered life—threatening injuries. 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 olding were cleared of rape after a nine—week trial last month, there had been controversy over social media and text messages they had exchanged after the incident, 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. tens of 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. more to come later regarding the missile strikes in syria. now, the weather. i'm sure that was the kind of spring day many of us have been waiting for us. sunshine in varying amounts, just about where ever you looked in the country. clear skies through the night. patchy rain into shetland and down to the south west, the first signs of a change for sunday, beginning allowed, have excellent rain, and a strengthening breeze. sunday will bring more cloud, fairly breezy weather as well, with outbreaks of rain at times. the sporadic bursts of rain

living across the south and into southern scotland. a mixture of sunshine and hefty showers, breezy and northern ireland, north—east scotla nd and northern ireland, north—east scotland sticking out into sunshine, temperatures up to 16 degrees. the temperatures up to 16 degrees. the temperatures will keep on climbing through the week ahead. by wednesday and thursday, perhaps 25 degrees in the south—east with other spots not too far behind. this is bbc news, our latest headlines: 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. the prime minister defends the use of british force as "legal and right", as four tornadojets were involved in the attacks russia have reacted strongly to the strikes, claiming the attacks were a blatant violation of international law at a united nations security council meeting.

and president assad says it's the aggression that will make syria more determined to keep fighitng and crushing terrorism "in every inch of the country." more on that in a moment. let's catch up with the sport. hugh ferris joins us. good evening, we start at aintree, there was that dramatic climax as there was that dramatic climax as the irish trained tiger role won the biggest race by the smallest of margins. would racing cars mac gives stacey one of its stories? much of the focus was on three female jockeys. they set off over the

famous fences. there were four less, only 12 of the 38 horses finished. come the last, it was effectively a duel come the last, it was effectively a duel. tiger role seem to have read one but back came david mullins on advocates pleasant company to set up an extraordinary finish. after a photo, the winds was confirmed. to delight on one side, despair on the other, and the three to four irish trainer gordon elliott on another day of grand national drama. it really was some finish. and news on the horse who fell and caused the detours. he has been assessed in the sta bles. detours. he has been assessed in the stables. all the other horses and jockeys have returned safely. next

to the premier league and after three defeats in a row, manchester city are trying to bounce back from failing to win the premier league and then going out of the champions league. they are playing against spurs in wembley and went ahead. raheem sterling was brought down by the keeper in an incident that was actually outside the box but the penalty was even by the rectory and it was scored. spurs have managed to get one back —— thanks to christian eriksen, that came three and a half minutes before half—time. 2—i, manchester city lead. southampton are in deep trouble after squandering a two—goal lead to lose at home to chelsea 3—2. chelsea got all three points. substitute olivier giroud with the winner.

huddersfield's chances of survival we re eve n huddersfield's chances of survival were even a boost after an injury goal by tom and gave them a 1—0 win. they are seven points clear of the bottom three. most a la scored his 30th goal of his season as liveable beat bournemouth 3—0. —— liveable. mo sala. elsewhere, wilfred zaha scored twice. swansea lopped from fourth to bottom. elsewhere, burnley beat leicester 2—i. wolves have been promoted to the premier league without even kicking a ball today. after brentford got a late equaliser against fulham meaning that wolves cannot be caught in the promotion places. favourite turn to the premier league after a six year

absence. they can enjoy their game against birmingham city champ —— tamara. —— tamara. —— two morrow. celtic play rangers in the other semifinal. whence the wasps and gloucester. northampton beat leicester 27—21. they have two games left to score a place in the top four. in the pro 14, edinburgh took a step towards the play—offs themselves. edinburgh are nine point clear of fourth placed ulster. the penultimate day of the commonwealth games was middle—aged and for the

home nations. they won 14 of the 44 gold medals on offer, including a sprint double in the men's and women's 400 metres relay. they stormed home. they beat south africa and jamaica into second and third respectively. that is all the sports now. head to bbc .co that is all the sports now. head to bbc.co.uk that is all the sports now. head to bbc .co .ukfor the that is all the sports now. head to bbc .co .uk for the sports. we'll have more little later in the evening. we are going to continue oui’ evening. we are going to continue our coverage of the missile strikes in syria. we are going to hear a little more from the prime minister and how she made a point of stressing this action is not about regime change in syria, it was not an attempt to test the cause of the conflict there, this is watching

