lavrov i'm rico hizon in singapore, the headlines. syrian state media says anti—aircraft guns have been fired in response to a missile attack on an airbase near the city of homs. a bbc exclusive with russia's foreign minister, who says relations with the west are worse than the cold war. during the cold war, there were channels of communication. there was no obsession with russophobia. i'm babita sharma in london. also in the programme. japan's prime minister returns to president trump's florida home for talks — with a focus on trade and north korea. and — a taste for toxic waste. the scientific breakthrough that could help tackle the plastic pollution crisis. good morning.

it's 8am am in singapore, 1am in london — and as we start with breaking news from syria: where we're getting reports of a missile attack on an air base in the country. syrian state television says that the missiles were shot down by the country's air defences and it's reported that the target was the shayrat base in the city of homs. the source of the missiles is not yet clear and the pentagon say there was no us military activity in the area at the time. in the last hour, a reuters report, quoting pro—iranian hebollah militia, says syrian air defences had intercepted three missiles aimed at dumairairport north—east of damascus.

last week israel was accused of carrying out a strike on syria's t—a airbase and there was no official comment then from the israelis. staying with syria — russia's foreign minister has told the bbc that relations between his country and the west are worse than during the cold war. sergey lavrov said the us, uk and france should have waited for an independent investigation into the chemical weapons attack in syria before launching missile strikes. our diplomatic correspondent james landale reports. the missiles launched by american, british and french forces at the weekend were aimed at syria's suspected chemical—weapons facilities. and this is just some of the destruction the missiles caused on the ground. but russia's foreign minister said the attacks on his syrian allies had also left relations between russia and the west worse than the cold

war. in a bbc interview, sergei lavrov accused the western allies of having a phobia about russia, which he described as "genocide by sanction". we lose, basically, the last remnants of trust to our western friends, who prefer to operate on the basis of very weird logic. they punish first in douma, in syria, and then they wait for the inspectors of opcw to visit the place and to inspect. but as journalists were allowed into douma to film life returning after months of fighting, it emerged the inspectors from the organisation for the prohibition of chemical weapons had not been allowed in — for what russian and syrian officials said were security issues. at the opcw headquarters in the hague, western diplomats accuse russia of deliberately

blocking the inspectors and even tampering with the evidence — something russian officials denied, promising the inspectors would be allowed in on wednesday. we are obviously keen to make sure that the inspectors have every means that they can to carry out theirjob, and carry out the investigation as soon as possible. we see no reason why they should not be able to get to douma. eu foreign ministers backed the missile strikes, threatened further sanctions on syria, but called yet again for a political solution. we're seeing more people dying, and it is true that the solution to the conflict seems to be even more far away than ever in the past more than seven years of conflict. this afternoon, britain and the us kept up the pressure on russia, publishing new information about what they described as a malicious cyber attack on the west. now, security official said this russian campaign predated

the salisbury and syria chemical attacks, but they said they were on high alert for possible retaliation. but for now, supporters president assad in damascus are celebrating the capture of the eastern ghouta suburb — a victory in which chemical weapons seem to have played a part. james landale, bbc news. we are monitoring what is happening in this area. a missile attack has hitan air in this area. a missile attack has hit an air base in the country in the city of homs. staying with the situation... earlier i spoke to professor steven fish, a political scientist at the university of california in berkeley. he gave me his assessmsent of russia's reaction to the airstrikes. the bottomline is the russians are relieved the strike did not go further than it did. it was very limited. it did no real damage to the syrian forces. the russians, of course, have to act all huffy about it. the united states and allies have

to act they did something substantial. everyone is playing a role. but all sides are relieved it did not escalate. what do you think of the criticisms levelled about whether or not the airstrikes with the right course of action to take? it depends on your perspective. i think for people who wanted to deliver a message of strong displeasure to the bashar al—assad regime, including the united states and british and french governments, using chemical weapons, trying to enforce a red line on this, without escalating the crisis, it was probably an appropriate response. having said that, though, professor, what do you think bashar al—assad's regime's options are? i do not think it has changed at all and the strikes have not made a difference.

