this is bbc news. i'm nkem ifejika. our top stories: clashes at the united nations, as the us warns syria it will carry out more missile strikes — if necessary. if the syrian regime uses this poisonous gas again, the united states is locked and loaded. syria and russia have condemned the strikes — calling them an illegal act of aggression. but president assad says he's now more determined to keep fighting and defeat his opponents. in other news, huge anti—government protests in hungary, as tens of thousands demand a re—run of last week's election. hello and welcome to bbc news. america's envoy to the united nations has warned president trump could authorise further attacks

on syria, if the assad regime used chemical weapons again in future. nikki haley was speaking after the us, britain, and france launched an initial round of strikes in response to last week's suspected chemical attack on the town of douma. the russian leader, vladimir putin, a close ally of syria, said he condemned the action "in the most serious way". our north america editor jon sopel starts our coverage of the missile strike. 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. and he singled out syria's two principal backers. to iran and to russia, i ask, what kind of 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. 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 was not about intervening in the civil war. it is not about regime change. as i discussed with president trump and president macron, 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 pounding. at a pentagon briefing this morning, the defence chief said all targets had been hit with no casualties suffered. we're still conducting a more detailed damage assessment, but initial indications are that we accomplished our military objectives without interference from syria. i'd 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. this apparently is president assad strolling to work today,

although we don't see a close—up of his face. if he is able to walk tall, it's only because of the support he's receiving from the russians. today at the un they turned theirfire on britain, france and the us. translation: the us and its allies continued to demonstrate blatant disregard for international law. but as permanent members of the security council, they must be especially firm in protecting the un charter. that was positively restrained compared to what syria's ambassador had to say. translation: i say that you a liars. you are spoilers, you are hypocrites, you are attempting to see failure in actions of this organisation which do not pursue your interests. tonight, some of the french jets returned home. along with the british and the americans, they are hoping this isjob done. but now the world waits to see if there will be retaliation or any further use of chemical weapons. jon sopel, bbc news, washington. let's go live to washington now

and our correspondent, chris buckler. what is the mood in washington been like today? inside washington there has been some sort of satisfaction that this has been in their words, a success. that this has been in their words, a success. they feel this has achieved many of its aims. it was a limited strike. if you consider the battle that has been inside the white house of what they should do in syria, i suspect they feel they have achieved something. of course, there are others, including political opponents president trump who will be saying in the long—term what have you actually achieved? this is not dissimilar to strike from one year ago, whenever there were missiles sent and whenever there was destruction and whenever there was a message president assad did not seem

to listen. you are hearing people starting to talk again about what happens next. certainly at the un security council you got the impression that they were certainly feeling that further military action was a possibility. but it does feel that the ideas of diplomatic discussions that might lead to some progress in syria, that is something quite else. i was having a look at some of the reports coming in and i thinkjohn mccain was tweeting and released a statement in support of president trump art actions. is that the kind of thing that has been happening in washington?” the kind of thing that has been happening in washington? i think at the moment many feel that what has been done has been measured. that is the important thing from their point of view. saying that, there are democrats who feel that if there was to be wider military action or a greater focus on what happens in syria, there needs to be a greater strategy. —— democrats. from the administration's point of view they

have the idea, they like this whole idea of working alongside the uk and friends and coming up with a joint strategy to address some of these issues —— france. if you listen carefully to what did the station have been saying, they have been talking about the fact that they have degraded the chemical weapons programme in syria —— administration. they have not got rid of the threat of chemical weapons. they accept. they are still looking for evidence outside of syria. to say they have evidence of some of that indicates, according to them, but not just some of that indicates, according to them, but notjust chlorine but potentially sarin was used injune. that gives cause for concern. as a result, i think there will be pressure on america, the uk, and france to have some kind of an idea of what will happen in syria in the future. they are going to have two act, i suppose, future. they are going to have two act, isuppose, as future. they are going to have two act, i suppose, as a watchdog in a

way. that creates a real division with russia and in—run. syria is a plotline in that relationship that is not going away. —— in—run. michael carpenter is a former deputy assistant secretary of defence and served as the foreign policy advisor to former vice presidentjoe biden. he's now a resident senior fellow with the atlantic council and joins me from washington. president trump tweeted "mission accomplished", which is a risky phrase to use in these circumstances. do you agree with that? i think it is a very foolish move on mr trump's park, particularly since he chose to act today after the use of chemical weapons on april seven, but there have been numerous instances of chemical weapons usage since the strikes which were undertaken a year ago in april. so the notion that he has accomplished his mission by suddenly striking syria after one discrete set of strikes earlier this