said. together, we have hit a specific and limited set of targets. they were a chemical weapons storage and production facility, a key chemical weapons research centre, and a military bunker involved in chemical weapons attacks. hitting these targets with the force that we have deployed was —— will significantly degrade the syrian regime's ability to search, develop, and develop chemical weapons. a year ago after the atrocity, the us conduct strike on the airfield which the attack took place but assad and his regime

have not stopped they use of chemical weapons. the strikes by the us, uk and france last night were significantly larger than the us action a year ago and specifically designed to have a greater impact on the regime's capability and willingness to use chemical weapons. this collective action sends a clear message that the international community will not stand by and tolerate the use of chemical weapons. the prime minister making her position clear. the secretary general of nato said members of the organisation stood behind its allies. he told our brussels reporter he had no reason to doubt the information shared to them. we we re the information shared to them. we were briefed very thoroughly by the three allies, the us, the uk and france. we appreciate all the information they shared with us. we have no reason to doubt the findings and the assessment of these three

allies. at the same time, we know that the chemical attack that happened on the 7th of april happened on the 7th of april happened in the area where the assad regime operates, supported by russia and iran. we also know that previously, there have been independent investigations internationally which have clearly attributed the use of chemical weapons to the assad regime, so they have used chemical weapons before. we note the world health organisation has reported seeing people with symptoms consistent with the use of chemical weapons, and on top of that, we also know that we have a lot of independent sources and firming big use of chemical weapons. the action taken last night, does that mean the syrian regime could not launch another attack by this ever again? what the

nato allies, france, uk, and us, have told us is that it was a very effect strike stopped it degraded significantly the chemical capabilities of syria. and it also helped to deter further attacks. but i don't think anyone believes these attacks will solve the problems but it was a message, it was targeted, and it was a very nearly did response. so there is a risk assad could launch another chemical weapons attack in the future? as i said, i don't think this has solved all the problems related to chemical weapons but compared to the alternative to do nothing is by far the best response, meaning it sends a clear message, it reduces the capabilities of the syrian regime and it also makes clear that there are and it also makes clear that there a re costs and it also makes clear that there are costs when the syrian, the assad

regime is using the chemical weapons, and we combine that with a strong political support to find a political solution to the crisis in syria. in the long rant, there will be no military solution. so, we support it. theresa may mention this is the first time that she has had to authorise the use of the british monetary as the prime minister, what sort of memorable that have been for her as person? a leader? perhaps the most difficult decision prime minister can take. i have taken similar decisions, sending norwegian forces, air forces into similar decisions, sending norwegian forces, airforces into harms way, into combat, and of course, we a lwa ys into combat, and of course, we always try to avoid the use of force but sometimes it is necessary. and when we see that, the ban on

chemical weapons is so strongly, fragrant lee violent, as we saw in the tibia it is and to react. one last question, when you look at salisbury, you look at the continued use of chemical weapons ends area, is the system that the world has for preventing these weapons being used, is it being broken? it is not working, the attacks happen. is it being broken? it is not working, the attacks happenm is it being broken? it is not working, the attacks happen. it is undermined and threatened by the fa ct undermined and threatened by the fact that the regime in syria has used several times chemical weapons and is also undermined by the fact that when we try to set up independent investigations to make sure that we uphold and implement this, russia has vetoed that several times in the un security council. this shows the challenge with the way the international community is working, we are dependent on

decisions by the un security council and when one nation russia, again and when one nation russia, again and again blocks in fermentation and independent investigations, then we end up in situations that we have seenin end up in situations that we have seen in the last few weeks. let's find out what some experts make of this. we arejoined by a senior fellow for the centre of american progress focusing on us and russian policy and security. thank you for joining us. throughout the last few hours, we have heard people, politicians, and experts, questioning the legality of the missile strikes, written in the effectiveness of the missile strikes. and of course we have seen the tensions raised between the west and russia, was it worth it?|j the tensions raised between the west and russia, was it worth it? i think it was, i think in this case, there isa it was, i think in this case, there is a question, a desire tojust do something, and that isn't always the best desire, you need to do something that is effective. i think in this case the most effective

