theresa may is to face parliament, on why she allowed uk airstrikes over syria, without a vote of mps. the government says the limited scope of the attack to prevent the use of chemical weapons, didn't need parliamentary authority. it was the world saying that we've had enough of the use of chemical weapons. the erosion of that taboo that has been in place for 100 years has gone too far. as international inspectors try to gather evidence of the suspected chemical attack, russia says the west has rushed tojudgement. we lose, basically, the last remnants of trust with our western friends, who prefer to direct on the basis of very weird logic. inspectors say they still haven't been allowed access to the alleged chemical weapons site. we'll have the latest.

also this lunchtime: theresa may is to meet caribbean leaders, about concerns thousands of the so called "windrush generation" face questions over their right to remain in the uk. the fbi directorjames comey, fired by donald trump, says he's morally unfit to be president and treats women like "pieces of meat". a person's not fit to be president of the united states on moral grounds. our president must embody respect and adhere to the values that are at the core of this country. the most important being truth. and twinkling stars that can also sing. nasa's mission to turn their vibrations into sound. coming up in sport later in the hour on bbc news: celebrations for manchester city as they win the premier league with five games to spare, their third title in seven years. good afternoon and welcome

to the bbc news at one. theresa may will appear before mps this afternoon, to defend her decision to authorise air strikes on syria. opposition parties say parliament should have been consulted, before the ukjoined the us and france, in bombing suspected syrian chemical weapons sites. labour has called for the law to be changed to cover any future interventions. here's our political correspondent chris mason. cast your eyes around westminster, symbols, memorials, tributes to past conflicts abound, dude decisions putting the military in harm's way, shaping what the country stands for. the government's case is this isn't about toppling the serbian president, or ending the war, but...

it was the world saying we have had enough of the use of chemical weapons, the erosion of that taboo that has been in place for 100 years has gone too far under bashar al—assad. and it was time that we said no. it was totally, therefore, the right thing to do. parliament's easter break is over, mps are arriving back at westminster. this afternoon, they have the chance to question the prime minister about the air strikes. but what would it have taken for labour to do what the government did? it would have taken, in my view, either the support of the security council, or overwhelming international community support. neither were forthcoming. you can see why not. the chemical inspectors, the chemical weapons inspectors, the chemical weapons inspectors were on their way in. why would you act without letting them perform the inspections? returning to downing street this morning, the

prime minister will have been well aware of the difficult questions coming her way from all sides this afternoon. the actions that have taken place afternoon. the actions that have ta ken place over the afternoon. the actions that have taken place over the course of the weekend have been done without parliamentary authority. it's a disgrace that is the case. the prime minister should have recalled parliament. we are having a debate after the event, that's not good enough. i would say to the prime minister, what took place over the weekend in itself is not going to end the humanitarian crisis in syria, that should concern us. there can be circumstances where military action isjustified to protect human life, and obviously, the chemical weapons use life, and obviously, the chemical weapons use is a life, and obviously, the chemical weapons use is a war life, and obviously, the chemical weapons use is a war crime and incredibly serious. but that needs to be judged against the objectives, the evidence, whether or not this is going to make the situation better, and looking at all of those issues and looking at all of those issues and scrutinising those issues before decisions are made. and at the moment, parliament has not had the opportunity to do that. the government insists it had to act and

act quickly, and did so in the national interest. but this morning, there has been a dispute amongst lawyers about the legality of the air strikes. that topic and many others around the intervention are the focus of debate in there this afternoon. 0ur political correspondent vicki young is in westminster. how much of a rough ride is mrs may likely to get, do you think?m how much of a rough ride is mrs may likely to get, do you think? it is going to become even more apparent this afternoon on this issue of military action, theresa may and jeremy corbyn couldn't be further apart. i expect a robust defence of the action from the prime minister, making the case that she wanted to stop the normalisation of the use of chemical weapons. but undoubtedly, there will be many probing questions about the legality of all of this. the government says it was to avoid another humanitarian disaster, that is very much questioned by labour. there's also this much broader question about the issue of prior

parliamentary approval. this would bea parliamentary approval. this would be a huge change if britain were to bring ina be a huge change if britain were to bring in a new law on all of this. labour certainly think it is time for a labour certainly think it is time fora war labour certainly think it is time for a war powers act. mrs may will say surely a prime minister as to ta ke say surely a prime minister as to take decisions to defend the nation, if you like. theresa may kids being accused of being running scared of a parliamentary vote, saying it stems from weakness. jeremy corbyn, though, will be underfire, too. many say he should spend time attacking president assad and the russians, rather than the british government. thank you for that. the russian foreign minister says that relations between moscow are in their worst state since the cold war. in an exclusive interview with the bbc‘s hardtalk programme, sergei lavrov says saturday's missile strike on syria by the us, uk and france, had led to a loss of trust, and should not have taken place, until there'd been an independent investigation, into the suspected chemical weapons attack in douma. but inspectors from the international chemical weapons