bashar al—assad is still strongly backed by russia and is still opposed by the us and the west in general and things on the ground have not changed really. it is interesting to see you say that. the media is preoccupied with what has happened in the last few days. any talk of airstrikes and also the use of chemical weapons is very shocking to many of our viewers to this programme. so, with that in mind, how do we then move forward to make sure civilians, in syria or anywhere else in the world, how do we make sure they are protected? interesting. under current conditions it is hard to do. the us and france have a policy of not tolerating the use of chemical weapons, perhaps in part because they are always the weapons of terrorists. on the other hand, the bashar al—assad regime uses them habitually, going back to his father who used them habitually

against his own population. the bigger story is what is going on in the donald trump administration frankly. they have no real strategy towards syria. on the one hand you have administration officials who want to get tough with syria and the russian government. on the other hand, you have president trump who does not want to be in syria to begin with and seems to be beholden to vladimir putin and doing everything he can to not offend him to be case in point, yesterday, nikki haley, ambassador to the un, made a strong statement saying russia needs new sanctions and would be announced today. today, we hear that, well, perhaps there will be no new sanctions. we know that last night donald trump talked to national security advisers and was upset there was any talk of new sanctions. donald trump does not want to apply these sanctions. he has been completely consistent on not wanting to offend vladimir putin in any way.

the policy is in chaos. that is the bigger background story here. also this hour — british and us cyber security officials have issued an unprecedented joint alert, warning that russian hackers are actively seeking to hijack essential internet hardware. a white house official said the access moscow has gained can also be used for destructive attacks, like switching off electricity grids. korean airlines has suspended its vice president after she allegedly threw water in the face of an ad agency executive. she's the daughter of the airline's chairman and not the only member of the family to get into trouble. her sister cho hyun—ah was jailed after a so—called nut rage scandal, when she lost her temper over the way she was served nuts on a plane. the british government has admitted there have been terrible mistakes in the treatment of migrants threatened with deportation after decades

of living in the uk. members of the so—called windrush generation arrived in the uk as child migrants between the 1940s and 1970s from the caribbean, but don't have the paperwork to prove they are in the uk legally. if spring has arrived in the us, it's certainly getting a chilly reception. this is duluth in minnesota, which is just one of many cities that has been battered by snow storms. parts of the midwest have seen record snowfall and low temperatures, with over 300—thousand homes and businesses left without power in michigan. japan's prime minister shinzo abe is to meet with president trump at his florida resort mar a lago for two days of talks. much has changed since abe's first visit to the us in february 2017, just a month into the new trump administration. the two leaders have a packed agenda. they'll discuss the president's planned summit with north korea's kim jong un,

as well as international trade agreements. ankit panda is senior editor at foreign affairs magazine the diplomat. he explained why north korea will be mr abe's main focus during these talks. the upcoming summit with north korea which was quite a sudden afton kim jong—un‘s (extension, which was quite a sudden afton kim jong—un‘s ( extension, japan is concerned the united states will come into us at —— summit and come out with an agreement that overlooks japanese interests. these missiles with separate very strongly domestically and in this trip of prime minister shinzo abe, it comes ata time prime minister shinzo abe, it comes at a time when he is seeing me his

lowest approval rating is domestically since 2012. that is right. one of the things by minister shinzo abe has going for him domestically is he had is seen as a sturdy hand who can manage that sometimes tempestuous foreign policy of donald trump. that is another thing he will look to accomplish when he meets with trump. protecting japan on the korean issue but also defending japan's interests in ensuring that the ballistic missile is threatening japan might be in any agreement that trump might reach with kim jong—un. president trump has hit back at the former fbi director, james comey, accusing him of committing "many crimes" during his time as head of the bureau. in a television interview on sunday night, mr comey said the president was morally unfit for office. our north america editor, jon sopel has the story. donald trump this morning left a washington that has been hit by flash floods and torrential rain.

and last night the former fbi director had a bucketload of his own that he was seeking to pour over the president's head. the interview. james comey has a book to sell and, it would seem, scores to settle, after the way he was unceremoniously fired. and on questions of character, he did not pull his punches in his interview with abc's george stephanopoulos. i don't buy the stuff about him being mentally incompetent or in the early stages of dementia. he strikes me as a person of above average intelligence, who is tracking conversations and knows what is going on. i don't think he is medically unfit to be president, i think he is morally unfit to be president. ladies and gentlemen, please welcome to the stage, general mike flynn. a key episode concerns michael flynn, the president's first national security adviser. he was under criminal investigation for lying about his contacts with the russians. at a one—to—one meeting, the fbi director alleges the president asked

him to drop the case. was president trump obstructing justice? possibly. there is certainly some evidence of obstruction ofjustice. the white house did not wait for the interview to air before taking careful aim at the former fbi boss. james comey continues to spread false information. the guy is known to be a liar and a leaker, and so there is not a lot about james comey that we would find to be very surprising. undermining james comey‘s credibility is deliberate strategy. if there are ever impeachment proceedings brought against donald trump for obstruction ofjustice, then the former fbi director will be a key witness, so, shred his reputation now, and maybe his word will count for less later on. butjames comey is only one source of the president's current legal headaches. in a courtroom in new york, the president's personal lawyer was appearing, after the fbi raided his officers last week, seizing bank accounts and files. michael cohen was a mr fixit for the president. one of those he paid off, to the tune of $130,000, was the former porn star stormy daniels.