month is ludicrous and surely there will be other actions that follow this, whether it is barral bombing oi’ this, whether it is barral bombing or additional chemical weapons. he has put himself in a corner with that statement. the comparisons to george w bush's mission accomplished segment are there to see. what it was trying to do, i suppose this is me speaking in defence of president trump, were saying that basically be chemical weapons facilities and assets have been destroyed or depleted to a great extent. that was the point of the strikes. it was. i think the strikes were executed very professionally. they achieved their objectives of eliminating certain storage facilities for chemical weapons and research and development facilities. the question is what next? i don't think anybody thinks this has eliminated assad's total weapons of mass destruction chemical arsenal. surely there are some left.

what we do if there are barrel bombs, which are not involving chemical weapons but will have huge humanitarian consequences. this is a president acting on a basis of humanitarian concerns. he is vastly at odds with his own base of the right—wing the republican party, who really are strongly opposed to yesterday's actions. there is always talk in diplomacy of speaking softly and carrying a big stick. i suppose the big stick has been waived and used in this instance. that, possibly, would you say, could go some way to helping with the diplomacy, so that when the united states and its allies say this must happen in syria they have been forced to back it up with. -- they have the force. the assad regime has suffered some consequences for the use of chemical weapons. whether

this produces any additional average in terms of the negotiations about syria's political future, in terms of the negotiations about syria's politicalfuture, i am deeply sceptical. i think it will ta ke deeply sceptical. i think it will take a lot more involvement from the united states and it is an open question as to whether the us really feels it has a dog and is fighting the syrian civil war and is willing to apply that sort of diplomatic leverage. that is michael carpenter, who has been with us throughout the days, looking at the analysis. thank you very much, michael carpenter, of the atlantic. russia has failed to to win the backing of the un security council for its condemnation of those missile strikes. our moscow correspondent, steve rosenberg, explained just how deep the rhetoric was getting from the kremlin. since moscow is president assad's biggest backer, they were never going to mince their words about a us led strike on syria. that is why the words we have been hearing today have been strong. vladimir putin talking about an act of aggression.

sergey lavrov said it was unacceptable. we had a senior russian is a saying that the us was acting like a school rulli. so in this geopolitical school playground there is a lot of shouting behind there is a lot of shouting behind the bicycle sheds, but crucially it has not come to a fight between russia and america —— bully. neither wa nt to russia and america —— bully. neither want to go to war over syria. and we know because the us ambassador in moscow said so today. before the strike two sides took measures to keep out of each other‘s weight during this strike. of course, syria isa during this strike. of course, syria is a crowded theatre of war. in the danger of this conflict spreading and growing, it still exists. stay with us on bbc news, or coming up stay with us on bbc news, or coming up we will have the latest on those as strikes. pol pot, one of the century's

greatest mass murderers is reported to have died of natural causes. he and the khmer rouge movement he led were responsible for the deaths of an estimated 1.7 million cambodians. there have been violent protests in indonesia, where playboy has gone on sale for the first time. traditionalist muslim leaders have expressed disgust, the magazine's offices have been attacked and it is said that staff have gone into hiding. it was clear that paula's only contest was with the clock, and as for her sporting legacy, paula radcliffe's competitors will be chasing her new world best time for years to come. quite quietly, but quicker and quicker, she is seenjust to slide away under the surface and disappear. they are

this is bbc news. the latest headlines: the us ambassador to the un has threatened the syrian government with more missile strikes — if chemical weapons are used again. syria and russia have condemned the attack — calling it an illegal act of aggression so the 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 ussjohn warner. plus, in the air, two bi lancer bombers. the raf flew tornadoes from akrotiri in cyprus, staying out of syrian airspace to fire their storm shadow missiles. france launched missiles from its frigate languedoc, as well rafale and mirage strike aircraft flying from france. so the us was not acting alone, but with two close allies this time, and that's 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 weapons 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. but has military action damaged prospects for eventual