watchdog, say they still haven't been allowed access to the site. here's tom burridge. aus a us warship in the red sea early on saturday morning. new us defence department video the strikes. this shows tomahawk missiles being fired from an american submarine. here, a b-i from an american submarine. here, a b—1 bomber, the pentagon said every missile hit buildings used to develop and store chemical weapons. it was this footage, provided by a syrian opposition group, of an apparent chemical attack in the syrian city of douma a week ago that caused america, britain and france to act. russia says it was staged. ina bbc to act. russia says it was staged. in a bbc interview, the russian foreign minister said the west's desire to act fast damaged relations

further. we lose, basically, the last rem na nts further. we lose, basically, the last remnants of trust to our western friends, who preferred to rate on the basis of very weird logic. proof is in the punishment. they've punished first, like they did in salisbury. then they wait for scotla nd did in salisbury. then they wait for scotland yard to finalise the investigation. they punish first in douma in syria, then they wait for the inspectors of the 0pcw to inspect. the weapons inspectors tried to gather clues from the scene of the attack and from the victims. but today, at the headquarters of the world's chemical weapons watchdog, the us envoy to the 0pcw save russia have tempered with the site in russia where the attack took place. russia denies that. britain said there is evidence that chemical weapons had been used nearly 400

times in syria in the last four yea rs. the french president also emphatic that syria is to blame. and on french tv last night, emmanuel macron also claimed that in recent days he had helped persuade president trump not to disengage from syria. this morning, he clarified what he meant. translation: yes, the white house is right to recall, the military engage with is against isis annable finished the day that war against isis is completed. the syrian government buildings destroyed in the strikes, much of this country has been ruined by war. a war which has been ruined by war. a war which has destabilised the middle east and south of relations between russia and the west. in a moment, we'll hear from stephen sackur in moscow, who's been speaking to russia's foreign minister sergei lavrov. but first to beirut in lebanon, syria's neighbour, and martin patience is there. inspectors have been on the ground

in syria since the weekend, but based on haven't got access to douma. that's right. that's the only thing that all these countries can agree thing that all these countries can h, thing that all these countries can agree upon, and the inspection team hasn't gone into that town at the scene of this alleged chemical attack. the big question is, why, we've heard an account from a top us official, and he has suggested the russians may have tampered with evidence. that has been denied by moscow. but it is interesting, both syria and russia, in control of the town of douma, they have been calling for this investigation. russia has said that any delay is because of the western air strikes over the weekend, and just in the last few minutes, it is suggested the team's paperwork isn't in order. we simply don't know whether this tea m we simply don't know whether this team will actually get into douma, and if that does happen, at what time? but what is clear is that the longer it takes for this team to get

in on the ground, the less likely it becomes that they will find any evidence of any alleged chemical attack. martin, thank you for that. stephen, mr labrooy was pretty strident in his opinion that the west had rushed to judgment, strident in his opinion that the west had rushed tojudgment, that the west wasn't even waiting for the inspectors to conclude their investigations on the ground —— sergey lavrov. he has made it clear that russia will fight back on this. very much so, clive. i have interviewed sergey lavrov several times over the years. i have never seen times over the years. i have never seen him so angry. i would describe it as seen him so angry. i would describe itasa seen him so angry. i would describe it as a mood of controlled anger and indignation. to sum it all up, the russians believe that the us and western powers a re russians believe that the us and western powers are meeting out punishment without proof, to use a phrase that sergey lavrov used with me. the impact of that clearly is a major deterioration in relations

between russia and the west. again, to quote him, "we have lost the last re m na nts of to quote him, "we have lost the last remnants of trust with those in the west. " remnants of trust with those in the west." he also is extraordinarily angry about the prospect of new us sanctions being imposed, saying it is genocide by sanction. picking out those few phrases tells you how much anger there is in moscow right now. 0k, anger there is in moscow right now. ok, thank you. thanks to you both. and you can see that exclusive hardtalk interview with the russian foreign minister, sergei lavrov, at 8:30pm on the bbc news channel. theresa may will meet leaders from caribbean states this week to discuss concerns over the so—called windrush generation, who are facing possible deportation from the uk. earlier, the international development secretary penny mordaunt, said the government must do "a betterjob" of reassuring people affected. recent changes to immigration rules, mean thousands of people who arrived from the caribbean with their parents after 1948, must now prove they have the right paperwork to remain in the uk.