thing about this strike was that it was done multilaterally, it was done with the backing of the us, the uk, france, as well as nato, germany, turkey, that there has been lots of multilateral support for this. it is important, i think the critical piece here is that the international community needed to make it clear that the use of the chemical weapons is still not acceptable. part of the reason why assad continues to use chemical weapons is because of pressure, it is because the assad regime feels beholden and protected by the russians. so they feel they can act with impunity and they know the russians will protect them internationally, at the un, and it will protect them militarily. it is still important to send a message. this is not going to solve all the problems at all. and it is a very limited strike, itjust targeted a

few different facilities. i do think we should build it up to be this immense action. but i think it was important in at least sending a message that the world still cares about the use of chemical weapons. it is not working, is it? it is not the first time assad has used chemical weapons, if indeed he did in duma. this war has been going on for years, hundreds of thousands of civilians have lost their lives on both sides of the civil war. as a just got to the point now where we have to accept that the un is in effect if and diplomacy is in total deadlock? notjust when it comes to syria but in all conflicts, many complex. i think we need to segregate to different inks. one, the strikes were targeted not to simply at the assad regime but at all future regimes that are thinking

about developing and using chemical weapons. it is about maintaining the norm we have tried to create says 1980, since world war i,... what is dubbed point of the un if we need to use military reaction to do that?|j think use military reaction to do that?” think it highlights the role that russia plays in protecting syria at the un, russia has the billeted because of their position on the un security council of making the un utterly ineffective in dealing with this issue. it highlights the need to further isolate russia. this really isn'tjust to further isolate russia. this really isn't just about assad, it is about who is backing assad. that is one of the things that we need to ta ke one of the things that we need to take from this. we should also be clear that the west has fallen down when it comes to syria. resident trump authorises the strikes back then prevents syrian refugees from coming to the us. you can't say we are very sympathetic to the syrian

people and then not take a whole list and strategy in how we are going to approach this conflict. we have ta ken a going to approach this conflict. we have taken a policy of simply ignoring it and hoping it resolves itself and that is not an effective approach or strategy. it was a question, something a lot of people are asking, are we heading into world war iii? are we heading into conflict with russia? are we heading into a cold war or are we going to see a continuation of very angry words? that is that it will be seen to be seen today from russia.” think we're headed into a new cold war. it is not going to be the same as the cold war of the past but i've been we have to realise that russia is acting as an adverse three to the united kingdom, to the us, anti—europe. the effort to integrate russia into europe is no longer operable. we need to treat them as an adverse array and we need to start taking action that prevents

their access and their ability to exploit the openness of the west. this is a dangerous time, and we need to have level heads and we need to be very careful in how we are dealing with the russians, but it is, therefore, the one thing i would say about the strike, we are very nervous that president trump's nerves and bash words and rhetoric was going to escalate it but it was a limited strike. it pleases no one but it is not that much of an escalation. fascinating. thank you for your time. max bergman served in the us state department as a speech writer for the us state department as a speech writerforjohn kerry, he has a lot of insight into attempts byjohn kerry to bring peace to syria. with yesterday's military action, our message was crystal clear. the

united states of america will not allow the assad regime to continue to use them a call weapons. last night, we're bitter rated the major research facility that it used to assemble weapons of mass murder. i spoke to the president this morning, and he said of the syrian regime, if they use this poisonous gas again, they use this poisonous gas again, the united states is locked and loaded. when our president draws a red line, our president and forces the red line. the russian ambassador said the strikes threaten the prospect of a brokered pedicle solution for the config. translation: without a mandate from the united nations security council and in violation of norms and principles of international law, and aggression against a sovereign state was carried out, which is on the front line in the fight against

terrorism. just as one year ago, when the airbase in syria came under attack, the united states used as a pretext is staged chemical attack against civilians. this time in duma, damascus suburb, russian literary experts did not find any traces flooring or any other toxic agents. —— chlorine. not a single local resident was able to confirm that a chemical attack had actually taken place. karen pearce said this. in the early hours of this morning, the united kingdom and did co—ordinated and targeted strikes to degrade assad's chemical weapons ability and it their future use. the british airports launched missiles

