this is bbc news. i'm ben brown. the headlines at nine. " locked and loaded". america tells syria it's ready to strike again after yesterdays attacks on suspected chemical weapons facilities. the debate continues around the uk's decision to join the strikes — some mps say they're angry about parliament not being consulted. the chief executive of the world's largest advertising agency, martin sorrell, is stepping down five people have been treated by paramedics after a car collided with a group of pedestrians in essex. also coming up — drama at the commonwealth games. scotland's callum hawkins was taken away in an ambulance after collapsing just over one mile from the end of the marathon. jubilation in the netball as england beat australia to secure the greatest result in their history and win their first commonwealth games gold medal. and our sunday morning

edition of the papers is at 9.35am. this morning's reviewers are political commentatorjames millar, and the spectator‘s katy balls. good morning and welcome to bbc news. donald trump has warned the syrian government the us is "locked and loaded" and prepared to strike again if there are any further chemical weapons attacks in the country. britain, france and the united states have called on the un to hold an independent investigation into last week's suspected chemical attack in douma. but that would need the support of russia — which has condemned saturday's air strikes as an ‘aggression‘. our correspondent chris buckler reports from washington. there are still concerns about chemical weapons and that means

there is still the threat of further action. the united states is locked and loaded. straight talking has replaced diplomatic language at the un security council. there are proposals here for a new resolution to call for a full investigation into the alleged attacks. but judging by recent clashes, that is likely to be vetoed by syria's ally, russia. this is how you want international affairs to be conducted now? this is hooliganism. in international relations. and not minor hooliganism, we are talking about major nuclear powers. theresa may has now published her government's legal case for approving the air strikes. but she knows she will face questions at westminster this week about why parliament was not given a say. we say no more! after the briefest of bombing campaigns, some are asking

what has been achieved by these air strikes and whether the west really has a strategy for syria. our correspondent lina sinjab is in beirut. monitoring what is going on in syria. how significant do you think the air strikes have been in terms of the damage they have done? well, they definitely did the damage for they definitely did the damage for the use of chemical weapons. they have sent a strong message to the government of president bashar al—assad not to use prohibited weapons in syria any more. but did it affect the course of the war or the position of president bashar al—assad? definitely the position of president bashar al—assad ? definitely not. the position of president bashar al—assad? definitely not. this is a warning for the president and his forces not to use chemical weapons, but it says nothing about using other conventional weapons. we have seen over the past seven years the highest number and the best majority

of civilians killed, reaching around 500,000 over the past seven years. they were killed in conventional weapons and not chemical weapons. for the course of the war and peace in syria, they are not making any difference. but for the security of using chemical weapons, gas, they are definitely sending a very strong message to the government. we saw the pictures yesterday showing president assad going to work as normal and the message from the syrian regime seems to be business as usual. well, yes, definitely the case. you watch what they are broadcasting and the messages they are sending and you talk to people on the ground, it is a massive —— it isa on the ground, it is a massive —— it is a message to tell the aggression, we are here to stay and we are continuing. and of course this is the case because it is only three sides, according to the americans, targeted. none of the military bases oi’ targeted. none of the military bases orair

targeted. none of the military bases or air forces targeted. none of the military bases or airforces so the targeted. none of the military bases or air forces so the military power is still up and running, he has the support from russia and iran and he will still win the war. he had full control yesterday of douma, the area that witnessed the chemical attack last week, so nothing changed for him. only the use of chemical weapons will stop but not sure he will commit to it in the future. and you very much indeed. here, the labour leader, jeremy corbyn, has questioned the legality of yesterday's strikes and mps from several parties have said there should have been a vote in parliament first. but the labour mp john woodcock believes action against the syrian government was necessary. ido i do hope that as many mps as possible will not primarily focus on what i think are diversionary

questions on this. yes, it is important the prime minister explains why she chose to take action without the formal vote in parliament, but i think the country could have ended up in a much weaker position for many years, going forward. of course, parliament in normal circumstances should be endorsing action. but what i was about to say that there does need to be in the system the ability for prime minister to agree to action where it is simply not practical to get a parliamentary vote within the timescale needed for a decision. so the prime minister will have to explain why she thought that was the case to mps. and i don't think we should rule out a vote further down the track if this is an ongoing operation. but i do hope that the main focus tomorrow can be on what is now going to be the wider