here's our political correspondent eleanor garnier. the empire windrush brings to britainjamaicans. the empire windrush brings to britain jamaicans. they serve the country well. they came in their thousands, known as the windrush generation, the first wave of commonwealth immigration 70 years ago. but there is concern many now faced deportation, and are being denied access to public services, because of paperwork issues and problems proving they are in the uk legally. there are some really heartbreaking stories. what is really important to me is we get this right going forward, and we work to make sure that those who haven't got a biometric residence ca rd haven't got a biometric residence card be helped to apply, be able to talk through their story in the uk, as opposed to being asked to produce four pieces of evidence per year. i wa nt to

four pieces of evidence per year. i want to say to them, we really value you, and we want to make this as easy as we possibly can. as the commonwealth heads of government made a commonwealth heads of government madea summit commonwealth heads of government made a summit starts in london, the plight of the windrush generation is causing mounting controversy. because of changes in home office policy in 2012, they are being considered illegal immigrants. they being shut out of the system, denied the opportunity to work, to access government services come in national insurance, housing benefits, some have been detained, others have been deported. and it's notjust a diplomatic problem, but a political one, too. a cross—party group of 140 mps has written to the prime minister calling the situation "grotesque, immoral and inhumane." the home secretary should now intervene, get a grip of her department, and at the same time, make a clear statement that those with blameless records should be

given those assurances straightaway, and they not been treated, well enough. the home office was accused of being not fit for purpose over a decade ago. and it seems to miss handle these sorts of issues consistently. it's so important that the interest of individuals, ahead of those in the bureaucracy. after in invitation was initially rejected to meet, number 10 says the primary stubble see them, adding that theresa may deeply values the contribution made by those affected, insisting the government will make sure support is in place to help people through the process. but for those who have been here for decades, and called the uk their home, until their own situation is sorted, uncertainty will remain. south yorkshire police have been giving evidence

at the high court on the third day in sir cliff richard's legal proceedings against the bbc. the 77—year—old singer is suing the broadcaster for its coverage of a raid on his home in 2014, which followed an allegation of sexual assault. the bbc says its coverage was accurate and in good faith. sir cliff richard was never arrested 01’ sir cliff richard was never arrested or charged. helena lee reports. sir cliff richard arriving in court this morning, a worldwide star who has spent decades in the public eye, but there are parts of his life he thinks should be private. today the trial has heard from this man in the middle, matthew fenwick, former detective superintendent south yorkshire police. the force, which was investigating sir cliff richard, in connection with the historical allegation of sexual abuse made by a boy under 16. the singer was never arrested or charged. the police were

approached by a bbc reporter, dan johnson, before they searched sir cliff richard's apartment in berkshire. they claim he went with —— to them with information from a source, and put pressure on him to release details. in his statement, matthew fenwick said he explained to us matthew fenwick said he explained to us that he was ready to publish an exclusive story about the investigation and wanted a comment from us. we explained to him that we did not want him to publish a story because the investigation was at an early stage and we were not ready to ta ke early stage and we were not ready to take certain steps at this time. mr fenwick went on, saying he didn't think it would be possible to stop danjohnson think it would be possible to stop dan johnson from reporting think it would be possible to stop danjohnson from reporting the story altogether. i was very concerned, he said, that if he reported it now, then the investigation would be prejudiced. senior bbc news managers arriving at court have said the police volunteered the information about the investigation, and that

they had a public duty to report the story in the way that they did. the former director of the fbi, james comey, has described donald trump as "morally unfit" to be president, and possibly vulnerable to blackmail by russia. he made the comments in an interview with abc news in america, to promote his memoir, in which he discusses being fired by mr trump last may. from washington, chris buckler has the details. oh, and there's james. he's become more famous than me. president trump has made no secret of his anger at the huge amount of attention being given to james comey and his tell all book. instead of handshakes, they are now exchanging insults. ahead of mr comey‘s prime—time television interview, donald trump called him on twitter "a liar", "a leaker" and "an untruthful slime ball", among other things. this was a chance for the man he fired as fbi director to fire back. in an exclusive interview

with george stephanopoulos for america's abc news, mr comey made very clear his disdain for the values of a president he wants served. i don't think he's medically unfit to be president, i think he's morally unfit to be president. a person who sees moral equivalence in charlottesville, who talks about and treats women like they're pieces of meat, who lies constantly about matters big and small and insists the american people believe it, that person's not fit to be president of the united states on moral grounds. our president must embody respect and adhere to the values that are at the core of this country. the most important being truth. this president is not able to do that. he's morally unfit to be president. if you're right, what is the remedy? should donald trump be impeached? impeachment is a question of law and fact, and politics. you're a citizen, you have a judgment. yeah, i'll give you a strange answer, i hope not. because i think impeaching and removing donald trump

from office would let the american people off the hook, and have something happen indirectly that i believe they're duty—bound to do directly. people in this country need to stand up and go to the voting booth, and vote their values. and so, impeachment, in a way, would short—circuit that. i made a mistake using a private e—mail. that's for sure. mr comey was sacked for allegedly mishandling an investigation into questions about hillary clinton's e—mails during the 2016 election. but he claims before he was dismissed, mr trump asked him to end an enquiry into his former national security adviser michael flynn, who has since pleaded guilty to a number of charges. another person would have said, "sir, you can't ask me that. that's a criminal investigation, that could be an abduction of justice." was president trump obstructing justice? possibly. it certainly is some evidence of obstruction ofjustice. this very public fight feels deeply personal, and the consequences still have the potential to be political. donald trump and james comey seem intent not just