at literary facility some 15 miles we st of at literary facility some 15 miles west of homs. a full assessment has not yet been completed at we believe the strikes to be successful. furthermore, none of the british us or french aircraft or missiles involved in this operation were successfully engaged by syrian air defences and there is no indication that russian air defence systems we re that russian air defence systems were employed. our action was limited, targeted, and effective strike. there were clear boundaries that expressly sought to avoid escalation, and we did everything possible, including rigorous planning, before any action was undertaken to ensure that we mitigated and minimised the impact on civilians. together, our action will significantly degrade the

syrian regime's ability to research, develop, and deploy chemical weapons, and deterred their future use. the uk prime minister has said we are clear about who is responsible for the atrocity of the use of chemical weapons. a significant body of information, including intelligence, indicates the syrian regime was responsible for the attack we saw last saturday. some of the evidence that leads us to this conclusion is as follows. there are open source accounts alleging that a barrel bomb was used to deliver the chemicals. multiple open source reports claim a regime helicopter was observed by the city of duma on the evening of the 7th of april. the opposition does not operate helicopters, nor does it use barrel bombs. and reliable intelligence indicates that syrian nutria visuals called then i appears

to be the use of chlorine in duma on the 7th of april. mr president, no other group could have carried out this attack. indeed, daesh does not even have a presence in duma. the syrian regime has been killing its own people for seven years, its use of chemical weapons, which has exacerbated their human suffering, isa exacerbated their human suffering, is a serious crime and an international concerned, a breach of the law prohibition on the use of chemical weapons, and this amounts toa warcrime chemical weapons, and this amounts to a war crime and a crime against humanity. more coverage on the missile strikes on world news today. that is next after the weather with ben missile strikes on world news today. that is next after the weather with ben rich. good evening. that was the kind of spring day many of us have been waiting for. just about where ever you looked across the country, there was at least some sunshine.

dorset seeing blue skies overhead this afternoon, a beautiful day for a walk close to the coast and this is the view from space. there was a bit more cloud across northern end, northern ireland and scotland by much of that melted away in the day. as we go through the night, we will perhaps see one or two showers clipping into east anglia but most areas will be dry with some rare spells, the odd fog patch, and down to the south—west, the first sign of a change. this area of low pressure tries to squeeze its way in from the atlantic. sunday, slightly different looking and feeling day. there will be more ploughed around. it will be quite breezy, the degree in west, and we will see some rain at times. the rain will be at times, not all the time. you can see sporadic bursts of rain pushing across the south west, wales, northern ireland colour maybe —— northern ireland,

and the midlands. behind our main bad patchy rain, and mitchjet of sunshine and hefty showers. —— a mixture. all the while, north—east scotla nd mixture. all the while, north—east scotland sticking out into sunshine and temperatures here could get up to 16 degrees. on monday, against some spells of sunshine, the deeply over central and eastern areas. figure ploughed into northern ireland with lamb outbreaks of rain. —— sicka ireland with lamb outbreaks of rain. —— sick a cloud in northern ireland. we keep the breeze in the west and tuesday. outbreaks of rain for northern ireland, western scotland, further south and east, there will be sunshine. temperatures really starting to climb by this age, up to 19, maybe 20 degrees, a sign of things to come. as we head deeper into the week, particular wednesday and thursday, we tap into the very warm air. temperatures up to 25

degrees across the south—east but plenty of other places not too far behind. this is bbc world news. i'm tanya beckett. the un security councilfails to back a russian resolution condemning the us missile strikes on syria. the military action by the us, britain and france targeted three chemical weapons sites with more than 100 missiles. the us vice—president said the strikes sent a strong message to the syrian leader. there will be a price to pay if chemical weapons are used again against innocent men, women and children. but syria's president, bashar al—assad, said the air strikes made him more determined to defeat his opponents. and the united nations security council rejects a russian call to condemn the air strikes — the un secretary general says a political solution is needed. iurge i urge all members to show restraint

in these