strategy to try to bring this horrible conflict into a better position, and have we genuinely, effectively degraded and deterred this horrible chemical weapons use? our political correspondent mark lobel is here. clearly pressure from mps for at least eight debate now that the military strikes have taken place. are we likely to see that? we will find out tomorrow. if you look at theresa may's is that the gay and for what she has done, which she outlined yesterday, she did not say that the reason that she sent raf planes in because she had public support, its because she thought it was right thing to do and it was to send a message to the wider world not to use chemical weapons, but she did not consult parliament which is controversial for a couple of

reasons. in 2013 david cameron held a similar vote reasons. in 2013 david cameron held a similarvote and reasons. in 2013 david cameron held a similar vote and state and there has been a convention since the iraq war that mps are consulted before military action. i spoke to a couple of this morning, and they were both for the bombings, but maybe there wasn't practically available time to recall parliaments. or the bus had left the station and america and france would have struck in britain could not have joined. france would have struck in britain could not havejoined. now france would have struck in britain could not have joined. now theresa may has the those parliamentarians. jeremy corbyn is clear about questioning the legality of this. it might not improve lives. he thinks that it should have had the blessing from the united nations. yesterday the government published the legal advice they have been given and it was about humanitarian grounds. and

the prime minister's tits will say and have said that she did not go to parliament because she did not think she would win that vote, just as david cameron didn't. that's right. david cameron didn't. that's right. david cameron didn't. that's right. david cameron thought he had the support of ed miliband who would bring his party along, but he didn't and he lost the vote. there was speculation that there could be a vote tomorrow if theresa may thinks she will win it. she does have the backing of the cabinet. boris johnson wrote in the telegraph that he agreed with what happened and he was careful to say that it was not an attack on russia, but it's difficult to see whether or not theresa may will have a free ride on this in the future if parliament was sitting and she would want to take action to prepare the ground for that in the future. thank you very much indeed. one person is in a critical condition in hospital,

and another has potentially life—changing injuries, after a car ploughed into six pedestrians in essex. two of the group had to be air—lifted to hospital after the incident in canvey island. ben ando has more. crash investigators at the scene, marking down the track of a car that veered off the road and struck six people on the pavementjust yards north of the seafront at ca nvey island. it is unclear what happened or why, but five of those hit were hurt, one critically, another with life—changing injuries, and a major incident was declared. three helicopters and four land ambulances were scrambled to the scene. it is quite quiet along the seafront and, yeah, i've not seen anything round here at all like this. i was quite shocked when i saw it. as soon as i saw the helicopters fly over, and i thought something has been serious. in a tweet, essex police urged people to avoid the area, but so far have not commented on suggestions from some eyewitnesses that the driver involved was being chased by a patrol car at the time of the crash.

the two most seriously hurt victims are now being treated in hospitals in london. so far, no—one has been arrested. ben ando, bbc news. sir martin sorrell, the highest paid boss of a british public company, has resigned after being investigated for personal misconduct. sir martin announced he had stepped down as chief executive of wpp with immediate effect, saying it was in the "best interests of the business" for him to go. last year wpp, the world's largest advertising agency, cut sir martin's salary by nearly a third to £48.1 million. our business correspondent is with us. our kind of money. it is still quite a lot. why has it gone now? about 11 days ago the company announced it was launching and in the ghost —— an investigation into

funds being misused. an outside agency was brought in and we now the investigation has been concluded. so we cannot infer that sir martin did anything wrong, in fact he strenuously denies any wrongdoing, but he is stepping down for the sake of the company. he says he will leave it in much better hands and now is the time to go. he is 73. that salary figure has been hugely controversial, hasn't it? as you said, it was a pay cut to £48 million. he previously got £70 million. he previously got £70 million. his salary is huge. people said that the company is worth £15 billion to don't, a 32% drop, but he has raised it from nothing. if you

bought shares in wpp, what they are worth now would be exponential. he says he has brought value to the company. thank you very much. opponents of brexit are launching a campaign to push for a referendum on the final deal. around 1,000 campaigners are expected to attend an event in london later today to demand what they call a "people's vote" on the agreement, which the government and the eu hope to reach by october. 65 million people will be affected by brexit and it affects everybody of whatever generation so it is absolutely critical that we get this right and i think people are becoming uneasy and they are becoming worried about the deal because they know, even on the government's own admission, it's not going to be as good, we are not going to be as prosperous, as we currently are in the eu. ukip has confirmed gerard batten as its new leader, but he has said he will resign in 12 months.