on defending their own reputations, but destroying the other‘s. chris buckler, bbc news, washington. it is 20 past one. our top story this lunchtime. theresa may is to face parliament, on why she allowed uk air strikes over syria, without a vote of mps. and coming up — a golden finish to the games — england's netballers beat home favourites australia on the final day of commonwealth competition. and coming up in the sport in the next 15 minutes on bbc news: britain's dan evans will make his return to tennis later this month in glasgow. his one—year ban after testing positive for cocaine is over. they twinkle, and they shoot across the sky, well, now, apparently stars can sing. tonight nasa is launching a mission to look for planets around the stars closest to us,

and capture their vibrations which can be turned into sounds. this will help researchers identify their size and age. our science correspondent, pallab ghosh reports now from the kennedy space centre in florida. the night sky is littered with stars. they shine and they also sing. whirring noise. these are the vibrations of a distant starsimilarto oursun converted into sound. and this is another much bigger and older star. professor bill chaplin is analysing these sounds. of course, there's no air in space, so the stars can't actually be heard, but they do vibrate, and so generate sound waves. and professor bill chaplin has discovered that each star has its own song, depending on how big and hot it is. when we hear the sounds of the stars, first of all, it tells us that out of, if you like, this turbulence, this almost chaos, we get these audits sounds, and it's incredible that stars resonate just

like a musical instrument. and this gives us a way to actually study stars and see what their insides are like in a way that's just not possible by other means. this will be the first mission to scan nearly the entire sky, sector by sector. the sound a star makes will tell the scientists how big and how hot it is. many of them will have planets in orbit around them. some will be too close. those that are the right distance away will be the ones most capable of supporting life in what scientists call "the goldilocks zone", where the temperature is just right. george ricker is the mission's lead scientist. he believes that, one day, it might be possible to send probes to some of these distant worlds, and see if there really is life out ther. they are about a hundred stars that lie within 20 light—years of earth,

and if you were to send out an armada of probes to those, and you could basically get up to speeds of basically 20% of the speed of light, then under those circumstances, you could expect to reach these planets within a hundred years. in a few years' time, we'll know how each of the stars in the night sky sounds and whether the planets around them might harbour life. pallab ghosh, bbc news, at the kennedy space centre in florida. prince harry has spoken of his honour at becoming the new commonwealth youth ambassador. the role involves highlighting and supporting the work and aspirations of young people across the 53 member states. addressing the commonwealth youth forum in london, he announced that a scholarship scheme will be expanded, to help young people study across the commonwealth. before i close, and in my first act in this role, i'm delighted to announce the commonwealth scholarship scheme will be expanded from 2019.

thanks to the generosity of the united kingdom, and other commonwealth countries, 150 new scholarships for study in low and middle—income countries will be made available by 2025. cheering and applause the pub chainjd wetherspoon says it's closing down all its social media accounts with immediate effect, because of concerns over trolling, and the misuse of personal data. wetherspoons has 44,000 twitter followers and more than 100,000 on facebook. our technology correspondent rory cellan—jones has the story. twitter, instagram, facebook, essential social media tools for any modern business. but now wetherspoon's has decided it can do without them all. the pub chain famous for its back to basics atmosphere, with no music, says that using social media hasn't delivered much of a benefit, either for the company or its customers.

but it's also worried about the behaviour of people using the likes of facebook and twitter. many of us are fed up with social media and think it's got damaging effects, and a lot of people are on it far, far too much. it doesn't do them any good, doesn't do the country any good. until now, wetherspoon's has been pretty active on social media, with different facebook and twitter accounts for just about all of its pubs. but here's the thing, was it any good at it? a lot of the accounts have very few followers, and look at this tweet advertising fish and chips — just three retweets. social media experts say other companies may be tempted to follow wetherspoons' lead. i get the impression that over the years quite a lot of businesses struggle to really understand what measurable value social media actually delivers for them and for their bottom line. the changing rules around data and the facebook scandal have given people an opportunity to step back and think, really, is this the right kind of thing for us, do we need to rethink our approach? reactions from customers

in edinburgh were divided. there's far too much time spent on social media anyway. everybody knows wetherspoon's, knows the concept. i think they'll do very well without it. the menu changes and whatnot, so to a certain degree it will affect the people that use social media more. the older generation obviously don't use it as much as the younger generation. people can use offers, etc, on there and that's a great way of advertising it, and if they're coming off it, it's at their own loss, really, i'd say. wetherspoon's says it will now use a free magazine and its website to communicate, and it's also encouraging customers to chat face—to—face with bar staff rather than via facebook. rory cellan—jones, bbc news. the gold coast commonwealth games have only just finished, but attention's already focused on birmingham in 2022. organisers in the midlands say the games will boost the city's prospects, but traders in australia claim they were bad for business, driving customers away. the 11 days of competition ended with a stunning gold