her arrival in court had film crews falling over themselves. literally. woah! she was paid that money in return for her silence, after she allegedly had a brief affair with donald trump, an allegation that he denies. it is hard to know which is the more dangerous to the president, james comey and the special counsel investigation, or the porn star payoff, and the fallout from that. jon sopel, bbc news, washington. you're watching newsday on the bbc. still to come on the programme. a bbc investigation finds that thousands of north korean workers are being sent abroad to fund the regime back home. also on the programme: we investigate the scientific breakthrough that could help solve the plastic pollution crisis around the world. 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 its editorial staff have gone into hiding. it was clear that paula's only contest was with the clock, and as for a 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. this is newsday on the bbc.

i'm rico hizon in singapore. i'm babita sharma in london. our top stories: syrian state media says anti—aircraft guns have been fired in response to a missile attack on an airbase near the city of homs. in an exclusive interview with the bbc, russia's foreign minister has said relations with the west are worse than during the cold war. let's take a look at some front pages from around the world. a meeting between president xi jinping and founder of the world economic forum in beijing makes the front page of the china daily with xi's role in global affairs being praised by klaus schwab. meanwhile, the new york times reflects a different side of china's policies. it describes how hong kong was once

the bastion for free speech in asia, but as beijing tightens its grips, human rights groups, media and arts festivals are now turning to taiwan. and the financial times leads with an apology from the british home secretary to windrush immigrants for their "appalling" treatment. as we reported earlier, tens of thousands who came to the uk from caribbean countries decades ago are being threatened with deportation because of a lack of official paperwork. now, babita, what stories are sparking discussions online? it's a big social media story. china's weibo has reversed its decision to remove all gay content from its website following a huge outcry. tens of thousands of angry chinese internet users protested against the original ban, which saw weibo deleting posts and closing accounts as it attempted

to comply with censorship laws. it's estimated that more than 100,000 north korean labourers are working abroad helping to raise millions for the north korean leader kim jong—un and his regime. experts say their money is being used to fund the regime's nuclear programme, the army and luxuries for the north korean leader. the bbc panorama programme has highlighted the workers' plight, calling this practice modern day slavery. here's a clip. i was told where and in which countries they are working. the vast majority are working in russia and china. i think what is equally interesting is they are also working in poland in heavy industries.

poland, within the eu, standards should be higher than in russia and china. hard earned wages from north korean labourers going into the pockets of kim jong—un and his cronies. yeah, the north korean regime looks to earn hard currency to support its nuclear ambition in any way it can. these people working abroad are earning hard currency, you rose and dollars, and it is going back to support his nuclear ambitions. —— euros. going back to support his nuclear ambitions. -- euros. how far do you think these companies employing north koreans overseas are complicit with the so—called slave trade? north koreans overseas are complicit with the so-called slave trade? in my view, there is no doubt. these people have their wages taken away from them, documents taken away from them. in that film you saw they live on—site so they cannot get lost on

the weekend. they are clearly not free to do what they want. and these three countries are part of the un. how is the un dealing with this? yes, we have had two sets of sanctions. the most recent in december. the united nations security council has given countries two years to send these people home. that is obviously two years more of income for north korea. it is also two years income for north korea. it is also two yea rs in income for north korea. it is also two years in which these individuals are in an even more fragile state. what will happen to them? they will clearly be even more concerned about their futures. plastic pollution of the oceans is one of the great environment problems of our times. now scientists have engineered an enzyme which can digest a key type of plastic, used to make drinks bottles and other products. the discovery could offer a new way of recycling millions of tonnes of plastic. our science editor, david shukman, explains. plastic waste is filling the oceans.