the mep, who had been interim leader since february, said that as he was elected unopposed he would step down so a full contest can take place. he's the fourth person to lead the party in less than two years. henry bolton was ousted in february following a racism row. police are investigating threatening text messages sent to the wife of a premier league referee, after he gave out a red card. michael oliver issued the penalty as real madrid knocked juventus out of the champions league last wednesday. the move was criticised by the italian goalkeeper and some of the country's media. the bbc understands oliver's wife, who is also a referee, had her mobile phone number posted on social media after the game, which led to the abusive texts. the headlines on bbc news: locked and loaded, america tells

syria it is ready to strike again after yesterday's attacks on suspected chemical weapons facilities. the debate continues around the uk's decision to join the military strikes. some mps are angry about parliament not been consulted. the chief executive of the world's biggest advertising agency, sir martin sorrell, is stepping down. officials in sydney say a bushfire which is burning out of control in the city's southern outskirts is moving quickly towards a number of homes. firefighters have urged residents in two districts to seek shelter as the fire approaches as it is now too late to leave. recent weather in south—eastern australia has been unseasonably hot. the australian prime minister, malcolm turnbull, has been visiting the area. it is unseasonably hot and that is a

matter obviously of great concern, but we have two deal would be worse that mother nature throws at us and the worst australians are presented with by nature, the more it brings up with by nature, the more it brings up the australian spirit. the selflessness and the commitment from the firefighters who are working with the adf and others and the community. great solidarity. i want to thank them again for bringing out the very best in the australian spirit when nature throws its worst at us. at the summit of the americas in peru, donald trump's deputy, mike pence, has urged regional leaders to do more to isolate president nicolas maduro of venezuela. the us vice president vowed his country would not stand idly by as venezuela crumbled. every free nation gathered here must

ta ke every free nation gathered here must take stronger action to isolate this regime. we must all stand with our brothers and sisters suffering in venezuela, and i can promise you the united states will not rest. we will not relent until democracy is restored in venezuela. more than 100,000 people have attended demonstrations in the hungarian capital, budapest, against the right—wing government of prime minister viktor orban, who was recently returned to power. speaker after speaker denounced what they called mr orban's "theft of the election". nick thorpe reports from budapest. it might be the swansong of opponents of viktor orban, or the beginning of the new radical resista nce beginning of the new radical resistance to his rule. tens of thousands of hungarians marched from the upper house to be parliament to voice their anger with last weekend's lectionary result. they

blamed it on the electoral system mr orban and his party built. they blamed it on his domination of the media and they called for a new elections. translation: if we do not fight in a unified way, we will lose this battle. we don't want another 150 yea rs of battle. we don't want another 150 years of oppression. we don't want another era of eastern pressure and we don't want to see another wave of retaliation like in 1848. we the people have to stand up and show our power. what happens next, today, tonight, tomorrow, we don't know yet, but i hope we are writing history right now. but what his opponents protested, the national election committee completed their tally of postal votes. more than 200,000 hungarians in neighbouring countries took part. 96% of them voted for viktor orban. the final result gives mr orban 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 communists in the past and live within the present, he arouses the discussed from those who believe he has turned the country into a business venture to enrich his own narrow circle. another rally has been called for next saturday. four years since more than 200 nigerian school girls were kidnapped by the jihadist group boko haram, their parents are renewing calls for their release. more than a hundred of the chibok girls are still missing. nigeria's president says disagreements within the militant group have led to setbacks in negotiations. but he insists his government would not give up. lebo diseko has more. it isa

it is a road no parent would ever wa nt to it is a road no parent would ever want to walk. four years since their children were kidnapped by boko haram, mothers, fathers and the community in chibok marched to demand action. truly, our people are traumatised, especially the females. the mothers. week of suffering. we cry, the mothers. week of suffering. we cry, cry, cry, we the mothers. week of suffering. we cry, cry, cry, we never the mothers. week of suffering. we cry, cry, cry, we never see our children. in april2014, islamist militants abducted more than 200 goals from their school in chibok in the north east of nigeria. some have since been released, but more than 100 have still not been returned. one journalist with links to be jihadist claims that just one journalist with links to be jihadist claims thatjust 15 are still alive, but the government has told the bbc it is still in discussions with the group of the 112 still missing. the president

says he is committed to getting all the girls back. i want to appeal to be chibok community never to lose hope or to despair. we are determined as never before to bring back our remaining chibok daughters and this we must accomplish and that will be soon, by god 's's ace. the president had previously said that boko haram had been defeated, but as recently as the ever read the group was blamed for more kidnappings. activist said the government needs to do more to bring back the missing girls. the government has not done enoughin girls. the government has not done enough in bringing back the chibok girls. enough means having all of the girls come back. it is four yea rs the girls come back. it is four years that we are having to commemorate now. for the families, this is the most painful than