for england's netballers, who beat the favourites australia. hywel griffith has more. being a host city brings the promise of gold. medals for the athletes, lots of money for the local economy. but some on the gold coast have been left feeling short—changed by these games. i've been here 22 years, worst i've seen in 22 years. it's impacted almost a month and a half of trade, and we're all down at least 50%. when they planned the games, the organisers warned of delays and disruption. the reality has been rather more empty, after local people left town. that "get ready" campaign was done so well that it made people imagine it was going to be gridlocked. you scared them away? in a way, i have to admit that we would have played our card differently. so what can birmingham learn from all this? there's been a team on the ground looking at what to copy, and what to avoid. there are some things

they can't replicate. without miles of golden sand, there probably won't be beach volleyball in birmingham. every host city has to play to its advantages. and so birmingham wants a diverse, urban games. there were only awarded in december, after being taken away from durban, leaving much less time to prepare. it means we may not have three years of wrangling about what a decision might be. we have four years to go, so we've got to crack on, so we need to make our decisions quickly, so i think that might actually play to our advantage. home games normally help to produce medals, but australia didn't have it all its own way. commentator: they've done it! the captain of england's victorious england netball team is a brummie, and thinks the games bring something special. i've been talking to the general public and volunteers, and usually i go round birmingham and no—one even looks at me, so if it can bring the city together just because of the games, then i think that's

a bonus for birmingham. every games needs its golden moments. it's up to birmingham to prove it can deliver. hywel griffith, bbc news, on the gold coast. now, the sun... well, the shade will becoming out. time for a look at the weather. here's matt taylor. for the first time in ages, it is a weather forecast without the word winter in the title. with temperatures in the mid—20s, we will be see any warmest temperatures in the uk since the end of last august in some places. good sunny spells around, one or two isolated showers, but something wet and windier set to spread across northern ireland this afternoon and into this evening. quite a wet night to come, some

occasional rain west of scotland, and later western parts of wales. a good part of england and wales stays dry, and temperatures holding up at 7-11d. it dry, and temperatures holding up at 7—11d. it will be wet and windy tomorrow, this area of low pressure pushing in this weather front, sunshine and showers for the rest of the day, but a wet start through the isles of scilly and western parts of wales for the morning commute, and particularly wet for south—west scotland, dumfries and galloway could see up to 50 millimetres of rain. the best of the brightness around the murray first, as it will be all day long. the rain fizzles out during the day, still the occasional rain in north—west england and wales, sunshine and showers were scotland and northern ireland, temperatures taking a welcome boost, and in east anglia and the south—east, you will probably sit under blue skies all day with highs of 19. into

wednesday, more in the way of cloud and rain in the morning in the west, but that is confined to the hebrides in the afternoon. by this time, temperatures across parts of england already getting into the 20s. and with high pressure to the east, warm airaround the with high pressure to the east, warm air around the southern flank of it coming up from france and the mediterranean, we will see temperatures boosted further into thursday. oliver cloud across scotland, but that will break up, and good long sunny spells, and thursday is the warmest day of the week, temperatures above where they should be across the country, reaching 25 or 26 in the east. it still stays pleasantly warm as we had through friday and into the weekend, just a few showers in north—western parts of scotland. good news at last. thank you, matt taylor. a reminder of our main story this lunchtime... theresa may is to face parliament, on why she allowed uk air strikes over syria, without a vote of mps.

that's it. so goodbye from me. now on bbc one, let's join our news teams where you are. have a very good afternoon. in a moment, the headlines on bbc news, but now time for a round—up of the sport. manchester city have won the premier league with five games to spare, but still a few records they can break before the end of the season. city captain vincent kompany rounded up a few team—mates last night, they need three more wins and 11 or goals to break chelsea's points and goal clinic records for a season. despite a few wobbles, including was into liverpool in the champions league, it has been a brilliant season, the former player thinks that pep

guardiola is laying the foundations for city to dominate the english game for several years. look at the recruitment, the ages of the players he gets, gabrieljesus, brian stirling, john stones. —— raheem sterling, they are all 23 and under, that tells me he is wanting to build something. they are running club is now, yes, but looking forward five yea rs, if now, yes, but looking forward five years, if these young players keep improving, city could well dominate for the next format or five years. british tennis player dan evans will return to competition later this month in glasgow after a 12 months drugs ban. he tested positive for cocaine during the barcelona open last year, but is free to play again after passing a tree checks by the lawn tennis association. he says he has learned a lot about himself

during his ban, and thanks everyone who has supported him. scottish marathon runner, hawkins has been discharged from hospital after collapsing on the final day of the competition and the gold coast. he finished fourth at the world champions last year. he led the marathon by two minutes with just over a mile to go, but struggled with the heat, and then collapsed. he has now rejoined his scotland team—mates in time for the trip back to the uk. the games are over, but one memory that will last a long time as england netball gold, secured in the final second against australia. it is not unalloyed export, though, and the team's coach was quick to point out that the financial worries they face, funding issues she has described as a noose around netball‘s neck. the head of uk sport says the sport of netball has to capitalise on its own success. the relationship between england netball is with sport england netball is with sport england have not uk sport, because they are not a gb squad. their