peace in syria ? definitely not according to the head of nato, america's wider military alliance. if you start to normalise the use of chemical weapons, then you seriously risk that chemical weapons will be used more and more. for me there is no contradiction between the strikes that took place last night and the efforts to support a politically negotiated solution. still, western strategy is to stay firmly out of syria's war on the ground. today the syrian army declared all of douma under its control, the town apparently attacked with chemical weapons last weekend and the rebels' last holdout in eastern ghouta. russia with its forces in douma now is helping president assad take back more and more of syria and it is that alliance which will surely dictate much of the terms of any eventual peace. james robbins, bbc news. in a moment, we'll hear from our defence correspondent jonathan beale who's at raf

akroteeri in cyprus, from where the british jets took off, on the challenge of this particular operation. but first, our our chief international correspondent lyse doucet gave me a sense of the mood in syria and whether there might be retaliation? from president assad's storch ‘s enemies, israel, turkey, there was full support for this military operation. for countries like lebanon and iran, there was harsh condemnation. iran's supreme leader described the airstrikes as a crime. behind this criticism, there is also quiet relief that so far these strikes have turned out to be far more limited than many had expected andindeed more limited than many had expected and indeed what countries like iran had prepared for. in the past week,

living their own forces on the ground to safer locations but there could be another impact, too. what we are hearing from damascus today is even greater defiance from president assad, his supporters and allies. this alliance of syria, iran, hezbollah. they call themselves the axis of resistance and to night, iranian hardliners have begun to refer to western powers as paper tigers. the thing to say is that these aircrews are well versed and practised in these kinds of missions. they have been flying bombers against the group known as islamic state the last three years. mission had added danger is not least because of the syrian's and the fact it is backed by a powerful russian military. tonight we have learned that as well as the four tornadojets that took learned that as well as the four tornado jets that took off in the

early hours of the morning, they we re early hours of the morning, they were accompanied by four typhoon jets. they were armed with a to air missile. this was a precaution in case they were engaged. as it turns out, those tornado jets with the cruise missiles, they were well outside syrian airspace. those cruise missiles have a range of 300 miles. their target was a military base west of homs where the mod police that the syrians have been storing the ingredients, if you like, of their chemical with —— weapons programme. it has been assessed that these strikes have been highly successful and it hopes that he shows solidarity with the alliance but also a warning with president assad not to use these weapons again. yisser bittar is the director of development at karam foundation — a humanitarian organisation working inside syria. shejoins me from phoenix, arizona. from the people you have been

speaking to inside syria, what is the feeling about these airstrikes? thank you for having me tonight. in general, the feeling is that these strikes which did target only military bases in syria were necessary to be undertaken by the international community because the past seven years as the assad regime had used all types of violence against the people of syria, there has been no concrete action to halt the syrian government accountable for their war crimes. in general, the question is, what is the broader strategy for syria and how will this help inform the the steps that need to be taken. how would you like to see that happen? what is your

endgame? ultimately, the syrian people, when this revolution began in 2011, they took to the streets demanding basic things, basic human rights, they were calling for their dignity and freedom. of course, the syrian regime and their allies, the russians and the iranians, responded with brute force. ultimately, what the syrian people want is to live in dignity. they want an end to the war. right now, the syrian regime is emboldened. they have strong support from the russians and the iranians. they are not seriously considering peace in syria. they are not seriously considering a transitional government. they are not seriously considering a political solution that can allow people to come back, led ina that can allow people to come back, led in a peaceful syria as well as allow the refugees to finally come home. some sort of push needs to happen in order to force the regime to the negotiating table. u nfortu nately, to the negotiating table. unfortunately, for the past seven

yea rs, unfortunately, for the past seven yea rs , we unfortunately, for the past seven years, we haven't seen that.|j unfortunately, for the past seven years, we haven't seen that. i was going to ask you that. if you can get a western push for diplomacy or a regional push for diplomacy, would you be happy with syria that was peaceful but with president assad still the helm? to be honest, it doesn't make sense. assad has waged a waragainst doesn't make sense. assad has waged a war against his people for the past seven years. the use of chemical weapons has taken place at least 200 times since the start of the war. the use of conventional weapons is what we are seeing more of. napalm, phosphorus, bombs, this isa man of. napalm, phosphorus, bombs, this is a man who waged a war against the people of his own country. to say at peaceful syria with assad as its head,it peaceful syria with assad as its head, it would not be accepted by the people and it doesn't make sense. there must bejustice the people and it doesn't make sense. there must be justice and accountability in order to ensure a sta ble accountability in order to ensure a stable country. hundreds of people have been

attending protests in budapest. it was against the theft of the election. it might be the beginning to the resistance of viktor orban's rule. thousands of people marched to the parliament to voice their anger with last week's election result. blanket on the electoral system. they blamed it on his domination of the media and they called for new elections. for me,...