adversaries. or they can do is pray and plead once more for the return of their children. a scottish marathon runner has collapsed from exhaustion as he was set to win a gold medal at the commonwealth games in australia. callum hawkins was almost two minutes ahead when he fell, hitting his head on a barrier. he was talking when he was helped into an ambulance — a scottish team spokesman said there were no major concerns about his condition at this stage. the marathon was won by the defending champion, mike shelley of australia. let us speak to the former world marathon champion paula radcliffe whojoins us from marathon champion paula radcliffe who joins us from the gold coast. this is quite distressing to watch, wasn't it? it was really hard to watch, especially knowing callum and having seen how well he had run up until that point and how well he had prepared for this race in general, to see him go down and struggle to

carry on, and in particular to cb medical assistants take so long to get to him and to help him, i think all of our concerns were primarily for callum's well—being and we just wa nted for callum's well—being and we just wanted people to get to him as soon as possible and help him. it's really upsetting to watch. why do think the medical teams took so long. he isjust their stranded, alone by himself for a long time. long. he isjust their stranded, alone by himself for a long timem took one minute 41 seconds to get to him. that was second time he went down, and it's always difficult in a marathon. there needs to be some kind of maybe contingency plan that comes kind of maybe contingency plan that comes in when conditions change in the run—up to a major championship marathon that has already been run in difficult conditions and the conditions become worse and tougher. there was a situation about how much

water was easily available to them because they had to open there and bottles. the first time he went down, he wanted carreon, but at that point he probably wasn't thinking coherently or rationally and he needed assistance at the very least if he wanted to try run again, to be alongside him on a bike, it would have been sensible to have medical assistance following him from that point because clearly he could not carry on and he could fall and hurt himself very badly at some point, and when he did go down, it took a long time for someone to come to him. we couldn't see that they did much when they arrived. it really needed people to react quickly. thankfully, callan is ok. he is spending the night in hospital as i understand, but he is up and talking to people and is able to make some kind of light hearted jokes about the situation. he is trying to move on in his mind. do you think it was simply because of the extreme heat

that that happens? yes. it's very ha rd to that that happens? yes. it's very hard to tell bob, it could be difficult for callum himself to put the pieces together. it will take long time and it will take people with more medical experience than i have to say exactly what went wrong. the conditions were tough, it was hotter than expected and it was very humid. a lot of runners had trouble out there. he was pushing to the limits of his capacity because he was trying to win become well title and he was well on the way to doing that. maybe some kind of electrolyte imbalance or dehydration or just hitting the marathon wall, but it came on so quickly. guessing will not do him any favours, but the biggest thing is that he is ok now, he is recovering and he will be able to bounce back from this and will show what a great championship and

—— a great champion he will be in the future. obviously the legs go, and you say he wasn't thinking straight. does the mind go in a sense as well? when you hit that degree of exhaustion, in the absence olympics i hit the wall and couldn't run the straight line, but callum got up and ran through it which is testa m e nt to got up and ran through it which is testament to how tough he is and how he wanted to force his body to finish, but at that point his mind could not have been thinking rationally because he clearly could not run well and the worry was that he was going to hurt himself really badly. thankfully he is ok and he is recovering and he will bounce back from this, but at that point, every runner is to finish. medically, people needed to intervene to say

it's not in your best interest of wise to try and push on any further. good news that he seems to be ok. he came so close. paula radcliffe, thank you for talking to us. well, it's not quite as hot here, but let's get the latest weather forecast. yesterday we have the highest temperatures of the spring so far at 19.5 celsius. a different type of day—to—day. cloudier and breezy. outbreaks of rain moving through, it won't be raining all the time and it will brighten up across south—west england, wales and northern ireland. there will be heavy showers that could be thundery. temperatures lower than yesterday. the woman

spots in highland scotland after a chilly start. temperatures could reach 17, 18 degrees. tonight, some of the ring goes —— some of the rain enters northern scotland. early shower was for northern ireland —— early showers for northern ireland. it's quite windy today, gusty winds especially in northern ireland and breezy towards north—western parts tomorrow. but early showers will clear away and we will be left with variable cloud and sunny spells across the board. quite pleasant in the sunshine as temperatures edge up again, compared with today, but rain to the west as this next weather

front to the west as this next weather fro nt m oves to the west as this next weather front moves in and for a time be winds will pick up. quite a blustery picture across the uk. northern ireland and scotland with the rain that could push into parts of wales, leaving central england with the brightest and sunniest weather and highest temperatures. it could reach 20 celsius, which would be the first time this year. warming up more widely from wednesday onwards as high pressure builds across the uk. the warmest day will probably be thursday.