performances were outstanding. resources are critical important, andi resources are critical important, and i know they are working very ha rd and i know they are working very hard in terms of franchising the super league and getting more commercial income in. yorkshire and essex‘s opening match of the county jumping ship season was abandoned this morning without a ball being bowled. the first time since 1967 that every day of the championship match at headingley has been lost. there is play elsewhere, you can catch up with all the county cricket scores on the bbc sport website. we will have a full update for you in the next hour. see you then. russia's foreign minister, sergey lavrov, has told the bbc that the joint missile strike on syria over the weekend has led to a loss of trust between moscow and the west. speaking exclusively to the bbc‘s hardtalk programme, he was asked about the possible consequences of the strikes. your ambassador to the united states said there

would become to quit as for the strikes that we saw. vladimir putin called it an illegal act of aggression. the world wants to know, what is russia going to do now? that is a statement of fact, and consequences certainly there would be consequences. we lose basically the last remnants of trust in our western friends, who prefer to operate on the basis of very weird logic. proof is in the punishment. they've punished first, like they did in salisbury, then they wait for scotland yard to finalise the investigation. they punish first in douma in syria, and then they wait for the inspector pcw to visit the place. proof by the punishment is what is being applied by the western countries. i want to talk to you about the detail of the cases you have mentioned, both in douma

and the skripal case as well. but before we get there, i just want to continue with the idea of a diplomatic relationship today. now, the us ambassador to the united nations nikki haley said us forces remained locked and loaded. when you hear that kind of language, how do you respond? well, i think that they have to put their own house together in washington. because we understand that this kind of statement could be made either by the commander—in—chief, or by the military. and as i said, the military of the united states and of the russian federation maintain the conflicting channel on syria, and this is some kind of confidential information. you said there is no trust. you mean zero trust now with the united states? i said we are losing the last remnants of trust, which is not yet zero. joining me from our

central london studio is john gearson, professor of national security studies at king's college london. thanks forjoining us, good to see you. so beloved of talking about the breakdown of trust between the west and russia, and he seems to be bidding at fairly and squarely to a degree of these attacks over the weekend. —— sergey lavrov. one wonders how much trust that has been between the west and russia following ukraine, crimea, meddling in western elections, and various other activities from moscow.|j think other activities from moscow.” think you are right, the rhetoric has escalated over the past few months. having said that, i think the russian response so far has been quite tempered, to the extent that they haven't actually done anything. the dark warnings of action against western aircraft did not come into effect, and the impression is given

i think that there was communication between washington and russia to the conflict, as is the case regularly in syria and iraq. —— reconflict. and these comments about a lack of trust on the west‘s part between both sides and moscow, they are coming on the same day that international inspectors are saying that they are having trouble getting access to the alleged chemical weapons site in douma. there are different players with different sta kes different players with different stakes involved in this, and i think this shows one of the problems of using the un exclusively, the british government, france, and america believe they were justified in taking action because they couldn't go down the un route quickly enough, and the fact that inspectors cannot get there as part of the problem. this is confused by the war of words and the allegations

of the events actually not taking place at all, which is muddying the waters. what everybody wants the outside, of course, is for the following human tragedy of the war in syria to come to some sort of end, andi in syria to come to some sort of end, and i don't think at the moment the actions by the west are about to change the dynamics on the ground. interesting comments from president macron in the last few days, saying he believes he has managed to convince president trump to stay longer term in syria. just a couple of weeks ago, president trump. about pulling us troops out completely, not that there are many there anyway. but what do you think president macron may have said to the president of the united states to change his mind? —— president trump talking about pulling us troops out. most of the top has been about the use of chemical weapons and the targeting of innocent civilians. i have not discerned any

change in us policy towards being on one side of the other in the syrian conflict. but having said that, president macron was quoted as saying he had evidence of the use of chemical weapons, and i think the fa ct chemical weapons, and i think the fact that the us president has acted before in response to this does show direction of travel. i had the concern of talking about red lines and then not acting upon them has been hired, and listened to. —— has been hired, and listened to. —— has been hurt. the challenge will be if the red line is crossed again, what will be the response? —— heard. russia denies that chemical weapons we re russia denies that chemical weapons were used in syria. if they were used, do you think it was with the sanction of moscow? the russians are a keen to leave key military and political ally of the regime in syria, as is iran and some of the

proxy actors in the region. do they have control of the syrian government? i think most independent observers would say no. are they extremely important? yes. and we have to remember that's just under three years ago, the russians said they would supervise the destruction of most of the chemical weapon stockpiles in syria, so the russians have a responsibility in policy terms. are unable to stop the syrians doing this? not at the expense of their relationship with syria. so it is not as simple as saying, russia controls syria. john, many thanks for that. some pictures have just some pictures havejust come in tours of the television presenter, ant mcpartlin. he is charged with drink—driving after allegedly being involved in a collision in richmond in west london last month. the

hearing should start in the next few minutes. latest pictures from wimbledon magistrates‘ court. hundreds of people have fled their homes as a large bush—fire threatens the outskirts of sydney. more than 500 firefighters have been tackling the blaze, which began on saturday afternoon. police say the fire may have been started deliberately. phil mercer reports. for two days, fires have devastated bushland on sydney's suburban fringe. authorities said the fast—moving outbreak was agressive and unpredictable. it has taken a huge effort to keep the flames away from homes. remarkably, no properties have been destroyed. on the ground, 500 firefighters, including many volunteers and members of the military, confronted the inferno. they were supported in the skies above by more than a dozen aircraft. very warm autumn weather and a lack of rain have created a tinderbox on the edge of australia's biggest city. we have to deal with the worst that mother nature can throw at us.