translation: if we do not fight in an unified way, then we do not want another 100 years of oppression or eastern pressure and we do not want to see another wave of retaliation like in 18118. to see another wave of retaliation like in 1848. week, the people, have to stand up now and show are power. i hope we are rewriting history. which one of his opponents protested and completed their tally of postal votes ? and completed their tally of postal votes? or the 200,000 hungarians in neighbouring countries took part. that is 6% of them voted for viktor orban. the final result gives him 67% of seats in parliament. he commands the devotion of the 2.7 million hungarians who voted for him. but while his voters see him as a champion of national sovereignty against communist in the past and

liberals in the present, he arouses the disgust of those who believe he has turned the country into a business venture to enrich his own narrow circle. another protest rally has been called for next saturday. a reminder of our top story. diplomats in the united nations from washington, paris and london have begun new attempts to persuade the security council to hold an independent investigation into chemical weapons attacks in syria. three countries which carried out the attacks on suspected chemical sites on saturday have circulated a d raft sites on saturday have circulated a draft resolution to other council members. russia has so far vetoed such an enquiry. don't forget you can get in touch with me and the other team on twitter. i'm at nkem ifejika. hello there.

if scenes like these have left you wanting more spring warmth and sunshine, well, i have to say, the second half of the weekend probably won't live up to the promise of the first. that is how saturday ended across north yorkshire. sunday does look a little bit different because of this area of low pressure, which is now pushing its way in from the west. it will strengthen up the winds. this frontal system will also bring some outbreaks of rain northward and eastward across the uk. so, sunday, a cloudy day. quite a breezy day as well. there will be some rain at times but not all the time. it is by no means a complete washout. we will, though, see some rain into the south—west, parts of wales, northern ireland, through the first part of the morning. that rain pushing its way across the midlands and northern england and southern scotland through the day. it will be quite on and off, quite sporadic, it will not be raining all day. as the main band of rain clears we'll be left with showers pushing

into the south—west. very windy across northern ireland. the brightest of the weather across the north—east of scotland, i suspect, and perhaps the highest temperatures. inverness could get to 16 or 17 degrees. some showers drifting north and east through sunday night but by monday morning most places will be dry with some clear spells. temperatures not dropping too far, six or seven or eight degrees. that's about it, as we start the new working week. during monday, not a bad—looking day for many. we will see spells of sunshine. more cloud and a few showers across scotland. the cloud will thicken up in northern ireland later in the day. outbreaks of rain here as well. particularly in the late afternoon. the wind is still pretty brisk in those western areas. temperatures not as high as they were on saturday, no, but 13, 14, 15 degrees will not feel too bad if you get some sunshine. that relatively warm feeling will stick with this as we move out of monday and into tuesday. low pressure to the west, high pressure to the east, squeezing between the two we have

this south—westerly wind. across northern ireland and scotland there could be some pretty wet weather on tuesday, outbreaks of rain, which could spill down into north—western england and northern wales at times. further south and east we'll see the best of the sunshine and the highest of the temperatures — 19, maybe 20 degrees. that's a mere taste of what's to come. as we get into wednesday and thursday, we will start to import some very warm air indeed from the near continent. watch these deep orange colours spreading across the map. how high will the temperatures get? perhaps 25 in the south—east, plenty of other places not far behind, so there is more spring warmth on the way. this is bbc news. the headlines: the united states has warned syria it will carry out further missile strikes if the government of president assad uses chemical weapons again. the american ambassador to the un, nikki haley, told the security council the us was "locked and loaded". the strikes have been described as hooliganism by the russian ambassador vassily nebenzia.

he said there'd been a blatant disregard for international law. the un secretary general, antonio guterres, has appealed for restraint in what he called "dangerous circumstances". there've been huge anti—government protests in the hungarian capital, budapest. tens of thousands of people were demonstrating against the right—wing government of prime minister viktor orban. a week ago, his party won two—thirds of the parliamentary seats with half of the national vote.