products used just once will last for decades or even centuries. i filmed this scene in turkey a few years ago. but there are ways of using plastic again. this plant in dagenham helps turn old plastic milk bottles into new ones. and now this lab at portsmouth university has gone much further. discovering how an enzyme can actually eat away the fabric of plastic itself. what is really special about this enzyme, it digests something man—made and most enzymes digest things like, maybe, grass stains or things like that, on clothing, but this material has only existed for the last 50 years, so to have an enzyme evolve that actually eats this man—made material, it is really stunning. what this research offers is a totally new way of dealing with plastic that goes into bottles like this. the enzyme has been discovered to have the ability to break down the plastic into its two key ingredients and that would make recycling far easier. magnified 3000 times and speeded up over several days, these images captured the enzyme digesting the plastic. and the scientists have taken it's original structure and modified it to work even faster. biochemistry student harry austin and his colleagues have been cutting

up samples of plastic bottles and then adding the enzyme to see its effect. they are delighted with the results. very exciting for us in the labs here. it is fantastic. and with our collaborators in america and brazil as well, fantastic move. sojubilant. we can actually see what it is capable of doing, in terms of the breaking down of the plastic itself. it is amazing. so will this help tackle plastic waste? tonight, for the one show, surfers against sewage collected all this from british beaches. the recycling industry likes the new enzyme but says it is not enough. it does only focus on one type of plastic. there are many different types of plastic that are used in our packaging and in our products. retailers are working hard to try

and reduce the numbers of different types of plastic that they use, but there is a long way to go. it took some very clever science to make plastic as long—lasting as it is. now, there is a new scientific effort to find ways of dismantling it and the latest research is just the start. david shukman, bbc news, in portsmouth. you have been watching newsday. breaking news from syria. state media is reporting anti—aircraft guns have fired in response to a missile attack near the city of homs. they have in intercepted over a military base in damascus. the source of the missiles is not clear. the us says there was no us presence

in the area at the time. stay with us. in the area at the time. stay with us. we will have more soon. hello. the long—awaited spring warm—up has almost arrived. from wednesday, with high pressure close by, most places will be dry for a few days with some good sunny spells around and it'll be much warmer, temperatures widely into the high teens, low 20s, and in some spots, a bit warmer than that as we look at a selection of temperatures from probably the warmest day on thursday. so not everyone will get to 25, 26 degrees but i think most places will be having the warmest weather of the spring so far. but we're not quite there yet. we have one more weather system affecting us. and as tuesday begins, that will be giving some quite wet and windy weather to some northern and western parts of the uk. it's blustery across the board though during tuesday and any temperatures, nowhere particularly cold as the day begins. let's take a closer look at this weather system — it's pushed in by an area of low pressure to the west of us and this weather front becomes slow—moving and will clear on through much of northern ireland and scotland during the day as it brightens up

but we keep cloud and outbreaks of rain for parts of northern, western england and wales and this is how it looks at 7, 8 o'clock in morning. a lot of cloud for south—west, england, seeing a bit of patchy rain during the day, more especially some outbreaks of rain in wales, north—west england. look how much of it is clear through northern ireland, even at this stage, to last, some early sunshine for many of us. in scotland, there are some heavier bursts to content with, especially in the hills of south—west scotland and the strongest winds will be northern ireland and western scotland, gusting up to 50mph at times. but it'sblustery wherever you are. scotland, northern ireland brightening up. catch an afternoon shower, it could be heavy and possibly thundery. that area of cloud covering much of northern england, the midlands, wales and the south—west, delivering a bit of patchy rain in places. best of the sunshine, eastern counties of east anglia

and south—east england, albeit quite hazy at times, and the highest temperatures here at near 20 celsius. as wednesday begins, don't be surprised by a bit of early rain for parts of northern ireland, northern england and scotland but as pressure continues to build in, we push that away and more of us see the sunshine. a good deal of afternoon sunshine on wednesday, and it is warmer as a result and some spots are breaking the 20 celsius mark by several degrees in places. high pressure to the east of us is drawing in warm winds from the continent with a good deal of sunshine, though we are going to see a bit of patchy cloud coming back to parts of northern ireland, northern england, wales and the south—west during thursday, so don't expect clear blue sky. the best of the sunshine will be in central and eastern parts of england but we have certainly got the warmth on thursday and the vast majority are going to be dry. and again, temperatures may be peaking in some spots into the mid—20s but most of us will be enjoying the warmest weather of the spring so far. this is with bbc news. our top story. syrian state media is reporting that anti—aircraft guns have been fired in response to a missile attack over homs, targeting

the shayrat air base. the missiles are reported to have been shot down by the country's air defences. syrian state television didn't say who may have fired the missiles. the pentagon has denied any us involvement. shinzo abe is to meet with donald trump to discuss north korea. and "harry & meghan‘s windsor knot" beer — has been created to give the traditional british pint an american twist. the beer has been created in honour of their wedding day. the pale ale is made from barley grown on the royal farm and combined with hops from the west coast of america, reflecting the couple's heritage. that's all from me for now. stay with bbc news. and the top story here in the uk — the government has admitted terrible mistakes were made