and the worst australians are presented with by nature, the better it brings out the australian spirit, the selflessness, the courage, the professionalism, and the mateship, that is what firefighters are showing. conditions in the fire zone have eased, but flames still burn out of control. there are fears the strong winds that fanned the blaze over the weekend will again return. south—eastern australia is one of the most fire—prone regions in the world. most outbreaks are sparked by lightning or accidentally by downed power lines. sometimes, more sinister hands are too blame. australian police believe this monstrous fire in south—western sydney may have been lit on purpose. phil mercer, bbc news. in a moment, a summary of the business news

this hour, but first, the headlines on bbc news. mps will question theresa may over the uk's involvement in air strikes in syria. russia's foreign minister tells the bbc there is no proof of chemical weapons being used in syria, and that air strikes have damaged relations. the prime minister says she will meet caribbean counterparts over concerns that thousands of people from the windrush generation are facing deportation from the uk. in the business news — pub chain jd wetherspoon is quitting social media. the group is leaving twitter, facebook and instagram with immediate effect. chairman tim martin said it's because of concerns regarding the "misuse of personal data" and "the addictive nature of social media". shares in whitbread have soared after it emerged that a so—called activist investor has been buying shares and is now the biggest shareholder in the company. it's an investment group called

elliott advisors, and it now holds more than 6% of whitbread shares. according to reports, it wants to split the company in two — costa coffee in one part, premier inn in the other. liberal democrat leader sir vince cable has demanded that wpp explain the nature of the misconduct allegations made against its former chief executive sir martin sorrell. sir martin stepped down last night after the conclusion of the investigation into the allegations, which have never been made public. so a lot going on in the markets, with investors asking some serious questions about the direction of travel of wpp now that the big man, mr sorrell, has gone. and whitbread — this isn't the first time there's been a demand for it to be split in two, but with elliott advisors increasing their stake, it looks like something might actually happen now. and finally, was wetherspoons right to ditch social media? joining us now is russ mould, investment director at aj bell.

lets start with sir martin sorrell. do you think perhaps it was time friend to go? —— time for him to go. there are questions about her, he is 73, the roles questions about whether he would step down at the time of his choosing or not. he has attracted some bad press recently due to the size of his wage packet, but since he took over in 1985, his track record has been generally excellent. the shares have trebled in the last ten years alone, so i'm not sure there was that much pressure from big shareholders for him to go. i'm not sure it was necessarily time. equally, he may have decided it was. the company has

had a very tough 12 months, share prices coming under pressure, and questions over whether media agencies fit in in a world where lots of companies, clearly not wetherspoons, going directly to social media to try to attract new customers. just on the fact that it is one man, one customers. just on the fact that it is one man, one very customers. just on the fact that it is one man, one very high—profile man, sirmartin is one man, one very high—profile man, sir martin sorrell, list of related a company that is very diverse, very broad, and maybe the only man who could hold it together. maybe the time has come friend go. —— for him to go. maybe the time has come friend go. -- for him to go. that is an interesting question, i think that is why the shares are so weak today. the real test of a leader, they need to do the real test of a leader, they need todoa the real test of a leader, they need to do a brilliantjob when they are there but also leave a legacy when they go in terms of strategy, culture and the manner in which businesses done. that will be the real test now, because often the

dominant ceos are dominant football managers, even, you find the performance does not last for long after they leave. what we have got now at wpp is a call chief operating structure —— co chief operating structure. that doesn't usually work, and i think that is why shares are we today. what about they will they hold together? if they become an opponent and feel that their views are not being heeded, there can be an implacable enemy. they once took over an argentinian ship in the port to try to squeeze more money out of the argentinian government. shares are up seven or 8% today, somebody thinks that elliott will get its way are at least at the boss of whitbread will

be missed to listen to them. —— made to listen to them. quick word on wetherspoons, does social media matter? that is the question. for a company whose differentiator is not having fruit machines, jukeboxes or televisions, i think it was good that they had so many followers. but they said, they are not a social media company, the run pubs and sell food, so i think it will be an interesting test to see if it will make any difference to wetherspoons‘s numbers at all. they clearly that it will not be a big deal. others may follow suit if it works for them. thanks very much for that. a quick look at the markets. people sin to like its decision, 1%. tim two up, looking strong. —— seem to

like. —— whitbread up, looking strong. first thing this morning, wpp shares fell, then came back up, and now down again. that is the business, back in about an hour. nelljones was one of 22 people killed when a suicide bomber detonated a bomb at an ariana grande concert in manchester last may. on what would have been her 15th birthday, her family are launching the remembering nell foundation in her memory, a charity that will help support young people in the north—west of england. rachel burden has been speaking to nell‘s brothers and mother about how they're coming to terms with their loss. she wasjust — just lovely, you know. she just had a lovely way about her. i mean, i know she was ours, and you're going to say that about your own, but she was just no trouble. i missjust the little conversations with her, more than anything. just talking, day—to—day stuff. we never really had a deep

conversation, but there was always something you could talk about, something you could have a laugh and a joke about. she was cuddly, she would always come and give you a big hug. and that was actually the last thing that she did was give me a hug, before i went away. how have the last 11 months been for you? i can't not go in her room at 7.00 in the morning and open the curtains, because that's when i used to go in to get her up for school. and i can't get out of that habit of doing that, at the moment. i always have to put her light on in her room, so that if it's dark, her room isn't dark. i always said, when it happened, that i didn't want her room to become a shrine. but to a point it has, because i can't bear to move anything from where she had it. you know, i think, she put that there, and that's where she wanted it, so i can't move that from there. and that's how i am at the moment with it. the family has been working

with nell‘s school to create a garden of memories in her name, with help from herfriends. can you show us your pebble and tell us a little bit about it? my pebble has ariana grande lyrics on, that me and nell used to belt our voices out to. and it basically represents mine and nell's relationship, because i didn't know it was possible to find someone like her, until i did. and then it's got a bee on the back, to represent manchester. i think it's important everyone talks about it, to keep her alive, and i think the garden is a good way to do that. because everyone will walk past it, and rememberthe times they spent with her — i mean, no—one would forget her anyway, but it keeps her memory alive 24/7, really. what about the wider community? we are here in the school nell went

to, and i know the town has been very supportive. i've always said that the community and the school have taken some of the weight. it has not removed it, by any means, but itjust helps you stand that little bit taller than you would be able to ordinarily. your faith in humanity is taken away when something like this happens, and then thankfully the community, and the whole country, really, has built it back up, and we've now got faith in humanity again. today they are launching the remembering nell foundation, which will support charities which work with young people. obviously nell was ta ken in a terrible way. but i didn't want, or we didn't want, her death to be pointless. and ijust think he stood there and he took her life, along with the others, but if we can do some good out of what's happened, he has not won.

how will you be remembering nell on her birthday? i know this is going to sound strange, your viewers will probably think i'm very strange, but i know i'll have to buy her a birthday card. i can't not buy her a birthday card. and that's another hard thing to deal with, because... you know, it's just not right. you know, so i'll do that, i'll buy her a birthday card, buy her a present. it'll be something to put in her room, and we'lljust have a quiet day, won't we? time for a look at the weather. not a bad start to the week. the

week ahead is one in which we have temperatures on the rise. probably the warmest week we have had since the warmest week we have had since the end of last summer. not com pletely the end of last summer. not completely dry, some rain at times, and someone the weather the west. but from midweek onwards, the temperatures will shoot up, and we could see them peak for one or two in the mid—20s. temperature not too bad for the time of year, radford should be, maybe a bit higher. sunny spells for many, some isolated showers in northern england and in scotland, some heavy rain to come here. and some rain pushing and at times into western parts of scotland, north—west england, and west wales. further east, staying dry overnight, and reasonably mild. will force winds, though, in the west, thanks to this big area of low pressure as in the atlantic. it is pushing these weather fronts in,

which will bring a wet start to tuesday. into western parts of wales and the isle of man, overnight rain easing away through eastern parts of northern ireland. but south—western scotland, especially wet over the hills. occasional rain further north across scotland, which will ease off as we go into the afternoon. some sunny spells in scotland and northern ireland through the afternoon, not as breezy as in the morning. some rain still in the north of england, but further east, some sunshine, highs of 19 celsius. wednesday will start sunny, rain in the morning in northern ireland, spreading the western scotland. but sunny conditions will move northwards to just about all through the afternoon. temperatures in the central belt of scotland around 17 or 18 celsius, into the 20s across england and eastern wales. with high

pressure to the east of us later this week, the air war, from the mediterranean, giving the temperatures a further boost. —— will come up from the mediterranean. sunny spells for the vast majority, best of this to the south and east, and temperatures at their highest, peaking around 25 or 26 celsius. the warm into friday as well. i will have another update later. hello, you're watching afternoon live. i'm simon mccoy.

today at 2:00. explaining her actions to the house: theresa may is to face parliament on why she allowed uk air strikes on syria without a vote of mps. it was the world saying we've had enough, that the use of chemical weapons, the erosion of that taboo that's been in place for 100 years, has gone too far. no—one with the right to be here will be made to leave: theresa may seeks to reassure caribbean states over the status of the windrush generation, some of whom may face deportation. tv presenter ant mcpartlin arrives at court for his first appearance after being charged with drink driving. "morally unfit to be president", who treats women like "pieces of meat": the damning description of donald trump from the former head of the fbi.